A marvelous gift

A couple of weeks ago, one of my classmates at the belly dance academy I go to dance and I engaged in a very animated talk about dollhouse miniatures.  My classmate, Cris, said that she and her sister used to make miniature hats out of antique and vintage materials; they even went to sell them as far as Japan, and they were part of several Tom Bishop shows, although they stopped making miniatures and selling them many years ago.  I was so very impressed, and asked her to let me see some pictures of their work.  She asked for the link to my shop to see mine.

She sent me some pics, and what I saw left me speechless.  What beautiful works of art!  I have zero talent to sew, so making clothes and other accessories is something I cannot do.  Likewise, they both were impressed with my minis.  Her sister wanted some maps to put in one of her scenes, so I made them for her, and included as gifts a couple of tiny button cards with pearl buttons.  And a couple of days later, Cris sent me a text saying they were gifting me with one of their hats.  And she sent me some pictures; and I was in awe:

The hat and the box are already on Kassandra's bedroom; she is ecstatic with them, as she loves antiquities and vintage clothing.

I will cherish this gift as something precious.  Cris told me that she only has gifted two hats in her miniature career: one for an old classmate, and one for me.  Needless to say, I was so very honored.

Thank you SO much, Cris!!

A tiny project and a big, new project...

It have been sometime since I wanted to make this. My friend Arantxa gifted me with a lovely Heidi Ott top hat. Lovely, yes, but also plain. So my lady vampire friend insisted that I needed to embellish it up for her. This is how it was before:

And how it was after:

Nothing fancy, as you see, but enough to make it a riding top hat suited for a lady. Here is a pic of it hanging in the hall of the house:


The big project is something that I have been wanting to do for some time. I know that I'm not very original, and that there are people here in blogland doing it as well, but as a big fan of Tim Burton, I was dying to make a Sweeny Todd dollhouse. And recently I found a house that seems made precisely for that. Here it is:

Isn't it perfect? It even has the exterior stairs, and the place for Mrs. Lovett shop has a central door and two windows. But sadly for me, I don't have the room to have another dollhouse. I was quite upset about this, when my husband suggested that I could make a room box, because those can be hung up on the wall, and I became all excited again. I know it's not the same, but what I enjoy most is the decorating part, rather than the building up. So I am now in the hunt for a nice room box, and I can't wait to begin. I will probably make Mrs. Lovett's place first. I love the Tonsorial Parlor, but the posiblities for a meat shop are more wide. After all, Mr. Todd's room is almost empty...