Three hedgehogs having tea...

I have written three story books and also created all of the illustrations about a character named Ophelia. A few years ago I decided to make a dollhouse that would depict Ophelia’s house from the book. I wanted it to be more of a mixed media art piece then one of my usual dollhouses so it is dark and mysterious. It also has a lot of heart as do my Ophelia stories.

In one of my books Ophelia continuously hears a mysterious tapping sound coming from the attic above her bedroom. So one night she has a wonderful dream on what the tapping might be. 

Here is a small section from my book…

On the night she had the dream, she had just closed her eyes to sleep and her mind decided to solve the mysterious noise for her. She dreamt that she heard the tapping sound again and was finally able to see what it was. 

   She opened the small attic door, crouched down to enter and tiptoed barefoot up the narrow steps that led to the attic. There she heard the tapping again. It was coming from the far end of the attic. 

She made her way past a stack of crates and some old dusty furniture. Peeking from behind a tall folding screen she saw a very small dining table that was no taller than her knee. Around it were three little chairs. In each chair sat a hedgehog. There, in front of her, were three hedgehogs having tea! 

   The one hedgehog, at the head of the table, had a pair of spectacles that sat on the very tip of his nose. He held his saucer and teacup with one hand and with the other stirred his tea using a tiny silver spoon. Then he tapped his tiny silver spoon on the edge of his cup. Tap, tap, tap. 

   The other two hedgehogs sat sipping their tea and nibbling on small cookies. Then once again, tap, tap, tap. It seemed so real. His little nose was black and shiny. His little brown eyes watched his spoon as he stirred and tapped. She didn’t want to startle them for fear they would spill hot tea all over themselves so she watched quietly. As they nibbled and sipped they made little purring sounds almost like a content cat would. Right about then, she woke up and rubbed her eyes. Ophelia stared up at the ceiling above her trying to wrap her mind around three small hedgehogs having tea and biscuits in her attic…

I was truly blessed to have found Miniature Artist Fanni Sandor to collaborate on setting this scene in the dollhouse. We traded for Ophelia’s book and limited edition prints to make it happen.

I had been dreaming about this scene and saving that tiny furniture since I started the house four years ago and never imagined I would be able to have such wonderful tiny hedgehogs with just the perfect details. She also made the cookies, tea cup, and the tiny silver spoon.

Here are some photos for everyone to enjoy. All my love to you Fanni!

Ophelia Under the Day Moon Ebooks are available on amazon. 

CLICK HERE

For more about Ophelia visit auraleakrieger.com

For more of Fanni Sandor's work click here!