Jump to content

LPCullen

Swap Moderator
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    6,271

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    18

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by LPCullen

  1. LPCullen
    If you'll remember, we last left off at me having to finish the fireplace before I could begin to wallpaper. I got the bricks painted a nice brown.



    And then added a bit of color. I had just spray painted this with clear to seal the acrylic paints, so it's not a good picture. I'll take a better picture later.



    For the kitchen, I'm going with a red. I think it will look really pretty against the white trim. I'll have to wait for this to dry and then cut out the windows and do the other side.


    Now, for the upstairs rooms, and I think I'll start with the bedroom--having already built this house once, I know that regular dollhouse wallpaper will not work--it's not tall enough!



    So, I've raided my stash of real life wallpaper. I've picked a recipient for this house already, who is crazy about pink, but she doesn't know she's getting it. Actually, when I began building the house, it told me exactly what colors it wanted to be and exactly who it wanted to go to.... Anyhow, the bedroom will be this pink wallpaper. What?! Didn't you know it was easier to wallpaper difficult angles doing it upside down?



    I've also begun painting the bricks on the outside fireplace/chimney, which really shows that brick pattern.



    Compliments of LPCullen
  2. LPCullen
    Because this house has double hung windows, cutting the wallpaer at the windows is a bit tricky. You have to trim the wallpaper large enough for the double hung windows to go in, and sometimes the wallpaper doesn't want to come off the wall when you trim on the inside. Like so:


    I've already used a razor blade to cut around this window to where I want the wallpaper to be. So, to remove that paper that didn't come off I take a wet washrag--not dripping but good and wet--and wipe it along the paper so that I get the paper throughly wet. Let it sit for a minute to soak up the water.


    Then I just take my fingernail and scrape off the paper. You may have to re-wet the paper several times to get it all to come loose.


    After you're done getting that excess wallpaper off, then go back over that area with the wet washrag to finish removing any bits of paper and remove the glue that's there.


    Now, the kitchen window was a bit more tricky, because that paper was stuck on that wall good! So, I've cut where I want to remove the excess wallpaper with my razor blade.


    Then I just wet the paper good with the wet washrag, let it sit for a minute to loosen. Then I again just use my fingernail to scrape off the paper. Once the pattern portion of the paper is off, I just continue to wet and scrape, until it's all gone.


    Compliments of LPCullen
  3. LPCullen

    Putting on the Roof

    By LPCullen,

    I've decided to try a new technique with the roof. I have no idea if it will work ...


    I took skewer sticks and placed them on the roof, and then put glue in between the sticks. I then take 1/2 inch strips of paperclay and roll it around the sticks, pressing them down in the center to adhere them to the roof.


    This is what I'm coming up with. What do you all think?


    Compliments of LPCullen
  4. LPCullen

    FINISHED at last!

    By LPCullen,

    I am finally finished with the Orchid! Or the little brick house, LOL, whichever one you want to call it. Although I am pleased with the exterior of this house (the pictures don't show it well but the outside is a very light blue), I am not very thrilled with my wallpapering job. It wasn't my best .... Anyhow, here it is!
  5. LPCullen
    JULY 7, 2007

    Just before Jimmy's death, I was working on the wallpaper in this house, I had done most of the kitchen, all of the livingroom, and was working on the bathroom and the bedroom. Here's where I was at that time.







    JANUARY 20, 2009

    It took a long time to be able to touch this house again, but I started working on it again in January 2009. I had to finish paperclaying the chimney, and begin the brick around the bottom of the house. For those of you who met "Gigi" (the kitten that was roughly one week old when I got her), she has taken a liking to helping me with dollhouses....





    JANUARY 22, 2009

    Continuing to work on the color scheme for this house, I chose to go with pinks and greens. Finished painting the bricks the "main" color on the chimney. Boy was that tough! I've also FINALLY finished my wallpapering in the house, and I'm pretty pleased with it. That gap in the upper pink (bed)room was done by Jimmy (he never could build straight), so I left it alone and didn't try to fix it, since it was his "mark". I've also started installing window casings.










    JANUARY 29, 2009

    I need to go ahead and finish installing the windows--and by the way--I did it wrong the first time. I keep forgetting that when you are working with double hung windows that you MUST put the window pane in BEFORE you attach the window casing to the house. Well, I forgot. Again. Oops. Had to take them back off, LOL! I've also started adding the trim, which is being done in darker shades of pink and green.




    FEBRUARY 22, 2009

    Time to work on getting the staircase installed. I know some people go ahead put that in much earlier than me, but I didn't want it in the way when I was wallpapering, so I've waited until now. I also put the trim around the fireplace and the mantle in.








    MARCH 06, 2009

    I need to go ahead and get that brickwork on the bottom of the house done. I tried to start it earlier, but discovered I wasn't quite ready to do that yet. Because I need to run the brick up to the bottom trim, I've gone ahead and installed it--with Gigi's help of course! And for those of you who think "oh she's so cute!", lemme tell ya, that lil girl is a monster! She is forever taking off with my brushes, my paperclay tools--whatever she can get her lil paws on. She takes things out of my pocketbook, and she puts things in my pocketbook....






    MARCH 25, 2009

    I've got my bricks done on the bottom of the house. I've tried to stay with the pattern on the chimney. I'm really thrilled with how well it went together.... Now I've got to paint it all....






    JULY 09, 2009

    I've got my bricks along the bottom painted, and if you'll look closely, you'll see that, since the house is pink and green, there are also pink and green bricks, LOL! Not many, just a few. I'm also working on installing the porch railing, since I need to have the porch railing on to start the roof. Hey, y'all see my truck on the other side of the street? That's what I had to end up doing to keep the kittens out of it... LOL!








    JULY 13, 2009

    Time to start paperclaying the roof. Got my lines drawn, and doing the "roofing thing". I want to make this look like a slate roof, and I decided to do a pattern in it. So, I'm doing four straight, and four curved. I just cut the tips off the sides to make it curved.




    AUGUST 02, 2009

    Still working on the roof, but I've almost got it done.




    AUGUST 04, 2009

    Yippeeee!!!! DONE paperclaying the roof, including the ridgecap! Now I've got to give it a few days to get good and dry....




    AUGUST 09, 2009

    Been painting on the roof. It has several different colors. I started with a dirty wash, then did a darker wash of dark burnt umber. Then, using a "criss-cross" or "slashing" motion, I'm adding a dark brown, dark gray, light brown, and light gray into it.






    AUGUST 11, 2009

    If you will remember, this house already had a recipient, and I've just discovered that her last day is Friday (she's getting married and moving to Maryland), so I MUST have this house completed by then, but I'm almost finished! I've clear-coated the brickwork on the chimney, bottom and roof. I've started doing touchups. I'm not real happy with that trim along the bays, so I'm going to have to change that. Then I can get my balcony railing and the doors in.








    AUGUST 14, 2009

    Hey everybody! Guess what! I'm finally FINISHED! Except, last night I realized I had started doing the touchups on the white trim in the wrong shade of white so I was up this morn at 4:30a repainting it, LOL! Here's the finished product!


























    Hey, remember I told you this house had a recipient? Well, after having the house on display all day in the office, around 3p I finally handed her the keys and told her it was her house. She looked at the keys...


    and upon discovering it was hers, immediately wrapped her arms around it, LOL!



    Then she decided to go and make a sign for it....

  6. LPCullen
    Hello! My name is Linda, and I am addicted to making bricks out of paperclay. Don't believe me? Just check it out then.

    First, I need to brick the inside of my fireplace chimney, right in here, so I need to roll out some paperclay. Then once I get the paperclay in that area (and I had to first put the chimney onto the house and insert the wooden floor thingy and draw me a line so I wouldn't paperclay over that portion), then I have to "stipple" it, which is just taking a small (1 inch maybe) paint brush which has had the ends cut to "blunt" it up and tapping that on the paperclay. Gives it a very nice texture. Then I begin cutting in my bricks.




    Then I start on the outside of the chimney, putting my paperclay on. I cut a half inch strip of paperclay and wrapped it over the paperclay on the top to make a "cap".




    Somehow on this side, I must have cut the clay too short when I was going around that edge and I've got a little gap there. So, I take a bit of paperclay and roll it, making sort of a string, and then I lay it on there and use that little purple tool to smooth it down into my crack. Crack is all filled up now.




    Now, this is probably one of the ONLY times that I actually go by and actually make a measurement! I'm creating a design on the lower chimney, and to do that I'm using my ruler (this one is metal with a cork back--I like it better than wooden ones), my little gray tool, and my little white tool.



    I'm coming roughly 3/4 inch off each side of the chimney, and I'm beginning a design. I make "cuts" in the clay certain stages up so that I will know where I need to be when cutting in the design. Then I'm going to go about 1/4 inch on the inside of what I have cut and do that again.





    At the top, I want a -- I can't remember the name of it -- but I'm putting in another design. I lay my gray tool on it and begin cutting around the gray tool. I have lines in the center of that once I am done, so I just use the end of my purple tool and smooth that back out.





    And now, what I REALLY use that ruler for--TO CUT BRICKS, LOL!



    My clay was starting to dry on me, so I had to cut fast. Here's the first step of the brick design.



    Now, on the inner part of the design that I made on the lower chimney, I'm going to create a new brick design. I start with two cuts--yes, using a ruler--and then I use that to complete my design on the bricks here.



    TA DA!!! I have finished cutting all my bricks and have cleaned all my mortar lines.




    Now, on to PAINTING BRICKS!!!!


    Compliments of LPCullen
  7. LPCullen

    Putting on the Porch

    By LPCullen,

    My wallpaper is now COMPLETELY done, although I am not real happy with it. It is not one of my better jobs .... As of now I'm leaving the stair case out, because I can't find what I did with some of the stair treads...



    Time to put the porch posts on the house. Because I bricked the house and the little slots are NOT going to fit in there, I cut the slots off the back side of the porch railing. I'm gluing these on with white glue, but I'm also using a little technique that Rik Pierce taught me. I put the white glue on the back of the rails, and a good dab on the bottom, and then I take SuperGlue and put one TINY drop on the bottom ends and two TINY drops on the back of the railing that goes against the house. The point of doing that is to instantly bond the rails to where they need to go and to hold them in place while the white glue dries completely.



    Then comes the front door. I'm not making this to where it will open, and I'm just gluing it in. I still need to put the door knobs on.



    Then comes the upper railing, and I'm still using white glue. Actually, once I've painted something, I almost always use white (Elmers) glue. On the very top of the upper railing only (where it meets the house) I put three TINY drops of Superglue to hold it while it dries.



    I've got a gap on this, probably where there is wood putty on the house so I'm not getting a flush fit. I'll have to run a piece of wood behind it and then I'll have Jimmy run some caulk in it. I'll get him to wait so I can take pictures of what we do to fix that. Not that I know HOW to fix it, LOL, I just have an idea in my head.



    And now we're ready for the roofer! Oh Jimmy! Where are you?!



    Hey Nutti, why is it that every time I pick up a can of blue paint I think of you?

    Compliments of LPCullen
  8. LPCullen

    Finishing the Porch

    By LPCullen,

    I've painted the base coat of the bricks all a nice wash with Brown Iron Oxide.


    And then I went back and added some Dark Burnt Umber, some Hippo Gray, and then I changed it out a bit and added Burnt Sienna instead of Red Iron Oxide. Same results, I think. What do you think? I still need to clear coat the bricks, but it's raining here so I will have to wait for it to stop raining ....


    Now, on to wallpapering ....

    Compliments of LPCullen
  9. LPCullen
    I've decided to build the Vineyard Cottage. It's a very pretty house. I can't decide if I want to put it in the diningroom in Charlotte or the Guestroom here in Maiden, but either way the colors I want to use will work in either room.


    As usual, I have started with staining my floors. I've gone with a darker stain because I want to use bold colors on this house.


    Believe it or not, I actually dry fitted this house to see how things went, which is something I don't usually do.


    Then I started gluing the house together. I still like using wood glue, but I've borrowed a little trick that I picked up from Rik Pierce's classes. I use a bit of superglue on the wood glue to get an instant bond while waiting for the wood glue to dry. And I also used my handy dandy special weights--which is anything that I can lay my hands on, LOL! Oh, BTW, I got reminded the hard way that I need to be sure and let glue dry COMPLETELY before running into the house....


    I went ahead and painted that inner staircase and railing, since I don't want to get paint on my floors. Once that was dry, I glued in that interior wall and the staircase.


    Then I glued the bay side of the house on. I'm amazed at how well this house is going together.


    Now the bay side is all nice and dry, and this is how that looks, along with the front wall.


    Got the back wall glued on too.


    Did a bit of wood putting and glued in the bay window. I had to go ahead and paint where that bay was going because I knew that once the bay was in I wouldn't be able to access it too well.


    Then I installed the front porch and the other porch side.


    And here's where we are tonight.


    I'm thinking about doing siding on the house. Not quite sure. I'm still debating wiring it, and I think I may not do that after all. One thing at a time. Perhaps next house I build I'll wire it.

    What do you think so far?

    ------------------------------------------

    Let's see, where were we? Oh yes, I remember now! We're working on SIDING. Which takes FOREVER!!!!! I started with the side of the house, and I have to do it in sections. I also went ahead and put on the window trim, and then vividly remembered why I hate doing it that way, LOL! Of course, I want it that way, so that's the way it's being done.


    Of course, you have to put on a little bit of siding, and then let it dry, then work on the next section. Don't you just hate it when the siding curls up like that?


    I'm of course using wood glue to put this on. I've discovered that if I put the glue on the siding and then take a brush and evenly distribute the glue on the siding piece, it works a lot better. For me that is. Some of you probably know a better way to do it than I do...


    I know exactly how I want this house to look, and I'm just hoping I can pull it off. I'm also still debating whether or not to wire it. Maybe. We'll see.

    More pix later!




















  10. LPCullen

    Finishing the Roof

    By LPCullen,

    Jimmy has finally gotten the roof all paperclayed, and he came up with his own design for the top of the roof. I'm not real fond of it, but it's his design, and he's the roofer.



    I went ahead and put a dirty wash on the roof.


    Now, for the color of the roof--I couldn't tell you what I did. I mixed red iron oxide, burnt sienna and toffee brown until I came to a shade that I liked.



    Compliments of LPCullen
  11. LPCullen
    Well, since I couldn't ever get to Charlotte to work on the house, I brought the house to Maiden. Jimmy set me up a workspace on the far wall, until I finish polyeurethaning my real life mantel and get it out of the middle of the floor of the shop.

    I did have some helpers come in and chase bugs while I worked, Robbie, Ronnie and Darby.




    I decided since the outside of the fireplace had a design on it, I would create a design for the inside too.



    Uh oh. I guess you all know what it means when a dollhouse goes into the "upside down" position--TIME TO PRIME!!!!


    So, I got the interior of the house primed.


    And was about to start wallpapering the downstairs, and then I realized that I should probably finish the fireplace first and get it painted and sealed so that I don't hurt it with wallpaper paste. Believe it or not, I'm just doing a simple hearth on it.



    Have to let this dry, and then I have to paint it before I can go further.


    Compliments of LPCullen
  12. LPCullen
    As usual, I've started off with staining my floors.


    Then I begin putting the shell together, and this house has some pieces which slide together over one another. This one has to be built in stages, because some of the stages are dependent upon the other, so I have to put walls in and floors in at the same time.


    Then I begin putting in some bays.


    This one piece wants to be difficult and not lay down, so I've glued it and used some "special" weights to hold it down, LOL!


    Continuing with putting the shell together. This house is actually quite easy to build, obviously, since I'm doing it!


    I've got the side bay in and now I'm putting in the front bay. All of this took about 24 hours.


    Jimmy's turn now, and he has to do some wood puttying on the bays. He neglected to put the macro setting on the camera, so it's kinda hard to see. He lets the wood putty dry at least overnight, and then he will sand it smooth.


    Then he started putting the roof on. He left some portions off so that I could wallpaper, but I need it all together because of the angles and needing caulking done for a smooth interior finish.


    Now I'm putting on the back support to the house.


    OK! Time to prime the exterior of the house! I use white semi gloss paint as a primer.


    I've gone ahead and put two coats of polyeurethane on the floors.


    And now I've got my base colors on the house!


    Before I can go any further, I need to go ahead and paperclay the interior of my chimney so that I can get it installed. I'm also still thinking about how I want to do the interior of the fireplace, meaning on the wall inside the house, because I'll need to do that before I begin wallpapering.

    Compliments of LPCullen




















  13. LPCullen
    I pulled out all the shell pieces, and sanded them a bit, including the window openings.





    Jimmy then began putting the shell together (and got mad at me because all the clamps were at the other house too--oops). You have to slide the walls over the floors, and he discovered that sometimes it was easiest to hold the house upright to do that, and sometimes it was easiest to lay the wall almost flat against the floor to get them to slide together.






    He dry fitted it first, to see how it went together, and then pulled them back apart to apply glue. Finally got most of the shell together. He said that it is very important to dry fit this house first (which he usually doesn't do) [put the pieces together without glue] because you have to see first how it goes together before you glue it. Otherwise, you might end up with a mess.





    Compliments of LPCullen
  14. LPCullen

    FINISHED AT LAST!!!!

    By LPCullen,

    The Coventry is now finished, doors are in, etc. Tell me what you think!

    THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE, INCLUDING PORCH AND ROOF



    SIDE OF HOUSE


    BACKSIDE AND UPPER ROOM


    SMALLER ROOM DOWNSTAIRS, KITCHEN?


    BACK SIDE OF HOUSE, OTHER SIDE


    UPPER ROOM ON OTHER BACK SIDE


    LARGE ROOM ON BOTTOM




    Compliments of LPCullen
  15. LPCullen
    Now that my wallpaper is done, it's time to install the interior windows, and I use white glue (Elmers) only when gluing in windows. Of course, I have to use my special handy dandy weights for that ....


    I'm probably going to leave a lot of the outside trim off the house, mostly because I don't think it will go well with the brick. Here's what the outside of the windows are going to look like.



    Compliments of LPCullen
  16. LPCullen

    Working on Wallpaper

    By LPCullen,

    Been working on the wallpaper in the Orchid. It's coming right along.

    I chose this for the livingroom.


    And this for the kitchen.


    And this for the bedroom.


    As most of you know, I like to "lay over" my wallpaper at the edge of the walls in my house. This is how I did that partition in the upper rooms. I had to cut it, lay the top edge over first, and the bottom edge over second.



    Compliments of LPCullen
  17. LPCullen
    These pictures aren't very good, but they are ones that I took to show how I paperclayed the rooms with the bay windows. It was not easy, LOL!

    This is the bay window before paperclay. It's a difficult angle too. Kinda glad I didn't wallpaper it. Almost.


    Got some of the paperclay in.


    Now it's all finished!


    When doing interior trims, I put the trim in first and then paperclayed up to the trim, like around the door frames.


    On the edges of the house, going toward the outside of the house, I used my fingers and sort of "tamped" it down.


    Of course, once I have paperclayed, I always do the "stippling" to texture the paperclay.


    Compliments of LPCullen
  18. LPCullen

    Recap on the Coventry

    By LPCullen,

    Figured I'd give you all a recap on the Coventry, since you may not have yet figured out what we are doing with it.

    I saw this house, and I thought, ADOBE!!! Consulted with son-in-law to get his opinion on whether what was in my head [scary thought, that!] could be transferred to this little house. Plus, I have NO CLUE what adobe should look like! He came over, went over things with me, was astounded at some of my thoughts and plans for how this was going to happen (he's never encountered paperclay before), and helped build part of this house.

    The outside of the house, except for the roofing, is mostly finished. It is all paperclayed, and then painted with a color wash (or I may have done that twice) of Toffee Brown. The floors are stained with Red Oak and then polyeurethaned twice, and the trim work is also stained with Red Oak, as are the ceilings, and then wiped off and allowed to dry naturally without polyeurethane. The interior of the house is paperclayed and left natural, but I have to go back and fix the cracks.... I also need to get pix in the day time, because the true colors are not showing up.

    Here's what it looks like now.










    Compliments of LPCullen
  19. LPCullen

    Jimmy the Roofer

    By LPCullen,

    After having roofed for a while, I decided that I like my old way of roofing better, and I have stuck Jimmy with the job. He began roofing, put on his apron, finished the front, and then had me put in skewers for the back.




    And then had about 1/2 bottle of wild turkey .... But I must say, he's doing a right fine job, even if he is quite funny, LOL!




    Compliments of LPCullen
  20. LPCullen

    Putting on the Porch

    By LPCullen,

    I was so impressed with Tracy's porch, that I've decided to copy it, sort of. So, I had Jimmy go ahead and attach the porch to the house.


    Then I started covering it with paperclay.


    Now, to make my brick patterns. I'm only putting bricks on the outside of the porch, so I have to make some measurements all around and I'm using the little tool that I got from Rik Pierce's class. I make indentions in the clay all around using the smaller end of that tool. I think that's a 5/8 inch measurement, but can't remember.


    And I've got my measurement all around the top of the porch. Time to move on to the step.


    For the corners, I make a line across it and angled, and then I begin cutting in some bricks. I'm using a little yellow tool to cut the bricks.


    I kind of "cut up" the bricks on the edges.


    Once all my bricks are cut in on the top, I take my little white tool (you can use whatever you have on hand) and kind of roll that around the edges of the porch to finish the cut for the bricks.


    And now we're done cutting bricks for the porch. Have to wait for that to dry and then I can do my "dirty wash" on the bricks and begin painting!


    Compliments of LPCullen
  21. LPCullen
    Need to get some of my windows cut out [cut the wallpaper away from the windows] so I can see what I'm doing. Since these windows have some of the "bars" going across the windows which will separate the window panes, I have to cut all around the window frame itself. Believe it or not, I actually like to start on the outside of the window, take my razor blade and using the tip of the razor blade, I cut around the windows where the bars are.





    Then I take my flashlight and shine it on the window from the outside so that I can see what I'm doing on the inside. Because I've already cut around the outside of the windows, I know where to place my razor blade on the inside of the windows.





    It's my goal to cut just around the inside of the window, where some of the wood will show. I take my razor blade, using the tip of it, and just cut around the window frame.





    Once I've cut around the window frame, I get my fingers into the area where I cut from the outside, and gently pull the wallpaper away from the window, and usually starting in an upper corner. If I've got my cuts right, I can keep pulling until I pull the paper off the window.





    If any paper sticks to the window, all you have to do is take a damp washcloth and run it over it, and it will take the paper off of it.

    Next I want to do the area in the foyer and kitchen, where those two wallpapers meet, and where the stairwell comes in. I purposely chose a thin paper for the bottom two floors in those areas, and a thicker vinyl paper for the room above that area. I take the paper on the first floor and run it through the stairwell just a bit. This will be hidden when I put the upper floor's wallpaper in.





    Now I have to let all that dry overnight.

    Compliments of LPCullen
  22. LPCullen

    Finishing the Bricks

    By LPCullen,

    Been working on bricks, painting, etc.

    We left off with painting using dark burnt umber. I finished one side, and this is where I ran out of paint on the front. Gotta mix some more paint, still using the two drops and mixing water into it.



    Once I've finished with the front and get ready to move to the final side using the dark burnt umber, I want to again look at my corners and see what bricks I've painted on the corners with dark burnt umber so that I can continue it to the other side.



    Remember what I told you about not worrying too much if you ran some bricks together (by getting paint in your mortar lines) because you could re-define it later with another color? Well, when I got to the final side with the dark burnt umber color, I found some. The first picture is where I ran the mortar lines together. The second picture is where I painted one of them with dark burnt umber, but the paint is wet in that picture. The third picture here shows it where the paint is dry.



    And we're now finished with the dark burnt umber. See?



    Next, I will be using Hippo Gray, which looks like this:



    I again take two (or three) drops of hippo gray and start mixing in my water with my paint brush to make a wash--also go ahead and get some fresh water in your cup before you start making your color wash with the hippo gray. I'm still staying with the same scheme, meaning I make one gray brick per row on the sides, and two gray bricks on the front per row, but I decrease the amounts of gray bricks when I get into smaller areas, around the windows and at the top of the peaks.



    Oops! I've found some bricks that I ran together, so I've used hippo gray here to re-define those bricks.



    And we're now finished using the hippo gray.



    The next color that I will be using is Red Iron Oxide, which looks like this:



    But, before we get started with the red iron oxide, I want to warn you that red or orange tinted paints tend to overpower/take over very quickly, so you should use them sparingly. I also make the wash more thin than the others.

    One thing I meant to tell you earlier, if you happen to get too much paint on a brick, like this:



    Just take a paper towel and touch it to the brick to soak up the excess paint. Don't wipe it, just touch it to the brick. Very important when using a very strong color. See?



    I will not be using the same theme, meaning painting one brick per row on the sides and two bricks per row on the front with the red iron oxide. Instead, I'll just be basically breaking up the monotony. This is again because this is a strong color. So, just anywhere that I think another color needs to be, I'll paint a brick with the red iron oxide.



    And now we're done with the red iron oxide, and we're DONE painting individual bricks! Yippee!



    I've discovered that acrylic paints tend to rub off if you touch them a lot, so I have a habit of putting a coat of clear coat paint over anything that I paint with acrylic paints. I covered up my windows (where the panes were already installed) and took the house outside to spray it with clear coat.



    This is what I use for clear coat. I usually pick it up at wal-mart, I think. I just spray the outside of the house with one coat, but I make sure that I cover it good. Be careful though, because you don't want it to run.



    Now we're finally finished completely with the bricks.

    So, what if you only want brown bricks, can you just use the brown iron oxide? Yes, you can.

    What if you don't want to use red iron oxide because you don't like red? You don't have to do that either.

    Can you use different colors, including just using different shades of brown? Yes, but I would still paint all of the bricks first with brown iron oxide.

    Can you use funky colors, throw in some pinks and/or purples? Yep (actually I did that on Anna's Emerson Row)! It's your house! Paint them whatever color you want! It really is fun!


    Compliments of LPCullen
  23. LPCullen
    Today Jimmy got to play with the Orchid for a change. He put the one roof section on the front, and then put the two small windows in. Then he wrestled with the big front section of the house, and taped it ALL up, LOL!



    Then he turned the house around so that he could work on something, and I realized that he had not put the bottom support in at the back of the house. Oops. That's something that will need to be bricked, so guess what! We're not done with bricks after all, LOL!



    He will not put the back section of the roof on yet, because I will need to wallpaper the upper rooms before that piece goes on. He will add caulk in to give me smooth lines to wallpaper to, and I'll try and get some pix of that.


    Compliments of LPCullen
  24. LPCullen
    Let's see, where were we now? Ah yes, I remember. Sorry for the delay.

    When we last left off, I had paperclayed around the porch area, and then I did the one bay window beside the porch.



    Today I put the porch railings on, and then I finished paperclaying the exterior of the house. I have to let that dry before I can do anything else to the house, since I've already messed up one area by hitting it on something ...




    BTW, I'm not sure if what I am doing is going to work yet, but I've got a picture in my head of what I want, and hopefully it will come out. I'm still debating about paperclaying the interior of the house, or wallpapering some areas. I haven't decided yet, but because I've already stained the ceilings, I will probably go ahead and paperclay because I'll need the offset of the "plaster" against the ceilings, plus the windows I want will need the plaster too....

    Tomorrow I also have to go take pix of the roof that I want to copy. Another person who will think I am nuts when I knock on their door and ask them if I can take pix of their roof, LOL! Oh well, I'm used to it.

    So, can anyone tell what I am doing yet?

    Compliments of LPCullen
  25. LPCullen

    Playing With Bricks

    By LPCullen,

    Let's see, where were we? Ah yes, painting bricks. I remember now.

    The color that I use for the base color of the bricks is Brown Iron Oxide. Looks like this:



    I now have all the bricks painted brown, see?



    Whaddya mean all bricks are not brown? You mean I'm not finished yet? Nope, I'm not. Gotta add some more colors in. I'm going to use three different colors, Dark Burnt Umber, Hippo Gray, and Red Iron Oxide. I'll start first with the Dark Burnt Umber.



    I'll put two drops on a plate (you can use either paper plates or styrofoam, doesn't matter, whatever's handy), and you only want to start with two drops. I'll then take a cup of water and dip my brush into it and then put the brush into the paint. What I'm doing is thinning out the paint with water to make a "wash".



    And I keep dipping my brush into the water and swirling it around in the paint until I get it really thin. If your paint is too thick, then you end up losing the texture of your bricks that you worked so hard to make, so make sure it's thin.



    When you think you're done add just a bit more water. Then take your brush and tap it on the plate just to check the thickness of your wash and to remove the excess paint off your brush. Add more water if you need to.



    For the sides of the house (and because I'm left handed and drag my hand across things, I have to flip the house the other way and start at the bottom), I'm going to paint one brick on each row with the wash that I have just created. Try to look for bricks that you've run together with the brown paint and paint one of those so that you can "re-define" your brick, if you need to. Just dip the very tip of your brush (I use a soft brush for this) into the paint and start randomly painting bricks.



    And now I've got the bottom of one side of the house painted with the dark burnt umber, see?



    When I get close to the window, because I'm working in a smaller area, I'm going to switch and paint one brick on every other row. Remember, we're still adding two more colors after this one.



    When I get to the part above the window, well that's a really small space, so I'm going to switch to every third row. Don't want to make too many bricks different, because it wouldn't be realistic. Just use your eye as you're painting, and see what looks right to you. If you need to skip more rows, then do that.



    And now I've got one side of the house painted with the dark burnt umber.



    Next I'll be moving to the front of the house, and I'll paint two bricks on each row with dark burnt umber. First though, because you're rounding a corner, look for bricks on the edge that you've painted with dark burnt umber.



    See this one here?



    You'll need to continue with that brick in dark burnt umber so that you stay consistent with your bricks.



    That's all for now. Next we'll move into the painting of the front of the house.

    Compliments of LPCullen
×
×
  • Create New...