Tuesday 20 October 2015

Open all hours...

A couple of additions to Thimble Cottage, a bench and a hen house.  They came today,   my work with the tweezers is definitely improving.  The Hen house was particularly fiddly,  and still needs a few bits added, and painting. 

And there is a couple of other things as well, one item that was more fiddly than anything I've ever put together.   You can actually spot it in this photo, it fell over when I moved the base... a bird house!   And I have another to put together. 

I think I may buy another of the benches,  it has the right look for the cottages.   I am blown away by the detail that has gone into these kits,  the hen house has a perch,  the tiny door does actually open, the small hole is shaped like a  heart.  The bird house is equally detailed. 



Here is the new project: The Cottage Stores. It was reluctant to be glued together,  but I got there with some help from a bit of masking tape. 

In between coats of paint I made the hen house, bird house and bench.   While Harvey snoozed away the afternoon.   He seems to be learning the advantage of having a full tummy, it means he is able to sleep better.   He was the usual lazy bones this morning,  having an extra lie in.   Finally he forced himself to wake up,  went out for a while, came back and scoffed nearly a whole packet of food.   Then it was my turns to be the lazy bones,  taking an age to get dressed, though I did sort out a few stamp sets. 

Another angle of the Cottage Stores, showing the entrance to the shop. Not sure what type of store it will be yet,  maybe a bit of everything?   This one will definitely need shop fittings as it has a large shop window. 

The inside is plain cream,  used some paper on the floor and gave it a couple of coats of glossy mod podge.  There are instructions for the exterior decoration,  using sand and PVA to get a rendered effect.  I used sandpaper last time, but this time I was thinking of using the fine gravel?  Or just going with the modelling paste to give a thin coat of render.   Decisions to make!  



Let's end with the bird house,  it was in separate pieces, all of it!   The trickiest part was the house,  and getting it in the right place on the stand. Nearly drove me to distraction. 

Just needs some paint now,  probably white, well off white.  Needs to show its age. 

The cottage stores will need a different type of base, so far they've all been rustic.  This one will have to have a pavement and a bit of a road.  I checked out how to make a cobble stone road over the weekend, that would be in keeping with the era I'm going for, late 50s, very early 60s.  I'm horrified to admit but I do remember some of the streets having cobble stones!  They were murder to walk on, worse to try and cycle on,   they're all still there under the layers of tarmac.  The York stone has long gone, some of it was pinched, most was taken up by the council before it got stolen.   We had a nice set of York stones outside our house,  made for a great hopscotch area.   That reminds me, I need to attempt to make some York stones for outside the shop. 

I did manage to sort out some of my stamps,  then I found another box...  :-(   The majority are in sets,  thank goodness.  I did once have a huge sort out,  tidied them all up,  put them back in their sets.  I just hadn't realised how many I'd acquired over the years.   Same with the dies,  in fact I found one that had dropped off one of the magnetic sheets, so will have to send it on to the buyer.  Then there is all the paper and card...  enough to paper the entire flat and then some.   I also found some tacky glue, and more wire.   Plus the rub and buff stuff,   will hang on to that. 

Tomorrow need to consider the exterior of the shop,  some of it will need to be done before being glued together.  Also have to find out where I put the winter curtains,  or rather in which storage box!  I know they need washing,  as do the cushion covers.  This housework lark is never ending. 

Right off to round up Harvey...  

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