Oh Blogger, how you vex me so

Hi all. A VERY quick post to let you know what when Blogger decides to let me post replies to comments, I will reply to your comments. Sigh. In the meantime, thanks for reading and posting your lovely comments! Xx

The monumental disasters of doll housing

Hi all. As you can tell from the post title, things haven't gone well of late. I had set this very tenuous goal of finishing the Coxwolds by the end of the year. Two weeks ago, I finally got some weekends at home, plus Christmas and Boxing Day, so spent a good deal of time finishing stuff off. I am excited to say that I DID get stuff finished off. Many stuffs. But for every three steps forward, I had at least one back. There are two things I think are highly over-rated in dollhouses:
1) hinged doors (with proper hinges of the metal kind)
2) working lights.

After countless attempts, I finally got one of my Coxwolds exterior doors attached, only to find the other door had come loose. I was going to properly hinge the shop doors (which are currently hinged with model aircraft hinge tape) but am rethinking that idea. It will wait whilst I stew.

And also after countless attempts, I got some lights installed. I am even more excited to say that some of their globes work! Wheee! But here are some photos of (one of) my monumental lighting disaster (this is aside from OTHER lighting disasters).

Photo 1: bedroom floorboards ripped up to access wiring which I had broken off:

Photo 2: A big hole dug into the MDF to accommodate a little bundle of wires:

Photo 3: The offending light installed at last (those other two wires were removed. I had intended hanging three smaller lights, but due to more lighting disasters, those lights were dumped):

Photo 4: the other offending disaster light installed. A little crooked. And too long for the ceiling height, but it is installed. Again, wiring issues and having to use heat shrink tube that was a little too thick for this application.

The fireplaces in the bedroom and shop both have glowing red globes installed, but they have VERY thick wires and are gonna be hard to hide. Anyway, beggars can't be choosers. I was going to make some pretty, fancy lights for upstairs but rethinking that strategy now. I can't fix the roof on until I have lights up there so a very large portion of what needs to be done is done, other than some accessories (such as bathroom fixtures) and furnishings. Also need some supplies I can't currently find, like door handles, but this is so close to being done, I am giddy! Haha! The end is nigh, it just won't be 2018 nigh. Sigh.

The upside is I successfully installed Cirkit ceiling canopies (go me!) despite MUCH swearing, and I came up with plenty of ideas for making lights from findings and beads. so all was not in vain.

Will leave it there. I think the vodka bottle is calling. Hope you are also having some mini wins right now. All the best for 2019 if I don't get to post before the end of the year! xx

PS will try to get some more photos soon, when things are even closer to being DONE. Loving how things are looking!!!!!

Baby steps

Hi all. We are in December - can you believe it?? I last posted in July... heck. I guess I have some catching up to do. First I'll show you some little bits and pieces and maybe over the next week or two, I will post some photos of some pretty stuff from our September holiday in France and Italy (sigh, feels so long ago).

A couple of years ago, I missed out on a very pretty dress made by a Melbourne lady whose stuff is sold by another Melbourne lady at the Sydney miniatures fair. Ergo, I commissioned one. It finally arrived a few weeks ago, and it is stunning. Here are the front and back views:

(it even has a petticoat lining)

And completely unnecessarily, she also sent a tiny pair of adorable shoes:

Instead of paying Dianne (the lady who made the dress), I actually made a rose vine for Di, who paid Dianne the cost of the dress (love the barter system):

This is the vine on my Black Walnut cottage:

(it needs some shaping but it is just propped there)

I have worked on my Coxwolds as it is soooo close to being done structurally. I made the sink unit, based on a real life picture:

(Weirdly my taps look much lighter than their real life antique brass look)

Please excuse the crappy photo but we have had rain and cloud and heat and wind and, well, everything. So hopefully will get better shots when the flooring arrives and I can install everything.

I have also done a little more work on my chateau. Here is the rear courtyard entry. Again, terrible photos as it is an enclosed, small space. I will get some photos when  I have finished painting the panels. This is the litmus test to see how I go with painting an aged stone effect. Wish me luck.

 I have used a Sue Cook wall fountain and overdoor ornament. I have to finish the door for the opening. It will have a light behind it so light will shine through the little windows in the door.

In related news, we had our upstairs windows replaced, which meant some touching up of plaster and repainting my sewing room. I am not overly fond of pale walls but it makes my studio much lighter. And whilst everything was in disarray, I took the opportunity to put in some vinyl floor (it had always been painted chipboard which was peeling and was noisy). Looks so much better.

Lastly, some photos of the few minis I managed to find in Italy and France. Well, only Italy actually.

An adorable Pinocchio made of ceramic (although not really a mini, he's probably about 20cm tall). One day I will dress him. And a little puppet theatre:

My Murano glass minis (I'm not sure whether they are from Murano in Italy or Murano in China but that is OK)

 (this shows them with one of my 1:24 chairs, so they are quite tiny)

(Puffer fish!!! Hehehe!)

 OK, I will leave it there for now. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. It is a difficult time for many I know, so extra hugs to those of you in that boat. We will be having a quiet one. xxx

Happy Friday

I have not been posting enough blog posts lately and although I don't have a lot to say, I thought I'd give a quick update. I have spent a lot of my weekend (and weekday) hours working on my new work room which will house my brand new laser cutter. This has been a big step for me, one which still isn't sitting well, but I had reached that point where $$$ needed to be spent one way or another. So I will post a photo of my little work space when it is a little more finished - just some painting left to do and some trimming out to neaten things up. I am very excited about this new little space. It will make things much easier for my little business.

And I also opened a website, with an online store, hints and tips, gallery, etc. I am having a sale this weekend. Orders over $60aud will get 10% off. Just enter the code GRANDOPEN10. The sale starts at 8am AEST Saturday 28 July and ends at 12 midnight AEST 29 July.

Here is my new website address: https://www.redcottageminiatures.com

So onto more fun stuff. I will post some pics of some stuff I have been working on this year.

A little 3d printed Shapeways bike out the front of my Carmel cottage. So cute, but it is the cheaper plastic so is quite lumpy.

The bedroom of the Carmel:

Some views of the living room:

Needs some cushions I think....

The entry:

And kitchen:

I am really happy with how this cottage has turned out. It still needs accessories, but they will come in good time.

I have also done some work on my chateau, including the salon floors:

I laser cut parquet floor parts and now and sticking them together. I have made not quite 20 of the squares, with quite a few to go, and I have not been doing too many lately, but some progress is better than none.

And another new little kit. It is an odd scale, so I may size it up to 1:24 scale and sell it in my store, but for now I am working on getting the roof parts right. When that is done, I will be able to reveal more.

Ok, enjoy your weekend everyone. I will be painting and fixing up a few little things in my workshop! And hoping for some sunshine.

Hi all. I haven't posted much this year, and for that I apologise. I will try to get myself organised and post some of the things I have been working on. For now, I wanted to post some pics of the interior of my Duddingwells.

Starting in the shop part, I don't know that much has changed, other than hooking up all the lights (even the ones I broke). I have cut parts for a display shelf over the left window and some trays for the goods inside the cabinet, but they all need finishing. I added a top to the counter as the way it was constructed, there was a very large lip around the edge of the top so nothing sat neatly on there. The one in the pic is just the cardboard stand-in.

Next is the sitting/living area. You can't tell from the photo, but the left wall look terrible as I buggered the wiring in the wall sconce. Anyways, I need something to cover the mess but not worked out what yet. It needs to be tall but not block sight lines. I bought the beautiful Cynthia Howe birdcage kit, but it is too large for the room. In fact, I have tried lots of options in here and nothing is working for me. Hence it will stay naked for a little longer.

Dining chairs need cushions:

A painting I did the old fashioned way (underpainting with a little glaze to add colour). It was my first real attempt at a proper mini painting, and I am pretty happy with it, and my painting teacher was pretty happy with it, so that is good enough for me (for now anyway). You can see it hanging about the sofa.

Lastly the bedroom. I love this space. Without a doubt a favourite of all the things I've done. looking at the photos, I think it needs a little something above the window.

The bed. I made everything except the throw. Well, I didn't make the bed; it is a painted and reupholstered Dollshouse Emporium one.

Hope you enjoyed looking at my photos. I will try not to leave it too long between posts next time. I am determined to get some projects 'finished' this year (you know, they always need little details added, or you find stuff at shows, but I mean largely finished with the structure complete and most of the furniture). I think I am making a little progress on that! Have a great week everyone. 

Hi all. I understand you should be able to see a notice on this blog, if you are in the EU, about the new data regulations, and cookies and stuff. I don’t think it is displaying on mine. Anyone know what is supposed to be in it??  My suggestion is, if you are concerned about the way I or google uses cookies (huh??) then maybe follow the links on this page:
https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/6253244?visit_id=0-636631694455268177-197536276&p=eu_cookies_notice&hl=en&rd=1
It all means nothing to me. Hope your week is going well.

Roombox for a friend

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long between posts. This is the third time I have sat down to post on blogger, but still having issues with it.

I have been mini-ing. But I have been doing other things as well. I made a heap of little clothes for a friend for her Blythe doll, and also for a little sister petite Blythe I sent her, and packaging them all up individually in boxes. Here is a photo! Unfortunately I didn't get too many pics of the clothes, but that is OK. The second photo shows most of the items - one big, one little!

For the same friend, I also made a roombox. She is the one who embroiders, and made my doggy cushion you saw in the last few posts. Now I rushed the photos and took them in the evening, so they are not good, but hope you get something out of them. The fire flickers and the stars out the windows twinkle. I couldn’t get the door hinged - it was beyond me. Her father is a modeller so I figured he might have more success than me. Plus it took me so long I just wanted to get it to her. She lives about 6 hours drive away, and I was going to be seeing her for the first time in a very long time, so it had to go to her unfinished.


This is the whole of the outside of the box. A piece of acrylic slides in and out so that dust is kept out. There is also a lid in the ceiling for access from above.
















This is the little window that you can just see in the right of the above photo, on the porch. It is lit behind but isn't accessible.


















This is the right side of the box, showing the (unhinged) front door. Needs a door handle.















This is the inside view, where you can sort of see the twinkling stars. I painted MDF with sky/clouds then drilled tiny holes in it, poked optical fibres into the holes and glued them there, then lit them from the other end.








Here is another photo, with a close-up of the fireplace. I mostly made this, other than the Phoenix Miniatures fire grate. I love Phoenix stuff. You can't see them unfortunately but the side walls are all panelled on the lower parts and the William Morris wallpaper above. My friend is a William Morris fan.







These are some Nicola Mascall Christmas stockings my friend embroidered for me. Adorable!

And lastly I got a bit done on my Coxwolds. Here is the bathroom almost done, except for the vanity. I have decided on what I will use (well, mostly) now I just need to make it. The bath and toilet aren't glued in. The bath has to have a shower over it, so I will need to magic one up out of parts. That is daunting.

Workwise, I had a very busy November to January period and a quiet February, so I kind of fell into a slump. Finding it a little hard to get motivated. On the upside I have been cleaning and rearranging my craft room. I hope to have it in a good state so I can start working on all my work minis there instead of in the kitchen making a mess. I have also taken advantage of the good weather and got some work done around the home. Nothing exciting, but it feels good to get these things done. I spent a bit of time making up a cabinet for under my work table, which freed up lots of space in my craft room:

I have since made drawers for many of the cubby holes you can see. The small cubbies at the top of the second photo now hold my sticks - architraves, cornice, other mouldings.

And lastly, I purchased a rehab - the Fairfield. It was absolutely appallingly put together. Sooooo rough. You cannot tell so much from the photo. The lady I purchased it from said she had been doing minis for many years, since she was a kid. Ummmm, yup. Anyway, it has had a lot of parts pulled off. I recut many parts, including all the roof parts as the shingles were put on so badly (she had fully shingled all the roof parts, then stuck the house together, so there were shingles on the bits where roof parts were supposed to be joined). I am setting this aside though until I get a few other projects finished off. At some stage I will do a post on what my plans are for this.

Hope you are all well and getting lots of work done on your minis! And if I don't comment on your blogs, it is because I am having trouble with that too, so don't take it personally! I am getting lots of error messages, particularly from non-Blogger blogs and also from the fancier formatted Blogger blogs. Something to do with new IOS updates I guess. Have a great week!