All Dolled Up

I recently did an interview with the local paper regarding doll collecting. Just a little fluffy bit of filler for their Christmas week paper.
This was actually a little out of my comfort zone, but anything to promote the new auction biz.
I must say though, I don't think I have been this misquoted since my last disagreement with my daughter!!!
My husband ( bless him) decided to send his mum our copy of the article so I got on the phone to ask my mum to save hers for me to keep. She said " I'm sorry honey, but I think you dad got rid of the paper already". It only came out yesterday! Too funny! LOLOLOL

Slops bucket

I have given myself an early Christmas present in the form of a slops bucket from Stokesayware. I had needed it to complete my little display with my Jane Newman washstand. As per usual, the pictures are crap but it is a very overcast day here in Canada and there is no natural light coming through any of the windows. I am so pleased with my Stokesayware and can't wait until I have my dollshouse finished and so it can be placed. I also received a wonderful large lidded bread crock and a lidded dish for butter....staples in any kitchen!

fixtures and fitting

I received a souldering iron from my husband this weekend and have started the task of extending all the wire for the lighting in my dollhouse. Two lights down and then I knocked the iron off the table and made the mistake of trying to retrieve it before it hit the ground. Now I have lovely little bubbles on my thumb and index finger, so that task was suspended for a while and I decided to try putting the walls and furniture roughly in the house. The house is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, especially the kitchen. I think I need to rethink the stove I had planned for it.

Pheonix bed and coverlet

I first spotted this little crocheted coverlet on a table at a miniature sale. It was made by a local woman who had the most beautiful handcrocheted doll house doilies and tiny dresses on her table. It was quite expensive so I talked myself out of purchasing it. I got home and then was kicking myself, when will I ever see another one?? I certainly do not possess the talent to do anything as lovely as this! I ended up kind of obsessing a wee bit and went through the list of vendors that had been advertised via the interweb and fired off emails to anyone I thought may have been it's maker .... hey this is kind of like Cinderella isn't it?.....
Anyhoo, I didn't hear anything back from it's maker until about a week later ( she had been away) and she told me it was still available. Long story short (too late) We ended up meeting at another doll show we were both planning on attending she brought the coverlet and I brought the money, we were both wearing red roses so we could recognize each other , it was a real clandestine endevour ( just kidding).
I am so happy to have it, the detail is well incredible and I now know that it is, and will remain, one of a kind as she said it was so fiddly and took so much time that she is never making another one. I am ashamed to say that I don't remember her name other than Roseanne/Roxanne?? I am usually better at giving credit than this.
The little bed is by Phoenix and for some reason I thought when I ordered it, it would arrive painted, not so, but luckily I had some white and gold spray paint so a few squirts and bob's your uncle.
www.phoenixmodeldevelopment.com

P.S> I am absolutely dying to tell you all about the lovely needlework cushions that I have been getting and am waiting for a parcel to come in the mail which I fear has gone AWOL, I will wait a few more days and keep my fingers and toes crossed.<
> click on any pictures in this blog if you wish to see more detail

Introducing Emma

It has been a good long while since this blog was updated and with good reason....
Drastic changes have happened as I am no longer working in an eye clinic but am now working in the antique auction biz. This field is not foreign to me as it was my ex-husband's family business. He recently bought an auction house and asked me to quit my job and help him run it and I did!! It is very exciting and so much not like work even though the hours are long and very unpredictable.

With all that said....I would like to introduce "Emma", my beautiful dollhouse doll from Lisa Johnson Richards in the UK. I believe she was modeled after Gwenyth Pawltrow's movie version of the Jane Austen novel. Seated beside her is a lovely little siamese cat I bought from Reve through ebay, she is fuzzy and has whiskers that make her look like a real kitten, so sweet.
http://www.lisajohnsonrichards.com

Crabtree and Evelyn

I have notice that lots of bloggers have been buying up these lovely Crabtree and Evelyn kits and why not, they are sooo pretty. I have mine in a little cupboard I actually bought at Lea Frisoni's shop in Paris and was going to blog about it when I had decided what finish to put on it. Should I stain it?, paint it white?, cream perhaps...?
Nope, I just don't think I can bring myself to do anything to it, I kind of like it the way it is. Perhaps I will change my mind once the house is done and it is sitting in the bathroom.
Crabtree and Evelyn kits are available at www.marthamcleanminiatures.com

Edmonton miniature show

I attended the Edmonton miniature show this last weekend and although it certainly did not rival any of the wonderful shows I read about, it was lovely, small but lovely.
Here are a few of the goodies I managed to bring home with me including this tiny all bisque doll. You really have to see her to believe how wee she really is.
I am absolutely in love with the Staffordshire dogs I was able to obtain. I have a set sitting on my fireplace at home which I spotting in Britian many years ago and were sent over by my Aunt some months later as a wedding present. So it is only fitting that the dolls house has a set as well.

Mini trip to Ladurees!!

Today is "National talk like a pirate day" in Canada, perhaps it is even international, I don't know. What I do know is that it is a bad day to work in the field of Ophthalmology when all you do all day is put people in eye patches and test their vision. I thought I would go around the twist before lunch with all the " Arrrs" I heard today. Luckily my wonderful postman managed to salvage the day with a little present in my mailbox for me to find after my weary slog home from work. A little of my beloved Ladurees in miniature! I had already acquired a few little treats from
www.parisminiatures.com including my lovely little cupcakes and pastry which really do look good enough to eat!! So to add to my lovely little collection I bought a wonderful little precious gift set from Oiseau deNim on Etsy. Everything is soooo pretty and wonderfully scaled! I can't tell you how please I am and can't wait to have my little house ready to decorate with all these pretty things.

Cozy Bed

The nights are starting to draw in and the leaves are turning. It was quite cool in my part of Canada today. The perfect day to start thinking about autumn and dressing a cozy bed for the dollhouse. The house itself has been on hiatus for the better part of the summer but will be back front and center on my things to do list in a few short weeks and I will try in ernest to get the house itself done by Christmas. If last winter was any indicator I will have lots of snowing Sundays to dedicate to it's construction.
My lovely little fireplace is by Hearth and Home miniatures in the UK. Unfortunately, the lights for the fires were misplaced and although I have managed to find replacements, the will not fit in the openings at the back of the fires. Back to ebay...
www.hearthandhomeminiatures.com

Juggarnaut

I spent a lovely weekend at the lake watching flying lesson as the little babies bird that inhabited our birdhouse took to flight. Unfortunately we forgot the camera or I could have shared.
These little jugs are what I made in between bird watching out on the deck in the lovely sunshine we are finally enjoying in Canada.
I got a little carried away perhaps? They are just so much fun to make!!

Duncan Fyfe window seat and needlework

Little Duncan Fyfe window seat kit made from a kit with one of Christy Repasy's ( with her permission) paintings printed on fabric for the seat. Christy's painting are incredible! I love everything she does and now she has even painted fabric and covered a full size chair in beautiful roses on her website. I have also printed off some tiny pictures of hers onto watercolour paper to grace the walls of my dollhouse to be. Sooo pretty!!!
Check her out at
/www.christierepasy.com/

Nikkinakknu

I just received a beautiful cheese dish and dome from Nikkinakkinu.co.uk.
They are so pretty and delicate!! Tiny pink rose and ribbon detail and little tiny leaves around the base. Even the inside of both pieces are decorated, they are just lovely!! I also bought the tiniest perfume bottle and cream jar!! Her porcelain pieces are so beautifully decorated and detailed. I am a really sorry I didn't order more.

Garden roombox

I just received an email from uol.hk. and had to share it. It is the prettiest garden room box ready to be finished. A lot of the blogs I follow include the loveliest little flowers and plants that would look so beautiful in this setting!
The cost of this little French Garden vignette is $90 which I think is really reasonable.
www.uol.hk
I won't be buying one as I may have already treated myself this month...year etc.

Charity Sale

A friend from my doll club contacted me last week and asked if I was interested in a load of miniature kits being offered at a charity sale. Needless to say, I was all over it. So here are my first two completed kits, a Queen Anne tea table and a candlestick stand. They are so much fun.
( and again more crap photography! it's not like I don't have a good camera, other people take beautiful pictures with my camera all the time...!!??)

New Jane Newman table

Being as I am making no progress whatsoever on my dolls house, I decided to play with some of my miniatures. It is so tough being the world worst photographer and I wish I could show you how lovely everything looks on my table.... but alas...
This is my new Jane Newman kitchen table which looks absolutely fabulous with my dresser (take my word for it, cause it sure don't look great in the photos), and my beloved Stokesay ware. I really do think I should have gone for the blue instead of the cranberry but I made my choice and don't regret it too much.

Kits

I am spending my weekend trying to put together some of the numerous furniture kits I bought last week. I am absolutely amazed at the delicacy and detail! I am so pleased and will definitely seek out more kits. They are so much fun and so inexpensive on ebay. I think all the kits were made in the 1970 and it seems a lot of people collected them but never made them up. The kits are labeled " The House of miniatures", but I have seen many kits on ebay I would like to try. I just wish our postal strike would end soon so I can get some of my little parcels in the mail.

Sew what!

Lovely Janet Granger dollhouse cushion kits! My daughter did up the first pillow and I am attempting the next. What took her a few hours is consuming days for me.... I thought this skill was inherited???
In my defense, she has much younger eyes.

I have filled the pillow with lovely french lavender. The pillows not only appear softer and more cushiony but they smell gorgeous. I had better get quicker at this because Janet has a wonderful matching carpet kit.
www.janetgranger.co.uk

Kitchen Cupboard

New JBM kitchen cupboard after a few additions including: taps, plug and drain from Sussex, new tiles from Stokesayware ( haven't decided if I am going to grout them or not) and some little wooden draw pulls to replace the brass ones. I was so hoping the tiles would fit exactly but I was half a tile off and couldn't conceive cutting one in half so....

Dentelles et Ribambelles

Just got back from Paris and it is unlike anything I ever expected. I thought it would be good, but it was grand! These are pictures of Lea Frisoni's beautiful little shop in Montemartre. We spend four hours looking for it and it was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel! The gentleman inside didn't speak any English but we managed just fine. I would smile and point, he would smile and punch a number into a calculator and show me. I would give him a big thumbs up! I walked out with some lovely things including a miniature copy of Lea's wonderful book and a handmade shoebox. The wallpaper I bought got a little compacted on the journey home but nothing that could be rectified, plus I bought lots of other goodies. What a wonderful little place, heaven on earth. Her dollhouses really do take your breath away.

The boys....

It hardly seemed fair to show pictures of my beautiful granddaughter Sienna and exclude the boys! Pictured here are my three grandsons: 9 month old twins boys Ares and Dante and two year-old Jacques aka "Lovebug". Everyone says that twins skip a generation but that is not so true in our family. I have twin brothers, identical twin sons and now beautiful identical twin grandsons! My aunt had the only twin girls in the family. So four sets of twins! My brothers and my cousin are fraternal tiwns and my sons and grandson are identical. Grandchildren are the closest we will ever get to heaven on earth. They hold my whole heart in their sticky little fingers.

Sienna's first dollhouse

We spent the loveliest Easter in sunny, warm Kelowna visiting our son and daughter-in-law and our beautiful little grandbaby Sienna who is two. Here is a picture of her with her first dollhouse and she loved it! What a wonderful weekend!

Hearth and Home Miniatures

I received my lovely bathroom suite from Hearth and Home Miniatures along with two beautiful Georgian lit fireplaces. Unfortunately the bulbs for the fires were left behind but they are now on their way to my little dollhouse. I was given a choice of picking any color I wanted from the Farrow and Ball paint catalogue for the bath. I chose "London Stone No.6" Richard from Hearth and Home later phoned me and told me that they liked the color so much they painted another bath the same and it sold at Birmingham immediately and they took orders for three more the same. That was a little bit of a thrill for me.

Bedroom Suite

I knew as soon as I saw this bedroom suite that it was the one for me and my little Georgian! It is lovely quality with tiny delicate brass pulls on every opening drawer. It is a warm stained mahogany wood and the grain shows up nicely. With a little pivoting mirror and delicate little silk covered chair, I think it is quite elegant without being too showy. Just perfect! There are other pieces to this suite including the most gorgeous Armoire with the inside all kitted out with lovely deep pull-out drawers. Unfortunately until I get the dollhouse back together, I won't know how much furniture the little bedroom will hold and with the addition of a fireplace to that small space, I am suspecting that I may have got it just right with this number of bedroom pieces.

Paris in the Spring!

We are finally going to visit Paris. The trip I have always dreamed about~
I think I am too excited for words! We will only have a week but have already prebooked a tour of The Seine. Day trip to Versailles with a tour of the Palace gardens and then into the french country side for a day long wine tour of Burgundy including a wander around St.Magdelene Bassilica and a fancy french lunch. I very much doubt my highschool french will get me very far, but I do know Latte and Croissant so I should never go short of coffee and pastries. Oh... must remember to look up "toilets" before we go!!
Pictures of Paris shops taken a few weeks ago by my friend Sheila

Can a girl have too many shoes???

Haven't really gotten any work done on the dollhouse this week so I decided to show off my beautiful Enchanted Doll by Marina Bychkova. We are celebrating an anniversary of sorts, we have been together for over a year now. Had I known when I bought her that these dolls were going to be as hard to get as they are, I wouldn't have hesitated the millisecond that I did before purchasing her! She is a 13.5 inch fully articulated, steel strung porcelain doll. She is wearing a beautiful sterling silver corset and bra cups that were made for her by Marina Bychkova. I have since had some tiny rubies and diamonds added into her corset to give her a bit of subtle bling. She owns two pairs of sterling silver shoes both embellished with silk ribbons, rubies and pearls. I made her wig out of white mohair as I wanted her to have a Marie Antoinette touch about her. Also pictured are the shoes my beautiful Evangeline would like to own. Beautifully elegant gold shoes embellished in pink enamel. Enchanted dolls are very hard to get a hold off. I had traveled about 800 miles just to see one and when Marina walked in with three nude dolls to sell, I know I had to have one! So after I discussed very briefly with my husband and told him the price, I stepped over his fainted body and presented credit card. LOLOL...
Rumor has it that Enchanted dolls are collected in the art world as much as in the doll world. Louis Vuitton's shoe designer is a collector and the nude Enchanted doll that went on ebay for $40,000.00 last year was rumored to have been bought by Demi Moore... I don't know if that is true, but I would sure like to think so! Anyhow, there she is my Beautiful Enchanted Doll by Marina Bychkova
www.enchanteddoll.com

Warning: don't go to this website unless you are prepared to fall in love with something you may never get to own!!