Mahogany Chippendale Secretary

Here's a little secretary I finished recently from a kit.

I just love these House of Miniatures kits; they go together so nicely and the end result looks great, I think.

I've been piddling around recently, working on furniture and accessories rather than building Myrtlewood. The truth is, I'm mostly building the Manor to have some place to display my furniture and accessories. But now I'm going to crack the whip on myself and get back to my construction duties. Sigh.

Pedestal Tables

I found these beautiful egg stands on Amazon - about US$8 for two - and thought they would make really ornate pedestal tables for Myrtlewood's ballroom.
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These are made of some sort of metal and a very nice weight; I guess they have to be heavy enough to hold the marble or stone eggs they are sometimes used to display. They were a little too shiny right out of the box, so I used some burnt umber paint to tone them down and age them a bit.

I made the "marble" tops from polymer clay.

I made two of these for the ballroom. I also bought a few ostrich egg holders; they're shorter but wider around. I haven't decided exactly what to do with them yet - maybe an entrance table or a chess/game table? Let me know if you have any ideas.

New Arrival

A month or so ago, I had a birthday, in celebration of which my mother sent me a card and a check. Now, normally I very responsibly (and boringly) just pay bills with birthday money, or save it for some future use. But my mother specified that I was to use it to purchase something for Myrtlewood Manor. And it's not nice to disappoint one's mother, is it?

Mom, I know you mentioned that I should maybe buy a working clock (and I do want one of those eventually; just haven't figured out which kind yet), but I've had my eye on something for a long time that will remind me much more of you.
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This is a Heidi Ott working sewing machine, which just arrived in the mail today. The little treadle pumps up and down, turning the wheel on the right and causing the needle to move up and down. There's no place to actually thread the needle (which isn't all that sharp, actually), so it won't actually sew (so maybe "working" is a bit misleading), but I just love all the moving parts.

I also bought the matching bench, which opens for storage. I think this machine and bench are a lot like the ones my grandmother had when I was little, at least I remember being fascinated by the "secret" storage in the bench.

Thanks so much for my birthday gift, Mom! And, because I got this on sale, I think I still have nearly enough to purchase that clock, too, once I finally figure out which one I want, that is.

Status Update (and I've Been Tagged!)

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I'm having major computer problems. My laptop decided to stop recognizing my profile quite suddenly one evening. Apparently, there's not a lot we can do aside from saving all the information on my computer, then wiping it clean and starting anew with a new profile. So I've been organizing and saving as much as I can on an external drive. We're still working through the various problems, but I think I've finally figured out a workaround so I can get back to posting.

A few weeks ago, I was tagged by George the Miniguy, who has an amazing blog detailing the various houses he's built. If you haven't had a peek, you really, really should. His craftsmanship is remarkable and his houses and furniture are stunning. According to the rules of the "tag," I'm supposed to pick six other blogs I find interesting and then name six things that make me happy (whoever came up with this was quite the taskmaster, wasn't he/she?).

Being late to the party, it seems as though lots of other blogs have already received this tag, so no one I'm going to mention should feel obligated to do this again. Here are my "six":
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Sans, at Dollhouse Diaries, does amazing things in miniature with seemingly very little and comes up with the most hysterical stories about them. Sans, if you're not using creative writing in some way professionally, you definitely should be.

Ara's Addams Family Mini-Mansion is coming along quite nicely, and I suspect she's having a ball dreaming up all her fantastical and slightly macabre creations. I was a big fan of the Addams family when I was younger (I even dressed up as Morticia one year in high school), so I'm a little envious she came up with this idea first!

Ara's also working on Bentley Manor, where she'll stage a Clue murder mystery. I love, love, love the idea of this and cannot wait to see what she comes up with.

Check out all the lovely minis over at O Mundo de Zaphia. The blog is in Portuguese (I think), but the beautiful pictures require no translastion.

Visit the English Tudor Dollhouse All things Mini is building. I love the realism of the entire house, especially the kitchen.

Christine at Dandelion Fair makes the most adorable little creatures with the sweetest expressions. Puppies and tigers and bears, oh my!

Now, for six things that make me happy:

1. My family and friends
2. My garden in the spring and fall (in the summer, it's a jungle!)
3. My fluffy furbabies, who like to "help" me in the garden
4. My local hardware store; I have become a toolaholic
5. Homemade macaroni and cheese
6. The miniature blogging community (that's all you guys!), who help me to feel not quite so all alone in my enjoyment of this hobby