On To The Library

The pictures above are the beginning of the library in the Big House. The door is on the back left side, and there will be three book cases on each side at the front. In the very back I am going to put my Wooten desk and chair. I am going to oper the desk and put all sorts of papers in it.

There is a brown detail on the desk, I decide to put spairingly on the floor. I put blue tape to make the lines in a square. First,I put satin varnish stain where the brown line was going to be so the line edges would be sealed under the tape. After it dried, I put down the brown paint. When that was almost dry I pulled off the tapped. It was PERFECT!!! Boy was I happy. Tomorrow I am going to put the detail on the brown line. I am going to put the floor down as soon as I get some contact cement. Then I will paint pine varnish stain over the floor.

I had to put the livingroom floor down in two pieces. The little gold spot on the right side of the left floor is an electric floor plug for a lamp. I put down the second piece of floor to the right and it was lower than the left floor. So the little pieces of Cherrio's box are being used as shims. I ran out of contact cement and could not put the floor down.

I plan to keep working on the house-no interuptions.

Thanks for looking,

Kate

www.katescats.com

Back Working on the BIG House

With my husbands help, I worked on the Big dollhouse. First I hooked all the electricity up on the back wall. All the wall plugs work, even the floor plug. It took 5 hours to do the electricity on the back wall and glue a large portion of the floor down. I was constantly checking to see if the electricity was working. I put the floor down with contact cement-what a job. I could not get the floor over the plug in the floor-finally it worked and the electricity still worked. I am going to start on the mural for the back wall tonight-thats a weeks worth of work. I am hoping to get the livingrooom done by Christmas.

Oh, Happy Thanksgiving to all my followers and readers.

Kate >^^<

http://www.katescats.com/

Roto Zip Hole Repair

I needed a hole to put the tape wiring through and I used a roto zip that rippped a BIG hole. Well these are pictures of the repair. The line down the middle is the spacer that is going to make the hole for the tape. There was a problem though. I used wood filler that was old and crumbled when I took out the spacer. I was to impatient to use the good stuff that was reconstituting. So I am going to rerepair the hole. It will look the same, so I won't be sending other pictures.

Kate

The Dollhouse Base is in Place

Ta Da-the base is finished and in place. To the left of the base are boxes of mini things that go in the dollhouse-they will now be stored in the base. The living room will be clean and the coffee table will be put back in its place. My daughter, Michelle, is coming over tomorrow and we are cleaning up the living room. I am so excited about the prospect of being clean. Something else that is great, is the dollhouse is higher and will be much easier to work in. Something that is also great is that I will be able to sleep late for the first time in six days.
Kate
www.katescats.com

I See The Light At The End of The Tunnel

Well, I am one coat of primer and two coats of paint from finishing the base for the dollhouse. It is extremely hot here in Texas so I have to get up at 6a to paint or the paint dries in midstroke. It does not help that I have had allergies from heck and can bearly function-I try and not think about it, but the inability to breath reminds me. I think I can finish the painting in the next three days and will let the base bake in the heat to cure. Then, TA DA, I can clean up the living room. I will post a picture of the room before I clean it-it is unbelieveable.
Kate

Still Working

Well, here I am working on the base to the doll house. Slow going. I am using Behr paint and I hate it. What makes matters worse is it is very humid, so I can only paint once a day. But I am staying on schedule. Tomorrow I will put on the second coat and turn it upright Friday and put the last coat on Saturday. I will have to let it dry a few days, then I can bring it in the house. Yea! I will then pick up the BIG house mini stuff and my living room will be clean-finally. Will post again next week.

Kate

www.katescats.com

Screaching Halt

Well, I haven't worked on the house in a while. I accidently got some beautiful wallpaper I am going to use in the dining room. Sandra Manring is making the centerpiece flower arrangement and is making two arrangements (irises) for another room I have (those arrangements will complete that room) .

I am having a base table made for the Big House-it should be here next week. Of course it is suppose to be raining next week-I want to paint the table base. I will be able to store alot of the boxes in the base table, thus cleaning up the living room some. I will send pictures next week. I am soooo excited about the base.

Kate

www.katescats.com

Great Idea

Well, no pictures yet, but I have a great idea. The "BIG" house is toooooo low to the floor, so I am going to get some 24" height kitchen cabinets to put the platform on. Not only will the house be at a better height, but I will have a place to put the dollhouse stuff that is all over the living room. We plan to go get them tomorrow-pictures at 11.
Kate

Spagetti Wiring

After laying awake many nights planning the electrical-I screwed up. There is suppose to be a plug right where the first turn up on the right is. So I will have to put the plug to the right, near the corner, as there is going to be a floor lamp there-which I finally found. The plug outlet has two receptors so I could plug two things in it. I can not stand to make a mistake on my miniature stuff-this will haunt me forever. Tomorrow I am sauteing a wire out over the right door for the conservatory and a wire where the hinge is-I will put a plug in on both ends of the wires so they can plug into outlets-then I can put carriage lights at the front door. I hope to finish the wiring tomorrow, check the electricity flow, lay the floor, paint the last four murals. I am putting in a ceiling fixture and painting cranes flying around it-about 4 cranes. Think I can do all that tomorrow. LOL.

Kate

www.katescats.com

Setting the Stage in the Living Room

Well, I laid out the furniture to see where things will go. To my amazement everything fits. I have to get a floor lamp and a table for in back of the sofa. I have all the electrical figured out and am ready to lay the floor. The I will finish the last four murals. Those will be easy because there is so much against the room walls. I will not post again until the room is done-about 3-4 weeks. See you all then.

Kate

Installed

Off and Running

As usual I could not go to sleep, so I worked on sorting stuff for my "BIG" doll house. I hope to get the mural attached to the partition and the partition put up in the house tomorrow. I put all the furniture that goes in the living room in the room, so I can see where to paint what on the mural. I am getting ahead of myself. After the partition goes up the floor goes down-then I will make a template of the back wall. I bought these cool lights and I dug one out and plugged it in-looked great. I think I will use those lights through out the doll house. Before I lay the floor, I am going to put a plug in it by the sofa, just in case I want a light. Better safe than sorry. I hope to have the living room finished. Then I can do the dining room next to it. I am so excited-the decorating has started. With the mural fiasco, I think a long time before doing any thing and then when I figure it out I write it down. I wrote for 30 mins. last nite and 15 mins tonight. I certainly don't want to make a big mistake again, if I can help it. Pictures tomorrow.
Kate

Up is the Phoenix from the Ashes

I can not believe it, but I have redone the left side mural-my husband thinks it is better than the original (I just love him so much). I made compensation for the top and bottom molding-which i did not do in the first mural. Now all I have to do is put the gold leaf on, make the cardboard backing and put the sucker on the dividing wall. I am so happy-I feel the world is off my shoulder. I must stop a moment and say a kind word about Natasha Richardson-a great loss. I think about her all the time and realize, when it is your time, it is your time.
Thanks for looking,
Kate

Tragic Events

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, etc. I, for some reason, stopped thinking and used the wrong adhesive. That lack of thought helped me destroy the mural that took me 18 hours to paint. I am repainting the mural-unhappily. It is like going to the dentist every day. I am sure I am not the only one who has screwed up like this-my condolences. The dark area is where the adhesive seeped through. This is all I can say.

LET THE ELECTRICITY BEGIN

The pictures are backwards-so we will talk about RIGHT to LEFT.

In the house shell, I roto zipped (badly) two holes to run the electric tape through. I have all the center hall stairwell controlled by one switch. I put the wall switch in and the thing worked-I could not believe it (see middle left, beside door way in left photo). I also put a plug in the bottom electric tape to plug in a lamp-it works also. It will be clearer when I get the mural up on this partition. I wanted to finish the other side of the partition, but I decided against it. The wall paper is white and I was afraid it would get dirty if I worked on it too. I got the bottom row of tape upside down. I will have to correct that in other runs. Tomorrow I am glueing the partition in place, then the next day the two big dollhouse doors and the roof door, next the bump out-then I will set it up right and hopefully finish the inside first floor. It has been a year getting to this point-planning, designing, and getting ideas. I can not tell you how often I have changed something. Once it has been exicuted, that will be it-I do not ever change any thing once it has been done.

Well, see you tomorrow.

Kate

Finished the Stair Wall Mural Wall

Well, after 18 hours the mural is finished.
There is one problem-the gold oxydated
and turned aqua in places. I am going to wait till the morning to see how bad it is. If it does not get any worse, I think I will keep it. It is an interesting finish. I just wonder if I can duplicate it. To the left of the tree branch is where the door will be. There is a diaginal line going up the middle-it is where the stairs are going to be. On the right, there is a big open space-that is where a side board and mirror is going to be. On the far left, I am going to put small Chinese letters-I have to find them first.
Now, I am going to start wiring the Big house and start putting it together. It has been a year and I am ready to start. My living room is full of boxes full of furniture for the house. It will be great to get it electrified and ready to finish.
Kate
www.katescats.com

Time To Begin

Well, the new year has begun and it is back to the Big House. I have decided to paint a mural on material to put on the walls in the living room-oriental. I want to try using the Cir-kit on/off switch. I am going to do a practice run to see if I can get it to work. The flooring for the living room buckled in places-that does not make me very happy. I will have to fix it before I put it down. Everything has a catch and has to be fixed. I hope to paint the first wall this weekend and I will post it when it is finished.
Kate>^..^<