Moving right along....

As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted some aged looking finishes on this Conservatory but I didn’t especially want to paint it. So I tried my own concoction of stain.

  

 I took 4 parts of Minwax Pickled Oak and ½ part of Ebony and brushed the grayish mixture on the inside and outside of the pre-fab walls of the building, after removing the doors and windows. I didn’t apply it to the MDF panels. I will use some sort of stucco effect on the outside and I am not yet sure what I’ll try for the inside.

I think the Pickling stain is meant to be wiped off but I left it to soak in. The mixture made more of a bluer gray than I wanted so I think I’ll have to go over it all with a greenish wash of some sort. Also, the pre-fab walls had some glue smoosh that I was not aware of so didn’t go on evenly in some spots. You might be able to see that in the photos…



Since it is meant to be a rather neglected looking building, I will probably cover many of those areas with moss and/or vines but I won’t be able to get away with that indoors. I may have to paint inside after all….

I did not stain any of the roof assemblage because I am planning to somehow "copperize" that all.  Covering ot with copper foiling, such as is used for satined glass work is an option but I think I will probably go with a faux finish for those.

For those of you interested in what a finished product might look like, Jo Bevilacque of Spencer’s Nook has a three part article in Dollhouse Miniatures staring in Nov/Dec 09 issue. She shows both a painted one and a stained one in her very unique style. I will use some of her suggestions but I don’t care for a lot of the embellishments. She has some good information on process when building from a kit, though, so it is worth taking a look if you have access to the magazines.

For example, I like the large base for the Conservatory.  She used it to hide the electrical. I will need to raise mine up some to meld it properly with the house so I will also be building a base, though I will not use 2”x4” lumber. I think that will be too heavy for my purposes. I will used some sort of foam covered with … well, I’ve yet to decided what it will be covered with but the sides of the Conservatory base will match the sides of the base of the house. I never did finish that part. We’ll see.

While I was staining, Hester, the housekeeper, materialized. I swear that woman is like smoke…

“You know,” she said. “The conservatory was a special present to Titania…”
“Isn’t that a character from Midsummer Night’s Dream?” I asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive.
“Tis… they loved the theatre”.
“They?...” This was like getting information from a teen-ager.
“Aloysius and Livy. They often held performances in the ballroom..”

Ballroom??!! Where the heck was the ballroom…?? I’d have to look into that…later.

“ and Titania?” I asked.
“Why, their only daughter. I thought you knew….”

When I didn’t hear anything more for a few minutes, I looked up from my work. There was nothing left but a bit of misty haze where she had been standing…

Later…

Tabs

And so it begins...

…or at least that’s that plan…


Remember that rather larger dollhouse I posted a bit ago? The one that I’ve virtually ignored for years? Where the outside is sort of complete but the inside isn’t? The one I’ve decided to “make over” or “move out”?

Yea…that one…

After careful thought and consideration, I have created a story, and therefore, a new theme for the house. Someone had suggested a more Old European look. I was intrigued by that but no clue how or where to begin except that the outside had to change completely for the inside to work.

First, the back-story...

The owner of if the house is a gentleman…Sir Kendrick Aloysius DeBellows. I don’t yet know a lot about him. His age is uncertain, as is his occupation.

Though there are children in the house, they are not his. He is not married now nor has he ever been. It is unclear how he came to be the owner of the house but it is believed to be inherited.

The children (2) and house are cared by a somewhat batty housekeeper who seems to be “part” of the house. She has much knowledge of its history when she chooses to reveal it.

The house itself is a picture of shabby bygone elegance. There is no staff besides the housekeeper and DeBellows is too preoccupied to see the need for any.

..That’s all I know at the moment.

Back to the house. Before jumping right into a major …hugely major…redo, I thought I might try my ideas out on a bit smaller scale. Years ago, I purchased the Conservatory kit from Houseworks with the plan to add it to the side of the dollhouse. I even cut out the exiting window of the house for French doors to accommodate the addition.

Never happened. I almost brought it to the last miniature show to try and sell it off but left home without it.

I looked at today and said, “hey, why not?” The plan is to use the Conservatory as a sort of guinea pig, trying out the different ideas I have in mind for the house and see how it might all work out.

I opened the kit, sorted the pieces, read the directions, took some measurements and made some notes. I have seen these kits done up in so many different ways…even saw one example where two kits were attached back to back for a stunning result.

The architectural style of the original house kit is Italianate. I’m thinking stucco, stone and subtle grays, greens and verdigris/ copper.

I’ll keep you posted as things develop…

Later

Tabitha