Monday 3 July 2017

Pride andPrejudice room box, Part 2

Read the first part of this story.

Once upon a time, Facebook allowed you to choose which picture to show when you shared your blog post. Not any more. So I put the final picture first, to be shown with the link. Close your eyes if you prefer to be surprised.



It took  some time to get there.

First, I tried various wallpaper. Jennifer's printables is a superb site where you can find period wallpaper to suit any taste. I printed a sheet of several patterns and put them in, one at a time and together. I wanted something distinct, and also something I haven't already used in Womble Hall. I have used a Regency paper on the inside fronts of Womble Hall, and I almost decided to used it again when I saw another one, similar, but not quite. I think it is delicate and just right.


For the first time, I used real wallpaper paste, just because I happened to have some. Let me tell you: it made a huge difference. I wish I had done all wallpapering in Womble Hall with paste. Too late now. I didn't bother matching sheets exactly for the pattern (as I did with some wallpaper in Womble Hall) because I don't think it matters with this design.

With the wallpaper, the room looked much more natural. (Compare with the picture in the previous post). But I also wanted panels and rails, so I used more embossed 1:1 wallpaper, for the lower and upper panels and my favourite stripy one for dado rail, picture rail and coving. There were some tricky parts in the corners, but after trial and error, it looked passable. I was glad I had decided against real wooden coving - I would have never managed the mitring. Mitring is not my strong side.


I will add skirting when I have made the floor. I have just ordered a new pack of coffee stirrers, and I will need to find some interesting and period-correct floor pattern that I haven't done before.

More than this, I haven't moved yet, but as always, I put back all the objects, including the fabulous Chippendale mirror that I had made specifically for this room.

  

From the picture - and only from the picture - I see that I need to glue the coving better, to avoid gaps between the walls and the ceiling: it doesn't look neat. 

So the floor next. I most likely won't be able to finish it before I go away on holiday mid-July, but I may add some details, such as a fireguard and perhaps some more pictures and decorations. All the objects are borrowed from Womble Hall so I will have to make new eventually. 

Come back soon.

PS I have re-read Pride and Prejudice looking for descriptions of interiors. There aren't any! Mr Bennet's library is mentioned on many occasions, but it is never described. When Elizabeth visits Pemberley, there are descriptions of views from windows, but not of rooms. Mr Collins' furniture is referred to, but what kind of furniture? So my guesses are as good as anyone else's.

Sunday 2 July 2017

Small things

Before I continue with my Pride and Prejudice room box, I will show some small recent projects, in no particular order.

For instance, I have finally ventured making baskets from string. Messy, but I am quite pleased with the result.



I attended two courses in (full-scale) book binding, and as a side effect, I have now made a couple dozen miniature books according to all rules, with proper sewing, endpapers and quarter binding. After I have made these, I cannot tolerate the old fake books in my bookcases so I have estimated that I will need to make about a hundred books. The pages are cut from a French phrase book (because the paper is thin) so you can actually read them.



I made a coffee pot from bottle caps and wire.




For at least a week, I got obsessed with wooden crates. For bottoms and ends I used cheese boxes, sometimes with markings preserved, and for sides, coffee stirrers. I aged the crates with two layers of paint, the second quickly wiped off. In the left picture you can also see a milk canister, of which I made several, using eye-drop bottles, buttons and wire.



A miniature friend gave me a handful of metal thingies used to make fabric buttons. This kept me busy for a while and will go on.





A set of kitchen knives, blades cut from steady tin foil (of the kind you find on wine bottles).



One rainy day I made up my mind firmly to make a fish tank. It took many hours, but I am pleased. The tank is a plastic jewellery box with side ends open. I printed out the background, adding all kinds of tiny plants, and the fish are also printouts. They are suspended by tiny strips of transparent plastic. The see urchin is real, just cut down to size.


A lamp made from a golf peg and a bottle cap. Almost too simple to boast of.



A cake stand made of pizza holders. I never eat pizza so these were a gift from someone who knows I collect rubbish.


 I am sure I have missed some, so I will add another post soon. Come back!