Miniature creations done today....

Down at the Pumpkin Patch Today I stayed home from the shop because of the icey road conditions....and created. There is a perfect feeling of tranquility when you work steadily and bring a piece to completion after you come up with the idea, see it, & create it. Hence, my miniature horse pull toys. The horses are mini whinny Breyer horses, repainted and maned. The larger horse has a braided pull string, and the tiny one has a pull string with beads on it. The larger one may be a little large for 1:12 scale, but works with my tiny Brownie bjd, Dixie. She couldn't resist playing with them...

These little darlings have given me all sorts of ideas, miniature carosel horses, or jungle animals, etc. I really enjoyed making them today, and it is so good to get my artist side back to me, the shop & other things have been personally draining these last few months. I hope to create some more items, especially with the paperclay.

~Lisa

New pics of the One Sixth Scale Dollhouse..Lucia reporting...

Hi Everyone. Yesterday I took some new picsof the One Sixth Scale dollhouse with my new phone, and they are great! Lucia, the indollhouse administrative assistant to the Baroness, or Agnes, has decided to take over reporting on the dollhouse for this posting...lol....

Hello Everyone, and glad to be taking over writing on this blog entry for Lisa. My name is Lucia, & I am the administrative assistant for the Baroness, Agnes. I oversee the day to day duties of the One Sixth Scale Dollhouse, so I thought I would give Lisa a break. She just acquired a new cell phone which has a much better camera than her actual camera! Here I am at work with my laptop in my home office.

Keeping the blog updated plus all of the administrative duties is alot of work, 24/7!But let's get onto the new pictureso f the dollhouse, which are much better than the old ones. The dollhouse is still residing in the window of Lisa's shop, King William Miniatures. We have had so many people enjoy the dollhouse, they are simply amazed that fashion dolls could live such a luxurious life...and why not? we were the first ones to acuiqre miniature cars, wardrobes, homes, you name it. That reminds me, I need to order the paint to paint our garage...Ken & the other men in the manor have been bugging me they have no man cave...

I hope you have enjoyed the new sharper images of the dollhouse. Not only that, but yesterday one of the arrangements was to bring home the Mt.Vernon replica home from its display spot in the library of Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, where we were assured it was a hit! Though the shop is closing at the end of January, Lisa is very glad her collection & work has brought so much happiness to everyone at the holidays.
~More coming soon on the one sixth scale dollhouse when it moves to its new home at Lisa & Chris' doll room. ~Lucia

A is for Annabelle...

My 'A is for Annabelle' book by Tasha Tudor arrived today in the mail. The book is an alphabet book, and many French fashion doll clubs & artists have made or reproduced the doll, which was based on Tasha's great greandmother's fashion doll, which she called Melissa Shakespeare. The illustrations are so clear, and the patterns are quite easy to buy or replicate. The doll pictured above is like one I am thinking of getting- I have always wanted a Lady Jumeau or a Huret doll. They measure about 12 inches high and in the 1800's the elite place to buy dolls & their creme de la creme accessories was Paris. I purchased the book so I could have an idea what kind of accessories to do for my Annabelle when she comes. I am already working on a crocheted shawl- it has been so long since I crocheted it isn't funny. I think the last time I crocheted lace was when I was either twelve or thirteen for my dollhouse dolls.

The organizing of the shelves is coming along, slowly. I may change the doll & cottage arrangement on this last shelf. The plastic shelves are ones I purchased a few years ago at BJ'S when they were dirt cheap, hence the crayola colors. Right now, they will do because I wouldlike to totally repaint and floor the room. I have alot more Barbies in the box and out that need to go on the shelves, so some downsizing of the larger dolls will be in order. I also did some photographingof Strawberry Hill Manor, my front opening dollhouse the penny wooden dolls live in, it needs to be organized more, I have so many minis that would look great in it. I have more work to do on this house, it needs windows.
Be sure to check out my flicker album for Strawberry Hill Manor dollhouse pictures. I have also uploaded some new pics of new Rement as well as my A Doll a Day 2011 project as well. This is one fun photo project to do, and the groups' rules are relaxed & don't have alot of hard core rules like the date has to be on the picture, if you miss a day you miss it, blah blah. If you like to take photos of your dolls, then this is a great group, on Flicker, I encourage you to join.
~Lisa

A place for everything...& everything in its place...

One of the promises, I made for myself this year was teh cleaning of the 'display', room. Picture to the right is sad, isn't it. Thus is the packrat nature of being a miniaturist & doll collector- you hardly ever throw anything away. lol. Yesterday I did, to create a path to walk in. The large house with no windows is a yard sale find that I have off & on revamped, it houses the reproduction penny wooden dutch dolls in my collection made by the late Fred Laughon, who lived here in Va. Most of the boxes contain, fabric, craft supplies by the score, my wool for needlepoint projects, and so on. I have lots to organize, and spent my valuable time finally getting this organized. Not shown in this room are the shelves, which are also being re organized so my fashion dolls can be displayed better as well. I will be bringing home severeal dollhouses from the shop after it closes, so I need to make room.

On another note, my A Doll A Day Project 2011 in my Flicker album is going well. Didn't know I had so many dolls. Most recent was a photo of an adorable little 8 inch Madame Alexander doll that I received when I was about six or seven, she was my very favorite. My mother would buy them for me for the astronomical price of a whopping $8!!! which she would save up from her tips as a waitress all those years ago, and they were bought at the Westover Five & Dime store. I loved that place as a child. If dolls could be bought for $8 I would probably buy one every day. There she is in the picture above.

I am still making my list of projects that I want to accomplish this year as far as the dolls. Number one is to finish the kitchen in the The One Sixth Scale Dollhouse & also work on the garage- Ken & his buddies want to make it their man cave. lol. Another project I would also like to do is redo my very first dollhouse my dad made for me when I was nine- it was built on a scale of 1 1/2 inch to the foot- using the little doll above as his 'scale'...I was thinking of making it a home for my Tiny bjd's - the Felix Brownies, my anthro mouse bjd, and the PukiFee I want to get as well. So many dolls, so little time....lol

~Lisa

Happy New Year..and a New Year's Resolution

Hi everyone. A little late, but this year, I rang in the new year with a very bad flu/cold bug. So I wasn't  exactly ringing in the new year feeling too sporty, lol.

But, I did make a new year's resolution- a Doll a Day 2011 project! Here in my A Doll a Day 2011 flicker album, I have started my project, and hope it will continue.

Happy New Year! ~Lisa

Sesame Street - Two Little Dolls(better copy)

This was one of my most favorite videos on Sesame street as a kid, you could say I have always wanted this dollhouse. Thought it would be fun to post here- I finally found it on Youtube!

Lisa