Or Maybe the Tree House....

 

 

Do You Even Remember The Tree House....?

It has been a while, Dear Readers, since I visited The Tree House, let alone did a post about it. And I will admit I was really shocked to realize it is nearly ten years since I last worked on it! Yikes! How does that happen? There it sits, half finished on one side of The Folly Landscape, wires dangling and doors and walls taped together... how could I ignore it for so long? Walk right by it daily and not look inside? Well, I will admit that I do occasionally open the doors and look wistfully in... Gosh, I do love those tiny rooms! But Time, that elusive, fitful collaborator goes whizzing by and off I go to complete the Castle ceilings or the Lilac blossoms or another chapter of whatever Story is ruling my dreams...! And still it waits.... is it next.... Well, I really don't know... but we can visit if you like! And I must admit, Jodi's current project on her blog My Miniature Madness has inspired me to think about it again....

The Tree House is designed to be a series of rooms

 stacked within the hollow trunk of an ancient Tree beside The Folly.

So far there are six stories, starting with the kitchen

 which is partly below ground level.

All the rooms have doors that close for the fourth wall.

This allows the tiny interiors protection 

and a feeling of secrecy when viewed from outside.

And they are lit with small LED's and battery packs.

But it has been so long... they are not lighting....

But with new batteries and a new battery switch unit,

 they work! Hooray!

The kitchen was the beginning of my foray into tiny...

 this is a 1:48 scale build... and I built everything from scratch!

I fell in Love with making tiny furniture.... chairs in particular...

 you will have to visit my side-bar to find the posts with details...

And every floor has stairs that lead up inside the walls to the next level.

I know it is too dark to see properly... 

but on the right side is a twisty root hand rail for the steps going up....

To the Salon! The stairs land at the hall

 seen through the door in the back wall.

All the doors open and close on tiny hinges!

Yes.... I am nuts... but I love to make them open and close!

And I had barely gotten started when I realized

 the ceiling needed to be domed and painted too...

to make room for that grand chandelier.... (1.5 inches tall)

And the elegant window in the opening wall needed to have shutters...

(to hide the light from passer-by outside the tree....)

which had to have hinges.....

Yes, they open.....

And close!

(It makes me giddy with delight!)

And to the left there is a little alcove...

With a rose arbor painting and a tiny settee and a harp....

So hard to see and almost impossible to photograph...

nestled under a "lost marble" window!

And the matched suite of furniture in this room

 is the one and only foray into matched furniture I have ever done!

Again... you will have to visit the sidebar to find detailed posts.

And I don't even show you the marble stairs

 going up inside the wall to the next level...

(But they are there!)

And they bring us to the Library... 

A gothic masterpiece that I wish I had in RL!

 

 

And too many details to begin to show you...

 And the collections it inspired....

a "coquillage" box made with real tiny shells

 (the babies of the North Atlantic Whelk)

Tiny butterflies and Terrariums in bell jars... 

(made from gelatin capsules!)

Tiny open books, shelves full of closed books.....

 

In cabinets whose doors open....

 

And close! (Of course!)

But for these I made pin hinges....

reasoning they would be sturdier 

in the small dimensions of these shelves. 

And that secretary desk...!

Whose doors and drawers open and close... 

along with the hinged slanted top!

Oh, I had fun building that!

And the chairs....

Not to mention the "Tiffany " lamp!

And the stairs go up in the walls to the next level...

To the Chinoiserie Bedroom!

Again.... I got utterly carried away!

Painting the walls by hand.... (took weeks!)

Making the furniture.... 

the Pagoda Bed ....

(with the hand embroidered curtains

 that took me over a year to complete!)

Lets have a look with the lights on and the fire lit....

The bed curtains a bit closer, stitched with antique

 (my grandmother's) silk sewing thread

 on lovely dupioni silk cloth in a shade

 that perfectly matches the wall paint!

 (And so hard to get good focus at this scale!)

And let's not forget the ceiling...

Domed, gilded and bossed......

and so so difficult to see, let alone photograph!

But I know it is there!

And the Recamier under the gothic window....

with the tiny crystal wall sconces...

And the Pagoda Door on the opening wall...

Which leads out to a Juliet balcony

 overlooking the stream below...

And yes, the doors open and close!

 

And by now, Dear Readers, you must realize

 I have no restraint with this project!

 

A residence this magnificent must also have

 opulent bathing facilities!

And so we have the Abalone shell bathroom!

 

With that beautiful seashell tub!

 

Surrounded by pearl pillars and pearl dotted net curtains...

As if it is afloat on the blue "pond"

(another abalone shell)

And real scallop shell sconces and an art deco fireplace!

 

And lest you wonder where in all this splendor the "loo" is located.... 

never fear.... 

There is a closet to the side....

painted with Lilac bush murals!

 

And a still incomplete chamber for dressing...

 

 

 with wall murals of sea horses in the foaming waves...!

And here you see the open door wall... 

with the abalone shell tiles and Scallop shells too!

And is there more....?

Well, the next floor up is the Nursery...

 

 Or the beginnings of the Nursery....!

The outside of the Bed nook shown here....

Walls still incomplete and taped in place...

The inside of the Bed Nook.... in the opening door wall...

with those real lace curtains that open and shut on the curtain rod... 

and the windows hinge open too!

The nursery "Scandinavian Tile Stove" is lit and warm...

but there are no lights...  nothing is finished.

The Nanny's room is through the door on the right...

Just the bare bones and nothing attached....

 (all the walls fall down if bumped!)

Oh, and I forgot to show you the tiny

 Dressing Room off the Chinoiserie Bedroom...

It is impossible to get a good shot because

 the Dollmaker's Studio Project is in the way!

But I had a lot of fun painting the murals of roses on this one!

(You can look it up in the side bar of my blog to see more details....)

Well, once again, Dear Readers, 

I have gotten completely carried away 

just reviewing this incomplete project!

I worked on it almost exclusively for more than two years

 from May 2012 to Sept 2014!

And yes.... there is a lot more still waiting to get built!

When the Spirit moves me....

We shall see!

But Someday I know it will look like a Tree....

 with these amazing rooms tucked inside!

So, did you even remember the Tree House?

 

What's Up....

 

The Winter Dilemma.... Or, Where Was I....?

You might Recall, Dear Readers, that I find myself at this spot every Winter once I have completed the Christmas Card drawing... (which takes weeks of focus), of being completely unfocused about all my other projects! It has been months since I really looked at the Castle with an eye to deciding what should be accomplished next, even though there is a long list of "to do's" ready and waiting. The Lord's Bedchamber was nearing completion.... with the exception of the ceiling, which really has barely been started. If you know me at all, you know I like to decorate the ceilings!

And the exterior of the Lord's Tower has still not been painted, 

because the wires still have not been buried in the walls... 

because I still have not built the "box" which will hide the outlet strip....

Which should be part of the exterior stairs to the main door....

Which I can't even get a good picture of in the dark corner,

 in the still dark evenings of Winter!

Ah, well.... it is waiting for me to get organized and make a plan....

And so is The Dollmaker's Studio...

 

In a slightly brighter spot... 

with a much smaller "framework"

But an equally incomplete pile of wires

 and steps needed to bring order to the chaos!

The stairs will climb up the interior of the Tower... 

constructed of Quaker Oatmeal boxes, of course....

And the plug outlet strip needs to hide in the attic

 of the still to be constructed annex behind the tower....

And let us not really even look at the Tree House.... 

or the Attic of Hardwick Hall.....

Or The Cupboard House.....

Oh Dear... did I mention I have Lot of unfinished Projects?

But on Saturday morning, Dear Readers, 

the sunshine reached in to the corner where The Folly sits,

and reminded me that Spring is coming!

And the light is returning..... 

along with the urge to clean out the corners....!

I started with the "lumber yard" that usually covers most of my cutting mat

 because I don't like to throw away those useful tiny scraps!

Off-cuts from Castle Rocks and Studio herringbone flooring... 

even some pieces of Willowcrest Window trim...!

Oh what a difference!

But I still have no idea which Project will grab me and run....

But I'm ready to start!

And the best part is that I will

 Retire from my day job in a few weeks!

Let the adventures begin!

Stitching...

 

Progress...

I Imagine you will understand, Dear Readers, when I tell you that while I was working on the Christmas Card drawing (for weeks and weeks!) I had to not allow myself to do any petit-point stitching. This is because once I begin to stitch, I find it very difficult to stop... and I needed to devote all my spare time to the drawing. So the Baktiari carpet languished while I devoted my attentions to drawing. Well, last weekend I finally had a few moments when I could pick up the stitching again! Above you can see where I had left it early in December. The central portion is nearly finished and the border is well under way.

It was not difficult to get back into the pattern.

Sorry for the darkish pictures... 

it is still so dark here in the evenings!

But that is beginning to change noticeably as we move into February.

Once again, I am in the stitching mode... 

and aim to make great progress over the next few weeks!

But that is all I got done, Dear Readers,

just a little more stitching progress!

The Card...

 

Ready or Not....

Well, Dear Readers, here it is the Fortieth edition of my Annual Christmas Card.... every year since 1983 I have drawn and printed and sent to friends and family a Seasonal card! Yes, Christmas is long gone, but it takes a long time to get all the details right. And given the time constraints of employment and occasional illness it has rarely been completed by Christmas. And if it is Late as usual... then perhaps it is really right on time! At any rate, there are always dozens of additional tweaks and shadows and touch-ups that could be added, but I have to stop somewhere. So this is it! As always, it is 8.5 x 11 inches, pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor board drawn to actual size and color copied. The theme is always the events of the past year woven into  an illustration, almost always with a letter to capture the theme.

Here is a closer view of the upper part. 

This is the printed version and the glossy paper

 always makes photography difficult... the reflection is hard to avoid.

Here is the lower section.

And if you question whether The Dollmaker's Studio

 was the primary work of the past year.... 

well, all I can say is that it was worked on

 all year in tiny little slow bits... 

not enough to warrant much in the way of blogging....

But enough to warrant recognition, unfinished as it is!

And that's all I have to show, Dear Readers,

The Card, Ready or Not...

Finally Finished!

I hope you enjoy seeing it.

Not Much New....

 

 But A Kit or Two...

Well, Dear Readers, my New Year got off to a slow start this year as the cold I had been "managing" for weeks became worse, and needed some medical treatment. Nothing serious, mind you, not Covid, not "the flu"... just that awful nasty sinus virus that won't let go! I needed to take medicine (I never take medicine!).... have extra rest (but I have too many things to do!)... drink more fluids of the right kind... stay home from work (but I'll never get caught up!)..... you know the drill! And as the cold was "going down hill" right before the New Year, I was still trying to assemble a few of the "12 Days of Christmas" kits I had received... You can see Day 4 in the above picture! An adorable set of paper-doll dress-up kittens! Most of the assembly was in the box construction itself.

Here you can see the Kitten paper-doll and the clothes he can wear.

And here you can see he is wearing his PJ's

 and carrying his candle, ready for bed!

And the kit for the 5th Day of Christmas was a set of Santa Blocks....

 

Wooden blocks that you glue an old fashioned Santa Illustration to each side...

 

The old Illustrations are truly lovely 

and the reproductions of them are very sharp and clear!

 It took a long time to cut out each one and glue them all to the blocks!

 

 I apologize for the blurry photo... 

it was late and the light is not good.

Here they are all nestled in their box!

And the 6th day of Christmas....

found another board game to assemble.....

Or maybe it was the 7th day of Christmas...

again, the images are lovely!

Here they are on their magnetic board...

with the box and the little die for rolling!

Want to play?

Okay, I know... I have things to do too...

like work on the Christmas Card.....

Yes, Dear Readers, I got delayed....

 it got delayed.... Everything got delayed!

All because of a horrible nasty darn cold!

But I am on the mend now.

I'm back at work trying to get caught up....

The kits are in the waiting for "someday" pile...

And the Christmas Card is still in process...

not done but getting closer every day!

So you can see, not much is New but a Kit or Two!

And the New Year, of course!

Happy New Year!