Friday 29 May 2015

Finishing Outside No 35 Leah's

Hello my dear friends,

Once again another month has gone by and we are getting closer to summer and the warm weather. Mother nature can't make up her mind and she is taking her time to bring the warm weather. One day it seems to be really nice and the next day well let's say it's a bit of a mixture between gloomy and cold. Thanks to this type of mix up I ended up with a terrible cold in the past week. The doctor told me that it was to be expected as my immune system is down to the bottom due to my new health problems. Well even though my new life style regarding health isn't really what I wished for at least I still get to make my miniatures. I use my little free time to concentrate more on my projects than staring at a screen on my computer or doing something which isn't that important as my hobby. Sometimes you can get carried away and totally get lost on the computer. So I drew a line.

I almost forgot I wanted to welcome 3 new followers on my blog Alexandra M, Kaleidoscopic Romance and  Wanda. WELCOME.

The 5 Give Aways Winners
I also wanted to let you know that the 5 winners for the Love Quote book kit are Cheryl Cunlife, Dawn Hamilton, Sue McKenzie, Fabiola Benocci and Ellie Stevens. Those who haven't contact me please send me an email or message me on Face Book with your details so I can send it to you.

My Miniature World Forum
As you might have noticed on the Home Page of my blog now My Miniature World has it's own Forum. This will be useful for those who don't have a facebook page and want to share their miniature creations and dolls house projects. All you have to do is click on this link My Miniature World Forum and register to take part. 

Here we are once again with No 35 Leah's, I am very happy to say that the little house of Miss Leah is finally finished on the outside. It fitted in so well with the boutique and I am just thrilled.

Miss Leah's Boutique and No 35 Leah's.

After all the brick work was done, I needed to add the last few brick trimmings around the edges and I built the dormer window which also need the brick finishing.

Adding the dormer and brick work
When that was all done it was time to start shading the brick work to match Miss Leah's Boutique. I have used a mouse grey acrylic paint and shaded every brick. Then I added some brown shading to various bricks to give it that weathered look and at least the brick work wouldn't look boring.

Shading the Walls

The side walls

The front
When the walls where complete with all the shading it was time to start working on the roof tiles of the property. I had to tile the small roofs of the bay window, the dormer and the slanting roof. After  tiling the roof which took me almost half a day, I painted them in grey and dirtied them with a little brown.

Tiling the roof
On the top of the roof I have also completed the chimney which needed some details with bricking and shading to give it a more realistic look. I added the batons on the flat part of the roof and painted it with grey and gave it a weathered look by dry brushing with browns.

The Chimney and batons

The roof

The last thing to add was the brick work on the pavement. These where made by me with cardboard from a cereal box and painted it with different shadings like grey, dark brown, light brown and a little green. Then I cut the cardboard into small rectangles. It does give a very nice touch to the outside. I have also added a front door step.

The pavement.
And so here is the completed house from the outside and the two properties together really look great. You wouldn't even believe that this was actually a barn kit. Miss Leah is really really happy with it and she is so looking forward to start working on the inside.

Here are the pictures.










So this is all for today. Next time we meet we will start working on the inside of the little building and Miss Leah's will be joining us with one of her Diary entries. So make sure to keep tuned.

Wishing you all a very nice weekend.

Take Care and See you soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx





















Sunday 17 May 2015

Summer Project - The Fairy Garden

Hello my dear friends,

Hope you have all enjoyed your weekend. I am feeling slightly better or at least I am getting used to the idea of my new me and my weaknesses. Still this won't put me down. As long as I can still manage some miniature work. At the moment I am waiting for some supplies to continue  with Miss Leah's new home. Today I will be sharing with you a short post and something completely different from the usual. 

We had a nice Springy Saturday and I thought that it was about time to do some gardening on my roof garden. I have managed to clean the weeds, dead leaves, changing pots and whatever gardening brings with it. I have totally enjoyed it until one of my terracotta pots slipped from my fingers. Well at least it didn't come into pieces but it was definitely not to be re used. 

Broken terracotta pot
A good idea came to my mind as I have seen them before. I thought of using this broken pot for a fairy garden. The pot itself wasn't big so I couldn't elaborate and for the first try it was just right.

Building the first wall
Firstly I started building the inner walls using the big broken pieces of the pot and started to fill in the pot with soil and compost.

Building the steps

Then I started building the steps with soil and with the smaller broken pieces. The soil does keep all the pieces in place.

Adding cuttings to the pot


I have added some plant cuttings. I didn't want to over do it with the little plants as they do actually over take the plants. So for now they will do for now.

The fairy houses 
I have made two miniature toad stools fairy houses out of polymer clay. They just fitted in perfectly.
I also added some glass stones  and tiny pebbles on the soil and it was done. This is how it all looks.

The finished Fairy Garden





I might be adding some more to it but I have to wait and see what will happen once the little cuttings start growing. I am really happy how it turned out. 

I hope you like it. Next time I will be sharing more of Leah's progress so please do keep tuned.

Take Care and See You soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Finally! The beginning of No. 35 Leah's

Hello folks,

Here we are once again. I hope you all mummy ladies had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was a bit unusual compared to the other years. I spent most of the morning running more blood tests at hospital but then I got to spend the afternoon with the kids and my husband. I am still looking at the situation positively. The last few weeks have been tough but I am quiet persistent and I don't give up that easily. Now I am just hoping for the better days.

I wanted to welcome 3 new followers to my blog; Eneha, Collette Garland and Ellie Stevens WELCOME! I am very happy as over the weekend My Miniature World on Face book has reached over 1,025 Likes. I am so thankful. My Miniature World Group on Face Book is also growing and in the last 9 months we have over 265 members. This is a friendly group where everyone can join in and share their miniatures and projects. Also we get to make new friends, share tips and inspiration. 

I also wanted to show my appreciation to you followers both on the blog and Face Book by giving away 5 book kits which is the 'Love Quotes'. So to get a chance to win one of the kits you have to follow my blog and write a comment on this post. Winners will be announce after 20th May.  

5 Love Quotes Book Kit Give Aways
 Like I promised, finally we come to the new project. No 35 Leah's. Some of you already know the story about Miss Leah and her wonderful boutique. Miss Leah was fortunate enough to get her own little property No. 35 in Regent Street just next to her Boutique.


 Last Christmas, my husband has gotten me the Barn Kit by the Dolls House Emporium which was just right to transform it into a small living quarters for Miss Leah.

Christmas present from my husband.
All in all it has quite a good size and it is just right for what I need. The barn itself does look like a barn but I had to make some significant alterations to the kit. I am not going to let our dear Miss Leah living in a barn.


 This is how the barn kit looks like finished out side and inside.


 The first thing that I did was to dry built the kit just next to the boutique to study it and to see what would be ideal to add. The first alteration was definitely the front. The barn door had to go for sure. 

The Barn kit next to the boutique

Starting some of the alterations

The inside of the barn
For some reason I still wasn't happy with the door or windows. I needed something richer especially when it is going to be right next to the Boutique and let's face it Miss Leah deserves much better. I wanted something to match a bit more to the boutique. Another thing that had to be changed was the stair case. So I went for the normal type which I will be adding to it posts and a railing. 

New Staircase
I gave an undercoat paint to the whole building and also started stenciling the sides and the front of the building to match the boutique. I still need to shade the brick work and add some more trimmings to give it a nicer finish. I also decided to add the chimney pots with base to go on top of the roof. Miss Leah will be having a range and a fire place so a chimney  was a must.

Started stenciling the walls

Painting the inside

Chimney posts and base on top of the roof
After the sides where bricked, I was still concerned about the front. I wasn't sure about a simple door and a window. It just didn't add up especially when you see the two properties together. I wanted the door on the right hand side which would come just in front of the stair case. Then a better idea came to mind and I went for a Victorian bay window to put instead of the barn door. I had to add more wood to close the open space of the barn door and I had to make the window opening wider so the door will fit. I had chosen a nicer door for the front with stained glass and a matching toothed coving trimming.  It looked much richer and added some more character to the whole building. Just like the boutique I also added the Toothed coving trimming to the front. To add a little bit more I also ordered a name plaque for the building  with "35 Leah's". Finally I painted the door and the window in the same color as the boutique. So far I am happy how it looks. Here is the little property and how it looks so far.

No 35 Leah's

The side walls

The front door with stained glass

The Bay Window

The front.
There is still lots of work to do on the outside but so far I am just thrilled. At least it doesn't look like a barn anymore. I am taking it a bit slowly due to my health and I don't want to over do it. I am looking forward to do more. Next time we will meet hopefully I will complete the outside and we will get to meet Miss Leah in one of her diary posts, so keep tuned for more updates.

Take Care and See you real soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Monday 4 May 2015

My Miss Lydia Pickett Collection in 1:48 scale

Hello friends,

Another week has passed and well now I am in the phase where I am accepting my new health issue. There isn't much I can do about it but to surrender myself and embrace the new challenge that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I am not the type to give up easily especially when I have a wonderful family and friends that support me. Yesterday was the first day that I felt pretty much myself and it is very encouraging. I won't push myself but will take it day by day. 

I also want to thank those lovely people that have sent me emails full of encouragement and warm wishes during the week. I don't have words to thank you enough. I truly appreciate it. I also wanted to thank the Facebook fans for the lovely messages and this week My Miniature World has reached it's 900 likes. I have started working on some minor works on the new project of Miss Leah's new house. Hopefully I will be sharing some of it's progress next week. 

Due to the circumstances, today I will be sharing with you what I have been up to in the last few weeks.  I have had Pickett Hill Cottage's kit in 1:48 for some time and I thought that it will be good to keep it as a side project when days will come a bit tough. I haven't started building the lovely house but I have started building and painting a few furniture kits.

Here is a few pictures of the Pickett Hill Cottage kit that I will eventually built.





 
Before starting the house I gave a go to a few furniture pieces. I never built in 1:48 scale so this is my first trial. I started with the main bedroom of the house. 

Fancy dresser and side table

My first pieces was the fancy dresser and the side table. The pieces are quite small and fiddly but I have enjoyed assembling them.











Wardrobe




Then I gave a go with the wardrobe and tots. The wardrobe does actually have a working door and drawer. 









Main Bed with foot stool


Then came the main bed with the lovely stool to put at the foot board. There is also the tiny little bed for the dog and cat.

The Dog and cat bed














I have completed all the pieces for the bed room. I might add another bedside table and I will try to add a tallboy if it will fit in. And here is the complete set of the main bed room.

The Main Bedroom furniture.
Then I have started working on the little girl's bed room. The little girl's name is Emma. I started working firstly on her bed and matching wardrobe. I am so in love with this little room's furniture.

The bed and wardrobe

I have managed to add the little details for the bed and make the little blanket look realistic as possible. 









Emma has some lovely toy furniture for her room. She has a small toy kitchen which belonged to her mum when she was a child. She has a small table and chairs, A little shelf with her favorite dress and toys. She also has a tiny dolls house and her tiny doll that comes in a trunk with a fancy dress and a bed for the tiny doll. Emma's favorite doll is called Lea. What a coincidence!

The Toy Kitchen with the small table and chairs

The tiny shelf

The Tiny Dolls House


This is the smallest dolls house that I ever built.
The doll in the trunk with bed










And here is the whole set of Emma's bed room. 

Emma's room furniture



So this is what I did so far. Like I said this is just a side project to keep me a bit busy until I can gather my strength and for those bad days when I won't be able to do much.

So this is all for today. Hopefully next week I will be sharing with you the first stages of  No 35, Miss Leah's House. Keep tuned for the next update.

Take Care and see you soon.

Hugs

Rebecca xxx