The 'Schloss' in progress

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

Brass vase and fresh flowers

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!

New tools

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!

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

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

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

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.

Some experimenting

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

Phalaenopsis

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

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!