Tuscany in a Book

I was sooo frustrated in projects taking sooo long to complete (mostly due to the time it takes for mail to be delivered,  Aussie is a big country but dollhouse wares are not readily available and are cheaper to buy from overseas, that takes weeks!!) where was I? Yes, that I marched into my mini mess room and declared 'enough'!! Determined was I to do something that showed the fruit of my labours and choice use of frustrated language that I wasn't leaving till I had produced a something!! A finished something!!! Children you know how to use a microwave!! Mummy ain't coming out till there is the sound of 'wohoo I've done something!!'. The universe had heard me for as I walked into a favourite craft haunt I saw something I had given up on ever finding. A stash of those paper mache book box things. So wonderful for doing vignettes and the such. I had searched the proverbial high and low for months for something like this. When ever I was able to tackle down a staff member of any shop and enquire about such book box things I was always greeted with the bewildered look that one receives when speaking in another language. But I grabbed a few of these recycled paper beauties and took off home!! After going through my pile of placcy boxes of mini stash looking for doors and windows I was again agog at how much I had collected over the years. And still in all that Aladdin's Cave of miniature treasure I did not have door handles. ??? So I had to buy them online and am waiting the two-four weeks it will take for them to get here. Groan. But anyhoos here are some pics of my little bit of Tuscany. I have found all my Pascale Garnier kits while scrummaging amongst other things and will make this a conservatory of sorts. Wall fountain and the such. I have a battery wall light coming as well. They are so wonderful!! No wiring, ahhhh. Race is on to see which one will be here first, handles or light.

 

 

I placed a window in the back to allow more natural light to filter though.

The wonderful table was made by Susi at MiniEden Tienda on Etsy.

 

 

Cheers from the Eternally Sunny Land Down Under and be well!!!

A Small Bit of Work Done

I got to finish a few more little things this week. I thought I would add a couple of photos. The suitcase and the pretty box on top of the cupboard I got from Susi at MiniEdenTienda on Etsy. I have only the bottom book store floor left to do on the townhouse. Then the fun of filling it full of lovely little things!! The French Revolution doll is called Genvieve. My boys wanted to know why she was wearing a pirate hat. They got a bit of a history lesson but still thought the idea of her being a pirate princess was far more interesting!! Be well!!!

 

A Little Bit of This.

I have had a little bit of spare time while I have been waiting for stock to fill orders. I did that awful thing we have to do at least once a year, clean up my work room. Groan. Then I went through my stash of goodies. Furniture to be exact. I had very much forgotten how much I had accumulated over the years. Yikes. Anyways out came the paint stripper and I had some fun. Here's a few things I did over the weekend. I have listed all of them in my shop on Etsy. Wish it was this easy to make over RL furniture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I adore this last painting. I don't know who it is done by unfortunately. Anyways back to it. I have a bed waiting to have it's corners and edges sanded. Then I'll have to go and buy more goodies!! There's space, albeit a little one, in my room now!!! My room will cave in from the vacuum!!!! Blessing to you all!!!!   Carriex

Attic Bedroom

It's been soooo long since I have been able to work on my own mini projects!!! I stole Sunday afternoon to get stuck into the Livres attic which will be a bedroom for my young Parisian. That is my niece Rebekah who like her aunt adores the French style of everything. The floor still to be whitewashed and baseboards to go in. A roof of course that helps. Needs to dirtified. Just two quick pictures. Got to get back into that other stuff that fills our lives and keeps us from being mini!! Thanks to all my new followers! Big thank you to everyone who has dropped by my Etsy shop! You are truly fabulous!!

 

 

 

Oh my goodness I nearly forgot to mention I am going to Rik Peirce Fair Rosamund's Bower course in March next year!!!! ARGH!!!! Happy dance, happy dance!!!! I was going to go to his last one in 2010 but a family tragedy put a stop to that. He was retiring but I found out he was doing one more and I got the last vacancy for the first course. Need to get  my passport application cracking! New Zealand here I come. Woot!!! My sister is coming along with. Big thank you to the New Zealand Government for offering the best website ever with driving routes, accommodation  and all that stuff all on one site. We plan on looking for some Hobbitses as well. Excitement or what!!! Bye for now!!

Little More Livres.

It has been a while since I posted!! My Etsy shop has kept me very busy. But I do put my evenings aside to work on the Maison de Livres. I hope to have it finished for my nieces graduation!! I have added a couple of photos of my recent progress. There's still tape on the floor. The room needs ageing and I don't want the floor to get too yukky. A fake door in the back room. Next door to this room is a little room we are calling the Lavender Room. Lavender coming from old French for launder or washing. This room is only a door width wide!! The doors on the corner cupboard aren't actually hinged in. I am a huge hinge fail. So they just pop in and out making it easy to fill. Both rooms have yet to be filled with paraphernalia an stuff. The attic bedroom will be next!!

A Sink!

Just a quick pic. Sink is done, yay. All made out of cardboard and balsa, bit of cornice trim. Sorry for the terrible photo. Took it with my phone. I keep forgetting to buy new batteries for my camera! Cannisters are from MiniEden Tienda on Etsy. Love them. Will have to get some more I think.

Bye for now and be well!!!!

Salon Livre.

The book house has a lounge at last. Well mostly. For the time being anyway. I am always changing things. I only got two photos before my camera politely shut itself down and told me a need new batteries. Snap!! So here are the only two pics I got. The wallpaper was the perfect shade of green I wanted. It's scrap booking paper. The fireplace is lovely and from Art of mini. Everything is made from cardboard, foamboard and balsa. I had wanted to do more frenchified panelling in this room but not one single wall was square!! The back wall bowed out. So I had to do each wall independant of the ones next to it and add balsa strips to cover up gaps when the wall peices were glued in place. Even then it moved heaps!! Yay for thick gesso. Arrgh but more of a challenge that way. There is a fake door at the back in the fake hallway leading to fake stairs to get to the rooms above which won't be fake. Great way of doing stairs. Don't.  I haven't glued in the french doors. Thought it might be bit of a trick trying to change light globes in the hallway with the doors in place permanently. So they pop in very snuggly. There's a non working chandelier to go in again from Art of Mini and more timber beams in white on the ceiling. I ran out of balsa. To ceiling rose or not to ceiling rose is still the question. Froggified furniture to be shabbied. Lots of cushions. A gramophone with Edith Piaf records. We are huge Edith fans. Scruffy books, brocante finds and all sorts of other mini goodies an 18yr old in Paris would bring home to fill it up now. Fun.