Dumb waiter

I was of course wrong when I said in the previous post that I was done with Chippendale miniatures for a while. I have also made a dumb waiter, which I think is both a wonderful piece and a wonderful name for it.

There isn't much to show or tell: it was straightforward, and the only thing was to follow the instructions that said: be patient, don't rush, let the glue set between steps. To glue on legs at 120 degrees angle is always hard.

Here is the result:

And in the environment:

Now need to make more food to put on it.

Book stands

This will be the final post in a series featuring my recent Chippendale miniatures: bed,  tea table, and the magnificent cellarette.

In the same bundle the cellarette came in I got several other rare kits, including a dumb waiter, a marble-top serving table, a window seat and a set of book stand and pedestal desk.

I was very excited about the book stand because I wanted a sheet music stand for my music room, and I had been planning to make one from a candle stand, but now I could use this kit. Both objects were easy to make, even the desk that involved hinges, but I have had some practice with cabinets recently so I managed elegantly.

The stand is now in the music room so that the harpist can read her score:

And the desk is temporarily in the smoking room:

There are already two desks in this room so I am not sure it is the right place. Maybe it can go into the guest bedroom or maybe in the music room as well? In any case, it is a lovely piece.

Hepplewhite cellarette

 How many times have I said that miniature-making is highly educational? Until three weeks ago I didn't know what a cellarette was. If you think logically, a cellarette is a small (wine) cellar so it makes perfect sense. But I had never seen one in full scale. Or maybe I had, but didn't know? I don't think so because I am usually curious about strange objects in museums and ask.

Anyway, a cellarette kit was among my recent purchases, and I couldn't wait to make it. To begin with, it was quite straightforward.

 

Simply a box on top of a table with a drawer and a pull-out shelf.

But then the lid was supposed to be hinged. And I am not very good with hinging. Frankly, I am hopeless with hinges. Of course, one of the very first Chippendale pieces I made had hinges. But at that time I thought that handles and keyholes were more difficult. Now I started to mortice (new word! if you don't know what it means, google it) and realised I would never manage to make it neat and was about to ruin a very beautiful and rare piece. Therefore I stopped morticing and instead used a ribbon, which works just as well.

This is the finished piece. I think it is exceptionally pretty. And when you open it -

 

I will have to make smaller wine bottles to fit into it, but otherwise you see the point, don't you? Such an unusual piece! I will also have to make corkscrews and other implements to put in the tiny drawer. 

Since it is supposed to be movable I have simply placed it in the foreground in the dining room. I may move it to the reception room later.

Queen Anne tea table

My next Chippendale project was the tea table.

 

I wanted to replace the plastic Playmobile Victorian tea table that had served me well, but it was now time for something more elegant. It looked easy to make, but turned out really hard, because all moulding had to be mitred, and mitring moulding is my least favourite part of miniature-making, after painting windows.

 

There was enough moulding if you are clever and cut wisely, and that's what I didn't do. Seriously, this is something I can never get right. So I found myself with a too short piece of moulding and no way I could get replacement. What could I do? I just glued on another tiny piece, sanding it as much as I dared. I will pretend a naughty child has broken the edge and a clever cabinet-maker has mended it.

 

After three coats of varnish it looked really neat. And in its environment you might not even notice it was broken.



It is remarkable how every small improvement makes a huge difference.

All over again

Did I ever mention that a dollhouse project is never finished? I did? Yes, I did. Many times.

When I finished my Adam ceilings, I was pretty sure that I was done with ceilings and ceiling lights. All mouldings and ceiling roses in place, nothing more to add. And then I go to this wonderful shop and buy three fabulous chandeliers. And I see that one of them will be perfect in the smoking room where I so far had a light that I was absolutely happy with.

 

Smoking room ceiling was one of the first Adam ceilings I made, and it involved removing the ceiling light and then putting it back. Of course I won't replace the ceiling this time, but I still need to remove the floor in the room above, remove the tape that is holding the wire from the light, feed the wire down through the hole, remove the light and the ceiling rose. Then, in reverse: feed the wire of the new chandelier through the ceiling rose (which by the way is a scrapbooking embellishment) and the hole, fix the wire with the tape and put back the floor. Luckily, the floor in the room above - guest bedroom - is still paper and can be removed without breaking up the skirting boards. (I won't get away so easily in other rooms).

Judge for yourself:

It's always like this: once you have made an improvement you wonder how on earth it could have been anything else. 

The light in the chandelier is a battery tea light. The fabric of the chandelier is a bit torn, and I first thought that I would replace it, but I will never manage to do it neatly, and after all, people did have torn and worn objects. Maybe it even looks more natural.

I have two more exquisite new chandeliers to put up, so do come back soon. It will be a much greater challenge.

A Chippendale bed

As I reported in the previous post I have been buying more Chippendale kits, but I still have many from previous bargains that I haven't made. There is no system in my cabinet-making: I pick up a kit, look at it, think a bit, often put it aside, either because it feels too complicated or because I don't know exactly where it might go.

I have two bed kits, and I decided that the single bed should be in the nursery, to replace a rather clumsy bed of unknown origin that has been there for a while.

 

This is a straightforward kit that just needs a lot of patience. Since I had made the canopy bed I knew what was coming.

 

But I am much more skilled now than I was three years ago. I am better at aligning, I am better at drilling tiny holes (with a pushpin), at holding the assembly together. What I did wrong here was that I painted the parts before assembly, not thinking that the inside wouldn't have been painted, but there isn't much I can do about it, and nobody will ever see.

Stringing was fun:

 

Then I made the mattress of the same towel fabric as for the canopy bed, and used handkerchiefs for bedding, but I wanted a patchwork quilt for this bed. I have made miniature patchwork, and it's a hard job. It so happened that I went to a craft shop to get some more Really Useful Boxes to organise my supplies, and there I found just what I needed.

Of course as soon as I put the bed into the nursery I had to remove several items that were not in scale. You couldn't tell with the old bed, but now it was obvious. Fortunately, I know exactly what Chippendale pieces I will put there instead. But so far there is complete chaos. As nurseries usually are.

Catching up

I can't believe I haven't blogged for more than a month! Just shows how busy I am, but I haven't been totally lazy. I have built some more Chippendale furniture, and I will show it soon. Moreover, I have been buying Chippendale kits like mad. I am a gambler by nature, which is why I never ever play any games of risk; and I am a bit of a maniac, easily getting obsessed. I have set my mind on collecting all House of Miniature kits. So far I had only been buying bundles of ten or fifteen. They are hardly ever available in Europe, and shipping from the USA is expensive, but if you buy a bundle it isn't that bad. However, when you start getting to less common items they probably won't be part of a bundle. So for the past few weeks I have been hunting and chasing. There are about ninety kits, and I started with about thirty, but now I only need seven more to have a full collection. I also have many duplicates. Some of the rare objects I had luck with and got cheap; some went quite high in bidding, and a couple I missed on. The last bundle is on the way. And you know, I don't feel the least guilty about spending all this money because I have such fun making these objects.

I haven't done a lot on the house. Frankly, haven't done anything, although there is a lot of work left. Somehow, there is no urgency. However, I now have a good reason to go back to the house and possibly do a lot of reconstruction. I was in Stockholm last week and went to my favourite shop, the Golden Angel. It was a bit disappointing because there weren't as many things that I passionately desired as last year, but I picked up a few items, including a lovely Jugend table that doesn't fit into any current project, but was too good to miss. When I had paid and was about to leave, I expressed my regrets that I hadn't found anything nearly as gorgeous as the two chandeliers from last year, to which the lady said: "Wait a minute...", and a minute later I had the most amazing chandelier, even more amazing than my old ones.

Plus a fabulous brass petroleum lamp that was broken so I got it relatively cheap (I will need my son-in-law to solder it), and another ceiling light that for some reason isn't in this picture.

The consequence of this is of course that I will now replace some of the existing chandeliers, which implies removing floors in rooms above... So I am looking forward to a busy summer.