So, we are finally up to date, 4 houses finished, one in the pipeline (my next project is a bit exciting, more about this later) and one that needs some furniture.
This time, I decided that I'd make all the furniture, and all the accessories myself to build up the skill set I need for my next project which will require me to design AND make some rather unique pieces. That said, I still needed guidance at my current skill level in order to furnish Bluebell Cottage. So, I used Bea Broadwood's fantastic 'Making Furniture in 1/48th Scale' books to guide me. These are really excellent books and very reasonably priced. I've learned so much from them. Well worth purchasing!
There were two rooms to furnish, a kitchen and bedroom, so I started with the kitchen. Bea's instructions were really straight forward and I started to add my own little touches and changing the designs to fit my plans where necessary. All the designs for the kitchen are in the book so I won't rant on about them. I added some tile -printed- and some microbeads as door handles. I will say that they were all great fun to make.
However, I've learnt that what really makes a miniature scene come to life are the finishing touches so it was time to get my beads, fabrics and polymer clay out. Now, I'd bought cup cake and chocolate moulds from Stewart Dollhouse Creations -they have fantastic kits and silicone moulds well worth a look - on Etsy and I'd been dying to try it out. So, I thought, why not do a tea for two. I had an old book on making miniatures with polymer clay. It's for 1/12th scale, but I thought I'd scale it down for 1/48th, how hard could it be?!?! Turns out, really bloody hard! Fiddly does not cover it. I was planning to do a sugar bowl and milk jug, but after doing 3 cups and a teapot I'd lost the will. Mrs. Mouse and her friend will be drinking Earl Grey. After this, I was rocking in a corner and very close to throwing all my polymer clay out of the window. But, I had my lovely moulds, so I thought I'd give them a go. I'm glad I did, because they were brilliant! Filling and baking the little silicone moulds was a doddle, and decorating the cupcakes with a syringe was so much fun. A Cup Cake Emporium has now been added to my list of projects. All, in all I was really pleased with my little kitchen and it was so satisfying to know that everything was made by my own two hands.
On to the bedroom. The carpet in the bedroom was made of fabric I brought at Little Trimmings and I had some matching fabric to use for the bedspread. This being my second bed, I was able to do a much better job of it as I knew some of the pitfalls. I adjusted Bea's design slightly to make the bed a little bigger.
I went for more of a dark wood finish for this furniture. The wardrobe, desk and chest of drawers were very easy to put together. For accessories, I went for a hat box on top of the wardrobe, a bedside lamp and an inkwell for the desk. I made a little stool out of beads and card and upholstered it in the same fabric as the bed.
To make this little house a home I painted a couple of tiny pictures and framed them in matchstick wood. This was my first attempt at miniature paintings and I was really pleased with finished articles.
So that's it. Bluebell Cottage is complete, my little mouse moved in and I now feel ready to tackle my biggest challenge yet!
This time, I decided that I'd make all the furniture, and all the accessories myself to build up the skill set I need for my next project which will require me to design AND make some rather unique pieces. That said, I still needed guidance at my current skill level in order to furnish Bluebell Cottage. So, I used Bea Broadwood's fantastic 'Making Furniture in 1/48th Scale' books to guide me. These are really excellent books and very reasonably priced. I've learned so much from them. Well worth purchasing!
There were two rooms to furnish, a kitchen and bedroom, so I started with the kitchen. Bea's instructions were really straight forward and I started to add my own little touches and changing the designs to fit my plans where necessary. All the designs for the kitchen are in the book so I won't rant on about them. I added some tile -printed- and some microbeads as door handles. I will say that they were all great fun to make.
However, I've learnt that what really makes a miniature scene come to life are the finishing touches so it was time to get my beads, fabrics and polymer clay out. Now, I'd bought cup cake and chocolate moulds from Stewart Dollhouse Creations -they have fantastic kits and silicone moulds well worth a look - on Etsy and I'd been dying to try it out. So, I thought, why not do a tea for two. I had an old book on making miniatures with polymer clay. It's for 1/12th scale, but I thought I'd scale it down for 1/48th, how hard could it be?!?! Turns out, really bloody hard! Fiddly does not cover it. I was planning to do a sugar bowl and milk jug, but after doing 3 cups and a teapot I'd lost the will. Mrs. Mouse and her friend will be drinking Earl Grey. After this, I was rocking in a corner and very close to throwing all my polymer clay out of the window. But, I had my lovely moulds, so I thought I'd give them a go. I'm glad I did, because they were brilliant! Filling and baking the little silicone moulds was a doddle, and decorating the cupcakes with a syringe was so much fun. A Cup Cake Emporium has now been added to my list of projects. All, in all I was really pleased with my little kitchen and it was so satisfying to know that everything was made by my own two hands.
On to the bedroom. The carpet in the bedroom was made of fabric I brought at Little Trimmings and I had some matching fabric to use for the bedspread. This being my second bed, I was able to do a much better job of it as I knew some of the pitfalls. I adjusted Bea's design slightly to make the bed a little bigger.
I went for more of a dark wood finish for this furniture. The wardrobe, desk and chest of drawers were very easy to put together. For accessories, I went for a hat box on top of the wardrobe, a bedside lamp and an inkwell for the desk. I made a little stool out of beads and card and upholstered it in the same fabric as the bed.
To make this little house a home I painted a couple of tiny pictures and framed them in matchstick wood. This was my first attempt at miniature paintings and I was really pleased with finished articles.
So that's it. Bluebell Cottage is complete, my little mouse moved in and I now feel ready to tackle my biggest challenge yet!
Next time: I attempt to make Castle Black from Game of Thrones.
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