Storybook Cottage Exterior Plot

Whenever I miss a week's posting, it's because I think there's just not much to share. Then, I go to do a post, look at all the photos and think "Ah jeeze! This is going to be too long"! Oh well, I'll just try to briefly catch you up...

In my last post, I was working on getting the interior trim wrapped up. I got the rest of the wall and dormer pieces attached upstairs, and worked to improve the look of the trims. Much better!

Before I could enclose the stairwell with it's exterior wall and roof, I needed to figure out the lighting in there. I am using all battery lights on this project, because I had so many collected from sales and closeouts. Didn't make sense to leave them in the drawer and order all new wired lights. So for the stairwell, I had a string of Darice Moon lights. They are attached to a battery pack that I could run to the exterior for access. The battery enclosure looks like a utility box, so I'll just finish it to look like the one I did on the Garden Shed, only a little less rusty. I don't need much light in there, just a little ambiance, and I was able to hide the bulbs behind the decor. They were very bright white, so I toned them down with a little yellow Gallery Glass.

The exterior is going to have many textures and colors, so I applied stucco to the areas where I wanted it. Then, I applied stones along the foundation and to the stairwell and window seat walls. I used packaging from the Yankee Candles I bought last Christmas instead of egg carton, as I liked the very prominent texture.

I mixed a little acrylic paint into spackle for the grout, but found it was hard to remove without risking damaging the surface of the stones, even after two coats of sealer. So instead, I scraped artists chalk into the spackle. I loved the color, and it was lots easier to remove the excess. Imagine my horror when after drying, the grout turned from light brown to pink! Yes, pink! So, I ended up having to hand paint every grout line. Me + fiber stones = 2 out of  5. Next time, I'm using Paperclay. But in the end they are fine, so all is well...

I got a little undercoating done on the gables to help me decide what I'll do there..

I wanted a little shake shingle texture on all three dormers, so I used the shingle sheets that came in the Storybook Cottage kit to make up my own. The roofing will be done in half scale speed shingles instead.

Applying them has taken a tremendous amount of time, but since I am only going part way up with it on the dormers, I am almost finished. There will be cap trim on top to sort of box them in. Hard to explain, but hopefully, I'll have photos to share in my next post.

This is the part where the project really seems to slow down. There are so many decisions to make for the exterior, and it seems that adding many detailed textures is slow going. But with time, luck and perseverance, I'll be back in a  week or two with a little more progress!

Have a safe and happy first week of July!

xo xo,
Jodi