Tessie Has Left the Building....

We were doing two of Tessie's least favorite tasks today, so she refused to even come into the room, for fear of being drafted.

Zar and I did just fine without her.  I think she is off hunting for her campaign signs.  I hid them well...She is missing the best part.

Shingles and foundations.

I started out doing the shingles on the front roof.  I got up as high as you see them and they were buckling like mad.  These are the shingles that came with the kit and if I didn't know that they would straighten themselves out, (see photo) I would have thrown them in the garbage and went to buy more expensive ones.

It always amazes me that they can be looking terrible.  Then you go away for an hour or two, and when you return, they look like this.  All nice and flat.

Anyway, whilst they were relaxing, we started doing the foundation and front porch in egg carton stone. You have seen me do both the shingles and the stones on other houses, so I won't go into detail.  If you want a tutorial, I believe that there is one with the Russian cottage...Look at the labels section.

Yesterday afternoon, I did some more on the rug.  It doesn't look like much, but those are tiny Xs.

As you can see, the real rug is going to be smaller than the pattern.  I always design with a larger grid than the #24 canvas which I am using.  It's much easier to get that little arrow on the computer in the right square if the squares are larger.

I am also adjusting colors as I go.  The colors in the corner are a lot darker than the ones on the pattern.  I wanted to "ground" the corner a bit.  It looks like it is floating on the pattern sheet. Kind of wimpy looking.  That corner doesn't have a chance against the black and white check.

Another quirk of mine, I never use solid black in miniature needlepoint and cross stitch.  I use a dark gray or brown in stead.  That's not as harsh as the black, but still has the same effect.

Oh! And another thing.  See those pencil marks in the corner of the canvas?  Those are the floss numbers.  I am terrible about putting a rug away for a while and doing something else....Scanner much?  Yup.  When I go back, I will be able to pick up where I left off with the numbers right there on the canvas.

OK.  I found Tessie and everything is forgiven.  While Zar and I were working, she was off doing something that I usually do with most projects. 

She dug up one of my notebooks and started writing down things that we will need to make for this project. Very thorough, I might add.

She even re drew the plans that I had in another place for the corner boxes in miniature, miniature.  Now I can do some of them.  I will do a tutorial...She is very practical.  she changed the plan from wood to card stock....She told me, "Duh!  Not everyone has veneer.  Most people have card stock.  She's right as usual. 

I have to get back to the shingling now. 

See you tomorrow.