A Sad Day

 Hello Everybody.
Today's post is a very sad one for me to write. Yesterday, I got home from work to find my beloved budgie Buckley had suddenly died.

Last year, soon after my boyfriend had a motor bike accident( he was in cast for 5 months) we decided to get a bird that could keep him company while he recovered.

So we got Buckley the budgerigar.

I have always been a little frightened to hold a bird, but with Buckley it was different. He never bit me and most of the time he liked people's company.

He was a big talker and could say "Hello Buckley" (though it sounded more like "Heeeelllloooooo Buck weeeeeeeee!")and a few tunes. He particularly liked to talk to "his friends" on the television. He listened to a lot of music and would sing quite loudly if he REALLY liked it. My boyfriend and I often joked about his terrible taste in music!

He absolutely LOVED his mirror, having a big chat to his "Mirror" friends.

Buckley was just over a year old and his death was pretty horrible.
I will miss him heaps, and the house is far too quiet!

IndyPoppy

Adding a Basement.

Hello everybody.
Yesterday was a very productive day for my Victorian dollhouse as my boyfriend and I started making the first part of the basement.

After much investigation on Google I came up with the beginning of my design. The main part of the house will have a two (possibly 3) room basement that connects to the upper part of the house. As the house was not built with a basement in mind it is going to have to be adapted.

If you look at the base of the original house it sits on a 2-3 inch plinth. This plinth is integral as it allows the details of the veranda.

Ideally I wanted to try and use this plinth as part of the basement but with lots of thinking I couldn't make it work. So I created a separate room box of sorts to be the basement. I had pre purchased a set of stairs so they have dictated the height of the basement. (12 inch) The stairs have posed a little bit of a dilemma as they won't actually be going anywhere. I'm planing on making it seam like they go up to under the stairs of the top part of the house.

The next picture is the beginning of the chimney.  I have made it so that the fireplace and range can sit inside the alcove. After looking at many blogs they also inspired me to make it slightly bigger to allow for the wiring of the dollhouse to go through the chimney stack. I haven't attached it yet as it will need lots of work done on the inside.

 The stairs from the top of the house will run onto the top of the basement. I plan to make a detachable front that then has another set of stairs leading to the ground.

Phoenix Kitchener in its new home.

The next part I will build is a basement for the tower. The tower has been proving to be a difficult addition so I have changed some things with it. Instead of it being physically attached to the main house I will now have it so it can be placed side by side. I have also decided to add a back to it. I had thought that it would be strange to have a house that you can see all around but has an open area. The tower can then be slid across to see the contents of it.

So now some questions for you!

Q1 : Should I have windows in the basement? Many kits I have seen do...some don't. If yes...what would you suggest.

Q2: Should I use real bricks or brick stencil for the basement?

Q3: Should the doors in the basement be the same quality as the main house or should they be more simple to reflect the rooms being servants quarters?

I'd love to hear from you to see what you suggest..

IndyPoppy

Scrapbook Embellishments for the Dollhouse.

 Yesterday I went with my Mum to a nearby craft fair. Normally when I go I end up coming back with quilting items. This time I decided to go with miniature making in mind. I wasn't having much luck and decided to have a closer look at a scrapbook stand.

Finally I found something. These little items I thought would make fantastic miniature fretwork. I'm not entirely sure where I am going to put them, but I had thought I'd regret it if I didn't purchase them.

I loved these little corners and thought they would make great shelf supports. each one has a little Kookaburra (an Aussie bird) on them.

The last one I got a couple of packets of. I thought they'd make something but what? When I got home it occurred to me that they might make great pelmets to go over a window. They are a perfect size for it.

So readers what do you think? Do you have any ideas on what these could be used for? I'd love to hear what you would do with them.

IndyPoppy