Welcome New Followers! And Thoughts About Commenting

It is always great to have new followers ! Welcome to Keli and Mieke! Keli has beautiful cerulean hair in her profile picture - I have to tell you that my daughter dyed hers fushia for her high school graduation. I actually thought it looked pretty!

Thoughts about comments- I can't remember who told me that dollhouse miniaturists aren't huge about commenting. I try to comment giving feedback when I really like something, but it does get old to always just say why I love something. The comments I would like to get are more about you! Have you made something similar or hope to make something related in the future? Have you got a different technique for doing the same thing? If it is a history post, do you know anything related to the event or item I've pictured? Can you think of a cool idea for me to develop next in the story or the house?

Giveaway! Hoosier Cabinet Kit and extra

Since I've decided I am going with 1/16 for furniture scale (for the most part and wish me good luck!) , I'm going to gradually give away some of the half scale kits and furniture that I can't make fit. I probably could figure out something with this Cassidy Creations cabinet kit, but it is just too good the way it is to mess with it. It is very detailed, and I can see it being a challenge for someone who loves detail. Anyway , to enter comment telling me if your interest is in dollhouses, or history , or both! Of course, you have to be a follower to enter. I'll draw on May 1st, and , you are going to think this is funny, please remind me if I forget!!!

I'm still recovering from my mom's heart attack. I know that sounds strange, but because she is doing better, it is as if I can finally get upset about it. I had to be the pillar of strength , as I am the oldest child, only girl, and my brothers live about 10 hours away.

Quandary - What Scale?

If you have read from the beginning, you know that Gammage House was always meant to be a lot like an antique dollhouse, but more detailed and realistic . One of the things I love about really old American dollhouses is the use of furniture that is not quite in scale. But half scale is way too small, and full scale is way too big . There are of course pieces of half scale furniture that are big enough to serve another purpose- and 1:12 furniture which is small enough to repurpose. When I asked on the Miniature Beehive, which is a DIY Yahoo group, they were very helpful in identifying the scale as somewhere between 1:16 and 1:22. There of course isn't ready made furniture in that scale , so I'm going to have to make furniture, repurpose furniture or get someone to make furniture for me. I suspect I'll end up doing all 3 because I love these little dolls , and this was always meant to be their house. Interestingly enough, the house is just the right scale for them, because the house was built in 1800. Because it is not a grand house, it would have had low ceilings.

Before I made the house the Gammage House, I bought half scale furniture, which I will either save for another house, which will have to be for someone else, because my real house won't hold any more unless they are 1:48 , or modify the furniture to fit the dolls.

Excuse the picture quality. I'm trying not to wake everyone up!

Augusta in the house with a 1:12 scale chest of drawers.

Aunt Augusta in the house with a half scale chair.

To Church Go the Gammages

Not all the Gammages are regular church goers, but today they all walk down Benefit Street to Benevolent - a sizable journey in skirts. Persis had a good grumble about not using one of the horse cars that went up and down Benefit, but Julia insisted that the day was too beautiful not to walk. Althea hated the straw that lined the floor of the horsecars, which was supposed to be there for insulation. The rumor is that the smelly straw was actually there so that the drivers could retrieve any change or valuables dropped , because it proved impossible to find things on the floor quickly enough upon exit.

The Gammage family, for as long as they have been in Providence , have attended the Unitarian Church . This church was actually the third in Providence , built when the earlier church burned.

Their church was beautiful , and can be seen all over Providence.

Note- readers familiar with present day Unitarian Churches of today won't be surprised to know that women were more involved in the Unitarian Church than in other churches in 1885. They would be advised to learn about the difference in theology at that time, because the Unitarians had not yet merged with the Universalists. A link to wikkipedia Unitarian History

The Gammage's church .

The church that burned . See more at Church History

Quarter Inch Scale on this Blog

It's driving me crazy not to explain this- I really am going to have quarter inch Scale here someday, because the Gammage House will need to be renovated in year 1970 or so, and the house will be reproduced for this purpose in quarter inch. At some point. After I finish the Gammage House, the Inn , the Petite Chateau, and my newest fancy, a Willowcrest housing a modern day Historical Society and Genealogiccal Museum!

Who Have I Welcomed- Who Have I Not?

As a new blogger , I love opening up my dashboard and finding a new follower. But somehow I lost track . I'm honored but a little bit intimidated by the work I see on all of the follower's websites!

Welcome to Jennifer ( we'll have to talk about the use of my name) , who is having a giveaway at http://www.plushpussycat.com/.

I love the work Elga at http://elgakoster.blogspot.com/. The carving on chairs she showed this week is wonderful.

Who else?

The first is Maria from http://lascosasdemariaayamontino.blogspot.com/. I am so determined to learn Spanish- I am picking up more and more as I read blogs. My family find it interesting that I read blogs out loud- but I think you learn languages more quickly if you say a well as read the words.

Another person who is teaching me Spanish without knowing it is ,Carmen whose blog is at http://pekevasion.blogspot.com/.

Linda, at http://lindasminis.blogspot.com/ doesn't say what kind of music she plays - is it traditional music. I play ITM, Irish Traditional Music.

I'm overwhelmed, and actually realize I started at the end instead of the beginning, so I'll finish later!

You'd Think They Were an Argumentative Family!

While Althea is banging away in the workroom, the other Gammages have decided to use the delay in Laura's arrival to do much much needed repairs and updates to the house. Remember that the house was built in 1805 by their father Josiah's grandfather, Isaac Gammage.

The current " discussion" came about when Julia wanted to hang the picture of Josiah over the mantel. Unfortunately , hanging the picture would cover the part of the painted wall - Persis and Althea's favorite part of the wall, with a little house on a windswept mountain.

Julia had always been embarrassed by the painted murals. They were meant to be in the style of Moses Eaton and Rufus Porter, but were executed by a much more primitive and unskilled hand . Aunt Augusta had mixed emotions- she loved the murals which of course she had grown up with, but she didn't like the dark cave-like feel they gave the room.

What do you think?

The real thing.

This could almost be miniature, but it's not!

The Gammage over mantel in progress .

Disappointment. And Family Portrait

Laura has written. She is not able to come until June . Althea, her twin , couldn't hold back tears, and now loud banging is heard from the workroom, where she is working on some secret for Laura.

The others , Julia, Persis and and Aunt Augusta felt disappointed, but didn't approximate the acute sorrow felt by Althea. She had been looking forward to celebrating their birthday, on April 15th, with the sisters reunited. Laura had not shared the reason for the delay, or given them any idea of when she might arrive. A great deal of Althea's upset was grief that it seemed that Laura didn't feel pulled to come home.

Augusta insisted that they write a letter , and enclose a new family portrait in front of the fireplace. The twins had spent so many hours in front of the fire; first playing with toys, then writing in journals and just keeping warm in the cold Providence winters. Althea came upstairs for the portrait in her old flowered shirt, with a pair of Father's pants underneath! She had recently become drawn to the Dress Reform movement, and had been wearing the most outlandish costumes in the fashion of Amelia Bloomer.

Julia would have nothing to do with Althea until Aunt August suggested that she and Persis stand in front of Althea , concealing the pants. The discontent the sisters felt is very evident in the picture!

Translations again

I found another way to translate- I'm very interested in how good the translations are- please tell me! If you go down to the bottom of the page there is a "select language" pull down from Wiyiba. See what you think! 

The Carriage and Horse - Research Serendipity

I was doing my usual messing around with Google searches, when I thought to type "carriage maker, Rhode Island 1885. " I came up with an amazing article about a carriage maker named Chauncey Thomas , in about the right era and place. Not only did the article have pictures, it had advertisements and diagrams! See the article here - Chauncey Thomas .

Then, reading through my blog list, I came across the True2scale blog, which has tutorials for 50 projects. There is a tutorial on how to convert a plastic sheep into a well... You'll have to look, because it is wonderful! There in the before and after pictures, I found a wonderful horse.

So of course, the horse I was merely painting is now minus mane and tail, and will soon be covered with Gesso . Definitely a lucky Google day!

50 Miniature Spring Tutorials