Scale Cabinetmaker and Killing Time......

I sketched some trees on the side of the Clockwork Cottage earlier today...

Everything went down hill from there.

I went and looked for a smaller building to practice on...

I found this house that just lives to be used once in a while... For Christmas or other holidays'

I might try messing with this one first.

I am still not sure that I want the whole Clockwork Cottage covered with sculpture of trees and other natural goodies.

If I do this one first I get practice doing the sculpture and I get to work out some of the kinks along the way.

I spent most of the day looking through the stack of Scale Cabinetmaker magazines.  I didn't find anything that made me want to stop reading and go do some furniture. 

I looked over to the bedside table and found four tools for doing the sculpture on the walls. 

My Visa card got replaced last month.  Every time one of my credit cards gets replaced, I get at least four new tools for sculpting rocks. 

I cut them in four or five strips and cut the ends to points or chisel shapes. They work well for making the lines between the stones and putting texture in them. 

I guess that, since I have new tools, I should get to work on the stones, trees and bushes. 

Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

Fair Trade Agreement....

This afternoon, I asked My friend, Witch Jeannie if she could make use of the juicer that I used a few years ago.  I haven't used it in a couple of years and I hate to see it sitting in the back of the cupboard doing nothing.

She said that she and her husband would be happy to have it.

Then she asked me if I would like a box of Scale Cabinetmaker periodicals that she had in the back of her car.

We were very happy with the trade.  It was a pretty good deal for both of us. Now all I have to do is get the juicer out and take it to her.

On other fronts. Tomorrow I am going to put a foundation on the dressing room and paint it. It will be finished!!!

Then I can go on to other things.

I have been staring at the end of the Clockwork Cottage for a week now.  I don't like the stone work on the end.

It needs to be something else.  Yesterday, I saw a lot of interior walls on Pinterest... They gave me an idea for the cottage. The walls were covered with trees and other plants in relief work. I liked the way that they looked. Kind of similar to what I did with the Forest Fantasy Cottage, but a lot more detailed...

I think that I am going to scrape the stonework off of the end and see what happens if I sculpt trees and bushes. I am thinking that the cottage might look interesting if it were covered with raised work of trees and other forest-y looking things.

Hey! It doesn't hurt to try. What is on there now is borrrrring. I feel like trying something different. Back to the drawing board. See you tomorrow!

So many Unfinished...

I still haven't found all of the roof pieces and some missing stair pieces of the Clockwork Cottage.  Until I do, it is impossible to finish it.

I think that it is going back to the top of the bookcase in the workroom for the time being.

I do have everything but the kitchen and the library finished in Daisy's Cottage.

It is a much better candidate for finishing...

There is also the Weaver's Workshop. Pretty much finished but doors and windows. Oh! And the wrought iron brace for the chimney.

Easier to move around and work on...

Last but not least is the Russian Cottage.  It is small and the inside shouldn't take that long. 

Yup. I am thinking of changing horses in the middle of the stream, once again...

Any of these three will be pretty fast to finish. 

I didn't find the pieces of the Clockwork Cottage roof, when cleaning out the workroom.  I know that they are there.  I just don't know where.

I might as well get something done while searching for the missing pieces.

I am going to draw a name out of a hat and get to work. Maybe while finishing the workroom the missing pieces will magically appear.  Wish me luck!  See you tomorrow.

Missing Pieces...

OK. I got the second closet rack torn apart and enlarged...

I still need to put in the rod and paint a lot of spots where I took out shelves and put in extra pieces. I will do that part tomorrow before I go to Wednesday Witches.

And what are Tessie and Zar doing to keep busy?

They are sitting where they were yesterday at this time.  Discussing what I have to do. GRRR...

Tessie is now demanding a pink ladder to get to the top of the shelves. To quote her, "It must be pink to match the rug and the chair that you are going to build me for the corner...

I am NOT going to build her a new chair.  She is sitting in a pink chair as we speak! And it matches the rug!

Zar, on the other hand has a legitimate complaint. His house is missing some pieces. 

To be specific, there are a LOT of roof pieces that are nowhere to be found.  I may have to resort to designing a new roof!

I remember, at one point I was planning on having a skylight over the top part of the stairs. I can't even find the door that I was going to make that with.

I have a feeling that I am going to have to take time off and finish cleaning the workroom.  The missing pieces have to be in there somewhere.

Here we go again... Thursday. Workroom here I come! See you tomorrow.

I Was Right!

I love it when I get to say "I told you so!"

I told you so!!! Tessie had the boards marked and the bottom shelves torn out of the second closet space this morning!

Here we go!

We went to see "Deadpool 2" this morning. Fun movie. When we got back she expected me to start making the unit deeper... Not happening today.

She has the material gathered up for the rest of the room and wants everything done NOW.

Not going to happen! Walter and I watched a couple of episodes of Supernatural and then an interview with Robert Plant of Led Zeplin. Very interesting person.

So.  No minis for the afternoon. 

Zar is lobbying for more things to be done to his Clockwork Cottage.  So I have orders coming at me from both directions. 

He's not getting anything done either.

Tessie hit me with another surprise request... She wants more feets. Her term.  Not mine. 

She found a pair of high button shoes.  Now she needs feets that will fit inside those.  Her big barefoot feet won't fit. This should be interesting.  I wonder how long the new feet are going to last.  I am betting on less than an hour.  Then she is going to go back to bare-feets.

I can't imagine her actually wearing shoes of any kind, let alone high button shoes.  She hates anything on her feets.

I will bet on less than an hour, but I will go ahead and make feet to her orders.

Wish me luck. Back to work. See you tomorrow.

I've Been Searchin' Every Which Way....

I went into the bedroom a while ago and this is what I found... Tessie found a way to get into the workroom... Now she's trying to help Zar to keep invaders out...

What's wrong with this picture? 

I don't think that he is yet aware of Tessie behind him, helping defend his territory... Just wait until he figures it out...

 Oops! I let the cat out of the bag. I went in and told them that I needed their help, sorting things in the workroom...

It was beneficial to both of them.  Tessie found her beloved "Witch's Handbook". Zar found his Mesmerizer.  Stand back.

Lets see which one is the quickest with their weapon of choice!

Tessie also found another apron and a nightgown that she has never worn.  She just likes to look at it and coo. "It's too pretty to wear. I don't want to mess it up..."

Between the three of us, we are getting close to the bottom of the laundry basket.  Hooray for us!

I also found what I was looking for.  The little whatchamacallits that are used to put in belt holes...

I needed them for Tessie's closet.  They will hold up the poles to hang the clothes on. 

I even looked at Walmart this morning.  They didn't have any.  I guess that they don't carry them anymore.

I came home and found them.  Much relieved.  Now I can hang the poles.

Back to work.  See you tomorrow. 

Let the Trouble begin... Again....

It has already started! Zar started it by pullng the Clockwork Cottage down from the top shelf last night. 

We went in and rescued it this morning.  It is now sitting on my work table in the bedroom...

And the fun began as soon as the Terrible Two discovered that we had moved it to the bedroom to work on... Zar is in his workshop and Tessie is in the bathroom.  They are both pushing on the secret door for all they are worth!

 Zar is trying to keep Tessie out and Tessie is trying to push her way into the secret workshop. 

She has been in it before and knows that it is there.

Zar is trying his best to keep her out. It should be an interesting struggle for the rest of the day, week or year... Who knows how long they will keep pushing.

It has been a while since the rest of you have had a look. It is in need of a good cleaning out... As is my workroom.  I may just take a day or two to finish the workroom so that I can find things in there.

Albert E. had absconded with some of Zar's best furniture.

 I had to take several pieces of furniture out of Albert's house.  He seldom goes inside.  He sits on the porch and people drop by with food and to keep him company most days.

He had all of Zar's kitchen furniture.  Now he has none!

He also had Zar's bed and couch.  Now he doesn't.

I think that I got it all.  Now after I finish the clockwork cottage, I may have to re-do some of Albert's rooms. Some of it can be replaced right away, if he is not to particular about style... I doubt that he is.  His head is in the clouds most of the time.

Anyway, This is what I have to work with... I need to find some roof pieces or make new ones.

This could get interesting... Or I could run away screaming in terror after a few days... We shall see what happens.

Have a good, rest of your day.  I am off to Wednesday Witches at 12:30. 

See you tomorrow.

Please Help Me!

I followed Tessie around with the camera this morning.  She didn't see me. 

She was engrossed in telling everyone that would listen, her tale of woe...

She tried Kota... He is really good at ignoring everybody and everything when he wants to sleep...  After a half hour, she finally gave up and went elsewhere.

She tried me, but knew before she even started that I wasn't going to be any help to her.

Then she invited Balthazar for breakfast and coffee... Between bites, she explained that Casey was NOT working on her dressing room....

Zar was no help and had tales of woe of his own.  The Clockwork cottage has not been worked on for a long, long time....

I overheard what they were talking about. 

I sat them both down and explained that I was going to get right on both of the projects... 

I need to get Zar's Clockwork cottage down from the top shelf in the workroom.

I explained that I was all better now and ready to work. Both projects are going into the bedroom.

If I work in there, I can watch TV and they can too, if they want to watch what I am watching...

No arguments about what we are going to watch.  If I am the one doing all of the work, I am the one that gets to choose the show.

They looked at each other and both started bobbing their heads up and down.  Anything to get their projects finished...

I didn't mention that I wanted their projects out of the way so that I could get on to something that I wanted to do, without their complaining.

Tessie immediately plopped down in the beanbag chair and started making lists in her little head.  I could hear the wheels turning... Shoes(which she doesn't wear) go here.  Hats, there.  Aprons hang there and dresses at the back... Her lists went on and on....

Zar disappeared and I heard a very loud crash from the bookcase in the workroom.  I presume that he is getting the Clockwork Cottage down from the top shelf and making arrangements to drag it into the bedroom, to be worked on.

I guess that I should get my tools sharpened and the snout on my glue bottle cleaned out and ready to go. 

Who knows?  Maybe they will even get back to helping with the work... I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not.  I will give it a try for a couple of days.  If it doesn't work, I can always lock them in the workroom and throw away the key!

See you tomorrow for a trial run!

I Am In Soooo Much Trouble!

We got a  copy of the new Mac Kinzie-Childs catalog this morning...

It took a while to start reading it.  Kota claimed it as soon as Walter dropped it on the bed. 

He can get mean and bite if you try to take away something that he has claimed as his.

Well... At least he doesn't play favorites.  He wouldn't let Tessie near it either.

Safe for a while... 

I went to work on the back of the box for the dressing room.  This took me a couple of hours.

While I was doing the stonework, Kota went to sleep.  So I grabbed the catalog and looked at it for ideas.  I am thinking that I had better hide it. 

If Tessie sees it, I am going to be enlarging the room and maybe adding an annex,

Anyway, I did get the back finished. There's not a lot of tray material left over. I am going to have to use a few more. I still need to do the sides and the top.

I went into the workroom for more trays and when I came back I heard whispering behind the big glue bottle...

I am in so much trouble.  All I heard was Zar, apologizing to Tessie for being mad at her for so long... Then agreeing to help her get her room done if she would help him get the Clockwork cottage finished... No. He was not volunteering to help with the work.  He was volunteering to help with the harassment!

I am going to lock myself in the workroom for the rest of today.  I will be safe. I told Tessie a long time ago that when I am in the workroom, I have a spell on it so that she can't get in without an invitation... Silly Tessie! She believed that.  Please don't tell her I lied.  It was to save my sanity... What there is left of it. 

I am going now and catch them behind the glue bottle. Then I am going to run to the workroom.  Get inside quickly and lock the door. 

Wish me luck.  See you tomorrow.

I Have a Workplace!

Now, all I have to do is use it...

I clamped the magnifying light to the worktable this morning...  Now all I have to do is work!

Today is Wednesday.  I have two medical things to do this afternoon, so no witches.

I am going to try to finish the current project by Sunday.  There is not a lot left to do.  

 The Terrible Two are ready to move in... In fact they have.  But I still have to finish the bottom floor, so that Zar will have a place to work until I finish his Clockwork Cottage...

Yes. The Clockwork cottage is still on the top shelf... Still a LONG way from finished. 

Hopefully, after June, I will be able to go back to normal. No doctors.  No treatments.  I am, after all, cured. 

All of the stuff that I am doing now is just preventative...  Can you tell I want it done NOW?

I still need to finish April's Russian Cottage.  That is not a priority though.  She has no place to put it right now.

That half inch house in the other corner may or may not get finished. It would have to be gutted and redone.  It is so 80s country that it is terrible...

I bought this shelving unit at a garage sale years ago.  Thinking that I would turn it into a dollhouse.  Strangely, I am now thinking that it will always be a storage unit...

I am all for "Use it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without".  In this case I am making it do... It works well as a storage unit.  I have decided that is what it is.  I need storage more than I need a nondescript dollhouse. 

Beside, I like it this way. So it is officially a bookcase, as of today!

Now I am going back to work.  Lots to do before I sleep.

See you tomorrow.

I Am Seeing a Pattern Here...

 This is a kitchen that I did about 20 years ago...

It is complete with catered cat food boxes.  The lady of the house didn't do much cooking...

It was fun to do everything from scratch...

This is the kitchen of Tessie's Townhouse... It is kind of finished.  At least the part that you can see. 

But then, the kitchen in Zar's Clockwork Cottage is pretty much finished. 

I didn't take a photo of that one because it is on a very high shelf and I didn't want to get a ladder. 

To be fair, that one has a pre made sink and stove...

Next we come to Daisy's Cottage... The kitchen is in about the same state as the one that I am working on now...

I have come to the conclusion that I am not crazy about working on kitchens!  I get just so far and then lose interest...

Maybe it has something to do with not liking real life kitchen work... I like to cook.  I just don't like the clean up part...

Here's the pattern showing up again...

I got up this morning and went to the store.  When I got back, rather than working on the kitchen of the Forest Fantasy Cottage, I went outside and did yard work.  Trimming bushes and feeding the squirrels...

I am going to have to break this pattern.  It has ruined several perfectly good houses.

I am giving Tessie permission to run roughshod over me until I get at least her cottage and Daisy's finished.  No more starting one thing before I finish the kitchen on the previous project! 

Here she comes now!  Whip and chair in hand!  I have to go work or find a place to hide!

See you tomorrow.

It Was All a Ploy...

I started looking for a place for the observatory to be this morning...

First I tried it atop a room box... thinking that the room could be the library with a staircase leading to the observatory on the outside. 

The Terrible Two didn't like that at all... In fact, they refused to even get in the photo.  Turned up their noses at it and walked away.

Then I tried making it part of the roof garden on Zar's Tudor Trailer... Nope.  Not having any of that either. They said that it would interfere with the party atmosphere on the roof.  No place for the Steampunk organ.  Stop the music!

With that, they left the room.  And they took Spike with them.

I looked high and low for them...

But I didn't look high enough...

I went in the workroom, when I heard voices coming from there.

Tessie had zapped the rum box to the top shelf.  The two of them had shoved everything off to the floor.  The mess just grows and grows...

They insisted that "we" should make the foundation of the Clockwork cottage a foot or so longer... The only problem with that is, there is no place in the whole house that a longer foundation would fit. It dawned on me that this was what they wanted me to work on all along.

Meanwhile I went and tried every instrument of destruction known to man to cut the dome for the thing.  I tried my wire cutters.  Those got the hanger off of the front of the dome.  I tried my keyhole saw.  That got the handle off of the back.

By that time, I was really getting worried about how I was going to get the hole cut in the dome.

Tessie and Zar took pity on me and lead me by the hand, out to the garage. 

Trying to be funny, they formally introduced me to an old friend.  "Casey.  Meet Mr. Dremel."

That was all it took.  I dragged Mr. Dremel into the house and sat him on the counter and plugged him in.

Thanks to the Terrible Two, I had the rest of the job done in nothing flat!  Even sanding the edges was easy.

Whilst cutting, we had a serious talk.  It has been decided that I will work on the observatory intermittently, while finishing a few other projects and then I will start Zar's Steampunk store...

Get ready for this... He has decided on a name.  So far, I haven't been able to talk him out of it...

He wants to call it, "Zar's Bizarre Bazaar".  Oh well.  I have a lot of time to talk him into something else. He informed me that there is already a Steampunk Emporium and he doesn't want to use the same name.  Bizarre Bazaar???  I have to think of something else quick!

See you tomorrow.

A Bad Case of Unfinished-itis....

I have to find a cure!...

I went through the house this morning, looking at all of the things that I have done...And haven't done...

I found that I have a bad case of unfinished-itis. Any of you that follow me regularly, know this. 

Usually, I don't worry about it.  When December hits, I start.

We are in charge of having the family, Christmas day.  And I start wanting everything to look nice.  Especially the things that sit at eye level.

The craft cottage is the easiest of the bunch.  It just needs a bit of straightening and the finishing of the rug... No problem-o.

Then there is Tessie's Townhouse.  It looks like a tornado hit it a while back... That was when I moved it from one side of the room to the other.  I had it facing the wall for a while... Now it is facing out and will be seen by one and all...

Tessie is not happy.  No wonder she is trying to take over Daisy's cottage...

This will take a bit more time.  I have never finished the lighting in this one... Oops!

Problem number three, for those that are keeping track... The half inch Fairfield sits on top of a bookcase, in the workroom.  Not so much of a problem... But... I started it in the 80s and the wallpaper inside is horrible now.

It can slide down the list a ways, because I can always blanket it. 

I had a friend that used to say... People are coming.  Get out the blankets!  Then she would simply cover the unfinished items...

Then there is the Clockwork Cottage.  Also on a top shelf... To blanket or not to blanket... That is the question... It is probably the most unfinished of all of them.

The $9.00 Mystery House is probably in the best shape, but I keep borrowing things from there to put in other rooms...

No wonder the owner never comes home... She has been over at Eskiaga's Southwestern Room for a number of years now...

I think that I am going to have to go around and collect the things that other people borrowed from her house.  Then it will be in pretty good shape.

These two are not last or least, but they do need to be finished.  The one on the left is April's Russian Cottage. 

I am not to worried about that one because April doesn't have any room for it at her house yet...  One of these days...

Again, these two cottages sit on top of bookshelves.  Not at eye level.  The weaver's cottage doesn't need a lot of work.  Inside framing and a few pieces of furniture.  This will probably be the first one of the high houses that gets finished. 

Anyway, I am going to stop working on other things for a while... I will keep working on Daisy's Cottage.  That one is down low. 

I need to get the rest of these to look good for the holidays.  Somebody stand beside me and poke me with a pointy stick when I stop working.  I have a lot to finish this month... Wish me luck!  I'm going to need it.

See you tomorrow.