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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

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

3

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

1

Almost there

The goal was for me to be finished today - at the latest. I've been stumped, confused, frustrated, boggled, puzzled and only changed my mind a half dozen times in the process and can honestly say I've had a Wonderful time building this house! :angry: It's not quite done yet. Actually if I made a list of what has to be done it would seem I'm still only about half there but I think in actuality I'm nearly to the end. I've finally made all the final decisions, my last minute changes are in pr
hydroped

hydroped

2

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

4

More Flooring

I had this fabric sample saved and I am using it for carpeting in the stairwell area and the upstairs studio. It feels nice! :angry: I finally figured out the the dangnabit windows upstairs. They were giving me a facial tic! I must have glued them and taken them apart 10x before I finally got them right! I dont know how much I will get done today. Still a lil sad about the dog. But I will plug away and try to get her done before my deadline. &#
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

1

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

3

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

3

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

1

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

4

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

2

Floors and Windows

Well I know it seems like i"m going in slow motion on this - that's how it feels to me anyway. To be honest this is a sweet little house to build and I should have been finished with it last week if I only knew what I was doing :lol: After much trial and error I finally am getting some progress on the floors, windows and arches. First the arches. I had a lot of trouble getting them to hold the bend - it seems heat really does help a lot! The wood needs to get good and hot and wet t
hydroped

hydroped

2

dormers

I am truly going to Hari Kari (sp?) myself or someone else if I dont figure out how the heck you get the left and right to fit on the dormer front!!!!!! I thought, Cool! I am moving along.. Doing good...start glueing...then they dont fit. I must be not reading the instructions correctly OR I dont know!! LOL Any help people? EDIT: Okay.. Never mind. I need to eat dinner. I switched them around and it fit! Phew! I was getting ready to throw in the towel.
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

0

Downstairs floors

I have finished glueing and sanding the downstairs floors. I am going to Home Depot today to buy a light colored stain for it. I did it a little different and had the floorboards go in different directions. I am satisfied with the result. I have to fill in the gaps and sand some more. My table is an extreme mess. We are TRYING to get the humoungo tv upstairs and alot of the stuff in the livingroom is in the diningroom and
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

0

Day Six - August 9, 2006

Ray and I spent the day putting the windows together and installing them. We've almost completed the interior, except for baseboard, crown mouldings and some window trims. The windows took a while as it was something we'd not done before. The front porch has also been partially connected - we've still got to add the trim. On the exterior this house has lots of gingerbread embellishments which I'm loo
Missymew

Missymew

3

Bad News

I went to get the bucket of stones and guess what? They werent there!!!!! :lol: So I have to brainstorm and get some supplies and figure out what I am going to do to the outside. I have been working on the inside ( no pics, camera batteries are charging) I wallpapered the downstairs and I have almost finished making the flooring for the 1st floor. I fixed that pesky problem with the base piece. It was the humidity. The glue set fine yesterday. Will post pics late
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

0

On the home stretch!

Today I started with painting the stucco. I used a lot of water to water down the paint so that it would flow on nice and easy. I installed the kitchen stairs and baseboards. I created trim for around the bay window (if there was some with the kit . . . my dog ate it! ) and installed baseboards. I want to paint something on the botton of the interior side of the door, just not sure what yet. I also have a tin ceiling I'm going to wash wit
MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

1

Day 5 - August 8, 2006

Ray connected the light fixtures into the tape wiring that he had installed the other day. He found the brads too small to handle, so he used flat thumb tacks to make the connections. Here on the second floor he pushed the thumb tacks into the divider for the first floor. This way the thumb tacks were embedded in this divider wall. I've also added this photo of the light fixtures on the main floor after Ray had run the wires through the cei
Missymew

Missymew

1

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

2

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

1

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

1

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

2

Days 7 and 8

Day 7 ~ Saturday Well, after getting the grass cut and various other chores done, we headed out to the backyard for dollhouse playing! Brian prepared the shingles yesterday, so today he can begin shingling the house. He started on the bay window roof. He started out with the Elmer's bond glue, but the shingles began to warp, so he taped them down . . . and then was perturbed about having to wait for the shingles to dry before he could go on to the next level. I suggeste
MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

2

Day 6 ~ Friday

At this point I've had the house for about two weeks, but have worked on it a total of six days (give or take a few hours :lol: ). Today I did more paperclay and painting and removing wallpaper from under the eaves! This is the left side of the house. This is the front. I also glued all the window trim pieces together and installed this one on the right as the paperclay and stucco are dry (but not painted yet).
MiniMadWoman

MiniMadWoman

0

Electricity

I was having the hardest time getting the juice to flow on this house! It just wouldnt work on the side. So I took it all off and put the splice underneath the house and now it works. Need to go buy more tape wire. I am only going to have two hanging on first floor and a lamp on the second. I hate the base piece!!! It doesnt like me!!! I think it also has to do with the humidity of yesterday. It is cooler and drier
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

0

House Construction

I went to AC Moore to pick up some supplies today. I have finally decided on what this Orchid is going to be. It is going to be The Fallen Acorn Gallery. Downstairs is going to be a Art gallery with paintings, sculptures, and a table in front for a receptionist. Some chairs and lighting. Upstairs is going to be a studio. I think that lil alcove by the window will be perfect for a stage for a model! The main area will have easels, art supplies, and canvas`. I havent deci
heidiiiii

heidiiiii

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