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

YAY YAY YAY !!!!

Thanks to Pepper who steered me in the right direction I have finally found some where local that can supply me with a range of quality wood offcuts. Not only can I get lime wood but several other woods like Mahogany, Oak and cedar ( I all ready have some of cedar as we know ) This means time to put on the thinking cap and I'm thinking Oak flooring in the rest of the house?? Given my house is set in S Carolina I think that could be a wise choice ( and I love it ) given there is Oak a plenty there.

I have found a few pictures off the net just to give you an idea. I do love these rooms but I wont be necessarily modelling my rooms on them. I'd love to hear what you think.

I'm probably getting ahead of my self but I'm just sooooo excited!!!!!

ML Fi xx

Here's the plan.

I know I haven't posted in a while but I have been busy with some other miniature things I will post about soon. So in the meantime I thought I would show you what I am about to embark on. My kitchen isn't finished and it's been that way for a while because I haven't been able to decide what to do for the kitchen sink. I have sketched up what I think will work in the space and with the belfast sink I have. To the left you can see the light out line of the cabinets that flank the AGA oven and to the right is the door. It bothered me for a while that the door opens on to the sink but I figure I'm going to have to live with it.

The front of the cabinet is open as the other cabinets are as I have a lot of GLT's I want to display when I'm finished. I may replace the little arch with a little curtain but I will wait and see. I have some cheepy little taps but I would like something a bit nicer, so if any of you know where I might find some nice tap wear  I would appreciate it. 

 

You may be wondering why I am showing you a picture of a Venetian blind? Well as you may have read on previous posts, I am having trouble getting hold of quality wood to work with. Whilst looking for lace handkerchiefs I found this cedar blind and thought, ah ha! 4mm timber and plenty of it......that just might work. SO, I plan to make my kitchen bench and cabinet out of cedar. 4mm is possibly a little thicker than I would have liked for the cabinet casing but I think I will give it a go and see what happens. As I'm writing I'm thinking I really need to have the bench thicker than the casing, hmmmmm......??

Well thats it for now. I think I will do a few short but sweets over the next week.

Happy minis to you all.

ML Fi x

Last non miniature post

I promise this is my last non miniature post. We are heading home tomorrow and I will be back into the Dollhouse pronto!!

On my last post John mentioned the pictures of the beach. I really  posted them to show the balls of sand and the clusters of crabs and didn't feel it was a great example of the beach. So considering tomorrow is Australia day I thought I would post some classic Aussie images. 

Australia Day is the day we celebrate the first fleet arrival in Sydney cove in 1788. There is an official ceremony in which high achieving Australians are given awards for there incredible efforts. This year Geoffrey Rush is Australian of the year. Some parts of the community prefer that non celebrity Australians are recipients but I guess every one should be entitled. There is also the controversial issue of our indigenous Australians calling it invasion day.

In general though, Australians spend the day with family and friends having Barbies, going to the beach and celebrating being Aussie.

Below are a series of photos showing a typical day at a surf beach. This is Inverloch where we have spent our holiday, only an hour and a half from where we live.

I would like to acknowledge the original owners of this land the Bunurong People.

Well our last day of holiday was a beauty, lots of sun, sand and surf.......not that we are the surfing types but a boogie board is always fun, I was talked into doing a bit of body surfing which is always a laugh as long as you don't get dunked. The last water photo is there to give you the scale of the waves. Not huge by surfers standards but big enough for me.

Happy mini's every one!

Bye for now.

Fi xx