Wayne's World

My regular readers will be familiar with our furry and friendly, handy and talented, resident raccoon craftsman, Wayne. His knowledge and willingness to tackle any task has been essential in making both the trunkhouse and the treehouse become a home. That is why I am delighted to report that this week it was finally time to begin working on Wayne's attic apartment!

Wayne

Wayne's Attic Apartment

To regular 1/12th folks, the attic space might feel a little petit. But to Wayne, at just 2-1/8" tall (to the tippy tufts of his ears), it's absolutely palatial! Sounds great, right?!? But how do I utilize and maximize every inch of this place and give Wayne a happy home? It's a challenge, and to further complicate matters, its my first real "less than 1/12th scale" project that isn't an all-in-one kit.

To help me visualize and get a feel for the actual amount of space Wayne has, I found measurements online for standard half scale furnishings. Then, I created shapes in those measurements that I could print out and lay out in his apartment.

Good plan, right? Except when I asked Wayne to come take a look. We both immediately saw a problem. The standard half scale stove measurements would require that Wayne stand on a step stool just to use it! That just wouldn't do! 

Maybe half scale wasn't quite right. And Wayne is certainly too big for 1/48th scale. He is basically 2/3 of half scale. That'll make your brain hurt! Whatever the actual scale ends up being, the facts are simple: Wayne is going to need an entire apartment of customized furnishings and accessories sized just for him. How fun! 😄

A half scale stove is just too tall.

Wayne and I took some measurements then went back to the drawing program. Our second set of models looked much, much better!

We felt confident in taking our measurements over to Design Space to create our first pieces! We started with the cooking stove, as it will also serve to heat the apartment. And alongside that we created Wayne's dry sink and hutch cupboard.

Here Wayne is installing the stovepipe and pot burners.

And here he's painting the hutch and dry sink unit before assembly.

Yippee! The first area of Wayne's apartment has it's furnishings and they're a great fit!

But there is still so much more Wayne needs to live a comfortable life! Kitchen table and chairs, comfy arm chairs and occasional tables, bookshelves, nightstand, rugs, mementos and good lighting... The list is long but now that we know how to scale things, everything in Wayne's World will fit him perfectly!

Back soon with more progress!

xo xo,

Jodi

Miracles

Hi Guys! February already? Seems like 2024 is going to go by just as fast as 2023 did! Yikes!

In spite of the calendar, I have been able to make a little progress on the treehouse over the last couple weeks. And I got a task completed that had me a little anxious: The Roof!

When I build out of sequence (Who? Me?), adding things on and rearranging components, I never know what kinds of issues I might be creating for myself later. Miraculously, this time, it wasn't too bad. I started by finding all the roof pieces, removing them from the kit's sheets and sanding. Oh the sanding! The fancy gable deco pieces took a lot of sanding and a good bit of assembly. Listening to Steven King's Fairytale audiobook through the process made it very enjoyable!

Gable Deco Components

Then paint. Does everyone struggle with what paint color to put where like I do? The final weathered look I have in my mind is not so bold, but it has to start out that way. Once the gable deco was painted and assembled, the rest of the roof pieces could be assembled. 

I had a 1/4" gap on the left side of the right front gable and couldn't account for why. I had Russ, the handy construction consultant, look at it with me, too. Neither of us could figure out why, so maybe it was just a factory kit piece cutting issue? We'll probably never know. But, luckily, a little filler strip of art board took care of the issue.

I wanted to bring a little natural light into the dark recesses of the gables. So, each of them got a window designed and cut with the Cricut Maker. Wayne's apartment gable will have an arched dormer window and the girls' bathtub gable a round skylight,

Wayne's Dormer Window

Pointed at the stars for nighttime viewing from bed.

Bathtub alcove skylight.

Other than the gap, the roof fit pretty good. I marked where the walls and floors met the roof and then...

First look with the roof on... finally!

Wayne's Apartment

Bathtub Alcove

Left it removable for now so that it would be a lot easier to do the wall treatments.

Removable Lid

Easy To Work On

After priming the walls and painting the gable trim color, I added the timbers using 1/16" x 1/4" basswood strips. The dividing wall between Wayne's apartment and the great room got thicker basswood, 1/8", to give the appearance of thickness since it'll be viewed from the side profile. I made it from art board.

Wayne's Timbers

I painted the timbers to match the majority of the rest of the house (except the girls' room which has purple timbers).

And then I spent some lovely hours applying the Paperclay. It took just under 8 ounces for the attic walls. I'm pretty messy with the Paperclay, so it requires I sand off some timbers then touch up the paint. Followed by age washes.

Almost Ready For Move-In!

Once I permanently affix the roof piece on to the treehouse, I'll have to install baseboard trim where the front roof and floors meet. And Wayne's apartment needs steps and trims, too. But before I install the roof, I have lighting to add.

And there are so many half scale furnishings and fixtures to make for Wayne's apartment. It's going to be interesting to work in that scale!

With a little luck and maybe a few miracles I'll be back next week with more progress. Until then, I hope you're finding time for creative joy, as well!

xo xo,

Jodi

Wonderful news about mom! She had her post surgery consultation this morning. The doctor says the mass was not cancerous!!! I can't even express how amazing that news is! We are all just so relieved and grateful! She still has some underlying health issues to resolve, but with this news, she is ready to face the next problem head on! I can't thank you all enough for your thoughts, prayers and condolences! I told mom, just maybe, it's a miracle!!!

Thank Heaven For Little Girls

Hi Guys! Hope the New Year is being kind to everyone! For me and my family it has been a strange time of waiting. Waiting to find out exactly what we're dealing with with mom's illness and how we can help her through it. Thankfully, when my mind gets stuck in worry about things I can't change, I have minis to help pull my hands and mind into something productive. And thank Heaven, I have two little girls that I get to make things for.

During my last visit to mom's, my new bottles of Fred's Weathering Stuff came in so I had all I needed to finish the treehouse's wood flooring. Like the first floor, I used the veneer strips that came with the Linfield kit to cover the second and third floors. Just to refresh your memory, that included the girls' bedroom, Wayne's attic apartment and the second and third floor balconies that frame two sides of the great room.

Goldie and Alice's bedroom floors pre-staining.

Wayne's attic apartment floors pre-staining.

One of the dangers in bouncing around the processes of a project for me is forgetting the important things I need to remember. Such as running ceiling light wiring before I install the flooring on the floor above. 🤦‍♀️ Oh well. At least the masking tape and sharpie help "mask" the wires, and they'll be almost totally under an area rug.

Kitchen's ceiling lantern.

Wiring from the ceiling lantern coming up through the floor.
covered with masking tape.

Sharpie camouflage.

Once the floors were finished with stain and sealer, I could finally install them into the treehouse. Like a layer cake I positioned the kitchen's stove wall with glue and clamps, then applied the glue to the girls' bedroom floor and let everything cure overnight. The next day I did the balcony and Wayne's floors.

The Paperclay stones I applied to the oven wall had caused the chipboard beneath
it to warp a little as it dried. I had to weigh it and clamp it while the
glue set to flatten it back out. Luckily, it worked!

Girls' fireplace wall permanently installed.

Unfortunately, the stain from the new bottle and the stain from the older bottle weren't a perfect match. The new floors got a little darker. Fortunately, the only place where the new and old meet is the transition from the balcony into the girls' room. You have to really crane your neck or peep through windows to see it. The transition strip makes it look clean, at least.

Here is a photo of the treehouse interior with all of the floors finally installed! The only structural pieces left of the kit are the roof pieces, and with all those gables, it's going to be challenging!

I also made the wiring mistake on Wayne's floor/girls ceiling fixture.
I "fixed" it the same way. He will also have a fireplace wall and a rug.

All the floors are installed! Yippee!

You may have noticed some furnishing in the girls' room. Back when I made Roz's bedroom chair I also made a couple chairs for Alice and Goldie. They are a little larger, true 1/12th scale, and are covered in a more youthful and jovial butterfly fabric. I also used my graphics program to combine aspects of three different Pottery Barn Kids rugs to print the perfect rug for the girls. I am delighted with my new printer and will share about it in an upcoming post.

It is wonderful to finally see the ceiling and flooring in the girls' room!

I bet you also spied the dollhouse bookshelf and a dollhouse. I designed those in Design Space and cut them with the Cricut Maker. I hope to figure out how to make the projects available to everyone sometime this year. The dollhouse is 1/144th scale.

Dollhouse bookshelf with secret cubby.

I'm making board games, paper dolls and lots of other things the girls will love to play with when the weather forces them inside. Currently, I've got a big batch of real opening books for the bookshelf in progress on my craft table. Through The Looking Glass and The Three Bears will be included, of course, along with many other children's favorites and fairytales. 

Trixie Potter lives just down the holler across the creek.
She generously gifted the girls with every volume of her works.

My own love of reading bloomed with my first library book, a pop up dollhouse.
I can't wait to introduce them to Beverly Cleary, too.
They both share so many personality traits with Ramona!

I'll share more about all of that fun stuff in my next post. If you want the mom update, scroll past my signature. Otherwise, I hope you're all finding loads of things to be grateful for in the new year, and I hope it includes minis!

xo xo,

Jodi

Mom's surgery is Friday and hopefully, shortly thereafter, we will have more answers, a thorough diagnosis of her cancer, and a treatment plan. To our delight she continues to feel much, much better than before her hospital stay last month. Her blood analysis looks better and so far, no need for another transfusion. She's even insisting on cleaning her own house!!! I hope to start posting more regularly again and will, of course, keep you updated. I can't thank you enough for your kind thoughts, well wishes, prayers and love!

 xo xo