Monday 31 July 2017

Brand New Project - J.R. Art Gallery

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are all fine and enjoying your Summer. It has been a while since my last post. Took a short break and for good reasons. Have been busy with the last few details for the new home of my dolls house collection. It's finally at the end and so I think in just 2 weeks the dolls houses will start being sorted out. In the meantime I have been making  lots of new miniatures.

Finally I have started working on my new dolls house project called the J.R. Art Gallery.


I am really excited about this project. It is very sentimental and special to me and it is going to be part of my beloved Regent Street. Miss Leah is looking forward to see the new corner shop being fixed and taking shape.

At first I had quite a few ideas for it. I thought of making two shops on top of each other. I thought about a Cobblers shop and a clock maker. A few weeks ago everything changed, everything evaporated and the more I thought about the new idea that was planted, the more I wanted it and was eager to start. I started off  by dry building it. It is something I always do. I enjoy studying the building, having the feel of it,  to see what sort of shop I would do. I scraped the idea of two shops on top of each other. The art gallery situated in the ground floor and on top the quarters of the artist. 


The two part corner shop is another Dolls House Emporium kit. I was surprised with it's big size for just the two rooms. I took a few notes of what material I needed. Sketched a rough drawing with the colors of the outside. I knew from the start that there would be an alteration to the kit.


The first thing that I didn't like was that ridiculous staircase, especially the under space. A waste of space I would say and no character whatsoever. Being in kit form there is always room for improvement. 

As I started working on the shop. I have opened the wall below the stair case so a door can fit in and I have added another wall to the side of the staircase. Like always I have gave an undercoat of white paint to all the pieces.


I hate using paper for the outside of any dolls house. I have learnt the hard way and through my own experience they don't look realistic at all. I have painted part of the walls in grey especially the parts where the brick compound was going to cover. For this building I was going for a red brick using the stencil method.


After all walls were bricked and dried, I shaded a few of the bricks with pastel colors. I think they look more realistic.


Once those were done I painted the shop windows and door in forest green. Still I have to shade them with some dark color to make them look more weathered.  I have designed the shop sign and I really liked how it turned out.




When those were done. I moved on to the staircase. I have tried a door for the underneath and  fitted the new wall to the side. It looked good to me.



The staircase was going to present itself with a challenge of it's own. I wanted it to look realistic especially on the outside with a brick wall. The only thing I came up with is using wood plaster. It was the first time that I tried it on a staircase. This would only give the effect of a staircase being rough and uneven.



Once the staircase was plastered and dried I have painted it.


While I left the staircase to dry. I finished off the new side wall with bricks and I was quite pleased with the results. I still need to add more detail to walls, make them look more weathered and dirty especially with the style of the staircase. Most probably I will be doing that when the full building is ready. 




Finally I added the green trimmings around the outside walls of the shop and for the first part, I think it looks quite good.




This is all for today. Hopefully I will start working on the top floor before I start working on the inside. I can't wait to see it all done from the outside. So keep tuned for the next update of this new project. 

Take Care and See you Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx


Wednesday 12 July 2017

My Miniature Visit to the United Kingdom

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are having a good week and are enjoying your summer.  Kids are off from school and so I get to spend more time with them.  The temperature is quite hot at the moment and we are expecting more of that. In the mean time  I am preparing for my new dolls house project.

I haven't been around lately and for a good reason. I got to spend three days in London. It has been 11 years since I have been there and I love it. I have to admit it has been very very exhausting trying to fit in everything in a three day time frame.  Apart from that I was all prepared to look for what I love the most.


In this trip there were quite a few firsts for me that I looked forward to with all my heart. So last Thursday I arrived in London, really excited to see my favorite show at The O2 Arena. I guess it was once in a life time experience to see Mrs. Brown's Boys Live. An experience that I will never forget. No matter how many times I see Mrs. Brown's Boys, they always make me laugh.

At The O2 Arena

Early Friday morning, was an adventure that I have been waiting for quite some time. There was no way I was going to miss the Queen Mary's Dolls House. We set out to Windsor Castle by train and finally I got to see the most beautiful dolls house I ever seen.

At Windsor Castle



It was magical. I felt like a little girl being there, and honestly I got emotional when I set my eyes upon it. I could have spent hours looking at it. Taking it all in. Unfortunately no photos could be taken.

The Queen Mary's Dolls House


From there I got The Queen Mary's Dolls House Official Souvenir Guide and a  miniature book of Sherlock Holmes How Watson Learnt the Trick with it's booklet.






I also got to see the queen's dolls with their amazing wardrobe. The state rooms were pretty amazing with all the beautiful antiques and riches. I wished that that moment could have lasted forever. Now I  can continue working on The Queen Mary's Diorama and finish it off. 

Friday evening I got to visit some other places and very close to Oxford Street I got to see this amazing Tudor building. I was impressed. It was the first time that I have seen this type of building and finally I got to see the chimneys that fascinate me with their details. 





Saturday was my last day in London and I had another goal that I wanted to reach before I headed back to my Maltese Island. I have seen a Dolls House Documentary a few months ago were I got to see Kristin Baybars Toy Shop. I was so taken with her shop and I had it marked to visit if I ever made it to London. So you can all imagine where I was heading too.

Kristin Baybars shop was easy to find. The minute I was out of the train station, there it was across the street.


I entered the shop and I have recognized Kristin immediately. For some reason Kristin sensed that I was a Miniaturist and she lead me to her more sophisticated miniatures. I was speechless. For starters it was my very first time in my entire life that I have entered a miniature shop 

Kristin Baybars
Kristin and I talked about so many things, about her experiences, about the hobby and the passion for miniatures. I could have spent the whole day with her looking in every nook and cranny of her shop. 







Just before I left I got to see her dolls house collection at the back of her shop. There was so much to see.

Kristin Baybars Dolls House Collection
From the shop I have gotten myself three very delicate one of a kind pieces. I fell in love with them immediately. 








I guess that was my trip to the Uk. I have to admit I was very exhausted as soon as I arrived back but it was all worth it. I loved every minute of it and finally I got to experience something that I have been longing for. A big thank you goes to my husband that patiently he stood by me and also had to endure my miniature visits.  

So this is all for today. Hopefully I will get to work on the Diorama. I still need to add more to it and also start working on the new dolls house project. Keep tuned for the next updates.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx