Battle of NeverMore and the Art Gallery in the Attic

Okay, two more rooms done. Pretty much done done too. My eyes are not what they used to be; painting the Wraith was difficult, even with a magnifier. I did go back in and redo the Sickle Wraith's bone hands, but I am not yet satisfied. I may paint more on the little guys, but likely not. The trees and bushes are held in with Florists' clay; I may have to upgrade that. It is very soft and sticky; the greenery falls over. That mural of the hills was one of the first things I painted in the house. If you look closely, you can see I painted the chimney as a tree trunk with roots. The rocks are tumbled agates. The table and chairs and cups and candles are a Middle Earth gaming set, the Prancing Pony Tavern by oh, great, I lost the packaging. Pal Ratha? Ral Patha? I'll have to look that up.

The Art Gallery started out as an Observatory, but it was not to be. I couldn't find nor manufacture the miniature pieces such as telescopes and astrolabes in half inch scale. But I did have three marvelous sculptures which my brother Larry Castle had made from tektites and tiger iron, silver and agate. The rats are a gaming piece from long ago and far away; the pewter figurines simply part of my massive collections of schtuff. I did the faux marbling; I think it looks rather good.

Only the Haunted Honeymoon Suite to go! And the back hall, but that is part of the suite. I do have a hidden tower room, right now it holds the mini piano, and only the mini piano!

Step into my Parlor

I did it! I finished the Green Gypsy Parlor! I finally tackled the chairs; yowza wowza, that was difficult. Half inch scale is TINY! Those chairs are only two inches tall. I'd been dragging my feet about them, not wanting to take on such an intricate task.

Although I must admit, I'll still fuss, I want two glasses of wine for the table, and maybe a chair in the corner instead of the table holding the egg and the dragon. Or maybe not. There is a tiny stag's head for the parlor, but I need to find a mount for it. Yes, those are "real" Tarot; I have an entire deck in that scale, the rest of the cards are in the side console drawers. Technically, one inch, but why quibble? I would like to print them on cardstock so their backs are not plain. I cheated and lightly glued them to the table. That's not a real spread, it'd be awful if it were. The glass basket on the console holds two real miniature crystals. I also have the front porch and the entryway done. I need a Welcome mat of some kind, maybe one which says "Enter at Your own Risk." I'd also like a picture to place above the matador; he looks alright viewed through the front door, but seems low when seen through the arch of the parlor.

Pictures: Front Porch with male and female lucky Tanukis. Note the brass letterbox. Peeking into the entryway: A Matador I painted, two lucky cats on a table I did the faux marbling on, and the inlaid floor ... that I did not do myself. Three views of the parlor: I painted the pictures myself, the portrait of the green woman isn't visible in the photos. The Egyptian women were once a bookmark (thanks Deb!), Nefertiti and Hathor. I made the candles from tiny wood trim, and I painted the green Snake myself. I also did the marbling on the large round table. The rug began life as a coaster. There is a violin, a shawl, and a proper crystal ball. The books are bound with blue leather. That's a glass dragon in the bookshelf, and an elephant and a chihuahua. The chairs, finished, intermediate and the kit pieces. I made the middle chair for the kitchen from scraps and bits I had about; the inlaid wood trim matches the wood trim along the ceiling in the kitchen. I added a churn to the kitchen.

The Blue Fairy Bedroom

Note the photo next to the bed ... yep, a blue fairy!

Fiddly Bits, Bashing Kits, and All the Gods Came Down

Now that the exterior of the house is done, the furnishing begins. This is not a simple process, you can buy the furniture and accessories and stick them in the rooms, but it will not look good. Fine if you like unfinished and clumsy. The trick is to give the illusion of reality shrunken down. No, furnishing a dollhouse is a process.

First, I unearthed all the things I did buy for the house ages ago. This is the step where you stick things in the rooms, see what fits, what looks good, what looks awkward, what pieces you need to make or acquire. Then there's the kits, assembly required, plus finishing. Then there's distressing, aging and taking the new off existing pieces. Upholstery for chairs and beds, and rugs and throw cushions the size of my little fingernail. Arrange and re-arrange. Make fiddly bits like a fairy lamp from beads. Look online for scale tarot cards (I found them). Next I raided my miniatures stashes, the one inch dollhouse goods, the craft boxes, the floral box, the Christmas box, the pictures and paper box. Sue had sent me a load of miniatures she no longer needed in the antique mall, I went through those. I raided my bead boxes, my jewelry boxes, my crystal and minerals cabinets. Again, arrange, re-arrange, and try things out in the rooms. What works, what does not.

When we were out running errands, I picked up a couple more Buddhas, a Shiva and a Ganesh. I need a Madonna and tiny Egyptian gods. I also need a Blue Fairy doll, two and a half to three inches high. And end tables and plant stands, and and and ....

I am building furniture today, some from kits, some from scratch, some alterations of one inch scale down to half inch.

Pictures:
Household Gods for assorted rooms. Mostly Buddhas, a Kannon, A Shiva, A Ganesh, a Chinese god whose name I do not know. I need some tiny Egyptian gods! and a Madonna.

All rooms are UNFINISHED, I've listed a little bit of what I need to do:
Witches' Kitchen: I have a table kit and a star for above the fireplace.
Green Parlor: I painted the Gypsy portrait, a copy of Franz Hal's The Gypsy, back in 1990. needs chairs and Tarot cards.
Red Wizard's Den: I'm making a black desk from scratch and have a kit for an upholstered chair. I need to make tiny red books for the bookcases.
Tea with the Black Dragon: Chairs need upholstery and paint, I have a tiny purple, gold and black tea set!
Blue Fairy Bedroom: Dress the bed, make a lamp and dressing table bottles, the mirror's white frame has been replaced with an ornate silver one. Need flowers for the tall vase.
Battle of Nevermore attic: I need to paint the Wraith, and install trees and bushes.

Some of my furniture kits. I didn't even show the Haunted Honeymoon Suite, I have so few items for it. Same with the Observatory.