Solstice gift for Kassandra - Greenhouse with plants

Since Kassandra told me about her custom of exchanging presents for the Solstice, I wanted her to have something from me.  Yesterday I visited her, and I am happy that she was glad to see me.

She said she spent a marvelous holiday, going to her country of origin and seeing her other daughters that still live there.  She said she could also rekindle her relation with her brother, and that she was an invited musician to a concert to celebrate the New Year that had been orgazined.  Her brother was the conductor that night.  I asked what instrument she played.  "Cello", she said.  "My dear Amadeus taught me to play it". I did not want to ask if her "dear Amadeus" was Mozart...

When she invited me to sit down and offered something to drink, I gave her her gift. Remember that greenhouse that I bought at Tom Bishop's Show? I prepared a couple of plants: an Echeveria and some young saplings, and then offered the whole lot to her.

She was very happy to have a belated gift, specially something to keep delicate plants.  She was quick to find a place for it in her parlor, and gave effusive thanks.  

I am always happy to see her smile.

Also, a co-worker of mine has just been to the Canary Islands, and he was kind enough to bring this back for me:

It is a real live tiny cactus.  It only needs to be watered once a month.  I was ecstatic with the gift, and of course, so was Kassandra when I brought it over to the house.  This one has been put on the bedroom window.

Dollhouse greenies finished!

Remember that Echeveria plant kit that I told you about?  Well, since I did not have any garden pots, I tried to make my own out of balsa wood.  It was a disaster.  Then I tried to find some online that I could use, but the measurements were no good for my windowsills.  I was at a loss as to what to do, because I did not want to put the Echeverias in normal flower pots - I thought they were too tall for a plant so small.

But then, I saw someone using kitchen bowls as terrariums for succulents plants.  They were lovely!  I had in my craft box some unused bowls, and I decided to try a similar look.  I made four Echeveria plants, and started to work in the bowls.  Since my windowsills were white, I decided to paint them a terracota color, provided by hubby, from the Vallejo brand, named Orange Brown.  I was very happy with the results.  They really looked as if they were made of terracota!  I filled them up with plastic putty, also from Vallejo, to make them appear to be filled with soil, and left them to dry overnight.  Then painted the putty with brown acrylic paint, extended a layer of glue over it and poured the soil.  Then I was finally able to "pot" the Echeverias.  I love how they turned out!

 I have to find me some flower pots before buying another kit from The Miniature Garden.  I have my eye on some really pretty begonias...

Adding some greenies to the dollhouse

I have been wanting to add plants to the dollhouse for a looong time.  My dollhouse came from the shop with some reindeer moss and some artificial flowers already attached to the window sills:

The first pic I took a long time ago; the second is more recent.  But as you can see, the moss had taken a dusty, not good-looking appearance.  So I decided to remove everything from the windows and add some plants.

The moss was attached with something very similar to hot glue, so I just pulled off the moss and scraped the glue rests.  To my dismay, the glue had yellowed and stained the white paint of the window sills.  I decided to buy some glossy white paint and retouch everything.  As per my husband's advice, I bought a glossy white from Vallejo, which turned out it was EXACTLY the same shade of white.  I have spent all morning painting the sills, and now they look like new.  The windows were so awful stained in yellow I didn't even take pictures to show the before and after (sorry!).

It's been months since I have been searching online for just the perfect plants to start the window decorations.  The first additions were purchased 4 days ago, and yesterday they arrived all the way from Barcelona:

They are the best bonsais I have ever seen!  They are the babies of LugArt Petit, and I am so happy how well they look in the drawing room window.  If you are in need of a bonsai, LugArt Petit is the place to go!

My vampire tenant loves them.  She says that she appreciates very much the care and the art involved in producing bonsais.  Here is an interesting website to learn about them.

Naturally, she now demands more plants.  Thankfully, I acquired some time ago an Echeveria kit from The Miniature Garden, and I am in the process of making them.  Let's see how well the garden pot turns out...

New designs for the shop

It's been quite sometime since I had time to create something entirely new... Actually, the idea for these came after the "holy trinity" set, and it's specially made for fans of gardening and witches or wizards settings. It is a compilation of drawings of real plants:

This set includes wolfsbane, vervain, belladona, hellebore and digitalis.

And this one has fly agaric, sage, bergamot, wild Angelica and dragon's blood.

They will be up for sale in my shop in a couple of days. Also, be prepared for some new miniatures made by my mom. She will have her own special corner in my shop, so stay tuned for her designs. The first mini up for sale will be a set of suitcase and two bags, made from real leather!