Some of the delft tiles were fired already, not something I expected as the kiln is only fired if it's full. I have another 40 odd that still need firing, both whites and corner decorated.  I will then have a good 50 tiles to choose the best from. As you can see they are not all the same size, roughly 1cm square.  Another batch, in porcelain, is slightly bigger, more correctly sized to represent 15cm square tiles, that I can decorate with flowers or fruit baskets, I particularily like Makkum tiles. I think I'll leave the shepherd and shepherdess tiles until I get much better at miniature tile painting.

These tiles are my version of a 17th century Delft corner decoration.

I did notice on other blogs that the first room many miniaturists finish is the kitchen and I did the same, although the library was a close second. These tiles are meant to replace the 'not quite right' Fimo tiles I have already taken out as I really didn't like them.  I tend to change things as I make better things, that way I won't need another house as I don't have the space for another one. Except of course that maybe one day I will build a canal house, like the one in the dutch magazine...

 I haven't taken any good photos of the rooms in my house yet, but I'll keep trying.

Happy mini-ing,  Idske

Yesterday my little wood lathe arrived!  Had to go out to get a board to fix it to, as it only weighs a few pounds. If need be I can clamp it to the dining room table. It also neatly collects the wood shavings. The edges of the board are a bit rough so another trip was for some simple mouldings and a pot of varnish to make it al a bit more user friendly.

After a few false starts, I made a centre post and three legs for it on the scroll saw, now just a top for it and I've got a little table. It's made of lime wood as that seemed a lot easier than mahogany or walnut, which I may try tomorrow.  I just meant to experiment a bit and to my surprise it didn't break. It's much too tall for a side table (almost 7cm) so maybe it could be a little wine table or I will have to cut it down to a more normal table height.  Unfortunately it's not quite tall enough for the embroidered panel which is also from a pattern in the 'Poppenhuizen en Miniaturen' magazine, I just take more than a few years to finish some of my projects..

Tomorrow I'll stain the centre post and experiment with table tops and do some more turning, perhaps some new feet for the 19th century cupboard or a taller post for the panel, so I can turn it into a fire screen.

I have just spotted Elga's latest post about her tilt top table and wow, that is something to aspire to!

Why this blog?

About 20 years ago I started building a Georgian dollshouse from a book that I had found in a second hand shop in the Hague. I had no knowledge of the mini world, and knew no one with a dollshouse.  Just thought it might keep me busy during my year off after having my eldest son. I then decided that I would make everything I possibly could. I never stopped making miniatures, but with 2 young sons and moving to the UK, it had to take a back seat for quite a few years. Recently I have made a few more.

I learn a lot from other blogs, such as Josje Bouwt, Otterine, Petit and Elga's Miniatures. They are inspirational!


My latest project, a Dutch 19th Century cupboard, is from the Dutch magazine Poppenhuizen en Miniaturen from a few years ago.

I don't have a lathe (yet) so the feet and drawer knobs are carved from lime dowel and stained to match the mahogany.   I'm not sure I will do the french polishing again as I've seen several other methods on other blogs, that look just as good and seem a lot less work!

The almost final result ( as the top righthand drawer needs adjusting a bit):

it still needs carvings on the doors, or maybe not....

The 1" porcelain Japanese style bowl is also mine, made a few months ago at pottery class with a great teacher who will let me get on with the small stuff when everyone else is making full size stuff!