So Excited, New Harry Potter clips!!!!

For those of you who are like us and just cant wait for the New film to come out in a couple of weeks, just found these new clips!!

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/features/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/index.html

What tasters, one is 4 minuites long, and theres loads of interviews with cast members too, so really exciting. Im going to be glued to this page now, and first in that queue at the cinema!!!

Go check this out, it looks just amazing, dont you just love these films!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats To Kim and Jain, more Blog Buddies in the Mag!

After skipping quickly through the mags this morning, I sat and had a good old read and found 2 more blog friends in them!

In Dollshouse and Miniatures is a lovely pic of Jain from http://giddykipperdolls.blogspot.com/ at the Kensington Fair, and in Dolls House World is a 6 Page spread on Kim from http://kimsminiatures.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to you both on appearing in this months editions, lovely to see you both.

Kat's Great article too!!

Just opened up my Dollshouse World magazine, new August Edition and another article that should be of interest to us all!!

Last month there was a fab tutorial for a witches cauldron and this month Kat the Hat has written a lovely one on making a fairy book. as always a fun read, and a lovely easy to understand tutorial. We certainly will be giving this a go to make some fairytale books for the new house thanks Kat and congratulations to everyone for their magazine contributions this month, its cool to open them up and see familiar faces!!

Fantastic August Dollshouse and Miniature Scene Magazine

Just got back from shopping and can sit down for a cuppa and a great read of this months Dollshouse and Miniature scene Magazine with some brilliant articles this month!

On the Cover is The Mad scientist scene by Wright Guide Miniatures and inside are more wonderful scenes of theirs.

Obviously the best and most interesting article is by Nikki Rowe of Witch and Wizard Miniatures. We have been waiting on this article and it dosnt dissapoint! Nikki began to show a tutorial on her blog of this marvellous tree but then the magazine decided to publish it so now we can all see it and just in time for us to have a go on a few trees in the Snow White garden! Brilliant Nikki, lovely to see more of your work in the magazine and hope to see more, its really well written and easy to understand as always!

If you are into house making, our favourite house builder who made our own Beacon Hill, Gerry Welch, has A great pull out supplement on building a Tudor House , 'Honeymeade'. and a write up on Gerry himself.

For all Harry Potter loves out there, and I know Debbie from Tiny Treasures will love this, an article on 'Eeylops Owl Emporium' by Deb Weissler, with some great inspirational pictures.

So where to start, have my cuppa, have my choccie, so going to put on something interesting to keep Lacey happy too and I can get stuck in!!

A great mag this month

Proud Mum Moment!!!

We had a lovely day out today seeing my Eldest Daughter Emily's work at her college Fashion Exhibition.

Here's a few pics of a selection of her fashion design work , she is in her first year so I think its pretty amazing! In The Picture of her she is standing next to her sketches /designs on the wall. The dress is a mini dress she designed and made on a miniature mannequin!

Pleased to say she has passed her work with Distinctions and is really looking forward to her second year.

So a Very Proud Mum today!! Well done Em Jems!!

Snow White's Frontage!

Today I have been mostly sticking my fingers together!!!!!!

We went to the woods, found some suitable twigs as Im far too lazy to make my own vines!! May have a go one day but am too impatient so cut these to size, added some clump foliage and made a central part to go over the door by wiring between the twigs, adding wadding and tape and sticking the foliage to it. Then prettied it up with some flowers. Not sure if all the foliage will have flowers yet or if that will just be left plain. Still lots more 'vines/ climbers to be added to the back and sides also.

Starts to pretty the cottage up abit anyway. There will be a step under the front door that the twigs will be hidden by, will add moss and toadstool under them at their roots.

Need now to paint the inside of the cottage a stony colour and think about the fireplace.

Good excuse to get out the Snow White film and have a sing a long to take some sketches of the kitchen!!

I was lucky in that there were several furniture pieces in with the house, theres a lovely kitchen table and a sink which has lots of cubby holes for wicker baskets of goodies.

Having a break from the house for a few days to get some things done, but will be back with more soon, and also some more on the Sweeeny house, as the flooring and roofing have at last arrived so that can recomense!!!

Thanks Kat for our Witchy Poo Award!

A Huge Thankyou to My dear Friend Kat for this gloriously colourful Witchy Poo Award , just love the artwork Kat!

Its a pleasure to add her to our awards.

Check out Snow White's New Purchases!

Well Snow White has already been busy buying for her new Cottage!

She found this delightful fairy table and accesories complete with lamp, bowl and candlestick , perfect for the upstairs next to her bed!!

She is designing her bed as we speak to match, we thought the same woodland twig style bed with pretty flower detailing and warm cosy quilt.

She is going to cost me a small fortune with her lavish tastes!!! Good job those dwarves are abit more used to the simple things in life :-)

And some more!!!!!!!!!!!

And here's the circular parts of the roof stictched, it really shows up here in person but not so much on the camera, but you get the idea!

Just the other side to do but fingers sore, so as the little ones are due back with their stories of their day, best do that later and have a break!!

Oh and Im dismantling a wishing well at the same time, pinching tiny pieces of slate from around our garden water feature to redo the roof in!! Then off to Pets City to grab a bag of tiny stones for doing the well part!!

Thanks for all the comments so far, i will reply later to you all! Getting that indecisive feeling now, maybe I could combine the fairy/Snow white theme do you think that would work? I do so love the furniture made from natural materials but I guess that would still work as the dwarves would probably use natural woodland things in the home? Snow White could have a beautiful bed made from flowery things and the dwarves have bunk beds as Marsha suggested .

The kitchen downstairs would still have a dresser full of acorn bowls of fruit, eggs, veg etc. And Fairy Marsha could still be watching over them from in the garden!!

And the biggest temptation of all............you know that Julie from Bella Belle dolls has the most precious Snow White......( the dwarves would just have to be out at the mine, couldnt possibly have all of them in there!!)

Ooh no, change of direction coming on???????? Help!!!!!!!!

Roof Stitching begun

Posty had just been with my embroidery honey Gold thread so straight to work, on the first part of the stitching.

To begin, just a criss cross pattern between the top sticks , hope it shows up ok!!

Back with more later!

The Thatch is 2/3 done!!

Woopee, nearly there!! Have finished glueing all the thatch down on both sides, front and back, just the little bit around the dormer window to finish and the stitch effect to be done. I have put sticks on either side of the top section of roof and am waiting on some thread to hand stich a design onto this, in a criss cross pattern. Its annoying cos the patterned part of the roof isnt showing up on camera, but what I did was add a top section ontop of the roof and then cut out circular patterns into this. It shows up really well in the flesh!

Will post a pic of it all finished when Ive done the stitching but wanted you all to see it was coming along.

Just have to find a base board now so I can start the garden, put in some vines etc as i think once the colour goes onto the roof with flowers etc it will really bring the roof to life.

I have a small amount of thatching left, just enough to cover a gable gate entrance , and maybe a fairy outside loo!!!

My stepdaughter commented it looks like the Snow White house .......but dont think theres room for 7 beds up in the bedroom though !!

Also just thought Id post a pic of our 3 youngest dressed up for 50's day at school today. Lola, Reilly and Lacey are all set to have a great day with a party at school to celebrate .

Our Wonderful Light Award

Thankyou to Marsha http://sassyminidolls.blogspot.com/ ....again!!, this time for our wonderful Light Award.

The Rules of this Award are:-

1.-To complete the following phrase: I AM A LIGHT AND WANT TO ILLUMINATE...

2. - Link the blog from where the award came from and leave a message informing that person it has been received.

3.- Link and pass the award to five blogs that, in your opinion, are blogs of light.

So here goes, I AM A LIGHT AND WANT TO ILLUMINATE all the thousands of Cancer sufferers around the world, to give them health, hope and strength to cope . My Mum has only this week finished her Breast Cancer treatment and i have seen the changes this devastating disease can make in people and all around them and we all hope and pray that one day a cure will be found so quicker and more permanent cures are available.

I would like to pass this Light Award on to those that illuminate our lives on a regular basis by the joy of reading their blogs and being their friends.

1. To My Good friend Kat, http://katthehatlady.blogspot.com/who is herself a ray of sunshine , and even when she is herself poorly, is a great friend, always so helpful and happy, and goes out of her way to send me emails, links to things she thinks Id like and sends not only parcels of goodies for me but also our children to help them find their creative side and banish those boring Sundays ! Hope this Award lights up your Day Kat, your a true friend!

2. To Nikki, http://nikkinikkinikki72.blogspot.com/ A True inspiration to all of us Im sure, but for us, Nikki has always been not only one of the most helpful freinds we know but also, the biggest motivator ! Without her half of our existing projects would not be where they are. Nikki sends us links, emails and info even when she is at her most busy to try and help out what we are doing. She comes up with the best ideas and tips to spur us on. Her work is just incredible , her positive attitude in everything she makes is a delight. We always await her posts on her blogs, as they always brighten our days !

3. To Debbie, http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ who simply could not have chosen a better name for her blog as she surely is an absolute Treasure! Another lovely friend who goes out of her way with.........well just about everyone!! Debbie is like everyones Big Sister, so freindly and helpful, and always more than happy to give out her tips and advice shes learnt along the way. We miss her when shes not in Blogland Daily and look forward to reading what shes been up to both in mini and family life.

4. To Ara, http://afminimansion.blogspot.com/ my Knight ( or Knightess!!!) in shining armour!!! Not saying why just yet but all we be clearer later on!! Ara's 2 blogs are a wonderful, facinating read and she is one of these clever talented ladies that I envy so! A great friend from over the seas, wish she lived just down the road so we could share our mini project ideas and have a good gossip over a cuppa!!! Ara's excitment and love of minis shines through in her projects and blogwriting!

5. To Julie at http://bellabelledolls.blogspot.com/ . Julie is such a lovely bright happy and kind lady who I hope to have the pleasure to meet in person one day when the children are older and i can get to shows!! Mind you Ill probably end up broke as Id end up wanting to buy all her stock of beautiful , magical dolls! Julie's dolls light up my houses, I never fussed over having a doll in my projects before until I discovered Julie's dolls and now Im hooked! Another blog I eagerly await posts from to see what she's been up to and admire with awe!!

Thanks to all the other wonderful blogs that we enjoy to read , you all illuminate and inspire us!!

Check out this Fab New Artiste and her Amazing Fairy House

Well, one thing I have been able to do today, though not up to finishing the roof, is checking out items on ebay and etsy to see if anything takes my fancy, or i can grab any bargains for any of the houses .

I had my eye on a darling Wisteria tree for the fairy garden, but it went up and up to a whopping £52, so couldnt keep up with those prices!

But while looking for fairy furniture ( I know i shouldnt be looking for interiors before completing the house but couldnt resist! ) I came across this wonderful Driftwood Fairy House.

I contacted the lady and what a lovely lady, she sent me a kind reply agreeing that i could post some pics on the blog here.

Its a lovely piece, looks so cosy and I love the natural use of materials.

Shelley is not new to Ebay, but is new to selling miniatures on Ebay so Im sure you'll all wish her the best of luck with this and future plans for her houses. And she has many plans!! Aready she has sent a pic of a magnificent wizard house made from Driftwood, complete with potion bottles and spell book. Also she plans on making a witches house, elf house and much more so keep an eye out for her work.

This OOAK fairy Driftwood house with working lights and fireplace is listed on Ebay at the moment, Item no. 260428948004 in the name of world*in* miniature.

I mentioned to Shelley about starting a blog, but she is a very busy bee at the moment, but we'd love to see your projects here in Blogland Shelley if you ever get the time :-)

In the mean time I for one will be taking a great interest in Shelley's work , its really my kind of style .

Thankyou Marsha for brightening My Day......a New arrival all the Way from the USA!!!!

Just want to send Marsha from http://sassyminidolls.blogspot.com/ a HUGE big hug and thankyou!

For the last 4 or 5 days Ive been miserable with the flu, and pretty much confined to bed and only felt half human when I woke this morning.John just got back from taking his scooter down to the shops to get some much needed supplies of food in, and when he came in, he had a small white box from the postman.I tried to get my brain working to remember if I had ordered anything but then saw the name and address of the sender!

Dear Dear Marsha, you have really made my day!

Inside the little white box, was a display case with the most adorable fairy on a small flower decorated 'log' stand.Marsha sent me a lovely note on her pretty pink paper to say that she had this lovely fairy, made by Ladybug, and wanted it to go to a good home so was sending it for our fairy cottage!!!

She will be very much loved Marsha, our very first inhabitant of the cottage!You are an absolute treasure to think of me and to send her all the way from the US, what a wonderful start to our day, and not only a great lift to my spirits but also a great motivator to make me get on with this roof now, and provide a home for this precious fairy! I hope to start back on it this week and post its progress.

I know when Lola gets back from school she will be 'ooing and ahhing ' over her and no doubt she will start her naming ritual that she always does when a new doll comes to a house. But I beat her to it, and this little fairy is named after her sender, so welcome, Marsha the Flower Fairy to the Whittaker home.

Both you and your Namesake are always welcome here!!!!!!!!!

Isnt blogland Wonderful, and also thankyou to whoever gave Marsha our address so she got here safely. Thankyou Dear Marsha,we love her!!

Found some other houses like Ours

Was checking out some blogs today and came across a few houses which were of great interest.

Firstly on Debs Minis, http://debsminis.blogspot.com/ , she has dont the most wonderful Fairy house also in the exact same style!!

Found out it is by Greenleaf ,/Corona ( same as our Beacon Hill and our favourite dollhouse maker!!) and is called the Aster.

Im excited as Deb is in this months American Miniatursit amgazine with an article on it so I cant wait til that comes out so i can order a copy.

Then I had a search on the greenleaf forum and came across 2 others. 1 was thatched in tea leaves can you beleive, never thought of that!! And the other I think is made with Polyfiller and painted to give a thatch effect.

I am sad today as John hasnt manged to get my glue so Im at a standstill and i so want to finish Maybe tomorrow now.

So I will have to just look at others for inspiration .

Lola suggested last night we make the house sit higher and have a waterfall but thats a bit daunting so maybe a little stream on the level will be easier. And Id love a wishing well. If anyone knows of any tutorials on either Id be much oblidged.

Also went out looking for walnuts today but all the supermarkets are out til later this Autumn!! I realy want to a walnut shell bed now!

On the way back we got stuck in traffic and guess what we saw! A little cottage that was being rethatched for real!! I never even knew we had thatched cottages in the town, this is a one off. I said to John I reckon theyd give us a bagful of thatch and he said if we asked he reckoned theyd give us a load of the old stuff.......but I resisted and have stuck to the mattress. After all it is not only half done, but I think alot easier than following a real thatching teqhnique in little bundles. John said Id lock myself in the workshop and never come out!! So we didnt go and ask.

Still it will be nice to see the real life size house finished too, bet mines finished first!!

This is Sooo Much Fun!!!!!!

Well this is what minis should be all about.FUN!!!

I promise I wont bore you again with the progress of the roof but its so cool to do!

Normally its the exterior decoration I hate doing, and all the inside filling I love. I hated bricking the Sweeney house, just wouldnt go right, but funnily enough although i was dreading doing this, it is proving to be a blast!

How sad i am to be so easily pleased.

Today I cut out the dormer window template and roof template onto graph paper and then cut the pieces of thatch to match.

Dormer was a nightmare , needed us both to hold it on for a good while to stick into place.

Decided although the dormer is quite angular, that we'd make it covered in a rouunder way so that it looks more fairy like ( looks abit like the Hobbit house!!)

The pic at the bottom is while we were sticking it, and I also placed the larger piece of roof over to see what it looked like. Thats next to stick!

Why is it when you want to get on you cant find any materials to hand! We needed some mini clamps but couldnt find them so it was all hands on to pushing and holding it into place.

Run out of glue now and having depleted 'Halfords' of all their supplies need to go out tomorrow to get some from somewhere so we can stick the main roof down and also do the eaves. So annoying as I just want to finish it.

VERY messy, Very smelly, ( Im not following my own rules, working indoors, getting high on glue and getting the the fibre in my nose and throat, but what the heck, dont care cos its getting there!!)

John thinks it looks abit top heavy and the thatch does really take such a small cottage over and is quite overpowering but hoping once all trimmed up, and detailed it will look less so. Its going to have lots of vines, climbers and flowers on it.

Also I think once the base board with garden is on and the details of the flowers, pond? and other features that will balance it all out.

Well thats the plan!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and just realsied I have the chimney to stick on so good job I didnt stick down the roof yet as i need to make a hole and stick it to the wood, coming up from the outside chimney breast.

One side done, 3 to go!

Well its going well, pleased to say!

John bought a fantastic glue, Evostick instant, which loves the thatch, glues it perfectly straight onto the wood of the house.

Firstly cut out the shape of the roof onto graph paper, then attached this to a square of thatch and cut out the shape. Glued it onto the wood and then after drying gave it a haircut to go around the trickier shapes.

As you can see it works quite well, need to finish off the eaves, have done above the kitchen window, then will fill in any bits and give a further haircut.

Once all the sides are done, and the dormer window which is going to be a tricky bit, I will lay a further layer on the top join and make a pattern in thin sticks .

Heres's a pic of the back of the house done and showing the window, with Lola giving instructions to me!!!!

Abit high from the glue so off for a lie down :-)

Thatching tips and Fairy Pics!!

Lesson 1................. PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lesson 2.....................Always cut more rather than less so you can trim later!

Lesson 3................Do outside, very messy, and should remember to wear a mask!!

Lessson 4..........get someone else to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He he, well started today and annoyingly have decided i cant rush it, as much as i want to get on.

Its not going to be as easy as it looks. Undoing the matress , the fibres are very compacted so this cant be pulled into seperate 'clumps' as I wanted and I cant traditionally thatch so to speak. The whole lot falls apart id you try to uncompact it too much, all I can do is seperate it into 3 sections which it falls into naturally, and each is about the right thickness.

So instead it will have to be laid as a single sheet . Sounds wierd but it does actually look ok, even if you cant see the usual bundled appearance.

I did a trial as I dont think it will bend too well round the curves so i cut it to shape firstly but it dosnt look right with bits butted up against each other so I will have to cut it as a whole and bend and clamp it and hope that works.

I undercut it and will know now to make it larger so it overhangs better.

Also cant do it indoors, the little fibres really shed and not only got all over the floor, but in my nose, throat etc, and now im itching like mad!!!

Going to have a go making a template with graph paper of the roof shape and then cutting slightly larger than that. Was thinking of sticking the thatch to the paper then gluing the paper to the house so that way it will curve easier, but not sure if it will work , may take a few tests and different approaches, but luckily its a big old mattress so the bit ive wasted so far dosnt matter. I read somewhere to stick it to material so it bends easier so maybe another alternative!

Also I now have a huge bag of wadding which was on top of the fibre, must come in handy for something miniature!!

No pics of the thatch until I have something decent to show but couldnt resist showing these pics of fairy miniatures.

I saw these recently on Ebay but resisted bidding as it always costs me a fortune in customs when ordering from the States so decided Im going to have a go myself! Love the idea of the walnut basket, as shown on the Bramley hedge mice article in an earlier posting. Definatly going to have one of these for my fairy baby!

And love the little flowery basket, I have loads of empty acorn caps to make bowls from so excited to be starting on those soon.

Fairy House has arrived and Ordered My first piece for it already!!

Today the big box came and excitedly I opened it to find the most wonderful house inside. So much better than the photos show it, and ideal for the new fairy project.

Its tricky to see from the pic but the outside walls have already been rendered in a lovely deep creamy colour so I wont need to change them, Ill just paint the interior in a matching tone of buttermilk.

Ill need to put it on a base with turntable and then this base can be made to have the garden with flowers, stones etc.

The only damage was the top floor was coming away from the wall but I had intended to get John to cut me a new floor anyway as theres too big a gap and it needs more floor space if Im going to fit all the bedroom furniture in.

All that needs doing on the outside is the thatch, vines, chimney fitted , and garden.

The house is incredibly light so will be easy to carry around wherever I want to work on it.

Really pleased with it, for just over £30!!

Also I ordered a wonderful little boot flower planter, the first thing to go in the garden, couldnt resist!

Off to start stripping the cot mattress for the thatch material.

Found the cheapest Thatching Material!!!

Thanks everyone for help with the thatching, I still like the idea of using mangled up balsa if I can persude John to have a go at it, or even paperclaying the roof and etching and roughing it up but if all else fails look what i remembered I had today!! While putting loads of the childrens things in the loft I came across an old mattress that we bought for Lacey. This was a really expensive one made from coconut fibre filling which is supposed to be the safest.

I had a quick look on ebay to see if they held their value before I tore into it, knowing it cost us about £60, but they dont seem to get bids as most people prefer to own a brand new mattress for each child nowadays.

So all that money we paid will pay off miniwise as i can rip it apart and use the fibres for thatching.

Woohoo, great to find a use for something we would have put in the tip eh!!!

Lets hope it works

We've Been Tagged

Sorry meant to do this ages ago. Julie from the wonderful Bellabelle dolls http://bellabelledolls.blogspot.com/ has tagged us! Thankyou Julie, we have to list 6 things that make us happy so here goes:-

Kisses from the children at at bedtime,

Being in bed all cosy when theres a thunderstorm

Getting anything other than bills in the post!!

Being taken for a pub lunch last minuite on a Sunday so I dont have to cook the roast!!

Getting up early on sunday morning, grabbing a bargain at the car booty, coming home to tea and lots of hot buttered toast

White wine and chocolate together!

I think so many people have tagged the blogs we follow so we'll try and catch you next time round!!!

Made a Decision at last!

I know I said Id wait and see when the house came but I think ive made a decision before hand!

Inspired by the Rick Pierce workshop pages and his webshots I have decided that the new house should infact be a Fairy house.

The first pic i found that I loved was Rick Pierce's English Cottage so i thought maybe to follow that style but with more of a fairy theme in and out. Love the thatch , think that would work really well, and the vines too, but brighter and more summery and fairy like obviously, like this delightful house by Julie McLaughlin here with the fabulous flowery feel.

The other house I have i think was a DHE kit which usually has more than 1 floor. This was only made to be 1, so I can do one of 2 things. I can make it a one room witchy house following the other pic shown here by Rick Pierce with lots of rickety wood added, pumpkin patch and cauldron bubbling outsdie. Or do as Debie suggested and build it up abit which is a great idea as I do have this vision of a Witches bedroom so it would be a shame not to have the 2 floors. I hate to make things out of wood so maybe I can try and find a room box to go underneath which once the whole thing is covered in paperclay will make the house an unusual shape?

Ill definalty be starting on the Fairy house first though and wont make a start on the other one until that once complete. I think we have enough projects on the go to just start on 1 more for the time being.

You know what Im like Ill be after lots of help and advice, hope thats ok! I would like to get a thatched look on the roof i think, so any help there will be much appreciated from anyone thats done that?! But for now i await the posty and look forward to all the wonderful things that will happen to the new house. And excited too that Nikki is going to be making fairy minis too, it will be lovely to feature Nikkis work in this house as well as our others!

Thanks for everyones imput and help!!

This one for the Fairy house?????????

Right now to confuse everyone and put you in a quandry as i am!!

This is the house I got on ebay about 2 years ago, ( another £30 bargain!!!) which was a gothic style. I have stripped the interior of all the stuck down furniture and have to strip the walls and trim on the frontage, ( which is just a lift off panel)

I thought about painting this a paler colour and making this the fairy house. Putting lots of fairy plants in the little 'garden' it has to its right, and making it a fairy kitchen. The front panel lends itself well to making a fairy door. I could do all the walls in paperclay, and put large flowers around it as in some of the recent fairy houses I have seen on the blog that Debbie sent me a link to. .... ( by the way what do they use for those flowers, are they real just for effect, or do they use dried flowers do you think???)

So now I have to decide, is this to be the fairy house with just one room, my new bargain the witchy one, or vice versa?????? I had visualised the new one as being quite witchy until I saw the pictures people were posting when a 2 floor fairy house started coming into my head! Comments welcome on how I could do this house as I can never decide ANYTHING!!!