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Evolution of the Dollhouse – Part Six

June 19, 2014 at 9:08 am by Claudia

I’ve been so busy with the garden and Spring and working on the road that I have neglected my little series. I believe I owe you one more segment, right? Since I plan to visit Chautauqua Miniatures on Monday, let’s get back into a dollhouse kind of mood.

dhevolutiongraphic All through the renovation, there was one room that I totally ignored. You can see it at the very top of the house on the left. On occasion, I would stop and wonder what the heck I was going to do with it, but the main house was my priority. So I thought of it as a potential attic and figured I’d artfully stash some minis up there and call it a day.

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Have I ever told you how creative my husband is? One day we were looking at the dollhouse and I was going on and on about my ideas for it and I mentioned my lack of inspiration for that space. My husband knows what a devoted gardener I am, so, to him, having it be some sort of potting shed or greenhouse made sense and he told me so.

Brilliant. (It had never occurred to me.)

Well, that got me going and I suddenly found myself excited about the possibilities for that room and for the roof itself (the roof will eventually be Part Seven of the Renovation Series.)

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One day, I just went for it. I grabbed some aqua colored paint and painted the walls. Since the texture of the walls was already uneven, I went with that and rubbed some of the paint off, adding some antiquing gel to age them further. I wanted the room to look shabbily aged, like an attic room that has been repurposed for very little money.

At this point, I wasn’t in the mood to lay a wood floor made out of popsicle sticks, so I grabbed some leftover beadboard, cut it to fit the floor space, and painted it red. It was a time saving move, but it ended up being one of my favorite things about this room.

I had a bathroom vanity that someone had given me, but I wasn’t going to use it because it was out of scale – it was too tall. But you have to think outside the box and I realized I could definitely use the sink. So I took it apart and made some legs from trim that I had on hand, put it together and, what do you know? It worked!

The cherub on the wall came from my stash of all sorts of stuff that I keep in the cupboard in the studio. I thought it would be the perfect architectural artifact for the room. I had the big white pitcher and the flowers and basket in my stash.

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Next on the agenda was some sort of potting bench. I made this from some shutters in my stash. The legs were made from some newel posts that I had on hand and I cut them down to work with the table top. I ordered the pots and the potting soil from miniatures.com.

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The watering can and large pot on the left also came from miniatures.com.

So far so good, but not quite there yet.

There was one idea that kept percolating in my brain. I measured the space and ordered the necessary element. It arrived. But I was a little hesitant and I didn’t do anything until I was in one of those What the heck? kind of moods and then I went for it. Out came my keyhole saw. I traced the opening. I drilled a starter hole. And then I sawed. And sawed.

It worked.

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Behold, my skylight! I love, love it. And it’s one of the tweaks I made to the dollhouse that I am proudest of. After all, the owner needs some natural light in her potting space, don’t you think?

I keep adding things here and there:

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The internet is an amazing source for dollhouse printables. That’s where I found the seed packets and the botanical poster on the wall.

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And these. I love the butterflies. I got that crate from Weston Miniatures (on Etsy.) It inspired the crates I made for the Miniature Swap. (By the way the minis from that swap have arrived, but I have to wait until I get home to open the box!)

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The trowel also came from Weston Miniatures.

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The latest addition is the green stool, which I ordered from miniatures.com and painted and aged. (That hinge, by the way, was added by the dollhouse’s original owners. I’ve managed to cover most of them up. I’m plotting what to do to hide this one. To Be Determined.)

Next up, when I have the time and the funds, will be the rooftop garden. Oh, do I have plans for that space!

The winner of a copy of Moving Day is Linda from A La Carte! Congratulations, Linda!

Happy Thursday.

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The Lake

June 18, 2014 at 8:32 am by Claudia

I grew up spending time at my aunt’s cottage on a lake in Michigan, my home state.

That particular lake was named Silver Lake and it was about an hour or so from our house. The cottage itself was built by my grandfather in the early part of the twentieth century. In fact, it was the very first cottage on that lake. My parents spent their honeymoon there.

The family cottage was owned by all six Hill siblings after the death of my grandparents and eventually, my aunt became sole owner. The lake was another world for me, a place to sit on the dock, or sleep on the sleeping porch with the gentle sounds of waves lapping against the shore as my lullaby. It was a place where screen doors slammed, where we played with inner tubes or swam out to the raft. It’s where I learned to water ski. There was a little store just down the dirt road where we would walk to get a cold 7-up and some candy. The adults would play cards at night – usually a spirited game of ’31.’

Very different from my life in suburbia.

It’s no wonder that I’ve always loved lakes and have always wanted to live on a lake. The lake here, Chautauqua Lake, is 17 miles long and 2 miles wide. There are several communities on the lake, one of which is the Chautauqua Institution. On Sunday, I grabbed the opportunity to spend some time there – before the influx of summer visitors that will start on June 22nd.

It’s gorgeous.

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You’d better believe I sat on this dock for a while.

I would love nothing more than to wake up each morning and walk down to my very own dock with a cup of coffee. Universe? Are you listening?

And speaking of Michigan, look what I spied in someone’s yard:

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Michigan shaped adirondack chairs. Dawn, my fellow Michigander, you need these! My cousin Eileen reads this blog; have you seen these before, Eileen?

Yesterday was a long day. Today will be equally as long. But I’m having a wonderful time working in these surroundings.

Happy Wednesday.

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Wandering Around Chautauqua & Tony Gwynn

June 17, 2014 at 7:48 am by Claudia

Sunday was a picture perfect day around here. It was sunny with temperatures hovering near 80 degrees. Ideal weather for my one day off. As expected, I did some wandering around Chautauqua. I have lots of photos which I’ll share with you over the next couple of days. On the docket today: more of the cottages of Chautauqua.

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This yellow house is charming with two large porches. But what I really loved is the green and white gingerbread detail near the roof.

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Small, for sale, and…note tree growing through the awning.

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This house faces the lake. Oh my goodness. Look at all the detail. Victorian at its best.

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The houses that face the lake are rather palatial. Apparently most of them are still inhabited by single families and haven’t been divided into separate apartments. Wouldn’t you like to sit on that porch?

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Love this house and the simplicity of its design. The hanging ferns are perfect.

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As far as I can tell, this might be the funkiest house here. It looks neglected and in need of repair. I had a brief fantasy that someone would admire my work on A Raisin in the Sun so much that he/she would feel compelled to seek me out and reward me with this house. A little rehab would be involved, but if the house was free….

A girl can dream.

As I was walking, I noticed this cat walking toward me.

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I pulled out the camera, thinking that surely this fellow would run off when he saw me.

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Nope. He calmly walked right up to me and proceeded to lay on his back. Apparently, he was in need of some belly scratching.

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When he had his fill of affection, he got up and walked off.

Of course, I forgot about my encounter and my allergies flared up. Whoops!

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Adorable.

Today will be a twelve hour day. Lots to do before we go into tech and dress rehearsals next week.

Tony Gwynn died yesterday. Don broke it to me over the phone. Tony Gwynn was the reason I grew to love baseball. When we were living in San Diego, we started to watch the Padres games on television. Before that time, I had never had any interest in our national pastime. Tony Gwynn changed all that. Here was an amazing athlete and, even more important, an amazing man. He was a role model for everyone in and out of the game. He worked hard, had time for everyone, helped others and stayed humble. He turned down offers for more lucrative contracts in order to stay with the Padres his entire career. He lived life with integrity and joy. He simply loved the game of baseball.

I became a big, big fan – such a big fan that when I couldn’t see his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my father-in-law recorded it for me and sent it to me all the way from San Diego.

We lost him way too soon. He was only 54.

Thank you, Tony Gwynn, for making baseball exciting for me. For showing me how to play the game with class and humility. For being an incredible role model in these days of inflated salaries and egos and multi-million dollar deals. For being the reason I love baseball.

Happy Tuesday.

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Evolution of the Dollhouse – Part Six

The Lake

Wandering Around Chautauqua & Tony Gwynn

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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