My Order Arrived!

When I got home from most of my running yesterday my order from miniatures.com had gotten here.

 

I put the kick plate and mail slot on the door.  Don't worry about them being crocked.  I fixed that as soon as I saw them in this picture. 

 I still need to find the "safe place" I stashed the door knobs...

Now off to more Guild things.  In case I haven't mentioned it before, I'm the new webmaster (I prefer webmistress)for the Guild.  For the last several weeks I've been coding, photographing (then altering), and debugging the new website.  New in every way since we've never had one before and I'm building it from scratch.  

The point being I've been fairly distracted with it for a while and that's the main issue with me getting to do any fun projects.  Once it goes live towards the end of March (I hope) things will calm down again.

More Interior Touches

I dug out an old Chrysnbon kit a few days ago and put together/painted three pieces for the interior of the Porch scene.  I kept everything plain, plain white because of the busy wallpaper pattern in the room.

 

 The spoon rack/planter needs some ivy spilling out of it, so it's not in place just yet.  A friend of mine is going to loan me her ivy punch tomorrow so I can make some leaves.

 However the clock is in place above the butterfly aviary. 

 And the wall mounted coat rack is hanging on the wall just inside the front door next to what I imagine is the door to the garage.

I was counting birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend, so I don't have much else to show.  I did do some reading on window treatments and I believe I'm going to try my hand at some net curtains for the windows.  They look bare from the outside, but I don't want too much blocking the view of the interior.  Net and lace might be the ticket.  We'll see how that goes.

Who Needs A Plumb Line When You've Got Scissors!

Not me anyway. What I need are more egg cartons.  Happily I have a lead on where I can get a few more (minus the eggs) soon.

 

Castor and Maddie had a bit of a disagreement earlier today.  He decided to "snoop-ervise" while Maddie was evaluating some outdoor minis from my stash.  Apparently she decided he got a bit too close to the items in question. 

 She yelled at him and ran to the door, but all that did was make him more curious.

 Finally he was bored with his findings and he wandered off.

 Maddie decided to move everything further up onto the porch for safe-keeping.  She's trying to coax that little bird into coming inside where it's safe.  I don't think the bird wants to be inside and is more curious as to what Maddie's doing with his house.

 

One of the minis I unearthed over the weekend is this wheelbarrow planter I made years ago.  I don't know if it will stay on the porch or go back into a box for now.  However for the moment I'm going to enjoy it.

 Hopefully I can get the additional egg cartons soon and finish the stonework.  Oh and for anyone who's interested, pop over to Casey's blog and see her tutorial on egg carton stonework.

A Trifecta of Progress

First here's my progress on Rose Cuttings.  I've been slack in taking my usual progress pictures every day.  I figure the actual stitching is more important than a nightly picture.

 

I'll be stitching more on it later.  I'm hoping to get the last leaf and the rosebud finished.  Then I can do more of the background shading and the yellow rose.

Tonight I finished both the interior trims and the faux slate on the Porch.

I also put together the skeleton of some steps that will lead up to the Porch.  Tomorrow I plan on starting to cover them and the base with faux stonework.  The step under the door needs some kind of detail work too.  At some point I need to make a chair to put inside the room.  There will be an order from my favorite mini supplier in the works soon.  My mini lumber yard is fairly depleted and I'll need so sort of porch railing.

Then since I finally found the last bit of my rose fabric for the second valance in Shabby Chic I got the window treatments done and installed.

If you look closely at the second window you'll see one of the signs Katie made for me.  Thanks again, Katie!

The Snowpocalypse is Upon Us

Snow is falling, the wind is howling, trees are cracking, and I'm shocked we still have power.  Last night we got about 5" of accumulated snow over the course of about seven hours.  Today we've had that much again in half that time.  The wind is really violent and there is little visibility.

FH and I have agreed that our usual plan of shoveling as snow falls just isn't going to work this time.  We're staying inside until tomorrow sometime.  He's been home all afternoon, working via the desktop computer.  The plan for tomorrow is the same.

For anyone interested in statistics the current rate of snowfall is approximately 1-3" per hour and the temperature is 22F (-6C) with a wind chill of 6F (-14C).  The wind is blowing at 30 mph.  We can expect anywhere from 13" to 19" of snow before the storm is over.

 While FH is working I've been playing with minis.  I'm laying slate tiles on the porch.  I've never done this before, so I'm not too sure I'm happy with it.  Time will tell though.

I'm using the same method that Casey used for one of her current projects.  Follow the link over to her place if you would like details.  I'm using larger "pieces of slate" though.  Every slate porch I've ever seen has large slate slabs instead of small ones.  Plus it makes the work go a bit faster.

While I'm at it, here's last night's progress on "Rose Cuttings."  I should finish the small rose and the buds tonight.  I might even get back to the stems and leaves.

I'm going to go back to work on the porch.  Hopefully the slate will be finished tonight.  I also need to put up the remaining interior trim.  It's painted and should be dry by now.  Tomorrow I will finish up any final details on slate and then start the stonework along the base.  I should see about making some steps too. 

I hope everyone in this line of storms stays safe and warm!

Progress on Two Fronts

FH and I were preparing for more snow (possibly another 18" by Wednesday) so I didn't get as much done on the Porch as I had planned. However the interior is almost done. I still need to paint the interior door and window trim, install it, and paint/install some baseboard on the window wall. I'm only bothering with those details because their absence could be seen if someone looks in the windows.

As far as the exterior goes, I've put down a coat of grey paint and gathered materials to build a stone and slate porch. I still need to figure out what I want to do for porch railing. I also need to build a set of steps up to the porch and finish the step up to the door.

The other bit of progress is on Aunt Rose's cross stitch. I'm heading back to work on it some more now.

There should be more progress on both pieces while the snow flies during the week.

Painted Plus

With the help of my committee (FH, Brad, Castor) I picked the green.  One coat was put on last night and a second one this morning.  The door is stained with rosewood.  Its frame needs at least one more coat of white though.

I also cut some foam board to see about using it for the interior back and side walls.  I'm honestly not too sure about it, I'd much rather use wood.  But that comes with it's own issues too.  For the moment it's nice to use for placement of interior details.

I'm adding these two doors on the inside to give the illusion of the house being bigger.  The door on the back wall may get centered on the middle window.  Still playing with that one.

I have wall paper picked out but haven't decided about either the inside or outside floors.  Of course I can't do anything with it until I decide what to do about the back wall.

I saved the best for last.  Katie sent me a little something in the mail.  Two adorable signs which I have homes in mind for already.

The cupcake sign belongs in a bakery.  It's too perfect!  The other one will either go into Shabby Chic or the inside of the Porch scene until the Big Dollhouse is finished.  Thanks so much, Katie!  These really made me smile today.

Wednesday's Adventures

Last night FH brought me a present.  Meet Ralph.  Apparently there were no more Rottie dog ornaments left, but he rescued Ralph for me.

We also narrowed down some possible color choices for the siding.  I'm leaning towards the yellow but I still like the blue and green.  The rejected colors have X's through them.

After that hard work I gave up, went upstairs, and made some bread pudding.

It was extra rich with a little bit of cream drizzled on top.

Porch Progress and A New Helper

I braved the cold long enough to use a hand saw in the garage.  It would have taken me longer to unearth the table saw, set it up, use it for the few cuts I needed to make, clean up, and put it away again.  Sometimes low-tech is just easier.

Now I have a base for the porch to set on.  It's big enough to allow me some room on the "inside" of the house to put a few things and still have a nice amount of room for the outside.  The front of the base will be covered with lattice, which will cover up the nail issues nicely.  In case you're wondering, the nails were just a nice way to give the wood glue some more strength.  I was really missing Brad's shop with heat and a nail gun....

As you can see, I have acquired a new helper.  His name is Jake and he used to be a Christmas ornament that I discovered in the clearance section at Hallmark Monday night.  FH wasn't certain he was the correct size until I got him home and proved it with a ruler.  Rottie dogs are (on average) 22"-27" at the withers, which makes Jake just the right size.  I really want to go back and get the other ones I saw since the scale is so perfect.  There was a German Shepard Dog that was the correct size too.  Maddie is really hoping I can bring them home too.  She's quite found of animals but thinks we already have too many mini cats.

Back to the porch. 

The outer walls, windows, and door have been coated in gesso.  The crackle effect on the walls has been covered nicely.  Now I need to decide what color to paint everything.  I'm going to stain the door, but I haven't picked a color yet.  I'm leaning towards rosewood though.  Once that's done I can start experimenting with ways to make the back wall section with what I have on hand.  I will also need to cut a new roof section as the original just is not long enough.

Oh and for anyone who is interested, the original kit is by Real Good Toys and is #1329, the Four Seasons Porch.  I think I'm actually only using the walls and step.  No idea what I'll do with the original roof and base.  They're made of MDF and not really useful for much else.  That's all for today.  I need to go through the paint and stain colors and then get back to Aunt Rose's cross stitch this evening.  More to come!

Whispers from the Work Room

It started as a series of subtle whispers whenever I was in the basement.  Then it morphed into a desire to tackle my work table in the miniature area.

A while back a friend found this front porch kit at a resale shop and gave it to me.

I had contemplated building it into the hutch in the guest bathroom at the old house.  Now we don't have that hutch anymore and I think I'd rather make it actually look like a porch.

I glued the wall pieces together yesterday so I could see how much of the board I will need.  Maddie is posing with the only outdoor furniture I could find.  I wanted to make sure I'd have enough room for things like potted plants, seasonal decorations, and a porch railing. 

Doing it this way means I will also have space to put some furniture, even a Christmas tree, on the inside.

I will need to figure out how I want to create a back wall on the inside or even if I want one.  I could just leave it open. 

The roof does not reach all the way back, which would allow for light to reach the inside.  I'm going to put it on the built-in bookcase upstairs, in the section with the lightbox.  This means light won't be a problem.

I do need to do something about the original paint, which started chipping while the pieces were riding around in the box.

It's hard to tell from the picture but the color is green with crackled white over top.  I really would prefer something else but the kit pieces are made from MDF and not real wood, so I was afraid to sand it.  I think I'm going to try and just paint over everything (and fill cracks) and see what happens.

FH bought me a door and windows for Yule so I'm set there.  I will just need to build the base for the whole thing, figure out the supports, decide on the back wall, then create the porch rails, and some lattice to decorate the front of the base.

Honestly I'm not sure when I'll get the base constructed.  It's really cold outside and so digging out the table saw might not be fun.  I could use a hand saw but I really don't want that much sawdust in the house or the uneven cuts on the plywood.  However my desire to get going on this may force me to become really ingenious.  Maybe I'll enlist FH to hold a vacuum or something and borrow a friend's small skill saw.  We'll see!