Picky Picky!

Little Details.....

I had a couple of days of Holiday Time left, Dear Readers, after I had finished painting the Christmas Card (see previous post for a picture!), and had hoped to get a Great many things done on All my mini projects! But, as often happens, every little thing takes longer than you could imagine to complete.... and the Indecisive part of my Imagination prevented me from Choosing the best projects for the moment.... so I did not get very much done at all. But I did get a few Little Things done.... even ones I had almost forgotten about! I hope you can recognize, or even Remember The Folly Bed Nook in the above picture (It is so dark at this time of year it is difficult to get a good photo!) Long ago I had started to sew a pair of bolsters for either end of the bed, but I was not at all satisfied with the way the first one was turning out, so I put them aside and forgot about them! Well, for some reason, I decided it was time to finally finish them!

I had sewn one of them but did not have the right material to stuff them. I wanted to try sand or beads so they would look heavy and sag in the middle. They are sewn the old fashioned way by hand, and at first I thought they would be too large and bulky for the bed nook. But then I decided to over-stitch the ends, making a welt around the end seams, which gave more shape and definition to the pillow. I had bought some bird gravel and used it to stuff and I really liked the way it came out after all! Then I tried to make the second one to be just like the first one, and even though I had cut the pieces at the same time, the second one did not turn out right at all! I had to pick it apart and re-stitch it more than three times! (This never happens to me!) Eventually I got it close enough to the first one....

When they are in place on the bed they are almost impossible to see.... 

(Maybe the next time there is a sunny morning.....)

But I know they are there!

And because one is at each end of the bed.... 

you don't notice any difference in size at all!

Another Tiny little detail that I worked on was the Curtain rods in the Willowcrest.

It bothered me that it was impossible to remove the curtains from the rod once the walls were all in place! This is because the rods are made to slide out the ends of the eye-screws that hold them to the walls.... but you need enough length of the wall on either side of the window for this to work!  Which just isn't there in these small rooms! I decided I would need to open up one of the eyes on each set of curtain rods.... so that it was a hook instead....

This way you could lift one end of the rod out of the holder 

and slide the curtain off the end!

So while I had taken the Willowcrest mostly apart.....

I fixed all the curtain rods!

And while I was at it I worked on those pesky window sills....

remember the problem with the muntins abutting the window sill on the exterior?

When I fixed the exterior side.... it left an unfinished strip visible from the inside!

Here you can see I have covered three out of four of the panes... 

that little white stripe at the bottom on the right 

is the exterior frame showing on the inside.

(Sorry about all the reflections!)

You can also see I have added the under-painting for some more flowers

 on the wall murals along the bottom edge.

And once all the window frames had been fixed... I added the interior sills.

It makes the windows so much more realistic!

(The kit design does not include any interior window sills!)

Here you can see the window sill added to the interior of the window.

(Sorry it is so dark.... night again!)

And the exterior window sills that had not yet been attached I fitted and glued in place.

It takes quite a bit of picky carving away at the notches in these pre-cut pieces 

to get them to fit flush to the frames and the wall!

These also required the exterior window frames and muntins to be added.....

And I had Almost enough already painted pieces 

of the very fine silver trim I am using....

But not quite enough! 

I will have to cut and paint some more pieces 

in order to complete all the windows.

And yet another small detail I worked on 

was the fireplace for the Willowcrest bedroom...

I had not been happy with the way the paint looked 

the first time around, so I re-painted it!

It is made of wood, but I wanted it to resemble carved stone.

(I also added a thicker wooden base for the hearth.)

And painted the bricks on the hearth interior....

And tested the look with the Regency Fireplace insert....

It looks lovely, but Much too clean!

So I added a lot of "soot".

Which really doesn't show well in this photo... 

the light is too glaring!

Maybe you can see the soot a little better in this view.

I have not attached the plug to the wiring for the fire yet.... 

so we cannot see it lit.

But you can sort of see the additional tiny flowers 

I added at the bottom of the murals....

(Very picky little details!)

Tulips, violets and dandelions....

So hard to imagine at this time of year! 

(And there will also be a baseboard added at the bottom.)

I will have to get some better pictures for you in the daylight!

And Another project I picked away at was the 

Painting of the rocks on the Cloud Palace Tower!

Believe it or not, Dear Readers, this is a part of the project 

that one could never possibly be satisfied with the results!

The rocks are fine.... but they are all different

 from the ones painted on the lowest section of the Tower!

It is like when you buy yarn and you get two different dye lots 

and don't notice until the project is all done and you can see where one color is off!

The paint batches for the rocks will never match the older part!

So I have decided that it is "good enough" and moved on 

to gluing the parts together!

Which means I can construct the beds 

for the Guy Bearys.... in the "Bear Racks"!

(Otherwise know as bunk beds and a loft!)

Once I get the interior structure glued 

I can add all the rest of the "Rocks" 

to the outside of the Tower!

 

And one more thing I want to show you, Dear Readers, 

is not a project at all....

But a Gift I received for Christmas from my Dear Niece!

She sent me this fantastic roll-top desk 

and the beautiful painting and the bouquet of flowers!

Thank you, Hali!

The only way I can be picky with these is Where to put them... 

and I think the roll-top desk might just belong 

here in the attic of the Willowcrest!

So Dear Readers, I hope I have not bored you 

with all these Picky Little Details!

Sometimes you just have to be Very Picky!

Hmmmmm.... Where Was I?

Letting the Dust Settle......

Well, Dear Readers, I have been Trying to recall just What I was doing when I got swept up in telling tiny Tales.... and I had to browse through Weeks and weeks of photos that I have taken of the goings on in my Mini Worlds..... only to come to the conclusion that I have not accomplished even One Little project since before the summer began! It is a humbling thought indeed! Of course, I have started on several parts of the many projects I seem to have underway... only to hit a snag and put them aside... or simply get distracted.... or run out of Time to complete them. You might recall that I had started to paint the tiny figures in the border of the ceiling in the Castle Great Hall. I made a good start on the first side, but couldn't decide on all the subjects for the opposite side, so it is still just where I left it.... far from finished! But one morning the sunlight shone into the Hall, allowing me to take a picture in the beautiful light, so I thought I would share it with you, unfinished as it is!

And I had made a start with adding the exterior muntins 

to the windows of the Willowcrest....

If you look closely in this picture you will see 

that I have added them to the top portion of the window, 

but not the bottom.

This is because it is bothering me that the muntin will abut directly onto the exterior window sill.... which is not at all how window frames are constructed! Let alone that there is no offset for the "double hung" windows to be opened by sliding past the upper portion of the window!

And if I add a "bottom" crosspiece to the window above the sill, I will also have to add one to the interior side of the window.... which already has the frame in place.

These windows were not designed properly!

So I have not continued with adding the exterior muntins to all these windows

 while I try to decide what should be done.

I started to build the fireplace for the Willowcrest bedroom, 

using various pieces of decorative trim wood from the Home Depot.

I even gave it the initial coats of paint to make it resemble stone.....

But it is still unfinished. The first coats of paint didn't look right......

And I need to decide whether there will be a "lit" fire in this fireplace....

So I can run the holes for the wiring before I attach the wall in place!

And there are still a few details I want to paint on the walls... 

which will be so much easier to do

before I glue them all in place!

And I can't really get more work done on the Attic room

 until I have glued the Floor....

And exterior walls (which still are not attached) in place!

(I think I need to make a list of all the things that are 

keeping me from gluing those walls in place...)

Yes, precious little has been done!

So now that Everybody has gone home from the Halloween Party

 and the Dust has had a chance to settle, Dear Readers,

 I can see that there is Plenty that needs to be done.....

If I can only figure out What I am doing!!!

(Wish me Luck.... I really should be starting on Christmas!)

Doors and Hinges

And a Little Bit of Light.....

I Left you at the Top of the stairs in the new Willowcrest House project, Dear Readers, where I confess, the mural painting had come to a screeching halt! It had become clear to me that I was going to have to solve several technical issues before I could go any further with this build! The first one that needed solving was the Doors.... the bedroom doors and the front entry doors, both of which are accessible through the hallway. The kit instructions have you attach them in the final steps.... and have you glue them in place! The above is the view through the bedroom doors (not yet in place!) to the hallway where the Moon Maiden murals are barely visible.

This is the view through the opening to the front hall..... 

it would not be visible if the doors are glued in place!

I insist that my doors can be opened.... and that requires hinges!

So the doors need to be completed before I can finish the hallway...

as well as the window to the stairs that I mentioned last week.

So I pulled out the sheet of window "glass" that comes with the kit....

I am sorry, but I just can't go with the white painted window dividers!

And here I am testing the panes for the front doors....

The white dividers just look ridiculous to me!

So I had to cut new pieces of plastic.....

I used sections of plastic packaging that I have kept....

And here I am gluing them between the layers of the door panels.

I will figure out some way of adding the decorative "panes" that I want.

But the doors needed to be assembled before I could attach the hinges....

And I also need to figure out how to attach the hinges to this thin plywood kit....

I think it would be best to have the exterior trim already in place to add depth for the screws!

I have yet to do any of the exterior trim!

And the next issue I need to solve is the lighting.....!

I will not be able to reach into the hallway to attach anything when the kit is done....

So the lights will have to be done first.....

I haven't had Time to buy the lights I will need for this house!

So to distract myself from these unsolved problems....

I decided to build a better fireplace for the parlor....

The ones that come with the kit are rather pathetic.

I started with some plain pine stock and added decorative trim pieces.

It is a bit rough because the fireplace will be difficult to see.

It sits against an angled wall.....

which is angled Away from the open side of the house...

And can only be viewed head-on when looking in through a side window!

I will gesso and paint it to resemble stone.....

But again, I could go no further without getting the lighting issues settled.

I think the best location to run most of the wires will be on this chimney wall,

the back side of which is the kitchen wall 

and can be covered in a "brick" facade to hide the wires.

So with all those unsettled issues getting in my way, Dear Readers, I did what I often do....

I jumped to an entirely different project!

Remember the Conservatory?

A year ago, on this blog, I described the way in which I hoped 

to make changes in the original kit design, 

causing it to open on the sides and have the roofs attached.

But those changes would require some engineering to work!

All year the kit sat "put together" with masking tape holding it up!

And since I recently had to move it away from the windows 

to bring the house plants back inside for the winter, 

it now sits on the corner of my work table....

"Sort of in the way" of all the other projects!

and if you bump it wrong.... it all falls apart.

So I decided it was Time to tackle those engineering challenges!

I hope you will not be surprised to learn that it involves Hinges!

Above you can see the doors to the kit as they come...

 they are hinged with pins which poke into the door from the top and bottom.

If they are not centered just right they run the risk of breaking the wood when they are opened.

You can see that problem on this door, the wood at the bottom is cracked. 

I had debated whether I would change the hinges on these doors, 

but when I saw the crack I knew I would have to.

It is So much easier to do this Before the walls are attached!

Here you can see the doors removed and the new hinges attached.

I debated using smaller hinges.....

 but I knew they would see a lot of action, so I went with the larger hinges.

I had to cut the screws down by half their length....

and even so, the holes I drilled penetrated through the doors.

This caused me to need to add a layer of Trim to the exterior of the doors.... 

(which you will see in a later photo...)

And on the inside I "disguised" the brassy hinges 

by making them appear to be old patinated brass.

But the biggest engineering challenge was building the new roof support structure....

so that the roof would be held in place firmly when the side was opened.

The kit is designed for the roof to sit on the top edge of the walls.

So I built an extension of the walls vertically, raising the roof line....

(And I also added a shelf as a window ledge.)

I had pondered for ages how to build this new roof support structure.

But the idea for the raised roof edge was made simple for me when I realized 

that a particular decorative trim I get from my local Home Depot 

would make the perfect new Cornice at the top of the walls!

Here you can see the front end wall with the added Cornice...

and if you look closely you can see the doors with the screw holes....

before I added the new trim to cover them!

And because I needed to get at least One wall "finished" 

and attached firmly in place in order to figure out 

the attachment for the hinges on the opening wall.....

I needed to add the lights on the back wall before attaching it in place!

I had bought them a while ago....

They are simple brass bi-pin bulb "candle" lights.

I painted them black to look like iron, and "aged" them with a little bit of rust.

Because this is an old conservatory.... the lights are supposed to be candles....

(the bulbs are not in them for protection while building!)

The wires are being sort of hidden by running them 

under the window ledge and out to the back side.

No, I have not yet figured out where I will hide the plug strip!

Here is the re-built wall from the inside....

The cornice is taller than before, 

and I think it makes a wonderful improvement!

And here is the view from the outside.... 

forgive the blue painters tape, 

it is holding the corners together!

And here is another view from the side 

showing the old structure on the left side of the brick chimney, 

and the new raised side to the right.

And here you can see the new trim added to the fronts of the doors....

and the door hardware too!

But by far the trickiest part has been the engineering of the hinged "wall"!

The kit was originally designed to have the side walls "dovetail" 

into the end wall, with a nice deep groove 

and little rabbit ear tabs that overlapped at the corners.

I had to remove all the rabbit ears and fill the groove 

and add another thicker stronger piece to receive the screws for the hinges.

Here you can see the hinged wall after the hinges were attached!

I got too involved in working out the kinks to remember to take photos!

So far, the back wall on this side is the only one that is glued in place!

I needed to get the hinges attached to the opening wall 

before I could glue the end wall in place....

and I still want to make sure all the clearances are good with the chimney side 

before I glue this end wall down. 

That, and I discovered that the plywood base is a little bit warped....

I will need to shim the front wall slightly!

Meanwhile, I have started on the other end of the building....

 By extending the top of the wall with the new cornice...

 But, the placement of the doors on the side rather than the end wall,

creates an entirely new bunch of engineering challenges!

For now it still sits "in the way" on the corner of my worktable, Dear Readers,

But I have made a whole lot of progress with the Doors and the Hinges...

and even a little bit with the lights!