Winter Cabin gets some lights!

I’ve been busy working on my winter cabin! The sanding has been relentless, unsure what has been used to stain and finish the piece, but whatever it is, it’s pretty resistant! lol

I’ve managed to remove most of the varnish and get down to the natural wood colour to show some ageing and wear and tear. This is almost done and I have added some further ageing and dirt, I may add some damp areas. A lot of the cabin will have snow on it, so there is not so much of a need to be so meticulous. :o) The inside has been sanded too, and although in the photo’s it still looks rather orange it is rather more subtle in real life…it’s a classic case that the camera does tell lies! :oP

After sanding, I hinged the back...that was another all afternoon job! :oP

I was going to add wood (to look like slats) to the inside walls, but because of the tiny space and so many pieces glued on, I decided to sand the original wood walls and to show wear and tear, I have added a wash of age in places and I may do some more work on this.

I just added a row of boards along the bottom of the walls. This isn’t skirting board, just a bit of detail…this as I say could have continued up the walls, but I didn’t like the look either…so another reason not to have the slats on the walls. 

 The back hinged, sanded and aged...the beginning of some of the work at least.  

After sanding and even more sanding....and ageing. It looks raw when the ageing wash first goes on, but once it's dried I sand it again and it's muted and natural looking. I think I repeated the process a couple of times.    

 Here is the raw looking aged wash applied....

Just after ageing...

Just after the first sanding another wash of age and more sanding. 

Trying the wood for floorboards..

 Here are the floorboards before I cut them to size etc.

I also laid my floorboards. I cut and stained them last weekend and I stained them a very similar colour to the boards around the bottom of the walls. They have been sanded before I stained them. I will gently sand again and apply a layer of natural wax to seal them (and the boards around the walls too). 

I've cut them so they look like realistic floorboards...

I know what I want to do to this tiny cabin, so my next job was to fit 2 of the 3 lights I am having. I don’t like fitting lights at the best of times, let alone when I have a tiny space to work in that has blind spots (I can’t see what I’m doing nor aiming at!) to boot! Lol I first fitted the outside light. I found it hard to find the right lights for this cabin, most lights are for either inside or outside houses and not cabins, etc! I looked at all the LED lights too, again none suitable for a cabin.  I was also looking for a specific style too….I don’t make life easy for myself. :OP I like the existence of lights in a project, even if they are non working ones, after all unnatural light comes from somewhere and not nowhere. So, I persevere with this task. :oP

It took me all of Friday afternoon to fit 2 lights! Yep, just try drilling holes in the spaces I had to and then trying to thread the wires through. Ummm it’s done now and I am pleased. I painted the white wires brown to tone them down and make them blend just a little better. I was going to add ceiling  rafters, but all this work would have never been seen...they would have covered the wires too.

Today I glued the wires to the wall and ceiling using clear bathroom caulking. I first saw this idea when I bought a fireplace with a light fire in it. It advised to fit the fireplace to the back of a wall using the clear caulking, because it wasn’t a permanent fixative, one could easily remove the fireplace to change the bulb (within the fire) and/or check on the wiring. Using the clear caulking will allow me to check the light (I can still actually take it off the wall) and bulb because the wires can be easily removed from the ceiling. 

The simple beam I made to hang the inside cabin's ceiling light to, otherwise it would have nothing to keep it suspended!. If I didn't have this, the wire would have to go though the roof to keep it suspended, and I didn't want that.  

I will have some wire showing, because this is how it's meant to be and it would be far too high up to the ceiling too! lol

All the floorboards glued down..I will wax them tomorrow to seal them.

I have already bought some snow, ice and icicles products, more are on their way and I will buy the remainder after Christmas. I am having 3 snowy projects in total so it doesn’t matter if I have surplus over. :o) Most snow products aren’t that cheap, but some are ridiculously cheap! :o) Many items can be used for other non snowy projects too. 

I have white flocking powder, ultra fine iridescent glitter, Aleene’s normal and glittery snow, and jewellery wire. I also have Scenic Water, Triple Thick Brush-on Gloss and  plain white wax!  You’ll have to wait to see what else turns up in the post! :o)

I have 2 commissions in the pipeline for this little project…it needs a few special things! I have also have 2 other commissions for my Harry Potter projects. :o)

I have also taken advantage of DHE’s 10% off till Monday, so I have bought 3 kits maybe one or two for kit bashes! ;o)  

Have a fun filled Christmas and a great New Year everyone!!

 Michelle xxxx 

Some new little projects and news!

Well here I am! Firstly for those not on FB  (for those that are, skip the next two paragraphs)! :O) Last week I knew we would find out whether we’d move home in a few weeks or not. We had a not so nice buyer for our house who was like that from the word go ….who has dropped out of the sale, it was either him or us . Also, on the same day, the home we wanted, well we found it was too close from a flood plain, etc., so we have dropped out of that too. We are all happy and not sad or disappointed and our home is back on the market. But we are in the quiet time of selling, so some peace for a while! :o)

We always wanted a slow move and most definitely did not want to move until next year for many reasons, I am a firm believer that things happen for a good reason. So we are all greatly relieved we have more time to prepare and sort stuff out…it does mean though that we’ve had to all get our heads around Christmas..what a nightmare on that score! Lol

I have purchased two cabins! One will be a Winter one and the other Spring/Summer and will emulate my real work/craft space. :o)

The Winter one will be loosely based on a Swiss chalet style, but with some German and Scandinavian style thrown in!  but it will be a retreat for Father Christmas too! Bit of a mix! lol 

This one is tiny, but lots of fun! The back slides out, which means one looses a lot of shelving etc., potential, so I am going to change it to a hinged back (if I can).  I'm going to sand it all down and take that shininess off and tone the colour down and make it less dolls house like, It's far too orange, although the photo's do make it worse than it actually is. 

I'm going to add lots of snow too, which I hasten to add I have never attempted before, but you'll have to wait and see what else I do to it. :o)

I am going to use it as Father Christmas' retreat, after his weary day at work! Although it will be a mainly wintry themed project, the inside contents will be inspired by this fabulous children's short film and book. I have a rough idea what it will be filled with and with ole Mr Christmas inside!

I will work on the wintry one first and then move onto the other one, or I just might open the other kit to see what I want to do with that one....I have already bought some bits for a kit bash for it and some mini's for both projects. :o) 

A big warm welcome to my new followers….I hope you don’t mind my ramblings and madness! :o))

Michelle xxxx