Enigmatologist?

Enigmatologist? Dissectologist? Puzzler? What do these strange words mean? They essentially mean someone who creates and really likes to solve puzzles. Apparently, I like solving them so much that I create them for myself whenever I build a dollhouse! 😜 Most people read and follow directions, erect the walls and then adorn them. But that's not challenging enough, no. I need to finish and decorate walls before I erect them and then solve the many problems I create for myself when trying to fit them together. But the satisfaction I get when I make it all work leaves me giddy! All joking aside, though, why do I like to finish the walls before I erect them? Because I can see much better working flat and I like my results more this way. 

When I last left off, I shared how I'd been able to avoid the kit's fourth wall and all its complications for a long time. Finally, out of excuses, it was time. I started by concentrating on the second floor section of the three floor wall - Goldie's bed cubby. Since her window wasn't large enough to be a pop out cubby like Alice's bed cubby, I'd have to create a built in. I glued the exterior walls and floor in so that I could get accurate measurements of the oddly shaped space. 

I created a very rough sketch, determined how the space would be segmented, and then added papers from the same Alice pack as Alice's cubby. At the same time, I began to, piece by piece, create and cut the structure pieces using the Cricut.

Segmented wall.

I continued papering, painting and adding trim piece by piece. I papered and glued in Wayne's third story floor, which was also Goldie's bed cubby ceiling. Now it was starting to look like the idea in my mind! I should say here that the kit has these floor sections as separate pieces. Because of the way I am building the kit, I will have to join them up with the main floor pieces later on. Oh goodie! More puzzles!

Bed cubby flanked by shelves and drawer openings.

Finally, it was time to add the front wall, the trim, Dresden, paper covered drawers and knobs. The lighting fixtures will come later, after all the walls and floors have been installed. I also installed Goldie's window to the wall, but forgot to take a stand alone photo once it was attached. You'll see it in later photos

Goldie's window.

The girls and Wayne wanted to give you a size perspective.

With the final wall as ready to go as possible, it was time to start the process of attaching all four walls to the foundation. Russ brought me a couple carpenter's squares so that I could make sure my gluing angles were at a perfect 90 degrees. Staying true to my rebellion against instructions, I started with wall three.

My glue cup and primer jars assisted with the outside.

Russ' squares assisted on the inside.

Next was wall one, and when that was secure and dry, wall two. These photos are after they are attached. While waiting for various walls to attach and dry, I did more aging on the front door and French doors and added hardware. I am getting closer to my vision for them.

Wall two and wall one.

Wall three.

I also got to finishing the kitchen's bay windows. These go in the fourth wall, first floor. I had some window locks and handles in my stash which were perfect for this kind of working sash window.

When it finally came time to install the fourth wall, I naturally discovered that I'd need to make a few adjustments. The most glaring was that on the second wall, where it connected with the fourth wall, I had created and attached the wrong type of trim assembly. There was nothing for it but to remove it.

Removed trim. The glue works almost too good!

Once removed, new, correct trim could be added.

The correct trim at the correct angle to receive the bay window trim.

Where the fourth wall met the second and third walls I lost a little edge trim, but this was perfectly fine. You can also see Goldie's window installed looking through her bed cubby. If Rapunzel lived here, this would be the perfect window to let down her hair so that the prince could climb it and rescue her!

Once it looked like everything lined up properly, I added lots of clamps to keep it in place while the glue dried.

Whew! The individual wall method was successful and mostly trouble free! I am so happy to have these walls up! Here's a look from the outside...

And from the inside. For some reason, it reminds me of the set in a play.

A final look at the bay windows with all their trim. And the fourth wall that had me so fearsome for weeks!

I'll need to remember this triumph as I begin the puzzle of floors and roof. *gulp*

Thanks for being here with me on this adventure! Your encouragement and enthusiasm keep me going! 💗

xo xo,

Jodi

Fits and Fittings

This week's mini time was spent continuing on with wall prep for the fairytale treehouse. First, I needed to finish the staircase on the first wall by adding a bottom step. You can see the wall diagram in my last post. I wanted the bottom step to run the length of the stairway so that the girls had a place to sit and take off their mud boots.

I thought it best that the step be made of similar looking rocks as the rest of the staircase. And I thought it might be fun to try carving them from balsa strip wood. I constructed a simple box (from scraps) to fit between the walls, then made a separate top so that it had a slight overhang. I used a pencil to draw the grout lines that defined the rock shapes, then used an Xacto blade and a small ball stylus to carve them into the balsa. 

After a test fit, I painted a base layer of gray, then tried to remember the colors and process I used to paint the staircase steps. It always leads to trouble when I paint different parts of the project so far apart, especially when I don't chronicle the process of how I did it! I'll share the finished step later in the post. It turned out pretty close!

Next, it was time to timber and stucco the the stairwell wall. I kept the design consistent with the second wall in relation to the first and second floors i.e. square frames for the first floor, angled framing for the second floor and a wainscoting style layout for the attic. I cut and glued the timbers, 1/8" x 1/4" basswood, then painted them with the same khaki color I used on most of the timbers.

I filled in between the timbers with Paperclay, then base painted and aged the edges the same as I'd done with the other walls, After I attached the first step to the stairwell wall, it was time for an exciting moment - the first dry fit of the first two walls! This is always a special moment - I finally get to see if what is making sense in my mind actually makes sense in the real world! 

I love how the walls seamlessly flow into one another, but the glaring issue I saw was the unfinished floor! I really needed to make a decision on the wood floor's finish and get it done. 

I decided to try using a product that I've had in my stash for a very long time. I last used it when I did a rain chain/barrel tutorial during the Three Pigs project. It's called Fred's Wood Weathering Stuff and is really great! I applied three coats to achieve the color/depth I liked, and then sealed it with satin varnish. This is exactly the treehouse floor look I had in mind!

Now it was time for another dry fit, but this time, with all the walls! Here are some views from the inside...

And here is the exterior...

You may have noticed that I also finished the timbers and stucco on the second and fourth walls' third floor wall sections. These will be seen in Wayne's third story apartment/workshop. He gets all the gables. Lucky for him he's short so the danger of him banging his head will be minimal!

Somehow, I managed to avoid doing most of the fourth wall's tasks again this week. That means I also avoided a good deal of its dizzying trim calculations! But now, out of excuses and other work, I'll have to face the music (did you know that one, Birgit?). The most challenging aspect will now be what do I affix when and in what order so that I still have great access to the wall but at the same time don't create an unforeseen issue in fitting this puzzle together. 🤪 Hopefully, next week, I'll have a fourth wall with good progress and most of my hair in tact!

Speaking of fittings... The girls received a very special package all the way from Spain! Believe it or not, it arrived in less time from across the world than my other package did from Florida! Squealing the whole time, the girls stripped off their temporary garments, helped each other put on their dresses and were ready for photos in seconds! Now, they're fit for a tea party!

The dresses are incredibly well made, so wonderfully detailed and go on and off with ease! And they aren't swimming in extra bulk and material. They fasten in the back with a crochet loop that hooks over pearl buttons. Getting their arms through the sleeves was a pleasant experience. The best part of my purchase was that I got to connect with Celia. She is the owner of the Etsy shop ChMiniatures and is an incredibly talented mini seamstress and micro crochetier! Go see her amazing needlework and drool! It also turns out that she has followed my blog for years!

And so you don't think he's gotten lost in the forest, here is Wayne! He's still as naked as the day he was born, but surprisingly, not embarrassed at all! It must be great to have that kind of confidence!

Hope you're all finding time to enjoy the things that make you happy, like the first week of spring! To my "down under" friends who are dreading fall, remember, time flies!

xo xo,

Jodi

One Wall At A Time...

This week's mini time was focused on the second wall, referred to by that title because it is the second wall that the instructions have you attach to the foundation. It was a little challenging due to the time and care it took to finish and assemble the front door, a window and a set of French doors.

Second wall with front door and second story French doors.

So it's not confusing, let's talk about the kit's walls and where they'll go. The first wall in the instructions is the wall that I transformed into the stairwell tower. The third wall houses Alice's pop out bed cubby. These plus the second wall seemed like the "easy" walls. The final or fourth wall consists of Goldie's bed cubby (yet to be built) and the bay windows. It gets built using the pre-assembled bay windows, slip-in wall sections and single molding pieces that need to be glued together with the slots in opposite directions. That is so they can attach to the second and third walls using slots in the molding. The instructions give cut length measurements that are no longer relevant because I reduced the height of the foundation to 7/8". I'll be doing lots of math and triple checking my calculations. I may end the week with less hair than I started with! 

Now back to the "easy" second wall. At Goldie and Alice's request, I added many Dresden embellishments to give the doors a frilly, carved appearance. Thank goodness I had Wayne's dexterous raccoon fingers at my disposal - they really helped when my big hands proved too big for the job!

I used the glaze pens again to enhance the kit's acetate windows with stained glass effects. I am getting a little better with practice, and I really love the raised effect you get by applying many tiny polka dots.

They look very pretty from the inside, too.

With that part done, it was time to work on the interior of the wall. I thought it would be best to continue with the Tudor timber look and leave the colorful details for the furnishings and accessories. I clad the walls in timbers, adding door and window trims as I went. The doors and window framing were spruced up with "carvings" thanks again to Wayne. He likes to keep late hours, so when I woke and saw the work he'd done, I felt a bit like the Shoemaker must have felt when he saw that his work had been done by Elves!

Once the timbers got painted with a coat of khaki, I applied Paperclay in between the timbers as I did with the other walls. I got a bit more cracking this time as it dried. It must be more susceptible with deeper, wetter applications. It was actually fun and easy to repair. The deep cracks got a surface application of more Paperclay and the shallow cracks were smoothed over easily by rubbing them with a wet finger.

I cleaned up timbers that had a bit too much Paperclay build up on them by sanding and scraping it off. Then I applied a coat of diluted khaki paint over the timbers again. I liked the aged and worn look so I fought the instinct to make them look new. I painted the "stucco" in light washes of khaki mixed with white, then treated the corners and edges to some aging with a stronger khaki wash.

I'd like to age the doors and give them some definition with washes, but I am still working on a technique that yields the results I see in my mind's eye. What I've done so far isn't it yet, but I'll keep working at it...

Now for a little Alice and Goldie news... The girls are no longer in their skivvies! I found them each a dress and a set of long underwear that should suffice until their pretty dresses arrive from Spain - hopefully soon! They each got a pair of shoes, too, though I can't swear they'll keep them on long - they seem to have gone a bit feral lately!

It doesn't feel like I accomplished a lot this week, but I know it'll feel that way once all the walls go up. First, I have to timber and stucco the inside of the first wall. Then, I'll tackle that fourth wall - no more procrastinating! I have my work cut out for me, but I'll take it one nibble at a time.

xo xo,

Jodi