The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Miniaturists

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and miniaturists are subject to change. Just when I think I have things all lined out, the houses start talking and the Muse jumps in and suddenly everything has changed.

I have the baby lighthouse (half scale) assembled already. It only took two hours to put it together! Have I mentioned how much I love that new laser cut!! Greenleaf is really rocking the mini world with their new laser cut dollhouse kits. In addition to the Tennyson, they announced this week that the Brimbles and the Emerson Row will be re-released soon........also in laser cut! Woooooooohoooooooooo!

So, after the baby lighthouse was together, I cracked open the box for the Fairfield and put it into dry fit. The more I worked with it, the more amazed I became. There just seemed to be rooms appearing out of nowhere! Everytime I added another piece, a different room appeared and the whole structure changed. I felt like I was building Rose Red!!

And that's when she started talking to me. Apparently the Fairfield isn't going to be a lightkeeper's house after all. The baby lighthouse chimed in at this point and agreed, saying the Fairfield was just too tall for him. Okay, I'll go along with that. Then the Fairfield began whispering to me about old vines covering the outside and creaking floors inside that moan at night. Yes, she's going to have a lot of character before we're done. She's decided that she doesn't want to be built right away tho. She wants to get to know herself and decide what she wants to be. There are so many subtle nuances to her personality that it's going to take some time. I've put a design book beside her so when she makes a suggestion, we can add it to the plan.

Since the Fairfield was finding herself, I turned back to the baby lighthouse. He's such a cheerful little fellow! He likes the Fairfield but he's happy that she decided not to pair up with him. He asked for something smaller that would make him look tall and statuesque in comparison. I had the perfect solution for that and reached under the table for some quarter scale kits. He's decided on the tiny Magnolia for his lightkeeper's house and I must say that it's an excellent choice. The tiny Magnolia is just perfect in every way. Baby Lighthouse also asked if he could be weathered instead of haunted and I told him that's okay too. We'll make him look like a working lighthouse that's been on the job for a few decades.

After getting the Fairfield settled into her meditation mode and finding the perfect mate for Baby Lighthouse, I thought the Muse had taken the rest of the day off so I started putting the rest of the quarter scale kits back where they belong. That's when Muse jumped in front of them and slapped my hand. (she can be sooooooo bossy sometimes)

Muse had me pull out three or four other quarter scale houses and assemble them. I did so, wondering all the while exactly what I was going to be doing with them. After they were all assembled, Muse explained the plan. Talk about an epiphany!! All I could say was "Oh wow! Oh WOW!!" for the first five minutes. The next half hour passed in a flurry of digging thru this and that in the studio to find supplies and put together a prototype. When that was done, Muse and I happy-danced around the room. It's gorgeous! I'm not saying what it is till I get at least one fully completed and then I'll share. But it's going to be *awesome*!