Progress on the pavilion

Well, I'm obviously going to finish the build on the pavilion now I've started as it's going together really quickly. I really should be getting on with the manor house but I hit a snag with the lighting and this looked like a lot more fun than struggling with 1/24th scale light bulbs and wires the thickness of cotton thread.

You can't really see the colour too well from this picture but the doors and windows are painted a soft green. I purposely didn't do a great job with the painting and then I distressed them further with some dark brown paint as I want the outside to look a little worn and scruffy.

You can see the exposed bricks on this one at the top corner of the window.

This is the front exterior. The plasterwork needs dirtying up a little yet but I'm getting there.

And finally the interior.

The building has turned out to be larger than I'd anticipated. Yes, I know I should have checked the measurements before I bought it, but I didn't ... so now I'm wondering where on earth I'm going to put it on display as there's also a garden, which will just have to go alongside it, rather than in front.

Bird houses and flowers

OK It's official ... I have no willpower. It was my birthday a week ago and I treated myself to two new kits from Dolls House Emporium. I know, I know, I'm nowhere near finished with the Georgian manor yet but they were so cheap and it was my birthday so I got extra discount. I bought the pavilion and the retreat. The retreat is going to be a quilter's cottage as I love making miniature patchwork quilts and the retreat is going to be a chocolate shop with a little courtyard garden where you can sit and drink hot chocolate and eat chocolate cake in the sunshine - because, you guessed it, I love chocolate.

Anyhow, as I said, I have no willpower. I know that I need to get on with the manor house, but there were those two new kits sitting there, beckoning me. I planned to just check that all the contents were there, honestly I did, but before I knew it I was coating all those pieces with mdf primer ... and then I was painting the windows and doors in the pavilion. Now, how did that happen?! The battery in my camera has run down so I'll have to post photos tomorrow.

I made the paint look a little scruffy and some of the render is going to have fallen off the walls exposing a few of the bricks, but inside will be clean and tidy. I'm feeling inspired by Joanne Harris' books - you know, Chocolat and the Lollipop Shoes.

The other day I found these two little birdhouses in a local 'Works' shop for less than £1 each so they came home with me and got painted and then some of the walls covered with scrapbooking paper. They're going to sit on top of one of the cupboards in my bathroom.

These were the flowers I picked from my garden on my birthday.

My shabby chic shop

Today I finished my 'shabby chic' shop box - at least for now. I know that I shall return to it from time to time to add or remove some of the pieces but for now I'm considering it complete.

I've called the shop Pretty Little Things, because that's what it's filled with.

There are bales of fabric and bundles of lace and ribbons, some dressmaking patterns and some pretty gift boxes on this shelving unit.

This little shelf holds 'vases' and 'jars' all made from beads - apart from the beautiful turned wood vase which I bought from Al-Turn-Ative, though for some reason this photograph doesn't really do it justice.

I customised this cheap wardrobe by papering the inside and adding a lace edging to the shelves, painting the exterior and then adding transfers to the doors. There are more bales of material inside, silk this time, jugs and a hatbox and embroidered cushions along with a shabby sign hanging from a peg in the centre.

A collection of painted bird houses, more jugs and signs and some painted pots of primulas on this low table and on the floor.

Paper fans, perfume bottles, more fabric and jars stand on the shelving unit and a basket of fabric bundles are on this little cupboard with jugs of roses and shabby signs beside it on the floor.

The Georgian Manor is beginning to take shape

Sorry I've been away for so long! I've been on holiday to Russia and had a wonderful time seeing this amazing country. Just a few days each in Moscow and St Petersburg but so much to see and do. Our wonderful tour guide even gave us an extra surprise ... champagne and Russian chocolates at 11pm at the side of the lake which inspired Swan Lake - totally magical.

Since I've been back though I've been pretty busy. Yesterday was my birthday and I designated it a day of play so I've made progress on my manor house. Did I say that, as well as the mdf being shiny on one side, the internal doorways are small and arched ... not at all suitable for fitting doors into ... so I've had to cut out a larger piece and make doors from balsa wood and card and fitted them on cloth hinges. I'm fairly happy with them.

So now I've almost finished the ground floor. This will be the kitchen ...

... and the hallway. On the right hand side is a pantry. I've also drilled the holes for the lights in the ceilings for this floor and chiselled channels out of the floor above to accommodate the wiring.

The Easter box was also out of date so I quickly changed that into the beginnings of a hat shop. I'll add more to this in the next day or so when I have a little more time but these are just three of the hats that I had 'in stock' together with a 'shabby chic' jug of flowers, a bowl of fruit and a mirror so the ladies can see how they look when they're trying on the hats.