Monday 11 February 2013

I Have Taken To The Bottle........At The Leaky Cauldron

After my little journey into all things shabby and chic I have returned to the cluttered and grungy world of Diagon Alley. The bar of The Leaky Cauldron needs all its bottles and crates filled and sorted ready to open its doors.
I have taken over the dining room table as my work room seems to be overflowing at the moment with all the pieces waiting to either go in the Cauldron or be finished off.
Here are a few of the necessary supplies for this messy and tricky operation: tacky wax for holding the bottles in place when filling, cocktail sticks for slow dripping, fine tipped syringes, a large glass tile for a work mat ( very easy to clean ), glass and creamic paints for tinting, and lots of tiny botttles and phials.
 These are a few that I have filled with Solid Water by Deluxe Materials. This is a resin product that you mix together to make a clear solution. The solution can be coloured with very small amounts of glass paint, oil paint and I even used tiny amounts of ceramic paint. It cannot be mixed with any water based paints. This product hardens off completely as long as you follow the mixing instructions. The more colour you add the darker the mixture. 
 I have been collecting bottles and decanters in all different shapes and sizes for a long time now intending to fill them with all different coloured wizarding liquids. I have now discovered that filling teeny, tiny bottles is not easy and in some cases totally impossible as the necks are just too thin. If I couldn't fill them, even with drips off a cocktail stick, I decided to simply paint them with glass paints. 
 I have filled the bar shelves with a mixture of shapes and sizes. Some of the bottles are the cheap acrylic types you can buy anywhere that I have simply re-labelled and dirtied up a little. 
 Some I have purchased at fairs and soaked off the labels and then added my own, Shepherd Miniatures have a really good glass range in a variety of shapes and colours.
I also printed off any witchy label I could find and stuck them to the back of the shelves and along the side to exaggerate the sense of clutter.
This was stage one of getting the bar together and today I had a full dress rehearsal......
I have lots of photos of all the different nooks and crannies to post tomorrow.






22 comments:

  1. Très beau travail, félicitations!
    Luce.

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  2. Wow! It looks Absoloutely incredible Janice! Everything has come together brilliantly and it just looks fantastic! Such a lovely busy seen and all the characters just make it!
    Cannot wait too see all the photos!!! :D

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    1. Lots of photographs in the next post Michael, I hope you enjoy them. I have actually finished a whole room!!!

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  3. great scene and wonderful potions ;)

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    1. Thank you Jane, I can't believe I have actually finished a room.....one down 8 to go!!!

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  4. He looks right at home behind the bar Janice and he's obviously a great landlord because his pub is full of wonderful customers. Looking forward to seeing more pics.

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    1. Hi Jo, he is king of all he surveys!! I hope he can deal with the drunken coven!!

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  5. What a fabulous scene. The bottles look great and I love the cat! Look forward to further updates.

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    1. This is the first room I have actually finished so I am feeling very pleased with myself. Loads of photos to come.

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  6. It looks so fantastic! Great work. Your miniatures are so wonderful.

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    1. Hi Lotti,
      I am so lucky to own so many wonderful pieces by many talented artists. I hope I have given them a worthy showcase.

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  7. Hi Janice! Oh wow, your Leaky Cauldron looks simply fantastic!!! Your created a wonderful magical athmosphere! As I am currently also looking for glassware I am very grateful for your link!
    I`m looking forward to see more pictures :-)
    Hugs, Sandra

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    1. Hi, I will be putting in some more glassware links tonight that may be of interest to you. I seem to have tried every supplier over the last couple of years.

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  8. This is a magic place!
    Everything looks fantastic and perfect.
    Bye Faby

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  9. I love love love the full dress rehearsal. I saw the start of your Leaky Cauldron and thought it would be a great place to hang out and true enough, you have proven me right!

    Janice, I am also having to work on some fiddly stuff to fill up a table. I have been putting it off knowing what a massive job that entails. Reading this post gives me hope!

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    1. Oh Sans, it is so hard to take the plunge isn't it. I am lucky enough to own some really fabulous pieces and I find it difficult to mess about with them, or hide them amongst other things. It has taken nearly two years to put this room together and every piece seems to sit well. It is crowded but it is supposed to be. There is no such thing as minimalism in my Diagon Alley!!

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  10. Wow, you are certainly game having a go at all that. Patient too! The end result is well worth it though and looks fab!

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    1. Hi Irene, it was difficult to start spoiling all that wonderful glass and I had to accept it was going to be messy. No such thing as shabby chic in the world of wizards!!

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  11. Madre mía!! Cuanta botella. Menudo trabajo.
    Besujis!!

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  12. Oh my god, this is amazing!!

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