HOME!! At last!!

Well, actually, I got home on Tuesday but have been on the go ever since. DS Sean, DDIL Julie and the grands arrive on Saturday and am trying to get ready for that.

Here are a couple pictures of Columbus. He was SO excited on Monday when they came home!

Unfortunately, this is as far as I got with the shingling. I had hoped to get the attic itself finished to send home with Sean and Julie. But even if I do get it finished, the plexiglass piece for the front has gotten lost somewhere in my workroom. Unless it shows up, the whole thing will have to be delivered in October when I next go to Ontario.

 This is the template I used for the shingles. I've made another for the right hand side. The edges still need to be trimmed.

Leanne and Robert really enjoyed their trip. They spent a lot of time with family, of course, and took a trip to the Czech Republic to see Rob's Dad's home town. Took two trips on the Danube, visited (and blew some of their own) glassmakers, saw incredible cathedrals, castles, a monastery and a silver mine. Haven't seen Rob's pictures yet but did see Leanne's on Monday night.

Leanne brought Joanne a little snowman, a geode and some postcards (one is laser cut on wood).

She brought me the Reutter plate and stein, a snowman, the ladybugs (about 1.5x RL - think I may make earrings from them), a geode and these incredible shears! They're actually pruning shears but they'll be good for working in miniature. And they're an incredible fit in  my hand!

Will finally get to see Joanne for lunch tomorrow! Have a bit of condo business to take care of then hope I'll finally be ready for company on Saturday.

Where do I go from here?

I need to decide what to do next...

My idea was to finish Vern's Attic by August 1 so I could send it home with Sean, Julie and the grands. I can finish the room itself but don't think I will have time to finish all the things that I want/need to go in it. So I think that this will need to be stalled until I go to Peterborough in October. (Then I'll worry about taking it on the plane with me.)

I will try to finish the roof tomorrow.

The bird cage/gazebo will probably be a new project! I've been working it out in my head and have some great ideas for it.

Most of my ideas for scenes these days are ones that I want to do to give to people who are important in my life. And the gazebo is one of those.

My DS Marie's BIL Gary and SIL Lorraine have had their garden recognized as the best in Edmonton. I've only been there once but it's absolutely incredible! So I would like to do the bird cage as an homage to that  and gift it to them....so they can have a garden inside during the winter!

So that's the NEW plan so far.

What a great day!

Earlier this week Sunni called and mentioned that our friend and fellow miniaturist, Carol K., lived out this way. It turned out that it was June who lives where Sunni thought Carol lived but that's neither here nor there. In any event, e-mailed Carol last night and we spent the day together.

First had to go to London Drugs so Carol could pick up a new phone. After she got that, we looked around a bit and I spotted this 'bird cages'. We hummed and haaed then Carol decided she would get one,

I decided that I had to say 'no' to it - too many projects already on the go! THEN Carol went through the checkout and it was 40% off the $19.99 price. Well, at that, I just couldn't resist so I went back and picked up the last one. Will make a wonderful gazebo with wicker furniture and all my plants from Connie Stitt. It's already coming together in my head. Can hardly wait to get home and start working on it.

Didn't measure it but I'd say the footprint is roughly 8" x 10". In addition to a small gate, the top is hinged for great access.

Why do I do this to myself?!?

After that we stopped for lunch then went to Carol's. It was my first visit and I was thrilled to see all her projects. She has revamped her basement into a great workroom and showcase for her minis. In addition to her miniatures, she makes dolls, quilts, does mixed media art so it was a real treat to see all her workrooms. Like the idiot that I am, my camera stayed in my bag and I didn't take even one picture so I can't share with you. BAD Maureen.

Got the roof started!

Love these mukluk liners but they're filled with something!

So got my tweezers and started pulling!

No wonder they were so stiff! It just kept coming and coming!

 This is what's finished so far. Unfortunately, it's only about half of what's on my list of things to go into it.

I had started to shingle the roof with sandpaper. But then I got some sheets of shingles at club one night (stacked to the left of the attic) so I'm going to use those.

 But first I'm going to put some flashing around the edge of the dormer roof. This is some light-weight brass that I got at Lee Valley years ago. Cut two strips of it and backed it with double-sided carpet tape.

In place....

My first strip of shingles:

 Backed with double-sided carpet tape, then marked around the dormer.

One strip down - about 14 more to go. I've marked lines every 3/4" across the roof. Now to finish!

My original thought was to install it all with the carpet tape but that means double cutting everything. So think I'll try to glue it. I didn't bring any clamps with me so that may not be the best idea. But I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Where has the time flown?

Oh, my, goodness! It's been three weeks since I posted - and about that long since I've done anything mini!

I've been rabbit/house sitting for Leanne and Rob while they're visiting Germany with his family and it has been a real stay-cation! Although I brought a box of minis (including the attic itself) to work on, didn't even open this box until this afternoon. Just reading and watching Netflix!

This afternoon I did open the box, thinking I better do something! It's an even smaller baby step than last time but I did get ONE thing done.

I bought this wheelchair at Bowmanville a year and a half ago. It was grey so I spray painted it black...and there it sat.

So this afternoon, I got out my fine tip Pilot pen and added touches of chrome to it.

But I'm afraid that's all I accomplished. Pretty sad state of affairs. This attic is NOT going to be done before Sean, Julie and the grands arrive at the end of the month.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Baby steps...

I bought this for the attic a couple years ago in Bowmanville but I need it to be white. Didn't want to dig out my spray painting frame and didn't think I had any white spray paint (only cream). Turns out I did have white paint but seemed like an awfully big effort for such a little piece.

One of the things Vern bought just before we were married in 1972 was a set of cookware from Imperial Oil. The paint has worn off but still use them.

Had these but they would have to be painted inside and out:

So went with these...

Was sitting reading last night and had an "Aha" moment. Took three coats of white nail polish but am thrilled with the coffee maker. And a bit of red nail polish and I had my pans!

Some years ago, when Vern returned from visiting DD Leanne in Dallas, TX, he brought home a set of Corelle dishes in the Shadow Iris pattern. I found a plate online, resized the image and printed it on photo paper.

TIP: When cutting something circular like these plates, (1) use manicure scissors and (2) move the paper, not the scissors.

Once the plates were cut, I centred a dime on top of the plate and gently formed the lip of the plate.

Not a huge start but I'm pleased that I finally got something done!