Forget the stain pens!

I've given up waiting for the stain pens.  It seems that Aussie Customs may have them in their clutches or else they've been lost in the post.  Either way they just haven't arrived at home.  Peter packed up all the parcels and envelopes that had arrived and posted them off to me here, and they arrived yesterday - no stain pens were among them.


So a few days ago I mixed some paint to a colour that I thought would go well with the wallpaper supplied and also look good with the Arts and Crafts furniture kits that have already arrived from Susan of sdk miniatures.  It is mainly Burnt Umber, with a bit of Ceramcoat Nutmeg mixed into it.  I did both the floors with this, then gave them a few coats of satin varnish (Jo Sonja) and they look lovely. 

You can see that I've added the foundation pieces to the ground floor.


And this photo shows the 'dry fit' of the house pieces.  They aren't glued together, they are just propped into place.

Dry fit house and porch

I have ummed and aah-ed a lot over the colour for the house.  As you know I wanted the milk coffee colour that the house appears to be in the photos.  So I experimented.  My first effort was too yellow looking and  couldn't really be distinguished from the siding.  The second time I added a bit of black to the mixture but that wasn't right either.  The third effort was too pink.  The next came close and I kept that - in the end I used it for the porch.  But finally I got just what I wanted by using a mixture of Ceramcoat Nutmeg, some Burnt Umber, Ceramcoat Light Ivory and a bit of black and here's a photo of the siding painted, attached to the walls and the walls assembled around the house.  Actually the paint looks a fair bit darker in the photos than it really is.

Left front and side

Before I glued the walls in place I painted the interior sides with white, as I always do.  I have mentioned several times on this blog that I was taught right at the beginning of my mini adventure that doing so makes the colours of the wallpaper more vibrant, and that because it seals the timber it helps the glue to adhere to the wallpaper better without just being absorbed into the wood.


I also cut out the window and door openings before I glued the walls in place.  Obviously that is much easier to do whilst the pieces are flat. They splintered much more than usual, maybe because they were painted before I glued them on this time.  I usually follow directions and paint them after the siding is attached and dry.  I wonder whether the paint stops the surface of the wood from cutting as cleanly?  The part that isn't covered with cladding will be covered with shingles by the way.

Showing right front and side wall

The house was strapped together with painters' blue tape at this stage, and Kylie and I took the boys bowling.  It was their first time at League Bowling and they had a great lesson.  Luke is so cute, he is only 5 and can't bowl the ball with his fingers in the holes yet, so does it two-handed at this stage.  But he still manages to get some strikes.  Cameron is 9, and being left-handed he gets a great natural curve on the ball.  He scored quite well tonight and got a couple of strikes and spares.  The coach even got him to slow down and take his time instead of rushing - I was most impressed by that!  By the time we came home after buying tea on the way, it was time for the boys' bath and bed and their father came home early as a surprise so I came up to the van and unwrapped the house then gave it another coat of paint.


The porch also received a couple of coats of matt varnish - we wouldn't want our mini people to go for a slide on slippery surfaces now, would we? Here it is just sitting in place against the house - not glued.  It doesn't really show in this photo but the porch is just a tiny bit darker than the milk coffee of the house.

Front view, with porch

Because I had come up to the caravan a couple of hours earlier than usual I had more time to work on the house tonight, so I went ahead and did the columns and steps for the porch as well, and also the chimney.  The pieces all fitted together so well, it was a dream to assemble it.

Porch with columns and front steps in place.

Showing back steps going up to porch

After I took these photos I filled the joins with spackle as per the instructions and have left them to dry overnight.  I also sat the verandah roof in place and marked where I want to put the light there, sat the 1st floor in place on the spacers and worked out where I want the ground floor lights to be in the dining and living rooms.  I am going to run them in little channels across the ceiling and down the walls.  No, that wasn't the plan, but I forgot to put them under the floorboards of the first floor and went ahead and did both the floors together.  Again!  


And I was going to have an early night, so how come it is suddenly 12.25am?!!! 


Anyway, I am pleased with today and tonight's progress.   Now I have to give some thought to where I am going to put the switches for the lighting.


What do you think of the colour?