Our mini BFFs and where they live

[Deb]

I made a new BFF last night.  Miss Molly is a creation of mini artisan, Amber Mathies.  I've wanted one of her Trollflings ever since I met her on cdhm years ago,  but always missed the ones I wanted since they sell so fast.  This time when I saw Amber post about a new "victorian gothic frog", I about broke my fingers getting to her Etsy store and was SO excited to find her still available.    I think it was just meant to be.  She's everything I could hope for in a little best friend: I was reading along and thinking,  "Victorian, check.   Gothic?  Check.   Steampunky?  Check.  Frog?  Frog!!!!! FROG!!!" and then I about broke my fingers getting to Amber's store in hopes that she hadn't been sold yet because if there was ever a perfect match for me, it's probably Molly.  Isn't she adorable?  

 

Of course I immediately started thinking of where she will live.  She's only three inches tall so I was thinking half scale and then I remembered the Annie's Lobster Shack kit (which is one of those often overlooked gems in the Greenleaf kits) and how easy it would be to bash that into a little hobbit type dwelling that would be perfect for a trollfling.  I'm going to have to google some D&D images to see what types of traditional homes a trollfling likes.  

Anyway, it started me to thinking that while I've had dolls custom made for specific houses, this may be the first time I've built a house for a doll of my own.  (Dr. Robertson doesn't count because he's still an imaginary friend).   

I've built custom dollhouses for clients that were designed for a specific doll and thought it was a LOT of fun to hear the story of a little person's personality and build a dollhouse around it.  You start thinking of them as real people when you do that and their lives unfold as you build.  My own dollhouses have lots of story lines that often determine the decor or theme, but it's almost always because I look at a kit and think, "Wow, that would make an excellent _____" and it all evolves from there and if the house wants a resident, I add them later.  Some houses don't have dolls at all and it never crosses my mind to add a mini resident.  I think the only one that required residents as part of it's theme while I was building it was the Grim Reaper's party boat which doesn't really count because that's just a shipload of drunk skellies.   I have a group of four victorian dolls that I bought coz they were at a good price and they've roamed around several of my houses but they're more like an accessory instead of a doll.  

When I stop to think about it, it's kind of fascinating.  Here on the forum we have all kinds of miniaturists....builders, collectors, decorators, and even doll makers and I thought it would be fun to talk about our little people (or the lack thereof), especially since we have so many new members.   So if you have mini people in your houses,  how do they come to live there?  It's that age-old dollhouse question:  Which came first?  The doll or the house?

<giggling>  The term "action figure" still applies.  hehehehehehehe  

[havanaholly]

The Sprig of Holly pub asked for the Stouts to own and run it:

and the family of US Ananda own the USA General Store:

A lot of my little friends have moved on to live with other folks.

[Dalesq]

Mine move all over the place. When I first started building houses I didn't have any dolls, nor did I want them for the houses. The characters who occupied the houses were in my mind and that was fine with me. I had a Dept. 56 plastic figure that was a bit small for 1:24 but I used her for scale.....and then Erzatz Girl showed up and all heck broke loose.

Erzazt Girl is an actual 1:24 scale BJD and she moves around but stays in the White Rose most of the time with Teddy, the realistic poodle made by MickSculptures. 

Bessie the mouse took up residence in Maus Haus, but the house wasn't built for her, I built it for an Aleah Klay doll that someone else won at auction. But Bessie showed up and moved in before I could say no and even before I finished building!

Natasha is a tiny barn owl that Blondie sent me.  (Blonde has her sister Svetlana) Natasha flits from place to place, but she took a strong liking to 3Bears (she's a book lover) and seems to have settled there. That house was supposed to be for "three bears" but Bessie, Natasha and Goldie the bohemian bear, now live there. (I thought I'd never get Goldie to leave #1 Tennyson Place.)

Erzazt Girl has a new friend, Erzazt Girl II, and they hang out and picnic outside Tudor Cottage a lot. 

So they all move around. I never know who will be living where. Just when I think they are settled, one of them takes a fancy to a new house under construction, or heaven forbid, someone new shows up in the neighborhood. It's kind of like the game "Animal Crossing" around here  

So I just build the houses. None of them listens to me anyway!

[Sable]

The only characters that reside in my houses are my Mother's collection of in scale cats. I figure she got them sometime in the 1940's. One mama cat and her three kittens.

[Debsrand56]

I'm one of those people who doesn't use dolls (at least, not yet) because the houses/rooms are mine, and any dolls would be trespassers.  :-)   My spouse "surprised" me with some G-scale figures in the bungalow, and I nearly had a heart attack.  I immediately served an eviction notice.  Interestingly enough, though, I wouldn't mind if they were outside (in the yard, on the porch), just not in my house.  I do love animals, though, and every room/house I have built tends to have cats, as well as at least one other animal (bird, fish, rabbit, squirrel).  I think if an animal doll (like a steampunk frog or a mouse in a mouse house) moved in, I might be OK with that.

[smjsome]

Me too - cats, mice, and tiny lizards and such, but no people.  Even a turtle or two.

but for my grandsons I have dolls for the, to play with. 

 

My my friend and her daughter have dolls, lovely nice ones, and think it's odd that I don't.  I think it's odd that the do have dolls!  We are a perfect fit that way,  things I like, she,like, slightly differ.  Makes shopping together great!

her daughter is in her early teens, and she has a complete world for the dollar and animals, and moves them around all the time.

[aggiemae]

I seem to only put people in baths. 

[smjsome]

Agnes - my friend has one bathroom, there is a little girl in a raincoat and boots, kicking the "water" and a little rubber duck.  

[Shareb]

When I started building my Pierce I very quickly found the couple who are going to live in it.  I needed to know who they were so I knew how to decorate the house!!!  My next house - a Chantilly, is going to be a stone cottage that I am going to live in when I'm older and single (don't ask me what I'm going to do with my husband....  ) so I'm going to have to find a representation of me.  Hmm.....

[havanaholly]

Since the total destruction of the partly-built Pierce the Small family is homeless once more...

[kellyannmo]

Mr. Wigglesworth is a glass mouse I bought in Murano... he lives in Devonshire Hall.  Here is a picture of him admiring some awesome purple coneflower (my favorite) that Debora made me.

.

I have some awesome musical mice and hand made jointed bears who are still currently homeless

[Caseymini]

My BFF is Tessie.  You can see her pouring tea in my photo to the left.  She started appearing on my blog in 2009 and refuses to leave.  She has taken over the blog and most of the things that I build.  At least until the rightful owner arrives.  She seldom stays quiet for more than a day or two.  I just celebrated my eighth anniversary of writing the blog every day. She keeps it interesting.  She supervises all of my builds, messes up all of my needlepoint rugs and eats my cookies.  I don't know what I would do without her, Zar and the rest of the mini crew that lives here!

if you want to meet her, poke "my blog changes daily" below.

[havanaholly]

Tessie and her friends are amongst my favorite littlest people.

[Deb]

Holly, when Nutti and I went to Tuscon to meet Casey and see the museum, Tessie came along with her!  It was exciting to get to meet both of them in person!  <grinning>  We were delighted to see her peeking out of Casey's purse just like she'd come along to lead the tour.  It's a testament to Casey's writing skills that we greeted Tessie just like we would have if she'd been a live person.  SO much fun!

Molly arrived yesterday and oh my goodness, what a commotion that caused!  I'd fully intended on building a house for her but as soon as she saw the Emerald Fairy house, that little Trollfling was jumping up and down and begging to explore it.  I set her down and she immediately asked if she could live there forever.  Well, what else was I to do but ask the Emerald Fairy if she wanted a roommate?  Em said that she's hardly ever home anyway since her job requires her to travel and even when she is home, she spends all her time out in the garden so she graciously handed over the keys to Molly.

Look how perfect she fits in!  I built this house almost ten years ago but you'd think that it was made specifically with Molly in mind.

 

Then something rather unexpected happened. She glanced over to the back door and saw the troll standing there.  Bless his heart, he's been standing there for about 9 years now, ever since I found him in a gift shop in Branson and brought him home.  He has a basket of apples on one arm and in his hairy paw, he's holding out the most perfect of all red apples as if offering a gift of love to his heart's desire.  The Emerald Fairy just ignored him, but he never moved, just standing there patiently waiting.  

Apparently he knew something I didn't know because yesterday his waiting came to an end when he saw Molly!  Flirtatious glances were exchanged and I think I saw her blush a little.  In Celtic lore, a perfect red apple is the gift of a lover to his sweetheart....the symbolic offering of his heart.  I do so hope that it works out for them and she accepts his gift.  We'll see if she lets him inside the house or goes walking out in the garden with him.  Wouldn't it be nice if they had a happily-ever-after?

[KathieB]

Ahhh, Spring is in the air, a time when hearts beat in syncopation and love knows no bounds.  

[Deb]

1 hour ago, KathieB said:

Ahhh, Spring is in the air, a time when hearts beat in syncopation and love knows no bounds.  

I keep hearing giggling coming from the other room so they seem to be enjoying each other's company.  I wonder if this means there will be a wedding in the future?  I suppose I should start considering a venue now.  

[otterine]

That's an excellent character to add to your menagerie.  I've always liked your avatar character, too.  

[Deb]

46 minutes ago, otterine said:

That's an excellent character to add to your menagerie.  I've always liked your avatar character, too.  

 

<grinning>  My avatar is my Muse and she's real too.  I found her in the toy dept. at walmart one day.  She's about two inches tall and has a magnet in her to hold her in place.  She lives on the side of my laptop desk so she's always here, watching over me and making me feel guilty if I haven't  been in the studio lately. 

[Shareb]

Aw she does fit in perfectly!!!  I'm glad your troll has been so perfectly patient!  It seems true love always gets there in the end!!  Maybe your Emerald fairy needs a new home??? 

Meanwhile at the fabric shop yesterday my daughter told the bemused shop assistants that my dollhouse talks to me!  I said 'no, my dollhouse people'.  So they fired off a heap of questions - typically the man asked - does your house have a tv!  Well, I said, it had a whole home theatre but Val and I decided it was far too big much to Norms dismay.  They stood there looking confused until I explained who Val and Norm are and their backgrounds.  Well, by the end of the discussion they were talking about Val and Norm like old friends with me and it was my daughter (almost 16) who stood there looking bemused!!! 

 

[KathieB]

Love it when you can get a teenagers to look bemused. Usually it's the other way around.  

[Caseymini]

Deb, I have a feeling that you are going to have an eternal triangle on your hands, with those three!LOL

[Dalesq]

On March 31, 2016 at 8:53:22 AM, Deb said:

I keep hearing giggling coming from the other room so they seem to be enjoying each other's company.  I wonder if this means there will be a wedding in the future?  I suppose I should start considering a venue now.  

Maybe something for an outdoor garden wedding  

[havanaholly]

8 hours ago, Dalesq said:

Maybe something for an outdoor garden wedding  

With Procutio officiating & Maharet as maid of honor?

[Roxxie2]

This is great!    How cute!!! 

[shamrockgirl18]

I have lots of mini friends since all of my dh's are 'lived in'. One that has a strong voice is the Professor.  His little cottage is nowhere near finished because he's not very demanding and he also enjoys living the simple life, but every time I even glance at his home, I can hear him talking to his cat.

 

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=2331