Back to Construction!

WOAH. It's been a while since I laid a finger on my dear ole' model house! Not only was I distracted and exhausted by... well... LIFE... but I also got into a rut. I hate ruts. The only good thing about them is getting out of them! ~LIKE NOW~

Today I was working on the big room in my house. Here are the little steps I took to making the brick wall. I may work some more on it, but I'm not totally sure yet. First I laid all the bricks! They are made the same way as before and they are also the same size!

I painted them in reds and browns first because I thought it would be more realistic this way.

I then grouted the bricks, just like before. This time was a bit harder because there was so much more area to cover.

I then painted over the bricks in a cream color. I liked the way this color looked with the green wallpaper. Oh! Also, ignore the wallpaper that has paint on it. I have more paper, so I will just redo that. Haha! Sometimes even I get impatient. Anyways... I left the cream paint kind of messy because I didn't know if I would like the texture or not, and as of right now I think I may put down some more paint. Its kinda too much texture.

I also found this other wallpaper in the craft store. (Well.... actually it's scrap-booking paper.) I may not use it in this project but I thought it would make a nice wallpaper someday!

Once again, I apologize for my absence. Sometimes I just get so busy... but yet at the end of the day there really isn't much to show for it. It is a crazy phenomenon that seems to be pretty common. Especially among us artists! Haha!

I hope you all are doing well! Oh! I also listed some cake boxes in my Etsy store. I will make a post about them another day, but you can check them out HERE if you want! - 

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake

Barrels of fun! And back to work!

Hello, friends!

How is everyone? I have some good news! I'm done with the semester! WHICH MEANS MINIATURES AND ARTS AND CRAFTS AND STUFF! :D

I have been back to work finally! I purchased some little wooden barrels a while back and I have been painting those! I am going to do some fun things with these! :) Take a look! -

I'm also working on a display! This one is just something small so I can see how it goes.... And then I can make something bigger or with more parts :)

I just stacked some foam-core in the form of some steps. This is all that I have done so far because I keep bouncing back and forth in between some small projects I am making. It has been SO nice to be able to work without worrying about schoolwork or anything like that! :)

I have also been working on my house! I have got some more bricks glued down. I think I might have already shown you guys the wall, but I wasn't sure. I did FINALLY start on the chimney yesterday! It's just the start but I couldn't wait to show you guys what I was working on!

I AM out of school right now, but I will be starting 2 summer classes in about a week or so. The two classes will be online, so hopefully I can get some more stuff made this summer. While I have been busy the last few months, I have still been planning stuff I want to make... so I have plenty to work on and finally make it come to life!

That's all for today, guys! I would really like to check back in within the next day or so, but you know how that goes! Hahahaha!

Thanks for stopping by!

xxoxoxo

-Blake

P.S. A REALLY BIG THANKS TO APRIL, over at Every Little Thing! She recently made THIS POST after purchasing some of my Tweets! It is a very kind post and I am beyond happy that she liked everything! xoxo

Easter Is Coming! + House Progress

Hello all! I have been SUPER busy. School has been constantly picking up and I couldn't seem to catch a break... until a few days ago! I have been working on mainly some Easter items- Tweets (Peeps), decorations, sweets.... So here is a little looksie to what I have been up to!

 

 

The Tweets are back! This year I have added a GREEN TWEET to the collection! It rounds out the colors SO well! Now it feels even more like Easter is around the corner! This year I adjusted the shape a bit- these have a more defined shape, which makes them more realistic!

 

I also have these Easter egg decorations! They are going to come in sets of 5 and can be hanged anywhere in your display! These also come in the same colors as the Tweets, so they coordinate perfectly! I will be taking some more pictures of these before I list them- I just have to make something else to go along with them! ;)

 

 

ON TO THE HOUSE! I have been slowly getting back to work on this little baby. I have put up wall paper on one wall and I have been putting bricks up on the other. As you can see in the next image, I still have a good bit of bricks to lay down.

 

As you can see, the house is a mess. I have some furniture here and there and I have JUNK everywhere. I did manage to get a fireplace going! You can see that in the next image.

 



See that wooden thingy? That's my fireplace/chimney! I have been cutting TONS of bricks and I have plenty of egg cartons now, it just takes a while to get it done.

 

If you follow me on Facebook you might already know this, but I have been working to have my miniatures put in an actual store! There is a shop opening up here in town that caters to local artists- it's called Artists View. At the moment I have some paintings and drawings up, but I hope to have my own booth soon. I just need to make sure I can fill the booth AND have things on my Etsy.

 

I apologize if it seems I have not been active with the miniatures! I have been doing more recently, but it can be VERY hard to balance everything right now. I hope to check back in again soon, so let me know what you think about everything so far!

 

XO

-Blake

Overhang and Front Step Complete! + Chimney and Fireplace Planning!

Well today has been very interesting! I was supposed to go to a concert with my friend, but it was canceled... then I was going to do a photo shoot and that didn't work out... so I was happily back to work on my house!

I started off my painting the front step and adding a gloss to it. I noticed that the excess grout mixture was easier to wipe off of the tops of the bricks if they had been sealed beforehand.

Then I added the crackled pattern on to my trellis overhang and also to the top portions of my columns! ( Is "trellis" the right word to call this thing?) I was going to leave it black, but it was a little too heavy looking and that would have defeated the purpose of having it. I think once I add some vines or hanging flowers over it, it will look really nice :) Which reminds me! Anyone have any suggestions for flowers?

Here is what the whole thing looks like put together. I am really happy with it :) I think I am going to go back with some different colored washes over the sides of the house to make the door pop a little more, and also to make the walls look more aged.

The next thing I need to work on for the outside of the house is the trim- I just have to gather up enough egg cartons for it first. It will probably take about the same amount I used for the foundation and porch.

Here are some more views of the overhang. You can also see where I have my house sitting. I need a board to set the whole thing on so that it is easier to move. That would also mean I can do some landscaping! Not much... just a small patch of grass or flowers.

And here is a closeup of the front step! The means I am done with all of the brickwork on the front porch! I am VERY happy with all of the brick-work! I know for sure that when I do another project I will try my hardest to incorporate bricks! Haha!

Oh! I cannot remember if I showed you guys this. This is the door I want to use for the attic. I want this house to feel open and comforting, and... timeless. A place I would want to live the rest of my days! For this door I want to make the large window stained glass! I then want to incorporate a coordinating stained glass pattern for all of the windows throughout the house.

Okay... I had to! I gathered up some of my pumpkins and sat them on the front stair! Ahhh! This is what I have been waiting for!

Yepp... :) I can die happy now. Haha! Well... not just yet. There are other things to work on!

Now to the hard part. Well, the hard part for me. As you can see with my drawing on this next picture, I want to build the chimney on the right side of the house. There will be a fireplace on the bottom floor and then the chimney will work it's way through the other floors. I figure this would be a nice way to tie in the brick element with the inside of the house.

If you look on the left of this image, you will also see some stairs. (Yes, those are stairs. Haha!) I thought that it would work nicely to build the stairs in that awkward part of the house, because it is out of the way and the stairs could spiral up to the attic! On any exposed sides of the stairs, I wanted to install shelves. That would make for great fun! Books, knick-knacks, antiques, art, and whatever else I fancy!

And here is a little color pallet that I made for the living area. I thought the green was a very nice and peaceful color that went along with the tan bricks. (Yes, more bricks!) I was also thinking a dark hardwood with a white decorative ceiling tile.

Your opinions are always welcome and appreciated! Are the stairs and chimney a good idea? It's not that I can't think by myself, just that your opinions matter to me!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

-xo

Blake

Front Step and Other Random Parts

Well it may not seem like a lot, but I was working most of the day! After sending off this week's packages I came back home and got to work on my front step!

First, I carved out the spots where the columns will go. I don't want there to be a huge gap below them, so now the columns fit snugly in these!

The dollhouse kit I am using came with this massive wooden block.

Then I started adding the bricks like before.

I wanted there to be a little lip over the edge of the step, so I took the kit shutters...

Here are the parts that come in the kit for the shutters. I am using the larger pieces for the step.

I then trimmed them down to make the lip.

Then it was back to laying the bricks! I had to wrap them over the lip to make it look like whole bricks.

I also made this window things for the top floor... there was two of them , but I don't know what they are called.

Here are some more of the same shutter pieces.

I plan on turning them into my fireplace for the living area.

I then jumped back to the top floor windows and checked to make sure the window frame fit. It did!

Then back to the step. I trimmed all the bricks and I also repeated the herringbone pattern on top of the step, just like the porch. Then I painted it red...

Lighter highlights...

That is all for today! I still need to go back and dull down that red. I also need to grout the step.

Question- does anyone have any advice for my windows? I wanted to make them slide up to open, but I have no idea how to go about doing that.

Oh! And here is my work area. It is my closet. Hahaha! It is a total mess, but always a work in progress.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow to see what else I get done on the house!

-xo

Blake

Front Porch - Part 3 - Overhang, Columns, Trim

Ahhh! I can't contain my excitement for this project!

First I want to ask you guys something! Below on the the left you will see how my house looks right now. The corners of the building are exposed and need to be hidden. So... I am taking this wood trim and using it! BUT I don't know what to do with it! My first option was white... but then I wanted to tie in the window frames and I wanted to stain them black... THEN I thought... what about bricks?! It would bring that red color up into the rest of the house and it will also tie in with the chimney! (Coming soon, of course!) SO... what are your opinions? As of right now I am leaning towards the brick, but I wanted to know what you all thought!

The trim would go on the four corners on the front of the house.

Also, I would want to trim off the edges of the floors and walls on the back. If that makes sense?

Well... on to what I did today! I took popcicle sticks and created a wooden cap for my brick column bases.

Below you can see the two versions I made. I made the right one first, but I thought it was too wide and thin looking so I then made the left one. I went with the left one.

Then I covered them with "cement."

I used this grout stuff for my bricks, for those of you that were wondering. I had plenty left so instead of mixing it with water, I did this...

I mixed my paint up to the color I was looking for...

Then I just slowly started mixing in the grout stuff until it was the consistency I wanted.

I then applied it with a paint knife. Below you can see the before and after. The cement looks just how I wanted! I am so happy! I went back once it dried a little and flattened it to make it look more square.

Here is a close-up. Pretty convincing, huh?

Then some kit bashing! That IS what you call this, right? lol. Basically I got rid of the balcony above the front porch. It made the porch too dark and I hated that you couldn't see all of the door from my eye level.

I took the two columns that were meant for the balcony and I laid popsicle sticks in between them. I then took the ends of the sticks and made it look like they were going through the larger piece of wood.

Here you have it! I really like how it looks. I looks lighter and brighter! 

Here is what the columns look like in place.

Another view of the overhang. Is that what you would call this thing? I don't know what to call it.

And I found the front step! Now I get to go cut more bricks. Hahaha!

Really happy with how everything is coming along! Here is me playing around! Hahaha!

That's all for today! I am going to ride to the grocery store with my mom and then run to Hobby Lobby. I am still going to work for the rest of the day, but I think I might work on things for my Etsy shop. Hahaha!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo

-Blake