Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for miniatures

A Miniature Beauty

August 14, 2021 at 10:11 am by Claudia

Let’s just stop and take a gander at this miniature that arrived in yesterday’s mail – all the way from England.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.

This was made by Emma of Croft House Miniatures. She has an IG account that I follow. One day, she posted this piece, along with a smaller loveseat and an big ottoman, all upholstered in this vintage fabric that she’d had in her stash for years. I happened to go on IG right after she posted a photo of the pieces and I was stunned. I went right to the link for her Etsy shop and threw caution to the winds and purchased this piece. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t.

It’s a good thing I did, because the ottoman had already sold and this piece and the loveseat went, according to Emma, within seconds of each other. Fast forward only a week and it arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

It is beautifully made, solid and with heft, just like the June Clinkscales pink toile chair that I  have in Dove Cottage. The upholstery is impeccably done. I have it on the table next to my blogging chair and I can’t stop looking at it and holding it! It’s a true collector’s piece.

My goodness!

This is earmarked for the future Beacon Hill, which, unless something changes, we’ll probably retrieve on Tuesday. I tend to go with one signature piece in each room and then let the room evolve around it. This will definitely be the signature piece in the living room.

This is the link to Emma’s shop. My heavens, she’s talented!

Don and I had a long talk about the state of the world and our feelings of despair and anger and everything in between. We had to force ourselves to come back to gratitude. And we did. Quite frankly, all I want to do is retreat from the world here in our cottage, spend time with my husband, be creative, read, and start rehabbing that Beacon Hill. Of course, I have a few things to finish in Dove Cottage, but all of the major things are done. I can work on both at the same time.

I admit it: I’m not so crazy about people nowadays (present company excepted.) I’d rather be here. I need to work and when I do have work, I’ll venture out in the world. But in the meantime, I’m here.

I waited to write this until Meredith wrote about it on her blog. My nephew, Mere’s middle child, who is 24 and vaccinated, had a breakthrough case of COVID. He’s better now, but it lasted for two weeks. He was quite ill and lost his sense of taste and smell. He had now tested negative, but his taste and smell are coming back very slowly. Thank God he was vaccinated.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but, if you haven’t, get vaccinated. Now. And wear a mask.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures 28 Comments

Crazy Weather & Vintage Finds

August 11, 2021 at 9:32 am by Claudia

We have an excessive heat advisory today and tomorrow. The heat index could go as high as 112° today. Yikes. I guess we’re not mowing the lawn today. Luckily there was a light rain falling this morning which has since ended and the gardens have been watered naturally. I’ll head out to the porch after I finish this to make sure all of those pots are watered as well.

If any of you here in the States have been watching The Bridge  and want to see the final season (which has been unavailable for some reason until now) it’s now available on Amazon Prime via Topic, a channel that carries a lot of international movies and series. We were about to start another European series when I happened to see The Bridge, Season 4 on the screen! Huzzah! I’ve searched for it a few times a week for what seems like ages in hopes that it would magically become available. I know I’ve said this before, but both Don and I think The Bridge  (Danish/Swedish) is one of the finest series we’ve even seen.

This is the way Red Chair wraps a purchase. I really love the elegant simplicity. Anyway, here are my purchases wrapped, and my unwrapped purchases are below.

On the left, a vintage French yogurt container (you know I love graphics) and on the right, a vintage café au lait bowl. I now have three, so I’ve got a collection. Why the heck I didn’t buy several of them when I was at the flea market in Paris, I’ll never know. Don envisions several colorful bowls on that little shelf I have in the kitchen – the shelf currently occupied by McCoy and some old stoneware containers with neat graphics. Don has a good eye, so I’m going to do that very thing as soon as I get a couple more of these bowls.

I haven’t painted in several days – too many other things going on. I’m going to start a new painting today. By the way, I’m in contact with the owner of the Beacon Hill and we’ll probably drive there on Tuesday to pick it up. They’re away at the moment and she has to work on Monday.

Am I insane to take this on? Soon there will be a wall of dollhouses surrounding my desk in the office. My very own dollhouse-cubicle. Every once in a while, I wonder if I’m just plain crazy.

Okay, my friends. I’m off to do a few things around the house before it gets too hot.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, France, miniatures, vintage 19 Comments

Miniature Armoire

August 5, 2021 at 9:24 am by Claudia

I swear I sense autumn in the air. It’s too early, I know. But there are subtle changes of light, cooler mornings, a different…look. I know I said this yesterday, but I also want to add that I’m feeling that nesting/organizing thing kick in that always occurs for me in autumn.

This week has been lovely. Cool enough to mow without too much sweat, the plants don’t need to be watered quite as frequently, cool mornings and evenings. By the way, last night I insisted to Don that it was Tuesday. He assured me it was Wednesday. This morning I checked yesterday’s post and sure enough, I said “Happy Tuesday.” Oy. I swear it gets increasingly hard to keep track of the days of the week – and I have a planner! We haven’t worked in a long time, the pandemic rages on, and one day morphs into another. Anyway, apologies for that. I’ve since corrected it.

I don’t know whether I posted this on the blog or on IG, but a few months back, after looking for an armoire/wardrobe for the dollhouse, I chose to go with something relatively inexpensive that I could paint or stain. The photo of the armoire showed the doors closing cleanly with no gap.

This is what I received:

I was not a happy camper. I’m familiar with this brand and yes, they manufacture inexpensive furniture, nonetheless, this was unacceptable. I wrote the seller and she tried to say that this uneven gap was there to allow for layers of paint. Ummm….no. I am not new to working with miniatures and that, my friend, is total BS. I told her I wanted my money back and she said she would refund when I sent it back to her. Okay.

A few days passed and I realized it wasn’t worth the hassle. Packing it up, taking it to the post office, paying to mail it – all for something I got for $12? I did leave a review complaining about the difference between her photo and the actual item I received, but I decided to keep it. I had an idea to add a strip of wood between the doors that would look like part of the wardrobe. I found one in my stash that was just right and I cut it to fit. Fast forward a couple of months to yesterday and I finally painted the piece.

Here it is:

I think it works! I’m very pleased with it and I don’t feel the need to have clothes hanging inside, so I’m okay with it as is. Plus, I had to put something that was a little heavy inside the armoire because it didn’t have enough weight. I will most likely replace the hardware, however. The knobs came with the armoire.

This will go in the bedroom. I’m still debating about the bed, which is lovely, but I can’t help thinking it’s too high in relation to the other pieces of furniture. I’m looking into other possibilities.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: dollhouse, Dove Cottage, miniatures 41 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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