Splitting My Time

This year as I've mentioned, I'm going to do my best to use what I have.  I've also decided that I'm going to seriously attempt to do two builds and split the weekend between the two of them.  Saturday for the contest build and Sunday for my loft.

So Saturday I worked on a dry fit of my Victorian Bookstore.  I got the walls cut and the first floor and taped them together.

I bought a storefront to use for the first floor. It doesn't come with trim or glass for the windows but I can get those made. I've got plenty of plastic for the windows.

I don't want any windows on the sides, mostly because an old building pressed between other buildings wouldn't have windows on those walls.  The back I haven't decided about yet.  I want a mansard roof and that'll be tricky to cut with the angles I need.  But I have two dormers that will fit up against the roof and bring some light to the third story.

I did some work on the kit's original front so I can use the side windows on the front.

That took up most of the day.  So Sunday I started to work on my spiral staircase again.  I couldn't find any lace that would really work on the fronts of the steps so I went through my jewelry stash and found these.

I used one of my wire cutters to cut them into quarters.  That got me two steps out of each piece and I'm pretty happy with how the steps came out.

While they dried I started to work on my spindles.  I decided to go with an alternating look.

Then I added a slight lip so the steps would have a tiny overhang and assembled the steps again.  I haven't glued everything together yet, waiting on all of the glue to dry completely.

I'm cautiously pleased with how it's turning out so far.

I'll admit to relaxing a bit more during the weekends rather than work on the minis morning, noon and night.  I imagine I'll end up getting a little more intense about it after I've given myself some time to breathe.

I'm excited about the bookstore though.  I've wanted to do one for a while.  And I've got some really fun ideas for the loft so this will be an enjoyable year.