Wizards and Wands Bookstore ~ the outside walls are finished

Over the weekend, in-between working and sleeping!! I kept adding more layers of paint and ageing to the exterior walls on the Wizard Bookstore and I am so glad to say, here they are.... finished! I am really pleased with them, this method takes days of work, but the results are great, the plaster looks very crumbly and old, almost as if it would just fall off if you touched it. It was worth the amount of time and energy spent, but I don't want to do another for quite a while..lol There again... I have the flagstones to age now, only the basecoat is down :0(

I have also painted the shop door and made it look dirty and battered with a coat of Morris Blue chalky emulsion, 2 layers of wax and a final rough top coat of dark wood stain. Hywel made another door frame to fit in the original one and now the door is set back slightly. Now I need to find some door furniture to suit the wizard style.. any ideas?

 

Inside, on the ground floor, I have put the stairs in. They are the original stairs that came with kit, which we cut down, added a wall too and sanded the stair treads to look worn down in parts.

The walls are ready to be painted, bar one corner, we run out art mache with only about 3 inches left to be covered! Typical, we have to drive forty miles to Hobbeycraft now to get more, still I can think of a worse way to spend  a day on the weekend.

Finally, Hywel has been working on something a little different to go in the library on the second floor. Here's a sneaky peek through the window, I will leave you guessing untill next time for what it's going to eventually be....

Julia xxx

Wizards and Wands Bookstore ~ first coat of paint goes on!!

This morning I have started to paint the outside walls of the Wizard store. I started by painting the brickwork section with a pale green emulsion mixed with a dark green oil based paint. I know emulsion and oil based paint don't mix, but when you apply it, the oil based paints spreads in patches and I find it gives a good moss mottle affect.

When that had dried, I painted parts of the wall grey, let that dry and then painted the whole of the walls with a mix of cream emulsion, sandstone coloured acrylic paint and a few drops of water to thin. I find using a fluffy artist's brush and swirling the paint on in circles, makes the finish better. The paint doesn't look so flat that way. I am now waiting for that to dry before swirling on a final 'dirty' colour coat of paint and finishing off the beam colour.

Inside, on the bottom floor, which will be the Wizards and Wands Bookstore part of the building, Hywel has chopped the stairs in half, so that they don't take up so much room and added a stair well. He has also been measuring out floorboards ready to be cut and laid upstairs in the library.

Thats all we have done on the bookstore this week, not much, but we have both been busy at work. After one day off yesterday, I go back into work tonight and work nights through untill sunday night, so I doubt I will be posting again untill monday!  My days will be spent sleeping or growling at the kids for waking me up lol.

Have a great weekend everyone, Julia xxx

 

Nicer pics of yesterdays dresser and washstand. Now listed on http://www.bearcabinminiatures.etsy.com/

A messy Morning... but pretty results!!

I have had a busy and very messy morning, dressing a washstand and dresser. I had waxed and cream washed these two a few weeks ago, but hadn't got around to dressing them. So, this morning, I decided to get on with finishing them and made a mess on my dining table in the process! But, I think the results were worth the mess I know have to tidy up!!

Sorry, the lighting in the photos is a bit bright, but I took them quickly so that I could write this post whilst eating my lunch... multi tasking!

This is my first attempt at a little shabby chic wash stand, with one of my little pots, a box of french soaps and a little pink pearl heart shaped bracelet, amongst other pretty items and a filled drawer.

A dresser fit for a fairy! Complete with fairy books, turned rosewood mushroom, amethyst heart, fairy wings in a jar and on and on... 

As you can see, I have been having fun :0)

Off to clear up now and take better pics before I list them later on Etsy.

Hope you are all having a great day too,

Julia xx

Window dressing at Woolembees

Last week I decorated some little wooden pots for my Esty store and today, I decided that Woolembees needed some too! My window was in need of dressing, so I have made a start by placing some of my pots, a waxed heart and star on the window sill. The pretty box that my lovely little La Petite Belle came in has also gone in the window. La Petite Belle is happily sitting on the chair in the nursery, so I had thought of putting the box under the dresser in Woolembees, but you couldn't really see it, so in the window it now sits.

I also decided to put my purple lilac medieval chair in Woolembees. The colour of the leather seat matches my colour scheme perfectly and it fits nicely in the corner, beside the window, so I will have to try and get another for my Wizards and Wands Bookstore. I have added quite a bit to Woolembees since I last showed some photos, the dresser has more pretty bits and pieces on the shelves and I have put up a lovely blue wall hanging on the back wall. 

On the outside, the climber now has a pot and isn't growing out of thin air! and the shop sign is in place. I am pleased with how this little project is coming along, it is small and pretty and I would love a shop like this in 'real life' size!
Julia xx