Found my car!!!

That may sound like an easy thing to do but, after the last 24 to 48 hours, you'd be surprised what an accomplishment that is. Apparently our community(Oromocto, New Brunswick) was the record-breaker with 79 cm. of snow in just a matter of hours. This is one record I was not too happy to break!!! Here is a picture of our back deck and another of our driveway.

It is certainly at times like this when I am so glad I am not a man! The poor guys are always stuck with the majority of the heavy lifting or unpleasant jobs. I'll never complain about housework again!

Turning my back on all this snow, I hunkered down in my work room and did some work on our Club project. The first thing I did was glue in the small wedge-shaped piece at the top of the window opening, in preparation for installing my actual window pieces. Then I repainted all of my outside trim from white to a light taupe colour. Now when I look at it I'm thinking I liked it better white. I'm going to leave it for a while and see if it grows on me. The wainscoting and trim inside will be white so I may change the exterior back to its original colour.

So - on to making my window. How did I do it? Well, I know I could buy reasonably thin Plexiglas cut to size from one of our local glass supply businesses but, for a small project like this, I am always saving hard, clear plastic packaging. Here is a collection that includes the top of a sandwich tray, tops from berry boxes, a fruit tray top, etc. --- you get the idea.

Using plain printer paper, I made temples of the three separate sections of the window, clearly marking the location of each and the top so I would have them the right way around. (Unfortunately, with my limited skills, the spaces weren't necessarily consistent so it always pays to measure again and cut out the pieces to fit specifically.) I then taped these templates to the underside of the plastic I was going to use, just to make sure they didn't shift while I was cutting.

Once I cut them out, I test-fitted each piece in place, made some adjustments, and glued the pieces at the top and bottom to the wedges that form the top and bottom of the window opening. I first used Wellbond glue - it didn't work. Then I tried E6000. It worked on one piece but not another - I don't know why. Finally, I used Quick Grip on the remaining pieces that didn't glue successfully the first time around. Finally, it seems to work!

I left the window pieces to dry overnight to make sure the bond is good. Hopefully I can find some time tomorrow to apply the trim that will connect the window sections, both on the outside and on the inside. Once that is done I can go on to lighting and finishing the inside. I hope you're enjoying it so far. TTFN!! - Marilyn

Yes, I'm still here...

..., just in case anyone was wondering *smile*. I admit, I have been slow getting off my rather substantial butt and getting to work these last several weeks. I figure it's time to turn over a new leaf and get to work! Of course, that thought strikes me on a somewhat regular basis. I'm usually able to ignore it. However, our FAME group is working on a small room box as a group project so I guess I'd better get some pictures and instructions up so people can try to follow along, should they wish to do so.

Okay - as I told my club members when I handed out the kits I had made - you have to keep in mind that, as a person who has only been building minis for about three years now, I am definitely still a "work in progress". As a result, many of my cuts may not be exactly straight. Oh wait -- I made them crooked on purpose so I could teach another useful skill - sanding, sanding, and more sanding. Yes - sure - that's why they're crooked! It had nothing to do with my poor cutting skills! Yes, that's it!

Anyway, the kits were delivered and we worked at the basic structure at our meeting last month. Here's how it has gone so far:

I started by giving out the kit pieces themselves.

There is a top, a bottom, back, front, two sides, and two small pieces which will fit at the top and bottom of the window space to form a bay window.

Then I suggested everyone dry fit their pieces together to identify anything that might need sanding or other adjustments (remember the wonky cuts I talked about?).

The top of the room box has a large piece cut out to allow for extra light to come into this shallow box. It will have a piece of plastic or Plexiglas in the finished piece.

Once everything was fit in place and any adjustments made, we glued the boxes together. I put my box together first, before priming or painting because I felt that the 1/4 inch mdf would glue more securely if it was bare wood to bare wood rather than gluing painted pieces together. However, if you check out Marijke's progress at her blog at Pulchinella's Cellar, you will see that she chose to prime first. Probably easier in the long run, especially if you have a large building. Due to the small size of this one I figured I could get away with gluing first. Here it is with everything but the two small pieces that go into the top and bottom of the window area.

So, as I mentioned, at the end of the last meeting, everyone had their basic structure put together. Here are our busy little beavers working away on their room boxes:

I started mine earlier so I could have a "prototype" to show my fellow FAME members, although I didn't finish it before our first working session. Here is where it stood at the time of our first session:

My room box will be a library so the first thing I did was print out a suitable picture for the back wall to make the room box look deeper.

I painted by box outside and inside, laid a floor, boxed out the underside of the bay window and built a little seat around the side of the building. I used bird gravel to look like small stone aggregate on the seat and under the window.

I don't like how white the stone is so am planning on darkening it a little. I also don't like the white I used on the door trim and the corner trims - I think I'll change it to cream. The white is too bright and clean looking. I still have to attach the upper piece to the top of the window. That is where my sign will be. I will be building a counter for the library, adding some wainscoting, shelving, etc. I'll also be adding the "glass" to the front window. But that will be tomorrow's post! Stay tuned! TTFN! - Marilyn