Just Enough Gesso!

Hang in there.  This is going to be a long one...I am having too much fun!

This is what the house looked like at noon yesterday.

That top floor is very difficult to install....A lot of twisting and turning involved....Me and the board, both. It looks like a simple house, but I wouldn't recommend it for a starter house.  There are a couple places like that...You have to install a piece and then force another piece in around it.  Oh well...It's done now.

I finished installing the roof yesterday.  Then I stopped.  I had to make a few decisions before advancing further.

At the same time, I didn't want to loose momentum, so I started some wicker...Which you will see later.

This morning I got up bright and early, only to find that the gesso was almost empty.

I went ahead and used the patching plaster on all of the little slits, nooks and crannies that had to be covered...

Then I jumped in and took a chance.  Gesso time.

I installed the window and door frames.  I wanted them to be stuccoed too.  I am kind of going for the Victorian Territorial look.  There are still some around here and over in New Mexico.  They kind of mixed Victorian and adobe to get the look.  Not enough timber for a full Victorian.  Lots of mud and straw for adobe.  Some of the walls in these places are at least a foot thick and in some they are more like two feet thick with seats at every window.  The thicker the adobe, the cooler the house in the summertime.  The warmer in winter.

April and Seth lived in a small one when they were still in college.  It's not just a theory.  The thickness does work.

I decided that the upstairs attic is going to be for storing all of my unfinished projects and some supplies.  It really should be bigger!

The reason that Tessie is leaning dangerously over the edge is this.  She took one look and asked..."I know how I would get down from here. Zap.  How are you going to manage???"

She is hoping that I won't be able to function in the place.  Theory being, she will inherit it when I am finished with it.

Tessie.  I have two words for you....Rope Ladder!

Anyway, I had about a tablespoon of gesso left when I finished painting the main floor. 

I am thinking bare rafters and newsprint for the attic. 

Now I have to decide what colors I am going to use, inside and out.

Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, I baked cookies and wicker-ed.

My Dremel needs a new drill bit for small holes, so I did 66 holes in the desk by hand...Ick.

Fortunately the holes were already in the chair seat.  

I am using # 30 thread on these pieces.  It will take twice as long as the #20 thread that I usually use.

Tessie is already asking why her furniture isn't all this fine.  She has a couple of chairs that are.  There are a couple in other houses around here....Please don't tell her.  She will start tearing things apart to get at them.

I am one of those strange people that doesn't like white wicker in my own rooms.  They are perfectly nice in others, but they show dirt and especially when the pieces are going to be used in a workshop. 

Right now I am typing with gesso coated fingers.  Don't nag. I will go soak it off in a minute.

OK.  I am going to do the obligatory "Go Vote!" thing now.  Tessie is here pulling at my sleeve.  The blog has been tied for first place a couple of times this week for a little while.  I have to admit that I would love to win for a third year in a row.  I work hard at this.  Writing, designing, and thinking up tutorials takes up a lot of time.  I do it because I love miniatures.  I also enjoy all of you that I know are out there reading what I wander on about each day.  Thanks for your support.  Not just during this voting period.  I have learned a lot of new stuff and made a lot of new friends in the past five years.  Thank you!

Off my soapbox now...Go poke the badge at the top and "Vote for Tessie"....She made me say that!

  It is going to be hard to cram all of this into one entry a day...

See you tomorrow or maybe later today, if I get more done.

A Drum Roll Please.........

"OK, Tessie. Cut it out! How gullible do you think I am?" I can never be sure of what she is going to try to pull to get her way. After I listed all of the names for the drawing in Word, printed them out, cut them apart and rolled them around a skewer so that Tessie couldn't possibly see the names on them, she managed to slip an extra one in....

I let her chose a bowl for the drawing and she opted for one that I made in a pottery class several years ago. I think it suits her. It looks all soft and ruffly, but it is really tough as nails.


I know you don't want to hear anything but winner's names. I disqualified Tessie immediately and she stomped out of the room, very aggravated...

When I managed to coax her back into the bowl she picked up the skewer and started stabbing into the little rolls. It was pretty fast and furious for a few seconds. As she poked each one, I picked it out and unrolled it.

I didn't think about photographing the rolls after. They were quite unruly and we had to call in Zar to help.

The two of them stood on one end of each roll and I put a notebook on the other end. Please note that Tessie is NOT the first winner. It's another instance of "easier to let it go, than argue".

You can poke the photos to make them larger or I can just tell you who won. That would probably be better.

The first one drawn was Sabiha Barkey.

Sabiha, I must apologise for spelling your last name wrong on the slip. I am not sure why I added an L in the middle. Just chalk it up to bad typing. Anyway, Sabiha is from Sabs Mini Interiors. http://sabsminiinteriors.blogspot.com/ She has a lovely blog with lots of good information and beautiful minis.
The second one that Tessie picked was Kim of Flowers and Art http://flowerkim.blogspot.com/
There are lots of minis and other types of art on her blog.

Last but not least, Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage.
http://mockingbirdhillcottage.blogspot.com/ Her blog is inspirational. she has a wonderful real life cottage in New York. The minis are coming back to her after a bit of a hiatus. She is working on a beautiful mini townhouse. Look under dollhouse in the labels sidebar.

Congratulations to the three of you. It was hard for me to stop Tessie after three picks, but don't worry. This drawing was to celebrate three things. I have made it through three straight years of blogging....Long winded. I have done over 1200 posts.....Longer winded. I passed the 600 followers mark. This morning it was 650....One of these days I may have to have a 700 followers drawing, among other things....I can dream, can't I? You all are great! Thanks for putting up with me all this time and I hope that you will keep coming back.

The three of you that won, please contact me at my regular e mail and we will discuss your preferences.

See you tomorrow.

Something For Everyone

Yesterday afternoon this arrived in the mail. My friend Katie http://katiesclaycorner.blogspot.com/ sent Mookie a get well card. Inside was a beautiful drawing that she did of Roch Castle in Wales. The lucky lady used to live close by. ***Katie added a couple of comments with information about the castle. Very interesting. It is supposed to be haunted. Please follow her links in the comments and go look.***

It is going to be hung in the Clockwork Cottage. I love it.

Last but not least, she sent Tessie a bubble wrap envelope....Katie gave her strict orders NOT to open it. So far, so good. She has been speculating about the contents for the past 24 hours. Some of her guesses were....A new house....Another pair of shoes....A giraffe and three elephants. She loves a good mystery, so she has agreed not to open it.

Anyway, I just wanted everybody to see the beautiful sketch and to say thank you so much, Katie! Well done!

See you tomorrow.