Cloud Palace Adventures

Blue's Wishes.....

Some of you may recall, Dear Readers, that Blue the Blue Fairy Beary had been on the lookout for Visitors to the Cloud Palace. Well the Truth of the matter is that they were more than just Visitors that she was looking for, because Blue had been very specific in her wishes! She had been Wishing that her Best Friend Forever "Lady Lavender" could come live at the Cloud Palace too, because she was wanting more "girl" company in her World. And while she was being specific about her Wishes (I suspect she used some of her own Wishing Stars!) she also wished for a Palace Cook to come take over the tiresome Kitchen duties. As soon as Lady Lavender received the invitation she agreed that it would be a Wonderful thing to come live in the Cloud Palace with Blue. But she didn't want to leave her cousin "Sweet Pea" behind because the two had grown up together and were more like sisters to each other than mere cousins. So she decided to bring Sweet Pea with her, knowing that Blue would welcome her too. As soon as they were able, they arranged for their Long Journey to the Cloud Palace. It seems that the most comfortable arrangements were to take the Cherub Chariot-Cloud Express, which would fly them calmly above the seas at a gentle pace, and the Cherubs would take care of the steering! That way they could be assured of the quickest possible rendez-vous with the Cloud Palace and no turbulence along the way! So they set out one fine Blue afternoon....

Carefully Cradled in the softest of Fluffy Cloud Chariots....

Drifting high above the world in the gentlest of breezes....

The views from up there were extraordinary!

And Believe it or not, at almost the exact same moment another Fairy Bear 

was setting out on his way to the Cloud Palace 

to answer the call for a Palace cook!

Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud had heard they needed a cook 

and thought he would go see if the Palace was to his liking.

He hopped on his trusty Enchanted Cloud Cycle 

and flew off into the sky.

 He hadn't been traveling for long 

when he spotted some other Cloud travelers in the distance ahead of him.

It didn't take him very long to overtake their Cloud Chariot....

And all it took was one glance at the Beautiful Lavender Lady Beary 

in the front of the Chariot, and he was ready to revise All his plans 

and follow her wherever her Cloud was headed!

He called out to them as he came close.

"Ach, it is Loath I am t' see such Bonnie Bearies 

traveling the World alone!" he cried!

"Me name is Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud"

" and If  it please ye, I would humbly beg to escort you 

to your Destination, and bravely Rout any rascals along the way!"

 Lady Lavender Blushed and Sweet Pea giggled....

but they agreed that it might be a good idea to have his company...

even though the Cherubs guiding the Chariot 

had assured them no harm could befall them while in their care!

And so they traveled on together....

 and Day turned into Night....

With Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud leading the way....

And the starry skies all around!

And after what seemed like countless Days and Nights..... 

 One Bright blue Morning

 the Cloud Palace finally came in sight!

Where Blue the Blue Fairy Beary 

had been keeping watch from her tall tower!

She was overjoyed to see them arriving at last!

Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud 

guided his Enchanted Cloud Cycle to a stop 

on the terrace of the Cloud Palace....

Only to be met by the point of the Sword 

of Sir Orion Blackthorne the Skywalker 

who took his Guard duties seriously!

"Halt! Who goes there!..." cried Sir Orion.

"Ach it is Me, humble Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud...."

called Hamish Harry... 

"I've come for the Palace Cook position.... 

If it still be open"he added, 

"And I've brought the Bonnie Lassies with me!" 

But that wasn't what had caught Sir Orion's eye!

It was the gleaming Black Enchanted Cloud Cycle.....

(Sir Orion experienced just a small spurt of envy....)

But then he remembered the great Loyalty of his trusty steed, Thunder....

and soon he and Harry were discussing the various merits of 

wheels versus hooves....!

While Lady Lavender and Sweet Pea floated up in the

Cherub Cloud Chariot.....

 

And Blue flew down from the Tower to greet them!

Lavender and Blue are so excited to see each other 

after what Feels like practically Forever!

Sweet Pea is so amazed by the Cloud Palace...

she is even feeling a little bit shy....

But finally she steps off the Cloud Chariot and Blue welcomes her too!

Then Sweet Pea remembers to show Blue the gift she has brought....

"It is the extremely Rare and Little known Fluffy Cloud Plant"

says Sweet Pea, proudly!

At the merest mention of the words "Rare" and "plant" 

Brother Beorn's ears perked up and he stepped closer to have a look!

"I have never seen a Fluffy Cloud Plant before..." he declares!

"This is most exciting!" he adds.

And because Sweet Pea is a noted herbalist 

with a great deal of experience with all sorts of magical plants, 

she and Brother Beorn are soon deep in conversation.

 And Blue and Lady Lavender pull up the cloud chairs and pour some tea...

they have so much "catching up" to do!

And Sir Orion and Harry are fast on their way to being best buddies...

talking about racing cycles against ponies....

And they were all so busy, Dear Readers,

that Nobeary seemed to notice the Cloud Chariot departing....

Sailing away into the sky.....

It seems as though Blue has got her Wishes....

And now there will be many new Cloud Palace Adventures!

With my greatest Thanks to Birgit and her trusty needle....

for Enchanting me with her Creations!

All Those Little Details

Raw Edges, Unfinished Pieces, Small Improvements....

Can you believe it, Dear Readers, that weeks after my vacation is over I am still showing you little pieces that I accomplished during that busy week? The above picture is a case in point. And it is even a further example of something I have been thinking about doing for ages and ages and only got around to finishing while I was enjoying that productive vacation time. This kit is the first piece of furniture I bought as an adult..... Ages and Ages ago when I was only twenty. I completed the assembly shortly after buying it, but didn't know how to do the "finishing" including the attaching of the drawer pulls. So I put it all carefully away, unfinished, awaiting a time that I could learn the proper methods of staining and gluing. I finally gave it a stain a few years ago, but still didn't attach the drawer handles. I finally decided to just glue them on before the pieces got lost... and I got it done during my recent vacation!  And while we are talking of finishing unfinished pieces....

I had decided to stain the table and chairs for the Willowcrest...

I wanted the silver-gray color I had used on the Conservatory

So I pulled out the stain and got right to it!

Which only got me to thinking about other long-unfinished pieces....

The hutch in the Folly kitchen was given to me by my sister many years ago...

And I have been unable to decide exactly what color to paint it.

So I tested one of the stained chairs in the room and it was perfect!

It didn't take me long to get the hutch stained too.

I am probably going to add more details to it... but it is a start!

But that is not all I have to show you, Dear Readers....

The chief little detail I wanted to show you 

is one of those projects I have been wanting to make 

ever since, well... Forever!

So I Finally got started....

I started with ordinary cardboard and made a little box with a drawer.

And then I started to cover the outside in a pink patterned cotton....

and lined the insides in light green silk....

The shape of the box was a bit complicated to cover... 

but I glued one section at a time...

and only cut away pieces when I was 

sure where they needed to be cut.

And the top lid has a folded edge....

Here you can see it up close...

Here I am working on the lining for the top sections...

I left the raw edges of the silk unturned,

relying on the glue to prevent raveling.

Here it is mostly finished.....

A sewing box just like the one belonging to my Mother...

that my sister and I used to "borrow" 

when we were children just learning to sew!

And here I am starting to add the accessories.

Do you see those scissors on the table?

I have saved those scissors, Dear Readers, ever since I was a child!

I got the larger pair in a gumball machine when I was ten...

and they actually cut paper!!!

The smaller pair I have had for just as long, 

but I don't remember where they came from.

There were a few other things I wanted to add to this sewing box....

 And one of them was a measuring tape....

So I decided to see if I could make one by painting some cotton...

and writing numbers on it....

and covering that with craft glue.....

and cutting it very very close to the writing...

 I think it works!

And when I was at the Sturbridge Fair two years ago,

I had bought some tiny metal thimbles and tiny stork scissors...

which I have tucked into the top of the box...

I also added a pin cushion (bought more recently)

and wound some ribbon on card like bias tape.

I am sure I will be adding details for quite a while.

I just can't tell you, Dear Readers, 

How satisfying it was to finally, Finally get around to 

working on all these Unfinished pieces, 

Raw edges and Small improvements...

I really had So much fun with all those little details!

A Cloud Palace Vacation

Filling The Gaps.....

Do you even Remember the Cloud Palace, Dear Readers? Well, last week I mentioned that I had worked on so many projects over my Vacation, that one Post was too short to show all of them to you. Well, one of those projects was the Cloud Palace upstairs doorway. You may recall that in order to add the Tower which houses the Kitchen, Library and Bedroom, to the main building of the Palace, I needed to cut a hole in the roof of the original "Buttercup" kit. It was easy enough to cut the hole where I wanted to have a connecting door to the Library in the Tower and the outer stairs which spiral up the outside of the Tower. It was another thing altogether to construct the doorway in that corner hole in the roof! Of course I couldn't quickly find any pictures with just the hole in the ceiling... so we have to make do with shots that show the beginnings of the door frame construction already under way.

I apologize for the dark picture... 

it was night and I was trying to figure out where to start 

the construction of this complicated corner addition!

I have made a wall that rises above the roof on the outside, 

and descends below the roof on the inside.

And started to make a frame for the inner doorway, 

all of which you can sort of see above.

And then I constructed the outer door-frame, 

which was going to need to have the actual door attached to it, 

so it needed to be sturdily connected, 

because I like my doors to actually open and close with hinges!

And every step required cutting and fitting 

and taping together and then testing for fit

and all the pieces falling down over and over again, 

because you don't want to glue any of it until you are sure it fits!

So it was slow progress.

In case you have forgotten, 

here below is a shot of how the Tower is situated 

in relation to the main part of the Palace.

The Tower is "notched" against the corner of the Palace,

and the stairs circle around to an entrance onto the upstairs at the corner.

Which you can see here with the beginnings 

of the wall and door frame under construction.

I had to make sure the door frame matched the edge of the Tower wall...

Here is a closer view of the "notched" placement of 

the Tower against the corner of the Main Palace.

And you can see the tight spacing of the roof-line 

under the Tower Bedroom floor.

And of course, Blue the Blue Fairy Beary 

had to come inspect the progress!

Each piece that was fitted needed to be painted too... 

because the interior was already painted.... 

and we needed to be sure the parts would all match...

And it would have been much harder to paint them 

once all the pieces were glued in place.

So I had to be very slow and patient, 

and while the paint was drying I worked on other projects!

(Which I will have to post about another time!)

Here you can see I am constructing the door....

attached to the front frame before it was glued in place.

And here you can see a view of the front of the Palace 

with the new door attached 

and me testing the roof-line fit against the Tower.

And here you can see I am fitting the pieces 

for the gabled side of the dormer addition....

It was necessary to make the roof peaked over the door 

or the entrance to the Library would be too low!

You have no idea, Dear Readers, 

how often the roof pieces slid off onto the floor!

There was no standard pattern to guide me here....

I was just making it up as I went!

And I spent days and Days working at it!!

Here you can see I added a ridgepole to support the dormer roof peak.

Here is a closer view of the side door to the Library,

This one is just open with no door.

Here you can see how it abuts the Library section of the Tower.

Here is the view from the inside looking into the Library.

The door to the outside stairs is closed.

And here you see the door from the outside 

as you approach at the top of the stairs...

And with the door open!

Come on in!

(These are the only stairs to the upper floor in the Palace main rooms.)

Another view of this completed little entryway at the Corner

without the Tower in place...

You can see I have also added the decorative trim to the roof ridges.

And I even added the Top Floor to the Tower....

The Lookout or the Star Gazer's Terrace!

Wow! It is Way up there!

But Blue doesn't mind.....

She rather likes the view from up at the top!

From here she can quickly spot any Visitors 

that might be arriving!

So you can see, Dear Readers, 

how I spent at least a Part of my Vacation...

Filling in the Gaps in the Cloud Palace!