Logic? Who Needs Logic?

I gave up on being logical.  I am just going to make the rooms livable.

This morning is started figuring out window placement.  No doors.  They are on our side of the room...

The windows that you see, with the exception of the ones in the sun room are simply to see where to put them....There will be drapes that will cover most of the area....Not much window showing.

The top floor is going to be a sun room and a cozy winter kind of room...As I said....No logic whatsoever.

The second floor is going to be two bedrooms and a sitting room between.

MiniTessie has claimed the left bedroom....She is pulling a typical Tessie-ism on me.  She is running around.  Then she freezes in place and asks, "Can you see me now?"

Don't ask me where the penguin in the sitting room came from.  I just woke up this morning and he was wandering around the house.  I suspect that he is the only pet that miniTessie could find in her size.

As for Tessie herself, she is completely occupied.  My friend Jo always sends her something for Christmas and she tears into it as soon as it arrives. Thanks Jo!

Jo is a great basket maker in both mini and real life.  This year, she sent Tessie a basket full of mini supplies and mini books! 

As soon as Tessie got a hold on the basket, she announced, "You can leave now, Casey.  I would rather do it myself!".

Now the only question is.....What is she going to do?  Will she build herself a mini dollhouse or maybe I can just quit and she will take over the rest of the buildings that I have half undone....No....Her personality is like mine.  In the future, I can see myself tripping over tiny, unfinished builds that she will leave wherever, whenever the mood strikes her to start something else.

On behalf of Tessie, thanks Jo.  I may be calling you to come and clean up the tiny messes all over the house!  She has already started.  I can hear pounding....No, wait.  I think that's the headache that she is causing me......

See you tomorrow.

Light My Fire!

Fireplace #1 is up and not yet running, much to miniTessie's dismay.

It isn't even glued in place and she and Big Tessie want to see if it works.

You saw the rough cut of the fireplaces with one thickness of foam core yesterday.

I filled them out with another thickness today.

I glued the two layers together and backed them with a piece of cardboard.  Then I lined the firebox with brick paper.

I found some scraps of cherry veneer and cut pieces to fit the sides and front of the column. 

I noticed, when I was doing the roof of Tessie's fortune telling booth, that the sticks in the blind were grooved on one side and they looked like very fine double bead molding.  Much nicer for 1/4" than the real thing....The finest that you can get in that is 1/32".  This is smaller.

I cut a piece of the leftover fan blades from the Russian cottage and used it for carving on the front panel.

Surrounded that with the molding and did some more lines with it at the corners and up the sides of the firebox. 

I cut a piece of the cardboard for the foundation and covered it with the same paper as the firebox.

Not too bad for a couple of hour's work.  I am now trying to decide whether to leave it as is or try to stain it and really mess it up.  It's too late to paint it to match the walls....One of those "No way. No how!" situations.  Look at all of those tiny holes!

I still have another one to do for the other big room on the top floor.  Then the next question is, how realistic do I want to get?  Do I have to put chimneys on the roof too?  Magical fireplaces with fires that don't need chimneys?  After all, if we are getting real, the chimneys would have to be taller than the tower, to prevent fire hazards.

See you tomorrow.  P. S.  Look what a coat of stain will do!

A Room Without a View....

It just defies logic. If I put the doors at the back of the rooms, we have to assume that there is a hallway and more house back there....

If I put windows back there, it adds interest, but again makes no sense. 

I don't want doors going from room to room.  That would double the number of doors needed.

Tessie is making me crazy.  She says, "If a wizard, that is any kind of a wizard at all lives here, and he can make it night when he wants to look at the stars, he should not need doors and windows in specific places.

I may just have to follow her kind of fuzzy logic on this.  After all, it wasn't meant to be a quarter inch dollhouse.  It was meant to be a decorative shelf.

Tessie is back in the mix.  After Giac's comment a couple of days ago.  By the way, if you want to see some wonderful miniatures, go visit his blog!  Amazing work. http://englishmanordollhouse.blogspot.com/ 

OK.  Now about Tessie.  She is back to supervising with a vengeance.

First she tried to hold miniTessie where she could get a view of what was going on through her eyes.  When  that didn't work, Tessie dropped her like a hot potato.  I almost stepped on her and squashed her.

I wonder what effect that would have had on Tessie?  Hmmmmm....Sometimes I am tempted to find out.  No....Then I wouldn't have anybody to keep me in line.

Anyway, She has approved of the placement of two fireplaces that I drew up plans for last night.  I tried them out in foam core this morning...they worked! 

I dug through my files to find background to fill the windows.  I found some stuff that will work....But I also found these.

One of the few classes I took when I first got into minis was a rosewood tea house.  It was beautiful, but a kit and it didn't mean much to me.  I sold it. 

I found this!  plans for a Tea for Two Tea house.  complete with schematic.  It's for a full sized one, but shouldn't be too complicated. 

In answer to your next question.  No....I am not going to start it right away.  I am putting it on my things to start list though....Let's face it.  I start a lot of things.  Sooner or later, they get finished.....Remember?  Attention span of a six year old?

I also found this potting shed and plans.  Not as cute.  Way down on the list, but reminded me of another potting shed(much nicer) that I saved the plans for.  Now where'd I put those?

I am not going to look for them today.  I have to do other things in real life. 

Tessie needs supervising whilst she is supervising me too.  I just heard a crash in the other room....Wall house off the wall?  Maybe....

I have to go see what is going on now.

See you tomorrow. 

You Had to Ask???

This morning I went to read the mail and Giac got me in trouble! 

I have been quietly working on the Tudor 1/4" in the bedroom, when Tessie isn't around.

Unfortunately, she saw Giac's comment on yesterday's blog and now I have a watchdog.

MiniTessie, has been sent in to supervise....

There she is in all her glory...Guarding the front door.

I managed to work around her and finish the wallpaper and trim on five of the rooms in the tower this morning.

I cut the paper yesterday.  If you have never done quarter inch, the easiest way to do this is, cut a strip the height of the room.  Then, starting at one edge, line it up vertically. Smooth it to the back corner and crease it....Then, holding that corner, smooth it to the other back corner.  Crease it.  Make sure that it is correct then crease the front corner  and cut on the fold.

If you put Yes glue on the back, you can lay it in just as you did when measuring.  Smoothing as you go.  Then make sure that it is well into the corners and glued down good along the front edges,  That's all there is to it.

I have pretty much decided that this is not for miniTessie.  She is unaware of the fact, so don't tell her!

I am seriously thinking of trying to knock the middle wall on the bottom floor out to make a larger kitchen...

This morning I decided on the room arrangement.  I had it all arranged.  Then I remembered that it needed bedrooms for adults...I had a nursery room in the tower, but no bedrooms anywhere...Duh!

The top tower room is to be an observatory.  Thus the stars outside.

I am thinking that the owner is a wizard on the side and can call up the darkness whenever he wants to stargaze.

The sofa and table are my own designs.  The sofa may not stay here. 

The desk needs staining.  It's a kit that someone brought back from one of the NAME conventions.

If you blow it up, you can see a chair in front of the desk.  The bottom half is one of the plastic ones, the top back is a piece of one of the fans that I was using on the Russian house.

Speaking of things I made.  I don't think that I have ever showed you this.

If you want to do 1/4" rugs, not work on 48 or finer mesh and still get  a pretty good looking rug, this is how to do it.

I came up with this about 15 years ago.  The fabric is #22 hardanger.  It was rust colored.  I just used two colors of thread and blackwork stitches.  In other words, all straight stitches. 

This rug is 1" by 1 1/2".  It didn't take long to make because I didn't have to fill in the background.  I have a couple other ones around here someplace.  I will have to see if I can find them, to show you.

Anyway, that's all I have to report to you....Unfortunately, what with Giac's comment, I have to  report to Tessie instead.  She is hoping for  a quick finish on this one, so that I can get back to work on stuff for her.  I think that she already suspects that miniTessie isn't going to be the new owner.  Immediate loss of interest.  Immediate, "Hurry up and finish, Casey!"

I have to go back to work.  Tessie is rummaging around for a whip and a chair to keep me in line.

See you tomorrow.

One Thing Leads to Another....

I hung the Tudor Wall House in its regular place by the bed, yesterday.

This morning, it needed  something....It looked so bare.

I was in the midst of Monday housework/laundry and needed a break.  The break was spent hunting up all of the 1/4" supplies. 

I found the paper easily.  It's in a notebook, all in one place.  So I selected the pieces that I will probably use and cut them to fit the rooms.  I will show you close ups as each room develops.

Also in the notebook is all kinds of patterns for 1/4" furnishings that I have cut out of mini magazines.  One other item, is all important. 

This template comes from an art store.  It is meant for designers and decorators.  Each of the little holes is the shape of a piece of furniture in quarter inch scale.  It is great just as it is for checking the size of different pieces in quarter scale mini making.  I can find the size of a twin, standard or king sized bed immediately, without measuring the real thing.

I have two, count 'em, two Plano boxes full of quarter scale supplies.  You may not think that's much, but what I have in there is enough to do several houses. 

  

One box is meant to be all of the outside, architectural things.  Windows, doors and other trim.

The other is furniture and interior fittings.

A few years ago, I got crazy when I couldn't find the cards of the little plastic furniture.  When I finally found them, I bought a bunch!  They are cheap and I won't run out again.  Did you know that they can be carved?  I have some that I did  cabriole legs on.  They also can be cut  apart and re assembled in different configurations.

Unfortunately, over the years, they made some changes in the design....For some reason, the chairs all have wide backs and narrow fronts now.  They have to be altered if you want to make them look real. The china cabinets have solid brown doors, instead of the clear plastic like they used to have.  Kind of disappointing.

I think that the next order of business will be to straighten the two boxes....Architectural elements in one box and furnishings in the other.

Here I go again....But first, laundry and floor mopping in the real world.  Icky!

See you tomorrow.

Oops! I Slipped!

There will be a slight pause, whilst I fix my thumb.  That's what I get for getting sidetracked.

I found some of my mini gourds that needed cutting...  As you know, I switch directions quite easily.  I decided to sit down and cut a few.

The ones with the curved edges have to be cut by hand with an Exacto knife....Very carefully.

I was not paying close enough attention and zipped into the side of my left thumb.  At least it was the one that I use the least.  I can even type without it!

Anyway, I decided that the fates wanted me to keep going on the roof of the Tudor Wall House.  So after bandages and disinfectant, I changed course once again.

It's a good thing that I did.  The second batch of stain was just right.

I started on the biggest part first and by the time I got to the end, the beginning was nice and dark.

Just look at the difference!  The stain isn't dry yet and it is already looking good. 

I turned the roof upside down so that the stain could get up under the overlapping shingles.  I don't want any shiny spots beneath the edges.

This is just seconds after I finished the painting on the stain.  It works very fast.

I am just sitting here watching stain dry now.  I will show you the final results tomorrow. 

For today, I think that I will behave myself for the rest of the day and do what is expected.  No more gourds....

Maybe I will just follow Tessie's sage advice and "Tend to my knitting". I don't need thumbs for that.  At least not the left one.

See you tomorrow.

Just Foolin' Around...The Mind Wanders

This is what the third day really looks like....Not that washed out color from yesterday.  It is a rich kind of walnut brown.  Now we're talking stain!

I just looked up and saw the menagerie that is growing on the top of the computer screen... Miniatures are everywhere.  Walter even gets in on these.  His Woodstock. My Russian pig.  His Blue Devil Duck.  My Russian pig.  OK so I am repeating myself.  I like the Russian pigs.  It all started with his duck....I had to have something to fight back...Crazy Russian Pig.  I found another one....He was surrounded....A couple of days ago, Woodstock appeared.  I'm kind of worried about the smug look on his face... It's about time for me to retaliate.

I went through one skein of yarn on the Potato Chip Scarf this morning....And attached a second skein.  There is no rhyme or reason as to how this yarn is dyed, so it is easy to attach a new piece anywhere,

Some people are unfurling the double helix that is the scarf and turning it into ruffles....I am going to have to wait until it is long enough to try on....I have a feeling that, with this yarn, I will look like a mad clown if I wear it like that.

Can you tell that I am not accomplishing much in mini today...I guess I am not really in the mood.  I think it was that thousand or so shingles that I stuck on the roof yesterday that did me in.  When I was done, I was seeing cross eyed. 

I am going in way to many directions right now.  I will probably put away a few projects until after Christmas now and concentrate on the ones that need to be done.

The Russian Cottage may not get much attention for a while.  April doesn't get that until she gets a place with more room.  Unfortunately, tiny houses(hers) in real life don't lend themselves well to tiny miniature houses...

I will be back to minis tomorrow.  This afternoon we went out shopping for a new sofa and chair for the living room.  Success!  Now all we have to do is wait for it to get here....

See you tomorrow.

The Morning After.....

No way, no how, was I going to leave the house this morning with all of those crazy people running every which way, trying to find a bargain!

I actually got a bit of work done. 

I have come to the conclusion that I have to put away the heat gun and let things dry naturally. 

As you can see, the wet vinegar solution looks darker in the third try.  

I made the mistake of using the heat gun immediately and the results was, the solution didn't soak into the wood enough to turn it a darker brown/gray.  I will do another section and let it dry naturally.  I am sure that it will be darker that way.

I worked for about four hours this morning and finally finished the Tudor Wall House roof!I am cross eyed, but am patting myself on the back for finishing that awful job.

Tessie tested it for "slide capabilities".  Too short.  She just slid right off the end.  It's just a good thing that she can catch herself by zapping to another location.

Zar and Spike just sit and watch in amazement when she disappears into thin air and comes up in another location.

The trip to Phoenix, yesterday, was uneventful.  At one point, the electronic road sign over the highway announced that there was an accident 17 miles ahead.....It was stop and go traffic for about half an hour.  We never did see any accident....Just A lot of sitting and waiting, then creeping ahead at a snail's pace.

 

It did give me time to knit the start of an interesting scarf.  It is called a Potato Chip Scarf....(Bet you can't knit just one).  

The pattern is so simple that you can memorize it in about 30 seconds and go on your merry way.

I found the pattern somewhere on the Ravlery site.  The actual pattern is here.  http://oceanwavesquilts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/potato-chip-scarf.html  I think that they might be right.  If this one looks good on, I will probably make more....Mindless knitting for TV and travel.

Since it still feels like a holiday, maybe I will go knit some more.  Walter is out golfing and I have absolutely nothing to do....Yeah...Right..... 

See you tomorrow. 

Day Two....Happy Thanksgiving!

OK....It doesn't look a lot darker than day one.  It is.

After 48 hours, it looks like this.  I used the heat gun to dry it or it might have turned out a bit darker....I have to hurry.  We are headed for Phoenix in a couple of hours. 

By the way, Happy Thanksgiving.  The turkey on the board if stolen from the Christmas Kitchen Island scene. 

I realized that the turkey isn't really fit to eat.  It is over 25 years old and counting!

Now that I have taken the photo, I notice that it could use a good dusting. Oh well That will have to wait.

Maybe I will put up a tutorial on the turkey if anybody is interested.  Sorry for the short post!

Happy Turkey Day to the people that celebrate it and a good Thursday to the rest.

See you tomorrow....I should have lots of time....I am NOT going anywhere on Black Friday.  That is much scarier than Halloween!

Day One of the Stain....

OK...I just put a coat of stain on a piece of scrap bass wood.

Doesn't look like much, does it?  Just wait....Wait....

Twenty minutes later, when the stain is dried, here it is again...

Surprise!  Instant ageing!  It turns the wood old and gray looking...

Incidentally, if you do this, be very careful.  See the spot in the upper right?

That was just one drop of the stuff that dripped there.  It not only stains, it spreads.

I started with my brush to the right and level with the edge on the left...The brush was pretty damp when I started. Thus, more leaching into the wood where I started.  By the time I got to the left side, the brush was dryer.  Not so much spreading.

I think that I am going to leave the steel wool in place at least until tomorrow to see how dark it gets.  Since I had a couple more bottles that were half full I started another one.

It can be thinned down some with more vinegar, but you are doing it by guess and by gosh!  You never know what is going to happen, so it is better to stop it where you like it best.

Each wood comes out differently.  With the light wood, you get completely gray....If you start out with something like walnut, you get browner tones.  It is all a matter of experimenting to see what happens.

This one is short.  I have to get ready to go see "Bond....James Bond"  a little later.

Tune in tomorrow.  Day two may be way darker....Just wait.  I locked Tessie in the workroom for asking the stain question one too many times....

See you tomorrow with more results.

"Is It Stain Yet???"

I was cleaning out cupboards yesterday and found four bottles of half used vinegar.  So....Stain was started.  Other people would find all that vinegar and make pickles or salad....Nope.  Not me.

I took about a quarter of a roll of steel wool and stuffed it down into the bottle.  Closed the cap.  shook it to make sure that the steel wool was under the liquid.  That's all there was to it.

Tessie showed up three minutes and asked, "It it stain yet?".  It takes a few days, depending on how dark you want it to be. 

She tends to be just a tiny bit impatient....That's her style.

I figured I should do something else to amuse her if I didn't want her asking the same question every seven minutes.

I got out the shingles and did three more rows on the Tudor Wallhouse.

That was enough of that.  Those tiny shingles, tweezers and icky glue are only fun for just so long.  I was into the second hour when I quit. 

Then  I heard from the roof, "Let's go look at the stain!"  By the way.  after I took the photo, I unscrewed the cap and took it outside.  Pressure builds up in the bottle.  Walter was not happy with me when it spilled on the back porch....Can you imagine what it would do to a rug?

My next and last project for the day was working on the tiny table some more.  I decided that the best way to fill in the hole was to call attention to it.

I cut a piece of mat board the same size as the hole.  Using liquid Sculpey as glue, I used slices of a bunch of cains to cover the top. 

Then to add insult to injury, I covered the porcelain knob on the drawer also. 

You will have to enlarge the photo by poking to see what it looks like. 

The last step was to apply a couple of coats of Future Acrylic floor wax. 

I still have to do more patching and refinishing on the wood. but I think that I am going to like it when it's done. 

I hear Tessie yelling from the kitchen, "Is it stain yet?".  I had better go peel her off of the window and get back to work....Now it's the no fun part.  Icky vacuuming.

See you tomorrow.

Teeny Tiny Table...And No Glasses...

I was supposed to get my new glasses today....Nope.  Well, I did and I didn't.  In that order.

I went in to pick them up.  All was OK.  The doctor talked me into progressive lenses....He did not however, tell me that it would be looking through a knot hole in a fence. I exaggerate a bit.

My eyes are bad.  I am used to bifocals.  He told me to get used to pointing my nose where I wanted to look...I thought he meant up and down.  That, I could manage.  It was side to side that I couldn't. 

I glanced into the other lane of traffic and noticed that I couldn't read the license plate on the car to my right and just ahead....Maybe 20 feet. 

I stopped at a store and whilst strolling down the aisle, I noticed that I couldn't see any of the merchandise clearly unless I turned my head and looked directly at it.  Starting to not like what I am seeing.... 

I came home and called Walter at work.  By this time I was testing out TV and subtitles....I could read those.  I glanced at the bedroom door(about 5 feet from the TV).  Fuzzy!  Looked the other way at the closet door.  Fuzzy! 

Walter said that his were not like that.  He encouraged me to go back to the eye place.

I think that my eyes are at least twice as bad as his...All this mini-ing has taken it's tole.

Maybe the problem is because my eyes are so bad.

I took his advice and went back straight away.  Long story, less long.  They were very nice and are replacing the fancy lenses with plain old bifocals with line.  It will now be another two weeks.  But I am much happier.  I will at least be able to glance to the side without getting dizzy.

OK....Now about the little table.  I treated myself to a stop at my favorite antique mall on the way home...I deserved it.

The table is a little smoking table from the 30s or so.  Someone broke the ashtray that was part of the table at one time....No longer there. That's why it was under 12 dollars.

It jumped in my car and begged me to give it a new home.  How could I refuse?  I needed something to set tools and a drink on when I am working...It is perfect.  Now if I can keep the bugs I mean the Terrible Two out, it will be put to good use.

I am much happier now that I can see everything around me.  It will take two weeks for the new ones, but I can wait...

Back to work, after a wasted morning.

See you tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Tomorrow...

I am done with minis for today...This is pretty much it.  There may be a few short pieces in the bottom of the wood bin, but not a lot.

I didn't count as I went, but it took me over an hour to cut them all...

I am hoping for more than a thousand.  Each row is taking between eight and ninety shingles and I still have at least ten rows to do!  Please keep fingers and toes crossed for me.

This is the reason for the break in minis!  Amare is turning one tomorrow.  We are partying today...I have to get ready and wrap presents.

Happy Early Birthday, Amare!!!  We'll be right over.

See you tomorrow.

Want To Bet???

OK.  I have pretty much all of the shingle wood in hand now. 

The Terrible Two are taking bets as to whether or not I am going to get the rest of the roof covered with what I have left....

Zar is on my side.  Tessie is betting against.  The only trouble with this scenario is...If  Tessie sees that she is going to lose, she will certainly zap a few sticks away to make sure that I come up short. 

The first photo shows the method of cutting....If you use the calenders for anything like this, lay the pieces side by side, to cut with scissors.  If you stack them, you will end up with a lot of splintered wood.  The scissors tend to eat the wood if it's stacked.

For gluing, I use plain old white glue in a fine nosed bottle.  I run a line across the top of the previous row and another approximately where the top of the new row will go.

It helps to have Spike's supervision.  If any are too long and look like they would be fun to chase, I simply toss them over my shoulder.  He brings them back  and chews on them until they are the right size.

Tessie and Zar are helping too.  Tessie says she is measuring, but she has been sitting there holding the same stick for the past 23 minutes.  I suspect she is power napping when I am not watching.

Zar, on the other hand, has his hammer ready....Never mind that I am not using nails.  He's ready....Double power nap time.

As you can see, for a roof like this, I don't mess with measuring.  I just cut the pieces by eye.  I want it to look a bit rustic.

I thought you might like to see what the finished side of the roof looks like.  After I got all of the shingles on that side, I hit is with some stain.  I will have to get back to you on what kind is it.  I'm not sure what I used.  I had better figure it out.  I do want the roof the same color all over.

There were three rows of shingles on the part I am working on.  I put three more rows on...It is very slow work, but someone has to do it....Those other two are up on the roof playing inspector. 

If I want anything done.....

Back to work. 

See you tomorrow.

This Will Be the Last Time....

This morning I went into the workroom, and to my surprise, the mid century mod room was refurnished!

In one end, Tessie was in the orange recliner, asleep, with a cookbook over her face.  Spike was on her lap, trying to get her to wake up.

He is loyal....Remember? He's the only one on her "nice" list.

I doubt that it will last long.  Zar is still working on the "naughty" list...He had to tag a couple more sheets of paper onto the bottom and then ordered pepperoni pizza....Spike's favorite food.

I put an end to the whole thing.  I kicked them all out.  Nicely, of course.

I figure that, as long as it is all cleaned up, it should stay that way.  Pass the pizza!

Walter is out playing golf, so it is a good time for me to finish off the basket(s).  Yes.  There was a second one yesterday. 

When I moved the worktable into the workroom yesterday, I had to take care of all of the tools, paint and other supplies that were hiding under the table in the bedroom.  Another laundry basket.  Bah Humbug!!!

I have started on the last basket again.  Hopefully, I will empty it today.

I need all the help I can get.  Tessie is handing me things to put away and telling me where to put them....That's not always helpful...She just handed me a table leg and told me to stick it in my ear...

It is going to take a while.  Somehow a lot of the tiny shingles for the quarter inch, half timber wall house got loose in the basket.  I can't afford to throw them away.  I don't think that I am likely to run into one of that particular wooden slat calender again.  It is the only one that I have run across in the last 30 years...So....I am sorting the piles and carefully picking the shingles out, one at a time....

If it wasn't for some of the really tiny things that I know are in there, I would dump the whole thing.  Unfortunately, my memory is pretty good and I can see a lot of the stuff in there...So...I am sorting.

If I finish this today, I will be able to do minis with a clear conscience.

I want to start the Russian trunk.  I am determined to get to it tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

See you then.