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About this blog

Community Members go head to head against the seasoned Team Builders in a miniature show down!

Entries in this blog

Working With Paperclay - an update

I'm afraid there aren't any photos for this update but I wanted to let everyone know why the heck it's taking me so long to finish this up. Every night I work on it... I live with the next day on the kitchen table where I walk by it several dozen times.. and that night I start again trying to fix what I did the night before. This has been going on for about a week. You might be asking what could be so tough? What you messing up every night. Well I may have mentioned I"m not the greatest wit

hydroped

hydroped

Working on the walls

In my last Blog entry I showed the interior of the Orchid I'm working on. I was really getting frustrated with the exterior and a bit ashamed to say that I'm not doing so well with the paperclay. The front seemed to do alright but I thought I was impressing the lines too far through the clay because that's where it was cracking and seperating - easy enough to fill but when I got to one end of the building I thought Aha - I'll be smarter and make much lighter lines, no one will notice it since

hydroped

hydroped

Working Indoors - so to speak

I finally started on the interior. The exterior isn't finished but I felt it was time to get things moving and get on with the inside. The floor still needs to be finished but I got the block up on the inside of the front wall... after I got it up and painted - and patched.. I decided I really didn't like it. I like the block work on the outside ok but when I look at the inside it makes the room look very small. Of course this is a small building but there's no need to make it look even sma

hydroped

hydroped

Windows and Door

I had a slow start on the Orchid. It is kinda hard to get the groove going when you have major heat and then a major thunderstorm going on.... All of the trim is Steamed Milk color. The door panel is Aegean Blue. I am going to use this color as a accent trim color. I have all of the windows done. I stain glassed the top portions in Old world and Ruby Red. I have gotten the rest of the windows done als

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Very pink

Okay, after a very eventfull weekend ( two birthday parties for my 2 year old)I was able to get back to my house. I used the tissue/stucco method to cover the outside of the house. It is very pink. I am hoping the green trim will help tone it down alittle. It is the same pink I used on my daughters Laurel. It looks alot more pink on this little house. It seems to like it though. I ment to add that I used kleenex tissues ( no lotion) and a stencile brush to do the stucco. If you tear

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

UPS came today

The UPS man came today! I went out the back door to go water the veggie garden and I heard the familiar sound of a Big Brown Truck leaving.... I rushed around the yard (navigating the dog droppings) and came up on the front porch..Nothing! :lol: Going inside.. I saw Nat putting the box on the diningroom table.. Isnt she pretty? Of course she came at the worst time. It is hotter than Satan`s backside. Going to sit down in

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Third Day - August 3, 2006

As many of you know my dad (80 years of age) took a bad fall several weeks ago and suffered a head injury. He's still unable to drive (might not be able to drive again), so today I took my mum and dad out to run some errands. I won't be able to work on the house today, because Ray and I also need to run a few errands of our own. The Bear family wasn't very pleased that their house is just sitting there with no workers on site.

Missymew

Missymew

The walls are up

I used some scapbook paper and sealed it with mod podge. I measured carefully and everything seems to have lined up. Next I glued the walls and floors in. I dicovered that the stairs did not fit like I hoped and they ended at the front wall. How is anybody supposed to use them? I will have to come up with something creative for that. I went to put the windows in and dicovered that my window sheet was printed very off center and I won't be able to use it. So i used som

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

The new life of the Fallen Acorn

I am donating the Orchid to this years Toys for Tots drive. I have spruced her up a bit, dug deep in my mini stash. I reinforced all the decorations on the outside so they dont get broken off. I hope it finds a happy home with a little girl out there somewhere.

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

The Green Leaf

I have decided to name the flower shop The Green Leaf. I am going to use new tricks and tips I have learned from other members on this house. So it will be called the Green Leaf in honor of everyone here. :lol: I used the inside of the windows to make a waiscoating. I used two pieces of floor tile to make the floor. I think it has a very earthy look. I had thought of cutting tiles in it but am not sure yet. I used Nutti's tissue technique to

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

The Front Entry construction

I decided not only did I want the entry taller but it also needed windows. I transfered the paper pattern I used previously onto foam core and cut the sections out. I used the same window pattern I used on the front of the house to the side of the entries - slight error in my calculations though and forgot to leave room for a center beam between the two arches. I think I can manage an easy fix for this though as I go along. Now that I had side windows on the entry the front was looking bla

hydroped

hydroped

The Floor is In :)

Well it's about time LOL but I finally got the floor in. I used the dremel to cut the stones then cleaned up the edges with an exacto - I cut the stones freehand just following any "natural" lines that seemed to jump out of the floor pattern and laid the first piece in the house. The tiles I bought were 12" tiles so it wouldn't cover the entire floor but I decided not to piece it flat but instead go for a raised platform at the front of the chapel so I needed a riser. For this I used a piece

hydroped

hydroped

the Bending Jig - Making timbers for the interior

Once I had the pattern for the entry way done I realized I wasn't at all happy with the interior. The Orchid has a great floor plan but now that I'd decided what I was doing with the front the problem was the inside and the outside no longer matched.. what was I going to make of this house after all.. the outside looks like a medieval chappel or a family crypt but the inside looks like a house hmm. So I did what any one would do in my case - pulled out the second floor and decided to pull the

hydroped

hydroped

Studio coming along

I am almost done with the finishing touches of the upstairs studio. I brought the Orchid into the livingroom yesterday (it fits perfectly on tray table) and watched a scary movie called Ginger Snaps with Nat and really got some headway. I put wood flooring using skinny sticks in the lil alcove. That is going to be wear the model can sit and pose. I worked on covering up wallpaper mistakes and put the carpetting down. &

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Stuccoing . . . and lots of it!

Today I had to run around and get some errands done . . . one of which was to get more stucco at Michael's. While there I saw this awesome stone wall outside of a store, so I thought I'd take a picture and use it as inspiration when painting the stone on my house. It has all the right colors! :o This is the left side of the house all stucco'd. This is the front all stucco'd. I also inserted the porch rails. I stuc

MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

stairs

I finallly decided what to do with the stairs. I had seen someone else do this but I can't remember who it was. I cut the risers and made a platform so the stairs angle and are useable. As you can see I also added the chair rail and made some tables. I made all the tables and shelves from punch outs from the kit and a bag of wooden spools. ( except the table in the middle of the second floor.) I need to finish painting them. Some of the pieces looked just like f

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

Some oops and some ahs!

I debated whether or not to share this with you all, but in the end it shows how a bad thing can turn into a good thing. I started off washing the stones in preparation for painting them. I then proceeded to sponge on the three colors I had chosen. Talk about a disaster!! It looks like someone came along and spitballed ju jubes all over the house! Needless to say 'IT HAD TO GO'!! So, I then decided to just paint over the stones. YUCK!!

MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

Shopping Day!

Well, I took the day off today and went to buy supplies at HL. I bought some paperclay and a bunch of minis at 1/2 off! Thanks, Tracy, for the coupon!! I was disappointed though, they didn't have the Paper Perfect that you used. :lol: Then I went to Michael's and found a little lamb (Mary's) and a tabby cat. I bought some stuff called 'Americana Stuccos' that I'm going to use on the outside of the house. Wish me luck!! Well, off I go to paperclay

MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

Shingles, shingles and more shingles

Well I spent ALL day yesterday putting shingles on. I hot glued them on and used an easy cutter to do the cuts. Let me tell yo uow much I love the easy cutter. It did not split any of the shingles. I also added some of the trim and porch. I painted the roof green and it really helped with the pink. I think it looks nice now. Now all that is left is the stairs, chair rail, and front door. Then I can start decorating!

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

Shingles are on

It's been 4 days since I made a blog entry - unfortunately weekends are fraught with distractions however things are progressing. There's a bit of wait time with paperclay waiting for it to dry, filling cracks, waiting for it to dry again, and then painting (or repainting) and I have the bad tendancy to put things together and then remember that I forgot something and have to take it appart again - case in point the small upper octagonal windows.. I forgot to put in panes of glass.. which of cou

hydroped

hydroped

Shakyshaky

[ I sure hope this works. Well opened the box tonight. I love it when a house knows what it wants. :lol: This one wants to be a very pretty flower shop. I started on the trim and the second floor floor. I seperated the pieces into steps. I glanced at the directions. I am more of a picture person and I usually look at the directions only if I have a question about something. ( I don't recommend this for everybody)

Shakyshaky

Shakyshaky

Saturday August 12

I have gotten the flooring down in the gallery space on first floor. I am keeping the flooring and trim pieces nude. I want a blonde tone to the gallery area. I found these pictures at the $1 store. I put them on the ceiling of the gallery. Also keeping the nude theme. I also used one on the wall as a art piece. The studio area on the second floor has a sky wallpaper. I wanted it to be inspirational.. :lol: Of course the

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Roofing Done

I finished the roofing on saturday. It was kinda tedious but I loved the way it looks. I just glued and trimmed lengths of the twine to the house. I let them overlap so I could get a good tension and pull without messing up the glue. I used twine and made a spiral on each side of the gable. I noticed later that they werent even. I dont care at this point..LOL I waited to finish the whole roof before I started to trim. &

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Roofing

I painted the house chocolate brown! Reminds me of a Hershey bar. Mmmmm. I was staring at the roof today and I really didnt want to have to dig out those blasted shingles. Then another click went off in my head. Jute Twine! As I was sitting watching Oprah, I cut off lengths and glued and glued and glued. I glued for about an hour and got one side done. After the glue is completely dry, I

heidiiiii

heidiiiii

Plastering and gluing - more bits n pieces

It would be So nice and helpful if I were to start a house and work from start to finish in a nice neat organized and orderly manner but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon :o Unfortunately my poor ol brain just doesn't think that way so I end up working a little on the front, the inside, the front, the inside, one day stones, the next wood then back to stones. .. So here's my latest escapades with the Orchid I have been racking my brain to come up with an easy way

hydroped

hydroped

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