Upon Reflection.....

Blog Anniversary, Painting Rocks and Other Ruminations.....

I Hope you will forgive me, Dear Readers, If I Wander around a bit in this Post! I have both Too much and too Little to show and am Utterly undecided about Where to start! To Begin with, I am aware that the Fourth Anniversary of this blog has Come and Gone.... with No fanfare on my part! Nothing new to show, all kinds of incomplete projects, Just Exactly as  Incomplete as they were a year ago..... How does that happen? I would venture to do a recap of the year.... but cannot Fathom how to condense That into one post! The Tree House Bedroom and Bathroom.... The Castle ceilings.... Daphne's Story...., The Cloud Palace..... Not to mention the Little Dreamers.... ! You can see what a dilemma I am in! And as if to exacerbate an already overwhelming situation.... Last Sunday was Easter Sunday..... which so many of you were prompt about honoring with beautiful and charming minis! Well, I am a bit Late... but Yes, the Easter Bunny made a stop here too....

Annabelle was a little surprised......

She is still young enough that she is not sure what to expect.....

Even Sally May looks surprised......!

She has a new Cookbook to try!

Annabelle asks "Is the candy for breakfast, Momma?"

But while Sally May figures out the answer to that question, 

I must take you back to the Fireplace at Rose Thorn Cottage....

Where the Sunday Morning Sun was lighting up the chimney....

Here you can see pretty clearly the completed hearth.....

But it took almost an entire day of painting the rocks to get the effect I wanted!

Of course, I forgot to take progress pictures.....

 but the first steps (after the base coats of gray) 

were to add brown washes to many of the stones..... 

and then to fill all the crevices with black....

as you can see in the above picture.

 This highlights the rocks individually.....

But when we test it in place, you can see that the black needs to be toned back.....

The rocks need to be rounded more at the edges and the cracks need to recede...

Which is a gradual process of just adding more gray washes.....

Until all the cracks are more subtle.....

Then we need to test it again......

That looks more like it!

But still Waaaay too clean looking! 

Time to add the soot!

It needed to look as though it had been well used as a fireplace 

before they "cleaned it out" and added the Aga Stove!

And by then it is late at night and Dark out....

So we must wait until morning to see it in the sunlight....

Oh, that Amazing Sunlight!

It looks so wonderful that I glue it in place and start to add some of the other details...

The wooden beams and the shelf over the window.....

Which just Begs for the china I have had put away for Years.....

And a scrap of fabric for a rug....

And then I had to start in on the Tub for the bathroom.....

I wanted a Lovely old Zinc bathtub.....

 

Made from cardboard, of course......

With a wooden rim.....

Then painted in gray and then silver paint......

Here you can see it being tested in place.....

Yes, you will only be able to see a glimpse of it.....

But oh, what a perfect image!

But wait..... there is more......

There is this lovely little mirror.....

It is a Christmas ornament!

 And believe it or not, but this little mirror has encapsulated for me

 the entire theme of this house....

The Roses..... the Red color, 

The lacy filigree.... the oval shape.....

The beautiful bright reflection in a dark corner....

Hidden and barely visible....

Quiet but so evocative....

Feminine...

Old Fashioned.....

Such a tiny room....

will hold so much beauty....

Before I know it the House has come alive......

Who is there....?

Did you want some tea?

Do come in!

Agatha always has the kettle on the stove!

Well, Dear Readers, Even though another year has flown,

Sometimes all it takes is a Little reflection.....

But now I can see that I have made a lot of progress after all...

and I want to Thank you all for visiting!