Framing Square - The San Franciscan

I made a little progress on my window frames yesterday morning, though it seems wood stain and sanding sealer don't play exceptionally well together- but the result has definitely given me some ideas for my F. W. Know / Old Hickory Tavern build I want to do in the future.

They are completely inappropriate for my San Franciscan at this stage so some experimenting is in order to get them the way they should be, but it's certainly useful knowledge for a run-down or abandoned house. 

I spent yesterday afternoon working on cutting out bricks for the foundation and chimney for the house. I haven't decided on a color for the brick work yet or if I'll do like some Victorian house owners and paint them to match or coordinate with the house. 

Each day I think "I should be able to get such-and-such amount done today" and then the kids need me, or a million other things come up, or I just don't work as fast as I think I should - so I've decided that I'm going to just take it as it comes, hope I get most of it done correctly on the first try, and enjoy the process a little more. If it takes years, it takes years. Over all, it will be a process of gaining a lot of experience, making an individual piece that's never been made, and eventually it will be fully finished. I am not in a race. I am not in a race. I am not in a race. 

I've Been Framed - The San Franciscan

My San Franciscan has 15 windows on the front. Each window has four pieces - two sliders that fit into the wall frame sections to allow the windows to move, and two front frames that sandwich the glass to the slider sections. So sixty pieces total that have to be trimmed, primed, sanded, and painted. I think I have almost all of them primed and now I'm moving on to trimming and sanding. I even got the first coat of paint on a few of them yesterday - I decided on a purple that was left over from recently painting my youngest daughter's bedroom as it goes perfectly with my other color choices.

I don't have pictures because everything still looks pretty much the same as it did last update, but hopefully as I get a few on them painted I can put them together and give them the leading and stained glass. Most old houses had rolled or cast plate glass windows, so I plan to do a bit of effect work for that too. I will probably do the windows as I get the frames put together just to break up the monotony of trim, sand, paint, repeat. I will take pictures during leading and staining, of course.

Anyway, that's what I got done yesterday. Exciting times ahead - I can feel it :)

Sands of Time

I spent most of yesterday doing laundry so I only got a short time in the studio. I didn't bother to take pictures since there would be no noticeable difference from my previous entry - but I've begun sanding the slider frames for the windows. It may be a couple weeks before they're all done as a lot of them are pretty rough after being punched out of the main piece boards.

That's all I've got for today. Hopefully more over the weekend or early next week. Thanks for stopping by.

Painted Lady - The San Franciscan

I spent most of my studio time yesterday painting exterior walls for my San Franciscan. First picture is a blurry shot, but it was taken simply to show my main color and one of the accent colors. In addition to the teal, I also have a cream color and I'm thinking about adding in a purple.

Second picture is most of the main exterior walls for the front (there are a few pieces not shown, but this is the gist of it). Still at least one more coat to be added.

This picture shows the primer on my window sills and frame pieces. I'm missing a window sill piece, but I'm pretty sure it's still in the main wood stack and I've simply forgotten to punch it out.

Now that most of these steps are done, I'll move on to dry-fitting and getting the interior floors marked for placement.

I do not like the big blank sides so I'll be adding a chimney to one side so I can put fireplaces in, and a bay window or two on the other side. I'm still debating whether the second floor will have a bay window or a balcony on top of the first floor bay window. 

Anyway, a little progress is better than no progress. Thanks for stopping by :-)

Thread Head

No post in a while, but I have been working on things. Most of the lights for my HBS competition piece are here and will be installed soon.

As for the other house, I have some tentative plans but am still in the process of deciding on lighting and I can't move forward with construction until lighting is taken care of. I could be working on painting the exterior of course, but I have A.D.D. (yes, really) and I get distracted easily. Also, I have a rug pattern printed out for the Victorian house. I'm going to do it in punch needle and I'm sure it will take ages but will hopefully be well worth it in the end. I plan to trim some of the edges so it isn't quite so huge but this is the general size. The pattern is from Urban Threads.

I spent most of last week working on replicating a gothic wedding cake in 1:12 scale for a new Etsy shop that will be opening soon. I have tools on order so I can start miniature flowers and things too. Just this morning I had a genius epiphany for some stonework that I want to experiment with also. So hopefully lots of new stuff to show in the coming weeks.

Thanks for stopping by :)