Warm Thatcham

Well I commandeered the kitchen table, determined to get my little house finished. To have one of my houses finished! I am very good at starting but my finishing needs a lot of work! I have done the larger portion of the landscaping for now. The wisteria needs foliage and flowers. I have a daffodil kit en route somewhere over the Pacific and they will be scattered around the garden. Mossy pots stacked and pile of wood for the fire, etc needs to be gathered and glued in place. A chook and hedgehog are still determining their allotted space in the garden. I have included some pictures of 'Warm Thatcham' so far. I am so looking forward to finally furnishing one of my homes! I have mountains of furniture, plates, bits and bobs that I have been collecting like the proverbial packrat for over a year and to use them finally will be lovely. I will still have to make the larger portion of furniture as the house is so small and the usual pieces of furniture you buy looks even chunkier in my little house.

Looking in through the front door.

Bay window to the right of the house. The wisteria waiting for it's leaves.

Looking throught the front door into the lounge.

Looking through the back door into the kitchen.

A Buttercup Bashed

Sounds brutal doesn't it I know but it's all good really. Before I headed into a large grand minature house I thought I had better get my feet wet first on something smaller. So after perusing ebay I came across a Greenleaf Buttercup kit up for auction from someone willing to send it DownUnder. I had come across kit bashing and thought it a wonderfully creative craft that I was dying to get stuck into. But I still was'nt too sure what to do now that my little house lay out before me in all it's flatness. Searching the Net I fluked upon a tutorial on bashing a Buttercup. I can't find the site at all now but it's The Tudor Cottage by Sally Cook Thomas. So off I went then. Learning as I went. For the stucco I use tile grout. The timber faux 'beams' are just strips of 2.5mm balsa. All glued on with craft glue, the clear tacky kind. I don't have the patience to wait for PVA. I pencil out on the house wall where the timber is going to go, cover that area off with masking tape and apply the tile grout with an artists spatula. Peel off the tape and then glue down my already stained timbers beams and gently push in the grout with the fleshy part of my palm. The grout takes about 20min to set hard. I do both sides and try to think of areas I have to leave free for fitting. But the tile grout easily peels of if I've gone too far. I cut all my timbers a bit longer too just in case. Easier to cut off than to add. The brick slips I got from ebay and are Richard Stacey bargain ones. I put the house together with Liquid Nails. Love LN. I use masking tape to hold areas together while it dries. The floor is just random sized lengths of balsa with the pegs made out of toothpicks pushed in and cut of with pliers. I made it with gaps and knots so that light would filter through. It's a bit uneven and crooked but that's how old houses are. I'm living in one and all the furniture on my bedroom rocks! I knew I wanted a thatched roof and for a long time searched the net for a solution until I came across a Rik Pierce house. Ahhhh! Love his work!! There was no stopping me after I found his creations! His version of a thatched roof was simple, easy and cost effective!! Not too mention a lot of fun. I so recommend doing it outside, of course, but further from your windows than you think. Just made up a dirty wash of burnt umber and black and gave it several coats and glued it on. Cutting the angle right was a trick. Fudged it eventually. I love the freedom of this kind of miniature dollhouse making. Just do whatever is your fancy and liking. No rules just get into it! If it doesn't work rip it off and have another go. No right or wrong. Just what you do and don't like. Also I'm terrible at mitring corners and in this kind of house build no fancy corners! I always try to find the cheapest and the easiest ways of doing things. I'm a want to see it now kinda gal and have trouble having to wait too long. Although I am getting somewhat better at waiting but not really by choice. Everything I get for my houses and furniture etc all comes via the Post Office. No stores to wonder though. I wait keenly most mornings for the 'white van of joy' to pull up to see what the Postie has for me.