How Small Is Small.....?

Oh, Those Details....!

Believe it or Not, Dear Readers, It looked like that outside my windows all day yesterday... so I stayed home and finished a few small details on some of my many projects, one of which is the "Tree of Life" pillow on the sofa in the above picture! It was a gloomy day and I was feeling a bit "under the weather", so I did not get much done, but fortunately I have all sorts of details to show you from the past week. As you can probably imagine, once I had started on the Tiny Roombox version of The Folly Parlor, it was hard to put it down! What you saw last week was just the merest beginnings! The tiny people were high on my list of things to do.... so I started right in on the First Lady.... (Perhaps her name is "Eve"?)..... she needed to be painted....

So Much "personality" is added once there is a face!

But can you even see her?

(Please remember to poke the pictures for a bigger view!)

And for modesty's sake, I have added a lace petticoat....

(please pretend that it hides anything at all!)

 

And then because I always work on several things at once, 

while glue and paint are drying, 

I also started on the details for the fireplace....

Because a fireplace Must have logs and flames....

And I also painted the surround to resemble black marble, 

like the one in The Folly Parlor!

And I started to make a tiny mirror... 

by painting a metal jewelry chain link gold.....

And gluing on a piece of reflective mylar 

(cut from fancy glittery wrapping paper!)...

But Eve needed some hair, 

and I was having a hard time figuring out how to make it!

My first attempt did not work out, so I pulled it off and started again....

You can see here I have knotted the end of a piece of brown sewing thread....

and I am gluing the knot to the top of her head to form a "bun"....

but I had to be patient and let the glue dry all night and all day....

Before I could add more glue and carefully wrap the thread around her head....

When it was wrapped far enough and dry enough, 

I cut off the tail end of the thread!

(She may not be Perfect.... but she is the First Lady!)

 

The next Tiny little detail that gave me fits was the andirons for the fire!

I kept thinking I needed to use beads... but none were small enough!

Eventually I tried just twisting the finest brass jewelry wire I have....

They are a tiny bit large.... but they work!

You can still see the glue drying in this shot!

And then the Roombox itself Dear Readers, 

still lacked all sorts of architecture....

starting with the crown molding trim.....

 It is just painted cardboard... cut very small....

with gold painted details...

And the bookshelves that flank the fireplace....

Again, just painted cardboard.....

The shelf widths are just 3/32nds of an inch!

And the tiny mirror....

(I "pinched" the jewelry piece a little to make it oval instead of round.....)

And we must test it all for fit.....

It is starting to look like The Folly Parlor!

(But it is still missing a few small details.....)

Like the ceramics on the mantelpiece.....

Will beads work..... 

if I glue them together and paint them......?

And what about books???

We Must have Books!

 

I cut strips of paper from magazines

 that had interesting color patterns on them...

and glued them around a piece of cardboard .....

cut it into a narrow strip, then sliced it to tiny tiny pieces....

Most of these "books" are too large to fit in the shelves!

But I found enough small ones.....

To fill the shelves... which don't hold many books

 even in The Folly Parlor itself!

Can we even see the books on those shelves???

How about with the ceramics on the mantel....?

(The Folly mantel has even more....)

 

Another ceramic vase and a book on the mantel.....

(and a couple of "vases" on the top shelves of the bookcases too!)

It is Not perfect, Dear Readers... 

the details of the closeup photos 

reveal all the flaws in the painting

 and the rough edges of the bookcases....

 but it is starting to look a lot like The Folly Parlor!

Of course, it is late now, 

and really difficult to get a well lit and in focus picture!

But maybe you want to see it in the bookshelf of The Folly?

Or how about an excruciatingly revealing close-up....?

 

Yes, Dear Readers, it is a bit rough around the edges....

And of course, there are still several missing details to be completed...!

And in order to make those little details..

I keep having to ask just how small is "Small"?

Oh, and did you want to see the "small" snowfall we had...?

Almost five inches fell!

(Not very small at all!)

What.... Another Project...???

Just a Little Diversion.....

Believe It or Not, Dear Readers, my weekend began with Nothing out of the ordinary on the Horizon. I started on the many small steps needed for the re-design of the Attic roof for Hardwick Hall, one of them being attaching the decorative ceiling crown molding trim while the roof was still open and unobstructed. I am using the same pattern wood that I used in the Parlor and the Kitchen, stained the same dark walnut color. And since there were still parts of the kitchen crown molding that had not been cut yet, because I had to complete the hearth inner wall before I could know the proper dimensions to cut... I decided to also work on the hearth and see if I couldn't also attach some of the kitchen molding. I had noticed a small scrap of paper lying around (because we don't throw these away!) that was trimmed from the ceiling "embossed" paper and it reminded me of the kind of trim you see when metal sheets are joined it looked like a row of rivets....

 I thought it would be perfect for the hood on the hearth in the kitchen,

 which I wanted to look like an old copper covered hood....

So I glued some strips in place....

Then I added a coat of iridescent copper paint.....

With the darker gray coat still showing through in places....

Then we have to see what it looks like in the kitchen.....

Yes, I am liking this!

(And you can see one piece of the crown molding has been attached...)

But that is not all... there is a mantelpiece too...

Yes, I know the copper is really shiny here... 

the light is hitting it just right....

Inside the kitchen it is not so garish!

Maybe we need to see how it will look 

with the stove added and the light on.....

I still need to add the bricks to the hearth itself and the chimney back...

but it is starting to look like I imagined it would!

 

I hope you will Believe me Dear Readers

 when I tell you that I Intended to keep working 

on the attic structure and the Belvedere....

But then I Dreamed all night about building Tiny Tiny 

Dollhouse roomboxes in 144th scale!!!

And when I woke up I realized I'd never thought of 

just making a roombox in that scale.... 

And if it was JUST a roombox, how difficult would that be?

Well... I had to give it a try ... just to see....

And as I thought about Where this tiny Roombox would live.... 

I realized it had to be on a shelf somewhere where it could be easily seen....

And what better shelf than one of the shelves beside the fireplace in The Folly?

So I made sure to build it so it would fit.....

And then I realized it would be fun 

if the scene were to "mimic"  The Folly Parlor itself!

 

 

Which meant there would be a fireplace....

So I glued some tiny scraps of wood to a piece of cardboard...

With several layers to make the decorative profile....

I could have used just cardboard, 

but I had some tiny slivers of wood just begging to be used!

Then I painted it to look like a brick fireplace....

And attached it to a "marbled" hearth base......

(sorry the glue is still not dry and rather obvious!)

It still needs quite a few details.... 

like the flames and the logs... and the coals.....!

And here it is inside the roombox....

I will need to build the shelves that flank the hearth....

And the books that go in the shelves....

Because to tell you the Truth, Dear Readers, 

my Dream was all about those Teeny Teeny books 

and how to make the shelves 

and whether it would be a Library or a Bookstore....

So maybe this is just for practice....

 

Just a Tiny Diversion......

Except I had to see if I could make a Tiny Person too....

 

Here you can see the beginnings...

At one-half inch tall she might be a tiny bit large for the scale....

and I have only just started to figure out the costuming....

But I succeeded in making a carpet for the floor!

And while I was test-building the roombox... 

I made a couple of them..... just in case.....

There could be a Library AND a Kitchen..... !

Because, really... they don't take up much space!!!

And I am pretty sure there will have to be more than one Tiny Person!

Oh Dear, WHAT have I gotten myself into???

But just to reassure you... 

The Kitchen Hearth in Hardwick Hall 

has not been abandoned....

And every little bit of Progress Counts!

Because the Roomboxes, Dear Readers,

Are really just a Tiny Diversion!