Something for the garden

My updates are few and far between nowadays, but mini still exists in my life!  As we have entered another year I would like to wish all my followers (whom I have neglected a fair bit!) a

Happy and Healthy New Year

Recently I picked up some of the magazines that I had received some two years ago, but never looked at, because I wasn't quite in the mood for miniatures.  However, I enjoyed once again leafing through them and I cam across an adorable seat for the garden.  I decided to make it for myself and would see if it would be good for a workshop for our miniatures club.  Well, I think it will, and I will take the sample to the next meeting for people to have a look at and decide.

I forgot to take step-by-step pictures, but here's the finished product:

I don't know if my dollshouse will ever have a garden, but I don't care, I just loved making this, and I am sure I will be able to display it somewhere...

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

A quick update

Being home for three weeks before we leave on our next trip to the south of France (near Lyon to be precise) I have just been able to finish two small items.  One for my florist and a workshop for the Brisbane club. The latter is a kind of tray for peeling potatoes or cleaning vegetables.  The tray is filled with a newspaper and, of course, muddy potatoes and a few leeks.  There's also a potato peeler and a pair of disposable gloves (naturally, because of the muddy potatoes!)  :-)

The picture isn't very clear, but because of time constraints is the best I could do for the moment.

And while I am away my workroom will be quite empty, because two kind girls from a local museum took away almost all of my roomboxes, as well as my witch's cottage, to go on display as exhibits for a "Toy Box"  exposition.  I was quite chuffed and honoured and I sincerely hope that I will somehow inspire a few people to join us in this great hobby of ours!  If someone local happens to read this, the exhibition is going to be held at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum from the 23rd of November 2012 till 10 March 2013.

Also the list of followers of this blog has grown, so when I will be back in January there are a lot of newcomers to be welcomed.  I will have more time, I hope, to have a look at your blogs as well, but for now, I welcome you briefly and I hope you will be happy browsing through my pages.

Till next year...

A Dollshouse and Miniatures Show in the USA

30 September 2012

In my last posting I told you that we were going to visit the Sates, and here we are: in Hamburg, NY!  We’ve been here for two weeks now and are enjoying ourselves. 

Before we left I have been trying to find out if there was anything going on in the miniature world in this neck of the woods, but in vain.  If you don’t have contacts or names of clubs or so you don’t get very far, but…  today we were lucky.  Frank was reading the newspaper a few days ago and saw an ad about the Western New York Miniatures Enthusiasts.  The were going to have a show on Sunday 30^th September not so far from where we are staying, so this morning we got into the car after breakfast and made our way to Depew, which I believe to be a suburb of Buffalo.

They had a display of various items, which I was kindly allowed to take pictures of, and a range of traders.  It was not unlike the Open Day of our Brisbane club, but it was nice to experience what miniaturists make and sell at the other side of the globe. I had a brief chat with two ladies who were on roster in the display area and they told me that they also have a small group of miniaturists who work together on projects in Hamburg.  I would have loved to pay them a visit, but they didn’t offer and I didn’t dare ask…  Never mind, I had a pleasant morning looking around.  And guess what, I didn’t even buy anything.  I was tempted to buy two little resin dolls for my Florist, but I told myself that I would be allowed to do so as soon as it was finished.  I need to work a bit harder and this kind of thing is a good incentive. J The club meets every 1^st Wednesday of the month to work on projects and every 3^rd Wednesday for a business meeting.

  

Next are a collection of the pictures I have taken in the display area:

A collection of rugs (cross stitch and French knots)

very small scale: "Bifocal Express"

Minis Cheaply Made (explanation below)

South Western Room in a book

American Room in a book

A club project (barrel) used in a scene

Arts and Crafts dining room

To Grandma's House we go

Live garden in a dish

Another live garden, but the plants "have been eaten by Chipmunks and ?"

Pumpkin patch with a difference :-)

Forecastle of a ship

Below decks of the same ship

Sunday in Church (view from the left)

 

Sunday in Church (view from the right)

Henry VIII in his dining room

A Catholic school

Miniaturists with a sense of humor!

17th Century Keeping room (right)

17th Century Keeping room (left)

 I hope you have enjoyed these pictures as much as I did.

See you next time when I have to tell you something of note...