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DerynifanK
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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Re: Work In Progress--Deryni Action Figure Project (was Duncan Action Figure)

Started by Evie, March 11, 2012, 08:52:30 PM

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Evie

Quote from: Elkhound on July 21, 2016, 10:59:30 PM
I see that your 'snoopervisor' is still on duty.

Yes.  He's doing strength testing on my beds to see if he can make them break under pressure.  *sigh*
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Here's today's updates:



Mama had to run off to the garderobe for a few minutes, but no worries, she set up some Ward Cubes around the babies before she left, so they're perfectly safe! It belatedly occurs to me, though, are the lighter cubes supposed to be on top?  Mama really had to GO, so I'm not sure how much attention she was paying to such details when she set the wards! ;D  (I found these in an old chest of goodies, along with some tiny brass candlestick holders and some miniature gold, silver, and copper coins I made for Kelson's treasury.)



I managed to get the wallpaper up in the guest room before my tape dispenser began to act up.  It went from dispensing neat little rows of glue dots to honking huge wads of glue balls in a matter of minutes.  I think it might be due to the dispenser being very old and having lived in the basement for several years before I got around to using it.  At any rate, it behaved long enough for me to get the wallpaper up, but by the time I tried to put textured paper on Eilonwy's MDF brown ceiling, it was spitting up the glue dispenser equivalent of hairballs, and I figured she didn't need marble-sized lumps in her ceiling, so I stopped and texted Hubby to bring home some double-stick tape from the store, preferably the repositionable kind.



Here is a close up of one corner.  You can see the seams in the wallpaper, but with furniture returned to the room, I don't think they'll be too distracting, and that particular seam will probably end up lined up with the edge of a window anyway. 



Hubby brought these sample vinyl tiles home from Home Depot last night for me, and I was originally going to cut them into quarters and use them to tile the bare part of the bathroom floor, but the gray and brown colors didn't look good alongside the small tiles used for the bathtub platform, so I decided to try them in the kitchen.  They are a perfect fit for the kitchen floor with no cutting required, so I think that's where I'll end up using them (once I get about 7 or 8 more).  They fit on that shelf two deep and six across, and if I get a spare, it can go in the far left corner under the trash can.

I'm still not entirely sure what I want to do with the kitchen itself.  I sort of like the red and white scheme, but not the overtly plastic look.  I'm wondering, if I cover the countertops with granite colored Contact paper and cut out cardboard tiles to make a backsplash, and perhaps have frosted glass panes rather than clear ones in the cupboards, if I can get away with leaving the red and white elements as they are and just imagine they are painted with a gloss paint, or if I will eventually need to do something about them, even if it's just a toned down, less glossy variation on the same theme?  I also thought about going with a black and stainless steel kitchen, but with the bathroom having a black and white theme, and the living room also being mostly black and white still, I wanted to do something a little different for the kitchen.  This is Eilonwy's house, after all, not Morgan Haldane's!



I found these pieces of scrap wood in my mother-in-law's garage.  If I put my kitchen sections on them, they raise the counter heights to a good height for my figures, and i can paint the edge to look like a baseboard.  Unfortunately these two boards are just long enough to go under 3 of the 4 sections, but Hubby says there are other pieces in her garage, so hopefully I can find two more that will extend across the entire back wall, or at least far enough for all 4 sections of the kitchen to fit on.



Hubby arrived home with the double stick repositionable tape, so I was able to cover the brown MDF underside of the master bedroom with textured watercolor paper.  I had to join a few pieces, but the seams aren't too visible with the flash off.



Here is another shot of the ceiling with flash lighting.  You can see the seams more clearly now, but they're not too obtrusive, and I would rarely be taking photos of the room from this angle anyway.

I have also cut out and begun sewing Eilonwy's top sheet out of the gold fabric, so hopefully I'll have that finished and ready to report on tomorrow. I still have no idea what I want to put on her walls, but at least now I know how much paper is needed to cover them, so that will be helpful if I need to buy individual sheets rather than a package. I have several packs of the fabric I want to use for her comforter, so maybe I'll carry one around in my purse and compare it to scrapbooking paper samples next time I'm at Michael's or Tuesday Morning until I find a color and/or pattern that looks good with it.





"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

And now for today's (or I suppose I should say yesterday's, since it's after midnight) progress report.  I started off the day thinking about how to make the bedroom windows.



I will need enough plastic to cover two 8" x 6" windows, which translates to 4' by 3' in their scale.  This box that Laurna's goodies came in had enough plastic to cover one.  Still looking for more plastic for the other.



How high I hang the windows will ultimately depend on how high the beds are when they are made, but I'm checking the size and approximate placement on the guest room wall.  There will also be a window in the bedroom above.

I also added a strip of white paper all around the base of the walls just to make the edge of the wallpaper more even.  It's a bit wide for baseboard, but since most of it will end up being hidden anyway, and I had to work around those pesky shelf supports, I think it will be fine.



Even with the blinds down, you can see the outline of the window and a faint suggestion of the scene beyond it, which is exactly the effect I was hoping for.  I want to hang the blinds in a way that will allow me to roll them up if I want to show the view outside.



I imagine Eilonwy and Patrick's flat to be within a relatively short walking distance of the cathedral and on the other side of town from Rhemuth Castle.  This picture of Toledo, Spain had the cathedral and castle in the right positions relative to each other, and it still retains a fair bit of medieval character even in today's world, so I thought it would work well for Rhemuth the Beautiful.  Even after the attack on the castle, the view from this perspective would remain mostly unchanged, as the Royal Apartments that were Ground Zero for the explosion would have been on the opposite side of the castle, overlooking the river, and most of the curtain wall on this side wouldn't have received much if any damage on the outer portions, so from this distance and at night any such damage would probably be harder to spot. So I think this view would work for either pre- or post-Balance of Power photostories.  I'm still not sure if I'll use cardstock for the window frame, or layered cardboard like the desk, or basswood.  I don't want too much thickness behind the blinds, though, especially if I end up hanging wallpaper in this room, since I'm not sure the wallpaper will bear the weight of lots of layers of other stuff on it.



In the meantime,  while I am otherwise occupied in the modern era, the Haldane children are getting into mischief while I work.  Let's hope Queen Araxie doesn't catch them!



It dawned on me that two sheets of scrapbook paper would be sufficient to cover both bedroom floors rather than just one, since the floor under the beds wouldn't need to be papered beyond what is visible when peeking under the edges.  So the portions that were cut away were large enough to cover what few gaps remained.  There were two small spaces in the back right corner that needed to be patched in, but the end tables mostly covered those, and another small bit had to be added to the front left corner of each shelf, but with the beds coming so close to the end of the shelf anyway, that added patch is mostly covered by the footboard end of my beds anyway.



When I first spray painted these lamps and tables a few years ago, I put batteries in them afterwards, but the lamps wouldn't light up, so I thought I had ruined them.  Turns out I had painted over the contacts.  On a whim, as I was putting this back in, I tried to remember how to turn the lamp on (there's no switch built in), and I was turning it slowly on its swivel under the base when suddenly the light began to glow!  Taking the battery out and the lamp off, I saw where turning the lamp had scraped a bit of the paint off the metal contact, so I took my tweezers and began to scrape more off.  This is the result.



Once I realized that it was such a simple fix, I got this second lamp working as well.



Hubby and I had to go to my mother-in-law's house for a few hours tonight, and while I was there, I spotted this mirror that Hubby bought to use when he has his medieval tent up at SCA events. It was love at first sight!  (With the mirror, not my reflection! LOL)  It looks like wrought iron, but it's actually lightweight plastic, and appeared to be the right width to use as Eilonwy and Patrick's headboard.  I had already cut out a back for a padded headboard, but this would fit with my decorating theme in that room so much better, so Hubby said I could borrow it.  I also found out where he got it, so I can get another one for my own.



I really love how the fabrics for that room coordinate with this headboard!



As I suspected, the headboard is a perfect fit for the bed.  I could hang it a little higher if I can figure out a way to suspend it slightly. At the moment it is sitting inside the head of the bed between mattress and frame.  I think it looks fine this way, actually, even if the bottom of the design is obscured. At least it's secured and not likely to come crashing down on our newlyweds!  (Paddy, of course, has plenty to say about that mirrored headboard. LOL!)  With a mirror there, I'll have to be a bit more careful about what angle I take photos from so I don't end up taking inadvertent selfies, though if I eventually get one of my own, I might be able to cover over the mirror with clear frosted plastic, a "stained glass" plastic cling decal, or an etched design to minimize the reflectiveness but still keep things decorative.

I also reglued the guest room bed together this morning, using the wood glue that Hubby brought home, and I began sewing the comforter for that bed together, so hopefully I can get the bed back into the room tomorrow once the glue has set overnight and show it off with the new comforter on it once it's done.

"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

Everything looks wonderful and I especially like the colour scheme in Eilonwy's bedroom (it's Paddy's too, of course).

A bit of contrast in the scene with Paddy in his casual shorts and Father Dev and Morgan looking like they are starting a modern darkling phase. 😀
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Evie

Paddy says it's Eilonwy's room when she's decorating. If it were left to him, he'd probably still be sleeping on a mattress on the bare floor. But he'd have a great TV and stereo equipment, and a state of the art computer to play with as he sits on the rug eating microwaved Ramen noodles.... :D

Too bad I don't have a James Arilan; he'd fit right in with the rest of the Neo-Darklings!  ;D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

I laughed at the royal children playing in the cupboard.  Didn't we all do that as kids?

I like your window scene and treatments. I think the reed will be rolled up often.

Every thing is coming along nicely.
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

I still need to figure out what to do for the window treatment in the guest room.  I imagine Eilonwy would have some sort of curtains or blinds up, just not sure what.  I'll have to go through my spare fabric to see if I've got something sheer that will work well in that room for curtain material.

I keep half expecting to see a lion walk out of that wardrobe, or at least to see a wintry scene with a lamp post and a faun when I peek inside.  ;)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Today's been a low energy day, so I only have one small update to add.



I got the guest bed comforter finished today.  The comforter is reversible, and has two narrow channels sewn into the side edges to hold BBs in place to help weigh the sides down.  Off the bed, this helps the comforter drape very nicely, though I slightly miscalculated on the width of my comforter, so it doesn't drape quite as nicely on the bed without some help from me, since the sides are a little too short and want to stick out flat rather than drape despite the added weights.  Oh well, live and learn.  I didn't bother with any sort of cotton batting or fiber-fill between the layers, since the doubled fabric makes the comforter thick enough at this scale without any filling.

DH got me some more of the small vinyl tiles yesterday, so now I just need one more to complete the kitchen floor.  Now if I can only figure out why I can't keep Eilonwy's ceiling from repeatedly falling onto her bed!  *sigh*  It seems that the repositionable double-sided tape isn't strong enough to hold the textured paper's weight against the pull of gravity, no matter how many strips of tape I put on the back of the paper, so I may just have to pick up some regular (permanent) double-sided tape and hope I get the paper aligned just right on first try.  I really need the double sided tape to work properly, since my idea for the Rhemuth Castle redesign depends on it also.  If I can't get it to work, then I'll have to find some glue dots in a dispenser that works better than the one I used for the guest room wallpaper.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Great news!  I found some permanent double-stick tape this morning and have applied it to Eilonwy's bedroom ceiling paper, and now it's no longer falling onto her bed within minutes.  The true test will be when I peek in tomorrow and (hopefully) still find it attached to the top of the room rather than lying on her bed again.  The downside of using this new tape is that when it says permanent, it definitely seems to mean that, so I will need to get the papers on straight and in the perfect position on the first try from now on.

I picked up some extra scrapbooking papers from a Michael's across town that carries a better selection than my local store, so now here's what I've got for each room:



The guest room gets a new overhead light fixture.  We originally bought this several years ago in a pack of 3 or 4, but I have no idea where the others have disappeared to, so I may need to track down another pack. Pushing the central bit makes it turn on and off.  Since this is stuck directly to the shelf above with the double-sided foam tape that it came with, which is meant to support its weight, I don't have to worry about it falling down and bopping anyone on the head.  The small rug is actually a coaster from World Market.  I also finally got the wooden words mounted on the wall above the bed.  Once I get the window up, I think this room will be done.



I found this metal napkin ring that I thought would make a nice lamp shade.  I lined it with white paper to help diffuse the light, then put an LED light inside of it (the twist on, twist off sort of bulb sold at party supply stores). At the moment I don't have a good way to attach it to a lamp base, so I'm seeing what it might look like as a tabletop lamp.  I also toyed with the idea of adding a chain and some sort of framework to hold the LED inside it, and using it as a hanging lamp. I'm not sure which room it would look best in, but I'll eventually figure it out.



I got a pack of 5 sheets of this lovely pearlescent, creamy gold paper.  I wanted something very light to counter the black headboard and comforter, yet more sumptuous than the present plain white walls. This photo was taken with the flash off, since I usually just work with room lighting or a spot lamp, but when light hits the paper directly, you can see the subtle pearly-gold sheen.



These are the papers I picked up for the bathroom walls.  I'm thinking the top 2/3 of each wall will be covered with the white, which a chair rail separating that main wall color from the black, almost tiled looking paper at the base.



I picked up a sheet of the basket weave paper (it has plain white paper on one side, but actual weaving on the other) to make some little storage baskets to go on the lower bathroom shelf.  If there's enough left over, I might make a few decorative storage boxes for the home office also.



Now that the glue on the desk has had time to dry as much as it's going to, I added the heavier accessories to it.  There's another World Market coaster behind the chair for a small area rug.  I switched out the picture on the wall because the original one I had there was heavier and kept falling down. I still need to add gloss Mod Podge to those printed electronic accessories to make them look more realistic.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

oh my, Lots of work done! You are having fun and it is looking great. Getting rather Homey, I would say.  Good idea using those closet stick-on lights as ceiling fixtures. I recently saw those at Home Depot in the closet section.  I like all the wallpapers and words.  can not wait to see what the bathroom is going to look like.
;D
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

Have had a busy couple of days, so here's a belated update:



I forgot to turn on the overhead light in the guest room for this shot, but it's helpful to see how the house looks lit up at night. I still need to add an overhead light in the master bedroom. The single bedside lamp is a little too dim.



This is the dollhouse at night, illuminated only by the dollhouse lighting plus camera flash.



Testing the overhead light and the bedside lamp in the guest room as the sole sources of room illumination at night.



The type of overhead light I used in the guest room has gone from being about $6 per package of three or four to $6 for a single light, so my husband brought home this style instead in a 2 for $4 pack.  It's a bit more modern looking and has a brighter LED in it, but it works well for the home office and bathroom.  I may still splurge and get another circular stick-on light for the master bedroom, since I want more subdued lighting for the bedrooms.



I put up the wallpaper (marbled Contact paper) in the living room this week.  I went ahead and closed up the hole in the back wall and removed the extension cord, since in pricing the mini-LEDs I want to use for the mini-fireplace, I realized they come with battery packs and don't need to be plugged into an outlet. This will also give me more flexibility in where to put the fireplace and/or how to arrange the furniture in this room.  I might want to put it on the right side wall, for instance, and have the couch along the rear wall.  Or, given the limited floor space in this room, I might just leave it out.



I realized the Contact paper used on the living room walls would coordinate better with the tiles in the bathroom than the original white shelf "floor" did, so I used the same paper to cover the shelf and then returned the tiles and furnishings to it.



All of the pearly-gold wallpaper is up in the master bedroom, and the comforter has been finished and added to Paddy and Eilonwy's bed. The sides are weighted down to help them drape better, and since I made this cover wider than the last one, the trick actually works.


"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

One more brief update:



I added the window and blinds to the master bedroom. The bed still needs pillows, but other than that, I think this room is done.  I will need to find another sheet of clear plastic before I can make the other bedroom window.

Here's another view with the flash on so you can see the colors and details more clearly:

"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

revanne

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

Evie

Thank you!  I'm finding myself wishing I could have Eilonwy's bed, not to mention that view out her window.  The room's a bit small, though. ;)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

revanne

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)