Interior Decorating and Parisian Goodies !

I feel like putting the flags out and celebrating as I have now finished the interior decorating !!! I will show the results in two blog posts as I have made so much progress .
In the last month I have visited 2 wonderful miniature fairs and stocked up lots of goodies for the Emporium and that really spurred me on to decorate so I could start the best part............filling it up and bringing it to life !



This is Uncle Morts room on the top floor of the building. Uncle Mort is the eccentric old fellow who owns the Emporium and makes all the wonderful toys that will line its shelves.............you will be meeting him very soon !

This is the kitchen. I finished it off with a wood panel behind the sink and a plain dado . I have made interior trims for the windows in the house and didnt give this one a window sill as the sink goes underneath it.

I discovered the most wonderfully talented maker of my kitchen cabinets at the Paris S.I.M.P.show. Alexandra Cantatore of Alemikimikri .

I am thrilled to bits with the cabinets and accessories bought from her.

The tall meat cupboard is from Apollo Miniatures here in the UK and the wonderful apple pie board is from Betsy Niederer .I have had this piece for a few years now and it just looks perfect here. I need to find the perfect kitchen range cooker and will build a fireplace around it when I find it .

I just love the kitchen so far. Although tiny I can still fit a lot in !

The shop floor is filling up ! I moved the counter over to the window as I want to pile the toys up around the floor . Most of the new toys were bought atParis S.I.M.P. The Unicorn hobby horse and book with fairy are by Jain of Giddy Kipper Dolls, bought at York fair.

I think its going to take some time to fill the shelves, but its going to be fun :0)

And finally my favourite buy .I still get a thrill justlooking at this as its exactly what I imagined when I began to plan the work shop.

My wonderful work bench ! Made by Jan Grygiel this is so perfect. The
handles actually turn and the vices open and you can really hold wood in it. There is room for tools in the drawers and I just love it. I bought lots of tools too togowith this and each one is perfect , the saws actually cut .

The workshop still needs some work but these are going to be just right !

Also from Alemikimikri is this amazing paint box. Just what Uncle Mort will need to paint his wooden toys !

The workshop lamp was bought from the lovely Ray Storey at York fair, he also supplied the light in Uncle Morts room and others you will see in my next post of Belle's room and the Parlour.

I hope to work on the back of the house in the evenings this week, bricking and pebble dashing and sorting the wiring.

Hopefully my cunning plan with the outdoor loo will work...................watch this space !

julie xxxx

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

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

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

Almost time to stock up !

Well, as you can see from these photos the shop floor is ready to start stocking up !
Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I am busy making dolls for the Spring miniatures shows here in the UK and most of my time has beem taken up with that.
However in my spare time I have been adding little touches here and there to the Emporium and I hope you like it so far !

Here you can see the blind I made for the window with silk striped fabric and fringed ribbon.
I painted and disressed two little pie crust tables and the curio cabinet. I also lined the back of the cabinet with matching toile wallpaper so it blends in with the decor. It was tricky positioning furniture with an opening door there . I like the cabinet here as it would distract customers from trying to open the door, yet still give access forBelle and Uncle Mort !
( I hope to be introducing Uncle Mort soon,he is quite a character.....................)

Here you can see the shop counter with its many drawers. These will be filled with all manner of tiny toys, but for now they sit empty and expectantly .

I have very few toys in the shop , you can see here amongst them a wonderful pull along tiger cub by Sandra at tower house dolls, a mini bear by josephine parnell, a horse and cart by chris sturgess lief and a humpty dumpty who falls off his wall when the lever is pulled by L & A. St. Leger , Humpty was one of the first miniatures I ever bought and I always knew Iwould have a wonderful toy shop to display him in one day so he has pride of place on the counter !

This is the side wall of the shop which is still waiting for guttering and a drainpipe. Whilst exhibiting at Miniatura last month I came across this wonderful theatre advert by Corner Shop Designs and just had to have it. I knew it would be perfect for this wall and it was !

Next I plan to work on decorating the rest of the house.

julie xxx

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