Black Cat Cottage

(Not so) new project

2012-01-30T12:04:00.000+01:00

It has been long since I blogged: I had nothing to tell, too many other things on my mind. Last summer I had this idea for a Halloween scene, with a ghost, graves and a flying witch. But on Halloween, I only had made a start on it. Then, I thought I could better work on my ideas for a Chistmas scene, but also those plans hardly left my sketchbook. So now I'm back to my Halloween plans, maybe this year I'll finish them for the date? ;-)

The scene will be made in this lantern. I used a sort of wax to make the metal ornaments look shiny silver, fantastic stuff, also to let very small objects look like they're made from metal. Beneath the raised floor the electrics will be connected, because it will contain many small lights for the spooky effect.

One of these lights will be in this owl. Dutch people may recognise it as a toy given by a supermarket. It's made hollow and inside is a small LED-light, which I bought at Nalladris. Normal lights will get too hot, and these LED's are made ready for use in a dollshouse with the ordinary transformator. When it's finished the owl will have two orange eyes glowing in the night, just like the ones breeding nearby my house every year:

In the churchwall, I want to make a coloured glass window, also with a light. It's made of lasered wood, a sheet of plastic and glass-paint.

Above, a witch will fly on a broom. I wanted to try to make her all myself. I'm glad I tried a witch, not a fairy lady: I couldn't get her face to look more female than this! But she doesn't need to be pretty, so I'm happy with the result.

I couldn't help myself to also make something a lot smaller, it's what I like best. I was born in the year of the dragon, and this is my tiny dragon-hanger (1,5 cm in width):

I hope to blog more from now on, and also visit your blogs more often, see all the inspirational things you make!

Marit

Molly by light

2011-07-21T16:45:00.000+02:00

"Hi honey, what are you doing?" "Oh, I'm electrifying a walnut."

I think I might be overdoing it this time, and perhaps I remove the light. But I thought to glue some very tiny glow-in-the-dark stars inside the walnut, and they would need light to glow.

Here's the walnut by daylight:

It needs a stand to hang it in, still thinking on that. In the meanwhile I started working on a new project, without finishing the previous ones (again)...

Marit

Welcome new followers!

2011-07-19T13:29:00.000+02:00

A warm welcome to my new followers:

Basteltante Burns (no blog?)

Ivolga (no blog?)

Barbara Gutierrez (no blog?)

Sherry Raines (no blog?)

Gls2007 (empty blog?)

Anarniel (no blog?)

Rocio (no blog?)

Sharon Larkin (no blog?)

Valentina (no blog?)

Britt (no blog?)

I hope I have something to show you on my blog soon!

Bye for now,

Marit

Meet Molly Walnut

2011-06-08T17:02:00.001+02:00

I haven't spend much time in blogland or working on miniatures lately, but when I found this walnut in my shed, I had instant ideas, that needed to be done. The hole has been made by the teeth of little mice.

I think this is the perfect cradle for a baby-fairy. I made a small baby-fairy of Fimo, painted her, and added a few fluffy hairs. I tried to give her wings by glueing some fly-wings on her, but they got damaged too often. I guess her wings will grow when she's a little bit older.

I have never had any interest in children, not even when I was one myself, and I never made a baby or child before. My first attempts were looking more like a devil, than a baby. Freud would certainly have an explanation for that ;-). Being busy on a 'living' creature forms an idea of her character, and I like to give them names. I named her Molly, Molly Walnut of course.

The cradle is not done yet. It still needs curtains, a rope to hang on and some things to keep the little one happy. But Molly can sleep warm and safely now, if she doesn't wake up, crawls out and falls down. But I'm sure she doesn't..

Marit

(A late) HAPPY EASTER!!!

2011-04-25T16:55:00.000+02:00

A bit late, but I hope you all had a

I didn't have time to take pictures yesterday, but my Easter-themed bell jar is ready. Well, sort of. I wanted to add flowers, and a cat, and... I guess there will be another Easter next year, and how nice will it be to be able to add some things to it then. :-)

Branches of the curly willow with thingies hanging in it, are used as Easter decoration here. I used wood of my grape for this (the 'grips' of the climbing vine), as it curls in the same way.

View on the table:

I've put the chocolat bunny in a basket, I like that more than on a plate, where it was before.

All is made by me, except for the obvious things (glassware, plates, basket and cutlery, except for the butter-knife). It's my first miniature scene, that is finished, ready, done! I'm so proud of myself ;-).

Have a nice week!

Marit

With ornament & nest

2011-04-21T20:17:00.001+02:00

With ornament, you all said, so here are the chairs, with ornament and pillows:

I hope you like them. Indeed they do match the table better with the ornament.

In the meanwhile I also have been busy to fill the upper part of the bell jar. I made a branch with a nest, with two little birdies:

The two bare birds are made of Fimo. There are a few real feathers in the nest, only 2-4 mm long. I find those in my garden, when the newborn birdies have flown from their nests. Not this year though: the birds seem very lazy in nest-making, not one of the nest-boxes on the garage has been occupied yet, while the weather has been perfect. :-(

The branch hangs in the bell jar:

And this is how it looks in total now:

Still much to do, but I'm getting there!

Thank you all for you thinking with me!

Marit

With or without?

2011-04-20T14:23:00.000+02:00

Easter is coming soon, so I need to hurry with my Easter-scene. But this week my time-off from work started (well, I still need to do a few things at home, but the weather is too nice to spend much time inside the house), so I have more time now. I made two of these chairs:

They will be painted white and get a pillow to sit on in the same fabric as the table-cloth. I had planned to give them the same ornament as the table:

But now I'm not sure, I also like them without ornament:

But with ornament is nice too:

I need to make up my mind before I can paint them. So what do you think: with or without ornament?

Marit

Progress on Easter table

2011-04-03T22:29:00.000+02:00

Not that I do that much, just made some sweets, croissants and pains-au-chocolat of Fimo.

These Fimo-eggs are wrapped in real Easter-chocolate-egg-wrapping. They look so big on the photo, but they are only 2 mm! I also made the bowl.

I'm not totally happy with how the croissants and pains-au-chocolat look. They look good enough on the photo, but I think I over-used transparent Fimo. A good, crispy croissant is a bit transparent trough the layers, so I thought transparent would add realisme, but I'm not sure. Oh, I can always try and make more.

And I made a chocolate Easter bunny. It is surrounded by little sweet eggs, and two small sugar ducks.

Another view on the table:

Soon I will have more time for miniatures. With my health not improving the way I want to, and my job getting more stressful and demanding very day, I decided that it's time to take a step back. I'll take 3 months off. At first I felt heartbroken, as I leave my collegues behind with even more work to do. But the decision is made, I can't wait to get some rest. Well, 2-3 more weeks before I can go.

Do you know the serie Pride & Prejudice? The moment where Elizabeth gets a tour in the Darcy-house and is shown the room where the late mrs Darcy wrote her letters in the morning? It always sounded so peaceful to me. Now I dream of surfing through your blogs after breakfast, getting inspiration for the day :-).

Bye for now,

Marit

Look what I got & progress on Easter table

2011-03-20T18:51:00.000+01:00

I don't know the English word for this kind of cupboard, in which one can display small items, but isn't it a beauty? I thought it was a bit too expensive, but when my husband saw that I had a hard time putting it back on the shelf, he bought it for me :-). It was totally white: I've put pieces of scrapbookpaper in it.

I've been busy on the Easter table for the bell jar.

I thought it would be nice to have breakfast outside, so I've put grass on the floor. Then I made the table. I displayed it here with some tableware. It was good to try that out, as I had many plans (coffee, easter-bread, easter chocolate thingies, etc), not realizing how limited the space is. I need to choose what the miniature people may eat/drink on Easter-morning!

The legs of the table are made of metal strips, with an ornament glued on them. Between the legs is a wooden bar, screwed on the ornaments with amazing tiny screws, just like in the real world. I glued the table cloth on the table to make it hang. Even though the fabric is thin, it won't hang on itselve.

To be continued...

Marit

Woodburning stove

2011-03-16T17:27:00.000+01:00

The beach-house needs a wood burning stove, I think, to warm the miniature people after a beach-walk on a windy day and to lengthen those long summer nights. I'm in the proces of making one after the example of our 1:1 woodburner.

It can open, like the real one.

This is the example: our real woodburner. You can see the miniature one on the top of it.

And this is what I made it from: a tictac-box. You might notice the English flag: we bought it on holiday in Wales and that was in the period of the world championship of soccer. I just love to go through my boxes with stuff that might be useful someday for my miniature-making!

About the bell jar of the previous post, I think I'm going to do the idea of Gonda: an Easter table. I really like the idea of still doing something with the Spring-theme, but without having to make many flowers. I do need to hurry to be ready in time with all the plans I have!

Bye for now,

Marit

Advice wanted on bell jar

2011-03-12T21:31:00.001+01:00

When I saw this bell jar, I had to buy it. It's perfect to display a scene. But what kind of scene will I make?

My first idea was a garden in spring: a white swing bench, pink roses, butterflies, birds, ... I do love the idea, but miniature flowers are not really my thing. Will I enjoy making this?

I wish I could sculpt so well, that I could make a fairy, like Rose (Elven Slippers) or Liliane (My dreams about fairies), or a fairytale scene like Silke (Silke's Miniatures), but I find it very difficult to sculpt a realistic face, even with the on-line-help of Hannie Sarris. I had wished to attend one of her courses, but she died much too young! (if anyone knows an other good course in sculpting fairies in the Netherlands, I would love to hear it!)

A part of a room maybe, of a medieval Scottish castle, or a palace in India, or a shabby chic brocante shop ...

I'm sure that you all have ideas of what would work well in a bell jar, and I would love to hear your opinion. What would you make or like to see in a bell jar? Or perhaps you already have filled one: I'd love to see your pictures!

Please, inspire me!

Marit

Potted houses & Welcome!

2011-03-10T21:13:00.001+01:00

My husband and I love to walk and take photograps, old gardens are perfect for both. The estate 'Gooilust' in 's Graveland (in the Netherlands) has a little extra for the dollshouse-lover. There's a little shed in the gardens, with a small round glass in the door. Who would not take a peak inside?

The view is unexpected:

I really don't by who and when these little potted houses were made, but aren't they cute?

But let me welcome the many new followers during my absence!

Ultsu

Nschaaf (no blog?)

ekaterina.beluzina (no blog?)

Clare Hepzibeth

Alennka (no blog?)

Maddie (can't get on your craft-blog though)

Carolien Booms (no blog?)

Kikka (& second blog)

Paloma

Rosa (Yayin)

Bonbon

Gemma (& second blog)

Strawberry Milk (no blog? I thought I remember one)

Teresa (Terelo)

Nadia (no blog?)

Elga

Drora

Gonda (well, old follower with a new blog, but worth a visit)

Little Bear Paw's (Cindy)

Irene (no blog?)

Karin Caspar (& 1/144)

Treefeathers (your blog seems to be empty?)

Weelittlewest (Kathy)

May

Choupavril

Marina (no blog?)

Mieke

A warm welcome to you all!
Marit

It's been a while...

2011-02-15T22:27:00.001+01:00

... since I blogged! I have some issues on my mind lately, and also my health has taken a wrong turn again (I'm sure the two are related), so it just doesn't cross my mind to make time to do fun, creative things. But I guess it also works the opposite direction: I need to do fun things to be happy. I tend to forget that.

Anyway, I started small, very small, projects of just a few millimeters: a key with a keyring, and a metal flower.

I haven't visited your blogs as well, need to update myself on what you all have been doing too. I hope you'll bring me my needed inspiration! And I need to welcome my new followers soon too!

Bye for now,

Marit

And the winners are...

2010-12-05T21:11:00.000+01:00

How many of you have responded on my give-away! Too many to write down, but our printer and computers seem to have a row, they mysteriously won't communicate with eachother. Leaving me with no possibility to do the old-fashioned draw from a bowl, no possility to let my hands go through the papers and chose one by feeling that it's the one. Instead of that, I made two lists in Excel, and let the computer chose randomly. It feels a bit empty, but it does the trick.

The first draw for the metal set...

... is won by Norma of Make Mine Mini! To my surprise, as some of my work already has found the way to her home.

The second draw, for the wooden set...

... is won by Genevieve from Miniacollection!

Congratulations both of you! Genevieve, I send you an e-mail for your address. So little Lucie will be able to play in the snow with her new sledge soon!

Thank you all for participating!

Marit

~♥~ Give-away! ~♥~

2010-11-19T00:24:00.000+01:00

To celibrate that over 200 people chose to follow my blog (can you believe that?!?), I have prepared a give-away...

Two hundred has a 2 in it, so I made two sets of gifts, both in winter/Christmas-style. The wooden set contains a sledge (as some of you already had guessed), a box and some candy-canes (well, it needed some colour). By the way: if your car needs new windscreenwipers, don't trow away the old ones! Those have a rustproof iron strip, which can be very useful, for instance for irons on a sledge...

The second set is the metal set: a angel to hang, a decorative tree and a candlestick.

To enter the give-away you need to be a follower and leave a comment on this post before December the 5th (Dutch time). You may anounce this give-away on your blog and use these pictures for that, but you don't need to.

In the Netherlands we celibrate Saint Nicolaas on December the 5th. It's the origin of Santa Claus. It's a party where children get presents and families give eachother presents. A perfect day to draw the winners. I will write the names down of all contenders twice and get a bowl for each set. If you said to have a preference for the wooden or the metal set, I will put both papers with your name in that bowl. If you have no preference, each bowl gets one paper with your name. So you all have the same chance to win. (And no, it's not possible to win both sets)

Good luck to you all!

Marit

Welcome & Preparation of give-away

2010-11-15T23:32:00.000+01:00

I have been silent for a while, only showing Norma's wonderful gift, but not my own work. But I have been busy and still am!!! I saw the number of my followers getting close to 200 and then passing it! A year ago, when I started this blog, I would not believed it if someone would have told me that I would get so many followers! I am preparing a Christmas&winter themed give-away, but I'm not ready yet, so here some hints to make you curious:

So let me welcome my new followers:

I hope you will continu to like my blog!

Marit

Gift from Norma!

2010-11-03T23:44:00.000+01:00

Some time ago I send Norma some items, and she told me that she would make me a swap. She made me a daybed for the beachhouse:

Isn't it just lovely? The matress can be reversed, and the other side has the complementary fabric:

The beachhouse is still under construction and quite empty, so I have nothing yet to show the daybed in a scene, except for the kitchentiles. But the colours mix so well!

Thanks again Norma! I am very happy with it!

Marit

Welcome!

2010-10-21T21:27:00.000+02:00

(the result of an evening turning and twisting metal tread and soldering it)

I have new followers!

Dark Squirrel Victoria

Ana

Diane-Enaid

Liliane

Linda and second blog

Lataina (please let me know if you have a blog!)

A warm welcome to you all and I hope you will enjoy my blog!

Marit

Holiday

2010-10-18T21:24:00.000+02:00

The last weeks I got myself through my working hours dreaming about miniature making at a table next to a woodburner, cup of tea, glancing outside every now and then, seeing nothing else than coloured leaves and birds... and most important: NOTHING ELSE TO DO! Well, we just came back from that autumn holiday, and we had such wonderful weather, that I almost did no miniature working! :-)
But this is what I did:

I sewed a bag and sawed a little bench.

I haven't glued the bench yet, still deciding if I will use it to make more.

And now back to work again, and no holidayplans to dream about...

Marit

Sidetables & silverware

2010-09-26T22:30:00.000+02:00

The beachhouse will get a kitchen with a work top of soapstone, which I will make from a stone myself. I had one piece almost ready, when it broke in two. So I decided to make two sidetables with it.

It's not well visible on the picture that the tops are made of stone. In real they look a bit like marble. I made them the right thickness for a kitchencounter, so they are a bit too thick, but it doesn't bother me. The dark one has little wheels beneath it. Work in progress:

The silver I've put on them are my oldest (candlesticks) as well as my newest boughts (bowl and sauce-thingie). Aren't they wonderfully detailed?

Hope you'll have a good week next week, mine will be very busy, probably no time for mini-work... :-(

Marit

Welcome new followers!

2010-09-26T21:45:00.003+02:00

Beautiful scene to be seen in the cathedral of Chester (UK)

A warm welcome for all my new followers!

Usvis

Aproshkina

Lia e Alma

Csilla

Sarah

Julia @ Bearcabinminiatures

Marta y Carla

Marillum

Little Miss Kris

I hope you will all like my blog, and leave many nice comments ;-).
I don't seem to be able to find a blog of some of you, while I'm sure that I visited at least one of those blogs. Please let me know if you have one!

Marit

Step by step

2010-09-19T18:32:00.002+02:00

Sometimes I think I must be the clumsiest miniaturist. I don't see any of you damaging their wallpaper when you're not working on it, cutting grass-paper 3 times and still too short, trying paint-techniques on the good piece of grass-paper (instead of the remainder after cutting), ... Oh well, I get there, slowly progressing step by step.
The spot on the wallpaper is covered by a bouquet of dried flowers (some real flowers fit the miniature world perfectly). You can see the new windowsills on this photo too.

Next to it is the door with the new hinges. They match the handle well, after I removed the black paint on them.

Two snails found their way on the outside of the conservatory.

I had to make close-ups of them, as one has to take a very good look to spot them on the next picture. I made the second wall around the garden. Now I have to finish the gate, and then paint it. As I said, I cut grass-paper from a model-train-shop to fit the garden, which it does, more or less. But I guess I can fill gaps between wall and paper with plants, like one would have in real life, as the mower can't cut the grass close to the wall. The grass is not glued yet. I need to paint the walls first.

I thought the grass-paper was too yellow, even though I bought the darkest shade. I tried various ways to paint it, and had a very nice result by spraying a solution of watercolour on it. A brush flattens the grass too much.
I end with another picture of the lion-tap. I know I've shown this before, but I like the result much.

Have a nice week,

Marit

End of Eurominies :-(

2010-09-08T23:10:00.001+02:00

Last week I got the news that 'Karweipost', owner of the brand 'Euromini's' will stop their activities. I think it's a pity. It's a very affordable priced brand. I must admit that for me it's not detailed enough, but hey, what to expect for the price they ask? But they also sell most of their furniture as bare wood, and that I like very much! Those furniture are the perfect base to make your own furniture: all the difficult work already has been done. So today I went to their shop in Veenendaal to shop before all the good stuff is gone. A treat from my husband: he told me that he would take care of the bill :-). It was quite busy in the shop, and some items already had been sold out!

Don't you just love the desk? Ever since I saw it on Marmod's blog (scroll to the 'Lavendel kamer', half-way the page), I thought of pimping one myself, but never had a purpose for it. Still haven't. The chests of drawers are so nice as well, even though I have no place for them yet either. They are what we call belly-cabinets in Dutch: they are thicker in the middle of the drawers. The chair will become a throne for the ice-queen in my fairytale cabinet. And of course I bought lots of lights for the fairytale cabinet!

I wonder how the Dutch dollshouse-world will recover from this. I think it's the most sold brand around here and some shops dedicate more than half of their shop to it. How will they fill that up? Time will tell, I guess. The importer stops for personal reasons, so there is hope that someone else will take over. But at least I have my long-desired goodies.

Bye for now,

Marit

On the wall

2010-09-05T10:39:00.002+02:00

My projects stood on the same tables where I do my miniature work, always taking a lot of space. And now also the structure of the conservatory is becoming more fragile, so I thought it was time to give them their place on the wall.

My hobbyroom has the shape of an 'L', and this temporary desk in the foot of the L is where my computer stands (behind the cottage). It's a nice and secure place for my projects. The rest of the room is working area, where things can be made... or broken...

To see how it would look best on the wall, I tried it on the floor. But now it's on the wall, I think the conservatory should hang higher. Oh well...

The left cupboard is made for cd's, but I will make a fairytale collection of it, with in every box another scene with fairies, gnomes, a witch, or ... So many plans, so little time! But now it's up the wall, I finally may have the room to work on it.

I do see that history repeats itselve. I started on the beachhouse, soon I had to devide my time between the beachhouse and the conservatory, and now -without coming close to finishing those two projects- I'm thinking about starting on the third one... At the end of my life I'm probably surrounded by loads of dollshouses and boxes, without any of them being finished. I can't say I mind. Working on them is the fun part. I might enjoy the house less when it's ready.

As for the conservatory: the new glass has been put in, I've made windowsills and I started on the outer wall of the garden.

And now I'm going outside to enjoy the sun (after having had weeeeeeks of rain)!

Marit

Michelle's give-away present has arrived!

2010-08-16T18:37:00.001+02:00

As you may remember Michelle of Little Rabbit Miniatures had a give-away to celibrate the opening of her Etsy-shop and having 105 followers, and I was the winner of a beautiful Cinenaria. It arrived this weekend, and in real it's even more beautiful than on the picture!

A close-up:

As said: the give-away was to celibrate the opening of her Etsy shop, where Michelle sells plants and flowers, all very different, but all very detailed and beautiful. If you want to see her wonderful works, visit her shop here.

Thanks again Michelle!

Bye for now!

Marit

Welcome!

2010-08-07T15:56:00.001+02:00

My hobbyroom has a door to a roofterrace, where I can do dirty work as sanding, take pictures of my work in good light, feed the birds out of reach of my cat, or just sit and enjoy the view (preferably with a glass of rosé wine and the evening sun). It's raining now, but look who visited me on the terrace last week:

I have more welcoming to do, many new followers!

So a warm welcome to:

Kim@Fairytale Cottage

I hope you all will like it here and leave many nice comments :-).

Marit

Little creatures

2010-08-02T15:42:00.001+02:00

I want to finish the base of the conservatory, so I can glue it on the wall and shelf, but this sure isn't my best week.

I've put scrappaper beneath the windows, and the windowsills are ready to be put in, but first I had to glue the acryllic glass back in again. But the glue I used reacted with the acryllic glass, didn't glue, became runny and left white stains on it... In other words: the glass is ruined. In the proces I pushed a window ornament out (easy to fix) and broke one of the hinges of the door (beyond repairing). So I need new glass and hinges, before I can go further here.

I thought I could make some small creatures of Fimo, to live in the garden. Here they are:

A hanging mouse:

A mouse on a pin (to put on a stem of a plant or flower):

A dragonfly (only 5 mm in lenght, with 6 legs and musquito-wings!):

A mole:

And 5 snails:

Yes, I did say 5, I did make 5, but one never made it to the oven (was found in my hair (?) later), and the other two with real snail-houses didn't survive my clumsyness... (see first picture) As I said, this week was not a good week for me to work in miniature.

They all need a bit of paint and some need some flock, but even the mega-scrap-shop nearby didn't have that, did not even know it exists. Thank God for webshops! Now I just have to wait till the postman brings me my glass, hinges and flock (and the other nice stuff I saw in those webshops ;) ).

Have a nice week!

Marit

Backwall

2010-07-25T21:39:00.000+02:00

A conservatory usually doesn't stand on its own, so I needed to make a wall, behind which the rest of the house would be. So last week I have been busy with self-drying clay and paint. Here is the result:

The lion-plate with tap is bought. It just needed painting.

And here is how I did it:

First I've put the clay in place. It doesn't need to be flat. Then I sketched the stones, following the lines of the unflatness, making stones in various sizes. On the right you see the next step: defining and shaping each stone. On some stones I made cracks and bumps. Then the whole wall gets texture by beating and stroking with a firm brush. I applied several layers of paint, but also gave a few stones one layer of a different colour, so not all stones will have the same colour. It needs a bit of variation to look realistic.

To show my husband what I did, I placed the lion-plate on the wall, and it stayed there while drying. That was by accident quite a good choice, as the clay shrinks on drying. With the plate in place, it kept his place. It was quite stuck after a few days of drying!

I still need to add moss, climbing plants, a little bird-nest in a hole between the stones, etc, but so far I am pleased with the result.

Update on my cat: he still sleeps a lot and surely has muscle pain, but he's doing very well. You already said it to me: cats are really tough creatures!

Marit

Finished bench

2010-07-19T20:34:00.000+02:00

It got late last night, but I finished the bench!

Did you notice the M before?

Inside I've put a pink lining in contrast with the turquoise colour beneath the white paint.

It will get a place in my conservatory.

Left, right, I'm not sure yet.

It took 4 layers of white to cover the turquoise, and when it was fully covered, I sanded it again, showing the turquoise and bare wood, to give it a used look. It still feels silly to 'damage' a neatly painted piece, but I do like the effect, giving a dolls house the feel like it's being lived in, a home, instead of a show piece.

Hope you had a nice weekend full miniatures to enjoy as well.

Marit

Present from Sonya and progress on bench

2010-07-17T22:41:00.001+02:00

When Sonya received the present of my give-away, she wrote that she would send me something in return. But I didn't expect this much!

How nice is that! Thank you so much, Sonya! I'm sure I'll find a place for everything!

I have been busy myself too this week. Here's some progress on the bench:

The turqoise will be covered by white, so the colour gets trough the white when sanded for the old look. More on that next time.

Marit

Welcome

2010-07-15T00:00:00.002+02:00

This is an old picture of my Misha, the black cat who gave the name to this blog, with behind him the fence we had to catch him from, 8 years ago. He put up a real fight when we came to take him and his buddy home from the asylum. A cat with a history, not trusting people.

We've come a long way, and here we are today. Isn't he a cuty?

I've neglected my new followers, but it doesn't seem to keep you away ;). So here is a warm welcome to:

Janne Mauritzen

Shizurama

Lenajangren

Anna Colosa

Linda

Mijuu

Oiseau deNim

Terry

Kreattiva

Francesco Fiorino

Lainie's little things

Minnie Kitchen

Naomi

Looking Glass Miniatures

Zsuzsanna Palane Horvath

Marlene
Cheryl
Michelle

Blogger is not showing a blog at many of your names. Please let me know if you do have a blog.

Hope you all will like my blog, keep returning and leave many nice comments :).

Marit

Start on furniture for the conservatory

2010-07-12T21:49:00.000+02:00

I'm starting on a new piece of furniture for the conservatory. So far I only made small things, or used ready made furniture for a start. So I'm quite curious if I will succeed in making it the way it is in my head from scratch.

It is supposed to become a small bench, with storage beneath the seat.

Marit

Lamp for Sonya

2010-07-11T18:21:00.000+02:00

I did not have much time to blog, to see your blogs, to keep up with my new followers (131 already, wow!) or to make miniatures lately, but I did make the lamp for Sonya, who won it in my give-away, with the fabric of her choice. I couldn't show it before, as I had to wait until she got it, but here's what I sended her.

I included a little basket for which I made the lining, and as a basket never should be empty, I put little bottles in it, matching the colourscheme. Two of them are made from beads, the big one comes from a bought set.

Here the light working:

The metal ring on the foot of the light is not painted here yet. I glued this on to the lamp to make it more stable (because of the thread it wants to fall over quite easily), and to push the thread into its groove in the wood. It hasn't become a perfect fit for the thread, as it should, but it's difficult to put pressure on such small, delicate pieces.

I'm glad Sonya liked it, and I hope it will fit the setting of her country bedroom as she wished it to.

Bye,
Marit

And the winner is...

2010-06-16T14:44:00.000+02:00

Just got back from my holiday to Wales, to see your comments on my last post, and to draw the winner of my 100+ give-away!

It's Sonya of Canella e melograno. Sonya, could you e-mail your address to me:

marit(dot)tamminga(at)hetnet(dot)nl?

Thank you all for participating!

Marit

100+ followers give-away!

2010-05-30T23:06:00.003+02:00

103 FOLLOWERS !!!

A warm welcome to My Realitty, Fmagico, Chris, Margaret, Jody, Flor, Piiko and Sagrario. Fmagico and Sagrario, I can't find your blog. If you have one, please let me know!

And so it's time for my 100+ followers give-away! So I made a real working 4 cm high table lamp:

Doesn't look finished to you? That because it's not. How could I, if I don't know in which dollshouse it will come, and because of that, in which style and colour it should become. The winner of the give-away may tell me in which colour the foot should be painted and which fabric should be used on the hood. I have a nice collection of miniature fabrics, I show some samples in the next photo, but I have many more.

The winner will also get the remainder of the fabric, so he/she can use it to make matching cushions, curtains, etc.

To enter this give-away you must be a follower and leave a comment on this post. The last possibility to enter the give-away is June the 15th (my father's birthday) at 12 pm. I will draw the winner the next day (I hope, I have some busy weeks coming).

Good luck to you all!

Marit

A shelf for the conservatory

2010-05-24T17:21:00.000+02:00

My husband made me a shelf for the conservatory.

The shelf still needs a second coat of paint, but then again, much of the white will not be visible later, as the ground will get grass and a path. It's nice to see how it gets shape now. I want to make a stone wall at the back, like the conservatory is placed against that wall. Then a low wall surrounding it, with the 'metal' fence on it. I won't be using the entire fence, just the upper halve.

As you can see, I also made some hydrangas from a kit.

The thing I like about this kit is that it had flowers in it with different sizes and different shades of blue, making it more realistic. I still need to add some leaves, I think. I also think I need to add some more colour variation on the leaves. The pots are bought, but adjusted to my taste (other knobs, painted, made older, etc).

Also some other goodies I bought for the conservatory. There's more, too much for just this conservatory, but these certainly will get a place here.

As promised the progress on the birdcage-stand, which my husband makes for me:

The stand will get an other birdcage though. I think a cage with a 'tower' on each side will look more beautiful! I also want to combine wire with wood on it. The stand itselve is not ready yet: it needs curls made of iron threads. One curl is easy, but how do you get more curls which look the same? Any suggestions?

Bye for now,

Marit

Welcome!

2010-05-17T16:01:00.001+02:00

Already 94 followers! Seems I'm getting close to my 100th-follower-giveaway!

A warm welcome to:
Nati
Flora
Miniaturemaid
Anthoula
Mary Williams
Saskia
Monique
Genevieve
Maria Narbon
Annina
Jody
Alafosca
Carolm
Heli
Bözse
Meli Abellan
Puppenstubennostalgie
Marleen
Dora
Nina

I hope you all will like my blog!

Marit

PS: For more photo's of the little birds, see my other blog: White Cat Cottage.

Bird cage

2010-05-10T20:05:00.001+02:00

A while ago Norma of Make Mine Mini showed a birdcage in one of her posts (click here to see the post). In real life I always feel a bit sorry for birds in a cage. A symbol of freedom caged... No, a bird should be able to spread their wings and fly! I wish I could!
But birds as well as birdcages can be so beautiful! And when I saw the one Norma showed, I thought of soldering one. A miniature bird wouldn't mind to be caged, would he?

The bird is made of Fimo with feathers of a peacock glued on it (hooray to my childhood collections!). A peacock feather excists of many small, perfect miniature feathers. Each little feather is glued separately onto the body. The eyes are little bolls of tin from the soldering.

Beneath the bird is a tray with a piece of paper to collect the birdshit and loose feathers:

And this is how it started:

The cage has gotten an eyelet to hang from. I had some ideas for a soldered post to hang it on, but my creativity has less limits than my soldering-qualities. But when I showed my husband my plans, he liked the idea and already started on it :). So to be continued...

Marit

Wood lathe

2010-04-24T17:23:00.000+02:00

My husband was so kind to explain the wood lathe of the Unimat to me, and having so much fun in the proces, that he made me all kinds of small cups and things...

The lid fits perfectly!

The bowl is made of a kind of large nut. It's a bit transparant, so it could be used to put a light in as well.

Did I make any of this? Yes, the smallest ones of course! Always trying to get it as small as possible ;). Thinking of making a game of chess... The difficult thing about that is to make each equal piece look the same. Need some more practice to be able to do that, I think.

Have a nice weekend,

Marit

Welcome

2010-04-04T22:00:00.000+02:00

Again many new followers:

Annie - Obsidian Hall

Tallulah Belle

Pandora Box (can't find your blog, please let me know if you have one)

A warm welcome to you all, hope you will like my blog!

Marit

Slow progress

2010-03-31T15:48:00.002+02:00

I made this little heart the way I descibed in the post before this one. I used a rubber mat to make the heart extra hollow. I made the edges flat again by using the embossing pen on the other side of the heart. I made two hearts and glued them together with the knot of the thread on the inside. It now hangs on the shelf.

The shelf hangs by the use of magnetic tape and a metal sheet. The magnetic tape is not very strong. It's designed for the use on paper, so one can put up photo's or children's drawings on the fridge or on a wall which has been painted with iron-paint. My husband is getting me stronger, industrial magnetic tape, but this will do for now.

I also put up the embroidery the same way. I'm not totally happy with the way it's framed. I wanted to use a passe-partout, but I didn't get it straight.

Yes, the door hangs too, including cat-flip. Blacky still figures out if he will like this or not... My real cat only uses it when he's not able to convince one of us to open the door for him, he has such a hard life! ;)

I had much trouble getting the hinges of the door right. This is the third type of hinge I tried, and it finally worked.
I used coloured plastic in the window of the door. I want to put a light behind the door, like if the lights are on in the non-existing house. The colours are not very visible on the picture, but are two types of blue.

This is all for now. It goes much slower than I would wish to, but my life is not a Harry Potter movie, so I can only use my time once, and not much on dollshouses lately.

Happy Easter!

Marit

Experimenting

2010-03-10T19:30:00.000+01:00

What's the English word for a small candle in an aluminium cup? In Dutch we call it waxine-light or tea-light (as it can be used to keep the tea warm). I had used a bit of the aluminium to cover my ugly and uneven glue-job on the cat-flip on the door of the conservatory, and was waiting for the glue to dry. While waiting, I played a bit with the tools and materials on the table. And this came out:

All I used were a aluminium cup, an embossing pen and a few punches:

The aluminium gets a bit of a silvery look by the embossing pen. Not sure what to do next with it, but I think it looks decorative.

This is the finished cupboard, by the way. I thought I would glue it on the wall, but now I know how difficult to put something in it (and I want to be able to change that according to my liking or the season), I think it would be better if I could still get it off the wall if I want to. Anyway, this week I have great difficulty to get things straight (for example see the hooks...), so I leave that for now. I did finish the embroidery, now it needs to get framed.

Next time more progress on the door.

Bye for now,

Marit

Welcome

2010-03-10T19:11:00.000+01:00

Five new followers to welcome! But only four new pictures and no new 'no picture' on the my followers-list? I went though the other pictures of my list, and I think the 'missing' picture must be Ana Morgado. The other four are Merry Jingle, Cia, Janne and Miniaturista.

A warm welcome to you all!

Marit

Update conservatory

2010-03-03T21:59:00.000+01:00

As promised: an update on my conservatory. This is how it looks now:

I cannot work on one thing alone: my mind is already busy with the next thing, and I can't help starting on that too. So I did a few other things, while busy on the door and not having finished my embroidery yet.

The bricks outside were high gloss red, very ugly, so I painted them in a blended mat grey. I redid the joints, and afterwards painted them with watercolour, as they were too white. Then I added some moss. Still need to add some moss to the rest of the conservatory as well, looks great. This is the result:

I had bought some ornaments for the windows at Bindels Ornaments. They sell all kinds of metal ornamental pieces for the use in dollshouses. Of course the ornaments were 'golden', so they needed to be painted white and then made old, rusty and dirty.

I think the result is more beautiful then shows on the pictures!

Then of course, I still busy with the door to the none-existing house. It takes lots and lots of layers of white paint to cover the dark grey beneath! I also made a small cupboard, which I gave the same dark grey treatment, before painting it white, again and again and again...

Now it needs to dry thoroughly before I can work on making the old look.

It looks here like spring is finally coming, but they say it's going to snow again this weekend... I'll see if it will be dollshouse or garden this weekend!

Bye for now,

Marit

New followers

2010-02-25T21:25:00.002+01:00

In my absence an amazing amount of new followers arrived:
Lirael
FabShabbyRoses (I think the link must be right, but why doesn't your picture show up in my list of followers?)
Sylvia
Jonna Rudoo
Mincka
Cerchiofatato
Casita Mini
Ingrid
Michelle's mad world
Jaime
Coby
Unicornio
Lara
Christel Jensen
Mini Annalee
Victoria
Hannajaleijona
Amica (please let me know if you have a blog, can't find it)

I hope you all will like it here!

Marit

Mini sampler

2010-02-21T22:38:00.000+01:00

You haven't heard from me in a while, because I was busy, have some things on my mind and last week we had a small holiday. I will post some holidayphoto's later, and will catch up with you as well. For now I just want to show you that I'm still busy with my conservatory. I want to make a sampler for on the wall. I have cross-stitched a lot in my life, but never in mini. I think it's very frustrating, too much threads on a too small area, so I had to give up. Not my thing. For those who can, I admire you even more.
But no sampler? No. So I'm cross-stitching, not as small as I would prefer, but as small as I think I can handle.

I think the colours will match the conservatory perfectly.

As for the door: I started the first dark layers of paint today. I did think about the idea of a dark stain, I see how it would suit it nicely, but still prefered the painted look. So the painted look it will be. Thank you all for your ideas! So funny how other people can think in directions, which I didn't even think about!

Bye for now,

Marit

Colour advice wanted

2010-01-24T17:39:00.000+01:00

Today has been a bad day for my little black cat. I guess he tried to walk on thin ice, because he came back from his daily 5 min walk outside wet from tail to ears. He didn't let me help him dry, but I'm just so happy that he's alright! After he washed himself dry, I spoiled the poor thing by letting him sleep in our bed beneath the blanket. He hasn't left the spot all day!

I've been working on the conservatory again, the floor, the back wall and the door in the wall. The tiles are from Jennifer's Free Printables. I still need to do the joints, but I love the result.

The door will get a leaded window and a shutter for a cat (for me a house without a cat is no home). I want to make a used look by painting it with colour 1 and then with colour 2, and then sand the used parts, so colour 1 will show. But which colours? First I thought colour1 to be white, and colour 2 to be bluegreen like the wall, or a lighter shade. Then I thought colour 1 to be dark grey (which the red part of the outside will become as well) and colour 2 to be white. The light blue-ish grey of the tiles is also a good colour 1 or 2. Or... what do you think, what would you do?

Marit

Welcome

2010-01-23T13:48:00.000+01:00

Since Christmas I got an amazing amount of new followers! So a warm welcome to Josje, Eva, Rose, Ascension, Eli & Karina, Kim, Susanne, Minna, Evelien, Karin, DE, Mermaid Treasures, Anneke, Lori and Lisette.

Eli & Karina: I can't find a blog of you, if you have, please let me know!

I hope you all keep liking my blog!

Marit

Weather-vane

2010-01-10T17:44:00.001+01:00

Recently I decided to get my conservatory out of storage to make a little garden-project of it, instead of adding it to my dream house (which I will build one day, if ever). The first miniature I made for my new project is this weather-vane:

It's not only decorative, it also works, of course. Here some pictures of the making process:

The ornaments are from Tiny Turnings, I sawed the arrow and the bird.
So far, all I made has been made pretty, well painted, clean, just the way you would buy it in a shop. In real life I do not like the old look given to new furniture by sanding the corners, adding uneveness and sometimes even a dirty glaze. In my opinion new needs to look new, and things with history may show history, but not too much. Your work, and also the book of Lea Frisoni, made me see that in a dollshouse a used look adds charm, makes a dollshouse more realistic. So I did the unnatural thing: after finishing my beautiful weather-vane, I made it ugly and dirty. I did the same to the conservatory, and then added the weather-vane. I'm quite happy with the result, but also a bit sad about the loss of beauty... Here's the result:

I hope to show you more of the garden-project soon.

Bye for now,

Marit

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-26T20:44:00.001+01:00

I want to make a Christmas-lantern, but this year I had no time for it. But I made a little scene to wish you all a very merry Christmas (well, I hope it was, as Christmas is almost over now) and a very happy and healthy 2010!

Almost invisible on the photo is the black cat in Christmas spirit (my real cat has other plans with Christmas decorations...).

The little bear was a present of Jody. It's really beautiful. I think I'll make a 'Merry Christmas'-sign with it for my lantern (next year?).

To my surprise I saw that there are six more of you out there following me! I think I need to thank Debbie for mentioning me on her blog! Welcome Lize, Vicky, Dales-Dreams, Susan (Minicrochetmad), Muriel (Le coffre d'Emilie) and Angeles. I don't seem to be able to find a blog of you, Dales_Dreams. If you have one, please let me know. I like to see who you are and what you do!

Bye for now,

Marit

Welcome

2009-12-19T18:22:00.001+01:00

A warm winter welcome to new followers Cockerina, Debbie and AminaShk. I had never epected that people would start following me, especially without me visiting their website first. Thank you!

Marit

After being absent for a while...

2009-12-16T15:18:00.001+01:00

Let me show you what I have been doing besides my main activities of sleeping and working lately:

I've made this little gardenbasket with tools, which can hang on the hooks inside the basket. It was the first time that I made something by wickering, and it shows: the thread is too thick and it's far from straight. I should have tried something more easy, I know. I do not like the basket at all. I thought the thread I used would give it a rough, country look, but it's just out of proportion. And what about that stupid handle? I forced myself to finish it, just for the learning process and now I don't know what to do with it. I do love the little scoop, that does meet my need for perfection.

To make myself happy again, I gave myself an easier task: making little perfumebottles out of beads and tiny metal hearts, always fun, always beautiful. To be honest, I do not need any more bottles, I've already made so many of them, more than any vain dollshouse girl could possibly need. But it's just so much fun!

I also have been busy with my Unimat again, being inspired by the things which are made by Birchcraft (http://www.birchcraft.co.uk/). I'm making two keyrings:

This one is 7 cm in lenght. It has been painted blue, and now I want to paint small flowers, bees, butterflies and dragonflies on it. And this is the other one:

Unimat

2009-11-11T20:31:00.000+01:00

On the fair in Arnhem in October I've bought an Unimat 1. I had seen it last year, thought it was a lot of money for just hobby, but missed it all year. Haven't played much with it yet, I've only used its saw, but haven't tried its other possibilities (yet :) ). SO far what I did with it:

It takes a little bit practice, but how wonderful precise one can be with this thing! It doesn't hurt fingers. A bit filing and sanding, and then painting:

These are the first 3 items I made:

The box has different colour of paint on each side:

The chopping board is better visible on photo than in real life. It was so difficult to add the white to the letters! I've started over 3 times!

The anchor will get a place on the door for now. I might put it on a stick or so, not sure yet. The grey paint is in fact silver. Behind it, is an Humbrol paint tin.

Till the next time,

Marit

Introduction to my dollshouse

2009-11-01T15:58:00.000+01:00

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to build a dollshouse, one in which I could bring all my ideas and plans to life, for which is no room, time or money in the real world. But my lack of skills and hunger for perfection always kept me from building. Then I saw The Retreat of The Dolls House Emporium and thought it would be the perfect little house to turn into a beach house and learning that needed skills on the way!
It still is quite empty on the inside, but I made the deck ready for Halloween this weekend.

Some more detail:

And two miniatures I made for it:

The hedgehog is about 1 cm high. The pumpkins have glow-in-the-dark teeth and eyes. The candles and ghosts on the wreaths are made of glow-in-the-dark Fimo as well. Funny sight when I turn of the lights of my hobbyroom!

Enjoy the last bit of of the weekend!
Marit