Something Old And Something New

And Maybe Even SOME Progress!

Dear Readers, You MUST be thinking that I have Forgotten about the Wedding I am supposed to be planning in my Doll World. But let me assure you, nothing could be Further from the truth! Pollyanna and Daphne have been hard at work researching Gown Styles.... and they have even convinced me to bring home a Bridal Magazine or two to help with the Inspiration that seems to be lacking! As for setting a DATE..... you will just Have to forgive us, but we are Still trying to track down Arthur's FATHER! He was last heard to be chasing rare butterflies on Mount Kilimanjaro, but nobody has heard from him in a while. Celeste thinks we should just go ahead and plan the Wedding without him (she would perhaps rather NOT see him....) and Arthur and Pollyanna are starting to believe they may have to do just that. So we shall see..... it looks as though the Soonest they could get married would be sometime in November...... and that is only IF Pollyanna can get a Gown made in time....... and ALL the OTHER Wedding Party members too.... did I Realize what I was setting myself up for? I am not even sure whether some of the dolls' clothes are removable........ oh dear..... this could be complicated..........!

But for NOW, Pollyanna and Daphne are studying the LATEST Styles...........

There are some STUNNING Gowns that would be an incredibly difficult thing to make in mini....

But with some of the MOST FAMOUS Designers present....

we could perhaps get some great tips....

There is Certainly a LOT to consider.......

And some VERY Beautiful Gowns.......
that Might be Just what we are looking for.......

What do you think......?

So While you are thinking....... I have ALSO been working on the tiny bits and pieces for the Cupboard House. In particular..... I spent an Entire Day cutting and fitting and gluing the Muntins (those vertical dividers) for ALL the windows! It was VERY fidgety work as they really had to fit precisely and there needed to be one on the inside and the outside of the window, both top and bottom...... here you can see the kitchen window completed!

And a view from the outside.... I just LOVE these windows! They actually go Up and Down!

And once they were all done....

I temporarily attached them (with Museum Wax) to the House....

I am Very Happy with the way they look!

And even with the way they look on the inside....... because the front of the cupboard is so Thick there is a lovely Deep window embrasure..... I will need to line it with a sort of extended window frame......

And Another little bit I have been working on is the Plumbing for the Kitchen of the Cupboard House...... specifically, I have tried to make some tiny faucets in a Victorian style.......

Here you can see my first attempt......

It is made with wire and jewelry findings and Sculpey all glued together and painted.....

The only problem is that they are JUST a BIT too BIG! So I tried again with Smaller parts......
Here you can see the Sculpey (black stuff) on the wires and glued together before painting.......

And here you can see the two sets together to compare the size.....

I ALSO started to make the pipes for the Hot water tank...... but I am not sure they are right either...... and I need to add the intake and the outflow pipes... as well as a drain faucet...... so I MIGHT have to make some changes..... and I need to figure out EXACTLY where the pipes GO so they are cut the correct length ....... so you see I have a ways to go with this part.....

Here I have glued the smaller faucets onto the sinks.....

I set them low as there will be wooden hinged Covers on the sinks.......
.

And here it is in the Kitchen.....
I can't Believe so Little improvement took so MUCH time!

But I am SO glad I have completed the windows.....

they make the Cupboard start to Feel like a HOUSE!

And Now that they are in place on the Cupboard House......

there is Space again in MY House......

to start filling up with more projects!
Maybe I WILL get started on a Wedding Dress.......

Something Old IS Something New

Hurricane!

Beware!

Old Meg has Left her corner by the fire!
As EVERYONE knows, Old Meg NEVER leaves her fire! Today, my Dear Friends, she left her fire and climbed the Castle stairs....

She climbed through the narrow steep winding stairs.... up and up...

Higher and higher

To the topmost Tower of the Castle!
There she stood at the very edge of the wall and Blind though she is, she stared to the West...

And Gazed to the East

And then to the SOUTH.....

Where the Storm clouds were starting to Muster...
and the winds beginning to blow.....

She lifted her arms and Pointed her bony hand to the Sky

And SPOKE!
"BEWARE the Hurricane! Winds will GALE! Trees will FLAIL!
Rain will Pour! Remain Indoor! I SAY no more!"

Henry, who had feared for her safety and followed her to the top of the Tower, heard every word. Even though he was NOT sure he Understood what Hurrycane meant....... he could tell that her warning was SERIOUS!

And just in case he Didn't understand, when she was back inside,

Old Meg looked him in the Eyes and said...."PREPARE!"

So Henry told the whole Tale to Belle. He really was a bit Agitated about this "Horrorcane"! Belle calmed him with her simple words...."Our Kitchen is Stone, our Well is deep, our Fire is warm and I have just been baking the bread! What More are we supposed to do? Rest easy, all will be well!"

Meanwhile, the word has gotten out to the other Little people and they are PREPARING themselves for an EPIC Storm!

Arthur and Will are carrying the Garden furniture inside so it will not blow around.

Daphne is helping with the chairs and the potted plants!

And in the Lovely Old Dollhouse, Helen is preparing to fill all the Large pots with Water, so they will have some when the power goes out. She is old enough that she remembers a few large storms, but perhaps not one like this one!

Joanna has found the Old Hurricane Lantern and has filled it with oil and checked to see that the wick is just right. She remembers using it once in a while when the Power has gone out in other storms.... so she knows what she is doing.

Victor has dug around in the cupboards and found some OLD Beeswax Candles! They are a bit odd looking, but he is sure that they will burn a long time as they are pure beeswax! (Dear Readers, I MADE these candles in my teen years when we lived on the Farm and my boyfriend kept bees. We melted the wax and I dipped these candles!)

Pollyanna has brought some candles over to the Folly. She is sure they will be alright in the tiny house, but she has invited everyone to stay at the Lovely Old Dollhouse if they feel at all threatened!

Sally May has gone shopping to stock up on the essentials.... Milk and Eggs and Butter .......

And while she is trying not to worry, she is keeping Annabelle close, and they will spend the day baking.... just in case the Power goes off and they can't bake tomorrow!

And even Charles has found himself heeding the urge to PREPARE... he went shopping and came home with a basketful of produce and a rack full of Milk bottles! Nobody is going to starve!

So while we ALL PREPARE for this Epic storm, Dear Readers, very little has been accomplished on the Cupboard House! I have added a bit to the kitchen flooring....

I have been using my Rose Pruning shears to cut the wooden sticks to the right length..... and occasionally I have cut too short.... so there are a couple of gaps..... but I hope it will just add to the Character of the building! After all, it IS just an OLD Cupboard!

And I have done the tricky job of cutting and mitering the coving for the Dining Room ceiling trim! I have stained it and will add gilding to parts of it for accent. Here it is just temporarily held in place so you can see how the Dining Room is taking shape. The wooden cut out for the mantlepiece is probably just a stand in for the fireplace I will eventually either buy or carve myself. It will need to be ornate and ..... well... Victorian!

So, Dear Readers, I want you to know that we ARE expecting to be hit by this Hurricane Irene! It is forecast to go straight up the Connecticut River Valley as it crosses New England, arriving late tonight or early Tomorrow morning. I live in the Connecticut River Valley, about one hundred miles inland. We expect Strong winds and Lots of Rain and probable loss of Power. So if I am not on Blogger for several days.... please DO NOT WORRY! We will be fine! We are well above River level and have stocked up on candles, water and Food! I will spend this evening baking! And During the Storm tomorrow, I will be gluing floor boards in place, gilding ceiling coving, and Maybe even starting to paint the Mural in the Hallway....... ANYTHING to keep myself from listening to the WIND......!

Hurricane!

The Cupboard House

Brownstone Beginnings

It has always seemed to me as though the Cupboard was ideally suited to become an Urban Rowhouse. The facade would be filled with windows and the elegant entryway. The rooms would have no windows on the sides or the back. The house would open at the front, unlike most modern American dollhouses which are open on the back. The Cupboard, after all, is already built with solid sides and back and lovely doors that open on the front! And while Rowhouses are a very common feature of European Cities where housing was crowded and real estate was in high demand, here in the Young years of the American Nation, the towns and small cities for the most part still had plenty of room for single freestanding houses. But there were a few cities where the housing growth was exceeding the available space and Row Houses were springing up at a great rate. Boston and New York were two such cities and both can now boast large neighborhoods of grand old Rowhouses built in the Victorian years. These houses are known as "Brownstones" because they were built with the distinctive local sandstone which is a Lovely red-brown chocolate-y color. So you can hardly be surprised that when I think of a Row House I think of a Brownstone!
But before we can get to the Brownstone, we need to start the conversion of the old Cupboard!
Here you can see it with the windows laid out for spacing. The cupboard was originally part of a kitchen built in the early part of the Twentieth century... so the construction was solid and sturdy.

Once I had measured and drawn all the window openings, I began the LONG Awaited process of cutting all those openings in the doors.

The panels are a Solid one inch thick!

It took HOURS to cut all the openings!

But at last they were all cut and I test fitted the windows and door into the openings..........
It really is going to look quite elegant I think!

Of course, the next step is to TRY to duplicate the color of "Brownstone"!

I have started by painting it a darker and redder shade..... some of the local Sandstone is actually this color...... but I think it is too red to be a Brownstone!

Next I have overpainted the red with a Stippled drybrush technique using a lighter and more cocoa-colored paint. You can see the contrast where the first color has not been covered....

The lighting was not good with these pictures, so it is difficult to tell the color...... but I think it is SOMEWHAT like Brownstone..... and for now I am going to leave it as is. I am probably going to add some architectural details to the front of the cupboard... so I will make adjustments after that.

The interior of the cupboard has not yet been painted... it still has the original mint-green paint!

Here I am testing the look of the windows and door with the Brownstone........

I think it is VERY handsome!

The ONLY problem being that with the Brownstones that were built in the Victorian era.... the window and door surrounds were carved from the Brownstone.... NOT from wood!!! I can't make myself (at least not YET) Paint ALL the Windows to simulate Brownstone! So for now, I am pretending there were some houses that used wooden window surrounds!

And I'm moving on to the interior of the building... because there is SO MUCH to do!
I have a lovely curved staircase.... made from a Houseworks kit...... I am planning on making the wall on one side curve to match it rather than have two sides with railings........ It is SO Elegant... and very like one in that Old Vermont Houses book I have mentioned before.....

I have cut the interior wall sections and painted the interior of the Cupboard a pure white..... not because it will stay white, but so that the colors I use will look right! This Victorian House will probably have NO white except for the linens on the beds!

I have started to paint the kitchen in ocher color. I am afraid that this cupboard is not very big so the rooms are going to be quite small! But I didn't want to leave out the stairways.... or the kitchen.... or the Dining Room..... so they are going to be small but Elegant!

Here you can see the beginnings of the layout of the second floor where the Parlor and the Library will be....... I have those lovely double doors from the Houseworks kits...... and I have been staining and staining and staining ALL DAY LONG........!

Another view of the rooms as they are so far..... nothing is attached yet..... this is all just to get the layout figured out.......

But I have a charming little old iron stove for the Kitchen....... these were the NEWEST technology at the time! I think it looks beautiful.... I will build a brick hearth behind it.......

And another view...... with the ocher walls and dark wood trim it will be SOOO Victorian!

And the entryway will have dark wainscoting perhaps? And Certainly some rich and elegant wallpaper.... or maybe a mural? The door at the back is an illusion... hinting at more rooms but there are none.......

And seen from the doorway........

And with a few of the windows temporarily placed......

to give you a sense of what it will look like...

the beginnings of a Victorian Brownstone Rowhouse......

The Cupboard House!