Day 11 - The Curtains Are Up

Today saw the table get a tablecloth, and the curtains go up on the window. I really like the colour scheme so far; the fireplace will get white bricks, and of course there are lots of other seasonal touches to go into the project.(Unfortunately, my photo is not quite in focus.) The curtain fabric is a wool-like random stripe in red on green, and handled like a dream; I think it is fabric left over from the country decorating craze. A few years ago I bought a shopping bag of bits and pieces from a quilters' rummage sale. The homespun cushions were made from fabric from the same batch.

Now if I could only find a small, limp doily for the table! I think I'd better hit a couple of second-hand and antique shops in town.

Next up, I need to make a chair, ottoman and rug. That will finish the major furnishings, but there are lots of smaller items to come. I'm thinking of wrapping the outside of the vignette in unbleached muslin fabric; my daughter used bolts of this stuff to make fitting mock-ups for her customers, and some of it comes in nice big chunks. I kind of hope that using the fabric, which is quite sturdy, will reinforce the vignette. And the cream colour should match the  colour scheme.

The vignette is still being held together with masking tape and my brush jar; it's so much easier to work on flat pieces, that I won't glue and pin the walls to the floor and each other until I'm done with the bricks on the fireplace.

I got to spend all day on minis today!

Day 10 - Advent Project

It is late, and I am tired. Today, I finished the floor, cut and did the base coat for the hearth, stuccoed the fireplace wall, and put beeswax on the woodwork. The fireplace is cut into the chimney, which means bricking is next....

The cat is sitting at the left edge of the photo, she wasn't exactly helping me tonight!

Progress Report Day 8

Today I accomplished several things, but still not as many as I had hoped! There are a dozen poinsettia plants ready, one for my Advent project, and two that were ordered; the rest are going to shows and sales.



Four different colours of poinsettias; one of the cream ones is for the project, two of the red ones were ordered. The rest are available for however long it takes to sell them! My stock is rather low right now, so I do need to build it up a bit. I also made three single poinsettias that I hope to incorporate into Christmas wreaths to match the plants. The little Christmas tree is the inexpensive ornament I picked up recently, for less than a dollar!



The "window" and the outside scene are now in place on the window wall, and I managed to sew some of the soft furnishings; these are actually Day 7, but I am definitely not doing this project in the order the designer did. Three of the cushions are complete, the printed one needs its bunka braid edging, and the little quilt needs its stuffing and quilting. That's for tomorrow, hopefully .

Tomorrow is supposed to be our miniature club's Christmas Pot Luck party, but we are being threatened by the first snow storm of the season, with 20 cm (8") in the forecast, so it may have to be postponed.



A better look at the soft furnishings; the three check and stripe pillows have a dark red bunka edging, while the print pillow and probably the quilt will get a slightly brighter edging. I don't have a bright green in my bunka stash, just olives and light greens. Although the little houses are not lined up in a check pattern, I think it will still work well as a quilt in this scene.

Now I am going to relax for a while, by watching television and then reading a few chapters in my library book.

Got Some More Stuff Done - Day 6

Although my fellow Advent Calendar creators were unable to come, I worked away by myself and am quite pleased with what I have managed to do today. Mind you, I didn't do anything else....



The floor is done, except for the area where the fireplace hearth will be placed. And the wainscoting on the fireplace wall is in place, with a void where the fireplace and chimney will go. The woodwork still needs painting, but as I am using universal glue, which it is recommended you give 24 hrs. to dry, I will have to do that tomorrow. Then I have to apply the tissue paper stucco to the upper half of the fireplace wall.

The cardboard cylinder is the form for the table, while the strip-looking thing is the pelmet for the window. They are ready to be covered with fabric, although I need to get a tiny doily for the over cloth for the table. I work tomorrow until 3 p.m., and intend to head into town to see if I can find a nice small doily in a second-hand store when I am done.



This is the fabric I hope to use: the green aida cloth will become the rug, trimmed with the cream cordonnee embroidery thread and hat straw in the plastic dish. The beige-looking thing is a tiny houndstooth print in ecru and beige, for upholstery, nice and neutral. The green and red stripe is for the curtains. The print with the little houses will become a quilt and an accent pillow, while the stripe, checks and plaid will become other pillows. And the wine colour will be the under cloth for the round table.

I also found a largish red and green basket; with the handle cut off, and filled with cut twigs, it will become a firewood basket. Two large jewelry caps and a bead will become a decorative box. I picked up a tiny green tinsel tree, which will likely become a table tree in the vignette;  it is a cheap but very effective ornament.

What I am missing is a good photo for "outside" the window; the one I tried to print, from the blog, came out far too dark. Perhaps my husband could help with that....

If I have the energy, I may do the pelmet and under cloth for the table this evening, as they could then dry nicely until I can get back to the project again.

Real Life Snuck In Once Again

Today I decided I would dedicate the morning to working on a Real Life cross-stitch Christmas stocking for my new son-in-law, and then use the afternoon for miniature making. Well, I forgot an appointment in the middle of the afternoon, with the result that the only mini thing I got done was to paint the stucco wall in my vignette.

Tomorrow, the other two ladies who are working on the Advent Calendar vignette are coming over to do minis with me, which means I have high hopes I will get more done tomorrow!

Advent Calendar Day 4 ...

...although I'm still kind of on Day 1. Today I made another 3 poinsettia plants; 3 more tomorrow, and the day after that. By now I should have the room completed, the curtains up, and the fireplace in, so I'd better keep on going.



But the stucco is on, the window is framed, and the wainscoting has been sort of pickle painted; you brush on and then wipe off the paint. I see I am still very straight-line challenged, judging by the window top!

The floor is partially planked, and I need to decide which fireplace design to use, in order to go forward. The planks will also be pickle painted, as will parts of the fireplace wall. The original design has a very European, i.e. quite tiny, fireplace without a hearth; I'd like to have a hearth, as it would give me a good surface to place decorations on.

I need to find a scene to place behind the window. I'd love to use a photo of my own back garden in winter, as this will likely go to my younger daughter, but I don't think it is on my camera any more, and I don't know if I can capture a photo from the blog to print. I must ask her.

The vignette is quite white and cream in colour, in order to set off the various furnishings and decorative items that will be made for it. Right now the wall is sort of white, but tomorrow it will be painted in light buttermilk.

I Think I'm Back....

Yesterday, our Fame group exhibited at the model railroad show again, our fourth year. This year, our name was even on the poster! As there was an extra table for us, I offered to do a flower-making demo, as one of our members had commissioned a couple of potted poinsettia plants. Two of them got done at the show, the third I just finished, and I'm starting 3 coral and 3 hot pink potted plants. Doing it at home is much faster than at the show! My plan is to have a dozen of these plants, in four different colours. There are various stages of completion on the cutting mat and stuck in the foam block.



The other thing I'm working on is a miniature project that follows the principle of an Advent Calendar; in this case, you do a mini a day and by Christmas Eve you have a completed setting to decorate your home. Hmmmm, well Dec. 1 we had company, so no minis got done. Yesterday, Dec. 2, I spent at the show. So all I have done so far is what is above, along with the window lining and frame. I think my Advent Calendar will have to be worked on well into the New Year....

To motivate myself, I'll post what I managed to get done every evening - the first part of the project is the setting itself, so rather labour-intensive. As one goes along, the projects get smaller and easier to finish in one session. To further motivate myself, two mini friends are participating in this challenge, and are also making their version of the Advent Calendar.

This particular project comes from the German miniature publication, 1 zu 12, and was designed by their editor, Rita Beninde. The magazine was a gift to me from one of my Camp MiniHaHa friends. She occasionally gets an extra when mail is inexplicably delayed, and as I can read German, and love their projects, I am very happy to get this magazine! This project was published in their Nov./Dec. 2011 issue.

We agreed that we don't have to do every project, some of which didn't appeal so much to our North American eyes. So we will also be delving into our respective stashes, and seeing what we have squirreled away that will work with this project. Hopefully, I can get photos of all 3 finished projects early next year.

Now I have to relearn how to center my photos! Back to gluing petals on poinsettia plants....