Jump to content

Hello from New Zealand


HelenV

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone,

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted a lovely dolls house so I have finally decided to fulfil this dream :) I have bought the Magnolia kit and am very excited to be getting on with building it :)

I have just finished (with a little help from my husband) my dry build and so pleased I did this as my original colours etc have all gone out the window and I am now have a totally different scheme in mind. It's been sitting there for a week as I've thought and rethought ...

As I've never built one before I'm sure I'll have questions and it's great to have found a place I'll be able to get answers :D

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the little family, Helen. I LOVE Maggie!, she's one of my favorite houses. Before I knew I was going to build her I saw one assembled in a hobby shop that told me it would make a perfect Florida "Cracker" house, so when my kit arrived I went hiking into the local National Forest to check out the remains of the houses there; and also Cross Creek south of Micanopy, FL (where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived) to get structural details to make her authentic. The lines will adapt so well to different styles, as you'll notice in the Team Magnolia building blog.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a very pretty house!

I hear what you're saying about changing the colours - I have a Garfield still in its box (have to wait a few months before I can start building, in case I may have to move to another continent!) and I've Pinned so many different colour schemes on Pinterest, that I really don't know what I'm going to do. I will have to wait and see what she wants eventually!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum,Helen! This is a great place to share your love for dollhouses and you'll learn something new and fun every time you come in! Just let the house 'tell' you what colors it wants to be...it will be right! It may sound kooky, but we really are not kidding! ;) Glad you've joined us!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Helen, and welcome to the forum! You're off to a good start with the house already in dry fit. We've all done what you are describing....staring and staring at the house. It's all part of the process and fun! :)

After you've made 5 posts you will be able to start a gallery, and we all love photos!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your warm welcomes :) I had read that a house will "speak" to you and I have to admit I didn't see how that could happen - Until I did the dry fit !!! Now I'd have to say she has spoken to me and I'm so pleased she did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Helen, and welcome to the forum! You're off to a good start with the house already in dry fit. We've all done what you are describing....staring and staring at the house. It's all part of the process and fun! :)

After you've made 5 posts you will be able to start a gallery, and we all love photos!

Definitely lots of staring going on and you're right it is fun :D

Will have to keep posting then - looking forward to sharing my photos with you all ( once I get past chatting and staring at her in dry build).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I "hear" color, so color combinations that sound right to me are what I go with.

Oh wow - can I ask how you "hear" the colour combinations - or is it just something that happens?

I think I'm a visual person as it wasn't until she was in dry build that I was able to put my scheme together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a very pretty house!

I hear what you're saying about changing the colours - I have a Garfield still in its box (have to wait a few months before I can start building, in case I may have to move to another continent!) and I've Pinned so many different colour schemes on Pinterest, that I really don't know what I'm going to do. I will have to wait and see what she wants eventually!

I hear you - I was like that until I did the dry build - interestingly I'm not going with any of the schemes I'd picked before the dry build - but the house has spoken and I'm happy ..

I love the look of the Garfield and look forward to seeing what colours you come up with when you start building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...can I ask how you "hear" the colour combinations - or is it just something that happens?...

I've read that some savants "see" sound and others "see" numbers; apparently I "hear" color because that's the way my brain is wired; some color combinations set off a discord, just like chalk scritching the wrong way across a slate, and others are like water flowing over rocks or birdsong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I was asked to build the bare kit without decorating any of it for the building blog, I was delighted that it didn't want to be anything but a Florida Cracker's house. I only painted it because it's a dollhouse; I tiled the kitchen floor for the same reason. I also bashed a bathroom; if the real life Cracker family had gotten indoor plumbing it would authentically have been added to one side of the house, probably enclosing a side porch or part of a back porch.

To wallpaper the unbashed house as I build I find it's easiest to prime first, then assemble the walls to the first floor, hang wallpaper on the first floor walls, add the second floor and then paper the second floor walls and add the roof. I do finish the floors and ceilings before installing them.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To wallpaper the unbashed house as I build I find it's easiest to prime first, then assemble the walls to the first floor, hang wallpaper on the first floor walls, add the second floor and then paper the second floor walls and add the roof. I do finish the floors and ceilings before installing them.

Thank you for this tip - do you make a template first?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for this tip - do you make a template first?

Not unless the wall has an unusual shape. If the paper has a pattern I'll drop match the walls when I take them out of dry fit. Once the paper has thoroughly dried on the walls I go back with a new sharp knife blade and cut around the windows and doors and trim the corners and edges.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still find myself doing a mental double take when I read "bashing". I am new here to Helen, and I must say everyone has been lovely and most helpful. My friend was down in NZ on an adventure tour, I got some amazing postcards.

Hee hee hee me too - took me a while to work out what they were referring too... It's great to find somewhere where I can go for help as I had no idea what was involved in building a dolls house - though I'm loving the challenge involved!!! I have to say I feel pretty lucky to live in NZ as it's got some amazing scenery!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not unless the wall has an unusual shape. If the paper has a pattern I'll drop match the walls when I take them out of dry fit. Once the paper has thoroughly dried on the walls I go back with a new sharp knife blade and cut around the windows and doors and trim the corners and edges.

Thank you :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Helen, I've been lucky enough to travel many places in the world. The place I rank first if I had to relocate from the USA is New Zealand. Of course I was there 40 years ago, but still, I like the pace, the climate, the people, the scenery, the aboriginal heritage ... the whole megillah :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well my Maggie has got louder with what she wants to be - Originally I was going to make her very elegant inside but now she's told me she wants to be a bach (beach holiday house) luckily the paper I have chosen will work with that (I had to stick to Scrap Booking paper as there are no miniature shops in my town and anything I found available online seemed really expensive -I probably don't know the right sites to look at yet).

This does mean some changes to the outside though - one of which I'm really pleased about which is no shingles on the roof - I'm trying to source corrugated cardboard in the right scale for this (shopping and product availability is a real pain in New Zealand).

I've nearly finished all the painting so can start gluing once I finally decide what I am doing with the floors ...

I did giggle when she told me she wants to be a beach house as most of the paint I am using, along with a few tools were my parents (they recently moved into a retirement village and had to clean out the shed) and their surname is Beech ...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There it is -- your muse and inspiration was as near as your maiden name!

Dampen one side of a piece of a regular corrugated cardboard box and pull off the outer layer to expose the corrugated part. It works well for 1:12 scale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...