Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Day 103: I declare George & Annabelle's house done!

For my sanity I declare 2 things...

A) George and Annabelle's house is as complete as I intend on ever making it!

and

2) I shall never again in my lifetime work on a tab/slot kit!

Now, getting back to talking about G & A's house.  
This was the 1st project I started that snowy night a few years back that got me back into
miniatures.  It was a kit I had purchased from the goodwill for very little, 
and if you really want more info on it, go all the way to the beginning of this blog 
(as in when I created it) and you can read more story on it.

My inspiration for this home was a couple I created, George & Annabelle.  
They got their names because at the time I started this my husband
and I were newly married (not my 1st time :)
and we were trying to conceive, and the names we had
chosen for our future child was either George or Annabelle.
Well that child never came to be, but the memory of that dream is with
my little imaginary couple.

This is G & A's first home, their starter home :)
It's an old house they chose in a great little old
neighborhood, and although it needed lots of work, 
they purchased it, and then as money allowed, they remodel.

You'll notice the walls aren't perfect, in fact in many places they look
quite old, and it's obvious that many many coats of paint have
been applied over the years to this old house.
The textured wallpaper that some previous owner decided to 
put up and then paint over is downright nasty in spots, but
Annabelle knows that eventually she and George will
find the time, energy and money to either replace it or repair it better.
For now, it's fine, because it's theirs and 
they love it!

Here's a bit more of how I imagine G & A feel about the house:



Before they closed on the their 1st house, they 
made the previous sellers put a new roof on, so you'll notice
nice new shingles, some even still show a little 
chalk mark from the roofer's. 

(this roof is made from real shingles from our house, we cut each
one to size and my husband patiently worked with me
to make it as 'real' as possible"







The home was built on a slab, so when they discovered the original 
hardwood floors were rotting, and they couldn't afford to replace them, 
G & A decided to take a much trendier approach and poured
their own concrete floors on the ground level, then 
they painted them.




The kitchen is a mix of old and new.
Luckily the kitchen sink (which Annabelle fell in love with 
when they first viewed the home) was in perfect condition.
Annabelle saved money by painting the cabinets, but
shortly after they moved in the old fridge died, 
so they upgraded to a new fridge.


The original hardwood floors on the 2nd floor were in really good condition, 
so George surprised Annabelle while she was away on a business trip
by sanding (by hand) the bedroom floor and refinishing.


Having 1 bathroom was a drawback for the house, 
but they decided it was a concession worth making.



Shortly after they moved in, G & A found out they
were expecting!  Well with such little space in the house
they decided to turn this little space into a 
nursery for baby Norah.


The floors in this room were just ok, so Annabelle decided to paint them a 
soft white (almost like a wash)
As you can see, some of the floor boards are a bit warped and weathered,
but now that baby makes 3, money is even more precious.



On the weekends you will always find George
putzing in the yard, he is soo proud of 
having the greenest lawn on the block.



The bench out from was a wedding gift from 
some dear friends.

The dog.....well he's the neighbors, but he's taken a fondness to 
how the sun hits G & A's patio, so he's often found
relaxing there.  It's nice for George, as he loves dogs, 
but with a small home and a baby now...well 
it just doesn't work for him to have his own yet. 
So enjoy the neighbor's he does.


One of the things Annabelle was most excited for 
when buying their first home was planting flowers.
She's not a huge gardner, but fresh flowers she finds so inviting.




One of G & A's favorite things to do together is grill.
They enjoy many picnics at home.




Well there you have it, 
George & Annabelle's first home.

As fun as it was at times, the frustrations
were equal to that of a real 1st time homebuyer :)


Day 102: A New Shop in the Works

Here is sorta a sneak peak, but not really :)

I've just completed the "building" portion of this new room box, 
it's an eclectic boutique which is named

Something Old Something New
Bric a brac for those with discerning taste

It's my 1st building to ever have electricity in it.


I still need to add the sidewalk, which will be featured on it's own separate board, 
making it possible to change out the sidewalk either for seasons, for ease of packing and moving, 
or to accommodate a sidewalk that can bring together multiple shops


As you can see the inside is very eclectic in fixtures and features.

Now the work of making all the products for the shelves and displays
(which as you've already seen, I have started a little on).

Hope you enjoy this little sneak peak into this project, 
don't get too excited to see much more on this one for a while, between 
travel and another project for a contest I need to start, 
I think it will stay as is for quite some time. 

O' and ya wanna know the coolest part about this project?
Almost everything used for this project was left over pieces from 
other stuff, or just items in my stash of clearance stuff, so I have less than 
$60 into it, including the lights!

I love budget projects :) 


Friday, March 14, 2014

Day 101: 1:144 and N & Z Scale projects

After many years of admiring 1:144 scale and then saying 
I'm never doing anything other than 1:12 scale....
well you saw (or maybe didn't see) 
Mae's Flower shop (1:48 scale shown on Day 90)  
that I did a few months back, that was my 1st (and still only) 
1:48 scale project I've ever done.  

I guess you could say "I changed my mind"
Or those darn adorable little projects and kits enticed me
to the point of purchase! (and probably madness :)

ANYWAY...I have though been working on some 1:144 projects, 
and since my supplies here were a bit tight, 
but I could get a hold of some train model kits, I also
did some super quick N and Z scale projects.  
These were fun, but took very little time (literally a couple hours each)
and really have no "me" in them, but I figured I'd share them with you anyway.

So without further ado (and in no particular order)...


You probably recognize this kit 
(seems to be a popular one)
I have not furnished or "landscaped" the inside yet
except for a lonely little potting bench. 




This little kitchen room box was my 1st attempt at starting with nothing.
I made the box from balsa wood (I wouldn't do that again, it's way to soft)
I printed the wall paper, flooring and pictures.

I still need to learn how to accessorize in 1:144, it's tough!



This is 1 of the 2 N scale models I made.



The only real personalizing I did was adding the flowers on the windows
and redoing the shop on the 1st level, the graphics that came with it were horrendous! 

Since I couldn't get it to photograph inside, I took out the shop (below) 
so you will just have to imagine peering in 
through the ground floor windows at this shop.
(see 1st picture of this project)


Below is the other N scale model




This itty bitty book was a kit from Robin Betterley
Given my love of books and mini books, I just had to buy one!



This was the 1st 1:144 I ever did, O' the mistakes I can see, 
luckily with practice comes more proficiency :)







This little library room box was a kit, 
I did put it together sorta 'inside out' (by choice) and I love
the box, the 'book' wall and the bookshelves, I'm a bit
disappointed with the chair I made, but again...I'm learning.




This tiny swing was also a kit.

For someone with nary a green speck anywhere close to my thumb, 
I so enjoy landscaping in miniature....maybe it's the lack of worms




Saving the tiniest for last (by accident :)
This was a Z (1:220) scale model I did, and scarily I loved 
it more than the N scale ones.  If I were to ever do another train model building 
again it would be in Z scale and I'd do a few modifications.


Well there you have the 'other' projects I've been working on since mid December
hope you enjoyed, and check back soon as I 
have recently acquired a new tool that is going to change
my micro scale work for the better.

Can't wait to learn how to use it and then share the results with you.






Thursday, March 13, 2014

Day 100: Sophie's Sweets

This project has literally been on my list for years!

I've wanted to make candy and candy jars for soo long that 
it's kinda ridiculous.  Well this week, I finally did them...and 
I will now admit, they were a lot more work than I thought
they would be, but I'm soo excited with 
the mix of candies' and jars that I came up with.

Sophie's Sweets has officially launched,
next stop, Shark Tank!  haha