New project finished! Advent calendar

Happy New Year, everyone!

I just realized that I had not posted a single thing since the finishing of the beach hut.  How is that possible?  Weeeell, truth be told, I haven't done much minis since then.  However, taking advantange of my husband's absence (he went to Hannover for 3 months), I wanted to make an Advent calendar for him - I promised to do it, and bought the calendar in the July sales.

I chose a blank wood calendar; I bought it here:

Stock photo

Since it has a central space, I thought it was perfect to do a Christmas scene in it.  But I started by painting it in gold and copper - hubby requested Steampunk feel.  So gold for the frame and copper for the drawers.  After that, I started designing the scene.  First, some wallpapering to set up the ambience:

You can see the gold and copper painted frame and drawers

The wallpaper comes from Easy Print and Cut, and so does the floor.  Super easy to cover, compared to a regular dollhouse with all its nooks and crannies!  Next, a fireplace:

There were several options available, but the dark ones gave a me a "sad" vibe, if you know what I mean.  This one was perfect for a warm and cozy room on a holiday.  Then, a window was needed:

I wanted to use both two windows, but the scene looked too crowded for my taste - a pity, cats and bats together are a perfect thing for me ;)  But really, it did not work.  Well, once the room was set up, it was time for decorations.  And after all the decorating, this is the final result:

The numbers on the drawers are from Vectoria Designs

The picture behind the Christmas tree you can find here.  The gifts piles are the work of Michael R. Miniatures

The rug is also from Easy Print and Cut.  There is a table with milk and cookies for Santa.

The cards and and paper tree on the fireplace come from Ever After Miniatures. The little basket and the pinecones are from Art of Mini.

My mother suggested a mirror on top of the fireplace, but I thought a tapestry was nicer. 

The tree, the sconce, the table and the rest of accessories are from Tienda de Casitas.   

 It was a super fan project, specially since I am not so fond of Christmas.  Hopefully I can start soon with the new project, with will involve even making furniture!  More on that very soon, I hope!

Japanese roombox. Day 3

Yesterday I almost wrapped up.  So I just finished putting the finishing touches in the last wall - a couple of decorative beams, and voilà!  The Japanese room is finished!  At least, the construction process itself:

A vision of beauty! ♥

What is left to do but glue all the walls?  Well, the ceiling, naturally, but that will have to wait.  I was so, so excited to start decorating! So, while the glue was drying up, I unpacked all the accessories that I had been collected for this moment, and started the display.  First off, a lovely table, also the creation of Ana, was put in place first.  It is all paper and foamboard.  It took me about 30 minutes to do, and I finished it off with some Mod Podge so it would look shiny:

Love it!

A little bit of food - it was almost lunch time!

Oh my.  How long I have waited for this...

The pictures and the book are also Ana's creations.  I won't hang the pictures until some more furniture has been placed, as well as the lamps that will iluminate the scene - that is something that I am planning to do from scratch!  The cabinet is a spice cabinet full of tiny drawers and pigeon holes - I am sure I will not be able to find anything so small to fill them.  The tiny tea box on top of the cabinet is from Zenas Miniatures.  

It was so exciting to start thinking in little details to add, and decorations too!  I made a couple of sake bottles after lunch:

I spent the afternoon window shopping, and I have already ordered some little details to display, as well as some furniture.  I can't wait for them to show up, but it's going to take some weeks!  In the meantime, I'll keep thinking of little things to add!

I am so happy with everything.  Tomorrow, the only thing that is left: the ceiling.

Working on a new scene: Japanese Roombox. Day 1

It's almost 2 years since I bought a roombox, hoping to do a Japanese scene on it.  I decided it was a perfect moment to start, taking advantage of my Easter holidays.  So yesterday I started the work, and this is what I accomplished on day 1.

Firstly, I took out all the components, and did a dry fit to ensure correct placement of the parts:

I was pleasantly surprised to see it had fitted corners, like puzzles pieces

They all fit perfectly!

 Since I know better now, instead of gluing together the walls and floor, I decided to wallpaper and put the floor before any other work.  So I spread out all the walls as to not make mistakes, and started by printing a beautiful tatami floor, work of the talented Ana Circea:

Starting with the center piece: the floor

Pieces fit together like a puzzle

Just the little upper corner missing...

Done!  Then trimmed to size

Looking good!!

First piece done, 3 to go!  Next one, the left wall.  For this, I covered the entire wall with white cardboard, and then placed a sliding door in the center - also from Ana's shop:

Simple white cardboard - it is a bit texturized, but you cannot see that in the picture

Sliding door, and some molding to decorate

Perfect!

Trying both parts together for effect.  Love it!

I still needed to add some beams for decoration, but the natural light was getting low, so I stopped the work right here.  

More pics tomorrow of the progress!

More wallpapers: this time, the bedroom

It was no surprise that Kassandra was so excited to work in the bedroom; the papers she chose are... Well, let's say different of what you would normally expect in a modern house.  But of course, she would say very vehemently that she is not "modern", even though she acknowledges that modern inventions are fun and convenient...

When we started rolling down the wallpapers, I was surprised to find a stone texture: 

"Are you sure you want to use this for a bedroom?  I don't know, a bedroom is usually a place to unwind, and it has to feel cozy and inviting."

"But, my dear, those papers are precisely that!  You'll see when we finish putting up the first one..."

"If you say so... But it's too long, we have to cut it to fit the adyacent corner."

And said and done, we glued it up to the back wall:

And the cut piece, to the left corner:

"Are you sure about this?  I still don't know..."

"Absolutely sure!  Oh, it is going to be perfect! Let's do the next wall"  

"Oh, I cannot wait to see it finished.  And you'll see when you see the ceiling piece!"

"The ceiling piece!?"

"Let's do the last wall first!"

"It is a very long wall.  We need to put together two sheets."

"Look at this!  Have you seen anything of this beauty in your so called "modern world"?"

"Uh... I would say, it is very pretty, but Kassandra, isn't it a bit way over the top?"

"My dear, you know I love you, but sometimes you do not get me at all.  Come on, let us put the final piece in its place, and then you tell me I am wrong."

And so, we put the ceiling piece in its place.  And I must say, I was not prepared for the overall effect of the room:

"Isn't it marvelous?"

"But, Kassandra... This looks like a crypt to me..."

"You humans and crypts!  My dear, this could have been anything!  A library; a study in a castle; an old university or center of learning; an abbey... Look at that ceiling!  Ana was so nice as to custom make it for me.  She is the best. Don't you know that your University of Salamanca has a roof that looks very much like this one?  She mentioned that she took the texture from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, though.  Although I admit, it could have been a crypt too.  Not that I mind.  What's wrong with a crypt, anyway?  I have slept in crypts more than once, you know... They are the most peaceful place to sleep in.  And you are never alone!"

And then she laughed.  Sometimes I forget she is a very old vampire, and a shiver run down my spine.

"No, really. I was thinking more of "The Phantom of the Opera".  Erik would have liked the setup."
"And now you are going to tell me you will put a coffin, or a tomb, to sleep in?"
"Don't be silly.  Why would I willingly put a coffin to sleep in? I would rather have a nice bed.  Besides, what if I have guests?"
Guests... Oh, my!

"We still have the floor to put".

"I know.  Do not think I am not torn about it.  I do not know if we should go with stone, or with wood.  I have to think about it some more".

More wallpapers: moving on to the library

Since Kassandra still does not know what is she going to do with the spare room in the attic, we moved to the floor below, and started working on the library.  The lovely wallpaper that was chosen was created by the talented Ana from Easy Print and Cut - Kassandra is a big fan of her work, so check her out!

We started with the back wall, to check the style and the composition.  We decided that the end of the stairs would be the perfect place to hang the tapestry depicting Sir Galahad, which was stored since her other residence was reformed.  So we included a red and gold under-tapestry to frame it:

See the tapestry, waiting for the renovations to be finished

Then, we moved onto the wall that leads to the terrace.  It was easy enough to leave out the hole for the door:

Then, the wall that leads to the bedroom:

Superb!

We procedeed to put back the stairs rails and to hang the tapestry in its final place:

The clock is also in its final place.  Kassandra is thinking of replacing it

"It looks marvelous!  Oh, the wonderful hours I will spend here reading!"

"Mmm, I don't know if I like the empty gaps around the terrace door frames..."

"I will be putting up some curtains.  You cannot have a door to a terrace without curtains."

"I know, but still... I think we should fill those gaps with paper as well."

"Maybe you are right.  Very well, we will do that."

And so we did.  We used the same paper we cut for the door frame, so the matches are excellent!

"Now it looks wonderful!"

"Indeed! But we still have the floor to do..."

"I know, but I am dying to put the wallpaper up in the bedroom.  You will see how gorgeous it will be.  I cannot wait to show it to you!"

Happy Holidays!

Kassandra wishes you all a very happy Winter Solstice

and nice holidays!

Kassandra's big renovation part 3 - Shop

The work is progressing!  Another room of the house is done.  This time, it was The Magic Shoppe turn.  The easiest of the rooms to do:  just three straight walls.  It only took me a morning to do everything.

As always, I started by stripping clean the walls.  Well, "clean" is probably not a good word, considering the stains...

For the shop, I used another of Ana's wallpapers.  This one looks straight out of a Tim Burton movie - I love stripes!  As always, I took measurements and modified the design to fit them.  I was lucky enough that the printed sheet covers almost from floor to ceiling.  However, I had to add a bit of a cornice at the top, as I was lacking just 1 cm for it to fit perfectly.  

The design is gorgeous, and you can barely see the union between the two sheets.

Sans the cornice

With the cornice

I had to be extra careful while glueing the side walls; otherwise the design would not be aligned properly.

Left wall all done

Finished!

Despite my efforts I could not get the right wall to cover completely the corner, but I am not worried because the shop shelves will cover the mistake and it will not be visible.  The shop now looks much better than before, even though the decorative panels are not very noticeable - only to customers that sit to have a seánce with Kassandra...

As you can see, there are still plenty of stuff to do with the walls.  I have not yet decided which pictures I am going to hang again, or where, same with the wall shelves, so I will leave that for when I am finished with all the rooms in the house.

The next room will be challenging:  the parlor is conected to the hall with a flight of stairs that has lots of steps!  It is going to take some time and a lot of trial and error.  We'll see how that goes...