Miniatures in 3D

Our Bambu Lab 3D printer arrived and it hasn't stopped printing since we got it on Monday. After a few tries, Brian got the sizing right for the fountain going into my parterre garden. He even added a little pigeon on top! I was also able to print another bust for the Statue Room and new posts and rails for the cupola on the manor extension.

All that's need now is some paint (with my new air brush painter) and they're ready for their debut. Oh, and I have to figure out how to add water to the fountain . . . another learning curve, yay!

Playing with ChatGPT

While our friends from the States were visiting, they put me on to ChatGPT. Needless to say, I have become addicted.

I started with the landscaping for the Manor . . .

And then I played around with ideas for my new dollhouse. I'm designing a Victorian Gothic Mansion with a twist . . . it will be in pastel colors. I'm thinking the exterior will be either lavender or blue . . . what do you think?

Brian will also be building a basement which will be a darker part of this creation to suite BellaDonna's apothecary. I'm still trying to figure out who the inhabitant of this pastel perfection will be. I'm leaning towards the 1950s for the interior and will likely commission a 1950s doll . . . you know I need a doll to design for!

I like the blue dress with crinoline underneath and maybe a collar and a corsage on her bodice?

Donella in Lavender

Donella in Blue

I'm really looking forward to this new project!

The Finished Parterre . . .

Almost . . . I'm waiting on the arrival of our 3D printer in order to print the fountain. For the most part, the Parterre Garden is finished. At least I thought it was. I just remembered I want to add some topiaries. I just haven't decided where to put them yet. So I guess there will be more to come!

Here's the Parterre Garden as it is today . . .

Lucy's Room

I can't believe I just spent about three hours re-wallpapering the study in anticipation of Lucy's arrival. This involved creating templates, which was a real nightmare because I had to go around those arched windows . . . two of them and the fireplace! Eeegads! Anyway, I got it done and then I had to wrestle with peel-and-stick wallpaper. This created it's own challenges. Let me just say I won't be ordering peel-and-stick dollhouse wallpaper any time soon!

At any rate, the room is done except for making the bed and adding accessories. For now, I need to rest my back, legs and feet. Being up on a ladder for the better part of three hours has taken its toll . . .

The study before . . .

The study during . . .

The former study . . . now Lucy's bedroom.

Next on the list:

• Accessorizing the kitchen and Lucy's room.
• Trimming out the back of the manor.
• Grouting the bricks I just installed.
• More landscaping.

I'm hoping to get all this done before my new dollhouse arrives in two to three weeks . . . maybe, hopefully!

The Parterre Garden ~ Part 3

This project is really coming together. I had fun putting the hedges together after I got my brain wrapped around the inside and outside curves. Then it was a matter of hot gluing the pieces together and letting it set overnight. I had a few adjustments to make and I was ready for the stones.

Just to back up a bit, I used wet and dry foam for the base of the hedges. It was easy to cut and sculpt into shape. They measure 1" wide by 1" high. I think they could have been a little narrower, but there's nothing like a healthy, robust hedge!

Then using tacky glue, I spread a good amount in an area and then showered it with the sand and gravel mix I bought to mimic the little boxwood leaves. I think it worked out pretty well although they did look like bird suet cakes. LOL! After I let it dry for several hours, I dabbed on acrylic deep green paint mixed with just a little bit of water so that it was easier to dab on. I'll be going over it all with some lighter green and yellow to give it some highlights once everything dries really well.

After all that was taken care of, I spread glue on the paths in between the hedges and sprinkled on the sand and gravel mix. I purchased the mix in brown just for this purpose.

The last step will be to set everything in place with some Mod Podge so that the little stones don't end up all over the place.

Once our 3D printer arrives, I'll be printing a fountain I found on the Bamboo maker site. This will be the pièce de résistance!

I'm looking forward to wrapping up this little project so that I can move on to creating Lucy's bedroom. In a previous post I mentioned I was going to create a Tea Room, and then I found Lucy (who is going to be Rosemary's governess) and she'll need a bedroom. So first up will be to add new wallpaper . . . of course (sigh) . . .

Welcome to a Tour of Pennethorne Manor

Welcome to Pennethorne Manor . . . please follow me as I take you through the manor while the family is away . . .

Enjoy the tour!

Please sign our Guest Book and let us know what your favorite was . . .

This and That and a Parterre Garden

I've been spending time working on finishing the exterior of Pennethorne Manor. I've bricked up most of the foundation, but still have a bit more to do. I ran out of bricks (sigh) but I'm hoping to be able to 3D print the rest of what I need. I'm also hoping to print a cover for the electrical connections at the back of the house. It will likely be a custom piece so fingers crossed it works out. Printing it with bricks on it would be a bonus!

I'm also in the stages of figuring out how to attach trim pieces to the back of the house to cover edges and wires. This was hurting my brain, so I stepped away to work on the parterre garden.

The supplies I needed arrived today. Well, most of them. At least the foam arrived so I could prepare the hedges for the finishes. This too required brain power, but I think I got it in the end. A few of the inner part of the hedges look wonky, but hopefully when the stones and paint are on, you won't notice.

I also have a fountain picked out to print once our 3D printer arrives. I have so many projects lined up it's going to be a printing frenzy!

Here's the messy process of creating hedges for the parterre garden . . .

Cutting edges to fit around the foam board. I plan to glue the hedges 
to the foam board.

This was a messy process!

I have a plan . . .

The hedges edges are glued together. I haven't attached
them permanently to the foam board yet because I want to apply
 the stones and paint them before attaching them.

After sculpting. They'll look much better when completed.
I might also thin them out a bit . . .

The Parterre Garden

In preparation for my supplies coming on Monday, I planned out the parterre garden that will sit in front of the bay window of the parlor. This was a brain twister, but I finally got it to what I think will look symmetrical and fitting here.

 . . . and as I was taking photos of the garden plan, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye . . . BellaDonna was haunting the balcony of the manor! I think it's her subtle way of telling me to get on with her cottage. Patience my dear girl . . . you have all of eternity! LOL!

Oops, I did it again!

So I did a thing . . . I bought another dollhouse kit. Mostly at the urging of my dear husband. I'd been talking about a 3D printer for some time, and after much research, he pulled the plug and bought one. I wanted one so that I could print my own furniture, trim, accessories, et cetera for the manor. He however, encouraged me to build another dollhouse so that I could make good use of the printer. Although, he has many ideas for items himself!

So we're going to have fun printing in 3D . . . apparently you can teach old dogs new tricks!

Anyway, the house I bought is a Tennyson. It's a smaller house, but will be perfect for the young woman who is going to inhabit it. Her name? BellaDonna! Yes, the little ghost who died concocting a potion in her apothecary. Very unfortunate. She, however, doesn't realize she's dead, and so she just keeps on keeping on . . .

BellaDonna is currently living in the attic of the manor, but once her house is ready, she'll be vacating to her new digs. As a bonus, I already have most of the furniture and accessories! I have so many creative ideas running through my head, I'll never sleep tonight!

The Tennyson - 19th Century Gothic Style

A 19th-century Gothic style house, commonly known as a Gothic Revival or Victorian Gothic home, is a romantic building style featuring pointed arches, steep roofs, and ornate medieval details

Of course I'll be bashing the heck out of this little house, starting with a basement! Dear hubby has been alerted . . .

Inspiration . . .

The Ideas are Flowing

Since I decided to create a Tea Room in Pennethorne Manor, the ideas have been flowing. Today I received new wallpaper for the room. It's peel and stick, so I think I'm going to create templates out of cardstock, stick on the paper, and then adhere it to the walls. Tricky, very tricky . . .

I also f-i-n-a-l-l-y painted the edges of the board the manor sits on. Brian had routed the edges so it looks a bit more fancy than just a board that we plopped on top . . . even though that's about what we did! HA! I grassed the area a week or so ago and am happy with how it turned out. The manor doesn't look like its sitting on barren wasteland anymore. I'm highly anticipating getting the landscaping done and am currently searching for ideas. One of them is to create a knot garden. I found a great tutorial on youtube, so I'm ordering supplies and giving it a go. 

Brian also helped me situate the manor in the room it occupies. Since the ceiling slopes so much we had to position it in about the center of the room. It looks amazing when you walk in and see the manor and it's easy to get around the back to see the insides. There are just a few electrical outlets in the room, so this position also makes it easy to put the electrical components on the side next to the wall and to be able to plug it in. No tripping hazards here!

For the Tea Room . . .

Before painting the edges . . .

After painting the edges . . .

Knot Garden Inspiration!

Here's a link if you'd like to make your own boxwood topiaries and hedges . . .