Dollhouse Number Two - Under Construction

Hello friends! I know I have been MIA from the blogosphere for several weeks.  I guess that is what happens when you leave your design team and become the full time childcare provider. I am not going to even sugar coat it, I am counting the days until the end of the school year! As much as I ADORE my grandchildren, I am ready to have my free time back.

And speaking of my free time, I had time over the long weekend to really make a start on my latest dollhouse.  I am using a Greenleaf company dollhouse kit, The Willowcrest.  Again, I am not going to lie - this kit is much more difficult than the last dollhouse kit.  I think part of the difficulty in this kit is the poor instructions, and every single piece is still in the thin plywood the cut was stamped into. And the pieces are spread haphazardly over 15 sheets of plywood.  WOW.  

Just like my last house, I am "Susanizing" this house. The real name for that is "dollhouse bashing", where you take an existing kit and change it to make create your own version. In this house I am rearranging some of the rooms and walls as well as opening up the design to better see some areas. I am also removing the front porch roof and creating a total new look for the exterior.

Today I am going to give you a tour of the first floor as it exists so far.  On the left side of the first floor is the living room and open entry way (in the actual house design this was supposed to be a tiny entry way with stairs and the more closed kitchen). I cut the door opening much larger on the front of the house to accommodate the double doors. I wanted for the front entry and the staircase to be seen, which lead me to change the room off of the entry to the living room, allowing the spaces to flow together.

In the photo above you can see the unfinished stairs placed where they will eventually sit. I am still working on the stairs as the new railing I ordered has not arrived yet. I wanted something a bit more detailed than the railings that came in the kit. You can also see the cherry and black fireplace I plan to use against the pink print wallpaper. 

Across from the stairs is the entrance to the dining room. 

This side of the first floor is more open in the kit. I am adding a partial wall to create a formal dining room and a kitchen. I am still debating which wall paper to use in the dining room. I have narrowed it down to two different looks, both of which match the pink marble tile checkerboard flooring.

The kitchen has a very fun tile flooring, complete with border. It features a funky tile wall, and will be papered in denim blue wall paper.  I think it will look very nice when finished. 

Last night I built an upside down U shaped wall to go between the kitchen and dining room.  It has a nice sized opening to allow the dining room to show, but it defines the kitchen area. 

That is where I am to date. I have a long, long way to go on this house. Hopefully once school is out I will make much quicker progress.  And yes, I will keep you posted with regular updates.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Announcement Time

Hello friends. Today I have a not so secret announcement to make - it was posted to Facebook yesterday. I have resigned from Bitten By The Bug 2 and passed the baton on the blog. I had been contemplating moving on for some time. I have served as leader of the BBTB2 Design Team and Owner of the blog for five years and I thought it was time for a change, both for the blog and for me personally.

Several factors contributed to my decision.  First, I am loving miniature making and though I will continue paper crafting, it may not be weekly.

Second, as many of you know, my mother suffers from Alzheimer's disease and lives with us. Her condition is, quite naturally, worsening. She needs more attention and I know this is going to get more difficult, not less. 

Third, my daughter and son-in-law have asked me to provide childcare for Avaleigh and Jude through the end of the school year, about seven weeks. And while I know I am super-Gramma, I don't believe that I am super woman and can do it all at once!

While I have stepped away from Bitten by the Bug 2, the blog and weekly challenges will go on.  I have passed the team on to two very organized and extremely creative team members. I see only good things coming for the blog and the Design Team. 

I will be spending my days with my mom and with Avaleigh and Jude (top two photos). I also hope to spend more time with our little guy, Nathan (above), as well.  And yes, I will be building another dollhouse, but probably not as quickly as the first!

Lastly, I will continue to post here, on Busy with the Cricky, my personal blog!

My Dollhouse Interior

Greetings friends. Today I am back with a peek inside my dollhouse.  The photo above is an overview of the entire inside.  I am still missing one light fixture and many little decorations, but the house is coming along nicely.

I am going to start at the bottom and work my way up.  On the bottom floor is my open floor plan kitchen and dining room.  I deleted the stairs from the design as well as the room divider. I liked having more space to decorate.  I also like that you can see the stained glass front door in the dining room. The dining room is papered in miniature wall paper with wainscoting beside the fireplace.  The kitchen is painting with Magnolia Market paint, with one wall bricked for a more rustic look.

There are many detail already in the kitchen: the plates on the wall and counter that I made, the mini mixer, the cookware, the baking set, etc.  And many more small accessories are still in the mail (additional canned goods, glassware, etc).  You cannot see from this angle, but you may be able to see in the photo below that there is a plate rack over the sink full of plates I made.

Below is the dining area. I made the plates, the platters, the dishes in the china cabinet, the wall decor and curtain, the mantle decor, and the rug which matches the kitchen rug. I also painted and stained the farmhouse dining table.

I printed all of my rugs onto canvas and backed them with interfacing.  

The middle floor of the house is dedicated to the large living room.  The white furniture blends nicely with the shabby chic tables and the Magnolia Market paint on the walls.  The light fixture is a casual drop light with a crown piece that I made from clay to match the wall color. I made the window treatments and the pillows from fabric I printed.  I still have a corner bar coming for this room as well as a lot of tiny details. Incidentally, two of my favorite house pieces are in this room - the clock and the large Gothic framed mirror.

I love the fireplace in this room.  It was fashioned by Benedictine Monks, based on a real fireplace. The dog on the sofa is a small breed representative of our little dog.  I made the lamps and many of the aqua and teal accents in this room.

The third story in the house has two bedrooms, a pink master bedroom and a smaller blue room.  I actually like both rooms, but wish I had left a bit more space in the blue room.  Alas, first build error.

The pink room features decorative wall panels and pink silk drapes that I made.  I also made the quilt, lamp shade, pink ceiling wire cover, and rug.  All of the accents on the vanity are homemade.  I had such a good time with them.  

The blue room is papered in dollhouse wallpaper - blue toile and mini stripes. I added chair rail molding in addition to crown and base molding. I made the quilt in this room also, as well as I built the bed, side table, and chair.  The bed head and foot boards have panels of the same toile print fabric inset.  I made the ceiling lamp shade in this room as well as the table lamp.  The wardrobe was purchased unfinished and painted and detailed.

The rooftop tower room is a fun getaway.  It is The Beatles music room.  This room was so fun to create. I painted it with Magnolia Market paint and added a shelf for all of my (yet to be purchased) 60's memorabilia. I built the bench in the back of the room using the shutters I did not use on the house.  I printed a teal and orange rug, then an orange cover for the bench.  I ordered the teal, orange, and white pillows from Australia.  There is a turntable on which to play the Beatles LPs and an over sized lava lamp in the back corner.  The drum set was actually a Christmas ornament.  I added The Beatles drum logo to the front of the bass drum.  I found the guitar on a miniature site and was delighted to find the guitar stand on a different site. The room contains three Beatles posters from three different time periods in their career.  I still have candles to add to the room and some other details.

Now that the house is built, I realized that the miniature collecting will not be over for a long, long time.  There will always be a tiny something to add someplace.  Oh, and then there are holidays to prepare for.  Yes, miniature collecting is going to be a long term activity!!

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.