Window Shopping !

As you can see from this photo , I have been very busy working on the Toy Shop and have made some progress with the shop window.

A huge thank you to Sue from http://pastmastery.wordpress.com for her wonderful work making my dummy board. Little Belle on her Rocking Horse takes pride of place in the shop window. She is hoping some toys will join her soon to keep her company !

Sue, I think you will agree she looks just perfect !

This side of ths shop front is a little busier. Sandra of Tower House Dolls will recognise this little lamb pulling a cart which I bought from her at Christmas . Thanks Sandra, I love her to bits :0)

The toys in the window are some I have had for years, and some more recent additions. The tiny jack in the box was made by my daughter, thanks katie !

I will be adding more toys soon as I want both windows to be very busy and full of wonderful things.

I am very pleased with the backboards I made for the windows. They simply slide in and out so I can easily add to or totally change the displays whenever I choose with minimal effort.

This is the display board for Belle's side.It has a higher raised platform so I can put lots of toysin front of it and still see most of Belle. She sits on the bottomshelf and I can put more toys behind her on the topshelf.

I simply used balsa wood strips and some coving ! Imeasured the window openings and then once my pieces were glued together and dried I sanded all the edges, tested for fit , and sanded a little more LOL

There is an extra shelf on this side .
Once dry and sanded I painted the shelves and sides cream and then when the paint dried I covered the back and front with toile wallpaper tomatch the inside of my shop. I also used some turned dowels to add more decoration between the shelves.

Here you can see them before they were put into the shop windows.

In my next post I will show you the inside view. I also used some olive green striped silk to make curtains for the inside of my windows and finished off with a fringed braid trim at the top which just shows from the outside.

I'm really pleased with everything so far !

julie xxx

Finally Floored !

Its been a hectic few weeks here.The run of Spring Miniature shows has started in the U.K. and I have been busily preparing for them. I will be exhibiting at one per month until June and all wonderful large fairs. The first being Spring Miniatura in just 2 weeks time !
So most of my time has been spent doll making but today being Mothers Day I finally had a free couple of hours to finish the Emporium floor.
It feels like I have been waiting a terribly long time to put the last few strips of wood into the parquet floor but this morning I did just that and was delighted with the results.
Then tonight I found time to wax the floor. You can see here the wax I used, beeswax and it is simply a case of wipe on, leave to dry and then polish up.

Here is the finished floor ! I am very happy with it. By just using one thin coat of paint I was able to achieve an old worn look and you cant quite see it from this photo but the wax has given it a sheen and it looks as if the floor has been worn and polished many times over the years.

The one thing I didnt want is a new looking shop. Although it was once rather grand, time has taken its toll and although Belle keeps her shop as clean as a new pin, it hasnt been decorated for many years.

I am making some shelves to go across the side window. It is rather awkward , being two arched windows side by side.The Kit doesnt come with interior window frames and as I am no expert with wood work I wouldnt even attempt to make my own interior arched frames !

Instead I will have three shelves on metal brackets stretching across the windows.

That way the toys displayed there will be visible from the outside and the light will set them off beautifully from the inside.

The shop counter will also be in front of the window. I want to have some little tables with toys piled high in front of the shelves.

There is a fabulous little animated film called "Alma" which I have watched many times . Its quite a creepy little film and features a doll shop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPNJU9bQtzo

I love the way there are little tables etc. displaying the dolls so want to use that here, but not in such a creepy way !

julie xxx

Something special for my shop window and floor progress!

I am so excited that Sue from Pastmastery has agreed to make a very special dummy board for my shop window. Visit Sue's blog http://pastmastery.wordpress.com/ to watch the progress of this ! You have all seen the little girl on her rocking horse in my side bar. This is the inspiration behind the dummy board which will sit in the shop window and form a beautiful backdrop to the window display.

Sues blog is fascinating, if you dont know much about dummy boards you will learn so much and if you have a dolls house I just bet you will want one of your own !

I'm on tenterhooks waiting to see mine :0)

I have been working on my parquet floor this week. I have painted each tile with a thin layer of paint so the wood shows through and laid most of them. Just the tiny jigsaw pieces of the centre detail to paint and glue. To be totally honest I havent a clue how the bits fit in LOL they are tiny and I am baffled so will leave it until I am feeling very enthusiastic ! I will wax the entire floor once its all in place.

I glued each piece down despite the instructions to use doublesided sticky tape. I dont trust that to stick forever ................ Of course the parquet tiles are very thin wood so they immediately curled at the edges. This is where my antique weighing scales came in very handy ! They have metal weights which I used to weigh down the tiles as I went along . The result as you can see is really nice, just the effect I wanted and I think it lends a fairytale touch to the toyshop. I just cant wait to fill this up with gorgeous toys !!

julie xxx