Duddingwells in morning sunshine

Hello everyone. The week has only just started but I hope it's been kind to you. Kinder than it has been to me. I spent my morning working on my furniture kit designs ( I am decidedly not good at it) and by lunchtime I was a little over them. So I decided to spend some time tidying up my craft room. I was on a chair rearranging stuff on a shelf and dropped a drawer full of 1/2" scale Bespaq. Yep, splinters of furniture everywhere. Not good. So spent an hour glueing all the bits back together again. Sigh. I did have a few bits left over which must be from bits of furniture that are no longer in the drawers. So now I need to track down their owners. Maybe tomorrow. They are all on my chair, so I can't sit on it until I find their rightful place.

Anyway, I was really posting as I was working on the landscaping of my Duddingwells on Sunday. I went up to my craft room early Sunday morning and the light was streaming through the window, and straight through the window of Duddingwells. It was casting a beautiful light and really makes the rooms come alive.

I was really lucky to find a few bits of plastic plants when I took my doggy to her eye specialist appointment last week, so Duddingwells now has some large ferns and a daisy bush. I have started some stone walls for the garden, which I hope to make look like they are crumbling. I will show some photos next week. I am quite happy with how it's coming along. Next step is buying some flower kits (foxgloves, daffodils, hollyhocks, maybe some hellebores). Given I no longer work, we are on reduced play money, so fewer minis unfortunately.... Still, I am happier and I hope to have my mini kits up for sale really soon, so maybe then I will have a little extra income.

Hope you have a great week! Mini on everyone!

A little painting progress update

Thought I'd quickly show the little French shop now that it is aged a bit.

Looks much better I think! I might add a little white to lighten it marginally but will see. In case you were interested, the paint was Folkart Almond Parfait and antiqued with Jo Sonja's fruitwood stain gel.

Here you can see the difference between the painted and the aged finish - big difference!

Have a great day everyone!

Exterior of Mountfield and some redecorating

Hello again everyone. Hoping you are having a great weekend. After a cold and wet week, we are enjoying some sunshine. And subsequently getting laundry done... Sigh!

I wanted to post some photos of the exterior of my Mountfield. It's getting very close to being done, save for some more landscaping. There are still a few things left to go, like some more aging, fixing the gable trim (undecided on what it will look like, plus the laser cutter isn't working) and replacing the windows with my own leaded glass designs. You can see I gussied up the front door a bit with some wood mouldings and brass stampings. I am quite happy with it, even though I know much of it doesn't match the true age the house is supposed to be.

Also, I added some picture rail to the lounge and dining rooms, with a plain paper above it. This is something I've been thinking about for ages, as I just found it all too bland. I purchased two different coloured scrapbook papers at the local craft shop and fortunately they went well with the papers. I just glued strips of it over the wallpaper and stuck the picture rail over the join. I think I just need to recover the chairs in the lounge though.

Was really stoked I finally remembered to buy a fire whatsit guard thingo (the word escapes me right now) for the dining room - the shiny brass thing out front of the fireplace - but it is too small. I guess I'll need to order a Phoenix one same as the lounge one. The paper I added is a pale grey/stone colour.

The entry is about done. You can see a little pair of plain brown ladies shoes beside the table. They are just metal ones I painted. I think the basket needs something too, maybe some dried greenery or twigs.

In the photo below you can see the Chrysnbon Edwardian telelphone on the wall. It is hard to see, but like having things in cupboards, I think it's nice to have a few slightly hidden details that you have to hunt out.

Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are.

Partially decorated 1:24 shop

Happy Friday! I hope your week has been a good one. I have spent some more time working on prototypes and instructions for my laser cut kits (with mixed success) and decorating the French shop. Here are some photos, with paperclay almost done. Just a little more painting, roof tiles and then some aging. I had thought I was about done with the design on this kit, but even now, having put it completely together, redesigned parts and had them cut, putting it back together, I am still figuring out slight fixes that are required. Frustrating but worth getting right.

I keep hoping the design process gets easier and quicker but not sure about that! I seem to take two steps forward and one back, but it is fun and engrossing. 

Have a great weekend everyone.