Friday 27 May 2016

Such Lucky Daughters!


Hello Everyone,

I know, I don't post for months, and now you are getting two in as many days lol :)

I promised to show you a few items I have made for my daughters over the past while.


For Caroline in Australia; she may be married, but is still a girly girl!




For Siobhan, whose a bit more grown up!

I was going to have different verses....but....



My mother in law turned 85 earlier this year and I made her this little keepsake with a verse I wrote for her.



So there we are.  I'll not bore you with non-miniatures for another while! LOL


I just love creating these wee keepsakes.

All the best and take care,
Vivian










Thursday 26 May 2016

A Roombox and other Lovelies!


Hello everyone

I hope you are all well.  Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last post.  I'm afraid I haven't done anything with Fox Manor since - shame!  Anyway, a big welcome to my new followers and thank you all for looking :)



I thought I would just put up a photo of an open corner roombox I made for a lovely lady called Shirley who sells and makes miniature wall hangings and carpets/rugs.  The links to her Etsy shops are:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WhimsyWooMiniatures
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WhimsyWooDesigns

The beautiful wallpaper is by Les Chinoiseries.  I used a couple of toning paints so the paper would not be too overpowering.  I have a real wood floor and used a fireplace and overmantle by Jim Coates with a false door to balance out the scene.  I think it looks very elegant, but more importantly, Shirley loved it too!


And now for something completely different!!

I  have also been making some framed, personalised items for my daughter's friend as thank you gifts to her bridal party.....I've been busy :)  I know; maybe I'm just making excuses for not working on my Manor ;)  Obviously I couldn't post pictures until after the wedding :)

 I have some pictures below of what I made.  It was a big wedding, so I had eight gifts for the bridal party, four for the adult bridesmaids and four for the little flowergirls, and one for the mother of the bride as well.   The last picture is a gift I made for the bride and groom from me!  You couldn't meet a nicer couple.  My signature style - flowers and pearls!  I made the flowers from paper to tone with the bridal colour scheme.









These were a sample of the adult gifts.





These were for the flowergirls.



And one for the Bride and Groom.  I wrote the verse especially for them!





I have made a few things for my daughters, but I'll not bore you with them now.  I'll save that for another post!  I may not have blogged in a while, but I have been creating!!  I find when I'm not well that making things is very therapeutic.  I get a great sense of achievement and satisfaction.

All the best and take care.
Vivian













Sunday 27 March 2016

Fox Manor


Unveiled!




Hello Everyone,

Happy Easter!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last put up a post.  I hope you are all well.  I have had some issues with Blogger (who hasn't) and have lost some followers....sorry!

So, at long last, here are the pictures of the whole of Fox Manor.

Still 'naked' on the outside, but I will get there eventually.


A bit blurry, but you get the idea of the size of Fox Manor....and of Mrs Fox!


Fox Manor is a big girl....but lovely to me :)


A close-up of the basement entrance with luggage trolley.


Now, the kit for my Manor was a Dolls House Emporium Grosvenor Hall with basement - quickstyle.  At the time I thought it was right for me as an amateur, as it was already painted - so I will probably 'doctor' it as time goes on.

I had two boxes of bits and pieces for the outside so a 'quick' job of putting the doors together was anything but!




Pictures of the assembly of the doors and roof panel.



The weight of the left door was very worrying.  I hoped the little hinges supplied will be enough to carry it!  But my joiner Husband soon sorted it out for me :)



                                   Picture of a doorless Fox Manor.....in a messy workroom!




Removing the insert and opening the doors of the basement.



Lights off!



Lights on!


I love my little brass Fox door knocker, which works!
I also have a Fox Manor house sign too.


A peep inside the front door!




Take care and all the best for now.

Vivian






Friday 25 December 2015

May I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Monday 17 August 2015

Fox Manor

The Attic - The School Room Update

Hello everyone,





I hope you've all been enjoying the Summer.  We have had the usual rain and drizzle... what's new lol

Anyway, thank you all for your lovely comments on my School Room they are always greatly appreciated!

I had a dilemma in my last post with the problem of writing on my blackboard and the children's slates.  I have to say thank you to all of your suggestions, but I thought long and hard and eventually came up with a wonderful solution...what do you think?

 The little writing slate to the left has the initials of my daughters, Siobhan and Caroline.
 

Can you see the chalk between the pointer and duster?

Would you believe I used an old fashioned nail pencil!!  It is white, hard and looks like chalk on my boards - happy days :)  I have a piece of it on the blackboard as you can see in the picture above.

I remember my mother, the smoker, using a pencil like this to whiten under her nails.  She was a very stylish lady in her day.  Sadly she is no longer with us; but she would have laughed, I think, to see how I have put a nail pencil to use.  Mind you, knowing me, she probably wouldn't have been a bit surprised :)

Oh, I have a gorgeous apple sitting on the Governess' desk - as suggested by Irene....

Now, all I have to do is pin someone down to take a picture of me with my Manor!! 

All the best for now, and take care.

Vivian



Wednesday 3 June 2015

Fox Manor

The Attic - The School Room





Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well.  It came to my attention when I put up my last post that my replies to your comments were not being received.  I get notified through my google email when someone posts a comment on my blog.  I have always replied to people that way.  It seems now, that my replies to you were not being received.  I have been so upset, to think that you think I am rude not replying to you!
Please, please know that each and every comment that anyone made on my blog was always replied to.  I so appreciate each and every one who takes the time to comment on my wee blog so I will be replying to you all through the blog from now on.

Now.....

This is the last room in Fox Manor to be decorated....all together  now, aww....:(

The School Room had, I think, been the hardest room for me to 'see' for quite some time.  But once I decided what I wanted to do, things started to come together really well!

I had initially envisaged a cold, harsh, and quite a dark room, but I wasn't really happy with that scenario.  I'm not naturally a dark person!

My other attic rooms are quite cheery and bright for the wee ones of the Manor, and I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that the children would be stepping out of their lovely Playroom and Night Nursery to end up in a cold and stark School Room.

To that end, I have produced this........

 
 


Well, I have decided that my School Room had originally been used as a bedroom for a couple of maids and had also been a storage area during it's lifetime too!  Hence, the different wallpapers used to decorate the room over the years are still in place. LOL.  Any leftover wallpaper used to decorate the Manor was not wasted, but used in here!  The Manor has been completely revamped since, but not this little room.  It still 'tells' the story of the Manor in times gone by!  So when the children arrived, the maids were shipped out into the converted outhouses on the Estate and the attic floor was then used for the benefit of the children!  How's that for a background story!! :)

The children's governess is a forward thinking young lady, who loves teaching and believes in bringing out the best in her young pupils; she actually loves the room but thinks a brighter and more vibrant décor would be a more appropriate surrounding for education.  The Lady of the house, can't quite understand the governess' need to brighten up the room, and, as yet, hasn't actually decided whether to spend the money on re-doing that attic room or not!

My own maternal grandmother in RL was a governess to Prince Borghese's children in Italy, or possibly France, I believe, away back at the turn of the last century, and I have always thought of her as being a young adventurous woman out in the world teaching and loving it - but it's also so sad that I know very little else about her during that time!

A view of the blackboard, pointer and duster.

The wallpaper on the left wall with the door is a gorgeous paper by Susan Bembridge Designs called Paxton House - Morning Room.  It has a dark beige background with garlands in a faded black/grey.  I have made a wooden plank wainscot here by staining the planks, skirting and dado with walnut dye and then painting over the top with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Cream.  I rubbed some of the paint off and age-waxed the lot to give it a multi-tonal, slightly dirty effect - the first time I aged anything in my Manor I have to add!

The right-hand sloping wall is decorated with Les Chinoiseries paper in Manila Rose.  It has warm apricot/pink tones with little birds....lovely.

A view of two of the walls!

The chimney breast mirrors the one in The Playroom, in that it goes out through the roof.  It is also made in the same way.  I made the hearth from black mountboard and scored it to resemble slabs of slate.  I've done this before and it's very effective, I think.  I love this little fireplace even though it's quite plain.

The back wall....the other sloping wall, has a row of storage units in the attic eaves - harking back to earlier times in Fox Manor.  My governess loves them as she can store so many more books there and still have the room looking reasonably tidy!  The units have been painted with Farrow & Ball 'Green Smoke' and lined with 'old newspapers'.  The wall above has been decorated with Les Chinoiseries paper called 'Bourges', a lovely floral stripe in beige and apricot tones.

The cupboards are lined in newspapers....as you do!

A view of the cupboard doors in the making and the wainscoting.

The gap to the right holds some wiring.  The rest are in the cupboards.

I initially had this idea of a row of cupboards along the back wall as you see them, then I changed my mind to make a false wall at the back with larger cupboard doors - but the little row of cupboards eventually won!  With this in mind, I should have just made a little set of units and slid them in...... but, me being me, I had started the basic framework for the false wall, had it very well glued in, couldn't remove it, so I had to work around it!  Ah well! 

I should have spent even more time staring at the empty room instead of running ram-stam into starting it!  Lesson learned!!


To the right-hand side of the unit I have papered thick, stiff cardboard on both sides to fill the empty space.  In here I have more wiring running through, but I have put a tiny little brass knob at the top of this so I can lift the piece out if need be!


I love these little units.  They're not perfect, but I think they suit the space so well!

I took a big chance in using three different wallpapers in here; I really wanted to try it, but I am delighted with the effect.  It's just how I envisioned the space.  Sometimes I find it hard enough choosing one paper for a room, never mind three!  Well, I spent ages swapping papers about, choosing, then changing my mind again.  But I love the three I finally went for. :)

When I showed my husband, 'the joiner', my finished room, he looked, and said nothing, and I just knew he was looking at the crooked doors and the finish of the little units; so he had to be gently reminded that this room was an attic and the furniture here would not have been so finely and precisely finished off - the way it should be done.....apparently!! :)

The flooring is the same as the rest of the rooms in the attic.  Just plain plank flooring with a walnut stain and wax.

This gives the whole attic space a unity.

Again, I have opted not to put up a ceiling rose.  I personally feel that such an extravagance would not have been permitted in the attic!


I would love this desk area myself!

There is a hanging oil lamp in this room.....modernisation hasn't got this far up the Manor yet!  But I'm not surprised, sure they haven't even redecorated in here for years :)   I also have a lamp on the governess' desk along with some other little items I have picked up along the way :)  I don't know if you can make them out - photography is not my strong point - but on the desk there is a tiny little ink pen with a brass nib, a brass inkwell along with a carafe and glass for water, a little brass school bell with a clapper and a fabulous ink blotter.  I made the vase of flowers there as well.  There is a gorgeous little brass lamp on the unit at the back.  The wood and brass clock works!




The stack of leather books, the dictionary, the diary and tied bundle of notes on the desk are all handmade by Nicole from PetiteUniques.  Nicole has a wonderful shop on Etsy.  Here's the link www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PetiteUniques it's really worth a visit!

Both lamps in the room can be unplugged as I have all the wiring hidden in the unit.

The McQueenie Double Desk Kit.

 
The desk is unfinished here while the seat has had a coat of wax.

I have made the children's double desk from a McQueenie Miniatures kit and I found it to be so straightforward to do.  I just gave it a light coat of wax when assembled.  It's lovely, and it comes complete with little inkwells. 


The children's slates were gifts from Art of Mini...they have some amazing items.


The wall blackboard in its raw state - made by my own fair hands!

The blackboard, pointer and duster with a walnut finish.
 
In situ....

I made the blackboard behind the governess' desk.  It truly is a blackboard.  I painted a piece of wood with blackboard paint and it turned out really well.  I 'framed' the blackboard with timber, and altered a piece of ceiling coving for the curved base so I can place the chalk, duster and pointer there.  I stained the lot with a walnut varnish.  I am delighted with the way they all turned out :)

The pointer was made from a cocktail stick with one end cut off and sanded; and the duster was a piece of wood with a piece of thick grey cardboard attached.  It looks just like the ones I remember at school!

I still have to experiment a little with an effective method for chalk writing on my blackboard and the little slates for the children.  I want to put a little more life into the room and I think that may do the trick!  So any suggestions for what to use to get fine white writing would be greatly appreciated!!



Lights on!

Lights off!
 
On taking a picture of the three attic rooms together, it seems that the Schoolroom, is, in fact, dark.  Even with the lights on lol.  But I assure you that it's not as bad as it looks in the photos :)

This floor has been completed fairly quickly once I got started.  I have enjoyed it, all the tramping up and down the little steps I have, was all right once I got going.  Still, I was very much aware that one wrong move from me would be a disaster!  I have no balance nor a head for heights!  Such a brilliant combination lol!  No.  I don't go skiing!!!!

So there we have it folks!  My Manor is, basically finished! :)  :(  Yes, I don't know how I feel.

Anyway, I still have loads to do to 'fill' it up.

I also have to start to knuckle down and think about how I want the outside to look.

Next time, I will put up a post showing the whole Manor.  It will be the first reveal for me too.  As you have probably noticed; as I finish a floor I cover it up to protect it from the workings of the next.  As a result, I haven't actually seen it with all the rooms visible at once with all the lighting on!

Now that I'm writing this, I'm getting quite excited about seeing it myself!  LOL

Until the next time, all the best and take care of yourselves.

Vivian

PS  I have just reached 80 followers!!  Yippee.....  If I ever make it to 100, I will do something very special!

Thursday 21 May 2015


Fox Manor

The Attic - The Night Nursery




Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well!

Thank you for your kind comments on The Playroom, and, again, welcome to my new followers!

The Night Nursery was well under way by the time I put up my post about The Playroom:) so that's why this post is so close to the previous one!  Mind you there wasn't as much work to do here as there usually is :)

I toyed with the idea of putting a false bottom to the sloping walls to create more 'flat wall' space, but I decided to leave the room as is.  If I change my mind, I can still go down that route!  I have similar plans for The Schoolroom, so it leaves each of the three rooms in the attic slightly different. 

The Night Nursery is chock full of gorgeous Bespaq furniture!  I may or may not keep all the furniture I have here in the room; I do have my eye on a beautiful child's brass bed, but we'll see :)

I wanted this room to be a peaceful haven for the wee ones of Fox Manor to lie down and sleep after a busy day of playing.  The older children have their more grown up bedrooms further to the back of the Manor! :)

The walls are papered in Duck Story by Les Chinoiseries.  Being a stripe paper on a mixture of straight and sloping walls, was always going to give a very 'interesting' finish, and I was just dying to see what the result would look like....... and I have to say, I am very happy with it!  I kept the border on the paper as I certainly wasn't going to try to put up coving with all those sloping angles...oh yes, I know my limits!

I made a small chimney breast for the fireplace.
 

The small chimney breast extends out through the roof :)


I have a lovely white fireplace in here from Hearth and Home.  It's placed on the outside (left) sloping wall, but I boxed it in to mimic the chimney breast which would be going out through the roof and papered the sides in the same wallpaper as the rest of the room.


With no furniture!  The lights are off.


The flooring is done with plain wooden planks as I don't think the same care and attention to the detail in the floor would have been given in the attic as in the rest of the Manor.  Nonetheless, it is still central to the décor and, like The Playroom, is stained walnut and waxed.  The dark colour really compliments the pale wallpaper and delicate furniture and gives the whole room a 'warm, rich' feel.

I have two sloping walls in here, as explained in the previous post about The Playroom, but the room is still big enough to house my nursery furniture. Phew!

The Lighting Bug ceiling light!
 

The beautiful brass lamp has a pink tinted shade.  Gorgeous!


The central ceiling light is by Lighting Bug Ltd and I had been itching to use it somewhere in Fox Manor....so here it is!  Again, as with The Playroom, I have decided not to have a ceiling rose.   I also have a lovely oil lamp with a pink tinted shade placed on the drawers at the back of the room, which I think is just fabulous.  The pictures do not do the lights justice when switched on, they are much softer in RL.


There's pink bunny again, I think she's trying out all the rooms in the attic! Ha ha!



I only have skirting board on the 'straight' wall, with the doorway in it.  Once I decided not to do the rest of the walls with skirting, I was a much happier bunny.  It would have been a nightmare to do, and, in all honesty, I think would have looked daft.  The furniture takes up so much room I don't think the skirting is really missed anyway.  My excuse LOL.

Aside from making the housing for the chimney breast there really wasn't much else to do here, although getting holes drilled for the lighting was very tedious...... again, just awkward really :) but I'm happy with the overall result!

Nanny's tray will be filled with her tasty snack for supper :)

I have a little sink unit.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness.....that's what Nanny says!

Lights on....
 
Lights off!

I hope you have enjoyed my Night Nursery.  The décor may be simple, as I feel the furniture is the highlight of this room.  There are still beds to dress, cupboard/drawers to fill.......

My next, and final, room is The Schoolroom :(  While I'm looking forward to decorating the room, it will be tinged with sadness too.....

I still have the outside of the Manor to decorate, but I'm afraid that it's just not going to be the same as designing the interior.....but who knows!!  I could be pleasantly surprised :)

All the best for now and take care,

Vivian