Roof and Tree

This was a long weekend of a lot of work but not a lot of pictures.  I spent a good portion of the holiday making more shingles.  And after reading through Jodi and Brae's methods for making trees I ordered supplies which arrived in time for the weekend and the beginning of my apple tree.

I'm running low on candy tuft because I ordered one basil green and one deep green and the basil works better for the apple tree.  I ordered more which hopefully will arrive soon.

But here's how my apple tree started.  I used up every bit of wire I had and wrapped it around some of the leftover dowel I used for the staircase center support.  I wanted a thick trunked tree rather than a thin one, even if I couldn't make it really tall.

Latex over the wire. This is the second coat.

Then brown paint.

Then a mix of brown and grey.  I'd put a coat on, then water it down and streak it over the dark brown.  It seemed to work pretty well.

And then adding some candy tuft.

I worked on the tree when I had to let some glue dry on the roof.  I was originally going to paint the shingles before putting them on the roof.  But I honestly just didn't have the space and it would take me twice as long to get it done.  I couldn't be sure how many strips of shingles I'd need to make, and I was worried I'd end up having to make more, paint them and glue them on and I wasn't sure how long everything would take.

I started out by making flashing out of cardboard and painting it black.  Black is the base coat of the roof so it'll blend nicely once I get the rest painted and then made to look like slate with grey and brown.

The card board is from various sources, wine box dividers which are thicker, cereal boxes, mailer envelopes... I'm hoping that will give me a bit more dimension as well as realism.

I tried to match up my shingle rows on the dormers and main portion as much as I could.  I think it came out pretty well.

So right now I just need to put the roof on the tower and then paint.  I've got some sponge brushes which will make the aging of the roof easier.  I'll probably do a bit of that tomorrow night, or I'll work on the garden walls.  Brae has a count down on her site and I'm feeling a bit... squeezed.

And I got some moss so I can age the stones and the base of the house a bit.  It'll come in handy on the tree roots as well.

I also started on my garden base and walls.  I used Styrofoam for the walls, to keep them light.  And I'll glue more of my 'stone' to them and paint it to match the house.  I'm probably going to go with a more squared off stone look simply to make my life a little easier.

I'm waiting to glue on the bargeboards and topper for the main roof until after I've painted.  I figured why glue them on and then have to tape them up so they're waiting for now.

That's pretty much it for me for the weekend.  I hope everyone had a good holiday!

Create 'slate' roof
           Put Roof on House
           Paint roof.
Wiring
Finish back of house and tower
Doves/Pigeons for dovecote - Got need to glue on
Basic landscaping around the minimal base.
Lean to, to hide light switches.
Label Switches
Kitchen
          Hang sausages-mailed
          Age Bread paddles
          Cloak - Anna
Create front garden
          Make tree? - more candy tuft ordered.
          Make stream?
          Make lake/river to go alongside house
          Make stone wall to go around garden
          Iron front gate.