Little French house update

 Work continues on the Little French dollshouse albeit at a snail's pace.  The front windows are in and the roof sides are on. I am on the last stretch. As per my usual MO I did put the windows in backwards.  Nothing was lining up but that didn't stop me from persisting in trying to get them fitted.  Finally when it was all finished the light went on and I had to strip them all out and start from scratch. Sigh.

 Here is a shot of the dollshouse as it sits tonight with most of the work in the bedrooms completed.

 I still need to finish the stair railing in the littlest room.

 Floor is in the works for the this room.

I decided to treat myself and bought Alison Davies Miniatures French Folly. It is so beautiful.

 It arrived last week and it is enormous!! I have however decided it will be packed away until the little house is finished.

Alison also was kind enough to send some metal furniture kits for me to play with and I couldn't resist. Here they are completed. I decided to gild them and I love the little toile fabric!!  Her website is not taking any new orders until the end of February but I can't wait until she opens up as I need more little kits for the French house!

Miniature Laduree French Patisserie project

I am obsessed with the French Patisserie Laduree. Every since my first visit to Paris 10 years ago I have collected boxes, visited and gorged in every Ladurees I could get to. I have visited and photographed every restaurant in Paris including Versailles (not technically Paris, but close enough). I have also visited their location in Covent Gardens in England and most recently the new restaurant that opened up in Vancouver Canada. So now I need my own little Ladurees in miniature.

I have chosen to do it as a room box which I ordered from Victoria Miniland.  Unfortunately they did not my first choice for store front, but this one I think will serve the purpose and be just as lovely.

I am wanted to do this little project simply and have selected little battery operated lighting so I don't need to wire it. Really I just want a simple project to play in.
This will be my counter,  although this picture is not it quite in it's finished state. See all my tiny macarons?? Aren't they sweet??

I wanted the look of the Laduree counter with the glass guard and lamps and that took some thinking on how I could achieve it simply using my limited skill set and brain power. I settled on glass slides and brass 1/8" angle plus curved round brass and glass beads for the lamps. The original plan was to add little shades, but I kind of like the look of the bare bulbs.  I used free counter top samples from the hardware store to mimic the look of the marble slabs.

I am working on creating all the tiny little boxes and ribbon rolls.

Had to share pics of SOME of the Laduree boxes I have collected in my travels at the end of this post.

Laduree Vancouver in January of this year with my long suffering husband who literally follows me to wherever I want to go. Luckily he is well fed for all his efforts. 

Now I am thinking that I may add a tea room over the top of my little Ladurees in the future.

I know it has been awhile but work continues on the little French doll house.  The first of the three mansard roof windows is installed and the other two are ready to be assembled. All their components are ready to go. I could finish the exterior of the house quite quickly if I just buckle down and make time to get it done. I am looking forward to that bit.

I did work on another miniature project over the Christmas break. It was a little 1:44th scale house I picked up a few years ago at the Kensington Dollhouse Festival in England. It is the Georgian Rectory from Templewood Miniatures, www.fineflowersinminiature.com

It it such a lovely little project and I am thoroughly pleased with the results, but it was a challenge. It actually took 3 full days to complete.

The kit came complete with miniature, wee tiny painting and frames, little rugs and lino for hallways and kitchen. I must admit, I used many bright coloured paints and every accessory the kit provided. 

You may notice that you are seeing the front parts of the staircase in one view and the back in the other. That is because the house open on both sides so you can see a full view of your work.

 This is the view from the other side, notice the wee little fireplaces. 

Dollhouse bathroom

I decided to do a little decorating today of the dollhouse bathroom. Pictures will need frames and it is probably not going to be the finished look but it was fun to put up a bit of wallpaper and add some fixtures and fittings.  I love the way the wallpaper fades.

 Little peak through the door into the hallway.

Fading wallpaper and shower curtain.

In Like a Lion!!

We are taking a snow day here in Edmonton, Alberta. Okay it is Saturday but still....
We were expecting accumulations over 20-30cm according to the weather forecast yesterday.

The thermostat kept dipping lower and lower and with what we were expecting, we shut up the auction house early and everyone headed to the grocery shop (wine store) to stock up on provisions in anticipation of a weekend indoors.

Well, the storm managed to mostly miss us, we are just getting the corner of it. We still have accumulations of over 10cm so far and it is still snowing but I think we have been very lucky. My husband runs out and shovels every time the snow stops. You got to love his optimism.

So today I am working on the dollhouse roof. It is like doing Lego but you have to first make every brick.

I did originally find a bag of pre-cut cedar shingles and had thoughts of perhaps using them but alas, the scale was off and truthfully, that would be really lazy of me and I just know I would regret it in the end.

Also, just a side note. My lovely husband took my three year-old grandson downstairs a few weeks past and let him play in my dollhouse and he managed to take the inside kitchen door out of it's casing.

I did repair it and put in back in place and reprimanded my husband. Well lo & behold, they did it again and my husband decided to put the door away somewhere safe until I could reinstall it.

 So safe that he actually lost it! We have searched for hours, no door. So right now he is doing major surgery getting the casing out ( he insists on doing it himself) and hopefully not damaging the floors. I have a replacement door that I will use IF he gets it out safely.  The house is creaking so much, I opted to come upstairs to the computer and hope for the best.  I will let you know how it turns out.

Please excuse the scruffy condition of my desk. I should have probably made it look like I work neatly but truthfully, I don't. I usually clean my desk and then end up working in an area the size of a dinner plate within the hour.

Anyway, everyone have a nice weekend and hopefully Spring is closer for you than it is for us.  Did I mention we have book a little trip to Paris next month? Can't wait!!

Dollhouse kits

Happy New Year to everybody. I hope you had a lovely Christmas. We had a wonderful family Christmas with four generation represented!

I wanted to share my little dollhouse kits that I received just after Christmas. They are from Artofmini.com, who, in my opinion have the very best dollhouse kits and accessories!

This is their little French desk kit to which I added tiny Swarovski crystal beads for the drawer handles. Also the little hat box kit as well as the French books in pink. Oh, and the laurel wreath kit, so fun to make.

On the top of the desk is my Mike Sparrow sterling silver fountain pen... the top is actually removable!! Note the drop of coffee in my Stokesay ware cup lol. That wasn't as easy as it appears to get situated without spilling.

I also bought their little French hall table to go in the front hall of my Lea Frisoni little French dollhouse.  I did manage to do a mild crackle finish on the top which I am pleased with.  I may do some more distressing with stain at some point but will wait until I am ready to decorate the house with it's furnishings. The clock is a kit from Artofmini.com too.

I did buy a few other little kits too ( Well I was paying for the postage anyway so...)
I will post them on my blogspot as they are completed.

I have recently started a course in Real Estate as well as my full time job so the house is on hold again or at least moving at as snails pace. These little kits give me near instant gratification and makes me feel like I haven't completely abandoned my little house.

Hope everyone has a great week and stays warm. I will try and do the same. Bye for now.

Success at last!

It has been a long time since I have even looked at my dollhouse. I have had such problems with the electrics for the sconce on the left side and after struggling with solder and new bulbs X 100, I finally decided to strip the whole wire and low and behold, there was a problem half way down. Anyhow, the wiring is done and now it I can move on up to the last floor. I have had the lights on in the little house for hours this weekend and just basked in the glow. It is such a cozy little room and I think my enthusiasm for the project has been reignited. So after a few minor details to finish up, it is onward and upward with one floor to go!

 I also bought... wait for it....a long cased clock, well all but the clock bit.  It came through the auction and all I could see was a grand room under the glass bonnet and rooms in the case. That will all have to wait for my retirement I suspect. My husband also thinks he can remove the panel at the bottom for another room box. Neat hey?

Anyway, everyone have a lovely and magical holiday season!