Monday 28th June, 2010

A lovely day for gardening

If it can be done inside, that is. When Peter arrived home from night duty this morning at 7.30 it was 1degC and now at 3pm it has reached 6degC. I'm not keen on going out in it, so my gardening has been strictly the inside kind – and the quarter scale kind too vbg.

Here’s the front of the chapel with the lovely climbing rose up the side and

over the door. It is obviously an abundant bloomer and really looks great against the grey-blue exterior. On the other side is another smaller flowering plant which is also in full bloom.

The cross is up on the roof. It took quite a bit of drilling and cutting with the scalpel blade to make the hole the right size and shape to secure this into the roof. It might be worth considering whether to do this before adding the bell tower to the roof too, and before the shingles go on so more pressure can be put on without worrying about whether or not you are going to spoil the shingles or the scalpel is going to slip and do damage.

For inside the chapel, I made some dear little horseshoe shaped garlands for the end of the pews, with tiny bows made from DMC floss ‘ribbon’ on one side and ends dangling down. They looked great – and when I tried the finished product again on the pews they were gigantic! So out came the wire cutters and pretty drastic pruning took place. They are still really big, but better. I had made a plant stand to go against the wall, and at the moment it has some greenery on it. A vase with an arrangement of greenery, roses and mixed flowers sits beside the lectern. There is a ‘Bible’ on one of the pews.

So for now that’s it – it’s ready to add to the Town Square. And here is a photo of the Town Square so far:

Sunday 27th June 2010

A change of mind

Last night I decided to change the colour of the exterior of the chapel. It is now a pale blue-grey. I liked the other colour but think it will be too close to the colour I will probably use for other shops in the Square.

It was a busy night: the shingles are now painted and attached to the chapel roof, the bell tower and the little roof over the door. The interior of the chapel has been sanded back a bit to reduce the texture somewhat, and the pews and lectern are made.

I changed the pews somewhat too, basing them more on the design of the church in which my grandson was just christened – except that I have made the thick section into a ‘cushioned seat’ and painted them the grey blue that I used in the lightened form for the exterior. I am debating about putting a cushioned back on them as well. Instead of doing the long flat back as instructed, I cut the back short. And instead of putting the cushioned part flush with the rear so that there was a projection at the front (which looked uncomfortable for mini legs to me) I put the projection at the back as a book ledge. Very handy for placing Bibles on, along with hymn books or Order of Service booklets for weddings. Not to mention handbags, cameras etc.


I chose to give the pews and lectern a slightly darker timber finish than the floor, to give a nice warm finish to the chapel. And I’m still debating whether to put ‘beams’ on the ceiling like you see in many old churches.


I don’t know if you picked it up – I certainly didn’t until this morning. But I had marked the raised flooring in the wrong place. I went ahead and glued the floor paper on, then put the raised floor in, and wondered how the pews were going to fit. Checked the photo – oooooooops!!!! – and fortunately could remove the raised floor bit and had sufficient flooring paper to patch over the floor where it was needed. That’s what I get for trying to do just that last little bit before leaving to go out.


We had a lovely family lunch with Peter’s brother, catching up with his family and also with Peter’s sister who was there as well. I came back refreshed and ready to start again on the chapel. I found several different stained glass window designs amongst some files given to me by a generous friend but some were the wrong shape, some printed out too short and some were perfect but when printed out the details were just lost behind the bars on the window frame.

In the end I chose a simple multi-coloured diamond pattern stained glass (left), and a different one for the top section. This is four squares with a smaller diamond pattern set in the middle. So I printed the sheet with these out four times, reducing it by choosing the option of four photos to the page. This resulted in a good size. For one of the interior windows and one of

the exterior windows I used a square with the yellow diamond, and for the two other windows I used ones with a red diamond.

To do the windows I first glued on a piece of very thin plastic then cut it to shape. Then I glued on the piece behind the top section and cut that to shape. Finally I did the lower section, a different part of the design each window.

I glued the bell tower onto the roof. The results were a bit disappointing, because it doesn’t sit properly now the shingles are on the roof. I think it would possibly be better to glue the bell tower on first and then shingle it because it sat perfectly when the roof was plain wood and the shingles would nestle snugly up against the sides of the bell tower.


When the steps were put on the front, there was a gap between them and the wall, obviously because I let the door slip down a bit when I glued it in and now the the jut-out of the step on the doorway is preventing the step from going under it. So I added a bit of timber on each side of the step to fill that space. Occupational health and safety, you know! Can’t have someone catching their mini foot in there and hurting themselves.


All the bases will be painted the same green, to keep some continuity in the series. I have also painted a small (approx 12” square) board the same colour as a temporary base – it is too small for the whole Town Square but gives me something to put the shops on for now. I glued the ‘grass’ to the chapel base except for the pathway, which is the same width as the steps. There’s not much room left for the path between the steps and the edge of the base but what there is, I have done in the same aquarium sand that all the paths will be done with.


Looking at the front of the chapel I thought it appeared rather bare and then I realised: of course - the door peak! There now, doesn’t that look better? And I haven’t put the cross up yet either, because I haven’t quite decided on it’s placement.

So now it is all done except for the flowering vine outside the chapel, and the garlands on the end of the pews. And of course there needs to be some sort of flower arrangement – but that is a special touch which is to come later. I have even done a little ‘Bible’ to be left on one of the pews.

But now it is past midnight and the eyes are somewhat blurry from fatigue so the gardening will have to wait until tomorrow. And so will posting this to the blog, because for some reason my computer won’t accept the latest photos from the camera – I think it’s overtired too vbg.

Thursday 24th June 2010

Town Square #2: Wedding Chapel

On Tuesday the second kit in the ‘Town Square’ series arrived. Unexpectedly it was the Wedding Chapel, which was a nice surprise since it is advertised as being the last in the series. To the left is a scan of the photo of the model, that comes with the instructions. The kit comes complete with wallpaper for the interior, landscaping material and kits for two pews and a lectern. The small items like crosses, raised floor and steps are all packaged separately too, and every small package is clearly labelled. These kits are only little but they have a lot of detail. They don’t go together in five minutes, believe me!  Here are the contents of the kit, with the photo of the finished model of the chapel at the top.

Pretty as the wallpaper is, I have never yet seen a church or chapel that is wallpapered and somehow just cannot get my head around it so I am going to depart from the instructions here and do the inside walls with a more realistic finish. I debated whether to do a stone finish inside and out but in the end settled on a plaster-type for the inside and keep the boarding for the exterior.


This involved a rather different approach to the usual. Since the windows are just glued onto the interior wall I first marked their position and and drew their outline in pencil. I also marked the position of the raised floor. Then I glued the carcass together. Hint here: having done one shop before, don’t be too confident – check the angle at the top of the wall before you glue it on. Don’t ask how I know this vbg!

When the walls were attached to the floor it was time to glue on the siding, or weatherboard as we call it in Australia. I cut out the door and windows as per instructions then trial fitted the door and windows and found that considerable adjustment was required so they would fit properly into the weatherboard. This includes the top part being wider than the lower part. I was using a brand new blade in the scalpel and that made it much easier than I expected it to be. At first I had felt rather intimidated by the curve at the top of the windows but by using very light strokes as the instructions say and carefully following the lines I had drawn I had a base to build on and could gradually work further down and carve the shape I wanted, fitting the window periodically as I went until it was right.

Hmm - the photo really does show up all the imperfections.  It doesn't look too bad in reality vbg.

A hint here – my front siding did overlap the front of the side pieces, even though the instructions say that it would be the opposite. The corner trims cover it all up of course, but if you cut the front a bit short you would have a gap there - not earth shattering but probably a nuisance. 

The corner trim went on, then the roof pieces; and the Lego and masking tape came in handy again to hold that together.

I departed from the instructions again and did the bell tower at this stage, while waiting for the glue to dry on the chapel roof.

Once the basic walls and roof were put together I ‘plastered’ the interior, leaving the marked areas as clear as I could. I did this by adding talcum powder to the paint and after some experimenting settled on a pale creamy colour. After all, we want to have a pretty background for all those wedding dresses and their colourful bridesmaids , and for the flowers that will go in the chapel too. I had considered doing this part before putting the walls up, and it certainly would have been easier if I had done so. Once it was covered I went over with it using a brush in a stabbing motion and getting a textured appearance that I quite like – a bit rougher than I had wanted, but let’s just say it’s rustic lol!


While I had the cream paint out I did the eaves and edges of the roof in cream. Then to carry on the rustic theme I went with my husband’s suggestion and did the outside in terra cotta mixed with a bit of cream to make it lighter. And here’s how it looks so far, first the exterior:

Here’s a shot of the interior. As you can see, I went over the window area a bit in places and will have to scrape some away when it is time to put in the window.

Then it was time to search my resources for some nice stained glass pictures to put behind the windows.  As I said at the beginning, putting these little kits together isn't a five-minute job by far. But they are fun, and very good quality.  Hopefully I'll get it finished on Saturday night.

Tuesday 22nd June, 2010

Town Square #1: Feathers & Fur Pet Shop

The kit  is called 'Pa's Pet Shop' but I've re-named mine 'Feathers &; Fur Pet Shop'.  There's not a lot of room in these tiny buildings but I will try to have a representative of each of the three kinds sold: cats, dogs and birds to start with.  Maybe a guinea pig if I can find one later on but I doubt there'll be room.

The kit contains nice sturdy timber pieces for the carcass, plastic windows and door, wall and floor paper and good quality paper shingles.  There is a small timber base for it to sit on if desired,  some landscaping material for grass, vines and flowers and  pieces for several accessories and a sales counter so although it's not inexpensive I feel it is worth it.

The front wall is papered first, but the side walls are left so that paint doesn't get on them later on.  Good tip Debbie!  Here is the carcass going together:  Lego bricks are sooooo handy for getting those walls at right angles!  These ones are over 30 years old now, having belonged first to my oldest daughter, added to for our second daughter then added to again for Nathan.  And now I've claimed a container full for minis - I always did like playing with Lego vbg.

The siding over the walls went on really easily.  Karen included extra hints with this first kit in the Club, and one of them was that while PVA glue all over the siding would definitely buckle it, if the glue was put around the outside of the edge and the borders of the walls, it would hold well and not buckle.  That's the way I chose to do it and I found it very successful.  It wasn't difficult to match up the line of the siding, by making sure I started from the bottom.  It was more difficult to cut out the windows and door but by taking it gently and doing multiple strokes with the craft knife I got through.

Masking tape is another essential in the toolbox for me, and it held the shorter roof on nicely while the glue dried..  The attic section has two triangles; one reinforces the front wall and the second one can be placed where you want it.  I chose to place it about 1cm back from the rear of the shop.  When the glue had dried it fitted really well into the roof section - all the parts are beautifully cut and everything fits so well together.  The second, longer roof then fitted on neatly.

Here's a photo of the little shop once all the pieces of the carcass were put together, along with a ruler to show the size - it really is tiny!

 Once all was dry it was fun to paint it all with a couple of coats of craft paint, in a nice blue with white trim. Since I tend not to leave things 'pristine' I then went over it with a wash of black paint in water and 'aged' the walls a bit, dabbing over it later with a tissue to make it random and making sure it was slightly heavier where it would be in a real house.

Then the rest of the wallpapering could be done, and the flooring paper put in.   I decided to do the floor of the attic part with some of the flooring paper too.

The roof shingles took longer than I expected to put on but were fun to do.  I had deliberately tried to vary the colour of the shingles a little bit when I was painting them, and to get a bit of a streaky effect for woodgrain.  I also took Debbie's advice and cut some of the shingles a bit shorter and some at different angles to give a bit of a snaggle-tooth appearance.  I didn't do every alternate one like she says, but randomly along the strips.  Then when I was glueing them onto the roof I selected strips that gave varied positions for the snaggle shingles.  I really like the variations in colour and shape that I ended up with.

For the base I marked the position of the shop, and of the doorway.   Then I removed it  drew a 'path' from where the step would be to the front of the base (which isn't very far!) and put glue all over the rest of the base, covered it with the 'grass'.  When it was dry I did the sides as well.  Then I put glue on the path and sprinkled some aquarium sand onto it for crushed gravel, pressing it in firmly with a flat paddlepop stick.  It took me a while to decide whether to use the base at all but in the end I have decided that I will do so, to give a solid footing so speak for the flower boxes and the shrubbery alongside the building.  I will be able to move the buildings independently around whatever square or street I end up using as well, and the grass will blend in nicely with the grass on the square centre.  All the buildings will have the gravel paths to tie them together.

I really enjoyed making the dog bed.  I chopped up a piece of newspaper for the shredded paper and glued it all over the base to make a nice bed for the puppies or kittens that will go in there, and put a silver bowl in there as well for their water. 

In the instructions, Debbie warns that the windows are very delicate.  Believe me - they are!  Just removing them in order to paint them resulted in three of the four having one of the dividing bars break  even though I was very, very gentle.  Fortunately I could pop a tiny dot of glue on them but next time I will cut them off with a craft knife rather than bending them off. 

My efforts to do the blue trim on the door were a dismal failure. I spray painted the door, then tried with a finely pointed toothpick to 'float' the blue into the grooves as instructed.  Disastrous!  So as instructed I allowed it all to dry thoroughly and scraped the overflow off - and it looked even worse.  I bowed to the inevitable and just painted it all white!  But I was pleased with the paw prints, which I did with two sizes of styles dipped into brown paint.

The rack for leashes was fiddly but worked okay and I didn't even lose one of the pegs - I was sure I would lol!  The shelves over the windows will look great once I have something to put on them too.  The counter was fun to do and I thought I'd put a timber top on it rather than doing it all white.  It took about five tries to do the gold keys on the cash register - still not satisfactory but I'll leave them at that and when it was glued on I realised I hadn't put the white square for the price in place!

I did the shop sign to match the new name, and did a sign for the side of the shop as well.  I was in two minds about the name to put on the kennel at the top of the shop sign.  One doggie friend Charlie lives in Western Australia and is as cute and gorgeous as can be, and another doggie friend Zoe lives in Queensland and we send messages to each other via her mummy Jan.  In the end it was eenie-meeny-miney-mo and it came out Zoe, so I put her name on the kennel.  I hope she is pleased but she hasn't said yet. 

Flowering vines in the flower boxes at the front, shrubs at the sides and the exterior is completed. 

Inside I stuck the dog bed level with the window so that passers by could see the critters in it ('how much is that doggy in the window?').  This also gives much-needed storage space underneath so I can put some shelves there or store large items.

So there it is.  I have lots of printies to make up (NOT my favourite thing to do), have ordered some critters to populate the shop, and the first of the Town Square Collection is ready for business!

Friday, 4th June 2010

I can show it at last

I have mentioned several times that I was working on some mini petitpoint, a rug called Boria 1003, done with DMC on 32count silk gauze.  Well, it is finished and our little quiz on Petitpointers is over and I can now show it to you.  I really enjoyed doing this one.  In fact both Pat in Phoenix who was doing the same rug at the same time and I both enjoyed it so much that we were sad when our rugs were finished. 

Not that it was a quick exercise to do this rug.  And that's apart from the fact that it is 9 1/4" x 6 3/4" - the largest rug I have done on silk gauze so far.  It  has 64,687stitches - just as well you only have to do one at a time, isn't it vbg?  Mostly it was because I stopped and started, with long gaps between.  I began in July 2008 while we were on our Queensland holiday, and by 22nd  I had completed the first two pages of charts

After our return I kept stitching and by our Petitpointers' 'Show and Tell' on 10th August  the four pages of charts for the top row were finished and I had made good progress on the next four charts, as you can see in this next photo.

Then other things took over and I didn't touch the rug again until our 7 month long trip in 2009.  Towards the end of that trip I started on the rug again, and by the end of the year was pleased to have worked out where I was in the charts, found the rhythm once more and was going great guns.

 

I showed the rug to Joy, a miniaturist friend I met through the Stay at Home Miniaturist Club and who lives in Renmark, South Australia, when we visited her and her husband on our way through there in January and this is where I was up to at that stage.

When we returned to Sydney again at the end of January this year, I needed to do a whole lot of little projects for our SaHMC birthday swaps, and it was a while before I could get back to do the last little bit to finish the rug off.  Finally it was done - and I found I didn't want to leave it at that.  I added an extra two rows to the border, echoing the brown and beige that is on the inside of the dark green.

So it has been a really enjoyable experience.  Where will I use it?  I have no idea!  Someone told me that I'm what is called a procedural stitcher or something similar - it's the process of stitching that is the pleasure, not necessarily the function of the finished product.  And that seems to hit the nail right on the head! 

The Boria however is such a lovely rug that I'm sure there will be a place for it somewhere!  And here it is, a bigger photo than the one at the top:

Friday, 18th June 2010

I had a lovely surprise today

Sitting here in the armchair in my jamies, doing the Church Bulletin for tomorrow on the laptop and the Courier arrived.  He always seems to catch me in my jamies - probably thinks I live in them vbg!  Today his delivery was totally unexpected - an envelope from my dear friend Jan in Bundaberg, Queensland.  It contained a magazine with an article about Miss Marple's Cottage  - a far more extensive and satisfying version than the little one I have been doing.  And it also had a little container full to the brim of the teeniest, tiniest shells and other beach-type things that I've ever seen in my life!  How thoughtful of her - I appreciate it soooo much!  Give Mummy Jan the biggest 'thank you' lick for me, Zoe!  How lucky am I?!!!

Sadly I haven't had a chance to put them on the sand around the Sea Shanty though.  It's been a matter of tidying up my mess after all the flower-making, and packing for the weekend.  So rather than mess it all up by rushing, I've left it until later.

However I have decided to post photos of where I'm up to at the moment with the Sea Shanty.  First of all, here's a view of the front.  And no, the seagulls on the wharf haven't dropped dead, lol - they are waiting for one of them to have a hole drilled in it's tummy so it can be pinned on a piling as though it is about to fly off (like the one on the roof).  Sounds painful, doesn't it?

I did the pilings at slightly different angles - it started off by accident and then I liked the look and kept them that way.  It sort of adds an appearance of age, yet they are sturdy and solid and don't look as though they will fall down.  Unfortunately as usual the true colour doesn't come out in the photo, but it's all a sort of grey-brown, with dry brushes of different colours in places.

I'm not happy with the sea yet - places need touching up so that the white foam isn't coming down the back of the waves, except for where there is back-flow around the pilings - I'm really happy with that part.

This closeup of the front introduces the ginger cat and you can see the 'Welcome' sign beside

the front door.  I'm glad I did the front porch too - I think it gives a great effect, and I prefer it to just stepping straight down to the wharf.  The tubs with the flowering shrubs in them look good I think, too. And I really like the way the fish sign moves on its chain.  The striped cushion on the bench under the kitchen window isn't sitting down properly in this photo but adds some bright colour to the front too.

Here is a view of the left side, showing a rusty anchor leaning against the side of the Sea Shanty, and  the vine that climbs up the side of the buiilding.  After a lot of thought and some discussion with my friend Richard I decided that there were enough flowers and the vine looked good just as it is. 

At the corner of the building you can see the calico kitten and a watering can.  Those tubs need watering to keep the lovely flowers blooming.

Further below on this left side are two more seagulls on the sand, one sitting and one standing.  I would like to put a larger group here, but the shop only had one packet and that packet only had one sitting and one standing.  I might check later on and see if they have more in.  Also, I would like to see if I can work out how to make tiny little 'birdprints' in the sand too.  A small rowboat is also pulled right up on the sand, safely out of reach of the tide, and I have some oars to add as well but keep forgetting to put them on!

Moving around to the right side, there are piles of lobster traps and a pile of barrels on the wharf.  Two pelicans, Percy and Peter, are perched on the lobster traps, hopeful of some tidbits perhaps? 

Now looking inside, and there's not a lot more that's been done in the bathroom.  It's still waiting for the shelving unit to be completed, bottles and jars added, a bath mat etc. 

In the bedroom I've added a wedding photo and dressing table set from Grace Shaw to the dresser.  More pictures for the walls are somewhere waiting to go up, I have a mat for the floor and there needs to be a perfume bottle on the dresser and somewhere the little clock for the bedside table has disappeared.

Here's a close-up of the top of the stairs.  I cut off the top of the bannisters, sadly, because I didn't like the effect of them crossing over the railings around the top of the stairwell.  I have kept it however and might still use it because I really like it.  I cut the bannisters so that they go in under the trim for the stair well.

Going downstairs now, and the lovely little aga stove is in place.  I bought this from Grace Shaw and it's by Jenny Wren.  I know I've shown it before, but here it is again vbg.  And on the wall is the chalkboard.  I see now I look at the photo that the shelf is on the floor instead of on the wall - isn't it funny how you notice things in the photos?

Next photo pans slightly to the right, showing the corner cupboard in place.  It now has a plant in a pot on top of it, cascading down over the side.

  There are display plates on the shelves and I keep forgetting to order that metal sailing ship ornament that I thought I'd ordered before and hadn't.

And lastly here is the sitting area, with the  pot belly stove, rocking chair and comfy lounge and armchair in place.

  As you can see, downstairs needs more detail as well.  There is a picture on the wall here but more are needed, a mat that I have needs to be reduced to go down in front of the sofa, and probably other little bits as I think of them.

So that is as far as I have gone for now.  I really need to get back and finish off those little details but with the move from the caravan to the house and all the dissarray in my workroom with things not being packed away and organised yet, I have no hope of doing it at the moment. 

Thursday, 17th June 2010

How does your garden grow?

With flower kits and dried flowers and bits of railway landscaping of course vbg.  Actually it's taking less to fill it than I expected and it's getting there quite well.  Still some to go but lookin' good I reckon. I worried whether the dried flowers would mix successfully with the flower kits but it seems to work.  The yellow of the daffodils certainly gives it the 'lift' I was wanting, and some more white will help too.  I've made some 'shrubs' by the front steps by first stretching then rounding  the stretchy vine into a pleasing shape and will try different coloured flowers on them.  And I did the same method for the daisy bush in the right front corner but added daisy flowers I had made up from kits - just put PVA glue on the stems and stuck them through the foliage.  At first I tried it behind the garden bench but it didn't show to advantage so I moved it over

to the right hand side and it looks good there even though you can't see it all that well in the photo.  I like the garden to look good from every angle.

I used a bit more of the dried flower stuff to put more colour at the front of the house on the right side under the window too.  And I made up my daffodil kits.  I was really happy with the results, and when I put the flowers and leaves together I put a blob of glue on some baking paper that I'd taped to a flat surface so it wouldn't move. Then I sprinkled 'soil' over the little blobs of glue, so that patches of white wouldn't show between stems and leaves.  I then poked holes into this mixture and glued stems then leaves into each one.  When all had set and dried I 'planted' some of them in the garden.  I have heaps of them left over, happily, so will be able to use them in another cottage too.  Here are some of the daffs made up ready. 

This next photo shows the first two lots I 'planted'.  They must be the tallest daffs in the world - or perhaps it is a raised garden bed lol!  Anyway, they are very sweet and I am happy that I can buy kits to make up these sweet little flowers.

You can also see the garden seat in the corner.  This was a kit I had and it made up really well.  It's only about an inch or even less in length and it fits perfectly in the space I left for it. 

And Ginger Meggs has taken up residence in the house already.  He is the lovely hand-painted ginger cat I bought from Grace Shaw, and I just love him - he's so well done. Here he is.  He looked right at home just as soon as I put him on the front step.  He's not glued in place yet, because the Welcome mat has to go down first and he hasn't made up his mind where he wants to sit to bask in the sun.  Wonder what he'll make of the naughty squirrels I've also bought from Grace and will also add to the garden?

The pansies also were put together the same way as the daffodils, on small areas of 'dirt' but I had learned my lesson and made the areas much smaller and flatter for them. I have lots of pansies left over too, which is excellent.

Here they are ready to 'plant' but I only needed a very few of them.  I've put them either side of the path - and putting them in I realised that I hadn't allowed any access over the garden to the garden bench lol!  So more stepping stones are in order tomorrow or after we come back from our weekend away to prevent muddy feet I think!

And to finish for now, here is a bird's eye view of the garden so far.  Still more to go, of course, but it's so addictive doing it.  Each step makes such a difference and makes me want to see how it looks when the next thing is added.  But that's how it all goes, isn't it, whether it is a piece of needlework, construction, or decoration?  So satisfying.  And such fun.  And I guess I'll probably have to leave it at this now until Monday.  But we'll see....