going for Baroque ...

GREETINGS
fellow BLOGLANDERS!


My absentee Mojo suddenly ignited and caught fire a couple of weeks ago 
and I found myself burning the midnight oil 
and actually got things done!
So... after a long unproductive summer hiatus
with nothing new to show or share;
 surprisingly I now have BOTH!

to begin with 
I FINALLY BUILT 
THE DREADED STAIRCASE
which as you all know,
I'd been stalling on for months. 



the photo below 
shows the stairs still in their raw state 

I used the original Willowcrest stringers 
although I had to make a few necessary alterations to make the staircase both longer and wider. 
The original kit plans has the accent of the staircase,
turning sharply to the left before they reach the 3rd level.

Mine were going to be a straight run.

UNFORTUNATELY
the ONLY WAY to make them work MY WAY,
was to have the first step at the door jamb outside the bedroom.

In the photo below you can see what I'm refering to.

Given the narrowness of the 2nd floor passage 
coupled with my absolute terror of making new stairs, 
I had to accept them landing at the threshold outside the bedroom door 

*a big exasperated sigh*
*but I'll get over it*

As you can see from the photos above,
the staircase has been fleshed out and primed with a flat white enamel paint. 
My thoughts were that the stairs should harmonize with the rest of the stonework in the hall. 

The entire painting process 
took me considerably longer than expected. 

😩I struggled for days to get the colors right  
adding layer after layer 
of paint over plaster,
as well as numerous light and dark washes 
of chalks, oils, stains and pencil 😫

THEN as I was writing todays entry,
 it suddenly occured to me 😳
that I could have read my own archived blogpost
"A Deck the Hall Story"
https://studioeminiatures.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-deck-hall-story.html
which clearly illustrated how and what I did the first time around
DUH!?
a classic case of
"WUDA, CUDA, SHUDA"🙄
meanwhile

my "new" staircase looks more akin to a flight of exterior stairs
than of any found inside a home

well never mind 
I'm just happy that
they're done

close up of the steps

the photo above shows them in position 
although they're not yet glued in.

Being lazy at heart, 
I thought it might be faster (and easier) to complety enclose the staircase 
with a full floor- to- ceiling wall,
which would also define the passage,
as well as provide something to connect 
a future bathroom door to. 
 To ensure that the walled passage was wide enough,
I asked Isabella to have a go 
which she did

 OH JOY!
 When looking from the Front of the house towards the back,
there was just enough elbow room for Isabella to maneuver. 

However,
 from the Back of the house looking Forward
 the full wall enclosing the stairs
felt claustrophobic

AND NOT ONLY THAT!
it soon became apparent that 
I'd have to choose between 
a door 
but no bathroom- 
or 
a bathroom without a door
because 
as it turned out,
the little room at the end of the hall
was unable to accommodate both. 

Neither of those 2 choices appealed to me, 
so...
I thought it was wiser (and easier) to move the entire bathroom upstairs to the 3rd floor 
where there is plenty of room for everything 
(including a door)
and IF 
I did that-
then I could also install a fireplace in the bathroom! 
YES!!! 


With the prospects of a "luxury" bathroom now mentally
 re-located on the top floor,
I could forget about both the stair-wall and the door.
🎶
The Little Room 
at the end of the passage, 
now became a doorless
🎵 MUSIC ROOM 🎵

The Music Teacher and/or her students, will practice in here. 

and now for the Fun part...

I had this lovely contemporary chest of drawers by 
JULIA STEWART of ARISTOCRATIC ATTIC 
https://www.etsy.com/shop/aristocraticatticco
which I'd purchased last year 
 in Seattle with the Show Bucks I'd won for
#43 GREEN DOLPHIN STREET
 and for GOTHICA.
https://studioeminiatures.blogspot.com/2017/03/its-show-time.html

I love the BAROQUE PATTERN on its front face. 

  The chest would move into the tiny alcove of the new 
Music Room

I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would fit. 

I made a few alterations 
to widen the recess as much as possible,
and managed to squeeze it in- 
and without a millimetre left to spare!
HOORAY!!! 

The bold pattern on the chest 
set the tempo for the rest of the room;

 an eclectic mix of French & Italian 
BAROQUE

For the walls,
I decided to use photocopies of a
French Aubusson Carpet as
Wallpaper 

It was cut and pasted onto paperboard panels around the room.
 I like the colours as well as the busy-ness of the pattern which 
(lucky for me)
effectively hid a multitude 
of construction mistakes 

Speaking of "Mistakes"... 
A new/old problem re-surfaced right
after I'd resolved the stair-wall/ bathroom door issue. 
 The problem was with the TILE FLOOR which I'd made months ago for this room.  
The tiles in the the hall didn't quite aline with those in the
 music room.
( I refer you to photo # 2 at the top of the page)
 Previously when the room was to be the bathroom with a door, 
the threshold of the door would have automatically solved the  problem,
but now 
continuous line of tiles would need to abut each other and so
 their misalignment became really obvious
Oh BLAST!
it's always something! 

To rectify THIS problem
I chose to step up the level of the Music Room 
which you see in the photo below. 

Once the floor was raised, it broke the continuous sight-line.

The step up also helped define a doorless, open-ended room 

 my problem was solved-
Whew! 

Of course, the raised floor required that all the pre-made wallpaper panels needed to be re-cut to fit the shorter walls; 
during which time
yet another executive decision 
was about to be made
because

I was no longer happy with the window 
in the middle of the recessed wall


Granted; the light illuminates the window in the stairwell, 
yet it also took up valuable wall space inside the Music Room, 
and frankly, 
 I wanted something more interesting to look at.

I'd considered installing a shelf above the window

nah!

 it was 
bye bye 
and
LIGHTS OUT 
for the window 

 Yes Indeed
I boarded and papered over the window, replacing it with 
 an ornately carved Italian painting.
The look is Baroque and better suited to the alcove. 

The  successful installation of the painting
inspired me to sort through my collections for other 
interesting object d'arts.  

The lamp on the chest is a modern lamp base
with the top of a squeeze-tube as its shade.
I painted the shade gold both inside and out, 
then fringed it in red.

it's definitely bordello-gaudy yet oh so interesting! 

To date: the display on the chest
 consists of a small statuette of Michelangelo's "David" which I'd mercilessly pried out of a plastic souvenir snow globe. 

The silver candelabra is of unknown origins as are 
the tiny gold opera glasses.

The doily is from Ruth Stewart of
Stewart Dollhouse Creations

                                     http://stewartdollhousecreations.com/catalog/23?page=2                                 

I'll probably fiddle around with the arrangement some more 

but the one thing that STAYS PUT, is the

delightful little Metronome which used to reside in 

#43 Green Dolphin Street.

 Here in Villa Leone, 
it gets to take Center Stage! 
I'd won the Metronome a couple of years ago in a GiveAway by MAGDA 

"17-17 MK"

http://1717mk.blogspot.com/2015/01/giveaway-and-new-riddle.html

LOVE IT! 

❤️

 the pencil sketch in the chipped frame
was cut from a magazine. 
It hangs on the skinny wall inside the alcove.

As the room continued to take shape,

more and more items found their way in,

not only an assortment of musical instruments
but also
the Wonderful little Jacobean table 
which was another Giveaway win from Pepper's 
MITCHYMOO Miniatures blog
https://mitchymoominiatures.blogspot.com/search?q=GIVEAWAY

 A tall vase of Fatima's 
http://beauxminis.com 
exquisite blue Hydrangeas are featured on Pepper's little table.

The long chest (pictured below) 
is another SPECIAL piece of furniture.

I don't know if he remembers, but
Janine's husband Bruce made it
WELL OVER A DECADE AGO!
http://minworks.blogspot.com
 I'd painted it, decoupaged then aged it-
and then it went into storage.  
There was never a project in which to properly display it,
but oddly enough,
its proportions
are EXACTLY RIGHT  for this tiny space, 
And BONUS
it double-duties in the Music Room as
 seating as well as storage! 

Naturally 
Linda Park's 
Very Baroque
custom VL needlepoint cushion 
 sits proudly atop the chest.

fyi 

if you want to see 
MORE of Linda's
Exquisite Needlework pieces, 
then make sure you pay a visit to her blog
Linda's Miniworld
http://lindasminiworld.blogspot.com 

On the floor beside the chest lies
a small pile of be-ribboned rolls of music 

On the wall under the stairs,
 I was going to use this small unframed print of 
old Venice
 but it looked 
 too small 
 so I removed it 
and replaced it with a HUGE famed painting. 

However upon further consideration;
no one would be able to sit comfortably on the chest without being stabbed in the back by the frame

 thus,
it was exchanged for a
framed mirror, found buried in my stash.

I think I like it 
but should it be hung
this way? 
#1
▼

Or
this way?
#2
▼

ah me, more decisions... 

In case you are wondering about the loose fitting
wallpaper under the stairs; 
it's temporarily 
sticky-tacked into place.
I won't make it permanent until AFTER I've made the handrail and glued the staircase into position. 

alas, no rest for the weary

The plastic violin pencil sharpener, 
which years ago, I transformed into the cello,
leans against the chest and a baroque dummy board.

The finishing trim around the window as well as in the rest of the room
 are yet to be done, and
I'm still considering the installation of an overhead light fixture,
although I currently like the moody low-light atmosphere- 
the debate continues

IN CONCLUSION:

despite the struggle with the stairs; 

the making of the Music Room 
was an enjoyable experience! 

               I must now take it all apart again and actually finish it.
                                        
                    So I bid you all fond farewell as I press on 
              with my miniature musical Baroque endeavours. 

 ciao ciao for now!
elizabeth

True to FORM

I'd been working steadily on Villa Leone for nearly 3 weeks straight before I grew weary, and ran out of gas. 

I needed to do something different before I jumped into the next phase of that build; 
which brings me to the beginning of this story:✈

My friend Bettie is downsizing her miniature collection and has given me some of her miniatures to play with.

Among the items she has placed at my disposal, were a number of Chrysnbon dressmaker forms which had seen better days.
They had already been spray painted with a white enamel paint which had reacted badly with the plastic forms and had bubbled and melted them certain places. 

Some of the plastic cages on the lower halves were broken in places as well.  
In short- they were all in pretty rough shape.

I was looking at them not knowing exactly what to do with them, when I decided that it might be fun to mess around a with them, and see if I could perhaps give them 
 A NEW LEASE ON LIFE. 

"Nothing ventured 
Nothing Gained"

I'd think of the time, as a bit of a vacation break from work on the villa 
 ✈ ☀
 
The photo below is to show you what the dress forms actually look like in the raw although the metal cage on this one, is also somewhat mangled.

The 5 which I used had bubbled where the plastic had melted, both in the front at the bust, and on the back and on the bum.

Unfortunately
I didn't bother taking the before photo of the them 
although I should have, but I'm sure that you get the idea. ☹

The dress form still on the sprue, comes with a stand 

The first thing I did was to try and smooth the most damaged and lumpy places by paring them down with a craft knife, 
then I sanded any remaining sharp edges.  
Following that,
 I painted both sides of the metal cage along with the carved 'wood' top, with black acrylic metal paint.

When it had dried I glued the two halves of the 
dress forms together and secured them with large spring loaded clamps until the glue had completely set.
I had to use the clamps because there was so much paint along the edges of the form that I wouldn't get a tight fit otherwise.

The bodies of the dress forms were then painted using a brush with my LIQUID STONE mix.
( gesso, water based acrylic sealer, drywall patch, water)
I used this mix primarily to fill in and to try and correct some of the most corroded areas on the dress forms. 
The mix was painted onto the forms in an even coat. 

My Liquid Stone Mix
the wet stuff is on the bottom of the container

After that had cured, I painted the torsos with 
Natural Tan acrylic paint.
When it was dry, I sanded the forms again using a fine grit sanding sponge which really ground the tan paint into the underlying plaster.
Some spots were sanded through and exposed the black plastic underneath

The torso was then stained with some browns & a black ink using a make up sponge.
The silver ink was applied sparingly to the black metal cage.
When the inks had dried then I sprayed them lightly with
"STIFFEN STUFF"

{sidebar}

 I bought this spray with the idea of using it for fabrics but it didn't work for me, so I have been using it for setting the color on paper, and to set chalks as well as ink and it is Wonderful!
It's a lot cheaper to purchase than the SceneARama  scenic spray glue which I was buying before.  

Anyway,
when the Stiffen Stuff was sprayed onto the inks,
it did just as I'd expected-
the wet colors ran.
I used a makeup sponge to lightly DAB at the wettest puddles as they quickly dried down, trying not to disturb certain areas which I wanted to remain as is.  
The blend of colors gave a real leathery look to the painted surface. 

I repeated this process onto the metal cages, then sprayed and lightly stippled them with a brown Iron Oxide acrylic paint, to add a little rust.
To tone down some of the shine, 
I went over the body rather randomly with 
Revlon
Clear Matt Nail Varnish.  

Lookin' Good Ladies! 

hey!
I think I'm done

NOPE- NOT YET!

After re-examining an inspiration photo of some
VINTAGE FRENCH MANNEQUINS,
I decided to add one LAST detail and
 make the metal attachments at the shoulders.
I chose some suitable press studs from my stash and flattened them a bit with a pair of pliers; stuck them onto some masking tape and painted them with the black acrylic metal paint. 

When they were dry I glued them onto the dress forms
using Jeweler's glue.  

I touched up any missing paint and sealed them with CLEAR MATT NAIL VARNISH 

okay

 NOW THEY ARE DONE!
✄

EVERYONE WAVE 
GOOD-BYE ! 


and it's back to the Villa I go ✈

elizabeth