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

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 ;)

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.

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

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

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

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