Small Talk

Mas Provencal Update

There's really not much to report this week.  I'm waiting to receive the installments I ordered for my Mas Provencal but they haven't arrived yet.

Here are some of the pieces I have received.

 

         

 

The furniture is well-made and typical of the area.  I've not seen any of it for sale on any of the French websites I frequent, either, so the claim that it is artist-made exclusively for this series must be true. 

I checked out a couple of French blogs and chat rooms, and learned that the people there at least are very excited about making this house, even as they gasp at the price for the structure and all the furniture and accessories:  733 Euros, or $952.  What makes it doable is the subscription concept.

Mas Provençal 3

So how am I duplicating this house if you can't subscribe unless you live in France?  As I said in a previous post, the structure is being built here in wood.  But there was no way to find the furniture and accessories, or so I thought at first.

 

But I found a way!  Every several weeks I place an order on a website (http://www.journaux.fr/liste.php?sousfam=100415&collec=1)  that sells French magazines and  they send me 4-5 "issues" at a time.  They even hold orders to send together to minimize the freight cost.  The shipping is still astonomical, but I love that I may be the only person in the U.S. to be doing this! 

For the most part,  I am avoiding buying the structural pieces.  Instead, I am concentrating primarily on ordering the furniture and accessories.  I'm also ordering things like the roof tiles and the textured wallpaper, two items which are unlike anything I have ever seen.

 

Recently I visited one of my favorite French dollhouse sites (http://www.la-maison-de-caroline.fr/boutique/la_maison_de_caroline.htm?index2_gog)

and scrolled through all the accessories pages to see if I could find the items in the fascicule photos that are not being sent with the weekly installments.  I was lucky to find many, many of them and ordered them immediately.  It will be weeks before they arrive, but who cares?

I will keep posting on this project as it comes together.

Mas Provençal 2

I am having my house built all at once in wood, because the pieces included in the subscription are MDF as shown here (probably to minimize the weight since they are sent through the mail).

 

Plus I’m not crazy about the idea of getting pieces over a two year period and assembling the house over time.  I just don’t have that sort of patience. 

The house is a typical Provençal house (mas) with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, and a kitchen, living/dining combination and a lovely porch.

 

This is what the exterior of the finished house looks like.

 

 

And this is the interior with all the furniture and accessories in place.

 

Is this house not completely different from any house available in the U.S.?

Mas Provençal

Since my big house is almost finished, I am already planning my next one.  Actually, I’ve been planning it for some time now, ever since I stumbled upon a French website (http://www.altaya.fr/ficha.php?id=129) showing a dollhouse that can be bought by subscription – you get both the structure (piece by piece) and the decorative elements (i.e, the furniture and accessories).  The cost is €6.99/week.  Can you imagine?  Every week you receive a beautifully designed and printed fascicule (booklet, in French) that contains information about the room of the house you are working on (in this booklet, the salon, or living room/dining room).

 

 

 

There’s also a miniature accessory project to make for whatever room is featured

 

 

 

and instructions for completing, for example, the floor using the tiles that are included with the booklet. 

 

 

Sometimes the fascicule has a piece of furniture with it, sometimes an accessory, sometimes a wall or roof or floor.  It is a very unique concept, but not one that I think would translate well to a U.S. audience. 

 

Nonetheless, I am fascinated by the house and the furnishings, and decided that I had to have it.

My Big House is Almost Finished

I was hoping to bring my big dollhouse home from the workshop in time for Christmas, but alas, it is not to be.  Fourteen rooms proved to be too much to complete just working on weekends and the odd weekday. 

The first and second floors are complete, however:  mahogany floors laid by hand, wallpaper, chandeliers, crown molding, baseboards, and in the living room, library and master bedroom, fireplaces.  The Elf kitchen is particularly spectacular, as is the Elf bathroom.

Last weekend I was able to install almost all the windows, including the inside trim.  

That leaves the third floor, where the artist's studio, the laundry room, and the study located.  The floors are done but I need to wallpaper, which is tricky because of the dormers.  I am not looking forward to trying to get in those small spaces with little pieces of wallpaper covered with glue!

I also need to finish the Lawbre curved staircase that will dominate the foyer and to install the Lawbre ballustrade along the edges of the wings.  There is also a front porch to construct since I don't love any of the available ones. 

Christmas Baking Table

When I was out in Pittsburgh in early November visiting Debbie at Lynlott Miniatures, I picked up a ton of great Christmas stuff for my still unfinished dollhouse.  I decided on the spot buy duplicates to make a Christmas baking table for my youngest sister, who bakes more cookies than anyone at Christmas.

Debbie had the perfect table, with a drawer on either side that pulls out to accommodate all the goodies I wanted to showcase.

I bought the Andolfini gingerbread house in progress as the focal piece.  Then I added a plate of beautiful cookies made by a local artist, some fudge, a group of iced sugar cookies that I bought on eBay, a mini cook book opened to a sugar cookie recipe, a bag of flour, a miniature measuring cup filled with milk from Re-Ment, a mixing bowl filled with eggs and a whisk and finally, some rolled out dough with cookie cut-outs and a rolling pin, also from Re-Ment.  I took a small plate of cookies and wrapped them in clear plastic wrap so they would look like they were ready to be given away and put those on one drawer, and two pretty cakes on the drawer on the other side.

The finished table sat on my worktable for about a month before I found the perfect setting for it tucked away on a high shelf at Think Small in Chicago.  Carol had a little house with a peaked roof, about 10 inches tall by 8 inches wide by 4 inches deep, with a glass front.  Inexpensive but perfect.

After painting the whole thing glossy white, I was ready for the details.

First I put in a red and white checked floor.  Because the the roof made me think of a gingerbread house,  I decided to cover it with alternating rows of half inch fish scale shingles painted bright red and glossy white-- sort of like peppermint candies.  Carol had some darling holly wallpaper that was just right for the inside. 

The table just fit inside with both drawers pulled out.  I added a couple of kitchen stools underneath and a wreath above, and I was finished.

Here's the table.

 

And here it is in the house.

 

And this is the roof that I am so proud of!

 

The Princess and the Pea

I have been so busy that I have had no time to post.  So here is a quick update on The Princess and the Pea.

I still don't have the right setting for it, but the bed and the princess are fabulous.  I decided that Marty was the right guy for the job, so I sent him a photo of a Lord & Taylor Christmas window from way back and some scraps of silk, hoping he would do his magic and make me the mattresses.  As always, he came through big time!

Here's the photo I sent and the finished bed. 

  Marty is a genius.

I just hope I can come up with the right roombox, because I also have several Michael Mortimer pieces for the bedroom and some Tony Knott pewter, along with a tapestry for the wall.

More on other projects to come....

Re-Ment

Am I the only mini-lover out here who didn’t know anything about Re-Ment until recently?

 

Apparently there’s a whole world out there collecting these miniatures.  Thanks to Carol Gillott, on whose blog I first discovered this addiction! http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/

 

Re-Ment is a Japanese company that makes highly realistic and highly collectible 1:6 scale miniatures—sometimes referred to as “puchis”, which is the Japanese word for miniature.  These are suitable for Barbie and other dolls of that size—they are the wrong scale for the usual dollhouse, but so much fun!  They come in assortments of 8-10-12 sets, all of which are limited editions.  Each individual package retails at Japanese grocery stores for anywhere from $4.50-$6.99.  When buying them at retail, you don’t know what you are going to get in the box—it could be any one of the sets in the series, or it could be a so-called “secret set,” which is even more collectible.  Some people really like this surprise aspect, but not me:  I like to know what I’m getting.  In any case, it’s my impression that most collectors buy them on eBay or from specialized websites like my favorite, that of Priscilla Wardlow:  http://www.nrfbqueen.com/rement/.  More on Priscilla later on in this post.

 

The sets that appeal most to me are those containing food items, dishes, and cooking paraphernalia.  I started out just collecting the pastry sets like Special Cakes for Me, which has the most amazing “silver” trays and tea set.  Check out a couple of these sets here.

 

After I collected all of the sets in this series, I moved on to Paris Sweets, Cakes on Parade,  and the MegaHouse Pierre Hermé collection.  Before I knew it, I was addicted. Now I'm buying food of all sorts--spaghetti and lobster dinners, paella, chocolate fondue, ice cream--you name it.

 

Right now I am anxiously awaiting the release of the Princess Tea Party set, which I preordered in August to be sure I got the whole set!

 

In September a new set called French Restaurant was also announced--naturally I signed up for that, too.  Who can resist gourmet dinners with fancy china and silver, even floral arrangements?

 

Originally I stored my sets in clear plastic compartment boxes from Container Store, but it’s much more fun to have them out to play with.  So I had to buy a kitchen.  Fortunately, Priscilla managed to find a few of the discontined sets of the system kitchen, which combines a stove, sink and dishwasher, plus has a hide-away stool and comes with lots of fun accessories.  Then I had to buy a refrigerator and cabinets to hold the rest of my food and dishes.  I’m already out of space in those so I’ve bought a table and chairs where I will have individual dinners arranged at each place.

 

I don’t know where this will end but I am loving every minute!

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago Miniatures Show Preview Show and Sale Night

Last night we braved the road construction all the way out to Arlington Heights to get to Tom Bishop’s Chicago Miniatures Show and Sale preview night.  People were already lined up at 6:15 pm when we arrived, and a steady stream of mini-lovers continued to take their places in line until the doors opened at 7 pm.  Kudos to Tom on the Meet the Exhibitors reception!

Before the sale opened, we had the opportunity to learn about, and in some cases see examples of, the unbelievable line-up of workshops slated for the Chicago International 2009  (http://www.bishopshow.com/chiinfo.htm).   There will be something for everyone --judging by the number of people signing up for workshops 6 months in advance!  I won’t steal Tom’s thunder, but I will say that Ray Whitledge and Scott Burgess (http://www.whitledge-burgess.com/index.html) have outdone themselves with their new “Le Petit Patisserie," which was on view for us to drool over.

 

For me, the best part of last night was the opportunity to meet and talk with Jason and

Jackie Getzan (http://www.jgetzan.com/) and Greg Madl http://swanhouseminiatures.com/store/).

 

 

Regular readers will recall that I am a huge fan of these miniaturists. 

 

 

I now have 3 Getzan chandeliers in my big house—my most recent purchase is the

teacup chandelier seen here for my kitchen.  It is so whimsical—I just love it and wish

I had a full-sized version!

 

  

 

I also have  the pot rack that Jason custom-made for me, along with all the copper pots

and knives that hang on it.  In the girl’s room I have the Rose and in the MBR, one

that’s not on the website, and whose name I cannot recall (sorry, Jackie!).

 

 

Greg Madl is the force behind Swan House Miniatures, a website that has over

10,000 items made by artisans all over the world, many of them one-offs.  I have

purchased many, many unique pieces from Greg over the past year—I find new and

wonderful stuff every time I visit, which may be more often than I should!  Last night I

had the good fortune to score several of the new Christopher Whitford Provencal

Coq pieces for my Provencal kitchen--one of which is shown here.  And Greg has

 inspired me to make a china shop when the Princess is finished.  Can you just

imagine the possibilities? 

 

 

I also visited for a few minutes with Matthias Matthes, a German miniaturist who shows 

an amazing array of tiny brooms, brushes, kitchen tools, knives, and glass jars, vases,

etc.  This time I picked up several glass jars of various heights and shapes and a

tiny copper pudding mold; last time I saw him I bought all kinds of kitchen implements. 

Worth looking for at the next show!

 

I can't wait for the Chicago International!

The Princess and the Pea II

I’ve decided to use the Bespaq tester bed as the centerpiece of this vignette.  I will make the mattresses with silks left over from the drapes and beds in my big house (although I am sorely tempted to ask Marty to make them for me).  Of course I will have to head to the fabric store soon for more fabric, but I am also hoping to find some at the Tom Bishop Chicago Miniatures Show this weekend.  On a trip to Michael's (the craft store) I bought the batting and foam core that form the basis for the mattresses, as well as a feather boa that I intend to deconstruct and transform into a duvet for the top of the pile.  I mean, these folks are supposed to be royalty, right?  Their beds would have sumptuous bedclothes!

 

 

While at Michael’s I happened upon what was labeled a football display case, but looked like a roombox to me. 

 

   It’s 14.5” wide x 9.5” deep x 8.5” tall – the perfect size for a mini scene.

 

 

I want the room to look medieval (since that’s the way I always envisioned the story in my head).  It has to have stone walls and I would love to include a stone fireplace, so I am going to try to make the stone walls out of Paper Clay, following the directions given by stone mason and miniaturist Larry Bolduc in the September/October 2008 issue of Dollhouse Miniatures.  This may be beyond my skill level, but I’m going to try and will let you know how it goes.

 

However, I’m thinking about using Richard Stacey’s ashlar stone brick finishing paper (which I will see at the preview tonight) on the floor – I’ve laid enough slate floors by now to know that if there is a realistic alternative, I’m going to try it!