Most of the furniture I will need for the Brownstone was purchased in the form of kits...so I've started sorting and figuring out which kits to build.  Since I have to finish the bedding for the Heritage bedroom, I figured I'd build the Brownstone bed and make all of the necessities at the same time.

The bed I made is a McQueenie Miniatures kit from Four Little Walls.  It comes with pre-cut mahogany pieces with a beautiful grain.  I was happy to see the headboard and footboard were not to be assembled one slat at a time.  :D

The bed went together smoothly and easily.  I added a light coat of Delta Ceramcoat Satin Varnish to bring out the beauty of the wood.

I love this style of bed and even considered getting one in real life.

I bought a metal opening/closing laptop from Manor House Minis for $6.

It has stickers for the keyboard and screen...but it's rather convincing in a scene, especially for the price.  (Yes, they have a Mac version, too.)

The farm girl figurine (also from Manor House) is wonderful, too!  Such great detailing.

It even has velvet on the bottom.

I made up some poppies from a Bonnie Lavish kit and sent one of the pots to Blondie for her birthday!  :D

I also just finished up a spice rack for a custom etsy order.

One of the spices chosen was bay leaves, so I punched a few leaf shapes to fill the tiny bottle.

Two of these items are for the Spring Fling.  :D

I've become dangerous with the scroll saw recently, so I've decided to challenge myself with an intricate fireplace.  I can't show you the original inspiration just yet since that would give away some of the décor.  :D

After a few rough sketches on the wall, here's the final outline drawing.

Behind the scenes, I've been making good progress on the Spring Fling...cutting additional walls, applying the exterior treatments, staining and priming.  I've also just started the chimney, a much more straightforward design than the one for the Heritage.  It's hard not sharing all of this along the way!

I've also been finishing up a larger custom order from my etsy shop and making a little something for a friend's birthday (that has since passed).  Oops.  :\

A long time ago, when I was planning the Heritage, I wanted to use a turnaround staircase.  I first saw this type of staircase in the Franklin Mint Heartland Hollow house that belonged to fellow Greenleaf member Jenn (Elsbeth) (see the rest of her wonderful photos here -- must be Greenleaf member to access).

From the kitchen side.

From the living room side.

I was not able to use these in the Heritage for lack of floor space, but I always planned to use them someday.  Well, that time has come!

My initial plan for the Spring Fling involved a spiral staircase, but the turnaround stairs offer a better solution.  Lyssa built a set of these in her Undersized Urbanite entry, so she's done some of the heavy lifting for me already.  :D  I also want to thank Sandra for sending me additional pictures of the staircase from her own Heartland Hollow.  They helped a lot with planning.

I started with a Houseworks narrow staircase kit.  I used a coping saw to cut two sections: one with three steps and one with six steps.

I built a box for the landing from scrap wood.

The base has an open back because it will sit against the wall instead of being out in the open like the inspiration photos.

I added pins to help hold the top section to the base.  The lower section will lean against the box.

Here's the basic structure.  I will finish the front, top and sides of the box when I get to the decorating phase.

Yes, the Spring Fling kit is a single story, one room structure.  But, now you know that my build requires a staircase.  :D

Some of you have wondered aloud what my next project will be.  Well, I do plan to finish up the side garden on The Artist's Studio.  Additionally, the Heritage still has an unfinished attic, bedroom furniture in need of painting and requires a broken down fence of some sort.  So, that will take up some of the next month or so.

After that, the plan was to break ground on The Brownstone.

I also bought the Charming Cottage kit to participate in the HBS Creatin' Contest.  To that end, I figured one public build and one behind-the-scenes build.  :D  Sounds reasonable.

Then those clever people at Greenleaf released the Spring Fling kit for 2013.

I was certain I would be able to withstand the draw of it.  (You may commence laughing at my naïveté.)

Of course, I instantly had an idea for it.  So, I'm apparently in.  With a second secret build, I'm sorry to say my blog will likely have its off days.  :\  Please bear with me....

It's a sickness, I tell you...a marvelous, wonderful sickness.  :D