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My Word for 2018

I have chosen my word for 2018 and it is “CREATE”. You can see more about why I chose this word and what my creative goals are on my 12Create blog here.

However, some of the 'goals' I have set myself for 2018 as they relate to miniatures are to keep making blog post entries in my 12Create and Myrtle Manor Miniatures blogs, to work on my photography skills, to set up an area to take indoor close up photographs, and to create miniature scenes and photograph them for Myrtle Manor Miniatures.

I will of course be working on some unmade miniature kits and the making of some scratch built miniatures over the course of the year as well but I make no promises as to what or when.

Happy creating everyone. Posted by 12Create at 12:49 PM 6 comments: 

Best Wishes for a Creative 2018

Hi Friends. It has been a long time since I have been on this blog. In fact it has been quite some time since I have been blogging. Life happened but I am really hoping 2018 will be a very creative year. I have just started to blog again on my other blog www.12createblog.blogspot.co.nz and as I work on any miniatures I will put a post on this blog Myrtle Manor Miniatures. I look forward to getting back into blogging and following other blogs.

Best wishes for a creative 2018. Posted by 12Create at 7:38 PM 9 comments: 

Donuts Anyone

I have decided to continue to use Myrtle Manor Miniatures for my miniature posts. I apologise that I am not very active in miniatures at the moment but I have been bitten by the quilting bug. I will definitely get back here. Please be patient with me.

In the meantime, a quick fun link:


Posted by 12Create at 10:52 AM 4 comments: 


12Create has been my user name on a number of creative sites for many years and now it is the name of my new blog.

I will still be doing miniatures but I want to explore a whole lot of other crafts as well. 12Create reflects this change in my creative journey.

I will continue to use Myrtle Manor Miniatures for my miniature posts. However, I do hope some of you will want to follow me on my new blog also. I look forward to sharing my future creative adventures with you.

Please go to 12Create if you wish to following my musings about quilting and other crafts.

12Create:  www.12Createblog.blogspot.co.nz

Posted by 12Create at 11:09 PM 5 comments: 


Hi my blog friends, this is me. I hate having my photo taken but I am putting it out there - this is me: Taken today - no make-up - but it is me.

It is now 2016 and I have decided this year is going to be a good year. I will focus on the positives. My daughter gave me a little heart blackboard for Christmas and I have written a message on it as a reminder for the year ahead: I haven't been around as much over the last  year. Two years ago my husband lost his management job which left us in a difficult financial situation. He has had a few temporary jobs in the interim but we have been unable to really get ahead. This resulted in us having to sell our house at a large loss last month and we are now living in an old rental property - on the bright side we no longer have a mortgage. Our future is uncertain as my husband is trying to get back into an IT position and we could end up moving at any time. During those two years my Mum also passed away and my father-in-law had a major stroke among other things. It has not been an easy two years but luckily if anything it has brought my husband and I closer together with a focus on trying to map out a good future for ourselves and our 13 year old daughter. One thing that did suffer was my creative endeavours - apart from having a nil budget I found it hard to focus on anything.

However, that is in the past and I am now determined to move forward both creatively and in other areas of our lives. While things are still financially tight I realise I don't need to let that restrict my creativity and I need to challenge myself to create again. I respond to being challenged - it gives me a goal to work towards. I am also focusing on trying to get fit and healthy and move myself from obese to healthy. My gorgeous daughter saved her money and bought me a Fitbit for Christmas which is motivating me to move more, eat more healthily and drink more water.

Speaking of my daughter, Jamie starts High School this year - I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. Dressed up for her leaving dinner at the end of her Year 8 Intermediate School year. Ready to go into her dance medal test in October with her proud father in the background.
(He wants me to note that he has a bit more hair now).

Anyway, while I have done little creatively lately I have given things a lot of thought. I realise that while I love my blog and my blog friends I had got to a stage where I stopped letting myself just do things on a whim because I kept pressuring myself to try and come up with something miniature to put on my blog. I found sometimes I was trying to persevere with things my heart just wasn't in. Unconsciously, I had stopped doing this for me. So while I am looking forward to getting back to blogging there will be changes.

In the past I have explored a number of hobbies - porcelain doll making, teddy bear making including miniature bears, book binding and book arts, fabric dolls, a little dabble at felt making, paper making and paper crafts, a bit of embroidery and more lately adult colouring in. I realise I am not good at limiting myself to one thing. While I want to continue in miniatures I do not want to limit myself to only miniatures. I am in the process of teaching myself crochet which has been a goal for quite some time - hopefully I can scale it down to miniatures. I also want to dabble more in embroidery including crazy quilting, tatting, more book art and doll making in different forms and improve on my wood crafting skills. I am sure there are other crafts out there I will want to explore as well. Of course whatever crafts I do learn and experiment with I will probably want to explore in miniature. I also used to really enjoy photography and want to get back into that as well as explore digital art.

Therefore in the future I am likely to blog about whatever I am doing at any given time. I will be doing things just because I want to do them not because I feel I have to do them.

I am sorry this is a bit long winded but I am getting this down in print as much for myself as to explain to my blog friends where I have been and where I am heading.

I have managed to set up a small work space in the rental and I am ready and rearing to go. Pride of place on my work desk is a gorgeous calendar received from Birgit of BiWuBaren on the Blog.  It will be a pleasure to move on creatively with Flubby and Rosey by my side. I was very happy and surprised to receive a Christmas package from Birgit in December. As well as the calendar and some marzipan chocolates I received two beautiful decorations to add to my Christmas box. The gorgeous red and green candle decoration on Edward Elf's table. The lovely wooden decoration at the back of this shelf. Love it. Also included were these stars that I can use to make something for the Christmas box.

Finally there was this gorgeous Christmas card. I just love Birgit's work and also her photography. I love the little characters with Flubby, especially the one on the left as I adore snowdrops.

Anyway that is it from me for today. I will be back soon. It is my last day of the Christmas holidays as I head back to work tomorrow. Today I am going to do some craft planning, have a go at starting a crochet granny square rug using chunky wool and anything else that takes my fancy.

Best wishes to everyone for 2016 - it is going to be a good year.
Posted by 12Create at 1:07 PM 22 comments: 



It is almost midnight on 31 December 2015 in New Zealand and we are about to welcome in the New Year. I will be back blogging in the New Year after a long break but in the meantime I just want to wish everyone best wishes for a happy healthy and creative 2016.

Posted by 12Create at 11:56 PM 6 comments: 


You may or may not have noticed I have not been present on my blog. I also have to confess to not having read any of your blogs for quite some time. My energies have just been focused on dealing with financial and family issues with little energy or motivation left to feed my creative side. I have also found it difficult to work on miniatures since I lost my Mum in December possibly because it is a hobby that initially my mother and I shared or maybe it is just because of the other things going on in my life. I think I just found I didn't need the pressure of trying to keep up with my blog for a bit.

On the positive side I have been playing around with an on-line Craftsy course making a little wall art quilt over the last week or so. It is not miniatures but it is the first creative thing I have been able to put my mind to in many many weeks. Hopefully it might give my creative energies a recharge. I have always wanted to play around with things to do with fabric and textiles but haven't really let myself apart from a short stint at felt making many years ago, the odd cloth doll and some counted thread embroidery.

I want to apologise to the winners of my giveaway because I have not posted your parcels as they were pushed out of my thoughts along with everything else. I will get them posted to you in the next few days.

I really have loved blogging and feel I have made some great blog friends. Please bear with me while I get my thoughts together as to how I wish to move ahead creatively.

I hope all is well with all of you. I will try and get back into reading some of your blogs. It just might motivate me. My art quilt (work in progress). Notice the little house - not a dolls house but quite quaint all the same. Made doing a Laura Wasilowki tutorial on Craftsy, Hand Stitched Collage Quilts.
Posted by 12Create at 9:28 PM 16 comments: