The Buns part is done!

After doing a fair bit of thinking, I started to work. Since there were such large gaps between the sides and the front of the bay window, I felt that a little trimming was in order.

Once all the supports were the same size, I sanded all the pieces and glued the window trim and the pieces I cut out of scrap for raised panels and let that dry.

I wanted a middle shelf too, so cut one out of a piece of clear plastic I had saved. Whenever I'm out shopping, I keep my eyes open for goodies I can put in the window. I found cakes and bread and some large cupcake buttons.The cupcakes look a little big, but they are a popular item around here.

Once everything was arranged, it was glued in place. Looks yummy already!

While the glue was drying, I went back and put a couple of coats of white paint on the bay pieces.

When those were dry, I glued them in place around the bay.I had an idea for the roof pieces last night so proceeded to cut a small piece of natural sponge and get out the paints for some verdigris! First, I painted each roof piece with three coats of the Bronze and let that dry. Then you lightly sponge paint each color in succession.

Take most of the paint off the sponge on a piece of scrap paper and use a light touch. You can always add more, but it's a longer process to start over. I really like these! Here is one of them glued in place.

Oh, and if you're going to verdigris more than one thing, do them all at once. Sometimes if you do the next one later it comes out just a little different. I still wasn't happy with the way the seams looked on the bay window so added a couple of toothpicks for "architectural interest". :) I trimmed out the front door and added a tiny brass fastener for a doorknob that I found in the scrapbook section in Hobby Lobby.

Mmmmm! Looks like this is going to be a popular spot in the Minion Village! Have a great day!

Copper Roofs and Verdgris!

Now that I have moved everything from one blog to another, I can start on day to day things.  I was slowly working on the Summerhouse so I wouldn't have alot to catch up on here.  Here are the pieces of the main roof with the multiple coats of the Bronze:

 You can still see alot of the wood grain, but I'm hoping that the verdigris treatment will hide that.  It does look pretty on the roof this way though! LOL! 

 But enough fooling around and back to business.  Dug out my sea sponge and dampened it and started the verdigris.  After the first couple of layers, it was beginning to look the way I wanted. In the process, I noticed that it was impossible to get the sponge to paint close enough to the edges of the seams on the roof. 

After thinking about this for a bit, I grabbed one of my small paintbrushes and proceeded to paint close to the seams and then blend the paint with my finger and a paper towel.  So far, so good! 

The next to last step involved using the Craftsmart Ocean Breeze which always makes me a little nervous because it's a bright turquoise color.  I was really getting into the blending with the fingertips thing so things got kinda messy!

After the final step of a wash of thinned down white paint daubed off with a paper towel, this was the final result: 

I would so like to glue this in place, but have to paint the underside first.  However, I couldn't resist trying all the pieces in place. 

After taking them all back off again, I painted the first coat of ceiling color on the inside.

This thin plywood sure inhales the paint for sure!  But this coat is mostly for primer anyway...was standing here thinking about that and I do have to paint the bathroom ceiling so will have to make sure that's done before I glue because it will be next to impossible to reach everything without making a mess in general.  Speaking of making a mess in general, I got help for some of the last bits!

I appreciated the break, as I was getting tired of all the painting.  It was my turn to be the supervisor! LOL!  Have a great day all!

Metal Roofing......

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 31 July

I was excited to try out the roof pieces on the Summerhouse,so propped them in place to have a look. While looking at the roof as a whole, I realized that there is no way to hide all the tab slots and have the "seams" line up. I was puzzling about this when I decided to check out images online. So, on most of the roofs the seams lined up, but then there were some that didn't so I guess I am okay. I'm not sure how much the seams will show anyway after I do the verdigris work. Have to go finish some grass mowing, then I will be back. 

Was dragging my tail feathers after mowing the lawn! LOL! Almost a 1/2 acre with a push mower! Whew! After looking at the pictures of roofs online, I noticed that on some of them the seams lined up with the middle of the spaces on adjoining pieces of roof. My layout has pretty much worked out that way too, so I am happy with it. I started by painting the main sections of the roof with the Bronze.  After a light sanding, I temporarily put them on the house to start laying out the seams.  Here is the front roof piece with the seams almost complete. It's been a little tricky covering the tab slots and lining up the seams, but I figure life is full of imperfection, right? LOL!This still needs a piece here and there and then the painting can start! Have a great evening all!

The Roof and Vikings!

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 30 July

I decided today was the day to try out the copper color on the roof. In my Greenleaf forum gallery is a how-to on doing a verdigris roof treatment. It's a good thing I wrote it all down as I would have forgotten it all! LOL! Before I did the whole roof, I wanted to try this out on the smaller roof section to see how it was going to look. I started by putting on a coat of Metallic Bronze by Craftsmart.  I thought I did a major oopsie for a minute as I was going to glue strips on the roof before painting. Then I realized without the strips, I'd be able to sand the first coat smooth. Serendipitous for sure! I cut 1/4 inch strips from thin cardboard and glued them down. After a couple more coats of the Bronze, these pieces were set aside to dry overnight.  Really like how this is looking and found I can arrange the cardboard strips to hide any gaps here and there. I've been working on a ridge cap that I hope is not too over the top...just not sure how to paint it yet. Mulling this over.
The Viking hammer was also found and I had one happy Minion! Then I found a small boat in my stash and he was tickled pink!  As you can imagine, it didn't take long before all this joy was noticed by the other minions. Before I knew it, they were all on board and singing Viking songs at the top of their lungs!  I think they were Viking songs.....although I did catch a "banana" somewhere in the song and when "underwear" came out, I thought they were all going to fall out of the boat they were laughing so hard. I don't know what it is with these guys and underwear....So we are a happy group all together in the shop for sure! Have a great day all!
P.S. Just noticed there are only seven in the boat....I hope no one fell overboard! Maybe he took the dirt bike out for a spin.....

Verdigris How to....

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 19 Aug 2014

Had a go at the roof of the bay window today and thought it came out pretty good. I searched online for different verdigris effects and this is a combination of what I found. Some people like more green, some more turquoise.  Have fun and do your own thing!

Step 1, Several coats of Craftsmart Metallic Bronze

Step 2, Sponge painted with Craftsmart Campground

Step 3, Sponge painted with Americana Seaglass

Step 4, Sponge painted with FolkArt Metallic Antique Copper

Step 5, Sponge painted with Craftsmart Ocean Breeze

Step 6, A wash of thinned white dabbed off with a paper towel

Have more ideas for finishing the rest of the bay so will keep the pics coming.