December Coming To an End

This month went by too fast! December is coming to an end and this is my first post for this month! It has been a busy month for me and my family. I also have not been feeling too well this month and dealing with some of the symptoms from graves disease (Though the doctors still say I am okay and don't need meds yet). Anyone with this disease knows how crazy things get when the doctors tell you that you are "just fine" because your blood work does not show that anything is wrong. The thing is you know your body and the fact that your immune system has started fighting and attacking things it should not, again. I am feeling muscle weakness and I am just not having it! I fought too hard to get the weight off and so I am back to walking. No P90x for the moment but I am starting back in January. I will start back doing Turbo Jam today. Anyway, That's a subject  don't even want to talk too much about right now because I can't dwell on it too much. It is what it is so I'll talk about the other stuff that has been going on.

The kids are home for winter break and no matter what BIG FUN thing we do, once it's done, the next words coming out of their mouths are... "We're bored" LOL. Oh well, I guess that means they need more housework and practice homework to do Huh??

The kids really aren't too bad. They are just being kids and I have been trying my best to not let them watch too much TV so with that comes the constant words, "What do we do now" or "We're Bored".

The beginning of the month, before bedtime, I started reading to them again. I read them a Chapter or two from the book "The Forgotten Door" by Alexander Key to start us off. We finished it in about 9 days.

My dad brought that book home to me many Moons ago (I was about 9 years old) and I loved that book so much! I still had it and found it in my multitudes of books stashed everywhere in plastic storage bins in the garage. Well, they loved it so much that this week, I will propose that they each create a diorama showing their most favorite part from the book. I checked iTunes,  Amazon, and audible.com to see if they had this book in audio but of course, they don't.

Anyway, Rachel likes to make dioramas so I am thinking this may be a fun project for them. The only problem I can find with it is the fact that Rachel & Sarah have about 5 miniature projects right now in their bedroom so space is getting limited. I'll let you all know how that turns out.

Now I am reading the Book "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt (Another book my Dad bought me as a kid). They like it a lot so far. We just started it last Tuesday and we are almost done with it. I'm not sure what we'll read next before bedtime.

I am thinking of a Book Called The Foreigner, the Story of a Girl Named Ruth By Gladys Malvern. This is a book that was being discarded at the school I worked at and I discovered that I really like a lot of books by this author and so I have several. This one will take longer to read but I think they'll like it a lot.

I also decided to change my entire room again. The colors are Brown and Teal & Turquoise. Turquoise is my Favorite shade of blue and has been forever and I was having some winter blues and decided hey, why not get rid of the black & white (Again) and go blue. So I did that on Friday LOL. Last year, I had a red & gold bedroom (My poor husband, bet he did not know his wife was gonna be addicted to textiles, dolls & dollhouses AND pretty papers when he said "I do" 15 years ago). He likes it though and only got annoyed a little bit this time about the change because he had to help put the curtains up and I kept telling him they were crooked and finally I went to get the chair to do it myself LOL. Sometimes, I think he does that so I won't be too quick to ask him to do something else LOL .

The picture is not of my actual bedroom (Cause I need to get two more curtain panels) And my furniture has more straight lines. I'll take real shots next week hopefully. Last year, I wish I had taken pictures of my bedroom because it was just so pretty. So every time I change it from now on, I'll take pictures.

I also want to change the girls bedroom colors too. Rachel is 12 and Sarah will be 8 next month. I think I will get rid of the Princess Castle stuff. I have changed their room a bit (These shots are from years ago) but the castle things are still there and annoying us girls and we are deciding on what to change things to. The pictures below are of the girls room. Oh well, I gotta go watch "spy kids" with the girls. I've seen it a Million times but it's one of our favorites! Hope you all enjoyed December so far and I hope you continue to have a good one! Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.

Dollhouse Miniature Shadowbox Scene

I had fun about a month ago creating a new shadow box scene that I have finally posted for sell in my CDHM Store http://www.cdhm.org/user/minisontheedge . You can see more shots of it by clicking here: http://gallery.mac.com/toppdollar#100611 .

It's so funny to me how I'll have a shadowbox scene up for sell in my CDHM store for months and as soon as it sells, I get multiple emails from different people asking me if I have any more available LOL . I make the Shadow boxes maybe 3 times a year but next year I am planning to do a class using the Shadow boxes.

I am also working on some gifts for some of my friends. I have 7 of them that I made and each one is different. I made extras last month and will be listing some of them for sell in my CDHM store this weekend. I call them "Hang Ups" Here is a Picture of one of them:


Also, this morning while viewing some posts on one of the groups I belong to, I cam across a wonderful free PDF on how to create Miniature Sweaters. I wish I knew how to knit. Here is the Link I want to say Thank you to Tantie from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MiniatureCollectorsClub/ for posting a different link that led me to that to share. I would also like to Thank Terri the owner of Miniature Collectors Club for having such a fun, wonderful and warm environment for all of us to hang out and talk Miniatures and dollhouses online. She is such a Fun and Fantastic person. I know sometimes it may seem that people don't appreciate all you do because a lot of it is "behind the scenes" work to keep things running smoothly. We may not express it verbally to you so today, I wanted to publicly let you know that You Are Very Much Appreciated by me Terri! Thanks for making that group feel like such a fun place to be.

So, what have you all working on? I hope you all have a Terrific Weekend!

Teresa's New Shop & Everything in between

I Just wanted to announce that my friend Teresa just opened up her Etsy shop this past weekend. It is Called "Knik Knaks n Paddy Wacks" You can visit it by clicking here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnikKnaksnPaddyWacks

She is a Wonderful Artist and she really teaches others how to paint creations of their own very well. Several years ago, Teresa made me a food tray as a gift and I just had to share a picture of it because I can tell you from experience that her stuff is Wonderful! We have used this tray a lot over the years (especially when someone is not feeling well). She has Wonderful hand painted art work right now and she will have items that you can use in every day life (Just like my wonderful tray) so you all have to keep on checking in to see her wonderful items!

Today mostly was a crazy day for me. My husband and youngest is still not feeling well. They went to the doctors office yesterday and my husband has a sinus infection & my youngest was given 3 medicines. One of them is a decongestant which still does not seem to be working. I'm a bit worried about her and may keep her home tomorrow though it is Crazy Hat day at school and we got her a crazy hat to wear and she posed for us a few minutes ago. It's so cute I had to share it with you all.



I hope you all are having a Super Fantastic evening! I stopped by my son & daughter in laws house tonight and bought them a pizza for dinner. They are doing so Fantastic and today is there 6 month marriage Anniversary. Young love is so sweet!

I gotta go play catch up. I have 2 friends I need to contact tonight before I go to bed and it's getting late around here so I hope you all stay safe and warm. A couple of my friends and I have been working on trying not to go to bed upset with anyone or worried about anything for the past few weeks. We have all found how good it feels to do that too. Sometimes, we can be mad not at people but "things". Things like the fact that we were not born Rich, Happy & Healthy LOL. I had been reading a book a couple of months ago and I started reflecting on the fact that we all have issues with one of those three things (If a person is Financially rich he may be lonely or not have his health. A person can be healthy but not be happy or rich) so we decided we can all work on being Happy no matter what our financial status is or what our health issues may be. Finding happiness in the little things in our lives will make us all so much more content because we are all focused on what is going on RIGHT in our lives.

So, I am asking you all to try it too. Don't go to bed upset with anyone tonight. Forget whatever it is (Argument over who ate your last piece of cake or kids did not do their homework before bed). Do not go to bed upset about any THING (the bills will be there tomorrow when you wake up so why worry about them). There is a saying "Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday, and all is well." So whatever it is pass out hugs & kisses before bed! Reflect on all the good things going on in your life. Forget that your knees hurt. Remember they hurt because you were able to walk around today or maybe you were dancing with the kids. Doing this will make those around you sleep better you will sleep better & you'll also wake up feeling better and more refreshed too which means you'll have a better day tomorrow.

Live with much Love & Passion!

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog tonight!

Fall Contest Winners Revealed

First off, We would like to say "Thank You" to all of you who participated in this years Dollhouse Appreciation Month Fall fun Contest on the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum at http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/. We had some Great entries. The Judges have all finally determined the winners. (drum roll ) They are as follows:

1st Place Winner:

Chris (username what2craftnow) has three wonderful 1/4th scale greenleaf houses she entered.



Her Story is for this scene is:

I don't really have a story to go with them ~ I just love the vibrant colors of Fall. It seems to me that Mother Nature pulls out all the stops and puts on the most glorious show for us before settling down to the stark contest of Winter. My houses are , of course, Greenleaf 1/4" versions of Sweet Shop and Brimble's from the "town" kit (betcha already knew that! lol) dressed up for the Autumn months (briefly, that is...they will undergo a season change right after you get these pictures...sigh) I only placed the foliage lightly for the contest, then I can do more permanent foliage afterwards, as these will be gifts. At any rate, I thought they were the perfect little places to showcase the beautiful Fall season. Hope you enjoy them!

2nd Place Winner:

Anna ( Username Anna ) has a Great fall scene in front of the Adams kit



Here story for this scene is:
So this is Jana, the childrens book illustrator who resides in Mz Chantilly, who promised to come over and help Viktor rake the leaves in his yrad while he struggled with installing the new stair rails to the top floor as the old had just withered away. Since Viktor lived out in the country side close to the sea Jana always brought all her furry friends with her, made for an interesting ride in the car to say the least. So while Jana tried collecting all those maple leaves, the little four legged ones wasn't much help, but when one of her kitties had one of those "eeek" attacks on the leaf basket, enough was enough for Jana who burst out laughing and joinig the gang in making a "leaf angle" which was most appreciated by the furry ones as well... The leaves? They aren't hurting no one and Jana has decided that she will call on Viktor to get down and help out building a leaf-man, or rather a leaf-witch, Jana has the hat and a scarf that they can wrap around it and give her a rake instead of a traditional broom. ... For me, fall is one of those wonderful seasons when the nature is really in full bloom when it comes to her dress, and raking leaves was one of the most fun and time consuming tasks while we had Trixie our little furbaby, I'd collect them in a nice heap, she would promptly get in the middle of the whole thing and "help out" in her own little way, of sniffing around looking for what might be buried underneath them all, which meant it took another round or two until we did get them packed into the compost... I am going to use the fall leaf scene on a tray as a centerpiece on the table this year, so thank you so much for the kick in the you-know-what to get thinking!!! ~ Anna

3rd Place Winner:

Monica ( Username Monica_The_Haunted ) Used the Greenleaf Annie's Lobster Shack for this creation



Her Story for her scene is:

I decided to make Doreen Valiente's Crypt. She is the the co-founder of Wicca whom we lost in 1999 when she crossed over to the Summerlands. Inside, you will find a portrait of Ms. Valiente on the wall. How could I not do a Halloween scene!? I made the Witches Crypt from "Annies Lobster Shack" using stone stencils, paper clay slate roof, paper clay flooring on the inside of the Crypt, and stucco on the walls. The foundation is made from carved foam, toilet paper, and glue, then painted, and covered in all kinds of ground cover. This is my little grave yard scen that will sit next to the Tennyson when she's done I could not have a haunted house without a grave yard after all! Happy Hauntings! Monica

The Judges also picked an Honorable Mention:

Also, Teresa ( username Minimadwoman )

Decorated the Greenleaf Arbor Kit & Greenleaf Haunted House Kit



When I think of fall I think of decorating with pumpkins, scarecrows, corn stalks and hay bales . . . but what really comes to mind? Memories from childhood of Halloween and candy apples, popcorn balls and pillowcases full of candy! Title: Pippi Goes Halloweening! I used one of the Greenleaf Arbor kits . . . built it and painted it orange. I have it displayed in front of the Greenleaf Haunted House kit that I built a few years ago. I decorated the arbor and placed it to the side of the house and then decorated around everything! Pippi is visiting with Mrs. Claus who has a tray full of Halloween cookies and candy apples . . . I wonder what Pippi will pick? I?d go for the red candy apple myself! LOL!! Pippi is dressed as a pumpkin and has a candy corn treat bag on her arm.

You can see pictures of all the entries by clicking here:

2009 Fall contest Entrants

Thank you for stopping by to read my Blog!

Fun Day With Friends

The Last Friday of October, I was so excited because I had made plans to go see my friend Teresa! She lives Near Madison Wisconsin and I live in the Kenosha Area (2.5 hours away). Earlier in the Week, my girls had the sniffles and I was worried that I would not get to see her. By Thursday morning, I decided to let Teresa know that they were not at 100% so that I could give her the choice of taking the chance and Catching it or not. I was so excited when she said "Come anyway and I'll have a box of tissues for you all"! That's one of the reasons why I always liked her, she's the type of person who will say "The show must go on".

So the girls and I had our stuff ready to go and we set off with our Yahoo map. 1 hr 45min later, the map said that we were only 10 min away. I was looking for the sign showing the airport and I knew I missed it. So we called Teresa and she helped us get back on track. According to the Map, my next step was to find CRM W (That is the way it showed on the map). Here on my side of Wisconsin, there are roads marked with multiple letters so we kept looking for the sign that said CRM W. 10 min later, we call Teresa again and discovered we were on the road to being totally lost LOL. 2 hours later (After talking to a Cop & Teresa a few more times) I found out that CR on the map meant "County Road" so I should have been looking for County Road "M" the W meant West though it did not say that on the map (stupid Yahoo map LOL) I did make it back on track to her house with the help of Teresa's Husband Brian & Teresa's nice calm voice guiding me along the way.

We arrived and the fun Began! She gave us a tour of her real home and introduced us to her wonderful pet family. Her birds are so cute and totally smart & friendly. The girls and I fell in love with them right away even though at first they were a bit shy. Picasso was my favorite and Sarah was in love with Baju. After we met the bird family, we met their wonderful Dog family. They too were very sweet (Especially Shelby) Oscar was a little fussy but I think it was just too many women in the house for his taste LOL. He was so funny. Any time Sarah moved he'd fuss and run away.

Then we went to the Dollhouse room and I got to meet her dollhouses in person!! They are so much more beautiful in person than the pictures she has up online. When we got to the last her houses, she had a present for me sitting there. She remembered that I collect Peacocks! Here is a picture of it:


After the girls and I enjoyed viewing her newest Dollhouse (The Clock Shop) and doll (House from Debsminis & Doll from Bella Dolls) we went to the Dungeon.

She had her table set up with everything we needed to have fun. Bowls of Candy and Doritos to snack on to keep the creative juices flowing. She had me send her pictures of the girls ahead of time and when we got there we saw why! She had Cardboard purses for the girls to decorate themselves and there picture fits in the outside pocket of it. She had paints, brushes and glitter and all things that sparkle. EVERYTHING that was Bling Bling was there! The girls were so excited. She then gave me a choice of wooden boxes the one I choose was circular and she told me to pick a pattern I would want to paint on it. I found one pattern but did not have the confidence that I could imitate it myself.

Well, I found out right away that Teresa is an EXCELLENT Teacher! She taught me how to hold the brush and where to add pressure to it to create the design I wanted and Violoa! I was able to create the same look on my box!! I was excited to see it look so much like the one in the pattern book. Here is a shot of that:



Brian (Teresa's Husband) Made Lunch (Taco's and Pop to drink & a layered Jello Surprise for desert ) which we ate on Teresa's fine China in her dinning room! We also drank our pop in her gorgeous Crystal Glasses. The girls were so excited because Brian & Teresa really made all of us feel like we were Special friends not just visitors stooping by! To see how special they treated the girls really touch my heart and made me feel once again how wonderful it is to know them and have them as friends. A few years ago we all went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (My Family & Brian, Teresa & Teresa's "Little Sister") and My husband thought they were pretty cool too (which made me feel happy that he liked them right off too).

After we ate, we went back to Play in the Dungeon. Brian made us a Batch of his Special Chocolate Chip cookies and when I tell you they were the best things I ever tasted, I am not stretching the truth! They were totally Divine!! While we were working, Teresa mentioned she wanted to build a Lily dollhouse kit soon. Remember how I said I will never build that kit again unless the person paid me 1 Million dollars because it was one of those kits I had to read the instructions in order to do it right LOL (I hate reading instructions :) when I build even though it's a totally beautiful kit). Well, I told Teresa, when she decided to build it, that I would come spend an entire weekend with her and do it with her. As soon as she told me the story of the lady who will live in it (the doll she will have live there), I was totally sold on wanting to help her build it. Teresa is such a sweet and giving person. When you find people who are truly Good, you love to be around them and I think being with her while I build that house will be fun. I will keep you all posted on that event. The girls were bummed that I said I would stay at her house that weekend without them cause they really liked being there. It was great fun.

Here is a Picture of their project:


So as we completed our projects I noticed the time. I did not want to leave too late at night because as you remember, I got lost getting to her house. So as we prepared to leave, Teresa said I could follow her car to the highway so I would not get lost trying to find it (Even though Brian had already drawn me a map). I was touched by that.

You can get to know Teresa a little bit too by visiting her Blog at http://minimadwoman.blogspot.com/

Today, why not take the time and reflect on your friendships and think of how much your life is enhanced because of the friends in your life. Being with her that day made me think of the Scripture in the Bible found at Proverbs17:17 which says "A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother that is born for when there is distress." (Quoted from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures).

Brian & Teresa was so loving to us and she knew I was distressed about the drive & went out of her way to show me the correct way to get back on the highway so I'd make it home safely. Today, I celebrate my Friendships, Old & New! I hope you all do the same!

Thanks for stopping by to Read my Blog today!!

Twilight's Bella & Edward's Dollhouse Cottage

No this is not the real one yet (Working on it next year) But was I playing with my newest house last night (No I am not finished with it yet). I have Bella Swan & Edward Cullen Action figures in front of the house. I know, I have way too much fun with these houses and need to get working on finishing it. Enjoy the pictures:







Click any picture to go to see more shots!

Update on The Fairy Tale Dollhouse Cottage

I just wanted to post a couple of updated pictures of the new cottage. To see even more pictures, please click on any image to see what photos are in the album!

New Dollhouse Creation by Tracy Topps

Yes, I am working on a new Project that is for sell. These are pictures of what it looked like last week before I went away for the weekend. This is an altered and bashed Greenleaf Buttercup Cottage and I created & edited it to fit what has been going on in my imagination for a couple of years now. It should be complete and ready to ship next week.

If you are interested in buying this cottage, please feel free to contact me via myminishop@yahoo.com

The Fire walk with Anthony Robbins

Well, I am back from my Wonderful Long weekend . My husband and I did a seminar together and I am still not ready to type out all of what I experienced yet. It was Amazing! We all had the chance to walk on hot coals (yes, real burning, steaming hot skin searing coals at 2000 degrees) and my Husband (Who I have now given the title "Fire Walker") did it!!

I chickened out, Can you believe it! ME, the bold, courageous & fearless one LOL. My husband is usually the "responsible" one and we had to drive 50 min back home and I was afraid we would burn our feet and be stuck with no place to stay so I wouldn't do the Fire walk.

I stood and watched everyone come back in through the back doors and NO one that I could tell had a burn on their feet. My husband was fine and I was so proud of him! He did something that he normally would not do where as I guess I did too. I did not take a chance (which is really different for me). Sheesh, my name is Tracy and it means "Bold, Courageous or Defender" (that's the feminine definition LOL). But I guess I did not think my husband was gonna actually do it because he had been saying all along that he would "Never do that" and of course I had been telling him for months why he should and why I am going to do it LOL. I was also a little nervous at the last minute that I would be burned and unable to work out and do my P90X this week. Hey, I lost 38 pounds and want to lose another 11 before the end of the year and I can't do that with burned feet, right (yeap, me making excusses LOL) ? Oh well, I guess it just means that I have to go to another one of Tony Robbins events so that I can experience the Fire Walk.
;)

So far, that is the only thing I can write about from this weekends expirence. It has been a Wonderful experience and all I can say is I am feeling like the Tracy I used to know and I am excited to Welcome myself back to living. I learned a lot more than I anticipated I would about myself and how I let things & people around me change me so much. Anyway, I'm back big time baby!!

I have several houses to complete this week so, I better jump on it. I hope everyone had a Great weekend too & Thanks for stopping by to read my blog!!

I'll post pictures of the next house that I am finishing up that will be for sell. It will be available to purchase next week. All other houses I am working on are already sold (if you want one for the Holidays, place your orders NOW). So, off to the Dungeon I go so I can get some work done.

My Friend Lynette Weight Loss Story

My Friend Lynette & her weight loss journey!

Well, I posted a new picture in my profile today and had a friend pop in to instant message me on facebook LOL I did not know I could do that in facebook (told ya I still don't understand the facebook thing but I'm getting there). It was so good to hear her voice and catch up.

She's has been my inspiration for working out this year. She has lost a total of 330 pounds. You can see pictures of here weight loss journey HERE . You can read and be inspired too by it by reading HERE . We met online many years ago (at least 6 years ago) and have had the chance to become really good friends and have even met offline in person to take classes together at the Bishop show about 4 years ago which were totally fun. You Go Nutti Web Gal and for those who know her personally, she is Lynette! Hugs & Congratulations to you my friend!! Thank you for always being such a bright spot of sunshine in the lives of many of us!!

this is her before the weight loss picture and what she looked like when I saw her in person:

She always have such a positive outlook and was always so cheerful. You would have never guess the turmoil she was feeling inside.
This is her now!!
I hope to be able to meet with her next year and catch up and have some fun! The Great thing is Lynette is still the same fun and cheerful person she has always been. I miss her on the Greenleaf dollhouse forum but I am so happy she is LIVING her life and enjoying it more actively now!


Okay, I am going to work out now!

Dollhouse Appreciation Month Contest

Tracy Topps (that's me) & Deb Roberts (of Deb's Minis) are having a Fun Fall Contest on the Greenleaf Forum! Come Join in on the fun. See more details about how to enter and to see the przes by Clicking here: Fall Fun Contest


Prizes Are 1" Scale

First Place Prizes Are:





Second Place Prizes Are:





Third Place Prizes Are:






Also, all three winners will receive some other Wooden Craft Kits donated by our favorite Company, Greenleaf!

September 2009 Greenleaf Dollhouse Gazette

That's Right, The Greenleaf Gazette is up and Ready for everyone to check it out. Read about what's going on with our Favorite Dollhouse Company & see what has been going on at the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum Click Below:

September 2009 Greenleaf Gazette

If you have not already joined our Greenleaf Family, now is a GREAT time to sign up and become part of our Wonderful Dollhouse Family!! Click Below:

Greenleaf Forum

Thanks for stopping by to read my Blog Today!!

Greenleaf Taft General Store Kit

Greenleaf Just released a new Laser Cut house (It went live last night in their online shop). The Taft General store is such a cool kit and is bigger than the Brimbles Mercantile. One of the cool features I love about it is the fact that it has outdoor stairs so the stairs will not crown the room space. The shop can be downstairs and you can have living quarters upstairs!

It's a cool and fast build too. To Order one and to see bigger pictures, click here:

http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Taft-General-Store-Dollhouse-Kit.html

Custom Dollhouse Whispering Cove

This is the Whispering Cove. It's a dollhouse dream that started with a customer wanting me to build her a Cottage from the Orchid dolhouse kit. My customer decided she wanted something much more grand than just a cottage. This Customized Orchid now features a Tower, Cave, wrap around stone stairs and it all pops right out of the Rock like mountain base. Better pictures are forth coming when the weather finally gets better here but I wanted you all to begin the weekend with some cool eye candy!

The cool and Handsome guy is, of course, Edward Cullen once again. I Love this action figure. He has a James Dean look about him.

See more pictures by Clicking Here