Been a busy bee!

I've had a busy couple of days working on the Cottage Stores.  

Yesterday I measured out a base,   then decided where the shop would sit.  After that I could draw guidelines for the road and side pavements.    And then figure out what materials to use for both, clay, filler or wood?   All have their plus points and drawbacks,  filler takes time to dry, and then you need to get the mix right. Air dried clay is easier, but has to be rolled out... wood... 

Which is why I turned my attention to the roof.  I chose to make my own tiles.  This meant cutting a lot of strips of good quality paper, 1cm wide,  and then marking 0.5 cm segments, then using the tweezer scissors, making cuts part way up.  Very time consuming,  VERY time consuming!   Nearly drove me mad, far more fiddly than for a full size dolls house. But I did persevere, and as you can see, it paid off.   It did take me all afternoon to complete the rear and side rooves.  The small roof was giving me a few problems, it kept sliding out of position, so I cut a small piece of wood and used that to act as a stabiliser. 

Now here it is neatly held in place, and painted.  The chimney pot was finished off and glued on.  All the sandpaper has been given another coat of paint, and now it needs to be weathered.    I also glued on the wood trim at the front of the shop. 

Then I moved back to the base,  I'd decided to make the road from the clay.   I rolled out a large chunk of clay to fit the base,  and put a good layer of PVA on the base before laying the clay onto it.  Next task was to mark out the cobblestones,  then to leave the clay for an hour or so to partly dry.  I cut two pieces of balsa wood to act as pavements either side of the shop.  I'm kind of experimenting with different types of material to see what works best.   The balsa is a soft wood, so I was able to carve in the paving stones,  first using a pencil, then a pokey tool.

I worked on the cobblestones, trying to make them look more reaslistic.  Then it was left to dry thoroughly.   The paving stones were finished, they need to be trimmed, glued and painted. 

I cut out the Cottage Stores sign, I felt it would be better to leave some white around the sign to have it stand out.  It was glued on with PVA and given a coat of the same glue over the top. 

A busy time today, and yesterday, yet also satisfying.  I'm now glad I made my own tiles,  it proved to me that I can.   I know I need to use a good quality paper or a thin piece of card,  anything too thick doesn't work.    I'm also learning about paint,  I was making the mistake of adding too much water to the paint, so it was making the window frames too soggy.  This time around I just wet the brush, and I got a much better result.  It also helps to have a variety of brushes,  thin ones, and the stippling brushes are exceptionally useful. 

Tomorrow, more painting!   The road, pavements and the roof.   This has been a quick project,  never expected it to be,   but I didn't use the sand and PVA for the render, which would have taken time to dry.  I'm happy with the sandpaper effect,   I guess if I wanted wonky walls then some sand, or fine ballast with filler would work well. 

Here is the villain of the piece.  We both had a very long lie in this morning,  it was 10 a.m. before I got up, he took even longer to remove himself from my bed.   He was disgusted to discover that it was not only raining, but also windy, not a good combo for a cat, they hate both in equal measure.   He just about managed to step beyond the front door, but not for very long.    Then he snoozed for the rest of the day,  before finally rousing himself to move from the bed to his bed, which is situated right by the radiator!    More snoozing, until his tummy began rumbling.  Looks like butter wouldn't melt...   He's now curled up on my bed, his tummy is full,  he's had some fresh air and he's content.   Well at least one of us is. 

All for today...