News for Now

Hello again, my friends. The weather here has been amazingly warm for February.  I was expecting more cold, dark evenings which are perfect for staying warm by the fireplace making minis.  Instead, we've had sunshine and weather in the 50-60s.

The boys have been in love with the new RC cars. Justin has made some ramps in the backyard and strategic rock piles for climbing with the cars. He's has even ordered a bunch of new aluminum parts to replace the broken plastic factory parts.  The Axial Wraith is getting red and orange new parts. They even have a plan to change out the body for a custom painted one with a 49ers logo and flames. I'm not sure what they have planned for the Vaterra Twin Hammers. It's been out of commission. They've had issues with the battery charger not charging. I think it's defective.We even made a special trip to Carson City's hobby store to get a new one. No luck there, though.

Anyhow, I've been trying my hand a few new things as well. I posted a few things on the Greenleaf forum, but I will share them here too.

I've been working on a scratch-built bed to go with my redwork quilt. Together, it looks like something straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog, which is what I was going for. I had the bed assembled, but the paint wasn't behaving so I took it apart. It will get re-painted and reassembled now. Here's before it was painted.

Of course I love my mini kitchen stuff, so I've been making some kitchen utensils. I've made some whisks, mashers, wooden spoons, pastry cutters, and a big strainer. Eventually a few sets will show up in my Etsy store, and I've even been thinking of doing a giveaway. Here's a shot of a few things to give you a taste.

I'm still working on Haley's heart quilt. I was hoping to be almost done now, but I was sick last week and spent three days home from work. My head cold was so bad, I couldn't even see well enough out of my watery eyes to cross stitch.

My poor head has been brimming with ideas for other projects, too. I keep telling myself not to get distracted from things I've already started. Must. Finish. Something!

Good luck out there. Stay warm (if you're in the East Coast freakish snow zone) and I'll see you again soon.

Little Red Cottage Touches

I haven't posted anything on the red Lafayette dollhouse in quite a long time. That's mainly because I haven't done much to this house in a long time. I figured I had to finish it before moving on to Haley's house instead of letting it continue to linger. Here are some details to the finishing touches. I'm not 100% finished, but I'm so close I couldn't wait to share these photos.

  
I bought some plain 3/8" basswood strips and used that to enhance the exterior trim and also inside around the door and as floor molding. I painted it the same tan as the interior window trim before gluing in place.

The door was a huge pain to get in place. It took tons of sanding and grinding with the Dremel tool to make it work. I added a brass doorknob. I had to enhance the exterior trim (the pediment?) so it wasn't so plain. Also, the shutters were so plain and blah, they needed something. I used crackle medium to get some variation and texture. That also helped them to match the door.

Inside, I added trim around the bay window inside to hide the transitions between wallpaper and paint.  It was a huge improvement.

I figured out what to put on the downstairs ceiling to give it a little something extra. I scared up a printable rug and ran it on the color laser printer at full page size. It was perfect! After a little dimensional glue and decoupage, it really completed the scene.

Now, there are only a few minor things left to do.  I have some fabric saved to use for curtains. Then, I need to finish up the front porch steps and the spiral stairs. This little house has really turned out well and I'm so pleased with it.

Farmhouse Wallpaper Mania

Hello again, dear readers. The family took a little trip over the MLK holiday weekend down to the Bay Area.  We stayed with the hubby's brother and had tons of fun.  We tracked down a few stores we had to go to, for Justin that meant RC hobby stores and for me, Shellie's Miniature Mania in San Carlos!

It's been years since I've been to a miniature store.  The Reno store shut down right after I graduated from college when the owners retired.  Another store popped up but quickly went under. Mini-lovers are at a loss around here.

Can I just say wow? Not that Shellie's store is huge, but there is tons of stuff stuffed in there! I managed to find all the wallpaper I needed for Haley's house, plus some different flooring materials too. I even talked to Shellie herself. This place is on my list for a return visit.

(Mental note: Shellie is working out the details to hold another workshop with Rik Pierce for October 2014.  I'm putting that on my wish list!!!)

We drove around the Bay and I took tons of pictures of cute houses for dollhouse inspiration. San Carlos and Berkeley have the cutest old houses!

The boys were awe of Hobbytown USA in Concord.  Justin found the right things he needed for the Twin Hammers rock crawler.  The boys have been on a kick with pinewood derby cars so I even helped Haley pick one out with some decals so she can have one of her own. Of course, it will be pink, not the red that came with the kit.

Anyhow, once back home, I encouraged the boys to work on one of Eric's RC kits while I messed with wallpaper.  I decided that with this house, I wanted to spray all the wallpaper with sealant before doing anything. I was bit annoyed by the crinkle issues I had with the red cottage, so I hope the sealant helps!

I got out all the new wallpaper and flooring, plus all my old wallpaper and flooring I had stashed away. I spread things out on the floor and looked at it. I started picking what paper goes into which room. The vine one (top left) is for the living room, strawberries (bottom center) for the kitchen. Green stripe with roses (bottom left) is the 2nd floor hallway. I'm still working out other rooms, but it's progress!

I also made another decision regarding the front room. I was thinking a fireplace would be nice. Since I've moved walls around, I have a wall with a door opening. That opening is now going to be the location of the fireplace.  I will still need to fill in the gap (so there is wall to wallpaper above the mantle) but I won't have to worry about matching up siding on the exterior. The fireplace will conceal that area!

I think at this point it's fair to officially rename the house. I've made enough changes that it doesn't look like the box. It's no longer the Victoria's Farmhouse. I will officially call it Haley's Farmhouse.