Two Down

Somehow, the end of a project usually creeps up on me; I think there is still lots to do but when I look at the house to see what needs doing, I can't find anything.  The Georgian house isn't finished yet, but much the same thing has happened, I thought there was weeks of work left to go, but as of right now there are two rooms that are basically finished and only a few bits and pieces to finish off for the rest of the house.  With any luck the house could be finished by this time next week!

 The first of the two "finished" rooms is the bedroom.  As you can see, the lady's maid has finally arrived to help tighten the lady's corset.  The pair are a shameless rip off a pair by artisan May Williams and you can see her orginals by clicking here : Georgian Maid and Lady. 

 Around these two, the rest of the room has been accessorised.  There are a range of perfumes and make-up in bottles on the dressing table.  These are of course made from various beads.  On a silver tray rests the lady's hair brush and combs.  Beside the dressing table the lady's headdress is on display ready to be worn.

 The cushions on the bed have finally been properly arranged, leaving just enough space for a cheeky cat to curl up for a nap.

Accross the room is a fire screen made from a McQueenie Miniatures kit.  It's purpose was to block the heat of the fire from ladies (and at this point in time often gents too) faces and thus prevent their make up from melting.  A landscape "painting" hangs over the fire.  Next to the fire a basin and jug rest on a stand.

 Although I'm calling this room finished I think it could use a couple of small pictures on the wall, maybe something on the mantle, but nothing that will really make a lot of impact.

The other "finished" room is next door in the Nursery.  Again, it could possibly manage to take in a few more toys, but I've run out of toys that I know were played with in the Georgian era to add.  Already scattered around the room (mostly on the chest of drawers) are a jack-in-the-box, a kite, two types of yo-yo, a pull along rabbit, some drums, a polymer clay "teddy bear" and a couple of dolls.  Not to forget the rocking horse.

The rest of the rooms are all very close to done, but all still need some work.  The Drawing room needs a floor rug and some better blinds or curtains.  Oh, and it also needs me to stop rearranging the furniture.  This is how it looks now, but I'm still not sure this is how it will stay.

The two men who were in the library last week have been joined by a third.  The man in blue was in the dressed but not wigged category last week.  Like the other two gents, his wig is made of felting wool, his in grey as opposed to the undyed wool of the others.  I'm not too sure what these three are planning, but they seem to be hard at work on something.

Despite the multitudes of people I had already made and dressed for the house, I still needed one more lady for the Dining room.  The lady is a Heidi Ott doll and she is wearing a gown of blue silk dupion..

She has a pale blue underskirt covered in layers of lace and floral trim.  Her sleeves are made of layers of elacticated trim and her wig is again felting wool.  She is definately my favourite lady of the house.

Here she is in the Dining room keeping an eye on the servant to ensure he sets the table just right for the impending dinner party.

On the dessert stand at the front of the room the final polymer clay flan base I made a few weeks ago finally has a jelly to top it off which you can see in the photo below.  This is the first time I've tried making jelly (of the miniature inedible variety)  and it works really well and is surprisingly easy.  I used a copper jelly mould (which can be bought from many miniature shops), scenic water and a drop of food colouring.  I put the drop of colouring in the mould, then carefully poured the melted scenic water ontop.  I stirred it carefully with a toothpick to mix the colour through and left it to set.  Once the scenic water had cooled and set I carefully prized the jelly out with a toothpick and had a perfect, realistic jelly.  I understand you can use liquid Fimo to create much the same effect, but I don't think it would look as realistic as the scenic water does.

I also made a green jelly which you can see below on a tray on the kitchen table.  I think the red makes a better effect than the green did, the green is too opaque and not see through enough for a jelly.

The kitchen has been tided up with the canisters painted and arranged on he shelves and evidence of lots of hard work to create tasty treats scattered over the table.  A cat is chasing a mouse on the chair.  Cook is mixing up  something for the evening meal . . . . 

 . . . . . . while her assistant is confronted with a sink full of dishes and an overflow of suds.

 Next door in the hallway the man in charge of the household accounts (I'm guessing that would be the butler?) is hearing a pitch from a street seller who wants him to buy her wares.

 Finally in the laundry the last of the servants is sweeping the floor in preparation for a busy day of washing tomorrow.

Come back next week to (probably) see the finished house!