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!

Kitchen - Finito!

This week I found a little piece of furniture that I had previously bought to use as a book case, but had never got round to painting or varnishing.  I painted the top and bottom to match the kitchen units and waxed the bare wood and I now have a pan rack.

As you can see, my fridge freezer arrived too and it was packed full with little bits of food.

And I added a few little bits and pieces (kettle, toaster, microwave, smoothie maker, pedal bin etc) to give the kitchen that authentic look.

Over time, I may add a few more bits (maybe hanging mugs from under the wall units or adding the odd bottle of washing up liquid) but for now, that's my kitchen done.

I now move on to the dining room.

Kitchen Units

The day I made the kitchen units up was the day that my partner borrowed my camera to go to a charity salsa do, so I don't have pictures of them as I was going along.  I spent an entire day working on them though (eleven hours I think!) and they look fabulous now.  Glued, painted, sanded, painted, waxed, and some of the handles put on...

I couldn't resist just placing a couple of the base units in the kitchen to get a sneak preview of the room.

Then I dedicated yesterday evening to finishing off the units, gluing them all into place and tiling with more mosaic tiles bought from Hobbycraft.

 The tiling has started.

 

 The tiling all finished.

I was originally going to have a wall unit above the base unit on the left, but I decided that it might look a bit crowded and so I've left it.  I may put a plate or pan rack above instead.  The fridge freezer has been ordered and will go just beyond the unit on the left.

I also have a few accessories on their way; a kettle, toaster and microwave.  I'm sure that filling it with all the stuff a proper kitchen would have, will just finish it off perfectly.

Just have to say thank you again to www.elfminiatures.co.uk for the wonderful kitchen kit.

Holidays and Floor Boards

I'm so sorry that it's been over a month since I last blogged.  I've been so busy.  We went on holiday for a week during June; a beautiful little cottage in North Devon.  Goose just loved showing off his running skills along Saunton Sands; people actually stopped walking to watch him!  The speed of a greyhound is amazing, the cheatah is the only land animal in the world that's faster.

Just had to put a picture of Goose in - we'll get back the house now.

So initially I blocked up the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen, painted the walls and then decided on how I was going to do the flooring.  The floor in the hall looks lovely, but it was purpose-bought floor boards and was very expensive.  This time I decided to make my own.  I bought "Jumbo Lolly Sticks" from Hobbycraft, cut off the round ends and voila! I had floor boards!   I then cut out the back of a cereal packet to the right size of the room and glued the floor boards onto that, varnished in beech and slid it into the kitchen!

I'm very proud of my kitchen floor that cost 1/10th of the price of the hall floor and better than that, I did it!

Oh My!

My kitchen kit from http://www.elfminiatures.co.uk/ arrived today.  I feel like a child at Christmas!  I can't wait until the weekend when I can start on it...

...but look at all the parts!!!

 The instructions, though very long, are consise and once again, Elizabeth has added a personal note in with the parts where she's come up with another suggestion for making it look a little better.

By the way, every step of the order was communicated very well and the kit arrived the very next day after paying for it.

Last weekend I managed to get the extra tiles I needed to finish off the outside wall of the bathroom and I fixed in my window in the bathroom.

Here is a picture of the bathroom looking from above the door towards the outside wall (the ceiling isn't on yet!)

The chair outside the window is a little scary, it must be 30ft high!!

I also managed to get the picture rails on in the landing, just got the skirting to do now!

Roll on the weekend!  I'm so excited!!!

I'm Itchin' To Do The Kitchen!

Well my kitchen plans have changed over and over again!  I was planning to make my own and had it all worked out in my head and on paper.  Then disaster struck when I costed it.  What I initially thought was going to be a budget kitchen as I'd make it all myself, turned out to be quite the opposite.

So I've given in (and am really excited and pleased that I have!) and have planned and ordered my kitchen kit from Elizabeth Le Pla at Elf Miniatures, which will firstly look far better than a home built one and secondly (and surprisingly) will cost me less!

I cannot rate Elizabeth's speedy response to my emails highly enough and the level of service I have received so far is unsurpassable.

I sent Elizabeth an email with a scanned sketched plan of my kitchen (quite a rough one at that!) and a list of all the parts that I thought I needed.  Within the hour she had replied with a couple of suggestions of things that I had forgotten which the kitchen would not look realistic without and also showed me a way of changing a couple of cabinets to save a bit of money too!  She ensured that I had enough length in my kitchen for the worktop to overlap a little and also gave solutions if I didn't have the length required. 

From the few emails Elizabeth and I have exchanged, I can already tell that this lady obviously takes great pride in her work, has a passion for what she does and must (yes MUST!) get a lot of her business from repeat customers and word of mouth.

http://www.elfminiatures.co.uk/

Kitchen aside, this weekend I will be working on odd jobs, such as the outside wall of the bathroom which didn't get done as I ran out of tiles.  The picture rails and skirting on the landing.  And making curtains for the bedroom to match the duvet I made last weekend.

I'm not too sure how much I will get done this weekend, as a lot of time is already planned for my Maxi life which leaves little time for my Mini life.  But I'm sure that with the bank holiday Monday, I'll find time to get some bits done.

It's A Dog's Life

And ok, this isn't dolls house related, but he looked so cute after his bath this afternoon, that I just had to show you all a picture of Goose.

He gets INTO our bed after a bath to help keep his skinny little lurcher body the right temperature!  Just as well Sunday evening is clean bed cover time isn't it, little rascal!



A Stitch In Time

I don't feel like I've achieved much this weekend, but that's probably just down to the fact that the last two weekends were so grand in the mini scheme of things (the hall and the bathroom) that until I do the kitchen, it'll all seem quite slow.

Slow is good though as it gives me time to aquire more inspiration and to work out in my head how I'm going to make the kitchen.

Talking of inspiration, I checked on the internet to find my closest dolls house shop.  The closest one to me that kept coming up on Google was Small Talk in Shepperton.  So on Saturday morning, I got in my car quite excited at the prospect of being totally surrounded by mini-everythings.  It's about a 25 minute drive to Shepperton, but when I got there, Small Talk was no where to be found.

I went into the local hardware shop (next door to said address) and they told me that it closed down quite some time ago.  Oh NO!!!!

So, I drove all the way home again somewhat disappointed.

Never one to let disappointment last for long, I went into our local Haberdashery (Needle & Thread in Horsell Village) and bought some off-cuts of material.

I've since made a duvet and pillows for the master bedroom and a duvet, pillow and matching blind for the second bedroom.

YIPPEE!!

I don't think I'm going to use this bed in the house... or maybe I'll paint it... not sure yet.

My single bed duvet and pillow in lilac gingham and a dark mauve.

My blind.  The top is a satay chicken skewer that came with my Chinese meal on Friday evening and the bead at the bottom was from an old necklace of Mario's!  (Waste not, want not!)