~morningstar~
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Posts posted by ~morningstar~
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21 hours ago, havanaholly said:
See if your library has The Tasteful Interlude (a book of photos of Victorian-era interiors) and show some of those photos to your lady to see what she says before ordering anything else online. Then look for Making Victorian Dollshouse Furniture by Patricia King.
Since I have little chance of getting to the library, I went to Amazon and got a copy of "The Tasteful Interlude" and it will arrive by the end of the month. I also purchased "Making Victorian Dollshouse Furniture" that will arrive next week.
As I work on this house, my book collection grows. :)I have two copies of "The Big Book of a Miniature House" by Christine-Lea Frisoni. If I ever find the other books, I will likely have duplicate copies of other books too.
If I find that I do, I will offer them here first. If there are no takers, I'll list them on eBay.
~morningstar~
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On 3/31/2019, 5:20:53, havanaholly said:
Your repairs are very well done. The frog pond will look great!
Thank you, holly. I am taking my time and going very slow. I am also listening to what she wants. I haven't begun working on the interior, because everything I have offered, she has turned down. We will see what happens when the next batch of floors and wall coverings come in. At this rate, she might end up covered in paint and contact paper, LOL. I will keep trying.
There are some windows that still need repairs. Framing, and "glass" put in. The foundation will be the very last thing I will work on, before I begin working on the garden.
~morningstar~
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On 3/30/2019, 7:14:23, Keifer said:
I really like that bench and the frog pond looks like a fun addition.
I loved the bench until it arrived in pieces. I almost tossed it, then I decided to try to put it back together, with some success. It isn't perfect but it's workable. The frog pond is an afterthought. I was on the phone with Mom and she just loves frogs. I was describing to her all the little ideas I had for the garden. I found this online while I was talking to her, and decided it was definitely a worthwhile addition to the garden behind the Big ol' House.
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On 3/15/2019, 5:55:48, havanaholly said:
It's a creation, a union of what the kit wants and my interpretation of that, and it takes what it takes. We aren't in a race to finish these things, or I'm going to have to find a new
obsessionhobby.It is much the same with just about any creation, no?
My copy of Beryl's book came in, recently, I will begin working on the foundation (brickwork) of the dollhouse, probably tomorrow. It depends on how I am feeling, physically. I went to collect my packages the other day and my neighbor said I look like a ghost. (I have been having difficulty sleeping and my oxygen saturation level is a bit low.
I am attaching pictures of what I have accomplished and some things I thought would be cute for the garden of the house. I am learning that even though I want to make her totally Victorian, that may not be what she wants......The stairway is a repair job. The bench is a wreck, I had to reassemble because the shipping method was inadequate for the safety of the bench. The sign was my own design. I am going to make a new one, as I'm not thrilled with how that one came out. The frog pond is something that I will likely put in the garden.
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On 3/13/2019, 1:17:41, havanaholly said:
Here's the photo I took of the sandpaper sheets after I colored them and before I cut the "bricks out; I just rubbed the flat side of the chalk lightly over the sandpaper, two colors and then white, and I still had to wash the finished brickwork with some of my dirty paint water to tone them down.:
and here's the blog entry it goes with: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=blog&module=blogs&controller=entry&id=248
Goodness holly! That looks like a lot of work. I saw where you said you used 240 grit sand paper? Is the grit of the paper important? Also, I found some that is *almost* the right size and self adhesive. I hope that will work. I am looking forward to working on mine soon.
I will post pics soon.
~morningstar~
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25 minutes ago, havanaholly said:
I've been doing this for nearly 30 years. Look for books by Helen Ruthberg and Patricia King; Andrea Barham is another good source of things to do with found items. I seem to remember that fixture by the door is one I found in a thrift store. The set of drawer bins to the left of that fixture I made from 1/4" strip wood and empty single-serving jelly packets. I wish that the Boopmini site was still up; it had the best grocery printies. That was the wood Orchid I built for the Team Orchid building blog and it was a general store owned by a naturalized Indian family. Here's my album: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=7574
holly,
I checked out the pics in your gallery. Wow! That is some serious work there. I started putting together a doll house, a long time ago, it was a.... Garfield. Then about 1/4 the way into the project, we moved into a smaller place. Half of the pieces are missing. I suspect they are packed in a box that hasn't been unpacked yet. We only intended to stay in this apartment long enough to find a house we could afford, and then we were going to move out. Needless to say, we are still here, and the Garfield, sadly is abandoned.. (for now).
Anyway, I really like what you did with the doll house. Very fancy. I decided to look on line for the craft sticks. I don't feel like going anywhere. I have to meet a friend for tea in a few hours. I'm so tired. But I said I would go, so... you know how that goes.
Once I'm done with that, I'll come back home and wait for my DCC to call.. (Diabetes Care Coordinator)... Doing a phone check in...
Do you remember what colors of chalk you used to create the brick look for your pub?
I really like how realistic that looks.
~morningstar~
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4 minutes ago, havanaholly said:
Depending on how deep you want them, tongue-blade size craft sticks cut to length are my weapon of choice:
Is there anything you can't do with miniatures? LOL wow. I love the way you did the shelves near the front doors. That is awesome. I'm guessing this is a shop? It kinda looks like one. I like the store room off to the side too. Very nice.
I might just borrow your idea for the shelves. Yay trip to the Hobby Lobby or Joanns!!!
Thank you again!
~morningstar~
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2 hours ago, havanaholly said:
Except for the brass bed, the coffee mill and the chimneybreasts I made everything in that photo.
Wow, that must have taken some serious time. I've been thinking about the folding screens that I mentioned in an earlier post. If I use either bamboo skewers cut down to size, and glued together, in the shape of a rectangle, I could make an 8panel screen for each section that I want to divide off. Or, I could get some Foam core board and cut it down to size, throw some contact paper on it, and make shelves out of it, and use that as the dividers. I'm sure I have some lace around here some place that would be perfect for the edge of the shelves.
If I have to make the shelves from wood, what do you recommend?
Thanks again for your help!
~morningstar~
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20 hours ago, havanaholly said:15 minutes ago, havanaholly said:
The top floors of my Fairfields is servants' living quarters and nursery:
Wow, Look at how beautiful that turned out. Did you make the bedding and matching curtains and chair fabric for the room with the brass bed? I thought about doing something like that for one of the bedrooms. How difficult is it to do? I have so many floor coverings to use, and many different other things I can use to cover the beds. The attic space is large enough to be divided up into rooms. One can be a nursery, one can be a kitchen/dining room, one can be a small bath, another can be a living room and there is still room for a small bed room. The attic goes the whole length and width of the house. One side of it opens for access, and I was thinking. I could add some sort of a permanent prop to keep it open while it's being set up, thereby using the extra space for room. I think what I will do, to mark off or section off the rooms in the attic is create some of those folding screens. This will give some privacy and I don't have to do a lot of structural change to the house. I could even use bookshelves, or similar.
Thank you for sharing your work. You've given me a few ideas. -
17 hours ago, havanaholly said:
I used garnet sandpaper for the foundation brickwork on my farmhouse:
For the brickwork for my pub I lightly rubbed two colors of chalk pastels over the beige sandpaper I used (different colors for each sheet of sandpaper):
The sandpaper bricks was from Beryl Armstrong's How to Make Your Dolls' House Special.
holly,
That pub is gorgeous! I love how authentic the brickwork looks. That is what I am looking for. *THAT* look. That must have taken some time to do. I purchased the book you mentioned, by Beryl Armstrong, so when it arrives, I will read and learn how to do this, I am very excited about making this work for my own dollhouse. OOOh, I just can't wait. In the mean time, I'll be watching for those freebie paper ad things you were talking about, so I can get started on the attic. I was thinking about the floor of the attic. Most houses don't finish them, do they? I can't even remember the last time I saw a finished one. I was thinking of converting the attic into the living quarters for the housing staff. (it has two maids so far, I want to add a butler, if I can find one I like). Anyway, That is where I am right now with things.
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23 hours ago, havanaholly said:
I like to use sandpaper for brickwork. Tedious, but looks good. If you can find a ruler that measures in picas (1/6") I found that 1:12 bricks are roughly 1 pica X 3 picas (1/6" X 1/2"). I look for the little freebie shopper newspapers or the classified ads, especially the legal notices in local newspapers, to line attics with.
holly,
That is an awesome idea. I never thought of using that, but you are right. That would be perfect. The legal notices are just the right size and some of the classifieds, the type print is small enough that I can put them in and they will look like they belong. Oh wow!
Sand paper for brickwork. Ok, so how do I make it the color of brick? Is there sandpaper that is red? It would be far easier for me to do it that way than to order a bunch of bricks and try to figure out how to put them under the house, LOL. I will look to see if I can find something that will make the sandpaper look like bricks. Another great idea. Thank you, holly!!
I will update with pics when I've completed the brickwork around the base of the house!
~morningstar~
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13 hours ago, Keifer said:
At the rate I’m going it could be a while, you might not want to pack just yet.
Thanks for the kind words. Does your husband work on minis as well?
Hi Keifer,
I'll hold off on packing, LOL.
No, as my Beloved says.."that's all her project" Though he will help me with repairing the wiring because we don't want the 30+yr old dollhouse to burn down once everything is restored. I mean, that would just be a tragedy.
You are doing a fantastic job on the one you are building. I am happy to see how well it is coming along.
Great work!
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Keifer,
How soon will this house be ready and when can I move into it?
All kidding aside, this is incredible. I was showing my husband the work you are doing on your project and he thinks you are doing an awesome job.
Keep up the great work!~morningstar~
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Thank you. All of you.
I may ask for some input, if I get stuck.
I want to replace the paper brick that is around the foundation of the house. I was considering using actual miniature brick. I know it's not going to be an easy task but it will look more authentic, yes?
Something else I hope to do is add newspaper print to the attic. I've been having difficulty locating it. Any ideas? I don't own a printer, so I can't print it myself.
I also want to try to keep it as much to the victorian style as possible. I have a few books about miniatures that I need to locate. Somewhere in this apartment, LOL. I think their father was doing just that. Building it to be victorian. So, I want to try to keep it that way. I'm going to look this week to see if I can find any of my books, and the furniture and other odds and ends I have stashed away. I'll see what I can find and I will keep you all posted.
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I promised the nice lady I bought it from that I would only restore it to it's original state, and finish what her father started. A couple rooms weren't finished, and the attic needs finishing. When that is done, I will furnish it and take more pictures.
In the mean time, I have to start on the repairs first. Shingles need replacing, and the stairway to the attic is damaged and needs to be put back together, then reattached. Some of the windows need replacing. Some just need repair. A few others odds and ends.
~morningstar~
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So, I was nosing around on Market Place and I saw a pretty dollhouse that someone wanted $150 for. I didn't think the dollhouse was worth that, so I kept looking. I came back every day looking and then I saw this new one listed. The seller was asking $189 for it, and I thought it was worth a lot more. I contacted her and asked if it was still available. She indicated it was and said she had to get rid of it by Tuesday. Perfect, I said. I will come get it. THEN I had to figure out how we were going to bring this dollhouse home. We wound up renting a uHaul van and loading it up into the van and carefully driving it home. Once home, a furniture dolly helped to bring it inside the apartment and now, it sits in the middle of my living room. GO Team! we did it!
The house needs some restorative work, but is otherwise in good condition. The things that need to be done: repair the front porch rail, the stairway from second floor to attic needs to be repaired and reattached. Some of the rooms need to be finished wallpapering and the flooring needs to be done. Some of the windows need to be repaired. The trim around the turret needs some parts replaced. Some of the doors need to be reattached. Some of the shingles need to be replaced. Aside from that, the dollhouse looks awesome for being as old as it is.
I am going to try to upload some pics if I can. You all can tell me what you think.
~morningstar~
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I too am working *slowly* on the Garfield.. (it's been on hold for 14 months due to a house guest (my son)) and now that I can work on it again, I've begun the process of wiring. This has been an odyssey for me. I don't want to put the house together entirely, but I think I might have to, just to get the wiring in the right places. This may be my task for next week. Once that is done, I can do the wallpapering and the rest of the assembly... I didn't think of the flooring issue with the skinny sticks and doors until after I'd already put down my first floor. Too late, I guess. What I think I will have to do on the first floor is sand down the bottom of the doors, or something. It never even occurred to me. :\
By the way, the pics of the floor.. FABULOUS! Great job!.
This house has been over 2yrs in the building, mostly because I've had my son living with me.. but also because I stumbled with the wiring issue. I think I have it sorted, but nonetheless...
I am sure you are faring better.
I hope your surgery went well and was uneventful!
~morningstar~
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That is very clever. I don't think I would have thought of that one in a million years!
~morningstar~
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Thank you Holly for your suggestions and tips. I like the idea of how to figure out the proportions by your description. I'm going to copy pasta your post and put it in a notepad, if you don't mind, for later referencing while I'm working.
*hugggggles*
~morningstar~
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I finally got some fimo puppen (puppen fimo) clay and have been 'practicing' making doll heads. I create, smush, recreate, and smush again. I do this over and over, because I'm trying to figure out facial structure and proportions. Because the heads are so small, it'll take lots of practice. Soon enough, I will create the dolls that will closely resemble my Beloved and I... and even my kids.
~morningstar~
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Haha! That's the house that prompted me to start this discussion :-P
I have a friend who build the Queen Anne. He wants $6k for it. There is no wall paper, so you can deco it however you want. The wiring is already installed. Some of the lighting is installed. It's painted on the exterior. It's BEAUTIFUL. I cannot afford it, but if I could.. I'd buy it, and furnish it with only choice pieces, like Windsor Sackback Settees and Windsor Bowback Chairs, Windsor Fiddle Back Rockers chairs. Maybe some Victorian era furniture...something that looks hand made...but with excellent craftmanship...
~morningstar~
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the Queen Anne kit.
~morningstar~
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More recently I've been getting some interesting responses from people about my 'work' with miniatures. They ask what are 'miniatures' and I explain doll houses, doll house furniture and accessories, dolls. They ask if I create the furniture and accessories and dolls, and I get to say 'I'm learning'.
or 'I have books to teach me how' and 'I'm learning to create things for my doll house.' They get interested. 
~morningstar~
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It makes me glad I don't cook much anymore. Usually, we grab take out, or something quick from the grocery. When something needs to be reheated the micronukerthinger.. my kid does it.
Today it was soup from the grocery and a sandwich from starbucks. ~morningstar~
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As I work on this house, my book collection grows. :)I have two copies of "The Big Book of a Miniature House" by Christine-Lea Frisoni. 
30+ years old DollHouse
in General Mini Talk
Posted
I think I saw a couple of her books on Amazon. I may still go back and look some more. Right now, I have a whole box full of books, so I am going to keep working with the ones I have, and see how we work. It almost feels like she doesn't want to be dressed in Victorian era dressing. I keep seeing more modern looks to her. I don't know yet. We shall see.
~morningstar~