Walls

Big and Small.....

I Truly cannot say how long it has been, Dear Readers, since I did any Serious work on the Folly! It figures so often in my pictures of sunlight playing in my Doll Worlds, and I have come to accept it's incompleteness while I work on my other more Exciting projects. But I have for a long time been aware that the Kitchen needed attention! The only furnishing in there have been the almost finished stove and the not at all finished, but cute, hutch! It is such a small space that I have never been sure I would be able to fit in a refrigerator.... but I have always known it would need a sink! And not just any sink! It would need to be small and old fashioned... (this house was built in the Nineteenth Century after all), with a slightly elegant feel to it, not really rustic at all. I have watched others make their own sinks with great success... and was beginning to think I needed to make this myself. Then I came across the perfect little sink at the Sturbridge Fair! 

(Yes, I did not show you ALL the Treasures I bought at the Fair!) 

When I got it home, It Fit Perfectly! 

And then I began to think of the Tile backsplash it would require.... 

as it had no backsplash attached..... 

And that was when I noticed the Coaster under my Tea.... 

one given to me Ages ago by my Dear Friend Ewa.... 

of The Sunny Hours blog.....

She sent me a gift package with these coasters and many other little things... 

and I have always thought these coasters should 

find their way into one of my projects...!

So I propped it in place behind the sink......

and it Fit Perfectly!

(Thank you, Ewa!!!)

Then I thought there should be wainscoting 

below the tile backsplash.....

Beadboard wainscoting...

Because All the old Victorian houses I ever saw 

had beadboard wainscoting in the kitchen!

I would need to start with the mopboard at the bottom....

Then I found a piece of trim in my piles of stuff 

that was already painted the right color....

 

And was the right length for both the mopboard and the chair rail at the top...!

Once they were glued in place 

I began to cut woodsies to the right length......

And glued them in place between the rails!

The woodsies have enough of a bevel on their edges 

that they mimic the beadboard paneling, 

but they don't actually have a "bead" along the edge. 

These will be barely visible in the end, 

so I am not bothered by that small imperfection.

As for the "Tile" backsplash.....

I took the coaster and trimmed the sides back 

to eliminate the curve at the corners,

And marked the grid of the tiles with a pen.

I then used a ball stylus to press an indentation along the lines....

this is to mimic the grout lines.

Because the coaster is just varnished paper 

I did not want to cut into its surface.

Here you can see the grout lines painted white....

I did spray the surface with varnish between the black marking and the white....

And then again to seal the white too....

I think it looks like perfectly dirty old grout!

Of course, by now it is so late at night 

and the picture is too dark to see well.

But in the morning.....

With the Sun shining in....

I think it looks Perfectly Lovely...

And almost as if it has always been there!

You can even see the "texture" of the individual tiles!

 I am sometimes amazed at how things will 

suddenly come together to make the perfect result...

when I had no idea how it was going to work when I started!

But that was not the only wall I was working on, Dear Readers!

I also decided to wallpaper the inside of the Stairwell 

on the spiral stairs in the Tree House....

And it is a good thing I did! 

Because in the process of making the pattern for the wallpaper....

I discovered I had not yet glued the cardboard wall in place!

It is now glued....

I used the same glittery paper that I used in the Library and the lower stairwell.

I still need to make the window for this door... 

and add the latch and magnet.....

But I think it is just about time to attach the next floor above! 

So I can get going on Those Next Walls, Dear Readers!

Big And Small!

Baby Steps....

Learning As We Go.....

Where To Begin this week is the problem, Dear Readers, because I have so many tiny little things I could show you.... and I am only afraid Some of them might seem a little Boring to look at! To begin with, I have Finally made a little more progress on the Tree House! Do you even Remember where we left that project? Well, I had mostly completed the bathroom (that does seem to be a theme lately!) and had partly finished the Dressing Room ..... but it was not done enough to attach the floor for the next level up! What you see in the above picture is the Beginnings of the Door for the next Room level.... and the floor temporarily in place. And if you look Closely at the door to the bathroom below, you will spot a wire loop on the side of the door... and a magnet on the door frame! It took me Months to decide how to attach the magnets and the door "latches" for the upper doors to the Tree House. Left to their own devices they tended to swing open and I had used masking tape for ages.... but that didn't work very well and could not be the permanent solution. The wire loops are very attracted to the magnets, and they are bendable, so they can be formed to the correct shape when I put the "outer skin" on the whole tree.... a Long time from now!

I have added one of these wire loops (made from a bent paperclip) to each of the upper doors along with a magnet... which I sometimes had to carefully cut away the walls in order to make it fit! (This was because I had not decided on the latching mechanism at the beginning of the project!) So we are learning as we go!

And another little detail that has been waiting for me to accomplish 

is the inner layer to the door on the Spiral staircase.......

This will not seem like much, 

and you might not even be able to see what I am talking about in the picture, 

but it was really very necessary! 

The door fits more closely to the stairs now when it is closed.....

And we wouldn't want any little Baby Ratlings 

to fall through cracks in the walls!

And Another small thing that has been holding up progress on the Tree House 

has been the Lighting for the Dressing Room beside the Bath.

I was originally hoping to make one LED light work for 

Both the toilet room and the Dressing Room...

(This was because the batteries support 10 lights each 

and I had reached that number for this battery 

and I wanted the next battery to light the rooms above, not this level!)

But I finally decided that I had to make a separate light for the Dressing Room....

I used a gelatin capsule for the "glass dome" and a sequin for the base....

And glued the LED inside....

And then I had to paint a piece of ceiling to match the room.....

It is not very big......

And attached the lantern to the ceiling.....

With the wires run through to the upper side.....

And then we see how it looks.....

Do you even remember this room???

With the wild Sea Horses in the waves.....

Well now you can actually see them!

And you can see the ceiling.... 

if you get down on your knees and look up..!

Here you can see it with the other light lit as well.....

I think the battery is running low on that one....

But now we are one tiny baby step closer to starting the next level up, 

because once the wiring is in place I can attach the floor above!

And what is that level going to be, I hear you ask?

Well, it is going to be the Nursery and the Nanny's Room.....

Here you can see the view looking down from above......

I had to extend the floor in several places.....

The Nursery is on the left and 

the Nanny's Room will be on the right of the dividing wall.

When we get there....

One Little Step at a time!

But That is not All, Dear Readers! 

I find that I Must tell you the next installment of Daphne's Story....

And this time we Begin with Guillaume...

Some of you Might recall that he had suffered a terrible Stroke shortly after the Baby was delivered into their care....

And Yvonne found it necessary that she learn to take over the 

management of the Family business and all their Estates.

As Guillaume slowly gained strength she would sit by his bed and tell him all she was doing and learning....

But in spite of the best medical care, his healing was slow.

And Yvonne needed to be away from his side to see to the Business.

They hired a Nurse to tend to him.

 Jean Paul was large and strong and kind.

But Guillaume did not always think so, 

especially when he was being told to try to walk...

They did not seem to understand that his body did not listen to his mind any more....

He was not at all sure that "practice" was going to make it better.

As the weeks turned into months and he could not manage to do the stairs in the Townhouse, 

they made the first Floor parlor into his own room, adding a bed....

And his meals were wheeled in on the tea trolly....

Guillaume was happier to eat alone, 

he felt so ashamed that he needed help even to eat!

And even worse, his words did not return at all!

When he thought "dog" it  came out "pig" or sometimes even "cabbage"....

There did not seem to be a connection any more in his brain and his voice....

so he said nothing at all.

He could not understand why his life had dwindled to this one room....

He thought it would have been better if he had died.

But sometimes in the distance he would hear the baby crying...

and then he would remember that there was one thing to look forward to.

Sometimes Raymond would come to see him and would bring the child.

At first he had no interest. 

He really felt that it did not matter what became of him.

But while the baby slept in his arms, Raymond would talk to him.... 

about the household, about his work, 

and about the baby and the progress she was making.

As the weeks went on, Raymond and the Baby's visits 

became treasured moments in his empty life.

The time passed very slowly for Guillaume.....

They moved in a large TV to give him some entertainment...

But he could never remember how to run the controls....

and he didn't understand what was on the screen anymore.

Travel was impossible for him, so they never went to the Country House.

Yvonne spent every evening with him, reviewing the work of the day....

But he had lost interest and had nothing to say. He was afraid to try to speak to her...

He was sure his words would make no sense.

It was the Baby, little Renee, who gave meaning to his days.

She was growing so quickly!

One day she was just an infant, and the next it seemed she would talk any day!

Or Walk!

Can it be she will take her first steps....?

Just for Grandpa?

He had not realized it before...

His heart had been stolen....

But suddenly he knew This child meant Everything to him!

He wanted to live many more years... to watch her grow!

Yes, Dear Readers,

It all might be just Baby Steps...

But we're all learning as we go!

Roses At Rose Thorn Cottage

And Other Little Things.......

Suddenly the Roses are Blooming, Dear Readers, In my Big gardens as well as in the Tiny garden at Rose Thorn Cottage! You have not seen this garden before.... because as with many Magical things.... Sometimes they are there... and sometimes they are Not! But it is nearing the Summer Solstice, and Great Aunt Agatha has been dreaming of Roses, and so she was not at all surprised to find them blooming just outside the door to the Cottage this beautiful Summer morning! She couldn't resist taking a moment to smell the beautiful Rose blossoms....

Before sitting on her favorite bench in the soft morning light......

It is a beautiful Day and she has all the time in the World....

I hope you  can forgive me if I linger here with her for a moment or two!

I do have a few little things I want to show you.....

Starting with the doorway to the cottage!

There is a cage hanging by the door...

For keeping captured Pixies out of the way.....

And a dragon emblem on the door itself.

This is a Witchy Cottage after all....

So one better be prepared to see a few strange things!

And if we go inside, 

I want to show you the carpet.....

I have had this scrap of fabric for Centuries (it seems) 

just waiting for the right room.

But it was too long and narrow.... 

so I pieced it together with glue and bias seam tape...

(I forgot to take pictures in process)

Yes, the pattern gets inverted in the middle.... 

but I wanted the cut edges to go together in the middle...

leaving the frayed edges for the borders....

It is a VERY OLD carpet, you understand!

Here you can see it in the Cottage.... 

it fits Exactly.... and is Just the right color....

And I could even argue that the flowers are Roses!

I think it looks so Wonderfully shabby and worn!

And last week I promised you one or two more tiny details 

for the Cottage bathroom.

I started with a hairbrush.....

I made it from a carved down woodsie 

and some bristles from a paintbrush.

Some of you might remember the Last time I made a hairbrush.....

For the dressing table in the Tree House Dressing Room....

in Another Rose Blooming Garden.....

in a Much smaller scale!

Can you even see it there on the dressing table???

 And Here you can see the new hairbrush...

Just for comparison!

 

And here it is on the shelf in the Cottage Bathroom.....

I am sorry the photo is so dark.... it was late.....

So I must show you in the morning light!

And can you see the tiny necklace left in the shell...???

Here... come closer....

Aren't they lovely?

Well, Dear Readers, you might think that was all that remained 

to be added to the bathroom...

But I realized there was something else missing...

A small Cameo portrait on the inside wall at the foot of the tub....

Something you can only see a glimpse of in the mirror!

When you look from just the right angle....

it really grabs your eye and pulls you in deeper....

Because I couldn't bear the idea of that empty wall....!

And even though I think that is all the little details I will add to this room.... 

I have not yet glued the wall in place. 

I will probably wait a while... 

just to be Sure.!

 

So before I go, I will leave you with another picture of the Roses....

Because we Have to stop and smell the Roses, Dear Readers....

And after all, they Are such tiny Little Things!