Dolls House

I can't believe it's Wed already, where does the time go!
So it's about time I started blogging my Clarity samples for this months and as there was a huge buzz around the dolls house I thought I'd start with that.
Thank you all so much for the lovely feedback and messages after the TV shows, I really appreciate it.
I will warn you this is a bit of a long post but please bare with me if you can...
So the Dolls House, I was so thrilled when this set of miniature stamps arrived I can't tell you, it was as if Barbara had climbed into my head and read my thoughts!
For me they are just perfect because years ago when my daughter was growing up I use to make 3D picture/shadow boxes.
They were very popular for a while and I had many bespoke orders for them, so around and about people may still have them tucked away somewhere.
I know my nieces adored theirs and I had the best time making them.
The original idea for the shadow boxes came when we took my then young daughter on holiday to the Isle of Wight. I never go anywhere without hunting out crafts or handmade items.
I came across these glass framed shadow type boxes with 3 shelves, they had little items inside like cushions, teddies, little wooden toys etc.
So needless to say as soon as I got back home I was on the make!
I adapted them to my own style and started making my own miniatures from things I had in my craft stash.
I always try and make my own things wherever possible.
I used Dolls House magazines and books for further inspiration, they give good tips on how to make things yourself.
Anyhow I made and sold a few and then was requested to make some more personalised designs, for
christenings and special birthdays which included, a garden and wait for it, a pub! This was a request for someone who was owned his own pub as a special birthday keepsake.
Well I do like a challenge!
I have photo's stashed away somewhere and, I will try and upload them for you.
I also know I still have a haberdashery shop window in my loft so I will post pictures of that.
So that's the story behind the Dolls House and I have been asked more recently if I would go back to this type of thing so this make is my updated version of my old craft.
Barbara asked me to add the link for the actual house frame on her Facebook page so that is there for you.
Now the frame is actually quite deep so the first thing I did was to bring each compartment forward by making a false box base for each section.
I could then decorate each one individually and glue into the frame once finished.
The hardest part as with the clocks is the composition and deciding what to put in each
"compartment" so I decided I needed a little story to help me picture the house in my head.
The story behind this design is that Lily is upstairs getting ready and Douglas is "clock" watching
with the beautiful dog downstairs...
The roof space was always going to be the attic and the rest followed in from there.
My only reservations with this were if the stamped images would do the job of replacing the
miniatures I use to use.
Due to their size I cut some of them after stamping with leaving a "frame" around the edge.
I used some papers I have had in my stash for a long time and sorted out a selection that would work together a bit like decorating your house!
I used the papers for the rooms and to stamp the images on to, which worked quite well for this.
Now the most important thing is something my dear Dad, bless him, taught me years ago and that is you can create an illusion of something that often works as well as if not better than the real thing, I have used this theory and it has worked for me very well during my crafting times.
So I worked out where I wanted my Clarity miniatures, the cushions are from the haberdashery set
edged with mini ric-rac.
I then turned to my boxes of ribbon trimmings, buttons, beads etc for adding finish touches of
inspiration.
I used lace, buttons, gems, cut bead from the lengths of mini beading you can buy, some Prima flowers and
the clock face was in a little set that was free in a magazine.
So you can create an illusion of pretty things by adding unusual buttons, gems and bows also by make beads look like pretty perfume bottles.
The vase on the table is actually the large Clarity vase cut down as I don't have a mini one.
You can see I've edged the house unit with mini ric-rac and ribbon and that's about it, if there is anything else you want to know about this project please don't hesitate to contact me.
I'll leave you with the images...xKx