Dollhouse Downton Abbey

As a fan of dollhouses and Downton Abbey, I found this you tube post very amusing...

See all the videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AMYAproduction

A visit to the Phoenix Thorne Rooms

Over Labor day weekend, I went on a quick trip to Phoenix, AZ.  One of the highlights was visiting the Phoenix Art Museum and it's Thorne Rooms.

The Thorne Rooms in the Phoenix Art Museum are part of the original 30 rooms that Narcissa Niblack Thorne helped create and displayed at the Chicago Historical Society for a benefit for the Architectural Students league in 1932.  Mrs Thorne went on to help create almost 100 rooms.  Most of which are located in the Art Institute of Chicago. "Miniature Rooms" is a great book that has detailed photos and information of the Art institutes current rooms.

Edited to add: I wanted to clarify that though Mrs. Thorne had the inspiration and money to create these rooms, she had many artisans to do the work.  She also collected miniatures from around the world and this partially inspired the rooms to house her collection.

The Art Institute sold the original 30 rooms to IBM in the early 40s to be toured around the country.  Twenty years later,  Mrs. Thorne's son saw the rooms and noticed that they were "the worse for wear" for the lengthy travelling. Mrs. Thorne received the rooms back to repair and refurbish.  She then donated 20 of the original rooms to the Phoenix Art Museum as a tribute to her son's late wife in 1962.

The Art Deco rooms were particularly inspiring because of my work on the glam townhouse...

Art Deco Entry (detail)

Art Deco Entry (full-size)

Art Deco Living Room (Detail)

I loved the Louis XVI bedroom.  So beautiful....

Louis XVI bedroom - today

Mrs. Thorne with Louis XVI in the early 1930's (before refurbishing)

 The chest in the bedroom is replica of replica of a 1:1 sized chest that artisans would carry with them to show their work...

Louis XVI detail

 I also loved the use of lighting from the outside making the rooms so realistic.  I must try this sometime...

 

Mrs. Thorne in her Chicago studio in 1962.

 Brought home a little souvenir.  Nothing as detailed and delicate as Mrs. Thorne's collection, just a little piece of pottery I picked up in the airport...

Now my goal is to see the Chicago Thorne Rooms!

Caterina's Summer Holiday Swap

 This summer I participated in Caterina's Summer Holiday Swap! I love swaps with themes. They challenge me to make things I haven't made before. It was lots of fun!

 For Teruka, I did a surfer girl theme:

From Natalia of Scarlet Sails Miniatures I received:

 She does such beautiful work (check out the slippers on her blog!)  The shoes and picture have found a place in the Daydream cottage.  The vanity tray will sit on the 1930's vanity when the house is finished. Thank you Natalia!

Speaking of Caterina, in the spring I asked her to make me a copy of her "Peter & Wendy" book.  (Both our sons were in productions of Peter Pan last spring.)  It is so cute and detailed.  I love it. Thank you Caterina!

Lucky me!

I was lucky to find out that I won Otterine's giveaway.  This is what I will be receiving shortly:

 

 Can't wait.  I especially love that little sailboat!

I also want to Congratulate Brae on her 3rd place win in Greenleaf's Spring Fling Contest.  It must have been a really hard decision for the judges.  All of the entries were amazing!  See them all here.

Hope to have some of my own minis to show soon.  My family is off visiting the in-laws (without me.)  So I should get a chance to work on the Glam Townhouse between cleaning my real life house from top to bottom!

Summer Holiday Swap 2011

Caterina has organized a summer swap!  Find out more about it here!

The Resident of the glam townhouse...

Introducing the resident of the 1930's glam townhouse...

Eveline Bay.

Eveline has come to check on the renovations to her new home "Lyons House" (she's always wanted a house that had a name!)  She is a young starlet of stage and screen.  Buying her first home after months of living in Hotels around the world. 

She will be joined by her housekeeper/personal assistant who is a widow with a young daughter (Strangely, the girl has a strong resemblance to young unmarried Eveline.)

Though the studio promotes Eveline as the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, she truly comes from a small farm town in the mid-west.  And as you may have guessed her real name is not Eveline Bay but Effie Murdock.

(Eveline is "Lily" from Gina Bellous made from a Stacy Hoffman mold.  Wigged and dressed by me.)

Exquisite...

A week or so ago, I won a giveaway at Margot's La Belle Brigante.  It was to be a surprise gift.  The only clue was this photo:

I was intrigued and I knew it would be beautiful because everything she does is beautiful.

Today it arrived. I truly gasped when I opened the package...

Thank you so very much Margot!

I think I will have to plan a setting around the lovely gown.  I recently re watched Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.  Something along those lines would be fun!

In the meantime,  it will live in the 1930s glam townhouse.  The Starlet's next picture could be a period piece!