The Beads and Other Gifts.....
It was a little over a year ago, Dear Readers, that Andy of Dollshouses and Miniatures blog, sent me a gift of some lovely blue and white Chinese porcelain beads, with the hopes that I would be able to use them somehow in the Tree House! He was afraid they were too large to be useful because the Tree House is 1:48 or "Quarter scale" and the beads are about an inch tall. As you can see in the above picture, they instantly found a "Home" on the mantle in The Folly! And at the time I posted about this gift, you could see that Samuel Whiskers and Anna Maria were caught "borrowing" one of the beads!
They told me they had the "perfect" use for such a beautiful item!
But at the time I was working on the Bath Room of the Tree House,
and even I had no idea it would be a whole Year
before we were ready to test their idea!
But Finally I have started working on the nursery of the Tree House....
And I had to agree with them, the Beads make a Lovely....
Scandinavian Style Porcelain stove!
(Well, I think so at any rate!)
But first I had to build the base with the firebox...
And test the LED "fire".....
Of course the stove is not complete
without the beads both stacked on the base...
and the base needed painting too.....
Oh, Goodness, Pardon us, Madam Arabella,
We don't mean to intrude!
(She is inspecting the Nursery construction!)
Which Is continuing in Small sections.....
(in between the seemingly endless Photo Shoots
with my current Cast of Characters and their constant costume changes...
not to mention waiting for the sunlight to cooperate!)
But we are slowly making progress!
But I'll bet you never Dreamed that
the beads would make such a great stove!
And while we are mentioning Dreams....
I must take you back for another installment of Daphne's Story....
(That story that is still so Far from finished...!)
It was already some time ago that Daphne had discovered
(to her eternal surprise!)
That her Mother was a Witch, and her Father was a Gypsy....
And that he had "stolen" her twin sister shortly after they were born!
This had shaken Daphne's confidence more than she had realized!
Was Everything in her Life a Lie?
Did she have a Father and a Sister alive somewhere...?
Living the Gypsy Life...?
Her Mother had wanted to Put down roots and raise her family in one place...
But she had ended up running in fear almost constantly....
And moving at least as often as the Gypsies would!
Daphne had never known she had a twin sister!
She had always felt so alone...
And she really had been alone!
She now realized she had always wanted to be a part of a larger family!
Somewhere out there she had a Father and a Sister.... and a child....!
But she had no idea what to do about any of it!
Then One Night she had that Dream again......
That Dream where she is standing at a Fountain.....
and there is a beautiful little girl there too...
And she watches as the child throws her doll into the fountain....
Only This time the child is not standing there....
but is lying deep in the water of the Fountain itself!
The image is so terrifying that Daphne awakes in a sweat...
Her Heart pounding.....
But suddenly she knew with a certainty what she needed to do!
She had to return to France!
She might not know where to find her Father or her Sister...
But she knew Exactly where she could find her Child!
She was done with running away from her problems!
She knew that she had to go see her daughter....
And Somehow, she would find a way to be a part of her life.
She had been given a gift....
Now she needed to follow her Dreams!
No doubt, Dear Readers, you are weary of being
left "hanging on the cliff edge..."
and are hoping I will Decide not to leave you here again...
Yet, what can I say but "Dream on...."
And "Thank you"!
For the gifts... and for Friendship.....
(And comments... I do love comments!)
Bonjour Betsy,
ReplyDeleteet welcome in France Daphne,
Oh I just LOVE your stove! Great idea and fabulous work! If only these beads could be bigger and suit to different scales! :)
ReplyDeleteNow I am waiting for another part of Daphne story even more impatiently!
Hugs
You are unbelievable... who else but you would have thought of turning this lovely beads Andy so kindly gave you into a tiny stove! But the result is fantastic... I'm only wondering now... Madam Arabella? Is my memory on vacation? Hmmm... And it's great we could enjoy another episode of Daphne's story - things are developing and there will be something happening soon, however the story might continue. But I'm glad I can stay calm - you promised us a happy ending! ;O)
ReplyDeleteHugs
Birgit
Hi Betsy! I agree with Brigit, how ingenious to transform those beads into a stove and then to be able to visually join all of them together so seamlessly, quite Amazing!!! You have such an immense talent.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am so glad that Daphne is at last, getting Pro-Active and taking charge of her future since there is nothing that she can do about the past. I have enjoyed this story which has taken some interesting twists and turns but I am so happy that your heroine has mustered up some serious resolution about finding her baby girl. It's about time!!!
elizabeth
Great idea Betsy and the story is just getting better and better.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Hello Betsy,
ReplyDeleteThat stove is pure genius. What a wonderful use of the beads. Gorgeous. I cannot wait for the next part of the story. For some reason it makes me think of the bride of Lammermoor...but I do hope the story will have a happier ending.
Big hug,
Giac
I agree, the beads make a super stove "Kakkelovn". My dream is to have one of those, it will keep the mice really warm and cosy. Pam
ReplyDeletePerfect! I never imagined that those beads would become something so pretty within the Tree House! A Scandinavian stove is just brilliant, and it looks so at home in the corner of the nursery, I hope it will keep its tiny charges warm, as I can imagine long snowy winters outside the tree house sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI hope Daphne finds her dreams and all ends happily!
Andy xx
Your stove is wonderful and perfect in the corner.
ReplyDeleteThe story is interesting.
The plot thickens! And I was wondering when you were going to get back to the tree house, which was the entire story of your Christmas card 2 years ago. (2012). I love those mice.
ReplyDeleteLovely stove.
Great story!
Love,
Mom
You have made so many great scenes in the summer. I'm a big fan of your mouse home, brilliant to use your gift to a mouse fireplace.
ReplyDeleteYou are also very creative in your story, exciting, I am looking forward to hearing more.
Thanks for your comment on my blog.
Hugs
Wyrna
Hi Betsy!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous idea to turn those beads into a stove. It looks fabulous!
And of course...you are right. Daphne must return to France.
Hugs to you,
Vicki
The swedish stove looks great, especially after you painted the base, it's perfect! Finally Daphne is taking her life in her own hands, I hope all will end well!
ReplyDelete