What's Up?

New Arrivals

What's this? Another painted ceiling? Another PROJECT, you ask?
Shhh! Don't tell anyone... it's a surprise for someone but I'm not telling who! It's just a TINY, Quick, Little Project.... made from one of the smallest and simplest kits I could find! It's the "Sugarplum" kit made by Greenleaf, and it's .....well, ..... Minimal! But it is very cute and goes together quickly.... or it would if I didn't need to PAINT the whole thing! I just can't seem to leave the ceilings alone! I don't know why I bother! Hardly anyone EVER looks UP, and this ceiling is not very tall, so you can barely see it at all, even when you get down on your knees! But I just can't seem to stop myself!

So here is the painted ceiling.... not very Original, but sort of irresistible!

And a slightly closer view.......

I really did not spend very long painting the ceiling...... but the Walls were a different matter! Once the ceiling was decorated, I couldn't just leave the walls PLAIN! So I painted some Vines in a sort of lattice pattern and added red rose blossoms to the openings.....

Well, they look a little more like Roses rather than blobs once I added some black outlines and some leaves....... but I really was NOT taking my time with this...... and even so IT took my time! Several Hours of time and it really doesn't look it..... but it will have to do! I tell myself that it is supposed to look like a Garden with Roses climbing on the Latticework and Cherubs flitting overhead!
This is a view with the ceiling in place..... but the ceiling is SO LOW! Please, don't bump your head! And I think I am going to have to add some border to the top of the wall........ I DID mention that this is a QUICK, LITTLE Project??

But it IS going to be very Cute when it is done..... with a little bit of Garden outside...... and a flowerbox at the window.......

I will need to put hinges on the door.....
I CANNOT stand a door that does NOT open!

Oh, look!

It seems as though some of our friends have gathered here..... shall we go in and see?

It seems that we have not met them before? Oh, Goodness! It is Pollyanna's PARENTS..... Victor and Joanna, and they have come to celebrate the recent engagement!

And what better place to meet than this charming little Tea House in the Garden?

Some of you MAY have been wondering where on EARTH Pollyanna's Parents were? Well, it seems they travel a great deal and mostly live abroad, so it is understandable that this meeting has been LONG overdue!

I suppose there are few moments as unnerving as meeting your future Mother-In-Law!

Joanna has heard a GREAT DEAL about Arthur, of course, so she feels as though she already knows him..... but Arthur is Not so sure he feels the same way at all....!

Victor want's to help Arthur feel welcome to the Family....

because he remembers what it is like...

Arthur can think of only one thing to say......

"Would you like a cookie?" he gallantly asks!

But don't look up.......

I think someone heard the word "cookie"!

"Did you say 'Cookie'?"

"We LOVE Cookies!"

(The Cookies and the Tea Set arrived from Glenda in New Zealand on the Same day as Pollyanna's Parents arrived..... I think it was a match made in Heaven, don't you?)
Just a Little Something.... but THAT'S

What's Up!

Chapel Update

Painting In The Chapel

For the past two weeks I have been doing my Favorite thing....... Painting on the walls .... and the ceiling.... this time in the Chapel of the Castle Dollhouse! I have made some good progress so I thought I would share it with you, Dear Readers, even though it is still a LONG way from complete. So bear with me while I explain that there is still MUCH detail missing from these paintings, especially the ceiling which has only just been started. Even so, it adds immensely to the atmosphere and gives a glimpse of what I hope it will feel like when it is all done! Here you can see that overhead above the Altar I have painted God the Father emerging from the heavens and gazing RADIANTLY down on all below! (Yes, I put glittery crystals on his eyes!)

Here is a closer view. You can also see that I have painted the Vault Ribs in the red and gold that I used around the windows. This is a view looking UP at the ceiling. (Remember that you can poke the photos to enlarge them...!)

And to one side, above the entrance doorway I have painted a series of Saints Portraits in roundels over the arch. I know, this view is a little bit too dark.... but it is Night in the Castle!

Ah, that's better.... here the ceiling has been temporarily removed (remember that I have not attached the ceilings to the rooms I am working on...) so the roundels with the portraits are clearly visible.
At the farthest left side is Saint Amand, then Saint Matthew and Saint Mark. I scoured all my Medieval Miniature Books for portraits that would reveal the character of each Saint and I have copied them here, somewhat roughly in most cases.

Here is the portrait of Saint Elizabeth, patroness of Beggars, the Embodiment of Charity, and to her right is Saint Luke the Patron of Artists and Sculptors.... sorry this photo cuts him off....

And to the farthest right is Saint John the Evangelist and then Saint Radegund who gave up a Queens crown to become a Nun and founded an Abbey....... Each of these portraits is about one inch in diameter and painted directly on the wall. The edges need a little tidying up still......

And the Painting I did THIS weekend was a rendition of the Nativity...... copied faithfully from a Miniature in a Psalter from Wurzburg painted around 1240 AD.

Here below you can see the almost completed version I painted on the Chapel wall......

And here you can see the original that I copied from.......

I used the tried and true method of making a tracing of the miniature and then transferring it to the wall by covering the back side of the drawing with graphite pencil and drawing over the original design which transfers the design to the wall beneath. Then I go over the pencil outline with a fine point Permanent India Ink Pen. Here below is the inked drawing on the wall.

Then I paint the various areas with the colors as shown in the original. This is not as easy as it sounds as matching pigments is very challenging. I allowed myself to vary the colors from the original rather than try to match them exactly. This picture shows it partly done....

And this one shows the completed Nativity scene. This Painting is about 4 inches by 5 inches!

I am VERY happy with the results!

Here is a view with the ceiling back in place and the Altar Candles lit........

There is still a long way to go.... but it is some Progress!

Just a Chapel Update

A New Look

What's Under Foot
The old green curtains had to come down. Winter is dark enough without the heavy drapes blocking all the light. (What took you so long? Some of you must be wondering!) It is not quite Spring, but the urge to open up and re-do everything is starting to make itself felt, even in the dollhouse world. So FINALLY, I took the old drapes down! And the beautiful morning light can now shine into the Living Room of the Lovely Old Dollhouse! And once the Old drapes were down, it became obvious that it was time for some other changes and improvements in the decor! But BEFORE I show you those changes, I am going to take you on a little tour of the very basic BOTTOM layer of any decor: the Carpets! SOME of you out there have wondered about the obviously UNIQUE carpets in these rooms, so I will now satisfy your curiosity and tell you a little bit about the HISTORY of these rugs.
To Begin with, I must be honest and admit that I don't even REMEMBER where I got most of these "carpets"! I have been collecting and saving scraps of material that had a "dollhouse carpet" sort of look about them since before I can remember! In my family when I was growing up we had a mix of very worn Oriental carpets and inherited "hooked" rugs, so those were my models for appropriate dollhouse carpet scraps. Anything "Oriental" or tapestry-like was eagerly hoarded. And most of these never saw the inside of a dollhouse until I brought them out of hiding last year. They are all just "temporarily" where they are until I figure out what "REALLY" belongs in each room. So you can imagine my surprise at how PERFECT some of these scraps are for the rooms they are now in! I must also confess that I have not "made" any of them, with the exception of the small braided rug.... one of the two braided rugs I made in my teen years.... and that fits so well in the kitchen of the Folly.....


I have no idea where I got the three tiny "scatter rugs" printed to look like small Oriental carpets.... but they, too, go just Perfectly in the Folly! Here in the upstairs hall.......

And here in front of the fireplace.... it makes a perfect hearthrug! Even the colors are perfect!
And the "carpet" in the Folly Living Room is another mystery to me! I THINK my Sister collected it...... but the SIZE and COLOR could Not be a more perfect fit for this room! I think it must have been designed to be a Table Scarf.... it is very nicely woven and the pattern is of Roosters.....
Of course, the carpet was put in upside down, so I have turned it around so you can see the pattern more clearly...... it even has it's own fringe!

And speaking of "Oriental" scatter rugs...... this one is actually a "Mouse pad" that was for sale in Staples a few years ago...... it is a little thick and fuzzy.... but the pattern and the fringe are Lovely! Here it is in the Hall of the Lovely Old Dollhouse.

And while we are talking about "Oriental" carpets...... the "carpet" in the Chinoiserie Bedroom of the Lovely Old Dollhouse has a very "Eastern" look to it.... even though it is not at all "Oriental" in the more common sense of "Turkish" carpets. But the size and the pictorial motifs were all too irresistible to me..... so they became Dollhouse carpets. Once again, I think they were intended as table scarfs. They are Indian printed cotton and I have NO idea where I got them! But they look Wonderful in the Lovely Old Dollhouse.......

Here is a closer look at the dancing maiden....

And even closer.... you can see the weave of the cotton cloth....

And On TOP of that carpet I have carelessly placed ANOTHER carpet that I DID buy...... I ordered it from an on-line supplier.....

It is very nicely woven and shows a very "Oriental" hunting scene, and the colors go well in this room, but by itself it is a bit small for this room.......

And the other Cotton "Oriental" carpet in the Master bedroom......

Here you can see a closer view of the images..... and this one has a nicely knotted edging.....

And an even closer view..... it looks like feasting with musicians......

And here is a bit of "carpet" that I scavenged from a bunch of old Upholstery Fabric Sample Books...... I collected a whole pile of interesting small patterns that make Lovely little scatter rugs...... like this one....

And this one.......

And this one.......

And in the Front Hall of the Lovely Old Dollhouse there is another slightly larger Fabric Sample "carpet" in a more traditional type of pattern.....

Here you can see it more closely.... even the serrated edge that I have done nothing to.....

And perhaps the ONLY carpet in the WHOLE bunch that is actually made for Dollhouse carpeting is the one in the Living Room of the Lovely Old Dollhouse! This one I bought at that very Dangerous to the Pocketbook miniatures store in the nearby town! The pattern is probably based on an "Oriental" design..... in fact I have a Book of Needlepoint Carpet designs for Dollhouse carpets that includes this very design! The Size and the Colors were just TOO perfect for this room for me to resist buying it..... and I Did get a discount..... so it was not as expensive as it SHOULD have been!
And here is a closer view..... it looks as though it is stitched on 18 count canvas.... and I think it is done in cross-stitch........ but I did not stitch this carpet! That is a project I have yet to do....

So now that the light is streaming in the window of the Living Room of the Lovely Old Dollhouse, it makes the bare walls look much too empty! So I have taken my courage in my hands and added DECOR to the walls!

A Mirror in a heavily carved and gilded frame fits the space SO well..... but is it a bit too BOLD?

And a MATCHING one on the other side of the Hearth....... but is it TOO MUCH?

Dear Readers, these are Christmas Decorations, believe it or not! I saved them because I KNEW they were REALLY Dollhouse furnishings .... they are a tiny bit chunky in scale..... but I think I like them that way!
And Yes, Pollyanna did go back to Will Peters Ott's Gallery and came home with this painting. I think it is PERFECT for this spot!

So, here you have it... the Living Room of the Lovely Old Dollhouse has a NEW LOOK!

Certainly not all done yet, but it's a start!

A New Look