Friday 28 May 2010

A skivy day and a cunning plan !


Well, after my get up and go got up and left me yesterday, I decided to take a skivy day today !
I should be busy making dolls , but instead I decided to work on the Emporium instead, they say a change is as good as a rest and I do feel much better now :0)
So here we have UncleMort's workshop.
The first picture shows it undercoated and half assembled.
I have been painting it, one coat per night this week and today the final coat was dry and I was able to distress it a little.
I didnt want it to look too distressed, just a little worn and dirty round the edges on the outside.I will take some proper photos of the outside when the roof section is finished.
The inside is still clean for now, I will be adding workbenches and shelving and will dirty up the inside when that is all in place. I will also be putting in skirting boards with sockets for lighting.
In this picture I have just stained the floor and it is still drying out. There will be sawdust on the floor when the workshop is completed.
As the paintwork was completed, I attached the workshop to the back of the shop.
You may remember the tradesmans entrance leads to a cubby hole with a door inside.
Well that door leads to the workshop !
So I have placed a corresponding door on the outside of the shop and inside the workshop.
This pleases me, I know the door can't actually be opened but in an imaginary world it would open and thats good enough for me .
I am delighted that the whole building with workshop attached can still turn 360 degrees . From the front it looks like a shop, then you turn it round and surprise ! Its a workshop !
I love that it is almost two different houses now, front and back !

The roof will be tiled to match the roof on the shop and it hasnt got its windows in place yet but I have balanced it on just for show :0)












And now for my cunning plan.................................
Ta da ! here it is !!!



Hmmmm not very cunning I hear you say, its just an outdoor toilet, now what is cunning about that ?
Well take a look at the next photo.......................................
As my house is viewablefrom the front ,sides and back I was a bit worried about how to do the lighting.
My other dolls houses have lighting strips and wires on the back , this is fine when the back is against a wall but would look very ugly in this case.
Then I was tidying the shed and came across my miniature outdoor toilet................... the cunning plan was hatched :0)
I would simply hide the socket strip inside the toilet and the wiring would be hidden under the bricks that will go on the back of the house !
I havent attached this to the back of the house yet.
I want to purchase all my lights and make sure there are enough sockets on this strip, it may need an extra strip in there yet.
But I have taken a photo to show how it will look in place on the back of the house.
I love this plan as the living accomodation above the shop has no bathroom.
I know this isnt real LOL but I just have to have things with a sense of realism and Belle and Uncle Mort had nowhere to "go " !
So the addition of the outdoor toilet solves both that problem and my wiring one, a cunning plan indeed !


Tomorrow I will be back in the shed making dolls, I am exhibiting at ScottishMiniatura in just 2 weeks time so I am going to be very busy and may not post here until after the fair , but after that I have a little time when I can work more on the Emporium and I am really looking forward to finishing the building work .


julie xxx









Saturday 22 May 2010

Heading Upstairs.........progress at last !

Okay , I give up LOL my blog has put its foot down and try as I may it will not let me move these photos around to the correct order !


I blame the heat , summer has arrived at last, but the one benefit to our garden resembling a building site at the mioment is that I dont want to sit in it .


So instead I have been working in the cool sitting room and finally have some progress to show you all !

This is the upstairs hallway :0)




This can be accessed through the side opening door of the dolls house, but otherwise can only be seen through the open doors of the kitchen and parlour.


I cant access it again to redecorate so I had to make sure it was exactly how I wanted it.


I love it ! I used a washed out pink and cream wallpaper above the dado and the same muted green stripe that I used downstairs so it flows nicely .


I had some issues with the house kit. The main one being there are no interior door or window trims. You can see here I improvised with some scraps of dado and cornice to make window frames and sills. I am pleased with the results.


I used some ivory silk
tulle to make nets for the windows and made the curtains
from some silk brocade fabric. Both from The Silke Route.

Here is the full stretch of the back interior hallway wall.


This will never be seen again from this angle ! Once I fitted the dividing wall into the house it is quite closed off .





Here you can see how I decorated the hall side of the dividing wall before sliding it in and you can see the wall from the other side once in place with the doors inserted from the hall side so they open into the rooms as in real life .

















I had already decided what each of my rooms would be. This floor has one large room and one small room , so the small room just had to be the kitchen and larger room the parlour.


I will be fitting a chimney breast to the inside of the dividing wall , but havent chosen a fireplace yet so will wait until I do. The cooker will then go on the back side of that in the kitchen .


Finally, here is the kitchen with the wallpaper on !
I really love the paper I have chosen. When the front of the shop is open I want all the rooms to harmonise with each other and I am using soft greens and muted pinks and browns as my pallette as I think it has the right feel for my Emporium !


I have added the cornice now to the kitchen, more pics in another post ! But wont be adding the skirting boards or dado rail until I have my sink unit and cooker in place. I will be building shelved alcoves around the cooker on the back
side of the chimney breast. The sink will go under the window and I can then arrange my drainpipes on the outside wall of the emporium to look authentic !
As I have not found a sink or cooker or fireplace yet that I like I will leave these rooms now and move on to another part of the building.............................
watch out for my next post, I will be doing some special work on the back of my house, I have a cunning plan ................................. !
julie xxx

Thursday 20 May 2010

Wonderful Goodies for the Toy Shop !

Firstly,my apolgies for the recent lackof posts .
Life has been very hectic preparing for the run of spring and summer shows, but I finally have a little time towork on the Emporium again.
I have been trying not to be tempted with things to display in the shop ........................ I wanted to complete the decorating and building work first,
but one of the perks of exhibiting at Kensington Dolls House Festival is the chance to visit other makers and purchase some special items.
The first two items are sheer perfection in my eyes !
Miniatures for my miniatures !!! Just look at the size of the tiny brass chairs on the book and look at the tiny dolly in the brass bed, she even has a face and the whole thing is no bigger than my finger nail !
These stunning items willsit on the shopcounter and are made by the fabulously talented Deb Jackson www.debjacksondesigns.com she makes all manner of wierd and wonderful items, not just toys and books, visit her website to be amazed.



You can see the scale of the book here on my hand. It really is perfect.

As is my other main purchase............... this sleeping cat looks very like my own cat Pepsi, who came to us as a stray and brought so much love with him.
I couldnt resist the chance to have a miniature version so this one caught my eye immediately. If you look you can see he even has tiny whiskers !
He is made by the very talented Sarah Schiff "Pocket Pets" She makes the most wonderful animals , they are so real they almost look at you, I am delighted to own this piece.


Here he is now, asleep on the shelf in the shop in a spot that I know the real Pepsi would definitely love to sleep on !
I think he adds a lovely touch to the shop window :0)
I am now working on the upstairs hall way of the emporium which must be completed before I put the interior walls in as there will not be full access to them after that .
I hope to have progress and pictures up here very soon.
Thanks so much for your patience waiting for the next step, at least nobody will think I rushed this LOL
julie xxx