La Patisserie Francaise & Renovation Projects ...

Well here I am, nine days into retirement ... after an amazing send off from my colleagues days one and two I was somewhat in limbo as I had emails etc to tie up, day three I felt quite lost & a bit scared, but day four I enjoyed ... and here I am now wondering how I ever managed to be out the house for 10 hours every day!!


There are so many things I have in my mind to do after working in some form for over 40 years but first on the mini 'to do' list is to get all my collection out of boxes and on view where I can enjoy it ... I have bought some lovely things over the past couple of years, been to SIMP and Miniatura and love Ebay & Etsy. The shopping will have to be seriously curtailed now but finding homes for my treasures will be exciting!!


First on the list was all the beautiful cupcakes & cakes from Kim Marshall Saulter, Paris Miniatures, After Dark Miniatures & Christine Morrison ... the little roombox was easy to put together and fits perfectly in my cabinet. Hardest thing was getting decent pictures without me & the camera showing in the mirrors :-)

As well as curtailing the spending I know that I really MUST not buy any more houses, no matter how tempted, so am planning renovations for some of the ones that no longer excite me ...

This was my first 1/12th house and was decorated in Edwardian style ... not sure exactly what my new theme will be but I have plenty of lovely things to fill it, probably a romantic country/shabby style. I'm painting the exterior to match the cabinet as its quite a focal point in the room

Below was a blue & white Tearoom which I was never really happy with so is going to be my 'Home to Roost' to house my dozens of rooster & chicken purchases and creations ... talking of which I have so many I'm doing a couple of Roomboxes for my special bits, started this one this week

I can feel I am going to really enjoy retirement ... although I'd suggest it is only retirement from paid work as everyone is finding me things to do !!

Thanks for looking, Jackie x

A Room to Grow

All my boys are away this week ... the oldest (hubby) and youngest are in Ibiza, middle son in Shanghai & daughter at her b/f's ... so just little old me, the cat & fish at home. The cleaning, laundry, shopping all done, Mother visited, her laundry & shopping done ... and my house is still tidy, I've had sole use of my car & lots of time to finish my Nursery!!

This beautiful baby by Michaela Rose Reikert has been in my houses for many years & I just love her peachy little baby's bottom but low & behold when setting her in this scene I dropped her on my glass table & both her legs broke, I was really upset and did some first aid but thought it best to cover her discreetly with a blanket :-)

I fitted this shelf unit into the back of the roombox and decorated it to match the pink bunny border.

And of course filled it with cannisters as usual plus toys and books

Nappy basket & a sweet little rabbit doll from PamelaJunkMinis on Etsy

Changing Table filled with pink & white towels etc

White wire crib with the legs removed ... maybe not so wise with the little dog allowed in the nursery!

Hope you like it, just for fun I've made this a room to grow and fast forward about 6 years or so and its a fun playroom ....

This little girl loves fashion & the shelves are now decorated to match the grown up border

I just love how all the white wire furniture has turned out

The old playpen is used for keeping all her dressing up clothes together, she loves wearing Mummy's high heeled shoes and has some real vintage bonnets too ...

When friends come round to play they love to have grown up parties with cakes & cocktails - non alcoholic of course!

There's a lot of photos there so thanks for looking!!

Jackie x

Paris SIMP 2011

Paris SIMP 2011 - I'm in total awe of all the people who had their photos up on the same night or within a couple of days ... however in my defence after two weeks I'm 11 months quicker than last year!! This year being my second visit meant I went with a clearer idea of what I hoped to buy and I was so happy with my purchases, I hope you like them.

The lovely shabby unit was from an Italian seller and although I dutifully noted everything down I cant find her name in the Catalogue, I thought it was Scarpe e Pelletteria where I also bought the lantern & 3 pictures in a later photo. The porcelain sink which has a lovely tiny china plug was from Zapatillas as were the slippers.

The beautiful hand painted plates were from Paris Miniatures and the little ice cream cones look so real. Their stand is understandably always so busy

The lantern & lovely shabby pictures were also from Scarpe e Pelletteria.

Basket, fabric bolts, cotton and lace ... not sure where for yet but I just liked the colours

Fabulous shabby chic chair and little girl teddy bear from Lea Frisoni, ah so many beautiful things on her stand .....

And here my pièce de résistance .... I went hoping to buy a cushion from Rosanna for my chicken house and she so kindly sold me this one from her display, she is a lovely lady and chatting to her was a pleasure :-)

Shown here with two of the chicken plaques from Petits Bonheurs

Just sneaking in a couple of pictures of recent purchases from Cathy Rohal, the Chicken hook, jar and the tea holder she made for me ... I love them

and her shabby pink jar and cake stand, such detail in something so tiny and delicate is incredible

And finally a few pics from my wanderings around Paris, I was on my own a lot but felt very peaceful and relaxed and enjoyed my time with Kris & Catty so much

Ah little cherubs

Now I need to get on and get my lovely purchases on display, no more hiding lovely things away in boxes ... that's my new resolution.

Jackie x