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tennyson


ilovecats

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Do you brew a cup then dip the sponge in the liquid?
Or use a cotton ball, or brew a potful & pour it in a shallow pan & dip your paper & let it dry & then apply it (for future reference).

india ink, where does one find this?

This is a black lettering ink, the big craft shops like Michael's carry it with art suppies (in the calligraphy section, usually). The isopropyl alcohol is a diluent. Start with a jar full of alcohol and add several drops of ink & experiment on scrap wood, adding ink with the dropper in the bottle cap until you get the results you like. It usually takes me several applications. The alcohol dries quickly, so you can usually see your results in a matter of hours instead of days.

even use a small steelbrush and scrape here and there
Oh, I like that, and then you can "sponge" on your tea (or black coffee, if you want it really grungy).

I will do spiderwebs

The tiniest bit of fiberfill will stretch out into nearly infinite scale spider webbing!

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If i can pull myself away from the computer, i think i'm gonna try paperclay today! i have a rolling pin now!

Now i have to find all my tools....haven't seen those items in quite awhile! i hope that i put them with the paperclay!

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I need a hot wire! A knife just doesn't "cut it".

After messing around with the rigid insulation and re-doing due to my errors, i finally decided to do interior fireplaces only. Due to some problems i had with the design i decided for this particular house, i didn't like the look of the exterior and interior chimney/floor to ceiling fireplaces from the back view of the house. from the interior and exterior views it looked great. I just looked to thick with both. I just couldn't get it to look the way i pictured it. So interior only it is! looks more appropriate really. Perhaps on a smaller house it will look better next time.

Anyway, i need to glue the hearth to the fireplaces. i'll start paperclaying soon!

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I paperclayed the chimney. Turned out okay. Next i'll do the kitchen fireplace!

I had originally planned to do stonework, like river stones. I couldn't acheive the look i wanted...i need to have examples before i attempt that again. In the end i settled for a stone block look! Random sizes. We'll see how it all turns out. I'll post pictures either today or tomorrow.

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okie dokie. I completed the kitchen fireplace. It's okay for my first attempts with paperclay. I'm not going to do the bedroom fireplace today, i want to see how things go over then next couple of days with the kitchen fireplace. If it doesn't work out in the end (major shrinkage, cracking, not adhering to the rigid insulation) i don't want to waste another brick of paperclay until i see how this goes.

So here's a few pic's of the house so far. Like i said, the water damage and aging came out much darker than i wanted, but i think after the fireplace is painted, the baseboards, tattered curtains, crown molding is up and decor in, i'm hoping this will all take the eye away from the wallpaper. I am happy with the flooring, it is in the perfect state of warpage! The fireplace will have a fire and cauldron!

My two residents of the attic were put there (i'm building a cage with straw on the floor, the cage will have iron looking bars) by my crafty little witch when she took over there home. She wanted it, she took it. thru the years they will remain permanent residents as the house gets more and more run down. One of the skellies will of course have long hair and a tattered dress.

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Oh Marg, it looks absolutely fabulous. I just love the attic, the wood strips really look good and if the fireplace ends up looking anything like it does right now, you're all set. It does look great. All of it, even the wallpapers. Great job!!!

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Thanks Wendy :thumb: It has a long way to go. I still have to finish the attic ceiling, i didn't stain enough wood, (for the floor either)....musta had my mind on something else cuz i took the measurements for everything. then i still have to get beams for the ceiling.

Lots more work thruout the house to do yet. I may work on this house in stages, i'm wanting to do something else now! I'll get the fireplaces completed in the next week.

I may start my bakery (or shop) with the dura-craft winston cottage very soon. It's calling to me pretty loudly :D

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Ooo, that's looking very spooky :) You've really gotten a lot done and it's looking terrific....don't think I'm goin' anywhere near that attic! :p

Nope, meneither but I will however enjoy sitting by that fireplace warming my hands after a day out in the chilly air!!!! That I can consider LOL

Love how it has turned out Marg, and I will keep an eye out for your progress as I really really like these kinds of settings! Neat skellies as well!

Hugs

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Marg, you have done a great job. I love the aging of the wallpaper. What strength tea did you use? I find that certain teas give a certain color...Green tea lighter..earl grey darker..etc etc.

I oh so want a Tennyson. I have dh guilt. LOL The Hud house interior is no where near finished, the orchid from the Orchid blog needs more furniture, The Marquam is half nakie, and now I am awaiting the white orchid.

But if I could get a Tennyson I would be soooo Happy. This dh obsession is something else huh?

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Hi heidi, thanks!

I think it was burnt umber acrylic paint that i used....and also a light tan both watered down by 50% and since my sponge brush didn't do a great job i took a damp paper towel and pressed down on the sponge brush then dabbed the extra onto another paper towel then rubbed the color onto the wallpaper with the first paper towel. Then i took another (clean) damp paper towel and lightly rubbed over the top of that. In some areas i got the look that i was going for. in other areas i just added to much. Less is more and i just forgot that! Well it gives me practice for the upcoming haunted house.

I hope you get a Tennyson!

Well here's a picture of all the fireplaces/chimney with paper clay. The clay cracked in the mortar line areas here and there, i made my mortar lines to deep in those areas. Well that's okay for this house, it's supposed to be old and neglected so i guess the witch wouldn't have really kept up on the mortar! I'll try painting them next weekend. I have a mini mag around here somewhere with a tutorial by Rik Pierce for painting the fireplaces. I just gotta remember which mag it's in!

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yannoooo

if its a very old house its conceviable that moss could grow in the largest of the cracks that you have or you could fill them in....

brush in some glue to the affected crack and make a worm from paperclay and than mush it where ya want it than lightly redo the original line...works like a charm

I am loving what you are doing!

nutti :thumb: :woot:

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I'm gonna use some moss on the chimney so the cracks work out perfectly. I'm undecided about fixing the exterior cracks. I'll wait and see how i feel in a few days. If i'm in the lazy mode i probably won't fix them :thumb:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got the rest of the flooring and roof planking stained. I couldn't find my miter box for quite a while today but found it in an obvious place later on....grumble...so all of the wood has been cut and stained! I think i'm still high from the stain.. :wave: smells good for a little while (yes i do like the smell of stain :wave: but after awhile the stomach starts to turn :wub:

I'm impatient and want to get that room done, so i'm off to glue in all of the flooring and ceiling pieces! I usually wait a day or two after staining wood to glue it in, but this isn't a perfect house so it doesn't matter anyway! I'll probably take photos tomorrow.

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I can't wait to see your pictures! I am working on the Tennyson too. I am bashing it to resemble the house from the movie A Christmas Story. I will show some pictures if it ever gets done. Anyway, it sounds like you have things going, but if you do need the schematics or extra pieces let me know.

Sarah

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I can't wait to see your pictures! I am working on the Tennyson too. I am bashing it to resemble the house from the movie A Christmas Story. I will show some pictures if it ever gets done. Anyway, it sounds like you have things going, but if you do need the schematics or extra pieces let me know.

Sarah

Wow! I can't wait to see that! Sounds like a wonderful idea!

Thanks for the offer on the schematics...last night i thought about taking you up on that....today i have decided to not use the trim pieces that come with the kit. At least not on the interior. I tried finding the window trim for the inside of the house and just gave up. I have spent this morning cutting all new window/door trim, baseboards and crown molding. Just put a coat of stain on.

My next goal for the day is to put a dirty wash on the fireplaces. I'll color the stone blocks next weekend.

I completed the attic this morning! I'm excited to have this finished. It looks pretty close to how i pictured it looking...just not aged enough tho. I'll just live with how it looks now, i don't want to take the chance of messing things up by experimenting. i just need to build a cage for my skeletons (the witch took over this couples house years ago and locked them up in a cage in the attic. The are now skeletons! I want the attic to look unused and neglected, the skellies long forgotten. I may take a picture today and post it. Anyway, the interior of the house is getting close to being completed. I just need to glue in all of the trim...i'll wait until next weekend for that.

I have a ton of birch shingles that i need to sand, i'm not sure if i'll use thinned down paint on them or stain. i do want them to warp tho, so i'll probably use the paint. Anyway, that is the plan!

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Here are a couple of shots of the attic. please ignore the crooked back wall boards...hey the house had a little settling and it makes it appear that i put the boards on crooked :banana:

The other thing i'm not happy with is where the valley of the roof comes down. When I measured the beams yesterday, the short beams butted up against the longer beams and looked like they got some support there....today when i glued the beams on, the short and long beams dont even connect now, but i thought it better to have them as they are now....so now the beams in the valley float. ah well, this isn't a house that i'm gonna be concerned about perfection. Overall i like the look of the attic even though it's not aged. I love all wood attics. From the engineering point of view i know my attic isn't accurate but i'm not an engineer so that's okay! :wub:

I took a bit of sawdust and blew it onto the floor and rubbed it in. It toned down the deepness and newness (new word there) of the stain. I think after a week or so the stain color will fade. It did in the other rooms.

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I just love the ambience in this house, I really do! Now to sit on those hands so that I don't start up anpother project just yet, still got some "Musts" to tend to, but I will be free to do so on Thursday yay!!!!!

Hugs and thanks for all the inspiration!

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Just in time for Halloween! I have some new photos of the almost completed interior of the Tennyson. I still need to do some watermarks on some of the wood, and get the fireplaces painted. A couple of bits of trim in the doorways then I'll just have decorating to do with ratty curtains and misc furniture items then the interior will be totally complete! It's so close tho!

The exterior needs trimwork and railings and some more weathering then it will be done as well. Hopefully by the end of November! Oh and shingles as well!

I hope the pictures are okay. Since the push off the counter by a beloved cat, the camera isn't taking as sharp and clear photos as it had been. :banana:

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I just uploaded the piccies to my webshots as well, they are somewhat better. I think i'll pull my batteries and let them charge up. THe next photos i take I'll do in better light as well. It actually looks better in person and although it hasn't turn out exactly as i envisioned, i'm pretty happy with it overall.

It gives me experience for the haunted house i'll build soon! I'll do more research on aging and all that jazz before i start my haunted house, i want to do a better job with that one!

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