Retro...fit!

The new doorframe is completed, and just in time. I caught one of the faeries trying to move a horse into the dining room this morning, tack and all. When she saw the new doorway, she just shrugged her shoulders and disappeared- hopefully not in a huff! Here's how the new doorframe looks:

The house on the right is the new addition, it will be the back of the house. Its' front door is the modification- I filled in the holes in the corners with punch outs and wood glue, let them dry, then sanded them down with fine sandpaper. Now I'm thinking of doing it to the front doors, too. We'll see. In the meantime, I have to take the addition apart to proceed with the rest of the mods. The frameout for the french doors that will lead into the greenhouse has to be cut, the greenhouse itself also has to be made, then I have to make the staircase narrower. I actually like the stairs that come with this kit a lot, they go together quickly and are pretty sturdy little things. I am enclosing them in a wall though, so they need the outside edges taken off. I'll have pictures of that next week. For now, the faeries are happily poring over the websites I found making their choices for the interior decorating schemes. They are of two camps about the idea: one still swooning over pinks and oranges, the other demanding greens and browns. Hmm.. a creamsicle, or boys club? Choices, choices...

Two books this week. I have been reading Mercedes Lackey's The Gates of Sleep again, and am inspired by the Aunt's and Uncle's farmhouse. Not the actual building per se, but the style of the interiors. So, I went to the library to find some resource materials and found this:


The faeries are ecstatic. They immediately dragged the book into the workroom and started marking their favorite pages... needless to say, every page has a sticky on it. Personally I am very intrigued by the wallpaper friezes and started looking for images online, which has proved very promising. For the outside, however, I am torn between a creamsicle - pink - white colorway, and a more foresty green - buff - brown variation. I am sure the faeries will find a way to let me know their preferences...

Flibberty-gibbit !

I have been informed that the house is "much too small, miss". It would seem there's not enough room for the kitchen they have planned, and where, exactly, is the greenhouse to be located? Not to mention the library, stables, workroom, still room, wine cellar and the guest bedroom? ah... did they say stables? Aren't faeries a bit too, err... well, that is to say, aren't horses a bit, um - large? At any rate, I can see some arrangements are going to have to be made. I do have to agree with them that this:
is going to be a difficult fit for a troop of faeries to fit all their gear into, and find space to practice the "magical arts" as they put it. So i've purchased a second kit and will be modifying it a bit to suit their needs. The first retrofit will be the front door area. The back of the house won't need a double door entry, i've been informed, unless that's where i'm planning to put the stables?

ah, that'd be a no. So, i'm off to fix the doorway problem. I suspect the hinge area seen in the picture above can easily be filled in and a new door fashioned to provide a much simpler back-porch vibe, natch? Cheerio!

...did I mention they're English Faeries? I'm not, but their accents are terribly catching! Must be why I felt impelled to watch "Emma" three time last week...

Mini housework

Yup- even faeries have to do housework every now and again. I made these pieces out of the cutouts you get from the puzzle houses. I just flattened the edge of an oval to use for the backrest, and cut the tips off some oblongs for armrests. The feet are tiny little square wooden beads.

The book is scraps of typing paper sewn into a scrapbooking paper cover, and the mop's made from crochet thread bound onto a wooden craft dowel. I was told to rinse it out as soon as I was done photographing it, so they could get back to work on the kitchen floor. Not sure if I should point out there is no kitchen floor just yet, but I'd like to keep my milk uncurdled, thank you very much.

Goodness this is easy!

Too easy, methinks. This could get addictive... So, a new blog. What's it about? My world is a never ending round of crafting, cooking, cleaning, and reading. Oh, my yes, the reading. Words are...magic, around here, hence the Blog Title. Anything your heart desires can be found in a book, and so here we are. Dollhouse miniatures, sewing- clothes and books, darling! This book, in particular, has been seeing a lot of action around here lately- Miniatures: How to Make Them, Use Them & Sell Them by Phyllis Meras.

Crafting, Sewing, Housekeeping, Homekeeping, people keeping, cat keeping- you'll see it all here eventually. For now, I want to show you a little something I call the Lady Mages' House. Its one of the dollhouse puzzles I've found at the local craft store.

So far, so good, but needs a little something, no? Stay tuned, craft-believers, there's more to meet the eye in this saga...