Halloween at The Miniaturist

Hello everyone,

Are you all set for the Spooky night? Are the Jack-o-lanterns lit? Halloween here in Malta is pretty new and let's say its barely recognized, but it is being introduced and I can see a few children all dressed up in their Halloween costumes trick-o-treating in the streets.

Halloween in My Miniature World is not grand but there are a few houses that do enjoy decorating.  Regent Street is no exception! I can see that Mr. Rookie has dressed up his J.R. Art Gallery with some spooky paintings. Miss Leah has changed her mannequins' dresses with darker shades. Mrs. Ella has nicely decorated the toy shop for Halloween. 

Lady Adelaide is quite new to Regent Street. Actually it is her first Halloween here. Walking back home  she saw most of the shops had a touch of Halloween. Even The Dickens Book Shop had a few spooky books in the window.

She went to her room and looked at all her beautiful dolls houses and miniatures she created. The door leading to her kitchen was ajar and from there she could see the huge orange pumpkin that she won a few days ago at the fair. She smiled at it, as she didn't know what to do with it. She thought of sharing it with her neighbors. It was almost big as one of her dolls houses. Keeping that in mind she thought of doing something different; 'A Pumpkin House!'

She got up and and flung the kitchen door open. She  scooped out all the pumpkin. There was going to be a lot of pumpkin pie making and pumpkin soup to stew in the next couple of days. Instead of carving a jack-o-lantern she opened a door and two windows.  She decorated the front like all the pretty houses she had and her pumpkin house was done. 

I think Lady Adelaide did a good job. For the very first time in Regent Street there was a miniaturist that made a pumpkin house right in time for Halloween.

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween and a Spooky Fright Night!

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

The Georgian Display on "Illum Ma' Steph" TV Show

Hello everyone,

Hope you are having a good week. The weather is awful and we it has been raining including thunder and lightning. It is the perfect weather to stay inside, keeping warm and working on miniature projects.

Like I promised, today I will be sharing with a small new project that I did in just a couple of days for the TV Show "Illum Ma' Steph" (meaning "Today with Steph" ) for TVM Channel. 

Apart from sharing photos of my work on the show they wanted me to take one of my projects to the studio. As they are quite bulky to carry I thought of making a new miniature display which consisted of two walls and a flooring. I called this project The Georgian Display.

Georgian Display

A few days before I was working on a few furniture pieces that I am to use for my Pembroke Grange.

I had so much fun working on the sofa, the armchair with its matching stool and a chair. Apart from those I had also worked on a small hall table and a wine table with the only intention of using them for my ongoing Regency project.  

I needed to come with a small project fast so the setting had some borrowed accessories from my other projects.

All the other pieces are basically hand painted by my father or myself. which will also be part of Pembroke Grange and Mr. Rookie generously lent me a few art pieces from his J.R. Art Gallery.

The beautiful lady standing in a ballgown was made by my dear friend and doll maker Beverley Sanatore. I have had her for a couple of years saving her for a special project but last week she was brought out to shine in the spot light.

The show was a great success and it was great sharing my work  and a few of my projects with the telespectators.  

For those who would like to see my slot in the show here is the video clip.

I would like to thank Stephine Spiteri for inviting me to her show and giving me the opportunity to share my work. 

Here are some more photos of the Georgian Display.

I hope you like what I have done. It will be hard to put all the pieces back to their rightful projects. But I am pleased how it turned out for the show.

So this is all for today. Will be sharing an update about my Pembroke Grange very soon, maybe with the new furniture pieces that I used for the project. Make sure to keep tuned.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

'Cures & Remedies' Apothecary - Druggist Part 2 on 'Life & Style'

Hello everyone.

Hope you are all well and that you had a great weekend. Have been quite busy here working on my projects and miniatures. 

Like most of you know I am working on a second project called the 'Cures & Remedies' Apothecary - Druggist which its progress is being held at the NET TV Studios for the 'Life & Style' Tv show.  Eventually it will be part of my Victorian Street of Shops at Regent Street.

Two weeks ago I worked on the interior of the shop. I have wall papered  and floored the shop. 

As always to give that something extra I added a small room at the back. I have worked on a stained window door .

Having that extra room at the back, even if it leads to no where, it always gives that extra depth. During the show I always explain step by step my progress and I do enjoy giving a historical explanation of the period and their methods. 

Here is  the video clips of my slots during the show.

Finally the complete room waiting to be decorated.

As usual, Charles and I always find a spare moment to take a photo during the show.

Charles Saliba and I

Tomorrow I will be back on 'Life & Style' Tv Show at 12:10pm on NET TV Channel sharing Part 3 of the project 'Cures & Remedies'. 

Very soon I will also be sharing with you a small project that I prepared for another TV Show 'Illum ma' Steph' on TVM channel.

Without forgetting, I  have so much to share about my Regency Project 'Pembroke Grange'. Make sure to keep tuned for the next updates.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

Guest Speaker at Grandparents Malta Meeting

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick stop here before I head into a weekend full of miniature work. I am really looking forward to get to my studio and drown myself in my work among my dolls houses and miniatures.

I have to say that the weekend started on a positive note from early in the morning when I was invited as a guest Speaker to the Grandparents Malta "Nanniet Malta" meeting in the Zabbar Hub.

A few months ago I was invited by the coordinator Maria Cordina to give a talk about the dolls house hobby for one of their weekly Grandparents meetings. I was not sure how to go about it but after giving it some thought I have accepted the invitation.

Today I went to their meeting place and I was surprised to see quite a lot of ladies and gents all set for the meeting. Weeks before the meeting I had prepared a slide presentation to share with the persons present. It was the first time that I ever made a talk but it was definitely worth it.

I started off with an introduction about myself and how the dolls house hobby started. As I suspected, most of them didn't have a clue what dolls houses are, so I gave them some historical aspects, I explained how a dolls house is built from scratch and how it gets to be decorated. Finally I shared with them a few pictures of my own dolls houses. I wasn't sure how they would react but surprisingly enough they were all interested and asked questions that I enjoyed answering.

After such a great feedback, Maria and the group will be organizing a visit to My Miniature World so they can see the dolls houses for real and like always they will be getting a guided tour. 

From here I would like to thank Maria Cordina for inviting me as a guest speaker and I would like to thank all those present who sent me wonderful messages through facebook.  Thank you so much for the encouraging words.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend. See you all next week.

Take Care.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx 

Adding more to Tri-ang No. 76

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are having a great week. Just like always I'm quite busy working on two ongoing projects; Pembroke Grange and the newest 'Cures & Remedies' - the apothecary. I think it is the first time that I am actually working on two project simultaneously.

Today I wanted to share with you some new vintage pieces that I added to my Tri-ang No. 76.

 I am really happy how it looks now. Unlike the kitchen, the the first floor is quite spacious. Considering that this is a child's dolls house, I assumed that this room was divided into sections to accommodate more than just the one room setting. 

On the right hand side of the room, I added a few pieces of furniture such as the desk, the record player cabinet and grand father clock which are by Barton. I also added the bookcase with wooden books by Kensal Craft.

In the center of the room, I turned this into a sitting room area. The small TV, mantel clock, the fire place, the cute floral sofa, arm chairs and coffee table are by Barton and the carpets are by Lundby. 

One of my favorite pieces is the lead cat in the basket with its kittens by Barrett & Sons.

On the left hand side of the room, I decorated this section with a bedroom set. The bedroom set is by Barton which also comes with its original bedding. On the chest of drawers I place a radio set by Dol Toi.

Another favorite piece is the lead dog by Barrett & Sons which is quite rare to come by. The little thing reminds me of my Tina. 

Here are a few more pictures of the room.

I still need to add some lights and maybe some picture frames but I must say I like how it all looks. 

This is all for today. I will be updating you soon with the progress of Pembroke Grange so make sure to keep tuned.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx

New Project 'Cures & Remedies' on 'Life & Style' TV Show

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all way and having a great week. Today I am a bit under the weather so here I am sharing another post from the sofa.

I have some exciting news to share with you. After the summer break, I am back on the 'Life & Style' TV Show on the Maltese TV channel NET TV with a new dolls house project.

The new project will be called 'Cures & Remedies' which will be an Apothecary, a Druggist shop and will be part of my very own Regent Street.

I had this very small room box which I never used. The good thing about it is that it fitted perfectly in the empty spot that was remaining in my Regent Street.

Even though it is small, it is quite spacious for its purposes. 

Returning on the first day of the 'Life & Style' studio, was like returning back to a family were I belong. It was good to see so many familiar faces and catching up.  The studio was decorated differently and it looks great.

I will be back on a Monday every fortnight with Charles Saliba till the end of June 2020.

Charles and I

 We started off the program with the introduction of the new project. I got to share the wall paper and the flooring that I would be using for the shop. 

During the show I started by painting the front. I have designed the shop sign beforehand. While researching on Victorian apothecary shops and druggist, it was interesting to find so many remedies that were used in the period. I would never think of using such substances in today's world.

Here is the link to the three parts during the tv show.

During the show I got to finish most of the shop front.

So this is all for today. I will share an update on this project after next Monday's new episode on 'Life & Style'. In the mean time I will continue working on the Regency House Pembroke Grange. Make sure to keep tuned.

Take Care and See You Soon.

Hugs,

Rebecca xxx