Wishing you all a healthy, happy, peaceful and inspirational 2017.
Hoping this year will bring out the best in you!
Hugs,
Gee
zaterdag 31 december 2016
2017
Dear Readers,
Wishing you all a healthy, happy, peaceful and inspirational 2017.
Hoping this year will bring out the best in you!
Hugs,
Gee
Wishing you all a healthy, happy, peaceful and inspirational 2017.
Hoping this year will bring out the best in you!
Hugs,
Gee
zaterdag 17 december 2016
Santa's coming soon!
Dear friends/followers,
it will be Christmas soon,
don't you forget to hang your Xmas stocking...
I already hang mine: :D
Wishing y'all a wonderful Christmas!!
Hugs and jingle bells,
Gee
it will be Christmas soon,
don't you forget to hang your Xmas stocking...
I already hang mine: :D
Hugs and jingle bells,
Gee
woensdag 22 juni 2016
Let's spice things up (a how-to)
Hello All,
Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the sunshine.
Today I have been doing something I read about somewhere on the internet (but forgot where) and
thought I'd share it with you.
So this tutorial is not mine to begin with.
But thought it is nice enough to share.
note: if this tutorial is yours, please send me an email saying it is and I will add your name to it.
The strangest thoughts can present itself to you and another mini idea is born.
For instance, I was thinking today that I really should get to ironing more often, ironing the laundry today took me forever, it seemed.
I felt a bit "rusty".
And "plop", it popped right into my head, the article I had read about making miniatures look rusty.
I forgot to make a 'before'-picture, but you can use it on whatever you want, so that does not really matter.
So I collected some stuff I wanted to give a rusty look: a firescreen and firegrate, a doormat, and a footwarmer I bought from Arjen Spinhoven (they are MDF I believe, lasercut), a green metal wire chair from Silly Sisters, and window grates I purchased from Artofmini.com (laser cut from MDF I believe). Also I worked on some sort of aluminium (?) thing I once picked up at some fair.And a piece of plastic fencing.
OK, here we go:
First I painted everything with Van Dijck brown acrylic paint, not too neat.
I did not mix the paint with water, or, well, maybe a tiny drop.
Oh, important: I used an old brush that can be disposed of afterwards. A size 2 so all the
little nooks are accessible.
Let dry.
After drying it looked like this:
I had cleaned the brush, put some tacky glue on the aluminium foil and ...here it comes....
some cinnamon in a plastic container.
The next step is to add some glue here and there, very thin, to the places you would like to see rusted.
You can look up pictures on the internet for realism.
Just use a tiny amount, don't put the glue on too thick and work FAST.
Work in small segments. Before your glue is dry dip the brush in the cinnamon and dab the cinnamon onto the pre-glued areas.
After that a soft tap on the table proved a great way to remove excess cinnamon.
Let dry thoroughly.
You can remove too much glue and cinnamon when the glue is still wet ,carefully, with a toothpick.
You will notice that your brush gets clotted with cinnamon and glue quite quick, so in between the cinnamon procedures I cleaned my brush in some luke-warm water a couple of times,
after which I dried the brush on a tissue.
When finished and dried I brushed each piece with a fan shaped brush very light to remove any loose cinnamon leftover.
I like to do easy tuts, I'm not the rocket science type :).
Hope this little tut was clear enough.
Thanks for your time.
Enjoy whatever you do and a big hug to you all,
Gee
Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the sunshine.
Today I have been doing something I read about somewhere on the internet (but forgot where) and
thought I'd share it with you.
So this tutorial is not mine to begin with.
But thought it is nice enough to share.
note: if this tutorial is yours, please send me an email saying it is and I will add your name to it.
The strangest thoughts can present itself to you and another mini idea is born.
For instance, I was thinking today that I really should get to ironing more often, ironing the laundry today took me forever, it seemed.
I felt a bit "rusty".
And "plop", it popped right into my head, the article I had read about making miniatures look rusty.
I forgot to make a 'before'-picture, but you can use it on whatever you want, so that does not really matter.
So I collected some stuff I wanted to give a rusty look: a firescreen and firegrate, a doormat, and a footwarmer I bought from Arjen Spinhoven (they are MDF I believe, lasercut), a green metal wire chair from Silly Sisters, and window grates I purchased from Artofmini.com (laser cut from MDF I believe). Also I worked on some sort of aluminium (?) thing I once picked up at some fair.And a piece of plastic fencing.
OK, here we go:
First I painted everything with Van Dijck brown acrylic paint, not too neat.
I did not mix the paint with water, or, well, maybe a tiny drop.
Oh, important: I used an old brush that can be disposed of afterwards. A size 2 so all the
little nooks are accessible.
Let dry.
After drying it looked like this:
some cinnamon in a plastic container.
The next step is to add some glue here and there, very thin, to the places you would like to see rusted.
You can look up pictures on the internet for realism.
Just use a tiny amount, don't put the glue on too thick and work FAST.
Work in small segments. Before your glue is dry dip the brush in the cinnamon and dab the cinnamon onto the pre-glued areas.
After that a soft tap on the table proved a great way to remove excess cinnamon.
Let dry thoroughly.
You can remove too much glue and cinnamon when the glue is still wet ,carefully, with a toothpick.
You will notice that your brush gets clotted with cinnamon and glue quite quick, so in between the cinnamon procedures I cleaned my brush in some luke-warm water a couple of times,
after which I dried the brush on a tissue.
When finished and dried I brushed each piece with a fan shaped brush very light to remove any loose cinnamon leftover.
I like to do easy tuts, I'm not the rocket science type :).
Hope this little tut was clear enough.
Thanks for your time.
Enjoy whatever you do and a big hug to you all,
Gee
zaterdag 16 april 2016
update flowers and leaves
Hello Gorgeous People With Great Taste :)
A quick update: still working on the flowers & leafs, progress is slow because every flower gets several paints; taking in consideration that the paint has to be dry before I do anther layer AND I'm only working on it when there is leftover time between daily -things-I-just-have-to-do-allthough-I-would-rather-just-do-the-mini.
Several flowers and leafs are already finished.
I'm not going to show you every flower that is finished, IMHO that is soooo boring....but I will show you the endresult of course.
However, still have to make quite some flowers/leafs to make a full bouquet, perhaps not every flower I make will make it to the bouquet, we'll see what looks best.
Well, you are informed, have a fantastic weeekend,
Hugs,
Gee
A quick update: still working on the flowers & leafs, progress is slow because every flower gets several paints; taking in consideration that the paint has to be dry before I do anther layer AND I'm only working on it when there is leftover time between daily -things-I-just-have-to-do-allthough-I-would-rather-just-do-the-mini.
Several flowers and leafs are already finished.
I'm not going to show you every flower that is finished, IMHO that is soooo boring....but I will show you the endresult of course.
However, still have to make quite some flowers/leafs to make a full bouquet, perhaps not every flower I make will make it to the bouquet, we'll see what looks best.
Well, you are informed, have a fantastic weeekend,
Hugs,
Gee
donderdag 18 februari 2016
Thinking big bouquet and things
Hi All,
Hope you are all just fine :)
As for me, I am trying my luck in making flowers.
Fiddling about with paper and paint.
Picture a big bouquet. Like in an old painting.
Fresh flowers but also dead ones.
That's the idea. No idea if I will succeed in that but it never hurts to try.
This is what I've done so far; made some dead/nearly dead roses. it still needs a lot of work, I want to add thorns as well as some buds. The leaves look far too alive, too.
Not nearly finished!
Maybe I was somewhat overenthousiastic with the idea, 'cos here you can see some
kits I've ordered and still have to make.
As you can see I have my work cut out for me ;).
Also purchased some new silks in the UK.
I love the greens, though I don't have a clue yet what I am going to use them for,
But well, it is always nice to have several options open.
It just came to mind that I can't recall telling you about the fair in Ulf my daughter and I
attended.
Should have made pictures of the minis I dragged home but totally forgot to make them.
Never mind, it eventually will come across in several posts, it's no secret and if it was, can't keep a secret anywayz ;)
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and take care of yourself
Untill we meet again,
big hug,
Gee
Hope you are all just fine :)
As for me, I am trying my luck in making flowers.
Fiddling about with paper and paint.
Picture a big bouquet. Like in an old painting.
Fresh flowers but also dead ones.
That's the idea. No idea if I will succeed in that but it never hurts to try.
This is what I've done so far; made some dead/nearly dead roses. it still needs a lot of work, I want to add thorns as well as some buds. The leaves look far too alive, too.
Not nearly finished!
Maybe I was somewhat overenthousiastic with the idea, 'cos here you can see some
kits I've ordered and still have to make.
As you can see I have my work cut out for me ;).
Also purchased some new silks in the UK.
I love the greens, though I don't have a clue yet what I am going to use them for,
But well, it is always nice to have several options open.
It just came to mind that I can't recall telling you about the fair in Ulf my daughter and I
attended.
Should have made pictures of the minis I dragged home but totally forgot to make them.
Never mind, it eventually will come across in several posts, it's no secret and if it was, can't keep a secret anywayz ;)
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and take care of yourself
Untill we meet again,
big hug,
Gee
donderdag 24 december 2015
maandag 30 november 2015
The bed
Hello Sweeties!
Again it has been far too long since we've had a talk.
I do hope you all are fine and have managed to remain doing your business instead
of your mind wandering off thinking about what my next post will be. lol.
Well, pumpkins, no need to suffer any longer ;) for here it is!
First I have to fill you in on what happened before, so here we go:
one of my very early memories of winter eve's is the sound of my Mom's knitting needles
going on high speed to knit one of us kids a warm sweater.
Knitterdeknitknitterdeknitterdeknitterknit... that sound went on and on and on.
She knitted on very small steel needles in an olympic tempo.
Moms could way back then.
While she knitted she'd watch some show or the news on television and could have a
conversation about anything.
I have also knitted some sweaters, when I was at the age of uhm... let's say that was years and years later; no need to harm your little souls with numbers ;))
Anyway, I knit on needles size 10 with big chunky yarns
and the sound of my knitting goes something like knit....wait for it.....knit....wait some more
...knit....darn I've dropped a stitch.
I can't even have a two-word talk when knitting, let alone watch the news.
But I've always wanted to be a fast knitter and preferably keeping all the stitches up, too.
Also I've always loved the look of lace knitting.
The only thing being... what to knit and could I pull it off??
I'm not actually going to wear anything like that, so when the mini hobby came along
this was an opportunity not to neglect.
I decided it had to be a bedspread or something like that and the patterns had to be 18th century-ish at least. Because I never did laceknitting before, the first thing to do was knitting a real life sized bedspread on needles size 10, to practice and so I did.
The finished thing measures 3 metres by approx. 3 metres and then I felt ready for smaller needles.
Had to start over 4 or 5 times but I did make a baby blanket as well as a bedspread.
Of course I was not able to refind the picture I've made of the lifesize thing, but I"ll
show you the minis.
For the bedspread and the babyblanket I've used real 18th century patterns.
While I am fully aware of the fact that there are people who arrange and style what they
make picture-perfect, there is no danger of encountering that kind of behaviour on this
blog, I know you can see beyond blurry pics and not so neatly dressed stuff, so here it is:
I use this handkerchief as a bedsheet, it belonged to my grandmother.
I noticed the edging and the corner were done by tatting.
The tatting work is so fine I could not get it clear on the picture.
My grandmother made this edging more than a hundred years ago; maybe the
handkerchief was her mothers'and she got hold of it the way I did.
Although the handkerchief yellowed a bit over time, I'm not going to use any bleech on it.
Another family item to go in the minihouse.
Let's see, what's next... here's a picture of the babyblanket:
and pictures of the bedspread:
on the mattrass:
Again it has been far too long since we've had a talk.
I do hope you all are fine and have managed to remain doing your business instead
of your mind wandering off thinking about what my next post will be. lol.
Well, pumpkins, no need to suffer any longer ;) for here it is!
First I have to fill you in on what happened before, so here we go:
one of my very early memories of winter eve's is the sound of my Mom's knitting needles
going on high speed to knit one of us kids a warm sweater.
Knitterdeknitknitterdeknitterdeknitterknit... that sound went on and on and on.
She knitted on very small steel needles in an olympic tempo.
Moms could way back then.
While she knitted she'd watch some show or the news on television and could have a
conversation about anything.
I have also knitted some sweaters, when I was at the age of uhm... let's say that was years and years later; no need to harm your little souls with numbers ;))
Anyway, I knit on needles size 10 with big chunky yarns
and the sound of my knitting goes something like knit....wait for it.....knit....wait some more
...knit....darn I've dropped a stitch.
I can't even have a two-word talk when knitting, let alone watch the news.
But I've always wanted to be a fast knitter and preferably keeping all the stitches up, too.
Also I've always loved the look of lace knitting.
The only thing being... what to knit and could I pull it off??
I'm not actually going to wear anything like that, so when the mini hobby came along
this was an opportunity not to neglect.
I decided it had to be a bedspread or something like that and the patterns had to be 18th century-ish at least. Because I never did laceknitting before, the first thing to do was knitting a real life sized bedspread on needles size 10, to practice and so I did.
The finished thing measures 3 metres by approx. 3 metres and then I felt ready for smaller needles.
Had to start over 4 or 5 times but I did make a baby blanket as well as a bedspread.
Of course I was not able to refind the picture I've made of the lifesize thing, but I"ll
show you the minis.
For the bedspread and the babyblanket I've used real 18th century patterns.
While I am fully aware of the fact that there are people who arrange and style what they
make picture-perfect, there is no danger of encountering that kind of behaviour on this
blog, I know you can see beyond blurry pics and not so neatly dressed stuff, so here it is:
I use this handkerchief as a bedsheet, it belonged to my grandmother.
I noticed the edging and the corner were done by tatting.
The tatting work is so fine I could not get it clear on the picture.
My grandmother made this edging more than a hundred years ago; maybe the
handkerchief was her mothers'and she got hold of it the way I did.
Although the handkerchief yellowed a bit over time, I'm not going to use any bleech on it.
Another family item to go in the minihouse.
Let's see, what's next... here's a picture of the babyblanket:
and pictures of the bedspread:
on the mattrass:
and finally on the bed. the picture is blurry but you get the idea.
I have very much enjoyed reading your blogs, please keep the posts coming.
It is a bit early but I do hope you will all have a lovely Christmas!
Big hugs and take care,
Gee
zondag 3 mei 2015
Those darn vampires
Dear Friends and Followers,
I used mahogany for making the box.
Though I have tried to follow your activities, I may not have always succeeded.
But know I've missed you guys and gals, we've got a lot of catching up to do.
I do hope you are all well.
It has been far too long since I've done anything mini, and being horribly busy at the time due to all the chores I should have done these past months but did not do and thus have to do now, it will be some time before I do another post :s. That is, unless I find a way to divide myself in two or three, but if that is the case I will probably not do any chores but be very busy putting up a production line :D ;)
One of the positive things of my retraite is that I have got some more outlined ideas of mini things I want to try this next year, but more about that when the time is due.
My sweetheart of a daughter took me on a trip to Amsterdam, to get my mind off things, and we went to a rockconcert; some time later we did this again, only now I took her. It was a really nice opportunity to see each other in another perspective.
And what do you know, after the concert yours truly even got kissed by the popstar LOLZ, Who will remain to be unknown btw.
We've got a saying over here, that goes: hoe ouder hoe gekker. Or: the older the crazier. Go figure haha. I'll show you the pics we took in the Rijksmuseum another time. Now, back on topic.
My sweetheart of a daughter took me on a trip to Amsterdam, to get my mind off things, and we went to a rockconcert; some time later we did this again, only now I took her. It was a really nice opportunity to see each other in another perspective.
And what do you know, after the concert yours truly even got kissed by the popstar LOLZ, Who will remain to be unknown btw.
We've got a saying over here, that goes: hoe ouder hoe gekker. Or: the older the crazier. Go figure haha. I'll show you the pics we took in the Rijksmuseum another time. Now, back on topic.
Couldn't keep my focus so this was an endless -so it seemed- practice in getting my mini stuff out-starting working on it for five minutes- putting it away again for weeks and so on.
But here it finally is...... a must have for every home ;)....... the ultimate Vampire Killing Box!
Mind you, boxes like this really did exist, this one is based on an 18th century one, and it contains:
- a vampire skull, with it's vampire teeth intact, and directions on it on where to find the most
vulnarable places on the skull in order to kill the vampire.
- a bible
- a rosary with cross
- wooden stakes and a silver stake
- a bottle wich contains poison
- an empty bottle
- a bottle with holy water
- a little mirror
- a candlestick
- a gun and a bag of gunpowder, well filled
- a knife
- garlick
- a cross (an extra, better be safe than sorry)
- cloths for cleaning up any mess
and hidden in the lid:
- drawings and instructions on how to kill a vampire and a notebook.
As you probably already noticed due to the scratches, this box has long been in use.
I used mahogany for making the box.
Don't know about you, but having this item at hand, I know I will sleep peacefully tonight ;).
Please take care and keep smiling your lovely smile,
Hugggggsss to you all,
Gee
PS: John, Simon, Andy: how are you doing guys?
PS: John, Simon, Andy: how are you doing guys?
woensdag 15 april 2015
pics removed
Dear followers,
hope you are all fine.
To get to the point right away:
As Ilona and Brae already mentioned on their blogs, it seems some people copy pictures from blogs and repost them as their own work.
I have had an unusual amount of traffic on my blog the last weeks.
As a result of that and said rumours going round, I have removed my pictures.
Of course I will put them back in place as soon as I have them watermarked.
Hope you are enjoying the spring sun, big hugs to you all!
Gee
hope you are all fine.
To get to the point right away:
As Ilona and Brae already mentioned on their blogs, it seems some people copy pictures from blogs and repost them as their own work.
I have had an unusual amount of traffic on my blog the last weeks.
As a result of that and said rumours going round, I have removed my pictures.
Of course I will put them back in place as soon as I have them watermarked.
Hope you are enjoying the spring sun, big hugs to you all!
Gee
zondag 7 december 2014
zondag 2 november 2014
An in between update
Hello Friends and Followers,
A quick "hello" to let you know I have by no means forgotten you.
First: a very big THANK YOU for the sweet and comforting words you have sent me after my last post (I'm not naming names, you know who you are).
I had no idea how comforting this would be but it was and is of great comfort to me and I cherish your friendship even more.
Over here we make slow progress in handling all the paperwork that has to be done.
Figuring out the legislation, checking and double checking takes a lot of time because a lot of it changed a couple of years ago and there is not much actual info found on the subject on the web; plus, it's not something you are used to do. But we're getting there.
I have not done anything miniature-related since my last post and still do not feel like working on anything mini yet; however I did came up with an idea for a new room.
Maybe I will try to work on that on the side when I get back into minis again, or maybe I'll save it for last because there will be no room in the house that has this many different handmade thingies in it
But it is a room that will put your fantasy to work :D.
Then again there's always an overload of plans in my head but a shortage of mini-time in real life,
so what comes out usually is a compromise; well, we'll see if this leads to anything and if it leads to anything: to what?!
I've been doing some knitting and felting (no mini) and that seduced me to looking up needle felting
pictures; let's say it was very Pinteresting ;).
Would love to get to be a better needle-felter.
So, maybe I'll try to do needle felting of some sort again.
If not for anything else, it is a great way of releasing stress and agression and still get something done.
In short, not back yet but no doubt the mini virus will strike again.
Hope you all are doing not just well but great!
Big hugs to you all of you, my dear friends,
Gee
A quick "hello" to let you know I have by no means forgotten you.
First: a very big THANK YOU for the sweet and comforting words you have sent me after my last post (I'm not naming names, you know who you are).
I had no idea how comforting this would be but it was and is of great comfort to me and I cherish your friendship even more.
Over here we make slow progress in handling all the paperwork that has to be done.
Figuring out the legislation, checking and double checking takes a lot of time because a lot of it changed a couple of years ago and there is not much actual info found on the subject on the web; plus, it's not something you are used to do. But we're getting there.
I have not done anything miniature-related since my last post and still do not feel like working on anything mini yet; however I did came up with an idea for a new room.
Maybe I will try to work on that on the side when I get back into minis again, or maybe I'll save it for last because there will be no room in the house that has this many different handmade thingies in it
But it is a room that will put your fantasy to work :D.
Then again there's always an overload of plans in my head but a shortage of mini-time in real life,
so what comes out usually is a compromise; well, we'll see if this leads to anything and if it leads to anything: to what?!
I've been doing some knitting and felting (no mini) and that seduced me to looking up needle felting
pictures; let's say it was very Pinteresting ;).
Would love to get to be a better needle-felter.
So, maybe I'll try to do needle felting of some sort again.
If not for anything else, it is a great way of releasing stress and agression and still get something done.
In short, not back yet but no doubt the mini virus will strike again.
Hope you all are doing not just well but great!
Big hugs to you all of you, my dear friends,
Gee
maandag 14 juli 2014
Dirty and worn off
Dear Readers,
Recently I was sorting out my shoes while thinking about what accessory next to make for my dollhouse .
Like most people, I own more shoes than I need.
Sport shoes, mountain climb shoes although I never climbed a mountain, high shoes, low shoes, chic shoes, shop shoes in which I can easy walk for miles without getting sore feet, shoes that I only use for working in the garden, nice shoes and old, dirty&worn shoes that I actually have to throw away.
The latter, the old, dirty&worn shoes, crazy enough made me smile.
Because of course a dollhouse inhabitant would not only own beautiful, well-kept shoes.
Obviously she would have old, worn and maybe dirty shoes as well.
And she probably would also have a matching bag.
That evening I started embroidering and this is the result:
even if i sigh so myself ;)
even if i sigh so myself ;)
vrijdag 4 juli 2014
hallo allemaal,
in navolging van Simons' boekbesprekingen laat ik jullie nu mijn favoriete boek aller tijden -tot nu toe tenminste ;)- zien.
Het heet: Het Hollandse pronkpoppenhuis en is geschreven door Jet Pijzel.
Het is een kolossaal naslagwerk ( bladzijden) over poppenhuizen en gebruiken in Holland in de de jaren 1700 en 1800. Het is dan ook niet goedkoop.
Het is geschreven in het Nederlands en er staan honderden fotoos in het boek.
Jet Pijzel heeft onderzoek gedaan in en naar de poppenhuizen die opgesteld staan in Nederlandse musea en ze heeft ook fotoos kunnen maken van aspecten die normaal gesproken niet te zien zijn.
Bijvoorbeeld hoe delen van het huis in elkaar werden gezet.
Of een blik onder de rokken van een popje, om de kousen, schoenen en ondergoed te laten zien.
Elke ruimte in het poppenhuis van toen wordt behandeld in het boek, en ook de inrichting; maar dat niet alleen.
Ook het glaswerk, houtwerk, linnengoed, beddengoed, opbouw van de aankleding van een hemelbed, kleding, schoeisel, gebruiksvooorwerpen, schilderwerk worden nog eens afzonderlijk besproken; je kunt het niet bedenken of het staat erin beschreven.
De poppenhuizen en miniaturen uit die tijd waren veelal in schaal 1:9, het is daarom erg prettig dat de maten van veel artikelen vermeld worden bij de fotoos.
Makkelijk ook voor miniaturisten.
Pijzel heeft grondig onderzoek gedaan, zo is ze ook de stadsarchieven ingedoken om nalatenschappen en testamenten te bestuderen uit die tijd om een juist beeld te krijgen van wat er zoal in een inboedel thuishoorde.
Voor iedereen die een Hollands poppenhuis uit die tijd gaat maken absoluut een aanrader.
in navolging van Simons' boekbesprekingen laat ik jullie nu mijn favoriete boek aller tijden -tot nu toe tenminste ;)- zien.
Het heet: Het Hollandse pronkpoppenhuis en is geschreven door Jet Pijzel.
Het is een kolossaal naslagwerk ( bladzijden) over poppenhuizen en gebruiken in Holland in de de jaren 1700 en 1800. Het is dan ook niet goedkoop.
Het is geschreven in het Nederlands en er staan honderden fotoos in het boek.
Jet Pijzel heeft onderzoek gedaan in en naar de poppenhuizen die opgesteld staan in Nederlandse musea en ze heeft ook fotoos kunnen maken van aspecten die normaal gesproken niet te zien zijn.
Bijvoorbeeld hoe delen van het huis in elkaar werden gezet.
Of een blik onder de rokken van een popje, om de kousen, schoenen en ondergoed te laten zien.
Elke ruimte in het poppenhuis van toen wordt behandeld in het boek, en ook de inrichting; maar dat niet alleen.
Ook het glaswerk, houtwerk, linnengoed, beddengoed, opbouw van de aankleding van een hemelbed, kleding, schoeisel, gebruiksvooorwerpen, schilderwerk worden nog eens afzonderlijk besproken; je kunt het niet bedenken of het staat erin beschreven.
De poppenhuizen en miniaturen uit die tijd waren veelal in schaal 1:9, het is daarom erg prettig dat de maten van veel artikelen vermeld worden bij de fotoos.
Makkelijk ook voor miniaturisten.
Pijzel heeft grondig onderzoek gedaan, zo is ze ook de stadsarchieven ingedoken om nalatenschappen en testamenten te bestuderen uit die tijd om een juist beeld te krijgen van wat er zoal in een inboedel thuishoorde.
Voor iedereen die een Hollands poppenhuis uit die tijd gaat maken absoluut een aanrader.
zondag 6 april 2014
Finally: The bedchamber -unfurnished
Hello All,
First of all I'm happy to inform you that my computer problems are solved.
Or they seem to be.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Now I am able to comment on your blogs again so brace yourself ;)
Many thanks to those of you who waited and waited ....and waited some more to see the pictures of the bedchamber, please accept my apologies it took me so long.
And now...... tadaaaaaa... here it is:
This is the front view, the door to the left in the back wall gives access to a small
walk in closet.
The back of the closet is not connected to anything, it just stands against the wall.
Once filled that way the closet can be easily opened from within the powder room to show it's content.
View from one of the right room windows:
The bed is going to be in the blank space in the middle.
Opposite side:
Once the curtains hang you won't see that ugly hooks anymore.
The cherubs are in pairs, a boy and a girl, although some fell off at the opening side and have to be re-glued.
My family weapon is up there as well, and my own children are in a way present in this room: They are in some of the paintings. Other tiny things they gave me over the years will find a place here too.
The panels in the back wall next to the doors may be there temporarily.
I am working on 2 mini paintings picturing my kids when they were little in 18th century clothing.
If they look any good once finished, maybe I will put them up there.
Just a thought to make the room even more personal.
The powder room is nothing more than a small creme box so I'll show you new pics of bedchamber and powderroom when furnished.
That is the next thing I will be working on, furnishing and
decorating these rooms. That can take a while though, since I have a lot planned for this summer, not mini related.
As I have removed the last blogpost due to the awful pics I have put up there, again a pic of the ceiling, more for my own documentation, really :)
I decided not to use a lot of the moulds I've made, the cherub faces and the roses were a bit too much to my liking.
Thanks for being my guest on this little tour, looking forward to seeing what you
have been up to!
Take care,
hugs,
Gee
maandag 28 oktober 2013
Confession and the double doors
Hi All,
I hope you are all well; we've had a terrible storm today so the weather was perfect for doing a bit of mini -as long as you're inside the house of course :) -.
I saw on the news the weather in England was awful too, hope you are all well over there, and still have the electricity working.
In the header it says; confession, so here we go: can't remember where, but I know in the past I've made quite a big deal about the look of dollhouses often not being
very accurate, time-wise. Too elaborate, too rich, too expensive, often suitable for kings or queens but not for 'normal' folk.
Not that that really matters, your house is decorated in the style you like.
For me, I always wanted a house that is decorated in the way it really looked like back then.
But.... if I would follow that to the letter, the house would end up pretty empty
and with not much glamour.
And I am beyond fond of glamour and blingbling, darlings, in such a way that I finally compelled to this heartfelt craving.
However, to keep the Jekyll & Hyde of my inner self in balance, the rooms used by staff will be very poor.
So, be warned, some kitsch will be coming your way when you continue reading this blog :D
Today I have done some work on the double doors that will be connecting the bedchamber and the powder room.
At first I wanted a door with glass inserts, but in the end I preferred closed doors,
mainly because there will be double doors with fake glass inserts to the balcony adjoining the powder room.
I used jewelry findings á la Ray*, and this is the result so far:
Don't know yet if I will add extra findings later on, maybe some wood strips here and there, but for now this is it.
I have been working on the walls and ceiling last week but can't show you the progress yet, I am still working on the ornaments. As is it is all not very exciting yet.
But towards revealing the room I will show you more pics.
Take care and keep on mini-ing!
Hugs,
Gee
*courtesy to Ray Whitledge for posting the jewelry finding how-to on his blog
I hope you are all well; we've had a terrible storm today so the weather was perfect for doing a bit of mini -as long as you're inside the house of course :) -.
I saw on the news the weather in England was awful too, hope you are all well over there, and still have the electricity working.
In the header it says; confession, so here we go: can't remember where, but I know in the past I've made quite a big deal about the look of dollhouses often not being
very accurate, time-wise. Too elaborate, too rich, too expensive, often suitable for kings or queens but not for 'normal' folk.
Not that that really matters, your house is decorated in the style you like.
For me, I always wanted a house that is decorated in the way it really looked like back then.
But.... if I would follow that to the letter, the house would end up pretty empty
and with not much glamour.
And I am beyond fond of glamour and blingbling, darlings, in such a way that I finally compelled to this heartfelt craving.
However, to keep the Jekyll & Hyde of my inner self in balance, the rooms used by staff will be very poor.
So, be warned, some kitsch will be coming your way when you continue reading this blog :D
Today I have done some work on the double doors that will be connecting the bedchamber and the powder room.
At first I wanted a door with glass inserts, but in the end I preferred closed doors,
mainly because there will be double doors with fake glass inserts to the balcony adjoining the powder room.
I used jewelry findings á la Ray*, and this is the result so far:
Don't know yet if I will add extra findings later on, maybe some wood strips here and there, but for now this is it.
I have been working on the walls and ceiling last week but can't show you the progress yet, I am still working on the ornaments. As is it is all not very exciting yet.
But towards revealing the room I will show you more pics.
Take care and keep on mini-ing!
Hugs,
Gee
*courtesy to Ray Whitledge for posting the jewelry finding how-to on his blog
zaterdag 14 september 2013
finally finished!
Good evening loyal readers,
The game table, I am glad to say, is finished.
Taking in consideration this, besides the simple bookcases in the library, is
the first piece of furniture I made, without having any instructions or measurements to begin with, in spite of the flaws I am quite satisfied with how it turned out.
Notice the bands of veneer go in opposite directions? that was the most fun to
work on. That and the sliding panels.
I've got a hunch that I will try my hand at more furniture in the future, simply because it is fun to experiment with.
And no matter the end result, you always try new ways and learn from it.
after sanding the (far too) glossy finish off, I gave the table a veneered skirt and put a matt varnish on. imho the skirt brings the table more in proportion.
The matte varnish is a lot better to my liking. It is the same varnish that was used on the bookcases in the library, it has a bit of a yellow-ish shine to it what doesn't make it look so new.
After that the table was smeared with a dark wax and then rubbed with a soft cloth.
So that is the game table.
Now off to new adventures.
By the way, have you all seen John's (Merriman Park) centerfold pages :p in Miniaturas magazine? super! Again congratulations, John! (if you haven't, make sure you take a look!).
The past year so far has been very chaotic; I tried to work on minis so often, but every time I sat down to get started something more important came up.
That is why I posted so many pics of the gametable, when I show a lot of pics, maybe I can fool some of you in believing I actually worked hard on minis all summer ;) :D
Just kidding, hope I have some new stuff to show you in the next post.
Hope you'll all have a lovely weekend!
hugs,
Gee
The game table, I am glad to say, is finished.
the first piece of furniture I made, without having any instructions or measurements to begin with, in spite of the flaws I am quite satisfied with how it turned out.
Notice the bands of veneer go in opposite directions? that was the most fun to
work on. That and the sliding panels.
I've got a hunch that I will try my hand at more furniture in the future, simply because it is fun to experiment with.
And no matter the end result, you always try new ways and learn from it.
after sanding the (far too) glossy finish off, I gave the table a veneered skirt and put a matt varnish on. imho the skirt brings the table more in proportion.
The matte varnish is a lot better to my liking. It is the same varnish that was used on the bookcases in the library, it has a bit of a yellow-ish shine to it what doesn't make it look so new.
After that the table was smeared with a dark wax and then rubbed with a soft cloth.
So that is the game table.
Now off to new adventures.
By the way, have you all seen John's (Merriman Park) centerfold pages :p in Miniaturas magazine? super! Again congratulations, John! (if you haven't, make sure you take a look!).
The past year so far has been very chaotic; I tried to work on minis so often, but every time I sat down to get started something more important came up.
That is why I posted so many pics of the gametable, when I show a lot of pics, maybe I can fool some of you in believing I actually worked hard on minis all summer ;) :D
Just kidding, hope I have some new stuff to show you in the next post.
Hope you'll all have a lovely weekend!
hugs,
Gee
dinsdag 20 augustus 2013
Not all paintings visible-an explanation
In recent years I have purchased some real little paintings that will find their place in my house.
But those are not enough to fill the rooms by far.
For decades I have been a great admirer of a painter, in my vast opinion the best painter alive today.
And not just that, the best painter in -literally- ages.
So I had my heart and mind set on the use of these images.
As I don't want to steal someone else's work by bluntly copying from the internet,
I contacted this painter and asked for permission to download some of his work to use in my dollhouse and put it on my blog.
He got back to me in a very friendly e-mail, and told me he is OK with me downloading his work for use in the DH, prohibited I do not show the works on the internet and do not mention this artists name.
I fully understand and respect this.
So I will work the pictures in a way you will only see a white or a dark space in those picture frames.
I am sorry I cannot show you his magnificent work but a deal is a deal.
Thought I'd give you an explanation on what to expect on forehand.
Hugs,
Gee
But those are not enough to fill the rooms by far.
For decades I have been a great admirer of a painter, in my vast opinion the best painter alive today.
And not just that, the best painter in -literally- ages.
So I had my heart and mind set on the use of these images.
As I don't want to steal someone else's work by bluntly copying from the internet,
I contacted this painter and asked for permission to download some of his work to use in my dollhouse and put it on my blog.
He got back to me in a very friendly e-mail, and told me he is OK with me downloading his work for use in the DH, prohibited I do not show the works on the internet and do not mention this artists name.
I fully understand and respect this.
So I will work the pictures in a way you will only see a white or a dark space in those picture frames.
I am sorry I cannot show you his magnificent work but a deal is a deal.
Thought I'd give you an explanation on what to expect on forehand.
Hugs,
Gee
zaterdag 17 augustus 2013
Game table put together
Hello Sweeties!
Hope you are all doing swell!
I'm up in the middle of the night to show you the game table.
Yesss, I have finally found some time to put it together and of course could not wait a moment longer to show you the result.
After I have been playing with it first, no surprise there.
Well, here it is, hope you'll like it:
As you can see there's a back gammon board under a chess/checkers/draughts board, and nine men's morris at the other end.
The picture in the middle shows the table when these two games slide away and reveal two backgammon games and in the middle a box closed with a lid that hides the pieces for the chess game.
The upper picture shows the two backgammon playing fields and the opened box
in the middle.
Still have to stain the legs but I decided to first give the table a skirt, so you won't see the box peeking out under the table anymore.
Now it looks just like underwear under a too short dress.
The skeleton of the table is limewood, and the veneers used are ahorn, cherry, limba, walnut root veneer and others.
Around the tableleaf is a small raised edge, so that for example dice do not easily fall off.
I liked working on this very much although I really had almost no time left for mini, so it was a scarce fifteen minutes here and there.
Big bummer was I accidently stained with a glossy stain while I wanted a matte finish.
But I can live with that ( can you really, Gee? can you??)......ermmm...I guess I have to now boohoooo.
I really would like the veneer to have a yellow-ish shine and an old look, so will be experimenting with some wax and chalk on it later this week.
It all has a bit of an unused feel to it so that has to change.
Sorry I have left you waiting for this post for so long but life's hectic, as you probably all can relate to.
Welcome to my new follower, I hope you feel right at home here; please do not hesitate to talk along.
I hope I can find time to do any mini again soon
Until then, take care of yourselves and don't forget to laugh and have fun!
Hugs,
Gee
Hope you are all doing swell!
I'm up in the middle of the night to show you the game table.
Yesss, I have finally found some time to put it together and of course could not wait a moment longer to show you the result.
After I have been playing with it first, no surprise there.
Well, here it is, hope you'll like it:
As you can see there's a back gammon board under a chess/checkers/draughts board, and nine men's morris at the other end.
The picture in the middle shows the table when these two games slide away and reveal two backgammon games and in the middle a box closed with a lid that hides the pieces for the chess game.
The upper picture shows the two backgammon playing fields and the opened box
in the middle.
Still have to stain the legs but I decided to first give the table a skirt, so you won't see the box peeking out under the table anymore.
Now it looks just like underwear under a too short dress.
The skeleton of the table is limewood, and the veneers used are ahorn, cherry, limba, walnut root veneer and others.
Around the tableleaf is a small raised edge, so that for example dice do not easily fall off.
I liked working on this very much although I really had almost no time left for mini, so it was a scarce fifteen minutes here and there.
Big bummer was I accidently stained with a glossy stain while I wanted a matte finish.
But I can live with that ( can you really, Gee? can you??)......ermmm...I guess I have to now boohoooo.
I really would like the veneer to have a yellow-ish shine and an old look, so will be experimenting with some wax and chalk on it later this week.
It all has a bit of an unused feel to it so that has to change.
Sorry I have left you waiting for this post for so long but life's hectic, as you probably all can relate to.
Welcome to my new follower, I hope you feel right at home here; please do not hesitate to talk along.
I hope I can find time to do any mini again soon
Until then, take care of yourselves and don't forget to laugh and have fun!
Hugs,
Gee
maandag 5 augustus 2013
game table part 2
Hello readers,
Guess it is about time for a small update on the game table.
I know, I know.... I work fast as a snail...
but on my behalf: I have made some parts again...and again....and ag.... you get the picture, and it still has flaws (don't tell anyone).
Besides it has been hot hot hot over here, too hot to get any work done whatsoever and then really the only option left is to relax with a drink :)
I did not even get around to do any of the embroidering I planned to do.
As you can see, a lot of the gluing is done, now all it needs is a bit of sanding, making an opening lid, putting the pieces together, add an edge and varnish it all.
Keeping my fingers crossed it will work as I envisioned it.
Welcome to the new followers and thanks for joining!
Hoping you'll all continue to have a beautiful summer, my dear friends, and
big hugs to all of you,
Gee
Guess it is about time for a small update on the game table.
I know, I know.... I work fast as a snail...
but on my behalf: I have made some parts again...and again....and ag.... you get the picture, and it still has flaws (don't tell anyone).
Besides it has been hot hot hot over here, too hot to get any work done whatsoever and then really the only option left is to relax with a drink :)
I did not even get around to do any of the embroidering I planned to do.
As you can see, a lot of the gluing is done, now all it needs is a bit of sanding, making an opening lid, putting the pieces together, add an edge and varnish it all.
Keeping my fingers crossed it will work as I envisioned it.
Welcome to the new followers and thanks for joining!
Hoping you'll all continue to have a beautiful summer, my dear friends, and
big hugs to all of you,
Gee
zaterdag 6 juli 2013
game table part1
Hello everyone,
Have been doing some work on the game table lately.
Made some parts, like the checkerboard.
I made the game parts the same way Debora was so kind to show us http://petitpunt.blogspot.nl/2013/05/making-chess-board.html
These parts will later be inserted in the table, I'll show you that in a later post.
(I see now I forgot to put a coin beside it, I'll do that when I show you the table in a later stadium).
That is, if I ever finish the darn thing.
Talking about furniture: I came across this pic while surfing the internet; isn't it just gorg? Yes it is, me knows :)
How I wish I could make that (working and out of the blue, of course). ;)
Let's see' what else is there to tell you..... Oh, I know.... I did not show you my workspace yet.
Well, here it is.
Normally the table is packed with mini stuff, so to my standards it is very empty now. Erm... as you can see I did not clean the table before taking the pic, so this really is ''a moment out of the life of'' :))
I am typing this on my daughters' tablet; unfortunately my laptop refused to do anything for me anymore, I am trying to get some sort of life back into it.
that is, as long as it is not green or phones home.
Welcome to the new followers, I am very pleased to see you here and hope you will enjoy your visits.
I am still waiting for materials to arrive, until then the work on the powder room + bedchamber has come to a complete stand still.
That company is closed for holiday and as much as I support holidays, I do hope they hurry up :))
So far my slightly chaotic post.
Hope you all are enjoying lots of sunshine!
Sending you all a big hug,
Gee
Update: I believe I got my laptop to work again, yeahhh!
But it is so old now and I've fixed so many problems over the last years, it is a matter of time before it will go to PC-heaven.
Well, you will be the first ones to notice :)
Have been doing some work on the game table lately.
Made some parts, like the checkerboard.
I made the game parts the same way Debora was so kind to show us http://petitpunt.blogspot.nl/2013/05/making-chess-board.html
These parts will later be inserted in the table, I'll show you that in a later post.
(I see now I forgot to put a coin beside it, I'll do that when I show you the table in a later stadium).
That is, if I ever finish the darn thing.
Talking about furniture: I came across this pic while surfing the internet; isn't it just gorg? Yes it is, me knows :)
How I wish I could make that (working and out of the blue, of course). ;)
Let's see' what else is there to tell you..... Oh, I know.... I did not show you my workspace yet.
Well, here it is.
Normally the table is packed with mini stuff, so to my standards it is very empty now. Erm... as you can see I did not clean the table before taking the pic, so this really is ''a moment out of the life of'' :))
I am typing this on my daughters' tablet; unfortunately my laptop refused to do anything for me anymore, I am trying to get some sort of life back into it.
that is, as long as it is not green or phones home.
Welcome to the new followers, I am very pleased to see you here and hope you will enjoy your visits.
I am still waiting for materials to arrive, until then the work on the powder room + bedchamber has come to a complete stand still.
That company is closed for holiday and as much as I support holidays, I do hope they hurry up :))
So far my slightly chaotic post.
Hope you all are enjoying lots of sunshine!
Sending you all a big hug,
Gee
Update: I believe I got my laptop to work again, yeahhh!
But it is so old now and I've fixed so many problems over the last years, it is a matter of time before it will go to PC-heaven.
Well, you will be the first ones to notice :)
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