March 28 - Day 87 - 278 days to go!

I know I've been gone for a while but I'm back! I haven't forgotten about this project, in fact, I have done a little work on it. Sometimes life just gets in the way of doing the things we really love to do and that is what I've been doing....real life stuff with my own "big" house.

I've spent some time doing some flooring in preparation for doing the lighting.

The kitchen floor is done.

The dining room floor is done but still needs to be sealed.

The library floor is done.

The second floor hallway floor is done but still needs to be sealed.

I still need to finish the hallway wallpapering but I'm hoping to get that done this week.

March 10, 2011 - Day 69/296 days to go!

If you wonder where I've been, I haven't forgotten about you or my Beacon Hill. I've been fighting a bout of H1N1 flu. I start the day feeling great and it goes downhill from there.

I have been doing some work on the dollhouse. I wallpapered the kitchen, now have 5 coats of gloss varathane on the wood floor, adjusted the counter to fit since that hidden wall changed the dimensions a little, glued the sink to the cabinet base, made the little cupboard spacer to the left of the sink, painted the upper cabinets for the left wall....but I have to adjust them a little too so they will fit again.

I'm pleased with the wallpaper......what do you think?

March 2nd & 3rd - Day 61 & 62/303 days to go!

While I would love to say that I've been really productive, I have spent time filling little tiny holes with glue. Funny how when I was painting trim areas that those little tiny holes showed up, but they did. So in the interest of structural strength, I stuffed them full of glue...and more glue, then touched them up with paint.

Thursday was mini day with my friends....definately one of my favourite days of the week! The food was great, the conversation was good and the friendship was fabulous. I even managed to squeeze in making a few minis too.

The plan for the weekend is to start doing some wallpapering from the bottom upwards. Once that is done on the first and second floor I can start installing some lighting on the first floor. Then wallpaper the third floor and install the lighting for the second floor. Once the roof is on, I can do the electrical for the third floor.

Well, that's the plan anyway. I will have to see how time goes this weekend.

March 1st - Day 60/305 days to go!

I just got home from Staples and the...Colour Copy Goddess was at work today and she did her magic! I actually have wallpaper copies that look exactly as I want them to look.

I'm so thrilled it must be.....time to do the.....HAPPY DANCE!

All that time consuming work changing the colour pixel by pixel paid off! Now who's nuts LOL!

February 28th - Day 59/306 days to go!

I can't even believe I did what I did....but I just couldn't stop myself.

The original wallpaper for the master bedroom was the...inspiration for the whole colour scheme. It was the fuel that drove the whole French Country theme for finishing the interior....and partly the exterior of the house. I loved the pattern.....I loved the colours. So, I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment when the colour photocopying process didn't give me the result I had hoped for. That french yellow background came out lime-greenish and it was....awful!

I spent time finding an alternative wallpaper for that room. Even though I found something I "liked", I still wasn't thrilled with the prospect of having to abandon my original pick. So, that said, I will tell you now that I can....at times be a tad.....obsessive....or as my mother used to say...strong-willed, which I believe would be translated into....just plain stubborn. And yes, I am all of those things at times. This was one of those times that I didn't see it as a bad thing but just one of those personality quirks that will get me what I want. Besides, isn't our individual nuances that make us each....special....unique...in our own little way.

I can't believe I'm going to tell you what I did.....but I will and perhaps I'm not alone when it comes to this trait either. There are times when no other action but this will do!

I spent the better part of the day changing the colour of the background on the original wallpaper so that when it is was colour copied it should turn out to be the yellow that I want. I took a small sample of the original wallpaper that showed the full pattern repeat, used my paint program on my computer, enlarged the picture and....pixel by pixel....changed the yellowy-green background to a french yellow colour, blocked and copied the new and improved little sample, and then copied and pasted it together (matching up the pattern) until I had a full sheet of wallpaper ready to be printed as the original for photocopying.

Okay, you can now shake your head or roll your eyes in disbelief over how stubborn I can be. But look at the difference:

The test as to whether or not the time was well spent will be when I take it to Staples and have it copied. But, I also have a plan for that too. I've done lots of copying at Staples and I usually have the same lady do it for me, but it was her day off when I had the other one copied. So, I'm going to go....just to her....and have it copied. Maybe it's a luck thing because I've always been pleased with the results I get from her....and she has been there a long time, so perhaps she is just better at setting up the colours on the copier. Who knows, but I'm going to give it one last try to get the wallpaper that I really want for that bedroom.

If this try doesn't work.....I'm going to bury my face in a pillow and scream as loud as I can for about 5 seconds (an excellent way to reduce stress).

February 27th - Day 58/307 days to go!

Wow....I think I solved a minor disaster. Not a global disaster or anything of that sort but rather a dollhouse disaster. When I was trimming the wallpaper pages I noticed that the paper that I'd picked for the master bedroom didn't colour copy as I'd liked it. The yellow background had now become a shade of...greenish-yellow....and ugly shade at that. Even a trip to a different store to try their copy machine didn't solve the problem, in fact, the colour was worse. Soooooooo, after much searching, I think I found an acceptable wallpaper alternative. It's not as nice as the original that I liked so much, and there isn't the yellow in it that I wanted....but I think it might have to do. I don't see any way around this switch in paper.

I'm going to spend some time tomorrow searching for a better alternative....hopefully I'll find one, but if not at least I have one option available.

It's Murphy's Law......there is always a bump in the road somewhere along the journey.

February 25 & 26 - Day 56 & 57/308 days to go!

Finally, all the wallpaper I photocopied has been trimmed to....perfection! I realize that I've been obsessive in this task but that is the nature of the beast...yes, I'm the beast. I'm a perfectionist and my own worst critic. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've done something, thrown it out and started all over until I finally end up with a finished result that I'm pleased with. A curse for sure.

I have also come to realize that I'm a shopaholic. Not for most things, in fact, just when it comes to minis. One of the members of an online mini group that I believe to has a home-based miniature business and each year at this time she has an anniversary sale where each day she posts special just for our group at 3 pm. During her sale I become a clock watcher and at exactly 3pm, I run to my computer to see what the deal of the day is. I've already bought  some Chrysnbon dishes which I'm going to paint to go on the dining room table, some Chrysnbon bathroom accessories, an old fashioned phone, fireplace coals and some bookcases for the library. Yes, all for the Beacon Hill. My thoughts seem to be consumed with this project so much so that I've been neglecting my other miniature projects. I still have a stack of books to make that are waiting patiently, my sculpting of miniature dogs has come to a complete stand still, and the local club that I belong to has a project this year that is to be displayed at the show at the end of April and I haven't even started it yet....and I may not either. Oh well, that is the nice thing about projects, they will always wait for you....much like housework.

And speaking of housework, I notice that darn dog dust bunnies have moved into my kitchen again and are hiding under the table....time to pull out the vacuum cleaner and evict them. Thankfully this new dollhouse hasn't had time to collect dust and in order to avoid that in the future, I will definately have to come up with a solution to that potential problem. Perhaps a plexiglass back will do the trick.

So.....tomorrow, after I spend some time being a Domestic Goddess, I will spend some time working on the dollhouse and get cracking on some wallpapering.