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.

The Leaky Cauldron....Not Again!!!

After the trauma of running out of rail for my bar counter I was ready to commit murder when this happened....

 The front door of this kit is a sliding panel, well it can be glued in place but interior access would be limited. I have spent a lot of time trying to decide how to finish and fix it and finally settled on all brick as a contrast to the render. 

Painting the facing edges in sand yellow was the first mistake. It's much too yellow but it can be changed pretty simply. 

The front step has to be glued in place in front of the sliding panel but not too close otherwise the panel will stick. As usual the piece has to be sanded down to accomodate the paving but I am used to this now.

The brick paviors go down very nicely, all easy peasy, but as you can see the step is unfinished because I was short by about 20 bricks. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!

 So now I have to order another pack and wait for it to arrive which is so annoying but the worst thing is I can't remember what type they are so I have had to order the colour I think is right.......and we all know what is going to happen! Oh well that will teach me not to make a note of these things. If worst comes to worst I will have to exchange them when I go to Kensington in May.

 I did, however, have enough bricks to complete the panel and the door is hinged and sort of hanging correctly.  

I have still got to decide what to do with the door mouldings. The ones that come with the kit are made in MDF which colours very differently to the balsa I have used everywhere else. At the moment I have painted it a very dark brown as a contrast but I am toying with the idea of making up my own and staining it to match all the rest. 

The only thing that puts me off is the circular piece that goes around the fan light which I didn't do very well with inside.

 This was my second attempt as the balsa hates being cut against the grain and kept splitting and splintering.

I am putting up with this attempt as it will rarely if ever be seen, don't tell Michelle, she will be horrified by such a shabby approach!!! Ha! Ha!

The door is also a little darker but in my defence it is much more sheltered from the elements inside the porch so it would not weather as badly!!!

Still hoping to have some time this week to play with the leaded windows.