Friday 26th February 2010

1:48 scale Miss Marple’s Cottage

On Thursday when I ordered TeaRose Cottage from Judith Dowden of In Some Small Way, my wonderful (and longsuffering) DH Peter also got me to order my belated birthday present, Miss Marple’s Cottage from Sue Herber. I haven’t heard back from her yet, but hopefully will do so soon. I couldn’t work out how to order direct from her website so emailed her with the request.

On Sue’s site she has lots of photos of her current projects. Here on the left is a front view of Miss Marple’s Cottage, and on the right is a view from the rear. Unfortunately making the photos bigger just makes them blurry so I’m sorry I can’t enlarge them, but do go and have a look at her site – it has lots of lovely kits on it and furniture for them too.

It looks as though there might be a few things for me to display at the Sydney Miniatures Fair in the first weekend in May, if I get all these projects completed! Now that will surprise those who know me well – to have projects completed so promptly lol!

Thursday, 25th February 2010

1:48 scale Tea Rose Cottage

Yes, another project! What a great day for ordering today is: first I ordered TeaRose Cottage from Judith Dowden of In Some Small Way, in the UK. Who wouldn’t fall in love with this beauty? Here is the photo from the site:

Can’t get more traditional and English than this, can you? It’s so sweet. The cat isn’t included in the kit, nor is the birdbath but everything else is. I also ordered a length of hedging to go around it instead of a fence this time.


So I am looking forward to receiving this parcel – it is already on its way! It is the last kit Judith has in stock, and I was relieved that she still had it after I have been off the air for so long.


And the second thing? Well, Peter also got me to order my belated birthday present! It’s Miss Marple’s Cottage from Sue Herber. I haven’t heard back from her yet, but keep watching this space.......................

Monday 22nd February 2010

......and here it is

...with the furniture.  All I had time to do today was to take a photo with it all sitting in the box, and to cut a piece of clear plastic from a piece of packagine to go in the front of the frame.  Pam suggests Perspex but I don't have any of that and this is even thinner so it will do the trick for now.

Photo 1 shows the box with the fireplace glued in position.  Doesn't it look great?  I love the stone effect.  And the curved wall shows up well too. 

This next photo has the chairs in place.  I've positioned them looking out into the room.  The 'occupants' will still feel nice and cosy from the fire, but will be able to be sociable too.  And if they are cold they can always turn their chairs just a little bit vbg.

And here it is with the (rather naked) dresser, table and benches in place as well.  Now I need to wait for the decals to arrive so I can finish decorating them.  I have the dishes to go in the dresser and will add the decals to them also, and will put the rugs in when I glue the bits in place.  They are not glued in at the moment.

And finally here are some views of the box sitting behind the frame. Not properly in the frame - it was, but as I was putting the furniture in it came out again. And because the furniture isn't glued in place I didn't bother to push the box back in and have to put everything back in place. First is a close-up of the upper floor in the frame,

And next is a close-up of the ground floor in the frame.  What a cozy home the Rabbit family have!

I am really looking forward to doing those last little finishing touches that will make it really special.  I am really happy with it so far - thank you Pam for a great project! 

Sunday 21stFebruary 2010

It’s Done!!!

Busy day again, but it’s amazing how much can be done in little steps. In between lots of other things I have finished it!

The first thing I did this morning was to put the tree in the roombox. It needed just a couple of dabs of glue to hold the roots down, they tended to sit up a little bit. But a bit of gentle persuasion with a clamp for a few minutes and they are fine. I did try it in the frame to make sure it still fitted, and it did so that is very reassuring.

This afternoon after the day’s work and running around was completed I took the opportunity to do the path. The result was a bit too wide, so it took a bit of time to remove some of the material until it looked more in proportion.

It doesn’t take long for the glue to dry in this hot weather (34° again today) in spite of the fact that I have the airconditioning on in the caravan. So the grass was the next bit to add over the base, and that didn’t take long to dry either. I put some in the middle of the path in a few places, and being so fine some pieces went on the ‘dirt’ anyway.

Then the tufts of grass were randomly placed around the area, which was fun. And I always enjoy putting vines on things and tend to go overboard, so it is a good thing I had a limited amount of material for that vbg. There were dried flowers included too, to put in as the finishing touches.

It was only when I took out the tufts that I found a piece of what I assume to be the segment of cedar rose that Pam mentions. I hadn’t realised that it was in the kit, and had stuck on a piece of ordinary rose stem. But I was able to remove that and added the segment supplied over the doorway. I’ve made the overhang piece longer than Pam made hers, because I made it to go over the piece of curved rose stem, but that’s okay. In the words of my patchwork teacher, it’s an individual design feature vbg.

And so it is done – or at least almost done - and I am really thrilled with it. In the photo the glue is still showing through because I didn’t want to wait until it was dry. It won’t take long to glue the door knob and the fireplace in position, and I can sit the furniture in the box until I get the decals and finish off the things for the dresser.

Saturday 20th February 2010

Yes! The tree is painted

Down to reality with a bump lol! Our little (3 yr old) grandson Luke came to the caravan this morning to talk to me while I was doing something over there, spied the tree trunk and picked it up exclaiming with great glee ‘Look, poo!’. I had to admit he had a point vbg – having just the one colour paint on it means that it didn’t have any depth to it at that stage. But tonight I gave it a wash with a medium brown paint and touches of medium dark brown, and that improved things quite a bit. And when that had dried I dry-brushed it again with the lighter colour to highlight the raised parts. I’ll see in the morning how it looks now, but it seems pretty good at the moment.

Once that was all dry and I had glued the door in place I was so eager to see what it looked like that I put it into place fogetting to take a photo. It was really hard to get it out again and one of the roots broke off in the process, as well as the door coming off. So I glued them back on and took the photo then left it all out to dry overnight. That will teach me to be so impatient. Or probably not lol!

Now I really feel that the end is in sight. Once the tree is finished I can do the landscaping and that’s basically it apart from some of the bits such as decals that I’ll have to wait for to finish off the furniture. I do have some other little homey touches ready to put in, and I will go looking for some pictures to reduce for the walls.

Friday 19th February 2010

What a day

...it began with being at the Doctor’s surgery by 7am. He had no appointments available and it was a case of sit and wait. I was fortunate, and only had to wait for an hour. David squeezed me in, between two appointments, and wrote the prescriptions I needed. Then we waited for the newsagent to open at 8.15, so I could make inquiries about some miniature magazines that were supposed to be ordered for me. I have been buying them from there for several years now, but while I was away my nephew didn’t pick them up regularly and the order was cancelled. The new owners weren’t aware of the fact that I even had the standing order.


After that we had a scone and drink each while we waited for the pharmacy to open at 9am. Yummy – jam and cream of course. We filled the prescriptions then had Peter’s phone checked at Telstra. He needs a new one but we still have a few months of our contract to go. Great,  So he will change the SIM card to another phone until we can upgrade. And we set off for the Optometrist – I had an appointment for an eye test. That was done, and new glasses chosen; ordinary multifocals as well as some for close work.  My new embroidery glasses are three degrees stronger than my old ones. No wonder things look blurry at the moment vbg. So in in a week and a half or two weeks I pick up my new multi-focals and new handwork specs. It will take a bit to get used to the new look, I must say. I’m not sure of them at all, but the sales girl was enthusiastic and more importantly so was Peter.


There was just time after that to make my hair appointment at Plumpton, another shopping centre nearer to home, and about 10 minutes drive away. Ten minutes drive and ten minutes to find a parking spot. It sure felt better to have all that hair cut off after the last haircut which was very welcome but not a very good haircut! As I have said in my other blog, the bright spots about coming home from our trip (apart from family and friends) are having my own doctor, my own chiropractor and my own hairdresser. And of course being able to do my minis again lol!

Peter was doing the grocery shopping while I was at the hairdresser’s. He likes it when I don’t shop with him – he says I spend too much money. Suits me! We dropped the groceries off at my brother’s house then set off for St Mary’s, about 15 minutes away to buy some clothes. First I called in to a Hobby shop in the main street to see if they had Ceramacoat paint. They had never heard of it and I won’t be able to buy it over the intnet because paint comes under the ‘Dangerous Goods’ classification which makes it very expensive indeed to import. So I guess I use my own interpretation of the colours and use ordinary craft paint.


It was lunch time so we had that, then we found a lovely outfit for me right off, but they didn’t have the top part in my size. I was disappointed but fortunately the saleslady knew that there was one at another store in Penrith, which was where we were headed next anyway. So we bought the skirt part and set off for Penrith, 10 minutes further on. With the top safely acquired, we visited Kooring, a Christian bookshop also in Penrith, to buy some books to keep the boys occupied during the church service tomorrow. A couple of Bible story sticker books and a couple reading books, as well as a book with several puzzles and another colouring book and we felt we had enough for a start at least. Then it was time to go back to St Mary’s to pick Nathan up at 3pm from work. Whew!


On the way home from picking Nathan up we completed the circle, going back to the first place of the morning to buy some new clothes for Peter. All our good clothes are packed away in the storage container so it is the perfect excuse for new ones vbg! Peter didn’t buy a new suit, but some very nice new trousers, shirt, tie, belt and even socks. Nathan missed out because we did have his good clothes with us. 


We were back home at 4.45, just in time to meet Kylie and the boys. They were so excited to be here, and quite happy to stay the night. I was surprised that Luke didn’t change his mind after his mother left but my brother Terry played with them, they spent time with Nathan on the X-box and our nephew Mark even came around from our place to spend time with them too. Terry is tickled pink that he is a Great Uncle; he thinks that’s much better than just being an uncle lol! And he is a great uncle too. He dotes on our girls and Nathan, and now on our grandchildren too. They ate their tea without fuss (unusual), had a bath, then we put them to bed with the little portable DVD player and Luke was asleep in no time at all. Cameron followed very soon after. So we will see how it goes overnight vbg.

So why am I rabbiting on about all this? Because I am very pleased that in spite of all this I still  managed to paint the tree! The first colour anyway. Not just the first coat, it has had several ‘touch ups’ because I keep finding that there are tiny little holes that haven’t covered. For the first coat I have chosen a light caramel/ tan colour. So with luck I might even get the second wash of medium brown on tomorrow night after the boys are in bed. Then it will be dry in time to landscape after they all go home on Sunday. All together a most satisfactory day vbg.

Thursday 18th February 2010

Really looking forward to painting the tree trunk. I could have pushed things today and done it but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and left it to enjoy another 24hours’ sunlight and opportunity to dry a bit more thoroughly.

And today was another day of trying new things. I finally braved the challenge of using Shellac for the first time. I was able to use some methylated spirit that my brother had in his garage – handy things, brothers. Fortunately I had been able to retrieve my Shellac flakes from home so had them on hand.

It wasn’t at all difficult to use and I love the results. It’s a lovely thin coat which being metho-based dries really quickly. Perfect for miniatures. So all of the furniture kits have been given two coats of Shellac, the ‘beams’ for the ceiling, the mantle and hearth for the fireplace have been done as well.

After the mantle and the hearth were dry I glued it all together so the fireplace is finished now and ready to go in place.

Note to self: when you ask for help cutting the beams for the ceiling to the correct length (because my back was too sore to be able to use that pressure) – do not ask someone who has just worked two 10-hour night duties to help or you’ll end up with them being the wrong length. Never mind. I’m more conscious of other faults with them than with that ;-) But at least they are glued in and look fine. .

Sadly, I rather doubt I’ll get a chance to paint the tree trunk until Sunday evening. I have to be at an appointment by 7am tomorrow, and then it is full on all day, culminating in the arrival of Cameron and Luke for us to babysit on Friday night. Kylie will come down on Saturday afternoon and they’ll all stay until Sunday afternoon. We love having them close enough to visit – sure beats a 14 hour drive to Toowoomba!

Getting there now!

Wednesday 17th February 2010

Tackling new media

Doing the tree trunk in paperclay has been a daunting prospect for me – I’ve never used it before and although I had Pam’s instructions and photos, I really was nervous.

But today was the day. And I found the paperclay really nice to work with. In fact I was quite pleased with the result. As it dried though I found a lot of the grooves I’d marked in it seemed to disappear, especially over the doorway and on the right side where it was a bit drier when I marked them into the clay. So that’s a lesson learned.  I’ve left it to dry all afternoon; I expect it to take a couple of days to dry thoroughly but have no real idea how long. It’s quite warm even at this time of year, and the rain has stopped so it might not take as long as I think.  I made the door further in than Pam did on hers – I wanted the door to be a little inset.

I’ve also made a ‘hearth’ for the fireplace out of thin timber. It’s stained to match the mantle, then black is added to the middle section where the fire would have left sooty marks.

Painting the furniture is very fiddly and the paint tends to be patchy. Trying to put a blue wash over the white didn’t work out very well at all so I ended up painting all the pieces with light grey-blue. It’s a bit better but not as good as I’d have liked.

The wallpaper is sweet; it really finishes off the room nicely. I like the way it curves around and makes the room look rounded, as it would be inside a tree trunk. the pieces of wall that go across the corner are straight and yet the effect is pleasingly curved.

Tonight of course I had to try out the furniture and fireplace just to see how it looked – how exciting to be at that stage vbg!

Now to consider some finishing touches. Things to go on the dresser of course; something for the table and for the walls too. Pam supplies some pretty little mats for the floor, so that is a nice touch already. I have some white metal dishes so they need to be painted and decorated ready to go on the dresser.

And it’s my ambition to source a Peter Rabbit and Mrs Rabbit to go in the box too.

Tuesday 16th February 2010

Have to do that shopping!

After getting so much done yesterday there wasn’t a lot happening today, which is often the way it goes. Not a lot of the door part needed to be trimmed to fit it to the back of the roombox – about 1/8th” all round. It’s a perfect fit. After gluing it in place I just put a couple of containers on to weight it a bit and let it dry, then this afternoon when I came home from my back treatment I gave another coat of  paint to the inside of the rear wall.

And I’ve just realised that I can’t do the wallpapering tonight because I don’t have any wallpaper paste and Peter is working a night duty tonight and it’s too late for him to go to the hardware shop for some. And after my treatment I’m not really in good shape to be driving tonight either. Grrrrr. I find that I tend to swivel my head too quickly and put my neck out again if I drive within 24 hours after a treatment.

Monday 15th February 2010

Finally making progress!

This housework business sure gets in the way of important things like minis! But I did get a lot done today anyway. I cadged my teaspoon full of grouting from my brother, and used some of it to grout the stones on the fireplace. Looks great.

The back of the photo frame is removed as per Step 1 - I finally worked out what the instructions meant, having had the wrong idea before. I thought they meant to remove just the easel bit, not the back door section as well. And then of course I couldn’t work out what would be the back of the roombox or where the easel part would be attached. More than just a little bit dense! So I took it out and had another look at it today and the penny finally dropped. Took a while vbg! Then I painted the raw inside of the back with white paint rather than leave it raw so that it will seal it and give a nice white background under the wallpaper on the ground floor.

I’ve covered the outside of the box with fabric (Step 3). I had made the box such a tight fit in the frame that I couldn’t take the fabric all the way to the front, but it doesn’t show when the box is in place. I have taken it just to the point where the box enters the inner frame.

And the upper part of the inside is done with light sky blue paint (Step7) which I dabbed on rather than painted. Then I did a wash over it then dabbed it a bit more. This should have been done after the back door section and easel was re-attached but it won’t show because the tree covers it at the top and the back was still drying when I did the sky in the box. Impatient – who, me? What do you mean?

One side of the square piece of foamcore is stippled with white paint (Step 6), ready to form the ceiling of the ground floor/ground of the upper part.

And I’ve done the mantle and the ceiling beams with a wash of light brown paint (Step 7).

The front door looks pretty nice in its first coat of light grey-blue paint (Step 8) and the furniture is looking pretty spick too with a couple of thin coats of white paint on them (Step 12).

So it turned out that I did get a lot done, in between loads of washing, even though I was pretty tired after quite a big day of housework. I’m feeling quite chuffed.


As you can see, I don’t necessarily do things strictly in order. If white paint is required for several things, I try to do them at the same time if it’s convenient to do so. If I’m doing the rafters and the mantle with the same wash I do them together, and so on. So I’m somewhat all over the place – while something dries I’m preparing another step if I can.


And now I’m really excited about this project and feel it’s really starting to move.

I have no hope of finding where my little 1:48scale transfers (decals) are that I want to add to the furniture, so must remember to order some more as soon as I have the Internet again. Apparently I have to have a new mobile device, so am waiting for that to arrive.