Another day closer.

I worked all day on the library room box. At this point I would like everyone to do me a favour and forget what I said yesterday about what I was planning on accomplishing today.

I did get the rest of the sidewalk laid. I did get two coats of polyurethane on it to make it easier to wipe off the grout once it's applied. I did not get the grouting done because I have to let the second coat of finish dry until tomorrow. Grouting is first on my list in the morning.

I mentioned yesterday that I had sponged the sides of the base to make them look a little like concrete. I haven't yet dry brushed the white over top but hope to do that tomorrow. It'll tone it down and "belnd" it better, I think. This is what it looks like right now.

I did get the lighting all installed - the coach light by the door, the street lamp on the corner of the sidewalk, and the strip lighting inside to provide plenty of light for viewing. I have the street lamp taped up in place because I have to lay it down to do the grouting under it tomorrow.

You can also see that I have gotten started on the signage on the front. I definitely have to finish that tomorrow.

The rest of these pictures show that I have done some work on the wainscoting on the inside walls. I have installed a bookcase as well. I also sealed the wood floor but you can't see it in these pictures. I sat a little replica of one of my darling kitties, who is no longer with us, on the window sill. I think I may just leave her curled up in the window. Shouldn't every library have a resident kitty??

I hope you like the picture I've chosen for the back, removable wall. I really like the visual depth it gives to the room box which is really only 4 or 5 inches deep inside.

This next picture shows a view of the little bench I placed on the side of the library. I originally planned to have my battery pack inside this little structure but, once I finished adding lights I had two battery packs so had the base built to house both of them, and add some viewing height to the roombox itself.

Here you can see that I actually did get some of the interior wainscoting done. You can also see the finish on the floor.

So -- a full day's work doesn't seem to have accomplished much, does it?? To end the day, I started trying to make a very narrow librarian's desk for the front of the library. It was already closing on 10:00 pm and I should have known better. I finished the first version, thinking it was ready to paint, but when I stood it up I couldn't believe how completely wonky it was. I was sure I had squared everything up. Apparently I was wrong - big time!!! On to attempt number two. I got that one completely finished then realized I had covered over the little section where the library patrons would interact with the librarian. Attempt number three??? I don't think so! It's definitely time to quit and go to bed when you start making that many mistakes. Tomorrow is a new day.

By the way, I'm not worried about not having it finished for Saturday's show because Jodi Hippler suggested a great solution -- just hang a sign in the window that says "Opening Soon!". I love it!! What a great idea.

So, I'm off to bed with visions of lots more work ahead of me tomorrow. TTFN!! - Marilyn

Putting a push on!!!!

I'm sorry I've been negligent with my posting lately but I cannot even begin to tell you how busy I have been - with non-mini things unfortunately. Well, I could tell you but, trust me, you really don't want to know. I think I'm going to come out of retirement and go back to work so I can get a rest. The problem with retirement is that everybody thinks you have lots of time on your hands and, if you're like me, you find it difficult to say "no!" when asked to volunteer for things. I need to become more heartless so the next time someone wants to tear me away from working on minis I can adamantly say "Hell, no!!"

So, today I got back to work on my FAME club project that I am turning into a memorial library in memory of my father. I have a lot of work to do but the Moncton show is on Saturday and I plan on displaying it there along with our other members' projects. Even if mine isn't done I figure I can display it as a "work in progress".

I buckled down this afternoon and started by staining the floor. In my stash I had a set of three stain sticks that are used for furniture repair. The three pens come in a package for $1.25 at Dollarama. I started by using the lightest colour first.

It dries very quickly. Then I covered this colour with the medium brown. I think you can tell the difference in the two colours in this photo. You could really see it in person.

Finally, I added the third, darkest colour. You can see the strip in the middle has only the first two colours on.

I really like the depth of colour achieved by using the three different colours. Once it was completely dry, I buffed it up some which made it come up quite nice. I will probably cover it with matte finish but I haven't decided yet. I better make up my mind in a hurry since the clock is ticking!

Now, about this time I decided I wanted a base that the room box could sit on to hide the battery packs underneath. My darling hubby measured, cut, and put the base together very quickly. Did I mention he's the best!!?? I placed the room box on top of the base and traced around it, then painted the top, outside where the box will sit, and the edges black.

Then I sponged two shades of gray on the edges of the base to make it look a little like concrete. I think I may dry brush some white in places to finish that off. Then I started laying bricks on the black area of the top.

The square in the from left corner needs to have a hole drilled for wiring before I finish the bricking there. Tomorrow I will finish putting down the rest of the bricks but here is what it looks like so far with the unfinished box in place.

So tomorrow, I will finish the bricking, seal the bricks, grout them and wipe off the excess, seal them again. I also plan on having the lighting all installed. I am putting some strip lighting at the inside top of the front wall which will light up the inside really well. I will also have a coach lamp on the wall by the door, and a street lamp in the front left corner of the sidewalk.

What's left after that? Well, let me see - the wainscoting, door and window trims, baseboards, furniture, and shelving. Then, I have to make the desk for the librarian, add the bookcase and fill with books, print out some signage and posters, set up a display in the bay window and, one thing I can't forget - I still need to finish off the front where the sign goes. OMG, I guess there's not much hope I'll have this done for Saturday morning. Well, in that case, the last thing I need to do is print a sign that says "work in progress". :-)

I've managed to tire myself out jst thinking of all I have left to do. Time to go to bed and rest up for tomorrow. TTFN!!! - Marilyn

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