Bricks (almost) finished

After a couple of weeks I have finally (almost)  finished the brickwork on the front of the house.

I wish I could share the colours and texture with you - I promise they look very like bricks.  Click on the picture to see it full screen.  I do have bits and bobs of filling in to do which is a deliberate choice.  I thought it would be better to fix the basement fronts in place and then trim up around them where needed.

Needless to say I have just come up with another wheeze which will further delay getting the doors on.  It is a funny old game this one - you set off on one job and four jobs later you are able to finish the original.  Watch this space for a bogey hole.

Meanwhile this mess on the floor is why I love having a dedicated work area for my hobby.  I feel lucky every day.  I love my Hive. I can make all the mess I want and leave it each day and clear up when that task is finished.

I clear up all the surfaces and put things away between each major task so I don't end up knee deep in clutter.  

So now, with the doors (very nearly) done, the surfaces cleared and cleaned and the floor swept, I am on to the next step.

Mrs Organised

I am sharing this not to impress you with how organised I am - nevertheless be impressed - but as a head's up in case you are looking for cheap, easy, instant storage.

We are in the throes of decorating the big house and 'stuff' arrived in my Hive that 'belongs to you' (husband speak as he delivers it).

The prospect of an Ikea trip (at least half a day) was not on the cards and I wanted it sorted like now.  Inspired thinking..... have a look at Argos - we have a local one... Found two bookcases exactly the right size for £16.99 each.  Ordered two and paid £3.95 delivery and two and a half hours later they were delivered - no kidding - Oh, and yes, it was a Sunday.  Stuff messing up my hive about 11 am and by 4.30 pm this is what I had..... without having left the room.

sewing stuff and cards

mini hobby things

everything labelled

Incidentally these shelves also come in a wider version and both of those come in taller versions - these are just the ones that fitted my space.

(26/04/16)

Missed its first birthday

Dalton House arrived on 17th April 2015.  Yesterday I finished the outside of it and that made me wonder how long I had been working on it.  So, belated happy first birthday house.

I know it must be confusing to read this when I seem to still be working on the outside but, as I have said before, I write as I go along and set the publish date for a Saturday - right now I have posts in the bank right up until November!!

(26/04/16)

For newbies - keep an eye open

Some people are really talented at being able to see things in real world which can be re-purposed in 1/12th.  I am absolutely useless at it but now and then I do manage to spot something that might come in handy.  So, if you are new to this hobby keep your brain/eye trained for possibilities when not hunting for dolls house things and maybe eventually you will become brilliant at it.

Going round a craft shop in a garden centre recently I spotted these:

the right size for a ceiling (from a card making section)

just need one with the ring removed for Annelise's room

no idea, but look handy - small bowls?

again no idea, but maybe to add to wood for 'carved' areas??

Inspiration from wherever you can find it.

I love doing the rounds of national trust properties (long before I became dolls house obsessed) and they are an endless source of inspiration.  A recent happenstance stay in a hotel just gave me a wealth of reference photos.  I doubt I will ever do a 'fancy' Georgian - I am more plain Adamesque in taste and capabilities, but a girl can dream. 

This is Ednam House Hotel in Kelso, built in 1761 and retaining many of its original features.

incredible plasterwork in every room

great fireplaces

The dolls house on the fireplace is a replica of the house as a hotel, made in some sort of fired clay(??)

probably was the original dining room

the show-off cupola that was all the rage in the mid eighteenth century

lovely pillars

reminder to use arches somewhere

all the fireplaces were a joy

detail of the grate

plasterwork over a fireplace

plasterwork frame

the orginal house - the wings I suspect were added later

I had been dithering about fireplace positions on the basis that all their chimney pots needed to share the same stack.  clearly this is not the case and my house can have fireplaces where it likes.

Another look at Miniatura

I have just been given a copy of the Miniatura press release and some photos.  If you want to take a look, pop over to my Show Blog. (just click here)

Two fifths (?) done

Don't break out the champagne yet but I have finished bricking one of the opening fronts.

infills

However careful you are using the grid method, or any other you devise, to keep you on the straight and narrow, nothing will allow you to fit rows of bricks perfectly between various trims on the house.  It is important that you give a bit of thought as to where you might want a complete row of bricks to be - over a row of windows, below them, over the main doorway, beneath the stone trim?  Really the choice is entirely yours.  Start by setting that row in place and then work away from it in both directions until you have filled the area.  The photo above shows the tiny infills I had to do above some windows.  You could be less fussy and just paint a brick colour line around all the trims and leave the tiny spaces.  I promise you they will not be visible to any 'normal' person looking at your house.  As for me...... well ...  I am just plain fussy!

1,000 bricks

This is what 1,000 bricks looks like.  I took the photo when I got to the end of the bag.  As for how long it takes I am making a very rough guess it took me about twelve hours to get those down.  I have been doing it for a couple of hours a day for about six days.  It is a really, really rough guess as I get endlessly interrupted by domestic things so it isn't a concentrated effort.  I will try to remember to time one hundred bricks for you and multiply it up to give you a rough indication of what it takes.

A few more added

With a few more added the right side is done.  There is a bit more to do on the other side and then the area floors need tiling, also there are slates to do on the roof and the dormers.  The dormers also need some bricks.  So it continues, but at least for now some big chunks of wood are out of my way which was the object of the game.  I am looking forward to getting them hung maybe in a couple of weeks time.