The Grodnertal Doll Sisters

Hello Everyone,

Hope you are all well and that you are enjoying your weekend! Before I start, I want to welcome the new followers of the blog. Welcome!

I couldn't wait to share with you something that I received by post yesterday afternoon. I am so excited to have them. I call them the Grodnetal Doll Sisters which I have named Val and Clem short for Valentine and Clementine.

It happens to me quite often when I am surfing the internet looking for something and end up finding something unrelated. E-Bay; a dangerous place for me. I really try hard to stay away from there especially when it comes to miniatures.

I found a pair on tiny antique, intricately carved dolls.  They are called Grodnertal Peg wooden Dolls  or even known as Dutch Dolls and are made in Germany.

Today they arrived in their glass case and I was blown away with the tiny little things.

The pair are only two centimeters high with painted features and real hair. They come with their original dresses and have been preserved and kept together in this glass case. Believe it or not they go way back since 1870. Coincidence???!!!

I wonder to whom they belonged to years back. I wonder if there was a little girl who played with them and kept them in the case together for safe keeping, so she wouldn't lose them. I want to think of the dolls of being sisters that have been together for almost 150 years. For some reason Val (the doll in the green dress) gives me the impression that she is the older sister, the one who is more superior, more protective to her younger sister. Clem on the other hand is the devoted one,  loving and looks up to her older sister. 

I kept looking at the tiny dolls and wonder what I would do with them. The '1870' kept ringing in my head which only meant that the two had to be part of The Miniaturist project. Lady Adelaide was thrilled with the dolls. She wanted them to be part of her collection and still I wasn't sure where to fit them. 

Being preserved in a glass case for all these years I wouldn't have them displayed in open air. I remembered I had gotten a few glass domes from the Big Event dolls house fair in The Netherlands last year in October and I thought they would be ideal for the dolls. I didn't want to separate the two sisters; that would be heart breaking! So now they are under one dome together happy in a new home. 

I wasn't sure of the table in the middle of the room. So I found a better pedestal table and found the right spot for them in the Miniaturist Room. 

I am so happy to have them. part to my collection. 

This is all for today. Hope you found them interesting. I can't wait to share with you the new project. I am still sketching and seeing the possibilities of the building, so make sure to keep tuned for updates and more. 

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Closing the Curtains to The Dickens Books Shop & The Miniaturist

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Here in Malta is basically Summer! Wonderfully Sunny and Hot. Great for swimming and a stroll by the sea in the evening. Can't wait for the kids to get their summer break from school. I enjoy spending some quality time with them. 

Today I get to share with you the final post on the three room boxes; The Dickens Book Shop, The Miniaturist and The Miniaturist's Bedroom which have been shared on the Tv Show 'Life & Style' on the Maltese Channel Net TV. 

What I love about these three room boxes that I got to design them myself and make them fit on top of each other so eventually I could turn them in a one project which now is called 'The Dickens Book Shop & The Miniaturist'.

In the last episode on the 'Life & Style' I shared the bedroom which completed the whole project. I have added the room box to the rest and fixed the lights in place. 

Once the roof was in place over the other rooms. I have noticed that the building on the outside needed something more to make it look as a whole unit and not just boxes on top of each other.

The roof on top of the below room box

I didn't like it one bit so I added the trimmings at the front and on the side walls were the rooms meet.

There was something missing in the front especially between the windows on the first floor. It looked to plain and too empty. I couldn't think of anything until I looked at the library and saw the portrait of Charles Dickens. The man actually inspired me to make a wall plaque. 

 Today 149 years ago, to be precise Thursday, 9th June 1870 the world lost one of the most amazing authors, Charles Dickens at the very young age of 58. The man never fully recovered from his train accident which happened a few years before. I knew that day was close so I decided to make a wall plaque with the year '1870' using polymer clay. 

It fitted in so perfectly and added that little detail. 

Being satisfied with the new details, the project was complete and the three room boxes became one dolls house. 

Here are some pictures of the whole structure and the complete rooms. 

The Dickens Book Shop

The Miniaturist

The Miniaturist's Bedroom

Finally The whole dolls house now stands proudly next to The Master Swordsman Pub & Inn in my Regent Street. 

I still can't believe that I actually  completed it and to think that I shared it's progress through a whole season on a Tv show. In June 'Life & Style' comes to an end for the Summer Holidays. 

Update post 11th June 2019

Today The Dolls House Emporium also featured the complete project on their Facebook Page. Thank you DHE for the feature and for being my greatest inspiration throughout the years!

I hope you have enjoyed this project as much as I did. It is hard saying goodbye to it especially when it took me seven months to complete. Now I am looking forward to start a new project during the summer months. Make sure to keep tuned for the new updates on my blog and definitely for the new dolls house.  

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Completing the Miniaturist Bedroom - Part 3 on 'Life & Style' Tv Show

Hello Everyone,

Hope you are all well and that you are enjoying your weekend. Today being the first day of June, Mother Nature blessed us with a beautiful warm day. Finally my blazing Summer is here!

Today I will be sharing with you the complete Miniaturist's Bedroom. The bedroom will be the last room added to the whole building. Like the other projects it was also shared on  ther 'Life & Style' Tv Show on Net Tv. 

The room still needed a few pieces and accessories. The most important piece of the room was actually the bed itself. I am so pleased how it turned out. I have made some big adjustments to the metal pieces and have dressed up the bed with fabric and lace to match the room.

With the bed in place I started adding the rest of the accessories.

I have made some hat boxes to fill the room and also painted a pair of pewter slippers.

I was looking forward to decorated the small desk which opens up to a dressing table. I have used beads to make the small perfume bottles and even printed a few envelopes and cards for the setting. 

As the walls were slanting I didn't add any wall frames apart from one that is hanging on top of the fire place. The frame holds a printed canvas picture of a lady with an angel.  It was one of the reasons why I decorated most of the furniture in the room. I needed to give the room some coloring and warmth. 

My favorite miniature is the hand painted mantel clock  that my father has painted almost a year ago. 

The remaining pieces were the curtains and pelmets for the windows. I used the same fabric that I used for the bedding.

The day arrived that I had to share the complete room box on the 'Life & Style' Tv Show with Charles Saliba.

Charles Saliba and I during the show.

Here are the three video slots during the tv show.

Completing the Miniaturist Bedroom.

Finally, here are some photos of the finished bedroom.

I really hope you like what I have done to this room. I will be sharing with you the project as a whole in the next post, so make sure to keep tuned for the next update. I am really happy with it. 

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

The Miniaturist's Bedroom - Part 2 on Life & Style

Hello everyone,

Here I am once again with a new update on The Miniaturist project. Hope you are all doing well and had a great weekend. Finally mother nature has blessed us with some sunshine.

Over a week ago,  I got to share the progress of the inside of the roof on the 'Life & Style' TV Show on Net TV.

As a few of you already know that the roof of the building will be turned into The Miniaturist's Bedroom which will be part of the other room boxes The Dickens Book Shop and The Miniaturist.

I started by decorating the bedroom with the wall paper that I printed and chose a pink marbled tiled flooring.

I liked the combination of the wallpaper and the flooring together especially when I pictured the room with wood paneling. The paneling gave the room more warmth. I also added a false door on the back wall. Just like the Miniaturist room box, the door gives the room more depth and the illusion that behind the door there is this imaginary staircase or other rooms.

Once the paneling and door were stained, I wanted to add a corner fireplace to the room. I had a very cheap fireplace which I never bothered to use, but adding more to it and building a wooden surround around it, made a huge difference. Finally I found a place for it in this project. An additional wall was needed for the fireplace to be placed in the corner.

After the fire place was set in place, I worked on the ceiling and the lighting and by doing so, the room was all set for its furniture and accessories.

I started working on the first furniture piece which was the wardrobe. I wanted it to be as unique as possible, rich in color and that stands out. This is what I have managed to achieve.

For the show I wanted to add something more and I added a few hanging dresses within the wardrobe I thought it would give that little extra detail to the wardrobe itself. I got myself busy and made three simple dresses on hangers.

The last piece of furniture that I worked on was the desk which opens up as a dressing table with a matching chair. I totally loved how this turned out.

Finally it was time to share all this on the 'Life & Style' TV Show with Charles Saliba and Marbeck Spiteri.

Here is the Video Clips during the show.

I am really happy how the room has turned out. These are a few more pictures of the bedroom.

I hope you like the room so far. I can't wait to have it all done with the remaining pieces and accessories. Keep tuned for the next update on the progress of the Miniaturist's Bedroom.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx