Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Gifts From Ann Sanz

I did a little swap with Ann Sanz of http://elartedeangelina.blogspot.com.
There's one of Ann's famous pies with a little slice cut out of it, a little jar of peppermint candy(so cute), a tray with roses, a pastry box, and an adorable crochet rug. 
I love the way the pie looks. It's so perfect for Fall and my Christmas dollhouse! It has such a rustic/farmhouse look about it. I squealed when I took it out of it's wrapper.  :D




I put the tray on the table with the little piece of pie on it. It looks so good! Like Ann made it specifically for that spot.



The jar is exactly the right colors for the vintage look of the mantel. 
And the rug looks precious in front of the door. I had a spot left for the pie on the goody table. And the box is great on the chair. I love all these pieces so much. They are going to show up in a lot of my photos! Thank you Ann! I'm so happy to own your treasures now.  :)
Thank you for coming over everyone. Have a wonderful time creating!
hugs♥,


Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Quintessential Cottage Dollhouse - A Christmas and Winter Inspired House

Here it is! The Christmas dollhouse I call the "Quintessential Cottage."   By the way, I hear the Google translator is not defining quintessential. Quintessential means  pure and essential essence of something. A perfect or typical example of something. In this case a perfect example of a cottage.  :)
I had the same idea as Erin of keytomyworld.com  She wrote  "just a very light dusting of snow. First one of the season is always a bit magical!" I totally agree Erin!
 I love mixing textures and finishes on my walls. Looks more cozy and old.  This is all premix concrete. Easy to work with, dries pretty fast but not too fast. I spread it on with an artist spatula and let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. If it's too wet your carving just disappears. You'll see when it's ready because when you draw your rocks or bricks into it(I use an old X-acto knife) your lines stay and your stones/bricks don't stay stuck to your blade.
 To age all of it I mix 5 parts brown paint to 1 part black paint to about 1/2 cup of water. It has to be liquid enough to spraid easily but not too much water so that the pigments are gone.
 The bottlebrush trees were green. I dipped them in bleach to turn them cream. If you want to turn them light green or brown I think you'd need a cup of water nearby to dunk them in and wash of the bleach. The bleach worked fast! Like 2 seconds! I had wanted to try a brown tree but I didn't make it. LOL! The bleach was just too quick for me. I did have another type of tree from those Christmas villages that took much longer. So I guess some need overnight. But not these little dollhouse ones!
 The icicles are hot glue. I put a dab on and let it dry. Then I just kept adding more pulling it downwards until the icicle was big enough.
 A little smoke in the chimney - it's pillow filler.

 Snow-Tex is what I used as snow. It has the consistency of a lightweight spackle/plaster with fine white sand mixed into it. But it's sticky. So once it dries it is stuck on and won't fall off. To apply it, I used my finger. I just put it into the spaces under the shingle and pulled upwards to get that drag mark.

 This is my super shabby chair. I made holes in the upholstery and used that brown/black/water mix on it too. The little footstool table, chair legs and ceiling also have that aging mix on them. It's very versatile!
 I sprayed the tablecloth with hairspray and pinned it in place while I dried it with the hairdryer.
 All the food is airdry clay.
 I love the dark upstairs compared to the white downstairs. The bed has a metal scroll headboard and footboard.

 I used a  brown ink pad to age the fireplace mantel.
 I put steam in the little coffee cup too.

 I rolled little snowballs with the Snow-Tex too.  They're on the bench. 
 

Here you can really see the fire roaring in the fireplace.  This dollhouse was fun! I don't usually make winter ones. I'm a summer girl myself! But this cottage looks pretty cozy if for someone who hates the cold. 
Available in my Etsy shop Cinderellamoments.etsy.com
Thank you so much for popping over and visiting!
hugs♥,

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Quintessential Cottage Dollhouse Almost Done

I decided to make the Quintessential Cottage a Winter/Christmas dollhouse.
It's not quite done yet. There are some trims missing. Also some pieces of furniture that I need to make.  I had the green bottlebrush Christmas trees. I dipped them in bleach and they instantly changed to this wonderful cream color. Instant gratification!!
But I'm happy with the look I achieved. It's very rustic almost "primitive" style.
All the sides are different. This side is birch siding done vertically.
I kept everything in a tan/oatmeal/cream palette. That way it's very soothing and dreamy.
You can barely see the lights in the fireplace. I promise I'll capture them better in the final post for this house. I sprayed the "throw" with hairspray and then laid it on the chair. I pinned it in place until it was dry. Now it drapes over the cozy armchair.
Upstairs, I made a bed with 2 pieces of metal fence I had. I hot glued the bedding in place.
Next time, this house will be done!  I'm not sure if I should use snow or not. Hmmmm?
Thanks for the visit!


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Customized Blythe Doll Melanie

This is my third Blythe customization.  Her name is Melanie.
Melanie got new lips carved, a philtrum carved, nose holes,  and new makeup. Her face is now matte.
 Her body is Licca which means that the legs are bendy and hold a pose. Her arms are very soft and bendy however they do not stay in a pose. But as you see here I was able to put her arms in her lap and they stayed. 
 This Blythe kept the hair she came with. It was so long, curly and beautiful and suited her so well that I decided to leave them.
 I painted her eyelids pink with roses and other tiny flowers.

 I made the pants with grey trim and a ruffle apron with oatmeal roses.
 She has 2 pulls - one for the eye color change and the other for "sleepy eyes" (keeping her lids closed).  She's sealed with MSC(Mr.Super Clear Matte). She's signed on the back of her head.
 Her blonde hair has soft curls at the end.
I made her freckles and stained her lips as opposed to applying "lipstick". Melanie is available in my Etsy shop cinderellamoments.etsy.com

Quintessential Cottage Dollhouse

I'm making a new cottage dollhouse called Quintessential Cottage. 
On this house I did the porch a little different by keeping the floor longer than the porch roof.  I already wired all the lights with battery operated lights I bought at Evan designs: http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/mi.html
The front and this side have premixed concrete used as stucco and also as carved out bricks.  The timber is wood pieces.
On the other side, I used birch siding that I glued on vertically.
Inside, I did the downstairs ceiling light and the upper ceiling dark. I'm thinking this will make a great cozy cottage look. Both ceilings are Popsicle sticks, even the beams.
The fireplace will get these flickering lights put in to look like a real fire. I just hide them in sticks I find outside. Add a little moss and you get a pretty little roaring fire.
You can find the mini fire led lights here:  http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/fire-led.html
Till next time!