Furnishing the Pawn Shop Part 1

For many years (oh, how many!), I've had dozens of House of Miniatures kits lying around, waiting for me to become proficient (hah!) at finishing miniature furniture. There really is a reason why I enjoy the Tudor period....

At any rate, the Pawn Shop needs some furniture, and in going through the many kits, I found some that I think will work in the small space of the shop. For practice, I did a bedside table with a drawer, which has my favourite Ipswich Pine stain that will in all probability be covered up with cream paint, and then be crackled, aged and grubbied up. I made a bit of a mess with the drawer, but light sanding soon took care of that problem; apparently a small blob of hardened glue in my gluing jig knocked the parts out of balance, requiring a bit of sanding to make everything fit again.

Not bad, if I do say so myself. I will have to be very careful painting around the handle and its escutcheon, though. Having done this, I tackled a Chippendale hanging shelf, which I plan to put on the back wall of the Pawn Shop to hold some nice little silver pieces, and the like.

This was shot at an angle, to show off the fretwork sides; unfortunately, they will be mostly invisible once installed in the shop. These drawers actually fit without the need for sanding, as I cleaned the old glue out of the corners of the jig. The pierced sides are mahogany, which meant using mahogany stain on the other components of the shelf. Below is a front view:

The shadows are quite harsh, unfortunately. I am quite pleased with how this piece came together; all the parts fit with minimum sanding, even after using the oil-based stain.

There is a small square-topped candle-stand  I want to use to hold a miniature Limoges vase, and a grandfather clock that would also look good in the shop. Somewhere in my stash, I have a broken-off china Buddha head which I can mount on a block like an old art piece, and a rather heavy silver-plated punch bowl which may also work nicely. And a lovely, hand-painted tray I purchased some years ago, when the artist was just starting out and prices were reasonable, will look lovely propped against the back wall on the top shelf.

That just leaves some things to put in the window of the shop. Once I am back from camp, I can try to make some clocks, a barometer, and other small items one might expect to find in a pawn shop. It will be fun to sort out and place bits and pieces to make the inside of the vignette come alive.

Why the push? Well, I am taking the Pawn Shop to Camp MiniHaHa on Sept. 24, to place it in the display room at camp. My version of last year's project was the prototype on which the actual project was based; I stuck with the smaller, more compact version. If any of the other ones show up for the display, I will take photos so you can see how inventive our Campers are.

Miniature Pawn Shop Project; The Build is Finished

It's been a longer haul than I thought it would be, with my husband taking over the final fitting and gluing. (I threw my back out, making bending over the piece rather painful.) We had dry-fitted everything beforehand, but for some reason things went out of whack when we started gluing pieces together. However, the building portion of this project is now done, all that remains is a little bit of  "set dressing" in the form of moss, dirt, moisture etc. on the cobbled surfaces.

The front view shows the streetlight, the drainage channel in the cobbles, and gives an idea of what the whole thing looks like. We omitted the drainpipe, as there just wasn't room in the alley; the spout would have splashed too close to the building, which would lead to rot, which would lead to the building collapsing - well, I'm speaking as if it is all real, you understand!

This shows the faux wall with its barred door - I think there is something perhaps just slightly illegal going on in that (imagined) building. The three gold balls of the pawn shop sign show up very nicely in thisphoto; they were made of mini Christmas balls, as there wasn't a gold bead to be had in this city, on a purchased wrought iron bracket.

Here is the view in the other direction; the stained glass window in the side wall is visible through the shop window. The display window assembly slides out from between the upper and lower facades, to allow access to the shop interior. The door opens, but human wrists just don't bend properly to get in that way!

Now it's on to tweaking a Hallowe'en vignette, then filling the shop of the CMHH '12 vignette, and then I can start filling the pawn shop. All in all, I am very pleased with how it turned out; I don't know of too many pawn shops in miniature, so this might be quite unique! Oh, and I have to paint the outside of the box and frame it, of course. As the shop space is where the smaller pieces will go, this vignette won't need a glass front, routing out the channels for glass or plexi is always difficult as they have to be so narrow. One thing I won't have to ask my poor husband to tackle this time. I could not have finished this without his help.

CMHH '13 Project Is Cobbled

Well, it was fun googling images all the different types of cobbling used on European streets, and I found a style that would do what I wanted it to do; it is a combination of The Schnoor medieval district in Bremen, Germany; the medieval alleys (steegjes) of Maastricht, The Netherlands; and some British and Scots alleyways and ginnels. So, this afternoon I cobbled the vignette:

There is a drainage channel in the alleyway, you can just see where the cobbles next to the green door go vertically in rows rather than horizontally. There is a treble row of these vertical cobbles, with the middle row being lower than the other two; this is where the water will, eventually, run. The keyhole splash stone will be the next thing to go in that alley, and then the drainpipe will go above that.

The upper façade has been made, plastered and aged, and is now ready to install. The false door and wall, the green door unit and the upper façade unit are still removable at this point, to give me room to do the cobbles and downspout. Tomorrow, hopefully, things can be glued permanently.

My first attempt at cobbles was terrible! I allowed a small section in the back corner to dry overnight, and ripped them all out the next morning. These new cobbles are left-over strips of paper clay bricks, sponged in sections with six shades of watered-down paint, then cut apart, jumbled up and glued to

the base of the vignette box. I had just enough with some to spare to do this cobbled street base. It's a good thing that, like  most miniaturists, I am a pack rat!

The cobbles need to dry thoroughly, then I can seal them, add moss, dirt, and wet areas; my family is challenging me to try and have dried horse dung in there as well, in miniature, of course. I think I can actually figure out a way to do this, finely chopped raffia bits in brown paint with a bit of sand and glue - hmmmm!

Still to be done are the window, handle and bars in the false side wall door, the street light installation, and the pawn shop sign; three gold balls hanging from a wonderful, purchased wrought iron wall bracket. Also, of course, the drainpipe, splash stone and a couple of wooden brackets under the edge of the overhanging second story. I do hope I can achieve all that tomorrow. Other projects are sending their siren calls my way, but I won't allow myself to leave this particular one until it is done.

Well, I Did Get Stuff Done Today

The left side false wall has been built, clad, aged, and fitted in place but not glued in yet. The half-round windows are in place, and I believe I know what I'm going to do next. The original design had the shop upper façade wall extending over to the left-hand false wall, which really doesn't make much sense, so I will  extend the upper façade out to the left as if it is a jettied second story. This means it will overhang the alley-way but not join up with the left-hand façade. The plan will require knocking out one of the wall supports hanging from the vignette box ceiling; hopefully, I can do it with a minimum of damage to the MDF of the box, as it has been glued in place for some weeks now.

The brown door still needs its door handle, window glass and bars on it, as I'm thinking of it as the back door to a betting shop or something of the sort. I'd really like  to do a bit of a drainage channel in the middle of the pavement between the two shops; that would allow me to create a trickle of moisture effect from the corner behind the green shop door. I don't know if I can fit that in as the doorstep of the green door is low. For a drainage channel to work, the pavement has to slope ever so slightly into the centre. If I do go with the drainage channel, I will put a "lead" gutter pipe in the corner, maybe with one of those key-hole shaped splash stones I've seen in older North American cities. Good opportunity for some algae and moss work on the stucco and the cobbles!

The wonderful Victorian street lamp I picked up will fit nicely on the façade of the false side wall. It's a battery LED light; all I have to do, I am told, is to adhere the metal back plate to my building, and then the rare earth magnets will hold the lamp in place. It came without instructions, of course! There is a tiny switch just on the edge that will face out.

 For fun, I tried doing some decorative plastering, using a large jewelry finding, in the square area above the false door. While this one isn't deep enough to be easily visible, I think I may use some silver Art Deco brooches I have of deer in trees and the like, to make some molds for future use as decorative plaster elements. I have at least one small and one large one, they remind me of gable stones in the medieval streets of my childhood home town, Maastricht, in The Netherlands.

Tomorrow, if all works out, I hope to install the upper façade; once that is done, I can glue the green door unit in place, as well as the false side wall unit. Then it is on to cobblestones, each of which will have to be modelled individually from paper clay. Maybe I can figure out an assembly-line method and speed the process up a little. The cobbles I remember from my childhood were rounded on top, and sort of squarish in shape, so perhaps a log shape that I cut the top slice off may do it. I'd have to round the top off again each time before cutting the cobble off.

 I just may have the "build" of this vignette done by this coming weekend!

Further Progress on the CMHH '13 Project

Yesterday not much of anything got done, time just kept getting away from me. Today, however, I made the half-round polymer clay windows, and paper clayed the back wall.

Wet paper clay is a dirty gray colour, but you can already see the white at the edge where the clay is beginning to dry. The slanted lower wall of the façade is also coated, but this has dried. It does, however, show how a light wash of paint and some messing about with chalk dust can age the paper clay quite convincingly. Once the back wall is completely dry, I'll use a fine sandpaper on a stick to even out the edges.

The two brown semi-circles are the polymer clay window frames; the lower on has had its corner cut off, to fit better into the space. This cut-off will be hidden behind the false wall to come on the left-hand side, which is the next part of the project.

This was the first time I used Premo by Sculpey, and I am not completely sure I like it; I baked it at the recommended time and temperature, but found the baked frames to be kind of bendy, and the corner cut off without any problem at all, using a regular kitchen knife. I am used to quite solid, sturdy baked polymer clay items. I wonder if this result is part of governments' insistence on the polymer formula being changed to meet environmental guidelines.

On to finishing the spaniel on a cushion mat, while waiting for the clay to dry. I have a two-doll commission to start on soon, as well as some embroidered goods to finish off and mail to a client. Then I will probably have to buckle down to some Christmas shopping, as just about everything has to be mailed off this year. A couple of parcels have to go to Europe and Japan, so the sooner the better, I guess!

It's Tuesday - The Lights Are On CMHH Project '13

Well, the interior light is installed. It consists of a nano LED light, held in place by a pearl bead inside a Lucite trumpet-shaped bead, with a bit of necklace chain to hide the wires. This light has a switch on the back of the box, so I don't have to take out the display window every time I want to turn on the light.

The lighting shows up best in the bottom photo (and anyways, I don't know how to remove the other photo). You can also see the stained glass side window, as well as the stained glass transom window, both of which have yet to be antiqued. That requires oil paint, so it has to be done out of doors, perhaps tomorrow. The paper protecting the plexi window in the door is still in place, and there is as yet no door handle - I am going to try and cut my own door plate from some very thin brass I have in my stash, and then try to patina it and the door knob with a kit I picked up.

The door and side wall assembly aren't glued into place yet, as I have to paper-clay the back wall and that is easier to do in a larger space. Before I can do that, I have to build a couple of small windows that will sit in that wall; the original design has half-round leaded glass ones, that kind of appeals to me. I'm going to try making the frame for the windows with polymer clay, and texture it a bit to look like wood. The leaded glass windows will be lead strips glued down to blister pack plastic. The wall behind them will have to be painted black, to hide the fact there is actually nothing there. And I am still hoping to have the construction done this coming weekend.

Oh yes, in the wee small hours of the morning (around 6 a.m. or so) I realized part of the roof of the box is actually supposed to be sky; that has now been painted a pale bluish-gray, and sponged and dragged with a bit of white, to look like a gloomy, it's going to rain type of sky.

I still don't know how I'm going to treat the outside of this box vignette. Help!

CMHH '13 Project Progress - Anton Pieck-inspired Pawn Shop

Because I am changing some of the design, it has become necessary to re-measure and recut a number of the project components. It was decided to drop the front steps up to the shop, as that meant a 6" person walking in would fall the height of 2 steps to the shop floor, unless steps and a landing were built inside. So, we dumped the steps; now the door seems too short for the height of the display window. This is the project up to this point, with the slide-out display window in place:

There is a space above the door that is calling out for a transom window, so that is what I've been working on today. The window will match the stained glass side window, and glass paint takes 24 hrs to dry. As well, for some reason there was no side wall beyond the door posts - just a narrow gap; therefore, a side wall has had to be constructed, papered and panelled on the inside, and beamed and plastered on the outside. It'll be hard to see, but I'll know it's there!

Once the transom and the shop wall are done, I have to move on to the faux door in the left side wall, and a small window or two in the back wall, to give the effect of a narrow alley-way. When that is sorted out and installed, I can continue on the upper façade of the shop itself, which extends over to the left side wall with an angled support beam. Then more paper clay has to be added to the façade, the side and back walls, and the cobbled street surface. Lots of design decisions! I had bought a wonderful double dolphin-head fountain, but as there isn't enough room for it in the little alley, it might go into the proposed apothecary garden project, to go with the Tudor apothecary shop which is in the very early stages of construction.

I'm rather stuck on how to finish the outside of this vignette; the front will likely be framed with half-round timber or something similar, but I haven't been able to settle whether to paint or paper the outside of the box. Usually I just paint, but I'd like to try decoupage with this one. Any ideas?

Back From Camp MiniHaHa '13 and The Project

The time, as usual, was too short and we didn't get as much done as we had hoped to do, but we ate lots of chocolate and had lots of fun. The camp project this year was a streetscape in a gatorboard box, but the prototype was a bit large for me - I am running out of space for large projects - so I brought my own, wooden box with me. I prepped a little, papering the walls, building the little side window, and panelling the wall below the paper, before heading off for Camp. This was the box on Day 1 (Thursday):

It is upside-down in this photo, while I was fitting the upper façade of the building. I had installed a baseboard, chair rail and framed the window by this point. This project came from Dollshouse Nederland, a small and wonderful Dutch magazine crammed full of excellent projects of all sizes.

Here it is a little later (Friday); now it is right-side up and the floor has been partially installed, ready to build the lower façade of the building. The upper one has been clad with paper clay, except for the slanted wall which is still bare wood. The little section of bricks is a left-over from doing the walls of the Tudor market hall; I find the bits useful for small projects like this one. The angles of the window wall caused me a lot of problems, and took up a lot of time to get right; as well, somehow my measurements didn't quite fit, so I had to add some pieces to the framing of the upper façade. And then, of course, there is the waiting for stain, paint, paper clay and glue to dry...

Sunday morning, the lower façade had been clad, and both the upper and the lower were aged; I used a very light yellowy-grey wash to dirty the white clay, and then used powdered chalk to age the pieces. There is also a beamed ceiling in place, not very visible unless you turn the box upside-down.  I am going to make some  changes to the original project, and put the door on the ground level rather than a couple of steps up; while the difference in levels is interesting, it makes no sense as you would then need a platform just inside the door and a set of steps down to the tiny sales level. This requires measuring and cutting a new door frame, for which I need the assistance of my resident carpenter on the table saw. More later!

The shop was influenced by the work of the Dutch artist Anton Pieck, and is sort of Dickensian in appearance. It is going to be a pawn shop, as I can display some nice items in the shop and the shop window that I don't have a home for right now. The bare section to the left will have a faux door, and the impression of an alleyway beyond that; these are also being redesigned a bit, as I want my alley just a bit wider than the original design had.

Besides a new door, I also have to install the removable shop window, which has a set of built-in display shelves. When the project is finished, the only way in is by way of the slide-out window construction, unless you happen to be a 1/12 scale person....

I splurged and bought a wonderful battery-operated Victorian LED street lamp, which will be mounted on the left wall. The shop inside will be lit by an LED light with the switch on the back of the box, so drilling is required for the wire. For this lamp, I hope to use a vintage Lucite bead as the shade; I have several trumpet-shaped ones which are wonderful for both uplights and pendant ceiling lights. Add a bit of brass tube and a back plate, and it should look pretty good. There will also be a wrought-iron hanging bracket with the old symbol for a pawn shop, three gold balls hanging from chains. I have the bracket, but have to add a hanging loop and make up the hanging gold balls.

That's it for now, I have to go and unpack some more. Back soon with some of the goings-on at camp and photos of the campers busily at work in the work room - a new-to-us very large space with spectacular natural light, and an impressive view of the Annapolis Basin of the Bay of Fundy.