A Snail's Pace

At least that's what it seems like when glue is drying...

I promise once the contest deadline is over I will post pictures of this stuff. :-) The main walls of the Greenleaf are together. I have a couple minor walls to put in place and then I can start running the electricity. My lights haven't arrived yet, but I can get the tape wire going and tested for now.

I designed and built a set of shelves for the setting. I have some more furniture to design and build yet. I also put together some accessories for the scene.

With the help of FH and Holly's hubby, B, I chose a mode of transportation for the person who lives in the Greenleaf.

Placed an order for some more accessory supplies and viscose for my person's hair. Not sure whether or not I will successfully make a person for the setting before the deadline or not.

I do want to get back to Poe at some point in the near future and I have some other clay work that is begging for attention... the creepy, crawly, dark, and legless kind.

FH is pondering going out to Hunter Safety tomorrow which will leave me to my own mini devices for the day. I will see how much I am able to do with the Greenleaf's requirements before I give up and start playing with clay while more glue dries.

Poe, part 6

Last night I printed out the first 8 stanzas of "The Raven" on beige cardstock, cut it to fit the book, and sprayed the ink-side with varnish. This afternoon I glued it in place.

I'm getting to the point where I will be "waiting on parts," which was frequently heard back in the labs at university. Projects, theses, presentations, and term papers were often delayed by waiting for parts to arrive.

At this point all I have left to do with supplies that are in the house is fashion the illusion of a door, make a small book, and sculpt the raven and bust of Pallas.

I am looking for the right shade of dark purple silk for the curtains and a similar color of micro-velvet to upholster the chair with. I would be happy with enough "violet velvet" to make a pillow for the chair and make the chair itself another color. Any ideas on where to look?

When payday rolls around I will be ordering a portrait (Lenore) and wall sconces for candles. And some crown molding if I cannot find enough in the leftovers.

I will also be experimenting with a scrap of the leather to see what I will use on the front cover to have "The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe" in silver. I don't know if silver leaf will work with the pig leather or not. But I'm going to try. Failing that I will make a stencil and paint it on. I will be decorating the spine similarly.

If anyone noticed the little filigrees in the picture and wondered, I'm thinking of putting some sort of flowery things in them and having them on either side of the portrait, but I am not sure how they will look. It might be too busy if I do that. But I don't want to loose them either. So I tossed them into the book for safe-keeping.

Poe, part 5

While enjoying the simply wonderful weather outside today, I was able to cover the outside of Poe with leather. The leather is a velvet pig suede that I purchased from Tandy Leather. It's extremely thin and not too expensive.

This had to be done in a well ventilated area because the glue that works on leather is a known carcinogen. So outside I went. I most fiddly parts of this undertaking was getting the leather to stay glued to the ends of the "spine." I will be braiding some sinew to look like the bits of binding that oke out from teh ends of a leather-bound book.

The other thing I figured out too late to change things is to not stretch the leather too tightly at the hinge of the book. It will make the cover of the room open when it is standing up. I have an idea on how to fix that. I will let you know what happens.

Poe, part 4

Well I managed to get the ceiling in place. FH suggested last night that I make it look like burning candles let soot stains on the ceiling, so that's what those strangw grey blobs in the back are. I need to get some crown molding and put it up. It just doesn't meet the wall well. The baseboards are in on the two sides where I needed them. Now I get to build the suggestion of the door to go on the right side.
Since the fiddly work on the interior is over I went ahead and glued the fabric hinge onto the front cover and the spine of the book. Once the glue dries I can see about cutting the leather to cover the book and hopefully have it look more "book-like" and less like a box.

FH has about gotten me convinced to abandon the idea of any kind of carpet for the floor. He's appealing to my inner laziness on the issue.

I am searching for purple silk that is the correct color to use as the curtain on the left side. I thought I had a piece that would work, but I was mistaken. I do have a piece of deep red velvet that would serve to cover the wingback chair. But I think I would rather have deep purple or better yet black.

FH found me a lovely portrait of a young woman in a cataloge that might become my "Lenore." We also found some inexpensive wall sconces for the candles.

Poe, part 3 - with added edit at the end

The floor is in and drying. More paint is drying on the ceiling piece and the baseboards.
I remembered I had this carpet in my stash and wondered if it would fit. I like the look of it in the room, but would have to cut it. That doesn't bother me too much, nor does it bother the person who gave it to me.

The problem is I still really want to use this carpet.
But to do that I need to find a print that can handle printing on fabric. *sigh*

Now for the chair debate. I found this chair at miniatures.com. It would be a tight fit and I like the upholstery. I would only have to make a small pillow to set on it so that it fits with the poem.

"This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining,
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!"

Or I can look around and see if I have any wingback chair kits in my stash, which is a possibility though remote. Searching through the kits means I have to wait until FH comes home to make sure I don't fall. Buying a chair means I have to wait until after payday.

*****
FH came home and I was able to find a wingback chair kit in my stash. It's the same as the kit I used to make this chair.
However when I put this one in the Poe box the acrylic would not slide in. It is just a tiny bit to wide. I'm wondering if I upholster it in something other than leather if it will work. I think I'm going to give it a try and see what I can find that will work. [Pillow in picture by Fay Zerbolio. Kit from House of Miniatures.]

Poe, part 2

I wanted the ceiling to be simple, but I didn't want to make it completely plain. The reoccurring problem of size reared it's ugly head again briefly. Only a small fraction of the ceiling exists, so I thought I would try making a design that suggests the room is bigger than the visible scene.

I dug around and found a couple of small angels and a nice filigree and played with positioning for a while. This is what I came up with.

When the glue dried I coated it with gesso. It needs a few more coats, but I think it's a good start towards a faux plaster ceiling.

There's actually a bit of the baseboard showing in the above picture. I primed them with gesso when I started on the ceiling. Depending on how well things go tomorrow I might get the floor, ceiling, and baseboards in place. We'll see.

I didn't get to any of the other non-research projects. But I did do some snake research and have some ideas of what I will be trying next.

Poe, part 1

Well I was finally able to get started on Poe today. Last night I spent re-gluing the walls in place. I had tried using a new glue that didn't work well for structural stability. FH was kind enough to run out and purchase a new bottle of wood glue for me, as I couldn't find the one I knew I had somewhere. Here is the room, sans front cover. I thought having the front cover in place would just be too fiddly to work around for the interior work.
I mentioned before that I found the wallpaper via Jennifer's Printables. She has a wonderful selection of papers that are organized by year used. It's very handy.
Here is a closer view of the paper's pattern. The picture isn't the greatest. The batteries in the camera are starting to fade. I actually ended up gluing the paper in upside down. There was an issue with trying to get the motifs lined up correctly and the only way it would work in the dry-fittings was for me to flip it. I think it still looks alright, but it was kind of irritating.

I made the floor by gluing thin strip wood to some card and staining it dark walnut. I wanted to create a floor that did not look pristine. So I smeared some glue on the wood in a few places before the stain went on. I'm quite happy with the result.

If you recall I mentioned that I wanted a carpet in this room to begin with. My goal is to make that happen in the near future. But I really do like the floor like this. I've pictured a man who is so depressed at loosing his love that he does not keep his rooms in good repair.

I haven't varnished this floor yet. I will probably start that tonight.Next up is the ceiling.