CheckMouse Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 ... My creative juices have been diverted to pulling together a photo album for the French cousins to take with us when we go in two weeks. I had an email from him this morning saying that one day there will be a mass dedicated to our family in the church where several generations of ancestors were baptised, married and buried, with a reception in the town hall afterward. He is running a notice in the local paper to draw in cousins from all over the area. This is shaping up to be a trip of a lifetime! Sounds like a wonderful adventure! Be sure to take lots of pictures for future miniature inspiration! We have roots in France also, and I would love to go there someday. But my family came over in the 1700's so we don't have any connection anymore. There's a range of mountains named for them, and they were wealthy landowners (lords?) so we should be able to find some trace if we looked. I hope you share some of your trip with us when you get back - sounds exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Sounds like a wonderful adventure! Be sure to take lots of pictures for future miniature inspiration! We have roots in France also, and I would love to go there someday. But my family came over in the 1700's so we don't have any connection anymore. There's a range of mountains named for them, and they were wealthy landowners (lords?) so we should be able to find some trace if we looked. I hope you share some of your trip with us when you get back - sounds exciting! CJ, Lloyd's family arrived here in the 1700s, too. If you know the town where the family lived in France, it's not hard to trace your ancestors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfire Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I would love to be able to get into the galleries too, but this is one case where patience will reap great dividends when they finally get the bugs all worked out. Brady would so like to get out and play in all this gorgeous sunshine and I hate restricting him to a leash. He does now have the run of the main floor of the house but we really have to watch that he does not get up on furniture and no stairs!!! He takes his meds like an angel and is so good about it all. Two more months!!!!!!! I have finally got back to some mini-ing. Rapunzel's Tower came loose from the base while in transit from CI and I did get that glued back together. The lights I order for her and for the Medieval tower cottage has arrived so I can now get them installed in the MTC and get back to work on the outside paperclay covering for that and then get started back on Her Highness. I also am waiting on two additional lights from the Lighting Bug for the front doors of both. Rik Pierce sent the replacement pieces of trim that were originally misscut on Her Highness and I can hopefully get those put in as well this week end. I need to get the other rolling TV stand put together so I can put HH up and get her off the floor. I have been busy transferring my pictures out of my account on MY Photo Album.com as they are closing down and I will need to find another site to archive them on. This was a disappointing blow as I really liked the site and the various bells and whistles they provided. At the moment I have transferred some to Webshots. DD recommends Flicker so I guess I will look at that as well. Does anyone have any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hi Holly! Long time no see! I spend more time hunting down dang wallpaper! Does anyone else have this problem? I tried spray glue today on some paper. Its quick and holds well but the cat managed to get into it so now I have wallpaper full of cat hair.... Are all the old gallery pictures still saved somewhere? I lost all my albums!!!!!!!! I am not sure where to start to post again. Have a nice night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Um, the Gallery is a sore point at present, it's one of the mini issues that have yet to be resolved in the site upgrade. I'm treating it as a reversion to the original "old" Forum until things are fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I found a gorgious scrapbook collection today that I could use to build an entire house with! I am so excited! I put my Alison Jr away and started another house . Now I will definitly have to build the Alison just to use these papers! I have to go back tomorrow and try and get another book just to make sure I have enough paper. I have one more 50% off coupon! :thumb: What are you working on Holly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I finally found some linen in a thrift store that seems to be working (so far) for the Chinese elephant rug I've been wanting to stitch. I'm also s l o w l y rehabbing Mildred, the Pierce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Headed back to the craft store to get some mor4e scrapbook paper and strip wood to cover my doorholes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Spent part of the evening bricking the inside of the first floor fireplace on the Willow. Spent the rest of the evening searching for some better instructions for assembling the windows (absolute nightmare) Finally found a set of old instructions, which oddly enough were much better than the ones that came with the kit. They actually had drawings of how they expect you to put these darn windows together. Good thing too, because I was just about at my wits end with these things, they just made no sense at all. Also tried putting on a few rows of siding. According to the instructions they recommend hot glue - know I'm not going there - and they say that white glue has a tendency to warp the siding. Well I already know that yellow carpenter's glue will curl the things better than my curling iron curls my hair, so I was at a bit of a lost. Decided just to try a few rows with the Aleene's and see how they look in the morning. Hopefully they'll stay flat and I can get some real work done on the house tomorrow. Took advqnatage of HBS's 15% off and got my LED lights, 2 coach lights for the front door, a set of fireplace embers and my power strip. Not a bad day, at least with the shopping I feel like I got something accomplished. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, I routinely use wood glue to hold siding, just like I do the shingles. Once a row is down I tape the lower edge down and lay the next row and tape the bottom. When I have a half dozen or so walls down I find a largish piece of scrap wood and clamp it down over the strips/ shingles and let it dry, and when I take off the clamps, scrapwood and tape they're flat again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Going to try and wallpaper the study today, plus start on closing the stair hole. Also need to decide what color to paint the fireplace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbnmini Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Started my Alexandria last nite! Yippee! I'm excited, but I can already tell that this is going to be a LONG process! There are several rooms that are nearly impossible to access, which makes NO sense at all! So....I'm gonna be making some design changes. This is where I really wish I had a large basement workroom and some REAL power tools! Anywho- I'm going to be removing some of the rear roofing, reducing some side walls, perhaps adding a wall to the strange 'open' side, and creating a hinged tower wall so the client can access the tower rooms. Yup, I'm gonna beat this MDF monster into submission! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmkruck Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'm getting ready to attempt my first section of siding! Wish there was more detailed instruction on the best way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Kristin, I posted my methods of tackling siding strips in the thread on that subject; PM me if you want anything more. I think I'm about ready to tackle dressing the arched opening for Mildred's larger tower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Turned a wood tub into a close approximation of porcelain. http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=67189 Other than that, just working on the Spring Fling. Got a couple House of Miniatures kits on eBay, so I might pop over to work on the Newport as well. Good thing I don't have too many things going at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, I routinely use wood glue to hold siding, just like I do the shingles. Once a row is down I tape the lower edge down and lay the next row and tape the bottom. When I have a half dozen or so walls down I find a largish piece of scrap wood and clamp it down over the strips/ shingles and let it dry, and when I take off the clamps, scrapwood and tape they're flat again. Unfortunately there can't be any clamping or weighing down the siding because the walls are already up per the instructions for putting this house together. I'm just going to have to use as little glue as I can get away with so the siding doesn't get too wet, and hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, use masking tape to clamp your siding. Put down 1 strip, tape the bottom, put on the next strip, tape the bottom. Do 2 or 3 strips (or more depending how you and the siding feel at the time), then tape the top and let it dry for a bit. Also, be sure you get glue on the top and bottom of the strip, so that it is being glued to both the house and the siding strip below it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfire Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 We have workmen in the house again. Entry hall needed painting and the living room has developed some wall cracks as well as a roof leak over the past winter. DH asked me if I wanted to put ceiling fans up in the living room since we had wired for them when we did the renovation and the guys were going to have to get some scaffolding up to do the repair work. Seemed like a good time to take advantage of their presence and so we just got back from getting the fans. I also got some more blue foam insulation so that I can finish the basement room and surrounding landscaping on the MTC and some crown molding to trim out the base. Hopefully will get back to work on the wiring for the MTC so I can get the lights in and finish up the outside work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, I meant siding strips, NOT walls. Harbor Freight has sales from time to time on their bar clamps, and I have a pair that are long enough to clamp the ends of the built walls, and that's what I meant to type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenswing Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, I meant siding strips, NOT walls. Harbor Freight has sales from time to time on their bar clamps, and I have a pair that are long enough to clamp the ends of the built walls, and that's what I meant to type. I understood what you meant Holly but I don't have the kind of clamps that would hold the siding down. Seems like the best way to do it is with the masking tape. Hopefully when I check it today it will have stayed flat with the Aleene's, otherwise it's going to be really slow going with a ton of masking tape and I'm really not looking forward to that (me or my budget). Plus I'm going to have to paint the siding afterwards and I'm worried that it will curl then. Any advice on how to prevent that? Is there anything that I might already have here at home that I can use as a sealer to prevent warping? Something that I can paint over? I have some Kilz is that considered a sealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, I reuse my masking tape. For the small part of siding I've done do far, I did both painting before and after application (I was experimenting to see which would work), and both did fine. They siding will curl for a minute, but when it dries it straightens itself out. Here's how it is turning out so far. http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&image=60193 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Judith, years ago someone showed me how to keep siding from buckling....It is very simple. Instead of smearing glue in a long trail from end to end on the strips, all you have to do is just use a dot of glue about 1/2 to 3/4" apart all along the piece. It's the continuous trail that warps the siding and makes it want to buckle. I use Aleene's fast grab glue to do it. That makes it so I seldom have to even use masking tape. It also works for shingles. a dot on the top edge of the shingle in the row below and a dot on the present shingle at the top, where it will touch the roof itself. The dots should be about 1/8" across. What have I been working on? I am doing the neverending task of workroom cleaning....Again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I also use intermittent dots of glue, pressing down the siding strip spreads the glue. And once it's all lovely and dry & flat and you paint it, yes, it curls a bit, and then when it dries it flattens right back out again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Holly.thanks for reminding me to add. If you paint both sides of the strips and let them dry before you glue them on, they won't curl. I also do this with shingles, moldings and anything made with foamcore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatColorado Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I'm back to working on the Morningside Mansion. I am NOT happy, and I finally remembered why I walked away from it in the first place. I can't wait until Greenleaf offers some larger houses in 1/2" scale, at least I'll know what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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