I was excited to try out the roof pieces on the Summerhouse,so propped them in place to have a look. While looking at the roof as a whole, I realized that there is no way to hide all the tab slots and have the "seams" line up. I was puzzling about this when I decided to check out images online. So, on most of the roofs the seams lined up, but then there were some that didn't so I guess I am okay. I'm not sure how much the seams will show anyway after I do the verdigris work. Have to go finish
Had another day of randomness! LOL! When I was looking at the pictures of the Neverwas Haul, I noticed that it has copper trim along the roof ridge. At first I was going to order something similar online but then the thrify Yankee in me kicked in and I decided to see what I had kicking around the shop. I've had some plastic wrought iron fencing for years and pulled it out. It looked like one edge would do the trick so I got out my wire cutters to trim away the parts I didn't need. I tried
The laundry pile again beckons. Well, not really beckons, kind of hollers and grabs your ankles until you wash it all! LOL! The Captain's list will have to wait for today. Rose is keeping him company by suggesting they go on a picnic down by the river. So he is mollified for now especially since she promised him some of her famous Lumberjack molasses cookies! She shared the recipe with me and my DH loves them too. So in case you would like some, we'll do something a little different today and I'
Well, big news around the shop today! I went into the shop and the Steampunk Summerhouse was gone!! The steampunk family seemed pretty pleased with themselves, so I started questioning them. I finally found out the truth. Richard, Rebecca and Reginald (the steampunk family) had gotten together with the skellies from the Tilt-a-Whirl of Death carnival ride and had managed to pry open the glad container that held the wheels for the Summerhouse. It took quite a while, but they all managed to
Oh dear, there's been a terrible accident! The Captain fell head over heels for the lovely Marilyn and he literally lost his head! Well, I think he's going to have to take it easy tomorrow and he will have to make a trip to the workshop when we get back home. He was looking forward to that torrid affair too! LOL!
Was getting bored making sticks with rivets! The Summerhouse is looking good, but I wanted to switch it up and do something else today. It still needed a side door and I was going to build one but thought I'd check my scrap box first. I couldn't believe there was a door in there and that it also fit the opening! Looks like it needs some rivets to me! LOL! This is a two part door that is typical of the Greenleaf kits so was wondering how to paint the back piece that would form the panels. I end
The scissor steps have been folded up in a corner waiting for me to figure out a way to mount them to the Summerhouse. I couldn't just glue them on as they wouldn't open all the way that way. What to do! One night as I was falling asleep, the thought came to me to just hang them from hooks....all well and good, but I don't have any hooks small enough I thought. In the morning, I knew I could use pierced earring hooks...they have a small eye on one end and they're not as bendy as eye pins. On
Painted the section of the house that the wood strips will be fastened to. I used Ceramcoat Hippo Gray for the first coat and was real disapointed with the coverage. For the second coat, I used Craftsmart Grey and was much happier with the finished results. Last night, I saw the Captain out on our back deck watching the sunset. He seemed in a pensive mood. He's eager to start on his journey with theSteampunk Summerhouse but doesn't really want to go alone. I know my mom won't part with the Love
Working on painting the wheels today. Black tires, silver rims. Playing the touch-up-the-black, touch-up-the-silver, touch-up-the-black game...I think they're finally done! LOL! Besides, tires are only going to get dirty anyway, right? Some of the pictures of the Neverwas Haul have some color on the "hubcaps" so will be considering that option too. Maybe only two out of the four. Still have a large wagon wheel to paint, then I will be dry brushing those with FolkArt Gunmetal Gray metallic so the
I decided today was the day to try out the copper color on the roof. In my gallery is a how-to on doing a verdigris roof treatment. It's a good thing I wrote it all down as I would have forgotten it all! LOL! Before I did the whole roof, I wanted to try this out on the smaller roof section to see how it was going to look. I started by putting on a coat of Metallic Bronze by Craftsmart. I thought I did a major oopsie for a minute as I was going to glue strips on the roof before painting.
I wanted to create a fender for those front wheels on the Summerhouse. I spent some time looking at fenders online and while my DH and I were out riding around on the weekend, I noticed some fenders on utitlity trailers that I liked. Didn't get a chance until today to try out my plan. First I fiddled around with a paper pattern until I got a shape I thought would work. I had purchased some 1/16 basswood the other day just for this so got out my utility knife and cut the shape out very care
Here it is Memorial Day once more. We have two sons in the military--one of them overseas and we are proud and thankful for our military and what they sacrifice for our freedom to be here with family enjoying their company and having food together. My husband enjoys throwing some meat in the smoker so today it was baby back ribs! His dad and sister joined us and we enjoyed the food and the day together immensely! Now it's time to sit back and relax after the cooking marathon. Captain Morin is ch
Oh my, it's going to be a hot one here today! 80 degrees and only 10:30. Visited DH in his shop this morning and he was busy working on some shelves for someone. I ended up with a whole handful of trimmings: They're not all quite the same thickness, but I figure I could always sand them down after gluing. I was looking at pictures of the Neverwas Haul last night and noticed that part of it has wood siding and is banded in riveted metal...this new bit of cherry trimmings might work well for that
Yes, I am one lucky miniaturist! My DH gifted me with some great scraps and I am making good use of them. Cut them in half lengthwise and think these are going to work perfect! Also did some work on the scissor steps this weekend. So much time spent on a little stick! LOL! There had to be a hole in the center of each one that would fit a head pin so dug out my tiny hand drill and measured and drilled.I started to put the pieces together when I realized I need to cut the pieces for the steps as
Stained all the boards for the Summerhouse exterior this morning. Next I will paint the exterior parts of the house where these pieces will be installed. That way, there will be no light colored parts showing if there happen to be any gaps between the boards. The Captain definitely did not approve of me staining the beautiful cherry a gray color, but he actually hasn't lifted a finger to help on this build....maybe that's why his hands are so soft looking.....
Still mulling over the idea
Well, the loving couple are back at last! The Captain and Rose came rolling in right after lunch. Just in time too. As you remember, the Summerhouse was worked on by our skeleton crew and they are known for taking shortcuts! The Summerhouse was chugging it's way down the street a little noisier and a little slower than when it left. When I asked the skellies about it, they just hopped on their carnival ride and turned it up as fast as they could go. I could have sworn that a couple of them
Have been getting up at 7 the last few days because I was thinking about these steps! After staring at the picture I have, figured I needed a support bar at each end so spent part of the morning painting a stick. LOL! I thought that would be the end of it, but had a few scratch-my-head moments assembling the small top section. Cut a couple of pieces wrong so thankfully had a few extras. Always make a few extra pieces if you attempt building a set of these! Well, drum roll please, here are th
Finished drilling holes in the ends of each step. When I partially assembled the steps and one of the sides, I realized I had to also paint the ends. So I did that and set them aside to dry. I assembled the opposide side of the scissor steps and was feeling pretty proud of myself when I realized that the other side had to be a mirror image of the first! Well, I don't know if I was having a bad day or what but I had a heck of a time wrapping my head around how to put the opposite side togethe
A letter has arrived special delivery! Sounds like the Captain and Rose are having a real good time and are enjoying tooling around in the Summerhouse. Wait 'til they see the steps I'm working on! While they were here, the Captain would pull her up with a little assistance by Reginald bringing up the rear so to speak. I think Rose just likes to make him blush. From now on, Rose can disembark in a more elegant way. Also, no more leaping into the Captain's arms to get down......
Not sure h
Good morning! It was a crazy weekend around here but managed to squeeze in a little time for the scissor steps. The picture I have of them wasn't real clear so I had to fiddle around with all the bits to see if I could get them to work. I used the pin vise to drill more holes in the side pieces and pinned them together temporarily to see if they would fold the way they are supposed to. So far, so good! All I have to do now is finish drilling the holes in the ends of the steps, apply my fake
The light finally came on the other day...."Hey, I have a rotary tool!" So I dumped out the box of attachments and looked for a small drill. Sure enough, there was one just a little bigger than the one in my pin vise. Also made good use of the little vise that's kinda been kicking around for quite awhile. After drilling a few holes on the end of the steps, I lined up the small pieces with pins to see how they fit. I'll have to cut the pins shorter, but I think this is going to work! I'll j
I was searching online and came across a photo of our dear Captain! I'll have to print it and frame it up for Rose, I'm sure she will love it! The Titanic was an unfortunate incident in his career, so I think that's why he prefers more of a "land yacht" right now. I hope he doesn't have any mechanical trouble on the trip, those skellies are not the most reputable of mechanics, you never know what they'll be up to next! They're always trying to get something apart, I'm surprised the steampunk
Hurt my knee a couple of weeks ago and this morning cranked it again...OOWWie! So I am sitting down today giving Rose her makeover. She is alot fussier than I thought......we started with metallic green which I thought looked like satin. Let's just say that was not a popular choice. The next color we tried was a forest green, but that got a no also. So we have a tentative yes on the Sea Glass color. She'll have black trim, a black corset and tiny black dots scattered over the fabric. I've tried
Well, let's finish our latest project! Remember yesterday when I was glueing flat backed crystals to the "sheet metal"? This is what it looks like now after three coats of Gunmetal Gray metallic paint:
The plumbing piece now has 3 coats of Antique Copper metallic and Brass metallic paints: I know what you're thinking, it doesn't match the other one! After a couple of coats of Matte nailpolish, we're good!
So on to the piece of 2x4. After priming it, I coated the wood with a th
Well, ever since the Captain got back from his honeymoon, he has made himself project manager of this whole undertaking. He's started to make lists and I receive my assignment each day. He's a tough taskmaster for sure! LOL! Today's job was to finish up the balcony that I started a few posts ago. His instructions were very clear, he didn't want me to stain the cherry gray, he wanted it in a natural finish. Who was going to maintain that each year to keep it from weathering......you guessed i
