Showing posts with label Beginning a Dollhouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beginning a Dollhouse. Show all posts

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Sinking it!


Hi, Thank you for visiting. There does not seem to be as many active blogs at present and I miss seeing what is happening. Instagram etc are wonderful for a quick photo but it is also good to have a forum to share the process of how our miniatures are made.

In the Swedish House I decided to have natural wood counters, a concrete apron-front sink, reeded cupboards, open shelving, a wood-fired style stove, mmmm what else was on the list ... oh, yes wood flooring and good lighting.


Isn’t it amazing .... in a mini house I can have almost anything I want!!!  But how to get it!
 
I started with a bamboo napkin holder and pulled it apart. This was a $3 investment that proved to work for all the counters I needed. The counter depth was correct so it was just the width and lengths to be cut.
The plate rack is basswood with bamboo skewers painted black set into the sides to hold the plates.


On the counter cinnamon buns are cooling beside a raised platform tray with the coffee pot, honey container and cups. Behind is a tray that Elizabeth made - at one time you could buy them laser cut ready to be punched out, glued and stained. E then put a motif suitable for a farmhouse on an island!
The sink is made of basswood, cut to size and then covered with drywall mud to soften the edges and after sanding I painted it with Antique White Acrylic Craft paint. The crackling was unintentional and happened after I painted it with a clear matt finish.
There is a drain and plug attached with a chain ... the drain is one side of a necklace box clasp.  I am very happy with the way it looks. I needed to hammer it flat and paint the area behind with black to Create the impression of a drain.  I searched through my metal collection to see if I had anything suitable. Yes, this is a requirement for mini house builders. I also had BB pellets from an air rifle (amazing things in my metal box!) - they make perfect pewter looking cupboard knobs!


I made cutting boards with basswood - scored, stained and threaded wire through the wood  to create the look of a leather tie for hanging up the boards.


Below you can see the bass wood box measured to set into the counter before mudding.


These are the cupboards in progress. You can see the texture of the sink prior to sanding. I did paint it to represent concrete but I was not happy with it in the room as I already had lots of grey. It looked so much more appropriate once it was antique white.


The cupboards are made with mat board boxes overlaid with bass wood to give the impression of cupboards and inlaid with ribbed craft foam that took paint very easily to make the reeded door panels.


The foam was so much easier to work with than creating the reeding in wood. Handy husband rebuilt a cupboard that you can see in a previous post for the bedroom. It has reeded doors in wood and it can be worth the effort.

Below is fabric  my friend Fatima gave me as it looked in the style of the Swedish house. I recovered these chairs that I had previously used in the French house.
Note the spacer beads attached to the bottom of the kitchen table. The table had a grid at the bottom that I removed but the table was a little low but it was a simple fix to increase the height and paint it.



Original upholstery below - more French than Swedish I thought.



The original table - meant as an island but converted to a kitchen table.


Below you can see the sink painted to represent concrete .... and the stove ... but that is a story for another post.  You must be a miniaturist to read to the bottom of this post!  Thank you for dropping by. I can also be found on Instagram: wordsworth502018 
Have a great weekend! 
Janine


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

New Project .... a Miniature House! Surely Not?

Dear All,


When you ask a best friend "what would you like for your birthday?" ... be prepared!



Elizabeth studioEminiatures.blogspot.com celebrated, in part, her birthday with us yesterday and when I asked her that question her answer was: "I want you to begin blogging again" and also ...

It is hard to say "no" to Elizabeth, yet alone NO!


I have finally begun a new miniature project. The French House took twenty years to complete. Handy husband gently suggested I should not plan on taking twenty years to finish this one.


My Miniteers friends had, for some time, been encouraging me to begin  - but begin what? That was my dilemma. Fatima & Elizabeth found me a very nicely-built dollhouse that I bought home and the thinking began in earnest

But it was so very blue! I am so good at procrastinating.





So handy husband painted it white so I could think easier or faster. (Trust me he is not reading the instructions - the brand new pressure tin nozzle was blocked.)



Then it did not look quite as the image I had for it. I am very good at delaying decisions.




So handy husband wielded the Dremel, the disk sander and the oscillating saw.




The house began to take shape. The balconies were removed. windows were raised and enlarged, walls modified, floor coverings removed, interior and exterior doors changed and



a little entry added to the front.




Looking better.


Elizabeth arrived, full of wonder at such amazing happenings. (That didn't last long. I could almost hear her thinking, but showing admirable restraint).  Then we had wine with lunch and she casually noted, "You realize of course one would hit ones head if you tried to walk up the stairs?".

Handy husband said "I knew that but I didn't mention it."

Out came the stairs for rebuilding.

Then we had dessert. "You realize that if you have a fireplace in the bedroom it will be too tight to walk around the bed?"

That is when I thought I should refocus the conversation and asked her what she would really like for her birthday.

"and an extra four inches on your project" she said quietly.



Elizabeth does not know handy husband as well as I do - almost before the words left her lips the saw and hammer were out and ....




Happy Birthday Elizabeth!  (Be careful what you wish for, I thought, but didn't say it out loud.)




Next Birthday lets go OUT for lunch!

Our other Miniteers, Fatima of Beauxminis and Linda lindasminiworld.blogspot.com could not be with us and I really missed their presence. They are so good at diverting the topic when they see that gleam in Elizabeth's eye. We know it can only mean more changes!


Would anyone like to attempt a guess at the "style" I am attempting? I hope someone can guess or I might have to make more changes.  Wait! handy husband ..... wait!




Thank you for visiting.

Janine





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