I have a dollhouse!!!

2013 so far:
Friend from Japan and Alex's little sister visited.
New company merger
Flu
Allergies (Florida's the worst for this...)
Now, the parents are coming....

But, I have a job, so these are definitely not complaints. It has just been really busy.

I have been fitting in some time for minis, but just no time for blogging about them. I will attempt to catch up.

Home Depot sold a Real Good Toys dollhouse kit during the Christmas season. I heard about this through the CAMP Yahoo group. Somebody posted a tip about a coupon, so the thing ended up being something like $50. I've bought some Houseworks components, so the cost will increase some. However, the quality of the construction is so good, that it's negligible. 

Here's my inspiration house:

 

By Union Studio Architecture & Community Design in Providence, RI

Image Source

Union Studio Architecture & Community Design

Here's my house in it's current state of completion:

 
I added some attic windows which I have yet to build. I'm going to do a stained wood porch floor. I cut an additional hole in the third floor for a stair to the attic. (I hate how the stairs in dollhouses are so unrealistic... These won't exactly be working stairs, but at least it will appear to have a path to the attic.) I'm going to do brackets for the porch posts like the inspiration house. I'm also going to rebuild the porch rail with square balusters, and I want to add the vents on the crawl space under the building. I'm trying to figure out the lighting right now.

Having a dollhouse has always been a dream of mine. I currently have 4 kits - 2 in progress - so the dream has never been fulfilled. I'm not getting too crazy with a redesign of the RGT house so my dream may become a reality. I've been super happy since I did the first bit of construction. It may not look like much now, but I had to share.

Happy Easter!

So... apparently, the Silhouette Cameo is good for Easter bonnets too...

Evie, the puggle, hopes everybody got some rest today...

My Christmas Presents - Big and Small

I'm sure that it's obvious to anyone that has read my blog that I have the best boyfriend in the world. :) You know, the one who made mini tulips with me, who bent a tiny u-bend for my system kitchen, the one who made an Excel spreadsheet for super-accurate measurement conversions for 1/12th scale... (I could go on...) That one. It's very hard for me to not gush about him, so I'll try to keep it to a minimum (haha...) in this post. 

I have many wonderful, high-quality miniatures since I've been collecting for a long time. I've always wanted a dollhouse, but time and too much creativity has never allowed me to finish a project. Lately, I've been drooling over an IKEA curio cabinet that would act as a staging area for my minis until I can finish a project. I hate having them boxed up and dust is deadly...

Klingsbo Glass Door Cabinet

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Alex bought me the cabinet for Christmas, but since we were traveling for the holidays, it was too difficult to give it to me on Christmas day. As a place holder, he made me this:

Yep...even the door opens.

Look at at the detail!

With paper and plastic from some container! Awesome, no? I think I like it more than the full size one. Big surprise...