The Tranquil Nordic Retreat

I've done a little more on the Tranquil Nordic Retreat.  The loft,  "tin" ceiling are in. I did a "stencil" above the windows.

The "stencil" is actually hand painted. I didn't have a stencil that small. I sketched an oval and bow with a pencil and then use a linen colored paint over it. 

When the linen paint gets the pencil mark wet, the pencil line turns into a gray paint. It's a great effect!

Here's the "tin" ceiling. It's just hot glue outlining 2 different designs.  Then I painted the whole ceiling with a couple of coats of thick off white paint.

And the upstairs ceiling is done. Half will be covered with sheer fabric. And the other half will be painted with scrolling.
I've been working on lots of accessories and furnishings. I can't wait to put them in place. Tomorrow I'll show you a shop I made for Jen. 
Till then!
hugs♥,

Tranquil Nordic Retreat

I have done a little more work on Cami's special commission- "Tranquil Nordic Retreat".

After having put my plaster walls on 2 of the walls, I started the wood floor.  I use the skinny craft sticks, a wood cutter,  and your choice of glue. You can use wood glue, craft glue(my favorite is Aileen's Tacky Glue) or whatever glue you like.

 I work from one wall to the opposite wall going from the front to the back. The way to do wood floors is almost limitless.

Once I get to the last row I use a box cutter to trim the sticks.

Now it's time for color.

For my first coat, I used a brow based wash. I take brown paint and water it down. It has the same liquidity as water. Very diluted, yet it still leaves a wash of brown on the sticks while letting the wood grain show through.

Next, I did another wash. This time I used brown, black and lots of water. The picture above is what it looked like wet.

And here it is dry. If you want even lighter just sand it a bit.

On the other 2 walls I used corrugated cardboard(from the textured scrapbook paper department). I painted the cardboard taupe. Then I coated the taupe with a thick layer of white glue. I waited till the glue was almost dry and painted a coat of white over the glue. Only apply the white in one direction and ty not to overlap your strokes.

The result is a small crackle effect. 

The downstairs is starting to look pretty rustic!

Tranquil Nordic Retreat

My newest dollhouse commission is for Cami.  And the name says it all- a "Tranquil Nordic Retreat" which will be with the Shabby Chic Dollhouse as a base. 

 If you want to buy the book to show you how to build the Shabby Chic Dollhouse you can get it directly from the publisher Blurbs or from my Etsy shop Cinderella Moments.

I put all four walls together with the floor and framed the 2 side windows.

Then I used DAP's Joint Compound (bought mine at Lowe's)as my plaster.  To spread it on the wall I used an artist's angled spatula. It's in the oil paint section at the craft stores.

Once the plaster is on the wall, I smooth it as much as I can by dipping my spatula into a glass of water. Then glide the straight edge of the spatula over the plaster until you have smoothed it as much as you can.  If you want a museum smooth finish just use a very gentle grit sand paper. But for this Nordic look I will need it to be just a little rustic. So smoothing it down with a wet spatula will give me the perfect look.

I also did the back wall the same way. Sometimes I draw lines in the wet plaster to make fancy panels. But this house will need to have these 2 walls stay simple. 

We're Back!

I took little Lizzie to her favorite place in the whole world- the beach!

First, we stopped off in New Orleans.

 New Orleans is the perfect place to get dollhouse inspiration!

Little Lizzie was tuckered out.

But now the beach!  Oh how Lizzie loves having her nose full of sand!  I try to clean it off but that makes her very mad. It's like she's wearing her badge of honor. So I let her enjoy her sand!

 She looks a lot like a little bear when she runs.

This is how all that sands ends up in her nose. There's always something to dig out!
But now it's time to get back to work on minis.

Between commissions, I sneak in a little work on the Wiltshire Cottage kitchen.

 I made a simple little counter/cabinet with a carrera marble top and a pink interior.

I saw a picture of real cookies on Pinterest. They were in an old tin box. So I tried it out. The box is cardboard and the cookies are air dry clay.

 I also made this sink cabinet.  And 3 little pink shelves.

And I couldn't live with my mistakes!

 I switched the pantry's door to the other side so it would swing the right way and I shortened the 2 bottom shelves so the light would reach all the way to the bottom shelf. Ilona made me do it! :D HAhaha!!!

I made a triple window on the side. It was suppose to be a bay window but I decided it would stick out too much and be in the way. So I cut out and framed 3 arched windows. The wallpaper is canvas. It looks like linen. Love the look!

On the ceiling I went for a tin look. All you need to do is trace out a design with your hot glue gun. When you paint over the hot glue it gives you a wonderful 3D effect.
I hope everyone is doing wonderful! Until next time!

Shabby Shop - Another Make Over!

The Post Office went through some changes!  It's now a Shabby Shop custom dollhouse.

 I changed the sign and added a bike, Digitalis flowers, a mushroom crate, a planting crate and a pink sparkly pumpkin. 

 I love making mushrooms.  It's my new favorite thing. I use air dry clay to make them. The dirt on the bottom is coffee grounds.

 This shop gets a pink bike.

 Here's a little seedling sprouting in a pot.

 I aged the sign by simply sanding it down.

 The sides are the same as before.

 Inside is where I had some fun.

 I made most of the stuff in here. I didn't make the metal table near the chair or the metal chair near the bed.

 The fabric department.  I made 2 aprons hanging on the side.

This was an Altoid tin. I use it as a suitcase. I printed the little Blythe boxes off Pinterest. I knew I'd find a good place to put them.

When I closed the tin it scraped the paint. It looks just like a hole in the upholstery!  Love it!

 I use hair spray to make the curtains stiff.

Someone's working on a new little project for the shop here.

This dollhouse is in my Etsy shop. It measures: 15 1/2" tall x 14 1/2" deep x 11 1/2" across and the
interior is 11"across x  10 1/8" deep x 14 1/4" tall.
Thanks for coming in!