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

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

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

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

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

Note Songs

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

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

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