WG Retirement Cottage Inspiration

My Wicked Queen's cottage is taking a lot of inspiration from the Tudor period, as I think I've mentioned.  Something set in Ireland or England, suitable for a quiet life.

And my Wicked Queen is adamant that she is not actually Wicked. She's been stereotyped.

I'm hoping to use egg carton stones for the exterior of the first floor.  I was thinking a nice varying grey with a touch of brown here and there.  Something like this?

I like the roof on this one too.  

I don't know if I want to do vines on this house or not.  Depends on what I do with the garden.  I'd really like a little walled in front garden with a stream going through it and a gate.

I had (and I doubt this will come to fruition) the idea of a fairy tale cottage with the garden always feeling and looking like spring and summer while outside the walls there was snow and ice.  Don't know how I'd pull that off but its in the back of my mind.

The upper floors of the main cottage will be the timber and plaster look like the second cottage.  And for the tower I'm thinking of experimenting with the brick like Jodi did for her room box.   In a darker red brick? Something like this.

See the brick on the second story?  If I did that with grey stone around the windows it would tie into the main body of the cottage. It would also have the benefit of looking like something my Wicked Queen added to the cottage after she retired because until brick became cheap it wasn't something used commonly during the Tudor period.  At least that's what my reading said.

For the interior walls I'm thinking I'll use some plaster to make them look white washed, and have dark exposed wood beams on the ceilings and underside of the roof.

The furniture is another issue entirely.  Tudor furniture is this really curious blend of gorgeous delicate carving and chunky posts. 

A lot of the walls had wooden panels covering them and they were carved with what was called 'linen fold' designs.  Like this.

They'd have this on furniture too, like the panels on a headboard of a four poster bed.

So I'd love to be able to recreate this look on the barewood bed that I purchased.

Those little panels on the foot board and head board are crying out for some detail.  So I think I'll be experimenting with my dremel on scrap wood and seeing what I can do to achieve the same look with paper. 

I've purchased some pretty trim, the type you can use for a floor inlay, and I'm hoping to recreate the look of this chest.

We'll see.  And I'm going to try and build a table like this one.

This is a McQueenie kit and it's pricey to buy if I can't make one on my own.  I'm thinking some newel posts, and more of my bass wood from Hobby Lobby to start.

I love the color of it. So I want to try and do something similar with stain. 

And I bought two of these 'pews' which are similar to a Tudor settle and I can play around with them.  Not sure how they'll work with the sight lines in the rooms.  We'll see.

I also got a spinning wheel and I'm researching what a loom from the 17th century would look like.  I don't know if I'll have the ability to make one but it would be cool for the upstairs if I could pull it off.

I think the upstairs would be the work room, books, spinning wheel, a few odds and ends, that sort of thing.  The main floor is where she'd live mostly. So bed, table, sink (I think?) and settle or chair, that sort of thing.

And the tower would serve as the staircase and also a top floor for star gazing.  I need to figure out what a 17th century telescope would look like. 

Still working it out in my head but I'm excited.  Every time I start one of these contests I end up learning new things.  Exciting!

How is everyone else doing?  I'm being lazy mini-wise, not working on anything except research.

Wicked Queen's Retirement Cottage

So I just spent some time I shouldn't have playing with paint and the front elevation of the 2018 Creatin' Contest kit.

And I've drawn out something that will give you an idea of what I want the kit to look like in the end.

Because I'm awful at renderings unless I'm using my Dungeon Designer program I'll translate for you.

I want to raise the roof (whoot whoot) and add three or four inches to the walls, and extend them about an inch outward in all directions, like this.

I don't want it this tall, because that's an invitation for things to fall over.

But I don't want the porch, so going to pull that front wall out just a half inch further than the one with the window and build a gable above it, with a Tudor style door and possibly a little window above it.  I haven't seen any period Tudor house with a porch yet otherwise I'd be tempted to keep it.

I'd love to make something like this door.

I figure on adding a dormer where the skylight is and with that I'll have a nicer second floor.  Maybe with enough room for a Tudor style fireplace.

The stairs is where the whole thing gets fun.

I want to add a tower to the back corner of the house, with stairs leading up to the second floor and then to a third floor tower room, maybe with a telescope and orrey.  I don't want it to be a whole lot higher than the roof peak so the drawing is a bit off.

My idea for the history of the cottage is that it started out as a simple stone cottage and was added onto when the Queen retired so the first floor will be stone, the upper will be the typical Tudor style beams and plaster/lime covering the weave in between.  I read that when people wanted to rob someone they'd just saw through the walls rather than try to break down the door, which is why you saw a lot of stone for the first floors.  Brick was for the rich or later in the period when it became cheaper to make.

And all the windows would be leaded glass casement type windows.  So those will be interesting to make or bash.

The tower would be the add on, rather than using a ladder to get upstairs, so it will be in the brick wealthier people tended to use.

Inside I want a mix of practical and impractical.  Things she works with and some luxuries she's brought with her.  I'll probably end up making a table and bench seat and I've really got to research how sinks looked back then.  I also want a little chest.

I saw a picture of a tub, half a barrel with a cloth liner which is just fascinating so maybe I could do something like that.  And a tapestry for the wall.  Stone floors on the ground floor and plank for the second.

This could be lots of fun.

What do all of you think?

Decisions Decisions

I had a couple of ideas for the 2018 Creatin' Contest Kit.  One of them was fairly normal, if difficult to pull off.  The other one is really out there and way more complex.

I put both ideas to my husband and the first one he was like 'yeah...okay'.  But the second one he was all 'yeah that! do that!'.

And honestly the second idea really appeals to the nerd in me a lot more.

I don't really want to say what it is yet.  It's going to take a lot of research and learning to pull off properly.  Probably more than when I was working on NOLA House.  And oh man...the work.

But if I can do it I'm going to really enjoy this house.  Sooo... some hints maybe?  Maybe you'd like to take a few guesses.

Soo... thoughts?

Little Shop Miniatures

Hey everybody!

Two posts in one weekend and we're in January?  I know you're wondering what got into me.

But I just remembered to go and check out the blog on Little Shop Miniatures because Amanda, the founder asked if she could include my blog in her list of 16 Dollhouse & Miniature Blogs You're Sure To Love.

I'm excited to see a lot of the folks I follow on the list and a couple that I missed.  

Check it out and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter.  You get a 10% off coupon when you do.  And that's nothing to sneeze at!

Hope everybody's weekend is going well.

Cleaning Out My Closet

No, not the Eminem song.  Though I do like that one.

And not actually my closet, the 'walk in' closet in my husband's study.  It started out as a place to keep things were didn't know where to put, and some keepsakes that I didn't need out.  And Christmas decorations...that sort of thing.

Because we don't go in the attic.  Not ever.  It's creepy up there.

But with the big footprint of the Craftsman Tiny House I've been running out of space for my houses.

Husband suggested we get the closet cleaned out and we could put the Architect's abode in there.  It would free up more space in my workroom (dining room) and clear the table so I can work on the next project.

It's not a huge closet but it was amazing what got packed into it.

Here it is with the Christmas decorations in it.

Oh, and the foam I use for the cat's window shelves.

But all of this came out of it.

Along with two old CPUs.

All those boxes are empty by the way.  For some reason they just got put in the closet.

So I broke all of them down and carted the monitors and old equipment out to the car.  Dragged the bedding and throw pillows (lawn and leaf bags full) out to the backseat and drove it all over to Goodwill where they unloaded it for me.

And now I have room for one box of my childhood dolls and stuffed animals after putting the Architect's Abode inside it.  I can safely put it on top of the Christmas crates because we really don't decorate with them much.  Cats and fragile ornaments don't mix.

It wasn't miniatures but I did accomplish something today.

Now I just need to vacuum and take the furniture out of the dollhouse so it can be moved.  And get rid of all the molded Styrofoam from the computer boxes.

Moving Day

I've been more than a little worn out this weekend. It's been a long week at work and I finally got caught up with everything that had to be done.  So I tried to get some sleep on Saturday morning.  I sort of succeeded.

But once I actually woke up I began my project.

You recall the Building Inspector's apprentice and his imitation of the Building Inspector.  That, along with the issue of finding a place for the Craftsman Tiny House, pushed me to do some moving around.

I finally got all the books back in the bookcases and then began rearranging some shelves.  So now the houses are less easy for the cats to jump on or knock down in an attempt to jump on top of them.

I moved NOLA House into the guest room.  If I'd been thinking I would have moved the bookshelf so I could see the front door of the house rather than having it against the wall.  If I get ambitious next weekend I still might.

I really should have gotten a bigger bookcase.

The empty shelf where it was has been the spot of much exploration by every cat except Helo.  He's more interested in the abandoned chair.

As you can see I haven't cleaned up a whole lot more.  First I needed to make sure nothing was going to get destroyed.

Then I moved the Fairytale Cottage to one of my bookshelves in the living room.

It fits pretty well.  And the Building Inspector won't be pushing her face inside it.

And I'm sure I'll find something to put on the empty shelf where it used to be.

Once I get a closet cleaned out I'll probably move the Architect's Abode into it and put the Craftsman Tiny House where it is.

On Sunday morning I started to get sick again and so the rest of the day I spent on the couch.  My husband very kindly did not taunt me with spicy food or any other tantalizing scents that would make me want to eat and thus drive my system crazy all over again.

I'm excited though because I just checked out Susi's blog and found out that I won her giveaway.  Since I haven't really won anything in my life I'm going to enjoy this nice start to 2018.

Hope everyone else is having a safe and happy start to their New Year.

New Year New Kit

It's actually a little funny.

I'm still trying to figure out where to put my 2017 entry.  Most likely it will go live in my husbands study when I get a little table in there.

But of course HBS sent an email.  And now they've got me thinking about the 2018 Creatin' Contest kit. Another fully enclosed kit!  I really like that.  (We all know why that is.)

It's called the Trey Gables Kit.

I really like it.  I can picture it with a bow window on the front and another gable where the skylight is.  It could be a very cozy cottage.  Or it could be a nice little shop?

The description doesn't say if there are any interior walls or if the ceiling is lofted.  But there's another picture of the outside all done up.

Measurements are 15"W x 17"H x 24"D which is a bit smaller than the 2017 kit.

I like the thatched roof though.  And the smaller footprint.  This could be a lot of fun!

Happy New Year!