Blog giveaway - Celeste Travels the World

I just wanted to do a quick update on the blog that I told everyone about yesterday.  Celeste's blog is going to have a giveaway if they can reach 50 followers!

1st prize will be a doll made by S. Marie Carlson - the artist that made the Celeste doll

2nd prize will be a set for your garden

3rd prize will be a new addition for your library

According to Celeste's blog rules will be posted on how to enter once they reach 50 followers.

Sounds great, huh?  So go here http://travelwithceleste.blogspot.com/ and click to follow :)

Celeste Travels the World - a blog recommendation

*UPDATE* I just realized that I didn't include the link to Celeste's blog - oops!  So here it is
http://travelwithceleste.blogspot.com/

 

I think I've mentioned Celeste's blog before, but I wanted to share some more with everyone today.  This blog has a little bit of everything - miniatures, travel, genealogy, and more!

Celeste Debwa is a 1:12 scale miniature doll that is currently traveling the globe in search of her family's heritage.  She is 22 years old and is quite the wandering spirit.  Up until recently the only thing that Celeste knew about her family was that her mother Jacqueline Debwa, left when Celeste was only a year old to join a gypsy caravan.  Her brother Jacob helped to raise her ever since.

A few things that Celeste has discovered is that her great-grandmother was a servant at a castle in the Netherlands.  There are rumors of a scandal involving her and a prince...!  Also Celeste found out that her great-grandfather emigrated from England to the United States where his last name was changed to "Dubois."

So far Celeste has traveled to:

New Hampshire

Waldorf Maryland / DC area

Derbyshire United Kingdom

The Netherlands

She is currently en route to Texas and then hopefully she will be visiting me here in Tennessee!

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you check out her blog and her great travel pics.  There is an amazing pic of Celeste standing behind the Department of Defense podium inside of the Pentagon!  Celeste also has pictures from the birthday party of Deborah Cavendish who is the Dowager Duchess and widow of the last Duke of Devonshire.

So far Celeste's blog only has 25 followers - a few more would be greatly appreciated ;)  So please stop by and say hello!

Progress pic for the HOM Chippendale 3 drawer chest

Well I've gotten the first coat of stain on the Chippendale chest.  The instructions said to use a mahogany or cherry stain so I decided to go with Minwax Red Mahogany.  I like the color so far, but I think it will look better after another coat of stain.  The instructions also said "For authenticity, when finishing drawers, finish only the drawer fronts."  I'm not sure that I like the way the drawers look with only the fronts stained.  Also I wasn't sure if I was supposed to stain the inside of the chest either.  I would like for it to look like the original, but then again I guess I can just do it the way I want it.  I can't wait to see how it looks with the hardware attached!

Have a happy Monday!

Monday minis of a different kind...

I thought that by now I would be finished or at least much further along with my House of Miniatures Chippendale Dresser.  But alas, when I came home from work last Tuesday I found a lovely surprise waiting for me.

Herman must have been very busy that day because there were turtle eggs all over my aquarium!  I counted 14 whole ones.  I have no idea how many there were in total because Cecil had obviously been eating some of them as well.  It was such a mess!

This one is almost an inch and a half long!  I can't believe there were so many of them!

This is afterwards as Herman was desperately trying to escape while I was attempting to measure just how big he/she really is.

Here is a front view to share, this is from a few months ago, but Herman is still about this same size.  From left to right the top of his shell measures 8-1/2 inches wide.

And from front to back the top of his shell measures 9-1/2 inches long.  He just doesn't seem to be big enough for all of those eggs!  I may have mentioned it before, but Herman was already named when he was given to me and I've been referring to him as a "he" for so many years that I still have trouble saying "she."

I'm sure you're wondering at this point, but no I won't be having lots of baby turtles swimming around.  Turtles like RES require very specific conditions in order to have viable eggs - for example a place to bury the eggs like in sand or dirt, specific temperatures, incubation time, etc.  Also there is no way to tell if these eggs were even fertilized to begin with.  I have reason to believe that Cecil is a male, but then again I thought Herman was a male for a long time as well.  I've read that female turtles can carry sperm for as long as 7 years after an encounter with a male as well.  Crazy, huh?

Anyway, the tank and the filter were such a mess that here it is days later and I still haven't been able to put it all back together again.  I'm actually writing this Sunday night - guess it's time to sign off and give it another try - wish me luck!

Time for an update on my mini project

I wanted to show everyone some progress pics on my House of Miniatures Chippendale 3 Drawer Chest kit.  Remember before when I said I was going to start doing a project of the week?  Well at the time I had never put together one of these kits before and didn't know how detailed they really are.  I have sanded so many tiny pieces and I still feel like the whole thing needs to be sanded again.  Did I mention that I hate sanding?

Anyway, here's the first shot.  I used wax paper on top per the instructions in order to line up the first pieces and avoid getting glue all over the paper.

And now a shot of the top.

And the cute little decorative curvy bottom piece.  Does anyone know what this is called?

This is the part that took the most time (after the sanding of course).  I used a pencil to draw a light line marking the middle and then measured out from each end where the drawer hardware will eventually go.  I used a straight pin and my Easy Cutter to start the holes in the wood.  The wood is fairly pliable, but I still ruined many a straight pin.

And finally the first drawer is complete!  Also by this point the instructions are covered in a fair amount of glue themselves - so much for good intentions!

And a shot of all the drawers in place.  You can still see a little of my pencil line so I'll probably try to erase one more time.

And finally a shot from the front.  I think I did a pretty decent job for my first try with a mini kit.  And the holes for the hardware lined up nicely.

And now I've got to go back and do more detailed sanding (blah!).  I'll check for any glue residue and then I'll need to go buy some stain.  I want it to look as close to the original as possible.  After all that is done and the hardware is installed I'll post some more pics.

I'm really proud of it so far - I feel like I actually sort of "made" it even though it's a kit.  It feels a bit more personal since my work went into it rather than buying a ready made mini.  Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!