1904 Antique Miniature Book

Hello Everyone,

Once again another week has passed by and now here we are in the last weekend of January. Time does go by fast. Hope you are all fine and keeping warm. It has been very cold here. Winter is just not my cup of tea. Can't wait for my warmer days. 

Today I will be sharing with you my latest treasure that crossed my path without me looking for it. Funnily enough it came to me just at the right time, after I completed The Dickens Book Shop project.

 The little antique miniature book is 115 years old and it is called The Cricket on The Hearth by Charles Dickens. It is one of my favorite books by the author.

It has a soft leather cover which has seen better days, but I have to admit that the book is in pristine condition considering it's age. 

The book goes way back since 1904.

It has fine paper and is fully readable and has eight beautiful illustrations. 

The pages of the book are also edged with gold. 

I have to admit I am very happy with it. 

This miniature book inspired me to make another miniature readable book called, The Toymaker and His Blind daughter from The Cricket on The Hearth by Charles Dickens. It is an extract of the same  book. The nice thing about The Dickens Book Shop project is that it will never be complete. I  will keep on adding more of my own books and there will be several more books of Charles Dickens. 

Talking about the Dickens Book Shop project, I also wanted to share with you that the Dolls House Emporium have shared this project of their facebook page and other social media.

Thank you so much Dolls House Emporium for sharing and enjoying my work.

Hope you have liked the miniature book. Keep tuned for the next update on The Traditional Dolls House as Leah and I will continue working on it during the weekend. 

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Part 6 - Completing The Dickens Book Shop on the Life & Style TV Show

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are enjoying your weekend. It's been quite cold here. Can't wait for Spring time. 

Today I will be sharing with you the complete room box 'The Dickens Book Shop'. The room box was completed on the 'Life & Style' TV Show on the NET TV Maltese Channel. 

The TV Show was aired 2 weeks ago where I completed the project with the last additions to the Library.

The last additions to the library were more books, hand painted miniatures, other small accessories and my latest piece the Book press. 

Here is the introduction of the tv show. 

For the last tv show for the library, I wanted something eye catching so I wanted to create a miniature Book Press. I was running out of time and I wasn't sure that I would have succeeded. I started by first creating a small table ideal for the book press using scrap wood that I found from my stash. 

Then I started working on the book press which was made with wood and tiny bits and pieces.  

Once it was built I stained it and painted it's components. I have to admit I love how it turned out at the end. 

I have also painted and weathered a small crate with small readable books. These are my new 1:24 scale miniature books but they still look nice in a 1:12 scale setting. 

Near  to the portrait of Charles Dickens I added a few scrolls that I made and I also added a small frame with the picture of Catherine Dickens; the beautiful wife of Charles Dickens. 

I have also added a few hand painted accessories to the desk, a few downsized letters that were written by Charles Dickens himself.  I have weathered some sheets of paper and also added a newspaper. 

Behind the desk you will find the librarian which was named after the son of Charles Dickens; Henry Dickens. Henry is another dolls made by my favorite doll maker Beverly Senatore.

The Librarian Henry Dickens

The second part of the TV Show was showing the audience the complete project. 

Here is the second part of the TV Show.

Completing the library, I thought that I was pretty much done and that my days on the TV Show were over. How wrong was I! During the show and even after I was off air, the producer approached me and wants me on the TV show on regular basis and keeping that in mind she wants me to start a new project on the show. From here I want to thank the Producer Joanne Tanti for giving me such an opportunity to share my work.

After the show I added the last piece to the library which was the world globe.

I had this cheep miniature globe which I totally hated as it looks so unrealistic and doesn't fit with the style of the library. 

Word Globe Before

So I took it in my stride to change it completely. I have totally gave it a make-over which suits the library better.

World Globe after the transformation

Here are a few pictures of the complete library. 

So now I am back at the drawing table, preparing for another room box which will be part of the library. The new room box is going to go right on top of the library. Eventually the whole building will be part of my Regent Street. 

As I will be busy working on this project and being tight with time, I will have to postpone my beloved 'Pembroke Grange'. It was a very hard decision to take. I pass from in front of dry built kit everyday, wanting to start working on it and I just don't have the time. 'Pembroke Grange' deserves so much better. It needs my full attention with no side projects to distract me. Like my other projects it deserves my whole heart and mind. Nevertheless it doesn't mean that I won't be working on another dolls house. I am thinking of bringing out the 'Ocean Drive' which is built already, but needs restoration and a new look with touches of my own.

This is all for today. Hope you have enjoyed The Dickens Book Shop. In the meantime I will continue working on The Traditional Dolls house. Keep tuned for the next update.

Take Care and See You Soon,

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx  

Part 5 - Life & Style TV Show - The Desk

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are all fine and had a great week. I am feeling much better even the weather here isn't helping too much. It's really cold and it has been raining for the past few days.

Today I wanted to share with you some more progress on 'The Dickens Book Shop' project that I have been working on. The progress of this project is being aired live on the TV Show Life & Style on the Maltese NET TV Channel. 

This was aired last Friday, but unfortunately the program wasn't recorded due to a mishap in the studio's control room. Sometimes it does happen! 

The library's desk was one of these bare wood pieces that it's design was meant to stay against a wall. The back of the desk was practically flat and as I wanted it to stand in a middle of the room I had to add more to it. 

 The first thing was to add strips of wood and shape them in the lower part of the desk.

Then I continued decorating the desk by adding more detail to match the book cases of the library and stained it in the same color.  On the surface of the desk I added a piece of painted textured cardboard to make it look like green leather. 

I was pleased with the out come and the desk does look rich in the library.

Once the desk was done I started working on the front of the shop. I have used one of these fronts and painted it in a green shade. 

The front was ideal for the shop and I kept on working on the side wall and even the floor front.

I also designed the shop sign for the front which I really like.

Here are a few photos of the complete shop front. 

The front now needs to be weathered to give it a bit more detail. 

This is all for today. I hope you like what I have done so far. I will be sharing with you today's tv show very soon which completes the library so make sure to keep tuned for the next and final update on the library. 

Wishing you all a very nice weekend.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx