Saturday, 14 November 2015
Life Means More Than Minis....
....and that means that I must finish off some other projects; some quilting, some sewing, and some desperately needed tidying of my sewing room. After Tuesday, there may be time for minis. Winter is here; the trees are mostly bare, and it is chilly outside today. The garden is almost ready for its load of winter snow.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Books Vignette Progress Five
Tadaa!
So the window works; it still has to be glued up and have the "glass" put in, but it works. I only had to re-do the decorative framing five times, I think? And the wooden inner frame exploded on me and also had to be re-glued.
The books are still loose, so they are being held together around the inner box by a piece of heavy elastic. The base of the window gives me more than 1 1/2" (4 cm approx.) of display space, which is a good thing, as the inner box is very narrow and doesn't have all that much display space. Now I have to design a small "copper" mansard roof for the window; a friend suggested a potato chip can might help with this, as I would like the little roof to have a bit of a curve to it.
Guess I have to go out and buy some potato chips; too bad, isn't it?
So the window works; it still has to be glued up and have the "glass" put in, but it works. I only had to re-do the decorative framing five times, I think? And the wooden inner frame exploded on me and also had to be re-glued.
The books are still loose, so they are being held together around the inner box by a piece of heavy elastic. The base of the window gives me more than 1 1/2" (4 cm approx.) of display space, which is a good thing, as the inner box is very narrow and doesn't have all that much display space. Now I have to design a small "copper" mansard roof for the window; a friend suggested a potato chip can might help with this, as I would like the little roof to have a bit of a curve to it.
Guess I have to go out and buy some potato chips; too bad, isn't it?
Monday, 9 November 2015
Books Vignette Progress Four
....well, some progress has been made, but there are also more difficulties to deal with. At any rate, I made the three sections of panelling, which I will detail here:
Above are the three sections in their base coat of terra cotta paint. The front wall section now has to be re-done, as I made it backwards; i.e., the window is not centered in the wall, as the book spines are different thicknesses, and I papered and panelled the wrong side....
The same panels, with the larger pieces now dry-brushed in dark burnt umber, and sponged in the same colour with first, the coarse sponge and then the finer sponge. The small panelling piece has not yet been sponged in this photo.(Sponges are in the photo below.)
On top of the dark burnt umber, I dry-brushed on a deep mustard colour called Antique Gold, (not a metallic gold). This adds a nice depth to the pieces. The upper piece is not yet brushed with the gold colour; you can see it looks more reddish.
The last coat of colour is a wash of diluted brown iron oxide, to blend the colours. In this photo, the two upper panels have been washed with the oxide, the lower one has not; you can see how the iron oxide wash blends and tones everything nicely. Once it is dry, it can be given a coat of satin varnish.
Laid out on the floor, it's looking pretty good. (But remember, the left-hand section will have to be re-done as I did it backwards.) The white strips are where the panel sections fit together; a space has to be left as the cardboard used for the panels has some thickness. The wallpaper doesn't add any appreciable thickness, so it doesn't need trimming.
I did learn a very valuable lesson; the shiny printed side of the packaging cardboard I used (a cereal box and a carton that held frozen waffles) will not glue to the walls unless you first sand it to create some roughness. The plastic of the gator board also needs to be sanded to allow the glued panel to adhere to its surface. Then it has to go under weights overnight to dry thoroughly. I used a Bostick glue stick to hold my paper to the plastic; hopefully, it will hold well. My sample is nicely stuck on, so it ought to work.
Now I have to re-paper the correct side of the front wall, and make another section of panelling. And one good thing, I was so frustrated that I gave my work area a thorough cleaning!
Above are the three sections in their base coat of terra cotta paint. The front wall section now has to be re-done, as I made it backwards; i.e., the window is not centered in the wall, as the book spines are different thicknesses, and I papered and panelled the wrong side....
The same panels, with the larger pieces now dry-brushed in dark burnt umber, and sponged in the same colour with first, the coarse sponge and then the finer sponge. The small panelling piece has not yet been sponged in this photo.(Sponges are in the photo below.)
On top of the dark burnt umber, I dry-brushed on a deep mustard colour called Antique Gold, (not a metallic gold). This adds a nice depth to the pieces. The upper piece is not yet brushed with the gold colour; you can see it looks more reddish.
The last coat of colour is a wash of diluted brown iron oxide, to blend the colours. In this photo, the two upper panels have been washed with the oxide, the lower one has not; you can see how the iron oxide wash blends and tones everything nicely. Once it is dry, it can be given a coat of satin varnish.
Laid out on the floor, it's looking pretty good. (But remember, the left-hand section will have to be re-done as I did it backwards.) The white strips are where the panel sections fit together; a space has to be left as the cardboard used for the panels has some thickness. The wallpaper doesn't add any appreciable thickness, so it doesn't need trimming.
I did learn a very valuable lesson; the shiny printed side of the packaging cardboard I used (a cereal box and a carton that held frozen waffles) will not glue to the walls unless you first sand it to create some roughness. The plastic of the gator board also needs to be sanded to allow the glued panel to adhere to its surface. Then it has to go under weights overnight to dry thoroughly. I used a Bostick glue stick to hold my paper to the plastic; hopefully, it will hold well. My sample is nicely stuck on, so it ought to work.
Now I have to re-paper the correct side of the front wall, and make another section of panelling. And one good thing, I was so frustrated that I gave my work area a thorough cleaning!
Saturday, 7 November 2015
Books Vignette Progress Three
Well, I had hoped to get the bay window done, but unfortunately, it exploded while I was sanding it; I think my glue has deteriorated. However, I did take a very big step, and cut the window openings in the gator board inside box.
The clerestory window is painted, and is sitting inside the partially finished wall; the wallpaper is in place, the bottom half of the wall will be panelled. This window has to remain as a friction fit, as I will have to remove it if I need to take the inner box out in order to repair wiring or replace batteries, eventually. I also papered the back wall.
The opening for the front window has also been cut, but not as yet papered, as I am testing glues; the Weldbond I used on the other two walls and the floor has a tendency to ripple as it is applied, so I am trying some other glues on the gator board scraps. Cutting into the board was a great leap of courage for me; I am glad that I finally did it! However, I still have to cut an opening in the two side book covers....
The window frames for the bay window are made and painted; I think I must have made them 3 or 4 times, before I was completely happy. My carpenter's glue has some mould in it, and I think I need to replace it, as it just doesn't seem to want to grab. Tomorrow I will make a quick stop at a hardware store. Now I just have to hope the frame holds together; it will have a bottom to sit on, with a small lip all around, and likely a flat top on which I hope to build the little roof. But the inner frame has to be rebuilt, as it needs to be deeper, 3/4" (approx. 2 cm.) to fit both the wall of the gator board box and the wall of the book spines.
The display shelf and flat roofing piece will need to be cut on the table saw, likely out of plywood, if I have it in the right thickness; otherwise, that is something else I may have to pick up tomorrow. I would really, really like to have the box ready for wiring by our miniature group meeting on Tuesday evening. Tomorrow is another day!
The clerestory window is painted, and is sitting inside the partially finished wall; the wallpaper is in place, the bottom half of the wall will be panelled. This window has to remain as a friction fit, as I will have to remove it if I need to take the inner box out in order to repair wiring or replace batteries, eventually. I also papered the back wall.
The opening for the front window has also been cut, but not as yet papered, as I am testing glues; the Weldbond I used on the other two walls and the floor has a tendency to ripple as it is applied, so I am trying some other glues on the gator board scraps. Cutting into the board was a great leap of courage for me; I am glad that I finally did it! However, I still have to cut an opening in the two side book covers....
The window frames for the bay window are made and painted; I think I must have made them 3 or 4 times, before I was completely happy. My carpenter's glue has some mould in it, and I think I need to replace it, as it just doesn't seem to want to grab. Tomorrow I will make a quick stop at a hardware store. Now I just have to hope the frame holds together; it will have a bottom to sit on, with a small lip all around, and likely a flat top on which I hope to build the little roof. But the inner frame has to be rebuilt, as it needs to be deeper, 3/4" (approx. 2 cm.) to fit both the wall of the gator board box and the wall of the book spines.
The display shelf and flat roofing piece will need to be cut on the table saw, likely out of plywood, if I have it in the right thickness; otherwise, that is something else I may have to pick up tomorrow. I would really, really like to have the box ready for wiring by our miniature group meeting on Tuesday evening. Tomorrow is another day!
Friday, 6 November 2015
Books Vignette Progress Two
Today I began work on another version of the bay display window for my altered books vignette. I had thought of doing a round window, but decided that for my first window attempt I should probably follow a set of instructions, so I reached for my book, The Dolls' House Shopkeeper by Lionel and Ann Bernard, published by David & Charles. Their design for a toy shop had a nice rectangular bay window, and I decided that I could use the decorative muntins used for the door to make the window match for the shop front.
The books are not yet glued together, so they are being held in place with round elastic. Here are the two side panels, with the decorative muntins, in place in the window opening; friction fit only at this point, I won't glue again until I am sure I did it correctly! Come to think of it, I will have to add a inner window lining once I cut the opening in the gator board inside box, unless I can figure out a way to wrap the wallpaper around that opening....
My hope is still to make a small sloping roof over the window; ideally, I would like to faux finish it to look like verdigrised copper. My thought right now is to shape the roof from balsa wood, and then add a paint and paper finish to make it look like copper. We'll see if I can manage it.
So here are the two side panels of the bay window, with the framework for the window and the display shelf, in the gluing jig. I made lots of mistakes as I went along! Although I was making notes re sizes and measurements, I forgot, for example, that I had to subtract twice the 1/8" measurement for the height of the side windows. So although they were glued, I had to take them apart and cut them down 1/8" and then re-glue them. As a result, I only got the two side panels made. The front will, hopefully, be added tomorrow.
The books are not yet glued together, so they are being held in place with round elastic. Here are the two side panels, with the decorative muntins, in place in the window opening; friction fit only at this point, I won't glue again until I am sure I did it correctly! Come to think of it, I will have to add a inner window lining once I cut the opening in the gator board inside box, unless I can figure out a way to wrap the wallpaper around that opening....
My hope is still to make a small sloping roof over the window; ideally, I would like to faux finish it to look like verdigrised copper. My thought right now is to shape the roof from balsa wood, and then add a paint and paper finish to make it look like copper. We'll see if I can manage it.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
There Is a Door
Well, I am really quite pleased with how the door for the books vignette has turned out. The original design for the door came from Le Monde Creatif de Catherine, while the design for the door plate and handle came from Cinderella Moments. I added a handle and plate on the inside, although the door will be non-functioning, as you will be able to see inside and it would be strange not to have an interior handle as well.
The door plate is cereal box cardboard, painted to resemble weathered brass. The base coat was burnt umber, with a dry-brushed coat of antique gold, which was then dry-brushed with a metallic old gold colour. The handle is made from antiqued brass, 26 gauge wire, 4 strands twisted and shaped.
I wanted a door that would maximize the amount of natural light coming in to the vignette, although it will also have LED lighting, and this one fits the bill wonderfully. The dark blue matches the book cover on the side the door will go into; the clerestory window that goes into the opposite end, will be a dark brownish-red colour, to match the book cover on that side.
Yesterday I was able to pick up another sheet of the scrapbooking "wallpaper" for inside the vignette; I was concerned that one sheet wouldn't be enough, but they only had the one left over at that time. Fortunately, they got a new shipment.
Now I have to go back to making wall panelling; I'd like to have a piece long enough to cover the entire back wall, about 11" or 27.5 cm, so I have to find a fairly big piece of packaging cardboard. The samples I had made up earlier won't fit; I forgot you have to measure and match your panelling to the size of the wall....
Monday, 2 November 2015
I've Been Busy, Honest....
We got home from our Montreal trip late Thursday, but the travel in Quebec is such a chore, that I needed a day to recover. I've been working steadily for the last three days, so I thought I would show you the progress. They are far from finished, though.
Project two is the faux door (non-opening) to go into the book project. I found a design I really like, on a French blog, (Le Monde Creatif de Catharine) and am trying to more or less replicate it. The door is being made like a sandwich, in 3 layers; the window fits into a recess in the door, so I won't have to use power tools on thin wood. The 3 layers are all 1/16" (about 1 mm, I think!), so the finished door should be 3/16" or .3 cm thick. Right now, I am gluing in the edging pieces. It's one of those glue things up and then wait projects....
And here is the progress on the trunk kit; the slats were stained using a stain marker, and I really like the colour contrasts. I'm going to try and hinge the trunk. It may end up in the second steam punk project, the one I have to make to take the overflow from the book vignette. (The commercial door under all the wood and the pencil is there for me to use for measurements.)
Working is slow, as my sprained finger hurts all the time. I have to remember not to bend it too much. Knitting is out at the moment, as casting on appears to use my little finger. And here I thought our pinkies, like our baby toes, were mostly vestigial!
I have three projects on the go; this one, the bay window for the book vignette, did not turn out as well as I hoped, so I will be redesigning it. It needs more depth, as it goes quite a way into the book spines. And I think a round display window might be extra interesting. So back to the drawing board on that one. I used mat board for my experiment, so haven't wasted any wood.
Project two is the faux door (non-opening) to go into the book project. I found a design I really like, on a French blog, (Le Monde Creatif de Catharine) and am trying to more or less replicate it. The door is being made like a sandwich, in 3 layers; the window fits into a recess in the door, so I won't have to use power tools on thin wood. The 3 layers are all 1/16" (about 1 mm, I think!), so the finished door should be 3/16" or .3 cm thick. Right now, I am gluing in the edging pieces. It's one of those glue things up and then wait projects....
And here is the progress on the trunk kit; the slats were stained using a stain marker, and I really like the colour contrasts. I'm going to try and hinge the trunk. It may end up in the second steam punk project, the one I have to make to take the overflow from the book vignette. (The commercial door under all the wood and the pencil is there for me to use for measurements.)
Working is slow, as my sprained finger hurts all the time. I have to remember not to bend it too much. Knitting is out at the moment, as casting on appears to use my little finger. And here I thought our pinkies, like our baby toes, were mostly vestigial!
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