Juliet balcony, completed

by brae  

I completed work on the Juliet balcony and glued it in place outside the bedroom swinging window.

Here's a reminder of what the basic structure looked like last time.  This was made from wood dowels, plastic railing from The Dolls House Emporium, bead caps, Houseworks finials and pins.

I spray painted the "wrought iron" assembly flat black, which instantly changed the entire look.  The finials are a little bent, but I like that for an old house.

To age the iron, I dabbed on Bittersweet Chocolate by Americana, followed by a light wash of Terra Cotta, also by Americana.

Doesn't look like plastic anymore.

 

I glued the sandpaper to the top of the basswood base to create the balcony floor.  I then glued on the surrounding trim.  At this point, I would normally fill in any gaps with spackle and sand smooth.  It's an old house, so I left the gaps.

I painted the balcony floor with the charcoal grey mix I had used for the main roof and painted the wood trim and underside plain black.  I also painted the support piece black.   I crackled white over the wood trim and underside of the balcony as well as the support piece.  With all these layers of glue and paint, the wood bowed on the bottom of the balcony - a happy accident I couldn't have planned for if I tried.

I added a grey wash to the balcony floor to give the charcoal grey paint some depth and age.

I widened the nail holes that attach the balcony railing to the house, careful not to poke through the walls into the bedroom.  It wasn't until after I did this that I realized the balcony was not centered around the window.  But, you know what?  Maybe the miniature carpenters who built this house didn't measure twice drill once and just left it.  Who am I to argue?  :D

I glued the balcony railing to the balcony floor and then glued the whole balcony to the side of the house.  I added the bottom support right away to keep the balcony from falling off the house.  :O

Love this rickety old balcony!

Ophelia couldn't care less about chasing birds.  How beneath her.  But, she'll sit and watch them.  :D

Or, she'll just enjoy the fresh air and beautiful view.

And, grandma won't risk falling out the window.

A little later in the evening...

1908 Miniature Underwood Typewriter

by brae  

This post has moved to the new blog.

Roof ridge finishing

by brae  

Today, I went to mom's to do my taxes; she's an accountant.  I will be getting a nice refund again this year.  :D  Last year, I bought myself a beautiful ring...this year, I'll be buying a dishwasher.  Haaaaaaaaaaa!

With the roof shingles applied and painted, the only thing left was to finish the roof ridges.  I thought about doing lapped shingles but didn't like the way it looked on the dormer when I tried it.  It doesn't look terrible here in this photo, but there were a lot of gaps on the top and it just looked off.

I decided to go with 1/4" corner trim from Manchester Woodworks, which is also an easier solution.  I used the scroll saw to make the cuts....it's a wonderful machine!

I used old Dura-Craft strip wood to enclose the flat roof portion.  I didn't trim around the bottom edge, because I didn't like the way it looked.

I painted the new pieces to match the roof.

It already looks more finished, but once the moss is on it will blend better.  :]

Happy Groundhog Day!

by brae  

Yes, I am still here.  It has been a crazy week at work, but I did manage to be a little creative ... made a new dress for myself.

I have a few new things to share, the first of which is my new Proxxon scroll saw.  Sexy, no?  :D

My friend, who is also a plumber, came to my rescue last weekend to fix my clogged drain, and while he was here we set up the saw.  I didn't have much time to work with it since I was finishing the trims on the Heritage, but I did make a couple of test cuts.

The cut balsa is smooth and uncrushed.

The cut walnut was easy peasy compared to cutting by hand with a blade.

I received another lovely item for grandma's attic...a vintage race car in red.

This insanely tiny piece was made by Andrea Thieck, and yes, the wheels turn!

I also won a giveaway from Dolly's Gallery.  Gail sent me two lovely Saturday Evening Post magazines for the attic.

When it comes to vintage magazines, the ads on the back are just as interesting as the covers.

I've also recently received some lovely fabrics.  Thank you, Sarah and Kathy for your generosity!  :D

It'll be another crazy week at work next week, but I hope to stay in the swing of things.

Chimney attachment, trim and eave finishing

by brae  

I traced the chimney outline onto a sheet of drawing paper to guide me in cutting the trim that will surround it.  I didn't end up using it as a guide, but it was worth taking the time just in case.

The chimney fits well against the house without additional adhesive, but that's not to say it will stay removable.  In theory, I can remove it in case of a major wiring disaster, but it would still require some deconstruction in that case.

I added flashing to the chimney using brown cardstock.  I crinkled the paper to make it look worn and to help it form to the contours of the brickwork.

From my limited research, I believe chimney flashing is usually under the shingles on the sides, but we'll just ignore that.  :D

Next came the process of turning paper into old copper.  :D  I started with these five paint colors, used in order from left to right: Plantation Pine, Bluegrass Green, Robin's Egg Blue, Slate Green and Bittersweet Chocolate.

I dry-brushed each paint color over the paper flashing to age it.  The final color of Bittersweet Chocolate toned down the other brighter and lighter colors.  Once I had that done, I added water to my palette and began streaking the same colors down the shingles to give the impression of mineral deposits building up over time.

It's hard to capture in photos, but I love the way it turned out.

I finished the gable eave and trim for the chimney gable and the new back roof addition.

I trimmed the chimney with thin strip wood, and it looks a little awkward in places.  But, I plan to cover it with ivy eventually, so that will all work out in the end.

I finished the eaves on the new back roof and added finishing trim on the opposite side as well.

What's left?  In addition to finishing the Juliet balcony and roof ridges, I need to install the remaining attic beams and rafters, figure out the guttering and address the open back trim.  We're getting so close to structural completion!  :D

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