My favourite...

Thanks Karin for the beautiful picture of the Belle Epoque villa - I love it and look forward to seeing more pictures. I loved the rustic French cottages, especially the stone ones. But my favourite one from our trip to France was this one:



It is not a good photo because we took it from a moving bus! It is in Vannes, which was a very cute seaside town in Brittany. We didn't have time to get off and take proper photos so we had to rely on the camera's sportsmode! We managed to get enough for a rough idea of the front. I will one day make this into a 1:12 mini version with an art nouveau interior.

And Linda, have an amazing time in France and Italy. I look forward to seeing your photos and some tips for travel in Italy!

Just in time for Halloween

Thought you all may be interested in seeing Julien Martinez's dollhouse. Very very cool and detailed and grungy:




Check out all his custom Blythe dolls, if you're game! (My fiance is freaked out!!)

Cynthia Howe delightfulness

I am considering buying a desktop laser cutter when I get my tax return this year, but then got to thinking, there are websites that offer small lot custom laser cutting... but which website did I see it on??? I went searching, and Cynthia Howe's website is one that I thought might've been where I saw it. I was wrong, but I did find this:



It's so sweet! I adore it! It's an online class that you can register for and the kit includes everything (other than accessories). Just adore it.

I also found this cool dollhouse for sale on Ebay a while back. I love the non-traditional dollhouse. I decided a while back that any dollhouse I build from now on has to open either at the front or side, unless it's a small (1/2 or 1/4 scale) one. Except for the tiny cottages/shops which can be moved easily.

It is based on a real-life French house. I'm thinking it forms a good base for an art nouveau house I will build 'sometime'!







And as for the laser cutter, I found which website it was (Karen Cary's) and need to carry out further investigations to figure out whether it's worth it.

Yes, I've been slack!

I haven't been doing too much mini-ing recently. I intend on doing some purchasing this weekend for my French shoppe (and yes I believe shopping IS a ligitimate mini-ing activity!!) and hopefully get a bit more undercoating of the roof shingles done (it's a terrible job).

So anyways, found some really cool pics recently so thought I'd share.

First up, not sure where I found this (maybe Flickr??), but it's sooooo cute! I MUST recreate it one day:




Found this one on flickr today, and absolutely fell in love with it. Take a look at their account.



Next one I found on a website for the special effects company that worked on the Lemony Snickett movie (can't remember the name of them). It would be so awesome for a witch/haunted dollhouse. Love it.



And last one, again, can't remember where I found it but love it. Such a pretty room with a modern twist. Love the colours.

Veronique Lux cuteness

Found this awesome website today: Veronique Lux. Such very cute vintage mini toys for a little French child's room. So cute. Here are some pics:

Another award!

Thanks Rosanna for the award. And I must also give a belated thank you to Deb for her award given on the 5th March. It is so lovely to know that people enjoy reading my blog!

I do not have too much to post right now, so I'll scrounge up some pics of other peoples stuff to keep you inspired!

Here is a gorgeous English cottage and I can't remember the website I got it from. I intend to do this to the Aster cottage one day.



Here is someone's Greenleaf Glencroft kitchen, they are on the Greenleaf forum. I think it looks adorable. I am loving the Glencroft at the moment and am working on plans to make it in 1/2" scale to save on room.



And lastly is a very cute little cottage and again, no idea where it came from. Would look great in miniature.

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!

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.

Miniature artist dolls

These would be great for a halloween house. They are made by French artist Julien Martinez. These ones are 1/12 scale, but the site also has some other larger dolls/sculptures which make the mind boggle!

English house

Found this awesome English house for auction on Ebay:

There are photos on their site showing an actual house, so it is a faithful reproduction of an actual house. Very cute.

Where does time go?

Ack, I have been lazy! So for now, I will give some beautiful inspiration.





This photo comes from the Betsey Johnson website, and is just so stunning. I love the colours and the layering, very French. It has given me a great idea for a little cottage, probably made of stone, with overgrown vines and rambling roses. I love the beamed ceilings with the over-the-top wallpaper. But this too will have to wait until I have finished other projects!









Next is an awesome white Gothic house. I think I found it on the Greenleaf forum, but I can't remember who posted it. Anyways, my apologies to that person!






I am loving Gothic houses at the moment, ever since I saw this pink version of Greenleaf's Westville. Subsequently, the Westville has shot to the top of my 'must-haves' list. This is one made by another member of the Greenleaf forum. She makes dollhouses for children who are seriously ill I think. Very pretty.

Little mousie house!

I found links to this very cute mousy house on the Yahoo Dream Dwellings group. So very cute. I am thinking it is a Brambly Hedge type scene, as the little mice look just like them. The website is here.

Hope you enjoy!

Snow covered exterior:


Little attic containing the winter's supply of seeds and nuts:


Inside activities. You can see the little boy mouse looking out the window, perhaps waiting for Daddy to return?Also, in very exciting news, I recently won a Duracraft Heritage dollhouse kit. I hope to do this with it:
If you've seen the movie, 'The Music Man', the one with Matthew Broderick, you might remember the gorgeous Edwardian interior of the Paroo home. That is something like what I intend on doing with this home. However, given my current list of projects, this one will have to wait!!

It really pays to check out all the links on blogs or other sites you visit. You accidentally find the most amazing stuff.

The Japanese never cease to amaze me with their talents. I stumbled across a number of Japanese mini blogs and had to share these with you all. The first picture is from dollhouse and miniature rosy. I wish I had one tenth of the talent of this clever person! The detail is amazing. Just look at the grape hyacinths and ranunculi. And I'm sure the little wheels on the cart turn! I so want one of these, I think I will have to have a go at making one.


Next is a shot of the detail from a miniature cafe, shown below. It is taken from this blog. Take a look around, the food items are amazing.

Real life-size inspiration

These pics are some of my favourites from Flickr.

I love teddies, and it would be awesome to create these in mini scale. I can dream! Perhaps one day I will think of a way to do it. I think the maths and thinking behind figuring these details out is part of the attraction of minis for me. The photo came from Jillybug's Flickr.

The next pic is a shop I think, taken from It's a chimmy simmy world's Flickr.

I'd love to make a mini version. I think I will incorporate it into my own French shoppe. The colours are superb. I especially love the little cardigans in frames on the back wall and the trinket box on the cake plate to the left of the screen. I also love the use of multiple wallpapers - very whimsical and great for using leftover pieces of wallpaper!



Lastly, I have a pic of a beautiful French house. I spend ages looking at the French real-estate websites! Some amazing places and seriously old too.