Slow Going

Lucky for me, I usually have weekends free at  my job at the Department Store where I work in Display.  But not this weekend.  We had a Major Fashion Event at the store today which required me to go in late last night after closing and set up a huge stage set and catwalk and seating for eight hundred.  Then I had to go back early this morning and tear it all down!  So there wasn't a whole lot of time to work on Merriman Park.

When I arrived home this morning my entire body was positively screaming for a little nap (and, I'm not going to lie, a Bloody Mary, too)!  But I foreswore those tempting diversions when I caught a glimpse of poor, neglected Merriman Park, sulking in its corner of the dining room and so, to work!

Here it is, under construction.  I just love my new bannister from Sue Cook Miniatures!  I added some bull-nose molding to the stair landing as per Giac and took Irene's advice and tarted up the stair runners with black marble.  In deference to Simon I thought the bannister splats should be highlighted here and there in gold, all the better to draw attention to the detail.

I'm trying so very hard to resist attaching the railing until it is completely dry!  Patience is not one of my virtues, I fear.  (But having to sand off my fingerprints once already may be deterrent enough!

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In addition to the stair splats, I also picked up this keystone from Miss Sue.  The old keystone, I'm afraid, simply did not make the keystone cut.  This little beauty I also used on the facade of Merriman Park.  I personally love to have continuity between indoors and out, (especially in an Entrance Hall), and I thought this would be a subtle reference to the exterior.  Of course, the stair splats are the same as my exterior balcony, so maybe I am taking this concept too far?  As a matter of fact, I am toying with the idea of replacing my Entrance Hall chandelier with a hanging 'lantern'-style fixture.  I've noticed that this is appropriate to a Hall (thanks, Irene)!  but, try as I may, I can't seem to find a lantern that I like.  So for now, I guess I'm sticking with the chandelier!

Bannister Splats Arrived!

 I need to get a new life.  All day long all I could think about was 'will my stair bannister splats from Sue Cook Miniatures arrive from England today?'  Pathetic, right? --but true! 

I literally sprinted home from the train station this afternoon, even in the unseasonable heat. As I neared  the steps to our shaded front porch, the tension was palpable...

Would there be a package waiting?

I suppose, gentle Reader, you're thinking that the title of this post is a dead giveaway.  But the sad truth is   there was no package waiting for me upon my arrival .  The disappointment cut me to the quick.  I felt just like the boyhood Christmas when I had asked for a 'Big Jim' doll --er, Action Figure, and received 'Major Matt Mason,'  instead. Lame.

 When would the package arrive?  What if it got lost in the mail?  Will the Entrance Hall staircase of Merriman Park ever be finished?  These were the questions that haunted me and swirled through my mind as I retired to the backyard patio for the one thing that could assuage my growing anxiety:

Cocktails!

No, I wasn't day-drinking alone!  Don't judge me!...our friend Eric was there to console me (and shake up the first round).

The afternoon was far too gorgeous to be spent indoors hunched over my work table, anyway.  Won't be many more --if any-  days like this here in Minnesota, this season.  But the barking of dogs at the picket-gate soon snapped us out of our reverie and a quick look-see at the front door brought --that's right!  My dearly-awaited cast balustrade!

 And now....to work!

Oil Paintings

I don't know what I was thinking the day I had to go to the dreaded Scrapbooking Store last week to purchase ceiling paper for the Entrance Hall ceiling of Merriman Park!  In my defense, I think my blood-sugar level was dangerously low that fateful morning, and I was clearly not in my right mind, else why on Earth would I agree to sign up for their e-mail specials?

But sign up I did, because now my in-box is absolutely inundated  with sale advertisements from the aforementioned establishment!  But since today they were running a 50%-off special on color photocopying, (and since I work at the self-same Mall as the Scrapbooking Store), I reluctantly returned there this afternoon to make duplicates of all the Entrance Hall 'works of art.' 

'Why make another harrowing trip to the Scrapbooking Store for copies of my artwork?' you might well ask.  And the answer is, gentle Reader, because I decided to take Ray's sage advice and paint over the images with Mod-Podge, in order to make everything look a little more like objet d'art and a little less like postcards from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Gift Shop. 

I also meant to try Irene's method:  she prefers to print her images onto a linen-finished stock.  But the overly-pleasant, salesladies at the Scrapbooking Store  informed me that while they did have for sale a virtual array of linen-finished papers, their color photocopier could not possibly print on anything so exotic as that.  Apparently, color photocopiers in Scotland have it all over our  primitive, Yankee models! 

When I informed the chirpy salesladies that I guess I would just have to try a professional printers, they looked positively crestfallen! There was so much hand-fluttering at pearl chokers and nervous clearing of throats that I just didn't have the heart to walk out empty-handed...

So I purchased two copies of my Titian's (and assorted other artworks) and spent the early part of this evening dab, dab, dabbing them with the teensiest, tiniest of brushes.  In a moment of personal inspiration, I added a copious spritz of spray-shellac on top of everything.  The Final Effect:  Well, as the girls on RuPaul's Drag Race say, I am positively gagging on their eleganza!  Wish you could savor the difference but I'm afraid the subtleties are completely lost in the  photos!

Sorry, Irene!  I'll have to try your method again another day!

Confidential to Barb in Minnesota:  Never put off tomorrow what you can put off today, right?

New LED Lanterns Arrived!

My heart skipped a beat as I arrived home today (from my first day back-on-the-job after my week-long 'stay-cation.'  Not one but two packages sitting on my porch!  I automatically assumed that one of them was my stair splats from Sue Cook Miniatures and the other?  My carriage lamps for the front facade of Merriman Park!

Naturally I had to immediately  try them on for size...

I would like to drill shallow 3/4" holes to recess the 'plate' of the lamp into the wall a little bit.  But god! it makes me nervous to start drilling holes in my house! 

The 3/4" drill bit I have on hand won't work --it has a 'starter point' on it that would penetrate the wall completely.  I think there are bits that would work better, so looks like I'll be making a trip back to Minnehaha Falls Hardware Store.

Here they are 'on,' and the color is a little off from 'real life' but still much more preferable than the previous pair! 

I think I can live with them (though they need a touch-up of black paint).

Hopefully, I'll find the right bit to drill the holes --and garner up the guts to 'gitter done!'

The other package turned out not to be my parcel from Sue Cook, put my partner's cell phone, which he had left behind in California.  Oh, well!

I also worked a little on chair rail and skirting molding.  In order to finish, I'll have to take everything apart to 

get to the back walls.  Think I'll take a little break and wait until my stair splats arrive before I do that! 

BTW nothing in the bottom photo has been glued down, so rest assured that those gaps will get tightened up.

Have a great week, everyone!

Screw-Up!

Spent the morning correcting a little 'oopsy!'  When I made my marble floor I forgot that there was a little step on the inside of the center component of Merriman Park's facade.

With the marble flooring in place, I cannot slip the center component in its spot!  It's just too tight a fit.  Panic attack!  

I thought I was going to have to notch out my marble floor to accommodate the step, but that would have looked horrible.

So instead I decided to shave off a fraction of an inch off the bottom of the step.  Easy-peasy, right?  Well, maybe for you!  How to do the job without damaging (cutting into) the center component?  What sort of saw would work best?

Decisions, decisions!  I opted for a regular-sized back-saw after trying a coping saw and even a miniature miter saw.  But first I masked the walls with good old duct tape, for protection.

I was also afraid of scratching the exterior painted finish, or worse yet, wrecking my 'cast iron' balcony!  So I used one of my upholstered dining room chairs as a work bench.

Then I carefully started sawing away.  God was it nerve-racking!  It took quite a long time, with a coffee break about half-way through, but I managed to get the step trimmed and leave the center component unscathed! 

 Mission: Accomplished!  Now I can put Merriman Park back together, again. 

This has been such a great week, having the time to work on my house and making so much progress!  I've got a list of stuff I need to buy in order to complete the Entrance Hall, but I've been going a little crazy in that department this week and I've been put on a strict budget until next week.  (Who needs things like food when there are gorgeous, little things to buy)? Tomorrow, it's back to the old grind ...Oh, well --it was fun while it lasted.  I am already starting to decorate my other five rooms --in my head anyway.  I 'm so looking forward to turning my ideas into reality.

LOL!

Fireplace Surround & Firebox

Didn't get too much accomplished today, except the firebox and the black marble surround, which I love!  --Thanks for the tip, Giac!  Giac has a great tutorial on his blog about fireboxes, and I totally used his method for mine .  Simple. Easy. Effective! 

You can see the marble medallion under the 'controversial' (lol)! center table.  I haven't glued it down, yet...hoping to get some feedback, first? 

Still have not fixed the fireplace sconces, as you can see.  They're 'bi-pin' fixtures and I bought bulbs that have really long wires attached to them.  I assume you can just cut the wires and remove the insulation, but you know what happens when you make assumptions!  I also have to lengthen the wires on one of the sconces so that will be another fun, new adventure for me.

I experimented with gold paint and the metallic gold  pigment powder.  They really helped make a cheap, resin frame look much more expensive.  I tried using the same on some of the moldings on the wainscot of the Hall but you know, what?  I didn't like it.  I think I like the room as is --understated eleganza! 

I received in the mail today the invoice from Sue Cook Miniatures in England, and that means my stair splats will arrive soon!  Can't wait!

 Hope that everyone is having a great weekend!