Kellie Wachter's Victorian Country Cottage

It was a wonderful surprise for me when I found out that Kellie Wachter's Dollhouse was made from the Victorian Country Cottage Jr. Kit by Real Good Toys -- the same kit I used to build my Nepalese Resthouse and my French Country Cottage! Don't you think it is marvellous that the same kit can be given such totally different personalities? So, I present to you, Kellie's darling country cottage ... with Kellie herself giving us the grand tour!

Dear Sumaiya,

This is my one and only Dollhouse. It was my first too. I redecorate and upgrade as time, talent and money will allow. I am pleased with the front, I recently reworked the flower boxes and like the new look very much. The daisies and hose were part of a swap and I think they add quite a lot of charm.

The landing is simple but I love the little photograph of my son on the table. He was in 2nd grade when that picture was taken.

The bathroom features a Chrysnbon tub that I painted myself.

The living room is still sort of a catch-all for odd minis. One day will furnish it with things chosen specifically for it, but this it how it looks in the meantime. In case you didn't guess, that is me with my husband and son many years ago.

The dining room is my favorite and its the one closest to being done. There is still a door to be added and a cabinet that needs more stuff, but its just about the way I want it.

Enjoy!
Kellie

Explorer's Study by suedsimpson

Continuing in the spirit of exploration, let us visit the Explorer's Study by my friend Sue from Garstang, UK. The telescope and butterfly display case are extra special because they are gifts from her dear husband Neil. Basking in the toasty warmth of the fireplace is a black labrador, much like Sue's very own Cassie. Sue, did you know I had a German Shepherd named Cassie too?

Her webshots gallery is a veritable treasure chest of magnificent minis! It is the best place to go for project ideas, especially since she shows the different stages involved in the making of many of her projects. To read the stories behind each of her creations, visit suedsimpson's home on webshots.com!

The Book Room by Lenor Johnson

Here are a few photos from another one of Lenor Johnson's signature masterpieces. As I had mentioned earlier with the Devonian Fossil Collection by Wendy Smale and the Cabinet of Curiosity by Patricia Paul, I have a special place in my heart for exotic and unusual miniatures, especially with an "exploration" or "old world" theme ... and this Book Room would be the epitome of what I like!

Featured Artist: Lenor Johnson

Last week, I had the great pleasure of meeting artist Lenor Johnson: the creator of this and other incomparable specimens of miniature dollhouse sceneries. It was a chance meeting, and a very fortunate one for me! I had posted a message on the Smallstuff Digest about my French Country Cottage, asking for feedback from my fellow miniature-lovers. That is when Ms. Johnson sent me a very heart-warming email congratulating me, and sending me these photos of her own favorite cottage. Coming from an artist who has been creating miniatures since the 70's, her commendations were both encouraging and flattering!

So, with her generous permission, I would like to share with you, the photos of the Cottage by Lenor Johnson.

Lenor Johnson: Some More Minis

My friend Zeema came over last week, and I had to show her the photos of the Cottage. What had her amazed was the level of details: from the dust in the carpet to the photos beside the unmade bed! She said, it seems like a little pixie lives in the house.

Myself, I liked the aged and used look of the furniture. So, here are some more of the wonderful furniture, from the heart of Lenor Johnson to us, to enjoy!

Tudor Facade by Kellie Wachter

Dear Sumaiya,

Today I finished the Tudor Facade. I decided not to go with a bare tree and I think it was the right decision. I also decided to take a major chance and speckle the whole thing with fine white paint to get the effect of a snow storm I think it worked beautifully! What do you think?

~Kellie

Well, Kellie! I am speechless ... which is rare indeed!
~ Sumaiya

Tudor Facade by Kellie Wachter

Dear Sumaiya,

Here are the photos as promised. The Tudor facade is inching along. I still need to add the landscaping, but I think you get the idea where this is going. Some snow and foliage should finish it off nicely.

~Kellie

My French Country Cottage

Welcome to my French Country Cottage! I finally finished working on it last night, and couldn't wait to post photos on my blog to share with you!


For this house, Shah and I chose a cooler color palette, which is very different from the warm colors we favored for the last few dollhouses. We were inspired by Debbie Travis' Painted House on HGTV.


Our inspiration for the color palette came from a fabric we bought. Instead of using wallpaper, we decided to experiment with fabric on the walls; the results were brilliant beyond our expectations! I decided to leave most of the divider wall white, and paint the door a baby blue to add a hint of playful informality. Above the main door is an intricately curved wooden detail that I painted in white and blue, and then distressed slightly to lend an aged look.


To match the bright and sunny mood of the country cottage, I stained the floor with light oak glossy finish varnish. Instead of electrifying this dollhouse, I chose to put simple wall sconces for candles in each room, to remain true to the rustic simplicity of the house.


I had the most fun decorating the front porch! I added a similar wooden curved panel above the front entrance, but this one is stained in light oak and stands out against the darker gray-blue wall color. The porch has mosaic done in white and gray tiles. The foundation is covered in stones and moss.


On both sides of the house, there are two trees with pink and yellow blossoms. The gnarly moss covered roots and the scraggly branches transport this quaint country cottage to a lazy summer's day in France.

This house is being auctioned right now on ebay. The link:

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=269840089&site=0&ver=LCA080805&item=290063727540&lk=URL

Christmas in Poland

My Oriental Resthouse is off to Poland right now! It is going to the home of Joanna and her darling daughter Julia as a Christmas surprise. Please pray for the house that it reaches them safe and sound in time for Christmas!

144th Scale Farmhouse by Terri

These are photos of a 144th Scale Farmhouse by my friend Terri. She made it for her mother ~ simply too sweet! She writes:

Here are 3 pictures of the 144th scale farmhouse I made for my Mom. This is my first attempt at doing this scale. I wallpapered most of the rooms and stained the floors. The landscaping was lots of fun. I hope these arrive and that you can see the pictures clearly.

Hugs, Terri

You know what Terri? Landscaping is the most fun part for me too! Flowers and plants are just what gives life to a dollhouse!

Mini Animal Tutorial by Kerri Pajutee

Want to learn how to make this miniature dog?

Visit the wonderful website of artist Kerri Pajutee
where she describes her favorite technique of
creating the most realistic animal fur!

Link:
http://kerripajutee.com/

Tudor Facade by Kellie Wachter

Dear Sumaiya,

Here are the the window and door against the unfinished paperclay bricks. I am not sure on the the placement of the lamp post...it may not stay there...Its still a work in progress as you can plainly see.

Here are the two main elements of my Tudor Facade. I didn't want to recreate an entire facade, just a snapshot, a small section of a bigger whole. I am intrigued with lit windows at night and wanted to create something that evoked the warmth and coziness of being inside, out of the cold. We'll see how it turns out!

~Kellie

Featured Artist: Kellie Wachter

A very wise lady once said, "Nothing is so anticlimactic as finishing a great mini and then having no one to ooh and ah over it!" That quote was followed by a sweet smiley face that looked something like this ~ :o)

This witty and wise creature is my friend Kellie Wachter from Kailua Hawaii, and today I have the pleasure of presenting to you some of her mini art! I love to read her emails, and I hope her creations and her stories bring you as much joy as it has brought me!

Dear Sumaiya,
These two mermaids were my first forays into doll sculpting. I wanted to break away from the standard ideas of what mermaids look like and do middle aged mermaids instead. The first is called "The undersea World of Marjory Glick" and the second is "Mavis Plimsoll Luxuriates" A Plimsoll mark indicates how low in the water a ship is riding..Mavis is riding a little low!

Here are photos of my latest effort, a Thanksgiving prep table. I had great fun making the turkey and the pumpkins. Indeed, I made all of the food myself with the exception of the cabbage, the pumpkin pie and the bowl of mixed nuts. I bought the cabbage, and the other two were part of a swap.

A pair of Christmas room boxes. The first I call "Cookies for Santa and it featured a few Hallmark ornaments as well as a cookie baking prep table that I made myself and a familiar craft store hutch too. The poinsettia I made from velvet ribbon and the helpful guidance of the members of Small Stuff Digest. Santa's study was made to give a home to assorted Christmas minis that I had fallen in love with. The desk was made from a kit by my husband. I especailly love the little box of Christmas decorations in the foreground. That was one of the very first minis I aquired.



These two minis are very different from each other. The first is a room box featuring a chaise lounge I made from instructions in American Miniatures magazine. There is also a photo of a print of a painting by Jawlensky of a dancer named Sacharov. It's the sort of room I would love to have in full scale one day.

The little mini cabinet is my makeover of the little inexpensive cabinets to be found in craft stores. It features some treasures I recieved in a mini swap as well as my own creations and things that just caught my fancy.

Cabinet of Curiosity by Patricia Paul

I received a dear little note from Patricia last night, along with this photo of her Cabinet of Curiosity, and I wanted to share this confection with all of you! And to dearest Patricia, a big Thanks!

I enjoyed looking at your blog and see you really enjoy miniatures. I noticed some miniatures of collections as in the 17th C Cabinets of Curiosity and thought you might like to see one of mine. I am fascinated by these first 'museums' and done several things along this line.

Regards ~

Patricia Paul

http://www.patriciapaulminis.com

Featured Artist: Karen Darmetko

It is my great privilege to introduce to you some of the wonderful mini roomboxes and dollhouses by Karen Darmetko. We met through the Smallstuff Digest, and I was greatly inspired by the stories behind her mini creations. Throughout Graduate School, Karen used to decorate eggshells. She moved on to miniatures when she was diagnosed with MS eleven years ago. Karen does not sell her miniatures, but makes them as gifts, or donates them to the church raffles.

Most of the vignettes are Christmas because Christmas is her favorite decorating theme! This Florida x-mas box was a gift for a young friend with two small sons whose grandfather dressed as Santa every year to visit rehab centers in the Ft. Lauderdale area.

The Sewing roombox was made for a friend who chose the pink dress as the focal point. The orange corset was included for her daughter who turned thirteen at the time with a budding interest for Victoria's Secret lingerie!

The Neurologist's Office was made by Karen for her doctor, as a show of appreciation, and to let him know how much she relies on her fingers/hands to pursue this hobby/obsession of hers! This is my favorite out of all her roomboxes ~ I laugh everytime I see the skeleton grabbing the doctor's shoulder!


This is one of the Alf Houses by Karen. Dozens of little alf figurines are having grand Christmas Parties, because Santa seems to be dyslexic and confused Alf with elf that year!

I am in love with the cheeky sense of humor in Karen's miniatures!

The First Naturalist's Cabinet by Wendy Smale

This is the creation that inspired the Fossil Display. This delectable collection by artist Wendy Smale was featured in the November issue of "Dollhouse Miniatures." Wendy has been all that is gracious, and has taken the time to send me the links to her unusual artifacts collections. So, in the words of the artist herself, here is the story behind The First Naturalist's Cabinet.


This is a naturalist's cabinet, or a cabinet of curiosities, in 1:12 scale, filled with 59 tiny real specimens, many of them identified with readable labels. In 17th century Europe a few educated wealthy men created room sized natural history and science collections, also known as Wunderkammer. The development of such collections continued, with many amateurs contributing significantly to scientific knowledge through collecting, studying and publishing. The Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford started with the donation of a private collection in 1884, as did many other museums.

In the 18th century Linnaeus collected avidly, and then classified the natural world, developing the taxonomic system that we still use today. This cabinet is a small personal collection, but organised scientifically with separate shelves for fossils, geological specimens, and shells (the owner also added a sea star to the shell shelf, even though knowing it was not a shell!).

The drawers contain further specimens of fossils and a collection of umbonium shells, illustrating the diversity in colour and pattern within this species.

link to The First Naturalist's Cabinet:
http://www.wendysminiatures.com/naturalist's cabinet.html

Miniature Devonian Fossil Collection by Wendy Smale

As you all must know, I am excited by all things miniature, especially the exotic and the unusual kind. In my quest, I found a real treasure by an amazing artist, Wendy Smale. It is a unique piece for a fossil collector, or for a collector of scale miniatures.


In the first half of the 19th century the geologic time scale that we use today was being developed and the importance of fossils to recognizing and sequencing deposits was great. The Devonian period was named at this time, for the English county of Devon, and so my labelling of the collection as Devonian but without an absolute age makes it appropriate for a setting of the mid 19th century onwards. Collecting fossils was a popular pastime for many educated Victorians.


This is a delicate Bespaq display case in 1:12 scale, filled with 18 tiny real fossils. The fossils are a collection of marine fossils from Alpena, Michigan, dating to the Devonian period (417-354 million years ago). Most are labelled with readable labels, and the display is identified by location and age. The collection includes three different crinoid discs and a stem fragment, various bryozoan species including Fenestella and Rhombopora, coral, a bivalve and brachiopod, shell fragments, a piece of fossiliferous matrix and various other specimens.

This one-of-a-kind treasure is on auction right now!
Here is the ebay link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Miniature-Devonian-Fossil-Collection-Crinoids-
Bespaq_W0QQitemZ120059283409QQihZ002QQcategory
Z3214QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

To find out more about the creations by Wendy Smale, visit:

http://wendysminiatures.com/

The Owl Carver by Grace Shaw

Yes ... I had the same jaw-dropping awe-struck expression on my face when I saw this beautiful scenery by artist Grace Shaw! It tells the wonderful story of the Owl Carver who lives in the woods and carves, sculpts and paints owls. Grace has most graciously consented to share her photos with us, so Thank you Grace!

Want to read the story behind the creation of The Owl Carver?
visit:
http://www.virtualdollhouse.net/Customer/Owl_Carver.htm