KathieB's Minis

Furniture Painting Finished

2011-10-09T20:26:00.000-05:00

It took most of the week, but the furniture is painted and clearcoated with polyacrylic. The designs came from a cousin's work and a little bell I bought in Kutna Hora. (click to enlarge)

I'm not sure how much more I'll get finished before we have to start packing up for the trip southward. I noticed a goodly amount of robins in the back yard today. They're gathering for their trip to their winter stomping grounds, too.

Furniture Shop Still Swinging

2011-10-01T19:53:00.000-05:00

Today I sanded the furniture, put on a coat of gesso and one of the base color, and painted one of the chests. It was fun to see the little assembly line as the tables, chairs, and chests moved along. First photo show them with the little tabs and slots smoothed over with the wallboard mud.

Next photo shows all but one coated with gesso.

And the last photo shows the pieces with their base coat. I painted one chest in a manner similar to a chest I photographed in a log cabin in the Czech Republic belonging to the family of one of my cousins. My eyes gave out after the one chest was decorated. I'll address the rest tomorrow. They won't be as intricate, I think. We'll see where the muse takes me.

The paint colors are too raw, and I don't like the flat finish of the acrylics. When the decoration is complete, I'll use a glaze of some sort to mute the colors a bit and give it a satin finish.

In the steps of my grandfather

2011-09-29T18:59:00.000-05:00

My grandfather, the Alois for whom mini Alois is named, was a master cabinetmaker. I'm joking about following in his steps, but I thought about him today as I assembled furniture for the inn. Alois and his brother-in-law operated the Krejsa & Martinek Saloon and Restaurant in Niles, Illinois, in the early 1900s. I never met him, as he passed on long before I was born, but I can feel him and my father looking over my shoulder as I work on this project.

Here is the furniture. It is very simple, but appropriate for the inn. It will be painted, and the chairs will have seat pads to cover the tab-and-slot construction. The table tops will be spackled smooth, as will the cupboards. I don't recall where I got these. They are by Woodcraft, made in China. I put together all three sets, thinking to sell what I don't use, but after doing a little staging, it appears I'll be using all of them on place or another.

Here is where construction stands. All but one exterior wall and the ground floor ceiling glued in place. I'm pleased to report that the stairway and partition wall slide in and out very easily. The swinging door will eventually lead into the kitchen. It is taped to a dowel that is held in place by the weight of the ceiling. I put the dowel there to keep the ceiling from sagging.

The missing wall needs some carpentry work, namely a couple of doorways cut into it before it goes up. As I mentioned earlier, a kitchen wing will be added on the other side of the swinging door. I'd thought to attach it to the main house, but I'm now thinking to make it freestanding. I need to scope out the roof line before making a final decision.

The room layout for the second floor has yet to be finalized. The furniture up there is just scattered about. The general plan is to have the far corner, at the top of the stairs, be a sort of lounge/public area for the guests, with two guest rooms to the left of it and one larger room to the right. A doorway in the missing wall will lead into the room above the kitchen, where there will be a stairway to the 3rd floor/attic rooms and a shared bathroom.

I'd hoped to have a fireplace in the dining room (on the missing wall), but with three tables, there really isn't room. If I replace one of the square tables with a small round one, it might work. Debating.

The private dining room is looking good. Alois is in his favorite place, behind the bar. He'll be even happier when it is stocked. Although some of the walls appear to be white, the entire ground floor (except for the lobby) is painted Venetian Stucco by Glidden.

Playing in the Mud

2011-09-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Well, the mud is dry, the wallboard mud, that is. Today I sanded and sanded and cleaned the mud out of the slots and sanded it off of the tabs for the walls. Then I wiped down the work area and each piece with a damp rag to pick up the dust the the brush missed, and painted the ground floor sections of each piece.

I used a mini paint roller that I picked up in a paint shop some time ago. I think the store sold Benjamin Moore paints. These were with the display of sample colors. In a spurt of intelligence, I bought more than one, so I have a spare when this one bites the dust. It is a dream for painting walls. The paint goes on smoothly. In this case, one coat is sufficient. Love it!

The order from Hobby Builders Supply arrived today. The hanging lights are going to need some adjusting, as the chains are way too long, but that's a minor item compared to the big electrical question: where to put the electric source. I suppose I can install all of the ground floor ceiling lights and just run the wires up through the ceiling, but then where to? And there are to be some sconces on the ground floor. Where to run their wires?

As soon as I figure that out, the mini electrician can get to work!

The paint color I'm using is Glidden's Venetian Stucco from Walmart. I don't know what it looks like on your computer screen, but the picture appears lighter than the real paint color. I bought three of the tester bottles, and it appears that will be sufficient.

One step forward ...

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not two steps back, but it sure feels like it. I've fiddled with the staircase and the lobby partition wall but I think they are now finished. I filled in the original stairway hole and gave the ceiling a couple coats of white ceiling paint. tonight I finally got up enough nerve to cut the new stairway opening. I measured about four times but still managed to be off enough that it took a little more plastic surgery to get it where it needs to be. The staircase unit slides out as one piece.

Here is the lobby through the hole where the front door will go. I'm thinking of ways to keep it from getting too closed in so as not to lose too much of the view.

I like the little flash of red glass in the clerestory windows.

View through one of the oval windows in the lobby. I had to trim the frame of the other oval to accomodate the stair railing.

The underside of the stairs has been framed in. I see it needs a bit of detail work. Notice the doorknob on the little door into the desk area. Lloyd was concerned about how Alois was to get in and out.

There will be a hanging light in the lobby, behind the leaded glass windows. I think it will shine nicely. Am waiting for delivery so I can get it installed.

I've prepped the rest of the vertical pieces -- flat walls and tower walls. I painted both sides with flat white ceiling paint and then coated the inside surfaces with a skim coat of wallboard mud. I spread it on with a palette knife and like the way it looks. Tomorrow I'll paint it and put some of the walls in place.

Testing Paint

2011-09-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

Well, after a hiatus of nearly two weeks, there's finally something to report. The major pieces in play at the moment have been primed with real life, matte-finish, latex ceiling paint; the ground floor walls have been painted with Glidden's Venetian something-or-other. On the good side, I like the color. It is a soft buff yet seems to be a bit reflective, which will keep the ground floor light. On the other side, I should have primed with gesso, as the latex is so thin that the surface texture of the wood shows. Sanding hasn't helped. So, today's agenda includes painting it all again with gesso and recoating with the color. I may go ahead and cut the new doors in the end wall (on the right) before I repaint. Those doors will connect with the addition (yet to be built). All you can see of the wall in question is the edge.

The dining room (on the right) looks a bit small. Maybe there will be room for three or four 4-tops with a deuce in the bay window.

Alois is eager for me to get the new wall finished. That's on today's agenda, too. The lead tape arrived yesterday for the leaded glass panels, and I think my hand is steady enough to paint "Hospoda" on the larger window. We'll see!

Making Walls Out of Toothpicks

2011-09-02T20:04:00.001-05:00

That's what dear husband Lloyd says. "Oh, you're really making something out of all of those toothpicks." Ha. Not just any toothpicks. I did get side one of Panel One finished and couldn't wait to see it in situ. Alois was just as eager and volunteered to help. Keep in mind that the protective film is still on the Plexiglas, and the unstained channel at the bottom is a temporary place holder; the door lacks hardware, and the clerestory windows will have some bits of colored glass (unless I get a better idea). There will be glass to fill in the opening by the registration desk. (The bottom part will become a half-door, so the hotelier/concierge can get in and out.

The other side of this panel has been completed and is drying. I've looked up the Czech word for Pub and will paint it on the window of the door before assembling the "sandwich" (she says confidently).

Later: Alois insists I show you the 2nd panel in place. One side is finished. The other side will have to wait until tomorrow. Wait. It is nearly tomorrow now! (Lloyd says it looks as if it's a screen door. That's because the protective film is still on the Plexiglas.) I put up the outside walls again for context. I need to find a nice hanging light fixture for the lobby. It will shine through the clerestory windows. And maybe a small lamp on the reception desk.

Going to bed now. Good night! :)

Building a wall

2011-09-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of the wall between the foyer and bar/restaurant areas under construction. I cut two pieces of Plexiglas to fit the footprint shown in the last entry, then drew the door and windows on graph paper. I found enough stripwood and mouldings in my stash to start cutting pieces and fitting them together like a puzzle.

I'm working on the bottom of a corrugated cardboard box. The schematic is covered with waxed paper, so the glue won't stick. The pile of lumber on the left comprises the pieces for the other side. It will have to be assembled in reverse so the Plexiglas can be sandwiched between them.

I thought about how to put a finish on the wood and decided it would be better to stain the wood pieces before assembly. I'm using the stain pen seen at left. Only a few of my fingertips are stained; I keep forgetting to put on gloves. When the whole panel is glued together, it will be coated with a few layers of clear satin-finish acrylic. When the whole assembly is dry and can be removed in one piece, I'll do the panel to the left (under the wood pile). It will be easier, as there is no door to deal with.

Haven't worked out how the door will be finished. I think maybe a few mullions. I don't want to block the view into the foyer any more than necessary.

I'm thinking I may turn the finished units over, cover them with waxed paper, and assemble the mirror-image units right on top, so they will fit precisely when glued in place. I think the only glue I have that will work is E-6000, so once they are placed in the acetate, there they'll stay. There won't be much room for adjustment.

The Reception Desk is ... not quite open

2011-08-31T15:57:00.000-05:00

I awoke this morning still not having thought of how to deal with the foyer wall challenge. In the spirit of avoidance, I switched gears a little bit and worked on the reception desk. Alois says he doesn't need much space. He can keep his guest log under the desk and doesn't need to be there except when he's handing out keys or collecting the rent. The desk is made of matboard and is freestanding. After this photo was taken, I added a panel detail like the one under the stairsto the front and added a half-door to close in the reception area. (Door details haven't yet been painted on.) I painted it and again put on 3 or 4 coats of satin finish polycrylic. It matches the stairway. They almost look as if they are part of a single unit.

When the desk was in place, I taped up some of the outside walls and again considered the foyer wall problem. Lo and behold, the answer was right in front of me. The channel molding indicates where the base of the wall will be. Alois is holding one of the acrylic panels in place. If you enlarge the picture, you can see it more easily. Another piece of acrylic will fill in the section to the right. It has to be fitted to the understair angle, and I'm too brain dead to tackle it now. Later -- or tomorrow -- I'll make a template of cardboard to fit the space and then cut the Plexiglas. A third piece of acrylic will fill the space above the near side of the reception desk.

I bought these panels at Hobby Lobby last week. They are about as thin as the acetate in the windows that come with the kit, maybe a hair thicker. I haven't compared them. It was easy to cut. I scored it with a utility knife and snapped it. I've left the protective film on and won't remove it until I'm ready to glue the wood onto it.

Yes ... glue the wood onto it. The acrylic will form the core of the wall with the wainscoting, door frame, door, window framing, etc., prestained and glued onto it. That will be so much easier than building a wall with a door and a couple of windows in it with fiddly little bits of wood and then fitting the "glass" in the openings. There may be some accents of colored glass; I don't want to block so much of the view that the foyer can't be seen. All this is detail yet to be worked out. My muse is threatening to take a long holiday if I don't provide her with some sustenance and a short nap after our mornings' workout!

The plan is for the wall to be freestanding, so it can be removed for access to the foyer.

Stairway to ... ??

2011-08-30T22:35:00.000-05:00

The stairway is finished, painted with 3 or 4 coats of satin-finish polycrylic. I lost count, but I like the way it looks. The restaurant wall behind the stairway is made of foam core board. Part of the 2nd landing is braced with an arc detail. I extended that arc to make the entry to the restaurant area. It cried out for a stones, so out came the egg cartons. As seen here, the stones are painted a base gray. They will be enhanced to make them more realistic and the walls will be painted with gesso to mimic smooth plaster.

I wanted two shades of brown for the stairs and pulled two from the rack of paints. I was pleased with the darker shade, which mimics the walnut stain on the floor. When I opened the lighter color, it appeared to be way too orange. On my way back to the paint rack, I passed the base with the tile insert and realized that the color I had in my hand complemented that of the tiles. So, I followed my initial instinct and am pleased with the result. I even added some panel detailing using the lighter color for accent.

The unpainted area will be covered by part of a wall, although I've not worked out the logistics yet. Also, note the missing top of the railing against the wall.

My thought is to make this wall and stairway removable. However, there's the matter of the railing sticking up through the ceiling. I may have to make the wall removable and fix the stairway in place (although dusting it will become a royal pain). Still thinking about this one.

And then there's the challenge of the divider between the foyer and the bar (the area to the right). The irregularly shaped white cardboard is a stand-in for a divider. If I put it here, it will cut through the tiled area. If I move it to the right, it will mess up the restaurant entrance. I think I may have to figure out a jog in the wall, but I'm leaving that for another day!

While waiting for the paint to dry, I filled in the slots on the porch with Spackle. They're now sanded smooth, so they shouldn't show under the floor paint.

Ground Floor Fiddling

2011-08-28T19:26:00.001-05:00

As I was assembling the ground floor/base, I remembered some tile samples I'd been given a few years ago. One of them looked to be perfect for the entrance to the Bohemian Inn. The tiles are quarter-inch cubes, which wasn't so perfect, but I had an idea.

I took the tiles off the backing board. Luckily, they were firmly attached to the net backing, so they stay in formation. I had to take a couple rows from the right side to make the pad come out right. It's a little messy, but this part of the tiles will be under the stairs, so it doesn't really matter. Here is the final design. It's glued to a piece of cardboard larger than the tiles and grouted with a brick red grout. In this photo, the left side has been sealed with a semi-gloss polycrylic. It makes the colors pop. I think once it's in place and the floor gets sealed, I'll switch to a satin finish.

I made a frame, stained it, and glued it around the tiles. The smaller clamps are holding shims, also glued.

While the glue was setting (E6000), I drew lines on the floor with a fine point indelible marker to indicate 6" planks and stained it with some old walnut stain I found on the shelf. You can see the hole that will receive the tile section. That is Alois behind the bar. He will be the proprietor when the inn is open for business.

About the bar: I wasn't fond of the mahogany red. Now that it is near the walnut floor, I really don't like it. I'd rather it be a walnut or even a dark oak, but that may be asking a bit much. In any event, I have to figure out how to dull the red. Luckily there are finished panels on the backside that I can experiment on.

The next photo shows the base face down with more shims being glued under the floor. I think with those in place, the tile section in its frame should fit flush with the floor. It worked during the dry fit. Notice the brace to the left of the hole. I was afraid it might be under the tile, but it worked out just fine.

While everything was drying, Alois climbed up to the second floor to check out where the new stairway opening will go. To fit the new floor layout, the stairs will make a quarter turn counter-clockwise and move against the far wall. I assured him we would do another dry fit before cutting the hole.

By the way, I used my Dremel Trio for the first time today to cut the hole for the tile. I was please with the results. The cut was a little bit wavy, but a little attention with an eXacto knife and emery board smoothed it out. A perfect fit.

Bohemian Inn & Restaurant -- the Greenleaf Pierce

2011-08-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since posting about the quilt shop, I've neglected blogging but am still working on minis as time permits. In the past year we've established a second home in New Orleans and will split our time between there and Missouri. In New Orleans, I'm working on a Greenleaf Beacon Hill, which will become home to Sophia and her husband, a respected physician of color in the 1880s. Sophia can be seen arriving at the Creole Cottage to visit Marie Laveau. A goodly chunk of time has been taken up with genealogy and gardening, two other activities I like to indulge in. And we managed a trip to France this spring, where we met some of my husband's relatives.

Now we're in Missouri. The garden is winding down toward autumn, and I finally found time to dig out the Pierce kit. This kit has cried out to become a Bohemian Inn & Restaurant/Tavern from the get-go. It reminds me of the historic inns of the Czech Republic, where my family originated. I've been collecting furnishings for it for a couple of years, at least.

I envision it as having a small entry/reception area, a restaurant, bar, private dining/meeting room, kitchen, and restroom on the ground floor. The upper two floors will be guest rooms and baths. I'll post inspiration photos as I work on the details.

There is a need for some bashing. For one thing, it will need a 3-story addition to include the kitchen on the ground floor with bedrooms above.

These are photos from the Greenleaf website

The blank wall on the right will have doors cut into it. That's where the kitchen/bedrooms addition will go. Note the freestanding stairway on the ground floor. It is a wonderful design but takes up a lot of floor space. The entry/foyer is blocked from view. I want to move it against a wall; it will have to be modified.

The next photo shows my initial idea for ground floor layout. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you'll be able to read the labels.

The problem with this idea is the corner bar placement. It would mean bashing the tower to make a corner for the bar. The next photo shows a better idea: switching the bar and restaurant areas.

The right side of the stairway would become a solid wall. The reception desk would stay under the stairs. A wall with a door will have to close the space between the reception desk and the back left wall so guests wouldn't be able to access the bar/restaurant area in off hours. This floorplan is more practical than the first one. The challenge here will be to construct the wall so as to not block the view of the entry. Maybe some way to use Plexiglas?

The table/benches may move into the restaurant area. I wanted to see what it would look like scale-wise.

Speaking of scale, I was surprised to see how small the rooms are in this build. The footprint is about 24" x 36" (and will be closer to 36" x 36" when the kitchen addition is included), but porches along two sides eat up part of the real estate. I think in the long run the small rooms will add to the authenticity. Most of the inns we experienced in the Czech Republic had very small rooms, with bathrooms shoe-horned into some interesting nooks and crannies.

A trip to the lumber yard for a piece of 1/2" plywood for the base is the next step. It will be 36" x 36". The step after that will be to figure out where this project will reside.

Quilt Shop at the Show

2010-09-25T20:52:00.004-05:00

Today was the first day of the quilt show of the Country Patchwork Quilter's Guild in Marshall, Missouri. The mini quilt shop is having its first outing. This is the view from the ticket desk. Look what's in a place of prominence. Several hundred visitors came to the show, and most of them stopped to ooh and aah over the mini quilt shop. Here is a photo of the skirt. Lloyd took one look and commented that I'd left the fringe off the bottom. All floats in the Mardi Gras parades have fringe covering the wheels. Somehow I hadn't looked at the display table as a float, but several people who heard him teased me on and off all day. You can see a faint horizontal line where the roof angle begins. That's where the vertical Plexiglass and the 4" strip meet. Together they closed up the shop and kept it safe from exploring fingers. Although, I must admit that the visitors were very courteous. I think that being quilters, they are accustomed not to touch quilts on display.

I took advantage of the setup to take a number of photos through the windows of the shop with the lights on. I'll process and post some of them another day. This last photo is the view through the front door. You can see part of the well-stocked shelf unit, the little boy, and part of the blonde shopper as well as the bolts of muslin under the counter.

By the way, the led lights burned brightly all day. Not a one burned out. I have a lot of AA batteries on hand, just in case. These are the 6" utility lights from Walmart.

Goodness! You surprised me!

2010-09-22T21:28:00.005-05:00

Somebody mentioned in another forum that she was one of the followers of this blog. I never assumed there would be a whole lot of interest, so I haven't been paying attention. Suddenly, there are more than a hundred of you! Please accept my apologies for not greeting you individually. You are all more than welcome!

And those of you who have posted comments, thank you! I appreciate your interest and take your suggestions to heart.

Mardi Gras -- the Morning After

2010-09-20T19:48:00.004-05:00

As I've been finishing up the quilt shop, a small voice called out to me now and then. After a bit, I figured out it was a beautiful bed that I'd received last October from Deb at Deb's Minis. Deb has a blog here and a website here and an Etsy shop here. Go visit. You'll be glad you did!
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Anyway, the voice whispered, "You have a roombox kit and everything else you need to rescue me from this stuffy box. Get with it!" So, I did.
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Deb called the bed the Morning after Mardi Gras, so that is the theme of the box. In a couple of hours, I'd stained a window, made a false wall, found a photo of the French Quarter for background, installed a light, cut and stained some flooring, and tested some of the stain on the bed. (The bed was a very light color. I thought the scene would pull together if it were a warmer oak shade. If you poke the photo to enlarge it, you can see the original bed color on the side and the test area on the end.) The bed is turned around, by the way. I tested behind the headboard, where it wouldn't be seen in case of disaster. Here's an overhead shot of the lighting. It's one of those LED utility lights from Walmart that Deb turned me on to last fall. I love 'em!

The clamps are holding up the cove molding. I inherited some resin egg-and-dart molding from my friend Norma Jeane. Hadn't planned to use it because the ceiling is so low, but guess who cut the false wall a hair short and had everything glued before she realized it. The molding will keep the light from spilling in over the top of the wall. The floor is a combination of stains -- Early American base with Walnut rubbed over it. Gives the floor a nice aged look. The flooring itself is by Houseworks. I love the wallpaper; it picks up a color in the bedding.

Last photo is where it stands at the moment. The bed is stained, curtains hung. I like the way the light and shadows play on the left wall. I'll have to find something wonderful to hang there. The cove molding is a bit cattywampus. This was the first time using the resin, and I wasn't too thrilled with the way it handled. It bowed and twisted, and I had a devil of a time getting it to lie flat against the wall, even with the clamps. But it's doing the job it was meant to do, and since there is a solid ceiling on the room box, it won't be all that noticable.

Tomorrow I'll have the fun of going through my stash of accessories to see what might be added to the room. See the go-cup by the bed? It needs to be painted. I wrapped some ribbons in Mardi Gras colors around fat paint brush handes and doused them with hairspray while I was doing the curtains. Not sure how they'll be used yet.

Things to do: add a plant or two, maybe a nonworking light, wall art, and a rug. Fill the shelves in the desk with books and bric-a-brac, maybe flip the desk open and fill with paperwork, etc. May add some greenery outside the window, just enough to add to the illusion of depth.

Visitors for the Quilt Shop

2010-09-19T00:16:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture of the quilted skirt for the display table. It's hard to see, but the blocks that look white are really unbleached muslin made with the same pattern as the colorful blocks. I thought having all colorful blocks would draw too much attention to the skirt, so I alternated them. Now that they're quilted (I outlined the houses), they show up better -- like ghost houses. :) All four panels are finished, but I'm not going to staple them to the base until we set up for the show. I'll show you photos from the show. Here are the visitors to the show. The grandpa doll has already take off his lavender shrug (really!), and the grandma doll shed her dress in hopes of getting a new one. All of the ladies were treated to hair styling, and everybody's clothing changed a bit except for the boy, who for some reason missed this photo opportunity.

The young man looks much better with his oversized collar gone and his lavender trouses changed for houndstooth. The lady in the blue dress got a new belt. The lady in the red turtleneck lost her collar and got a new pair of slacks. The grandma doll didn't get a new dress, but she did get a much needed hair-do and an apron. She's going to be stationed in the kitchen, keeping an eye on the refreshments. Grandpa got a new shirt and a scarf. I think he is the gallery owner from the Big City that Janice mentioned in a comment. I hope he finds a lot of quilts for his gallery.

By the way, I did notice the stains on the little girl's shirt. Her red collar ran when I doused her hair with hairspray. I debated making a new shirt for her but then decided she's a tomboy who can never keep her clothes clean anyway, so why bother? She may have her back to the audience or be playing hide and go seek with the boy ... we'll see!

Along with the owner and quilter made by Havanaholly and the two resin people in the apartment, it makes a total of eleven people in the shop. I think the lady in blue will be shopping, the family and grandpa will be admiring quilts, and grandma will be in the kitchen, but they may have other ideas when it comes time to set up.

Oh .. I forgot one other person. I didn't get her photo today, but there is a lady in the workroom, working at one of the sewing machines. Cindy Lou came from a vignette I made a few years ago in a Greenleaf Dollhouses competition. She got tired of riding the ski lift. Click on her name to see her. That makes an even dozen inhabitants.

Quilt Shop Update

2010-09-14T09:09:00.003-05:00

I've been working on the quilted skirt for the display table. I'm doing it in panels, and am I ever glad I made that decision. Two panels are 24" wide and 30" long. The other two are 54" wide and 30" long. They will be stapled to the edge of the 2' x 4' piece of half-inch plywood that is serving as a base. Can you imaging trying to make a piece 12 feet long x 30"? I can't!
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Yes, I know 4' equals 48", not 54" ... the wider piece will wrap around slightly so there won't be gaps at the corners.
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Sorry, no photos today. Nothing much has changed on the inside except an iron that Lloyd found on line has been added to the ironing board.

The quilt shop gets some signs

2010-09-04T18:56:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Daisy commented that some shutters might look nice. The exterior was a bit plain, but I didn't want to spent a lot of time on it, so I took the easy way out. I found a shutter I liked on the Home Depot website, tinkered with the color until it came close to the roof color, and printed them out. They were sprayed with clear Krylon paint and glued on with liquid starch, so they can be taken off easily. Thanks, Daisy. I like the way this looks. What a good idea! :)
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I also added the channel to hold the Plexiglass panel and took this photo with the roof flap down. I'm not sure if you've seen it this way. It will be flipped up during the show, so folks can see inside more easily. The streetside got a nice sign to fill in some of the big white void. This side will probably be facing the hall windows in the YMCA. Maybe the sign will lure some visitors into the quilt show. The backside needed a little punch, so I put a sign there, too. It directs customers to the front of the shop. I didn't want to mess with shutters on the French doors, and that spot looked a bit bare.

I can see all kinds of tiny tinkerings that can be done, but tomorrow I believe I'll start work on the skirt for the table. It will mean making some real life quilt blocks.

The end is in sight . . .

2010-09-03T23:27:00.008-05:00

I do believe the shop is nearly finished. If you spot anything that I've missed, please let me know. Poke the photos for a larger image.
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The quilt block in the front gable mimics the barn quilts that are so popular in the Midwest. It was made by slicing nearly through a piece of foam core and poking fabric into the slits. It got three coats of polyurethane and is framed with skinny sticks. Besides being decorative, it covers a demi-lune handhold, sort of an attic window with no glass. It and its mate on the other end of the house are handy when this house has to be moved. You can see the old lady at the quilt frame in the upper left window. Need to add: American flag. This is the backside. It looked like a good place to put up a sign so all of the little people driving by will know the quilt show is open. The upstairs window is the apartment. Below it the kitchen window, and on the right the shop window at the bottom of the stairs.

The back of the house also sports a quilt block. I painted a wooden pot and added the foliage for some color. They are glued to a piece of foamcore board, so the whole thing can be removed for moving. I found the wishing well while looking through my stash. It was made Jen (Intrinsicat) on the Greenleaf Dollhouse forum for a swap in 2007. I knew I'd find just the right place for it. :)

On the ground floor you can see into the shop, and beside it the quilt show. Behind the show display is the kitchen/break room. By cutting the number of display quilts from four to three, it is easier to see details in the kitchen. They can also be seen by looking in the windows. The fourth quilt is the one that moved outside. Upstairs on the left is the workroom, beside it the bath, and the apartment is on the right. I'll post just one photo from each room tonight so you can see where they stand.

I do believe the shop is finished. Can you think of anything that should be added?

The showroom lights highlight the quilts very nicely. There should be a bit more decoration, and I think a table with show programs. And the bottom of the fireplace peeking out from under the quilt on the wall needs to be covered. A piece of white foam core board should do the trick.

Upstairs, the workroom has a new quilt hanging on the railing. I was mumbling about needing an iron for the ironing board, and dear Lloyd did a search and found one on eBay, bless his heart. Sorry the photo is so blurry.

The sign on the bathroom door says, "Private." I do believe this room is finished, although a little storage cabinet for extra towels and cleaning supplies would be nice.

Here's the biggest surprise for you -- there's a man in the studio apartment! I'm not sure yet exactly who he is. The apartment is obviously not big enough for two to live there, so he must be a visitor.

That's the quick run-down on the rooms. I do want to share one detail, though. The sign was fun to make. I'm getting to be adept with the hairspray.

Now that all but the littlest details are finished, I've started working on the cover for the open side. I don't want to have to spend the entire show saying, "Please don't touch." I painted wooden channels, which will be afixed to the edge of the opening. The Plexiglass will slide down from the top. I'm not sure how to handle the slanted opening at the roof, where a piece of the wooden roof hinges back. I may just lay a strip of Plexiglass over it or leave it open and close the roof when I step away. Lloyd says he can bend the Plexi to make a one-piece cover, but I'm not sure that's the way to go.

I do want to leave you with one last photo -- the worktable well tidied up. I spent the end of the evening putting nearly everything away. Those are the channel strips drying and a few odds and ends.

After the Plexi is in place, there's still the skirt to be made to hide the taboret base. But that's another day.

Moving along . . .

2010-09-01T20:31:00.004-05:00

Today I was all over the place. Talk about unfocused energy! I needed more wall hangings, so this morning I printed out another dozen or so. In the process of hanging them, I took a good look at the quilt frame. I never was too happy with the quilt that came with it. One of the printies from the morning was a quilt I liked much better, so I redid it. The still nameless old lady -- uhhhh, senior citizen -- likes it much better, too.

I added a lot of detail to every room today, but didn't take pictures. In the apartment, I moved the knitting lady to the comfy chair so she could watch the TV and got a good start on a bedside table where she used to sit. In the kitchen I hung a calendar and posted a class schedule on the refrigerator. I have a bulletin board to hang and a kettle for the stove. In the show room I tried out some accessories but didn't like them. In the shop I added some signs. In the workshop I added a large wastebasket, which started out life as part of one of Lloyd's disposable inhalers, hung a few more small quilts and draped a larger one over the bannister.

I did take photos of the bathroom because I thought it was finished. But as soon as I took these shots, I realized I really couldn't live with the red bottles and jars. They were traded out for shades of pink. And I added signs to the bathroom doors: the one on the workshop side says Restroom, and the one on the bathroom side of the apartment door says Private. So, as usual, it turned out I really wasn't done after all, but I'm too tired to reshoot the photos. How do you like the mirror? A large jewelry finding for the back, a round mirror, and bits of another finding that I cut up for the clips. It's a bit over the top glitz for a commercial restroom, but I love the fixtures and it all goes together.

I really think I can get this project wound up by the weekend (she says with great hope). I've even begun to put away tools and supplies as I work, so the craft area is showing some organization. I hope I have the energy to push on tomorrow. Last night I was up several times with our chihuahua, JoJo, who is afraid of thunderstorms. The forecast for tonight is more of the same. I may be sleeping in. *yawn*

Hanging in There

2010-08-31T18:04:00.007-05:00

The false wall solved one problem, but it's such a large wall that the hutch and appliances looked lost. The answer: wall hangings. I printed out nearly four dozen hangings in various sizes this morning, printed them on fabric, and stuck them up all over the place. In this photo, the wall is outside the dollhouse. It was easier to figure out where the hangings should go. Here's what it looks like in place.

I moved the table to the right a bit, so you can see the sink and stove. Just a few more tchotchkes to add -- the refrigerator looks way too bare -- but the kitchen is essentially finished.

Here are more of the hangings. These are 1" square sample blocks. I glued them to strip wood painted white for ease of hanging. It's light enough that Mini-Hold wax should do the trick unless it is exceptionally hot on the day that it needs to be moved to the YMCA for the show. I grouped all of the redwork together. I like the look. :) The show is September 25-26, 2010; if you happen to be in mid-Missouri, do drop in!

Here are the sample blogs as they hang. Sorry for the wash of light in the photo. They look a lot brighter in real life.

Here are more wall hangings in the shop. I tried for a wide variety. Something for everyone!

While I was busy with the hangings, the mailman arrived with two wonderful dolls from HavanaHolly, a dear friend from the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum. Holly said that neither of the ladies would share their names, but Sheila fairly screamed to get out of the box. She suffered a bit in transit, so I perked her up by offering to make her the owner of the shop. She'll probably be behind the counter, but I wanted you to see her wonderful silk pants suit. Poke the photo for a larger image.

More wall hangings added in the workroom. And Sheila's friend is back with the quilting frame until she opens up and tells me her name. Actually, she may stay there. She seems to have a keen eye and steady hand for hand quilting.

In the apartment, the crazy quilt went up, along with some smaller wall hangings. A screen to block the view of the apartment from customers coming up the stairs was installed. I embroidered it some time ago. It works perfectly here.

Here's a better view of the screen.

And of the crazy quilt. More wall hangings ... and a TV! Can you tell what's on the TV? Maybe not. It's a very tiny print of one of Suzanne Marshall's quilts -- "Beast and his Boy" from her Medieval series. Why that one? Because Suzanne will be at the Country Patchwork Quilt Guild Show with some of her beautiful quilts. I'll not say anything about it at the show and see if anyone makes the connection.

A Sign of the Times

2010-08-30T22:07:00.006-05:00

First of all, since I know you've been waiting impatiently, here is the solution to the awkward doorway -- a false wall. Foam core board. I think I put the wallpaper on sideways, but since this wall is so hard to see, I'm sure no one will notice if you'll keep the secret. The flash made shadows on either side. In real life, the slight gap is not noticable.I added some napkins to the table and hung curtains and put some colorful cloth in the baskets in the sink unit, which you can't see in this view. I also added a drainer basket with dishes in it after this picture was taken. This room needs some clutter (do you know anyone who has a refrigerator with nothing on top?), but is essentially finished.

I put curtains in the apartment today. I'm not over the moon about them, but they are a muted blue/white/pink pattern that works well with the upholstered chair. Ummm ... the curtains don't look quite that wonky in real life. The camera has a mean eye.
I still haven't found a nice mirror for the bathroom, so I made this one from a decorative mirror piece, some balsa wood, and a bit of the fabric from the apartment curtains. That's a line of gold puff paint around the mirror. Don't know if I'll use it, but it does go with the colors in the wallpaper. And the sign of the times in the title? Here is it --- the sign for over the front door. I printed the words in blue on ivory paper, cut a wooden spool in half and painted the thread on it, and mounted it all on a 2" x 4.25" mini table top that I got at The Great American Dollhouse Museum last week. It has a couple coats of varathane and will get a few more before it's finished.

Laundry, the never-ending chore

2010-08-30T01:24:00.003-05:00

Don't you love it when you finally remember where you put something? Last night I dreamed that the missing hutches from Michael's were in a shoe box. I remembered putting them in there. Sure enough, when I went to look this afternoon, there they were, sitting right on top of the drawers I'd scoured looking for them a few days ago. Since I found the hutches, I set to work on one of them to hold laundry supplies and to cover the awkward doorway opening that's blocked with the large shelf unit in the shop. Still have to figure out something for the opening above it, but the hutch fit in very nicely. The box of Fab came from a Manor House Miniatures grab bag, I think. I made the Bounce and Ivory Snow boxes from Sherree's website on Picasa. The bottles are beads. This is so far back in the room that it can only be seen by peering through a window (through which this photo was taken), so I'm not bothering to put labels on the bottles.

I got the table set with refreshments, coffee and tea, a cherry topped cake I got in a swap a while back, and some brownies from Jennifer McCracken. If somebody recognizes the cake, please let me know. I'd like to give credit where it is due.

The bathroom got some towels and a toilet tissue holder. Still needs a mirror and maybe some shelves with folded towels.

It was getting on toward midnight, so I thought I'd better stop for the night, but the need for an ironing board was weighing on me, so . . . I used craft sticks for the legs. They're a bit oversized, but I figure this board will get a lot of use in the workroom, so it needs to be sturdy. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I may paint the legs. The little circles where the dowels poke through annoy me.

I also decided on curtain material for the studio apartment and started pinning in the folds prior to dousing it with hairspray, but I didn't get a picture. I got two curtains pinned, and by then it was after 1 am, so I quit to blog this and get to bed!

Many thanks to everyone who has been leaving such nice comments. I apologize for not answering each one, but the day doesn't seem to have enough hours -- at least not enough hours in which I'm coherent. :)

Curtains in the Quilt Shop

2010-08-27T20:34:00.002-05:00

While I was in a Kentucky quilt shop, I found some black and white fabric printed with sequins. Some had a black background, some white. I bought fat quarters of each and made the shop curtains with the darker valences. I didn't want colored curtains to fight with the luscious colors of the fabric bolts, yet the windows needed something. I like the way it looks now. It so happened that I managed to hit a Hobby Lobby during their 50% off sale on dollhouse miniatures. I snagged a washer and dryer for the kitchen/workroom. Also got a case of Coca-Cola for refreshments -- it's a Christmas tree ornament. When I saw this photo, I remembered the blocked doorway. The brown is the back of the large shelf in the shop. Not sure whether I'll tack a piece of wallpaper on the back of the shelf unit or put a hutch there. I used to have several Michael's hutches, but danged if I can find them. One day I've got to get the work area sorted out!

My prized purchase at The Great American Dollhouse Museum store was this crocheted afghan. It is exquisitely done and looks perfect on the Murphy bed. Unfortunately, the creator is unknown. I'd love to give credit for such fine work. You can see a bit of the quilt rack; it has a fold of cheater cloth to mimic a quilt. The "real" quilts are too thick for it.

Now we need curtains for the kitchen and studio apartment. I auditioned some lace curtains in the apartment but didn't like them. I may just make valances. We'll see, won't we? You may have noticed by now that this is evolving ... what seems like a good idea one day gives way to an even better one the next. At least I hope it's a better one!

More Photos from The Great American Dollhouse Museum

2010-08-27T19:25:00.006-05:00

Here are the final photos from our visit to The Great American Dollhouse Museum. There would have been more, but the challenge of reflections on the Plexiglass cases made it impossible to get good photos of other displays. What you're seeing are snippets of the museum's holdings. Even if you could see photos of all of the displays, you still won't be able to grasp the amazing sights. You really must go visit!

You may have noticed the numerous dolls in various settings. Several hundred of them were made especially for the museum by Nicola Cooper, a sculptor and dollmaker from Dunstable, England. You can see her website here. She says on her website that she has sculpted more than 2000 dolls in the past ten years -- and no two are alike! Other dolls are antique bisques and porcelains, as well as vintage and imported dolls from many nations.

The Mexican market and restaurant are vivid with color.

This is Mansion Row, and mansions they are! The gazebo in the center will become a flower shop. Do you recognize the work of Lady Jane (Linda Young)? Click here to visit her website.

A beauty on Mansion Row. Look at the tinker's wagon in front. I can recall when the tinker came around our neighborhood looking to repair pots, sharpen knives, and so on. Does that date me, or what? This tinker appears to have many household goods for sale, too.

There are vernacular houses on the other side of the tracks.

I didn't catch a photo of the entrance to Copper Hollow, but this is the exit to Fantasy Forest, complete with warnings of dangers ahead.

In the Fantasy Forest is Poppy's Cottage at Lessor Dixter by Melissa Chaple of The Enchanted Woodland Faery Dollhouse Co. It is rough wood, bark, moss, and embellished with hand-dyed silks, crystals, and antique brasses. Reflections kept me from getting a good shot of the whole house, but these details give the flavor. Don't forget to poke the photos to see larger images. Click here to visit her website and here for more photos of this cottage.

Above the Fantasy Forest is a viewing platform. The view from there gives an idea of the expanse of the exhibits. The museum is housed in a 1939 Works Progress Administration (WPA) building.

There is a 19th century factory row on the other side of the tracks.

This wizard lives in the Fantasy Forest.

The troll's bakery was designed and executed by Hanna Kagan-Moore, daughter of the museum owners.

That's all of the photos from this trip. I hope we get to go back soon to see what's new!

More from The Great American Dollhouse Museum

2010-08-27T09:28:00.007-05:00

More photos, as promised. The museum layout includes a timeline of American history as well as Copper Town (both sides of the tracks) and an enchanted forest. There's no set way to go through it. One just wanders, as one might when exploring a new town in real life. There is a map on the museum website. The layout is evolving and isn't quite like the map, but it will give you an idea of the various sections.
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The first photo shows a doctor's office on the "other side of the tracks". Also on the other side of the tracks is a boarding house. A mother tucks her child into bed before heading off to her job in a factory. She admonished the child to be very quiet so as not to attract the attention of the landlady, as the rent is overdue.

Interior of a house in the part of town with comfy homes. Wish I could recall which one it is. Poke the picture for a really good look at some wonderfully detailed furnishings.

A scene in the park.

A gypsy wagon in the park.

Another park view.

A boys' prep school.

A general view of the displays. To the left, the city park. On the right, a block of elegant homes.

A modern house in the American history timeline. There's a lot to see here. A nanny is trying to control some unruly children who have left messes throughout the house.

A lovely deck beside the modern house.

A glitzy room box with a mirrored background.

One of four Brooke Tucker room boxes in the museum.

The other Brook Tucker room box. What a great way to give a scene a sense of place: the photo mural on the back walls.

That's all for now. Another round of photos in the next post.

Quilts at the Great American Dollhouse Museum

2010-08-26T07:38:00.005-05:00

Last week we traveled, and in our travels we spent nearly a whole day at The Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky (about 20 miles south of Lexington). It was such a treat to visit with the gracious owner, Lori Kagan-Moore, and some of her family. The museum was featured recently on a local TV station and can be seen on YouTube. Lori permits photos in the museum, and I took several, although reflections were a challenge. I'm posting four of them here -- all of quilts, since that is my current focus. More to come, I promise! Poke the photos for a larger view.

Although the clothing isn't quite right, I think this scene was in the Shaker Village.

There are two quilts in the photo, one fabric print folded on the floor and one stitched on the bed. This house boasted a beautiful rug in every room. I wish I could remember more about the house. After exposure to hundreds of houses and thousands of beautiful rooms, my memory box overflowed! Here is a pieced and printed quilt. Can't recall which house this was.

The next scene is from a series depicting the days of the underground railroad. The little girl is telling the runaway under the bed to keep still, as the authorities have come to the house. The quilt appears to be printed fabric with stitch marks added with ink.

More about The Great American Dollhouse Museum when we get unpacked and sorted out!

From the road ...

2010-08-18T18:59:00.005-05:00

Gosh, a jump drive, a netbook, a motel (or McDonald's) with free WiFi, and wow! the blog goes on. I sometimes love modern technology. Here are a couple more quilts. The orange one will be in the mini "show". The other two will deck the walls. The clamps are holding folded quilts. There will be several displayed on a shelf in the shop and more piled in stacks in the owner's studio apartment. What quilter doesn't have more quilts than fit a space? All it took was a 5" x 7" (roughly) piece of fabric, some folding, and several swabs of glue to hold it all together. They look pretty realistic when stacked.

The next two photos are of the quilt show. I'd thought to angle the display frames, but then the backside quilts were hidden. Straight on is not as interesting, but all of the quilts can be seen.

The last photo shows the workroom curtains with some of the smaller quilts hanging. I'm using tiny, clear sticky dots (brand name Zots, I think). They should pull off easily later on, or so the box says. Meanwhile, they are stuck tight. I think they can stay up when the shop is moved to the YMCA for display at the real life quilt show.

Tomorrow we're going to visit the Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky. I can hardly wait!

Pack up your ... whatever!

2010-08-14T17:56:00.005-05:00

I got to thinking that all quilters need a bag to carry projects and supplies, so today I made some. They are unbleached muslin over lightweight cardstock front, back and bottom and embelished with 1/8" ribbon and tiny cuts of fabric. Poke the picture to see them better. (When I poked it to check, I noticed some tiny threads that need to be clipped. I think next time I make these I'll turn a tiny hem in the top edge.) While assembling, I found it useful to have a block made from two pieces of 1/4" foamcore board stuck inside to form the shape. I cut the rectangles of cardstock, scored the two bottom folds, and glued them to the muslin and trimmed around the edges. This photo shows the cardstock ready to bend around the block. The muslin side is inside. The four in back have had the muslin glued on the outside. I cut it a quarter inch longer than the height of the side so there would be something to fold under to make a nice bottom.

Here's the block being pulled out of the wrapped bag. The narrow sides do not have cardstock; they can fold naturally.

The next photo shows today's quilt in progress. I found that by cutting the squares to near finished size and gluing them on a backing, I could scrunch them up a bit, so they look as if there is batting. These blocks were cut from a piece of fabric printed with them, although I rearranged them better to suit a mini pattern.

Here is the finished quilt. It turned out to be 6" x 8" rather than the 5" x 7" I'd planned because I added a border (folded bias tape) and then added some lace on top of that for extra texture. It's a rather strong design and will likely go on the wall in the display room as it is too big for the display frames. This quilt is all glue. Not a stitch on it.

More Quilts

2010-08-12T23:34:00.005-05:00

The chaos in yesterday's photo has nothing on the chaos and clutter generated today! I made three quilts, finished another, and made a wall hanging, plus a dozen more bolts of fabric. There are snips of fabric all over the place! These quilts are all about 5"x7" and will be displayed on the frames in the quilt show room.

The next one is the crazy quilt I started way last fall. I made the push and got it finished. Decided it would get lost among the quilts in the show, so I think it will be displayed in the apartment. It's not a very traditional design but I like the clean modern lines combined with the fussy look of a crazy quilt. The sparkle doesn't show up in the photo. It really looks much better in person.

I did a tentative rearrangement of the apartment furnishings. The little wall hanging I made today is on the bed. It may hang inside the Murphy bed. The crazy quilt will hang higher, above a table that will go between the chairs.

Out of Chaos

2010-08-11T21:14:00.004-05:00

Late this evening I looked at the worktable and couldn't comprehend how I'd managed to get anything done in all of the chaos. I tidied up somewhat after I snapped the photo but it's still nothing to brag about. The clutter in the lower left is the creation of a display frame prototype.
The quilt-in-progress is put together and in the workroom. I like the strips yet to be added that hang on the chair. I wish I'd shaped them a bit better with hairspray before I glued them, but they look okay in person. Did you notice that the quilt hanging by the worktables has a sewing theme? :)

This is the third table in the workroom. The pieces aren't glued in place. I want to show a pile of quilt blocks and some sashing in progress. This fabric has alternating one-inch solid blocks and blocks made of four half inch small blocks. It would be a good candidate except that the colors are so blah. I need to find better fabric for this one.

I did get some new smaller quilts made. The top left and center quilts will be on racks in the show room. The smaller ones below them will go on the walls. The one on the right -- not sure what will happen to that one. It needs to have a border before I decide.

The bulk of the afternoon was spend fiddling with quilt frames for display in the showroom. This prototype is a bit unstable and about an inch and a quarter too tall, but has provided the research I needed to make better ones. There will be two quilts on each frame, back to back. I'm not sure how many frames this room will take so that a) visitors will be able to see both sides of the frames and b) the view of the kitchen/workroom won't be blocked entirely. Did you notice the little clothespins holding up the quilt?

Details, details, details!

2010-08-10T23:48:00.005-05:00

Here's an overview of the quilt shop. The shop (lower left) is coming along nicely. The workroom (above the shop) is also coming along. The bathroom needs wall hangings. My friend NJ says she has just the thing for in there. :) The apartment (upper right) is still in chaos. The furniture is there just to see what it looks like with furniture. The Murphy bed will stay. Not sure about anything else. Below the apartment is the large room where the quilts will be displayed, and behind it the kitchen/workroom. Poke the picture to see the details.

I'm debating whether to have the Murphy bed open or closed. NJ says it should be open or people won't know what it is. But I wonder about it being open during the day. Makes the owner seem a bit lax with her housekeeping!

Remember the empty spot on the counter? It has been filled with spools of thread in a basket.

Here is the finished shelf unit. The little wall hangings across the top were cut from fabric. I really like the detail in this. Too bad most of it won't be seen because the unit is toward the back of the room on a side wall. I hope folks peek in the window to see it.

I started hanging quilts to add color to the walls. The big quilts, back and at right, are glued to a bamboo skewer, which runs through screw eyes. If this reverts to a residence one day, the tiny holes can be filled or papered over. The smaller quilt also has a skewer glued to it. The skewer holds it just far enough from the wall to look more "real". I think the smaller quilts are light enough to be held up with miniwax. Note the quilt in progress on the far worktable. The nearest chair holds sewn strips for another quilt. More about that later.

Here's a better shot of the apartment. The resin lady appeared in a box of minis given to me by a friend last May. She's knitting. The furniture, except for the Murphy bed, is in there to be auditioned. Still not sure what this room will look like, but it's beginning to feel like a personal hideaway in a commercial establishment.

This is how the quilt on the worktable (above) got to have such realistic folds and draping. This is the quilt for the near table. The quilter is sewing a strip in place. The pink contractor's foam is standing in for the table and the bit of foamcore board is standing in for the sewing machine. I didn't want to get them gunked up with hair spray.

Here is a strip of wall hangings that will go over the doorway between the show room and the kitchen. They have also received a dose of hairspray to give them some life. I want them to appear to be fluttering. The two bundles in clamps are quilts. It's nearly impossible to fold a quilt this small and keep it from popping open. A few drops of fabric glue help considerably. I hesitated to fold these up, but what would a quilt shop be without some folded quilts on a shelf?

I talked to my friend at the local hardware store today about plexiglass for the back. I think some U-channels ought to do the trick. I want to have it enclosed for the show.

Back to the Quilt Shop!

2010-08-06T21:54:00.006-05:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted about the quilt shop. Real life in the guise of gardening and travel took precedence, and the craft area got pretty cluttered from inattention. I did spend time making bits and bobs and filling in the shelf units. This is the shelf unit in progress.
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All of the accessories in the shop will be glued in place. I want to be able to take out the entire shelf unit and not have to worry about dropping skeins of yarn or books. Ditto fabric bolts and everything else. The shop will eventually be put on display at the quilt show, so it needs to be easy to set up and take down. All of the furniture units will be removable. When the quilt show is over, everything can come out so the house can revert to a residence.
The next photo shows the shelf unit finished and against the right wall. What tickles me about this shot is the lighting -- it is lighted with two battery-powered LED lights from Walmart. They turn on and off with a touch of a finger. No wires! The light is very bright and wouldn't do for a residence, but in this commercial setting, it works very well. You can see some of the details I've been working on: bolts of fabric glued in place, center shelving nearly finished (note empty spot behind the jelly rolls. I'm sure I'll think of something to put there).

I wish I could take credit for the lighting idea, but it was the brain child of Deb Roberts of Deb's Minis. I was lucky enough to meet her and see some of her remarkable houses in person last fall. I've been carrying this lighting idea around ever since, waiting for a place to use it. I love that the LEDs will last for thousands of hours, but mostly I love the idea of no wires and no need to hide battery packs in the furniture! The sleek white plastic of the lights look like commercial lighting.

Two of the most fiddly bits to make were the button and embroidery floss racks. In the photo above, they're sitting on the sales counter. The button cards are printed on glossy photo paper. A dab of 3-D gloss give depth to the buttons. It looks better from a distance!

Did you figure out the floss rack? I cut a wooden spool in half crosswise and glued in a piece of plastic the same size as the top bit, which is the stopper from a dairy product box with its pull ring cut off. The sign is stuck into a slit in the stopper.

We'll be traveling again August 18-25. My goal is to get this project finished before we leave. With more excessive heat indexes predicted for the next week or so, I should get in a goodly amount of mini time while keeping cool. I bought fabric to make a quilt skirt to hide the taboret that serves as the base for the shop. That could be a challenge!

The Pottery Shop

2010-06-01T15:57:00.003-05:00

The past month has been busy! Besides fighting a summer cold that left me with little energy and a linger cough, I've been working on the real life garden and on the Greenleaf Dollhouses Spring Fling, a garage and an add-on room. The first thing that came to mind when I saw these nifty kits was: Shadyside Pottery! One of Lloyd's former students, Charlie Bohn, now a successful potter, has a studio by that name in New Orleans, and the name has always brought a smile. Charlie was generous enough to lend the name. Any resemblance between the two studios is purely coincidental.

Shadyside (mini) is a small rural operation with an outdoor wood-burning kiln. The garage area has been converted to a studio, and finished pots are on display and for sale in the adjoining room. The potter is between firings. The results of his most recent firing are on display while he begins to make more pots in the studio.

See more detailed photos in my gallery at the Greenleaf Dollhouses Forum.

A word about the kit: it is one of Greenleaf's new lasercut offerings. It's pure joy to work with the lasercut wood. No splinters, smooth edges. It will be hard to go back to a die-cut kit after this. If you have a chance to try the lasercut kits, do it!

Mini Earthquake!

2010-04-20T10:28:00.006-05:00

Here's the before photo. Do you recall the general store that NJ made from the Greenleaf / Corona Concepts Adams kit for the Hobby Builders Supply Creatin' Contest a while back? This is what the inside looked like when it was finished. It won an honorable mention. She's doing a major spring cleaning and asked if I'd take custody for a while until we figure out what to do with it. It was her entry, but we both worked on it. Poke the picture to see it larger. Details, details, details!

Here's what we learned yesterday: when a well-waxed general store sits in the back of a truck during the lunch hour on a not very hot day, the wax softens enough to cause chaos. It made the trip from NJ's house to the diner just fine and waited patiently while we had lunch. It went from her truck into the back of our van very nicely. But when we turned out onto the highway, I heard a little noise back there that I knew wasn't good.

This is just part of the damage. There's a custard bowlful of accessories that I picked up from the back of the van that came off the shelves that used to stand against the right side wall.

The plan is to clean off all of the wax and then glue the bits in place. Not sure what to use to clean off the wax. You can see in the photo that there are some really ugly oily wax stains. Lloyd suggests using rubbing alcohol. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them, please!

You may have noticed I haven't posted lately. Real life has intervened once again. What a busy spring! When I do find mini time, I've been working on Greenleaf Dollhouses Spring Fling, and all mention must remain a secret until the contest closes. I'll be back -- the quilt shop is waiting impatiently, and the Pierce is rattling in its box!

Playing the Slots

2010-03-27T23:09:00.008-05:00

Several weeks ago, when I was in one of my favorite quilt shops, I took a photo of the slotwall hung with lots of luscious accessories. Today I recreated it in mini. The photo is a bit skewed because of the camera angle, but you get the idea. I prepared the image by tweaking it with a photo program -- sharpened it, adjusted the color, increased the saturation a bit, etc. I tried to make the clearest photo I possibly could. I sized it using MSWord, printed one black and white copy to check the measurements, and then made three copies on glossy photo paper.

One copy served as the background.

A second copy was cut up and most of the individual items were glued on top of their counterparts on the background. I didn't want to make all of them the same depth. The glue I used is Glossy Accents, a clear dimensional embellishment by Ranger. I got it at Michael's, in the scrapbook/stamping area. Its two main properties are that it dries without shrinking or going flat, and dries crystal clear. It permitted me to add more depth than just the thickness of the paper.

A third copy got special treatment. I put a little blob of Glossy Accents over the raised areas of each item. The blob magnified the image beneath it and made it 3-D. When it dried, there was too much contrast between the shiny blob and the photo paper surface. I painted each item with clear nail polish; that makes it look as if the whole display card is covered with plastic.

The photo below shows the work in progress. The top photo is the one with the blobs and nail polish. The middle photo is the background. Most of the plain photo cutouts have been glued in place. The smallest photo is what's left of the plain photo to be cut and glued onto the background. You can poke the photos to enlarge them if you want to see details.

This is going to go behind the counter, against the stairs. This is becoming a very nicely stocked quilt shop. :)

A Carpentry Session

2010-03-21T20:32:00.003-05:00

Today I built a couple more cabinets for the main shop room, a cabinet to hold the thread rack and a shelf/counter to hold fabric bolts below and miscellany on top. The fat quarters will be part of the miscellany. I used balsa wood. The white is painted with gesso, the oak is stained with the MinWax golden oak. I ran an emery board over the gesso to knock down the little "hairs" that stand up. It was so smooth that I decided not to put a coat of satin finish house paint on it. The cabinet needs door and drawer handles.

This is what the main shop room looks like now. The new shelf is front middle. I think the furnitures and fixtures are pretty much where they'll end up. Subject to change, of course, when the accessories and display quilts go in. I glued feet on the new shelf and the three smaller units -- sage green pony beads. It works with the floor and gives them a little lift that they needed. I'm not sure that the tapered shelf in the back left corner will stay. We'll see what there is to put on it when the accessories move in.

I want to build cupboards for the kitchen. And there are quilt racks to be built for the show display. It is coming together.

Filling the shelves

2010-03-12T19:03:00.004-06:00

Today I added some dividers to the big shelf unit to hold yarn and magazines. In four sections on the right, I put in some filler to back up the magazines. Here's what we have so far. The magazines are glued in place but the yarn and crochet cotton balls are just staged. I need to make yard skeins in more colors. And I'm not sure about the jumbled balls of crochet cotton. Should they be stacked neatly (in which case the colors wouldn't be seen easily) or left jumbled this way? The jury is still out.

The fun begins ... staging

2010-03-11T18:28:00.003-06:00

The fun really began this afternoon when I pulled the furniture out of the storage box to begin staging the quilt shop. This probably isn't where the pieces will end up, but it's a start. The bolts will be sorted by color and type of fabric before they are glued into place, and the shelves will be filled. I'm thinking to make a cabinet to hold the thread rack and a long cabinet one bolt high and one or two bolts wide to run from the front to the far side of the tall bolt shelf. This will provide surface space to display fat quarters and other small items. I'm really liking how the workroom is shaping up. I just had to put a couple of quilts in here to see how they'll look. They probably won't stay. (I think the prime wall on the right will get the crazy quilt when it's finished.)

The kitchen is pretty plain. It needs a counter to hold a nice big coffee pot and a tray with cups and maybe some donuts. Not sure about the baker's rack or Michael's hutch in the used-to-be dining room. This is the room where the quilt show will be hung and we may need room for quilt racks.

Wallpaper is Up

2010-03-10T00:03:00.004-06:00

The railing is in place on the stairs. I had hoped to make the upper part removable, but in order to run the handrail all the way to the top, it was necessary to glue everything in place. None the less, I like the way it turned out. The rest of the baseboards have also been installed, both upstairs and down. They lack only the quarter round to finish them off, but I haven't ordered it yet.

Then -- I did the wallpaper in the kitchen, finally. Making the templates took waaaaay longer than hanging the wallpaper. I used liquid starch for paste and really like the way it handled. I could slide the paper around to get it seated properly, which was very helpful in such tight quarters. It was easy to paint on with a brush, and it did not bleed through the paper. The blue tape is holding the baseboard in place and holding together the two sections of linoleum while the glue dries.

I must confess, I did only three walls. The other side of the wall that divides these two rooms was just more than I wanted to deal with. It is painted white, but I think it will be covered over with shelves on either side of the doorway and maybe a shelf above the doorway as well.

So, except for the quarter round, I believe the house is finished, except for the fourth wall, which needs to be cleaned up and painted. Yet to come, landscaping and interior items.

The Upstairs Floor is In

2010-03-07T23:48:00.004-06:00

For the past few days I've been working on the wooden flooring. The sheets were stained and coated with satin finish polyacrylic (water based), templates were made, sections were cut and fitted like a jigsaw puzzle. Today I glued it into place. The flatiron is holding down a place where two sections met and wanted to buckle. They are perfectly flat now. This is the room that will have the work tables and quilting frame. This is the room that will be the studio apartment. I like the look of the rug on the oak floor. The baseboard is just leaning against the wall. Fitting and gluing that into place will be the next step.

I gave the stair rails a coat of polyacrylic so they will blend better with the floor. They can be installed now. And we bought a 2' x 4' piece of 3/4" plywood at the lumber yard on Saturday that now needs to be painted green. It's to replace the quarter inch board under the house; it is too flimsy to provide proper support.

Oh ... I bought a bottle of liquid starch today. I'm going to use it to hang the kitchen wallpaper. I'm thinking about getting to the wallpaper ... really.

Avoidance Techniques Honed

2010-03-04T20:09:00.005-06:00

Another day avoiding the wallpapering. I'm getting good at it.

What I did is paint the inside of the stairwell, using a mirror. There was a pretty steep learning curve as I adjusted to working in reverse, but the job is done. Did you notice the difference in the height of two steps? It must be a flaw in the original construction. But really, no one would notice unless they stuck a camera up there, or a mirror, so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... we'll keep this our little secret. I also used the mirror to paint the hidden parts in the kitchen, so there's now a nice undercoat, ready to receive the wallpaper.While I was in a paint slinging mood, I painted the inside of both fireplaces black. In the quilt shop, they'll be hidden by shelving, but they're ready for a log fire if or when the building turns back into a residence. Then the former dining room got its linoleum and baseboards. I put the back wall on to be sure it still fit, and then added a piece of quarter round molding to finish off the edge of the linoleum in both the living and dining rooms.I told myself the paint in the kitchen wasn't nearly dry enough to contemplate wallpapering, so I made a template of the floor of the upper room that has the staircase, thinking to start putting in the planks. But then decided to stain all of the flooring first. For these three sheets, I rubbed the golden oak stain in with a piece of cloth. Here's the job in progress. I remembered to use a plastic glove, so my fingers are not stained this time. :)

And after that I tidied up the worktable, put away paints and tools that won't be used soon, and swept the floor. By then it was time to stop to make supper.

Wallpaper? What wallpaper?

Mini OHSA is now Welcome

2010-03-03T23:07:00.004-06:00

It has been a while since I worked on the quilt shop. I know I have to jump through hoops and worse to wallpaper the kitchen, so I've been practicing avoidance techniques. I'm good at them.

But I've missed doing minis, so today I worked on the stairway railings. I bought the components from Hobby Builders Supply and stained them Golden Oak with a stain pen. For little bitty bits, I like the felt tip touch-up pen better than a brush or rag. The upstairs rail is simple, an L shape. You can't see the short leg of the L; it's on the left. The ballusters are three quarters of an inch apart, the equivalent of nine inches in real life. I used my magnetic jig tray to put it together. What a treat!

The railing is not glued in place. This floor will have golden oak wood flooring laid to cover the damaged original floor. I'll glue the railing in place when the flooring is finished. The downstairs rail, which follows the pitch of the stairs, is a bit trickier. I made individual treads for each step, since the original steps were very plain. These are stained golden oak, too. For the handrail, I glued one balluster to each step. The handrail is leaning against the wall. None of this is glued in place yet. First I had to figure out the height of the Newell post and couldn't do that until the linoleum flooring was installed. Had to add a piece to the bottom of the Newell post to adjust it so the handrail will hit it properly.

At one point, I took a photo up the stairs, a view that isn't easily seen but is visible if you look in one of the windows. Luckily, I took the photo before I glued in the treads and handrail. Notice the right side wall of the stairwell. It isn't painted! The treads in the photo are already glued in place, so it will take some creative taping to protect them from a paintbrush that needs to spread paint where it can't be seen while one is doing the painting. What a pain. Anyway, I decided it's way too late to do any painting, so the lower treads and handrail will just have to wait for installation at a later date.

If you look to the right in this last photo, you're looking into the kitchen, where the dreaded wallpaper caper must eventually take place. I wish I weren't quite so set on wallpaper in there.

Bathroom nearly finished

2010-02-16T18:50:00.003-06:00

Since the bathroom is the smallest room in the house and easy to reach, I started there with the interior decorating. The wallpaper is left over from a real life bath. The wainscoting, pieces of real life paneling, was painted white and a decorative quarter-round trim added. The doors were installed. The flooring is a piece of foam shelf liner. It has a nice texture. The bathroom fixtures are Reutter Porcelain. Can you believe I won them in a grab bag from Hobby Builders Supply? One handle on the sink had popped loose, as had the drain plug and chain in the tub. Both were easily glued back on after this photo was taken. I think there should be a corner shelf in the back right corner with towels, etc. This is both the bath for the apartment and the necessary room for the shop. There will, of course, be wall hangings. Not sure about a rug.

Not wanting you to think I'm working in total chaos, I took this photo after a minor clean-up in the craft area. There's a way to go, but at least I can find most things now.
And here's the houseboat with a skirt to hide the boxes stored beneath. In this picture you can see the wonderful Mardi Gras wall hanging done by the ever-so-talented Deb of Deb's Minis. And how appropriate, for today is Mardi Gras. Laissez le bon ton roulez!

New Year's Resolutions ... Really!

2010-02-14T11:23:00.004-06:00

More exercise and better display for minis ... those were the resolutions. I know it's now mid-February, but sometimes one needs to ponder before acting. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! We have a TV room in the basement, adjacent to my craft area. It wasn't functioning very well. I'll spare you the before photos, but here is the result of my efforts with major help from friend NJ. (Thank you, dear heart!)

The problem of how to view both sides of the houseboat was solved by putting it here, in the entry to the room, and screening it with a light screen that can be moved for viewing. A white extension cord isn't obvious on the white bricks of the fireplace and provides power for the boat. Now that the boat is where it can be seen easily, I need to do a major dusting. Not looking forward to that ... all of those little 1:24 accessories ... ugh. Two bookcases that were not holding much but junk are stacked and now serve as display for some of Lloyd's mini sculptures and ceramics. It faced the basement stairs, so is the first thing seen when coming down. Nice. (A light green skirt has been added to the boat table. Finishes it nicely and provides hidden storage for minis-in-waiting.) The exercise part is the Gazelle, pulled out of storage and recommissioned. Putting the sofa at an angle made room in the corner where the Mardi Gras float used to be. Marie Laveau's Creole cottage can be seen from both sides and also is near an outlet so it can be plugged in for viewing.

The Mardi Gras float did a 90-degree turn and slid down the wall to another corner. To the left, out of the picture, is the TV and a white brick fireplace wall. The pictures need to be moved, but I'll leave that up to Lloyd. We've been enjoying the Olympics in this now cozy area.

I didn't show you what the TV area looked like before, but this is what my craft area looked like when we finished up the TV room. It took me a whole day to gather up courage to face it. I'm pleased to report that improvements have been made. It is still in dire need of a deep cleaning and reorganization. I'm telling myself that will happen with the quilt shop is finished and all of its bits and pieces can be cleared away.

When the bulk of the debris had been dealt with, I was able to work on the quilt shop. The ground floor will be covered with linoleum left over from our real kitchen. It will be held in place with double-stick tape so it can be taken up if someone ever wants to turn this back into a residence. I was surprised to discover that it cuts easily with a pair of scissors. In the photo below, the front room (at left) has been done. The original house had a shag carpet cut in one piece that made a very nice template for the linoleum. I'm preparing to make a template for the dining room. That worked out well. The ugly part was making the template for the kitchen (behind the dining room). I'm not looking forward to wallpapering the kitchen. Three of the four walls can't be seen from this view -- the only access -- but they can be seen through the windows. Here is the lino cut and in place. It's not stuck down yet. The inside needs one more coat of paint on the walls before it goes in permanently. At the moment the pieces are lying flat with weights on top to remove the slight curl that can be seen here. I want them as flat as possible before taping them down so as not to have to use much tape. The front edge will be covered with a quarter round trim. The section inside the front door had to be cut out in order for the door to open. Those edges will also be finished with quarter round trim and the open area will be painted -- faux flagstone or something to resemble a sturdy entryway flooring. The door is original and opens inward. I don't want to mess with taking it off its hinge to trim away the bottom. The shag carpet was also cut away.

A firm foundation ... or not

2010-02-02T03:06:00.006-06:00

The outside of the house has been painted. The chimney was in great shape; it didn't need painting, just a gentle cleaning. The green and white are both interior, satin finish latex house paint. The front door got a coat of red paint, as did the front and back steps (missing from this picture). If you look carefully at the bottom edge of the house, you'll see a rough edge where bits of plywood chipped off, probably when the house was slid across the rug or bumped in moving. (Poke the photo for a larger view.) Before the house was painted, this bothered me. I looked for ways to cover it up.I thought about making faux foundation boards by painting stones on 1 x 1/8" basswood strips and tacking or gluing them around the base. I kept the stones more cartoon-like than realistic to fit with the somewhat unrealistic nature of the house itself. Doors and windows are not to scale, although the overall look is very pleasing. (The realism will come with the contents.)

But -- now that the house is painted and the paint camouflaged the chips and sealed them, so they won't split any more, I think I'm going to leave it as is. I can repaint the strips to use them elsewhere. Of course that means I have to add corner trim at the bottom; when I replaced the broken trim, I left space for the foundation boards. No problem that a little time and paint won't cure.

I bought a 2' x 4' piece of quarter inch plywood to use as a base. It will extend a couple of inches beyond the base of the house and give some protection to the porches, which are just stuck on and vulnerable. I was thinking to put faux grass on it, but now I'm thinking to paint it with the same green as the roof. Cartoon grass for a cartoon house, eh? The house won't be attached to the base. It's big enough and heavy enough to be difficult to move as it stands alone. And the couple of inches will be enough room to display some quilts outside. :)

Making Shelves

2010-01-20T17:33:00.003-06:00

Today I worked on the portable shelves for fabric bolts. The photo at upper left is the inspiration piece. I took the photo at The Quilter's Harvest shop in Higginsville, Missouri. The proportion changed a bit in translating to 1:12, but with the mini bolts in place, it works! The point was to make some small modular units. Display space around the perimeter is limited, since I want to hang several quilts. I made three units. The magnetic jig was right handy!

Over the course of the afternoon I managed to get a couple of coats of paint on them as well as paint the counter and another bolt shelf. I started to paint the inside on the first one, then realized that it won't be seen once the bolts are in place. I gave the counter a couple coats of satin white enamel, too. It needs another coat, but I like it much better than the yukky stain.

Thread Display

2010-01-19T18:48:00.005-06:00

I received an early birthday present in the mail today -- a magnetic jig from MicroMark. I put it to work immediately to build the thread display case. The parts were cut and waiting for assembly. I used 1/16" birch and golden oak stain. The parts are so small that I used a touch-up stain pen. Worked like a charm. It needs a little label at the bottom and maybe some micro jibberish under each spool, like the ID number of the color or something. Or maybe not. As long as I had the stain pens out, I thought to use the dark walnut on the unfinished counter. Yukk. There are light spots where the glue oozed. And it's way too dark and splotchy. I think it will be painted when I figure out what color it should be. (It's sitting on a scrap of the linoleum that will go under it.)

More Fiddly Bits

2010-01-17T09:41:00.004-06:00

This week I worked on more items for the shop ... sewing machines and embroidery floss. I found photos of sewing machines on Google images and carved four from contractor's foam board. It's a type of styrofoam with a fairly dense quality. I used an X-acto knife to carve them and an emery board (split lengthwise) to sand them relatively smooth. They got a couple coats of gesso with very gentle sanding between the coats. Bits of dowels held with superglue formed knobs and wheels.They were painted with a satin finish white paint and detailed with craft paint and markers. The photo shows some irregularities in the surface that are not that apparent when seen with the naked eye. I didn't try to put needles and presser feet on them. When set up in the workroom, they'll have bits of sewing in progress that will hide the fact that they're not anatomically correct.

With the machines finished, I turned to embroidery floss. I saw some on one of the miniature shop websites. It didn't appear to be in scale, especially the black paper wrap label. I tried to make some with 1/32" detailing tape but it was just too small to wrap back on itself. Or more precisely, the tape was too small for my big fingers! I switched to tying off the skeins with two threads from real life floss. A square knot held it. This is the jig I rigged up. (That's a scrap of contractors foam.) The pins are 3/8" apart and being wrapped with a single strand of floss in a figure eight -- about 9 inches works well. I cut a tiny slit in the edge of the foam to hold the two tails while I tied the black floss. It's tedious but far more workable than the tape challenge. One piece of floss makes six skeins.

This is the result of a couple of hours of work. They must be glued onto some kind of display rack or in a box, as they are so tiny that the least breath of air sends them airborne. For scale, the yellow lines are one inch apart.

Snowy Saturday

2010-01-10T09:00:00.004-06:00

Yesterday seemed like a good day to hide from the snow and cold, so I set up a tray in front of the fireplace and wrapped embroidery floss around pony beads to make balls of crochet cotton while keeping one eye on a couple of old movies on TV. Perfect. It takes about 13" of floss, all six strands used together. Put some glue on one end to use as a "needle" and glue the other end inside the bead. Then wrap around evenly. I found a toothpick was useful to open the center hole if it got too small and to push the "needle" through if it hung up. Here are the fruits of about 8 hours of labor: 24 balls of crochet cotton. They are so darn cute! I'm really indebted to Barbara for sharing this project with me. Hmm ... photos tell all. I just see that I didn't leave a single strand of floss sticking up from the center, the starter thread in the ball. I'll clip some strands and glue them in to complete the look.

The mailman brought the doll order from HBS. All of them are going to need new clothes, and Grandma and Mother need new hairdos, too. I thought Grandma might be the proprietor, but she has such a vacant stare that I don't think she's up to it. I'm counting on Hyacinth, made by another Greenleaf Forum member, to pick up the slack. I think Mother may be her assistant. I have two other dolls, a dark-haired Mother who is currently dressed in walking shorts and boots and a male doll similar to the father in The Family pack, who can also join the crowd. That puts eight people in the shop, either shopping or looking at the quilt show. I do believe that's enough!

Painting and winding

2010-01-07T21:57:00.003-06:00

Today I had fun jumping from one thing to another. This photo of the stained ceiling paper is a good example of what happens when wallpaper is applied to raw plywood. The chemicals in the wood bleed through. The white on white paper turned to brown on beige. The bathroom ceiling fared even worse. All of the ceiling paper seemed to be very well adhered, so I took a chance and put a coat of gesso over it rather than pulling it off. It appears the gamble paid off, as the ceilings are now sealed with a coat of gesso and the paper held fast. :)

I'd thought to leave the paper in the bathroom as is, but when I pulled a corner out to peek, I discovered bare wood underneath. I may as well take the time to strip it and seal these walls, too.

One of my orders from miniatures.com (Hobby Builders Supply) arrived today. In it were a couple of interior doors to go on the bathroom. Of course the opening is about a quarter inch too small, but it shouldn't be too difficult to enlarge them.

I spent a couple of days scraping wallpaper but just couldn't get myself to begin taking the paper down in the kitchen. When I realized how well the gesso covered the ceiling paper, I decided to experiment by painting over the kitchen paper. You can see a bit of the pattern peeking out. It will get another coat of gesso and then paint. I can reach in there with a paintbrush a lot more easily than I can repaper that area. I think Dad must have papered it before he put the walls together. Part of the fun today was auditioning furniture. This is a Michael's hutch that may or may not make the cut.

The goody box also brought in the sales counter. Haven't decided yet whether it will go this way or turned around. I think the shelves are supposed to go where the clerk stands, but this unit will double as a cutting table and display, so there may be yarns and other goodies on the shelves where the customers can reach them. Can you say fat quarters? The piece of linoleum is being auditioned for the ground floor. I was going to paint it a commercial battleship gray, but the base is made of two boards put together and held with corrugated staples that would show through the paint. The linoleum is left over from our real kitchen. I can cut a piece to fit the room precisely, so it would not have to be glued down and could be removed if someone wants to redo the house as a residence.

I rummaged around in a box of miscellaneous furniture and found a pyramid shelf unit that could go in this awkward corner by the stairs. The jury is still out. I also found a wonderful baker's rack that would make a great display unit for yarns and threads, and more fat quarters.

The goody box also brought a rug for the proprietor's studio apartment. It has a sort of quilt-like design. Notice the flooring beneath the rug. I was going to sand the upstairs floor and stain it, but on closer inspection, it has a lot of stains. Lloyd convinced me that the entire upstairs needs to have wooden flooring and baseboards added. Of course he thinks it's a good idea. He doesn't have to do it! But I have to agree with him ... it will be much nicer with plank flooring. It will be stained.

Paintning on the gesso and moving furniture and building supplies was fun, but I wanted something repetitious and relatively mindless to do, so I tackled some accessory kits sent to me by a lovely lady on the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum. Her mini group did a quilt shop a while ago and she has some great ideas. She sent materials for balls of crochet cotton, skeins of yarn, and spools of thread. She even sent some silk thread for the spools. I pulled threads from some of my fat quarters for additional colors. There are two sizes of spools on one delicate wood turning. Now that the thread is wound on, I'll cut them apart very carefully by rolling them under a supersharp X-acto knife blade. Her samples are at the top of the photo. At the bottom are various books made from printies.Here is a close-up of the items. They're going to add a lot to the shop and I'm most grateful for Barbara's generosity!

Quilt Shop Rehab Begins

2009-12-30T10:26:00.006-06:00

The quilt shop has finally moved to the worktable. I've been working on furniture and accessories without a real Plan. It seems prudent to get the structural rehab finished so I'll know how to proceed. Here is the old master bedroom, before. The floor is in relatively good shape, so I think it will get a sanding, light stain, and varnish. Mini OSHA would not like the stairwell (against the back wall) open, so I've ordered ballusters and railings to enclose it. I believe I'll construct the railings to be removable for ease in dusting/decorating. (What a great place to hang mini miniature quilts!) The doorway on the right connects with the bathroom. I've ordered doors for this opening and the one on the other side that leads into the proprietor's living area. This is the wallpaper. I think once it had a white background, now yellowed with age, grime, and chemicals from unsealed wood.
Just like in a real house, rehab reveals surprises. This flowered wallpaper was under parts of the blue striped. It doesn't appear that the wooden walls were primed prior to wallpapering. I think I will prime the raw wood with gesso and give the interior walls a fresh coat of ivory or cream paint -- a plain background to set off the quilt shop's details. After the real life quilt show exhibit, new wallpaper can go up over the paint. The ceilings are papered. You can see how the chemicals in the wood have changed the color. It seems to be glued tight. I'm going to try to use gesso and white paint right over the paper. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to scrape it.

Here is the room all cleaned up. The basin of water I used for cleaning was so dirty that I think I could have planted watermelons in it. :)

The living room is painted, so there was no wallpaper to remove. The green shag carpeting was tacked in place, so it was easy to take up. The "tiled" area by the front door appears to be Contact paper, the same as in the bathroom. A hair dryer softened the glue but there is a slightly sticky residue. The floor is stained. I think it may get sanded and then a coat of light gray paint with an eye to installing carpeting after the quilt shop moves out. This photo shows one problem area: mini OSHA wouldn't like the stairway without a handrail, so it will be added when I make the upstairs railing.

Here is a shelving unit I made to hold fabric bolts. I've put just a few on it to give the idea. It's made of balsa and will be painted. It's open on both sides with additional shelves on the end cap. The feet are made of wooden beads glued together. No special reason to use the beads; they're what I had on hand. I'm not sure where the shelf unit will be placed. I'd like the viewer to be able to see both sides and the end -- that makes it tricky.

Here is the unit in the room, along with a shelving unit that will hold yarns, thread, and other small items, maybe batting. It fits on the wall with the fireplace and will be behind the cutting table/counter, I think. The doors between this room and the dining room and kitchen will get trim added, but not doors.

Two new quilts

2009-11-17T19:50:00.003-06:00

Two new quilts today. The first is stitched together using the strip method. It was tedious and didn't turn out very well. I should have done one with plain cloth to get a feel for it. The pattern was hard to calibrate. This one may end up folded on a shelf. It's lap robe size.
The second one is made from cheater cloth, my candidate for most clever invention of all time. Since it went together so quickly, I used the sewing machine to embellish it with some "quilting." The backing is a dark green/black print. If I weren't so tired of playing with tiny pieces of cloth, I'd have finished stitching between each block. Most of the lines between the blocks are printed. I stitched the center top vertical line; it makes a difference. Maybe I'll sew the rest another time.
One reason I got tired of sewing was that when I changed a bobbin, I didn't replace the needle thread properly. Who knew that skipping a step on the thread that goes through the needle would cause the bobbin thread to make ugly snarls and knots? I wasted a lot of time cursing and rethreading the bobbin assembly, which was innocent. *sigh*

Tomorrow, back to making bolts.

An afghan without all of that tedious crocheting

2009-11-15T12:33:00.004-06:00

One of the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum members suggested putting together strips of trim to make an afghan. What a great idea! I bought a tiny daisy chain at Walmart* and stitched it together to form a throw. Unfortunately, it's a bit narrow, so I'm going to have to stage it carefully, but here you can see it draped over the foot of a double bed. *Yes, a Walmart that still have fabric. It's in Sedalia, Missouri. The manager says they'll keep it until the store is remodeled. Nobody is saying when that might happen. Meanwhile, she has the go-ahead to keep on ordering. :)

A new Project: A Quilt Shop

2009-11-09T23:06:00.008-06:00

It has been 2-1/2 months since my last entry. Real life got in the way of minis. I'm happy to report that the White Orchid is nearly finished. Just a few details to add and it will be ready for the final photos. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, I have another project. My father built this large wooden dollhouse for my sister and me back in the 1950s. It has been played with and stored for at least 60 years, and has come to me for refurbishing. It's big. Wonderfully big.

My good friend NJ has agreed to chair the local quilt guild's show in September 2010. The theme is "Home, Sweet Home." She asked if I'd have the house finished by then. She wants to use it as a prop."Don't bother with the inside", she said. "The outside will do fine." But then I got to thinking. This is a big house. Big enough to hold a quilt shop and a studio apartment for the owner.

Here's my plan: downstairs left (the living room) will be the shop area with bolts of fabric, fat quarters, sales counter, cutting table, etc. The room on the right (dining room) will be a workroom with sewing machines, tables, maybe some sale fabric. Behind it (the kitchen. See the door) will be a break room with coffee pot and snacks. Upstairs left (master bedroom) will be the quilting room. A couple of frames for hand quilting and maybe a couple long arm machines. The little room in the middle will remain the necessary and block off the public area from the owner's studio apartment, the room on the right (former children's room).
Since I haven't had much time in the workroom, I've been doing some pick-up-and-go items, namely quilts. The three on the left are made of cheater cloth -- fabric that has a quilt-like pattern. These are not individual blocks. The one of the right is getting close to becoming a crazy quilt. More about that below. I'm sorry I didn't include something in the photo to give an idea of scale. They are each about 7-1/4" high. The one on the left is sized for a king bed. The second is double bed size, and the third is twin size. The one on the right is meant to be a wall hanging, so it's not a standard bed size. Click on the pictures to see larger views.
The calico was the simplest to do. Just layer the quilt top with the red backing and sandwich a couple layers of my husband's discarded tee shirt, baste it, then "stitch the ditch" with the machine. I'm not a quilter in real life, but I have picked up a few terms, enough to be dangerous. Stitch the ditch means that the quilting stitched run between the blocks. For this I sewed the lines between the blocks and around the five little red diamonds.
Here's a close-up of the calico. Please don't look at the bindings. I need to work on the corners on all of these. I'm telling myself that they're prototypes and don't need to be perfect. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
The next one is the Quilter's Quilt. I was lucky enough to find cheater cloth with sewing symbols on it to mimic an appliquéd quilt. Same technique: stitch the ditch.

It's easier to see the stitching on the detail. Don't you love the fancy detail on the border? Bless my sister for passing on to me a very nice sewing machine. :)

The Tattersal Quilt gets its name from the pattern, open lines. These happen to be double lines, but close enough! This one is not stitched, but tiny knots are tied at the intersection of the make believe blocks

The little red dots are part of the fabric design, so red ties seemed a natural. The border on this and the other quilts is simply the backing fabric folded over and glued.

The Stained Glass quilt started out to be a Crazy Quilt. I found some no-wale black corduroy that works well as a mini velvet and used strips of silk for the colors. It seemed a lot easier to use StitchWitchery to glue down the silk in bold strips than to figure out how to cut tiny bits for individual blocks. I cut strips about an eighth of an inch wide for the horizontal lines.

I didn't want to mess with the bulk of turning the edges of the silk under, so I used a zigzag stitch to edge them. Eventually, I'll embellish most of the segments with some kind of embroidery.

So, here we go. I will probably put new binding on these and use them in the shop. Meanwhile, I have a little plastic tub full of tiny cardboard rectangles and swatches of cloth to make bolts of fabric. And even more very tiny "fat quarters" that need to be folded and boxed. Lots of hand work to be done while sitting or riding or waiting, even if time in the workroom is limited.

White Orchid Workshop

2009-09-01T22:07:00.004-05:00

Today I had great fun unpacking the toys I've been collecting to set up the elves' workshop. I think the elf who's supposed to take the finished work to the elves who pack Santa's bags has fallen down on the job, as the toys are piling up!

The kitchen and stove got a few more accessories. This area needs a rug.

A band of mice have arranged themselves on the stairs. The girl elf likes their music as she cooks.

Not much was done upstairs. I put out some bread with coffee and tea for break time, spiffed up the sewing machine, put books and a vase on the shelves, and found a puppy for the house. This area needs a rug, too. I'm envisioning a braided oval rug under the table and chairs.

Outside, the tiny salt and pepper shakers took their place on the step. Santa seems to approve.

I found some really tiny mushrooms with the toys and added them to the landscape. They will be those little things that people won't notice until about the fourth time they look at the house.

White Orchid Mushrooms Growing

2009-08-31T21:19:00.004-05:00

Today I spent in the dark basement, growing mushrooms! The characteristic white dots were added to the red roof, and tiny mushrooms were planted around the house. To give an idea of scale, the pink foam is one inch thick. The stems and caps are made of Fimo polyclay. The stems are translucent with a smidge of flesh mixed in; the caps are red with sparkles. I formed the caps over the ends of a couple of paint brushes and baked stems and caps separately. After they cooled, I glued them together and used the tip of a toothpick to put tiny dots of 3D "puff" paint on them.

They add just the right amount of color to landscaping.

This side of the house looks a bit bare. Not sure what will go here, but it needs something.

The bay window side seems to be finished.

A little visitor came to the back of the house. It's hard to believe he's a button. Too cute!

The White Orchid garden grows

2009-08-30T19:15:00.003-05:00

I spent several hours today on the landscaping, adding flowers and several kinds of greenery. In addition to the base paint, there are patches of model railroad turf, dry moss, and model railroad lichen. In combination, they give the effect of a forest floor.The yellow and purple flowers started out as white flowers cut from real life size artificial flower stems. They got a makeover with two or three shades of craft paint just blobbed on. Plain white just didn't cut the mustard. They're not planted in formal beds but just grow willy-nilly.

I like the way the mushroom looks. I want to make some smaller ones out of polyclay to tuck in here and there to bring in more red color.

As a change from the messy greenery, I put together a birdhouse kit I've had for some time. I like the natural colors, so I didn't paint it as suggested in the kit's directions. I painted the pole brown and I think I'll darken the scalloped edge a little; it looks too new. I may have to glue some moss on the roof, too.

Across the back I put a couple kinds of moss. I may add a few surprises there later on.

White Orchid landscaping

2009-08-27T16:43:00.003-05:00

As I typed the title for this entry, I realized I'd started out numbering the White Orchid entries. I don't know why. It's another example of how I over-engineer projects ... lol.

Today I worked on the landscaping. I'm trying to do this with stuff I have on hand. Luckily, there are lots of items left from prior projects. I have no idea where the pine tree came from, but it works well on one side of the door. The mushroom on the other side of the porch is a glass Christmas ornament. I took the hanger part off and used the Dremel ever so gently to remove the glass stub on the top. I glued a circle from the paper punch over the hole. When it dries, I'll glue the mushroom in; in this photo it's leaning.

The base was painted to simulate the bricks, rocks, grass, and dirt. Old tea leaves were glued on for the dirt, and the moss/grass is model railroad greenery. There's a lot of detail work to be done. If you click on the pictures, you can see the small plants on the pine tree side.

In the second photo you can see a bit of fencing left over from the houseboat. I hadn't planned to put a fence there, but it looks good, so it will stay.

Back to Work on the White Orchid

2009-08-26T19:10:00.002-05:00

Two months! That's a long time to go without minis, but I've been keeping in touch via the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum for vicarious mini fixes. The garden has been keeping me busy, and the first two weeks in August, Lloyd and I were in the Czech Republic. It has been a busy summer! These ceramic pieces are souvenirs from the Czech Republic. They are decorated in the traditional Southern Bohemia manner. They will go into the Pierce, which insists it is going to be a Bohemian inn with a bar and restaurant. I'm looking forward to making mini roast pork and dumplings with sauerkraut.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The garden is semi dormant, and my craft area has been screaming for attention, so this afternoon I descended to do a little cleanup -- or so I thought. I almost hate to post these photos, but you really need to see how it deteriorated while sitting unused.

Oh ... see the Van Buren box? A cousin presented me with it when we went to visit in July. She'd bought it for her daughter years ago but never got around to building it. I think this one will be made and donated to a charity, but that's a way down the line. The current project is the White Orchid, which ought to be finished in jig time. After I got everything cleaned up, somewhat sorted and put away, I worked on the base. It is glued to a lazy susan, so the house will turn easily. Because it has battery pack lights, no need to worry about a cord getting tangled.

The base is a sheet of foamcore board with a layer of contractor's foam with rounded edges. A couple scraps of the foam form the berms on either side of the porch. I covered all of it with a thin layer of wallboard mud. For a while I was thinking it would be a snow scene, but I think it will be a summery forest setting for better contrast with the white of the building. When the mud dries, I'll give it a coat of gesso, and then paint in some rocks and the brick walkway by the stairs. I have some train layout greenery and lycopodium and other bits of greenery and flowers I can use. I may make some tiny mushrooms, too.

It's good to be back in the mini workshop!

By the way, if you'd like to see some photos from our trip, check the blog here.

Summer holiday

2009-06-04T15:10:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted recently and probably won't for a while, as the real life garden has been demanding a lot of time. So much so that the miniatures will have to wait patiently, maybe as long as until the fall, unless we get some really bad weather that keeps me indoors. I'm blogging the process at KathieB's Garden. C'mon over and take a look.

By the way ... one corner of the yard looks like a great spot for a fairy village. You can tell that minis are still on my mind.

Mining for Magic

2009-04-26T20:22:00.004-05:00

Not exactly mining, but this evening I started looking through all of the little boxes of accessories that have accumulated in the past several years. I was looking for lantern tops for the two "oil" lamps upstairs. I found them and a lot of other little goodies that I thought would look good in the mushroom.

This picture shows a wall hanging I made from a printie on cloth. I think it was for a swap, as I found several in various states of construction. Also found some candy, a little plastic rocker so the little elf can rest while the cookies bake, and stuff to put into the cooking area. I think I'll paint the rocker but will save the paper design on it.

[By the way, you do know that if you click on a picture a larger version will appear, don't you? If you do a left click, use the Back button to get back to the blog. If you do a right click, you can open it in a separate window.]

The counter looks awfully clean considering the amount of dirty dishes in the sink, but I'm pretty sure this area isn't finished. It needs some dish towels and a bucket of water for the dry sink at the very least.

For the upstairs, I found a little ship and a sewing machine. One of the elves builds miniature ships as a hobby in the down season. I gave the seamstress a basket for her materials, but I may build her a little bench with drawers or a lift-up top instead. The railing on the stair rail is a little wonky, but I'm not overly concerned. I think that eventually it will be covered by something over the railing, like a drape or throw or a garland.

Here's the sideboard with the new lanterns that I finally found. They are some kind of little bottle. I bought them at Through the Keyhole in Dallas a few years ago with no idea how I'd use them. They came with two or three teensy little seashells. I tested the lights in them and decided they are keepers. The gingerbread house is made from Fimo, glitter, puff paint, and a couple of little gems. It was made for a swap in 2006. I'm not sure if the baskets will stay there. They're being auditioned for color and texture.

Last, but not least, here is the divider wall. I glued a couple of little wooden deer blanks on the shelf and put a scrapbooking sticker wreath at the top. In the corner of the photo you can see a bit of a Christmas tree on a table, part of a 1/2" swap. It has a little card and some packages with it. I'm not sure it will stay. I'm wondering if the elves would go all out for Christmas decorations or would they be so tired of Christmas cheer after making all of those toys that they'd downplay it.

The Wall is Up

2009-04-22T15:57:00.004-05:00

I woke up this morning with several things to do, but the wall kept calling to me. I got into a groove and forgot to pick up the camera, but you can easily see how this was done. I cut a door shaped hole in the center, added a piece to fill in the front of the wall, then cut balsa into strips for trim. The door is thicker balsa hinged with faux leather hinges. There's a little shelf above the door. I'll surprise you later with what's going on it. :)

The other side of the wall has trim around the door but none of the timbers. I'm considering it to be plastered over. I winged the pattern for the beams. I have no idea if they are properly engineered or not, but if you consider that this cottage is supposedly carved from a large mushroom, how heavy can the load on it be?

By the way, the wall is not glued in place. If I ever want to take the hammocks out for cleaning or refurbishing, the wall has to come out. It's wedged in very nicely. I have no fear of collapse unless the elves get a really wild party going!

Dining Table & Chairs

2009-04-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

It has been nearly a week since my last post. I managed to get our real life bedroom wallpaper stripped, and the painter is coming tomorrow to do the trim and ceiling. The paper hangers will be here in a few days. Meanwhile, the elves have been waiting patiently for me to get back to what's important to them.

While I was still in cleaning mode, I tackled some of the storage bins in the craft area and found a set of wooden furniture from Greenleaf that I'd marked as being a little bit smaller than 1:12 scale, more like 1:16 -- elf scale!

After the glue dried, I filled in the holes & slots with wallboard mud. Spackle would also work. When it dried, I sanded it smooth.

I painted it with a coat of gesso and let it dry, then gave it a couple coats of sage green acrylic. I may put a bit of decoration on the chairs, but for now the elves have someplace to eat dinner.

As I was looking at the table and chairs and envisioning some hot games of checkers or chess in the evening, it occurred to me that maybe one or more of the elves would want to turn in early and have a little privacy, so I dug out the wall and slipped it in place with a paper template of a door. It would open between the hammocks. I have more styrene left from the downstairs wall I didn't use to fill in the missing bit at the front. I'm giving this some serious consideration. What do you think?

Getting a Hold on Things

2009-04-15T13:47:00.002-05:00

Never let it be said that a miniaturist has enough clamps. I collect them wherever I see them. I have a whole bag of them, including some wooden clothespins that make nice, gentle clamps. These are some of my favorites. I think they came from the $1 bin at the hardware store. I like their thin little noses. Great for clamping in tiny spaces, like holding a veneer door while the glue dries.

This is the only how-to photo for the dry sink. I was working out of my head again and got so caught up in the moment that it was nearly finished before I thought to pick up the camera. It's just a little box with trim. The box itself is basswood, the trim is balsa. The mix didn't matter because I knew it would be painted. The big question with this item is: where will it go?

Here's the elf with the finished sink. I had some fun aging it. The inside of the sink part has a piece of aluminum foil glued to the bottom (dull side up) and the sides of the metal pan are silver acrylic paint. I couldn't fold the foil neatly enough to form the sides. Don't you love it when a good work-around steps up? The hinges are parts of a jewelry finding. The little dragonfly doorknob is a bead.

This is where I thought the sink should go. But the backsplash hides what will become a sink full of dirty dishes, and the stove is a bit overpowered. What fun is there in that?

The next choice is beside the settee. It's easier to see, but it looks a bit strange to me.

Third choice might be by the front door. I could cut off the bottom of the Christmas tree so it will be closer to the wall, and it's handier to the counter, but still I'm lukewarm about putting it here.

I thought of one thing that might help me be happier with putting it by the stairs. The stove can be raised up on a platform. It gives the stove more oomph and will be easier on the elf's back. It's a bit low, even for her.

Well, what do you think?

Settling down ... sort of

2009-04-14T21:14:00.004-05:00

I got a bit distracted today. I was going to head right downstairs and make the settee and dry sink, but on my way past the bedroom I reached in and pulled a bit of the old vinyl wallpaper away from the wall. It came very easily. Before I knew it, I was having a good old time peeling away the vinyl. It was sort of like peeling skin after a sunburn: the trick was to see how large a piece would come off before tearing. I got a couple of good ones -- nearly half of a strip in one piece! And yes, we have new wallpaper to put up. It's been sitting here for the longest. Tomorrow I can start wetting down the paper backing and scraping it down to plaster. I don't think that will be as much fun, but now that the project has begun, I'm committed.

So I didn't get downstairs until late afternoon, but I did manage to make a settee, age the worktable a bit, and put a couple coats of matte finish Modge Podge on the stained items. I like the silky smooth look of the MP. It gives it a sort of aged patina, like eons of waxing the furniture. All you can see in this photo is the back of the settee. It faces the front door.

This is how the settee began. I found a sketch of one I liked on the Internet and then made a pattern freehand. I had some old pieces of 1/4"=scored basswood flooring that I used. It was a bit warped, but gluing and clamping flattened it enough to be usable.

Here it is waiting for the glue to dry. This particular elf seemed interested, but the way he gazes at the little gingerbread man in his hand makes me wonder how much he really sees.

Next step, gesso.

Here it is finished. I used a couple coats of acrylics of various shades, mostly watered down to a stain. The cushion is a piece of foamcore board with one of the cardboard sides sliced off wrapped in cloth. Aileen's Tacky Glue holds it just fine.

This is the view of the settee through the front door. Sorry it's so dark. The lights weren't on. It will have a throw of some kind and probably some toys or presents on or beside it.

I know what the dry sink will look like now. That's the project for tomorrow.

Furniture Shop in Full Swing

2009-04-13T18:27:00.002-05:00

No, I didn't make a swing. But I did make a counter with a shelf for the kitchen area and a nice sturdy worktable for the workshop. I also added some wood trim to the back edges. I think it looks nicely finished that way, and I was getting tired of the sagging second floor. Now it's nice and level.

Here's the kitchen counter with shelf. I used some of the styrene scraps from the kit to make the base and put a wooden top on it. I think there will be baking dishes and pots stored under there. There needs to be a sink or some kind of water and more shelves in this area, but I haven't figured out how or where. I don't think there would be running water in a mushroom, so I think a hand pump or a simple basin arrangement would be best. I just don't know what it looks like yet.

Here's the basic construction of the workbend. It's another one with no pattern. I used right-angle trim for the legs and put little block of square dowel at the bottom for the shelf to rest on. (I used the right-angle trim to finish off the back of the house, and a leftover piece caught my imagination. I saw table legs, and so the worktable came to be.) I cut two shelf pieces the same size and glued one of them to the bottom of the tabletop so there would be a place to glue the tops of the legs and to add support to the top itself. The top and shelf pieces are balsa.

I wanted a rustic look but not more wood color, so I gave the table a wash of sage green acrylic and then went over it with my favorite stain pens to age it. It looks more green here than it does in real life. The stain aged it nicely. I think the elves have been using this table for a few hundred years now. It needs to be a bit more distressed and the aging smoothed out a bit, but it needs to dry before I go at it with a nail file and some pastels (I think).

The table is a tad bit large for the area, but when all of the toys are in, I think it will look just right. I got an order today from Manor House Minis with some of the cutest little wooden toys to stock the shelves. Can't wait to get the construction work finished so I can play!

Trundling off to bed ...

2009-04-12T16:14:00.003-05:00

Well, not exactly heading for bed right now. First let me show you the bay window shelf. I think it turned out nicely and will give the boys much needed room to display finished toys. I'm not sure if the back should be white or have a wooden backing. I'm leaving it white for now.

Now, this is what the trundle bed and cabinet looked like. I didn't have a pattern. I measured the space between the two posts and left the rest to logic. The bedding is wrapped around a piece of foamcore board and will drop into the trundle box.

The next photo shows it stained and nearly assembled. I used the combo dark walnut/golden oak stain pens again. I like the effect. Those are pony beads casters under the bed. They don't really roll, but hey ... And yes, one of the drawers doesn't match. You'll see.

And here's the finished trundle. It still needs accessories, but you can see why one of the drawers was left open. :) As it turns out, the trundle is about an eight of an inch wider than I'd like it to be. I've coped with that by slipping it in on an angle. Besides, I'm telling myself, if it slid all the way in, no one could see the bedding to know what it is. (How's that for rationalizing? LOL)

Lights on!

2009-04-10T21:44:00.005-05:00

It took most of the day to hook up the wires as I wanted most of the joins to be hidden in the corner, under the mat. That meant stuffing my less than delicate hands into a tiny corner where I really couldn't see what I was doing without peering like an old granny who's lost her glasses. This is what I was doing ... stripping the wires, twisting them together, and then insulating the twisted bit with a wrapping of electrician's tape. The one on the left is finished. The next one is half done, and the other three are waiting to be done. I had to take several breaks during this process.

But when I flipped the switch, everything worked! The light behind the cornice glows slightly. It looks better in real life. The lamps look like oil lamps at a distance. The jury is still out on whether they will get shades (or maybe hurricane lamp chimneys?).

Below is the overall view of the sitting room. You can barely see the mat at the top of the stairs, but it works well to cover the wires. The tables are glued in place. I didn't want them moving around and risk pulling the wires out. The sofa and chairs are movable. I may want to put a rug under them.

Here's a closeup of one of the lamps. That is a plastic bead that I drilled out to accept the bulb. The wires goes down through the tabletop, scoots under the corner of the sofa, then runs along the base of the stair surround. (I can't think of what that little fence is called. I hope that doesn't mean I've been sniffing too much E6000 and stain fumes!)

I noticed that the back of the workbench looks ugly and brown through the front window, so I painted the back of it white. I think with some plants or something colorful on the window sill, it will look okay.

I was almost ready to quit for the night when I decided to make some shelves to go under the bay window in the workshop area. The larger piece will cover the existing sill and hang over about 3/4". There will be one shelf the width of the window, plus the two side pieces. I cut them from balsa and stained them with stain pens, using both dark walnut and golden oak. I wanted to make it look as if they've been there a while. I can't wait to start putting out the toys, but I'm trying to rein in that impulse until I get more furniture made and the outside finished.

Let there be lights!

2009-04-09T18:39:00.005-05:00

Today I worked on the sitting room lights. Remember all of the light wires coming up through the floor by the stairs? I made four lamps from beads and jewelry findings and put the fifth light in the center gable, behind the top of the hanging shelf unit. (More about that below.) I used one of the sample window shades from Lowe's as a floor covering to hide the wires. I had to cut a quarter inch off each side to fit, but it will work. I looks a bit wonky right now because of the snarl of wires under it. When they're sorted out, it will lie flat.

The two lamps lying on the floor will go on the little tables I made. I'm going to drill a hole in the table top and run the wire down through it. The tables will be glued in place. The lamps are jewelry findings with a wooden wheel for a base, which will be painted. The bulb is stuck up inside a plastic bead. I used my handy Dremel to enlarge the hole in the bead so it will fit.

The end tables will be painted cream with sage and brown trim, I think. I cut the ends off some Houseworks pieces for the legs. I have no idea what scale this is. The whole house is sort of elf scale. I'm just eyeballing relationships and going from there.

The lamps on the dresser are also wired in place. I think the bulbs will stay unadorned. If they look too raw when lighted, I'll figure out shades for them. The top of the dresser is a bit rough, but it will have a nice doily or something similar to cover the rough part. I think it adds character to the piece. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

This is what the back of the dresser looks like. I drilled four holes and connected them with the Dremel saw blade so as to have a place to pull through the lamp wires. I added an extra piece of wire to each one after I took this photo and now have to wire them up to the stubs left sticking out of the floor.

The wiring for the upper cabinet is hidden behind the door, which will never be opened. The photo below shows the single bulb atop the unit. I surrounded it with little mirrors that won't be seen by the casual observer but will, I hope, help enhance the light and cast it upward for effect.

Both the wall unit and dresser are now glued in place. This gives me a little discomfort, as I have no idea whether the lights will work. It's a sort of Catch 22, as I can't test them until they're reconnected. And I can't reconnect them until they are fixed in their permanent place. I can't think of any reason why they won't work ... so that's what I'm hanging my hat on.

2009-04-08T18:11:00.005-05:00

I started the day thinking I'd paint the little bits of furniture, but I kept staring at the pillows on the sofa and chairs and thinking how plain they were. I Googled pine cone clip art and found some pictures for inspiration, then painted the design on the pillows. I thought I'd like tassels on the corners of the pillows, but after tying 16 of them, I decided I didn't like the look at all. Instead, I glued an edging of embroidery floss around them. It added just the little zip they needed.

That finished, I considered the workbench and the need for a ladder. After a few minutes, the light came on. No need for the elves to climb up if the workbench were lowered. Out came the little razor saw, and voila! Problem solved!

I painted the little stools and chairs in primary colors. While waiting for them to dry, I rummaged through my stash again and found a kit for 3 toy boats that has been hanging around since the NAME conference in Kansas City a few years ago. I had fun putting them together. They're stored in a nice plastic shoe box with the rest of the finished interior items.

Since I had the paints out, I added some gold trim to the cookstove. It looks neater than this in real life, as it's too small to see the details. The gold brings out some of the detail. Photographs magnify every little mistake.

With the house emptied, I could run more white tape along the interior joints in the center gable. That will hold the back wall of the cuckoo's house in place as well as make a neater presentation.

I got out some beads and cut one of the upstairs lights off so I could work on lamps, but inspiration eluded me and I had to walk away. I guess there's not much point in doing lamps until I make the furniture they'll sit on. There's always tomorrow.

Making Progress

2009-04-07T15:03:00.005-05:00

Well, this morning I got right to work. The new pillows for the hammocks turned out much more to my liking, and the old pillows moved to the sitting area furniture, so they're not a total loss. I like it when things work out.

Here's the upholstery in progress. It was purely a cut and paste operation.

The final product isn't really final. I think there needs to be a bit of trim at the base, but for now I'm considering it finished. The pillows worked well with the cloth, which I found in my stash. No need to hit the fabric store today. I just noticed the threads in the photo ... they're loose. The upholstery isn't falling apart!

And here's the workbench. I don't like that it's blocking a window, but I don't know where else to put it. I could sort of wall off that part of the room by putting it perpendicular to the wall, but then it would be harder to see all of the little items on the bench. Do you see the chair on the bench? I just happened to have two of them in my stash. And note the stepstools for access to the workbench. I think the elves will need something a little less prone to an OSHA crackdown before we get much further along with this project.

Burning the Midnight Oil

2009-04-07T09:01:00.002-05:00

Real life has intervened, but last night I went downstairs when I normally would have been heading for bed and got a fair amount accomplished. I made new pillows, filled them with slightly less sand, and used the pins-and-hairspray method of making them look used. Success!

Then I dug out some smaller scale wooden furniture left over from the Suitcase House and glued some risers under them to adapt to elf scale. Haven't decided whether to paint them (sofa and two chairs) or cover them with cloth. If cloth, I think another trip to a fabric shop is in order. I'll prime them today and then figure it out.

I also rummaged through my stash and found more children's toys that I remembered having. With what I ordered from Manorhouse Minis the other day, the elves should have a grand display for Santa when he drops by. I also found a workbench I bought years ago for another house but won't be using it there, so the elves got it. It's a full 1:12 scale, so they have to stand on a stepstool, but that's okay. And would you believe, I had the stepstools in the stash, too.

I found some wide lace to make curtains. I know, a mushroom ought to be a bit more primitive, but the girl elf is a whiz with a needle, and most of the houses I saw in Bohemia had lace curtains that didn't quite reach the window sill so as to make room for plants. I like the light, airy look, or at least I did last night. I made one curtain and gave it the pins-and-hairspray treatment. I'll see if it still appeals when I go back downstairs in a few minutes.

All in all, a good night's work, and I wasn't up all that late. I'll take photos today.

Oh ... and I saw a line someplace the other day that won't leave my head: Santa and the Subordinate Clauses. I keep thinking of the elves as the Subs ... I don't think they'd like that if they were to find out.

The Hammocks are finished

2009-04-02T18:27:00.004-05:00

Well, after a fairly long hiatus, life is giving me some time to work on the White Orchid. I took the materials for the hammocks with me to New Orleans, but there was too much to see, too many people to visit, to leave any time for working on minis. This is what they look like now:

I'm not finished fiddling. I like the overall effect with the cuddly blankets at the foot, and I like the colors. I'm not too keen on the pillows. They look too new and unused. Haven't quite figured out how to age them, but I'm sure it will come to me after a while.

This is how I got the cuddly blankets to drape so nicely: some foam cut to the width of the hammocks and covered with waxed paper. The folds were held in place with pins, and then they were sprayed with hairspray. I get impatient waiting for it to dry, so I turn a hairdryer on it. They dry in just a few minutes.

There will be a table with a lamp on it by the window between the hammocks.

Priorities? What Priorities?

2009-03-12T17:12:00.004-05:00

We're leaving on a road trip tomorrow morning. You know everything that needs to be done beforehand. Plus add getting the tax stuff ready for the accountant, and . . . you get the drift.

So what did I do today besides six loads of laundry? I made the frame for the elves's hammocks. I'm going to take it and the hammock materials with to work on while we're driving maybe, or if there's some quiet time during the week.

The frame has been painted Honeycomb. It's the first layer for a faux wood finish. I've forgotten the name of the paint that goes on top. Mink or something soft like that, I think. It's the same paint used on the downstairs room divider. I like the look and didn't want to mess with stain.

There will be two hammocks on either side of the window, one above the other. I used square dowels for the uprights and braces and balsawood for the base and top.

Sorry for such a short post, but it's nearly 6 pm and the To-Do list didn't get much shorter this afternoon! We're taking the laptop with us. I'll try to post from the road if I make any progress on the hammocks.

Room Divider Faux Painted

2009-03-09T18:47:00.004-05:00

Well, the white of the divider was annoyingly pristine, so I waved my magic wand (a long handled paintbrush) and changed it to wood. I like it much better.

This little elf seems to have put himself in charge of supervising construction on this project. He complained that the shelf I added to the oven wall was crooked. I told him the shelf is okay, it's the wall that's crooked. He bought it. heehee. :)

So, now to design and build the hammocks and rack and li'l missy's trundle bed (which will go in front of the divider. She may need a little screen for privacy, too.

Bunkbeds ... not the best solution?

2009-03-09T08:28:00.004-05:00

Do you ever wake up in the morning with a grand idea in your head? This morning I woke up thinking that the white steel and brass bunkbeds are too big for the sleeping loft and too starkly modern for a rustic mushroom house. My brilliant solution? Hammocks!

I think this must be the right way to go, because when I logged onto the Greenleaf forum, my dear friend Holly had suggested a hammock for the girl elf. How's that for great minds thinking alike?

I'm also thinking about the room divider downstairs and how it would look more rustic if it were painted wood brown/tan.

Obviously, this is going to take some thinking. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to make pictures of thoughts yet!

Bunkbeds for the Elves

2009-03-08T18:13:00.007-05:00

This afternoon I was going to work on the landscaping, but the elves had other ideas. "Beds," they demanded. "We need beds."

So, here are the bunkbed frames for the guys. They're a bit bulky for the space, but they were adamant about not wanting skinny little mattresses.

The frames are styrene tubing, round-headed pins, beads, and some jewelry findings. The mattress boards are quarter-inch foam core board. They couldn't wait for the bedding but had to try out the frames. As long as they're up there, I may have them slide the beds around to see if there is a better place for them.

The girl elf, who like the others still remain nameless, will have a single bed. I have to figure out how to give her some privacy. She's not as pushy, so her bed isn't finished yet. I was hoping to give her a cozy bed near the oven wall, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Room Divider Installed

2009-03-05T18:07:00.004-06:00

I decided to install the room divider sideways with a chest in front of it. I guess I didn't have very good contact on some of the joints, as some of them popped apart today, but I repaired them with more Tenax7R. They seem to be holding more firmly.

I drilled the holes in the floor and popped the unit into place. I don't think I hit any of the wires underneath with the drill. I didn't check because I don't have time to deal with it today if I did! lol The red sparkly things are just stuck there for a little color. I don't know if they'll stay; probably not.

The chest is the bottom half of an unfinished cupboard from Michael's. It needs a little more aging, I think. The rest of the cupboard will go upstairs. I was a little concerned about scale with the tiny stove. Maybe I'm just getting used to it, or maybe having one-inch scale steps helps, but the use of both scales doesn't bother me, at least not so far. I'm not sure what size the elves' worktable will be. If it's one-inch scale, they may need stepstools to reach. But stepstools may be kind of cute. We'll see.

Room Divider

2009-03-04T17:07:00.005-06:00

Nope. This is not a bedframe. The Orchid kit has a wall on the ground floor, but I want a more open, airy feel to the workroom. Without some kind of support, the upper floor sags. Here's my solution. I made this divider out of hollow styrene tubing of various diameters. In the support pole, I inserted bamboo skewers for a little extra stability. The skewers stick out at the bottom a little bit. I'm going to drill holes in the floor and stick the skewers through. With glue at each end of the pole, I think it will hold in place. I left it open, so the elves can hang things on it. I'm not sure how they'll use it, but I could hear them chattering as they watched me.

Now, the question is this: should the divider be parallel to the oven wall or go crosswise near the back? I guess I'd better figure out what else is going in here before I fix it in place.

Electrical Challenge Met! (well, part way)

2009-03-03T15:43:00.008-06:00

Here's a picture of the front of the house with the gables in place. I put them on when I needed a break from electrification.

That's a little step thing from a computer desk. When I'm working inside a house, it's nice to have it elevated a bit so I don't have to lean over.

This is what I needed to take a break from. Some of the light wires needed to be lengthened. I went to the hardware store for solder, but they didn't have the right kind, so I opted for the easy way out and bought a roll of vinyl electrician's tape for about 60 cents.

I cut the wires, nicked the covering about an inch from the end and pulled it off. As I pulled, I twisted the covering, which twisted the little wires together. It's much easier to work with that way than if all of the tiny wires are going every which way. I twisted the new wires to the old and then wrapped the joint in the electrician's tape. It works a bit like the shrink tubes sold by Cir-Kit City and other places.

Five of the ten lights went under the house. You can see the joined wires and where they went under the house. The electrician's tape stuck to the plastic floor very well.

All of the elves and Santa came by for the lighting ceremony. We all clapped when the lights came on! The stars are glued to styrene tubes. The tubes are glued to the wall. The light feeds up from under the house. The stars are meant to hold mirrors in place. They work very nicely here, too. The trees are part of a Christmas floral pick. I put one light on the oven wall. I haven't put a tree under it because it's so close to the stove.

These lights are not bright enough to read by, but they add some sparkle to the scene. Even a little light is better than none!

The battery pack is now hidden under the stairs. The lights for upstairs run through holes drilled along the wall at the top of the stairs. I didn't lengthen them, because I have no idea where they're going yet. I think progress will go much faster now that the lighting problem is solved.

Lighting Challenges

2009-03-02T15:21:00.004-06:00

I want lights in the White Orchid, but I don't want to have to tether it to a cord, so I got some of those battery-operated lights sold in floral departments. They're used to add sparkle to flower arrangements. There are 10 lights, hooked up octopus style to two AA batteries. After thinking about it for a very long time, I finally decided to put the battery pack outside, run five lights for the ground floor under the floor, and pop them up through the floor.

I wasn't sure how the lights would work on the upper floor. I don't even know what lights I want to have up there, in the living quarters. I figured I could run the wires up the backside of the oven wall and worry about the rest later. Today was the day to do it, after I made the pink contractor's foam base.

The top photo shows the battery pack outside. The second photo shows a cover I made to go over the battery pack. The house is in the woods, so the landscaping will be some nice rich earth, pebbles, lichen, shade-loving flowers, etc. After working on all of this for hours, I didn't like it. It was too awkward.

So, I changed my mind and put the battery pack inside!

The downstairs lights will run under the floor and the upstairs lights ... well, the wires will run up that slanted channel, but I'm not sure where they'll go from there. I may run them along the ceiling instead of running them all the way upstairs.

In order to be able to work the little lever on the battery pack to turn the lights on and off, I had to do some surgery on the oven wall. Now the bottom steps and the end of the unit are glued together and can slide out of the way for access to the lever. The entire oven wall will remain unattached, so it can pivot out when the batteries need to be changed, but it won't have to be moved to operate the lights.

I thought this was a good time to stop working. I'm going to have to lengthen the wires on several of the lights before I go any further with this.

An Award Received and Shared

2009-02-27T19:40:00.008-06:00

Tracy Topps of Minis on the Edge generously presented me with a Fabulous Blog award. Thank you, Tracy!

According to the rules that come with the award, I apparently have to list my five top addictions and then pass the award along to five other blog owners who will then have to do the same. Both of these are hard to do! I have more than five addictions; thank goodness I don't have to list all of them! And there are so many wonderful bloggers on line now that it's hard to know where to begin.

First, the addictions, not necessarily in this order:

1. Miniatures -- I love building mini houses and other projects and then decorating them with pieces I've made myself.

2. Historic accuracy in projects that have an historical setting.

3. Chocolate

4. Reading ... novels, non-fiction ... there's always a book beside my bed and another in the "reference room."

5. Travel. My bags are packed -- where are we going this time?

And now for the best part, the awards, also in no particular order but leaning heavily toward works in progress and tutorials:

Karin F.'s Mini Ramblins and Musings This is a newish blog, but holds great promise as she shares her mini musings and shows us how they turn into reality.

Jodi Creager at Creager Studios Go here to find wonderful dolls, tutorials, and a whole pile of great humor!

The MiniMaker at Creating Dollhouse Miniatures I'm sorry I don't have a name to credit for this blog, but go there. You won't be disappointed when you see all of the wonderfully creative and informative video and slide tutorials.

Fluffy Bricks offers a sampling of all kinds of miscellaneous projects, some by the blogger (Living in the Past) and work of many other talented craftspeople that she has collected. It's a great spot for inspiration and tutorials.

Grazhina at Victorian Interiors and More deserves a special award for the exhaustive research she has done in collection information on almost every aspect of life in Victorian times.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Do check out the newest award winners. You won't be disappointed!

Mardi Gras Memories

2009-02-25T10:51:00.006-06:00

Today is the day after Mardi Gras, and I'm still in the mood, so here's a little deviation in theme. In 2007, Hobby Builders Supply's Creatin' Contest called for entrants to use Greenleaf's Travel Trailer kit as a base for imagination. We'd been recently run out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, and the trailer immediately put me in mind of a float.

HBS is here: http://www.miniatures.com/

Greenleaf is here: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/

Even though I was green as green can be working with miniatures, this entry won first place in the contest and a $500 gift certificate. I can't tell you how tickled I was to have won!

I'm sharing a few photos here, but you can see lots more at my blog in the Greenleaf Forum: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/blog/kathieb/index.php?cat=96

The Poseidon float rolls down a street in the French Quarter, pulled by a tractor, the traditional tow vehicle for floats after the mules retired. Beads in the trees, glittery trash on the street, crowds waving and calling, and the riders -- masked by law -- tossing beads and other trinkets.Three sets of lights on board -- one inside the window, a set of "chasing" lights running along the "waves", and fiber optics lighting Poseidon's eyes.

This angle shows most of the detail and the best view of Lloyd's background, most of which was airbrushed. Lloyd is my talented husband. The shuttered windows are painted foamcore with stenciled lines; the 3rd story rises above the top of the background, indicating the building is taller than shown.The curtains in the two largest restaurant windows are real; those on the door and side windows are painted. The "crowds" are cut from cardboard; color was added to the groups facing us. The two groups flanking the boy on the ladder are just black, with beads adding a bit of color and dimension.

"Throw me somethin', Mistah!" ... the excitement of Mardi Gras grabs young and old alike. It's amazing how "real" this looks, just like photos I took at the parades a few of years ago.

The back is a mirror image of the front side of the float. It can't be seen easily, but real floats have riders on both sides, and so does this one. On the right, parts of the balconies, which protrude from the building backdrop.The tree is a branch from our magnolia.

Creole Cottage 10: Lighting & Accessories

2009-02-21T21:47:00.003-06:00

Marie Laveau's cottage required some items not usually found in miniature catalogs. Voodoo dolls, for one. The photo was the inspiration. The dolls in the basket are the ones I made.

Marie's familiar, a boa constrictor, was fashioned from some printed cloth and beads over a pipe cleaner.

The shelf with coat hooks by the front door was made from a laser cut kit. The "cloaks" are bits of cloth stiffened with hairspray so they'll hold their shape.

The carpet bag was made from made from a bit of brocade from a decorator's sample book. One of our Greenleaf Forum friends was kind enough to share some with several of us when we met at the Bishop Show in Chicago a few years ago.

The picture on the wall is Our Lady of Prompt Succor. She is credited with saving New Orleans from dire flooding in years past. She is recognized in nearly every Creole household in the city, even today. The chair and table are Chrysnbom kits.

Here's the cottage tipped onto its face for the installation of the lights. There are six lights mounted on a strip of wood that go up at the ceiling level. They add light so the details can be seen. Marie's cottage had no electricity, and candles weren't an option as this scene is daylight.

The junction splice is attached to a line of tape. Two wires connect the tape to another piece of tape that runs along the wood strip. The lights are connected to the tape. The wires connecting the two pieces of tape are hidden behind the strip of wood that finishes off the edge of the central wall.

Creole Cottage 9: The Altar

2009-02-21T21:11:00.003-06:00

Creating an altar for Marie Laveau's house was a bit of a challenge. I built the shelf unit of basswood and stained it dark. I put some trim with gold in it inside the bottom to add a little light. The small box is from a 1/2" scale kit. It probably has a rosary and cards in it.

The Mary and Joseph figures are "pocket saints" found on line. They're made of metal. I painted them with the aid of a magnifying glass. The pictures were all found on the internet and sized to fit. The cross on the top is a charm with the ring clipped off.

This is a very short post. My apologies. I've been busy baking and cooking for Mardi Gras all day. The house is fragrant with traces of gumbo ingredients and pralines. Tomorrow is King cake baking day.

Creole Cottage 8: Table & Shelves

2009-02-20T07:48:00.004-06:00

Marie Laveau needed shelves for her bottles of herbs and potions. I built them from scraps of wood and trim and painted them. The labels on the jars were from a printie. The coal stove lacks a stovepipe in this photo.

Marie also needed a little worktable. Do you recognize the legs on this table? They were left over from a Greenleaf Orchid, the roof ridge trim bits that weren't used. With the top knob trimmed off and a couple of scraps of wood, they worked perfectly. Marie seems a bit overly pleased, but then she'd been used to a totally empty room, so any addition was for the better!

Creole Cottage 7: Fireplace Screen

2009-02-19T07:21:00.008-06:00

My dear friend and cousin-in-law is a fine Creole lady who would not let me stray from accuracy in this project. She said I needed a proper firescreen in the fireplace. She took her camera to several architectural recycling places in New Orleans and sent me this picture for inspiration.

The rectangular part attaches to the fireplace stone or bricks. The arched part is hinged to open so you can get to the fire.

This is Marie Laveau's firescreen. The round center part is a brass jewelry finding partly painted black. The rectangle, the rope trim around the arch, the flowers and the strip across the bottom are black polyclay. The mesh at the bottom is a bit of a metallic pot scrubber painted black. Once I had an inspiration piece, it all came together.

This is what it looks like in place.

It's amazing how something even as complex as the inspiration piece can be duplicated in miniature if one keeps an open mind about how to pull it together.

The oven wall

2009-02-18T08:00:00.003-06:00

While fiddling with the outside bits, adding windows, etc., the inside has been nagging at me. I finally chopped up a piece of contractor's foam board to make a combo stairway/oven wall. This is the first attempt. About 2 inches near the window will be removed and the corner rounded a bit to make a little closet/nook. An alcove will be cut out for a half-inch scale woodstove. The baker is only 3" tall. I thought a full size stove would have her running up and down a ladder -- dangerous near a hot stove! The foam will be smoothed, Spackled, and gessoed so it will look more like the Sintra walls. The unfinished chair was the fairy godmother's. Since she has moved on, it won't figure in this project.

The little baker is very interested in what's happening. The little stove fits in there just right. The little baker likes the little stove. She says she can turn out all kinds of good Bohemian breads and pastries on it. We used a big emery board to sand down the rough edges. The contractor's foam is an inch thick, so the oven wall is two inches thick. You can see where the two slabs are joined.

I rummaged around in the construction materials bin and found a handful of bricks, enough to brick the back of the stove alcove make steps. The little baker and I had a discussion about how to finish off the steps. We debated between bricks or no bricks, but the bricks won. I told her they weren't glued in place so she'd better be careful how she stepped on them. She was careful, thank goodness.

We put the bricks away and painted the whole thing with gesso. There are some rough patches that need to be smoothed over with wallboard mud (I like to use it instead of Spackle. Personal preference), and the whole thing will get another coat of gesso and the stairstep bricks will be glued on. When the glue dries, we can grout the bricks, do a little aging on them, and slide the whole unit in place. The little baker called in two of her male counterparts to see what progress we've made. The one in the middle found something to get excited about, but I ignored him. The one on the right just wanted to know if the stove will be hooked up in time for supper.

The oven wall looked too new, so a bit of aging was called for. I bought these pastels at Hobby Lobby on sale for about a 10th of their original price. They are nice and soft, good for rubbing in with a fingertip or Q-tip.

The little baker just called me over. She says she needs to have a name. "Little baker" just isn't doing it for her. She's thinking about what she wants to be called. I guess each of the elves deserved a name.

The White Orchid -- the story begins

2009-02-17T08:00:00.004-06:00

Once upon a time, not long ago, Greenleaf Dollhouses produced an exceedingly shy limited version of the popular Orchid dollhouse in a gleaming white styrene plastic instead of wood. I was lucky enough to snag one of the elusive little houses, and it spoke to me almost immediately. The satiny smooth whiteness reminded me of a beautiful white mushroom -- one with a red polka-dot cap!

We've had a red capped mushroom on our Christmas tree for as many years as I can remember. It's a sign of good luck. This is one from our current tree. We have six. :)

Then, not long after the house arrived, I found five little elves in the gift shop at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City. They told me a mushroom house in the Bohemian forest would be just the ticket for them as they hopped into my pocket for the ride home. About that time, a fairy godmother tugged at my sleeve and presented her credentials as an elf wrangler. She was a bit big, I thought, but the elves appeared to be in need of a strong hand, so they joined company to wait for me to get started on their house.

There was a bit of a challenge with scale in this project, as the house and fairy godmother are 1:12 and the elves are closer to 1:24. The fairy godmother was beginning to get a bit restless; I'm not sure she understood the full scope of her responsibilities and was somewhat upset when she found a couple of the elves building a still instead of a toy train layout.

But then I found a Santa in roughly 1:24 scale in a 75%-off Christmas sale bin, and the challenge was met. The fairy godmother has gone to do her fairy godmother thing, although she promises to drop back to visit now and then. Santa won't be living with the elves, but since their workshop is on the ground floor and their living quarters upstairs, he'll be dropping in frequently to keep an eye on their progress -- and mine, too, I think!

Here's a picture of the house in dry fit. I'll tell you more about the building process later, but I want you to see the cuckoo's nest above the porch. The Great Spotted Cuckoo will live there.

Watch for a bend in the road ...

2009-02-16T21:15:00.003-06:00

While I'm happily blogging Marie Laveau's Cottage, I'm busy working on another project, a White Orchid. Since it's more fun telling you about something that's happening right now -- at least for me it is -- I'm going to tell you about the White Orchid as I work on it. On days when the White Orchid is in contemplation mode, I'll share more about Marie's Cottage and other finished projects. So, tomorrow you can look forward to a change of pace.

Creole Cottage 6: The Fountain

2009-02-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

Just a short post today to show you how I made the base for the fountain. It's a piece of packaging, the kind that's usually hard to open and gets thrown away. I don't remember what was in this, but it looked to me to be the perfect shape for a base.

I glued the resin fountain on the base and covered it with a thin layer of wallboard mud (aka joint compound), then used acrylic paint and pastels to age it.

Creole Cottage 5: Landscaping begins

2009-02-15T07:18:00.004-06:00

The front garden an important part of this project, so I built a base from plywood with an edge around it, like a tray, and fitted a piece of contractor's foam into it. I painted the whole thing with black gesso as a base. When it dried, I used paperclay to lay a brick walkway.

The paperclay was painted and aged with pastels and washes, and bits of green "moss" were glued between the bricks. The moss is used by model railroaders in their layouts.

The dirt is dried, used coffee grounds. The white "oyster shells" are crushed eggshells. My family got awfully tired of eating eggs while I worked on this part of the project. Under the house, where it wouldn't be seen easily, I daubed white paint. The fencing is made from pieces of contractor's foam with purchased plastic "wrought iron" fencing.

This is an overhead view of the base with some of the plants and a couple of trees. With the foam base, it was easy to poke the greenery into the ground. I pulled it back out, dipped it in glue, and pushed it back in. You can see the bare spots where the brick pillars from the house go. I decided not to glue the house in place to facilitate moving it.

More plants will be added, but you get the general idea of how the garden grows. :)

Creole Cottage 4: About Marie Laveau and the cottage

2009-02-14T08:00:00.005-06:00

Today we'll take a little break from building so you can meet the owner of the house. I probably should have posted this first, but better late than not at all.

Marie Laveau (1802-1881) is legendary for an unusual combination of spiritual power, beauty, charisma, showmanship, intimidation, and shrewd business sense. She is known for her kindness and charity in nursing yellow fever victims, ministering to condemned prisoners, and her devotion to the Roman Catholic Church as well as her role in the voodoo community in New Orleans. She has always held my interest.

When I saw the Adams, it occurred to me that a combination of two of the kits would make the perfect two-room Creole cottage with only minor bashing.

The cottage in New Orleans’s French Quarter was built by Marie’s grandmother in the late 1700s. It is where Marie was born, reared 15 children, was widowed, and died. The parlor and Marie’s bedroom make up the cottage; kitchen, additional bedrooms, etc., are in separate buildings at the back of the lot. The date is about 1860; the Civil War has not yet begun.

Marie (also known as the Widow Paris) and her daughter, Marie Philoméne Glapion, are at home awaiting a visit from the beautiful Sophia, a free woman of color, who is coming to consult Marie on a matter of the heart. Marie is holding two symbols of her beliefs -- a rosary and a red gris-gris bag filled with herbs and charms.

All three dolls were made and dressed by Gina Gagnon of Lone Wolf Miniature Creations <http://www.lonewolfminiaturecreations.com/>, but I changed out Marie’s original shawl and tignon (head wrap) with fabric that better suited the scene.

Bringing Marie Laveau’s house to life has given me great pleasure. As I researched the details, I came to appreciate her complicated life and the times in which she lived. Although her history in print and on the internet is filled with inaccuracies and myth, an incredibly well researched and recently published book provided solid guidance. A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau by Carolyn Morrow Long (University Press of Florida, 2006).

Creole Cottage 3: Mini craftsmen at work

2009-02-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

The Creole community in New Orleans sported any number of highly skilled craftsmen. I think they'd roll their eyes if they saw how their skills are reproduced in miniature!

Here is a look at how the bousillage was done. In a real house, all of the spaces between the beams would have been filled with soft blobs of mud and Spanish moss and left to dry before an outer coat of plaster was applied. In mini, however, all we need is a glimpse, a place where the plaster has fallen away. All of the space between the beams was filled with wallboard mud (aka joint compound).

In the third photo, you can see the results of the painting and aging process. You can also see the oyster shells beneath the house. Crushed eggshells make a suitable stand-in. Oyster shells are a cheap commodity in New Orleans and were used around and under houses to reduce mud and dust.

The last photo today shows the "brick" pillars that the house stands are. Most houses in New Orleans are raised, both for the cooling effect of air passing beneath the floors in the summer and as a guard against flooding. These pillars are made of 1" square wood dowels painted to look like bricks.

The ceiling in the parlor shows the wood ceiling beams and the wood planking of the attic floor. It is painted Paris green, very typical of the time. The bedroom ceiling has been painted with white gesso. It will have beams added later.