Etsy

Showing posts with label upcyling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label upcyling. Show all posts

22/09/2013

Renovating a dolls house and a little bit of bead weaving

A couple of weekends ago I went to the GBUK AGM (Glass Beadmakers UK) and was lucky enough to have a class with Carol Passaro on how to make a beaded Bezel. It was really lovely sitting around with a group of gals and working on a project together, time just flew by with all of the cheeky chat and laughing, a refreshing change from making beads in the studio at home with the radio for company.

I finished my project at home a few days later and even though I had to unpick it and start over 3 times I learnt a lot and am pleased with it, especially as a first attempt. Needless to say this necklace featuring a lovely Cabochon by Debbie Dew was quickly smuggled away into my Daughters treasure box.

Last night I thought I would see if I could take the technique and use it on a bigger Cab and made this bezeled mirror for the dolls house out of a Haematite cab that's been kicking around here forever. It was thumbs up form the little ones when they saw it this morning.

Things are ticking along slowly with the dolls house renovations. I've sourced and bought some tile and brick paper for the outside of the house and my friend Sam has had a rummage and sent me a perfect front door and fancy yellow and white window frames too, exciting stuff. She also sent some very cute little bits and bobs for the inside including a tiny little loo roll holder including a roll of paper! These little details really make me smile.

 Learning how to bezel a cabochon also inspired me to have a go at making some glass cabs at the torch the next time I managed to get in to the studio. These are on a base of CiM Stoneground with powdered glass added for a shot of colour. These sweet cabs are currently available in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KitzbitzArtBeads and they were such fun to make that I know that I'll be adding more of this sort of thing to my shop inventory very soon.







This morning the kids and I spent a productive hour stripping as much paper as we could off of the walls and roof. It would be fair to say we trashed our living room with all the little scraps of paper and sticky flooring but the worst of the job is now done. I also took out some very old and defunct lighting fittings and wiring. I'm not planning to put in a working lighting system into the house this time around because the kids are eager to get on and play with it! Maybe next time....



One thing I am worried about it the damage on the roof, it seems to be splitting at the corners so I need to have a good google and read up on what can be done to repair it or stop it form getting any worse.


Wishing you a lovely lazy Sunday Jolene x

15/09/2013

Renovating a dolls house


My sons playgroup have had a massive toy clear out over the summer and were planning throw this gorgeous dolls house away if no one wanted to take it home and do it up. It is pretty tired looking and run down but it has clearly been made by hand  with lots of love and is still really sturdy.

I know it is a big project, but doing up a dolls house has been on my want to do that list for ever so long so after umming and ahhing about it for a few days (as Ruby already has a dolls house) while it sat unclaimed and unloved,  I decided to go for it and took it home. I just couldn't bear the thought of something this lovely ending up in a skip.

Sooooo I have not got much of a clue where to start, there will definitely be a big learning curve for me and I don't expect to get it all beautified in a hurry but yay, so excited!

All hints, tips and stories of doll house renovation much appreciated
Jolene xx