I'll Be Back Soon!

I am so sorry that I haven't blogged for over a month.  I have had a lot going on at home and I've been waiting for some miniature items which took the post office almost two weeks to deliver an item after they were already delayed due to holidays.  Poor Jacqui at www.thehousethatjacqbuilt.co.uk almost started to make a second fireplace for me as we thought it was completely lost in the post.

My creative mind has not rested, however, oh no! I purchased a life sized Lloyd Loom chair from Ebay, which at some point in the past had been re-sprayed from the original mustard colour to a dark purple/burgundy.  I have almost finished re-spraying it in white and am going to make a cushion to fit it (although I'm no seamstress so goodness only knows what the cushion will turn out like!)  

Before photo...

The chair after it's first coat of paint...

Finished chair photo to follow.

I have also been mentally planning the imminent redecoration of my life-sized bedroom to a shabby chic style room to relax in.  Seeing everyone's miniature shabby chic cottages and rooms inspired me to make my real bedroom a little more girly!

Before and after photos of the bedroom also to follow.

So, apologies again for the lack of mini-ing, but Mini Jo Jo will be mini-ing again very shortly, as soon as my life-sized world is sorted.

Please don't go away!

MJJM's kitchen is famous!

I am so excited!  The kitchen is famous!  Well, maybe not famous, but it's featured on Elizabeth LePla's Elf Miniatures website!  Click here to have a look.

Just to celebrate, I've taken another pictures of the kitchen and the utensil holder I bought from The Dolls House Mall; another fantastic website containing some more truly beautiful items.

And one of the gorgeous terracotta pot with a spiders web inside...

...which inspired me to get on with more of the exterior whilst I'm waiting for some bits for my living room...

I added pathway and grass in the front garden.  I went to Hobbycraft to get a sheet of self adhesive "grass" and they didn't have any, but I found this model railway turf.  Personally I think it looks better.

From matchsticks and other bits of wood I made a little picket fence.  The final touch is a "wrought iron" gate I made from wood and curtain rings.

THAT'S why I took a day off work!

Reading Chair

Following a tutorial for a sofa, I decided to make an armchair so that there's somewhere comfortable for the residents of MJJM to sit quietly and read a book.  I thought it would be perfect in the corner of the dining room.  The first one I made took three hours and I was pretty pleased with it until I placed it in the house and realised that it was way out of scale!!!

So, not one to be let down by my own failings, I spent a further two hours a couple of nights later making another one.  Here is the result.

It's not perfect, but it's not bad for a second attempt and when it's put in place, it looks just right for a cosy, curled up read by the fire!

I've pinched some other bits from my old house to make the room look more lived in too.

And whilst I was placing a yummy looking biscuit on the plate, I remembered I had a recipe for something that looked just the same, so I got baking yesterday too...

Very "more-ish" biscuits, sandwiched together with butter icing.  Can't think why there's only two left already!

I've now started to mentally design the living room.  Far more modern than the traditional dining room, it's going to be very pale with a calm atmosphere. I haven't yet decided on bare wood floorboards or a very "earthy" carpet, but I've ordered some bits and have started designing the sofa (in my head, at least!)

My New Purchases

Our trip to the Steyning Dolls House Shop was a successful one.  I say "our" as Mario is taking more and more of an interest in miniatures and wanted to come along with me so it was nice to have some company on the journey.

Needless to say, I could have bought SO much, but I exercised control and stuck to just a few bits and pieces.  Here are some of them.

I like the fact that these mugs are all different colours.  I think I'll make some hooks and hang them underneath the kitchen wall units by the kettle.

This glass cake stand was so delicate, I just had to have it.

I think this is the closest mini dog that I will get to my "Goose" and so I bought him with the intention of painting him black.

The cat curled up the chair is one I already had, but the one on the new carpet looking up at him, is just like my cat, Luca.

I have carpet in the dining room now too.  I also bought the carpet that I'm going to use in the living room, which will be my next room.

The lovely mantle clock is one I found on eBay.  (It also hides the split in the wood perfectly!)

I also bought a welcome mat for the hall and beautiful light that I'm going to use in the living room as well as a more modern skirting board and coving.  OK - I know coving doesn't go with this house, but the living room is going to be more new modern than traditional modern and I needed a slightly different look.

It took an hour to fit the carpet.  Perhaps I should have fitted it before I put in the chimney breast and the fireplace?

I also bought a tiny little horseshoe for above the back door.  This got me excited about the exterior of the house again and so I've started to make a "wrought iron" gate and a tiny little picket fence.  (Pictures coming soon.)  It looks as though I'm going to have a very small front garden!

A Local(ish) Dolls House Shop!

The internet is a wonderful place for sourcing miniatures and you can get some great bargains and ideas, but I've always been a bit old fashioned and I would love to go to a dolls house shop in real life.  To that end, since April I've been looking for a dolls house shop that I can physically go to and indulge my imagination and inspiration.  Sadly most appear to have gone out of business.  Believe it or not, within a 40 mile radius of my home, shops in Byfleet Surrey, Dorking Surrey, Twyford Berkshire, Lingfield Surrey, Shepperton Middlesex and Farnham Hampshire are no longer there.  

Whilst planning my holiday to Devon I even Googled dolls house shops in Barnstaple, only to discover that the two that I found online were no longer.

But GOOD NEWS!  I've found a dolls house shop in Steyning, West Sussex that is still open!  It's an hour and twenty minute drive there, but it's going to be worth it.

 HURRAY!

So tomorrow I'm off to a shop that is dedicated to our love of everything mini!

I can't wait and just had to share my excitement with my followers!  

And there's 27 of you!  I'm so proud that 27 of you want to watch my progress.

THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING MY BLOG.

:-)

I can't wait to show you tomorrow what I've bought (it would be foolish to assume that I won't buy anything wouldn't it!)

Dining Room

I've spent all day on the dining room and my eyes are sore from concentrating so much on trying to get the skirting around the fireplace to look right!  Thank goodness for Polyfilla and cocktail sticks to apply it with!

It's not perfect, but with a little bit more filler, a good sanding and another coat of paint, once the carpet is down, I reckon it'll pass.

I found this gorgeous little mother-of-pearl seahorse in my Mum's bead box (she lent it to me when she learned I of my mini-ing.)

I then decided that he was wasted just sitting on the mantlepiece like that, so with a couple of matchsticks, I built him a picture frame to go in.  His frame also matches the one above which houses a dried flower that was in a box of "things that might come in useful one day" that my Mum also gave me!

And another bead from Mum's box made a perfect "porcelain" vase!

The room is really starting to come together and so I put the dresser and the table and chairs back in to have another sneak preview!

Right, that's it.  No more computers or miniatures for me today.  My eyes need a rest (and probably a trip to the optician soon too!)

Fireplace & Chimney Breast - Dining Room

One thing that has always niggled at me when looking around peoples real life houses is when you see a fireplace that looks like it has been "stuck" on the wall.  If you're going to go to the trouble of building a false fireplace for a gas or electric fire, then why  not go to the trouble of building a false chimney breast too?  Fireplaces against chimney breasts look far more authentic and, to me, a fireplace without a chimney breast is naked!

With that in mind, I set about building a chimney breast for my dining room and so out came my trusty balsa wood again!

I had bought a plain wood fireplace from Ebay...

...and painstakingly painted it and stained it to match the internal doors in my house.

but I still didn't like it when I put it in place so I built an overmantle to go with it...

Now that's better!

I then chose a wallpaper from www.jennifersprintables.com where you can download and print off wallpaper for free!

The wallpaper is going on the chimney breast alone.  The other walls will have a sage green below the picture rail and a very pale green above.

and then I couldn't resist putting some furniture in (temporarily) to get a sneak preview of what it will look like.  I do like my sneak previews!