La Maison de Ville Dollhouse

I built a little cottage called La Maison de Ville . It's adapted from the Ballerina Studio.  This was a commission from Stephanie.

This one is a cream color.  Ballerina Studio was more on the yellowish side.

This one has a full upstairs as well.

The door is a bluish gray color.

This house is 19 3/4"(50.16cm) tall x 12 3/4"(32.38) deep x 11 1/2"(29.21cm) across.

I love this side of the house. There is something so country and charming about it.

I trim all my windows with Popsicle sticks.

Stephanie wants the interior all white and ready for her personal touch. The interior rooms are 8"(20.32cm) tall x 11"(27.94cm) across x 10 1/8"(25.71cm) deep.

I decided that ladder stairs were the best option for this house. They can be easily removed to work on the wall treatment in the back.

With 3 windows, the upstairs is nice and bright!

The battery and switch are in the chimney.

This photo reminds me of a Paris roof.

Thanks for coming over and visiting La Maison de Ville!

I'm working on my next book on building a french mansard dollhouse. So far I have the house cut out. It goes very slow. My objective is to make sure things stay clear, simple and easy to understand. I hope you are all having fun too!
And here's a photo of Gigie my baby Ragdoll!

Photo by Sophie Dupuis

She turned 3 months on the 6th. She is completely potty trained! I wasn't sure the first few days I had her. I kept looking to see if I saw anything in her litter pan. At first she didn't do much. So I was thinking she was using a secret spot. But no. She is such a good girl. I have never had a cat that loves kisses and hugs before.She is quite independent. But she still makes time for cuddling. Thank you for all the sweet comments about her. I'm so surprised so many of you know ragdolls. I had never heard of them before.
This is the good part of life! I'm glad God brought her into my life. I hope all of you have good things happening as well. If not, just know great things are coming. So hold on a just bit more. ♥

Gigie - My New Baby Kitten!

This is Gigie! Isn't it Anne of Green Gables who says a name is more romantic with an "e" at the end of it?

My new baby Kitten.  I went to pick her up in the country Sunday.  The breed is called Ragdoll.  She's super gentle, calm and very loving. It's like having a little lap dog. She's a teeny weeny little baby. She'll be 3 months old in 2 days.

She's a super napper just like Lizzie(my Yorkie).  Right now they are both sleeping the afternoon away. In different beds though.

Lizzie has no interest in cats. They've had a couple of nose sniffings. But that's the extent of it.

My sister posted a video of Gigie on YouTube.  
hugs♥,

Un Immeubla a Paris (a Building in Paris) Dollhouse

Here's a look at my newest dollhouse - "Un Immeuble a Paris"

It has 2 shops and the entry to the upstairs apartment on the lower part. And upstairs is the cozy little Paris apartment.

This side of the building is light grayish stucco with dead vines and an old advertisement for baby formula.

I made all the doors myself.  They are not particularly hard to make. But I do run into some problems. The trims always seem to get in the way of the door opening all the way.  I'll have to work on that more.  :D
But I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

 This is the door to the stairs for the upstairs apartment.

 The shabby shop is full of goodies. I made the big display shelf, table, art work, rugs and crystal chandelier.

There are also some old antique dogs in here, a metal tub of fabric, glass jars, mirrors, frames, little pastel painted chairs, posters(keep calm carry on), an old door against that wonderful blue and cream wallpaper.

Behind the stairs, I made a little table with keys, mail, an antique dog and flower pot. More plants on the floor and a hand painted rug too. There are 3 paintings on the wall. 

This dollhouse is available in my Etsy shop cinderellamoments.etsy.com
Thanks for coming over! I think my next project will be another how-to book. This time on how to build a french mansard dollhouse from scratch.  It will even have the door tutorial.  That should keep me busy for some time. :D
hugs♥,

A Birthday Greeting From Danielle

I got a birthday card from Danielle of http://artdaniellevanderhorst.blogspot.com/

Danielle is another super blogger. She paints such marvelous paintings.  Thank you Danielle for creating such a beautiful card for me! :)  In this post http://artdaniellevanderhorst.blogspot.com/2015/01/de-innie-minie-laten-zien.html she has painted some very Springy flowers. They look so fresh and pretty!
I had so many sweet birthday greetings from all of you. It was great fun to read them all!
hugs♥,

Erin's Sweet Gesture!

Yesterday, I received Erin Hellebuyck's book Storybook Cottage Adventures.  This is a book filled with the sweetest, most delightful stories.

The stories are so cute! I love the one about the little village during Halloween time.  All that talk about yummy food made me very hungry!  There are even a couple of recipes in this book. Erin thought of everything.  I love these types of magical and wholesome stories about cute little characters in make believe lands.

I was so touched that Erin dedicated her book to me. What an unexpected honor! Warms my little heart! :)  Thank you Erin!   Erin's blog is called Key to my World .  Erin makes miniatures and dollhouses that inspire or are inspired by her stories. The dollhouses and books coordinate together. Such a fun idea! I hope you'll drop by Key to my World and say hi to Erin. She will be another blogger friend you'll be happy to know. Erin's books are available on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Keytomyworld

 I will put this book with the rest of my treasured gifts from all of you in blog land! I can't tell you how happy I am to be part of such a close-knit community. You are all so kind, generous, and supportive. And that also goes for everyone who just comes to read the posts. I appreciate everyone!  
You all put a big smile on my face everyday.
*I'm putting all the accessories and furniture into "Un Immeuble a Paris" right now.  It will be my next post!

lots of love and hugs♥,

It's My Birthday!

Today is my birthday!

My sister made me this picture above. It's me working on a dollhouse chair sitting on a macaron. LOL!
I'm also working on my new blog design. So things might look weird for a little bit.  The "Un Immeuble a Paris" dollhouse is almost done!
hugs♥,
Caroline

My Amazing Friend Monica

Just after Christmas, I received a little parcel from Spain.  It was a gift from fellow blogger Monica of  Kitchen Miniature.

There's a handpainted picture of a gorgeous fairy, a little "love bug" brooch, a pink dog charm, and a beautiful crochet rug I left on the backing.  I'll have to decide if I remove that backing. It looks very shabby chic this way though.  Thank you Monica!  I will treasure your gifts. They are so special to me!
hugs♥,

A New Project: Un Immeuble a Paris Dollhouse

Hi everybody!   I hope the New Year is treating all of you well.  I have been hard at work on my new project called "Un Immeuble a Paris" (a building in Paris) dollhouse. I'm busy doing the little accessories.

There will be two shops. One is a flower shop.

The other a shabby chic type shop.

The bottom interior is almost done. There's a entry/stairway for the apartment above, the shabby shop, and the dark flower shop.

The apartment entry has grayish walls with a lot of aging.

This is done with plaster(Spackle) that is not perfectly smoothed on the wall. Then layer your colors. I use regular acrylic paint. It started with a gray base and then washing more gray and a yellowish paint. It was finished with flicking a paintbrush loaded with watered down black/brown to make spots.

The shabby shop has one wall with wallpaper. This is scrapbook paper that is already looking aged.  I made a chandelier. And the beams just need paint. 

The flower shop is also looking very old. The textured paper on the ceiling is a 3D paper in the scrapbook section.  And this chandelier is a Christmas ornament that got new paint. It's so perfect for that garden look a flower shop should have. 

I made all the doors for the dollhouse from scratch. The shabby doors are drying here. I painted them gray first. Then I brushed a generous amount of white glue on them and let that dry a bit(10 min.). Then I painted over the glue with white paint. This makes great cracking paint.  The little door is for the flower shop. It's glossed dark green. And the other door is brown/gray for the apartment. Of course all the doors "grew" after the paint. Now I'll have to sand to get them to fit in their frames.
I hope you are all creating up a storm!
hugs♥,