My Tiny World

What Took Me So Long....?

I have been asking myself that question a lot lately, Dear Readers, and I have found no satisfactory answer! I was LATE with my Christmas card (again), which you can see above in the just finished not-yet printed original... in part because I couldn't make up my mind about what to include in the drawing..... and eventually just had to go with my original idea... a Detailed drawing of the Mini Tree House project which has been my  obsession for most of this year! It had occurred to me part way through the year that one of the things I loved so much about this scale was that I was building things in roughly the same scale as many of my drawings... so it felt familiar .... and SO Exciting to render these things in three dimensions!!! The other reason the Christmas card is late is because it was Complicated to draw in TWO dimensions all the details that I had built in Three dimensions! Here you can see the printed card standing next to the Tree House to show the relative sizes.....

And here below is a photograph of the setting of the Tree House that I was using for my card.....set up AFTER I had done the Drawing...

Obviously my drawing is not a perfect copy of the original... artistic license had to come into it! But it took me most of two weeks to complete the drawing! And now that it is done.... I want to share it with all my Friends out in Blogland!!!

But that is not the only project about which I have been asking that question, Dear Readers! You may remember that I have been making Tiles for my Castle Great Hall for what seems like Forever!

Here you can see the Great Hall with all the tiles laid out carefully on the floor.....

And here you can see them closer..... not yet glued in place.......

And VERY irregular in size! There are about 1300 individually painted tiles! 

And they have been waiting for a LONG time for me to make up my mind just exactly HOW I was going to attach them... and whether or not to use Grout....

I finally had enough TIME to concentrate on those questions this week! 

I decided to do a test sample on a scrap of plywood to see what the tiles would look like with grout....

And I decided I LOVED it with grout!!!

So after spending HOURS carefully adjusting tiles for fit and color and pattern arrangements.... 

I was ready to start the gluing .....

NOT so easy with all the tiles in place!!!

I started by removing two rows at a time, keeping them in the exact order I had chosen... 

laying them out on a strip of paper.... 

and gluing one row at a time, making sure there was enough space for grout around each tile....

This took me most of another ENTIRE day! 

And in the process I discovered that my rows were too many with the spaces added for grout.... 

and my pattern was upset depending on Which tiles in each row were discarded!!!

But I made them fit!!!

All neatly lined up with spaces between.....

And then I started on the Grout......

I used my fingers to apply it... working it carefully into every space..... 

and then wiping off the excess with a damp sponge before it had hardened too much....

One small area at a time.....

And HOURS later.....

With the grout all in place I had to wait for it to dry before I could tell what the colors would look like. 

The grout is a pale gray when dry... and there was a sheen of "gray" residue on the tiles.....

As Gorgeous as it looked.... I felt it needed something more.....

For such an "Old" Castle the floor looked too NEW!!! 

I am NOT in the habit of deliberately "aging" my minis.....

But this time it was really necessary....

I tested a "dirty" wash on my trusty sample tiles...... 

You can see the darker tone if you look carefully....

Encouraged by the sample I started in on the floor.....

Spreading Mud around! It will dry to a lighter color... 

so I may have to do this a couple more times to get the color of Aged Floor that I am looking for!

Giving new meaning to "making the New (tiles) Old and the Old (Castle) New"!

But lest you think that is all.... 

there is one more thing that didn't take much Time to make but was a long Time Coming.....

Ever since I started building the Library of the Tiny Tree House I have been Certain that it Must have a Globe, because what Library would be Complete without one?

First I had to find a Bead the right size....

Here I found a one-quarter inch wooden bead ....

and drew the rough outlines of the Continents upon it....

And painted the Oceans blue.....

 

Then I made a stand out of a tiny section of Spindle.....

And while it does not tilt at the proper Modern angle.... 

the Globe SPINS!!!

 

Can you believe how Tiny it is???

And can you see how well it fits in the Library..... 

on the top of the Cupboards in the back....!!!

And so while the grout is drying... and the Tiny World is spinning....

So is the Real World!!! 

From East to West..... Bringing in the New Year.....

Where I have just spent the Most Amazing Hour in a Spontaneous International Blog Party.....

Friends commenting on each others' blogs... hopping from blog to blog.... 

All visiting at Practically the Same Moment....

From All Corners of the Globe!!!

How Incredible is THAT??

So, Dear Readers, From My TINY World to Yours.....

May this New Year Bring Us All Great Joy....

And may the things we Long for.... be Not so Long in coming!

So This Is Christmas!

Ready or Not....!

I will not bore you with my lamentations, Dear Readers, on how unprepared I am for Christmas this year! Instead I will show you the tiny things I have managed to do that are a little Christmas-y....

To begin with... someone has been baking.....

Were they planning on entertaining...?

(And Who hired the cook...?)

And here are some of the guests.....

But Whose Dogs are they....?

Annabelle is Enchanted..... 

Helen and Charles are preparing the Living Room......

Ken has put up a Huge Tree in the Castle Great Hall......

Do you think there will be a Party...???

And at Bedtime... Annabelle will hear her Favorite Christmas Story.....

The poem by Clement Moore... ""Twas the Night Before Christmas..."

With beautiful illustrations.....

And before you know it... Christmas is here.....

It seems that Santa Claus arrived.....

May you All have the Merriest of Christmases with your Families and Friends!

And may you enjoy the New Year more than Ever...!

Oh!

It looks as though there will be Pie for Breakfast...!!!

From my Blog to Yours....

Ready or Not!

This is Christmas!!!

Little Trees & Tiny Trees

I Love Christmas Trees....

The Christmas Tree has been put up in the Lovely Old Dollhouse, Dear Readers, even though I have not had any time lately to "perfect" it's decoration! The base is still a stumpy old block of wood.... and the branches are rather crude and large for the scale. I did add a new brass Angel to the top and Charles has added a few small decorations....

There were some tiny hearts cut out of lace added.... 

and a garland with stars.....

But otherwise it is just the same as Last year! 

Will I ever get the time to decorate the house the way I imagine it to be...?

There should be garlands and stockings by the hearth.......

And ribbons on the mirror frames.....

And the Overmantle should be finished...  

and so forth...

At least I have put the Creche up on the sideboard.....

Here you can come a little closer.....

It is the same one from last year... and it looks very good here... 

But perhaps there should be a Stable...?

So many things I would like to add.... and so little time!

Charles is admiring the decorated tree.... 

but all the rest of the Family are either out or busy changing their clothes.....

(They are still dressed in their fancy outfits...!)

Meanwhile in the Tree House there have been a couple of Decorations added to the Salon....

It seems that Anna Maria wanted a Traditional Tree to decorate the Niche.....

And I also made a couple of Tiny Trees for the Mantlepiece....

Made from Lycopodium glued into beads!

 Of course, they are VERY small and Quite hard to see....

And if you even Breathe too hard they go flying off the Mantle....!

But I think they add a certain Seasonal Touch!

For the Traditional Tree I took a one inch tall mini bottlebrush tree 

and cut off all the artificial snow....

I glued on a star and gold and iridescent beads of different sizes.....

I think it is just PERFECT in the empty niche!

Anna Maria has come to look over the Decorations... 

I don't think she expected to see Us here...!

But maybe she won't really mind ... if we just look Quietly!

I don't know if I'll get any other decorating done....

But I really wanted to show you the Little Tree and the Tiny Trees!

Treasures From Near and Far

Coquillage.....

More Treasures have been added to the Collections in the Tree House Library, Dear Readers, but this time the making of these pieces would Not have been possible without the Generosity of Blog friends Near and Far! For I have been the recipient of some Fabulous Gifts this year! Last Spring I admired some Tiny shells on the Blog of a Wonderful miniaturist, Debora of Petit blog, and before I knew it she had sent me a whole Treasure Trove of the tiny shells! She said King Neptune had been Generous this year and she had plenty to share....

The tiny shells in this bag are only a portion of what she sent me! 

She also sent these Tiny Sand Dollars and Star Fish!!!!

 I was astonished at their delicacy and so moved by her Generosity! 

Thank you, Debora, I am sure I have not thanked you properly until now!!!

But that was not all.... later in the Summer I was the Lucky winner of the Tiny Fairy Seashell house made by Lucy Coles, another Astonishingly talented miniaturist who now has several blogs and lives in New England, not too far from here! Along with The Incredibly Tiny Fairy House (which will eventually figure in a post!) and beautiful cushions, she sent me some tiny shells she had gathered at the shore this Summer.....

Again, their beauty and delicacy is remarkable! Thank you Lucy!!! 

I am sure I have neglected to properly thank you as well...!

And as if that were not enough... 

I too, was able to go to the Seashore this Summer and came home with Treasures from the sea!

In particular I found the mysterious item below....

But I knew what a Treasure it was!!!

This is the egg casings for the Atlantic Whelk.....

And each pod holds dozens of Tiny Baby shells....

Only one pod has been opened here......

If you poke the pictures you can see the shells more clearly....

Here is one on my fingertip......

(I guess I have Treasures to spare!!!)

So with all those Treasures from the sea at my fingertips, Dear Readers, 

is it any wonder that I made some into very Victorian types of displays?

I started by making a tiny box from cardboard and painting it black...

And then I began to glue the tiny Whelk shells onto it ... 

trying to cover the whole surface....

The Victorians made patterns from tiny shells... known as "Coquillage"

I started with one of Debora's starfish on the lid..... 

can you believe how Tiny it is???

And I couldn't just make One item..... 

I also started an assemblage of shells to go in a Bell Jar.....

Beginning with another of the Tiny Starfish....

And one of the Sand Dollars that Debora sent.....

They are arranged in a three dimensional vertical pile.....

I placed the Tiniest periwinkle from Lucy on top of one of the shells from Debora....

Can you see it better here...?

And with the Bell Jar....!!! 

But where will it go? I hear you asking.... 

in this Crowded room.... ?

Perhaps there is a spot on the Door..... 

where the Treasures can best be Seen from all angles....!

Meanwhile the Tiny box has been painted red inside.... 

and the shells are gradually covering all the sides...

And the lid is covered too....

Using the smallest shells from Debora's collection fitted around the starfish...!

See how small it is.....

Well, actually it's Not that small in the scale of things.... 

it is actually sort of Large!

We need to test it in the Library.......

Hmmmm..... maybe we should see inside the box.....

But if the lid is off... maybe we should see what is In the box......

I think it is a box of Cigars.....!

(These are made by painting paper covered florists wire brown and cutting into tiny pieces...!)

 And the lid should be glued in the open position.....

That looks Much better....

And a close-up of the lid too....

And testing the look in the Library......

(Why are these so hard to photograph....!!!!)

It is one thing to make tiny butterflies, Dear Readers.....
But these tiny shells are the Real Thing!!!
So there you see my very first Coquillage....

And they certainly would not have been possible without the 

Treasures from Near and Far....!

Thank you Debora and Lucy!

(Oh, and please forgive me for that previous empty post a few days ago....
it now has the pictures to go with it if you want to go take a look...!)