Seeing The Light....

Tower Progress and Other little Things....

I Hope you will Bear with me Dear Readers, if I ignore Daphne's Story this week and take you back to the Cloud Palace Tower! I am sure you remember that the Tower Bedroom was going to have a Lovely chandelier hanging from the magnificent ceiling... which I was going to try to illuminate from above. This can only be done if I decide to use those wonderful battery powered LED's. I think I am giving in and will do the necessary wiring because the effect is so beautiful! But meanwhile as you can see in the above picture, I decided on the shape for the paneling in the lower portion of the walls.

This "paneling" is made from painted cardboard.... 

but I wanted a more graceful shape than just plain vertical strips.

I painted the trim in the same silver paint that I used for the trim in the rest of the Palace.

Once the paneling was compete I could experiment with the lighting....

Here you see it with just the LED shining from the very top of the Dome....

I think it gives a lovely overall radiance.

So then I have to try and hang the chandelier 

and still have the light shining down from above...

and hope it shines on the chandelier in such a way as to make it glow....

I think it works well enough!

Even though I cannot attach it yet,

 as the tower still needs too much "construction"

I think it gives the atmosphere I am hoping for!

(And I thought I was getting away with No wiring on this project!)

Here you can see the whole Palace as it stands so far....

(with the stairs started up to the next level....!)

And all the Bears are happily enjoying a Sunny Sunday morning....

Yes, Brother Beorn is still telling Tall tales to the crystal Butterflies!

They are giggling hysterically....!

Blue and Sir Orion have eyes only for each other.....

(They are a Match made in Heaven...!)

And I recently bought this beautiful blue pitcher....

that matches Perfectly the Blue of the Blocks Birgit sent....

that spell out "Dream"....

(Gee, Is it any wonder why she chose that word...!)

I do Love that morning light!

 

And while we leave the Bears to their Dreams and we get back to work here....

I also have added several small details to the bathroom in Rose Thorn Cottage!

 

 

For starters, I made the water tank for the toilet, and the pipe too....

just very old fashioned and rustic.... with a pull chain....

And I very carefully stitched the hems on the bathroom curtain....

and added the lace trim.... which is a tiny bit short.....

but we can pretend, since it will not be visible, 

that it simply got worn and ragged at that corner......

And I also stitched it with a "string" through the top to hang it......

(made from the string on a teabag....)

tied to nails at each end..... 

I had to measure very carefully, so it would hang just right....

and would look very rustic and patched together.... 

I pre-drilled the holes and pushed the brass nails in with a spot of glue.

I think I will leave the ends of the string.... maybe a little shorter....

I also made some tiny jars for the shelf in the corner....

all with the theme of "roses"....

I glued them in place before attaching the shelf......

 

But the truly wonderful detail I added has to be the faucets for the tub!

Here you can see the parts made of sculpey and wire....

And here you can see them put together.... and painted......

And here below you can see the tub in place in the tiny bathroom.....

Without the wall in place.... 

the wall that would hide that end of the tub and make the faucets impossible to see...

Like this!

Hmmmmm..... 

I have been picturing the tub from this angle from the beginning....

but maybe I should try it the other way around...?

I had to invite Joanna in to see how the bathroom would work with this layout....

and I shined a bright light into the corners to help me see....

And tried it with the wall in place.....

to see what we would see....

And closer.... with the light shining in the window....

How can we hide those wonderful faucets?

I think I am seeing the light, Dear Readers,

In the Tower and in Other little Things!

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?