Another sign of "something to come"??? ;)

So I told you in a previous post that I found a great dining room set for my Woodstock...

Well, I found a few more pieces!!! :)

A sideboard that matches the set!!! 

And...

Two (more) Side Chairs!!! :)

P.S. I just ordered the two new walls for my Mansard Addition...so I'm very excited!!! :)

Making "Preparations"

I have to admit, at the prospect of "resurrecting" the Woodstock, I am as giddy as a young child at Christmas!!! :) 

I have told you previously that I keep a binder, a tip from a miniatures book I read once, and I must say that it's very handy to have.  This binder is probably so complete that it would make the most dedicated miniaturist roll their eyes at me.  However I hold no shame because I believe you really need to be prepared in some aspects, and I figure that I now have all the bases covered!!! :)

For me, it is important to determine a layout for the house, right now that is stamped down in writing, (literally).  Each room is written out onto a separate piece of graph paper, and each graph paper contains the following information:

Which room it is and it's location (there is also a date, in case I change my mind on design)
The Wish List - what I don't have for the room that I want to purchase
The Decor List - wallpaper colors and flooring preferred, etc.
The Component List - defines out an interior door, a single window, a bay window, etc.
The Furniture List - lists out the furniture I own, that will go into this room, (so I don't duplicate or not use)
The Light List - the fixtures I have that I will use, or that I want to order and where and how much they are
A Floor Plan - a rough idea of where I want pieces of furniture to go, really just highlights where windows and doors are...

Yeah, I know, a little too much, but with a house of this size, I find it necessary... it can get very confusing, at least to me, and being a big list person already, this is second nature to me...(you should see my RL house binder!!!)

This also takes away the "impulse" buying, and trust me, I'm famous for it!!!  It keeps a hold on everything and helps me keep track of what I don't need to spend money on and what I do. 

One Step Closer... (to my Woodstock!)

I have been working on finagling a way to start possibly buying up the milled plywood walls of my Woodstock kit as we can afford them...(in exchange for moving my craft area back down to the basement my husband finally agreed!!! :)

Ultimately he wants the house to stay down there, and I really don't blame him, as there is no room on our main floor.  We have a gorgeously finished basement, and I'm not too bummed about being down there, because as the weather gets nicer, it's much cooler down there, so free air conditioning!!! :P 

He agreed recently that I can go ahead and purchase the two walls of the Mansard Addition kit that comes with the Woodstock kit.  I need only the side wall and front wall, as the ceiling, floors and second floor walls are made up of plywood already.  I went ahead and requested the order from Real Good Toys, and I'm very excited for their anticipated arrival... My opinion on this is even though it's only two rooms, I will be able to build SOMETHING for this house!!! :)

So while I await their arrival I am cleaning out, organizing and pairing down my miniature collection.  I have a way of figuring out what I have, where I will use it, what I won't ever use, and what I want eventually to purchase. 

I am jumping on a brand new journey...and I hope that you come along with me!!! :)

FINALLY...the real work begins...

So I was finally able to get the sanding finished!!!

Once the walls were all clean and clear I went to work almost immediately, I was way too psyched with my progress to stop.  I primed all the walls with Kilz; after working with various primers I have found that I prefer the Kilz the best, if I have it on hand.  Now that everything has been primed, I need to do a light sanding coat from the primer and then start adding the color.  I will put only two coats on the walls because I want the color to remain light.  Lucky for me any additional sanding on this part is easier. 

I next started on the front door...

I had ordered two doors to combine into one.  I ordered the 1/2scale palladian door and the 1/2scale traditional 4-panel door to create the look that I want.  The first step was to cut the door itself to fit the new frame, which I only take from the bottom.  At 1/2scale this is much easier to hide than in full scale where I would have cut equally from the top and bottom to make it fit. 

I then sanded it to make sure it was straight... and it ended up fitting perfectly the first time!!! :)

Next was to paint.  The frame is Wicker White and the door is Country Apple by Folk-Art.

I need a few more clean up coats on the front of the door to really make the red stand out the way I want it to, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks. 

I must admit, 1/2scale lovers block your ears, that I'm getting quite bored with my little farmhouse.  I'm really wanting to move onto bigger and better things, i.e. my WOODSTOCK!!!