Sunday, April 3, 2011

A few additions to the shabby cottage

My thought for the week (this is aimed entirely at myself!) is that if you need to take time off from miniatures so that you can relax, then you must be doing it wrong!!



There have been a couple of additions to the shabby cottage recently.



This week I made a carpet for the bedroom....I printed the image onto my very last sheet of fuzzy paper. Sure enough, the paper folded over part way through the printer, but luckily it wasn't on the part with the large carpet on it.


Fuzzy paper makes a lovely, thin carpet but it can be a bit prone to lifting at the edges after a little while, so I have very lightly glued it down to the floor. I can lift it up easily enough if I want to because when I made the floor, I rubbed a candle all over the painted surface and then polished it to make a 'waxed' surface, so the carpet isn't really permanently stuck down.

This is such a pretty carpet. I thought I would also add the original image here as well so that anyone who would like it can copy it. You can see it below.

I am interested in trying out suede paper for carpet making to see whether that would stay flatter. Maybe I'll try that next time.


Here is the image I used to print the carpet. Hopefully you can right-click this and use it yourself if you like it.Another addition to the shabby cottage is a beautiful little teapot and cup/saucer which have come all the way from Brazil, made by Betinha out of cold porcelain.



They are just gorgeous, and I have put them on the kitchen bench, all ready for a very glamourous cup of tea! This week I have been absolutely plagued with headaches/migraines and haven't had much joie-de-vivre, but in between headaches I did manage to finally go out and get some plate hangers and make a real-life-sized plate display for my living room wall.

Here they are, hanging above my rather excessive collection of cookbooks! I haven't been, and won't be brave enough to try and "shabby-chic' my collection of dark wood furniture in my real house....that is why I love the little shabby cottage so much - my husband once looked inside it and commented that he could now see what I would really like the house to be like.

29 comments:

Carrie Lavender said...

Thanks for the pic of carpet, it's lovely. I haven't tried printing anything out yet but plan on doing it with fine cotton on a paper backing. Do you mind if I ask what fuzzy paper is? Thanks again and I love your plates, Carrie.

TreeFeathers said...

The bedroom is beautiful, Carolyn! Love that carpet, thanks for posting the printie of it.

- Grace

Linda said...

ooooo love it :D i have that carpet too but saved your pic anyways lol and i love the teapot and cup ...so pretty :D Linda x

Carolyn said...

Fuzzy paper is just exactly what it sounds like - paper with a furry/fuzzy texture. You can print on it and cut it with scissors just like real paper. I got mine here: http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?productcode=067

Thanks for your comments!!

sylvia said...

Beautiful carpet, and I love the teapot.
Thank you for posting the picture of the carpet.
Sylvia

Heleni said...

Very beautiful carpet Carolyn. The color is lovely and the teapot...are wonderful.

gr.Heleni

Unknown said...

The carpet look so nice in the bedroom! And the plate display looks beautiful.
Mona

Lotte said...

The carpet is so pretty! Thank you for sharing the picture.

rose cat cottage said...

Hi Carolyn! thanks for the picture and the xplanation about the carpet!!! really amazing, I did not try yet to print on fabrics or etc... but what you showed us is really something I would like ti try if I can find this special paper:))) I lve the tea pot and I will go to the blog of Bethina. Doei, Claude

Flora said...

You know I love your cottage :-)
Thanks for the image of the carpet: may feel good even in my house.
Recently I tried to print carpet on canvas of different thicknesses and I noticed that if you leave a margin of a few millimeter around the design and then fold and glue, forming a border that adds thickness and prevents the corner from curling ...
Anyway: beautiful all new additions :-)
Mini hugs, Flora

La Belle Brigante said...

What a beautiful carpet, thank you for sharing the picture!!This will be my first try to print on fuzzy paper...

Ana said...

Preciosa habitación¡¡¡Los zapatos y la alfombra son delicadisimos, y la tetera con la taza, muy buen trabajo.Como siempre, Felicidades por tu buen gusto¡¡¡¡

La Belle Brigante said...

dear Carolyn, I printed the carpet, it is lovely! I might use little pieces of it for small projects I take to shows to sell, do you know if this a copyright-free image, otherwise I would like to ask permission...

Irene said...

You've made some lovely additions to the cottage. Thank you for the use of the carpet print and the link for the teapot - they're both charming.

Inês Paiva Raposo said...

O tapete ficou lindo! E ficou perfeito no quarto.
Gosto muito do resultado!
Beijinho
www.liliputthings.blogspot.com

My Wee Life said...

The carpet looks great and thanks for the print - going to try printing on fuzzy paper - never tried before! Your kitchen and bedroom look lovely. Hope you feel better soon.

Carrie Lavender said...

Thank you so much for your reply. I've never heard of it before. Something else for me to have a go at!! Thanks again! Carrie

winfil said...

preciosa la alfombra y tetera.gracias por la imagen de la alfombra.saludos

MiniLover said...

Hope your head is better. Migaines are no fun.

Thanks for including the carpet image--very generous of you! I 'm going to print it on a couple of different fabrics and will let you know how it goes (assuming my printer doesn't eat them).

Sophia

Johanna said...

Everything looks so pretty! The carpet is lovely.

Sonica said...

Thank you for the info. It sounds pretty user friendly. I guess I’ll pick one up for fun. thank u


Kitchen Bench

Norma Bennett said...

The colours in the carpet are so pretty, and thanks for the image :) I've noticed recently that I've got the same problem with paper mats in the 1:16 house - I'm thinking of trying double-sided scrapbooking tape which is supposedly 'repositionable'. (I printed those mats onto watercolour paper, no fuzz but it does have a kind of woven texture look). That's a fancy teapot!

lesnuestrescoses said...

Precioso todo, la alfombra tiene un dibujo muy bonito,la tetera es espectacular. un saludo

Zabielle said...

Hello,

I am French and I am sorry because I don’t speak good English .
I discovered your blog of miniatures recently and I admire your creations.
I like your dollhouses very much and have big pleasure to visit your beautiful blog.
I decided to build a miniature house too .
I like very much the shabby style and I decorate my real house so and my blog speaks about brocante and decoration.
I discovered some other miniatures blogs and I made a post about miniatures this evening. I speak about you and your blog .
Good evening
Isabelle
lamaisondezabielle.over-blog.com

Unknown said...

i love the kitchen! i love all the colours

Margaret said...

I just adore your bedroom Carolyn, and the carpet suits it perfectly. I must try printing on fuzzy paper, tried fine linen but it frays around the edges. An your new teapot and cup are gorgeous.
Hope you haven't been affected by the tornado in Auckland, NZ has really had a bad time lately.
All the best,
Margaret

viji said...

Great thoughts you got there, believe I may possibly try just some of it throughout my daily life.
Kitchen Pans

Gonda said...

I love the tea pot and carpet, wonderful!
Very nice home.

Katrina said...

Your bedroom is so pleasant. Carpet is very lovely. Wellcome visit to my new blog.
Love Kati