Right!! Time to restart life - on my terms!

Hello again! I feel I have been absent from blogging, and the miniature world in general, for far too long.  My miniature creations have been on hold while work was being done in our home and then five weeks ago the rug was pulled from under us again when my mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly.  My eldest son also started university last week and it is certainly an adjustment not having him at home!  At the start of this year I felt that changes were afoot and how true that was, just not the changes I was hoping for!  However for my sanity I need to get back to creating. Anything!!!  I just need that quiet time in my own little world to recharge so.........

I had a trawl through my current works-in-progress and decided to discard anything that just wasn't doing it for me.  So the Orchid dolls house has gone although I removed all the work done so far and will rehouse items in a different project.  The jury is still out on my big dolls house, The Laurels.  Sometimes I love it and at other times I can't stand looking at it!  I also have a dolls house-in-waiting which calls quietly to me in the night so I will try to reorganise the RL house to make room for that!

But to rekindle my mini-mojo I thought I would start small and have just bought a 144th scale kit from Petite Properties!  Here it is - well, here are the components of the kit - they're tiny!!!

Washtub Cottage 144th scale kit

I feel some 'me-time' is due so I'll drop by in a couple of days with an update.  Send me your mini-mojo vibes to keep me on track! Take care until next time x

Spring was here but now it's gone and an Orchid update

As I basked in the morning sun, having my breakfast and admiring the daffodils on the table this morning I thought that spring had finally reached the west of Scotland. By 1.30pm we had hailstones the size of golf balls and heavy, heavy rain!!! I think it'll be a while yet before I can watch my washing fluttering in the breeze! Oh well, while indoors....

My Orchid hasn't been touched for many weeks so I've been busy getting things back on track.

I've made, or rather assembled and painted, all the bathroom fittings. This is from a kit by Chrysnbon, which I love. I'm sure going to have lots of fun accessorising this room ... once I've decorated it of course!

Also here's a sneak preview of the 'wallpaper' for the bedroom. I was browsing the rails of ribbon in Hobbycraft and came across this - isn't it just gorgeous!!!!!

I will make a card template of the walls in the bedroom and fix this ribbon to it. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Mini hugs to everyone x

Kitchen Table & Chairs

Must be on a roll this week...two posts in as many days!

I bought a whitewood unfinished table at a fair a couple of years ago and did nothing with it...until now! It was sanded, painted, sanded, stained, distressed and finally polished before I was happy with it.

The chairs were also in my stash and, other than dusting, only needed cushions to finish them off. I had a tiny scrap of this pretty blue fabric left so made a couple of chair cushions trimmed with some pale blue bunka.

I think I'll turn my attention to the outside of the house for a while as the siding I ordered has finally arrived..woohoo!!!

Sink unit is finished!

After a few false starts I have finally finished the sink unit for The Orchid dollshouse. (Must think up a name for this house soon!!!!)

Again the top is made from Fimo, the framework is made from mountboard. The same red gingham curtain keeps things looking tidy.

The tap is made from a piece of thick wire and a couple of little beads so we know which is cold and which is hot.

Off now to think about a kitchen table and chairs.

Take care x

New Year! New Project!

Yes, I know I already have several projects on the go but one more won't hurt, will it?

Over a year ago I started putting together an Orchid dolls house by Corona Concepts, a sister company to Greenleaf. The plywood proved to be a bit of a pain and after much anguish the dolls house was put to one side. I don't even have a name for it yet but over the Christmas holidays I had a sudden surge of mini-madness and started working on it again. I've not yet decided how the exterior should look so I started on the inside while I thought about the outside. First thing I did was remove the dividing walls as they made the rooms so small they were practically unusable. Next I found that standard 12th scale furniture I had in my stash looked a bit too big, hmm? So what's a girl to do but to make a custom-fit kitchen!!

Using my favoured mountboard, glue and plenty of paint I created a range cooker, cupboards and shelving. Here's one end of the kitchen, I couldn't help but start to 'accessorise' but no doubt things will change in time...

The wall tiles are also made of dark grey mountboard. I measured out a grid of 1cm squares and using a very sharp craft knife scored along the grid lines twice with a little gap in between each line. Then using the tip of your knife you can lift the coloured top layer of paper to reveal a pale background which becomes the grout lines. I picked out some random tiles and painted them blue and white to match the colour scheme and then painted over it all with an acrylic gloss varnish. I was so pleased with how they turned out!

I had some red gingham fabric in my cupboard that I bought long ago which was perfect for the curtain in front of the shelving.

I would love granite worktops for my RL kitchen but can't afford them so having them in my dolls house is the next best thing. These are made from Fimo in 'Granite' and I like them soooo much!

So that's where we're at .... back with some more soon x