Plug Post

Hello everyone,

I have titled this post as plug post as I have a few blogs that I would love for you to take the time to have a look at. First up is Lidi Stroud's blog who is a fellow Australian and I stumbled upon her work a little while ago and can now happily say I am proud to own a pice of her extremely intricate work. Lidi makes these amazing baskets and a just cannot do justice in the photo the intricacy of her work. The moment I unwrapped her basket I was astounded at the tiny, tiny, weaves that I would not have thought humanly possible, I wish I had put in a match stick to show the scale.I will be placing the basket in my kitchen with goodies from the market but i thought wine and flowers would do the trick for now. Lidi has a huge range of baskets to choose from and you wont be disappointed. To go to Lidi's blog click Here

Next I would like to show you some Art works from Dr David Huckvale. I consider David a very dear friend of mine and have come to know him through his blog Dr Huckvale's Castle of Gothic Horror. Please don't be put of by the "spooky" title, David has had a twenty year long career with the BBC as a critic and presenter of classical music, he is a lecturer at Cambridge University and has published several books on music in film and has a special interest in the "Hammer Horror" genre. His blog focuses mostly on his artwork inspired by music and literature and as the above works show his talents are extensive. Any one that has an interest in the arts would not be disappointed, and warmly welcomed to comment. The followers button appears as you run your curser down the right hand side and comments appear by clicking on the heading. Please click Here to visit his blog.

P.S David is partner to none other than our lovely Andy from Dollhouses and Miniatures.

Finally a family plug. My son Jay has recently released a single with his band Animal Ghosts. Their genre is  Indie/PostPunk and whilst they are possibly not the type of music most miniaturists listen to whilst tinkering with their tinies, I thought there maybe a few of you that have young ones that might be interested. Jay is the lead singer and guitarist of the band and they have been playing gigs in melbourne pubs for several months and have independently released their single Oxana on itunes. I am a very proud Mum and love their gutsy sound. To check them out and sample Oxanna go to their Facebook page by clicking Here

Well thats all folks, I hope I have given you some food for thought.

Happy minis,

Fi xxx

Flag Stones

 

Hello every one,

I promised I would do a follow up post on my Flag stones, so here they are. The first photograph is of the flags in the Kitchen and the second in the hall. You may not be able to see the difference but to me I prefer the stones in the hall, they are a slightly cooler tone as they were done on different days, whilst the colours I used are the same, the way you mix them can vary, so slight differences can occur. I started out by using graph paper cut to the size of my room and loosely marking out the shapes in a random pattern, I tried not to be too fixed to a firm pattern so they looked a little more irregular. I then sanded them into softer shapes and then beat them with a wire brush so that the flags appeared to have pits in them that you usually find in stone. I then painted them in raw umber so that the paint would sink into the pits. Once it was dry I made up a pallet using three colours. White, raw umber, and yellow ochre, mixed together these colours make a nice stone using white as the dominant colour. I also keep these colours unmixed on the pallet as well as a terracotta so that I can randomly add small amounts to make variations in the stone. I work from darker to light so I'm guessing there is approximately three or four layers of paint on each stone and not one of them would be the same. As you can see from the photo each stone varies from light to quite a dark brown, I added small amounts of terracotta to add warmth (a little too much in the kitchen) and some flecks of white that is sometimes natural to stone. As you can see in the image the darker pits show through and I achieve this by dry brushing which is when you apply paint to a dry brush and lightly drag it across the surface so the paint doesn't soak into the pits. Oh and I did sand them between layers, it helps to bend the colours a bit too. I initially intended to grout them but was a bit nervous to do so and now that I grouted my kitchen tiles I'm glad I didn't try it. I think I will fill a few of the gaps you can see with a mixture of sand glue and just place it in the gaps as I am worried about damaging the surface.

Well thats it for the flag stones, now to the range hood. I thought all was well and every thing had gone to plan until today when I went to work on my house and I discovered my globe had blown!!!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!! I was so happy with what I had achieved and now I think I need to start over.......: (

Firstly I had come up with a plan to attach my hood to the wall that enabled me to remove it without lifting it as I planned to put in a flue above the hood. I drilled a larger hole in the back wide enough for an angle bracket to slip in and then attached the bracket to the wall as you can see in the first image. That worked well and it sat nice and straight on the wall. I made the hole at the bottom of the hood wider to allow heat to escape as Gaic suggested and attached a piece of copper inside to use as a heat sink as Tyla suggested, you may be able to see it in the image with the mirror. Now that the globe has blown and I can't seem to get it loose to try another one I feel I have to re do the light at the risk of it happening again. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The sooner I get this sorted the sooner I finnish my kitchen!!!!

Mini Hugs,

Fi x

HAPPY EASTER A familiar scene

 

Hello every one, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter. As most of you are enjoying the growth of spring we are feeling the cool breeze of Autumn........my favourite season. I love the crisp mornings and sunny days, the leaf fall and the beautiful sunsets showing the softer tones of Autumn not the bright harsh colours of summer.

As eggs are symbolic of new life and Easter I thought I would share with you a familiar scene. I have borrowed from Mulvany and Rodgers and put a RL egg in my miniature Kitchen. This did happen by accident as I was making eggs ( in Fimo ) I used a RL egg as a guide. I popped it on the table as a reference then the image from their Colonial kitchen came to my mind and I thought I would have a play with it. LOL
I hope you like it. The eggs are of course made of fimo and speckled with a little pastel dust. I did make a rather horrible job of the little egg cup as it was a last minute idea.So any if any one knows who makes miniature egg cups I would love to hear. That is RL Thyme I saved from dinner the night before as I thought the tiny leaves would work quite well to add that splash of green.

 

 

These are images of the kitchen minus the giant egg! I took these early morning to capture the right light as I would like to have the feel of early morning eggs for breakfast. As I have said before, part of the enjoyment of the miniatures for me is setting the scene. So I do hope you enjoy eggs in the morning and in the last photo I have thrown in some ham as well. The Ham has a special reference for Mia and I but I will explain in my full reveal of the kitchen. I have left the rest of the kitchen a bit out of focus as it is not finished yet. It at least gives you al little glimpse of where I'm going with the Range hood etc... I have finally worked out a way to remove the hood to change the light bulb as I will be attaching a flue and I needed to be able to remove it without lifting it and I have come up with a rather ingenious idea. Pictures to follow in the next post.

Have a wonderful easter every one and happy Minis to you all.

ML Fi xx 

Kitchen Sneak Peek

Hello every one,

Yes I know it's been a while since my last post but we have had a bit going on here. However I have managed to squeeze in a a bit of time to have a play and whilst I haven't finished my kitchen I am becoming a lot closer. Thanks to Tyla  from http://obscurecreationsbytyla.blogspot.com.au/ I have come up with a plan for my range hood and the light. I still have to paint the walls and attach the range hood and flue but I thought I would give you a little sneak peek of what I have achieved so far.

I have made the sink cabinet myself with a frame of cedar ( which I painted white, shame, shame I know)
and the top is made of American walnut which I found during my fossic through my specialty wood supplier. I have coated it in a wax finnish that was left over from my own timber floors upstairs. The tiles I have done myself with card stock and then painted them in a gloss finnish. I'm not so happy with the tiles as after I filled the gaps I lost the gloss and am worried about re varnishing them because the varnish might show the imperfect surface. They are not stuck down yet so I have a little time to think before I put in the range. I think they are a little larger than I would have liked but I modelled them to scale from my own tiles in the bathroom so I thought they would be okay. I still have a plate rack to add above the sink. The food was made by Mia with her lovely slender fingers she has done a wonderful job. All the other little GLT's we have collected from "The Doll House " http://www.thedollhouse.com.au/online/ over the last few months including the little working rolling pin which is apparently German, that makes it all the more special, the little miking bowls are hand made from England.......hello Andy, Simon and co......... The flag stones I have mentioned before but for those who have missed previous posts I made them my self with balsa wood and lots of paint and sanding.

Well I hope you like the Kitchen so far.

Happy Mini's every one!

ML Fi xx

P.S As some of you have asked about the sink it's self I realised I forgot to tell you about it. I bought it from Kerri at The Doll House and it is English porcelain (in Australia, anything that is English, French, Germain or Italian makes it all the more special.....;) ) I loved it initially because it was  hand made and quite rustic looking. It did however cause a great deal of problems in getting it to sit straight as it was not! I had to make an opening in the shelf it sits on as the escape for the plug protruded lower than the level of the sink and the sides where not straight so it made measurements difficult. So, we live and learn, hand made charm comes with  complications!

A Scandinavian Pineapple

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!!!!!


Well as you know Andy I do live in a Scandinavian Pineapple and as I am very much aware  it is your Birthday I have decided to partake in our usual celebration dish of Champagne and Pineapples in honour of this so special occasion. I would however prefer to be partaking this wonderful culinary delight with you in person but I will have to settle for a virtual celebration. I would also like to say that I have enjoyed our friendship over the past 6 months, it has been filled with lots of fun and laughter. Twelve months ago I would never have believed I would enjoy a friend ship online  as much as I do. Have a wonderful day and I hope it's filled with surprises. Love to David and Snowy and I just hope Snowy doesn't eat all the cake!!!!
For anyone who would like to wish Andy a Happy Birthday here is his blog address.
http://dollshousesandminiatures.blogspot.com.au/search?

P.S I have just drunk those glasses of Champagne and feel a little bit tipsy, I'd better save the rest for Paul. Oh, and by the way it's a Victorian sparkling wine ( not allowed to call it Champagne) Yarra Burn, the Yarra is the main river that runs through Melbourne but heaven forbid the water for the vines cam from there!!!

Happy Birthday Andy. XXXX

Range light

Hi every one,

Sorry there hasn't been much action going on in the miniature sense, plenty going on at home though. I do however have a few days up my sleeve now as both kids have gone off to camp and whilst I miss them it is lovely and quiet here at the moment.

I am in the throws of finishing my kitchen, the cabinet is made and I'm doing the last little bits. The thing that has stalled me however is the light in the range hood that I have mentioned before. I am worried about the level of heat inside the wood and have two options I can show you.

Firstly here is the Range hood - I must apologise for the unglamorous images.

I have widened the opening of the RH to allow more light to fall onto the stove top.

I then made an opening in the back so I can thread in the bulb.

Next are the two bulbs I can choose from. The first your standard wheat bulb - I am afraid I wont be able to secure it enough to stop it being in contact with the wood fibres inside the RH.  I'm not sure if it was a coincidence but the first bulb I tried blew and I wondered if it got too hot. The other bulb I don't know the name of is brighter and of course hotter but easier to secure to the inside because of the flat plate it has as its base.

Here is a picture of the bulb secured and un able to move whilst inside. I am told these particular bulbs have a long life as it will be difficult to change the bulb if it blows. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Happy minis every one.

ML Fi x

Special delivery

Hi Everyone,

It looks like there is a special delivery waiting on the doorstep of our Dollhouse. It has the name and address of my house on the package ( I guess thats how it got there in the first place) so in the not to distant future I will be revealing it's name and maybe the exterior  which will eventually be changed with a little bit of input and guidance from your good selves.


In the meantime and just incase any of you where wondering what on earth I have been doing in the miniature department. I haven't exactly progressed with my kitchen, I have been making tiny boxes. It's taken me a little while to work out a technique I am happy with but I think I have come up with a result that suites.

I think I will wait a while to explain exactly why I have felt the need to make lots of little boxes but let me just say I have had the urge to make some special deliveries of my own.

My next project is to make my kitchen cabinet that I showed last post but I haven't been able to make a start on that for two reasons. Firstly the sudden need to split and stack fire wood from a 25 meter Gum tree and secondly once I found my wood source I was informed that I can only visit the show room on fridays. So I guess you all know what I'm doing friday? I'll keep you posted......; )

Happy minis every one!

ML Fi x