Still Working....

We've been putting the last little finishing touches on a couple of recently finished projects, such as framing and veneer, licks of paint and the like. Not very photogenic, which is why there are no photos. I am still waiting for the roof components, seems like every day something new comes up. However, one of these days they're bound to appear. And then I'll do a how-to on making roofing slates out of cardboard.

The Mini Wiki Advent Calendar is open, I have a spot on Dec. 23, when my page will open. The photos on my spot will appear in this blog on Dec. 25. As well, I've been following a French advent  calendar site, they do how-to's every day of advent. Check out this address,  "Miniatures & maisons de poupees", then click on "le calendrier de l'Avent 2013: although the site is in French, you can probably have google translate it. There are also links to previous advent calendars on their site with more how-to's.

If time allows, as I am finishing off other projects before Christmas, I'll post another flower how-to later this month, probably hollyhocks made with coffee filters; however, be prepared, they take several days because of the many steps involved, mostly waiting for paint and glue to dry.

Tudor Apothecary Workroom Nearly Done....

It would be pretty much done if only I could find the piece of plexiglass I cut to fit into the window opening. I leaded one piece of plexi, but it was the end I had cut the real window off of, and which I mistook for the actual window. Despite having searched everywhere, I can not find the missing piece, and I need it as I am out of large pieces of the stuff. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to find a transparent piece of plastic measuring 4.5 by 2.5", would you?

However, I did take photos so you could see the aging of the outside of the structure, as well as the two sets of window shutters. The first photo is both the chimney wall and the window wall:

The upper edge beams are not glued on as the interior has to remain accessible until we install the lighting. The design on the shutters is one I remember from my childhood in the south of The Netherlands; these were red and white or green and white, and  castle gates and barn doors were often painted in the same hourglass-type design. I thought the workroom needed some colour, and green complements red, so I added a bit of my childhood to the build. I may do the outside of the shop's drop-down shutters in red-and-white, just for variety, as the shop has far less brick and way more plaster. Also, I think this half of the work room and shop combination will get a "slate" roof, again to tone down all that terra-cotta.

The remaining raw MDF edges will be covered in stained, iron-on veneer. The interior hasn't been aged yet, I will do that when I arrange the furniture, as furnishing placement will affect wear on the floor and the walls. That will have to wait for after the holiday season, as I have to get cracking on various items of knitting and embroidery that need finishing, unless the pieces for the roof arrive. Then I will do the roof in between the other handwork!

The cube is up on blocks because it has a buttress on the back corner, to hold it steady when the two hinged buildings are separated to get at the interiors. The other cube, which holds the shop, is fixed to a base which appears like a cobbled courtyard when the two cubes are hinged open, so this "swinging" portion needs a sturdy support.

OK, back to work to see if I can find that blasted piece of missing plexiglass! Considering I started this Nov. 1, 2013 it`s gone nice and quickly, thanks to wanting to have something to share with the people who read my blog.

Tudor Apothecary Workroom - Brickwork Is Finished

All the brickwork is in place, the grout has been painted in, and the bricks have had a colour-wash to vary the terra-cotta a bit. As well, the very white exterior plaster has been toned down a bit with a dirty water wash. Next is the aging process; greenish along the bottom where the damp has come up, brownish under the wood where weathering has taken place, and dirt and discolouring on the plaster-work as the building has been around for quite a long time; it's been a few years since it was last lime-washed....

Some of the corner beams have still to be cut and fit into place, and the window and shutters are the next thing to do after the aging.  Once the cube is done, it will get its roof. That will lead to sore fingers, as I will have to cut a kilometre or so of cardboard tiles for both this roof and the roof of the apothecary shop building I hope to start in the New Year. I cut left-handed using right-handed scissors, and I need to take regular breaks when cutting roof tiles.

 Over the weekend my daughter had a friend visiting, and the friend kindly and patiently uploaded my Christmas vignette to the Miniwiki Advent Calendar; do check it out, the first Sunday of Advent is this weekend. One page opens each day; some are just eye candy, like mine, I hope, while others are instructions on how to create mini Christmas items. People add things from all over the world, it is well worth visiting.

Now I will relax with a little TV - providing I can find something worthwhile to watch! It is too dark to do aging on the structure, to do that properly I need daylight.

Tudor Apothecary Workroom: Window Wall Is Bricked

OK, I started on the left side and that is now pretty dry, but the closer you get to the right, the wetter the paper clay is. Usually I work in slabs that fit the space, as in the Tudor Market Hall, sometimes I work in rows, as in the vault ceiling; in this case I had to cut bricks to fit sections together. It is not altogether even, but I think by the time I paint the mortar lines and vary the colour of the bricks, it will look better. And practice can only improve my technique!

Although each 3/4 by 1/4" (approx. 2 x .8 cm) brick is carefully shaped and textured, some of that does get lost as the clay dries. And while I roll the clay out between two battens to get a uniform thickness, there is still some variation. Fortunately the clay can be sanded and cut after it dries, which means I can tidy up the bits that really irk me.

My carpenter-in-chief was able to find some self-adhesive lead tape for me today, at a business that repairs sports equipment. This means I can do a nice leaded window, suitably aged, with the glass distorted as it would have been in the Tudor period. Tomorrow I hope to brick the chimney wall, and the c in c has already dug out wood to make the separate roof. For that, I get to build 8 or more small louvered roof vents, so I'd better figure out a way to get them all the same size. As mentioned before, cutting straight lines is so not my forte....

Tudor Apothecary Workroom - Front Arch Is Plastered etc.

Yeay, the front arch has its stone masonry, beams and plaster. The side beams are just taped on at this point, as I need to glue and screw the front in place before applying them. I decided to do a "stone" frame for the arch, to help tone down all the terra-cotta on the structure. The "plaster", made up of paper clay, is still very wet here, so it looks gray rather than white. The ghost of the brick oven on the back wall is where I allowed a depression in the plastering to hold the oven nicely in place.

The stone facing of the arch is also paper-clay, and each stone was shaped individually to fit into the arch's curve. Although it is hard to see in the photo, the stones that meet the wood beams are larger and taller than the other stones; again, this is for variety.

Oh dear, I forgot to marble the edge of the right front bracket! The raw edges of the MDF will have an edging of iron-on veneer tape when the whole structure is complete. There will be another beam across the top, which will go on once the top is screwed and glued on.

I was able to find some nice, simple half-round moulding to trim the front edges of the pawn shop. It is not easy to find 3/8" (approx. 1 cm) wide moulding in regular hardware or building supply stores.
So now it is on to bricking the chimney and window walls. Oh, my back and shoulders ache just thinking of it! As the clay dries fairly rapidly in our heated house (temperatures are reaching below freezing at night), I have to work pretty quickly, and when I concentrate, I tense too many muscles. But it will be so nice to have the walls done!

For some reason, when I publish the blog, one of the paragraphs develops an extra space. And I can't edit it out, because the space is not there in the draft version. Is my computer becoming self-aware?

Tudor Apothecary Workroom Build - Chimney is On

Not terribly exciting! However, it is a good step forward. Next is bricking the lower story of the workshop cube on the chimney and window wall sides. The original chimney rested on a couple of tiny corbels, which seemed much too small to support all that brick-and-mortar mass; another 12" (30 cm) of chimney are coming with the separate roof, and then there are the chimney pots on top of that. For that reason, I decided a "stone" corbel would look rather more sturdy. Since the workroom is supposed to have Roman provenance, and the Romans built with stone, it is probably authentic.

This photo does show the unpainted colours of the DAS paper clay I use; the upper story used the white version, while the chimney is the terra-cotta. The clay takes paint and colour washes very nicely to make different shades of brick or plaster; that will be done once the whole wall is in place.
I can beam the left edge tonight, while the right beam will be placed to match up with the beam on the window wall. In order to have it look like one large beam on the corner, it will be cut to measure.

Tomorrow I am off for a mini day with two old friends; we haven't all been together for a very long time, as we dealt with various illnesses and participated in family events (two weddings in my case), so I am looking forward to it. As well, I have a quilt guild meeting in the evening, which means no mini-ing until Wednesday. There's still the brick or stone, timbers and plastering of the arch face to do on the side opposite the window wall. The back wall will simply be painted, as it is unlikely to be very visible.

Currently, the walls are screwed into place; Wednesday they will also be glued, prior to the rest of the bricking being installed. Then there will be lots of ageing and painting to be done. I had hoped to have this built before Christmas, and I think I may succeed!

Still No Photos, Hard at Work

Today I made the brick for the lower chimney of the Tudor apothecary workshop; it consists of terra-cotta DAS draped over a block of wood, definitely not worth a photo! I also beamed and plastered the upper chimney wall, again not terribly interesting. I'm hoping the chimney bricking will be dry tomorrow, then I can install it and that might be worth a photo. It stretched somewhat as I was gluing it on, but my carpenter-in-residence says it looks good, so I will trust his opinion.

The last couple of days I've been doing a fair bit of internet research in regard to apothecary interiors in the Tudor/Elizabethan era. In the process, I stumbled onto two wonderful blogs, which I will include at the bottom of this post. I do wish I knew how I could create a link from my blog to other blogs I go back to regularly, but as I've said before, I am not much use on the computer....

In the research process I found some wonderful images for Tudor apothecary gardens, which I have duly written down, because I will forget otherwise! There was one delightful vignette, in Real Life size, of a very weathered, small, unpainted bench, with a straw beehive at one end and an old stone sink with plants on the other; no room for people, but the piece is so evocative of age and wear that I will try to reproduce it in miniature when I come to do the garden for the apothecary - next Spring, perhaps. My carpenter suggested the garden, which means he will have to build the basic form for me, right?

The lights for the workshop are also being considered, I hope to get some advice from the people who can supply me with what I need. I want a smouldering fire effect in the brick stove, as well as a candle on the worktable and hopefully, a floor candle-stand to hold 4 or 5 candles. All of them should be LED lights working off a battery, which I can hide under the floor as it is raised an inch or so. LEDs are my favourite, as the batteries really last and they are so very portable, much easier and better as far as I am concerned than lighting on the mains; no need for plug-ins at shows.

So go and visit the blogs below, if you are as interested in Tudor/Elizabethan as I am and enjoy fantasy as well, you will be glad you did! Make a cup of tea and give yourself at least half an hour....

http://onbeingaminimum.blogspot.com
http://theinfill.wordpress.com