Flourish & Blotts gets furnished….

 Well, actually it still has a long way to go yet in many ways! :o) 

Some months ago I mentioned that I was going to commission the bookcases and counter for this shop, I was under the misapprehension that perhaps the commission wouldn’t take too long because one gets to apply the finish to the barewood pieces. :o)))

I now know why the commission took longer than I anticipated. Rob Lucas has amazing skill and talent that is in big demand!  :o)))

My bookshop is based on the real one and like many old bookshops you find yourself in the UK, very tight for space and books stuffed in every conceivable space going!

When I contacted Rob he requested sketches of what I wanted. I can’t sketch for toffee, so I instead I scoured the Web for bookcases in the style I wanted. I already knew what the counter looked like so I sent the photo from the actual shop and another photo from the web for the shape etc. Rob completed a sketch of the counter, and I requested shelves inside the counter too.

This shop originally was going to be another type of shop, but I bought another kit for that project, so this homemade shop became a spare. It’s tiny, so any potential shoppers are going to have to be on the slim side! lol   

 Inside the counter, perfect in everyway and just what I wanted!

Last week they finally arrived. They are perfect, perfect for my project! They fit perfectly too (much to my relief because I had to measure my shop). I couldn’t be more thrilled with the pieces. :o))

Holding back the bookcases, they all lean forward....rickety floorboards! Very authentic, I did want them aged and rickety, but perhaps not between the wall and floor! lol. 

I have a few ideas and plans already, but unsure what to do with the upstairs wall space. I was going to have a clock, I may have some bookshelves stuffed with books and books piled on the floor.  I could have a wall light?

The photo’s unfortunately don’t show too well all the fine detail, but the pieces have fine and detailed architrave around the top and bottom, and beading down each edge. I believe the pieces are made from Bass wood. 

Fitting the pieces in the shop was the fun part, my floorboards are very rickety and just like in real life (!) so I am going to have to secure the bookcases to the walls because they lean forward. I will use the clear silicone sealant that you use around baths etc. I use it behind fireplaces, it allows you to secure the fireplace, but also remove it if you need to change the bulb or check on the wiring. I will want to remove the bookcases, so this is ideal.   

I know when I move I won't be so limited with space. I can now have the slightly deeper shadow box that I made.  In the film this small back room is where Gilderoy Lockhart signs his books. I may now have real shelves on the back wall of the shadow box, a small window (like upstairs) and a desk piled high with books. I may also, on occasions just have the doors ajar.   

I am going to frame the door with books, I have packed all my books away and could only find  some glued pages (for insides of books) and I did try these, but forgot to take the photo of them to give you an idea what it may look like! :o)

The stairs will run up along these bookcases and I plan on making them removable. I don't think you'd find stairs in real life like this, but one does in Harry Potter. :o) However, in the film, the doglegged staircase runs along the back wall too. My building isn't wide enough to do this, so I've had to adapt the idea. I tried it today and it all fits, though it's a cosy fit! lol :o) 

I knew the position of the upper floor landing newel posts would be an issue. I plan to have one here, it gives enough realistic space to get access to the books. Skirting board painted black with gold writing will cover the floor edges, but the stairs will cover most on the side you can see. 

I can now add the skirting board and cornice, now I know where the bookcases will be etc.

The newel post on the opposite side will be in the same position. 

You may just be able to see the fine detailing. :o)

I wanted to stain my bookcases in my Summer House, all rather too smelly for my craft room, I had to reorganise some working space! 

However, I have started to tidy and pack up both my craft room and Summer House. Nothing is actually packed permanently away yet, but I’ve been rearranging my supplies and tools. I decided that I can do some work on this project. It’s not easy though, having peeps coming to view one’s house (the Estate Agent shows the potential vendors around for us) whilst I hide out in the Summer House (if I'm not at work). Just how much I get done or will do remains to be seen. :oP

 I have 6 stains to choose from, I also mix up my own stains from acrylics. I often age with the latter. I want a warm oak colour for my bookcases etc., not too dark because I have black paintwork in the shop. I always start with the lighter and warmer colour first and go from there, just my preference.  I will finish and seal with wax polish, this also helps defining the detailing, and enhance any ageing I want to do.

 Getting ready for staining....

Not quite ready....

I’ve started on the staining, it has taken some time just to do this much. I had to stop, I have an ear infection which makes me feel rather groggy and having my yearly flu jab didn’t help my cause. :o(

My blinds for the shop. My Mum made the blinds and I've done the rest. They still need their cords to pull them down. :o)

These are the finials I bought ages ago. I will finish them with either a wax polish or satin acrylic varnish. I drilled a hole in each pole for the finial to fit into and the metal fitting fits between the pole and finial.  All the metal furnishings are solid brass and hand made by Tony Hooper. :o) 

I don't think ( I think they are too vulnerable and may come apart whilst moving) I will glue together my blinds (pole and finials).  

I will be removing that spare bit of thread too! lol

I believe my Gobstopper Machine for Sugar Plum's Sweet Shop may be ready next week. It's wild and very wacky...methinks Sugar Plum's upper room space maybe going lateral (into another kit) and thus have more sweet making space! 

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

Michelle xxxx 

Hogwarts - Gryffindor’s Common Room Commission and more…

Well as I’m not doing any mini work at the moment and my brains are fried and dried! So, I thought I’d show you my long awaited commission for Hogwarts - Gryffindor’s Common room fireplace and accessories! 

I really didn’t want to make my own fireplace for Gryffindor’s Common room as I knew it would be a devil to make, so I asked Ericka VanHorn whether she would, and I got lucky!

I received many accessories with the fireplace, these include two open books, one  of them is about  The Three Brothers and there are also two paper bundles, one on Horcruxes and the other on wands. There is a wand, a tiny orrey, potions, phials, newspapers and lots of sweets which include teeny tiny chocolate frogs! I also have Harry’s broom and Weasley Wizard Wheezes goods! There is also a wonderful standing candelabra (not photographed here, I accidentally forgot to add it to the scene!) There is also a stack of books, but Ericka forgot to add them to the parcel, so they are on their way over with some other items that I recently bought.

It arrived this week a long with lots of Harry Potter related goodies! :o)) Ericka has even added the shield above the fireplace, I know she wanted to do the proper motto for Gryffindor, but you can’t really see what it says…so I said it matters not one iota! :o)) 

Ericka has made Sirus Black’s face in the flames (from the scene where he is talking to Harry Potter) which I particularly love. :o)) His face and the fireplace lights up, unfortunately I haven’t finished wiring so I can’t show you. I am hopeful that Ericka will show this piece on her blog and with it lit. :o))

It is a piece that you really need to see in real life. I really can’t wait to add it properly to my scene, but Hogwarts is not done and I haven’t laid the flooring for the Common Room yet and there are light wires showing through the flooring!    

Ericka informs me that Martha Puff has included my fireplace in American Miniaturist Magazine. I am thrilled to have more mini’s in a magazine, but also so thrilled for Ericka too!  Ericka has sent me a copy over with the book stack. :o)))  Once received I will show it on here.  :o)

Thank you so much Ericka! I love it and I really can’t wait to add it properly to the room! ;o))

 This is the wall it will go on. The project is far from finished as you can see! :o) 

 The sweets that I received from Ericka too. Most will end up in Sugar Plum's Sweet Shop. :o) 

I have also made some recent purchases from Nikki Rowe. I have bought some food too…well witches and wizards need to eat and most nice ones eat fairly normal food too! ;o) I also have a wonderful mandrake waiting for his pot! Lol I have a lot of projects so they will all be homed in various new homes. :o))

I love the pumpkin pies and pumpkin loaf! 

 Lots of different cheeses!

All together in Hogwart's not finished kitchen! Not a place to put food either...on the dusty kitchen floor! lol

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

Michelle xxxx 

Flourish and Blotts…but somewhat belated update!

This is how Flourish's looks at the moment...not finished! lol

   

This isn‘t real time work, I last worked on ole Flourish‘s in June! I’m currently awaiting the bookcases and shop counter to be completed as part of a commission, all work has had to stop till they are all in situ.  :o)

Flourish’s outside is almost finished. I need to do the sign and then add the fascia etc. All  my shops will have a hanging sign and the bay and bowed windows will  have a lead roof (none of mine have had that added yet, although I do have the lead for Flourish’s!).

I’ve moved Slug and Jiggers to face the other way (how I had to start with), I had issues with opening Flourish’s front. So, it means I have make the back of Slugs and Jiggers and Flourish’s more presentable. However, I am going to wait till I have my complete line up in place before I do that…I just might move it all back to how it was just because of the extra work I now have to do! Lol :o)

There is some cosmetic work to be done on the side of Slug and Jiggers where bits of plaster have chipped off and of course the back...you can see the bare wood back!   

The back of Flourish's is slightly exposed too, and this needs attention. However I want a trompe l'oeil behind the back doors, so I will have to somehow obscure the lower view of the gap.

 How it was and how I prefer the layout....hmmm Apologies for the grainy photo's but the light in this area of the room is appalling no matter what time of day and one taken with a flash is even dire. 

 It's looks much better in good light! lol

 No, that's not the ghastly sign I will be having! lol It's just a prototype I used just to see how the font would look etc. I printed it off when my printer was out of red and blue ink! 

  Trying the door lintel in place. I can't glue it on until the sign etc is in place. 

The floorboards have been aged and waxed. As you can see I added another bit! To be honest I have no idea why it was cut away in the first place!! lol It maybe because the shop was going to be another shop in the beginning. :o) Anyhow, I'm sure I can use some kind of story as to why it's like it.....maybe a couple of house Elves did it one night! :o) lol

The horrid doglegged staircase, but this is how they will look (layout wise) once in. They will be painted black but with the top of the hand rail will be stained.

With the back doors in. I adapted the hanging light after a kind soul telling me how easy it was to do! Thank you Sally...it wasn't so bad. :o)

 With all the door and window furnishings added.

I’ve used all hand made brass door furnishings, and have added an oval knob for the main door like the real one. Fitting the key hole for the back door was mighty fiddly!

 With the stairs this time....

Close-ups of Flourish’s wallpaper aren’t kind. I love the pattern, only it stretched as it was being glued on, so I have areas where it is paler than others. Seeing that my shops are aged and rather dirty this is not a bad thing, but not good if you want a pristine look! I know much is dependant on the paper, but sometimes it’s also to do with glue and method used. I used slightly watered down PVA to glue it on, but some kind and talented individual suggested a combination of Pritt Stick and PVA, or just Pritt Stick. I think it’s down to method too. The faults don’t stop there unfortunately and I would redo it because I hate it so much,  but the paper was not cheap and as I’m having floor to ceiling bookcases, shelves and skirting board still to be added, the worse areas will be covered….what a relief for small mercies! :o)

I've not attached the window sills that I made yet, as I may need to shorten them when the bookcases are in situ. 

 The black trim will be added above the window and not over the doors architrave! It will have words in gold on it pertinent to the shop. :o)

One of the blinds that my Mum made. I have yet to add the finials to the ends, these have been stained and will be waxed. I will have a tiny pull cord etc in the middle of the blind. 

The back doors in the shop which in real life leads to a tiny room with lots of books and a desk etc. I made the stairs from scratch and of course aged and distressed the lot!

I still plan on having a trompe O'leil, but it’s vital I get the perspective correct. Take a look at this blog link and you will see a spectacular trompe O’leil where an image of an open door leads into a garden. No, I don’t’ want a garden scene…but just a certain scene behind my own real opening doors. I have the image, it’s just a case of working with it to get it right. :o))

The chimney stack that I made and wooden chimney pot that I made look and feel like terracotta.  

 I've added the mortar to set the chimney pot. ;o) It was still drying when I took the photo.

I wanted another lead roof, I’m much happier with Flourish’s roof compared to Slug and Jiggers. The lead is a lot neater and I’m far happier with the ageing, I used a different method this time and it’s far more realistic in my humble opinion. I will redo Slugs roof age  and distress work! ;o)  Again I made the chimney stack and made a wooden chimney pot look like a real terracotta using modelling dust (I needed one ASAP and that’s all I had at the time). 

Some stairs that I've made to look like worn and aged stone. They aren't finished yet. :o)

The downstairs of the Weasley shop. I thought the stairs looked better this way, rather than 'come at you' as you open the front. The only thing is, they are rather near to the other wall (once its in situ), so  I may take a couple of cms off the top floor so I can set them further back and thus make it look like a realistic space that little wizards can move in! lol

I’ve been gluing parts of the Weasley shop together today and I’ve tried 3 different types of hinges for it…none work with the kit….hmmm looks like I may have to use hook and eyes for the front! Grrrrr!

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

Michelle xxxx 

And now for something completely different!

Well, it’s been a while huh, my blog tells me it‘s been 2 months since I posted anything on here!  I said last time that you probably thought I’d been kidnapped by aliens, hmm I think this time I slipped down the back of the sofa and stayed there! Lol lol :oP

The dire weather in the UK has just got worse…..the Jet Stream is to blame…it’s too low or too high or something, so it’s sent our Spring and Summer to the moon and instead we have rain..not just showers I might add, but monsoon type weather, you should see my garden, I shall need machete soon to clear my pathway to my Summer House!! :o)

Today this little fella arrived from California, USA and he was only finished last week. :o))))) I am simply thrilled to bits with him and that‘s an understatement! He is made by the super talented Dawn Schiller. I have wanted one of her Chrono Seidh's before I even started blogging and that was in October 2009, so it’s a while huh! I tried unsuccessfully to win one via Ebay, but the time difference made it impossible for me to stay awake when the auction’s ended. Recently Dawn posted on her blog that anyone wanting one of her little men to contact her…I did so post-haste! ;o)))))

I gave her details of what I wanted and she’s exceeded all expectation’s I ever had of him, even the telescope she was able to do and fit in that case. :o))

He is much loved and oh so much wanted! He now lives in my craft room looking over me. He will eventually go into a special shadow box full of special mini’s and art pieces, but for now he’s with Humpty.  Thank you heaps Dawn!!!!! :o))))

I have done as much as I can on Flourish and Blotts, I am awaiting the counter and bookcases to be made and they won’t be ready till August/September. Once I have those I can go back and finish all the bits I need to. :o)

I have been listening to my Harry Potter audio CD’s, looking at my special Harry Potter books and looking at the films, this has helped loads because I have started work on Weasley Wizard Wheezes shop! I have just ordered lots of supplies for it. I have some of the shop display unit's already and in the midst of adapting some, I will be making some too. I already know what lights I need to buy….arh…those supplies lists are never ending! 

Well, those in the UK please stay safe and if you’re enjoying sunshine elsewhere…please oh please send some to the UK we are in great need,  I thought I‘d have to swim back from the Summer House today it was so bad! ;o))))

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

Michelle xxxx 

Look out Mr Jiggers is about and an update on Flourish and Blotts too!

You probably thought I’d been kidnapped by aliens it’s been so long since I posted anything onhere! I haven’t been around Blogland much as I’ve had lots of things to do!

The weather in the UK has been atrocious, we’ve had a deluge of rain and I’ve been soaked a few too many times of late! 

I badly hurt my left arm on Monday and have strained two large muscles (making life extremely difficult) and this has been topped off with an ear infection that has lasted nearly two weeks, so I’m guessing a trip to the Doctor’s will be in order. Other than that, I’m not doing too badly. :o)

Firstly, Mr Jiggers arrived this morning!!! :o)))) He was a little slow getting over from Germany….I’ve only bought two male characters from Silke and both were slow…hmmmm methinks they are a tad errant because all the females make it over in about 3 days!! lol 

He is soooo wanted and I adore him to bits!! :o) Mr Jiggers doesn't actually exist in the Harry Potter books, I made him up for my project. I knew I wanted a creepy character and roughly knew how I wanted him dressed. Silke came up with an idea of basing his face on a well known actor who played a really creepy and nasty character from a children’s book ….I wonder whether you can guess who it was!!?!

I own a lot of characters, but he has to be one of my top favourites, I most certainly wouldn’t want to spend too much time in Slug and Jiggers with him serving me!  lol  I will have him behind the counter and probably with a potion bottle to which he is pouring into…or some kind of vessel. :o)

His cloak feels like ultra fine suede and he had teeny tiny buttons  on it, he has flat wizard cap. It was Silke who said he should have  gaiters and the flat hat. I think he suits Slug and Jiggers perfectly!! :o) Huge thanks Silke. :o)

 He will be just the person behind Slug and Jiggers counter and ready to serve you your needs!

  He's quite a character!   

 Three wheels on my wagon! :o)

For the longest time I have been on the look out for a 1/12th vehicle…but could I find one?!!? Oh no, not when I was actively looking I couldn’t! A few weeks ago I was looking for weighing scales for Slugs and I found this fabulous 3 wheeled vehicle, it was a must have as far as I was concerned!!! The wheels move around, the front wheel also turns as does the steering wheel! :o)  

I will age and distress it first and then it must be dressed and filled! I thought perhaps a professor could be in the drivers seat and student in front and the back could be piled high with trunks and owl cages? It will probably have to sent to the artisan making the characters…I haven’t yet decided who to have made nor who will make the characters themselves. All in good time. :o))

I have been working on Flourish’s too…..but work has been mighty slow! The dog legged stairs case has taken an absolute age and I’ve had about 8 attempts to glue on the spindles!!! Grrrr and another grrrrr! I decided the home made ones (straight pieces of wood and no fancy work) just wasn’t up to the job in sooo many ways. So I bought some and I’m the process now of making the staircase once again! Because the staircase took so much time, little else got done. However, I soon picked up speed when I gave up on the home made spindles!


Having also bought myself a new CD/radio player also helped spur me on immensely, because I can now listen to my Harry Potter audio books, I have them all on CD! :o)

 I still need to add damp and ageing to the brickwork.

The outside is more done than not now. Tonight I glued in the door and I can fit the main shop window over the weekend. I will add the bit where the sign will go when I’ve made it. I will also add a lead roof to the bay window as I will all the bay/bowed windows I have.

 Still quite abit to do on the inside, but once the stairs and cornice etc is in, it will look almost completed.  

Most of the lower floorboards are down, just the upper landing ones to do now. They will need a little wash of colour over the top and waxing. I hasten to add I should have really done this before wallpapering. However, as I am having skirting board if I do touch the edges of the paper the ageing and wax won't show. I have painted all the cornice, skirting board and trims too. I have made the front step and sanded it down to show decades of wear. I have been looking at lights and I’m having a difficult time deciding what to buy…as always!  

I hope to tile the roof over the weekend and it will have a real lead roof like Slug and Jiggers and maybe a chimney stack too. As I’ve said many times before I don’t plan on filling my projects just yet….I want to get the project carcases built and then I can concentrate on the bits that matter! ;o))

 Stairs!!! Grrrr! The dog legged stairs...not glued together...yet! I hate making stairs!!!! Grrrrr!

 The window is not glued in, nor are the frame pieces within the door. I've just cut them for size here.   

  Arh! More kits..

So, Flourish and Blotts is nearly complete based on those terms. I managed to acquire a kit for another project I have been planning for over a year…that will be a series of kit bashes and I don’t want to start on any projects that are more challenging, so I will keep to more straight forward ones, but not easy I might add!  I have decided to start on Weasley Wizard Wheezes next - to be worked on mainly in my craft room and Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment shop in the summer house. :o)) 

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

Michelle xxxx