I was excited to try out the roof pieces on the Summerhouse,so propped them in place to have a look. While looking at the roof as a whole, I realized that there is no way to hide all the tab slots and have the "seams" line up. I was puzzling about this when I decided to check out images online. So, on most of the roofs the seams lined up, but then there were some that didn't so I guess I am okay. I'm not sure how much the seams will show anyway after I do the verdigris work. Have to go finish
I decided today was the day to try out the copper color on the roof. In my gallery is a how-to on doing a verdigris roof treatment. It's a good thing I wrote it all down as I would have forgotten it all! LOL! Before I did the whole roof, I wanted to try this out on the smaller roof section to see how it was going to look. I started by putting on a coat of Metallic Bronze by Craftsmart. I thought I did a major oopsie for a minute as I was going to glue strips on the roof before painting.
I took the fender out of the clamps, actually clothespins, and most of the ripples had settled down. I was glad about that as I really didn't want to have to make another fender. I put on two coats of matte finish and let it dry. I did have more trouble with the rippling so had to put it back in the clamps for awhile. Note to self, use wax paper next time as the pieces of wood I used to clamp with stuck to the finish and I had to do part of it over! But, it was finished at last and glued in pla
I wanted to create a fender for those front wheels on the Summerhouse. I spent some time looking at fenders online and while my DH and I were out riding around on the weekend, I noticed some fenders on utitlity trailers that I liked. Didn't get a chance until today to try out my plan. First I fiddled around with a paper pattern until I got a shape I thought would work. I had purchased some 1/16 basswood the other day just for this so got out my utility knife and cut the shape out very care
Had another day of randomness! LOL! When I was looking at the pictures of the Neverwas Haul, I noticed that it has copper trim along the roof ridge. At first I was going to order something similar online but then the thrify Yankee in me kicked in and I decided to see what I had kicking around the shop. I've had some plastic wrought iron fencing for years and pulled it out. It looked like one edge would do the trick so I got out my wire cutters to trim away the parts I didn't need. I tried
I was really proud of myself after building the telescope yesterday and was excited to show it to my DH when he got home from work. He was duly impressed but when I touched it, it fell over and the telescope broke off the mount and then the mount broke off too! Argh! So figured I needed to cut the legs at more of an angle to make it more stable. Woke up early with a few ideas and started hunting through my stash of wooden parts and metal filagree to add a little pizazz! I used a wooden bowl f
The back of the tower has been sitting there bare for awhile now so I decided to add that little piece of brick paper to make it complete. That way I can also glue on the remaining corner trim for the tower. With a bit of work, I transformed the white cardboard trim pieces that came with the kit to something fit for a steampunk house! I was standing there admiring my work while the Captain was looking at pictures of the Neverwas Haul online. His first words were, "Heyyy, there's an observa
I have been cautiously glueing on bits and pieces that I have made for the Summerhouse. I try to think through whether it will be in the way of something else or there's a chance of it getting knocked off. The bathroom exhaust fan seemed to be okay to glue on, so here it is:
I know I can't glue the balcony on yet, but I can glue on the sticks with rivets:
I glued the porch posts in place and borrowed one of my husband's clamps to hold them in place. I also was able to finish paint
People on the Greenleaf Forum were talking about the unfinished furniture that was back in stock at Dollar Tree. Of course I had to zip on over there and have me a look see. No luck at the one near me so I wandered around and picked up a few things. When I got to the checkout, there was a dirt bike in my basket! I know I didn't put it there so figured there was a minion that hitched a ride in my purse. I brought it home and the minions were all excited! I didn't know how they'd get on it, but af
Rose announced that it was laundry day and you should have seen people disappear! LOL! She's been teaching the steampunk robot how to operate the Wringer Dinger Washer and he has really gotten the hang of it. But there was a fatal flaw to her plan; she decided to include minions on this venture. It all sounded so innocent at first. All they had to do was hold the laundry basket and catch the clothing that shot out of the wringer part of the washer.... Rose figured two minions could handle the j
Was in the kitchen having breakfast when I noticed it was too quiet in the shop. If you have children, you know that too quiet is not a good thing! LOL! When I went in, I heard a lot of scurrying and found this on my bench. Rose was giggling and there was general hilarity on the skellies carnival ride. They took Selkie's comment about the alien faces and ran with it. I told them "Forget about it...!" Everyone just cracked up then and it was a good joke on me! Once things calmed down a bit, I gl
Got out my Easy Cutter today and decided to start putting on the wood strips to the left of the door. I again used the E6000 cement to apply them and I think the wood strips were just what was needed! Of course now you know what that means....I need to make more sticks with rivets! LOL! But that's okay, I do kind of enjoy teasing the Captain with all the bling.....The front will also have a porch roof which will require a couple of porch posts. I was originally going to paint them up lik
After posting the current picture of the progress on the Steampunk Summerhouse, something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it at first; but as I looked at it, I realized it needs to have the wood paneling continued onto the wall to the left of the front door. Good thing I didn't install real brick there! I checked in my junk box and I have just enough stained planks to do it too. That might have to wait as I need to make a WalMart run today. I might even have to run wood under the large bay
Was getting bored making sticks with rivets! The Summerhouse is looking good, but I wanted to switch it up and do something else today. It still needed a side door and I was going to build one but thought I'd check my scrap box first. I couldn't believe there was a door in there and that it also fit the opening! Looks like it needs some rivets to me! LOL! This is a two part door that is typical of the Greenleaf kits so was wondering how to paint the back piece that would form the panels. I end
Monday morning.....working on some laundry and riveting the Summerhouse in between! I have alot of these pieces to prepare, so will just show you the first few and catch you up with the finished product in a day or two. I started with some stripwood and bejeweled them! LOL!
The Captain was busy taking deep breathes at the sight of all that bling, so I painted them black. After waiting for the black paint to dry, I dry brushed with Metallic Gunmetal Gray.
This is how the piec
Happy 4th of July! Sat on the tailgate of our pickup last night and watched the neighbors' fireworks. They were great! Real humid outside today so I am back in my shop. The Captain expressed some concern for Rose and her long skirts around that large back wheel. He didn't want a horrible accident on their next trip! I had actually been thinking about how to deal with this, so started on a fender right away. I was wondering what to use for the curved top when I saw a piece of scrap wood curling u
So, I've never wallpapered the outside of a dollhouse before but made some good progress yesterday. I traced around the graph paper window pattern onto cardstock first. After a little trimming and adjusting, a pattern for the tower section was made. I measured down from the top and cut out the window section, then shaped the rest of the piece with alot of trimming and adjusting and a little more trimming etc.. I was considering tracing this onto cardstock but got tired of cutting out that w
Whew! Just had a little excitement while I was loading pictures to show you today! I was at my kitchen table and just tilted the screen back a bit on my laptop, when BOOM I knocked over the large bouquet of gladiolas that were in the center of the table! Water everywhere! On the wall, on the rug, running off the table .....and on the laminate floor!! Laminate doesn't do well with water so I was throwing down towels and mopping up as fast as I could! Hope I got it all. I would have taken a pictur
Ahh, it's a misty mornin' here today. Thought I'd catch you up on all the goings on around the shop. First off, I heard a storm brewing in the Summerhouse this morning and heard Rose say the line she was dying to say..."What was that Captain Happy Pants?" Oh dear, I thought that was it for Rose! Instead, the Captain started laughing and they disappeared upstairs. The candles were lit, the steampunk phonograph started playing soft music and there was a whole lot of giggling and splashing in the j
After yesterday's wrestling match with the scissor steps, the air was a little tense in the shop last night. When I was having breakfast this morning, I overheard a quiet conversation between the Captain and Rose. She was telling him that he should appreciate all the work I've done on the Summerhouse and that I had even been the one to introduce them.
So it wasn't long after that an apologetic Captain came to see me and expressed his regret at making comments about what I should and shoul
I woke up ready to take on adding the new step to the scissor stairs! This should be simple, I thought. Just pull off the seed beads and take out the pins.
I found one last piece of the paint stick I used for the other steps so cut a new step and drilled holes in the ends.
Thankfully, I had saved my work on the diamond plate in Microsoft Word so went back and printed it out again. I sealed it like I did the other pieces and made sure to wear a glove this time! LOL!
Once
The scissor steps have been folded up in a corner waiting for me to figure out a way to mount them to the Summerhouse. I couldn't just glue them on as they wouldn't open all the way that way. What to do! One night as I was falling asleep, the thought came to me to just hang them from hooks....all well and good, but I don't have any hooks small enough I thought. In the morning, I knew I could use pierced earring hooks...they have a small eye on one end and they're not as bendy as eye pins. On
The laundry pile again beckons. Well, not really beckons, kind of hollers and grabs your ankles until you wash it all! LOL! The Captain's list will have to wait for today. Rose is keeping him company by suggesting they go on a picnic down by the river. So he is mollified for now especially since she promised him some of her famous Lumberjack molasses cookies! She shared the recipe with me and my DH loves them too. So in case you would like some, we'll do something a little different today and I'
Well, ever since the Captain got back from his honeymoon, he has made himself project manager of this whole undertaking. He's started to make lists and I receive my assignment each day. He's a tough taskmaster for sure! LOL! Today's job was to finish up the balcony that I started a few posts ago. His instructions were very clear, he didn't want me to stain the cherry gray, he wanted it in a natural finish. Who was going to maintain that each year to keep it from weathering......you guessed i
