Blogging Still......

Where Have They Gone.....?

You Might not remember, Dear Readers, the condition of The Lovely Old Dollhouse when I first began to re-build it way back in 2009, before I had even discovered the world of Miniatures on the internet and had no clue about blogs! The above picture shows it shortly after I had begun the rebuilding. I had decided to add a few fireplaces and had begun to rebuild the stairs and then discovered electrical lights at a miniatures store nearby.... and my world was changed! It was not long before I was searching for mini lighting on the internet and stumbled upon the world of blogs.... miniaturists from all over the World at one's fingertips! I was smitten! And only a little while later, with the help of my tech savvy sons, I started this blog... my own contribution to this fascinating international exchange had begun! You might wonder why I am suddenly waxing nostalgic here.... and it is for two reasons. One is that a blogger I admire and who had not posted in a long time, posted again the other day... Helene at Pubdolls.... (please go on over and say Hi to her! ).... and she mentioned that she would have to have a look to see what I had been up to in her absence from blogging! My first reaction was to cringe..... how could Anybody Possibly review all of my... how many years is it now.... Eight years of loooong posts? It would not be possible! And then I realized the eighth Anniversary of this blog had recently passed... Eight years and I am still blogging! Helene had last posted in 2011.... and I was still building.... well... what was I working on in 2011? Oh, the years have been flying by! I think I was working on the Cupboard House.....

Which is literally an old cupboard that I am retrofitting to be a Dollshouse.

I ran into some technical snags with wiring

 and glue and wood shrinkage and have.... um....

 put it on the back burner.... for now.... 

while I figure those things out!

But I have not forgotten it!

And then in 2012.... 

I got all swept up in the Wedding of Pollyanna and Arthur..... 

 

You might not remember how many costumes

 I had to make to get Everybody ready!

And they barely fit into the Chapel of The Castle Dollhouse.....

And there was a Reception afterwards too!

And before the dust had even settled....

I began to work on the landscape for The Folly Dollhouse... 

and got swept into The Treehouse Project.....

Which as some of you might not know,

 is a Tree that stands on The Folly landscape.... 

that has rooms inside it which are the home of the Rats

 and are built in 1:48 scale....

And I became enchanted with the smaller scale....

Can you see the furniture at Belle's feet? 

And every now and then when the sun is shining on it 

I have a peek inside the Tree House....

 

 Samuel Whiskers is a bit surprised.....

 

Do you even remember this Parlor......

With the Gods cavorting in the clouds on the ceiling...?

Or the Library.... 

with all those Treasures and Paintings.... 

I know, it is a Mess and so hard to see....

I will have to get in there and put things to rights...

And the Bedroom too... 

with that Divine Pagoda bed... 

with the embroidered curtains....

And the Tree House Nursery... 

where we got side-tracked.... 

years and years ago....

Well, I think it was because I had to Tell a Few Stories....

 

I had to build a Conservatory.....

I had to build a Park.... 

that could even be visited on a rainy day......

And years and years go flying by!

I am still working on painting the Castle Ceiling.....

Someday it will be finished!

But for now, every so often when the sun is shining right... 

I can get good pictures....

It is dark in the Castle and you have to

 get down on your knees and look up.....

Those Saints are Very Patient!

Because, as some of you might know... 

I get side-tracked... 

and might have to take a year or two building only in 1:144th scale.....

 starting with the roombox on the shelf in The Folly Parlor!

(Do you see it there...?)

Oh, Dear Readers, I am afraid it is not Possible to review it all!

And did I forget to mention a Project or Two.....

The Cloud Palace is not yet done......

Nor Hardwick Hall.... 

Nor the Castle itself....!

And here I am ..... promising to make more....

Shrubs for The Folly garden.......

 

 Which I did manage to get mostly painted....

(the first shrub, that is....)

And more tiny Lilac blossoms!

Now there are three!

And here you can see the mostly painted shrub by The Folly.....

Still a Looong way to go, Dear Readers!

Yes, I don't know where the years go....

But I am blogging still!

The New Dollhouse....

It Was Just A Matter of Time....

I suppose, Dear Readers, that you want to see the Tiny roombox in its proper location on the bookshelf in The Folly Parlor. But I must tell you that it is incredibly difficult to photograph it there! I cannot seem to make the camera focus on the roombox, so it is always just a little out of focus! At least the morning sun was shining brightly on Saturday, allowing me to get this picture in the best possible light. It is not completely finished, there are still one or two details I think I want to add, but I was not able to accomplish any of them over the weekend. It was one of those weekends where I seemed to do a lot of little things that didn't add up to anything noticeable, and certainly no steps crossed off the lists!

( Where it all began... The Lovely Old Dollhouse.....)

I have also been aware in the back of my mind that last week was the Sixth Anniversary of this Blog...!!! (How does the Time go so fast???) I have debated having an anniversary drawing... but have been too disorganized to pull one together... so I mention this as an aside... that I might get one organized... so stay tuned! I also debated trying to do a "Review" but.... that just seems Exhausting! I cannot begin to summarize the Adventure that it has been for ME... connecting with so many Wonderful, Inspiring, Creative, Generous, Talented Miniaturists from All over the World...! I just Never could have Imagined how enriching and supportive and amazing this community would be! Thank you ALL for sharing yourselves and your creations in this amazing Blogland! I hope it continues being an amazing Adventure for many more years!

 As for the weekend.... I managed to work a little more on the attic of Hardwick Hall! Remember that LIST I made of All the steps I needed to accomplish before I glued the side walls in place? I know, it was a while ago... but One of those steps was to figure out the Wiring for the attic lights! So far the majority of the lights in this house are on the central wall, and the wiring goes down behind the kitchen hearth to the basement where it connects to a plug strip. Well, my Plan was to add sconces to the attic walls and to run the wires around to the back of the house and down the outer corners to the plug strips. These wires would eventually be covered by the corner trim of the house. Well, I got a little ahead of my plan, and glued the Mansard Roof onto the sides before I remembered to run the wires for the sconces..... which meant I had to Make a New Plan! I think the New plan will work as well as the old one so no harm was done and I did not have to remove the Mansard roofing! In the above picture you can see I have attached two sconces to the far wall, one on either side of the window.

Here you can see they are being tested..... 

it is such a dark room and it was a dark day.....

But the lights work!

The New Plan is to run the wires around to the back 

above the ceiling trim where they will not be visible. 

It will probably be easier this way!

I still need to splice extensions onto the wires 

because they have so Far to Go to reach the plug strips!

I think there will also be at least one overhead pendant light.... 

but the ceiling is still being designed... 

so I am not at all sure where those wires will travel!

I know it is not very visible in the above picture... 

but there are stars on the ceiling....

Well, of course there are!

But so far I have not been able to get a satisfactory photograph 

of them with the ceiling panels in place!

And Another small thing that I started but did not finish...

Was adding my favorite Silver paint 

to the table and chairs which will go in the Dining area of Hardwick Hall.....

It was a Very Gloomy morning.... 

and they probably need another coat of paint....

And there will be some other decorative details... 

so they are far from finished.... 

but I do think they look wonderfully... Spectral!

But what about the "New Dollhouse" I hear some of you asking?

Well, I was wandering through the Internet recently during my lunch break at work, 

and stumbled across the "Pickering Manor Dollhouse"!

It was Love at First Sight!

And it arrived Today!

Yes, I am in Trouble now, Dear Readers.... 

An entire Mansion in 1/144th scale!!!

It is one of those purchases that Surpasses the wildest expectations!

The interior is not divided into rooms.... 

so I can design them as I see fit.....!

Even the attic opens!!!

And just to see how the scale looks with my Tiny Roombox....

Yes, there is ample room for elegant interiors!!!

And if one wanted to, 

it could even serve as a bookcase in 1:12 scale!

But Where oh where am I going to "house" this "dollhouse"?

I don't think it fits into ANY of my current Dollhouses!

Who does it belong to?

What era will it be a part of?

Will there have to be a New Dollhouse to house the Tiny One?

There HAS to be a Story......!

Ah, Dear Readers, this Adventure is Far from over!

I have Always wanted a tiny dollhouse like this one!

I guess it Was only a matter of Time 

before I got another New Dollhouse!

Upon Reflection.....

Blog Anniversary, Painting Rocks and Other Ruminations.....

I Hope you will forgive me, Dear Readers, If I Wander around a bit in this Post! I have both Too much and too Little to show and am Utterly undecided about Where to start! To Begin with, I am aware that the Fourth Anniversary of this blog has Come and Gone.... with No fanfare on my part! Nothing new to show, all kinds of incomplete projects, Just Exactly as  Incomplete as they were a year ago..... How does that happen? I would venture to do a recap of the year.... but cannot Fathom how to condense That into one post! The Tree House Bedroom and Bathroom.... The Castle ceilings.... Daphne's Story...., The Cloud Palace..... Not to mention the Little Dreamers.... ! You can see what a dilemma I am in! And as if to exacerbate an already overwhelming situation.... Last Sunday was Easter Sunday..... which so many of you were prompt about honoring with beautiful and charming minis! Well, I am a bit Late... but Yes, the Easter Bunny made a stop here too....

Annabelle was a little surprised......

She is still young enough that she is not sure what to expect.....

Even Sally May looks surprised......!

She has a new Cookbook to try!

Annabelle asks "Is the candy for breakfast, Momma?"

But while Sally May figures out the answer to that question, 

I must take you back to the Fireplace at Rose Thorn Cottage....

Where the Sunday Morning Sun was lighting up the chimney....

Here you can see pretty clearly the completed hearth.....

But it took almost an entire day of painting the rocks to get the effect I wanted!

Of course, I forgot to take progress pictures.....

 but the first steps (after the base coats of gray) 

were to add brown washes to many of the stones..... 

and then to fill all the crevices with black....

as you can see in the above picture.

 This highlights the rocks individually.....

But when we test it in place, you can see that the black needs to be toned back.....

The rocks need to be rounded more at the edges and the cracks need to recede...

Which is a gradual process of just adding more gray washes.....

Until all the cracks are more subtle.....

Then we need to test it again......

That looks more like it!

But still Waaaay too clean looking! 

Time to add the soot!

It needed to look as though it had been well used as a fireplace 

before they "cleaned it out" and added the Aga Stove!

And by then it is late at night and Dark out....

So we must wait until morning to see it in the sunlight....

Oh, that Amazing Sunlight!

It looks so wonderful that I glue it in place and start to add some of the other details...

The wooden beams and the shelf over the window.....

Which just Begs for the china I have had put away for Years.....

And a scrap of fabric for a rug....

And then I had to start in on the Tub for the bathroom.....

I wanted a Lovely old Zinc bathtub.....

 

Made from cardboard, of course......

With a wooden rim.....

Then painted in gray and then silver paint......

Here you can see it being tested in place.....

Yes, you will only be able to see a glimpse of it.....

But oh, what a perfect image!

But wait..... there is more......

There is this lovely little mirror.....

It is a Christmas ornament!

 And believe it or not, but this little mirror has encapsulated for me

 the entire theme of this house....

The Roses..... the Red color, 

The lacy filigree.... the oval shape.....

The beautiful bright reflection in a dark corner....

Hidden and barely visible....

Quiet but so evocative....

Feminine...

Old Fashioned.....

Such a tiny room....

will hold so much beauty....

Before I know it the House has come alive......

Who is there....?

Did you want some tea?

Do come in!

Agatha always has the kettle on the stove!

Well, Dear Readers, Even though another year has flown,

Sometimes all it takes is a Little reflection.....

But now I can see that I have made a lot of progress after all...

and I want to Thank you all for visiting!