A jolly dolly day!

Greetings!

A new cafe has opened in Joy street! Beautiful outdoor, indoor restaurant and a perfect place to relax! 

Since the time mummy heard about this restaurant, she is not at all interested in cooking. She is eagerly waiting for Daddy to get home, so that she can come up with some excuse for not cooking and drag him to this cool place.

Daddy, has already heard about this place and planning to give a big surprise to mummy by taking her out to dine in this heavenly restaurant. 

As soon as dad returned home, mum need not make any excuse. He told her to get ready and mum already new where they were going. 

Between this little rascal, is all excited to go out to a new place and have a lot of fun! 

The cafe is made out of card board. It's a 3 D puzzle. As soon as I saw this I was so excited to buy the puzzle. Then I was so tempted to make these miniature felt dolls. As always I enjoyed making the background and taking the pictures.

I have bought two more 3D puzzles and I have to figure out something for those.

You all have a wonderful day!

Will be back soon 😀!

🙋🏻

Revv!

Rock-a-bye Baby.

Greetings!

I just thought of taking a short break, from my Christmas crafts and do something else. I made this 'Rock-a-bye Baby', to gift someone who is expecting a baby soon. I really loved this project. I thought this looks very cute and of course it's a very clever one. All the credit goes to none other than Jean Greenhowe. This is made from her book 'Making Musical Miniatures'.

Now I will get back to my Christmas crafts. I have been making some quick and easy, and cute Christmas crafts to gift some people. I will be back soon with those......

Till then, Happy Crafting!!

The Snow Family.

Greetings!

I just finished making my next set of holiday dolls, 'The Snow Family'. This is again made from Jean Greenhowe's 'MAKING MUSICAL MINIATURES', but I excluded the musical base. I made the dolls from some old white kitchen towels which I had never used, and did not have any intention to use them in future. These miniature dolls are quite easy and quick to sew. I really enjoyed making these dolls and making the props to take the picture.

The sledge is made out of flat Woden sticks and the presents are made out of cardboard and wrapped with wrapping paper and decorated with ribbon trimmings.

This is a great Christmas gift for someone!

I am quite excited to start my next holiday project.

You all stay warm and cozy, will be back soon with my next project......

Revs!

Christmas Morning..

Greetings!

It might be early For some people but, I started making some Christmas dolls. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Love to see all those Christmas decorations, in the Malls and in front of people's houses. Also love to hear those Christmas songs. Every year I visit some shops to see the Christmas dolls, I get inspired and motivated to make more and more Christmas dolls. Not to mention about watching all those Christmas movies, 'Love Actually' and 'Elf' are my all time favorite Christmas movies. Also knitting under a cozy blanket is always fun 😉.

Here is a miniature version of a little Victorian girl unwrapping her Christmas presents, made from the book called 'Making Musical Miniatures' by Jean Greenhowe. Unfortunately these books are out of print but I found this book luckily in my local library.

Jean Greenhowe has written many other books, before she started publishing books of knitted dolls. As usual her creations and ideas are always amazing. I have excluded the musical base. 

Other than the Christmas tree, everything is hand made. The doll's house is made out of cardboard, the doll in the box, is just a tiny bead wrapped with scraps of fabric. The gift parcels are all made out of cardboard, for the wrapping I have used some chocolate wrappers. The girl is wearing pantaloons underneath her dress skirt. The table is made out of a lid of an empty container, which is covered with some scrapes of fabric. I glued on some beads to decorate the Christmas tree. Basically most of the things in this picture are made out of the junk that I have collected.

Like Boxstrolls, I like to convert junk into treasure 😝😜😛.

Now I have to get back to my knitting.

See you soon!

The Victorian Dining room.

Greetings!

After I made 'The Victorian Kitchen', I wanted to make a dining room scene. With the things I already have, I added some more things and made this scene.

 The dining table and chairs, the dresser and small table next to the dresser are all taken from my Victorian kitchen. The china on the dresser, is purchased from a doll house store. Some of the food that are kept on the dining table are already shown in the Victorian Kitchen. The candelabra is made out of beads and the candle is made out of play dough. The fruit stand on the table is made out of beads and the grapes are made from the play dough. Play dough is quite handy to make some quick things at the last minute. The eggs on the dresser and the omletes on the plate, the turkey in an oval plate on the dining table is also a last minute addition, made from the play dough. The yellow fondant cake is knitted. The goblets are made out of beads and the wine bottle is made from polymer clay. The flower vase on the dresser is knitted.  The concertina screen, is made out of cardboard and a decorative paper is added to the screen. The plant stand and the potted plant next to the screen are made out of odds and ends that I found at home. The maid servant is made out of clay and fabric, and the cook is a paper doll. The sizes of the dolls are not even, but I added these dolls in the scene to create some effect.

I made the man sit on the chair but, the lady is not a flexible doll. In this scene I try to make it look as though the lady is trying to give some orders to the maid, before she sits to start her dinner.

I made some knitted food from Jeangreenhowe's website. I used fine yarn and thin needles to get a miniature size, but they did not turnout as good as Jean's knitted food. There was no place on the table so I placed these food on the small table next to the dresser. The knitted food consists of a cheese sandwich with onion slices, sandwich with salmon and tomatoes, half scotch egg, cracker with cheese topped with parsley and a sausage roll. I hope at least they look like food :)........

Well, I did have a wicked time making these things. I am wearing many hats, right now. I am knitting a doll for a gift, crocheting a doll, making some miniature projects, a sewing project left half done and also since the booker prize season has began, I have started a novel called 'The Lives of Others' by Neel Mukherjee. When ever an Indian is on the long list I make sure I read that book.

The Victorian lady.

Greetings!

The second family member of the 'Victorian Family', 'The Victorian Lady' is ready. Many wonderful novelty dolls were produced in the Victorian era and this continued to the twentieth century. One of the most popular was the upside-down or topsy-turvy, combining two dolls in one. In the past, these dolls were manufactured in many different materials, including cloth, ceramic, composition and celluloid. 

This is Jeangreenhowe's knitted version.

I used size 'zero' knitting needles and Lion brand's Bon-Bons, to get a tiny doll, that can fit inside a doll house.

The draw string purse and the parasol are knitted in an 'Edwardian Style' designed by YvonneWakefield. But, I feel the purse is kind of big for the doll. In the book the author has used British size 20, which for instance, no equivalent in America. As a result, I used size 'zero' knitting needles the smallest needle available and still could not make it smaller than this. I made done adjustments even for the parasol.

Finally, 'The Man and Wife' can pose together.

Also felt like playing along with these dolls, so made some scenes inside a doll house :)

I still have to make their children. But before I proceed, I have to make couple of other dolls for gifts. Again there will be a long break from this project :(

Stay tuned!

The Victorian Kitchen.

Greetings!

The Victorian Kitchen, the most popular among the doll'house enthusiasts is ready. Phew! I am quite relieved. So many tiny items can be included- cooking utensils, gadgets, copper saucepans, food both fresh and cooked, basket of vegetables, bowls, jugs and basins.

Nineteenth-century Victorian England saw the rapid expansion of towns and cities, with housing developments springing up to eater for people moving into the cities, seek work in factories. There were larger and grander houses, that included servants' quarters. They are comfortably wealthy and are likely to have employed servants to take over the household tasks.

Rows of gingham-covered jars housing last summer's bounty can stock larder shelves or be putout for display.

The 19th century saw the beginnings of modern plumbing.

The kitchen catalog for other things are discussed in detail in my previous blogpost. Indeed! It was a great fun to make this project and this is the first big miniature project I worked on. Next I want to move on to the next rooms probably, 'The Master Bedroom'.

Finally want to include the comments from my forum members :) 

amanda81164 a regular here Joined: Apr 24, 12 Messages: 388 Feedback: 0/0.0% Location: Dorset, England	wow, that is amazing.   amanda81164    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 19:59:04
maureenb a regular here Joined: Apr 1, 11 Messages: 6366 Feedback: 22/100.0% Location: Pennsylvania Online	Very cool,I love doll's houses and miniature room settings!   Living happily on God's little acre    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 20:05:43
NY Hummer Joined: Oct 16, 12 Messages: 1005 Feedback: 4/100.0% Location: New York	I LOVE it-  it's sooo realistic - you are amazing! thanks for sharing : )   NY Hummer ~ A Sheltie Mom ~ Lass says: Are these the Dog Days of Summer??!    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 20:08:17
janeafennell Joined: Dec 11, 11 Messages: 395 Feedback: 0/0.0% Location: in hiding :)	This is so adorable.... I have a friend who is big into minatures.... she is in a group of widow ladies and they have lunch together weekly and work or their projects.... I don't see how they are able to make all of these small items by hand... my hands are so large I think it would be hard for me, but I certainly enjoy seeing what you are able to accomplish... it is a real gift. Thanks again for sharing your work...or pleasure with us!!! Jane in Memphis, TN   janeafennell    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 20:11:37
kwharrod Joined: Jul 24, 12 Messages: 280 Feedback: 0/0.0% Location: NE Indiana	A beautiful accomplishment!   kwharrod    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 20:17:25
Janicesei a regular here Joined: Jan 8, 14 Messages: 228 Feedback: 0/0.0% Location: Texas	Went to a miniature museum and they had nothing on you. Great imagination and perfect work.   Janicesei    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue
#   ^   Aug 3, 14 22:01:58
jadancey a regular here Joined: May 13, 11 Messages: 3620 Feedback: 0/0.0% Location: Sunny Alberta Online	Very nice.   jadancey    Reply   Quote Reply   Report Issue

 

 

 

 

'The Victorian Kitchen' so far....

Greetings!

50% of the Kitchen is complete. I still have a long way to go. Thought of posting some pictures today.

I tried to give some different effects to the picture by enhancing the photographs.

      

     

    

    

    

    

Susan Vera Cooper, known as Susie Cooper (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s.^[1]

Hope I will be able to finish this kitchen as soon as possible.

Behind the scenes of 'The Victorian Kitchen'.

Greetings friends,

Lot of efforts and time goes into a completion of a project. It can be a movie, buildings, or even a simple doll making. I always enjoy watching behind the scenes of a movie. So today I just thought of posting behind the scenes of the Victorian kitchen that I am workig on right now :). I can say I have finished fifty percent of the work but, the idea of taking the pictures of unfinished stuff flashed only now :). So no unfinished pictures for the rest of the things that's already done. Before I show what I was working on today you can take a look at this 6 place setting china, which is the part of 'The Victorian Kitchen'. It consists of dinner plates, salad plates, cutlery, serving bowl and serving plates, soup bowls and a tea pot and cup and scuacers.

Everything is made out of modeling clay and then painted with acrylic paint and gold metallic paint.

So now I will show my work space. I don't really have a work space since my husband and I live in a one bed room apartment. So there is no spare room for my crafts. I just work in my living room and use this coffee table to work with. I like to work in my living room whether I am knitting or doing any other crafts.

Today I was working on a large sturdy butler sink, that's what is shown in the above picture. I am making this Victorian Kitchen from Vivienne Bloutan's 'Doll house Decorator'. It's a great book.

Next I made some house maids. I have just finished one in the above picture. Later on I made three of them :)

After I made these they were ready to be baked. 

After baking these I have to finish these dolls. I still have a lot of work ahead in order to finish this kitchen. I had to stop my work here since I had to start making dinner. The work will resume again tomorrow :). I am all excited to see how these house maids will look.

But before I go I also want to show the work in progress picture of the Victorian lady. I have just started knitting, and I have only finished the head. So I have lot of things pending on my work front.

Till I return, you all stay classy craft world!

Rev Burgandy!