Tiles And More Than Tiles...

No More Tiles!

I must warn you, Dear Readers, that I Hate to destroy Illusions.... but I fear I Must! The Lovely floor of the Tree House Bath that Looks so much like a Deep Blue Pool of Water is an Illusion... for Both us and the Rats! Or else they would be unable to move in that room without being in the water... the pool takes up so much room! (And it IS inside a Tree after all!!!) But perhaps we can compensate you by adding to this Illusion... by making the Bath Tub out of a Wonderful boat shaped shell... and Pretending that it floats on the lovely pool of water! I must confess that I have Always wanted to make a mini bathtub out of a seashell! 

                                               And this one has such a Gorgeous shape!

As you can see here, I added a tiny shell to the top edge to be a soap dish.....

And I added a tiny metal ring for the drain.....

And glued it to the little metal tray to form a base that was less tippy!

I have not yet glued it in place....

 

But the idea is that we Pretend it is a Boat upon a tiny pool....!

And while we are doing that, I have also managed to complete the tiling of all the walls!

As I mentioned before, I was concerned about having enough tiles... 

and so I was trying to carefully plan and piece together the parts for each wall.

The walls with the doorways were fairly straight forward with the large pieces of Abalone shell.

The fireplace wall was the first one finished and really set the tone for the room.

The remaining two walls each had their challenges.

The side wall had what I call the "Moon Window" high up at the top of the wall....

Using one of my "Found" marbles for the glass....

And an intricate piece of Abalone shell jewelry with silver vining surrounding it....

Two of the remaining abalone shell tiles fit at the bottom....

(the white tile is really a filler as it is barely visible from the opening of the room)

And I had to fill the gaps between and try to make it fit the overall pattern!

I used the last of the tiny blue tiles and almost all the black ones to frame the window...

And fitted the rest of the space with the gray tiles.

I was trying to make the gray tiles run across the upper part of each wall...

And a row of the white ones at the very top.....

And wasn't at all sure I would have enough!

Here you can see all the walls, except the fireplace wall...

And for the Front Opening Door Wall..... with the circular "Sun" Window...

(which you can see on the right) I used the last three pieces of Abalone shell tiles..

And the last of the gold tiles to frame the "Sun" window.

Then I decided to balance this wall with the others and add more scallop shells...

This exterior door has to be carefully fitted because the tiled surface 

has to fit within the frame of the opening to the room or the door won't close properly!

Here you can see the rest of the tiles added to this door....

Along with a "Shell-f" at the window ledge!

I also tucked a few pearls into the gaps!

And here you can see it attached to the Tree House....

I painted the undecorated part of the inside of the door with silver paint...

And added a couple more pearls to gaps....

It is difficult to photograph with all the walls in place...

I also added tiny shells to the doors for doorknobs....

So how many tiles did I have left over when the floors and walls were done?

NONE!

Can you believe it?

(I can't believe my luck!!!)

So now that the walls and floors are done... 

I have started on the Fixtures...

And even though I must destroy your illusions,

I hope you will get used to the idea of the beautiful Shell boat..

Floating on the still blue waters....!

And In a completely Other World Not too far away...

Blue went to visit the Chapel in the Castle Dollhouse...

where Father Alban has been painting....( or is he just Daydreaming!)

For the Longest time!

She wanted to see what all the fuss was about....

She thinks the painting is just Perfect as it is....

And thinks Father Alban just needs a little "Forgetting spell"

To forget what he thought might still be needed!

He thinks there is one sure way to tell if it is done.....

So he carries it to the Altar.....

And sets it in place.....

Yes... It is Perfect!

And Blue made sure to cast a spell of Safe Travel on it....

It is headed out on a voyage across the oceans!

And because Blue thought this painting things looks like Fun.....

She has set up some more blanks all ready to go...!!!

So while there might be no more Tiles....

There was a lot more than just tiles that got done this week!

Cloud Nine....

When You Wish Upon A Star....

I am on Cloud Nine.... East of the Sun and West of the Moon and Just over the Rainbow.... The one with Castles in the Air and Silver Linings where it is Always Time for Daydreams! Because, as some of you, Dear Readers, might have figured out, Blue the Fairy-Beary, made by Birgit and therefore a cousin of some sort to Flutterby of BiWuBaren Blog, was persuaded to come live with me in my Little House so she could visit with all the Interesting Little Beings that reside here! What she and you (well, most of you) did not know, was ALL the different sorts of Beings she would meet here and how Perfectly she would fit in! It was easy to see that I would want her just because of her Lovely Blue Fur.... and those Gorgeous Blue Sparkly Wings.... and her Beautiful smile. But there was also a special connection because of her Magic Wand and her Wish Upon a Star music box! I promised Birgit I would tell her about the magic wand and the stars.....
Well, Once Upon a Time, Quite a few years ago, and just a little ways away from here, I was looking for a simple idea of something I could make and sell at Craft Fairs where I was showing my painted furniture. Something easy to make and that I could sell for a small amount and as it was Christmas Time I was thinking of Ornaments for the Tree..... and I thought of sewing little stuffed stars..... and they looked so much like little people to me... that I added button faces..... and a "Star" was born!!!

Of course they quickly multiplied and were very popular.....

The tiny ones became either ornaments or pins to wear.....

And after a couple of years just selling them at Christmas Time... 

I was trying to think of ways to sell them year round... 

and it occurred to me that they might work as Magic Wands....

 All these beautiful stars in brightly colored silk.....

With their painted button faces .....

With the addition of gauzy wings and sparkly stars and a bell and attached to a stick.....

 

They became Very Magical Wands!

And they are still being ordered... 

I made a couple dozen just a few weeks ago!

Of course, they are not at all like the Harry Potter Wands...

But nonetheless... people keep telling me how Magical they are!!!

And now that Blue Beary has arrived.... she needed to meet the "Stars"....

And she had to have a Bit of a Look around her new home too.....

See how well she gets along with the Blue painted desk.....

She wanted to show you a little more.....

(Sometimes I get carried away with my paintbrush....)

And while the Garden outside is not blooming very well right now.....

The one inside will be a pleasure to visit all year.....

And there were even blue flowers on the windows....

And Blue blankets covered in stars.....

Oh, and look who else is here.....

Ponies!!!

Who Love giving Rides!

So.... about this Time you must be wondering when she would get to see the Dollhouses....!

Well, okay.... but that might take a while....

First thing she needed to do was bring her Beautiful Gifts to The Folly...

Her bottle of Wishing Stars and a Beautiful little Terrarium of "Sansflowers"!

Just then Anna Maria came along.....

She was Not expecting to see a Bear.... Fairy or Not!

Then one of the Star Babies arrived....

And together they thought of something fun....

Well... it doesn't have Quite the same effect as a Mulvaney And Rogers tea cup.....!

And Samuel Whiskers is not sure What to think!

But I'll tell you what I think.... 

I think the Fun has only Just started!!!

And while the visits to the Other Dollhouses may have to wait for another Day....

I think there is going to Have to be Another Dollhouse... 

or Rather a Fairy Castle House.....

One that Floats upon the Clouds... 

Just over the Rainbow...

Oh yes, I am on Cloud Nine.....

And I Never stop Wishing on Stars....!

Abalone Tiles

Ah, Baloney...!

Tiles Tiles and More Tiles, Dear Readers, is what I have to show you for this week! And a little bit of confusing structural expansion details because I had to extend the basic Framework for the Tree to make it taller! Here below you can see the Tree House as it now stands next to The Folly.....

I know it looks kind of awkward and rough like this with all the wires dangling and the outer skin not applied... but it gives you a sense of the placement and scale of the structure. And if you look closely at the top on the right you can see the "corner post" sticking up... this is what all the doors are attached to.... but it was not tall enough so I spliced another length on top....

You can see it closer here... 

and it also allows me to build the doors on the side 

for access to the two small rooms off the bathroom... 

one will be a dressing room and the other will hold the toilet....

And as with the Dressing Room on the level below.... 

the door to these side rooms will need to be somewhat curved! 

At least there is now a post to attach it to!

And these tiny rooms also needed the Tiles fit for their floors...

 

 

Here you can see the view from above with them partly tiled... 

with me testing the walls in place to make sure the tiles still allow the walls to fit....

And here you can see the walls have their paint 

and the tiles are mostly in place...

A Lot of fiddly fitting....

Here the doors into the bath room are open....

And you can see the shells and tiles I have added to the doors....

But I am getting ahead of myself here....

First I must tell you that at least a Dozen years ago, before I had allowed myself to start making miniature dollhouses, I bought a book that was all about Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle Dollhouse. I couldn't believe my eyes looking at the pictures of what she had made... and I was just enraptured by the whole idea of a Fairy Castle Dollhouse! I think it was at that moment that I started to believe that Someday I would make my own dollhouses! Amongst the many images from that book that stuck in my head, one was the floor tiled with Abalone Shell tiles...... I was smitten... and ever since I have wanted to make an Abalone Shell Tile floor! So when I found pieces of abalone shell in the jewelry section of Michaels... I had to buy it....

Even though it was not cheap... and there wasn't much of it!

As you know from previous posts, I decided to use a different shell for the floor after all....

So the Abalone pieces are being used for the walls....

which requires some fancy fitting to make them work with the space!

The doors required their own special treatment too....

I had several pieces of white tile identical to the dark ones I used for the fireplace surround....

they fit the doors quite nicely, 

especially when topped by a scallop shell which matches the shape of the door!

These are real scallop shells I have collected on the beach over the past few years!

Here you can see that I am trying to fit the different sized pieces of Abalone shell

trying to make them work with the overall design... and just put them where they will fit!

And I am using the small scrapbook tiles to fill in around the Abalone shell.... 

again trying to make a coherent design from disparate pieces!

And on top of that I am running out of the small tiles! I couldn't find more of them 

(I bought them several years ago before I had this planned!) 

so I am just patching it all together the best I can!

Here you can see I have filled in with the pale blue tiles.....

And if you look closely you will see that the unevenness of the design left tiny gaps between the rows of gold and blue tiles.... And here I decided to take advantage of this gap by inserting tiny LED lights and making sconces...... (which had not been part of the original plan....!)

Sorry it is so hard to see... if you poke the pictures they enlarge.....

I attached sequins below the bulb....

And more behind the bulb to act as reflectors......

And then we test the lights..... Wowee!!! They are Bright!!!!

So I added the Perfect shades.....

More scallop shells!!!

Isn't that Incredible???

We Have to see how it looks in place....

It is so difficult to get the lighting and focus right inside these Tiny rooms...!

You can sort of see the effect I am trying to achieve.....

It really isn't an Abalone floor after all.....

And I am running out of Tiny Tiles.....

One might be tempted to say "Ah Baloney!"

But I am going to stick with Abalone!

Tiles, Tiles and More Tiles....