Don't forget to poke the photos to enlarge!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Walk Softly....

And carry a little stick.....Well, to Tessie it's the proverbial "big stick".

I looked all over for the wicker this morning. Before I was awake, Tessie hid it. While I was cooking breakfast, she showed up carrying her big stick and informed me that I was not getting enough done on HER cottage.

Not wanting to get thumped on the knuckles with a coffee stirrer, I decided to humor her for a couple of hours. She had enforcers with her. Beau, Spike and the goofy pig.

I am more afraid of the pig than the other three put together....He is rather mad looking. Mad in the crazy sense...

Anyway, I went to work on the trim on the side of the cottage again. I made the corner panels for the bottom like the ones for the top, with the sandalwood fan. These were from a different part of the fan, so a different design.
I needed some horizontal trim and finally decided that part could be done wit the old" paint the lace" method.

I dug through my lace boxes and came up with three heavy laces that would work.

Here you see one of the smaller ones being prepped. I painted it thickly on both sides and stretched it out on a piece of cardboard to dry flat. That's the key to using the lace. Make sure it is as straight as you want it whilst it dries.

I then mounted the top edge of the lace on a piece of 1/16" square stock with glue and let that dry. then I simply glued it where I wanted it on the house by the board.

The larger lace behind Tessie has a couple of pieces of double bead molding at the top to make it appear that the whole strip is wood.

I may still put another strip of this on the top of the wall of the lower roof. Upon studying the photos, I noticed that one layer was not usually enough and I do want to get that effect in a couple of places, even though this is a very small cottage. Don't forget to poke the pictures.

When I got this far, Tessie announced, "OK. Now you can go get the wicker. I put it in the overnight bag at the back of your closet." Then, "If you work on the cottage for a couple of hours every day, you may then then go work on the give away....If you can find it!"

I am determined to outsmart her. When I finish working on the wicker today, I am going to hide it! This could get interesting.....

See you tomorrow.

13 comments:

Katie said...

Oh Casey! I'm loving the house! And that lace is beautiful!

Maybe if I had some enforcers I could get more work done??

Unknown said...

Con esos encajes quedará un relieve precioso.
Besos Clara

Rietje said...

Hi Casey,

I'm sure Tessie will love the cottage!
And the pig will aswell :)

Poppypatchwork said...

That pig does look mad, take care Casey, Your cottage is coming along well, even if you are being forced to work on it.

Pan said...

Lovely story and the house is great - I am loving Tessie's antics, I think I need a little doll like Tessie to keep me on my toes :-)

Sans! said...

The laces really make the house stand out, Casey :). I have problems using lace as trimmings for the house because the fiber shows up after I paint the lace (I spray paint, is that why?)

Caseymini said...

Sans, I use heavy lace and do it with a brush. The thicker the paint the better. If I am worried about covering, I gesso it first.
Spraying doesn't give enough coverage. The object is filling in the cracks and letting it dry in the shape that you want it to be in the end. When I get to the onion dome shape, you will see what I mean. I draw a pattern from the house curve and dry the lace on that.

miniacollection said...

I love the outside of the house.
Geneviève

Sans! said...

THANKS Casey! Will definitely try it because my project needs loads of lattice work later.

And did you say onion dome ? Shoot! I REALLLLLLY want to see that !

Caseymini said...

Sans, sorry to disappoint...I said onion dome shape, no actual onion dome on this one. I did have an idea for an onion dome though. Here we have gigantic plastic Christmas ornaments that are that shape. I was thinking that one of those would do the trick if need be.

rosanna said...

Laces!!!! incredible!! never thought they might be used for this reason !!!

Helen said...

You are so inspirational. I only wish I had your motivation to put more time into my Miniatures

Deni said...

Oh the house i fabulous
ooo I luv that pig hahahahah! its gorgeous! I can see those big staring eyes would get to you!!!