Made a start on the ivy!

Good afternoon, everyone! What a horrible, wet day it is here. To think, it's July!! Where's our summer?!

I made a start on the ivy and I'm pleased with the results. The lady from Templewood Miniatures sent me too different style ivys as she only had one pack of the original style and I ordered three. Although both are lovely, I think the newer style is more effective as ivy- the first looks more like a fern. This doesn't matter to me- my crumbling old house will have god knows what growing up the front so the more variation, the better I say!

Original Ivy:

For this ivy, you simply popped the whole piece out of the paper and glued the wire to it's back. I like it because you can't see the wire but the join where the second sheet of ivy meets is a little odd. I think I'm actually going to use some little leaves off the new ivy to disguise the join. Instead of using PVA glue, I used the glue spray left over from when I did the stencilling. I have no idea if it will work long term- but I will let you know!



New Ivy:

The newer type of ivy is very fiddly, as you can imagine! I do like the way you can do your own thing with it, though. It definitely allows for more freedom with how you wish your ivy to look.

You have to leave them to dry flat which they're currently doing (fingers crossed the glue works!)

Jess x

So very busy!

Hello to all my new followers!

I've been sooo busy lately, I haven't had a moment to do anything moderately miniature related or to blog!

I just wanted to keep you up to date with the progress of the dolls that were going to be made by the lovely Julie of Bellabelle dolls. I'd been on the waiting list since about November 2009 and only paid my deposit. She emailed me this month to ask if I'd still like to go ahead but unfortunately, due to my approaching wedding, I decided that I really couldn't bring myself to spend £130 on two dolls. *My other half would be proud!* Julie was so lovely about it and since I'd been on the waiting list for so long, she assured me I could go to the front of the line if I'd like them done in the future (which no doubt I would 'cause she's amazing!).

I've had a lot of work on with the homeless young people I work with which is good because it keeps me busy until I start my third and final year of uni in October. More miniatures soon though, promise!

Ivy from Templewood Miniatures

I recently ordered some lovely little ivy DIY kits from Templewood Miniatures. It's the first time I've ordered from there and I must say, I was more than pleased with the service. The lady emailed me and said she was away so there would be a slight delay on my order (that was fine, and if I'm honest I don't think I'd have noticed because it came pretty soon anyway!). Unfortunately, the type of ivy I'd ordered wasn't available in two quantities so she sent me one type I'd ordered and two new ones (including a free one). This was totally fine by me- I don't mind if my ivy doesn't match! In fact, I think it adds to the authenticity of the whole thing! I will show you when I finally get a move on and do it...it looks fiddly but I've been assured it leaves fantastic results! The shop also stocks an ivy cutter which is definitely useful!

Until next time!

Miniature Skirting and a Celebration!

Taa-daa! Here's the skirting. I haven't stuck it down yet but you can get a good idea of what it will look like. Sorry about the picture quality- I will make sure a better one follows soon. Also, I managed to paint the ceiling without any bother! Luckily, this is the only room I've started to decorate so I painted all the other ceilings a bit more haphazardly.

There's a celebration in order! Myself and my other half have booked our wedding!! It's not until 2013 but it's on our 8th year anniversary so it will be super special :)

Jess x

Mouldings

Good morning curiosity shoppers!


I have just received some gorgeous mouldings in the post from a lovely ebay seller called littlegreenworkshop. They have excellent feedback and I must say that their prices are a lot cheaper than other leading dolls house suppliers. They also have a website where you can buy miniatures from which is www.littlegreenworkshop.co.uk. It's worth taking a look :)


I am going to post the pictures that they have used on Ebay because I couldn't do the mouldings justice on my little camera phone!


For the living room as pictured in the previous post, I have bought:



> Coving. Real wood, 18inches, £1.25 (!!)



> Dado rail. Real wood, 18inches, £1.20. Did you know that dado rails were invented to stop the backs of chairs from scuffing the wallpaper?





> And finally, skirting boards! Real wood, 18inches, £1.25!



Excellent prices and great delivery rates- I would recommend this seller! (I haven't been asked to, by the way! All opinions on here are totally mine! :D)

The 18inches of wood does mean, I'm afraid, that I'm going to be let loose with a hack saw....


More on this later!

Until next time,

Jess x

Pretty walls!

Hello everybody!

Welcome to my newest followers: Ayamontinomaria, Angeles, Georgie Steeds and Angela Warwick! Thank you for stopping by!

The first room is officially wallpapered!







I love it! Bright, clashing prints, garish- what else could a late Victorian/early Edwardian home maker want? I'm actually going to buy some wood for the picture rail-at the moment it is just printed on. This room is the living/dining area in the 'house' part of the building. I'm also going to wallpaper the doors which open out the house because I think it looks really good. I've also seen dolls houses with picture frames on the opening doors and it looked lovely.

My wallpaper is from Jennifer's Printables (http://www.jennifersprintables.com/printables1.html) and I printed in on decent heavy paper, not card. I think card would work OK, but this has turned out fine and the ink hasn't run when I applied the wallpaper paste.


Sorry if the photo is a bit dark- I wanted to have the lights on in the room and it gets kinda lost when I put my flash on :)

As always, it didn't go without a hitch! For a start, I forgot to paint the ceiling, which I'm sure is going to be a barrel of laughs! (more on this later!). Also, for the wall on the right hand side of the pictures, I cut the sheet a couple of millimetres too short. Not wanting to waste another sheet, I simply cut a strip from the waste paper and stuck it along the bottom! haha! I've managed to match the pattern up so it's all good! Besides, the stairs cover most of that wall and who doesn't have a few cleverly placed photo frames in their dolls house? (or actual house for that matter!)

Until next time!

Jess

A house in progress!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my newest follower- Alennka! :D

Here is the Curiosity Shop as it currently stands! The brickwork on the front is finished- I'm aware there's gaps but they're meant to be there- you'll see why soon enough!

Last night I sat and painted all the window frames then realised most Edwardian windows were white...silly me. It made me think though, does my shop have to be Edwardian? I chose that era because it's one I've never really studied before (hence my mistake) but now I'm thinking maybe I'm going to do my house based on the things I love. It's still going to have strong Victorian influences which will lead into Edwardian because I love the Victorian era. The brown frames are born out of inspiration from my grandparents house...my favourite place in the world.

Let me know what you do with your own houses- do you strictly stick to a certain era? Or simply go where the wind takes you?

Jess x