Goosey Lucy

A blog friend made me laugh recently when she told me she was amused by my recent interent purchases. Rocks, feathers and fly cutting scissors. Thank heavens for Etsy. It was the first place I went to look for white feathers.

I chose silk embroidery floss to cut into flock. It acts completely different to the Alpaca I have used on my cat and dog sculpts. Silk flock tends to clump when it is cut into dust. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to use it. It looked awful!!! Finally I found a way to get it to smooth out. You might not be able to see it in these photos but it has thick luxurious surface. They are a little over 2 inches tall.

What better to have in front of an English cottage then a couple of geese.

Cookie Please

Kilmouski is always in his high chair right next to me while I'm working. Which is a huge wood tray affixed to a tall kitchen stool. The tray has a thick cushion with a baby blanket over it.

Long ago...I taught him to shake hands and sit up by grabbing his right paw then giving him a treat. I had no idea when I did that I gave him a voice. Now when he wants one he puts up a paw. If I ignore him he sits up like a rabbit. That is my breaking point. When he does that, I have to stop working and give him a "cookie". 

Asleep at last. I am getting close to finishing two pieces I have been sculpting. I will post some photos in the next few days.

Meissen Reproductions by Olszewski

I had forgotten how wonderful and detailed the old Goebel Olszewski pieces are. I bought both of these on eBay last week. "The Poultry Seller" was in mint condition still in the plastic bag. The Parrot was described as being in excellent condition and still in its original box. I was very lucky in both of these auctions. Buying each of them for less then the original price was in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

 

They were sculpted out of jewelers casting wax and cast in bronze. Then they were painted once the castings were cleaned up. The detail is just wonderful. Far better then my photography skills can demonstrate. 

 

If you are interested, have a look in eBay. there are quite a few in there now up for sale and auction. Be sure you are buying a dollhouse miniature. Some of the pieces he did are not.

How do you like it?

 I just loved this cottage when I saw it. It has great potential for a dollhouse. It is NOT my preferred style either. Sadly when I drew out plans, it was going to be too small for my collection. I really didn't want to enlarge it because part of its charm are the proportions.

I have never seen anything like those wrought iron pieces that are at the edge of the roof (attached to the house). If anyone knows about the use of those... I would love to know what they are about.

Back to the drawing board and my huge collection of inspiration photos.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g551650-d2450012-r181831510-A104_Rose_Cottage-North_Bovey_Dartmoor_National_Park_Devon_England.html

Ivy Cottage (Update)

Ivy Cottage is located in the Village of Nuttingham. It has a lovely view  from the top of a 300 year old walnut tree. This is the reason all these cottages hang from 'cables'. 

The house has Belgian spider silk lace curtains in all the windows. It is the first house in the village to have a fireplace. There is a large stack of 'rainbow makers' in one of the bay windows. I suppose you thought there was a scientific explanation for rainbows.. In the other bay window there is a basket of fairy dust. There is a nest in a tiny acorn cap just over the front door. It has three blue eggs in it. Who's I wonder? 

The tiny terracotta flower pots were kiln fired and made by Braxton Payne. http://www.braxtonpayne.com/

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.