'As Gertie sat there dozing one day, her mind wandered to all the jobs she had left to do on the cottage and all the wonderful bits and pieces she had gathered so far from her friends and her favourite witch's store, which all needed a little place of their own. Then she had an idea, she would ask that big man with the wood to make her a porch with shelves!! '
The Porch....
For a long time I have wanted to make a porch. The Victorian Villa has a pretty little porch but its not very big, its more of a step in before you reach the door with room for just one plant pot. So with Gertie's cottage I had the perfect excuse for a 'proper' porch. I asked (twisted his arm, until he agreed!) Hywel to make the basic bits and bobs for the porch, which as you can see from the pic is just 4 pieces of wood glued together and some little left over pieces of Oak rounded at one end to make the shelves.
I then nagged a bit more until Hywel covered all the walls with a bumpy layer of Art mache and scored out some uneven flagstones for the porch floor. Then it was my turn to work some magic!!
I started by 'teabagging' the walls and shelves, then I painted a line of black acrylic paint in between all the 'cracks' of the flagstones. When it was all dry, I used a mix of 50/50 water and grey emulsion and painted the flagstones all over. I had hoped the black between the flagstones would show through in places... it didn't!! duh!!
But never mind, I'm happy with the result anyway :0) After the flagstones had dried, I put the porch in place against the cottage and painted darker, damper patches in the corners using a paint brush dipped in either tea or coffee depending how dark I wanted that corner to look.
I wish I could get my brightness sorted on my pics, the damp patches and flagstone colour is much darker than in the pics but hopefully you can see some of the damp in the top corners. So, today I had a little time spare, so I had fun placing some of my wonderful minis from Nikki , Janice and Jayne in the porch.
Who needs a guard dog when you've got a Floozy??!! lol
My wonderful Floozy Fliss is by Jayne of Tallulah ~ Belle Originals :0)
The best pumpkins ever and the mushroom pots are from Nikki of Witch and Wizard Miniatures :0)
The sweetest flower potion bottle and the fab mandrake pot (on the right by the broom in the top pic) is from Janice of On being a Mini Mum :0)
So, that is my porch so far, I love it :0) But... I need lots of bits and pieces to fill those shelves, so I will be making some minis for it and hoping that some of you will want to add your special little something on one of my shelves and will join me in my next swap on the 1st July :0)
Julia xxx
It looks great Julia, really effective. Do you think in your expert opinion that art mache is better than using polyfiller as we need to do the walls and ceiling in Lolas house and want to set the beams inot it too? Thought Id ask those in the know!lol
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling abit better? Love Kate xxx
Hi Kate,
ReplyDeleteWe prefer Art Mache, it's lighter and cheaper than Polly filla. I think Polly filla gives a thicker, firmer look to exterior walls, but Art Mache looks more like Stucco walls. I would definatley use Art mache for Lola if you are setting beams into it, because it will squish wonderfully around the sides of the beams when you press them in :0)
I have felt a bit better the last couple of days, thankyou. I just want my hospital appointment to hurry up now, so that they can sort it and I can start eating 'real' food again, I am fed up with chicken and rice and cornflakes!!
Julia xxx
It looks really nice, the shelves are fab with all your wonderful minies :)
ReplyDeleteI love the little alcove with the shelves. I still love that door! :o))
ReplyDeleteI agree, Art Mache is better as you can have numerous consistences, thick like paperclay, like stucco as you say, etc. Poly filler has rather limited uses in my humble opinion. :o)
Not too long before you appointment, wishing you well!
Michelle xxx
Your humble oponion is correct, Michele lol xxxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Ira, I still have loads to do for it though!
ReplyDeleteJulia xxx
Oh I love what you did, it looks wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteJamie
It looks great Julia.
ReplyDeleteDebie xxx
Looking lovely Julia and coming along a treat. Love the little Pumpkin on the top shelf, he's got a cheeky little face.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to do another swap Julia, so count me in next time.
Glad to hear your feeling a bit better, lets hope these Doctor's can get us both sorted out. xxx
Hi, love what you've done. May I ask what Art Mache is? I have heard of paper mache, but not Art Mache? Is it a product you buy?
ReplyDelete:0) I just adore Nikki's pumpkins, I'm sure you've all guessed that by now though, they keep popping up everywhere lOl. I have more pumpkins to dot around the cottage as the cottage will be very Pumpkin orientated and I can't wait to finish my outside walls, so that I can put my pumpkin birdhouse out :0)
ReplyDeleteDebbie, my next swap is 1st July and I am hoping to get swaps to go in the porch. I will do the blog post in the morning of the 1st, before my hospital appointment just in case I get distracted! Wouldn't it be lovely Debbie if we could wave a magic wand and be all better.
Julia xxx
Hi Wanda,
Art Mache is a pre made paper mache mix which you mix with water for instant no hassle paper mache! Wonderful stuff, I can't recommend it enough. We buy it from Hobbeycraft, but you can buy it online, just type Art Mache into your search bar and you should get lots of info and suppliers up.
Julia xx
I am always amazed by the creativity I find in Blogland. The porch looks like it has always been there Julia.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the tea and coffee idea for damp corners what a good tip.
I have only used polyfila but have been intrigued by the packets of art mache in Hobbyland. I will have to try it.
Hi Janice,
ReplyDeleteIf you like the effect pollyfilla gives, you will love Art Mache. It is easier to work in corners and goes a lot further than pollyfilla. It has loads of uses too and can be mixed with water or with PVA glue.
Julia xxx