Tuscan Inspiration

I haven't had a chance to work on any minis lately, but I have been thinking a lot about the Tuscan farmhouse I'd like to create some day. While in Italy last fall, we stayed in a lovely farmhouse near Greve in Chianti, which has inspired me to plan for a future miniature project. I love the stone facades, clay tile roofs and wooden shutters of the farmhouses in the region. The colors and textures are in perfect harmony with their surroundings.

Here are some of the photos that I snapped for future reference. Notice how the cat was patient with this obsessed tourist!

I hope you enjoy this bit of Tuscan inspiration! Click on the photos to see them larger.

Printable Pie Plate

Print this template onto heavy paper to make a pie plate. I like to use manila folders or cardstock. Put glue on the tab to secure the side together.

This would be cute painted to look like enamelware, graniteware, stoneware or tin. To add more baking pans to your cupboard, you may wish to download the printable bread pan. Please share what you come up with!  

For the best print quality, download the pdf.

Holiday Swap - Lovely Things from Ingrid

I'm a bit late in posting, but I don't want to be remiss in sharing the items that Ingrid has made for me. Aren't they lovely? Everything is so detailed! The passport has real stamps and the photo books contain photos from all of the places that I hope to visit some day. Thank you, Ingrid! And thank you to Caterina for hosting this fun swap and opportunity to get to know our fellow miniaturists in blogland.

Printable Flower Pots

All of this talk of gardening on Ira's blog has inspired me to design some flower pots. The template contains several pot designs to be printed on heavy paper. These would also make cute contemporary style flower vases.

You may wish to check out the coordinating plant tags.

Please note that this printable project has been shared for your personal use only.

For the best print quality, download the pdf. 

My First Macaroons

I consider myself all thumbs when it comes to working with polymer clay. I've tried all of the easy foods – peas, carrots, bread – and they all turn out looking like a mess. Yes, it is true, I cannot make little round peas look good.

That's why I admire the work of food artisans. I can sit and stare at Peiwen's (Oiseau deNim) fantastic creations for hours. So when I found out that she was teaching a class on CDHM, I jumped at the opportunity to sign up. I was not disappointed. She is a wonderful teacher; her explanations and photos were spot on.

So although my macaroons are a bit wonky, thanks to Peiwen, they look better than my peas!

Who Hates Photoshop?

I stumbled upon a blog that mentioned new photo editing software built for amateur photographers and bloggers in mind. It looks like it would be a great alternative to the overwhelming features in Photoshop. Aurora touts itself as a simple and inexpensive (50 USD) photo editing software that runs on a PC or Mac. It allows you to re-light, add visual punch, crop and straighten and then share with friends and family via email, Facebook, Flicker, Photobucket, Shutterfly and more. Download the free trial and give it a whirl.

Photo: http://www.lightcrafts.com/gallery/

Printable Pizza Box Design

I previously posted some blank pizza box templates. If you're not excited about creating your own design, here is a box that is already designed for you.

Please note that this printable project has been shared for your personal use only.

Click on the image to download a print quality version.