Happy Australia Day!

Hello everyone from a sunny down under! We have had a lovely and productive Australia Day in the garden as well as cleaning out some hoarded stuff in order to shuffle some other stuff around. But we did have a barbecue lunch of course with snags and home-made tomato sauce, so it was pretty good! Now I am enjoying a particularly nice wine from an Australian winery, McHenry Hoehnen - check it out if you ever get the chance! 

Now, the real reason I am posting. A little update on my French chateau (which still needs a name - I am thinking of le petite monstre!). I am slowly getting the panels for the salon painted, but the paint needs multiple coats on the carved details, so it is slow going.

Here is the back wall with all the panels joined together and undercoated:

Here is the left side wall with the window openings:

The walls will be a couple of centimetres thick to allow for curtains and panels in the window cavities. Also, I want to give the impression of shutters tucked in behind the panels - in some rooms, I hope to have them actually fold out.

Here is the back wall panel painted in the cream topcoat before all the carving is painted:

I will add a thin moulding to match that already on the top of some of the panels (as can be seen in the above photo in the middle) and then add the cornice when the panels have been installed, and maybe a carved ceiling. Soon I will have some gatorfoam to construct other interior walls. Also, my darling husband bought me a belated anniversary present of a laser cutter, so if we can get it working, I will cut out some windows and parquet flooring and this room will really get moving. The rest of the structure has been designed around this room, so I won't be getting anything else done on the house until this room is installed. I suppose I could get going on the exterior, but that hinges on windows being installed. All in good time!

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

A very beautiful give-away

I was looking around discovering new blogs a couple of days ago and found this very beautiful artist's box full of paints, tape, brushes, a rag, a pencil and other painter's supplies, on Adriana's Bagus blog which she made and is generously giving away. I had to be in the running for this, it is so exquisite. Hop on over to her blog and check it out.

Happy new year!

Hello all. I hope your new year has got off to a great start, although I am sending out lots of love to all those affected by the shootings in Paris in the last few days. It's an horrific event and sad for everyone across the globe.

But on a brighter note, I have made some little bits and pieces for my Mountfield, so it is slowly nearing the end point. I still can't decide on three major pieces of furniture, and until they're found, some rooms just can't be finished. There is also the matter of fincances! I have just recently gone back to full pay, so money is less of an issue, but I want to save as much as I can too (holidays, laser cutter, general spending money for when I quit work, etc). But for now, I will show you my shadow box for the front bedroom:

There are a couple of little printies and a real seashell. The remainder of the accessories I painted myself. On the bottom shelf at the front is this very cute little basket with roses in it. I can see a little paper flower garland draped over the shadow box in the near future I think.

Here it is in situ:

Sorry about the bad lighting, it's a very overcast day. 

I made the little shelf with the books and painted the cat bookend the little scotty dog: (the chair is just a fill-in for now)

I have put white tiles in the laundry, and although the tiles themselves are great, they are very white and stark. They are also very shiny and don't take paint. Now I am contemplating spray painting them with a matt varnish so that I can antique them and then respray with a gloss. Just a little worried about getting gloss paint everywhere! What are your thoughts? Has anyone else tried to antique/age gloss tiles?

I am also working on a little front garden of the Mountfield. I hope to get my butt into gear and show some exterior photos soon.

I have also tried making some dolls from Liquache. Not sure if I have reported on that in this blog yet, but here you can see some examples:

I am still playing with getting the right consistency, and as the pour holes in the moulds are so tiny, it's hard to get enough slip in to get the shell of the doll thick enough. Consequently, I have broken quite a few, or the slip hasn't poured right. But I am progressing slowly. The girl in the pink shoes now has a lace dress and arms, so will try to get her finished and photographed so you can see her. The little one is a tiny Patsy doll. These tiny dolls really are adorable.

Hope the new year brings good things for you all. And much love to all those amazing French people to remain strong.

Merry Christmas!

A short post, lots of pictures! 

I hope you are having an enjoyable day, wherever you are.

The little parlour still looks quite bare. Lots more accessories and a rug needed! And maybe a mirror in the hall stand!

The outside, looking kinda cute but in need of more gingerbread trim and snow!

Thanks for the lovely comments; I find it very encouraging and great to know that you enjoy reading my blog. Soon there will be some Mountfield progress photos I hope, as I have been working on a few little items for it.

Best wishes for a great year ahead everyone.

One more sleep!

Wow, how did we get there so quick?? Just a short post with a few more pictures of my Christmas cottage. Did I really post the same picture twice in two consecutive posts? ( the red clock and candy dish) Never mind! I'll blame it on the time of year!

Below are some figurines I've painted: carolers, sledders and some kids with a Christmas tree. Hard to capture; perhaps if there's better light tomorrow, I'll get some better photos.

Two comfy chairs in the living room:

A Santa figure and teapot I painted on the little kitchen table where Mrs Noel likes to sit while her gingerbread is cooking:

Another Santa, clock and crockery I painted:

The cupboards in the kitchen, which will need filling over time:

I started adding some snow to the exterior, but it hasn't worked that well. I will show some photos tomorrow. I like it being a work in progress. I think adding things over time can have a better result, as you think more about what you want and where, rather than rushing to fill it up. I like to do something, set it aside for a few weeks and look at it regularly, maybe change it a little, keep looking. Eventually it clicks and you know you have it right!

One other thing. This is my staple tree, with it's meagre piece of green tinsel. It has taken 7.5 years to get this tall. It sits in a Coke bottle lid and is made of nothing but staples. It is quite sturdy too. About 15cm tall I suppose. I wanted to measure it but it is locked in my drawer at work, and having had 6.5 months off work, I've forgotten where I put the key!! Ooops!

A Christmas house needs a fireplace

I initially didn't have a fireplace in the parlour of my little Christmas house, but a few months ago, looking at it, I realised, what sort of a Christmas house wouldn't have a fireplace? There is a stove in the kitchen but it's not the same. So I added one, despite not having a chimney. Who cares? I dug this one out of my stash and painted it up. It was originally earmarked for another project but I wanted it for here. It needs a hearth and a very small grate with fire as it is very shallow (probably should've added a chimney breast for extra depth but I only had a tiny bit of that wallpaper left and it wouldn't cover it). It was quite a job trying to cut off the skirting in situ. Something needs to go over the fireplace as a focal point. A wreath? A framed picture? Not sure. Maybe that will be next year's addition!

These are some of the accessories I've painted. Almost every accessory in this house is painted by me. Hope you like!

Christmas already??

Wow, this year has gone quickly, and now we're not far off another Christmas and new year. I have been working on my Christmas house and although it is not quite finished, it only needs some more accessories (as I find them!) and some snow to the exterior. It is good to leave a certain amount undone, as there will be room for more accessories should I find them or want to make them. So I will try to post a few more blog posts over the next couple of weeks, showing some different views each time. For now, here's a few details that I hope you will like.

Little red clock and candy dish:

Mrs Claus's shoes all lined up:

Little red house in miniature:

(Ooops, just noticed the gaping hole where a tree fell off!! Note to self: find tree and reattach!)