My Tiny World

What Took Me So Long....?

I have been asking myself that question a lot lately, Dear Readers, and I have found no satisfactory answer! I was LATE with my Christmas card (again), which you can see above in the just finished not-yet printed original... in part because I couldn't make up my mind about what to include in the drawing..... and eventually just had to go with my original idea... a Detailed drawing of the Mini Tree House project which has been my  obsession for most of this year! It had occurred to me part way through the year that one of the things I loved so much about this scale was that I was building things in roughly the same scale as many of my drawings... so it felt familiar .... and SO Exciting to render these things in three dimensions!!! The other reason the Christmas card is late is because it was Complicated to draw in TWO dimensions all the details that I had built in Three dimensions! Here you can see the printed card standing next to the Tree House to show the relative sizes.....

And here below is a photograph of the setting of the Tree House that I was using for my card.....set up AFTER I had done the Drawing...

Obviously my drawing is not a perfect copy of the original... artistic license had to come into it! But it took me most of two weeks to complete the drawing! And now that it is done.... I want to share it with all my Friends out in Blogland!!!

But that is not the only project about which I have been asking that question, Dear Readers! You may remember that I have been making Tiles for my Castle Great Hall for what seems like Forever!

Here you can see the Great Hall with all the tiles laid out carefully on the floor.....

And here you can see them closer..... not yet glued in place.......

And VERY irregular in size! There are about 1300 individually painted tiles! 

And they have been waiting for a LONG time for me to make up my mind just exactly HOW I was going to attach them... and whether or not to use Grout....

I finally had enough TIME to concentrate on those questions this week! 

I decided to do a test sample on a scrap of plywood to see what the tiles would look like with grout....

And I decided I LOVED it with grout!!!

So after spending HOURS carefully adjusting tiles for fit and color and pattern arrangements.... 

I was ready to start the gluing .....

NOT so easy with all the tiles in place!!!

I started by removing two rows at a time, keeping them in the exact order I had chosen... 

laying them out on a strip of paper.... 

and gluing one row at a time, making sure there was enough space for grout around each tile....

This took me most of another ENTIRE day! 

And in the process I discovered that my rows were too many with the spaces added for grout.... 

and my pattern was upset depending on Which tiles in each row were discarded!!!

But I made them fit!!!

All neatly lined up with spaces between.....

And then I started on the Grout......

I used my fingers to apply it... working it carefully into every space..... 

and then wiping off the excess with a damp sponge before it had hardened too much....

One small area at a time.....

And HOURS later.....

With the grout all in place I had to wait for it to dry before I could tell what the colors would look like. 

The grout is a pale gray when dry... and there was a sheen of "gray" residue on the tiles.....

As Gorgeous as it looked.... I felt it needed something more.....

For such an "Old" Castle the floor looked too NEW!!! 

I am NOT in the habit of deliberately "aging" my minis.....

But this time it was really necessary....

I tested a "dirty" wash on my trusty sample tiles...... 

You can see the darker tone if you look carefully....

Encouraged by the sample I started in on the floor.....

Spreading Mud around! It will dry to a lighter color... 

so I may have to do this a couple more times to get the color of Aged Floor that I am looking for!

Giving new meaning to "making the New (tiles) Old and the Old (Castle) New"!

But lest you think that is all.... 

there is one more thing that didn't take much Time to make but was a long Time Coming.....

Ever since I started building the Library of the Tiny Tree House I have been Certain that it Must have a Globe, because what Library would be Complete without one?

First I had to find a Bead the right size....

Here I found a one-quarter inch wooden bead ....

and drew the rough outlines of the Continents upon it....

And painted the Oceans blue.....

 

Then I made a stand out of a tiny section of Spindle.....

And while it does not tilt at the proper Modern angle.... 

the Globe SPINS!!!

 

Can you believe how Tiny it is???

And can you see how well it fits in the Library..... 

on the top of the Cupboards in the back....!!!

And so while the grout is drying... and the Tiny World is spinning....

So is the Real World!!! 

From East to West..... Bringing in the New Year.....

Where I have just spent the Most Amazing Hour in a Spontaneous International Blog Party.....

Friends commenting on each others' blogs... hopping from blog to blog.... 

All visiting at Practically the Same Moment....

From All Corners of the Globe!!!

How Incredible is THAT??

So, Dear Readers, From My TINY World to Yours.....

May this New Year Bring Us All Great Joy....

And may the things we Long for.... be Not so Long in coming!