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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tough Work!

Most people hate certain things like going to the dentist, or the tax man, or even to the grocery store...my own personal Hell is having to go to the Scrapbooking Store.  Ugh!  I am not hating on you if scrapbooking is your hobby, so please! no nasty emails!   I just hate the Scrapbooking Store because it's merchandised by vendor, which is so lame --do scrapbookers really care what "label" their puffy glitter paint is?  Who cares?  It's not like they have Chanel puffy glitter paint, or teddy bear stickers by Lanvin....Wouldn't it make more sense to put all the bridal crap together and all the Halloween crap together?  No, let's merchandise by vendor so we'll have Halloween crap in seventeen different areas! 

It just gives me a nervous break-down walking in there!  Plus, it's located in the same Mall that the Department Store where I work in Display is at.  And I'm off this week, so the last thing I wanted to do this morning was hop the train and head to the Mall. 

But the Entrance Hall of Merriman Park needed a nice ceiling paper so off to the mall I went.

After wandering around aimlessly for what seemed an eternity, I settled on white card with a subtle, embossed pattern.  

Ceiling rose by Sue Cook Miniatures
You might also notice that the lights are hung.  But don't get too excited, most of them aren't working.  I tried. I really did!  I even figured out how to remove the plugs (there were no directions on the packaging).  When I pulled the plugs apart, I could not believe how miniscule the wires are!  Some of them seemed to have lost the 'bare' part of the wire and I couldn't figure out how to strip the casing from the wire --they are so fragile!.  I tried putting them back together anyway but of course, they didn't work. 
Sorry about the glare! 
None of the four wall sconces work.  But I did manage to get the chandelier fired up, believe it or not!  (Thanks Ray)!  Ray suggested I put a little 'junction box' in the floor above to keep some extra wire in case I need to take the fixture down to service.  A 'trap' in the flooring will hide the box.  Worked great!

Not content with the walnut stain on the door!  I'll have to try again on that...
In spite of the disappointment of not being able to get the sconces working, I'm pretty happy.  I think I'm at the point where I can start gluing stuff down permanently.  But I'm debating whether or not I should pick out some of the moldings with gold...and if so, do I use real gold leaf or is gold paint OK?  I'm also a little worried about making the mitered cuts for the cornice --I've done it in 'RL' but never in small scale!  But I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

Martinis coming up!

8 comments:

Irene said...[Reply]

Fingernails are good for stripping the casing of the wires.

I'm afraid I find lighting an exercise in bad language - reluctant pins, bent pins, flying pins - you have been warned - lol

Giac said...[Reply]

Hi John,
The room looks great! In regards to your sconces, did you try looking up videos on Youtube. I found a few that dealth with dollhouse electrical and they were quite well done. I just found this one which might be of use "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVoI63pOULE".
I used gold pain on the frieze in my Dinning Room. I think it looks great as long as the piece isn't too big. As soon as the piece is too large the brush strokes show and ruin the effect.
I cut all my cornices using a razor saw and a hobby mitter box. After they are up a little acrylic gesso fills the joints well before painting!
Keep up the great work. It's looking great!
Giac

John said...[Reply]

I KNOW, right? I already lost a pin --it rolled under the piano & I'll NEVER see it again!

Fingernails, huh? Thanks, Irene!

John said...[Reply]

Hey, Giac! Thanks for the info (again)! I think I'll use paint --leafing is hard enough on a regular-sized surface. I also am going to take your advice and make a black marble surround. I really appreciate your advice.

Giac said...[Reply]

My pleasure John,
What are mutual admiration society's for!

Simon said...[Reply]

Well done John it looks great. I chuckled out loud to myself whilst reading about your stressful exploits at the Mall - terrifying stuff. I've never heard of a store simply putting everything in one area by one suppier. Way too stressful for us detail consious types. Irene is right about the finger nails, you should just be able to pinch off the soft outer casing, then gently roll the wires together in your fingertips before putting back into the plug - it'll work great, you'll see.
Well done on another great job.

Scott Burgess said...[Reply]

Good Morning John!
Hope this note finds you less stressed.....and yes "Scrapbooking" stores are the worst! I curse everytime I visit one but oh well....it isn't about me.
I like gold paint for picking out details in mouldings. You can "brighten up the gold by sprinkling some "Gold Pigment Powder" into your gold paint. This is a trick I learned from "Natasha" that brilliant Russian artist. Makes a big difference in the final appearance of plain old gold paint.
Hope you have a great day!
Ray

Ray Whitledge-Burgess said...[Reply]

Hi John!
I see my partner Scott joined as a follower of your site hence the "Scott B" heading. Post was of course from me...............!
Ray