Well, let's finish our latest project! Remember yesterday when I was glueing flat backed crystals to the "sheet metal"? This is what it looks like now after three coats of Gunmetal Gray metallic paint:
The plumbing piece now has 3 coats of Antique Copper metallic and Brass metallic paints: I know what you're thinking, it doesn't match the other one! After a couple of coats of Matte nailpolish, we're good!
So on to the piece of 2x4. After priming it, I coated the wood with a th
Another really warm day here in the south. I was looking at the chimney with the cowl vent and decided I needed two cowl vents instead! Since the Neverwas haul inspired me, I wanted to have something similar plus provide more air flow through the Summerhouse. Fortunately, I had purchased two plumbing pieces so I had another one on hand. The first thing to do was drill out the threads with a paddle bit in a small drill press. DH helped me with this part as it actually took three hands to accompli
Well, the loving couple are back at last! The Captain and Rose came rolling in right after lunch. Just in time too. As you remember, the Summerhouse was worked on by our skeleton crew and they are known for taking shortcuts! The Summerhouse was chugging it's way down the street a little noisier and a little slower than when it left. When I asked the skellies about it, they just hopped on their carnival ride and turned it up as fast as they could go. I could have sworn that a couple of them
Have been getting up at 7 the last few days because I was thinking about these steps! After staring at the picture I have, figured I needed a support bar at each end so spent part of the morning painting a stick. LOL! I thought that would be the end of it, but had a few scratch-my-head moments assembling the small top section. Cut a couple of pieces wrong so thankfully had a few extras. Always make a few extra pieces if you attempt building a set of these! Well, drum roll please, here are th
Finished drilling holes in the ends of each step. When I partially assembled the steps and one of the sides, I realized I had to also paint the ends. So I did that and set them aside to dry. I assembled the opposide side of the scissor steps and was feeling pretty proud of myself when I realized that the other side had to be a mirror image of the first! Well, I don't know if I was having a bad day or what but I had a heck of a time wrapping my head around how to put the opposite side togethe
A letter has arrived special delivery! Sounds like the Captain and Rose are having a real good time and are enjoying tooling around in the Summerhouse. Wait 'til they see the steps I'm working on! While they were here, the Captain would pull her up with a little assistance by Reginald bringing up the rear so to speak. I think Rose just likes to make him blush. From now on, Rose can disembark in a more elegant way. Also, no more leaping into the Captain's arms to get down......
Not sure h
Good morning! It was a crazy weekend around here but managed to squeeze in a little time for the scissor steps. The picture I have of them wasn't real clear so I had to fiddle around with all the bits to see if I could get them to work. I used the pin vise to drill more holes in the side pieces and pinned them together temporarily to see if they would fold the way they are supposed to. So far, so good! All I have to do now is finish drilling the holes in the ends of the steps, apply my fake
The light finally came on the other day...."Hey, I have a rotary tool!" So I dumped out the box of attachments and looked for a small drill. Sure enough, there was one just a little bigger than the one in my pin vise. Also made good use of the little vise that's kinda been kicking around for quite awhile. After drilling a few holes on the end of the steps, I lined up the small pieces with pins to see how they fit. I'll have to cut the pins shorter, but I think this is going to work! I'll j
I was searching online and came across a photo of our dear Captain! I'll have to print it and frame it up for Rose, I'm sure she will love it! The Titanic was an unfortunate incident in his career, so I think that's why he prefers more of a "land yacht" right now. I hope he doesn't have any mechanical trouble on the trip, those skellies are not the most reputable of mechanics, you never know what they'll be up to next! They're always trying to get something apart, I'm surprised the steampunk
Well, big news around the shop today! I went into the shop and the Steampunk Summerhouse was gone!! The steampunk family seemed pretty pleased with themselves, so I started questioning them. I finally found out the truth. Richard, Rebecca and Reginald (the steampunk family) had gotten together with the skellies from the Tilt-a-Whirl of Death carnival ride and had managed to pry open the glad container that held the wheels for the Summerhouse. It took quite a while, but they all managed to
Still have some touch-up to do on Rose's gown but wanted to come up with a hat for her too. I looked through my stash at different straw hats and plastic shapes to see what looked right. I came across a little crocheted hat that has been around for years. At the time I bought it, I dampened it with hot water an reshaped it a bit. It fit her perfectly but was an off white color. Bring on the black paint! While waiting for the paint to dry, I was looking for some kind of trim I could use on it:
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood......summer day out there, but I have to stay off my knee a little longer. But that's okay, now I can sit here and talk to you! I did find something out about myself yesterday, don't try to paint detail when your knee is hurting! When I looked at a close-up of a picture I took, noticed my lines were jiggedy so gave it up for the day. But I do have some pics of my progress, don't look too close, I'll fix the jiggedys later! LOL!
Since I wasn't v
Hurt my knee a couple of weeks ago and this morning cranked it again...OOWWie! So I am sitting down today giving Rose her makeover. She is alot fussier than I thought......we started with metallic green which I thought looked like satin. Let's just say that was not a popular choice. The next color we tried was a forest green, but that got a no also. So we have a tentative yes on the Sea Glass color. She'll have black trim, a black corset and tiny black dots scattered over the fabric. I've tried
The Captain took another header yesterday but didn't lose his head this time! Decided it was time to correct the situation. I took a look at the bottom of his shoes and he had worn his heels completely off. I might not be a cobbler, but I am pretty good with wood so looked through my stash and found some very thin pieces to work with. Traced around the heels of his shoes and cut out a couple of heels out of wood. He is much more stable now and with a little black paint, he is as stylin' as ever
Just learned of a second letter that arrived a couple of days after the first. A "Dear John" letter no less. The Lovely Marilyn has gone back to her ex-boyfriend and left our poor Captain out in the cold. However, all is not lost! I overheard a quiet conversation; (no, I wasn't eavesdropping....not really....). The Captain was talking to a lovely lady who lives right here in TN! He said, "My dear, how could such a lovely creature as yourself have lived practically next door and I didn't notice?
Painted the section of the house that the wood strips will be fastened to. I used Ceramcoat Hippo Gray for the first coat and was real disapointed with the coverage. For the second coat, I used Craftsmart Grey and was much happier with the finished results. Last night, I saw the Captain out on our back deck watching the sunset. He seemed in a pensive mood. He's eager to start on his journey with theSteampunk Summerhouse but doesn't really want to go alone. I know my mom won't part with the Love
Stained all the boards for the Summerhouse exterior this morning. Next I will paint the exterior parts of the house where these pieces will be installed. That way, there will be no light colored parts showing if there happen to be any gaps between the boards. The Captain definitely did not approve of me staining the beautiful cherry a gray color, but he actually hasn't lifted a finger to help on this build....maybe that's why his hands are so soft looking.....
Still mulling over the idea
Yes, I am one lucky miniaturist! My DH gifted me with some great scraps and I am making good use of them. Cut them in half lengthwise and think these are going to work perfect! Also did some work on the scissor steps this weekend. So much time spent on a little stick! LOL! There had to be a hole in the center of each one that would fit a head pin so dug out my tiny hand drill and measured and drilled.I started to put the pieces together when I realized I need to cut the pieces for the steps as
Oh my, it's going to be a hot one here today! 80 degrees and only 10:30. Visited DH in his shop this morning and he was busy working on some shelves for someone. I ended up with a whole handful of trimmings: They're not all quite the same thickness, but I figure I could always sand them down after gluing. I was looking at pictures of the Neverwas Haul last night and noticed that part of it has wood siding and is banded in riveted metal...this new bit of cherry trimmings might work well for that
Dry brushed the black wagon wheels with FolkArt gunmetal gray metallic paint to make them look, well, more metallic! LOL! Then I found a Glad container and put all the wheels into it. Will keep the sawdust off that I'm bound to be creating making that set of scissor steps; but also keeps the Captain from messing with them. Though I did catch him with the hydraulic jack trying to pry open the lid.....he's persistent, I'll give him that. I was thinking about the steps and remembered that the wood
I think I'm avoiding the electrical....Now that the Steampunk Summerhouse has wheels, I wanted to create a set of steps that would fold up when not needed. Found a picture online: At first, I was going to just glue the whole thing together; but now want to make it so it works! Nothing like making more work for myself...I found some wood strips at Hobby Lobby yesterday (my reward for having to drive all the way back to the truck dealership) that I thought would probably work. Figured out I have t
Alas, I am heeding the call of the laundry pile this morning. DH took the last undershirt out of his drawer so it is time to wash clothes! I am not complaining, at least I don't have to go down to the river and pound everything on a rock. I am so thankful that we have the machines to help us out with everyday tasks that used to be so time consuming and tiring. Now we have time to build our miniatures and chat with each other about projects here on this forum....thank-you! thank-you!
Mean
The noise coming from the shop was indeed Captain Morin putting the freshly painted wheels on the Summerhouse. I think Richard and Reginald from the steampunk family gave him a hand. Personally, I don't know how they managed it, but I did notice that my mini hydraulic jack is nowhere to be seen...I think these gentlemen look a little too innocent, don't you?
The wheels will have to come off so I can get started on the electrical. I have quite a few fixtures from over the years as I was a
Whew! What a weekend! We did yard work, traded in our car for a pickup and had company over for smoked ribs! Feeling not as young as I used to be! LOL! I hear noise coming from the workshop, I think Captain Morin is trying to put the wheels on His Summerhouse. If I don't watch it, he will be successful and drive off into the sunset! I hope he is being careful, still not sure how good his neck repair is going to hold. This will be a good test of the E6000 cement. Found a tiny letter on one of the
Here it is Memorial Day once more. We have two sons in the military--one of them overseas and we are proud and thankful for our military and what they sacrifice for our freedom to be here with family enjoying their company and having food together. My husband enjoys throwing some meat in the smoker so today it was baby back ribs! His dad and sister joined us and we enjoyed the food and the day together immensely! Now it's time to sit back and relax after the cooking marathon. Captain Morin is ch
