Spring's Here!

At least it is in my part of Florida.  Like many of you, it couldn't come soon enough.  Now I have warmth and lots of sunshine.

This last month has been a wonderfully crazy and hectic time. We've had lots of company and visitors over the last 6 weeks and had a great time.  First, my daughter's in-laws came for a visit, looking for a place to retire. Then a few weeks later, my kids came down ( no spouses or grandkids).  Unfortunately, that was for my FIL funeral and despite the occasion,  we did manage to chuckle at some fond remembrances.  Finally my son, DIL and two grandsons came for Spring break  They left last week and I honestly had a hard time getting used to things being so quiet.

In between visits,  I made some flower boxes for my Fishing cabin.  It's painted a dull gray and needed some color.

Some of the flowers are left over from the flower shop I made (the Ashley ) and others I made from quilling paper.  I was in a panic at one point because I had no greenery.  Then, my swap box arrived!  This was a swap from one of my Yahoo groups and was very large with 15 of us participating.  One of the swappers sent a bunch of landscaping materials along with some other neat stuff!  So now I have leaves, grasses, ferns etc to make a lot of plants and flowers.

Remember this?

When I purchased this at a flea market last fall, I really didn't think it was a dollhouse but rather some type of display shaped like a dollhouse.  I just couldn't imagine one with practically no walls and a carrying handle.

Well, I started sanding it the other day and when I turned it around to get the other side, I saw the words "Ryan's Room" in big, black, bold letters.  I'm not sure how I missed it but I did a Google search and found it. Here's the website.

 http://www.creativebrainsonline.com/COMBO-Ryans-Room-Home-is-Where-the-Heart-Is-Six-Rooms-of-Furniture_p_1100.html

A dollhouse for kids to play with . Now I understand why no walls.  I don't have any of the furniture but that's OK since I plan to make most of it myself.

I can see a bunch of problems with this.  First, the ceilings are only 9" tall...darn! Second, it is so open I'll have to decorated all the way around.  There is really no front or back.  And lastly, is the painting.  OMG, what a pain to paint! This is going to take some time.  I took my hubby's advice and did one coat with Kilz which is supposed to block any stains from showing thru any paint I might use for the final color. Painting a pre-assembled dollhouse is a lot of work but in no way am I going to take it apart.

Now, not only does it have trims and moulding, it's got ledges, the underside of ledges and of course, ceilings, nooks and crannies .If it's not on it's side or upside down, then I probably am!

Despite all my complaints, I really like this dollhouse.  I'll make it work somehow!

In case you haven't heard:

The second issue of Creative Miniaturist is now available!  Be sure to check it out.  I can only imagine all the hard work that goes into an on-line magazine, and it is great!  Here is a direct link.

http://issuu.com/dianecostanzastudio/docs/creativeminiaturist_vol.1_no.2

Well, that's it for now.  My next big decision is to choose the colors.  As soon as I decide, I'll be back

Til next time,

Diane