Hmmmm... Where Was I........ Going....

The Folly Garden.... Just Begun....

I Suppose I should Not be Surprised, Dear Readers, at the depths of my feelings of disorientation now that I don't have my Lilac Shrub Project to guide my every choice. But I am feeling as though I really have not even Looked at my other Dollhouses for Months..... or even years! How could that be when they are right there.... filling every nook and corner of my house? Well, I am sure you can imagine the Temptation I was fighting every week when I needed to just make another blossom first... or the leaves... the endless leaves.... so I refused to even think about all the other projects which were languishing while I focused on the Lilacs. Really, it was necessary.... I do get distracted.... none of my projects are "finished".... not even close! And the Folly Garden itself is really only just begun!

In case you have forgotten, or never heard in the first place, 

the Lilac is just the mainstay of the "Formal" side of the Garden.

To the right of the porch is the "Wild" Garden....

 which is anchored on the far corner by the Tree House... 

and a small stream running past its roots....

and less formal plantings in the "seasonal pod"

 on the right side of the porch. 

Do you even Remember The Tree House?

No, I didn't abandon it.....

It is still waiting... partly done....

I got distracted by things like Gypsy Caravans, Brick paths, 

lilac bushes..... and a Story or Two....

I suppose if you don't remember The Tree House, Dear Readers, 

I will have to do an entire Post to catch you up....

As far as I got..... years ago.... 

it stands six "stories" tall (the rooms are approximately quarter scale)

 tucked very close to The Folly and it is the home to The Rats....

 well.... I will have to do a post..... there is too much to tell for now....

It looks very strange in its unfinished form... 

eventually the outer surface will be tree-like 

and there will even be some branches.... 

with Leaves..... Seasonal leaves......

There is still a Loooong way to go!

The entrance to the Tree House is tucked into the roots of the Tree.....

But there are hinged access doors all up the side of the Tree...

And there will be a gentle stream flowing along the side of the property at its roots.....

Well... we can Dream... Right?

But Meanwhile.... On Sunday I caught the Sun....

Clearly Pointing me to have a Look

 into the windows of The Castle Chapel....

 

Where Father Alban waits Patiently for Inspiration to Strike.....

How Long has he been Waiting....?

Does it even Matter?

He will be ready when Inspiration comes....!

 

And across the room... Hardwick Hall

 stands it all its neglected chaos....

The parts and pieces dropped in mid-project....

Potions left unguarded....

And Dragons nesting in the bed.......

Something will have to be done!

 

But I, Dear Readers, Feel rather like the Little Dreamer.....

Who we last saw looking into the windows

 of the Secret Christmas House.....

And She could Not pull herself away....!

Is she still Lost in those Dreams?

Well, Dear Readers, I will leave you here...

Wondering...

As I am Wondering... Where Was I Going...?

And Which Project will Grab me next...? I cannot say....! 

But Rest assured... The Folly Garden is Barely Begun!

Framed.....

Windows, Doors and Pictures...

This Secret Christmas House kit has such wonderful windows, Dear Readers, I think they are the primary reason I bought this kit! To begin with, they have real tiny plexiglass panes! You can actually see through the windows and into the interior of the room.... if you can get your eyes close enough that is! And the frames themselves are composed of two layers of very thin laser cut wood so when they are glued together the frame has an ornate layered profile. This along with the lovely arched shapes.... such a European feature!.... makes the tiny house look so elegant and perfect..... even up close! But those window frames are a challenge to paint! The laser cutting leaves a residue of "burned" wood along all the cuts, and covering it requires several layers of paint! I only hope that I wasn't supposed to seal the wood with a varnish before painting it to prevent the burn from seeping through the paint over time. I started by applying a simple gesso primer to both sides of every window frame.

Of course, I forgot to take any pictures 

until I was well along in the painting. 

Above you can see the three frames on the upper left 

have only the gesso, 

while the others have been given a first coat of acrylic white paint.

You have to be very careful not to build up too much paint 

in the corners of each tiny pane, as the surface tension of the paint 

wants to accumulate in the corners!

Here you can see a little closer. 

The window frame on the bottom left shows the reverse

 or inside of the frame, which also needs to be painted 

because it shows when you look through the windows from the inside!

Here you can see the inside being painted on most of them.

And here is the view through the Library window from the inside. 

Yes, it definitely needed to be carefully painted too!

And while we are working on painting frames, 

I was also trying to add my own frames 

for the interior doors to these rooms!

If you recall, I had glued the library inside wallpaper in place 

before remembering that I wanted to make 

the door frames "three dimensional" 

rather than just the printed paper image.

So I started to paint tiny door frames too....

And forgot to take pictures until I was done.... 

but here you can see I have added a frame to the door in the Library!

It was so much trickier to add with the wallpaper already glued in!

And for the Parlor room above the Library, 

I wanted to add not only the door frame.... 

but I wanted the picture frames on the art to be "three dimensional" too!

Here you can see the completed frame 

glued onto the printed wallpaper 

prior to gluing it on the room walls!

And here it is glued in place, along with the interior window frame 

which is a piece that comes with the kit.

And then the Parlor door wall needed a frame around the door 

and a frame around the mirror!

Here you can see the paper is installed, along with the ones in the attic room.

And that room also had artwork which needed a frame!

I have to confess that it took me a while to realize

 it would be much easier to cut the frame in one piece 

rather than building it from four separate pieces as in RL!

The oval mirror frame for the Parlor taught me that!

So there is a reason the square frames appear lumpy and irregular!

(Sorry this shot is a little blurry... it is hard to get it in focus!)

But that is not all I managed to do this week, Dear Readers, 

I also made good progress on the larger rooms 

in the other wing of the house!

 

Starting with the other attic bedroom... 

a frame was needed for the artwork....

I know it seems silly, but I really wanted all the art to have "real" frames!

And the frames that had me most worried 

were the ornate ones for the Dining room walls.

There are two very elegant framed panels that look like Chinoiserie paintings... 

and the frames are delicate gold and not straight edged but gently curved.

I started by tracing the shapes and transferring them to the card stock.

Then I very carefully cut out the center portion first, 

testing it for fit on the artwork 

before cutting the outside edge of the frame.

 

 

I made two and painted them with several coats of the antique gold paint.

I paint on the plastic because they don't stick to it. 

The overflow of the paint can be cut away from 

the edge of the frame once it has dried. 

Here you can see I am testing one of the frames on the artwork.... 

the one on the left is just the printed frame.

Here you can see the wall paper with both the frames added. 

I am so pleased with the results of these frames! 

And so glad I practiced with all the other smaller ones first!

I think the frames make such a huge difference!

Of course it is difficult to get a good well-lit picture 

once they are glued into the rooms!

And there was still the door wall for this room...

With the door frame and the mirror frame....

And I also added the baseboards in this room and the Parlor.

And that is not all, Dear Readers! 

While I was working on all those window and door frames, 

I was also pondering the exterior front door.

It is such a beautiful and elegant front door!

But something about it was bothering me.

The door frame is gorgeous. 

But it is attached over the paper front of the house 

and the "windows" in the door look much too blank and lifeless to me.

Should I make the windows look more like windows?

Should I paint them in and make them part of the door as if it is solid?

Should I go all wild and crazy and add a sparkly glittery look?

Or use a slightly less sparkly paper that still has some glitter to it..... ?

Well this is the Secret Christmas House.... 

so I went with the slightly glittery paper...

Because when the light is right.... 

it almost looks like the house is lit up inside with Christmas lights!

I have been leaving the most challenging room for last,

hoping that by the time I get to it I will have figured out what I am doing!

 

 

The end walls with the kit supplied trim still need their wall papers. 

And the entire "Drawing Room" still needs it's artwork "framed" and the doors too.

And let us not mention that I am trying to figure out curtains....

Three dimensional ones rather than the flat paper ones that come with the kit!

 

 

So you can see Dear Readers, 

I have been making great progress on this Tiny house.

The windows, doors and pictures 

are Finally nearly all framed!

Not Another One....!

Stolen Moments.......

I hope you are Not Shocked, Dear Readers, to see an entirely different Tiny House kit featured in the above picture! I was pawing through my boxes of mini Christmas supplies, looking for something else entirely, when I found this kit I had bought a few years ago but never assembled. And if you are like me and are procrastinating from all sorts of more difficult tasks, then something as simple as this becomes Irresistible! There were hardly any parts, and they would go together so quickly! And best of all, the printed decorative papers that needed to be glued on would give me Practice in attaching these sorts of  papers to the constructed house! (And I was feeling a trifle nervous about gluing the papers for the Secret Christmas House kit!)

So I quickly assembled the parts 

and forgot to take any pictures of the beginning....

The entire House is less than three inches tall. 

The kit is made by "Dragonfly International" 

but I bought it through the Hobby Builder's Supply Catalog.

 

 

The laser cut wooden pieces went together quickly 

and the exterior papers were simple to glue on.

But after that, Something happened.....

 

 The attic was not supposed to be "accessible". 

But I thought that would be a real waste of space!

So I cut an arched opening in the roof paper.

And then I realized that the roof paper was not sturdy enough alone,

 and would need to be stiffened with some cardboard...

(Which was easily accomplished.)

And then I realized that while there were two printed floor papers, 

there was only one decorative paper for the ceiling.... 

but there were two ceilings....!

So you can imagine what had to be done to the unfinished ceiling!

(It did not take too long!)

And because the middle floor fit so snugly in the house, 

the printed wallpaper needed to be cut in half 

and applied separately to each room after the floor was attached.. 

So there you see, Dear Readers, 

I made only a few modifications to the kit!

And I had good practice with the gluing of the decorative papers!

Which made it much easier for me to feel confident

 about the Secret Christmas House!

 And because I was still stealing moments from all those other tasks on my list, 

I decided it was time to glue the windows into the front of the Secret Christmas House,

since the interior side of this wall would not be decorated and so 

I needn't worry about getting paint or glue on the window panes by mistake.

And then I glued the rest of the floor papers into the rooms.

Because the ceilings had all been painted

 there was no risk of getting paint on the floors by mistake!

And then I went ahead and glued the exterior wall paper 

on the right side rooms!

I had glued the window panes in last week, 

and could not attach the exterior frames 

until the paper was in place.

Here I am testing the fit with the right side in place.

And since that was looking so good... 

it was time to attach the front wall papers too! 

Here it is without the interior rooms in place....

And here they are in place.

What a difference the papers make!

Here you can see a close-up view into the Library through the window!

I still have to paint all those incredibly delicate window frames.... 

but I figure that will take me quite a while and I don't want to rush.

Well, I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 

but I just couldn't resist stealing a few moments 

to work on these Tiny House kits!

(And No, I don't have  Another one!)