Revisiting......

More Stems and Twigs.....

You will think I have done Nothing at all, Dear Readers, from looking at the pictures of the stems of the Lilac shrubs, but I assure you that I have spent the weekend adding layer upon layer of paint to those shrubs! The point of the four shrubs is to make them look like the same shrub.... in different seasons... so I needed to duplicate the same paint layers I had used on the first one! That one was somewhat experimental, but the truth is, each layer of paint that is added makes for a more realistic end result. This is because the bark on a shrub (or tree) is never really just one color. It is many many colors, seen in different light  and shadows and blending to form an "impression" of "bark color". Most people see this as brown... but upon close inspection it is usually a very grayish brown sometimes with a more tan hue and sometimes with a red or black hue.... which is challenging to duplicate! But I was repeating what I had already done on the first shrub... which was to start with a dark gray layer that would be visible in any "crevices" in the bark once lighter colors had been layered over it. Above you can see one of the shrubs part-way done.

The next layer went to the opposite extreme... 

almost the color of bare exposed wood... 

but it adds to the depth you see when other colors

 are added over it and not every bit is covered completely.

The third layer tries to close in on the "color"

 people think they are seeing when they look at bark...

 a drab brownish gray..... again leaving

 highlights of the previous layers visible in spots....

And the next layer is a darker more brown less gray layer....

really just brushing on highlights over the other layers,

 not trying to cover it completely at all.

Which I did for all the rest of the shrubs! 

Now at least they are all at the same layer of color depth!

 I am sure I will continue to add layers...

 I don't think it is completely right yet... 

but it is getting closer!

And at the same time I need to add the color to the rest of the twigs... 

which so far have only been painted on one of the shrubs! 

And in between all those layers of paint...

 

 

 I did complete blossom number Thirty-two!

And in the box with the ever growing

 group of double blossom stems!

(Remember there are already four blossoms attached to the shrub..!)

 

And because it seems so boring to just show layers of paint....

I will share with you Dear Readers, 

a rare peek into the Tree House....

because the sun came to play for a minute or two on Saturday morning...!

 (You have no idea how rare a thing this has been this year!)

 

 

Do you even remember the Tree House? 

Standing so patiently beside The Folly.... 

on the Other side from the lilac shrub and the Glass House.....

It is the home of the Rats... 

it is approximately one-quarter scale (1:48)

At the very bottom, nestled in the ground between the roots is the Kitchen....

(I have not built anything on this project since 2014....!

 But it is still not finished at all...)

The next floor up is the salon.....

Since the leaves are off the RL trees

 the sun is shining way into my workroom

for a few minutes early in the morning....

Sorry about the reflections....

 I needed to snap the pictures 

in a hurry before the sun ran away....

The next floor up is the Library.....

 where so many items have fallen on the floor....

Nobody has been in to tidy up in quite a while....

I do love this room....!

And the bedroom on the next floor.....

( Oh!.... There is somebody home! 

So sorry for intruding...! 

It is rather early to be visiting!)

And the floor above... the Bath Chamber.....

With the most beautiful Tub in the world....!

All these rooms are lit with LED's....

 and the entire Tree is just a Tree beside The Folly....

I have not had the Time or the Focus 

to work on the next rooms in this project...

 perhaps when I am done with the Lilac Shrubs, 

I will know better how to finish the Tree!

So I will keep working away at the Lilac Shrubs, Dear Readers, 

In the hopes that I will be mastering techniques

 that will be useful on so many other

of my unfinished projects!

Because Someday I will be 

Revisiting the Tree House... 

to make Twigs and Stems again!

Treasures From Near and Far

Coquillage.....

More Treasures have been added to the Collections in the Tree House Library, Dear Readers, but this time the making of these pieces would Not have been possible without the Generosity of Blog friends Near and Far! For I have been the recipient of some Fabulous Gifts this year! Last Spring I admired some Tiny shells on the Blog of a Wonderful miniaturist, Debora of Petit blog, and before I knew it she had sent me a whole Treasure Trove of the tiny shells! She said King Neptune had been Generous this year and she had plenty to share....

The tiny shells in this bag are only a portion of what she sent me! 

She also sent these Tiny Sand Dollars and Star Fish!!!!

 I was astonished at their delicacy and so moved by her Generosity! 

Thank you, Debora, I am sure I have not thanked you properly until now!!!

But that was not all.... later in the Summer I was the Lucky winner of the Tiny Fairy Seashell house made by Lucy Coles, another Astonishingly talented miniaturist who now has several blogs and lives in New England, not too far from here! Along with The Incredibly Tiny Fairy House (which will eventually figure in a post!) and beautiful cushions, she sent me some tiny shells she had gathered at the shore this Summer.....

Again, their beauty and delicacy is remarkable! Thank you Lucy!!! 

I am sure I have neglected to properly thank you as well...!

And as if that were not enough... 

I too, was able to go to the Seashore this Summer and came home with Treasures from the sea!

In particular I found the mysterious item below....

But I knew what a Treasure it was!!!

This is the egg casings for the Atlantic Whelk.....

And each pod holds dozens of Tiny Baby shells....

Only one pod has been opened here......

If you poke the pictures you can see the shells more clearly....

Here is one on my fingertip......

(I guess I have Treasures to spare!!!)

So with all those Treasures from the sea at my fingertips, Dear Readers, 

is it any wonder that I made some into very Victorian types of displays?

I started by making a tiny box from cardboard and painting it black...

And then I began to glue the tiny Whelk shells onto it ... 

trying to cover the whole surface....

The Victorians made patterns from tiny shells... known as "Coquillage"

I started with one of Debora's starfish on the lid..... 

can you believe how Tiny it is???

And I couldn't just make One item..... 

I also started an assemblage of shells to go in a Bell Jar.....

Beginning with another of the Tiny Starfish....

And one of the Sand Dollars that Debora sent.....

They are arranged in a three dimensional vertical pile.....

I placed the Tiniest periwinkle from Lucy on top of one of the shells from Debora....

Can you see it better here...?

And with the Bell Jar....!!! 

But where will it go? I hear you asking.... 

in this Crowded room.... ?

Perhaps there is a spot on the Door..... 

where the Treasures can best be Seen from all angles....!

Meanwhile the Tiny box has been painted red inside.... 

and the shells are gradually covering all the sides...

And the lid is covered too....

Using the smallest shells from Debora's collection fitted around the starfish...!

See how small it is.....

Well, actually it's Not that small in the scale of things.... 

it is actually sort of Large!

We need to test it in the Library.......

Hmmmm..... maybe we should see inside the box.....

But if the lid is off... maybe we should see what is In the box......

I think it is a box of Cigars.....!

(These are made by painting paper covered florists wire brown and cutting into tiny pieces...!)

 And the lid should be glued in the open position.....

That looks Much better....

And a close-up of the lid too....

And testing the look in the Library......

(Why are these so hard to photograph....!!!!)

It is one thing to make tiny butterflies, Dear Readers.....
But these tiny shells are the Real Thing!!!
So there you see my very first Coquillage....

And they certainly would not have been possible without the 

Treasures from Near and Far....!

Thank you Debora and Lucy!

(Oh, and please forgive me for that previous empty post a few days ago....
it now has the pictures to go with it if you want to go take a look...!)

Details!

Glorious Details!

By Now, Dear Readers, you must know how much I Adore the tiniest Details! They seem to make such a Huge difference and yet they are sometimes so small as to go unnoticed unless they are pointed out.... and I am Very willing to point them out! This week I have added a few small but significant ones, as well as a much larger and very Obvious Table to the Tree House Library. This is Not the desk I have promised you.... and I know some of you will think I am Insane to be planning a desk Too.....! Where will it go? Rest assured... I have a plan! But first I made the Table because it was easier! I neglected to take pictures of its construction because most of it was very ordinary. I found some very fine stair spindles for 1/12 scale stairs and cut them down to use the tiny turned portion for legs. Here below you can see the table prior to staining.

The only really tricky part was the "X" shaped stretchers I wanted for the base.... 

I carved them from a single piece of basswood....... 

here below you can see my rather crude results.....

Thank heavens that once it is stained the carving looks a lot neater!

Here you can see it being tested for fit in the Library.....

Yeah, it is Big..... 

but it needs to hold a lot of Interesting Things yet to be made.....

So I think it will do!

Meanwhile I added some of those infinitesimal details to the Fire....

You thought it was good enough as it was...?

Well, I added some logs... 

carved and painted to look partly burnt....

I know they are hard to see....

And if you look REALLY closely you will see I added a couple, 

well maybe five, pieces of red glitter to the burning coals at the front of the logs.....

Can you see them?

And I glued the Dragon andirons in place.....

And when it is in the Library with the fire lit......

Can you see those glowing coals?

I Wish they weren't so difficult to Photograph!

But that is not all I managed to do this week.....

I added the wallpaper and trim to the remaining window by the chimney....

Of course, it is really hard to see unless I lift off the ceiling.....

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

I made the window and shutters last week... 

and the shutters are Hinged to open and close...!

(I LOVE Hinges!)

And there is yet Another tiny detail I have added this week.....

The Rose chair was lacking the cloth on the outside.....

And I confess it was Much trickier to make than the first parts! 

It needed to be all one piece of fabric and it needed to fit very exactly.....

So I made a paper pattern....

 

 

And then I traced the shape onto the inside of the cloth.....

and smeared quick dry glue on the inside 

covering the edges of where the fabric would be cut...

And let it dry thoroughly...

This made a sort of rubbery edge where the pattern would be cut....

Which allowed me to make very precise cuts and fit it carefully with No fraying of the edges!

This shows the right side of the fabric cut to fit the chair........

But before gluing the fabric on I added another one of those Glorious details.... 

I wanted Piping on the chair seams.....

So I am gluing a strand of Pearled Cotton Twist (Antique DMC) 

to the side of the arm... you can see it in the picture above...

And then I Carefully glued one side at a time.... 

allowing the glue that squeezed out at the edge of the fabric 

(which I intended and very carefully squeezed...) 

be the glue that stuck the cording on.....

You can see it in process above......

And this is the other side.....

And the view from the front.....

I still need to do this for the Front of the arms......

But for now you can see it in place in the Library......

Some of the books have found their way onto the table.....

And you can also see the "fender" in front of the fire.... 

made from a piece of ornamental metal trim...

Here, come a little closer......

See those coals glowing...?

I don't know about you......

But I just LOVE all those Tiny Glorious Details!!!!