Monday, January 13, 2014

Undersized Urbanite update

Still nothing picture-worthy. I've been working on making a bed. The two attic rooms will be guest bedrooms - Grandma likes to have her grandchildren visit, and has made those two rooms into bunkhouses for the kids. Including Grandma's bed in her second floor bedroom, I'll need at least 5 beds of various sizes and styles.

I'm also starting to add the baseboard trim to different parts of the house. It seems that there is no trim for the interior doors, so I'll be making that too.

I'm a little hesitant to attach the front of the house - there's still a lot to do, and in half scale, you want to keep as much room as possible for access until the details are done. Before I attach the front, I'll need to finish the floors, baseboard, the molding around the ceilings, curtains, and more.

I will also be working on an overstuffed, comfy couch for Grandma's living room. Part of my goal with this project is to make as many of the furnishings as I can. I have a small stash of half scale furniture and accessories, but not nearly enough to fill the house.

Fairfield - miscellaneous pics

More Andy pictures. This is the entryway. I made the mirrored hall chair from a kit.
 
 
The photo on the wall is of my parents' headstone. I made the frame.


 
This is inside the hidden tower room. I originally planned to adapt the kit to make a hidden doorway/hall to this room, but it proved to be beyond my skill to do so.
 
The only access to this room is by taking the roof off. I expect the tiny inhabitant simply magicks herself into the room.



 
 
 
 
 
The hidden room is inside this tower - I used paint to make the stained glass window, and the tiny bats were made with a paper punch and black paper.

 
 
 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Third floor, Haunted Fairfield

A double post today, with more Andy pics.

The third floor of the Fairfield is where most of the spooky stuff happens. A casual visitor will not be brought up to the third floor. This is where the secrets are - although there are some small hints throughout the house.

The gothic bed was from Ebay. I made the bedding for it. More strange pictures are on the third floor walls. This section is above the guest bedroom. The carved chest is actually full of metal skulls.

 
I painted the chimney with textured gray paint. The skull in the chair is a bead.

 
 

 
The little wooden box on the table was made from a kit. The tiny brass mortar and pestle is from CW Lubin on Etsy.

 
The potions are all labeled - you'd hate to grab tongue of newt when you really wanted graveyard dirt. I printed the labels and then filled the little bottles accordingly.

 
The bonsai tree was from Ebay. Another skull bead, and a crystal ball I made. You can see the dog's bed on the right, and the dog's head is in the center, but rather out of focus.

 
The metal ball is going to be a hanging cage for some bizarre and frightening creature I have yet to create.
 
I made the stair railings from skinny sticks.

 
The long view - the foreground is above the purple bedroom, and the far end is over the hall and bathroom.
 
I chose a rather worn and frayed Oriental rug to give an attic-like flavor to the room.

 
I colored some of the panes of the windows to get a stained glass effect.



Happy New Year!

I have more Andy Fish photos of the Fairfield.

Not much progress on Grandma's Summer House. I've papered the main rooms, and am working on the lighting. I'm still short at least 3 lights, but almost all of the lights I have are installed. Nothing really photographable at the moment.

So, continuing upstairs in the Fairfield, here's the hallway.

The stairs to the third floor are from a Houseworks stair kit that Mom had bought with the Fairfield upgrade. For some reason, I am obsessed with having stairs to each floor.
 
The pictures in the hall are photos I got on Ebay. Of witches, strange creatures, a dog in a warlock outfit. I made the frames. The wood floor is made from coffee stirrers.
 
I made the plant on the table. The table I made from a kit, painted it white, and added a red velvet tablecloth. The curtains were made from lace trim.
 
It was very difficult to work in the hall space (and to photograph it!).

 
The door on the left is the purple bedroom. The door on the right is the bathroom.

 
The rug is from some upholstery samples my sister gave me.

 
The bathroom
 
The corner cupboard I made from craft sticks. I made the toilet paper rolls from cardstock and, well, toilet paper. I created the toilet paper holder from card stock and wire. The towels were cut from a small, thin towel. Some of the bottles and lotions I made, others were from Ebay.
 
The clock was made from a printed clock face and a button. I put in a little mirror tile above the sink. More lace trim curtains. The towel shelf I made from craft sticks. I made the little plant from a bead and a plastic flower. There's a book on the shelf, too, though it's not terribly visible. There's soap on the sink, too.

 
Better view of the shelf.

 
A nice, light view of the room.

 
It never fails to impress me, when I look at the photos Andy took, at what fantastic skill he has. He takes the shots that I want to see - and there's very little chance I'd be able to get the picture myself. Artistic composition, lighting... He is awesome.