Saturday 10 September 2011

An earthquake, and a milestone

Hi there, this week the house suffered an earthquake, and I have reached a milestone with it.

The earthquake was because it fell off of the box that I balance it on (to keep it at eye level while I am working on it) sideways onto the bed, resulting in everything that wasn't stuck down ending up on the front wall.  Luckily, as it was onto the bed, I was able to recover everything that fell out (I think).

It gave me the impetus to finally get the last couple of rooms finished and get things stuck in with grip wax or glue.  And then - yes, all good things come to an end: I moved it out of my bedroom and downstairs to the dollshouse lineup.

I am still going to shop for accessories for it at shows such as Miniatura coming up in two weeks.  And I will still build kits for it if I get any.  But the main construction and the things that I set out to achieve back in April 2010 have now been accomplished.  When I look back over the blog, I can't believe how much has been done to transform the house from a box full of plywood, to the finished article that I see today. I've had a wonderful time doing it, and you have all helped and supported me so much.  From offering your opinions, and cheering me on, to Keli who shipped a big box with all her unused trim and porch pieces all the way from Michigan.  It's almost been like building this house as part of a dollshouse club, and I want to say thank you so much to all of you for being part of it. I don't think I would have got nearly as much done if I didn't feel that I needed to keep this blog going for all of you.

Yes, there are so many more details that could be added to it:  kitchen bits, cushions, pictures, towels, all the bits of ephemera that make a house look lived in.  But the main parts are now all completed, and I need to have that corner of my own bedroom back - just moving out the folding table that the house was on has made the room seem so much bigger! 

This won't be my last post, but I probably won't be posting as regularly in future.  And what will I be doing?  Well, I really should go back to my Willowcrest and finish the interior - I bogged down on the details and never finished the quilting shop or the workshop floor.  You know what I'm like, I preferred building the house itself.

Anyway, here's what I did this week:

Boy's room

I've now stuck everything into the room with either Grip Wax or Tacky Glue.  Since last week I've added a jewellery finding on the shelf to look a bit like a trophy, and I found a Burger King bag in my stash.




Little Girl's room

I dug out my bowmaker (made from sewing needles embedded in a block of Fimo) to make some ribbon bows to decorate the bed canopy.  As usual, I couldn't remember how to use the bowmaker but I found this video on Youtube demonstrating on a much larger version.


I made four bows:  two for the tie backs, and two to decorate the canopy.  Then I pushed and prodded at the canopy to make it look a bit more presentable.



Then I stuck in the rest of the furniture and accessories.



Rest of house

The rest of the house just needed a tidy up after the earthquake.






Annoyingly, to take some of these pictures of rooms I hadn't worked on for a while, I had to brush away the dust first.  Dust is such an enemy of dollshouses.  After I moved the house downstairs, I wrapped it up temporarily in fabric to keep the worst of the dust out, while I think about how to display it. 

If I manage to find any nice accessories at Miniatura, I will post them here so you can see what I got.

[edited next day: Forgot to add that I will still be blogging regularly on my main blog http://too-many-hobbies.blogspot.com/ , but I don't tend to put the minis on that blog because it confuses the quilters and knitters.  I got a few comments in the past revealing that they didn't understand something was only one-inch-high and not real life!  ]

4 comments:

  1. Fantastic job! Your kitchen is amazing, by the way. I wish I could live in that house. Please don't stop blogging - I love reading your posts!

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  2. What a lovely, lovely dollhouse! Each room is a mini masterpiece, and taken together it all adds up to a charming, one of a kind piece. I'll be interested to see the accessories you find at Miniatura!

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  3. I absolutely love, love, love this house! You have actually inspired me to go ahead and buy Pickett Hill - since it was easier than trying to get anything from Greenleaf. And I have been getting the kits for furniture etc too. But your front entry with the two daybeds is a masterpiece, the top landing is just lovely and the way your Fairfield is now a totally unique house is a tribute to your creativity. Please don't stop posting on this blog - your work is wonderful. And of course I really need to see your progress on your other projects lol!

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  4. I Love your dollshouse,especially the boysroom and the girlsroom.
    Hugs
    Maria

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