Friday 8 June 2012

Flourish & Blotts is Showing Off!!

Gosh how time flies when the weather is awful and your three children return from a year at Uni! How do you get all the washing dry when it won't stop raining!!??
Well I have finally got out of the utility room, one end of my lounge looks like a car boot sale and the ironing board has been banished for the weekend.....so here are some pictures of what I have managed to fit in over the last few weeks.
 Lots of brickwork beginning with the front panel and the paving paviors from Richard Stacey
 Both side walls follow the same pattern and all the bricks have been sealed and grouted. This was a very long job but quite calming once you get into the swing of it.
 The roof is quite large on this shop and I wanted to avoid using ridge tiles along the roof joins as I didn't like the look of these joins on my previous corner kits. At the edge I  have sanded down the roof tiles.
Once I had finished the roof tiling on both sides, front and back I laid a line of over lapping roof tiles down each edge after sanding them flat.
I am really happy with this tile frill as it looks a lot neater than the traditional ridge tiles.
The top line of the roof still needed the finishing touch of traditional ridge tiles though so I wandered the streets of my village peering closely at various Georgian houses, with the dog so I would not be mistaken for a peeping Tom!!
This was very instructional as I discovered that the tiles were stuck on with mortar and this allowed them to sit proudly. 
 I built up a ridge of grout along the top and then squidged the ridge tiles in place. This worked really well once I had also added some PVA to the grout to make sure the tiles stayed in place.
This is a large roof space and tiling was very time consuming!!
 Although the roof tiles are a variety of colours I decided to try my hand a more paint effects after my roof research. This is the first layer of grime and I have gradually built up darker layers.
 This Sid Cooke kit comes with two lower round bay windows but I wanted top bays as well. Sid Cooke are now selling extra parts for their kits which meant I could add the extra bays with a bit of tweaking.
 The fit of the top bays is by no means perfect as the window openings are the wrong size but I am doing my best to hide this with paint and mouldings.
 Flourish and Blotts' exterior with the vast majority of the grunt work completed. Windows in, brickwork distressed and ArtMache render drying off nicely.
 This time I went back to the tried and trusted method of marking where all the mouldings would be glued and then laying on the ArtMache. I have not glued in the window panes yet as I want to be able to dress the windows from all angles.......eventually!!
 The brickwork and roof do look a lot more aged in real life but they still need a couple more coats of grime I think. The 'bashed' top bays were a little fiddly to install but a lot of PVA plus the render appear to have fixed them in place quite solidly.
 Once the render is completely dry I will be able to start the griming and ageing. These layers will really bring the whole shop together.
 The 'bashed' top bays were too wide for the pre-cut openings so I have painted and crackled a strip along the side to imitate the black/gold interior and wood work. This blends in surprisingly well although the interior will need a bit more work.
Lastly I have made this little oblong balsa box for the back door of the shop which will be a false hallway complete with book piles and bustling customer I hope.
I have commissioned the made to measure bookcases and they are due to arrive on Tuesday which is very exciting but also completely terrifying. I prepared all the measurements and plans so if they don't fit it will be a very expensive mistake. They are the biggest commission I have ever made so I am keeping everything crossed at the moment!!
The sun is supposed to shine tomorrow, oh wouldn't that be nice!!
Have a great weekend everyone.

26 comments:

  1. Wow Janice, everything looks wonderful! The bricks and tile roof are great. I hope your custom book cases fit, sounds like a perfect little nook.

    Hugs,
    Victoria

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  2. Thanks Victoria, we were obviously synchronised. I was writing on your post at the same time you were writing on mine!! Spooky!

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  3. Flourish & Blotts looks amazing Janice, can't wait to see your bookcase xxxxx

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    1. Thanks Joy. I am really excited about the bookcases and am now trying out all sorts of waxes, stains and varnishes to make sure I get the colour right.

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  4. Hello, great work wonderful a lot of details, congratulations.

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    1. Thank you. I am pleased you enjoyed reading the post.

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  5. It's looking wonderful, cant wait to see more, I love the look of these old weathered shops and Im a huge HP fan too.lol

    My kids will be home for summer break soon so im trying to get some work done before that happens, with out much success though.lol

    Jenn

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    1. Hi Jenn, I am so used to them being away now it is a huge shock when they all come back!! Wouldn't have it any other way though.

      I have a few of your pieces that will eventually find their way into one of the shops.

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  6. Great job! I like this house.
    Bye Faby

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    1. Thanks Faby. I am not sure which is my favourite yet!

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  7. Wow, this looks great!

    Love the bow windows upstairs.. I've been trying to do something different with bows myself but haven't got round to trying it out yet!

    I love the paint effect.. I wish I'd have used a spray as my windows look horrendously thinks tin paint and I'm by no means happy with them+ your bricks look so perfect, I've bricked mine now and one side looks how I wanted it to but the other side has just gone completely wrong adm they've all slipped out of place because I thought the glue was dry and it wasn't :( going to have to cover mine up with wanted posters or something :/

    I just love how all your shops fit together with the same kind of theme and the roof looks great!

    I can't wait to see those bookshelves! Praying they fit for you.. I'd spoken to him about something maybe for honeydukes before I found some on matlocks stall at a fair a few months ago and I know how much they must have set you back so I have everything crossed for you!

    + love the idea of the faux back room with the stacks of books and character!

    Sorry for the longest comment in the world haha.. I just love it all do much! I must get back in to blogging!

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    1. Hi Michael, I love your comments as they always raise something to think about. I wouldn't worry about your slipping brick work, this type of accident often ends up looking great. I always use a very thick PVA glue and lay the houses on their side so I am working on a flat surface.
      I am waiting for all the houses to be finished and then I will add the final grime washes so that they all have the same look.

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  8. Estas haciendo un fantastico trabajo, Me encanta el tejado y los ladrillos son una verdadera maravilla.
    Seguro que te va a quedar preciosa.
    besitos ascension

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  9. Oh Janice you are a woman after my own heart. I have to smile with all your mention of filler and mouldings - as well as banished ironing!!! This is looking very good so far. Can't wait to see your bookshelf commission. Fingers crossed. Best wishes, Carol :)

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    1. Hi Carol, it is much easier to hide mistakes in our miniature world isn't it. That has been a hard lesson for me though, I am much too anal about finishing things perfectly, now I realise with the amount of stuff I cram into my houses I can hide many a mistake!

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  10. It's looking good! You've inspired me to try proper roof tiles on my next project too. You have my sympathy with three home from uni! I only have one just back and that's enough!!

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    1. Hi Allison,
      I do like these tiles although I know some miniaturists think they are too heavy on a large house. I don't think they add too much weight. You do need a lot of tiles too, for this particular roof I laid about 2,500.

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  11. I'm sure all the brickwork and tiling is really time consuming but they do look truly wonderful.

    On the subject of 'filler' - I used to feel a bit guilty about using it in mini projects until I saw the HUGE tins of the stuff they sell at Bunnings for RL builders - now I just think of it as keeping up a grand tradition ;)

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    1. Hi Norma,
      They are worth the time and effort but I am dreading Ollivander's as I intend for this one to be all brick work!

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  12. Janice, I really love your work on flourish and blots so far. It really is coming together extremely well. I adore te way you have crackled the windows, what type of crackle medium do you use for it? I think you made absurdly the right choice in making the upstairs windows bays too even though it was more work it was definitely worth it as they look fab. Look forward to seeing how the oroject progresses. Natalie x

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    1. Hi Natalie,
      This crackle is the of the ready made variety. There are two spray cans - Step 1/the undercoat and Step 2/the top coat. I buy mine in Hobbyland and so far this is the only crackle I have really got to work and being a spray the results are quick and instant. It works well on all types of materials too.
      I have also tried the crackle pastes but have had very limited and variable success.
      I love the double bay and saw at Kensington this year a new design of house/shop by Sid Cooke that has a top and bottom bay that they are introducing following so much discussion of their designs on the internet!

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I really appreciate all comments that readers take the time to leave. I try to reply to all of them.