Wonky Walls and Dormer Windows

Yesterday dear hubby and I cut all the pieces for the roof sections. Without a table saw, we had to resort to a skill saw and jigsaw, and my trusty miniature table saw for the smaller pieces. Unfortunately, straight lines are just a little bit wonky. Then comes the new sander Brian bought me. In the end Brian managed to get the front and one side section of the right hand roof glued together. I had to walk away . . . it was beyond my patience and pay grade.

This morning I glued some dormer windows together and will start inserting them later today as we have a Pilates class and some errands to run. Then I'll move on to the left side of the roof. And then the fun can begin with exterior finishes. I'm going to finish the outside before moving in, as I never seem to get the outside finished (case in fact, the Beacon Hill which I'm now just finishing the exterior on after almost eight years). Famous last words of course . . . BellaDonna's apothecary is screaming to be done!

The plan . . .

Dryfitting one of the dormer windows . . .

No Brain Cells Were Injured (insert googly eyes here)

Well, I managed to pull it off! It took a lot of thinking and looking and thinking and looking, but I finally figured out how to create the roof pitches. I don't know how I thought of a kneewall . . . must have come from many hours of watching home improvement shows (remember Dean and Joanne from Hometime?). It's not perfect, but it will do!

Anyway, all I have to do now is figure out window placement. That's for another day!

Brain Cells Needed ~ Apply Within

My brain hurts . . . Building the house so far has been pretty straightforward, albeit mistakes were made. I managed to screw up the dimensions for the third floor, floor, and Brian had to cut it out not once, but three times. Yikes! Finally got it in the end.

I'm now working on the roof sections and it's proving to be quite the brain twister. I think I may need to call in reinforcements, or take a nap, not sure which yet . . .

Lots of Progress Today!

I've made quite a bit of progress on the new dollhouse today. On Sunday, Brian built the basement for me which will house the laundry/mechanical room and BellaDonna's apothecary.

Today, I built the first and second floors. My poor husband had to cut the third floor 3 times because I messed up on the measurements of the addition I added to the right side of the house. Good thing he's a patient man!

I hope to work on the roof sections tonight, but it might have to wait until tomorrow as I fear my brain power is waning. The build is going faster than I thought it would so I should have the shell done by the end of the week . . . if I can figure out the roof sections. I might have to call in reinforcements (ie hubby).

The windows are turning out beautifully. I have to say having a 3D printer changes the game. I can alter (or rather hubby can alter) items I find on Bamboo maker to my specifications. It's been fun being able to share in the progress with hubby and he's having fun working out the Bamboo printer!

Once the shell is complete I'll move on to priming the whole house. I'm excited to start working on BellaDonna's apothecary, the first room I'll tackle.

I also played with some of the furniture Brian printed for the parlor. I still have to paint that as well, and there will be so much more to paint in the coming days. Dear hubby bought me an air sprayer of which I'm a little intimidated by, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it with some practice.

That's it for now . . .

Let the Game's Begin!

Today my dear hubby built the basement for the new dollhouse I'm building. He also cut out new floors/ceilings as I'm making the house 1/3 size bigger than the original kit size. I'm not sure how I'm going to put the roof together, but that's a problem for another day.

We're also printing out gothic windows on our 3D printer. Brian is working his brain cells on this one. They should turn out pretty cool. I'm also looking forward to printing more (if not all) of the furniture and lots and lots of trim.

So stay tuned . . . it's about to get crazy in here!

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!

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 . . .