My dolls house - part 12

Was it really May when I last worked on, and posted news about, my dolls house?  Shocking!  I have not worked much on it, and I have also been away and tied up with other things.  However, last week I decided it was time to get my act together and do some more work.  In all honesty, I have had that dolls house for so long now, nearly 16 years (!), and I think I am sort of loosing patience with it.  I want to see it finished, because I am getting a bit bored with the crappy furniture and I don't want to spend too much time on it.  I want to finish my florist and I want to start on my 'Dutch' dolls house for which I have been collecting and making stuff for years too.

Anyway, here's what I have done in the meantime.  Part of the pictures you will have seen before, because I have returned to downstairs and started to decorate the living room.  I have a box full items which I have made, bought or been given over the past years and it's quite a collection by now.  So, first a few items for the living room.

The Livingroom

I should take some more close-ups later, because you can't see it, but on the table I have a beautifully tatted doily underneath my vase with roses.  The latter I have made myself, the doily was bought from a friend who does beautiful tatting work. Photo album (made by myself), teapot (won in a raffle), cup and saucer (been given when extending a magazine subscription), leaf shaped tray with licorice allsorts (both been given a long time ago). The knitting work and basket were give-aways from Denmark.

The corner cabinet is new and fills the corner nicely.  In it some vases I have bought, a swan-planter which was a gift and a 'jade' elephant, which I made myself from Sculpy.

The bookcase I have made almost in the beginning when I started on the house, together with most of the other furniture in the living room.  My husband's hobby was building model boats and I'd started on a miniature one way back, but only finished it recently.  I am quite happy with the result.

The book stands were a workshop by a 12 year old girl.  She was very creative and I loved making those. The plate is finely painted fimo, given to me by a Dutch friend (as was the 'Goudse' vase on the mantlepiece).

The collection of books, which doesn't look like much when you see them all in the one book case, is quite considerable.  There are clumsily-made books, fake books, readable books, handmade and bound books and magazines.  A bit of everything.  My first books were created from blocks of wood with covers designed on the computer and printed.  Later I stepped up gradually to bound books, of which I am very proud.  Of course, the origins of books vary as much as all other items in my dolls house.

Most of what I have in my collection is listed in a database, so I know the origin, the date, and lots more. The only problem is that I had a crash in 2005 and don't know what I have lost in the database and of late I have become very slack and keep forgetting to update it.  I should be more vigilant, because it is such a treasure to have everything listed.

On the mantlepiece a clock made of fimo, the 'Goudse' vase and an oriental figurine given to me by a Dutch friend as well, back in 2001.

A crappy picture of the fire place, but it's not new so I should have better pictures somewhere else on the blog.

Ah, at least this picture shows the doily a bit better.

The Hallway

The hallway was too dark to take a decent picture without flash.  The only new item here is the standing coat rack.  The umbrella, walking stick, beauty case, apron, hangers, bag with binoculars are all given, made or bought over the years.

The Bedroom

Apologies for yet another crappy picture.  Today was not my day, I think...  This is the newly made wardrobe in the bedroom, where wall-to-wall carpet is now in place as well.

The mirror.  When hubby was still around I used to get some help with difficult jobs, like cutting mirrors and such.   As I am not good at doing those kind of things I had to resort to the foil that came with the stand. And I don't have the patience any more either to work in such detail.  I want this finished!!!!  Sigh....

Slippers were a gift, panty hose and underwear were made by me, the flowers were a gift as was the little heart on the pillow!

At the moment I am making the night stand, or bedside table, whatever you want to call it and on top of the dresser will be placed a smaller mirror.

I am also making a cradle, but I think I will place that in the attic as I was sick of the dark brown stain and I am painting it white and blue.  Something different.  I need a change! ;-)

Over the years I have won several raffles and one of them is a Chrysnbon set for the dresser.  I may start on that one soon too.

Well folks, that's all for now.  See you around

My dolls house - part 11

As I had started on the doors yesterday, that was what I was planning on finishing today.  Very fiddly work again, not only glueing on the strips:

but the hinges can be a downright pain in the neck when trying to hold the little nails:

Finishing touch on the doors

Attaching the hinges

Tiny nails, hard to put into place

However, the bedroom door is in place and I haven't lost a nail (yet)!  Hopefully the bathroom door will be as obliging...

The bedroom door closed...

...and open

 
Finished for today.  As I will have a busy weekend the rest will have to wait for a few days.  See you then.

The pinball machine finished

Finally, after three years, I have been able to finish my pinball machine.  It still needs to be hooked up to a power source, but otherwise it's done and looking good, even if I say so myself.  I put on the finishing touches last night, so that I could go on with hanging the doors of my dolls house today.  However, a picture first:

The pinball machine
(flipperkast in Dutch)

In all honesty, I didn't build this from scratch.  It was a workshop/kit which I started in the Netherlands, but needed further help to finish it.  It's very tricky with all the electronics inside (for sound and light) and the fiddly little bits at the top.  Now I have to think about fitting surroundings...

My dolls house - Part 10

If you have been following my blog while I was still active updating, you may have wondered why nothing has happened for over a year now.  Those who have had a look at my other blog, the Florist, will know that my husband has passed away early last year under rather tragic circumstances.  The whole year has been one of trauma and every time I tried to take a step forward I went three steps back.  Only now my depression, which had followed the incident, is beginning to lift and I have plucked up the courage to start working on my miniatures again.  I also did so halfway through last year, but without much success.  Seeing that we are a lot further down the track I am a bit more optimistic, but will take small steps and only work when I feel like it.

So, not feeling very creative just yet, I have decided to go back to my Del Prado house, which now has been 15 years in the making...  The way I have gone about it, working on a room at the time, without finishing the building and painting all the way through was not very clever, but.... I have always thought of this house as my 'trial' house, which doesn't necessarily follow a certain period, but is put together with stuff that I feel like using at the time and I am learning (yes, still learning after 15 years!) in the process.

Downstairs mostly finished now I have moved to the next floor.  The curtains in the living room needed to be finished off with a bit of painted cardboard at the top:

A cover for the pelmet

The bedroom is next.  Another reason for the delay, besides not having had an interest in miniatures for a while, was that I did not realise I had wallpaper left over.  So, I have been searching high and low and every show, in every internet shop, but could not find the same paper.  It wasn't until I was cleaning out some stuff that I discovered the rest of the wallpaper in a spot where I had not looked before.  I made a minor mistake with the lining up, but I wonder how often it will be apparent...

Front wall papered and ready for the curtains

It took a while to find something decent for flooring, as I don't like the original flooring (paper) that came with the kit, nor do I like ordinary wall-to-wall carpet very much.  I now have found some old embroidery linen that I have given a darker hue by soaking it in tea and will lay that in the bedroom.  It is supposed to look like sisal.  To intensify the darker colour I have also painted the floor dark brown, so the darker underground will come through.  Hopefully it is not going to cause problems with glueing later!

The curtains were next.  I kind of like making curtains, but don't like using the pleat mats.  I shape them on a board and spray them with starch, although the starch didn't take on the velour, but the fabric draped quite easily.

The curtained bedroom window

A looksey from the outside

I personally prefer windows with windowsills, but there isn't much room for them in this house, so the only room with windowsills is the kitchen.

My next step is hanging the doors.  Here again I ran into problems, because the stain I used some 15 years ago has not been available any more since many years.  When I complained at the hardware store about the difference in colours and texture I was given a can of varnish for free.  I was told to experiment with the new stain I had bought by mixing it with the clear varnish.  It works a treat, so I am very happy.  No differences any more, which is good, because I still need to do the doors and the rest of the matching furniture...

Doors in the making