Beware Long Post... 'The little Shop'

As I have used 'The Little Shop' in my new header picture, you can all see it as it is now, so I thought I would get the 'building the shop up' post done out of the way, it's also a good excuse to clear my computer of lots of pictures! So here goes... Building up the shop kit...

The build was all down to hubby... I wasn't allowed to touch until he was happy with it! So he started by using Art Mache to cover the interior and exterior walls..

 
and put in little partitions to give the illusion of a hallway and therefore a staircase.

On the lower floor, hubby has put in a partition wall with 2 steps showing. The steps are built up from Art Mache, with no wood used at all. He got the worn, buffered look he was after, but the art mache took 4 days to dry out, by which time they had gone mouldy!! So, I bleached the mould, dried them as well as I could with the hairdryer and then moved the shop next to the radiator overnight! We have never had this problem before, has anyone else? It's all sorted now, they are dry, painted and looking great, I don't know whether to give them a coat of PVA glue though to seal them though?

 
Anyway, next he played around creating a fireplace.

As the rooms are small, getting a fireplace in with the partion wall created problems! I didn't want a fireplace along the right hand side wall because I want a dresser or table to go there, but this room is meant to be a cosy snug for the shopkeeper, so a fire would be needed! So it had to be a corner fireplace... and I liked the fireplace that hubby had made for No 3 Ivy Cottage...

So this is what he came up with...

Then it was onto painting.. this was my bit!
So I 'teabagged' the walls inside and out... and didn't like it!
So I painted the upper room green and the shop room cream and didn't like it!! 
So, when hubby came home from work, I asked him to re-cover the inside walls with art mache, so that I could have a blank canvas to start again...
and bless him, he did :)
So I mixed up some new paint....

and painted the shop room in a dull sage green and the snug room in a warm, but pale tangerine... and I love it.. at last, says hubby LOL

Then in went the wooden shop ceiling beams, the cherry wood floor, the lights and the fire..

Then it was time to arrange the shop furniture.
The 'shop floor' is small at 9 by 11 inches, so I had to choose the furniture carefully, so that the shop wouldn't look crowded but I would have enough room to display my treasures. I started with a white wood bookcase which had been in Pumpkin House. It is just over 1cm deep, so it fitted nicely against the partion wall and left a nice gap for hubby to put one of his broomstick cupboards in.

I also had a white wood table and a settle which fitted in nicely, so I wood stained them to match the bookcase and plonked them in too. The table is a standard 7cms deep and the settle is 3.5 cms deep by 11cms wide.

Next I needed a counter, but all the commercially made ones were too big, wink wink :0)
So hubby made one...

out of his quickly depleting pile of apple wood, which he keeps saying I can't have any more of!!

It even has a little shelf for shop bags :) I think it looks great.

So with a little shelf above the table, that is all the furniture the shop can fit. I think it has done really well, I'm happy with room I have for all my miniatures.

So with all of Hubby's hard work out of the way, I am left to add the detailing now and of course I started with the outside flagstones and 'grass'! No sniggering certain peeps out there ! ;0)

First off I gave the flagstones a coat of  dark grey emulsion and when it had dried, I dabbled and 'washed' a coat of Dulux Flagstone Grey over patches, more so on the edges of the steps.

Then I played around with some little pebbles and made a little corner patch of soil. I have put florists oasis material under the layer of soil because I am going to make a pretty flower, or rather try and make one to go in the corner by the door.

Now, the grass!! Don't laugh, but the grass was a lovely gift from one of you last year and when I received it, I was sure that the little note said to use tweezers to individually place the 'blades' of grass... so that's what I did... and it took me forever ... and I could of thrown it through the window by the time I had finished... it was sooo hard to do...!!!

But, it looks lovely and I am very happy with it...

Then in an email, a certain someone mentioned she had put her grass in by using the tweezers to pick up clumps of the grass and they stay upright :0( Oh dear... I wish I had emailed before doing my grass LOL

So, there we are up to date with the Little Shop, which from now on will be called Maysage and Birch.

It will be a special little shop because...
I love doing my blog and I have many lovely friends here who are so talented. I often buy or swap treasured miniatures from my 'blog friends' so along with some of my owl cushions, this little shop will house the witchy treasures from fellow bloggers. So far, I have bits and bobs from Nikki, Kat, Lory and Cottage miniatures. I think it is going to be lovely :0)

Julia xxx