I've been away for a while, and my blog has been a little neglected, as I lost my father recently after a short illness.  My dad made many things for my dolls houses when I was a child, and though they are sadly lost now, he is probably the person that gave me an eye for detail and the delight in the small.   Daviot House and my miniatures have been an absolute solace during these times, and I truly believe in the therapeutic qualities of staring into small boxes and trying to make a room come to life. So I have (more or less) finished the Yellow Drawing Room, including the ..read more

A little thought from wise Samuel Johnson for 2024 Wishing you all a peaceful and happy New Year full of many wonderful miniatures!                                Jonquil ..read more

I have been working on this room throughout November and December, and it certainly has a wintry feel!  On the ground floor of Daviot House, the front door opens into an entrance hall in the centre, with the kitchen to the right.  For a long time the room on the left of the hall was earmarked as a scullery/pantry.   However, I had a few pieces of furniture that could not find a home, and I wanted a room that was very Stuart-era in feel.  Also, the hall is quite small and narrow, and I thought that Daviot House deserved a grander space to welcome guests and visitors ..read more

  Alors que les nuits s'assombrissent et que Noël approche, fabriquons des oranges à clous de girofle pour apporter de la chaleur à nos maisons et scènes miniatures. Les oranges à girofle, également connues sous le nom de "pomanders", du français "pomme d'ambre", étaient traditionnellement utilisées tout au long de l'année pour parfumer les pièces et les vêtements, et même pour renifler si la personne qui se trouvait à côté de vous sentait un peu mauvais ! (Tout cela avant les déodorants modernes, bien sûr). Aujourd'hui, ils constituent un bel ajout aux décorations de Noël et sont t ..read more

  It has been a long time coming, but I finally finished the bed hangings for the Stuart bedroom of Daviot House.  The embroidery took a long time, but the lining, finishing, pleating and hanging seemed to take longer than I expected too.  But here it is, a lovely, cosy four poster bed, ready for the long, cold winter nights.  Just in time! I bought this Warren Dick four poster bed in cherry wood quite a while ago.  It is lovely in its simplicity, and I wanted to make some really lovely crewel bed hangings for it.  Something from the early eighteenth centu ..read more

Last November I was very pleased with myself because I thought that I had finally finished the Sitting Room for Daviot House.  I thought it looked very cosy.  But the Greek chorus in my house of miniature critics were less than impressed... 'it's too small!' they cried.  Back to the drawing board... Daviot House has quite a large number of rooms, but nevertheless finite.  I pondered this conundrum for a long time (hence absence from blog!) and kept rearranging and thinking...  then I hit upon a solution: to swap a bedroom for the sitting room.  Which was a lit ..read more

   I've been promising to show you the Breakfast Room of Daviot House for a while now.  It seems that this room has taken years to come into fruition, and it's true - when I look back at my blog the first seeds were sown in 2014, when I made the small Dining Closet.  I loved this room for it's brightness and, of course, for my blue and white china collection.  This room is currently undergoing a transormation into something completely different, as Daviot House expanded, and has a much grander dining room now. Then came the Breakfast Room in 2019.&nbs ..read more

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I made a little baroque tableau to celebrate the arrival of Spring!  The clocks have sprung forward, the garden has started to wake up and the light is brighter... I have a very small collection of Muriel Hopwood blue and white pottery, which I think looks lovely with the bright bunch of spring daffodils.   I made these daffodils last year using tracing paper and dry pastels, and I am pleased to say that a year later, they are in good condition, and the colours haven't faded. There is something very timeless about blue and white china, especially when it i ..read more

Spring seems the natural time to do some general maintenance on Daviot House.  Sometimes rooms seem near completion, but for a few tasks that I keep putting off.   In the Drawing Room, the window seat had been bothering me for a while - there are the vestiges of an awful shade of turquoise that the paint tin promised me would be 'Eau de Nil'.  Over time, the Drawing room has become a bit of a frilly refuge of pink and roses, which is strange, as it is a combination I am not overly fond of in real life.  But our miniature houses have opinions of their own, don't they ..read more