Pony Room Update

Just wanted to update you on the kids rooms in the big house. I mixed the paint for the walls in the girls room.  The color is much prettier than you can see here. Lighting can be really tricky inside of these little rooms. I tried several techniques, but still did not get it right.

I got a bit of white paint on the walls then tried to blend it in. YUK! Also, the brush bristles  left things a bit streaky. I had to mix a whole new batch to even things out. Lesson learned: mix much more paint than  you need.

The carpet is installed and the window treatments are on their way.There will also be working lighting in there. The pillows are from my stash which come from a variety of sources.

My friend Bill tried to teach me to cut moulding, but I think I need another lesson. I really want to have nice crown moulding in all of the rooms. Window and door framing will also give it a nice finished look. I am working on those. I want her to have a door to her room. After all little girls need their privacy!

 My stash also has lots of cute knick-knacks and wall accessories to go around and I can't wait to get them in there!


With the exception of the paint faux pas, I am pretty satisfied so far




Wall repainted, but still wet. Touch-ups after door and windows completed.

UP-UPDATE!

I can't help it. When I get a mini idea I have to act on it immediately even if it is out of order. Hence the bed canopies. I think they will look even better once the window treatment gets up. Normally, the curtains would go up first, but I just had to see how this would look. The wall was still  wet. LOL



I think the canopies really add to the room.



Sheets are clearly needed. LOL

Click on picture for a larger view

Mini Jazzi takes the US!

Hi all,

Mini Jazzi is still traveling all over the world! She was in the U.S. and visited a few states with Iamazing. Her destination was the Tom Bishop International Doll show in Chicago. However, she enjoyed the journey as well.



Check out MJ on her trip!


Click on picture for a larger view

Sweet Dreams...Clowns and Ponies

Here are a couple of rooms from the big house I bought a few months ago. I want the family to appear rather wealthy, because the house is so big. The wallpaper is actually 1:1 trim.

The boys' room belongs to a set of five-year old twin boys. I dug in my stash and came up with the circus theme. I have shelving and other things waiting to be added.

The girl's room belongs to their nine year old sister who loves My Little Pony. The little pony was also already in my stash! The My Little Pony theme seemed just right for the little girl in the family and a sleepover friend. I am still searching in my goodies for just the right carpeting and fabric for pillows. The comforters are a Barbie sized cut in two. As soon as I cut the wallpaper from around the windows and I find the right fabric, I will make the curtains. I am thinking of perhaps the pink I already have. It is cotton and I am not sure it will match up with the "satin" bedding.



Bedding and curtains are on the way!



Just as I was snapping this the picture moved. LOL

I couldn't believe the match to the wallpaper!

On the hunt for other matching mini My Little Pony stuff.

Click on picture for a larger view

They Will

In my treasure trove shopping, I often pick up things just because they look cool. Other times I get a whole scene in my head. This was a combination of both. It looked to me to be a reception hall for weddings and such. I thought the couple looked like the father-daughter dance at a reception so I paired them. I believe it is a Bratz house. I was too lazy busy to go out to the duplex studio to double check.

The "chariot" was painted black with intentions of adding gold trim as a gift for a fashion doll's wedding last year. I never finished it and of course never sent it, so I never mentioned it LOL.  It can be used by a fashion or 1:12 doll.

Now, I think I will paint it white with gold trim to match this scene. What do you think about that? Black and gold or white and gold?

I have several ideas to add. This is of course part of the growing neighborhood!

The reception hall and outdoor accents

Please excuse the man at the bar during the father-daughter dance.
He is one of those cousins we all have.

This is the back or front depending on how you look at it. :-)
I would like to paint it, but it has so many details it feels daunting.



The outdoor gazebo for pictures.

Partial view of the chariot.

Click on picture for a larger view

Mini Neighborhood Breaking Ground!

Here is just a peek into the "neighborhood" room. It will feature three scales. They will be 1:12 and 1:24 in this room. The main room will be 1:6. The walls may be decorated with smaller scales.

Here is one half the 1:12 neighborhood room. The houses may not remain in these positions. I know at least the personalities of the families moving in. That gives me an idea how to decorate the houses, which of course, may all change as I go along. So far, I have three 8 foot tables up. This is the bedroom of a one bedroom duplex apartment behind my house that I used for storage which means I had to clear it out first...puff puff...
 
When I purchased the last two houses, several people asked to see the insides. I have since torn off most of the wallpaper, window treatments  and flooring in the yellow house. I like the inside of the black and white house. After repairing the windows, I won't do too much else to the walls. Unless a family of kangaroos live there, I will need to put another set of stairs going to the top floor where I will add two or three more rooms.


This is what you see when you enter the room

Sorry, it is so dark. Lighting isn't set up in there yet. This the summer resort area in another section of town. More about that later.
 

 

What is a resort area without horseback riding? The box set was only $2!

The unfolded inside of another house.

The unfolded outside.

Interior of yellow house.

 

Two upstairs rooms of the yellow house with the lights on. The top floor has ceiling lights. Downstairs only has outlets.

The interior of the black and white house. Right now, I have the first layer of polyurethane on the bottom left floor.

 
There is so much to do. I didn't realize I was setting up my free time for the next five years when I came up with this idea! I guess I will be The Great-grandmommy by the time I complete it.  LOL

I plan to put in something green for the lawns. Felt seems too artificial. Real indoor/outdoor carpet seems out of scale. I even thought of velvet. Sigh...we shall see. I know some of my favorite thrift shops are right now drawing just the right materials to them for me to find.

Check out the fire station. I actually bought this for one of my grands who will never know that. LOL It was less than $2! I didn't realize it was a fire station! It is sturdy corrugated cardboard.

The firehouse in comparison to one of the houses. I will add other props in there along with the sofa.

I have so many ideas for other buildings. Promise to keep you posted!

Click on pictures for a larger view

Laugh Break!

 Come on and take a minute from your crafting to have a laugh! Someone from one of my Yahoo mini groups shared this with the group. Funny!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297585/Wild-squirrels-pose-charming-pictures-photographer-hides-nuts-miniature-props.html#

I'm glad I did!


Something for you to enjoy while I get new posts ready for you. :-)

HOUSE STYLES

Now that I have decided to create a "neighborhood", I thought I should know more about the houses I am working with and those in general. I knew a little about architecture and house designs. My guess was that there was much much more to know. I knew I wanted a custom houses look and I didn't want a street with cookie cutter houses. I even considered changing a few things to change the style of a couple of them. That is where the research began.

It appears that three of my dollhouses are what is called "foursquare", which makes them look somewhat similar to one another.  I am still checking to see if that is correct. In my quest to learn, I came across this info. It is a list of house styles you might see anywhere in the United States even though some are traditionally regional/national styles. House Styles
 It is Wikipedia so take that into consideration. I still found it useful.

While it is not always necessary to go by the book, creativity makes things interesting, there are times when we do want to use style and period references in our work.

I hope this information was helpful!


Pretty basic with the notable foursquare look

This is the same as above except for the porch and additional roof area.





Even though this is much larger than the others it still has the basic look

Here Comes the Neighborhood!

Ok, so I was shopping in a thrift shop a few days ago while talking on the phone to my friend Jean. As a matter of fact, it is the same one where she and I first met. We chatted about a few things then all of a sudden I could only say, Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! There before me were two beautiful doll houses with three bags of furniture!  This time, unlike before, I rushed over and looked at their tags. They were not sold! In the mean time, Jean was on the other end saying. "What!What!What! Funny of all people she would be the one on the other end at that time!

I told her what I saw and all she could say was, "are they sold? Oh! Are they sold! Still standing there, I expressed my guilt about how many dollhouses I already had and how it would be ridiculous to buy not one but two more! Jean assured me that if it were her...she would certainly buy them. Ok, I said...I am getting them. And that I did. Take a look.

This is the larger of the two. I can do a lot with that porch

I love the little curtains. And it is electrified! But, needs to be reconnected.

I will show the insides of these houses when I start working on them. Which might be soon.
I am now setting up a "neighborhood" in my studio.
We know how I am always doing multiple projects at once. :0D

For years I never even saw ONE dollhouse...now they are everywhere! LOL

Click on pictures for a larger view

Click on picture for a larger view

Mini Jazzi in Florida

After much hand wringing by her aunties, Mini Jazzi finally arrived at her next destination! She visited lyssaheartsdollhouses.blogspot.com in Florida in February.

She seems to be getting much needed down time after her travels. She has made a few friends and seems to be really enjoying her visit. Go check her out!

 

Where to next?

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A Real Friend-No Request Needed

I recently went to visit my dolly friend. She and I became friends after I had a mini sofa in my shopping cart at one of our favorite thrift stores and she thought the cart was abandoned. I have a habit of putting stuff in my cart then finding myself further away from it as I wander down the isle. I came back  let everyone eyeing my goodies know they were spoken for.
Later, I ended up behind Jean at the cash register. She mentioned she liked the sofa and she had dollhouses. What! I was just lamenting that I didn't have anyone in person to enjoy dollhousing. She was feeling the same way. We took one another's information and the rest is well mini-stry. LOL

We are like to giggly little girls when we are together. I guess that is the idea. Being a miniaturists is like being ageless and timeless. I am sure she and I will have lots more to share in the future.

Jean has projects that are actually completed! So, I asked if I could get a few shots to share with all of you.

This is a bird cage turned pet shop!

For pet lovers



This is a gorgeous metalic jewelry box




Still unfinished open view.
 A mirror is going on the back wall and maybe a couple on the inside of the doors.

 

Time for a clock shop. Many of the clocks actually keep time!
 

A jewelry shop is on the second floor. An antique store in a breadbox is on the bottom.
The top floor is yet unfinished..

 

I love that she used a gold picture frame for the door! She made everything in the store except the cash register. Click to get a better view!



This is a mixture of several buildings to become either a bed and breakfast complete with open air restaurant or a castle.
Heyyy why not both!


One day, I was disappointed because I didn't win a certain doll on Ebay. My dolly friend promptly made not one, but two dollies for me and surprised me with a baby too!

She looks like a few people I know! I mussed her hair a little trying to pose her.
Jean even made the eyeglasses and gave me more to take home!

 

The whole idea was that I wanted dolls in various sizes. How do you like that sassy gal with the shoes, purse and matching hat? :-D (both have polished finger and toenails-giggle!)

 

 



Isn't she a cutie? She is even wearing a diaper!



 



Look how natural her hair looks!

 

 Yup! Like I said...A Real Friend-No Request Needed!  :-)

 

THANKS AGAIN JEAN!

 

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Happy Valentine's Day

 

1 Corinthians 13

(The Way of Love in modern English)

 

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

² If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

 

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹ When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹² We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³ But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Wall Paper Trail

I have to give myself a pat on the back. I have started redesigning my victorian house. As you may recall, it looked like this before I started working on it.



Before the redesign began

The living room now has fresh wallpaper which is actually wallpaper for a 1:1 house. It has little flecks of gold that you can's see. Luv it. Don't be surprised if you see it in the "big house" I just acquired. My 1:1 dining room is the same color scheme, but the walls are painted.

I still have the carpeting in the living room from when I was going to make it a more modern house. Now, changing back to the Victorian period, I will put down wood floors and a rug later to make it more authentic. I also have wall to wall carpeting in the bedroom. I just love that purple in there, so I  just might leave it there. We shall see.

 The wall paper in the nursery is dollhouse wallpaper from Hobby Lobby. I wanted something vintage and for a girl. It also needs new flooring.

The wallpaper in the kitchen is up. It still needs to be trimmed.

 The plan is to put up crown moulding in all of the rooms which will make it look neater and more finished.

The Victrola looks a little small for this scale, but it will do.



Linen, curtains and lots of other things will be added after the crown moulding. This is the second floor room on the left above the living room.

View 1 of the living room, bottom left of the house. I have another matching chair in a different shape to add. The rug will be replaced. Lots more to be added here.



View 2 of the freshly wallpapered living room.The ceiling will be finished and have a medallion added.

 

I couldn't resist using this wallpaper even though I realized it was not the right period. The cook told me she liked it too. She was a little upset I photographed her before she could be painted. LOL Lots more will be added here too.

Wallpapered nursery

 

Click on picture for a larger view