Winners!

First of all, let me thank all who took part in my giveaways.  I regret not to be able to give them to more than two winners.  I can only promise you that I am working on a new giveaway which, I hope, will be soon.

First prize goes to No. 6 - Ruth

Second prize goes to No. 75 - Beatriz

Congratulations to the winners Ruth and Beatriz.  Please email me your address - drorahed@gmail.com

Again,  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.

A little tour of Tel-Aviv


  

Second Blog Anniversary Participants list

Here are the names of all participants in this draw, as per order of comments:

1. Natalia. 2. Eliana. 3. Fabiola. 4. Alexandra -Xsandra. 5. Tatiana. 6. Ruth. 7. Francesca.
8. Ewa. 9. Xandra-dollhouses. 10. Jennifer. 11. Melanie. 12. Paky. 13. Maria. 14. Mona. 15. Mary.
16. Eloisa. 17. Isabel. 18. Rosa Maria. 19. Munir. 20. Wyrna.

21. Adela. 22. Teruka. 23. Carmen- Pekavision. 24. Pepita. 25. Karin.  26. Pilar.  27. Birgit.  28. Rosa Margarita.  29. Ana.  30. De.  31. Mariana.  32. Kyle.  33. Indy.  34. Maribel.  35. Kikka.  36. Mijbil.  37.Mari.  38. Giac.  39. Loly.  40. Ascension.

41. Chris P.  42. Cote.  43. Begona.  44. Anna - Artmindom.  45. Naran.  46. Mieke.  47. Sognatrice.  48. Pikko.  49. Kati.  50. Chris Bottaro.  51. Mati.  52. Irina.  53. Malu2.  54. Villa Conejo.  55. Auzillo.  56. Kez.  57. Jo Mini.  58.  Magda 17-17.  59. Gema.  60. Teviro.

61. Maria - littlenesstown.  62. Patrizia. 63. Jazzi.  64. Eva Tatalamaru.  65. Petra.  66. Susana.  67. Elvira.  68.  Kathi.  69. Marja-Leena.  70. Antraves.  71.  Doortje.  72. Liliam.  73. Mely.  74. Majelo.
75. Beatriz. 76. Rosella. 77. Gloria.  78. Neomi.  79. Maria Blanca.

Please check if your name appears in the list.

A wonderful weekend and my blessings to all my friends

Christmas Swaps

Now that Fabiola has already shown the photos on her blog I can show you here what beautiful gifts I received.

Gifts from Wyrna

A beautiful shabby chic chair and two beautiful candle sticks.

Three beautiful boxes hand made by Wyrna,  a lovely jar  and a romantic bowl and plate.

Thank you Wyrna for these lovely gifts. I already used the candle sticks for my Christmas market stalls.

From Karin

Sorry for the bad photo. The miniatures are exquisite.  I love everything.

This is a better photo but I fixed the arch of candles wrongly.  It came apart on its long way to get here.  Later on I saw my error and fixed it again. By doing so, I realized how beautiful and delicate Karin's work is.

Dear Karin, thank you for your lovely gifts and for the coffee stirrers.  You probably noticed that I already used some of your gifts for the Christmas market stalls.

I am waiting for Caterina to post photos in her blog all the Christmas swaps, to show you what beautiful gifts
Doortje sent me.

A warm and hearty welcome to my new followers

Jennybee
Marisa
Alice - Couldn't locate your blog.  Please let me know if you have one to visit.

Don't forget - 31 December is the day of my giveaways.  Old and new followers still have time to
join in for the draw.

                                                         Giveaway No.1  1:12"

                                                            Giveaway No. 2  1:24"

Tomorrow I'll make and post a list of all participants.

Blessings to all

A Complete Christmas Dinner

I am very happy to have won Kat's Giveaway.  It got here yesterday, right on Christmas day.  Kat has a very nice blog, I recommend a visit.

What a delicious dinner, complete with dessert...mmm. yammy!

Kat very generously added a lovely wreath.

THANK YOU KATE!  I am thrilled with your gift.

This is an opportunity to thank the generous ladies of the group EL LOCO MUNDO DE LAS MINIS;  MONIKA and AIM ADVENT CALENDAR for all (72 step by step!) fantastic tutorials.

I hope all my blog friends had a happy Christmas and are enjoying 
this great time with family and friends.

Blessings to all

A Christmas Market

My Christmas scene is a market.  Most of the item for 'sale' are gifts from my wonderful blog friends, Mali,
Patrizia, Gonda, Maria, Marieke, Olga, Mary, Tatiana, Wyrna, Doortje, Karin, Frieda who does not have a blog and Petra.  I do hope I have not left anyone out.

This stand sells cotton material with Christmas motifs.

I built the stands and the cart from scratch.  Surprisingly I found a small tree in a local shop.  The only Christmas item to be found here.

Thank you very much my dear friends,  your generosity enabled me to make these scenes.

Next year I hope to add another cart for cakes and sweets only.

A warm and hearty welcome to my new followers:

Galchi
Lee Mar
Neen
LB - Cannot locate your blog. Please let me know if you have one and your want me to follow.

I wish all my friends and readers  A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY,
                                  PROSPEROUS, PEACEFUL AND
                                  HEALTHY NEW YEAR

Blessings to all

A surprise gift from Tatiana

A wonderful surprise from my friend Tatiana .  This was entirely unexpected.  I opened the parcel
and nearly cried out with joy.  Only Tatiana can make such gorgeous tiny dolls.

Almost the size of my fingernail.  A Ballerina with moving arms and legs!  An amazing piece of art.

 A cup of tea - the cup and saucer so delicate you can almost see through,

a  plate with delicious treats, a card, pearls and a beautiful rose.  What more can one ask for?

A snowman in a transparent tube.  I'm sorry the photo doesn't give it credit.

Little Christmas balls to hang on the tree in a lovely made card box.  At the background is
the beautiful town of Kiev in winter.  It looks like a magical city in fairyland.

Dear Tatiana I am completely overwhelmed and grateful for your friendship.  Your art is simply
fantastic.  THANK YOU OVER AND OVER.

Hugs and blessings

Mary's gift

A few days ago Mary sent me this beautiful Greeting Card, knowing how much I love birds.

The tiny metal birds, A brilliant idea of Mary's were hidden inside the card.

Mary has another blog dedicated to tutorials she patiently collects.  If you are a tutorial frick like me, run and follow here   Mary's links are invalueable.

THANK YOU MARY FOR YOUR GENEROSITY and for being a wonderful friend.  The tiny birds
will adorn my little Christmas tree.

Hugs and blessings

Gifts from Maria

These are the gifts  received from my wonderful and very generous Irish friend Maria.
Maria knows that it's nearly impossible to find Christmas miniatures here so she very
thoughtfully sent me stuff that I can use.

 

Pieces of cotton and ribbons with Christmas printings. A cute Santa hat with a hair clip.

A lovely wall hanging made by Maria.

A cute flashing Christmas brooche. The young ones will fight over it.

THANK YOU DEAR MARIA

And a very warm welcome to my new followers

Sandi Quance.  Cannot find your blog Sandi.  If you have one please let me know.

Jonquil - http://latchkeyandjonquil.blogspot.co.il.

Blessings to all my friends

Balconies

Two very talented blog friends won first and second prize on a balcony contest organized by one master miniaturist blogger, Pedrete.

This beautiful balcony won 1st prize.  Loly made it from scratch material and shows how it was done
in her blog.  Run visit.

This came in second.  Pilar made this beautiful balcony scene. Go visit.

This balcony facade was a birthday gift from my husband. It was bought in Lima, Peru, from a local artist.
I have a special softness for old balconies.

Last night we celebrated Hanukkah eve.  The first candle was lit by the server candle. We sang Hanukkah
songs, ate the most fattening treats and exchanged gifts.  The children received Hanukkah coins and played  traditional games.  A good time was had by all.  I love the eighth day when all 9 candles are lit on the last evening.  In Jerusalem the orthodox Jews place the candelabrums on the window sills and it's a view worth seeing.

A warm welcome to my new followers.  I am very grateful for your attention.

Anna - Please let me know if you have a blog I can follow.
Furuguen -       -    "   -
Darah
Marja-Leena
Jane Smith - No blog yet, but Jane has a few very good tutorials on youtube.
Susanna Zanchi

I wish you a Happy Hanukkah and blessings

Sinterklaas gifts from Petra

This is my first Sinterklaas gift from dear Petra, the most brave, sweet and generous person I got to know online. Petra explained to me all about the Saint and his black helpers as well as the celebrations involved.

The photos in the back ground are specially for me, bearing my name. The costumes for the "black"
helpers were sewn by Petra.

This sweet baby, together with her twin sister which I received from Petra earlier, will go
into the infant daycare center, one of the next projects I plan for next year.

The lovely cupcakes, chocolate bear and candies will go to my candy shop,  already showen in one of my earlier posts.

A felted snow man  will stand by my Christmas stall.

Thank you Petra and from here I sent you my best wishes and prayers for

A QUICK RECOVERY AND BACK HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Blessings to all

Second Anniversary Giveaway

Today I celebrate two years of blogging and this is my 200th post.  I never thought I'd have that much to post about and am ever so grateful for being here, for the friendships, inspiration, tutorials, sharing. concern and above all encouragement received.  Words of thanks to all my followers for being here, are not enough so here are two giveaways, made by me especially for you.

Giveaway No. 1  Except for the basket on the chair, everything was created by me.  The scale is 1:12".

Giveaway No. 2  Suitable for the nursary. The little doll was inspired from a tutorial by Wendy.
The chair was made by me.  I gave a tutorial for making chairs like these in one of my very early posts.

The rules are as usual, be a follower of this blog, new or old.  Comment on this post to let me know you want to participate and, only if you wish so, put a link on your blog. The draw will be on  December 31.

Blessings to all

Flowers for the gallery

Saw this on the online AIM magazine, this month, and thought it will look well in my future gallery.
I may change  the flowers a little but I like the idea.

The column is one of my dear friend Jennifer's gifts.

The Christmas gifts are almost ready to be packed.

It's peaceful here now and the weather is lovely. I hope it stays so for long.

Tuesday is the two-year anniversary of my blog.  My giveaway is also almost ready.  Stay tuned.

Blessings and hugs to all

Cease Fire

Thank you followers for your kindness and  concern.  I am deeply touched and very grateful to you.  It's so
good to have understanding friends in many parts of the world. I wish  there will be quiet and peace with no casualties on both sides.

Maureen is having a giveaway on her blog, I already recommended it in a previous post.  Yesterday I found this picture in our newspaper with an article about Salvador Dali's exposition going on now at the Pompidou Center, Paris.   A coincidence!  Doesn't it give you ideas?

Now that things are back to normal, I'll begin preparing a giveaway.  Will post about it soon.

Blessings to all

Snowman teapot

I hate to, and never before, have mentioned our political situation in this part of the world, but it seems we are at war again. 5 days of rockets from Gaza on civilian cities. A young mother and two civilians were killed, a baby and her brother injured on the first day.   The Israeli air force is trying to stop them, a difficult task as the terrorists hide behind innocent civilians and hospitals.  They shoot their rockets from school yards and mosques.

Each time the alarm sirens are on we have to stay in sheltered rooms.  It's not so bad here, where I live,
but it's not easy in the towns near Gaza.

I use this opportunity to thank all my online friends who were concerned and sent me emails. I am so grateful to you all.

Since I have to stay home most of the time, I am working on my Christmas gifts.  Remember the bead necklace I showed in an earlier post?  I had another brain wave and made this cute snowman teapot
I used the white beads from the same necklace to make it.

Blessings to all

Preparing Christmas gifts

This year's Christmas list has grown large.  I have 10 gifts to send to online friends. Also Hannukka gifts for friends here.  I have to think of new miniatures that I haven't made before.

Made some Xmas cacti and one trial plant.

Also made these little felt dolls from a tutorial by Wendy Craig.  For the body of some dolls I used pompons instead of rounds of felt.

All the reduced paintings are framed and ready to go to the gallery.  The gallery will have to wait until
after Christmas and Hannukka.  I have little time and a lot of work  preparing gifts.
There is also a giveaway to think about.  Shortly it will be two years I am here. Celebration time.

A big welcome to new followers and thank you for taking the time to visit and join in.
Daydreamer, Sulamita, Taina
Idske de Jong - Cannot locate your blog.  If you have one, please let me know.
Maureen - There is a beautiful modern chalenge giveaway in Maureen's interesting and quite new blog.
                  Go visit, I'm sure you'll love it.

Hugs and blessings to all

Paintings from Peru

I finished framing all 14 paintings which Ilona reduced and printed on fabric for me.

Before I start working  on the gallery box, wallpaper, floor, etc., here are some of the framed paintings.

This is a painting by Arturo Nieto from Quito, Ecuador. It is in wax pastels on paper.
Nieto paints people of Otavalo, Ecuador, in their beautiful traditional clothes. It was said that  when he was too drunk to notice, his wife sold many paintings behind his back, to feed the family.

As you can see, I still haven't had  the original  framed .

 

The rest of the paintings are all from Peru.

These four are all by Peruvian painter Camino Sanchez.

.

Here is how they hang on two opposite walls of our living room.  (Excuse the bad photos.)

Yesterday evening and today my reading list is unavailable.  I am really sorry for being unable to read your posts.

Blessings to all

 

Emeralds and Rubies

Hello all!

I took a break from paintings, babies, etc. and made some jewelry from bits of findings and finger nails stones.

I found two more bead necklaces to make teapots from. Here are some results.

As you can see, there are some marine miniatures, all in one necklace, for a seaside cabin if anyone is interested.

I wish you a wonderful weekend, with all my blessings.