You May Have Noticed

You may have noticed I changed my background. This is to set the mood for my Victorian Gothic dollhouse build. Stay tuned as the story unfolds . . .

Forget About It

Forget everything I've said about this new dollhouse project up until this point. It seems to have taken on a life of its own. I'm still doing Victorian Gothic Revival, but the character of the house has changed. Instead of doing the candy coated, sugary thing, I'm leaning towards something much darker . . . and stranger. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but the story is practically writing itself, and I'm getting more and more excited about this journey.

I've been watching a lot of videos by Ara of Bentley House Minis and it seems, unbeknownst to me, that I've been heavily inspired by her projects. If you haven't visited Ara, I highly recommend. She's so talented and inspiring! Here's a link to her youtube channel. I find her very engaging.

So the story is "saudade". In Portuguese saudade is an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent someone or something. It derives from the Latin word for solitude. It is often associated with a repressed understanding that one might never encounter the object of longing ever again. It is a recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events, often elusive, that cause a sense of separation from the exciting, pleasant, or joyous sensations they once caused. Duarte Nunes Leão defines saudade as, "Memory of something with a desire for it". (Wikipedia)

Here's my inspiration . . .

Brian and I were driving to the garden center in Viseu this past Saturday and came across this gorgeous painting underneath a bridge. Brian had seen the young woman doing the outline on Wednesday morning. What talent!

I think the young artist captured "saudade" beautifully and it has stirred something in my soul providing inspiration for my new project. I can hardly wait to get started!

The story is unfolding . . .

Introducing "Michael"

This morning I opened my email to find a newsletter from Lilli of Lilli's Littles showcasing one of her new dolls that she had created. Of course, I immediately knew he would be an awesome addition to the Pennethorne family with his little brown suit and chubby cheeks.

While we all wait for his arrival, I'll be busy getting his room ready. And Miss Lucy will have to adjust to a new charge. I'm sure she's up for the task.

My New Dollhouse has Arrived!

My new (old) Tennyson dollhouse kit arrived this morning! My plan is to bash it into a Victorian Gothic Revival mansion with a twist. All I know for sure is that the basement will be haunted by the ghost of a young aspiring alchemist . . . and her distant relative (cousin perhaps) will be living in the upper floors of the cottage.

In previous posts I was deciding on what colors to paint and decorate this new dollhouse, but I came across this website and my whole plan went out the window. I feel myself leaning towards my darker, more mysterious side (don't we all have one?), wanting to do something completely different from what I would normally do. I'm not sure yet what this will look like, but I know that I want to do a stone exterior. Like this . . .

The Frederick Sears Cottage in Brookline, Massachusetts

The stones are Roxbury Puddingstone (I just love that!) and Brian has already jumped on board thinking he can create the look on our 3D printer. All I'll have to do is paint the stones in different colors. We'll see how it goes . . . I'm thinking it would probably be easier to cut the stones out of cereal boxes, but I gotta at least give him a chance. LOL!

Roxbury Puddingstone

The kit arrived well packaged and I was extremely relieved to find the instructions inside! Alas, building will have to wait until after my return from our cruise next week . . . I'm extremely motivated to get this build underway!

Landscaping the Manor Grounds

I'm having a jolly good time working on the landscaping for the Manor. I purchased some "stone" pavers from Etsy and laid out a walkway from the front door to the parterre garden and gazebo. Still working on the foliage for this section of the garden. I put together a patio for in front of the conservatory and really like how it turned out. At first I had some "grass" in the little square cut out, but I didn't like it, so I replaced it with gravel and placed my sundial on it. I was going to put gravel in the cut outs in front, but decided to play with little grass mounds and liked it so much I went crazy with it. I also put in a few "thyme" plants to fill in some "cracks".

I still have so much to do, but it will come as I get inspired . . .

. . . and we've been playing quite a bit with our new 3D printer. I have most of the furniture for the new dollhouse printed for the parlor. Just needs some paint!