The Apothecary Just Needs a Bit More Tweaking.......

No photographs of my new dolls I am afraid as the light has been awful here this afternoon. Instead here is the Apothecary with most of the hard work done.

 The front of the shop has all been assembled, glued, grouted and  art mached.

 All the wood work has had layers of cream, gold and brown acrylic paint. They have been crackled and sanded for a distressed worn look. I do love these bay windows.

 The shop door is made from MDF which is not the easiest of materials to paint and sand but I am quite pleased with the finish. Usual story with these Sid Cooke kits, there is so little room for manoeuvre, any paint added to the door surround and door means the door simply will not fit. I can't understand why they make them to fit so tight. So quite a bit of post paint, cross sanding went on here!

 I have given this shop a 'lead' roof as the design seemed to call for it. I have bashed it around a bit and I will age it a bit more and then hope for it to tarnish naturally.

 I wanted the windows to look aged so I laid the acetate on the cushioned pad I use for my flowers making and with a fine ball stylus punched in some old glass blemishes. It almost looks like the bulls eyes you see on really old windows. 

I have also painted the acetate with a khaki porcelain/ceramic paint which also adds a slightly dusty and aged effect.

 The interior shelving are two really cheap pieces I bought on Ebay and they are the perfect size for what I wanted in the main shop. Quite tall shelves and a deeper shelf at the bottom.

 I will be using LED lights within the shelving to ghost through all the potion jars that will eventually line the shelves. The middle will have a very special opening door that will be surrounded by hanging herbs and barrels.

 This counter has also been painted and will need a bit more sanding before restoring the 'glass' and drawers. I think this piece is ideal as a counter as you can add so many things to it, all of which can be seen either through the counter top or front.

Unfortunately I cannot remember where I bought it!

 A close up of the paint work. This effect has come through a mix of sanding and crackle glaze over many days and layers

 It just needs a tiny bit more work and then I will add some Rub'n'Buff in gold to a few of the edges.

The inside roof wall has been bricked and grouted too. I was initially going to ridge tile the edges but when I had a little play with a few I had they just did not look right, a bit clumpy, so I went with ArtMache rendering instead.

I have nearly achieved my goal of finishing two carcasses by Christmas. I will now start ageing the ArtMache and pavement paviors a layer at a time. I can't do the bottom bricks because I am waiting for some more to arrive to finish off the right hand side wall. It doesn't matter how many I order I never seem to have enough.

I tried to get some at KDF but they had sold out of the type I wanted. I hope they arrive this week because once the cast comes off on Friday, I will have to lay down tools and begin the great Christmas rush before my children come home from Uni and my family arrive to eat me out of house and home!!!

Plus I really will have to dust those skirting boards!   

I Am Sure There Is A Better Way!.......

I decided that the standar shop door that came with my Sid Cooke house was definitely not right for the 'Tudor' look of The Leaky Cauldron. I remembered reading on a blog that sometimes we can use what we already have as a base and work with it.

So I sanded down the original door and covered both side with strips of balsa. Trimmed and distressed with my trusty tapestry needle.

One of the reasons I kept the door was to be able to have the central window looking into the bar. I am hoping that the surround will hole the leaded window in place.

 As I have still to begin the windows I only finished off the interior side. After a lot of tweaking and sanding the door fitted snugly into the doorway.

 Flushed with success I stained and sanded the door again. I even remembered to test the length of the door to make sure it would still open across the interior slate flagstones.

The finished door has a much better look but it is slightly thicker than the original which did cause problems with the hinges which I haven't quite sorted out yet because the tiny flat head screws have disappeared! For a temporary solution I have used some others but they will have to be changed......when I find the others!

Karin has given me some very good advice about using balsa for tricky shapes and sanding so I will be slightly less amateur in my next attempt at door bashing! Thanks Karin.

In the post today I received a parcel of goodies from the talented and generous Glenda of undancey minis who is streamlining her collection.

 Glenda decided to sell her vampire collection with some wonderful pieces by artists like Ericka and Nikki so I had to have them for my Apothecary shop.

 Glenda also popped in some extra goodies that she knows I will definitely be able to use including a couple of her rugs and gorgeous little baskets. My real favourite though was the tiny, and I mean tiny, delicate pouch/purse which is just perfect for one of my witch's shopping baskets.

 Thank you so much Glenda for my fabulous parcel which I know you have taken the time to send during the very stressful days New Zealand and all its families are experiencing at the moment. 

Wood, Wood and More Wood......But The Fireplace Too!

I have been working on my wood pile today but I have also finished the fireplace. I gave it a complete wash of 'sandstone' paint to try and tone down the camouflage effect. Then I added the balsa 'oak' mantle and dirtied up the grate and chimney. For the soot I used a sprinkling of fine black glitter mixed with a very fine black powder/dust that I found in one of my jars. I think it is from Hobbyland and would have been in their model railway department, I use quite a lot of railway finishes.

 I made a tiny little shelf to hold one of Nikki's jars and added a "Floo Powder" label, this idea was courtesy of Michelle who always adds wonderful finishing touches to all her work. I think I need to age the edges of the label somehow as it looks a bit too new in the photograph. I am hoping to put a candle box or similar on the other side.

The mantle decoration is by After Dark Miniatures one of my favourite Etsy sellers. I am not sure if it will stay here but it feels right at the moment. 

 The fire is a mixture of small logs topped with painted balsa shreds to make it look like the fire has just been lit. Again I have used the black 'soot' with a sprinkling of black and red glitter (a trick I think I read on Nikki's Blog), which catches the changing light in the room. I like this fire a lot.

 The photograph makes it look very creamy but it is much more sandy and fits in well with the floor and walls. I still need a couple of bits to go on the hearth, a quirky coal/wood bucket maybe??

 I have also been working on the interior wood. I washed the planks in various dilutions of raw and burnt umber but just could not get the colour right. Plus the more I washed the more the wood swelled so I had to keep on distressing with the darning needle.

I have always used woodstain before which is really easy and much quicker. I am not sure I am really getting the washing technique right at all. For example do you start with a dark base and add light, or vice versa!?

 My last wash tonight was a grey/umber colour to try and get rid of the orange tone I seem to have acquired....Mmmmm. Then I will rub with linseed oil for a waxy sheen. If this doesn't work I am heading for the dark oak wood stain and starting again!

 Treating the proto-type doors has come out ok except for the PVA glue stains.....These will have to be rubbed down in patches and painted again.

 The doors a la Michelle. All the planks are individual and will be distressed and painted before gluing. These already look better than my first attempt.

The door surrounds will bed added once the doors are finished and glued to the walls. I can't wait to get going with these tomorrow. 

Wish me luck!