Beautiful Bespaq vanity and heart-shaped chair

Those of you who know me in real life know that I wear skirts and dresses 360 days a year, even in the dead of a Chicago winter. But, my home isn’t excessively girly or feminine. It’s more New England cottage meets French Country rustic.

However, I am head over heels for this tiny, ultra feminine Bespaq vanity and heart-shaped chair. :D It’s from Small World Miniatures. I think they look wonderful against the Out of Time scrapbook paper by Recollections that I plan to use as wallpaper in the bedroom. The hand painted details are incredible.

The vanity tray I made fits perfectly on one side with the C. Rohal peacock box and Art of Mini lamp on the other. Not much room for anything else besides a small book. At first I thought the lamp might be too big for the vanity, but I rather like it. It has a warm glow and the perfect vintage feel.

I’ve lined the drawer with pretty parchment paper and added a few things I had on hand. The laser cut hair combs are from The Dolls House Mall. The letter is just a paper cutout for now, but I’ll have to make a pretty opening envelop and letter for the drawer. The laser cut key is by le mini di Pierliugi, purchased at one of the Bishop shows. Grandma’s lucky gold coin is made by Phoenix Models.

The vanity and chair are the perfect pieces I was looking for and will be wonderful in the Heritage bedroom!

Categories: Furniture, The Haunted Heritage
March 8, 2012 | 0 comments

Pretty things for grandma

I bought some new minis for grandma, and the first is a beautiful peacock box made by Cathy Rohal. The detailing is superb! So delicate. I think this will be for the vanity in the Heritage bedroom.

Yes, it opens!

Another lovely vanity item is this black turned bottle with an aluminum stopper by CW Lubin. The gorgeous lamp is from Art of Mini, a perfect vanity light for the Heritage.

It’s currently a non-replaceable bulb, so I’ll swap that out for a replaceable socket before I install it.

I decided to make a small vanity tray in anticipation of a new bedroom vanity.

The tray is a jewelry finding that had been completely flat. I used pliers to bend the handles up. The blue crystal bottle has a silver crimp bead and a fancy head pin to make the topper. The round black bottle has an earring stud for a base and a brad as a lid. The clear bottle has a silver crimp bead and a flat head pin for the topper. Are all attached to the tray with mini hold wax.

With a penny sitting on the table, you can see just how small the bottles are. :D

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
March 4, 2012 | 0 comments

Heritage – bedroom swinging windows, part 1

I admit to stalling on this part. The bay windows were 99% salvageable from the original kit pieces; only one window is glued shut for structural integrity and the other two work flawlessly. The kitchen side window and the front porch window both had to be replaced with Houseworks components because the original wood pieces were too far gone to save.

There were originally three swinging windows – one in the bathroom and two in the bedroom. Since I eliminated the one in the bathroom when I added the chimney, I had two left. The extra parts from the bathroom window assembly tipped the odds in my favor that I would be left with enough good kit pieces to get these to work without having to build my own from scratch.

Since the exterior of the house is old and weathered, I chose the worst looking parts for the outer portion of the windows. These have been sanded only once to remove the main splinters…there will be a lot more work done on the wood before I put it all together. I also have boards propping them in place that won’t be part of the final construction.

For instance, the one I have taped together in dry fit won’t close all the way…it will have to be displayed open at all times. That’s not necessarily bad, but I would rather have them work completely.

One of these windows opens over the front bay window on the first floor. While this isn’t really a balcony, I will be installing decorative railings so it will at least finish it off in a manner that looks finished.

These are quarter scale widow’s walk railings by Grandt Line. I’ll cut them to fit, then paint and age them. They are very delicate but look suitable in scale for the bay window.

The other window, however, opens floor to ceiling with nothing outside but the ground one story below, leaving the possibility of grandma tumbling out the window! :O In the original kit design, this window was to be located in the open stairway, so the floor wouldn’t lead up to it. I moved the stairs to the middle of the house, which in turn caused a major problem with safety.

To make this a safer option, I could add a Juliet balcony. This is just a rough mockup with spare parts, but it shows the general idea.

There isn’t a whole lot of room for the necessary support structure due to the first floor casement window if the bedroom windows are to swing out but it’s workable. Plus, it won’t detract from the interior view and seems a realistic option.

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
March 3, 2012 | 0 comments

Bespaq furnishings and lovely handbags

I was fortunate enough to win Audra‘s giveaway recently. As the prize, she offered a gift certificate to a miniatures shop called Happily Ever After.

Some time ago, I bought a Bespaq Royal Marrakesh settee in walnut and have been searching for a matching chair since. I saw that Happily Ever After that a photo of the entire living room set on their site, so I wrote to Lori there to see if she had what I was looking for. She sent me a photo and a few days later, it arrived! :D

Here’s the new chair with settee I already had. This set will be for a future build.

The wood and painted details match perfectly, though there is a slight difference in the fabrics. No matter to me since they are very close so dollhouse lighting and added accessories should make up that difference. Thank you Audra and Lori for a wonderful giveaway!

Another package arrived with the new chair today. In it were two handbag sets from Dollhouse Ara. The first is a pale pink Chanel replica handbag and wallet. They are so well made and have a nice weight to them. Included in the package was a lovely vase with dried natural flowers. Very pretty.

This set will go in the Heritage since they are a nice classic style that shouldn’t interfere with the era of the house. Grandma has good taste! :D

The other set is a Burberry tote bag with a covered journal. So lovely. This set will be included in a more modern build to come.

Next up, a beautiful green striped Bespaq sofa and matching chairs. Dejoux Miniatures had an awesome sale right before Christmas, and since I’ve had my eye on these for some time now, I took the plunge. I added a Bespaq coffee table to complete the set, though the color doesn’t work all that well.

Quite honestly, I’m considering breaking up the set to use the pieces in separate projects. I could see a fine study with the two chairs. The chairs somewhat overpower the sofa when used as a whole set.

The sofa is beautiful and a perfect standalone piece. It could be easily coordinated with wood carved accent chairs.

The next item is not a purchase but a lucky find…sometimes the best kind of mini. I went to visit Lyssa in Florida. When I returned to the hotel one night, this card caught my eye. It’s a business card made with vintage playing card imagery. It had been run over a bit but the gloss finish is intact.

It reminds me of an old metal sign you’d see on the side of a building. :D Into the mini stash it goes!

Categories: Furniture, Miniatures
March 3, 2012 | 0 comments

African violets for my great grandma

My great grandma was a wonderful woman who lived to 104 years of age, nearly 105. She was warm and kind, the type of person you just loved to be around.

I’ve included her photo in miniature in Baslow Ranch along with a photo of her grandparents. :]

She was a very crafty person, crochet being her main creative outlet, and she taught me to sew when I was young. She loved African violets, so I bought a kit from Georgie at The Miniature Garden and made them up in honor of my great grandma.

The kit makes three colors of violets, but I chose the darkest purple since those are the ones my great grandma kept. Now, my camera just does not understand purple. It sees blue. I insist purrrrrrrrple, and it says baaaaalllloo. =shakes head=

I’ve had plenty of practice shaping tiny leaves, so I used the same technique for these using a ball stylus.

I added a bit of styrofoam inside the bowl and then glued loose tea over the top for dirt. The stems of the leaves and flowers are glued and pressed into the styrofoam core.

I’m not sure where in the Heritage these will end up, but for now I’ve photographed them on the coffee table in a separate vignette. The bowl might be a little big for this particular plant, but I really like it. This was my first time putting together one of Georgie’s kits, and I must say they are wonderful to work with!

I think my great grandma would have loved my miniature hobby. I definitely channel some of her warmth and energy into the Heritage build.

Categories: Flowers, plants, and trees
March 1, 2012 | 0 comments