miniatures — Page 33

Day One Hundred Twenty-One

July 12, 2020 at 10:07 am by Claudia

Big storms yesterday, unbearable humidity, lots of rain. From the level of water in my galvanized bucket, I’d say we got 4 inches over two days. Today? No humidity, a gentle breeze, the sound of the wind chimes. Heaven.

I finished the three exterior walls of the house late yesterday afternoon. Dove Cottage made a little trip outside this morning for a photo shoot.

I am also going to cover the base of the porch in these stones, as well as the base in the rear of the house, so there’s more work to do. But the big job – the cottage – is finished.

After that I’m going to spray the stones with a matte sealer so the color doesn’t run. I’m also going to do a few test stones. I’m experimenting with grout (grout made from spackle with a tiny bit of color added) and I want to see if spraying them with a sealer will keep them safe from the spackle. I know it will be painstaking work, but if I could pull it off, I’d be very pleased. If it turns out otherwise, I leave them as is, but the perfectionist in me will not be happy.

So, a bit more work to do on the exterior then I’ll move on to the interior.

I’m very pleased with the look of the stones. I have to admit, when I first started I wasn’t at all sure this was the way to go. I had serious doubts. But now, I’m really in love with the look.

Just to review, I collected cardboard egg cartons for months. When it was time to start making stones, I cut the textured section of the egg carton, usually the top, into strips. I painted each strip with a base coat of Deco Art Americana acrylic paint in Buttermilk – two coats. Then I used another paint I had on hand in a shade of rusty brown and added touches of it here and there, sometimes rubbing some of it off if it was too much. Then I cut each stone individually, trimming it as necessary. Then I glued each one into place. It was painstaking work, but now – after most of it is done – well worth it.

I’m excited about decorating it. I’ll try to share some of my ideas about the interior this week. Just know that these two pieces will be a big part of the kitchen end of the open concept first floor –

And in the living room, this:

Wallpaper, floors, bedroom, bathroom and much of the downstairs are to be determined. That’s the fun of it.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day One Hundred Eighteen

July 9, 2020 at 9:45 am by Claudia

Glory be! We got a lot of rain yesterday. So, so happy about that. Today there’s a heat advisory so we have to stay indoors, but tomorrow should be much better. I have a lot of work to do outside and haven’t been able to do anything.

I got almost half of stonework done on the remaining wall of the dollhouse yesterday afternoon. I’m going to do more today. Then I’ll move on to the interior. There’s only so much I can do without buying supplies and we’re on a very, very strict budget right now as we can’t work, and won’t be able to work for many more months, and Don is unable to take pictures at the Farmer’s Market this year. It’s running, but it’s in a very, very narrow street with no social distancing possible – frankly, I can’t imagine why they opened at all. Don can’t take pictures without positioning people and he can’t maintain a distance of 6 feet. So: no go this year. This is our reality right now. We realize, of course, that we are blessed in countless ways so I’m not complaining. I’m just acknowledging that some of my dollhouse renovation options are limited and have to be stretched out over time.

If I have to stop work on Dove Cottage, I’ll get back to my efforts to assemble the half-scale dollhouse I started a few years back. And I’ll assemble more kits.

I need projects! This jigsaw puzzle is the hardest one yet and I have to be in a certain kind of mood to even think of tackling it.

Yesterday afternoon found me upstairs in the office working on the dollhouse and Don downstairs in the living room working on a piece of music he is writing. Creativity in the Hill-Sparks household always makes me happy.

I am loving Faith Fox, the book by Jane Gardam that I am currently reading. She is a brilliant writer. I can’t say enough about her. I’m so looking forward to reading more of her work someday, especially her trilogy.

We’ve now watched Rachel Maddow for three nights running. We haven’t done that in a long, long time. We are in that kind of mood.

Okay. Have to go water plants.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day One Hundred Seventeen

July 8, 2020 at 9:37 am by Claudia

Both Don and I were in dark moods yesterday. Funny how that happens – sort of retreating from each other and the world, yet obsessed by the news. That’s where we were. We talked about it later in the day and gave ourselves permission to feel down, to feel rage, to feel worried. (We should always be kind to ourselves, especially during such tumultuous times.)

We’re better for talking it through because we helped each other put into words what we were wrestling with during the course of the day and there’s comfort in knowing you’re not alone. We’re much better today.

Though it is gray and oppressive out there and if the weather forecast (and this time, the radar) are to believed we may get some severe storms this morning and afternoon. Even though it’s only supposed to reach the low eighties, there’s a heat advisory because there’s so much humidity out there. So I’d better stay in. I’d planned on doing a little garden cleanup but that can wait a couple of days.

In the middle of the day yesterday, I went upstairs to the office and finished my furniture kit. It’s a little too big for the Folk Art Dollhouse, though I could probably make it work. But it’s perfect for the bedroom of Dove Cottage.

There’s hardware included, but I don’t particularly like it so I will probably order something else.

These kits are fun to put together – sometimes frustrating as well! But I’m happy with this one. I think I’ll finish it in some sort of pine stain. I don’t want layers of paint because the drawers will be hard to close. A thin layer of stain will do the trick. Of course, I don’t have that on hand and money is tight, so this will go on my ‘wish list.’ I’m going to re-glue and clamp the upper left edge. I think the inserts are causing it to lift. I did that with the opposite edge and it worked.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Day One Hundred Twenty-One

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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