My dolls house - part 2

 
I received so many lovely comments last time.  Thank you all.  It seems you are waiting for another instalment.  Well, here we go....

I finished the kitchen in June 2002.  As by then I had been making miniatures for approx. 4 years I had gathered a lot of stuff: items, either bought, received as gifts or swaps, or made by me.  I still couldn't wait to see results, so I arranged everything in my new kitchen and took a few photographs.  Actually, I did the same at a few stages.  The first piccies were taken when I hadn't put in the false wall yet, nor had I finished the cabinet completely. Also the table and chairs were still painted white.  However take a look.  I plonked everything in that kitchen that I had.  Couldn't care less what it looked like. ;-)

A cabinet by Reuter, given to me by a SIL for my birthday.

Swaps, gifts, purchases, they all took pride of place. 
Even a pizza made by a creative 11 year old girl.

The unfinished kitchen cabinet, which still needed door knobs and a curtain.

The bread, fruit and apple pie at the back were amongst the first items I ever made from polymer clay.  There's even the smallest of items: a little matchbox (but I didn't make that one myself).

After I had put in the false wall I started on a few more cabinets for the kitchen.  By then I had become more creative and started to repaint everything.  I also used different colours, because I reckoned that in a real kitchen we don't always have matching colours.  More often then not we gather stuff over the years and I wanted this to become a 'lived in' house. 

An open cabinet to store whatever needs a place in the kitchen

I called this a meat safe in the beginning, but it isn't really a meat safe, although the part at the top could be used as one, because of the sort of netting in the doors.

 At the time I was particularly proud of this cabinet, because I had changed it.  The original cabinets couldn't be opened, but I made an opening drawer in this one, and the top doors even have old fashioned wooden handles now that can really turn to lock the doors. It's a shame though, that I don't have the money to cover the slots with fineer.  I hate the look of the tab-and-slot furniture.

The curtain and door knobs fixed.

The little shelving thingy above the cabinet is a replica of the same I saw in the Del Prado magazine that came with the house.  I made it out of polymer clay and wood.  I still love it.  It must have been beginners luck, because I have tried to make it twice more and never succeeded as well as the first time.

Look at these cheeky little kittens (and do you see the opening drawer?)

Cushions for the chairs, which by then I had distressed to make them look worn and old.

Little mice and a mouse trap.  The latter made by the 11 yr old girl's brother.  He was younger, but I can't remember his age for sure.  Possibly 7.  They were both so very creative.  They made these things all by themselves.

And last but not least (for today that is), an overview of the kitchen before I took it all down again to start building the rest of the house:

The table has been redecorated with some folk art flowers on the sides.

I can't deny my background: there are a few Dutch items to be found in the picture for those who are 'in the know'.

You may wonder about my 'very good memory', because I seem to remember the origin of every item.  Well, most of the time I do genuinly remember, because if they have been swaps or gifts I have a fond memory of the person and I can instantly recall.  However, I am very grateful to have heard of people keeping a log about their dolls houses, because that is what I have done from day one.  Everything is accounted for.  Well, eh (red faced now!) I think I have a bit of catching up to do over the last few years.  I've become a bit slack.  So, if you don't see a new posting the next few days you know what I am busy doing...........

Bye for now

And then there was water...

For a long time I had this old little pond.  Some ten years ago I attended a workshop where we learned to make moulds with latex.  You know, that thin stuff that you paint over your item of which you want to make a mould, and you paint on coat, after coat, after.....  I think we did 24 of them!!!  We had made this little pond out of clay and then, with the mould we made one out of plaster of Paris.  Anyway, this was meant for a garden theme in a break-away box which I never finished, because I didn't like the pond.

I wanted to finish my witch's cottage and need water in the swampy area next to it.  Since I've never used clear resin I thought it would be a good idea to practice and what better then on this little pond?  I painted it, and luckily I hadn't done that until now, because I wouldn't have done a good job.  Since Rik Pierce's workshop I have learned to do things a lot differently, so I painted the rocks the way they should be done to look realistic.  I 'planted' some plants on the water's edge and fabricated a few goldfish from fimo and set about filling this little fish pond. 

And this is the result:

Perhaps I am going to finish that break-away box after all, but don't hold your breath. :-)

This'll be my last posting for a while as we are going on holidays for a few weeks.  See you soon and as always, thanks for reading my blog and for all your kind comments.

Bye for now
Marion

More pictures after all

I said earlier that I had forgotten to take pictures while I was working on the project, but that was not completely true.  I did take a few, but not exactly step-wise.  I took one, when I was busy mould making on the kitchen bench.  Lucky me, I have a huge bench, so I don't miss the space much that was taken over by my mould making equipment.  It is still in a similar state, because I had an additional booking and so I need to pour more casts.

Before I knew of the extra booking I realised I needed door handles. I didn't really feel like making moulds for such tiny items, and pouring resin in such little quantities wasn't attractive to me either, so I sat down and in a few hours I'd made these from polymer clay:

I have to be honest and tell you that I pinched the idea from the Internet. They looked so cute when painted. Now I have made moulds of them after all, since I need to do more casting and can use up extra resin if I have mixed too much.  They might come in handy somewhere else.  There are two sorts: for inside and outside and the way I have made the moulds I can use them on the left or right hand side of a door.

I also took a picture of the fireplace before I put it in. I don't know why. Perhaps I wanted to have a picture to remind me how I'd done it, instead of writing it all down. I have been taking notes while I was working on the project, otherwise I can not make a proper scenario for the workshop.

I wanted to keep it simple, yet effective, so I used left over foam core and balsa wood.  That's all there is to it.

Well, that's really all the pictures I have.  I haven't got anything else to show you today, because I am preparing yet another workshop.  We are going to make a photo album when we have the next club meeting in Brisbane.  I am busy putting the kits together and all it is is cutting paper and card. I do have a cutter for my card making, but it's old and worn out and not very precise when it comes to working with millimeters.

That brings me nearly to the end of today's posting.  All that's left is to say 'Welcome' to my friend Ria from Variaatjes WorkshopBoxes, who's now also following my new blog.  So, welcome again Ria.  Glad to see you here too.

And just as I had published this post I discovered I had another follower, so back to editing and saying: Hello to Sylvia from Spain.  Sylvia loves miniatures, but is also into graphic design, photography, interior decorating, cross stich and scrapbooking.  (Yep, my Spanish is definitely improving :-0)  Have a look at her blog: Miniaturas Natasylvia.

And now I'll have to think of something to show you next.