The Terrace of shops - Diagon Alley

An update on the terrace so far...it's not quick work! lol  I currently have the kit upside (I've swivelled the photo's round the right way up) down, so this is why some items you may see on the ceiling defy gravity! lol ;oP   

Almost all the rooms are mostly wallpapered, not all and some not all the walls! This is because there is an outside wall where clay and plasterwork needs to be done and I don't want the paper ruined. The Magic Neep isn't finished with its papering either. I love the patterns, what I'm not keen on is the shine on the paper, you can't see it in real life too much, only when you point a camera at it with a flash on! The shine has its pluses and minus's....hmmm. None of the wallpapers have been aged or distressed, I'm still deciding on how much to do of that.  

The inside of two of the shop doors with their inner locks being added...and mighty fiddly they were too! None of the pieces had flat backs so I had to drill tiny holes and try and align all the lock components....a joyless task! lol   

I added interior window frames too.

The two dormer  windows with their clay bricks sculpted on. I won't paint the bricks on until I have completely put the dormers together.....I think. 

The corner shop, Twilfitt & Tattings had rather more modern windows, and I wanted them to have either Georgian or Victorian window bars added.

After a bit of fiddling around I managed to change them to how I wanted them. ;o)

The outside to two of the shops...with the bowed window bits balanced on to see how it all fits together!

I wanted to add some fancy embellishment to my grocers window, The Magic Neep, so I added some fine wood trim. 

 I also wanted to embellish the whole window, so I added some trim down the sides.

The acetate had a protective layer of plastic on both sides...some only have one. So I removed one side so I could work on the outside. I've kept the other protective side on until it's complete. 

 With the added fancy trims down the sides, I also wanted to add Georgian or Victorian window bars on this window too...

So I cut some extra wood pieces and painted them etc.

 The window look liked this on the instructions....

 Measuring up to see how big to make my window panes.

 I added an extra vertical bar....because the window panes would have been too big compared to the real window.

I experimented....and I hated this look! It was all wrong, too many panes with the wood being too wide!

This is what the window ended looking like! Please note, the super bright colours....ghastly, ghastly, ghastly!!!! lol All before ageing, so it all tones down....lots! 

 My very kind and  talented friend made me the hanging scales for the shop window. We aren't sure if these are the prototype...or whether I will will just age and distress them! 

 The terrace.....the quill shop and the Magic Neep are the only rooms with non shiny paper! lol I adore the patterns though....a small sacrifice maybe. Though once I age etc., this may all pan out okay.

The larger of the two attic bedrooms with their rafters added on the ceiling.

 The smaller attic bedroom.

 The bathroom with tiny hallway that will be concealed by a false wall and a door.... The part that is papered is the part that that will mostly be hidden from view...I just didn't want to leave it nude just incase it can be seen from the kitchen stair well below or through the bedroom door. 

With the dividing wall glued in..

I added the same lino as in The Magic Neep shop,  the false wall will go on the front of this and the door on the front of that. When you see a photo it will be clearer. :o)

The living room, a hive of activity! I purchased 3 crazy characters a few years back, they inspired me to do the B&B! The wallpaper is much darker in real life.

The dressmaker's work room. I chose a dark wallpaper because many of the items that will fill it will be bright! I'm hoping to fit a false door on the back wall, but not sure if there's room with a fireplace in situ. 

I'm currently working on the arched windows interior frames so I can attach the acetate to it.

Working on the roof....here you see the whole kit upside down! lol 

I hope you don’t mind my ramblings and madness! :o))

Michelle xxxx

The Terrace of shops and Brews & Stews - Diagon Alley

We three doors...still very much WIP and the camera lies terribly with the tone of the pink, no matter what light I put it in, the camera lies! lol 

Just a little post to introduce the terrace of 3 shops plus rooms above! It has 9 rooms in total. It has three shops, the red door is for Scrivenshaft's Quill shop (a stationery shop etc), the green door is for The Magic Neep (the greengrocers, though mine will have some other grocery items too) and the pink door is for Twilfitt and Tattings shop (a clothes and uniform shop). The upstairs is Brews and Stews, a Bed and Breakfast and the room directly about the pink door is the clothes makers work room.

These photo's aren't real time photo's....just showing you how it started out....the inside and outside has been primed in proper shop bought primer, a must for MDF. :o(

Laying out the component parts for the Scrivenshaft's...all primed, but this time with a  homemade version as it's thinner.  

 Seeing how the first two shops look with some of the component pieces just balanced on! lol

Twilfit and Tattings shop with its windows altered...more on that another time! ;o)

 Scrivenshaft's with its red paint applied and some distressing....

The shops floorboards made and laid...before all the staining was applied and wax polish to age and finish it.

After a coat of wax polish. 

 The Magic Neeps's floor...I wanted the old fashioned lino look! 

 After it had been distressed and aged. 

 Laying Twilfitt and Tattings floorboards...they have a reddish colour.

All my flooring's will be removable above the ground floor, this is to get to any lights and their wires laid into the floor. I simply glue my floorboards onto the thick paper (pre stained) that I've cut to the size and shape of the room. I stopped gluing the floorboards at that point as I need to measure the fireplace so I can cut the flooring around it. 

 All my doors are primed too, it takes ages to prepare all the pieces!

 Ageing The Magic Neep's door.  

 The top floor's ceilings will have rafters....

 The rafters have been aged, distressed and stained, they just need to be waxed next to seal them. ;o)

So that's a short introduction to the terrace....more soon!

I hope you don’t mind my ramblings and madness! :o))

Michelle xxxx

2015, the year that was....to finish what I've started!

 

It's been a while since I did a blog post huh! I had a couple of bad months with Menieres attacks which were pretty Hellish to live with, so I had to slow down or stop with the mini work side of things. Also, one side of my cabin was used to store stuff from the real house whilst we had workman in to do the kitchen and day room. The whole house needed gutting (when we moved in September 2013) and redecorating not to mention the electrics updating, new boiler and new double glazing etc, but I see light at the end of the tunnel now and we only have 2 more rooms to do! 

So I have my cabin back for me again! However, I'm running short on storage space, I think some of my friends were a little flabbergasted to hear that, given I've only had my cabin in use for less than a year (never say never!), in fairness it's partially down to me not finishing and thus dressing the projects I have because I wanted to either redo bits or finish adding the final touches, but mainly because I have a few started on projects and I had piles of their component pieces scattered around my work tops. :o/ 

One of my biggest irks is storing and finding (again) mini furniture, I have wasted too much time going through drawers looking for furniture pieces for projects and not knowing what's in what box, they all look the same! So now I write on every side of the box stating what's in it!  

This is my new storage. In total they hold 137 litres of stuff. They are great for anyone short of space especially if you don't have a proper work/craft space (or those greedy like me who doesn't have enough already!) as they are sturdy, tidy, move easily and stand alone units, easily fitted in a corner out of the way. However the larger one does not take 12x12 scrapbooking pages/books, so I've had to squash as many as I can in my Alex IKEA units. 

I've had 3 stacks taken off to make it lower...so it's hidden! lol

Hidden behind two shops! lol

Anyhow....I have done some mini work though over the months! That is I've have been working on Mr Mulpepper's!

Inside the building there really isn't enough space for a chimney breast, so I created a chimney breast outside from a piece of polystyrene.  I've shaped off the top for the tiles and lead trim.

I sealed the polystyrene with two coats of PVA (white glue) to make it super strong and for the plaster to adhere better.  Once dried, I applied my plaster and allowed to dry fully.

 I then started on the ageing of, not sure I'm as happy as I could be with this...so I may tweak it.  

No damp added as yet...only a little will be added if I do! I will show a photo  (at a later date) with the lead and tiles added to the stack! ;o) 

 The other side...

The front, minus main shop windows  etc.

 The chimney stack, I need to tweak the brick work and age the lead. ;o))

It took a while to cut and add the lead.  

 The chimney glued on...and the roof tiling begins.... 

 I still have just under half to finish off...the other side. ;o)

The brickwork needs some tweaks and maybe a little damp. The lead needs to be added around the chimney stack base and over the top of the roof tiles to create a watertight area!   

 The outside so far...it's had a few tweaks since I last showed it and glued the shop windows in... the two doors and upper windows acetate need to added etc.

The inner window shelves aren't glued in yet...I couldn't decide whether they should slope slighty like the real shop or left flat. 

The little roof has been tiled...in real life lead would be added along the wall and tiled edge...however the real building does not...hmmm undecided what to do here!

 The opening front panel has been wallpapered....no ageing applied as yet nor the windows and their frames.

I have a major irk with hinges showing, so I matched up the wallpaper to cover the hinges.

Then cut to size, if the architrave doesn't cover too well at least the hinges are covered. 

The interior wallpaper needs to be done, then the wooden skirting boards, cornice and window frames etc. 

I haven't managed to crack open a new kit because of the house stuff being stored in my cabin, but I have started on my terrace of 3 shops with the Brews and Stews B and B upstairs with the Twilfitt and Tatting's owners' sewing room above her shop. My main plan is to also resume work on my started projects (if you go back on my blog posts you'll see which ones and some photographed here too!) so I can dress them and thus regain storage space! Lol Well there's always hope! Where there's hope there's light at the end of that dark and gloomy tunnel! ;o)

My Sister bought me some more pretties for my cabin...the hanging paper lantern and the little fabric daisy above the hanging narrow cabinet by the window.  

 The sky over Norfolk late 2014...

I couldn't resist a photo of it!

Happy New Year 2015!

I hope you don’t mind my ramblings and madness! :o))

Michelle xxxx