Its a Puzzlement!

The king sat on his cushion questioning all the world around him, and claimed, "Is a puzzlement!" Rogers and Hammerstein's The King and I is one of my very favorite musicals of all time. And, today, I whistle a happy tune! For two reasons. One is that, as you can see, I got my cast off. Now my paw is bruised and hurts from disuse, but I'll be scurrying around in no time at all.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a doll show and found the most amazing childrens' wooden puzzles from the 1930's. The colors were bright, all the pieces were there, and all of the four sets, but one, had the colorful cheat sheet to build the puzzle by. I didn't think twice and handed over all my dolly dollars. For a very long time, practically since I began making Etrennes, I've wanted to make miniature wooden puzzles. This was the time and now I had the perfect pieces to work with.

It took me three tries to make one, but I finally had great success with this darling one of children playing school. These puzzles are so charming and colorful that I'll be making two more to sell once I make little boxes for them. Now how did I do it? I'm not telling. But, I did use my miniature scroll saw and tugged at my tail a few times in frustration. They are so cute! Only 2 3/4" x 2 1/4". Here are two pictures to show you. One was put together by me, and you can see Bleuette giving it a try. She gave me two thumbs up and on we go!

I've enjoyed putting together jigsaw puzzles since I was a little mouse. My first one with more than twelve pieces was a Mary Poppins puzzle and by the time I was ready to put it away, I could put it together in half an hour! It was of Mary and drifting down with her parrot handled umbrella and the other nannies being blown away to the clouds. I've always loved umbrellas, too, but that's another tail to tell.

I have not forgotten Bebe! She's been very patient as I continue to make her little accessories and is delighted to sit and swing for hours. More of her soon!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Comic Relief!

Well, this isn't the blog I thought I'd write tonight, but I had so much fun today with these silly shoes that I wanted to share the story with you.

I belong to a Bleuette yahoogroup and the ladies have sewing challenges every month. Sometimes the challenge changes as it did in February, and it became a shoe challenge. After many people made little French shoes, the challenge sponsor suggested extending the fun by making shoes from a non-traditional material. For some reason I started singing the old folk song Clementine. "Wearing boxes without out topses, sandals were for Clementine!" I wrote this to the group early in the month and we all had a good giggle over it.

Well the challenge came to close today and the sponsor was teasing me that she'd hoped I would have come through with my boxes. Not being one to disappoint, I ran into my studio and found these two little boxes that fit perfectly on Bleuette's little feet. Since Clementine's shoes were "number nine", I added this little touch to them. Sharilyn got a big kick out of it and I must admit they came out swell! "Oh my darlin', Oh my darlin', Oh my daaaarlin' Clementine!" hee-hee

A note to dear Norma: Bebe is only 2 3/4" tall. I looked up a metric conversion chart and it indicated 50.8mm.

Its been a very busy time for me as I'm working on several commissions, but I have been filling Bebe's presentation box with all the items I can detect from the photograph. She now has her tiny doll, the wire butterfly net (had to try that one three times!), a pair of gloves, and her beautiful cape. I'll share these with you, and maybe more, next time the lighting in my little hole in the wall is perfect for taking pictures.

On to March! In like a lion? Little mice do quake in their presence!

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

P.s. On March 1, I found out these silly boxes won part of the shoe challenge with a prize for "...and to the No. 9's for outstanding originality and good humor!" Oh my!

Bebe Balancoire Swings!

A nice fire is crackling in the fireplace and its cold and wet outdoors. A perfect environment for perseverence. Given my intense, personal commitment to perfection, I fussed a bit with the swing, beautified it with a lovely finish and assembled it in the trunk. I sat Bebe in the swing from the front, and here she is!

Now to hinge the pieces, assemble the latches and I can begin the joy of filling the sides with all her tiny toys and dresses.

One thing can be said for Miss E. Mouse - she's determined!

Love, Miss E. Mouse

Taking Stock

I'm tired. I've been working for days it seems on this little "balancoire" presentation box. I can't tell you how many times I've had to stop and really think about what I'm doing. This is clearly one of the most ambitious projects I've ever taken on. Those who know me can tell you that I am always chosing the most difficult thing to do - but, this is even a bit much for a mouse!

The most important thing, to me, when creating a piece of art is to make it look effortless. Have you ever taken a look at a painting that feels overworked? Like the artist really struggled to paint it? Well, the same goes for any fine work of art. When presented to an audience, it should look as if the artist just whipped through it with no trouble at all. It should look finished, glorious, but understated in elegance.

The issues with this presentation box (pronounced ba-lan-swa), is that I am going strictly by a photograph when I dearly need the full three-dimensional piece in front of me. The other is that my little Bebe has a porcelain head and body while her limbs made of very light wood so she isn't weighted to sit properly on the swing. You'll see in the photo I took that the middle frame is there, the swing was, so I may build a small pedestal to anchor it so she can sit without falling backwards. You wouldn't think such issues could occur for a little doll under 3", but when working with miniatures, it is good to remember you are creating an illusion. My problem is that I want more...

I guess most people would only see two box sides, a swing in the middle, goodies in the box sides and a doll sitting on the swing. Well, trust me, there's alot more to the construction and design of this presentation box than meets the eye!

So, I'm having a soothing cup of tea in my new rocking chair (with side table!) and accessing the progress of this project. I have no doubts that it will become the masterpiece I wish it to be, but I will be working on it long and hard, for a long, hard time.

Oh! Good news! This little mouse gets her cast off next week!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

The Creative Process

Seldom does an artist display a work in progress. There are several reasons why. One is that other artists or would be artists can see the construction and will try to copy it, duplicate it. The other reason is that the piece often looks unfinished and is reviewed with distaste. I can recall one bleak winter, and I mean bleak when I was living in Ontario, Canada. Back then I was painting portraits and landscapes in oil. During this one dismal winter I was working on a portrait of this lady's Sheltie. The dog was as sweet as can be and I was enjoying the process. The painting was about a third done and I was overjoyed with the general facial features I had painted, mainly the expressive eyes and the snout. I hadn't thought much about it, and proudly showed my work to Jannie. She gave the canvas a sour look and said, without much ado, "This must be the ugly stage of the painting." Well, my mouth dropped open and as I babbled something out, I decided then and there never to show a work in progress again. But, now I'm doing something different, and I did say that this blog was on The Creative Process. So it is in this vein that I introduce Bebe Balancoire.

I just finished dressing her yesterday, a process that took three days to complete. She is wearing a silk gown embellished with embroidery, lace and pretty silk ribbons. Her dress is removable as I indicated earlier, and is closed with a thread loop and bead. Miniaturizing the dress seen in the original doll from 1893 was something else! But, all in all, I am pleased with the outcome.

I've added a photo for you to see her construction. The original doll was described as porcelain with a jointed wood body, painted red stockings and gold shoes. If you look closely at the antique you will see how her arms fold around the chains of her swing and how her legs bend at the knee to sit proper on the swing. So I took the original porcelain arms and legs from the 2 3/4" doll and hand-carved the limbs. In the photo you can see how she is pegged - this was before I trimmed the 1/16" dowels. Often times it amazes me how I can acheive these works, but then I've been chipping away at tiny Hitties and working with miniature dolls for awhile.

I hope you enjoy the photos as I continue the process of miniaturizing her incredible presentation box and all the accessories inside. And, yes, she will even have her own teeny tiny doll - porcelain and jointed!

Love
Miss E. Mouse

Peg Wooden Bleuette With Cottage Carry-all

It is evening and I've just sat down for a bit of dessert. Would it surprise you if I told you I loved cheesecake? hee-hee Especially with cherries on top. Everything is better with a cherry on top!

I've been working all day on dressing the little Bebe Balancoire. This is seriously one of the most intricate little outfits I've ever dressed a doll in that was under 3"! First of all I'm using the most beautiful silk imaginable. It was a piece of remnant that someone gave me from a dress she made my Bru. Its the color of milky coffee and so delicate and thin it has very few slubs in it. Silk dupioni is know for its slubs, which are thickened threads in the texture. In order to achieve the very look of the original gown from 1893, I've had to run red embroidery thread through the dress in horizontal rows to give the illusion of silk ribbon. Even the bloomers are made from the silk. The most incredible thing is that I intend for every element of her wardrobe, worn and in the presentation box to be removable and dressable. No easy task with silk that frays.

And, throughout the days I continue to work with the charming peg-wooden paperdolls. There are endless possibilities and they are so precious to make. I just finished this little Bleuette peg wooden - illustrations by the phenomenal Karen Prince. She's only 2" high. I found this darling cottage in a children's book and had to adapt it for the carrying case. The result is rather "Alice", but who does not love Alice? I may just have to do a little peg-wooden paper doll of Alice and the Rabbit. I do have antique reproductions of them. We'll see. Much work is on my table and I still have yet to begin the Hitty Marionette Theatre.

What happens when I'm in the middle of several projects is that my, now two, work tables are scattered with pins and paint, fabrics and rulers, pieces of wood and bags of bits. The result is utter chaos and only I know where everything is and why. The only two things I continually lose is my pencil and my gummy Mars eraser. Did I mention I'm still slaving over the second miniature Chinese Checkers set? Only 3" by 3", its a hand painted miniature of a King Foo Checkee board, circa 1930.

This evening while I was looking at some recently posted photos on a group I belong to, I noticed someone cut out copier-reduced-in-size Daisy paper dolls from the Lettie Lane pages and posed them with her Bleuette. The say imitation is the highest form of flattery.

If you've studied art history to any degree, you will most likey recall that nothing is new. Artists have been copying and revising past works since time began. There is no greater artist than nature itself for it is always original, and always new. I often recall the work of Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun with her Chapeau de Paille. She painted a self-portrait in a hat with a plume after a painting of Rueben's sister in law. She admired and loved Ruebens' work so much, that she made it her own.

If you love paper dolls and you love Bleuette, please visit my website www.zhibit.org/houseofmissymouse as this charming little peg wooden is for sale.

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Let Me Make Your Dreams Come True!

Happy Valentine's Day! I just couldn't resist sharing a photo of my two little Valentines, Dover and Orion, who are now five-months-old. I had to snap this picture because Orion only stays clean for a short time and he had a bath last night. Poor little guy is an English Cream Golden Retriever and he can't stay white no matter what the weather. He loves to roll in the dirt! Dover is a Yellow Lab and he sheds dirt like most labs. They are my sweethearts.

But, here I am having a cup of tea with my drawing board. I decided to hop up on my sideboard and rest a bit and take in what I wanted to get done today. Lots. I have several projects on my table, all of which I'm very excited about. One might think that all the intricate little detailed work I do might be stressful and tiring, but it soothes and relaxes me like a meditation. The little Bebe Balancoire is being painted and put together today now that her wood-jointed arms and legs have been carved. I had to empty my dust pan several times in the process!

And, besides wishing you a chocolately day, I wanted to include that yes, I do take commissions. I welcome them and enjoy working with a customer to make them something very unique and special. I do like making dreams come true. May all your dreams come true!

Love,

Miss E. Mouse