Newbie - Glencroft

[Blesdmomx4]

Happy New Year to everyone My name is Danielle, and I noticed after the fact, that I mistyped my user name ... it should be Blesdmomx4 not Blesdmoxm4 ... because that's my email addy .... Blesdmomx4@aol.com

Anywho, I thought I'd do a formal "Hello" to everyone, and say that I've enjoyed the photos people have shared. WOW, what talent here!

Take care and I look forward to getting to know you,

Cheers,

Danielle

[Minis On The Edge]

Welcome to the Neighborhood Danielle!!

This was a Super Fun house to build. I can't wait to see pictures of yours and get to know you better too. Please have fun looking around.

If you like I can see if I can change your user name.

[Minis On The Edge]

Done, I changed it for you!

[Blesdmomx4]

Thank you Mini shop! I would really appreciate that. I know I'm going to foget it's mistyped, and will probably be sitting at the screen for awhile someday, trying to figure it out? lol

Yes, this house is very exciting to me. My father crafted a dollhouse for me when I was a little girl for Christmas. I loved it! Unfortunately, it didn't survive childhood, but I have always adored miniatures. This summer, my parents took all the kids (not only our four, but four of their cousins! 8 EIGHT grandchildren all at once, for an entire week - God bless 'em) and while hubby and I were kid-free, we took a trip up to Wiscousin to see "The House On the Rock". They had an enormous dollhouse collection on display! WOW, I was in heaven! It really inspired me to begin to look into making my own someday. I've been meaning to get into it, but with four children, grades 8, 6, 3 & 1 ... two taking music, two in scouts, another one in volleyball, then cheerleading, one in choir, another one student counsel, and not to mention I've been the full-time volunteer school librarian for them (small private Catholic school - can't afford to pay for the position).... it wasn't until Christmas break that I've been able to begin to work on it. Thankfully, we've been able to get more volunteers for the library, so I plan on shaving back some of the hours I am at the school, and endulge myself with this art. I have to say, it is very enjoyable! Addictive even:)

Well, again, thank you so much for your warm welcome, and I look forward to sharing photos soon!

Take care

Danielle

[Blesdmomx4]

Holy Guacamole your fast! lol Thank you! Happy New Year!

Cheers

Danielle

[Minis On The Edge]

No Problem, I was not sure if I could or not and sure enough, I figured it out.

[Val]

Hello.

Welcome to the forum. I have done the Glencroft and I loved it.Hope,you will send some pictures when you have them.

Valerie

[LisaN]

Danielle, welcome! I will be curious how you fix up the Glencroft, I have one here that I haven't yet put together yet--still working on my Arthur. Wow! being a volunteer librarian will help alot, doing research on the period and decor you want for your house! My husband attended Catholic school, he loved it. The great thing about minis, anything you can't afford full size, you will in mini! I know that's the way it is for me!

I look forward to seeing some pics of your house!

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the forum, Danielle, I've been making pub things for my Glencroft, I LOVE it! I also look forward to how yours speaks to you.

By the way, this IS addictive!

[Blesdmomx4]

Thank you Mini I'm sending pictures of my house and staircase. I posted a problem with one of the steps I was on earlier this evening, but figured it out since and finished section B! This is my third day of working on it, and my first day using hubby's dremel tools ... I really wished I thought about grabbing those in the beginning! lol I haven't decided on decorating ... waiting to see how it comes along first.

Thank you Valerie! I'm sending pictures of the back of the house and staircase...it's excciting.

Hi Lisa and thank you You guys are such a warm bunch! I think I've found a new hang out. hehehe I attended Catholic schools, so did hubby, growing up. It wasn't until we moved here a couple of years ago (North Chicago - hubby is military) did we end up sending the children to private school. Public schools here are unbelieveable! We really had no choice, but we're glad we did. I'll send pictures as I go along .... and YES, we're currently living in military housing *ugh* but were home owners in Va Bch, VA before this rotation. I enjoyed painting and decorating, making a home ... but in housing, whatever you do you have to undo when you move, and it's not worth the money/time. So this is also a great way for me to feel 'homey' again :lol:

Thank you HavanaHolly ... your name reminds me of my other love, my puppies! I show/breed Havanese dogs. They're native to Cuba, hence the name from Havana. I'm REALLY looking forward to creating furnishings! I'll keep ya' posted :lol:

Well, it's getting close for all the east coasters ... Happy New Year to those who are already there ... take care and I'll post again soon

Danielle

[havanaholly]

The town nearest to us is Havana, FL, & the claim to fame was until the late '60s this was a major area for the growth of shade leaf tobacco used for cigar wrappers. Now our county grows tomatoes, mushrooms, antique shops & art galleries, instead

Tracy, I couldn't help noticing she got that beam right the first time!

[Deb]

Hi Danielle! Welcome to the forum! Your Glencroft is looking terrific already! I can't wait to see how you decorate it.

Deb

[wenlaine]

Hi Danielle, welcome to the forum. Your Glencroft is coming along so beautifully, can't wait for more pictures.

Wendy

[Blesdmomx4]

Havanaholly, I grew up in south florida! My parents still live in the house that I grew up in ... it's the most southern part of Pompano Beach, that we just usually say we're from Ft. Lauderdale, since most people never heard of Pompano. I have two brothers and their families that live in Gainseville and Jacksonville ... and my youngest brother who lives in Ft. Laud. My grandmother (just celebrated her 90th this past august) lives in Ft. Laud ... I have numerous cousins, aunts, uncles etc. there too. We go back to visit usually twice a year, but since we've been in Chicago, it's less often. I miss the warm weather! How did you fair this hurricane season?

Oh, and the beam behind the staircase really got me for awhile, it wasn't until I left the project, signed online here, typed out the problem, and went back to it, that I was able to see it as it should be. I notice I have to do that with puzzles I work on. ;)

Danielle

PS - I'm attaching a photo of my newphew JP and I snuggling on our 'foof' (type of beanbag without the beans) this past summer ... he's such a doll baby!! I have 5 brothers, and this is the son of my second youngest brother JP, he lives in D.C., and him and his wife are expecting again I put my request in for Godmother ... lol big families, gotta' love 'em

[Blesdmomx4]

Deb,

Thank you for the warm welcome. This is such a sweet list ;) I'm very excited about this project. Leme ask you guys something .... do you keep your work or do you sell it? or both? I think the only way I can afford to continue to do this, is by selling the projects, but how does someone go about it? Is it feasible? Love to hear what you think,

Danielle

PS - this is a picture of my gang on Halloween ... The goofy football head is my hubby, the grim reaper is my oldest son Justin, the princess is my oldest daughter Jackie, the strawberry shortcake is my youngest daughter Brianna and the ever enthusiastic pirate in my baby Josh....

[Shakyshaky]

HI and welcome. I have four little ones too. ;) I did the glencroft too. It is one of my favorites. Just want to mention you will want to decorate the stairs before you put the wall on. It is VERY hard to get in there after it is on. By the way I have kept all but one of my houses.

[havanaholly]

Let's see, for starters we retired last year and decided to take l o o n g road trips at least once a year; so far both years we left one or two days ahead of the hurricanes.

Gadsden County (NW of Tallahassee) is one of the state's poorest counties & I just retired from the health dept, so a lot of folks know I build dollhouses & I sell them at 2X cost because that's almost more than folks can afford, but if they're working pride ain't gonna let them take them for free. Eventually as I build bigger kits I'll probably wind up donating them to the local elementary schools (I retired as a public health RN working as a school nurse in the county elementary schools).

[Blesdmomx4]

Wendy,

Thank you too! Happy New Year ;) I am enjoying this very much, but I am a little worried about decorating. I love stucco houses (in real life too) and I've been kicking around doing that to the house. I'm also thinking about skipping the trim, and going with a more contemporary feel .... ?? not sure yet, will send photos as I go along

Danielle

[Blesdmomx4]

Shakyshaky,

Hello! That is really cool ... big families are great B) do you have boys?girls? ages?

Thank you for the tip about the stairs ... I was wondering about that. I'll have to start looking at where I want to go with this really soon then. Suggestion on paint? I like the idea of having actual house paint, but it's so expensive to get many different colors .... what do you do?

Danielle ;)

[Shakyshaky]

Mine are 6, 4, 2 and 1. My daughter is the oldest, the rest are boys. She and I just built the Laurel together.

I use craft paint from Joanns because that is the what is near me and it is not so expensive. I think it comes out well. You may want to prime first ( I never do but most do) You deffinatly will if you chose yellow though. One bottle will be enough for a room.

[Blesdmomx4]

Havanaholly,

I was an LPN once upon a time. I went to Sheridan VoTech in Hollywood, FL in '94. When we moved to VA in '96, I started in long-term care. After a couple years of that, I switched to psych. I decided to leave nursing and focus on the family ... it was a sacrifice, but I became a full-time SAHM, and have been doing that ever since. I do breed Havanese as a hobby, and it does bring in a humble supplement to our income, but it's not counted on, and I've only had three litters to date.

I think it would be wonderful to travel the country with hubby one day ... look forward to retirement with him

I'm attaching a photo of hubby and I at the fall book fair at school ... Clifford is actually my oldest daughter Jackie ;) The theme was "Welcome to the Kingdom of Reading" and I did a little "create-a-crown" craft with the kids that day. We raised over $1000 for the school! Not bad for a total enrollment of 165 students pre-k - 8th!

Danielle

[havanaholly]

Danielle, If you check out my Glencroft blog, I "stuccoed" inside & out with spackling compound (but natch!). As I have posted elsewhere (I think) my main paints are whatever flat or semigloss latex paint I find cheap, but I do invest in quarts of white to use for primer & as a base to custom mix colors. Otherwise I buy acrylic paints in the tubes (Liquitex in the BIG tubes is sometimes on sale at Hobby Lobby and there's always those weekly internet coupons). I used a small can of royal blue to trim the Westville and then mixed a little of it with the white to get the main exterior color. The lady I built it for wanted those colors & it was easier to do it that way.

Some of the hardware stores sell the little sample jars of Benjamin Moore paints and they are also perfect for our puposes.

[nuttiwebgal]

Welcome to the forum!

I love the Glencroft and it has been my most satisfying build so far.

I see you conqured the beam issue with little difficulty!

good for you! your family looked great on Halloween...we are big Halloween nutz around my house also.

I keep a gallen can of white paint around here to mix with the craft paints from walmarts. some of those paints can be toned down with white to make wonderfull soft colors. just make sure to mix plenty the first time.

I used textured paint on my Glencroft to get the stuccoed look

I mixed my own with with white interior house paint and pool filter sand.

this is what I had on hand.

I was very pleased with how it turned out.

and if you like the idea of no trim look...take a look at Tracy's(myminishop)

Glencroft Blog.

Im so glad you found us!

looking forward to hearing about all your mini adventures!

nutti ;)

[Missymew]

Hi Danielle -

I really like the Glencroft's staircase.

You were asking about cheap paints. Does your City have a Recycling Station? In our City, in addition to weekly pick ups of our recycling materials, we have 2 permanent Eco Stations. These Eco stations accept any landfill garbage, recyclables, and toxic items (e.g. batteries). Perhaps you have such an outlet near your home.

They also keep a vast array of unused/left over paints. Great for hobbyists.

One of my older brothers spent 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was mostly stationed in Victoria, British Columbia (where he bought his own home), but he also stayed in military housing in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Inuvik, N.W.T., and Germany. We loved visiting he and his family when they lived near Saskatoon, because the Base had an outdoor swimming pool!! My brother retired from the Armed Forces after 25 years of service at the ripe old age of 42.

Glad you've joined our site.

Susanne

[Blesdmomx4]

Havanaholly

Wow, inside and out! That's GREAT! How heavy was it when you were done? I've often thought about how flimsy the walls seem to me, but I'm a bit scared of the idea of doing stucco. I might get brave next time around. lol ;)

I've been wanting to reply sooner, but the computer decided it needed maintenance ... and took it's time doing it. ha

I did follow the tip on treating the wood prior to placement. I use 50/50 shellac and wood alcohol, like the paper said. It dries fairly quickly, and I only treat it after I punch out the piece and sand it.

I like the idea of the white paint, and mixing your own from that. Do u mix the acrylic paint with the house paint? I looked at the discounted cans at the store the other night when I was up there. I didn't get any, because I haven't decided what I am going to do with it? I am thinking of light colors, cremes, pale yellows, antique white ... pretty neutral. But I "think", haven't decided yet.

Thanks again,

Danielle