Telling Tall Tales.....

My Head Is In The Clouds....

I know you will Not believe me, Dear Readers, when I tell you that I truly did Not Arrange this little group at all! I glanced over as I was walking by the other day and noticed that Brother Beorn had found himself a Delightful audience for his Flower Stories, which he is prone to launch into at the merest Whisper of a Blossom! As you can Imagine, they are Ecstatic to hear him describe the Wondrous scents and flavors and silky textures of all his favorite flowers! Is there just a Little Bit of Longing for Springtime in the air around here? (In this part of the World where there is still not even a Hint of a blossom to be found outdoors...!) Well, to get back to what I was telling you... Brother Beorn is Very Learned in all the magical and Mysterious plants the Entire World over... he has traveled and explored That Much! So the little Flock of Crystal Butterflies are Enchanted to hear him speak of these Wonders... because most of them have never flown to the distant corners of the World.... their Natural Habitat being Above the Clouds, you see! But the Flower they are in the Most Raptures about is the Elusive and Rare Lotus of the Clouds! It is surely a Plant I have Never seen.... but I have it on  Good Faith that I have made a decent approximation of it in the Stone Work for the Cloud Palace Fountain....

I must apologize in advance because I really think it is a trifle Ugly!

And I am Truly hoping it will improve with the painting it needs....

It took an unworthy amount of Time to seek out all the right pieces of egg carton

to make the parts look like they are chunks of stone...!

In the center is the fountain which will have the water pouring out....

And into the Well below....

But before you scoff at this little fountain I must tell you 

that the Lotus of the Clouds is known for it's Nectar....

The merest Sip of which will grant you Immortality...!

At least that is what the Legends Say...!

And while Brother Beorn is busy 

Telling Tantalizing Tales to Crystal Butterflies.....

Sir Orion and Blue have been Speaking in that Language known throughout Time....

It looks to me like Love has Blossomed....

I have not Eavesdropped on their conversations....

I have been too Busy trying to Build the Palace Tower...

Which Itself is a Tale that just keeps getting Taller...!

 

The Next room up is going to be the Sleeping Chamber....

A Cozy little space to curl up.....

You can see the beginnings above...

I cut three windows high up in the walls....

(This is so there will still be room for the bed Under the windows...)

And then I added the egg carton "Rock" Window frames....

And started to think about the ceiling....

Oh Dear.... the ceiling....!

I could NOT just do an Ordinary Ceiling!!!

I wanted a Domed ceiling.... 

And not just an Ordinary Domed Ceiling.... 

But an Onion Domed Ceiling....

*Sigh*

So I started to design one out of cardboard.....

I did quite a bit of Geometry....

It wanted to have five sections......

I started with the fifth of the circle the same diameter as the Tower....

(That is the small pattern you see below...)

Then I expanded the length and gave some curves to the sides.....

And traced that onto cardboard.

I kept the central parts connected 

and cut away the gaps in the curved sides....

Then began the gluing of the curved sides together.....

First the incurved top portion, held together with tape .....

It is important to let each part dry thoroughly before gluing another part....

There is a lot of stress on the glued seams... and the tape is essential!

Even so, some of my seams pulled apart as I glued the others.....

And once all the incurved seams are glued, 

then you force the sides to bend down and glue the outward curved sections ....

Again, you need to let each section dry thoroughly before gluing the next!

Which is why it is still not finished.....

(And I did need to adjust the curves a little from the original pattern...)

Here you can see the interior view....

I am going to see if I can coerce the gaps back together...

And the bottom edges need trimming...

Oh, and I still need to try it in the Tower to see if it Fits......

If it Doesn't..... I will be having Fits!!!

Meanwhile..... 

while all that glue was drying...

 I put a coat of primer on the Lotus Fountain....

I do NOT think it made an improvement....

But it was necessary!

I also put several coats of paint on the little desk in the Library....

I apologize for the dark picture... you can hardly tell, 

but it is now a beautiful shiny Silver!

Oh, and I also glued Lots and Lots of egg carton "rocks" 

onto the steps leading up to the next level....

You can see how Tall the Tower is getting...!

Although Blue and Sir Orion have not noticed at all....

I wonder what tales they are Telling.....?

As for Brother Beorn.....

I think I am like the Crystal Butterflies...

Enchanted with his Tales of Mystical Flowers.....

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 

But I have my Head in the Clouds....

For how Else can you Tell Tall Tales?

Climbing The Walls.....

Every Little Step Counts....

The Process of gluing these steps to the Tower is one that requires Patience, Dear Readers, because the only thing holding the step in place is the glue, and the step below it.... which must be thoroughly dry before you attempt to rest another step upon it or they all slide down the walls! So I glue a step and then I walk away and do something else for  awhile.. and then come back and check the glue and press it more firmly against the wall... and walk away again.

If I get absorbed in my Other projects.... 

then it just takes longer before I glue the next step in place.... ! 

So it was that it took several evenings and days 

to glue enough stairs to sort of reach the next floor of the Tower. 

I say Sort of.... 

because the steps reach a balcony level.... 

and have to circle around the Tower to the entrance.....

And I think that some of the steps must have sagged a little while gluing.... 

because the balcony needed to slant upwards a little to reach the floor level....

But you can't cut that piece until you know exactly where the steps will end up....

You just have to go One step at a time!

Here you can see I am adding the cardboard for the second set of stairs....

as well as adding yet another Oatmeal box section to the Tower!

 And here you can clearly see the "stone" corbels I am using to help support the balcony sections.

And while that was Agonizingly slow construction....

The Library shelves were a Whole other kind of Tricky Fidgety Wall climbing challenge!

To begin with Dear Readers, you must realize that I am building inside a circular shape.....

So all the shelf sections had to follow the curve of the inside of the wall....

Part of which had a layer of "stone" on it.....

and it is really tricky to get anything "squared" in a circle!

I sort of just had to start gluing at the bottom and work my way up...

adding shelves and trimming them as best I could for each section...

I set it on top of a piece of paper because I didn't want it to glue to the floor...

I wanted it removable in case it needed more painting or other alteration...

And I had to wait for each shelf to dry before trying to glue the next one.....

Here you can see I am also starting to fit the desk...

Another incredibly fidgety fit.....

While waiting for the shelves to dry....

And Another part I worked on while waiting for glue to dry...

Making some Books!

They are non-opening books... 

just chunks of balsa wood with leather glued on for the covers.

Can you believe it, Dear Readers, 

that I have never before used this method for making books?

I wish I had thinner leather.... and will try to vary the thickness more....

but I think it will be a successful way to fill most of the shelves!

Here you can see I have also added legs to the desk....

I want it free standing for now.....

It will get a coat of paint.....

But first I had to test some of the books in place....

They do look a bit crude... 

I need to add labels and titles....

But it was getting late.....

Even with the little lamp lit... 

it was getting hard to see...

And I'd had enough of Climbing walls!

But I think you'll agree Dear Readers,

Every little step counts!

Very Slow Progress....

Could It Be A Time Warp....?

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, but it seems to me that I am doing the same things over and over... and not making much progress! To begin with, it is still very Cold around here... so I decided to get busy building the fire in the Palace Kitchen. Above you can see the hearth in place, and also a small bench under the window to hold the bucket for washing dishes. Well, it seems that if the Fairy Bearys can do "Magical" cooking... then why not "Magical" washing up? They will only need a little bit of water drawn from the Cloud Well just outside the kitchen door.... and only a small amount of scrubbing is ever necessary.... really, they could just dangle the dishes into the clouds below and when they pulled them up again they would be all clean! Truly Magical! But, I was telling you about the fire... the fire is essential because it is used in creating some of the "Magical" potions and spells... not to mention delicious soups and cakes!

But even as I was starting to build the fire... 

I was also starting to put the "stone" on the spiral stairs...

Made from egg cartons...

Which you can see here in the beginning stages.

Then I added the glittery "smoke" gauze to the back of the fireplace....

I made a base in the hearth out of a piece of egg carton....

and glued a few beads and glitter onto it to resemble ashes and coals...

Then I added a couple of little sticks...

I painted the middle parts black 

and added glitter to make them appear to be burning.....

This is the same method I have used 

in my tiny scale fireplaces in the Tree House....!

Then I added some small "flames"....

Really just painted pieces of plastic packaging material...

But when it is put in place inside the Tower....

It has no real "Fire power"...

Even with the light from another Lovely little Battery Powered Lamp....

It doesn't shine the way I hoped.....

I think I am going to have to add a LED light to the fire...

But Meanwhile I have also added some small shelves to the Kitchen...

Visible to the left of the window.....

And the window "glass" too.....

But really I just added lots of Paper rocks to the Spiral stairs....

And Cap stones on the side wall....

Really Slow and boring work....Late into the night...

While the Winter winds Howl....

And I even added a few paper rocks to the next level up....

This little chamber will be a Library of sorts....

Because No Palace would be complete without one...!

And here you can see the two levels have been glued together....

So I can start on the Spiral Stairs to the Next level.....

I guess, Dear Readers, I will be adding Paper Rocks for a while.....

I seem to be going in Circles again...!

I had no idea Paper Rocks would take so much time to make....

And I seem to say that a lot lately.....!

I Think, Dear Readers, I am making Some Slow Progress....

But it Feels like I'm stuck in a Time Warp!

Trinkets and Treasures...

Sew... What's Up?

A few weeks ago, Dear Readers, a blogger I follow avidly, Brae of Otterine.com Blog, posted about a miniature sewing machine she had sought out, having seen one posted on yet Another blogger's blog last fall! It was Love at first sight for me! And because I had a Birthday coming along soon, I decided to see if I could find one for myself. It arrived only two days after my Birthday! I can tell you, I am even More smitten now that I can hold it in my hands! My first impression was the weight of the miniature machine... it is cast of metal... and my second impression was of the Perfection of it's tiny parts! You must understand that I Love to sew.... and when I first left home many years ago for the wide world, the first thing I purchased for myself (after a bed and a kitchen table) was an old used treadle sewing machine that had been converted to electric motor at some point in its past. Here you can see my machine.....

It is still the machine I use!

But now I have a new machine to play with! 

Can you see it here?

Or Now? Can you see how perfect it is?

Of course, my old one is a Singer, 

and the mini one is a Bodo Hennig, made in Germany.

Here, you must come even closer!

Even the foot lifts up and down 

and the needle goes up and down when the treadle is worked!!!

The details and workmanship are just incredible!

 I have not been able to resist having a little play with it...!

It seems that I am not alone, Dear Readers,

 because Saturday morning as I was passing by the Conservatory I glanced in...

and I noticed that someone had decided to do some sewing.....!

I had to have a look inside....

Please, come with me....!

It's such a beautiful Morning.....

Who could resist working in here?

I have no words for the perfection of this machine...!

It makes all the rest of my furniture look so crude.....

I think it is the Finest scale miniature I have ever bought!

I found it at Weaverlili's Miniatures...

the service was friendly and fast!

And in case you missed it.... 

on the table are a thimble and scissors....

Tiny trinkets I purchased at the Sturbridge Fair last Summer...

And another little Trinket I purchased recently ...

this flowering hyacinth.....

because it makes me think of Spring....

still not even on the Horizon around here!

But inside the Conservatory we can Pretend it is here...

on such a Beautiful morning!

So, Dear Readers, this new Machine has raised the standard for me...

Way Way Up!

There will always be more Trinkets....

But Treasures are a New World for me!