pieplyts

Ice and miniatures

2012-02-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

I just realized how long I haven't blogged. There hasn't been much miniature progress lately, real life got in the way ;).

It has been quite cold here in Friesland in the Netherlands. So all the canals froze over. This equals ice skating bonanza/heaven here in Friesland! And you won't hear me complain!

The canal behind my parents house was the ideal place to start and end many ice skating trips, and I've been doing just that this past week!

These pictures where taken very near my parents house. With frozen fingers after quite a few kilometers of skating ;p

This picture shows a view of the village where I grew up.

On the miniature-topic, I finished 1 wall... yes 1. I still have to figure out how I'll create the walls in the bay-window part. I want to make deep sills, but that will be a little difficult to do neatly. But where there is a will...

Meanwhile I'm cutting tons of little veneer strips for the floor. A big room is what I wanted, but that also means a big pile of strips to cut! That's o.k. it's quite therapeutic. And I still need to tackle the mirror for the overmantle.

I'm also working on a tutorial for a chandelier to share with you all... Better stop talking and start working! :D

I should let you all know, that I sent my proxxon saw back to the store and got a completely new one. It makes a different sound and seems to work perfect so far. I'm very happy with how this was solved! (see previous post)

Schloss dining room progress 2

2011-10-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this hearth for quite a while, how to construct it, what material to use, how will I make it look just like the one from my inspirationpicture. Here is what I came up with. I used MDF, coffee stirrers, cardboard, popsicklesticks and some fancy woodstrips.

I'm constantly putting the pannel back into the room to see if the sizes work.

Afther the hearth was an obstacle overcome, I could move onto the panneling. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time! There was no way panneling would look good in my modern dollhouse, but with the Schloss I can 'pannel' to my hearts delight!

I'm a bit of a perfectionist and this part required lots of time, measuring, fitting and redoing.

Here everything lies roughly in place, not yet painted or glued down, so you still see small gaps here and there.
There will be a extension mantel piece on top of the hearth, it is to flat and unrealistic like this. But I'm still figuring out what material to use now that my tablesaw is out of order...

I've seen this beautifull mirror here from Lucy Askew that would be marvelous for this room. It looks so much like the inpiration picture and it would fit so nicely, but I'm still indecisive about paying 40pounds for a mirror. I could totaly reason my way into buying it, but then again where do I draw the line when I have more than 12 rooms to decorate?

And because I needed to see how the sizes would work (and secretly for pure enjoyment) I put the pannel into the room. Offcoures all the loose parts fell down. But when I squint my eyes I can see how this will work out, and I like it!

Now I'm waiting for the veneer I ordered to arrive. A dark nut wood, or a teak floor will be the next thing to do here.

I'll conclude with this non-related picture, that I took this week on one of the last sunny days. This is my parents' cat, who thinks he owns our boat with his big hairy ... XD

Schloss dining room in progress

2011-10-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

The dining room is the first room I'll work on, since it has been on my mind the longest and the ideas I had for it where the clearest.

I'm working on 'presentation cardboard' whatever that may be (It was the closest thing to foamcore the local craft store had).
The fireplace will be pitchblack, the overmantle off-white just like the panneling. The yellowish wallpaper will be on there and all the corner and framing wood will also be off-white.

I think the floor will be wallnut, but I'm not sure yet.

This picture was the main inspiration for the dining room. It is the frontroom of 'Hid Hero Hiem' in Bolsward. It used to be an orphanage and now it is a monument. I worked at a school nearby and a colleague was involved in the restoration of the whole building and it's rooms. So we went to visit. Needless to say it was very inspiring!

I've written about my compains to the company, I'll post the outcome.

Last but not least I've been having some problems with my proxxon table saw. Perhaps someone can help me out?

Whenever I put it at an 45degree angle, it starts smoking after a short while of sawing! Attaching the vacuumcleaner or not makes no difference. The smoke is not from the wood that is being cut, but comes from inside. The blade is not touching anything as far as I can see... It doesn't seem to be good or normal for such a saw as this one to be smoking at a certain angle...

Today after this happening again, it also gave me little static shocks! I don't feel save using it anymore now... any advice or experience on this matter?

The 'Schloss' in progress

2011-10-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

An entire year has passed since I received the building plans for this dollhouse.
I've put many hours of my time into calculating, measuring, sawing, building and imagining since.

So whats the score at this moment? The dollhouse is almost completely put together. I have all the parts cut out, but I wont assemble it completely. I think I'll be moving in a few years, and I wouldn't be able to get it out of the room or out of the house ever again if I did assemble the house permanently!

So in the pictures the large library wing is still missing, and the huge roof and tower are not included in todays pictures either.

But the good news is that I can start with the interior, and along with that the exterior and neatly finishing all those odds and ends. And it is never to0 early to make flowers for the Schloss!

It's still going to be a german castle/mansion in the middle of the woods, meadows and mountains. So that's why I'll call it a 'Schloss'.

Some of the furniture you see is actually meant for the Schloss, but most of it is from my modern house to help my imagination.

I've bought some wallpaper and other supplies to start the real work. Oh you should see the stock of fabrics I've gathered! It's unhealthy! (I'll show that later!)

Please forgive the messy-ness of it all, the paper things in the hallway is to help design a good stairway.

I wanted to make removable walls but I can't find the material that I'd like. So for the first room I'll try a special thick cardboard, so that I can work on a flat surface and afterward install it into the house.
The house is way to deep to be making everyting straight onto the walls inside in a neat way. And I don't think I want to hear anymore funny comments about being a 'dollhouse-gynecologists'! :P haha

Byzantine miniature icons and tiniest seashells ever!

2011-08-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

I'm back home from a very wonderfull holiday in Greece. Surprisingly and unintended I found lots of wonderfull miniatures during my trip!

First of all, these copies of old Byzantine icons. My pictures don't do justice to the detail in them. They are so small and precise, the pictures don't show it but you can see the relief of the paint strokes, they are so unbelievably small!

This is Saint Demetrius if I'm correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong) and his story

Please do click on the pictures to see the large original size, to see more details.
These icons will go in my new dollhouse in the making, a small castle.

This is Saint George (and here is his story klik)

I found these lovely little statues of the goddes Aphrodite/Venus de Milo and Nike (the headless one) goddess of victory. I think these will look good in a library or garden or something like that in my new dollhouse castle

Last but not least! We were on a beach, for a lazy day in the sun and some snorkling. I was happily bored and I was lazily running some of the grit/sand trough my fingers. I suddenly noticed a tiny tiny seashell in it!

So the rest of the afternoon we've been searching (again, very lazily) for these tiny shells and found many more in the most fantastic shapes and colors!

Please click the pictures to see them larger. I think nature made the most precious mini's ever and I'm glad I found them!

Bedroom finished!

2011-08-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what this will become? I've been playing with the tablesaw again, there was something in the Ikea catalog that was still missing in the bedroom I'm giving a make over.

And what's a dollhouse room make over without new modern lights? So I rummaged around in my hobby drawers and found what I needed.

Did you guess? The woodbits will make 2 nightstands, inspired by these.

I painted them black, because that would match best with the other things in the bedroom. Because they'd become black I didn't mind the non-matching wood.

And here is a little nightstand, with a new modern nightlight on top!

It was evening when I took these pictures, so they aren't very sharp and bright.. But I wanted to show the bedroom and how it looks right now. I did a LOT of work on this room and I love how it turned out! The new bedding, the curtains, the floor, all the furniture I made, it was quite a bit of work and it all came together very nicely if I may say so myself.

The dresser I showed in the previous post was inspired by this one and is now finished up.

bedroom makeover in progress

2011-08-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the bedroom, I got really caught up in it and by the time I remembered to take pictures it was already dark outside. Please forgive the poor quality of the pictures, my camera doesn't work to well when there isn't enough light.

The pillows where to small to make on the sewingmachine, so I stitched them by hand, and filled them with this black grit, meant as decoration in vases for example. It makes the pillows nice and heavy and easy to manipulate into a realistic 'fluffy' shape.

The blanket covers where made on my sewing machine and the extra blanket is felt that I fringed at the ends. To make everything look as if it is heavy and fluffy, small strips of double sided tape turned out to be very helpfull ;)

I also made a new floor for the bedroom. I used 3mm triplex and my new proxxon table saw to make the woodstrips, and I really like this much better than making floors out of lollipop sticks!

Behind the floor on my table are the curtains in progress and a little dresser. The dresser was my very first try with the proxxon saw and that machine scared the cr*p out of me! It even shot a tiny bit of wood onto my forehead! lol! But the end result is nice I think, and I learn a lot playing around with the saw, growing less and less afraid of the thing each time I use it ;)

Last, this blurry picture of the made over bed. I stained it a little more, raised the mattress and dressed it completely anew. I like it much better this way, more mature than the green don't you think?

This bedroom is going to get a make over

2011-08-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the bedroom in my dollhouse. The bed is made from a cigarbox's wood and some other pieces of wood I had left. It is based on the 'Aspelund' from Ikea, that I happen to sleep in myself :P

The blue carpet and green bedcovers started to bore and annoy me, it just doesn't seem right... I want it to look more mature and stylish, so this bedroom is being made over at the moment! Most of it is done but I'm still testing finishes for the new woodfloor. I hope to post pictures soon.

Giveaway from small-talk and kitchen pictures

2011-08-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the outer brick wall, and kitchen behind it. The kitchen stairs and cupboard I finished quite a while ago, but I never showed decent pictures here. There is also a little light inside the cupboard, I forgot to turn it on.. I'll turn it on for a next picture, promise ;)

I won the fabulous giveaway on http://smalltalk-minilover.blogspot.com/
I could hardly believe it! But it's true! I picked some wonderfull items from Sophia's webshop smalltreasuresminiatures.com and received them last week. The items I picked are the three copper pans with lids on the top shelf and the cookietin on the mantle.
I'm so delighted with these! My pictures don't do justice! I want to use them in my new dollhouse but that one is so far from finished, and I don't want to store them away. So for now they'll sit here.

The Living room nearly complete

2011-07-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

My grandmother asked me to send her some pictures of my dollhouse, because she hasn't got internet. I thought I'd share those pictures here as well, because I realised there are some rooms and new things I've never showed here before!

This is part of the living room. It is almost finished, but still needs some finishing touches like pictures on the wall etc. Since it is a very small house, the dining and living room are combined.
I have tried to acomplish a modern IKEA-like feeling in this house, by making furniture using an IKEA catalogue as example.

I'll show more of the house later on.

Bricks

2011-07-21T10:11:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while but I've been doing lots of miniature chores. Eventhough I'm building a new and very large dollhouse, I haven't forgotten about my first/old/small dollhouse! There are still a few chores to do before it is completely finished (as far as a dollhouse can ever be completely finished) and I intend to do so this summer.

I've been finishing the side walls with this brick compound.
The effect is wonderfull! And it is very easy to do. Now I'm going to give these brick walls a touch of paint and make some flowers and planters to put under the windows. How about some red geranium?

Now that I'm finishing up I realized how horrible I find this kit, and I remember all the reasons why I wanted to build a new dollhouse, from scratch with my own ideas and adaptions put in...
This house is a Helena from euromini's and I changed a whole lot about it, but it never became as perfect as I aspired. I would never ever buy a dollhouse kit ever again!

some inspiration

2011-06-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

When I'm not building or working otherwise on one of my dollhouses, I like to read and daydream with some books. I have collected quite a few house/castle/dollhouse/interior/exterior related books the past few years, some are special and dear to me, others a lot less special but very usefull all the same.

In the first picture you see a booklet with postcards from France. I bought it on my first holiday that I went on, without parents but with my boyfriend. We visited chateaux Rosanbo, such a tranquil and enchanting little place it was!

No picture taking was allowed. Lucky enough there was a small stand with only postcards and pens for sale, and the booklet are the only images I have of the fabulous interior and exterior. That, and those in my photographic memory offcourse;)
This one is a lot less special but nonetheless very usefull! I bought it at the bookshop "de slegte". It is a very heavy and large book, full of lovely pictures and some usefull background information on european gardening styles for estates and casltes. It is very inspirational since I will have to do a lot of exterior work on my castle-like dollhouse soon! ;)

And so my bookcollection is ever growing :)

Doing some dollhouse stapling on a sunny day

2011-06-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Not to long ago my dollhouse was stil a boring pile of carefully measured, drawn out and sawn out pieces of MDF wood... No one could imagine what that pile would look like when every piece would perform its part in this dollhouse play...

We had some sunny days last week and I started building again on the house. My internship has been keeping me from doing so quite often, and it was due time to start again.

Armed with a pneumatic stapler (my worst childhood nightmare! But that's a long irrelevant story), a bottle of glue, and a very sweet and handsome helping hand from bf ;) I have been building the sunny weekend away!

Slowly but surely the house is taking shape... and showing revealing it's karakter.
I'm now working on the atticfloor and roof. They will go onto the structure shown above. The towerpart wil get another extra storey before it gets its pointy roof. And on the right side (of frontview) there will emerge a wing of the building...
I love this part where the hard and boring work comes together and shows some visible results!

Brass vase and fresh flowers

2011-06-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

I'm almost finished with my large flowerarrangement. It took many hours but I think the result is worth it. The last thing left to do is attach the leaves and arrange the flowers in a vase.

A vase! Why yes, and not just any vase! The beautifull brass vase my dad and I (but mostly dad ;) ) started making a while back is finally finished! We had to find the time in our busy schedules to finish it: polish it and cut it of, the finishing touches. It shines so bright and truly has the appearal of gold!

Here is the result. It is perfect for the flowers, I'm so happy with this little piece of art!
Thank you so much dad!

I've also done some turning myself but I dare not show the result next to this wonderfull vase! It's not as easy as it looks to turn brass like this!

building progress 2

2011-05-08T10:52:00.001-07:00

This week I got some work done on my new dollhouse. The weather was wonderfull and I had a whole week of from work. My boyfriend also had a week of and we spent most of the week in our boat, reading Lord of the Rings, and having barbecues XD

But I also had plenty of time to measure, think, draw and saw on my new dollhouse. After a long dark and cold winter I could finally do the work outside, wich is more fun and les messy!

In the picture above, you can see a piece of wood I used to test the exterior brick on. I'm very happy with the experiment.

It was really tricky to fit in the windows. I used euromini windows, wich have very different sizes than the windows used in the building plan I bought. Also, no 2 of the same kind of windows are exactly the same size :(

The round piece/tower will hang over the front corner. On top of the tower there will be another floor and then a roof. The 3-storey bay won't get another floor.
The building is huge allready, and it is far from finished! There will be a large roof on top, and on the right side there will be an extension that I haven't even build yet!

You can see an example of the finished building here
Mine will be quite different, but I use the same building plan as base.

New tools

2011-04-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

I received my new tools in the mail last week, I really wanted to try out this new veining tool. The scissor is great! It's so much easier to use than a normal scissor when you want to cut tiny petals and leaves. And it doesnt make your hand hurt like mad when you cut for more then 5 minutes ;) Guess I'll be making even more flowers now with these great new tools!

My dad has also made/turned me another surprise brass vase! I'll show it later. It is adorable and so shiny! It looks like freakin gold! And it will need flowers too, so there's plenty of work to do :D

More brass turnings!

2011-04-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I stopped by my dads work to do some more brass turning! He said doing a larger piece would be easier to start with than a real tiny one. So we choose a larger drawing I made, to start with.

We had a lot of fun doing it and I'm so impressed with his skills! I knew he has a very good metalworker-education but to see it in action is jawdropping! He turned this by hand! No computers or anything involved!

The result of yesterdays afternoon you can see in the pictures. It is a floor vase.
It is not yet finished, we will put it back on the lathe and polish it. Then we'll cut the vase from the bar. In the picture below, I cut off the part of the picture where we will also cut off the bar part, so you get an impression of what it will look like.

As you can see I have put some extremely non-matching roses in there, but you can also see a tiny 'maroon coloured' start of my new flower project in there ;)

I'm going to make a very large flowerarrangement and it'll be large enough to fill this wonderfull floor vase to the brim. So I'm extra happy about this first turning attempt of dad and me! See how nice the maroon and brass go together?!

I'm so lucky to have such a handy dad :D

Brass turnings

2011-04-11T02:33:00.000-07:00

My father got some large brass bars, and we're busy turning miniature vases and bowls out of it!

My dad has an engine rebuilding company and so he also has a large range of wonderfull machines, including a huge lathe (to make turnings on). It is meant to use for engine parts.

He told me to just draw some designs on paper and then we can start turning together. But the past week was so busy for me, I couldn't stop by his place. But surprise surprise, he made a litte vase for me anyway! It was just to test the possibilities but I'm very happy with it! Isn't that a sweet thing he did!?

It's very heavy and so pretty, the picture doesn't do justice!
The possibilities are endless so I can't wait to make some more together!

Tulips

2011-04-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend I tried making some tulips, again without a kit. I really like coming up with new flowermaking idea's and techniques! But after making about 7 of the same flowers I get a little bored, haha! So I move on to a new flower or a new color.

I'm not sure yet what flower I will make next...

The glass vase is from Glasscraft. The picture is me and my boyfriend on holiday in Greece! This year we will go there again and I can't wait!

Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them!

One with my hand, so you can get an idea about the scale and size.

Roses

2011-03-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

I have been making roses all week to relax a little from school, it was quite a difficult week for me and making flowers calms me down! :) I had fun coming up with my own techniques to make roses without a kit or pre-made materials.

Again the pictures are taken with my boyfriend his awesome new camera, I'm amazed how many things it can do and embarrassed about how little I know about cameras! XD

The glass vases are from Glasscraft, the easterbunny and wooden cup I bought at a fair, the eastereggs and basket I made myself.

Finished basket

2011-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the basket is finished. I used DMC emroidery thread to weave it. My boyfriend has a new camera so he has been experimenting with it on my mini's. Here are the results!
The wooden table was made using a kit.

Some experimenting

2011-03-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

For a swap I've been esperimenting on making roses from scratch, no kits!
And it's working out quite well I think. It's a lot of fiddly work but they come out quite nice!
Offcourse I am making some extra roses to keep for my "Schloss" as well, and then I decided I wanted to try and wicker a little basket to keep them in... yes, when I get creative I also get very chaotic!
So my desk is a verry messy place now! Lots of silk papers, punches, wire, thread, glue, tools.... ;)
But I'm in my element :D

Embroidery

2011-03-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

This little boat I embroided this past summer, but I never got around to finish it into some object.. So I've turned it into a pillow now! Not very creative, but it's always better than hidding it unfinished and out of sight in some box! ;)

This is a little needle book I made, it's 1:1 scale, not 1:12. I really needed a needle book since I often take my needles with me and I always loose my needles and pins that way!
It took me a horribly long time to finish up this little book, I whipstitched it all around to put the front and back together and it really feels like doing the same thing 3 times over >_> but I'm so happy with the result!

Phalaenopsis

2011-02-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

After finishing the hortensia, I wanted to make some more plants!
So I also dusted of my Orchid kit from VaRIAatjes, wich was covered with dust just as much as the hortensia.

It was more difficult, and more fiddly but I'm very pleased with the result.

I realised that I have made quite a few plants for someone who claims not to like making plants :P
Well I think I've cought the plantmaking virus because I'm shopping for more kits now!

Hortensia

2011-02-25T08:39:00.000-08:00

This workshop kit from VaRIAatjes has been laying around in my house for almost two years. When I first opened the box I thought I could never do it, and so I put it away! But this holiday all of a sudden I had all the inspiration I needed to take it out of the closet, blow of the dust and start making it!

I've been working on this for many hours! But I'm very happy with the result. My desk turned into a mess and I've been trying to decide between many vases, but finally I finished all the flowers and leaves, and I arranged it in the vase I least expected to be right for the job!

building progress

2010-12-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted for a while, real life has been very busy.
But during the holidays I found some spare time to work on the 'castle' with my dad.
We've been drawing and sawing every now and then since the summer and now it finally started to come together! We put some walls together and here are some pictures of the first results. (they aren't very sharp but they where taken with a cellphone)

What you see is the front of the first level of the main building. The back of the building will stay open. Just for now I've put in the front door and kitchen window. The walls of the baywindow aren't in place yet, this big open room will be the dining room one day! :)

If you compare this to the finished building on the website where I bought the building plans, you can see that it's only a very small beginning but my imagination is already running wild on this! :D It'll be so different from the ones on the website, more inspired by the beautifull german mansions and castles I've seen on holiday.. but that's still very far away! First I have to build the other 3 levels, the tower, porches, bay windows, 3 leveled west wing...... you get the picture ;)

More from Germany, and from the Arnhem dollhouse fair

2010-11-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

This beautifull little plate I found in one of the souvenir shops in Schwangau, the town near Neuschwanstein castle. There isn't a building there that hasn't been turned into a restaurant, hotel or souvenir shop. It did spoil the romance about the castle a little, all those tacky souvenir shops... But we didn't let it spoil anything for us, we just went with it and laughed at the silly things they sold there.
But this little piece caught my eye and I thought it could make a nice walldecoration in my new dollhouse. It's very detailed and quite pretty I think.

The castle and the whole vacation in the forests has enchanted me as you can see by the number of posts I've allready made about it :P

Here is a picture of some of the things I bought at the Arnhem dollhouse fair, a whitewood bed, a ebony turned wooden cup, a real silver candlestick, a net of oranges and one that's beeing peeled open. The crate with beerbottles is one of the brands my boyfriend actually drinks. And offcourse you see the souvenir plate from Neuschwanstein. All sitting on top of my new favourite book.

In this book I found this picture, I like it very much and I think I'll use it as inspiration for the library in my new dollhouse.

Wonderfull books from Germany

2010-11-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

I promissed to show the books I bought on my holiday in Germany. I visited Neuschwanstein and was so impressed. I didn't want to forget all the things I saw but taking pictures wasn't allowed, so I bought a book about Ludwig2 and all his fabulous homes and castles. (Möbel fur den Märchenköning is also known as furniture for the dreamking). I bought it at Schwangau but I couldn't find it on the internet later on, sorry about that.
The other book is filled with pictures and information about beautifull German castles, mansions and other buildings. The following two pictures are from te first book.

These pictures are from the book Möbel fur die Märchenköning

guess where I've been

2010-11-01T07:50:00.001-07:00

Last week was the fall holidays, and my boyfriend and I decided to go on a last minute vacation to the amazing forests in our neighbour country Germany.

We spent a whole week in a little house in the middle of the Bayerische Wald. Large parst of this old forrest are Urwald wich means there hasn't been any intervention or medling with nature from humans for centuries! The birth, growth and decay of trees is all regulated by nature itself. The most beautiful surrounings you've ever seen! You can walk in these forests for hours, find many idyllic scenes with little creeks, crooked trees and secret paths, and not see a single person on your way. It is not so strange that the German forests are the birthplace of the brothers Grimm fairytales!

The wonderfull forests are not the only nice thing about Germany! Beside the good food and the very kind people there are also countless castles and other beautifull old buildings.
If you think France is the only country with refined and pretty buildings and interiours, think again!

We visited Schwangau, where king Ludwig 2 his unfinished fairytale castle 'Neuschwanstein' is built. Rumour has it Walt Disney based his sleeping beauty and cinderella castle on Neuschwanstein. And this is probably the part where it gets interresting: pictures!

King Ludwig 2 his bedroom in Neuschwanstein castle:

King Ludwig2 his fathers castle, where Ludwig grew up:

Later on I'll show you the books I bought, filled with pictures from the interior of the castles Ludwig2 has build. (yes he had many, beside Neuschwanstein!) Wich form a great source of inspiration for my dollhouse that I'm building now!

What did I get myself into!

2010-09-21T06:38:00.001-07:00

That's right, I got myself into trouble! Clicking and browsing... I found the most enchanting dollhouse I've ever seen... and now? Now I want it!

The kit is way to expensive for me so I'm buying the building plans, and together with my dad we are going to build it from scratch!....
What did we get ourselves into!?

The pictures are from the website: http://earthntree.com/miniatures/
Where you can buy the wood kit and the finishing kit or the building plans.

I decided to buy just the plans and use the very affordable euromini windows and finishings, but since euromini's is going to stop producing by the end of this year, and their stuff is selling out fast, I had to be quick! Or else this project will turn out to be a half finished disaster! Luckely I managed to get everything on my shopping list.. now I have to be patient and wait for everything to be shipped....

I'm all giggly and nervous now! Patience is NOT my forte :P

the reason I haven't blogged for so long

2010-09-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

The reason is that I had a big summer break from school. And I have to use my computer a lot for school, so when the summer break from school started, I turned off my computer.... and only turned it on every now and then to check my mail or something quick like that.
I've had a wonderfully lazy summer, the weather wasn't great but that doesn't really matter much. I started cross stitching again, because it's so time consuming I usually only do it when I have days and days of free time. Here is one of the things I made, a scissor fob and a biscornu in the making. I also made some 1:12 cross stitchings, but I'll show those later ;)

writing desk

2010-07-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago I painted and aged this pretty little writing desk, and I like how it looks. But somehow it doesn't really fit in with the rest of my house.. a little to old, a little to dirty... I'm thinking about painting it completely white and then sand it a little...

But first I'm of to my 1:1 desk to study some more... again. ;)

under the stairs

2010-06-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here is something else I've been working on in the dollhouse, I've been making a cupboard under the stiars.

My dollhouse is the "helena" kit from Euromini's, but while I was planning and designing how it should look, I became ever more unsatisfied with the entire house. The way it openend, the lack of windows and doors, the redicoulus bathroom-room (if you walk up the stairs you'd end up in the middle of the bathroom, now who would want that!?). There where all kinds of things that annoyed me about the house.

And so I'm altering almost everything, from adding windows (at least 6 of them up until now!) to placing many extra walls and doors.
The good news is, I'm starting to like the house more and more with every little project.

This cupboard is one of those alterations. I made a little light in there and the door can actually open and close. I'm still looking for a suitable doorhandle. And I'm now working on the banisters, then the kitchen will finally be finished, ready to play with the details! ;)

another update

2010-06-06T03:43:00.001-07:00

This is how the windows in the living room turned out. I'm very glad I did it, it looks much beter than before I think.
The furniture still has to be painted and the cushions on the couch have to be sewn, but the couch itself is finished.
For the couch I used EM9649 from euromini's and took it completely appart, to redecorate it.

a small update

2010-06-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in almost two months! That is rediculous! So here are a few teasers to show you what I've been up to in the last two months, besides school! I wil post more pictures soon (or at least that's what I'm planning to do XD)

The daffodils in the picture above where a (bonny lavish?) kit I bought at a fair, they where very easy and nice to make.

Since I already glued my dollhouse all together, making windows in it is a very unholy little job! First I draw the inside shape of the window on the wall, then I drill several holes within the lines, and then... lots and lots of sawing. The working stage looks so unprofessional the way I do it! XD
But in the end it's worth it! Putting in these windows was one of the best decisions I made for this dollhouse! It makes it so much more realistic and allows a lot more light into the rooms. I'll show you the finished pictures next time because if I spill all the beans at once, I don't have anything left to post ;)

beautifull gifts from Glenda

2010-04-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

Today I received the give away items Glenda made; this beautifull basket set! I'm very happy with these, the colors fit very well with my dollhouse! The detail is amazing and they are so delicate i.r.l.!

When I finish drilling and sawing huge holes for windows in my dollhouse, I'll take some pictures of these inside my house in a nice place/scene.

Thank you so very much Glenda! I'm very happy with your beautifull items!

I also want to wish Glenda and her family all the strength they need right now, and I wish her mom will have a healty and swift recovery.

Spring requires a lot of planting and potting!

2010-04-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still getting used to the nice weather and the idea that it's finally spring again. After such a long and harsh winter it's a bit hard to realise it's finally time to wear more summery clothes instead of big warm coats, and have lunch outside on my balcony instead of all curled up in front of the heater!

My 'real life' tomato, capsicum and herb plants will remind me though! they grow so fast with this much sunshine!

That reminded me, it is the perfect time to shower my dollhouse with flowers and plants!
I bought a handfull of pots and vases and when I finish studying this week, this girl will be making some flowers!

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Here is a picture of my very own personal easter bunny; Kronk. In action as you can see!

sunshine

2010-04-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

After a few days of rain, the sun is shining again and I'm quite happy about that! My little plants really needed more sunshine. In front you see cherrytomato plants, basil and parsley on the background. If the sun keeps on shining the way it does, most of my plantsies will need relocating soon! :D yaay!
(I'm not sure what the official words are in English, so I'll just say relocate ;) )

slow progress

2010-03-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

At the moment the work on the dollhouse is in slow progress, or no progress at all... School is eating up all my time once again! :(

But sometimes I just need to stop working for a few minutes and do something fun, like going outside with Kronk, my bunny, or make just one quick little miniature! Like this basket :D

It's made out of popsicle sticks, coffee stirring sticks, and a toothpick. The contents are just some random things from my miniature odds and ends box

LENTE!!!

2010-03-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

Spring has definitely sprung! :p There is no denying now!
This beautifull butterfly visits my balcony daily, and today I took this picture of the pretty little visitor!
(please click the image for a better, larger view! You'll see amazing details if you look closely! ;) )

dinner table

2010-03-06T04:36:00.000-08:00

This beautifull square table I found, and it is just the perfect dinnertable I was looking for! The living room of my dollhouse is quite small, but it needed a dinnertable since the kitchen is way to small for it. This small and delicate table is just perfect I think.

It's still unpainted, I'll paint it when the living room is done so that I can choose the right color for it then.
The table is from a dutch company with beautifull line of furniture and porcelain: http://www.dhminiatures.nl/

another award!

2010-03-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

I received this award from Ingrid over at http://mijndroomwereldje.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much Ingrid! :D

The rules for the award are:

1.Thank the person that gave it to you.
2.Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3.Link to the person who you nominate.
4.Name 7 things about yourself that nobody knows.
5.Nominate 7 kreativ bloggers.
6.Post links to the 7 blogs that you nominate.
7.Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know that you nominated them

The 7 people I would like to give this award to are

Synnove at http://synnovesetdukkehjem.blogspot.com/
Evelien at http://ejacreates.blogspot.com/
Coby at http://coby-mijnwereldje.blogspot.com/
Tink-Sonia at http://minitink.blogspot.com/
Nesca at http://dollwithasoul.blogspot.com/
Patricia at http://woolytalesminiatures.blogspot.com
Maia at http://maiastwinkleminiatures.blogspot.com/

7 things nobody knows about me:
1) I study mathematics
2) my bunny-rabbit's name is Kronk
3) I always tell Kronk "Honey, I'm home!" whenever I get home, and no one is around
4) I'm a vegeterian
5) I love eating tomatoes
6) I love pink and green colours
7) I have a little boat. It's "harboured" at my parents house.

kitchen progress

2010-02-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the kitchen so far. It still isn't finished, it needs shelves and the ceiling is still unfinished, but I'm very happy with the results so far! :D
It was quite a lot of work. I made a window in one wall, a hood over the stove, claytiles behind the stove. I made the wooden floor, sanding and cutting with endless patience! Painted the cabinets, replaced the sink with a selfmade one, the list goes on and on.
Many of the little details I bought at fairs, and many I made myself, or are at least "pimped" by me ;)

nearly finished attic

2010-02-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last time I promised better pictures of the attic, well here they are. As you can see it is nearly finished, but still needs some work done. It still needs plinths and more frames and pictures on the walls, a railing around the stairwell, some carpets and more furniture and knick knacks ;) One wall is still unpainted because I want it to be the same color as the hall downstairs.

The Anton Pieck picture above the bed is the exact same one I have in my 1:1 house

sunshine award!

2010-02-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

This wonderfull sunshine award I received from Coby at http://coby-mijnwereldje.blogspot.com
Thank you very much Coby!

The Sunshine Award Rules...

1. Post the award on my own blog.
2. In a blog post, name six blogs that I enjoy.
3. Let your six named bloggers know that you are passing the award on to them.

Now, I truly want to abide the rules, and name six blogs that I enjoy, but I don't think it would be fair at this point. Most blogs I like have allready received one or more sunshine awards!
And it doesn't feel right to give just 6 people this award.
All the blogs I follow deserve this award, otherwise I wouldn't be following them!!
I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true! :) So consider this award yours if I'm a follower of your blog :)

finally

2010-01-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

Finally!
I haven't blogged for so long! I'm still very busy with the internship, but the past two weeks where two weeks of christmas holiday for me!! Long live the many holidays a teacher gets to enjoy! And I did play often with my dollhouse in those two weeks! I just haven't posted the pictures of my dollhouse adventures yet, so I'll try to do this in the next few weeks!
Here are some of the attic in progress:

I realize that the pictures are very blurry and unsharp, but my camera doesn't perform very well when there isn't much natural light, and in these wintery days there isn't much of such light to be found in my living room ;) I hope to make some better pictures of the attic for you soon!

Oeps almost forgot! Happy New Year to everybody! Gelukkig nieuwjaar! I wish a healty and happy year for all of you!

kitchen content

2009-11-29T04:20:00.000-08:00

Lately I'm so incredibly busy with my internship; preparing for the classes that I have to teach, evaluating those classe, writing piles of reports and so on.
I don't have much time to play with my dollhouse but I do little chores in the weekend, like a touch of paint or sanding an edge of wood... not much, so there isn't much to show..
But I still had these pictures of some of my dollhousefair treasures and some of the packages I made, and so I thought I'd share these!

Fruit and veggies, they will go into my fridge and onto the kitchen counter.

Some glass and stone ware, the wineglasses are so devine in real live! They will soon be set on my new table for a pretty christmas dinner!

I made these except the "hagelslag" de ruijter, I bought that one at a fair. I like to make/use products in my dollhouse that I have around in my real house!

Some sweet stuff for a wonderfull tea-time moment!

school project

2009-11-20T04:53:00.000-08:00

For school I had to make a didactic model, that could be used as a teaching tool in one of my classes. We were free to pick a subject since it only was for practice, and here is the result.

It's a model I can use in my class to explain how the formula for calculating the surface-area of a circle came to be.
The original idea is not mine. This concept is very old. This is just my interpretation of it, adjusted to my wishes and I think I added some extra possibilities.

a busy week

2009-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

This week has been a very busy one, I started a new internship at a school nearby.
I really needed to concentrate on the internship, all the assignments, all of the new impressions and so I didn't have any time for my dollhouse. But yesterday I didn't have much on my schedule so I could make some quick little things.
A little basket with pretty fabric on the inside, a shoebox filled with "vakantie foto's" (holiday pictures) and this little towelrack, made out of wood and wire. The towels I bought at a fair, and fashioned them into the right shape with an unhealty dose of hairspray ;)

My first award! Thank you Nesca!

2009-11-11T02:26:00.001-08:00

I am thrilled to receive this lovely blog award from Nesca (Irmina) , thank you so much for noticing my humble blog.

acording to the rules I have to nominate 10 blogs, I would like to nominate:

http://silkesminiatures.blogspot.com/
http://karincorbin.blogspot.com/
http://shannonsminiblog.blogspot.com/
http://sabsminiinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://petitpunt.blogspot.com/
http://ohminiofmine-loshcosh.blogspot.com/
http://muffa-minis.blogspot.com/
http://aruoc.blogspot.com/
http://miniarche.blogspot.com/
http://nell-miniminis.blogspot.com/

I hope I didn't forget anyone?
It was difficult to pick only ten blogs, I love all the blogs I follow and you all deserve this award!

The rules :

1) Display the image and publish the rules -
2) Post the link of who won the prize -
3) Give ten dream blogs to which award the prize -
4) Notice blogs listed -
5) Send the nominated an email -

Anton Pieck

2009-11-05T11:41:00.000-08:00

Made this little frame, the picture inside is a printie of an Anton Pieck drawing. He made the most wonderfull drawings and paintings.
Here in the Netherlands is a themepark, the "Efteling", and it's all about fairy tales, but not in a disney kind of shape or form... No, the design is based on Anton Pieck his work, and it is so incredibly enchanting to see! I've been to the park several times, and everytime I leave the park with my head filled with fairy tales, and other wordly wonders.
I've also visited the Anton Pieck museum here in the Netherlands, and I have several copies of his drawings enchanting the walls of my house ;)
And what's in my real house, I also like in my dollhouse!

the fridge and some more dollhouse fair treasures

2009-11-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

At one of the fairs I mentioned earlier, I also bought this fridge. It looks exactly like my real life fridge so I had to have it for my mini home as well! The broom and dustbin stuff was also bought at a fair.

Here it's opened, I love that the inside is just like my real life fridge as well! Please don't mind the unfinished-ness of the kitchen, I'm still working on it! :)

many dollhouse fairs; many purchases!

2009-10-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

Where to start!? This past 2 months I've been to 3(!) dollhouse/miniature fairs, I've seen so many wonderfull things, and I've bought so much stuff! It always feels like a big treasure hunt, and when you find something pretty it's almost like a rush!

I'll try to give an impression of my purchases here, because I can't stop playing with my new thingies! XD I'll warn you, it's alot!

Above an unpainted little desk, I'm so happy with it! It's perfect for my house. The glass vase, chick figurines, glass of irish coffee, and scissors are also bought at the fairs.

heidi ott wall lamp, dieter dorsch scissors (it actually works!), and finally a bright white bunny that doesn't look like a melted teddy bear, but actually looks refined and like a bunny! :D (You've probably seen my sweet little bunny Kronk some posts ago, the reason I'm always on the look-out for pretty little bunny stuff for the house.)

The pictures don't do this wonderfull handmade glass perfume bottle any justice! It's so devine, you can actually open it and the detail is amazing.

Last time I showed you the cottage I made in 1:48 scale right? Well, I think I really like that scale and when I found these kits I couldn't resist! I quickly called my brother on my cellphone to ask if he'd like to make them with me, and he was just as excited. Now we can both build one for the warhammer scenery together, we'll have so much fun! :D

I quickly put one together to see what it would look like, it's loose and I'll take it appart now, but I just had to take a quick peek ;)

This unfinished wood vanity I also found at a fair, as well as the toothpaste on it ;) (I have no bathroom yet ;) )

o.k. this perhaps for a little explaination. The glass cloche is handmade by Leo Rijnders, and it's perfect for my little project...

Allright, I'll let you in on a little secret, promise not to tell? ... good!
Do you remember (Disney's) Beauty and the Beast? The enchanted rose? That's where the glass piece is for! I'm going to make a very special little "look-book" about this beautifull love story. It's a book with a surprisingly different content than usual, instead of paper inside, you'll find the book is a little box when you open it, and a beauty and the beast scene will be inside!
......But don't tell anyone yet o.k?.... I'm still working on it ;)

The lamp is actually 1:24 (half inch scale?) (the other stuff is 1:12) and therefore looks so much more petit than it's 1:12 brother. (wich is almost twice as big!) And petit is just the way I like it ;)

some DIY kits.and some nice kitchentowels from Wilma van Elderen, I still need to shape them and hairspray them into the rigth form.

Allright I'll stop here, I have many more pictures of treasures I conquered, but I'll save those for another time this week ;)

Congratulations you have survived the overload of pictures and my chattering! Thanks for watching! I'm off to play with my new stuff now ;)

quarter scale cottage

2009-10-22T02:43:00.001-07:00

Last week I've been working on this little project, it's a 1:48 scale cottage (that is quarter scale). I bought a magazine and there was a plan for this cottage inside, but it was ment to be 1:12. But since I already have a huge 1:12 dollhouse that is not even almost finished, I couldn't build it.

But my brother collects warhammer fantasy figurines, the darkelf army to be precise ;)
And together we've been working on a large terrain table for wargaming. The warhammer folk turned out to be exactly 1:48 scale. The cottage seemed to fit perfectly with the rest of the warhammer scenery so I had a great reason to build te beautifull cottage anyway! and I was finished within a few days! :D
(figurine was painted by my brother, the picture doesn't do it justice they look much more wonderfull irl)

I made the door and the windows out of matches, from scratch.

I always play around during a project because I'm to impatient to wait for the final result. The cottage is made of 5mm thick balsa wood.

and here it is finished! I only need to fix the rooftop, finish it of nicely with something.. but I'm still working on that and I couldn't wait anymore to post pictures. ;)

I'm als still working on decorating the outside with all kinds of green, pumkins and plants

I also still need to make a ladder and a bit of furniture. as you can see here, it definitely needs a ladder.

bunny

2009-10-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Didn't want to keep this picture from you, it's my beloved pet bunny: Kronk. He is a joy to have around ;)

His "lair" is on the floor in my living room and whenever I'm home I open his cage and he is free to do whatever he wants.

Usually he hops onto the couch to sit and snuggle with me, or he sits under the couch or closet to play with an outdated paper or magazine and other bits and pieces I put under there for him. He follows me around wherever I walk, literaly every step of the way!

And when it's bed time, he hops back into his cage and shoves his foodbin around for me to notice and fill it! After that, we all go to bed.

But sometimes he runs around the room and jumps ski-high and acts all silly until he's all out of breath. Then he just lays on the floor in the middle of the room to catch his breath... and this is what that looks like, isn't he the cutest?

DIY kits

2009-10-15T05:56:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been building a few of the furniture kits I bought some time ago in Groningen. It was such a pleasure to work on these kits because they fitted perfectly, where very easy to do and the result looked great! Very detailed.

I couldn't help my self but decorate this little side table immediately, because I have boxes full of accessories crying out to be displayed, and a serious lack of shelfs, desks and other surfaces to display them on! ;D
The picture is my boyfriend and me on our most recent holiday in Greece! I love adding these personal details to my dollhouse so much

The table was also a kit, and the chair was unpainted. Please don't mind the rubber band, I wanted the pillow to keep the right shape and it hadn't dried yet.
(my mother said the colors reminded her of the disney movie "beauty and the beast", I thought that was a lovely comment! It made me grin all day XD )

and last but not least, this adorable little bed, it was "love at first sight" and I had to have it! Now it's finally where it belongs! in the little guest room in my dollhouse. I'm planning to paint it white and I allready have the fabrics ready to be sewn.

first entry!

2009-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

Finally! My first blog entry! I'd like to show some of the things I've been making for my dollhouse the past few days. First up a handfull of color pencils. They are supposed to be on a small desk that I haven't even bought yet, but they where so much fun and so easy to make! Sorry for the bad light, but the weather is quite dark here at the moment.. :(

I also made a shirt, but when it was finished I had nowhere to put it yet in my dollhouse, but on the floor. That's no proper place for a shirt! So I made an ironboard to go with it! Why yes, that's my logic ;)

You may recognize the ironbord from an online tut from Christine-Lia Frisoni.
Maybe you recognize this as well: when I finished the shirt, I "needed" the ironboard, and when the ironboard was finished I "needed" more accessories to put on the board... miniatures are so addicting!
And so.. I made a tiny clothes peg...