Toss Them All Up in the Air....

And see where they land...

One of those three o' clock AM ideas. 

I decided(don't ask me why) that it would be a good idea to move Zar's den into the computer room.  And on top of that, I remembered it this morning. 

Reality strikes again.  I still had to move a few things back to their rightful places from the holidays. 

I figured that, since I was moving things anyway, why not rearrange some of them.

First I did the thing that started it all.  If I moved Zar's den, I had to have a table to fit.  Soooo.... The little tool table from the bedroom was the perfect size and would give more room to move in the computer room...

Then I decided I wanted the music tower room on a smaller table.  The one next to the front door was perfect.

That meant finding something to put in it's place on the other table in the hall.

Spike's Crypt fit nicely and kind of goes with the Witches' Warehouse.

I still hadn't run out of energy.  Yet....

Where Spike's place was needed to be filled.  Tessie's Fortune Telling Tent fit well there.  Actually better than Spike's did.

And there is still room for the toast rack where we keep the mail.

That chest is filled with poly clay and assorted related items.   It's just a good thing that poly clay doesn't spoil...

You guessed it.  I had to fill the spot where the fortune telling tent had been.  That was easy.  I put Tessie's Teas there.  She never lets anyone buy anything there anyway. 

She is up there standing guard with a gargoyle right now.  Threatening anything that moves towards the teashop. 

 The teashop is the thing I moved to make room for Zar's den.

Do you see where I am going with this?  Round and round....

The table that the teashop was sitting on is now my table for tools. Remember?

Yup.  Full circle. Now I have a table where the little house can sit when I am not working on it.  And yes!  I finished painting the outside antique white....Three coats to cover the green and dark brown that was on there.

I also got one coat on the inside, over the dark red and green walls...This could take another couple of coats too.  I am not sure what color it will be when I finish.  I just know that I am NOT EVER going to paint walls red or green again!  They are next to impossible to change if you want to repaint.  Bah Humbug!

Anyway, it's time for the next coat on the inside.

See you tomorrow.

What Now?

The tower has found a home.  It sits just inside our front entryway.

I am thinking that it could use some landscaping on the outside, but I am going to save that for after Christmas.

I need to clean up the mess that I made with the tower, before I start making a new one.

I let Zar and Tessie out this morning.  I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  I would just doze off and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" would start again...And again...

The Terrible Two and Spike settled on Nellie's front stoop with a plate of tacos and a pitcher of sangria.  They are currently catching up on the Korean Dramas that they missed while in lockup.

Me?  I am madly knitting with both hands and feet...Well, not really, but it feels like I should be. 

This pair is down to the toe on one and turning the heel corner on the other one. 

These socks are from the same ball...I am not happy with the striping on the ankles.  One is definitely more bright than the other one. 

I started them both from the same ball, different ends.  Oh well...I am not starting over now.  It wouldn't do any good.

I have this much done of another pair.  These are from the flat feet blankets of yarn.  I like  these because I can pretty much see where the color is going.

Anyway, that's my day so far....I still have to clean up the mess from the tower build, but that can wait.  Knitting comes first today.

While I am sitting around knitting, I have a flickr photo album to entertain you.  This lady is the happiest builder of big furniture I have ever seen.

She is from Germany and she does all kinds of decorating, furniture building and poly clay work.  Her name is Mareike  Scharmer.  I get lost in her work every time I go to the site.  You can tell that she is having fun and so are the people around her.  The reason I am sending you there is, I am trying to figure out how I can translate this kind of art work into miniature.  Anybody want to join me?   Go look and enjoy.   It is just fun to see five people sitting in a giant armchair!  Kind of like being mini people. There are also photos of a farm with really old buildings that she is re doing.  Have fun.  I am headed there now. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-scharmer/page1/

See you tomorrow.

Done...Done...and Done!

The tower is finished.  I might add a detail here and there, but for all intents and purposes it is done.

I somehow took this photo at such an angle that the chandelier looks like it is tilted...I am going to have to do some work on that.  I noticed that some of the candles aren't quite straight.

I added a couple of paintings on the walls, a ceramic swan and a cloisonne vase on the music stand and a crystal candelabra  on the harpsichord.

I quit!

As soon as I put in the last piece, and walked away, I saw this...Nosy neighbors.  Oh!  That's right.  Tessie isn't.  She's the owner.  Sorry Tessie.

I decided to watch and see what would happen.  They immediately went around to the keypad and Tessie punched a series of buttons.  It didn't work.

She is too smart for me though.  I took out her code last night....The second try, she got in...Using my code!

The three of them are now ensconced in the music room...Someday, I am going to teach Tessie some manners.  She is using the harpsichord stool for a foot rest. 

It turns out that Zar can play.  He has been running through every Christmas carol he can think of...That is fine.

The part that is hard to tolerate is Tessie singing off key and Spike howling along. I am not sure how long I can stand it.

Maybe if I start rattling around in the kitchen They will come out of there ....Or...

I just went in and slammed the door and locked it.  They will soon notice and spend the next hour or two trying to get out.  I jammed the lock with a hairpin.  That'll teach them!

See you tomorrow.

Adding Class....

In order to add class, first remove Tessie from the room...Oops!  Note to myself...Don't let her hear you say that.

The tower needs a bit more glitz.  A tall chandelier is in order.

I thought I would cheat and use the bottom of the one in Tessie's attic in the craft cottage.

I should have started from scratch.  It would have been faster. 

Oh well.  Now it's done.  

I think that it needs a bit more.  Maybe a swag at the bottom.

It took me more time than I thought it would.  I have been at it since about 9:00AM.  It is now noon. 

I must have been holding this at an odd angle...It looks like there is a candle missing.  I think I need to do a bit of bending and adjusting. The E-6000 is not quite dry on the candles either.

If you are interested in making one for yourself, there is a tutorial here. http://caseymini.blogspot.com/2013/06/of-silk-purses-and-sows-ears.html

This is another version, but once you learn to do it, you can make them as tall or as short as you want....Just a change in the length of the wires and number of beads.

I had to try it to see if it fit in the room.  It does.

I was tempted to drop it on Tessie's head.  She has been playing continually since yesterday.  She remembered a few tunes from long ago...

Yes....She remembered "Bohemian Rhapsody".  One more chorus and I will strangle her. 

I found out the secret of her longevity...Someone suggested earplugs for me...Sometime before that occurred she got the idea without any suggestions from elsewhere. 

I asked her a question a couple of hours ago and she just kept pounding on the keyboard.

I lifted her hair from over her right ear and sure enough...Wads of bathroom tissue stuck out of her ear. Then I noticed that Spike was sporting the same ear attire.  Poor dog.

I guess I am not the only one that can't stand the noise.  My question is...Why play, if you don't want to listen?

Unfortunately, I think that she has decided to keep the music room.  I am going to have to lock her out of it at night or we won't get any sleep at all.

Back to crystals and candles.

See you tomorrow.

Not There Yet...

OK.  I got the walls in this morning...With Tessie and Spike's non help.

Tessie had to demonstrate the lock to Spike and then, of all things, she added a code and his paw print to the roster of people that could get in and out. 

Did I mention that Zar installed a push button on the inside?  It's behind the latch, if you ever get trapped inside.

I think that Tessie missed Spike.  She is taking him with her, everywhere she goes.

 I don't think it is going to last long, on Spike's part.  He is quite bored with seeing how to install soutashe braid as trim.

I ran it down the seams of the wall joins.  Then I put it around the top and the bottom, in place of fancy moldings. 

Nobody is going to see it anyway.  I learned, when I was repairing the museum pieces for the Mini time machine that some of the people that we think of as artisans, take shortcuts where they don't show.  The attitude is, once the room is furnished, if you can't see it, why bother?  I have to agree.

This is somewhat how it is going to look when finished.  I need to find some wall art and some accessories.  Maybe I should also recover the chair seat.  Oh and a chandelier.

Incidentally.  No, Tessie doesn't play the harpsichord...Other than Chopsticks.  I am getting very tired of that.

She tells me, "I would play something else if you provided some sheet music. Then I could learn something else."

I am thinking of getting a few pieces of Beethoven and Bach...  That would stop her in her tracks.  Maybe.  Or maybe it would drive me crazy.  She is determined....and the room isn't soundproof.

Anyway, I think I am at the end of my rope for today.  I need to get some more sock knitting done.

See you tomorrow.

He's Baaack....

I finally found out where Spike has been hiding for several weeks... He was in the workroom of Tessie's townhouse.

Since she doesn't spend a lot of time there, he was well hidden, without even trying.

That is the room that has the distillery for making potions.  I suspect that he was up to no good. 

It makes no difference.  Tessie welcomed him back with open arms.  He takes the blame for all kinds of things that she does.  She was not happy without him.

This morning he volunteered to help me with a bunka blog.

I am sure that there are still a few of you that don't know the benefits of bunka use.

I was first introduced to it in the early 80s and it is one of my closest friends.

It can be used for all kinds of mini stuff.  As is or unraveled.

Here, Spike is demonstrating how to make it unravel.  You just pick at it until you can get the end of the thread and pull...and pull...and pull some more.

The little pile that you see next to him is what I will be using for accent flowers on the curtains.  I took a length of it, uncoiled (about 8") and  laid it in the palm of my hand.  Then I took a pair of large scissors and just laid them flat to my palm and started chopping.  The pile is the results.

Here you see a couple of other uses for it.  The hat that spike is modeling has bunka around the edge of the crown and coiled into a design on the brim.  I simply used a glue syringe and laid a narrow line of glue where I wanted the bunka to go.  Then I laid down a trail of the bunka over it, using a straight pin to guide it.  The other hat has bunka leaves and flowers around the rose.

I also make a lot of rugs with it.  They turn out looking like hooked rugs.  If you want to see some of that, you can go here. http://caseymini.blogspot.com/search?q=Bunka+rug  There are a couple of small Christmas rug designs towards the end of the entries.  Just in time.

Here is a very close up of the roses on the curtains.  I just glued a few pieces between the roses and the leaves. 

I can trim them some, when the glue dries.

I usually buy my bunka at mini shows.  You can find it on line just by putting "bunka" in your search engine.  Good luck.  I hear that YLI has a good selection.

Spike had to get in one last photo before I finished.   Typical.  I laid down the curtain to take the photo and he sat down in the middle of the balloon shade. 

He proceeded to make a nest and fall asleep.  I didn't want to disturb him, so you don't get to see that part.  And besides, not long after that, Tessie pounced on him and dragged him away by the collar.  She was not happy with him sitting on her curtains...

I think that she suspects that, since Spike seems to like the music tower better than she does, I might give it to him.  I am thinking about it.

I have to go install walls and other goodies now.

See you tomorrow.

So...Where's Mozart?

I am not making very fast progress this morning.  I made German Pancakes this morning...That took over a half hour.

Walter left and I started making more roses and sticking down the ribbons, so that they flow naturally.

Then it hit me.  I knew where the George Becker harpsichord was.  In a shadow box above the Clockwork Trailer.  But....I couldn't remember where I stored the pieces from the TMS show. 

I wandered from room to room looking for the Cortland Doan case and the little lantern, that I had them in when I took photos right after the show.

I remembered that I didn't take the furniture out.  I just put the two boxes away somewhere....The somewhere for the Cortland Doan box was behind the table with the little jigsaw on it....Bottom shelf, right hand side.  Totally out of site.  In fact, I even had to move the table to get to it.  What was I thinking?

I still haven't found the lantern with the other chair.  It will turn up.  Soon I hope.

Anyway, the pieces that I was looking for were in the larger case.

First I just placed them in the case with no walls.  Tessie is not impressed with having a music room, unless it includes a boom box and/or stereo surround sound.

That's when she started asking where Mozart was. I am not sure if she wants him to play the harpsichord or date him...

I kind of doubt that either option would make her happy.  She would probably just put money in his wine glass and request "Bohemian Rhapsody"(Queen's version)

Anyway, my first option was the black, oriental, George the Third, chair and music case.

The second was this chair and table that are in the Chinese Chippendale style.

By this time, I was trying things out with the curtains propped against the wall to see how they look.

I am leaning towards the black furniture.  They somehow tie in with the harpsichord and stand out on the floor. 

The others seem to just melt into the floor.




I did notice that I still need to do something with the hinges on the door.  Too plain to go with the lock.

I have no idea why I am having trouble getting the last paragraph to go in the right place and why the background is yellow. 

I think that the powers that be are telling me to go back to work. 

See you tomorrow.

Computer Fixed!

I can actually see what I am typing and I am back to normal speed.

Walter solved the problem by taking off IE11.

Google, for whatever reason didn't go to 11.  They have 9 and 10.  So we went back to 10.

Now back to the curtains.  This morning, I went back to work.

First I put ribbons on both long curtains as tiebacks and pull ups of the balloon swag.

For those keeping count, that's eight bows....I hate tying bows.  And Tessie refuses to do it.

All she has been doing is whining about how boring the color is...

I got out the silk ribbon and my rose making tool.  If you want to try making your own roses, it is fairly simple.  Go here for instructions. http://caseymini.blogspot.com/2008/08/roses-for-mlady.html

I added 14 roses to each window....Tessie did NOT make the roses.  Just because she is holding the rose making tool, it doesn't mean a thing. 

She just kept threatening me with it.  Telling me, "This would make an excellent club....To rap you on the knuckles with and that's exactly what I am going to do if you don't add some color...!!!"

OK.  She didn't say how much color.  I added about 40 green rose leaves to each curtain.  But who's counting...

Actually those aren't hard to make.  Just triangles of ribbon....But getting them into the position is the hard part.  I put a dab of glue where I want the leaf.  Then I position the leaf with a couple of straight pins.  One to carry it to the place and the other to get it off of the first pin and shape it.

I put the panel in to see how it is going to look and I have to agree.  They need just a pinch more color.

I am going  to get out the bunka and put a few tiny flowers here and there around the roses.  I think that will do it.

For those of you that haven't noticed, There is no longer a place for the original window seat in the plan.

This room is telling me what to do as I go...It will no longer have shelves on the sides.  There will be furniture instead.  Any guesses?

I have to go back to work now.  I will let you ponder until tomorrow.

See you then.

Simply Soutashe

I am again waiting for the hairspray to dry on the curtains.  Second coat.

I decided to finish the inside walls to fill in the time...I still have a way to go on this one.  So every minute counts.

I cut the panels from illustration board that I bought at Hobby Lobby....I am not impressed.  I like Michael's and Joanne's better.  The finish on those are far superior to this stuff. 

At least it isn't warping.  I painted both sides to prevent that.  Since one side has very little finish on the surface, I was afraid that it would.  The other thing I don't like about this board is, it has a bunch of numbers about half inch high printed on the back side.  Most irritating to try to cover, since they are printed in black.

In this case, I didn't need both sides to show, so it was OK.

Now, about finishing the interior windows without a lot of fuss and bother...

The edges of these windows, with the exception of the sills will not easily be seen...but being a neat freak when it comes to finishing things(in mini, not real life) I wanted them finished along the edges.

The braid that I used is called soutashe and comes in a number of colors.  You can usually get it at fabric stores in the notions dept.. I usually try for white or cream....It will be painted anyway.

The stuff that I am using is from a thrift store bag of goodies that I bought years ago.  It was full of stuff that, at the time, nobody wanted.  Now, I know a few people that collect sewing notions that would kill for the unopened card and the label.  I am one of those, so I probably will never use the unopened one.

Tessie and Zar wandered in and volunteered to hold the braid, whilst I painted....That's not the best way to do it.  I didn't tell them that.  I am on their good side right now.  I filled the chocolate covered graham cracker jar up again this morning.

Normally, I put a puddle of paint on a paper plate.  I grab one end and proceed to pull it through the paint, while holding it down with a paintbrush or a finger....That is much faster than trying to get paint on it with a brush when it is swinging in midair.

I let it dry a bit and then ran a line of glue along the edge of the window with a glue syringe.  Then simply laid down the braid.  I did lay it flat on the table at one point and pressed down on the braid, so that the edge of it would be even with the surface of the board.

The next step will be to install the walls and, later today, the curtains.  There's still a ways to go.  One step at a time.

See you tomorrow.

Floppy Walls and Wrinkled Drapes...

At the rate things are going, this may not be Tessie's new digs.

I finished pinning the draperies this morning...Her only comment was, "They are all wrinkly.  This will never do!"

This was from the lady that loves the color puce and jumping on beds....

I tried to explain that they would look a lot different when they are finished...She wasn't buying any of that.

She even had the nerve to pull Zar into the debate and threatened him with a large, yellow headed pin if he didn't agree with her.

Next I cut out the panels for the inside walls.  I leaned them against the Plexiglas on the inside to see if they fit.  They did....

However, Tessie was close on my heels.  She started whinging and whining about them being all floppy and white.  To quote her,"It looks like a hospital!"

She was just in a mood.  I explained that they had to be glued in and painted.  It did no good.  I showed her a selection of  paints. It did no good...

Finally, I just showed her and Zar the door and shooed them out.

The last I heard from her was an aside to Zar. "You know, I found some chocolate covered graham crackers in the kitchen.  Want to help me borrow some?"  Her polite way of saying, I am going to steal all of the chocolate covered graham crackers you have.

I looked.  There are two left.  She was being nice, in her own way.  One for Walter and one for me.  She knows that Christmas is coming....She's on what she considers her best behavior.

I did accomplish one other thing last night.  April and Amare's Christmas socks are finished....Two pair down and several more to go.

I am going to have my Chocolate covered graham cracker now....I will leave one for Walter....See?  I am also on my best behavior!

See you tomorrow.

Back to Work!

Since I need to run to town for illustration board before I can do the inside walls, I decided to do the boring, but necessary pleating of curtains.

I dug through the stash and found this creamy yellow stripe.  Perfect to go with what I have planned for the inside.

It's a little tame for Tessie, so I left her out of the loop.  If she likes it, she can move right in.  If not, she will have to find some other place to play.

I also needed to re do the pin board.  For those of you that haven't seen my other posts about this, it is simply a large piece of acoustical tile.  I use the wrong side. It is first covered with graph paper.  Then a layer of wax paper, so that the ink from the graph paper won't bleed onto the fabric.

I fastened all of it down with painter's tape.

For these curtains, I traced the outline of the window frame onto the wax paper.  And the top curve of the window two extra times, so that I could do the swags at the top.

The first step is the long curtains, themselves.

I start by cutting, for each side, a piece of fabric the width of the window, plus about a half inch extra all around for hems.

I am just doing the curtain part this morning.  Tomorrow I will show you the swags.

To start, I make a quarter inch hem around the bottom and the two long side with white glue.

 I cut a piece of 1/8 X1/16" wood a bit shorter than the outside pleat.  It can be trimmed later.  This one will probably have to be trimmed because of the curve of the upper window.

I would rather have too much at the top.  It can always be trimmed, but never added to.

Starting at the bottom outer edge, next to the pleat with the board, I do pleats every half inch and draw them in to about 1/8" each.

At the same time, I determine where I want the tie backs to be and put a corresponding pin at that height.  I slant those down a bit towards the center, because when you tie curtains back they tend to pull down a the center edge a bit.

Next I do the draping of the top section.  I start with the center edge and the first pleat is the lowest drape. As I work towards the outer edge, I pin each pleat a bit higher to again, make it look like the curtain has weight.

In other words, always remember to make the curtains look like they are heavy enough to pull themselves towards gravity.

When I have all of the panels done, I will spray them with unscented extra hold hairspray.  At present, I am using Suave brand.

That's as far as I have gotten this morning.  I have a lot more to do today, so I will go back to work now.

See you tomorrow.

Doing the Wash....

I started staining the limestone this morning.  I am using washes of Ceramcoat Trail Tan.  It is greatly diluted and almost as soon as it is on, I wipe most of it off with a tissue.  Sometimes I blot and sometimes I rub.

The left side is undone.  The right side is washed.  It's hard to tell the difference in photos.  In real life it is quite different.

I did an extra layer of blocks around the lock.  Then I painted and used the crochet hook to smooth down the edges.

As soon as I finished putting the blocks around the digital lock, Tessie had to try it. 

This time, she refuses to go inside to try it out.  Lesson learned.

After viewing the photo, I need to bevel the edges of the extra bricks.  They are quite sharp.  Somehow, it's easier to see things like that in the photos, than with the naked eye.

I shoved Tessie out of the way so that you could see the finished product.

Well, not quite finished.  The lock box definitely needs more work.

I am going back and do it now.

See you tomorrow.

Chalk One Up For Zar!

As I went to work on the tower this morning, Tessie was about to shove the key down Zar's throat.  It still doesn't work! 

Tessie was not a happy camper!  She couldn't get in to sleep there and guard the tower.  She didn't stop to think that, if she couldn't get in, nobody else could either.

I was starting to fear that I was going to have to operate on Zar to get the key back.

That's when Zar started snickering....Not smart on his part...

He took Tessie around to the next panel of the wall and started explaining.

"After Casey gets done, this will just look like part of the wall...It's the key."

By this time, there was smoke coming out of Tessie's ears and her face was getting very red.

See the block that sticks out in front of the rest?  That will be blended into the rest of the wall when I am finished...I did help with the wall part.  Don't tell Tessie.

That particular stone has a hinge.

Zar began again, "All you have to do is key in your birth date and stick your thumb on the green spot and the door will unlock."

She tried it and it worked.  I already knew it would.  Zar didn't tell her that he also keyed in two other numbers for me and himself.

Tessie was so relieved that she tried it several times.  Going in and out of the tower each time...

Then she tripped up.  She hesitated.  Zar slammed the door, locking it automatically.

Tessie immediately knew what he had done and tried her darnedest to get out.

Zar seems to have had this planned out carefully. He grabbed the plate of cookies that Tessie sat aside to try the lock.  Watched her bang on the door for about 10 seconds and then ran.

Unfortunately, I will have to try my combination to get her out....I am not looking forward to that.

Walter and I are going to see the new Hunger Games movie this morning....Maybe she will be more reasonable after that..,,

I'm leaving now.

See you tomorrow.