Merry Christmas

I wish all the followers of this Blog a warm and cosy X-Mas with family and friends!

Thank you, and welcome new followers!

Everyone, thank you for your lovely comments on my posts.

..And a very warm welcome to my new followers:
Valentina Mastwijk, Michelle, Teresa, Minnie Kitchen, and Adrie.

Have a nice day.

Margot

Christmas roombox.

A few years ago I made this roombox for my Caco family. Father is unwinding after a hard day at the office, with a drink and a cigar. Mother and the childeren are having a cup of tea, and are admiring the christmas tree...

WOTS

Whats WOTS? Working On The Shop..

I made a simple roman blind with a beaded edge. The porcelain dog on the windowsill is by Henny Staring-Egberts, you can see more of her beautiful porcelain on http://www.ceramic-miniatures.nl/

Some more work on the shop.

Yesterday was a day of demolition and also progress,

there was a nail sticking out of the bottom of the shop, I allready cut it once, but it still made scratches whenever I turned the shop. I had to make a deep hole to get it out. Also I made the hole in the backwall bigger. In this picture you see a small sidewall with a small bookcase, I realised I could not reach the bookcase from the back, so I made the hole under the staircase bigger, in this picture it is still not big enough.

In this picture you see the little bookcase through the window,

There need to be more books in it, but a tiny space will be left open, so it is possible to look through...

The window in the left wall now has mouldings, I am working on a simple roman blind for it.

Gnome in the snow..

It is snowing hard here,
a freezing wind is blowing...
I spotted this little gnome
on my balcony,
looking for shelter..

Work on the shop







 Yesterday I made the paneling on the left wall, and a windowsill, I ran out of nice moulding for around the window, so I HAD to go to the dollshouseshop...

bummer (not really, haha)

I bought some paint and other stuff, I also bought a tiny cuckoosclock scale 1:24 for no reason, but it looked so cute! I made the hole in the back of the shop bigger, I am chancing my mind about the space there..

Working on the shop.

Today I did some work on the shop I bought from Bob Willians from Tollgate Miniatures. At the time I bought it, for some reason it didn`t seem practical to have two floors: a shop with living quarters upstairs.

After looking at it for some months, I thought it would be very nice to have someone living upstairs...grr,sigh.

Eventually it should look like this..That means building a small appartment on top of the shop..I love to build, but I am lousy at it..

I (Jan) took the front of, so it is easier to work on the inside. What Jan and I did so far: make two extra windows in the side-walls, make a big hole in the back-wall to take the transformer. As the transformer plugs directly in an electric point, it really should`nt have to be this big..I made a staircase that goes to the roof-terrace for now. Under the staircase there is a little cellar with a little lamp and a little door..wich Jan made. The story behind this 18th century shop is that it is run by La Belle Brigante, a famous highwaywoman, who stole from the rich and gave food and money to the poor people. 

Other highwaymen and women followed her example.

And no-one in search for food or shelter was turned away from the little green door.

Today I glued stone-paper to one of the outside walls, and painted one window

as a test for the color. The color is Hound Lemon. It is not very visible in the picture, but I like it. 

Tommie and Robbie

These two little boys like to dress up: Tommie as a pirate, and Robbie as his hero: Robin Hood!

Traveling to Madrid

 This gentleman in white silk is almost ready to travel to Madrid, he is a resin doll made by Sherri Colvin . Dressed and wigged by me, I only forgot a feather on his tricorne..His servant is a porcelain doll by Sylvia Mobley, I made him a straw tricorne. The travel basket is made by Will Werson. 

Now there is a feather on his hat, better I think!

What shall I wear today?

This lady poured and painted by Gina Bellous,   

   can`t decide what to wear. She tries on a new hat and asks her husband what he thinks. "Darling" he says, ''you look beautiful".

mmmm,thank you dear, but what about the colour? It makes me look a little pale, don`t you think."Pale? prrfst, ehh, well, maybe a littlebit?" I`ll try my purple hat... 

Welcome new followers and hello, new gentleman.

First of all a very big Welcome to Mary Williams, I`m afraid I didn`t mention you in earlier welcome messages!

And a warm welcome to all new followers, come in and sit by the fire, Megan Douglas, K.Vinkes, Gema Minayo, Maite, GShoney, Natalia,  Bogna, EVminiatures,  Macrupe, Kicki,
Mirel Korhonen.

Outside it is cold, it is raining, the wind is stormy. I decided to dress this new gentleman in a nice warm smokingjacket. He is poured and painted bij Sylvia Mobley and dressed and wigged by me.

Lady and her owl.

This lady and her pet-owl have a mystical bond.The lady is a doll by Theresa Glisson, dressed and wigged by me. The white owl is made by Irmi  from Miniarche. In the background you see my miniature interpretation of Robin Hood, his (working) longbow is made by Niko Macura.

Beurs Rijswijk

Zaterdag 9 en zondag 10 oktober staan we op de Poppenhuizen, Poppen en Miniaturenbeurs in Rijswijk.
Het standnummer van La Belle Brigante is nr: 468.

Welcome by Albert

Today I let Albert say a welcome to my new followers. Albert is poured and painted by Michelle Mahler from Doll Artist`s Workshop and dressed and wigged by me.
First I must apologize to Berri! I didn`t mention you in my last Welcome and I am sorry about that..
Also I wanted to thank all of you for leaving very very kind, and inspiring comments: THANK YOU
OK, Albert, your turn.
"Well, I would like to say I look so much better than in this picture, I have beautiful green eyes and dark hair and..." Albert! you are supposed to say Welcome! " Ah...forgive me, I wish a very warm welcome to:
Margaret, Pedrete, Maria, Daydreamer, Ron, Ivana Noelia, Lara, Ayano, Rosella, Ana, Pittussia, Cindy, Terry, Arantxa, Lainie, Lotte, Chris, Klara, Susy, Michelle, Monika, Jean, and Roberto!"
Albert, that was great, let me kiss you.
"If you have to, but please don`t mess up my hair, dear."

Computer is back.

My computer is in repair for I dont know how long!!

Well, that was`nt very long. My laptop is back. And it is working great again with a new hard-disc!
 I will be enjoying myself  catching up on new followers and new posts!

Also there is a small dollshouse fair in Wormerveer tomorrow 11 september at the Mini-Wonders shop.
Have a nice weekend!

Little bed

This is the little bed almost finished. If I change anything it will be small things. First I will start on something new and then  look at the little bed again. Hopping back and forth between projects is what I like best, but also sometimes drives me crazy when nothing seems finished...

Welcome!

A very warm welcome to all new followers:
Patty, Paky, Maria Jose, Patricia, Ktoonl Art, Janny, Mijuu, Heather, Lisette, Dajel, My Realitty, Kat the Hat Lady, Esther, Sugar Pink Boutique, Rosarita, Twyla and Lindsey, Clara, FMagico, Roelie, Christine, Duendes, May, Margriet, Susanne, Josje, Caseymini, Karin, Marion.
Thank you for following my blog!

What I am working on at the moment

This little bed is my latest project, not quite finished. The photo is taken in an other project. A georgian shop I bought from Bob Willians from Tollgate Miniatures last year. It makes very slow progress, I decided it needed more windows and a staircase. The shop is owned by Madame La Belle Brigante, a famous highway-woman from the 18th century.

Nostalgia

Once in a while I get  nostalgic

..I imagine myself in the past and visit the house where my grandmother was born. My grandmother and the house no longer are there, but memories of the past are..

Epen Limburg

Marijke and I walked a lot of miles in the four days we were in the beautiful southern part of The Netherlands called Limburg.

Verhaaltje voor het slapen gaan.

Bedtime story for  little Tom who is still wide awake after a day of playing. Tommie was made by Angelique Hoekstra and dressed by me .He is clean and snug in his bed made by Jan, based on a design in the magazine Poppenhuizen en Miniaturen. The quilt was  made by friend Danielle. I made the pillow and the sheet from and old hankie wich I found at Joana`s table in Madrid.

Ootjepetootjes life

Ootjes life consists mainly of eating, sunbathing, purring, sleeping, running, fighting with Gloomy, looking innocent , making a mess of the plants, and growing! He has long legs and big feet! Can you see the letter O on his side (both sides), thats why we called him Ootje=little O.

Bedtime

Not quite finished,
just wanted to show what I am working on at the moment.

Paleis Het Loo

Saturday we visited the Loo.. http://www.paleishetloo.nl/ A beautiful palace used for centuries by dutch royalty as their summer residence. There was a small fair for large dolls, bears and miniatures. The garden is lovely with lots of water features..

Geboorte kadootjes voor mijn achternichtjes.

Waar o waar zijn toch de handige Ikea kijkkastjes gebleven?? Voor Tota (geboren 2001) en Lola Jane (geboren 2006)

heb ik ze nog gebruikt.

Voor Juliette`s kamertje  (geboren 2009) heb ik een 5 cm (on)diepe lijst gevonden.

Wormerveer

My table at the Mini-Wonders fair. We had a good time, we met some very nice people. At the end of the day I had lots of new inspiration.

Mijn beurstafeltje bij Mini-Wonders. Het was een gezellige dag en we hebben leuke mensen ontmoet. Aan het einde van de dag had ik veel nieuwe inspiratie.

Ootje

Sinds maandag woont Ootje bij ons! Hij is een kleine rode kater van 9 weken. Hij heeft een tomeloze energie. Hij moet minstens 20 kilometer rennend hebben afgelegd sinds hij hier is. Hij spint al als je maar naar hem wijst. Hij is heel dapper en trots op zichzelf als hij Gloomy kan laten schrikken, Gloomy pikt gelukkig niet alles, en heeft al wat corrigerende tikken uitgedeeld. Ootje is leuk om naar te kijken als hij speelt met een pingpong balletje of propje papier, Gloomy en ik houden dat lang vol, daarna zijn we doodmoe....

Since monday Ootje is living with us! He is a tiny nine weeks old male kitten. He has a lot of energy, he must have covered 20 miles running, since he is here. He starts purring when you just look at hem. He is very brave and loves it when he can make Gloomy jump. I am glad Gloomy stands up for himself, he uses his big paws in a correctional way. It is great fun watching Ootje playing with a pingpong ball, Gloomy and i can do that for a long time, untill we are exhausted....

Lila of mauve...

Deze mooie rozen kreeg ik van Jan, ze zijn lila of zijn ze mauve?? Mauve vind ik een mooi woord om met een diepe stem te zeggen: maaauuvvve. Inspiratie voor een hoedje voor de beurs bij Mini-Wonders. De slofjes zijn ook voor de beurs, gemaakt van oude stukjes borduurwerk.

Jan gave me these beautiful roses, is the colour lilac or mauve?? I like to say the word maaauuuuvvvee with a deep voice, thus inspired I made a little hat to take to the show at Mini-Wonders.

The snug little slippers are also for the show, I made them using pieces of old embroidery.