....and your tour continues

More furniture to show you today

But first a question:

If anyone knows how to get rid of the 'word verification' step when people leave a comment, could they please email me and let me know? I spent most of yesterday looking for the way to do it without success.

And now:

Welcome back. Come with me while we continue our tour of Pickett Hill's unique and lovely furnishings. While we are in the dining room, let me show you the Coop - as I have told you, the front cannot go on permanently until items are placed inside and I am waiting for some items to arrive from overseas. Here it is without the front on. The shelves are papered top and bottom.

The sides have this lovely worked timber on them to match the front doors.

And here it is with the front just held in place temporarily. Isn't it delightful?

Moving on to the living room now, first of all I was going to show you the Reading Nook. The story that comes with this kit is really funny, and easy to relate to. The trompe l'oeil books have a reason behind them, and so does the tiny seat in front of them. However I forgot to take a photo of it, which is slightly annoying because I've taken photos of everything. I'll do it tomorrow.

The story for the daybed is also delightful, as is the finished daybed itself. Couldn't you just snuggle up on it and doze? As usual with a kit from the Betterleys, the artwork is delicate, detailed and beautiful, like the kit itself.

Here it is without the cushions on it, so you can see the details more easily.

This is true also of the side table. In the half inch (1:24) scale version the drawer opens, but in the

quarter scale (1:48) size it doesn't. The artwork however includes the drawer lining and the little extras to go into the drawer, so I will use these on the desk. Look at this side view. It has more artwork on it, and see how delicate the legs are.

Now we will pause for a moment to admire the beds for La-dee-dah (the cat) and for Miss Lydia Pickett (the dog). She owns the people in the house.

Here is La-dee-dah's bed

And here is Lydia's bed.

And in this closer view you will see that she has left a couple of her favourite doggy biscuits there for a snack later on.

Just around the corner from the living room, in the hallway, is the apothecary chest. This is a sweet piece of furniture

and was a lot of fun to make up. The story for it is related to the story of the two benches on the front porch. I love the 'something extra' in the form of two little boxes that were provided to cover and put on top of it. I debated whether to put them one on top of the other but that would not have shown both to their best advantage so I've put them separately. In between I hope I've left room for either a vase of flowers or a small lamp.

And here is the shelf that goes above the chest. I haven't added the plates yet, when I do I will show you. Or maybe not :)! The smallest of them are soooo tiny, and I don't have a punch that small so I've been putting off trying to cut them out. Hope I don't totally mess them up

Upstairs in the Studio is the Artist's Storage Cabinet, where Mum has all her craft things organised. Remember how I set it on fire? Well, after a bit of patching, painting and glueing, this is what it looked like.

Yes, you are quite right - one of the frame surrounds around a small door is missing. And after adding the artwork it looked just lovely. Then, as instructed, I filled it with 'stuff'.

In miniatures, the mini person has to be rather untidy so that we can see what is in the various drawers and containers, otherwise everything would be very boring and uninteresting, and the scene wouldn't look 'lived in' at all. So with the addition of all the window seat, rolls of fabric, spools of ribbon and lace, the boxes and the little crates filled with 'stuff' (most of it provided in the kit) it now looks like a busy crafter's area, doesn't it? Notice the sewing machine, all threaded and ready to go?

Did you notice that there are 5 crates instead of 6? that's because people like to bump my worktable and knock things over. Even things in containers get spilled. The crates have landed on the floor so many times I've lost count. One morning I found that one had disappeared. A week later I found just one side on the floor so apparently it met with a sad end under someone's foot! And no, the men in my house (husband, son and nephew) do not notice if they feel something little under their feet - they just crunch away. Like with the greenhouse. And yes, I did hunt, and hunt, and crawl everywhere on my hands and knees looking for it.

To finish our tour for today, let's step outside again and have a look at Miss Lydia Pickett's doghouse. It is pretty special, with its trim reflecting that of the house itself, and even a windvane on the roof.

And at the back there is more gingerbread trim, plus a sweet little oval window, just like the oval window in the house. How special is that?!

And if you could look inside you would see that it has this lovely carpet, showing what a very special dog Miss Lydia Pickett is!

Still to show you: Emma's bedroom and Robbie's bedroom, and the kitchen. I can hardly wait to show you - they are so gorgeous! And of course, the bathroom screen and the Reading Nook. So - till next time (probably tomorrow - but now it is nearly midnight) -

Hello Cristina

- thank you for joining my blog. I really love to share my mini adventures and you are more than welcome. It is now getting on towards three years since I started this blog and the number of followers was quite low for a while but they seem to have taken off lately, which is delightful. If you want to have a bit of a browse back over my projects, they are mainly quarter scale and you will see that a lot of them are not finished.

Labels for posts

But for your information and anyone else who is interested, they are divided into several groups

1. Debbie Young's Town Square shops

2. Petite Properties cottages and shops, most of which are part of my imaginary Village called 'Ferny Creek'. There are a lot of Petite Properties kits, so each one is followed by the name of the kit. for example Petite Properties - FlowerPot Cottage etc.

3. Pickett Hill, a kit put out by Robin and Shawn Betterley in conjunction with Suzanne and Andrew's who did all the furniture kits for it.

4. Birchwood, another Betterley project.

5. Secret Books again, a Betterley series

6. The Sea Shanty by Karen Carey

7. Miss Marple's Cottage

8. StoryBook Cottage, by Suzanne & Andrews

9. Honeysuckle Cottage

10. Hollyhock Cottage (a kit called The English Cottage by Debbie Young)

11. Australian Colonial Cottage - by Pam Junk in conjunction with AMEA

12. my Celebration Doors

and other bibs and bobs. I have other kits unstarted as yet that will be added in time. For example TeaRose Too by Suzanne & Andrew and two by Debbie Young; and want to buy Suzanne & Andrew's Petite Chateau and some of their smaller ones so keep a lookout for those)

I try to label things so that you can follow a thread through so for example, Miniature Petitpoint will then be followed by the carpet or project that I am doing - at the moment it would be

Miniature Petitpoint - Forever Aubusson (if I was managing to make any progress on it).

That covers a lot of it but there is more too. Please feel free to put your feet up,sit with a cup of coffee or whatever and browse. I love comments so comment away!

Hope to hear from you soon. Until then -

A few more photos....

Some Pickett Hill furniture

As I mentioned before, I have completed quite a lot of the furniture for Pickett Hill. Come with me on a tour. Let's start with this gorgeous set for the portico. It has a 'glass' -topped table and side table, and the four chairs are really delicate and pretty. When I saw the advertisement for this set I didn't know whether I liked the animals on the back of the seats but I did like the rest of the set. Once I saw the pieces 'in the flesh' I absolutely loved them! And now they are constructed I love them even more.

At first I was going to set it all out on the portico, but the carpet is rather curled and it wouldn't straighten, so I set everything out in front to give you a bit of an idea.

Staying with the 'outside' theme, here are the benches for the front porch. The very tall porch bench,

The not-so-tall porch bench,

Both of them together without their cushions,

And again, with their cushions. Don't they look comfy? Just right to curl up on and enjoy a good book or just dream the afternoon away.

And here is the Wardian Case. After taking the photos it is obvious that the paint needs a bit of a touch-up. I will add some greenery inside this before placing it in its final position, since they were used as indoor terrarium-type objects.

Now we have moved indoors, your tour continues with a visit to the dining room. As I mentioned, the Coop is assembled ready for objects to be placed inside it so the doors can be put on and the Coop closed up. But here is the dining table along with the chairs.

Each of the chairs has a different design on the padded backs. There is a matching flower on the front and back of each chair, and six different flowers. I padded the backs of my chairs before putting the fabric on them, and padded the seats too. I wanted the dimensional look that it gave.

Here is a close-up of the front of one of the chairs,

And one of the back

This is another kit that I wasn't sure about when I saw the photos. I wondered whether the legs were too 'clunky'. But I have faith in Suzanne & Andrew, so again I went ahead and ordered it. Once the first chair was made up I was definitely in love! The photos just do not do quarter scale items justice at times, and these are prime examples. The chairs are delightful. They are really unusual, but really suit the room and the house.

Now your tour is over for today. Next time we will look at the girl's bedroom, the boy's bedroom, items for the living room, artist's studio and bathroom, and perhaps the kitchen - though I have to decide whether to put 'real' things in the cupboards or use the printies that are supplied. Apart from filling the cupboards it is nearly completed.

Until then -

Welcome Mary

Hello Mary, I am so happy that you have joined my blog, and also that you like the style of 'Pickett Hill'. I must congratulate you on your blog too - what a delightful concept for its name 'The magic teaspoon'. And you do the most delightful miniatures, the books and the little chocolates. I think of Rome as being a very romantic city in which to live and will watch your blog with interest to see the things you make. europe is such a long way away from Australia but if I am ever fortunate enough to go overseas there are so many places I would love to visit.

Promised photos at last!

Well, some at least!

I have been promising some more photos for ages and here are some of them - finally!

First - the 1st floor ceiling is installed - that's very exciting. And it means of course that I've finally sorted out the business of those little gold pins for handles and drilling the holes. You know, I'm not always very confident, and something small will often 'throw' me completely and seem overwhelming. One of the big steps in growth as a miniaturist and in other areas of my life is that now I am more willing to tackle those things - and often they turn out to be not so intimidating at all! I wasn't able to cut the pins, because of pain in my hands, but Peter kindly did that. And drilling the holes was easy once I sorted out my mini hand drill. Now I wonder why I thought it was going to be a problem at all!

So from the kitchen wing, with the opening door (complete with door handle :) in Emma's room):

And here's a view from the living area.

Naturally I couldn't resist doing a dry fit of the walls for the third floor, which involves fitting the roof as well..

And here are some views of the exterior of the house It doesn't look very elegant but here it is dry-fitted and taped together.

Now I had intended to show lots of photos of the furniture that is completed too. I have done all the things for Emma's Room; Robbie's Room; the dining table & chairs; the Coop is ready for me to find some nice things to put in it before I close it up; the Day bed, side table and Reading Nook for the living room (the oval occasional table met with a sad end); the bathroom dressing screen & laundry hamper along with the robe and pictures; the portico furniture; the Wardian Case; the Artist's storage cabinet; the porch benches; the kennel, dog and cat beds; and most of the kitchen - again, that is ready for things to be put into cupboards before I close them up. The rest is done. Whew!

Years ago I bought the bathroom, but it is yet another of the kits that has been packed away who-knows-where so I have ordered another one. I also need to order the main bedroom furniture and a few bits and pieces for the living room and outdoors.

As I said - I had planned to show you the photos of the items completed. However it is nearly 1am, and I am heartily sick and tired of fighting with Blogger and having to drag every single photo from above the title of the post to where I want it. I really, really, really dislike the way it uploads photos now! The old way was sooooo much more user-friendly!

So before I get too cranky I'll say goodnight. And until tomorrow -

Welcome to four more followers

My heart always gives a little jump of happiness when I open my little blog and see that there are more wonderful people who have signed on as followers! And I can't help but wonder: how did you find my blog? What attracted you to it once you found it? What sort of thing do you like to hear about the most?

I am very grateful that you all take the time to look, to sign on as followers and those that sign in when you visit too. You give me so much encouragement just knowing that you are interested. And when you take the time to comment it is extra special indeed.

And now once again it is my great pleasure to welcome MiniMumLoon, Lucineide, Gleise and Jennifer, the newest members of our community of followers, Thank you all so very much for visiting and for following. Please - come often, sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and browse the back posts and enjoy yourself. Post a comment and tell me what you think. And be part of the family.

MiniMumLoon - what a creative name you have chosen for yourself. You don't have any details about yourself or blogs listed, and neither do you Gleise.

Luineide you make lovely birthday cakes. My computer had trouble interpreting your other blog at first, insisting it was Spanish but I persuaded it that it was in Portuguese in the end :)

I have visited your blog Jennifer and can see that I will be spending a lot of time catching up on the fascinating story of the Josiah Gammage House and 'other dollhouse distractions'! And I am proud to be your first follower.

Update on Pickett Hill: I have had many disruptions lately, including being asked to preach with just one day's notice! the Lord however had it all in hand, bringing a newsletter to me with just the perfect sermon that I could work up, and it took longer to do the PowerPoint presentation to go with it than to set out the sermon. I don't enjoy that sort of time pressure though!

But I am busy putting the finishing touches to quite a few furniture kits and will post photos of them very soon - promise! and I've made a bit of progress on the house itself too, just a little there though.

So for now -

Naughty blogger!

Sorry - I know that it's been quite a while since I posted about Pickett Hill and yet I've done a lot. Not so much on the house itself, more on the furniture. But today I will bring you up to date on the house. The first floor is done - yaaaay! I am ready to install the second floor once I put in the two opening doors on the first floor.

So here it is: first the stairwell was constructed and the ground floor ceiling/first floor flooring went in. This floor is a t-shape and this first photo shows it from the kitchen side right across to the living room wall, the cross part of the T facing you and the stem going towards the mural on the far wall.

Here is a view of the studio on the first floor and the living area on the ground floor.

The side wall was then installed, actually as a unit making up the hallway, across the bottom of that cross part of the T. This divides the children's rooms from the studio with the hallway between. Then the dividing wall between the children's rooms.

Some considerable time and effort making a pattern for the wallpaper on the left (stairwell) wall really paid off. It had to go from the top of the wall on the first floor to the bottom of the ground floor, with a cut-out to allow for the studio mezzanine. It had to wrap around the stairwell and into it. It is also supposed to wrap around into the kitchen but I want that wall to have the same paper as the rest of the kitchen since the buffet unit that goes there has the wallpaper on it's back.

The photo below shows the mural on the living room wall. It's a shame that all the care taken to line the boat up in the centre of the windows will be wasted once the fireplace goes in. It has to go in there because the chimney goes on the outside of this area and it cannot be changed because the roof is cut out to go around it.

Here you can see the mural on the left wall, with the tree 'growing' up the wall. It now looks like one continuous wall through the two stories and the effect of the wallpaper is really nice.

Next step was to put the skirting boards around most of the ground floor, then put the stairs into place. Looking through the dining room window you can see the stairs installed.

Then it was time to put the windows in place so that the interior trim could be glued on. I just loved doing this part and spent lots of time 'playing' at this stage! In this first photo you see the internal trims for windows and can also see that I couldn't resist putting in the French doors and front door just to see how they looked.

And in this one you get a better view of the front door - isn't it pretty? I haven't put the door knobs on yet but apart from that it is finished.

A view of the kitchen area, looking over to the French doors. Since I took these photos I have added the border around the top of all the kitchen walls. There is some paper 'moulding' provided as well for cornices around all the ceilings but I'm pretty sure I won't use them. Cornices are curved, and it would be tricky to curve the paper and join it properly and gluing it flat just wouldn't look right to me. Plus - where do I glue it, on the ceiling I suppose? If I do cornices I might just order some wooden trim and use that with properly mitred corners. Or I might just leave it.
Here on the first floor you can see the opening for the working doors, and also see the oval window in place for a trial fit although it is not time to put the internal trim on there yet of course - the wall isn't wallpapered

I also 'played' a bit more, putting the porch in place with the benches and the floorcloth in place, putting the portico in place etc. And yes I do have photos. But I'll leave them for now.

All these photos were taken around 30th January, and I had arrived at this stage a bit before that. So why the delay in moving on? Well I'm actually being held up by 4 little gold pins! To move on the the next stage I need to install the working doors. To install the working doors (in Emma's bedroom and the studio) I need to put the doorknobs on them. To install them I need to be able to see properly and at the moment my vision is blurry. It varies from just a little to quite a bit. It is partly my headaches because after I take pain tablets my eyes improve for a while if the pain subsides. But I think I also need new glasses. So I am going to be tested for new glasses tomorrow. It's probably time I went back to the neurologist too, but in the meantime I am getting lots done on the furniture kits for the house. Unfortunately none of the kits is getting any knobs put on either!

Maybe tomorrow I'll have photos of the furniture - some of them at least :)

Till then -