Capriccio Cottage

Where do Grace Notes live?  In Capriccio Cottage!

I love making dollhouses; the simpler the better.  After being inspired by the dollhouse in "Knit and Crochet Garden,' by Arne & Carlos, Capriccio Cottage came into being.

The book and the dollhouse :-)

Capriccio Cottage began with two wooden crates and a handful of scrapbooking papers purchased at Michaels.   You could stain or paint the crates; I applied three coats of polyurathane varnish to the wood.

I took along one of the dolls just to make sure the crate would be the right size for a dollhouse.  The dolls are nine inches tall; makes the rooms a bit cozy, but it works.  It would work just as well for 16cm to 26cm BJD's :-)

Scrapbooking papers come in a wonderful array of colors and patterns, and are remarkably inexpensive.  I even found some great papers for flooring!

I cut cardboard for the floor and the back wall, leaving the sides unpapered.  Check the fit; it works best to cut the cardboard 1/4 inch smaller than the crate dimensions.

After the fit check, apply glue to the cardboard.  I squirt it on from the bottle, then use an old paint brush to smooth the glue out.  As you can see, it doesn't need to cover the cardboard completely.

Lay the glued side of the cardboard down on the scrapbook paper and smooth down, then fold the edges of the scrapbook paper up over the back edge of the cardboard and glue this down as well.

 

Your covered cardboard should look like this, with neat edges and a smooth surface.

Let the glue dry, then insert into the floor and wall into the crate.

Your dollhouse is now ready for the interior decorator!  

I made a couple of peg racks from scrap wood, spools, buttons and scrap paper.  Instead of glueing the racks to the side walls, I nailed them on.  It makes a nice place for the girls to hang their clothes.

Its nice to have plants in the house, and tiny cactus seemed to be just the right thing; they won't require much water, and they were the perfect size :-)

Here, the plant stand is a Willow ware candleholder, the rug from a Gail Wilson kit, and the chair and bench made from clothespins and popscicle sticks.

And finally, another Grace Note to move into Capriccio Cottage :-)

Ruby Grace, green-eyed with red mohair French braids

Latest Pocket Spirit WIP

My latest Pocket Spirit work-in-progress, a Bleu Faerie commission for a dear friend.  She is alongside a BJD from B&G, a 16cm mini honey named Claire.  The BJD's are what inspired me to make the Pocket Spirits, with their movable heads and jointed shoulders.  This doll uses 9mm eyes at the shoulder to give a nice movable joint.

You can find the pattern for the Pocket Spirit on the left hand sidebar.

More later :-)

My BJD Doppleganger

I don't know how many of you have been bitten by the ABJD (Asian Ball Jointed doll) bug, but I have. These dolls are made of resin, and have joints in the ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbow, shoulder, and neck. They are amazingly pose-able, and the joints also make them surprisingly easy to dress.

The lovely BJD above is 16 cm (6.3 inches) tall, which is shorter than the Mini Free Spirit. Since what I really love doing is making dolls, I wanted to make a doll about the same size; at least, the same body dimensions as the BJD (her name is Sidney, by the way). The crochet doll next to Sidney is a Little Mini (her name is Violet); she was crocheted with sportweight yarn (Patons Astra) and a size C crochet hook. She's a little taller than Sidney, but her torso, legs, and arms are closely the same size.



This is Sidney in her lacy Camisole and Pantaloons. They were made from the Mini Free Spirit pattern, but I used a finer thread, (size 20 crochet cotton, instead of size 10), and a smaller hook (size 8 steel hook)








This is Sidney's crochet doppleganger, Violet, wearing the same Camisole and Pantaloons. So, Little Mini can wear clothing made from the Mini Free Spirit pattern using the finer thread and smaller hook. I also love her elf ears :-)





A trousseau of clothing made for Sidney, and shared with Violet.