Finally - Hôtel Jadis exterior work has begun

I have been working on Hôtel Jadis since beginning of February, more or less (more like less) full-time. And finally this week I started to work on the outsideof the house. On Monday when I glued the third floor to the rest of the house, the feeling was amazing: it will be ready. You can see the results below. It is quite long way from the picture on the left hand side column.

Well, it will take a quite long while still as even the outside is taking much more time than I estimated. I thought  the whole thing would be ready by Monday eve (after a very long day), but then I just had not the courage to work so hard.

I guess it is the artistic process, very painful one, as I seem to be able to postpone starting to infinity.  The pain point of Monday was the back. It started on the third floor: I wanted to have an open door there, which meant that there needs to be an extension.

So on Tue I built the extension and decorated the inside (impossible to do afterwards). Then I started to look to the first and second floor, or actually their back. Plain. Boring. A bay would be needed. Luckily a faux one would do, wouldn't it?

It is still quite plain, but there are windows wainting that someone would sand, paint and decorate the outside instead of writing the blog....

Tools of trade

I read just a moment ago about Casey's workspace, and it encouraged to me to show you my desk (just a bit tidyed...)

The reason why I don't show the whole room is a bit embarassing: the room is supposed to be our living room....But I was driven away from my study as it will eventually become a room for my son. Unfortunately it has been on the transitional state for more than half a year.

On the desk you see my tools of trade: an old magazine, a pot of honey, duplos, and an old jar of mint jelly, and a flower pot.

1. The old magazine is my favorite: I used to have an oilcloth to cover the surface, and it always got stained and I always managed to unnotice it -> stains in all very inconvinient places. Now I just tear the page away when it is all used. And the bonus is the nice pictures and the random combinations paints and glue makes with the page content.
2. A pot of honey keeps my PVA. I had a very big bottle of it, and it was nearing the end. It was painful to get out of the bottle, so I cut the bottle and inserted it to the honey pot. Works well, if you don't forget the lid open (like I do).
3. Duplos are wonderful for keeping the corners true. But you knew that, didn't you?
4. Old jar of mint jelly is filled with water and keeps my brushes wet. I know it is a bad habit, as you should wash them right a way, but I'm lazy....
5. And the flower pot works as my desk waste basket.

In addition of these I've noticed that having small boxes or their lids available helps finding things: for the current project I have a shoebox to keep the parts of the house, and sometimes the lid contains e.g. windows. And a very nice Spanish chocolade box lid has the completed furniture and the actual box has all the leftover bits and pieces for things that have been tried out. (And luckily the honey pot hides the very untidy mess of coffee stirrers anc coctail sticks used for working with adhesives...) (Even more luckily my husband is too busy to comment on other stuff around the desk....)

I admit that it helps that this current project, Hôtel Jadis, is in scale 1:48. I have finally reached the point I can start work on the outside of the house, as I have tried to be more organized on this project and finalize the inside first. Well, at least for the parts that are fixed to the house as there are places where you can't get your fingers into anymore as I glued the bay yesterday:

Kalli's Gallery is founded

A miniature enthuasist from Finland, starting blogging in English. I have been blogging in Finnish and will continue to do so, but got p.., well, annoyed with the layout editor of the Finnish service provider and wanted to check if this is a better solution. Already now, after 1/2 hour of playing, I definetely vote for this one. I have found some difficulties already for making the layout I want, but perhaps it's just me trying to be difficult.

In addition to play with the layout, it would be fun to find more miniature friends from outside world, even though we have a very lively communion of miniaturists here in Finland.

So I will play a bit with the layout now and add some pictures of my (unfinished) doll's houses. The background picture is the first one, it is the big 1:12 house that started my hobby. But I have houses now in every possible and impossible scale....