Progress on my shabby country cottage....

Well, for what seems like a lifetime, I have been plodding along with building my Greenleaf Buttercup cottage. There are just so many pieces, that all need sanding, and many that need persuading to fit! The end is in sight now though! I have the 4 little side piece of roof to fit and all the little bits and pieces like the gingerbread trim, window boxes, and decorative features. But I'm in no hurry to get all of those bit done yet.
I've started to crack on with the interior! I've used very thin wood veneer to create floorboards for upstairs and downstairs. I made the bed from scratch - it's the wooden one from a few posts ago. It is a little big though...and so I may have to make another a little smaller to fit niver into the room...... The dressing table was some very cheap plain dark wooden furniture purchaed from a charity shop that I have shabby-fied. Same for the dresser downstairs. The sofa and little table are not compelte yet, I just put them in to see apporx sizes etc.
Anyway, here are some pics! Enjoy!

Miniature marvels!

You just have to go over to this blog by patrisan! She makes the most amazing minature shoes I have ever seen!
And she's having a give away! Get over there now!

I've almost finished building my greenleaf buttercup cottage, will post pics soon. Has taken me so long....and sick of making it now, just want it to be made so I can start filling it!

distressed furniture

Well, the bed is complete and painted white now. I didn't want to 'distress' it too much or make it look too shabby, so I hope it just has that old and not quite perfect look, rather than anything else. I've made a quick matress, but this might change, Not going to complete the rest until I have a finished house to put it in!

I also bought a really cheap pine coloured wooden dresser off ebay. It cost 80p, and £2 to post. It had cupboard doors on the bottom but they didn't meet in the middle, so I took them off. I painted and 'distressed' the whole thing and added mesh to the top cupboard doors, and a new shelf to the bottom part. I'm quite pleased with it. This will be a nice addition to the kitchen downstairs in my Buttercup cottage (when it is completed.......)

home-made bed!

I'm appalling at woodwork. I just can't do it! However, I REALLY, and I mean really. wanted to make my own bed for my new little dolls house (which is still really a kit....although a few pieces have been put together! - it's a greenleaf Buttercup kit) I want to make (or do-up and make over!) as much as possible for this house. So.....on the way back from Belfast, we were delayed, so went for coffee in Starbucks, or some other over priced coffee joint, and of course they had those little wooden stirrer sticks, so I pocketed about 50 of them haha! You know what we need.....a few more stirry sticks....
Anyway, then I set about making my bed, no plans, no drawings no nothing, just from my head! All made from stirry sticks, with 5 little strips of balsa wood for the slats.No saws or other wood working tools either! Just massive scissors and glue!
Anyway, here is is in plain naked wood when first complete! I am really pleased with it!
I've painted it white now! Will post an updated pic when I get time.

There is one problem.....it is pretty standard 1/12th scale double bed sized, approx sizes and dimensions checked from DHE catalogue....... but it it a little big! And I do not think will fit in the upstairs of my little butterleaf cottage (not that I'v made it yet....but so far, its not looking good!) when complete. So.....dilemma, start again and make another??!?! Surely not..... or adapt the Buttercup dolls house kit to slight extend the upstairs so that the bed fits....or seems to fit.... this is what I'm considering anyway.
Well.....hope you like?!

shabby bits and bobs!

So, I bought some v cheap crappy furniture from Ebay and have been practising doing it up and making it look 'shabby'! Here's 2 little tables I 'shabby-fied'! I'm quite pleased for a first try!

 I've also been trying to create some little beach hut style ornaments. These are made from mounting  board and hand painted, no plans or templates! And about 2.5cm tall!

 And my final attempt at Blackberry jam! In a 1cm tall glass jar!

ALSO! I won an Ebay auction for a Greenleaf Buttercup dolls house! I now need to find time to build it and then the fun begins!! Going to make my own shabby little cottage!

lost in blog land....

I so easily get sucked into beautiful blogs. I have spent literally hours reading the entirety of Liberty Biberty's blog and am now YEARNING for a little cottage to put my very own shabby chic miniatures in. Through her blog, I have found other blogs....such as Salt and Pepper, and spent the last, oh god, too many hours reading her entire blog and through that found blogs she had become lost in and have read the harrowing ava rose meyer story. Though now wish I hadn't. feel sad. But blessed And then the Matt, Liz and Madeleine story. Though I couldn't bear to read much of this after the harrowing Ava story. Links below....

http://avarosemeyer.memory-of.com/About.aspx

http://sheyerosemeyer.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-06-10T10%3A35%3A00%2B10%3A00&max-results=40&reverse-paginate=true

http://www.mattlogelin.com/archives/2008/04/13/what-happened/

And now....feeling sad, I need to drag myself away from reading about other people's lives and need to type up some poems and find some cute little pictures for tomorrow's literacy lesson....
I have new pis to show. But no time to upload now.

Am bidding on a beautiful little dolls house on ebay to quench my thirst for a little house. It is already more then I wanted to spend....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220678980354&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

mini makes....

I've mainly been experimenting with the best way to make miniature jam for some absolutely tiny 1cm tall glass jars I had. I've tried all sorts and not perfected it yet...but here are 2 tiny, tiny jars of Strawberry jam (the photo is not brilliant even using super macro on my camera!) Blackberry jam is next on the menu.....

Also, another dead pheasant (perfect for a tudor or victorian kitcchen scene!) He's the third I've made for sale. And is on Ebay now. I had offered him to someone on DHE blog, but they don't want him.

 And, my first attempt at making some of those vintage enamel looking jugs that everyone has been making from paper (care of marlies and minies I believe!) Not bad for a first try, but I'm going to keep practicing and make some in dif colours etc.

more little bits and bobs...

A few more things I've made recently....
First a tiny 1/12th scale skipping rope. This one in plain pine, I do them with coloured handles too:

 Tiny coloured pencil crayons!

 I little toy yacht!

 A tiny 1/12th scale dead rabbit ready for hanging up in a butchers or tudor or victorian kitchen!

Hope you like!

little made things....

Here is the latest creation. My third tiny dead pheasant (I have one in my Victorian dolls house at home and already sold one). The last one I sold went for £13.30! This one went for £3.20. Which is a little disappointing, especially as I rather like him and so don't really want to part with him! I hope he will be well loved! He is made with a tudor or victorian kitchen in mind, or even a butchers. He is made from Fimo, with a painted and varnished head, real pheasant feather (!) all over his body and tiny metal painted feet. Anyway, hope you like.

Inspired!

This will hopefully be a new journal largely dedicated to dolls house miniature creations and other such creative things. I have had journals before, but never with a creative focus. I ahve largely been inspired after reading Liberty Biberty's jounral. It is beautifully produced and so inspiring, full such lovely ideas.
I have always had dolls houses, since I was a very little girl. My dad built me one when I was about 5? This was much loved and played with and was later past onto to a charity shop and sold. I then moved to a much larger grander dolls house and began more seriosuly collecting 1/12th scale items...and I also began making bits and pieces. I used to sell some infact when I was....ooooh...13?14?15?16? At craft fiars with my dad (who sold water colour paintings and cards) it was such a thrill selling things I had made.
I have now moved out and live much further away from home in a rented house. As such my large dolls house and smaller dolls house coffee shop (!) remain at my parent's house and are rarely seen....but I still make bits and pieces to take home and add to them...and I make bits and pieces which I sell on Ebay. I will begin to add some photos soon so you can see the sort of things!
Anyway please bare with me.....more will be added soon! Promise!