Saturday morning

After years and years of chores on Saturday morning, this lovely time has become mine to work only on projects. I watch my favorite shows ( I love Sell This House- another secret)

Everyone has been well trained to leave this time unencumbered and not ask for anything- part of me wonders if I should have taught kids this a long time ago, and part can't get away from feeling guilty . but the biggest part is having a great time!

I'm still proud to say that I am working toward the targeted end of Gammage house, and toward getting things ready to glue the 2nd floor on Max's Doolin Inn. yes, it has changed back to a B@B, but with some summer dwellers who stay from May to August. I'm working on the bay window seat this morning . Pics later.

Fine motor skills

I don't think I have really worked on fine motor skills since I was 5. I never did quite master cursive, but I type everything anyway. I play piano and fiddle with dexterity so WHY CAN'T I cut a straight line?

When I first started playing fiddle, it sounded so bad that I played with a practice mute and a clothespin on my bridge so that the noise wasn't so bad.

So I'll stick to this too, and skills will get better. Check the picture out and you'll understand my frustration!

Obsessed

You know you are obsessed when you are making divinity fudge and start trying to figure out how to use it to make miniatures. But it does kind of look like sparkling I need....

Multi tasking

Right now I seem to be so distractable that I have to hide loose projects from myself so I don't work on them instead of the houses. I am however giving myself permission to flit between the Gammage house and the yet to be named rooming house. I have the goal of finishing the 1st floor of the rooming house, and the stonework of the Gammage house. Oh, and the stone work requires that I add some framing , and the first floor requires a window seat built in and the fireplaces and panels finished.... As I write that I realize it is only partially true .

To commit , this is the end I am working on today. And yes, it is a complete mess! The interior of this end is meant to be very old and rustic- if you will remember, Persis will inhabit the upstairs, and had the balcony built( with private plans to find a way to escape the house unnoticed ) .

The Gammage sisters revolt

So the sisters seem to have gotten wind of the recent work stoppage on their house. Not happy! (and comments from my family as well since they seem to think that one dollhouse at a time is the gold standard.) Money for minis Is looking pretty slim this month after the $2000 for the dentist and the $95 for a new car battery in one day.

So time to at least introduce Julia ,the oldest Gammage sister. If you'll remember, Persis is the free spirited youngest , and the closest to being truly half scale. Julia is exceptionally tall . She would very much agree with my family about finishing one thing before starting another. Her room is a model of organization and beauty as well. Persis has never seen her in grubby clothes and jewelry. She does however need new boots. After dressing Persis, I'm marveling at the detail of her clothing! right now she is very unhappily surveying the mess outside the basement of Gammage house.

Cardstock

I go excited about using card stock after seeing the work of Shane Downes and decided to figure out how to use it. I love to cut wood , but the thinner wood breaks when trying to cut diagonals or details . What I've learned so far- my blade runner does cut card stock, but the scroll saw works better. After using the saws I'm just too impatient to cut by hand.

Mid day update

I just watched the movie - I think it is called Julie and Julia- about a woman who cooks her way through Julia Child's cookbook, and blogs daily. What would be the miniature equivalent? 

The rooming house is only quarter scale in name  I think, but we'll see the finished dimensions later. I've been challenged on both projects by my messy work- and it is even more challenging when smaller, because every gunk of paint is , in scale, at least as big as my paper model's hand. Yes, I made a little cut out the size of a tall adult, to give myself a sense of how tall things should be. I did make the ceilings extremely high on purpose, for the rooming house is a victorian mansion transformed to meet heating costs! 

I've built the house in separate pieces to, give me access to decorate. There are three levels , plus a loft level and a tower room . At first the tower was separate, but I've joined it already -a little challenging, but the end result is okay. 

This is the first floor. I'm hoping to get it ready to glue to the 2nd floor today. My plan is to decorate the exterior after it is all joined, unless someone tells me a different strategy! 

This app keeps crashing when I load pics, I'm going to switch to add pictures

Making wallpaper

I got a great idea to make wallpaper from the web. I took a picture of a small swatch of fabric, and a picture of a wallpaper border . An IPad makes this really easy- you take a picture of your screen by pushing the home button and the on/off button at the same time. I know there is an App to use , but I prefer to do it using PowerPoint.

in PowerPoint, you click on design, and background. in background, you select picture fill, then select the photo you want to use. Click "tile", then adjust the percentage as you like. I'm really pleased with the results!

distractions

Vacation seems to be coming to an end- even though I have two more days, then work two days before the weekend. it's time to fess up- what I've really been working on is  a quarter scale rooming house. Is there such a thing as a rooming house any more? The owner is named Max. Other characters to follow!Usually, I can work in a complete mess, but today my usual messes not working .First to sort out the projects. For now Gammage House parts are going into storage. Here is the original mess- well, it's side ways, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter. 

Suspension of Disbelief

I have always disliked fantasy books and movies. And even as a child, those movies and tv shows with talking animals! In the words of my teenage niece- that's just wrong! I also have a bias against broccoli or pineapple on pizza, but that is another story. 

My 28 year old son, who is a photographer, saw the Josiah Gammage house when he came home for the holiday. H e's generally hypercritical, but has  learned a bit of tact at William and Mary where he is studying to be a school psychologist. He first said, "I'm trying to decide if it should be another color", which got me thinking. and then, "How do they get to the basement from upstairs?" Well of course I had talked myself into jut having an outside entrance to the basement, but what was I thinking? I have the kitchen down there now! So now I have to cut a hole from upstairs in the hall to the kitchen. I tried with my Dremel Trio- which I have recently started liking better but can't control well, but it was too big . Back to the drawing board!

I forgot to ask my son how he feels about talking animal movies.