Fine Print Open For Business

Well! All done.  Got over eighty pictures taken and chose four for submission.  I'm improving, last year I had over a hundred.

So starting out with the exterior...

The first floor is a shop front I bought from Miniatures.com.  I used baseboards, crown molding and wood to embellish it and attach the front of the kit to the top of the shop front.

I filled in the space for the doorways and built up the depth of the shallow windows so I could use all four across the front of the second floor.

The third floor is more wood, trim and windows I bought on sale, again from Miniatures.com.  The mansard roof is foamcore board covered with wood shingles painted to look like slate.  I made the decorative grill from a strip of wood, pieces of spindles and paper covered wire wrapped around it then painted black and black metallic on top of it.

I bought a brick stencil from Moonflower Minis on Etsy and used drywall spackle for my brick, painted it and then sealed it with ceramcoat before grouting and resealing it.  The stone texture on the roof lip and corbels is sugar texture medium.

The stone and brick on the base and corners of the shop are egg carton brick and stone.  The lights are from Miniatures.com.  And the sign letters are from Hobby Lobby.  I sanded them down a bit to make them fit in my space and painted them gold, aged with black.



The first floor, the main shop space, doesn't have a ton of floor space.  I read up on shopping in Victorian times and people would line up at the counter, request what they wanted and a clerk would get it for them.  Bookstores were a bit different because people wanted to browse.  But I still didn't see it as having a huge open space really.

The one thing I noticed about the pictures I found of different shops, was that they were crowded with goods. The walls didn't have a lot of bare spots.

And of course I had to have the cats come and keep me company while I took pictures.  Austen is lounging across the newspapers and fashion magazines.

Dickens is waiting his turn on the table top.  Bronte thinks the floor is too cold and jumps from the staircase to the top of the bookshelf nearby.

The bookshelves were barewood from Minimum World as was the counter.  I made the staircase from spindles, wood fan blades and beads and a lot of the books and newspapers from free printies.  I also bought bookmaking kits from LDelaney on Etsy.  I made the cabinet display tables from House of Miniatures kits and the display racks and stands from woodsies and spindle pieces.

More of the books, magazines and papers came from Lilliput Treasures, PetiteGiteMiniatures, LittleThingsInterest, and MiniShacks on Etsy.  The cash register and lamp I found on Ebay.  The rest of the light fixtures came from Miniatures.com.  And the stove was also an Ebay find, though the 'fire' light inside came from Miniatures.com as well.

Barbara sent me a bunch of books and a beautiful atlas that I refuse to glue anywhere... it's too pretty to make immobile.  I couldn't find a place for it in this build so it's very carefully kept in its little bag.  I love the little sign, and maybe it'll end up as décor in a more modern build.

The crown molding is also from Miniatures.com.

On the second floor, I left the center open, so the clerks or patrons could look over the railing to the first floor.  I imagine there's a lot of speaking between floors.  As you can see, all three cats enjoy the view from the railings and lounge there as only cats are able.

I made the door to the 'staircase' from scrap wood and painted it to resemble the actual door on the third floor with similar trim.  I went with single light sconces on the second floor since the chandelier would provide light as well.

I can't remember where the pictures came from.  Probably HBS but I can't be certain.

They like to move around, an easy leap from the railing to the top of another bookshelf, and thus a nice view out the windows.

Sometimes it's easier to take pictures when the lights are out.

I like the view here, seeing the staircase in the corner.

For layout the third floor living quarters gave me the most trouble.  Not easy to arrange the furniture for practicality and photography.  It had to look realistic as far as placement but I didn't want to block out details I'd taken such pains to add.

Dickens is guarding the wonderful copy of Pride and Prejudice Deborah made for me.  It's readable and absolutely gorgeous.  She sent it along with some little blank books for my shelves and I just adore it.  Another book I could not glue down, so it stays on the bed where it's safe!

The fish, sausages and turnips are from Etsy, they are the goods I'd ordered for the WQRC and they didn't arrive until well after Christmas.  When they arrived they also stank to high heaven of I don't know what.  Thankfully they don't smell anymore.  Otherwise Bronte wouldn't go near them.

One of the few flat walls in the living quarters so I could hang these two portraits over the door.

The gorgeous bonnet is from Just For You Miniatures. I bought it ages ago for my Gothic Victorian and it looked so good here I had to kidnap it.

I made the hair brush from some wood and the bristles are from an old paint brush.  The mother of pearl back is from an old necklace I'd taken apart for my bead stash.  The small blue, pink and white 'jar' is a bead with a jewelry finding and another bead on top to make a place to keep hair from the brush.  Jewelry made from hair was still pretty common in Victorian times, according to my reading.  Ladies would have three hair brushes. One for that day, one from the day before which was drying from being washed, and a third to lend to a friend if needed.  Brushing one's hair removed all the dust, coal and other types, that had accumulated during the day.  You washed the brush and let it dry while using the other one and kept switching them out.

It's toasty warm by the stove. Another Ebay find.

Bronte, Austen and Dickens are all creations of Maya Schippl.

I made the throw at the end of the bed.

I made the bureau from a House of Miniatures kit.  The blue upholstered chair is an Ebay find, and the bed is from my stash.  The rest of the furniture is from Minimum World. I bought a bunch at half price last year.

The mattress and pillow are from Minibeddingshop and the quilt is from MiniBargains, both on Etsy.

The mirror on the dresser is from Smallsminnimall.  The lamp is an ebay find as are the bottles.  I got the pretty box from an online mini show.  The clock is from Minimum World.

The letters, paperwork and leather-bound book on the desk are from FrancesLanePark on Etsy. I made the ink bottles and dip pens.

 

The blue glass pitcher is from Keli and the 'copper' pots are from Ebay (I think) I've had them in my stash for a while.  The green bowls are from Susi, I won a drawing of hers a couple years back.  The metal canisters are from Miniatures.com as is the wooden box.  The white plates and bowls are from Hobby Lobby and Ebay.  The packages of food are reallllly old, (I got them when I was thirteen? I think) although you can still buy them.

Nearly Done!

All in all I'm pretty happy with how the weekend has progressed.  I'm pretty much done with the book shop.

In no particular order I got my list completed.

Added the store sign.  These were laser cut letters I got from Hobby Lobby and sanded down a bit to fit in my little sign area.

I painted them gold and then washed black metallic over it.

I added brick to the 'street' and entryway of the front.

I gave the brick herringbone look a try for the entryway.  It's not as pretty as Brae's but not bad for a first attempt.

I wanted to wrap stone around the corners and thankfully I had a bunch of my 'stone' left from the WQRC.  So I cut it into rectangles and used corner trim as my base to attach the 'stone' to the front of the house.

It doesn't show as well here, but it's aged with a wash of black paint just like the rest of the front of the shop.

Jodi suggested drawing the curtains of the living quarters back which wasn't as easy as it sounds because I'd glued them in place but I managed to get pull backs in place.

Shingles were...as usual a pain in the butt.  I got them on, and remembered after the first row that my hot glue gun is a better bet for making them stay. I made flashing out of tin foil.

I decided to go with a slate look.  A lot easier with the texture the wood shingles come with, a layer of black, then different greys dry brushed over the black.

Plug in the rest of the lights.  My outlet strip and transformer arrived and thankfully I didn't need anymore.  

And make a coatrack maybe... I ended up buying one since I found a nice one cheap and dug out a bonnet from my stash to hang on it.

A couple other things I did... I made some pens and ink bottles for the desk to go with the paperwork and ledger.

I spent some time today adding the storefront carriage lights and making a mother of pearl brush.  

My shop keeper needs to wash the windows and sweep.  But apart from that I just need to clean up my work area so I can take pictures and I'll be all done and ready to enter.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

I Seem To Be Missing Half a Month

There's something about this time of year that makes the days go by at light speed.  Insane right?

But somehow I've lost half of November.  Jodi mentioned this a few days ago, and she's so right.  Maybe it's because I work in accounting and when you're constantly on a deadline things seem to whip by.  Maybe it's that I've got several projects going simultaneously and there never seems to be enough time?

Yeah, Christmas shopping? What's that?  Thank God my niece and nephews love gift cards.  And my husband doesn't want anything.

The good news is I have made progress on the bookshop.  I have a few more things to do but the inside is pretty much finished.

I started out by getting curtains in the third floor windows and made a wrought iron trim piece for the roof.

I finished off the last of the book/magazine/newspaper displays on the first floor.  Changed a couple of books in the window displays with some fashion magazines.

And added a table with newspapers and more magazines on top of it.

I also made an insert to make the floor look finished when I don't have the front attached.

The table is the gold and black table I originally made for NOLA House and it ended up being too large so I went with something else.  I like that it's gold and black like the rest of the shop furniture. Seemed fortuitous.

I ran into the reason I hate using plug strips and transformers.  A twelve plug strip doesn't always support twelve lights.  So I've ordered another and another transformer in order to not have a ton of battery lights again.

I know in the UK they make something that goes off how many bulbs you're using rather than volts or watts or whatever.  I'm officially jealous since I can't find anything like that yet.  I'll keep looking.  In the mean time...

The lights work. Yay.

I need to make a sign for the shop too.  Add it to the list.

I wanted to put some paintings on the walls by the stairs.  I have some that will look appropriate.  The frames were this bright shiny gold though so I aged them with black paint and dull gold over it.

Much better.

So I started to work on the living quarters.  First was getting the furniture painted or stained.  And while that dried I worked on the pitcher and basin and the chamber pot.  It took me a bit but I got them painted out nicely.

I got some of my scrapbook paper and made a tile inlay for the washstand.

Then I added a few necessities.

I'm a little concerned that I've given the apartment/flat too modern of a look but I just couldn't stand anymore dark furniture.

The secretary was next.  Since every other piece of furniture had brass trim I added some to it in strategic places with dull gold paint on the knobs and columns.

I'll make an inkwell and some paperwork to sit on the pull out desk.

I also added canisters, dishes and some 'canned goods' to the hutch after I painted it white.

I put some groceries on the table.

Remember when I said I had a mirror for Cecelia Alyce?  That I couldn't find and had to order another one?  Well I found the original and it's a perfect topper to the bureau.

The glue has to dry still but so far so good.

So far I need to add the store sign.
Add shingles
Corner finishes
Plug in the rest of the lights
Finish the street with pavers
And make a coatrack maybe.

I'm really hopeful that I'll finish over Thanksgiving weekend.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week.

Bricks and Wiring

Much as I dislike wiring and dealing with it I decided it couldn't be put off any longer.  I routed out channels in the outer walls and tested all the lights afterwards.

Everything seems to be working.

Of course the transformer I had isn't the right type for my outlet strip so I've had to order one.  While I'm waiting for that to come in I'll reattach all the plugs for the lights.

But once the wires were set I could add the brick to the exterior.  I bought some brick stencils from Moonflower Minis and used drywall spackle as my brick.

Once it dried I added paint and coated it with ceramcoat then added mortar.

I added more ceramcoat once the mortar dried and I'll age the brick with some 'soot' as I did the wooden 'storefront' earlier.  I want to add my shingles and roof edging before I do that though, since the sooty rain would drip down the store front and brick.

Finishing the roof would be a good idea too. You think? LOL

My roof trim.  It'll look better once the glue has dried and I'm not taking a picture from a really awful angle.  I'm a little nervous about leaving the front flat and not closing in the rest of the shop.  The Building Inspector has been very interested in the entire endeavor.

My other little project is a birdhouse I'm messing around with.  I used some of my brick paper for the exterior and made stucco like the WQRC to give it a Tudor look.  The interior is scrapbook paper.  I'm waiting on a few pieces to come from Shapeways so I have something inside besides the Christmas tree.

I'm using some of my left over shingles from the WQRC for the roof and I'll do the same paint treatment to give them a slate look.

A few more weeks before the deadline.  I might actually make it.  Don't know for sure but I'm hopeful.