Three Little Tables

This is what I did today for entertainment. I made tables. They don't have the final finish on them yet but I had to play to see where they are going to go in the bookshop. They sure look dull without the finish,but I had to try them out.

These are a much better size than the ones that I made a couple of weeks ago.

I used Victorian gingerbread trim for the skirts on them. I have never done that before. I put a strip of double bead 1/16" molding over that. I usually just use baseboard or one of the plainer trims. It's kind of fun for a change.

I am thinking of using one of the larger ones in place of a counter.

I probably could sit in center front since it wouldn't block much of the view. That's why I didn't want to use the usual counter. Here it kind of blocks the stairs and the way to the bookshelf behind. I tried it about where the larger front table is in the first photo. I think that the clerk could stand with his/her back to us when waiting on a customer. The basket under the table would be a place to put bags for purchases.

I am more or less thinking out loud today. I'm trying to decide if I need a couple more tables(I do) and what other furniture I will need. I am thinking a couple of chairs and a few more bookcases. I have a slant top shaker type desk that I think will go well in the bay above the front door.

I like the size of this little table. It could be used either in front of the bay or in the corner. That's where I intend to put the refreshments tho, so I really need a larger piece there.

I move things around a lot when trying to figure out where things will go and as you can see, I do it way before things are even close to being done on the building itself. I never follow directions or rules. Sometimes(elevator)that gets me into trouble, but I always manage to find my way out. I always keep that string tied around my big toe and around the doorknob.......Speaking of which, I am going to need it again soon. I almost can't get into my workroom. I don't know if you noticed, but I am working on the family room table.......

This last arrangement is probably not going to happen. I like the little table where it is, but the other one will go upstairs. I think that the piece for the food has to be something more solid.

I need to go put some finish on the tables and the bookcase now. In case you haven't figured it out, this is one of my least favorite parts of minis. Varnish, sand, varnish, sand, varnish, sand.....And so it goes. See you tomorrow.

Elevator to Closet..............

When is an elevator not an elevator? It turns out that I forgot that I reversed the floor plan for the second floor and I only have two inches instead of four beside the bay window.....Duh!

I was beginning to think that the Buttercup Bookshop didn't want to have people going from one floor to the other. Then last night I remembered some raw wood stairs that I bought over 25 years ago. I had an "Aha Moment". I don't even know if they still make these.

The photos for today are of a very unfinished stairway. I got out the trusty graph paper last night. While I watched people making fools of themselves on "So You Think You Can Dance" I figured out that I could use the unfinished stairs to give the illusion of the staircase and if the person were a bit on the thin side they could get up the stairs. Don't tell anybody that the back of the bend is a little tight.

This morning I got up and got to work. I had a great time getting Mr. Dremmel to cut through the stairs. They were three inches wide and I needed two inches. It worked.

Then I started with some heavy mat board to work up the walls. It will be beefed up with trim so I am not worried about it being to flimsy. I had it all worked out as to how many steps I would need, so I started whacking away.

I did have to cut down the shelves that went on the side wall by an inch. That was easy enough. I just ran them through the jigsaw and put the end back on. Not a big deal.

This is where I am now. As you can see, I made some shelves under the stairs. I still need to put a couple of posts on the stairs that are open.

It won't be long now til I add the second story. I feel like I am back on track after messing around with stairs and elevators for a week.

As I said, I now have a spare closet to put somewhere. Maybe it could be a shower?

Anyway, I am on a roll. I need to get back at it. See you tomorrow.

Shelving It.....

I started blocking in the elevator yesterday. It now has a stainless steel floor. Did you know that Duck brand..... as in Duck Tape, puts out a super neat shelf liner that is sticky backed like contact paper and the front is stainless steel? I think it is still around. I got it at one of the home improvement stores here a couple of years ago. It works great for lots of different things in mini. I have even used it for cookie sheets when doubled and stuck to itself. Sidetracked once again.

Anyway, I painted the outside of the elevator and put trim around the door. It's a start. Then I went to work making shelving to go next to it on the left wall.

Some of you probably are old hands at making shelving, but I will explain a simple way to go about it here. You can make plain old shelves or make them look pretty fancy. It's up to you and how much work you want to put into them.

I decided that the shelves should cover 5" of the wall width wise and be 7" tall. They had to be about 3/4" deep to hold the books. That's basically the only measurements that I needed since I didn't have to be too exact. I then decided that I wanted the shelves to be about 1 1/4" apart. I took 1/16" thick bass wood and cut strips 3/4" wide. For the unit I was making I cut two that were 7" long and six that were 5" long. I then took a piece of 1/16" square stock and cut that in 1/2" lengths. Since I had 6 shelves to hang I needed twelve 1/2" pieces.

Next I took the two 7" pieces and marked them for the "braces" that I needed for each shelf. I started at the top and marked 1/16" away(the thickness of the shelf). Then I dropped down 1 1/4" from that mark and did it again. I kept doing this until I had 6 marks on each one.

I then took the tiny 1/16" square stock and glued a half inch piece just below each line on both pieces. I glued them towards the back so that they aren't noticeable from the front. I let those dry.

A side note here, it helps greatly to have a micro-mark square jig. If you don't, find some other way to hold the bookcase square while gluing it together. I started at the top and ran a small bead of glue on top of the square stock. I put a shelf across. I continued doing this until all of the shelves were in place. When I was sure that the whole bookcase was square and the shelves were level I let it dry. If I were worried about people seeing the joins I would have stained all of the pieces of wood first. Since I wasn't I waited until the piece was dry and then stained it.

Now comes the fancy part. I stained some molding that I wanted to use and let it dry.

I mitered some small crown molding to fit the top of the bookcase. In this case I only did the end facing the viewer. The other end I squared off so that the side of the bookcase would fit against the wall of the elevator.

Then I took 1/16" double bead molding and glued a long strip to each side edge. I then cut shorter pieces to fit across the front of each shelf.

This is as far as I have gotten today. I will wait until tomorrow to sand and varnish with Deft Satin. I like to make sure that the stain is really dry before I do the final 3 coats of varnish and sanding.

Like I said before, you can make a really fancy bookcase with this same method. The cream colored arched top shelving unit that is in the Rusty Needle Quilt Shop is basically made the same way. I simply faced it with an arched piece of bass wood on the front and added a lot of trim and molding.

Meanwhile, I went back to the bay window. I started doing some decorative painting. I cheated and used a gold pen. I don't think that it shows up well enough. I am either going to have to outline it with a Pigma Micro .005 pen or put some color in with the gold. I'm not sure which yet. As Meatloaf would say......Let Me Sleep On It. It definitely needs something.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Going Up?

OK. I have been struggling with stairs for the bookshop/teashop for over a week. It's not that I can't do it. It's that the footprint taken out of both the first and second floor is way too big.

You saw the first mock up last week. It was just a dogleg.

Next was this one. I curved it. It still took up way too much space and with both of them I was going to have to cut way too much out of the second floor to make it look realistic.

I can see why the original designers just left it out. It was most irritating.....Back to the drawing board.

Here is the solution I came up with.

I know I said something in passing about an elevator last week. I was only half serious. Now I am wholly serious. No. That's not a foam core porta potty in the corner!. Mr. Otis has nothing on me. I am installing an elevator.

In case you are wondering why it sticks up above the top of the wall, that's because the second story has a half inch under it where the foundation was. In other words, when I get the two put together the ceiling will be that much higher. For once I am actually thinking ahead.

The elevator only takes up a 3 1/4" square footprint where the stairs took close 4" x 5" in order to look right.

In answer to your next question, no I am not going to try to get it to work. Call me crazy but I am taking the easy way out. I think it will be permanently stuck on one floor. At least my little people will have a way to get from one floor to the next when I am not watching.

Today is Wednesday Witches miniature meeting so this is going to be short. More bookmaking. Gotta run. See you tomorrow.

Thrice Upon a Time......

Yes. I know it's a terrible way to say day three, but I like it.

For those of you that asked for a close up of baby girl dragon, here she is.

I didn't manage to get daddy's portrait in but I did get baby dragon's portrait on the shelf. It is a miniature of baby dragon coming out of her shell. She is sucking her thumb and holding tight to her rattle. She takes after momma, same wings, same iridescent scales.

On with the show. I braved the ladder again this morning to see if I could get a few more pics to show you.

This is the magic mirror and the wicked queen from Snow White. As you can see, she doesn't like what she is hearing at all! I think he is just telling her that she is having a really bad hair day.

The mirror and sconces are sculpted of Super Sculpey and painted. The sconces are lighted when I can get to the transformer in the back of the castle.

On this wall you can clearly see the chipboard texture. I left it that way on purpose. I liked the feel of it.

The wig on the stand is for her disguise when she goes out to sell poison apples.

Next we have Sleeping Beauty. The bed is hand carved(my own design) and upholstered in silk.

There are actually two closets on the right side of the room as you are looking at it. There is an ermine cloak in the one that you can see. There are a couple of nightgowns in the other one. After all, when you have been asleep for 20 years or so, you don't need a lot of clothes.

She fell asleep before she could get into the nightgown. She did manage to get her corset off......What's wrong with this picture? She takes off the corset and puts the dress back on? Well maybe that was an extra that she was planning on wearing the next day.

Last for today is The Princess and the Pea. This is the really smart princess of the group. None of that sleeping through all of the messing around with her bed. She stayed awake to see what the future mother in law was up to. Yes. I made the bed. The mattresses are each a different kind of silk and the comforter is all hand quilted in gold thread and gold tassels. You can bet that she is going to complain of a bad night's sleep in the morning! MIL was not too quiet about sticking peas under the mattress.

The trunk at the end of the bed opens and is fully lined. It is covered in very thin leather.

OK. That's about all until I find two men and a boy to get that thing down off of the top of the bookcase. Who knows? I may get the urge to climb again. Not right away tho. See you tomorrow.

Twice Upon a Time.....

Get it? Second day, twice......Oh never mind. Here we go again.

The year that I built the castle was a very good one. It won best of show at TMS. Sybil Harp, the then editor of Nutshell News, came to my house for coffee and had a look at it. Photos were taken and it was a feature article in Nutshell News.

At the show the best of all things happened. A group of kids from the Tucson School for the Deaf and Blind came through the show and looked at displays. The kids were really special and got to touch some of the things that they couldn't see. The comments from them were the best. There was one little girl that was deaf. Someone had to tell her in sign language what the rooms were. When they got to the Little Red Riding Hood scene, she identified it and signed excitedly that she knew what it was. From then on she really got into it and figured out what a lot of them were. It was really neat that the kids all saw, each in their own way, and enjoyed all of the displays.

I think that I am going to use this tour as a teaser until I can take better photos with my feet flat on the ground.

The next room that we are looking at is Beauty and the Beast. The table behind the post is set for a dinner for two, complete with prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. The champagne is open and Beastie is offering his guest a glass. He is wearing a red smoking jacket and of course he has a lit cigarette in his other hand. It even has smoke! These days I would probably be grabbing a fire extinguisher and spraying him. Back then I didn't mind the smoke so much. The floor in the scene is parquet. There is a carved fireplace behind him. She is sitting on a blue velvet tufted sofa and he has a blue leather wing chair in the opposite corner. I made all of these and the chandelier above his head from scratch.

In taking these photos, I am seeing what needs touching up in all of the rooms. The candles are kind of lopsided these days. They just need a bit of bending. The more I look, the more I feel the need to get it down and do some repairs.

Here's the frog prince. He's not as nice as you thought he was. Maybe there is a reason that the witch turned him. He is waiting for the princess to get out of the tub! I made the princess but not the frog. He is one reason for the castle. I loved the leering expression on his face. She looks a bit indignant. Wouldn't you be too if there was a frog sitting on the end of your tub just waiting..........And she's going to kiss him??? Silly girl!

You can't see it too well in this photo but the sink is a real sea shell. I designed and hand carved the stool. I made the curtains with the pin and ceiling tile method that I used in the bed tutorial. All of the gold that you see on the tub surround and the valance above are German scrap copied from 19th century paper made for scrapbooks.

Last but not least for today. Here are a couple of close ups of Rapunzel and the prince.

In this one you can see wicked stepmother behind Rapunzel. Rapunzel is about to get a short bob. No more having her hair pulled out by the roots from some guy climbing up it.

Here's the prince that is causing all of the trouble.

Notice that I was kind to Rapunzel. There is a hook attached to the side of the tower that she can wrap her hair over so that she won't lose so much when the prince starts to shimmy up the braid.

Honestly, would you let some guy climb up your braid without knowing just what his intentions were?

Lesson for the day......Never trust a leering frog that says "Honest lady, I'm really a prince. Kiss me." or a prince of a guy saying "Come on! Let your hair down and live a little!" These two phrases can only mean trouble!

I'll be back tomorrow. See you then.

Once Upon A Time......

Since I am doing boring stuff on the bookstore I am changing the subject today.

Several people asked me to show and tell about my castle in the past few days, so here goes.

Once Upon A Time.......Isn't that the way that all good fairy tales begin? That's the name on the plaque on the front of the castle. TMS had a show one year that was a fantasy theme. I decided to go all out. Why do one fairy tale when you can do a whole lot of them?

I started sketching ideas and as I sketched I tried to think from a child's point of view. That's not hard for me. The 6 year old was at it again. I thought, when children play at let's pretend, they don't think like adults. There is no particular castle or palace in mind. They just go at it and let their imaginations run wild. Therefore I decided to do 10 scenes. Each one has a different style. I sometimes cheat and say that there are 11. I have trouble counting Rapunzel and the prince as one. The prince is on the ground and Rapunzel is 3 stories up in the tower with a witch behind her holding scissors.

Anyway, back to the story. You will see a scene at the bottom center where the boys are playing at being knights and a little girl reading fairy tales to her baby sister. She is totally unaware that there is a momma dragon peering over her shoulder.

Do you know how to tell that it's a momma dragon? It has very delicate wings made of lace. No groaning please. Everybody knows that! I don't know if you can see it but the baby dragon is between the tail and the body of momma. She is coming out of her shell and holding a rattle. You can tell it is a girl baby because........Are you ready for this? Her shell has a design of pink rosebuds all over it and she has tiny lace wings just like mom. OK you can groan now. There is a portrait of dad on a shelf in the cave. I will have to see if I can bend into the shape of a pretzel and get a picture of that too.

The toy bicycle and the tiny cars are straight from Wal Mart. They are typical kids. There are toys scattered around and a kite stuck in the tree. Never ever ever put anything away before starting something new, not even if it is a sword fight with wooden swords and newspaper hats. Incidentally, the boy on the left has on a Cleveland Browns shirt. My husband is a fan.

To the left of that is Cinderella is leaving the ball. You can see her glass slipper behind her. The mice and the pumpkin have already turned. She messes up every time. You would think as many times as the story has been told, she would learn to leave earlier.

The rocks around the door are painted DAS. The marble floor is hand painted. The doors and the molding around the edge of the floor are pierced molding that you can get by the strip at places like Michael's craft store. I hand carved the console tables where the flower vases sit.

I may as well throw in a few boring facts about the castle and how it was built. I did the structure from the chipped up wood board. I can't remember if they call it chip board or what they do call it. All I know it it was much cheaper than plywood at the time and just as strong. The towers are cut down pieces of tubes that rugs are rolled on. I got them from a dumpster behind what was then "Standard Brands" home improvement store. One of the sales people helped me get them out. I had to cut them with a saw. They are quite thick, but they were free! At the time I was doing the budget thing.I did all of the stucco with Dap Spackle.

I used fancy molding around the edge of the foundation. That gave it a bit more class.

Pretty much everything in the castle is made from scratch. It is also wired for lights. I can't get to the back to light it up where it is now. One of these days I am going to have to take it down for cleaning and touch ups. Then I will get photos with lights. It takes two men to get it up there and back down. Sometimes it sits in the living room. Unfortunately when it does the cats like to climb it and sleep on top. That's why it is where it is right now.

I made all of the people and furniture. I have never counted how many people. I should do that.

Now I am going back to work on the boring bookshop. See you tomorrow for the next installment.

Playing for Time

OK so the bookshop staircase is not going as fast as I would like. Therefore I have to keep you entertained.

Here goes. How about shoe making. I am going to start you off with the simplest of simple scuff slippers. For these you will need a very thin piece of leather for the outer sole, some card stock for the inner sole and a piece of fancy braid or trim 1/4" or less in width. The pink flowered one that you see in the step by step photo is from a plain old fabric store. The fancy green and purple ones in this photo(front) are trims from a mini show.

Basically, if you know how to make these you can branch off and make sandals of other kinds too.

This is the sole pattern. I usually make these about 3/4" long. That's about the size of my big feet(9"). You can make them smaller or larger if you wish. You will cut two(mirror images) of leather and two a tiny bit smaller of colored card stock. You can fancy this up with a gel pen if you so desire. I kind of like them with a bit of pattern on the inside.

Next you will cut a piece of the ribbon or trim about 1/2" long, cut at an angle(see #1). There are no specific measurements on this because you may make the sole larger or smaller.

You will see when you start to glue if you need to trim a bit off. Glue the wrong side of the ribbon to the bottom side of the card stock. Let it dry a bit and then wrap the other end around and glue it to the bottom.

If you want a heel on the scuff cut a piece of leather the same size as the back end of the scuff about to the place where the sole starts to widen. Glue that to the bottom. Last step is to glue the leather sole to the bottom of the scuff so that it sandwiches the ends of the ribbon between the sole and the liner. Do it again(Mirror image!) and you have a pair of slippers.

I use the same sole for all of my shoe patterns and pretty much the same method. The top gets wrapped around to the back of the card stock and then the outer sole gets glued to that.

Your next step would be the turquoise sandals. They are thin strips of turquoise leather that are crossed in the front and glued to the back. The back strap is simply a strip glued in a U shape. Then the sole is attached to cover the bottom.

My daughter and I have come up with all kinds of shoes from this starting point. I have even done cork soled espadrilles.

Meanwhile I am going back upstairs. Have fun experimenting.

See you tomorrow.

Where to Put It All.

Someone on one of the forums asked about where we display our houses and other minis. It made me think about mine. We live in a pretty small house. I manage to incorporate minis in almost every room. I try not to let them get in the way of real life. They blend in.

I am very lucky. When we moved into this house we got a humongous TV. My husband is a fan of big screens. As a result, I got the former entertainment center/bookcase for another use. It got set up in the family room and it ultimately got taken over by minis. Soon there will be no books left.

The castle that you see on top is about 2 1/2 feet long. One of these days I am going to climb up there and take photos. I had some but I can't find them. I think that they disappeared when we switched computers.

Anyway, I figure that sooner or later this whole thing will be for minis. You see, it is almost 2 feet deep because of the TV that used to sit smack dab in the center where the Southwestern room box now resides.

The point of this is dollhouses and room boxes don't have to sit on a table or a special stand. Any of the older entertainment centers are great for this. They are always deeper than a regular bookcase and will hold a LOT of weight because they were built to hold the old weighty TVs.

Here's a case of what not to do. The Mystery House sits on a table in the corner of the same room. It is only there because I am working on it. When I finish it will find a home elsewhere. That corner is about 5x5 feet and that is about all that will fit in there. It's not at all practical.

As you can see, I also hang a lot of things on the wall. When you have limited space and a lot of minis you have to get creative. If there is an open space on top of a book shelf or other piece of furniture, I have it covered.

When I finish the Buttercup Bookshop I am going to have to start looking for space again. We have "plant shelves" in the bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. They are what would be dead space above closets and cabinets. I have my eye on those. There will be a lot of rearranging and cleaning out to free them up. I have a confession. When we looked at houses I leaned towards the ones with "plant shelves". I didn't mention that I had them in mind as a place for minis at the time, but I did. I am thinking that the one in the kitchen would be cool for a street of shops.

While I am here I will show you the mock up for the stairway in the bookshop. It is pretty crude. That's the way I work tho. I need to see it in 3-D to see if it's going to work. It IS going to work. YAY ME!!!

I simply cut it out of scraps of foam core. I couldn't find my pins so I just taped it. Now I have to cut a hole in the floor of the second story. It is going to work. I know because I have done it before. The footprint will be 4" square taken out of the corner. I am going to have to close in the front window. Other than that no structural changes.

OK. I am going back to playing with foam core and tape.

See you tomorrow.

From Russia With Love

Since I am still working on flooring and painting I won't bore you with photos.

Instead I will amuse you with five minis that my daughter brought back from Russia on one of her trips.

These will never be put in a mini scene, even though they are perfect 1/12 scale.

They were made by a Russian artisan from scratch, by hand. They are all hand painted. They are each signed on the back, although I couldn't tell you what the man's name is. Each one is built like it's real counterpart. They are strung with the correct number of strings just like the real thing and would you believe they can all be plucked to make music? The little heart shaped wooden picks can be drawn across the strings to make music. No. They aren't tuned but they still make a tinkling sound when they are strummed.

When my daughter gave them to me, she made me promise never to take them out of their frames. I don't think I would have anyway, but she knows me well enough to think I might....

Be sure to poke the thumbnail so that you can see them up close and personal. They are truly beautiful.

This is my contribution for the day. Short and sweet. See you tomorrow.

Floored!

Today I am watching glue AND paint dry. Double fun!

I dug out part of my supply of 80s wood blinds. You know the kind. They were woven together with all kinds of colorful threads and rolled up and down. I buy them at thrift shops and garage sales. They come in various widths and I think that they are usually luan mahogany.

I use these for half timbers on the outside of buildings, plain trim on the insides and flooring strips. They are really neat because they can be cut with scissors to whatever length you need. If you luck out and find one that was for a big window you will have wood for years.

The ones I am using for the floor this time are 1/4".

I have even used the heavier ones for building. The staircase in the Witches' Warehouse was made from some that were about 5/8" wide.

The nice thing is they don't need staining. They are always dark brown when you get them.

Anyway, on to the business at hand.

This is what the floor looks like while the glue is drying. Nope. I didn't have to weight it down. There is a trick. Instead of putting a line of glue down the length of each board I just put a small dot of glue about every inch along the length. That prevents warping if you aren't too heavy handed. I used the ever popular Elmer's.

I haven't put the finish on yet but it still looks pretty good.

yesterday I finished gessoing and painted the Wedgwood green on the bottom floor.

Today I cut the bay on the second floor to match the one on the first floor. Then I painted the second floor Dark Forrest Green.

It looks lighter in the photo than it does in real life. For that matter, so does the green on the first floor.

I dry fitted the two floors together to see how they look. I think I am going to like it.

I am going to eliminate some of the trims and add on some Houseworks trims. I still have to decide when and where.

I also took a shot at painting the outside with Chamomile Ceramcoat.

What can I say? I like yellow and green together. It will kind of go with the Ursa Minor teddy bear shop. They're not the same shades but similar.

I have already eliminated the arched window over the front door. I am going to make an arched door to go there instead. I am thinking that the one above will turn into a window the same height from the floor as the side windows. I may put a small desk in that area.

I have decided that the staircase will be a dog leg in the front corner closest to us in this photo. That will come later tho.

Right now I need to get all of the floors in and paint the attic.

I guess I should get back to work. See you tomorrow.

Changing Styles

I went to work on the bottom floor of the bookshop this morning and decided to change the style of the bay. The hanging down part in the center has bothered me since I started putting it together. I kept feeling that when I attempted to sit in the bay or to get out of the bay I was going to bump my head. We can't have that. I can foresee mini lawsuits galore.

I got the keyhole saw out and went to town. It now looks like this. I cut a trim piece to match out of mat board. As you can see, I have spackled the inner edges. I would like to do the same shape in the second story, but I am afraid that it will be way too difficult since the bay is already installed there. We shall see.......

I cut some floorboards and laid them down to see how they looked. They aren't fastened down yet. I am using the slats from one of the 80s blinds. I love those because they are already stained and easy to cut with scissors.

Since that is all I have to show you of the stuff I am doing this morning, I guess a couple of other photos are in order.

This is a birdcage that I did for my daughter for Christmas the same year as the Harry Potter trunk for my SIL.

I didn't change anything about the cage itself. It opens from the bottom so I simply made 3 panels to fit between the uprights.

I put valances on three and curtains on the outer two.

I made wicker pieces with padded seats and backs. One of these chairs takes more than 10 hours to complete. There are no shortcuts. You just weave and weave some more until they are done. It takes a while with # 20 crochet thread.

The rug in the center is one that I designed. It is from a real Chinese rug that I found in the library at the U of A.

There is a purchased parrot on the back of one of the chairs. I made the cat on the other chair. They have come to a truce. Very smart of them.

I made the spider plants at the front of the cage. They are just plain old green paper cut in a long zigzag strip and rolled up to make the leaves. Then they are curled with a knife edge.

Now that you are looking the other way, I am going to disappear again. I need to get back to business and see what I can do to the other bay. See you tomorrow.

Contemplating the Tables

I put the tables together this morning. I haven't done the Deft yet. I put one in the first floor in front of the bay and I am trying to decide if it is too big or not.

It looks humongous. I may have to rethink this part. I can use them somewhere else and put a smaller "tea" table by the bays. People are just going to have to eat less or eat out of hand. After all, this is primarily a bookshop with tea. It's not a tea shop with books.

So meanwhile I will give you a Harry Potter trunk to look at. This is one of the series of rooms in trunks that I have done. They are all in 1/4" scale, inside of 1" scale trunks that I built.

I did this for my son in law a few years ago for Christmas. The kids are both Harry Potter fans.

So far I have been forgetting to show you the outside of the trunk series. They are all landscaped on the back side.

This one has the Hogwarts logo on the tray that fits inside the trunk. There is also a tag on the top handle that says "H. Potter"

On the inside is Harry's room at Hogwarts. Hedwig sits atop the grandfather clock in the second space. The trunk in front of that is labeled for quidich balls.

In the third section by the window there is an easy chair and a chess board on a table made of a jewelry finding.

The rug is made on #22 hardanger cloth. It is done in backstitch from my own design.

At the far right side is the Sorting Hat on a stool. In the closet are his robes and you can't see it but the invisibility cloke is in there too.

Coffee Break

This morning I went over to Barnes and Noble/Starbucks after dropping the kids off at the airport to go to N. C.. I figured that since I am doing a bookshop/teashop it would be a good place to sit and contemplate what I was going to do. I was right.

I had a great time just sitting there for an hour sketching and making notes(and drinking coffee). I pretty much have everything solidified now. I can't show you the notes or sketches. They are pretty rough and besides, you couldn't read my handwriting anyway. I even did a few lines in mirror writing just for fun. Every once in a while I have to see if I can still do that. I used to do it in college just to confuse people. I also was known for sketching with both hands at once in my life drawing classes. People look at you funny when you take a sculptor's approach to sketching. A piece of charcoal in each hand confuses them no end.......Great fun!

When I got home I decided to do the two tables that I need for the bay window seats.

I started with this pile of stuff.

I am doing 4 1/2 X 2 1/2 rectangular tables with fancy turned legs.....Nope. I'm not turning them. I am using Houseworks stair balusters turned upside down. They work very well, as do any other of the turnings as long as you can either use them the length that they are or can cut them down.

For one table I need 1/16" stock for the top and under bed. I used a piece of fancy molding for the skirt between the legs and 4 Houseworks legs.

I cut one piece of 1/16" stock to 4 1/2 x 2 1/2. Then I cut one that was 4 x 2. I cut a 1/8" piece out of each corner of the under bed. This will be where I seat the legs and it provides a straight edge to support the skirt. The skirt is cut to the same size as the edge of the underskirt - the 1/8" corner cuts.

Here you can see the pieces cut for the two tables. There are 10 pieces for each table.

Next I took them to a well ventilated area and stained them to match the woodwork that I have started doing.

I will have to let them dry overnight. That way they will glue better.

They don't look like much, but stay tuned. Tomorrow I will put them together, sand and Deft satin varnish them at least 3 times.

Meanwhile I am going back to watching the "Pirates of the Caribbean" marathon.

See you tomorrow.

I think I can........

Well....I am off on another tangent. Someone on the Greenleaf forum mentioned looking for a pattern for an oval rug in miniature.

Out comes the #7 crochet hook and the #10 thread. Those are the easiest to see when you are working out a pattern.

I remember the formula that my grandma taught me for rag rugs in big size. It is really simple. She started out with a chain the width of the rug she wanted to make. I made this one 15 stitches long. Then add two extra stitches for the turn. It counts as the first of three single crochets. You count back two and in the third stitch you do two single crochets in the back of the loop. It will look like the photo to the right. Then you single crochet in the back loop down to the other end. In the last loop where the tail is you do 3 single crochets in that loop. Then you go back up the other side, single crocheting in each loop until you get to the starting stitch of the round. There you do a slip stitch in the top of the first stitch and do a chain two. Then you start the nest row counting the ch 2 as the first stitch

I

f you have ever done circular crochet you will be familiar with this. What you are doing in cutting the circle in half and putting a length of straight stitches down the center.

You keep adding one sc after the 2 sc in the end.

Row 1. 3 scs in either end.

Row 2. 2sc in the 3 stitches.(6 sc)

Row 3. 2 sc in each of the 6 stitches.

Row 4. you start adding 1 sc between each 2 sc at the end. This row is 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1

Row 5. is 2, 1,1, 2,1,1 etc.

You keep going spacing the 2sc out farther and farther with each row.

I don't know if I am explaining this at all clearly. This photo shows 5 rows.

Row 1 is three stitches in one hole.

Row 2 is two stitches in each of the three.

Row 3 is two stitches in each of the six from the previous row.

Row 4 is two in one hole then one in one hole alternating.

Row 5 is two then two.

Row 6 will be two then three. It keeps increasing by the same ratio until the rug is as big as you want it. It may look a little ruffly at first. It will flatten out later. When you are finished you can press it with a wet cloth over it to flatten it completely.

I will try to write out a proper pattern when I finish working it.

Here's one that I did for the country kitchen that I started with the circular pattern that I'm talking about.

I did the circular pattern until I got out to the cat's front paw. Then you can see that I did about 6 double crochets on either side of the center and then just continued out with the sc round and round. When I got it as big as I wanted it, I just added a looped border.

Now that I have you thoroughly confused, I am going back to see if I can write a real pattern for it. I have never had it written down. I always just started doing it and knew where to go because Grandma Daisy showed me how. She is the same grandma that taught me to sew on her treadle machine. She also taught me to tat, knit, crochet and do patchwork, among other things. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't be as good as I am in a lot of different needlework.

OK. Back to the crochet. See you tomorrow.

Decisions, Decisions........

OK. It's time to start thinking about colors. As usual, I couldn't wait to paint the whole thing. If I paint the whole thing and then decide I don't like it that's a lot of time and paint waisted.

I have decided to go with shades of green for the walls. It is easier to paint the bays before I put them in.....Oops. I already put the upstairs one in. That was before I decided to make it a two story.

This is the first floor bay. As you can see, I have decided on a Wedgewood green. I already decided that the woodwork is going to be Minwax Provincial. I did some faux panels on the front of the window seat to see how it would look. I think it is going to be satisfactory. I guess I can glue in the bay soon.

I did a slip seat for the bench with one of the fabrics that I chose. That part I am not sure of yet.

My next problem is the staircase, should I choose to put one in. Remember this kit doesn't come with stairs. It's most irritating.

By reversing the window bay I have created a problem. There doesn't seem to be a good place on either side to put a staircase. It's either right smack in the middle of the room or on the front edge. As you see the tread hanger here, it is hanging about 2" off of the floor. If I don't get fancy and just leave it as risers with nothing under them I don't think that they will block the room too much.

I am one of these weird people that have to have a way to get from floor to floor. This looks like the best place to do it so far.

Since this is also going to be a tea shop, I am going to have to have a couple of tables for the customers..........Big problem. No. It's not a question of room. It's a question of height. I am going to have to make tables. The window seats are 2' off the floor instead of the standard 18" that usual for real seating. Therefore the Chrysenbon table that I was thinking of using is too short.

Another one of those "GRRRRRR" moments is at hand. Oh well. I guess I should look on the bright side. This way I can change the shape of the table at the same time I change the height. But then there is a question of making more chairs or stools the same height as the window seat.

I am debating closing either the two ground floor front windows or the ones on the second floor and putting bookcases in that area. Probably the second floor would look better. I need some place to put a display for the front of the store, so I guess the ground floor windows will have to stay.

Well......Now you know as much as I do. I am going to go experiment some more. Someone hand me another color of green and a paintbrush.

See you tomorrow.