A Glimpse Into A Future Dream...

With Alki Point getting nearer to completion, naturally I have been dreaming and planning the next project! You know how this madness goes... I have really enjoyed working with these Greenleaf kits (which were two Asahi Tea Houses built opening to opening), so for my next project, I will be doing another tab and slot kit!

Ideally, I wanted to do a small project where I could focus on making most of the details myself. I truly enjoy that part, and I love sharing what I am learning with other DIY type miniaturists, too. We learn so much through sharing each other's experience! I originally began looking at the Primrose, thinking that I'd combine two of the kits again. Sadly, they were out of stock and after contacting Greenleaf, I learned they weren't going to have them back in stock for at least a couple of months.

I began looking at other options, and was listing the pros and cons of both The Sugarplum and The Storybrook Cottage. Both are small, which is great because all of the projects I finish have to have a place to reside in my house. What's the point if you can't enjoy the finished ones, right? Either of these will fit nicely on one of the built in shelves here in my craft room/office (a.k.a. my formal dining and living rooms).

As far as style goes, both are really adorable, and I can do a million things with either. They are so easy to bash and remodel! The cost for each of them is totally affordable (under $50), so either one was an option. It seems silly, but what it finally came down to was the windows. Yep, it was really all about the windows.

You see, I have been collecting castings from Jim Coates. I fell in love with some of his frames, so much so that I want to make windows out of them. One frame for the inside, one for the outside and plexi in between. The windows in The Storybrook Cottage are so adorable on their own, that I wouldn't want to replace them. I am thinking a future gingerbread cottage with that kit. I don't think I ever mentioned that I once collected all things gingerbread. My kitchen had a gingerbread theme for years. Mostly though, it is Christmas decor, which will be magical if ever I have any grandkids.

Anyway, because of the windows, I decided on The Sugarplum. The idea in my head is a soap shop, with lots of good smelling things, handmade pottery, linens, candles - a little bit of everything. In fact, that is probably what I will name the shop - A Little Bit Of Everything. It's most likely going to be a departure from the modern style of Alki Point. A little shabby with touches of things from times past. That's the vision in my head, but we'll see where it leads us...










Some of the things I'd like to explore and share on the blog during the project are:

• Making Miniature Candles
• Making Various Miniature Shop Displays
• Making Miniature Silicone Molds For Bottles and Jars
• Casting Miniatures With Resin
• Making A Miniature Electrified Teacup Chandelier
• Making Miniature Signs & Labels With Water Slide Decals And Label Paper
• Making Flowers & Plants With Paper Punches And Various Papers
• Making And Remodeling Scale Furniture
• Ageing And Distressing Finishes
• Bashing House Of Miniatures And Realife Miniatures Kits
• Making Copper Wire Plate Racks With A Soldering Iron

I hope you'll look forward to and enjoy exploring these topics with me. I also hope that you'll find it interesting and worthwhile! Maybe you want to make one of your own and we can colaberate! How fun would that be!

Alas, there is still a project to finish up first. I think my daughter has her eye on this one! Now back to work on Alki Point!

Have you ever made wood stain?

The next logical step in finishing Alki Point is the exterior. I've been playing around in my mind with colors, textures, and finishes, but nothing yet has cemented the decision. I'm definitely going in two directions, and one of them employs vertical wood siding. 

Have you ever made wood stain using the apple cider vinegar/steel wool method? White vinegar and rusty nails? How about coffee or tea? Well, I never have, but I plan to do some experimenting this weekend!

I read a great blog post from A Piece Of Rainbow. She tested several wood staining methods on several wood species. The great thing about all of them? No smelly chemicals! All of her methods used natural ingredients, and I bet most of us already have them at home! That means, it's almost free! I like that!

HBS/Miniatures.com has a little tutorial on this topic, so that tells me it must be a tried and true method for miniaturists.

For my experiment, I am using the Apple Cider Vinegar and Steel Wool concoction. I want to achieve a very dark brown (to compliment the wood floors in Alki Point) or a very dark and weathered grey (this is a common finish seen in wood siding here in the Northwest). The Apple Cider Vinegar is supposed to achieve a darker stain. How handy is that? It is just what I found in my cupboard!

I started with a non metallic container. Apparently, this is very important. The acid in the vinegar reacts with metal, and will ruin any metal container. I had a Rubbermaid salad dressing bottle, so that's what I used.

I took a piece of steel wool, about the size of an S.O.S. pad and dropped it in the bottle. My steel wool does not have the blue sticky soap stuff like S.O.S. pads. It is the kind that woodworkers use to sand fine finishes. It would be interesting to see how the soap effected the stain... Then I poured in the Apple Cider Vinegar until the steel wool was completely covered.

Everything I read about the process said to leave the lid open. Not because the metal and acid would cause a dangerous reaction of any kind, but because the process that is happening is actually oxidation! The pair needs air to work! Man, science just geeks me out!

Reportedly, the longer you leave them stewing, the darker the stain will be. After 24 hours, I am not seeing much change in the color of the liquid in the bottle. Is that because the color of Apple Cider Vinegar is already so rusty looking? Time will tell. Unfortunately, I don't have any White Vinegar on hand. It would be interesting to watch the color change happen. Oh well. Someday...

I'll probably just let them hang out together until Saturday. Then I'll try the stain on a couple of different scrap pieces. In the blog post, Ananda added concentrated brewed coffee to her vinegar stain and got darker results. The tannins react with the wood.

I may just experiment with that a little, too. The miniatures.com tutorial recommends straining the liquid to eliminate the tiny shards of steel that are left behind. I like it! I'll get out my trusty funnel, put a coffee filter in it, then pour it into another sealable container. Gosh! I hope I made enough!

The Hardest Challenges, The Greatest Excitement!

It's been an exciting few days which started with the Seahawks' shocking last second victory over the Vikings due to a missed chip shot 27 yard field goal. I am still pinching myself over that one. I do feel very bad for the Vikings and their fans. Been there... Remember last year's Superbowl? If you are a Seahawks or Patriots fan, you'll never forget it.

I opted for option #2 in plans for last weekend. I was feeling pretty nervous about all of the things I needed to do for the front wall of Alki Point, so I spent most of the weekend watching football playoffs with the hubs. I practically eliminated the front wall that came with the Asahi Tea House kit so that I could have a wall of windows. I was a little concerned in my ability to pull off such a radical bash. Did I measure everything correctly? Was the lexan going to slip in between both sets of window frames like I planned? Had I thought of all of the variables? What if I really messed up? How was I going to fix it?

Thank all of the wonderful blessing/luck/good fortune/karma/guardian angels/planning/past mistakes etcetera - it all worked out magically! The scoring tool was perfect! I made sure to secure the 1/16" thick lexan to my cutting mat with painters tape, then secured my steel ruler to both the lexan and to the cutting mat before I started to score it. Nothing moved on me, so my score lines were perfect each time. After scoring with about 14 passes, all I needed to do was cut through the film on the opposite side with my craft knife. Only one small edge had to be sanded a bit, due mostly to paint build up on the frame.

With the front wall "glass", interior window and door frames and door handles installed, I could now attach the front wall to the structure - another scary proposition. Did I measure the door height to floor accurately? Did I cut the slots for the tabs in the right place? Gulp... Only one way to find out... Other than having to sort of jimmy the floor under the bottom of the door a bit, and enlarge one of the slots slightly, it matched up perfectly! Like I planned it or something! Actually, I did do a LOT of planning and dry fitting along the way and it paid off!

After the wall was attached, I just stared at Alki Point for a while. Then I got out the roof pieces and started fooling around with those to see how things were going to look. It was then that I realized that everything is totally coming together like I first saw it in my mind's eye. That is such an exciting and rewarding feeling, and why all of us do what we do. Right?

Then, I looked over at the poor pillowless bed and remembered that I still had some challenges in front of me. I thought "why are you so afraid to make a stupid pillow?". Really? I have enough pillow making material that I could screw up twelve times and still be able to start over. Shelley was even so kind as to find a great tutorial, give it a go, take in progress photos, then email it all to me! If she was willing to do all of that for me, I at least owed her a try! So I did...

I used a little fusible web on the first couple throw pillows to see how it would work. On the grey pillows, it worked well enough that all I had to do was hand sew the last opening. The coral fabric did not want to stay together, so I ended up hand sewing all of them. I made several of them and just finished the best four.

For the bed pillows, I covered 3/16" x 1-1/2" x 2" mat board pieces with quilt batting using Tacky Glue. Then I took cotton handkerchief material and glued it over the batting. For the pillow cases, I ironed seems into the material, then hand sewed two sides leaving one open to slide the pillows into.

My stitches are okay - not as clean looking as I'd like, but I got some experience and learned some things. I think I need to let go of the idea that everything should turn out perfectly. I am happy and can live with the pillows I made, especially when I look at the project as a whole - I think Alki Point, for the most part, is turning out just as I had hoped!