Back online.

I haven't been able to post any of my progress for awhile. Our internet provider has been having some issues and internet access has been a bit hit and miss for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully all is good again now.

I have still been working away and here's a little of what I've been up to.

I managed to get wallpaper up in both rooms. I had a lot of hair pulling moments while doing this. Finding the method that would work for me took hours! Searching online didn't help much because it seems every one has different ideas on the best way to get the job done. I live in Australia and there are exactly zero doll house stores near me. We have a grand total of one craft store and they don't carry doll house supplies (they are a 2 bus journey from my house) so many of the recommended products simply aren't an option for me. After much trial and error (at 3am) I decided to try glue stick. It worked! Of course hanging wall paper while sleep deprived resulted in a less than perfect finish at least it was on the wall! Actually most of it was in the bin but some made it to the wall.

I made some ceramic tiles for downstairs and I'm thrilled with how they turned out.

I took a sheet of cardboard and some acrylic paint mixed with gloss finish. Stippled  it in layers all over with a stiff brush until I was happy with the result. Then cut the whole thing into 2cm squares, glued them into place and gave them 2 coats of matte mod podge.

I painted the floor white before I started gluing in hopes that I wouldn't have to grout. I'm happy with the finish. I guess I got back some of the time I lost on the wallpaper saga.

I made some simple window frames and used some recycled plastic from packaging and now I have windows, yay!

I've started on bits and pieces to go inside but I'll leave that for another post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Getting older

I'm feeling better about the way my house is coming along today. Yesterday I felt a little overwhelmed, There seemed to be so much to do in a short space of time and I really don't have anything planned out. I think entering the undersized urbanite is the best thing I could have done. I would probably still be staring at the white shell wondering where to start if I hadn't.

This is what I woke up to today. Grouting done, looking very bright and shiny. I mixed up a dirty water wash and started ageing the brickwork.

Not quite the look I was after. I worked in small sections but the wash dried so fast! I ended up with brickwork hat looked much older than I was aiming for and frankly a bit grimy.

I should have made test sheets. I told myself that before I started anything but do I listen to me? No, I just wanted to get stuck in. Well this is what you get Annji.

It doesn't show in these photos but the wash spoiled the stones on part of the front step. All the subtle colour variations blended together into a flat grey.

So I finished the bricks and left the stones for later. What if I just paint the mortar with a small brush?

I really should have scored the bricks before folding them around the corners. I did with the stones and they look much nicer.

I need to do something to age the stones a little because foundations shouldn't look younger than the rest of the building but I'm much happier with the result.

Something happened while I was painting those tiny spaces. I zoned out. It was a lovely Summer Saturday afternoon and many of my neighbors were outside enjoying the day. I hadn't heard them. I didn't realize until I had finished that children were playing and people were laughing and I had been transported into my own little world (pardon the pun).

This building was always meant to be the first in a village that will some day have the Beacon Hill as its crowning jewel. While I was "away" I saw that village, the buildings and even the people that live there. I now know what is meant to go into this little house and where it should be. I'm so glad the wash aged things more than I had intended. She was meant to be old, much older than I had thought.

I thought I was addicted before, now I know I am. The feeling of sheer bliss I've experienced today creating my little Sweetie is amazing.

Enough of the warm and fuzzy stuff. Just a few more pictures to bring things up to date.

 The roof went back on quite easily. I had to sand a couple of tabs to get things to fit but not much. Smiles to herself.

While the roof was on I marked the walls with pencil and painted the underside with the dirty water wash. 

                                     

I printed out this wall paper for the upstairs room from Small Stuff's PrintMini and gave them a couple of quick coats of clear spray paint to seal them. Now I'm off to search the interwebs to find out if I should stain the shingle before, after or while I apply them to the roof.

Thanks for stopping by. :)