Blog Laziness

I admit I've not taken the opportunity to blog the past couple of weekends, and I'm feeling a bit guilty because of it. So I figured I'd pop on tonight & share some "before" photos of my latest acquisition, probably the dollhouse most coveted on my wishlist for 3 years now. Even though I own a kit for this house, it has sat in a corner of the closet upstairs in my craft room, as it's much larger & scarier than the small kits that keep it company in that closet.

Then what should appear on a Craig's List ad but an assembled Beacon Hill! I jumped right on it, had the seller send more photos of the house, including the interior. The good news is that the exterior is done. The bad news is that interior is not. Or maybe that's not bad news after all, because I've had a vision for the Beacon Hill for quite some time. In a dollhouse display room full of pretty pastels and an occasional Tudor, I don't have a dollhouse that says autumn. You know, piles of colorful leaves in the yard, pumpkins on the porch, the smell of some seasonal baking wafting through the insides (or at least the miniatures indicating some seasonal baking lol).

So here are the before pictures of my Beacon Hill, which I get to transform into an autumn beauty, both inside & out. Plus I get the added bonus of learning to electrify a dollhouse.

The blue isn't a terrible color but it doesn't fit with my fall theme. I'm deciding right now on a new exterior color for the siding, something in the red or orange family. The chocolate shingles will work though with the fall coloring I think so they'll stay. May add some railing to that balcony because the window above the porch actually is an opening door, so why not have a little balcony for the future residents to enjoy?

So stay tuned for more on the Beacon Hill. But first, as I order the supplies I need to complete the interior, I'll be sharing some blogs on my first ever dollhouse build, the Paw Prints Pet Shop in the town of Littleton. More to come!

Hobby Lobby Comes to Town

Yay! During the past few years as I've talked to others bitten by the dollhouse/miniatures bug, I've repeatedly heard about this craft store. Unlike local shops such as Michael's and Ben Franklin Crafts, Hobby Lobby has a dollhouse and miniatures section. As luck would have it, I heard a radio advertisement late last week announcing that a Hobby Lobby was now on West Broad Street in Richmond. So Saturday I went to check it out.

I've ordered some craft items online from Hobby Lobby, since they offer 40% off coupons pretty frequently. Alas, the dollhouse/miniatures section is small, but at least they have one. Plus they have a dioramas section with fake grass rolls (good for landscaping your dollhouse), balsa wood pieces and trims useful in dollhouse bashes or making furniture, and the typical craft store items of acrylic paints, tacky glue and scrapbook paper. Scrapbook paper can serve as economical dollhouse wallpaper. The trick is finding smaller prints, stripes or plaids that are true to 1:12 scale. Admittedly I fudge that a bit if there's a pattern I really like that will work with a dollhouse theme I have planned. Here's what I purchased.



The sofa & chairs are for an existing dollhouse. The food & banana bunches are for a future general store. The piano is for a future music shop I plan to build. Can never have too much tacky wax for securing your miniatures in place inside your dollhouses. And scrapbook paper was 50% off, so I racked up on papers for some future projects, including that music shop.

Tudor Dolls

This is the Tudor family who resides in the Harrison, whom I've dubbed the Duke & Duchess of Richmond, Edward & Mary. They have a daughter, Margaret, and a son, Thomas. These beautiful dolls are the work of Tiggy Goldsmith. You can find her wonderful dolls on Etsy at Mrs Tiggywinkle's Dolls. My most recent Tiggy doll is this lovely Tudor wench, Dorothy, who is helping in the family kitchen below.


I really enjoy finding inhabitants for my dollhouses, though I admit I've gotten a bit carried away in the dollhouse doll department. I have acquired quite a few dollhouse dolls, although most of them are budget dolls & not artisan creations. I collected vintage dolls for over a decade, of the non-dollhouse variety, so I guess it was only natural for me to be drawn to these little people. I feel any dollhouse shop or residence isn't complete without folks at work or at play inside.

The One that Started It All--Harrison Tudor

I've always loved English Tudor homes, so when I decided to get a dollhouse a few years ago, I researched available kits & fell in love with the Harrison, made by Greenleaf Dollhouses. This house was a commissioned build, constructed by Kim's Miniatures. I was able to select wallpapers, flooring & light fixtures for this beauty.

I wasn't trying to do an authentic period house, since I did opt to have the house electrified. But I thought it would be fun to try and find some miniatures for the house that have a Tudor feel to them. I've had more success finding Tudor miniatures from shops and ebay sellers in the UK. JBM miniatures also has some nice Tudor pieces, although they are in the same price range as Bespaq miniatures.
















The house is still not entirely furnished, as I need to focus on finding more accessories for it. Also I need to add some artwork throughout the house. Here are some pieces I have so far that I need to add.
Tomorrow I'll share some of the dolls I've purchased to live in the Harrison!

My Poor Neglected Blog

What can I say? Life just gets in the way. Now that the holidays and the 2010 blizzard are over, I'm looking ahead to 2011. And I've returned to my little blog that I created last spring. I am going to share & ponder my miniature world & adventures in this blog. And maybe a few other tangents here & there. Stay tuned.

Wise March is Almost Gone, Time for Foolish April

Grrrr! I had typed an entire blog & just lost it as I was trying to change my blog background.

Well, I don't feel like typing all of that again. I'm looking forward to my long Easter weekend. I opted to take Friday & Monday of next week off. (Also expecting a rather exciting delivery of one bed & breakfast dollhouse one of those days)

Above is my 5 minute attempt at making a logo for my new Etsy shop. I'm going to be selling some handcrafted creations on there soon. I sure have enjoyed purchasing on Etsy during the past 6-12 months, some really neat things on there.

Welcome Spring!

After the snowiest winter I've ever seen in my 39 years, this past week has been pure weather bliss, sunshine and temps in the 60s & 70s each day. Today is no exception. What better way to welcome spring than enjoying the sunshine outside with my laptop & creating my first blog! It's "Caturday" here at my house, which means happy felines napping away, their bellies still content from lunch, secure knowing their mum is home putting her clothes into those noisy contraptions (I really do need a new washer & dryer).

As the world outside is starting to blossom, I'm more inspired than ever to delve into spring cleaning inside. It's time to throw out, donate & organize. I'm also still hard at work on Miniville, my own little Virginia community, and when I say little, I do mean little. I have my own town in miniature growing in my formal dining & living rooms (well, those rooms were getting no use before). I'm putting the final touches on a pet shop for this little town, the first dollhouse I've constructed on my own. I will post some photos here soon. I also have a magnificent bed & breakfast that will soon be on its way here. Time to get its table set up. This southern-style B&B is the beautiful Victorian Pierce by Greenleaf, created by one very talented gal who has long been blogging here on blogspot. You can see photos of Dixie Manor (name of the B&B) on her site (see my links). I have dollhouses from a few different manufacturers but I'm very fond of the Greenleaf models. My pet shop is actually done from the Haunted House kit, but there's nothing haunted about it, just full of puppy dog supplies, kitty treats, fish habitats & cute birds in their cages.

Speaking of Greenleaf, they welcomed spring by announcing their Spring Fling 2010 kit for sale in their company store. And yes, I already succumbed to the temptation! It's at a great price with free shipping, and although I'm a newbie still at dollhouse construction, there was nothing quite like this kit already in Miniville, so I figure I can put it to good use. :-)