Back from Portugal.

After a nice time in Portugal I'm glad to be home again. We visited two Palaces. I like to share them with you all. Maybe you can use some parts for your dollhouse.

The first one we visited was The National Palace of Sintra.
It was built in 1147. The current form is the result of successive building programmes carried out by several monarchs. (1261-1325) (1357-1433) (1469-1521)

This is the entrance of the Palace. The outside doesn't tell what it's hiding inside.

The interior has collections of furniture, painting, ceramics and textiles that date from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, most of which  were formerly part of the royal family's collection.

You enter the Swans Room.

The ceiling is covered with Swans.

This room had a wonderful floor. The length of the slipper is 25 cm.

King Sebastiao's Room

In the Arab Room the used early sixteenth-century tiles. They mixed styles.

The Coat-of-Arms Room. The wall covered with Azulejos. This are typical Portuguese tiles that were painted by hand.

The ceiling.

The chapel.

And some pictures from the 600 years old kitchen.

Reading the guide I saw a side for a virtual tour through the Palace. 

http://www.ipmuseus.pt/pt-PT/museus_palacios/visitas_virtuais/ContentDetail.aspx

The next Palace we visited was The Palacio de Queluz.

Established in 1654. Around 1760 they used a French architect. Almost everything burned down in a fire in 1934. It's rebuild.

The rooms are decorated with gilded carving and canvases. The taste in Portugal during the second half of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century was moving from the rococo to the neo-classical.

The Throne Room.

The main altar in the Chapel.

Toilet room with toilet seats.

We had a nice time at Estoril from where we visited these nice Palaces.

I'm still in paper pottery .....

It's still not perfect but it's allowed to stay in the doll house when that's ready. The bowl is perfect but the jug needs some improvement. 

The copy gel and the copy of the roses are beneath a sheet of wet kitchen paper.

How to work with copy gel you can read in an older post. Now I glued the copy gel to the paper jug and bowl with that same copy gel. When it's dried well, I put nail polish on the jug and bowl.

As you can see the bowl is perfect. To avoid seeing the ugly bottom of the jug, I glued the jug into the bowl so it's hidden.

On these small items you see every mistake you make and when you make a picture with your nose almost in the bowl you even get more critical.

Because of the nice weather in the Netherlands I did try to make a copper kettle from paper also. I think I should practice more with the paper.

I glued two of these bowls together with wood glue. I made two smaller rolls of paper. One for the lid and one for the spout.

I didn't use the met 54 but the Hembrol met 12.

From paper I cut two small pieces to fix the handle of the kettle. On top of the lid I put a small bead. The color of the bead doesn't matter because you'll paint the whole kettle copper.

For the handle I used copper binding wire that's used by florists. And a bead. this bead I painted white.

Here you can see my weakness. The handle is a bit longer on the right side. The spout needs some work also. So to be continued. It so much fun to make these little things. You don't need much material and working space. Only lots of sanding paper and PATIENCE.

Enjoy your week and play with paper !!!