A birthday swap, garlic and kitchen plans

It really feels like autumn now and I'm finally starting toget into miniature again ;)

So far, the past few months have been limited to the days when I crafted with Jolinda.

Last month, however, it was Jolinda's birthday and that meant making a swap :)

I'd seen a great workshop from SweetMiniDollHouse for making a plant with a Fimo cane and I wanted to try that. Funnily enough, Jolinda'd happened to watch that same workshop too, with the idea 'for later'.

I also tried making a tea box (a workshop by Anita Brouwer). That was - especially with Balsa - so delicate that I didn't even dare to stain it :'). At last made a leather shopping bag, which always comes in handy with all those vegetables Jolinda has made these last few months :)

Het is inmiddels echt herfst geworden en ik begin eindelijk weer wat knutselkriebels te krijgen ;)
Tot dusver bleef het de afgelopen maanden beperk tot de dagen dat ik samen met Jolinda knutselde.
Afgelopen maand moest ik echter wat eerder beginnen, want toen kwam de verjaardag van Jolinda eraan en dat betekende een swapje maken.

Ik had een geweldige workshop gezien van SweetMiniDollHouse voor het maken van een plant met een cane van Fimo en die wilde ik maken. Grappig genoeg had Jolinda diezelfde workshop toevallig ook bekeken, met het idee 'voor later'.
Nog geprobeerd er een theedoos bij te maken (een workshop van Anita Brouwer). Dat was - zeker met Balsa - zo priegelig dat ik het niet eens meer durfde te beitsen :'). Tenslotte nog een leren boodschappentas gemaakt, die komt altijd wel van pas met al die groente die Jolinda de laatste maanden gemaakt heeft :) 

We both made garlic last time using this tutorial from This Charming Stuff. My first ones turned out very large (I made a strand of that anyway). Finally found the right size and shape.

We hebben de vorige keer allebei knoflook gemaakt met behulp van deze tutorial van This Charming Stuff. De eerste vielen wel erg groot uit bij mij (daar heb ik toch ook een streng van gemaakt). Uiteindelijk de juiste maat en vorm gevonden.

Last weekend I got inspiration to move on with the cottage kitchen.

First I looked at my notes so that I could make a coherent whole with all those separate ideas. Decided that the wall lenght units that were on my to-do list didn't really fit the atmosphere I want to give my cottage. Instead, fewer furniture so I can fit a small kitchen island and a (fake)back door.

I made another map (the fourth and hopefully last version ^^);

Afgelopen weekend kreeg de inspiratie om eindelijk verder te gaan met de cottage keuken.
Eerst eens gekeken naar mijn aantekeningen zodat ik met al die losse ideeën een samenhangend geheel kan maken. Besloten dat de hele kastenwand die op m'n to-do-lijstje stond eigenlijk niet echt past bij de sfeer die ik m'n cottage wil geven. In plaats daarvan minder kasten en iets meer ruimte zodat er een klein keukeneiland en een achterdeur in de ruimte past.
Opnieuw een plattegrond gemaakt (de vierde en hopelijk laatste versie ^^);

Generally, I want to make the kitchen a bit lighter than the living room. With the ceiling beams stained in a lighter colour. A paneling of light wooden slats up to a height of one meter. A stone tiled floor in gray tones and white plastered walls and ceiling.

I made a mood board for myself with the images below from the internet.

In grote lijnen wil ik de keuken een wat lichter maken dan de woonkamer. Met de balken aan het plafond in een lichtere kleur gebeitst. Een lambrisering van licht houten latten tot een hoogte van 1 meter. Een stenen tegelvloer in grijze tinten en wit gestucte muren en plafond.

Ik heb voor mezelf een moodboard gemaakt met de onderstaande plaatjes van het internet.

Tiles behind the stove, maybe the
edge decorated with a strip of lace.

Maybe a pan rack above the sink unit.

A kitchen island/cart...

... with a rustic hanging pan rack above.

Those lamps, and this kind of stone floor tiles,
though in a lighter - more grey - colour.

There will also be a small table for two to three people, maybe a round one depending on how it turns out. And a third chair, which will have a wicker seat.

Finally I tried to draw a part of the kitchen, just for fun :')

Verder komt er nog een kleine tafel voor 2 a 3 personen, misschien een ronde afhankelijk hoe het uitpakt. En nog een derde stoel, die een rieten zitting krijgt.
Ten slotte heb ik voor de lol ook nog geprobeerd een deel van de keuken te tekenen :')

While I was drawing, I suddenly realized that I had never shared a photo of the AGA I made early this year, so here it is. Created using a tutorial from a book by Julie Warren.

Terwijl ik aan het tekenen was, realiseerde ik me opeens dat ik de foto van de AGA die ik begin dit jaar maakte, nooit gedeeld had, dus bij deze nog. Gemaakt met behulp van een tutorial uit een boek van Julie Warren.

So for now I can go ahead in the winter months. Hopefully I'll have the kitchen finished in the spring :)

I hope you enjoyed seeing my plans.

Thanks for the visit and have a creative autumn 💜

Voorlopig kan ik dus de wintermaanden vooruit. Hopelijk heb ik de keuken dn in het voorjaar af :')
Hopelijk vonden jullie het leuk om mijn plannen in te zien.
Bedankt voor het bezoekje en een creatieve herfst gewenst 💜

Making a sink unit for the cottage kitchen

 

Een paar maanden geleden was ik begonnen met het maken van een aanrechtkastje volgens de beschrijvingen van Julie Warren. Ik heb de aanrechtkastje uit de boeken Creating Dolls' House Kitchens in 1/12th Scale en Step by Step Dolls' House Furniture Projects in 1/12th Scale gecombineerd omdat ik het op deze manier het leukst vond.
Het kostte wel iets meer tijd om het e.e.a. uit te puzzelen en om te rekenen, maar ik ben erg blij met het resultaat.

A few months ago I'd started making a sink unit from tutorials by Julie Warren. I combined two units from the books  Creating Dolls' House Kitchens in 1/12th Scale en Step by Step Dolls' House Furniture Projects in 1/12th Scale to get one I liked best.
It took some extra time to figure it out and calculate it, but I'm very happy with the result.

Op de beurs in Rijswijk had ik het mooie kraantje en de ladeknoppen gekocht bij 't Tafereeltje. In de week erna had ik een knutselmiddag met Jolinda en heb ik de knoppen gebeitst en de kraan bevestigd.
Toen enkel nog een gordijntje maken van een leuk stofje dat ik bij Minidoor was tegengekomen en het aanrechtblok was klaar. In de toekomst wil ik nog een afwassopje maken :)

At the fair in Rijswijk I'd bought a beautiful tap and drawer knobs at 't Tafereeltje. The following week Jolinda and I had a craft afternoon so I stained the knobs and attached the tap then.

The only thing left to do was to make a little curtain from some nice fabric that I'd come across at Minidoor and then the countertop was ready.

Hogsmeade cottage - the bedroom part 2 & Crafting together (May)

After I had made the candle wall sconces and finished the walls, floor and ceiling it was time to make the curtains.
This time I wanted the curtain rod to slip through eye hooks on the wall. I embellished the hooks with wooden beads to get a little more clearance between the wall and the finials on the rod.
The rod is a wooden screwer I sanded until it would fit the smaller eye hooks and then I painted it with gold acrylic paint.

It should have been easy to twist the eye hooks in the wall and slide the rod (with only one finial) through the eyehooks. Then add the curtain in the middle and then put a finial on the other side.
Unfortunately the chimney-piece prevented that so I started by marking where the eye hooks would go, twisted only one in the wall and then finished everything else.

Two weeks ago Jolinda, Connie and I spend an afternoon crafting together. It was the first time in a while due to corona that it was the three of us and it very enjoyable :)
Connie worked on the sidewalk for the front of her shops and Jolinda made beautiful peonies.
I started making the curtains untill I got frustrated with them (a) and then got the oak stain out for the rocking chair and the dressing table with the mirror :)

Later that week I finished the curtains. I like the look ...

... but despite measuring more than once they still turned out to short, so I'll make new ones later :')
Penny doesn't care, she's happy with the new rocking chair :)

I also made time to give the shiny new door handles (on the left) a more aged bronze look.

And while I was at it, I also did the (Alladin) oil lamp and Bianca's high heels. Kept the inside and the soles of the shoes black.

Because I find it very difficult to take good photos from the back of the room, I made a little video :)

You can see the wash jug and bowl set (bought in England), the shawl (I made a few years ago) and the corset (gift from Kim) I've found back last week when I was organising my craftroom ^^. 

Furthermore the high heels near the bed, the chalk bord I want to fix for Penny and the door handles. Very happy with the progress ^^

I've also finally connected all the lights in the bedroom. The ledstrips behind the beams appear brighter in the video than they are though. 

Credits:
Inspiration for the eye hook with bead combination came from TinyFixation.
And the idea of the sewn on rings curtains (which I also used for the living room) is from Kendra's Minis.

Penny's pinboard

When I came across this tutorial by Julie Warren for a pinboard, it seemed like a great addition for Penny's side of the bedroom.
She was born in 1988 in a Muggle town and grew up there. Which is why there are posters and pictures of movies she's seen, of the Spice Girls (she likes Mel 'Sporty Spice' C the best) and Take That (secretly she had a crush on Mark Owen).

Now, at ten years old, she and her mum have moved to the cottage in Hogsmeade and she finally gets to discover the Wizarding World. Now the Weird Sisters, the Holyhead Harpies and dragons are all she can talk about and she saves every magical candy wrapper, a Hogwarts Express ticket, as well as one from the Knight Bus. 

I didn't have a sheet of thin cork, so I used a few of these stickers.

I used Balsa 3 mm strips for the frame and only varnished it. 

Penny has pinned all her favourite pictures and
is now deciding where to hang the posters.

The cottage roof (part 3)

I've finished the cottage roof just before Easter. I might add little details later, like moss or maybe a gutter, but that will be when (ever ^^) I've finished the inside and start working on the outside again.

After I had finished tiling the roof and
the dormer sides.

Using templates for tiling the gables.

Before putting them onto the gabled dormers
I painted the edges with black acrylic.

I also painted the edges of the whole roof (panel),
attached the aluminium strips for the lead slab ...

... and I decided to add another row of tiles
at the top to cover part of the piano hinge.

The gabled dormers with a closer look
of the lead slab. 
The owl, who has just delivered Penny's
Hogwarts' letter, is made by Kim from
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.

Update on the dormers

After making the first slate tiles I painted three more sheets of (wall) paper (50x30 cm) and cut them in 3 cm width strips. Cut each strip in 12 squares, so that made about 800 slate tiles (3 x 2,5 cm). It looked like I was working in a slate factory :)

Next I cut the openings for the windows in the plywood and painted the roof with acrylic black. Just in case there would be tiny gaps between the tiles.

It already looked very different with the dormers and windows finished even though they were not stuck to the roof.

The inside window frames will have to wait until I get to decorating those rooms.

Although I am going to make beams as a support for the piano hinges I realised I still needed shorter screws for the other half of the hinges because I couldn't use beams on that side. Fortunately my dad came to the rescue. He did have cutters/pliers and was so kind cut the screws. And so, I could secure the first hinges.

Next  thing I should so was connect the dormers to the roof but instead I started with glueing the tiles. I could tell you I was curious how the tiles would look but the truth was I was avoiding doing the dormers lol

Another thing I needed to figure out was how to make the lead slab. My idea was to make it from aluminium tea light cups but that turned out looking too bright and shiny.

I asked the FB group advise on how to get the aluminium matt/dull and got multiple reactions. Some gave tips about painting the aluminium, others suggested thin strips of clay or offered me information on where to buy real lead (strips). I started with the first tip (because buying something is always a possibility).
I sanded the strips lightly and then drybrushed it with a mixture of black, grey and blue acrylic paint. It doesn't look too bad, though still a bit too light imo. 

While I was thinking about those lead slabs, I finally attached the dormers :') They didn't fit perfectly, so I lined masking tape along all the crevices and gaps, on both sides and also on the outside.

I filled up the gaps carefully using the glue gun and smoothed it out with a cocktail stick while the glue was still warm,  When the glue was hard I removed the tape and some bits of the excessive glue. 

Thankfully the masking tape on the front had kept the glue from leaking.
It is not the most attractive solution but everything will be covered either by tiles or wall paper anyway :')

I spilled a drop of glue from the glue gun on one of the glass windows, so I will need to replace that unfortunately :') Or I could place an owl on top of the dormer and blame it for dirtying the glass (a)

Though still lots to do, I was starting feeling more confident about the roof (a)

For the sides of the dormers I made a template first.

Of course I needed to make four different templates because none of them is exactly the same, even though they differ just a few millimetres :')

I've finished all four parts but the edges are clearly visible so I'm thinking about painting them (carefully) or put a thin strip of black paper on it before they got stuck to the dormers.

Next will be tiling the gabled roofs of the dormers and the rest of the roof and making the lead slabs but I'm very happy about the progress I made over the last three weeks :)