Friday, March 12, 2021

Beatrix Potter in the Dollhouse


 






In the shabby chic dollhouse there is a little girl's room.
It has a little reading area nestled around a fireplace.
This is the perfect spot for sharing Beatrix Potter tale
or two.


Love From,
Susan and Oliver

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Welcome Back


Did you forget about us here at Ash Tree Cottage Minis???  It's been far
too long since I have posted.   I started to have trouble accessing my blog,
and could not resolve the issue.  Then I became very ill and spent 
56 days in the hospital where they discovered I had kidney cancer.  I had
the cancerous kidney removed and am now receiving immunology
treatments.  My oncologist is very encouraged.  

So here I am at the very end of April 2020, and have resolved the blog
lock up issue, and am now back to posting.  



I have almost completed my miniature English Cottage Country
Kitchen and will be sharing photos with y'all soon.  Expect
a lot more activity from me.  

Love,
Susan


Friday, July 6, 2018

A Very Cute Miniature Shelf



It's been a very long time since I have posted, but I am back in the groove and
ready to start sharing lots more miniatures with you.

I recently purchased this adorable shelf from my friend Kathleen.
She has a spectacular dollhouse that is so very realistic and has a lived
in quality about it that is truly fascinating.  I featured this house
here, so you can visit it once again.  

I really love the mix of cookbooks and dishes.  Once again, her attention
to detail is fabulous.  I fell in love with this shelf, and although I didn't 
exactly have a spot for it in my dollhouse rooms, I could not pass it
up, so I ....






framed it!  I had an old frame that I painted white and used a remnant piece
of fabric with a mini print for the background.  I plan to hang it in my
studio.  This goes to prove that you don't have to have a dollhouse to enjoy
miniatures.  

If you want to visit Kathleen's Etsy shop, here is the link.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great weekend.

Mini Love,
Susan and Bentley

Friday, January 20, 2017

Cynthia's Cottage Designs Dollhouse



The person who had the greatest influence on my desire to renew
my collections of miniatures was Cynthia Lauren Sperin of 
Cynthia's Cottage Design.   Her blog was one of the very first ones
I started reading years ago.  I loved her charming and inviting
cottage decorating style and she transferred that style to her
miniature rooms as well.  Cynthia's talents go beyond her
styling as she creates many of her own miniatures.

Her miniature rooms are layered with so many charming and
sweet features and are so realistic that one is never sure is
it mini or full size?  Take the above hutch for example, a variety
of cookbooks, cute mini mugs, jars of preserves with fabric
covered lids.  It's all cottage perfection!



Cynthia is a professional interior designer and her mini rooms and
vignettes showcase her special talent.


Cynthia loves to cook and her minis reflect that love.   I'll just be quiet now
and let her beautiful photos speak for themselves.




















I hope that you enjoyed this tour as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.
Cynthia is not currently blogging.  She has been focusing on assisting her 
lovely daughter Melanie with her own blog and shop.  You can visit
Melanie's jewelry designs and preppy and classic fashion style 
HERE.  Now that Melanie is established, Cynthia has started a new
etsy shop where she is combining her mini talents with her own jewelry
designs.  Here is that link.

Thank you Cynthia for allowing me to share your beautiful
and inspiring photos with other mini lovers.  Have a wonderful
weekend everyone!

Love,
Susan and Bentley




Thursday, January 12, 2017

Songstress Shelia's Charming Minis


I  am so pleased to introduce y'all to my dear friend Shelia, who
was bit by the miniature collecting bug recently.  


Here is Shelia with her husband whom she calls Mr Precious.
What a lovely couple and Shelia is cute as a bug too!  She
is such a fun and talented person.  I don't think there is 
anything she can't do.  If you don't already know Shelia, then
you must head over to her blog where you will meet her
wonderful family, take tours of her charming home, and be
amazed by all of her creativity.  You will find her at



Like me, Shelia does not have a dollhouse yet, but that has
not prevented her from creating adorable rooms in bookcases in
her sewing room.  Let's explore these rooms more closely.



As I said, I think Shelia can do anything she sets her mind to.  Look
at these adorable chairs and books.  She taught herself to make both
after watching some tutorials.  


I love her choice of titles!



Always on the hunt, Shelia found some unfinished minis at the dollar store,
just waiting for her artistic touch.



She gave the pieces a good base coat and then ....



she added hand painted decorative embellishments.  These are so sweet!


Check out this cottage style dinette.  I love the use of gingham and
floral touches on the walls, inside the hutch and on the chairs.
Perfectly charming!



Here are the two lucky inhabitants of the house, Lola and her cat Tang.
I think it is wonderful that the child in Shelia has never disappeared.
Her two grandchildren are blessed to have a grandmother with such a
young and cheerful heart.



Charming bedroom with a pretty quilt on the bed.  Tang probably wants
some privacy because it's nap time :-)



The nursery.


The bath with it's clawfoot tub and pretty wallpaper.  


The new dining room furniture.  I can't help but notice that Shelia has
some miniature Staffordshire dogs on the buffet.  She collects the full 
sized ones and so do I.  We are also both Texans who love our 
diet Dr Pepper ;-)




And here is Lola with her new washer and dryer.  She is waiting for the
construction crew to build her some walls.  

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed this tour as much
as I enjoyed sharing it with you.  Working with dollhouse minis is such
a delightful hobby.  I am glad that Shelia caught the bug too!

Love,
Susan and Bentley










Wednesday, January 11, 2017

One More Look at the Dollhouse at Christmas


I have been taking down the Christmas decorations ~ yes, I know I 
am behind schedule, but I wanted to squeeze out just a few more days.
Finally, it's time, not only to take the decorations down in the full size
house, but also in the miniature rooms.  Christmas stockings and pillows,
little trees and Christmas china ~ all being packed up very carefully
and stored for next year.



Little cottage rooms take on such a warmth and special glow
at Christmas.  


Tiny decorations, yet when you pull the camera in for a closer look
they could well be full sized, and of course for the little fairies, they are!



We all get a little peek into their special and magical world.



They even have their own teeny tiny Bentley :-)




The very girly girl fairies live in the shabby chic miniature rooms.
They are especially fond of pink ....



and like their pink Christmas stockings and pink poinsettias too.



The tiny angel at the tippy top of the tree will come down and lovingly
placed in a tiny box until next December.



The little pink Christmas cards will be saved too because they will
bring back happy memories next year.

So glad you stopped by today!  Please come back tomorrow when 
I have another miniature dollhouse to share with you.  I am so happy
to be featuring Shelia from Note Songs.  Her miniature rooms are an
absolute delight and you won't want to miss it!  See you then.

Love,
Susan and Bentley





Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Decorating for Fall at Kathleen's Dollhouse




I am completely in love with this dollhouse.  It belongs to Kathleen 
Holmes, and I featured it on my other blog several years ago.  You
can link up to part one of that tour HERE.  

Today I wanted to share some of her fall decorating with you.


Pumpkins on the mantel in this cozy living room.


In the dining room too.



And in the kitchen!

Kathleen and her husband just completed a major move into their
new full size home, and Kathleen's dollhouse was completely packed
away for that move.  She has been working hard to unpack all the 
dollhouse minis and putting them back in place.  So, we will
visit her again to see more of her fabulous rooms and decor.

One thing to keep in mind, Kathleen has been collecting miniatures
for many years.  Many of the things she has are one of a kind.
Don't be discouraged when decorating your own dollhouse.  Start
small and scour sites selling minis.  eBay is a good place to look
and etsy too.  Don't overlook estate sales.  There are also talented
miniaturists who sell their furniture and accessories too.  I will
introduce you to them also.  Starting and growing a dollhouse is
a very fun pastime.  And just remember, you can design it any way
you like.  Let you imagination soar!

Love,
Susan and Bentley