I'm a bad bad blogger...

I admit this freely now -- I could give you the excuses of feeling like death this last week with limited mobility... but life is what it is, I'm just having to learn to lead it a bit differently than before! So, at the very least I feel I should update with what I have been up to as of recent days.

Number One: The Cassie dh kit by The House That Jack Built -- lovely kit and I will soon be done with it. This is a cute little bungalow of a house, and it will be joining the Hickory Ridge Log Cabin, and The Heather dollhouse kits that I made for Relay for Life this year.

Number Two: I've been working diligently on the house... but find I have the same repetitive tasks of cleaning cat fur out of it night by night. It seems my supervisor has quite decided that while the house is here -- it is whether I realize it or not, PERFECT for him! lol Ah well, he's been fun to work with.  ;)

Number Three: I've been trying to get up the gumption for the last year to really give a go at combining my mini making with stained glass, another hobby I was talked into long ago when my mom wanted to take classes at the local college. Think I was a sophomore or junior in high school when we took those classes. Anyways, I've really been wanting to get back into the stained glass as well, and kept considering how to combine the two. I guess it just seems silly to me to see so many dh companies selling "greenhouses" that are made of plexiglass or very thin acetate like material. I've finally figured out where to get glass that is thinner and more in line with the dimensions I'm thinking of -- so tomorrow, I'm taking my first pattern out to the shop and seeing if I can't actually make something worthwhile besides indulging myself and having fun.

Number Four: Last but not least -- guess who has been asked or "commissioned" if you want to sound snobbish about it to build a dollhouse for someone else?!? That's right, little old me. A girl I went to high school with has seen several of my dollhouses that I've finished up and has asked me to make a farmhouse for her daughter for Christmas. I personally love the matter she's told me it will mean that much more that I make it -- and that she and her husband hope to keep it even after she's done with it for grandchildren!  :) She had initially requested this last year, but with her husband still over seas serving... Well, this is a gift they both wanted to be there for -- so this year it's definitely happening! So glad that they are both back together and safe!

Gives you(or at least it does me) a nice feeling to help build tomorrow's memories from today's dreams. Hope everyone else has been doing wonderfully! Oh, and last good point to share -- guess who's now managing to make all of her own shingles? That will be a for sure money saver for me! lol

Finally, the cabin is finished!

Yuppers, you read that right! I gave up on the air dry clay for the chimney, what I was using was not satisfactory for my personal taste as to how I wanted this to look. I wanted it to look rustic, not falling apart and pathetic... Which sadly is exactly what my attempts with that clay looked like! lol I do realize I've not tried Paperclay as yet, namely b/c unless I order a bunch on-line I don't really have any store nearby which sells it. Not to mention, I've been coming across a bunch of recipes for clay that can be made at home. May see if I can't do a homemade version of that and see how well I like it.

Anyways, went to Walmart the other day and realized they are now carrying Sculpey. I realize most use poly clays for little things like foods, castings, or even dolls for their houses. I went crazy though and rolled out about two and a half of the four slabs that come in the box, and now have a pretty solid looking chimney. Basically just rolled the clay out 1/4 of an inch thick, used a mold I bought in the cake decorating section of a store long ago. This mold is not being used for anything but dollhouserie. Baked it, painted it, sealed it, and it's now glued on and making the cabin much nicer to my way of thinking -- more complete I suppose is the term I'm looking for.

Below, find some more pictures of this little cabin. Oh, and btw -- both the cabin and Heather were taken to my local contact for Relay for Life today. Had a nice lift in spirit when he stated he couldn't believe the detail in them, and how he really thought these would help out this year.  :)

 A quick picture from the back showing the interior. I did the floor using popsicle sticks, or craft sticks as they're being called now. The ceiling I chose to do a pine panel effect with Greenleaf siding strips to lighten up the inside of the cabin.

 Liked this picture because it really gets that full view effect of everything from the floor to the ceiling, and everything in between. If anyone's wondering, the interior walls initially were flat. However, after gluing the kit together I realized I didn't like how fake that looked to me. So went back with an awl and made them a bit more rustic if you will.

 Hoping if y'all click on the fireplace you may be able to see the ash I included. Got this trick from the GL forum of scraping some pastel chalk to get the look of ashes. Loved it!!!  :) Also, this fireplace when I received it was missing quite a few of the rocks, the mantle, and had nothing in it. Found some flagstone and was able to replace the missing rocks. Sanitized and baked some twigs to create the "logs", and then cut down a piece of pine and painted it to create the look of an older wood mantle. Truly enjoyed refurbishing something that I knew I wasn't looking to use anywhere, but was able to pass it on with this house and really felt like it added to the overall impression of the cabin!  :)

Last but not least a photo of the exterior chimney that gave me such issue. Still not "perfect" per se, but I like it a heck of a lot better than my previous attemps!  :)

Later than planned...

Seems to be my idiot theme on here, but I'm going to say better late than never! I know I was hoping to get pictures up of both The Heather dh and the DC Hickory Ridge Log Cabin up -- as it stands, y'all are going to be treated to pictures of the first. As for the cabin -- still no pictures, because I'm still having issues with clay. Keep hoping one of these days I'll figure out the key to air dry clay and not having it crack all to heck, just doesn't seem to be yet! lol

Anyways, for the Heather there were definitely several firsts with this little house! The shingling on the front gable is one example of this, as is the brick used to paper the exterior, also the dormer window -- first one I've made from scratch due to the opening being larger than those that are now sold by HBS. Another first would be that the windows and door on the ground level are all operational.  :) Other firsts that should be pointed out are the flooring on the second level, used cork flooring for the bedroom area, and attempted my first tile rug in the bathroom(think that's probably my favorite room in this house!)  Oh, and last first I can think of -- my first scratch made staircase!!!  Was super excited about that. lol

Here's a couple of shots of the living room...

 One of the kitchen, after taking the pictures I realized I needed to go back and touch up the trim in the upper right corner -- that has now thankfully been addressed!  ;)

 Quick picture of the bedroom area and scratch built stair surround, must admit I really liked the cork shelf liner as a floor in this room.

Then my favorite room, really had fun with this one -- both with the flooring and with the paper! This is the first house I've used all scrapbook paper for every room in the house, but I really liked this because it seemed to make it fairly cohesive in regards to the color scheme throughout. Going to leave you all with the last pic of the back of the house in it's entirety, and hopefully soon will have a few more pics to show of the cabin in it's completion with a chimney that's not cracked! lol (Crossing my fingers!!!)