Nutshell Cottage In Progress

Three days later... This is all that I have. Waiting for oil paint to dry is a PITA ;-)  when you need two or three coats.

The shell is so thin on the edges where the two halves meet I really thought it would break while I was sawing it out.

Hrmmm.... I see Kilmouski has added a fly away cat hair that has landed over the front door. Grrrrrrr They are as fine a spider silk. I may have to shave him or give him a bath in GLUE!

There is a lot more to do. I love it when it is time to decorate. That is fun....but several days away at this point.

I could never get one of these together without the help of Bostic Blu-Tack. It holds things in place for me while I am fitting things.

Now I can start the back side.

Miss Mousey Says Goodbye to some of her favorite toys before she leaves for France

Catherine and I http://miniaturemaisondesouris.blogspot.com/ have become friends. Thanks to Blogger and Google translate. Which can be a bit confusing in its email translations.

Last summer we started talking about a mouse for the gorgeous French mouse house she is working on. She thought she would like to have a little girl about eight to ten years old. One that bared a family resemblance to the portraits Catherine has painted of them for the house. Which she explained had more of a rat like face.

Having never made a doll or dressed one, I wanted to give it a try. The first problem I knew was the fact I didn't have anything to dress her in. Catherine sent me a box of fabric. Many pieces were over 100 years old. 

The challenge began.

I had no idea what the body of a child REALLY looks like. You have to begin a sculpt with a drawing or a photo. So as usual I went to Google.  

Ah-oh! The last thing you want to do is search for....dare I even say it here...NO, I can't. I don't need the FBI at my door thanks. So I searched instead for little girls in a ballet class. That I thought would be fine. Children in leotards. PHEW!

 Refining the body sculpt. OOPS....Her bottom got a little flat. I left her on it while I was away.

I spent many hours sculpting a body that would be hidden under clothes. I printed pictures of all the portraits on the walls of Catherine's house.

I needed to understand what sort of face Miss Mousey should have. She was going to be 45 to 48 inches tall in RL 1: 1 scale.

 The sculpt finished, it was time to dress her. I was worried, I played with fabrics for ages. Never cutting into anything. I quickly found out that fabric has a mind of it's own. I didn't want to torture these beautiful fabrics by using some stiffening agent.

I drew my patterns and first tried them in something of my own. The only fabric in Catherine's box that would act right turned out to be a cotton print and it was new (not antique). It would hold a finger pressed pleat. You can't iron pleats into place without making them look unnatural. Asking fabrics to become 1:12 scale curtains is one thing but this was a lot smaller. 

I gave her leather boots that had to be built right onto her feet and legs. I was very happy with how those worked out.

It is very hard to capture what someone has in their minds eye. Perhaps it is impossible. It is too bad they take so long to make. You usually come a lot closer after five or six.

Please visit ' Suzanne' in her GORGEOUS new home on Catherine's blog at the above link.

 

Christmas Walnut Shell Cottage For Sale

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I have been busy again making a Christmas walnut shell cottage. This time one to sell hopefully on eBay. The listing should be up later tonight and I will then post a link here.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310805102137  This one has a Christmas tree inside the big bay window. On the back of the house there are lace curtains in the small windows. 

It is too bad the gold star ornaments don't photograph very well, because they are holographic. They sparkle & wink in a rainbow of colors, even in low light. The snow glitter sparkles too but that also doesn't show in pictures. :-(

Yes! This is the same house. It is just a view of the back side.

Of course the house could be hung on a Christmas tree but a better idea would be to hang it in one of those domes for a pocket watch. Those are optically clear and have a hook on the top, inside the glass.

BTW...Later this week you should see what that hand I posted a picture of was all about. Now that it has arrived in it's new home in France. I will post a link to it here.

A New Chair Style

Among other things... I have been making this new chair. It was a bit more difficult to upholster then the other ones I have made because of the squared ends on the seat cushion. I was very happy to find this fabric because I never thought I would find anything that could be in the same room as the William Morris wing chair I made.The beautifully carved legs are ones made for me by Linda Master http://miraclechicken.blogspot.com/. Thank you Linda!!!

I was very pleased to find two porcelain pieces by Terry Curran, A jar of clotted cream from 'Harrods' and a tiny container of hot coco powder. I don't know what it is but I love ceramics that have writing on them.

Prize-Winning Animation Lets You Fly Through 17th Century London

I adore this! Have fun flying.

Josje just told me in her comment they have an interesting blog. I have just had a visit. You will like it too. http://puddinglanedmuga.blogspot.com/