Oops - WAY too dirty!

Well, I took Annie of Obsidian Hall up on her challenge to add patina. I assumed that meant antiquing my furniture so I took the plunge and applied some stain. I guess I went overboard and the armoire looks a little like I pulled it out of a garbage dump. The bed looks good, though.

So... to try to fix it I went over it with the original color again with a dry brush.

I think it looks much better and I might lighten it a bit more. Anyway, I think the furniture has much more character now, don't you?

Here are the million pieces from a House of Miniatures kit for six lyre-back chairs, with two coats of walnut stain. I actually managed to get them all together this evening but was way too traumatized by the experience to take more pictures, so stay tuned for more.

Here is the table I made to go with the chairs. It was supposed to be two leaves bigger, but my dining room is too small - fortunately I can fit all six chairs around it, anyway. Will add some gold accents to both table and chairs and then show you when it's all finished.

Roof! Roof!

Tessie

                                                                             

Shingling in Progress

Is shingling even a word? Anyhoo, here's my progress so far. I'm not crazy about the gray color they ended up being - a little on the purpley side. Maybe I can pull out my trusty charcoal colors and tone them down a bit. With work and record high temps at the moment it's not easy to pull myself downstairs to work on this. However, with it going up to 31C today, my hobby room may feel awfully comfortable later on.

Just so you don't feel too sorry for me after the recent snow storm - here's what the same spot on our deck looks like today. The apple and lilac trees are starting to bloom. You can barely see my little Tessie there against the bright sunny deck.
Have a great day, everyone!

Bedroom Beginnings

Several coats of paint later and here are the first two pieces of furniture for the bedroom. The bed started out as a broken mahogany bed, but was very large so I bashed it down - people were smaller back in the 1800's right? The armoire was a lovely piece that was also broken and remains a bit warped, but looks o.k. now I think. It had some handpainted flowers on it which got sanded away - a sacrilege some might say, but not what I wanted anyway. I may add some gold designs but have to work up the courage (and lots of practice).

These House of Miniatures pieces are so delicate. After breaking and repairing (and restaining) one of the doors, I struggled to get the eentsy little hardware on it. I managed not to destroy anything, so I'm happy!

My shingles are cut and ready for dying so the next time you see me I'll be roofed!