One Last Day of Freedom....

That was today. Tomorrow it will be back to work!

I am going to start with Daisy's Cottage. She needs a place to come home to.

Everyone else has a place to live. She has waited long enough..

I am going to finish the kitchen first. Then the bathroom.  All I have to do is get the elephant in the tub to go elsewhere while I work. 

The kitchen shouldn't take too long.  I might just use the stove from Tessie's townhouse.  I hate to see it go to waste.

The baby elephant can stay in the bedroom for a couple of hours while I finish the bath.

He could use a good drying out.

I need to mop the floor and fold the towels. The rest is in pretty good shape.

The outside is finished...

The library needs a window and a door.  Other than that, It is pretty well finished.  It just needs a bit of cleaning here and there.

Tessie and Zar have taken over the observatory. I imagine that Daisy will be taking that over as soon as I am finished with the cottage. 

Tessie and Zar will have to go elsewhere to have fun!

This sign is on the kitchen wall. You have to lean inside to see it.

It's a bit hard to see without extra lighting. 

This is what I am going to be doing, right along with Daisy if this house doesn't get finished soon!

She has waited patiently for half a year for me to do this.  I stopped working on it a little before Christmas, last year. 

Time to get back to the serious stuff!

See you tomorrow.

Daisy Eulalia Is Home!!!

"Enough messing around with cleaning and straightening!!!" That was Daisy this afternoon. She arrived with the time machine about four 'o clock,

It seems that Albert is faster than I am. He was at the door of the time machine when I went in to greet her.

I have been cleaning all of the minis and also my workroom. 

Daisy Eulalia found out and she is NOT happy. 

I quit working on her cottage and other buildings a couple of years ago. 

She kept waiting patiently for quite a while.

When Albert informed her of what was going on here, she went berserk.  I got several notes yesterday.  A couple of phone calls this afternoon and a threatening telegram a little later.

As soon as I got the telegram I jumped up and started taking stock of what has to be done on her buildings. I Didn't think that anybody sent telegrams anymore.

The library and observatory doesn't even have a door on the library side and the dust is about three inches thick on the inside of the library. In her scale... Not mine.

If I put my mind to it, I can probably have the whole thing done in about a week. Give or take a few days.

As soon as she stepped out of the time machine, I apologized and told her that I would start working on it bright and early tomorrow morning. Rain or shine! She suggested that I start now and keep going day and night until it is livable... Well we are going to have to compromise on that.  I can only  stay awake so long.  Then I at least have to have a cat nap.    Anyway, expect to see me with tools and brushes tomorrow morning.  Bright and early! See you then!!!

Close Enough...

 She caught me again...

I went to put the Steampunk Observatory back where it belonged this morning... Big mistake!

Daisy was hiding in the bushes and ambushed me...

This time she grabbed me by the collar and insisted that I draw up plans for the door and window of the library...

To quote her, "It's getting mighty drafty in there!"

So I went and traced around the inside of the door and window.  Whipped out my handy dandy quad rule pad and went to work.

First, the door. She "suggested" stained glass.  Very strongly...

For the window, I vetoed stained glass, because people will want to see in... And out.

Very simple. Easy viewing.

I went back and made sure that the door was going to fit.  It did.

Now all I have to do is hunt down the lead tape and get to work.

Wish me luck.  I can't remember where I saw it last.

A hunting we will go...

See you tomorrow.

Back to Stargazing...

Daisy tripped me as I walked by the Observatory this morning...

She pinned me down and hissed at me... "I need a place to sit when I am using the telescope..."

I am not going to argue with someone that can send me into outer space, never to return, if I don't do what she says...

So.  I rounded up one of the very first pieces that I ever did on a lathe, some woodsies and some leather.

I did this one basically the same as the kitchen stools, with the turned piece where the teak beads were in the other stools.

I was one short on the larger round pieces, so I borrowed one that had been drilled for a basket.  Nobody will ever know if you don't tell on me.

I padded that one with the batting and covered it with leather.

Then I stacked up the other pieces in a pleasing manner, as Daisy would say. 

Two of the large discs then a couple of small ones stacked on the bottom.  Then the turned piece.  At the top, a large disc with the covered one on top of that one.  Then I banded the top of the seat with another strip of leather...

After Daisy's approval, I was free to go. 

Remind me not to walk to close to the Observatory in passing...She is going to want the kitchen and the library finished if I get too close!

See you tomorrow.

Observing the Observatory....

OK. The observatory is officially finished... Now all I have to do is finish the library and the landscaping...

I think I have the window figured out.  How to make the glass removable... We shall see.

Zar and Daisy were there at the finish.  Tessie stayed in the HBS Forest Fantasy Cottage to pout.

Theirs is finished.  Hers isn't... Thus mega pouting...

The finish was putting star charts on the walls and a few more gears on the telescope. 

I think that I still need to do a bit more finishing on the outside walls and floor, but that won't take long.

Daisy is especially fond of the "Beware of Air Ship Pirates" sign.  She also has one in the house.  I think that she has had several run ins with them over the years...

The charts were taken from the MSN images of star charts on the net.

Amare and April were here this morning.  We went for a walk and picked up some interesting weeds and rocks...

More about those tomorrow.  See you then.

Now You See It... Now You Don't...

OK...Without the plastic insert, you can see down into the library.  Everything is crystal clear...

If I put in the plastic, it is nearly impossible to see what is inside... but it keeps the dust out.

What to do?

I wanted some way to remove the plastic when someone wants to see the library from the top...

Velcro is the answer...

I don't think that anyone is going to stand on their head to see the ceiling of the library... Especially if they can look down in from the top.

Therefore, I grabbed a roll of sticky backed Velcro.  I put it all around the edges of the hole and then put the other half on the plastic in corresponding areas.  I pressed them down and made good contact on both the plastic and the ceiling. 

I do believe that there has to be a way to do this with the window too... I will have to think about it for a while...

That's it.  My job is done for the day...

See you tomorrow.

Oh! The Excitement!!!

How many people do you know that would get excited about being able to purchase acoustical ceiling tile by the piece and not the box???

Me... I went into Lowe's this morning to kill a bit of time before another store would be open...

I remembered that someone told me that Lowe's and Home Depot both had stopped selling the tiles by the piece.  You now have to buy the whole box of eight pieces!  I don't need eight pieces.

I wandered into the ceiling tile aisle.  I spotted a bunch damaged pieces of just what I wanted, laying on top of a pile of the boxes.   I took a chance and loaded two of them into my cart and went to the check out...

The guy that waited on me was kind of new... He tried but the sticker on the back of one would only give him the price for a whole box...

He called someone... Then someone else.  His supervisor came over and asked what was going on... Between the two of us we explained the whole thing.  She took a look at them and after some quick thinking, came up with a solution.  She said if I would take all of the loose pieces, she would sell them all for just 4.00! I am wondering if they will just write them off.  I am not one to argue with a deal like that.  I went back and found a third piece that was laying there.  Long story short.  They are MINE!  All MINE!

Well, OK... They will end up being stuff for the mini gang, but at least I will have a lifetime supply now !

After the photo shoot with the tile, Zar followed Tessie back to the new cottage...I have a feeling that the woman with the newest abode is the one that he will follow anywhere...

He is now buttering her up.  But Tessie has been around long enough to know when she is being buttered...

Meanwhile, I went back to doing the roof on the library.  I noticed that the right corner was sticking out way too far after I removed the tape.

It was easy enough to take apart and trim.

However... I am  now in "watching the glue dry" mode, once again.

I guess I will have to shoo the Terrible Two out of the HBS cottage and work on that for a while...

Back to the grindstone.

See you tomorrow.

This Shouldn't Take Long.... Maybe...

I was out all morning... I'm back... I'm working as fast as I can.

So far, the roof of the library is coming along just as I imagined it.

I had the advantage of having the piece of illustration board that I cut the dome edge from.  Thus I already had the curve for the corner cut.

I laid the piece of illustration board in place and from beneath, I drew a pencil line a bit outside of the edge of the roof.

Then I took the width of my metal ruler and drew lines for the cut out area.

The strips for the side were about a half inch wide.  I didn't measure.  It will, after all, be covered with irregular stone pieces.

I will have to find a big enough piece of window plastic to fit the hole.

Then I will start covering the roof with stonework. 

I made it so that the roof easily slips off of the top.  That way there will be easy access to the inside.

OK.  Back to the stonework now...

See you tomorrow.

At Least Let Me Get Them In Place!

Before I even started to put the shelves in place to see what they looked like, Daisy was reaching for the box of chocolates on the second shelf... Sweet tooth, much?

To give her the benefit of a doubt, maybe she was reaching for the bunny that invaded... He was a few days late...

Trial Run... I took the photo with the largest of Amare's masterpieces.  I am still not sure which one I am going to use.  This one was the easiest to see...

You will notice that Daisy is like I am... Books stacked every which way and crammed in to make them fit.

Here's the one by the window seat.  I like this one because it has all of the amenities.  Drink.  Chocolates.  A pet.  And last but never least LOTS of books.

I will probably have to crochet a new afghan.  I am not a fan of pink.  I am still wondering why I chose to make a pink one.  It took hours and I have never had a room that it goes well in.

As for the tuffet, It will be replaced by an new one that looks better with the daybed and rug. It's a little too country for my taste.  It's one that I had left over from the last mini show I did.

Walter and I went out to breakfast this morning.  Today is our 43rd anniversary!  Now I am going to celebrate by not doing any more minis today!

See you tomorrow.

Thanks to the Easter Bunnies!

Easter Bunny April brought me four fat quarters of quilting material.  All very nice.  All will be put to good use.

If I had them a bit earlier, I might have used the one on the left for the daybed.  I am NOT changing it now!

Easter Bunny Seth grilled chicken for us all.  Really good!

I got a lot more done on the rug to go in the library. 

This rug is a little different than most cross stitch rugs.  I wanted a little more pronounced diamond shape. If I did it on regular cross stitch, even weave fabric, the diamonds would have been square. 

I did it on fabric that was a longer weave in one direction.  Thus the diamond shapes.  Cheaters sometimes prosper...

The only other mini-ing that I did was the bolster pillow for the window seat.  I still need to put tassels on the ends.










Easter Bunny Amare painted this for me last week...I might just have to make this three year old's masterpiece mini.  If I did, it could go into a mini scene.  Maybe even over the fireplace in the library...

The amazing thing is, he didn't use a brush.  It was done by pouring paint on the paper, in a box.  Then putting marbles in the box to roll around on it. 

He has been doing a lot of these and they all look pretty good for a three year old artist!

Anyway, it's Monday and we are going to see Fast and Furious 7 this morning. 

See you tomorrow...

Two Not Quite. One just right...

You may be asking what happened to the peacock and gold rug... Long story short...

It was either cut down the width of the daybed or start over on the rug!  I figured this out when I was trying out fabrics.

I didn't like the black and white fabric with the rest of the room being so dark. 

I found a couple of fabrics that matched the rug... Only one  problem.  When I went to try them out, I discovered that the rug was too big to go in the space, now that I have enlarged the width of the window seat... Oops!

Anyway, I didn't want to make another rug from scratch, so I did the next best thing.  The other rug that I was considering anyway was narrower.

So I started trying out different fabrics with that one. 

I felt like Goldilocks, in the three bears' house.  One had a print that was too busy.  One had a print that was too large.

Then I tried a plain lavender... Not usually my color at all, but it looked just right.

I went to work and tufted the top and the side band. 

Then I put them all together and used bunka for cording. 

It is Daisy approved.  That's all that matters. 

The Terrible Two were nowhere to be found.  I finally broke down and asked Daisy where they were...

Answer?  "They wanted to try the time machine.  I wouldn't let them use it.  I made a deal to drop them off in the place and time of their choice..."

Question from me..."And where did they choose to go?"

Answer?  "They are now enjoying the grand opening of Disneyland! I tried to talk them out of it, but that was their choice.  I have to go back and pick them up behind Sleeping Beauty's Castle at 5:00PM.  I'm sure that they will be fine.  I made sure to up size them before I left and got them a bunch of "A" tickets." 

Then she plopped down on the new window seat, picked up a Miniature Collector and started reading.

I am going to be very nervous until she gets back with Tessie and Zar... They better have all of their fingers and toes when they return!

See you tomorrow.

The Eternal Triangle...

First of all, this little guy was wandering around on the porch this morning.  A lot of people don't like lizards, but they are one of my favorites.  They keep the bug population down in the back yard, so I am happy to have them here...

Now on to the  business at hand...

I started working on the window seat this morning.

Spike likes the mock up.  He did however mention that it could be just a bit shorter... It's a long jump to get up there...

Actually, it is the standard 18" of a normal chair, but I think that he is right.  It would be more relaxing if it were a tiny bit lower...

So... I made it lower... And wider...

After all, Zar is a big guy, as mini men go... 

By the way, the eternal triangle is not one of those love triangles that you hear about..

It's more of an "I got here first, so it's mine!" kind of triangles.

Zar managed to get to the window seat first.  Now I have Tessie and Daisy trying to get him off, so that they each can have a turn trying it out...

I made it five inches long and two and a half inches wide at the widest point.  The two thicknesses of ceiling tile that Zar is sitting on is about 1 1/4" high...There will be a bit of added height when I add the cushion to the top...

Now, all I have to decide is "Too tuft or not to tuft".  We shall see. 

I have to take a break until everyone gets their turn at trying it out.  I can see that there is going to be a waiting lest for seating in the library...  Everybody take a number.  Five minutes at a time. 

I wonder if I can fit another chair in there?  Maybe over by the fireplace...

More plans to make and arguments to settle...

See you tomorrow.

Old Magazines Are Sometimes Entertaining...

Yesterday at Wednesday Witches, I did a few more books and then decided that I needed to put together some magazines... I had a box full of covers that I have been hording over the years. 

Some of the issues were from the late 80s!  I had a bunch of the ones that Miniature Collector put out yearly.  They did it just so that people could have minis of their mini magazines...

I simply put a couple of layers of folded paper inside and glued it along the center seam.  Then put the covers over that.

The reason that I say that old magazines can be entertaining?  Daisy showed up early this morning.

I gave her a pile of them to keep her busy.  I told her to pick out some things that she liked for the new house...

That worked for a while...

Then she found "Versailles". It's a book that I have about the palace and grounds...

So much for keeping her in a cottage.  She found Marie Antoinette's section and the little farm cottage that she played in. 

She is reasoning that it has a circular staircase outside... Just like hers... Therefore the rest of her cottage should look like this one too...

Shades of Tessie.  I do believe that they are sisters, under the skin...

Speaking of Tessie, she is nowhere to be seen... I am going to have to stop typing now and go check to see if the time machine is still parked on the roof...  "Tessie!!! Don't touch that Ouija Board!  You don't know how to use it and you won't know how to get back here! No!!! STOP!!!"

That was Zar yelling at the top of his lungs!  I guess I should go take away the Ouija Board from both of them.  Zar is on one end of the board and Tessie is on the other... They are both bound and determined to try the time machine... I forgot to tell them.  Daisy hid the planchette.  Thank goodness.  At lease she has a head on her shoulders.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Fixing the Hole Where the Rain Gets In...

 I have decided to try to make the roof detachable.  That way if I want to change anything inside it will be a much easier task...

It is fun to look in from above.

 I am going to do the roof with illustration board. That way I can put about a one inch border on top all around and the center can be see through.

If I make it like a box lid with sides coming down over the edge, I can make a raised parapet that will stand out from the edge a bit.

I also have to do wooden door and window frames.  I'm not sure about those yet.  If I put plastic in the windows, the interior will be less visible.  I left all of the "glass" out of the big castle that I built back in 89' but with that one, I almost had to.  There were no doors and the windows were the only means of viewing each room...

I finally found a yellow that I like in the rug.  It looks very bright on the skein... When it is stitched in with the rest of the rug it is toned down quite a bit. I am happy with it this time. 

They say that the third time is a charm...

I am going to have to redo a few of the metallic stitches in the first two patterns.  They got quite worn with the three tries that I did. 

Oh well.  That will have to wait.  Walter is on his way home with Chinese food... So much for work.

See you tomorrow.

Bookcases Finished!

I put satin varnish on the bookcases this morning.  They are officially finished!

And what is more, they actually fit now!

There is really not going to be a lot of wiggle room in this place, but it will be a nice cozy place to look at the stars at night and read a book when the sun is out...

After I glue a few more things onto the telescope, I will be able to call it Steampunk and be done with it.

I am still trying to decide what direction I want the telescope to point.  I guess I should look at a star chart...

I think that it is going to be difficult to see what is inside without opening the door.  The curved window does not make for easy viewing!

I am all set up and ready to go on the Forest Fantasy Cottage... So is Kota.  He fussed around the table and made pitiful meows until I finally made him a door to the cave that is under the table... As soon as that happened, he was satisfied... And he left the room.

If I put the table skirt down, he will come back and start the mournful wailing once again.. So for the time being, I am going to leave the door ajar, so to speak..

Now I have to fill the bookcases. And I have to build a window seat... And I have to make curtains... and I have to glue on the dome... and...  The list is getting longer, instead of shorter.  Back to work.

See you tomorrow.