Day Two
Entry posted by LPCullen
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I just remembered that the windows in this house are double hung, so I figured it would be best to install the exterior of the windows before I start to paperclaying. So I glued the exterior parts together and then painted them.
Once they were dry, I got them installed. Had to use some of our special handy dandy weights on part.
And now, I think I'll start bricking the front. Took one half package of paperclay and put it on our rolling board. That's just a tile put into a board, and my "roller" is simply a piece of pipe.
Got my paperclay all rolled out, so now it's time to put some glue on. I'm using wood glue, and I just dribble it on there. I use either an old credit card or in this case, Jimmy's broken up drivers license, to spread the glue around. I want to get just a thin film of glue to attach my paperclay to.
I put my paperclay on, smooth it down, I had to patch it in a couple places (I'll show better pix of blending paperclay later--Jimmy's much better at it than I am so I'll get him to do it and I'll take pix), and then I take a paint brush which the ends have been clipped off, and I hit that on the paperclay, all over, to give the paperclay some texture.
Time to cut some bricks. You can use just about anything that you want, or whatever is handy. I have a piece of thin cardboard, like the backing from a picture frame, because I can't find my metal ruler, and I make some lines across the front of the dollhouse in the paperclay. This doesn't put the lines all the way across for me--it's just basically giving me a start to my lines.
Then I take my little white thing that I got from Rik Pierce's class, and I start cutting in my individual bricks. You can use anything handy though that's got a small edge--sometimes I use those itty bitty flathead screwdrivers, maybe 1/4 inch or less long. Once you have your first row cut, the rest is easy, and you stagger the next row based upon the first row. There's no real science to it, and I just do it all by eye. One thing to remember though with paperclay--less is more, meaning that as the clay dries, it shrinks a bit so don't cut deep lines or when it dries it will show the wood. I'm just basically making an indention in the clay, and as the clay dries it will stretch where I've made my indentions and it will become more defined. I really like this part, because I can just sort of drift off while I do it.
OK, my bricks on the front are all cut.
And now, if you'll excuse me, it's 10:30p, and I've got to go to bed. First though, I have to take some damp paper towels and cover up the front of the house so that it doesn't dry out. I live in fear of Rik actually seeing something I've done and me not having "cleaned my mortar lines", LOL! So, I don't want the clay to dry out overnight because I need to clean the mortar lines.
Compliments of LPCullen
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