Tuesday 8 June 2010

Gertie's Little Industrious Cottage ~ the exterior walls and a recycled stream!

'Gertie's cottage is a bit old and worn looking, it's not that she doesn't love her home, she just doesn't have time to paint the outside, she will have to get some helpers!'

Please imagine the walls as slightly darker. With my old laptop gone to computer heaven, I am using a different photo editor and haven't got an auto adjust brightness anymore, so I am having to adjust the brightness myself! I am trying to get as close to the actual colours as poss!

This is the side wall, Hywel has covered it with Art Mache and fashioned the exterior view of the chimney out of the Art Mache. This takes ages to dry because of the thickness and I am always bumping it, meaning he has to redo parts!!  He does whinge at me and tells me to stay away from the table until its dry Lol  Once it was dry ;0) I tea bagged it all over and then used a soft artist paintbrush to stipple Jacobean Oak wood stain in patches over the chimney in the aim of giving an old damp look.

 
This is a snippet of part of the front where the cottage joins the greenhouse.  Argh.. getting the colours right here was a nightmare!! First, I used a base coat of pale sagey green emulsion as I wanted a damp, mouldy look in the background to come through the final coat in patches.. well, I think I should of put a well watered coat on, because the damp green look is too prominent for my liking and every time I look at it, I shake my head and think, no it's not right. Hywel reckons once the roof is on it will look better and he says 'just cover it all in vines to disguise it' He's not helping!! Well, the next coat was a watery coat of coffee, then a strong coat of tea, then a stronger coat of coffee in patches.. can you imagine how my cottage smells, its smelling like a cafe in here!! lol

So I added some patches of greenery in the cottage to greenhouse join to see what it would look like and ... I quite liked this bit!

 


















Here is the outside walls of the greenhouse after some Art Mache magic!














The greenhouse is on stilts and underneath there is a little murky stream. Regular followers may remember the stream base from a previous project; the Witches Cabin. Well the Witches Cabin was sold but we kept the base and it has sat redundant under the work bench for months, but now it has been dusted and recycled into Gertie's project.















And that's it so far.....

Julia xxx

13 comments:

  1. Looking beautifully grungy Julia! What colours did you use to paint the walls that creamy colour or are they just tea stained? Kate xx

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  2. Hi Kate,
    They are just tea stained, I normally just rub a wet tea bag over the walls, but this time I squeezed a few into a pot and 'painted' the tea on, so the colour came out a bit lighter.
    Julia xx

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  3. The cottage looks fabulous! I love the walls and your dambing and dirtying is so great! And the little stream - well, just have to say that everything is fabulous :) Love it!

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  4. That exactly what Im doing now to my new house!! I just had a cuppa and thought id see how it looked so rubbed the tea bag on the side walls and chimney! it looks good so I was going to do just that and make up a cup to paint on as I cant get into the nooks and crannys!I think the colour looks good, I wasnt sure if youd painted yours first. And cheap too eh!! Kate xxx

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  5. Ohhh, that looks great! Can't wait to see it finished:)

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  6. This is a fabulous with a real natural look! I have no idea why you were so worried about it, I love it. I want this kind of colour for both the outside and inside of Hogwarts...tea and coffee it is then!

    It's all looking great and I love the little murky stream too! :o))
    Michelle xxx

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  7. Kate, I get into corners by really squashing the teabag edge in, but I agree, it would be easier by making up a cup of tea! Just don't add too much water otherwise it will come out pale and we want our corners and damp!! ;0)
    Julia xx

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  8. Hi Michelle,
    I am getting used to the colour.. slowly, its still a bit too green hued for me!!
    I enjoyed playing with the coffee;0) I used just a tip of a teaspoon full for the mid brown look and nearly half a level teaspoon full for the dark areas. When I was doing the inside wall of the greenhouse (to be shown later) I put the paintbrush at the top of the wall and let it run down the walls. It looked really damp and grungy when it had dried.
    Julia xx

    PS To Michelle and Kate, If you put the tea or coffee on and think its too dark, swirl a paintbrush dipped in plain water over the area and it will dilute it and make it lighter xxx

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  9. Oh i love the green gunge and how vivid it is. By the time the entire build is finished i know you will be pleased with that green.
    Its hard to know when to stop.
    Isn't art mache wonderful? If you mix it with pva and wait a few days it becomes like paperclay too and much cheaper, plus you get loads more.
    I know the smell of coffee and tea minis too. When at kdf i had to fabreeze all my coffee and tea stained table covers... smelled like a coffee shop that hadn't been washing the dishes, lol.
    Much love, Nikki xxx

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  10. Hi Nikki,
    I love Art Mache, it has loads of uses. I haven't tried mixing it with pva yet though, thats a job for Hywel tonight, lol

    Wouldn't smelly vision computers be fab! We have coffee and Tea houses, I use lemon scented wood wax on my fire surrounds and I am currently munching on Kippers for lunch!! What a medley of aromas ;0)

    Julia xxx

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  11. I love the effects Julia and the way you have painted it.

    Debie xxxxxxxxxxxx

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  12. I think it looks perfect, Julia! I really love the aged look you and Hywel have achieved here. Thanks for the tips about using tea and coffee -- I've never tried that, and it's gone right to the top of my list, now! Mmmm, I can smell it from here :)

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  13. Don't worry about the colours, time will be kind to them.......... :-) It looks great and I think the stream is a perfect match. Looks gorgeous.

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