Mar 13, 2015

The Log Mansion: Bloggin and Loggin!

Good day good folk!

I thought I would do a little update on log cabin I am working on for my customer..(now on referred to Ms. K ;) )

Ms. K suggested the title of this post ..lots of loggin' lately!
I have been cutting log siding over the last few days and fitting them to the front wall of the bottom floor. As you can see I've taped them together quickly for the show:

The issue with any pieced dollhouse like this is when using lines, siding, stone.. you have to make sure that they will match up once the house is glued together. 

Lucky enough Leonards dollhouses are just absolute precision pieces. So there is not much doubt on how it will fit together the dry fit is as perfect as the glue will be!

But with logs they had to be clamped a bit for them to adhere. So each wall has to be fitted and then i laid the first log to make sure the siding line matched.

So the overall front panel of the separate windows and face have a even siding line:

Here is the wood flooring, you can see its cut along the bay windows. For this floor I am using a wood strip sheet that I lined and cut for lay lines.

Ms. K wanted a older stone base for the house, after gluing the base I set about creating a paperclay stone foundation under the deck.

I decided to use a reverse mold pattern for this build. While paperclay stonework is not so difficult for rough stones. This type of foundation has mortar and the stones are set into the face:


So instead of doing individual stones and smoothing the lines I thought doing a mold with the stones poking through the line would be the smart and simple solution.

Instead of doing a line of stoness, then doing a mold.. I found a technique that I used on my Elven Bowyer by creating a stamp mold from polymer clay.

I flattened a line of scrap clay and dented the flat line with some lumpy stone indentations. Easily done with scrap wood for this look. My stones are rotated wooden ends. 

Once I baked my stamp mold, I simply pressed the paperclay into the mold and adhered it to the base

With a bit of pressing about you can see there is no "repeated pattern" And the application for this was very quick and effective!

I will do a bigger post on reverse molding methods at another time, I know a few of you might be drooling at this technique already ;P

Hugs and well wishes to you all, keep crafting!

27 comments:

  1. Ahhhhhh Ms. Jane I so adore what you are doing here.... Ms K is gonna love this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know us well... drooling is happenin'! Kelly is right... Ms. K is going to treasure this build for years to come!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep, I'm drooling too. Loving this build and the reverse moulding so far.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fun to watch your progress on the log cabin. I can already tell it's going to be gorgeous, even without your lovely photos. Yep, one of a kind and gorgeous! xo Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reverse mold for Paperclay!! Genius....Its lookin good Miss Jane!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really nice and smart. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. me encanta como te esta quedando y seguro que a la señora K tambien , y la idea del molde es fantastica , me encanta y gracias por compartir la idea

    besitos

    Mari

    ReplyDelete
  8. Miss K. will be one lucky woman once she will have this masterpiece at her home! You've done wonderful work so far and the mold-method for the stones is stunning. But now excuse me - I need to wipe off the drool... ;O)

    Hugs
    Birgit

    ReplyDelete
  9. Una estupenda manera para crear la piedra. Has dado un buen avance.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Okay, I've brought a towel with me.......cause I'm drooling too ;D!! Mrs. K. is so lucky that she chose you for this job, the house looks fantastic so far. Jane :D! Great work!!
    Wishing you a nice weekend. Hugs, Ilona

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Jane, what a gorgeous house so far, lucky Mrs.K. !
    I love the mold-method for the stones , what a splendid idea :)
    Have a great weekend.

    Hugs Mieke xxx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow it's really coming together! I love the contrast of the stone work and the log siding. Thank you so much for sharing your mold technique! Your floors are actually what caught my eye the most though, I've been struggling to find the right kind of wood for my floors. Yours look so so amazing. Is the strip sheet like a one large piece of thin wood that you cut out all the boards from?
    Looking forward to seeing more! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Krstine!

      I accualy used the Mayberry Street Miniatures Pine Dollhouse Flooring. It comes in long strips attached to a vinyl style sheet.

      I then had to line and cut each of the individual boards out so that they had breaklines.

      This sheet method was really nice to use with the bay window and the foyer cutout. Alo these boards on this piece are nice and narrow for this scale.
      ~J


      Delete
  13. Raising hand...^ drooling!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful Work there Mrs.Smith! The cabin is taking shape and looks quite rustic. The stonework is SUPERB!!! What a time saving technique and what Beautiful end Results! :D

    elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  15. you are so clever, Im going to have to give that a try...thanks for sharing your techs ;)

    Hugs
    Marisa :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a brilliant idea for creating the stone wall. Thanks for sharing.
    I already love this house. You are doing such a wonderful job of assembling it.
    Hugs, Drora

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! Great idea for the stone foundation! Very clever! You have inspired me to put a foundation on Beckett's cabin get away. Alas, I won't be able to get to that until the school year is over in June. I better bookmark this page for a later "look-see".
    Best to you,
    Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great idea for the stone wall. The house looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow fantastic house. Lucky Mrs K. The stone work is stunning. Thanks for sharing. Lots of drooling here also :D.
    Hugs Maria

    ReplyDelete
  20. Il lavoro con le pietre è bellissimo, mi piace molto il risultato, sembra vera pietra! Anche la facciata è molto bella, grazie per avere condiviso!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looks fantastic. You have a great patience to cut all these logs =) And the stones are looking great!!
    Hannah

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello Jane,
    Beautiful work! It is a very nice kit and your finishing will make it wonderful!
    Big hug,
    Giac

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi JAne!
    Wonderful work! This house is going to be gorgeus - I can see that already!
    Can't wait to see more!
    Hugs
    Kikka

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thanks for sharing your tip! That's a clever trick! I like how simple it looks! Good luck with the rest of the project!

    ReplyDelete
  25. It is so interesting to see all the process behind this project. The stone wall came out great and to use a mold to create the effect will surely help in speeding up the process still remaining of superb quality. Thanks for sharing the steps. It's always interesting to see how things are made and the different ways of making them. Great, great job!!

    ReplyDelete