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The Canterbury House

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Home Again...

Well, Captain Morin didn't much like traveling in my old make-up case. He couldn't believe I still had that old Samsonite thing from back in the 70's! I insisted as I didn't want his head and body to part ways. He arrived in one piece, well, 2 pieces anyway and we headed straight for the shop. He's a tough old bird, totally resin to the core so I chose some E6000 Industrial strength adhesive for the repair. Be careful to have ventilation when you use this as it is quite fumey. So he is once agai

Oh No!

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!  

Stowaway!

The trip to my mom's was uneventful until I was hanging up my clothes, and who's in my bag but Captain Morin! Since he got back from vacation a few hours early, he decided he'd like to come up to see if there were any new ladies in my mom's dollhouse! So he showed up in his uniform and shared mint juleps with the lady of the house and just was thoroughly enjoying himself. After a tour of the garden, he had tea in the parlor and was shown a good time by all. My mom and I are supposed to go shoppi

Painting Wheels!

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

The Neverwas Haul

Thought it would be fun to add a picture of the inspiration for finishing this build. This little house has been through so much! LOL! It was originally going to be a cute little Victorian house with lots of gingerbread. Then had an idea that it would be a home for Sherlock Holmes. Then a Summer Home for Sherlock Holmes. Then steampunk crept in and we have been all over the place! LOL! It was going to be a steampunk summerhouse, but it didn't seem to want the additions I had worked so hard on; s

Holes drilled, wheels on!

Now that DH drilled the holes I needed, trying out the wheels. I like it! Have decided how to paint them up and will have to do the electrical and inside decorating next. The exterior will be the last thing I do but that will give me some time to think through some other ideas.  

Undercarriage

After trying out the wheels, I realized that the underside of the house is partially visible. I wanted to add some detail but not so much as to detract from the rest of the build. Decided to add some simple axles and paint the whole underside black. In the process, I discovered that the Ceramcoat Black is not as black as FolkArt Licorice. Doing this also used up all of my black craft paint! So it's off to the store today to find some more paint so I can paint the wheels. I can see this build all

Working on the front....

Now that the blocks are in place for the wheels, there was an awkward space under the wheelhouse of the build. So put together a front bumper! All the underparts will now be painted black, perhaps that is today's project. Tried out the bases for the headlights and the brackets under the wheelhouse too. Those won't be able to be applied until the outside brick paper is on so have a little ways to go with that. Decided that since this is a summerhouse, the back door will have to be a screen door,

Wheels!

I've been stalling putting the brick paper on this project. I admit it, stalling. I've been stalling on the electrical too....So, from out of the blue comes the realization that this build reminds me of the Neverwas Haul that I have saved pictures of. Suddenly, lots of new things popped into my head; "I have an old toy compass I could do something with....I need a helm of course....and the Captain could be the miniature of the Titanic captain I picked up at Christmas Tree Shops years ago on clea

Verdigris the whole roof?

Yep, the house is talking again. I haven't even got the tower roof built yet and the house whispers "How about doing the whole roof.....". so now I am up in the middle of the night looking at pictures of copper roofs and how they're constructed. Actually I think it will look awesome! LOL!

Verdigris How to....

Had a go at the roof of the bay window today and thought it came out pretty good. I searched online for different verdigris effects and this is a combination of what I found. Some people like more green, some more turquoise. Have fun and do your own thing! Have more ideas for finishing the rest of the bay so will keep the pics coming.

Tower Roof

Woke up with another idea this morning! Since the bay window on the side will have a copper roof with a verdigris finish, thought this would look good on the tower roof too with the brass porthole. Still have to cut a new piece for the tower. The first one was from a section of the Buttercup but I ended up cutting it for the wrong piece...arghh! But there is another piece there with a round opening, so I will be using that. Then typing paper over the seams and copper and verdigris here I come!

Who would've thunk....

Who would have thought that so many years and life experiences would go by before I was again in my own home working on the Canterbury. It has told me that it definitely wants to be a Steampunk Summerhouse so the adventure has begun. Thanks to encouragement from Deb, I dove into the realm of steampunk and found myself enjoying every minute of it. This afternoon I will start gluing the structure together after detailing parts of it that were easier to work on with the section flat on my bench.

Yet another idea....

October is here! The summer sure flew past and I have not made any progress on my house!! Did buy some foamcore to fiddle with the first floor idea. I think the house wants to be Sherlock Holmes house. I have quite a few things that I've collected for something like that but didn't have a house to put them in. So, by jove, I think I've got it!

June 22, 2009

Not much done on the house--seems like summer is a busy time to try to start something. Thought about egg carton bricks for the siding and egg carton shingles for the roof. The neighbors here all save their egg cartons, but for real eggs! Saw some instructions for making your own egg carton material from TP so will have to keep that in mind. The Canterbury has been eerily quiet, maybe it is mulling over my ideas!

June 29, 2009

Yay! Got the pieces cut for the first floor yesterday and did a dry run with them. My measuring was a little off for a couple of pieces, so when I fix that, I will list the measurements for anyone else who would like to try this. The next decision is where to put the windows and what kind to use. Have a stash of windows back on Cape Cod, maybe my daughter-in-law will mail them to me. Still not sure whether to go with my original inspiration or to give the egg carton brick a try. It sure wil

June 26, 2009

Now have a large piece of plywood to start on the first floor. Have the cut list ready too. DH brought home 1/4 instead of 1/8 so will need a hand with the power tools to cut these. DH uses them for work all day, so will have to grab a saw when I can. It's so hard to wait!

June 20, 2009

Here is the start of the Canterbury House! The pics here show the kit, the dry run assembly and a pic of a dollhouse that I thought I would use as inspiration. Like the idea of shingles for siding on the second floor and would like to use component windows in the whole build. Tossed around the idea of using a roombox for the first floor, but think I am going to build it the exact size of the house for a taller, thinner look--wish I could do that to myself!
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