Instructions for a bergere

The amazing Lea has done it again. Below is a picture of a beautiful, oh-so-comfy French bergere made by Lea herself.


She includes instructions for a similar chair on her website.

I think I will set myself a challenge to make one this weekend and see what it looks like (at a guess, not as good as Lea's!!). If anyone else makes one, I'd love to see photos.

Spring at last!

Yep, it's spring in the southern hemisphere and I'm loving it. We have been having some lovely weather, good to be thawing out after a very cold winter (coldest on record??). I have been fairly busy on my minis, and will post photos shortly, but they will need to remain incognito - I am working on the miniatures.com competition entry and can't give too much away!



I have this picture to share and I can't remember where it came from
now. But it shows a little cupboard bed in a cottage far-off somewhere. I just love it and might make a mini version oneday.


Thought you might all be interested in the latest offering from Jill Dianne - a gorgeous fairytale charm bracelet currently for sale on Ebay. One of my favourite past-times is painting metal blanks, so this bracelet really appeals to me. I am just not sure that the paint wouldn't chip badly. Nice to look at though!

Going on holidays!

So I thought I'd better post before I leave. Not that I have anything much to post today. But I did find this picture during the week of a very cute kitchen cabinet. I can't even remember where I found it, so can't tell you who made it.




Also found this very cute pic on a Japanese blog. It shows the cutest little country dining room. I love the light fittings, although it would appear that they are not electrified. I've never seen them before.

Anyway, given I am tired and don't have much to say, I will sign off. We are off to the snow tomorrow! Yay!

More pics of my mouse house

Just for the folks at Dream Dwellings yahoo group, here are some more pics of my mouse house. Hope you like!

First is the exterior shot. The bedroom is downstairs, partially underground. I am not finished landscaping yet.
Below are some red and yellow mushrooms I added. I love how these turned out and should've made more.

Here is a squirrel I painted. It was an unfinished metal item.
This is the shelf in the bedroom.

This is the dining table set for afternoon tea. You might notice that there is only one saucer under the cups - one of the saucers magically disappeared, which was very annoying. She has her mail ready to open with her tea.This is her kitchen shelf, which holds her china, books, eggs, jam and pots. The furniture is all small 1" scale. I made the sewing table, wardrobe and armchair. It makes the shack look larger than it really is. I also used only one door.
This picture shows her little transistor radio and some books for reading before bed.

Beginnings of my French shop

I am making a French shop based on the gorgeous florist made by Lea. I just cannot get over this house. To me it is miniature perfection. I love it to bits. So my house is based on it, and although the layout is almost the same, I will decorate it a little differently to reflect my own tastes.

In the attic area are the bedrooms. This is the first bed I have finished and will go in the guest bedroom. The backdrop is just paper, but is a similar tone to what the walls will be in the house, only paler. I handpainted and aged a Bespaq bed and handmade the bedding. I am pleased with how it turned out.

I am not making as much progress as I want, as work gets in the way. But I have to pay for the hobby somehow!


Here is the exterior facade. It is made separately to the house and will lift off the front. I need to add window sills and then paint it all. this is the dwelling side, so the left bottom window is the bathroom, the door opens onto the entry and the right window goes to the kitchen. I made the walls about 4cm thick from recollection.

The only thing really bugging me is that I cannot find casement window latches. It's driving me nuts. I will not rest until I find them!!

Japanese cuties

I found these on a Japanese blog some time ago and now can't find the blog. They are needle-felted I think and so very cute. I have tried needle-felting, as I think for the dollhouse you could make some seriously awesome items, but I lack the patience needed to felt. Takes too long!

These two would make great characters to populate the dollhouse.
Below is a regular little teddy from a different website. This girl packs her teddies up in little suitcase sets with other tiny clothes, tea and dish sets, trinkets, etc. So cute, would make great little gifts.

Bohemian dollhouse of exceptional quality

This is one of the most adorable dollhouses, so much detail and yet not at all overdone. I love the colours and the lighting she uses to take the photos. There are some really good ideas for how to use everyday objects in new ways too. You can see more photos on her flickr account: amyla174.