Friday 26 February 2010

So much I want to do,so little time !

Sorry this post has been so long in arriving ! Life is hectic right now and I am busily preparing for the Spring run of Miniature fairs which kicks off for me this sunday in Glasgow. My doll making has been taking up much of my time , so what bad timing for this to arrive , my wonderful longed for Orangery kit which I want to transform into Uncle Morts workshop.
All the doll making though has had an unexpected bonus for my Emporium. While shopping for fabric I came across this lovely item :

It is meant to be used for 3d card making, but as soon as I saw it I immediately thought of my shop shelves and how lovely this would look as trimming. At half price I bought three packs , ready for a moment to work on my shop.
First though it was high time the windows went in so with the help of a paper template and some heavy duty acetate I set to work.
Hind sight is a wonderful thing and I do wish I had made my templates before I put the house together.It was a bit tricky but once the pieces were cut I simply ran a bead of PVA glue round the edges and popped them in place.






This is the front of the shop . You can see I have used the card kit to make a window trim, I love the effect it gives. You can also see I have had to remove the shop doors ! They were such a tight fit they would not open with the parquet floor I am planning to lay, so they are removed and waiting to be sanded down.


This is the door into the house. I am most likely going to have shelves across these windows as the shop counter will go across this corner allowing Belle easy access to her house and stopping any customers from wandering in there accidentally !



Heres a close up of the window trim. There are long strips which will go across the top of the windows but I need to finish wallpapering first. So little time, so much I want to do !


This is how it looks so far, I think you can just see how I have trimmed alternate shelves with the paper trim.


I have already started work on the actual flooring. I have some lovely maple parquet floor tiles which looked all wrong with my colour scheme. I have decided to paint and wax them so am busy in my spare moments painting each and every one . Very time consuming !
I am doing just one coat of paint so you can still see the wood, its more of a colour wash, in the cream of the shelves and the green of the woodwork. Then a coat of clear wax and fingers crossed my shop floor will look beautiful.
Wish me luck !
Hopefully my next post willshow the floor and maybe my ceiling and light fitting sorted out too !
julie xxx





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14 comments:

Wendie-kins said...

Its great when you find a bargain eh? :o) how did you lay your parquet flooring Julie? I have tried and tried with mine and it just sits enevenly :o( any tips welcomed.
Good luck with all the upcoming fairs x

Michelle said...

This is looking simply marvellous! I love it to bits and the 'finds' are quite wonderful too! :o) I can't wait to see how you do the orangery....don't forget to sand the doors 'before' you glue it together! lol The glue supplied was wonderfully strong and stuck fast in no time. Methinks it was wood glue and far superior to PVA. You probably received the same good glue with the shop. :o)

Lots and lots of good luck at the fair! :o)

Michelle xxxx

julie campbell said...

Hi Wendy, I'm doing some of the floor this evening and its basicaly curling upat the edges as soon as I glue them !
The instructions say its best to use doublesided sticky tape but I just dont feel its permanent.
So I'm sticking a few rows with high tack pva then piling books on top to weigh them down. I will know if this has worked once the glue dries so fingers crossed.
This may take some time LOL
julie xxx

julie campbell said...

Hi Michelle,
good tip, I will do that !
So far I just dont know when I will have time to even open the box again what with just 4 weeks till Miniatura closely followed by Pudsey and Kensington Festival then Scottish Miniatura, could be July by the time I can work on it .
Yours is inspiring me so much I am just itching to get to work on mine :0)
julie xxxx

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Thanks for the tip on the window templates julie, good job I didnt get impatient and stick those walls together yet then! looks fab, love the wallpaper and the trim looks so pretty. What a lovely find. Have fun at the fairs and sell lots! :-) Kate xx

julie campbell said...

Hi Kate, it would have been so easy to lay the pieces flat on a table and draw the templates , then cut the "glass" a fraction bigger than the template.
You live and learn LOL and I hope yours are much easier to do .
cant wait to compare our buildings !
julie xxx

Irene said...

Considering you have fairs to deal with, this property is moving on. Great bargain with the trims too. I'm hoping to be at the Glasgow fair this Sunday, weather permitting so I'll drop by and introduce myself.

Jain Squires said...

Julie ,it's looking great. Those little lacey bits are a lovely touch. Jain x

julie campbell said...

Hello Irene,
Oh yes come and say hello if you make it to Glasgow:0)I'mhoping the weather and the football wont keepo people away !

Hi Jain,I love the lacy bits there are some bits that might make lovely ceiling roses too :0)
julie xxx

Michelle said...

Hi again Julie,

I have an award for you on my blog.

Michelle xxx

Crafts From The Stash said...

Its looking great Julie.

Debie xxx

shannonc60 said...

Hi. I know you've already received it, but I have given you a sunshine award at my blog! Best wishes.

julie campbell said...

Hello Debie, I'm having fun with it,just wish I had more time to play !

Hello Michelle, thank you ! LOL fancy spoiling me with a double one !!!

Hello Shannon,thank you so much :0)
julie xxx

Sans! said...

Hi Julie, I am really curious to see how the trimmings at the windows will eventually turn out. They are looking really good already. I tried to re-create a carved shelve (Indian style) with lace but after spray painting, you can see the fray of the lace fiber in photographs. lol

The other thing I am having a painful time with is working on the house without a proper table. I simply do not have the space for a separate table. Did you specially make a turn table (by the way, can you show a pic of that, if it is not too inconvenient?) I bought lazy Susans which is good for the smaller houses but not the intermediate ones.

I love watching your progress :).