Around the house

I would like to thank you for your comments regarding the lights within Somerset House.
I am pleased with their effect, and I love to sit here with the lights on at night
and just gaze at the effects.
Below are more images,
I would also like you to know the reason for the name of my house,
I was born and raised in a small village in the heart of Somerset, Cannington
I have lived in a couple of nice towns there.
14 years ago we moved to Hampshire, but my heart will always be in Somerset.

Above is the view of the back hall through the bath room, showing the oil lamp on the table, normally the door is not opened this far.
Below is the candles in the sitting room
when they are home without visitors they would only light a couple of candles,
I watched a historic programme on the BBC, which showed two ladies living together, and thought the evening they would blow out a candle and then light a second candle,
so they would burn to the same length,

Above is the desk in the study, he is reading a book on anatomy, with a magnifying glass to help with the sketches. This room only has lamps I wanted it to look old world, as if the master had his money for years, rather than new rich.
Below is the kitchen, with the range lit

The last house picture is my basement, just a candle here amongst the bottles and keg of wines.

I have loads of building work to do, street level and all the roof space, but below is the reason it is all on hold our real house, yep the big one is up for sale, and we are almost at closing stage.
We have had the offer, just a bit short of what we want, if the survey comes out Ok then we are expecting the full offer, fingers crossed. But then I will have to pack everything up for moving.

Lights

This is the lighting system for my house, the photo's are not that good, I did not move the house too far from the wall, so I had limited space. I brought this product from Here three years ago, I am not sure if they still sell this design. But there are other makes on the market.

The remote control is very good it is in three sections, no's 1 - 14 will take a flicker unit, but I have not bothered with one. No's 15 -26 will allow me to dim the lights, when you press the pad for a few extra seconds the bulbs dim by almost 50 %. No's 27 -30 are the heavy duty ones which allows you to have loads of bulbs on one pad. All the other pads take up to 4 bulbs per pad.

I have a box on the back of my house, into which I split the wire and put into two slots, see photo below. It looks chaos, but it is in order by floor and room, each room I have one fire, two sockets and either wall lights or a ceiling light, each is wired separately so I can control each light. As I said last time by putting two sockets in each room I am able to change things without having to touch the back wiring system.
The wires go into little blocks, and I then plug in the transformer. every thing is fused and therefore safe. I love this system it allows me to change the lighting to suit my moods, I do not have all the lights on that ofter, i think it gives the project the true feel of the house as it would have been, remembering it was before electricity.



One other question, the ceiling in the dining room was created by using textured wrapping paper, I painted it white, cut it to size and stuck it on.

Its dark outside

It's late and dark so I thought I would take some photos of my house with the lights on

This view of the whole house shows the lighting at it's best, the bedrooms only have the fire place and candles, not alot of money would have been spent here.
You can see the bathroom, but also the hall behind, when I put in the false wall,
I left enough space for a hall, added a rug, table and lamp.

These two photo's show my dining room with the different lights on.

In the top photo I have the wall candles and the center chandelier on.
In the bottom photo I have just the wall candles on.
The fire is on in both settings but the table has blocked the view.

In each room in my house I have wired separately the fireplace, ceiling light if there is one in place, and in each back corner I have put a socket. This allows me to change the lamps without having to touch the main wiring system. I use a remote control for each of the 30 wiring points. There is no copper tape just loads of wires, which screw into the main box, so no soldering.
When I next move the house, which is not often I will take a photo for you to see.

I've been tagged

I have been tagged by Susan mini homes.

I have to list 6 unimportant things that make me happy

1. Any small child giggling
2. My garden after the rain
3. A Fresh pot of coffee
4. Cross stitching whilst sat in the sunlight
5. Finishing anything
6. A tidy house!
   

Now I have to tag 6 more people
here goes not every one is a mini fan

Fliss
Texas Belle
MiniKat
Doreen
Liberty Biberty
Milly

Bonus time

I am looking at the bonus items we find from our world that sit in our mini world.
we all know the joy when out shopping to spot an item which would sit in our projects so well,
Here are a few of mine.

We all use hankies, I keep men sized one's in for sewing, the fabric is never to thick
Here I am using ladies for sheets, above is just a plain edged one, if they have an embroidered item I just place that at the bottom of the bed where it can't be seen.

Below is a beautiful lace hanky I brought from Spain many years ago,
it had sat in my drawer for too long.

The boat above, I did not find, I was in a chandlery in France last year with Kev, and he spotted it, it looked the right size, so I took the chance and brought it, I have added the seagulls, both made by Peter Cook. It looks perfect next to my beach hut, I have it sitting on sandpaper until I make the beach.
The vase below was from a trip to Prague, it sits next to the fire in the ball room and adds to the Chinese theme of the room, but in fact it is onion ware.


Above is the a pencil sharpener shaped as a globe, there are so many different styles which can be used, this sits in the corner of the study, I have many things related to the sea, the husband made his money in shipping.
Below is a fan, Fliss spotted this one for me, it was a find in a charty shop. I leave it on the chair nearest to the fire in the sitting room.


Above the flower arrangement is in wedding cake pillars, you have to buy these in packs of four, but the make a good stand, I love wedding cake shops because so much of their items are in a scale small enough to use.

My collection of cats and charms have been picked up all over, they never cost much and its always a gamble to whether they are used or not. The charms make good ornaments, all three below are in my house.
After I had packed my camera away I found loads other, my favorite, which I am working on at this time is two large wooden curtain rings, I have painted them white, I will paint red stripes on them and add white rope, they will sit beside my beach hut as life rings.

I would love to hear your finds and suggestions.

Cute Dogs

These are my cute puppies made with pipe cleaners,
I have used a standard pipe cleaner here, but the fat ones make a great shaggy puppy.
These are not toys and never should be given to children
If played with they fall apart

It take two pipe cleaners and the above tools,
I also use a piece of ribbon for the collar.

Cut the pipe cleaners as shown,
measurements in inches.

You now have to bend the pieces before putting together,
the ears look like a 'C', top
The tail and body are folded in half as are the legs.
you need a second fold in the legs to create its paws,
don't forget to make the paws look large,

Take the body piece(its the largest piece)
make a second fold to create the head

Tuck the ears under the fold and press them together
to make the nose you need to press the tip of the 1st fold out
whilst doing this you need to ensure the rest of the head is squeezed in

Take one set of legs and attache the tail,
just twist together and ensure ends are tucked in

Pop one set of legs behind the head,
add the legs with tail attached.
measure the body length and make a fold half way along
you will tuck this back towards the neck
tidy both sets of legs and then squeeze the body together

Your dog is almost there, tidy his shape
squeeze body together and tuck ends of pipe cleaners in
To add to the cuteness, bend his ears forward
To make the eyes I use a small marker pen
beads can be used foe eyes.
For his nose I use the marker pen again

I created this design, after looking at a tutorial for a teddy bear
I played with the sizes until it worked out right.
If you can turn these into cats please let me know
mine are never right,
Have fun with your puppies

Award

Thank you Texas Belle for this award, I just love my house and of course these blogs
I am glad you enjoy dropping in and viewing my work
Had a busy week but I will put my tutorial of how I make my cute ickle dogs tomorrow.

1st Floor

We are now on the first floor, this is the area of the house where the lady of the house has more influence in the decoration, above is the dining room, very formal, and loads of space to show their wealth, the cabinets hold silver and glass items. The dining table, chairs and main cabinet are from the Glen Owen range. In the forefront is a wine cooler with bottle of wine and ice a very modern item. Many dining rooms had a screen in the corner with a pot for people to relieve themselves whilst eating, but I have decided I do not need to be that correct. The mat I have sewn myself. I have a few items I really love in this room the Tantalus and the Cranberry glass are featured in a previous blog, tiny delights.

The sitting room below has been created around the bespaqe suit of furniture, I love the half wallpaper. I have not sewn a rug for this room, I have not seen one I like, I think I am going to have to create a design myself, I will want a square design, whilst most are oblong and to small for my requirements. The mirror I made the same way as in the ball room, I just cut it smaller. I love my work box with the cotton reels and scissors. I also love the butlers table in the front, it is a table with a tray on the top, the butler would bring the tea items into the room and place on the table and use the tray top to serve everyone. I brought this second hand from a local shop, it was still expensive, but I love the style of it. I also love the bird cage this was brought from the Glenn Owen range.


The lighting on this level are all candles, and on a daily basis only a couple would be lit. I still have a few items in mind for these rooms, as we always say nothing is ever finished. The papered ceilings in both room, has be created from a textured wrapping paper, I painted it white and the glued it to the ceilings.

Journal

When thinking about this blog I searched for some old photo's, they were taken in my first year. The main difference to the layout is I have removed two sets of stairs and relocated the fireplaces to the back wall.

The rooms are very basic, I was still on my learning curve, top left hand is my butlers room., I had just brought my dining room furniture and in the process of making my floors.
Below the kitchen was well on it's way, I have a sink at this time and my beautiful light switches, both now removed. But Thomas the cat was in residence.

When I brought my dolls house, I decided I would make a journal and fill it as I did my building, add all the purchases from shows and build a good record. That lasted for 6 months tops, I would forget or be too tired and then I would try and catch up, so it lapsed.
Then I found blogging and wow, just what I wanted, but what happens in years to come when these sites change, so I have started printing all my blogs, I knew it was the correct thing to do when I went into W H Smiths and the clear pouch books and the files were all half price.

So on my shelf are two sets,
white for Somerset House and
purple for Poppy Patchwork,

I highlight each blog with any comments a few days after posting select print, tick the selected box and out it all comes from my printer. On occasions a picture is cut in half, then I copy into a word document , tidy it up and then print. I have found this site which also has suggestions for printing your blog. http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/2009/05/printing-my-blog.html
I would like to think sometime in the future someone finds a box in the attic and finds all my notes and they enjoy a coffee, if it is still allowed and reads what Nanna did.

This award is for Texas Belle, you just have to visit her site, http://myrtlewood.blogspot.com/
Wow your work is exquisitely done, I also follow the route of perfection, I hope to make your standard one day. I just love your blog.

The Study

This is my final room on the ground floor, it's a study library, I made the half panel wall and book case and stained them to match with the floor and door. The green paint is correct for the date. The rug in front of the fire was the first I hand stitched for this house. The books have been brought from sites and shows, I even have 2 Spanish ones we found in Spain a couple of years ago. On the desk sits his book and magnifying glass, he is studying the human body. Each light works separately,and in each room I have placed a socket in each corner at the back, this allows me to change items without touching the main wring at the back and all the fires are independently lit.

Here I have started doing a woodblock floor, this is for a friends house, but it shows how I achieve the finished item, by placing on card it is a much easier task and I am able to take out the floors if I want to get to the room below ceiling lights. It is a long hard task, trying to keep the blocks straight and close together, after they are all placed I will varnish with a satin finish, these do not require any extra colour.
I try to place items around the house to show a family live here, it's harder to show male items, I have the top hat on the hall table and here in the bath room I have the smallest of shaving brushes. Most of the decorative items I love are for females, so its a bonus to find something nice for the man of the house.

Look for mini pet dogs

Tiny Delights

This fairy was made for me by Fliss, she is tiny and sat on a button, on a club competition we had to make a scene in a container, I had already done a bottle and was looking for something different, I was about the recycle a empty "Fairy" washing up liquid bottle, which was lemon grass. When the idea sprung into my head, I lined the bottle with greenery from the garden with feathers and a couple of full sized items she found, hence she is sitting on a button. The container has gone by my little fairy watches over me.

Today I want to share with you some of my favourite items I have collected

The Chinese teapot above I brought at Minatura last year, I found it in the bargain box at just £2, I went through the box looking for other delights, but this was the only one I liked.
I love glass, the cranberry above I have collected from local shops and shows, I have it all on display in my dining room. Also in the dining room on display is the Tantalus below, hand made locally to where I live, I brought it from my favorite shop Ginnys Attic , visit her site at http://www.ginnysattic.com. Both the wooden case and the bottles are perfect, I did contemplate putting liquid into the bottles but was worried they might evaporate and mark the glass.

I love plant kits and the plants in both photo's have been hand made by me, the top plant is in my florist and the lower plants are in the main house. My rule for purchasing plant kits are only to buy from shops and fairs, you see the kit and know it's going to be what you can use. I have brought a couple kits from the net and they have been poor quality.


In the kitchen I love all the utensils, the photo above could be full size items, I have nice items in drawers, and only I know they are there, but I get a thrill out of knowing I am making everything real. Below is a pot from Stokesay Ware, a UK based company with the most wonderful items, at this time I only have a few things, but one of their dinner services is on my wish list. Look them up on http://www.stokesayware.com.


The last picture is items from the sitting room, I keep these items on the sewing box, the cotton reels come off the stand and the scissors open and close. I love sewing so these fascinate me.