I'm still scraping paint off my Lines DH/D. I was pleased to find that most of the grey paint on the flat roof is still there, and in fact the white paint came off more easily now than when I started a few months ago (perhaps the high humidity helps). (Actually, it was 6 months ago. Yikes - where has that 6 months gone?)
I had almost finished scraping the green paint off the chimney, and chipped a bit of the layer underneath off by mistake - and realised that the original cream-coloured paint is in fact under that layer (pinky-white, some kind of undercoat I think). So the pinky-white layer has to come off too!
I have worked out how to reproduce some wallpapers - the newest version of Word for Macintosh leaves white spaces between images, but if I save in the older version of Word, the spaces disappear! But I don't want to wallpaper until I've done any painting that's necessary, and that will only happen when I've finished scraping ...
In the meantime, I've started scraping another house, the teachest house I bought from Michelle Robertson before she left Australia for the UK. Inside, it's all bare wood - plain, not to say rough. The outside walls and gable had been painted white, with black window frames. It looked very stark, and the original worn grey, yellow and cream paint is more in keeping with the interior. (I think this will become a slightly run-down guest house.)
The poor Swans have been left for quite a while in a half-furnished house. I have finally bought some tacky wax, and put up some pictures. I also used the wax to try to keep the carpet in place (but I still don't think I should take up carpet-laying professionally).
Next job here is to make some bedding. (Or at least cut it out and pretend!)
I've also put up another German bungalow:
More about this soon (I hope). It came with a lot of furniture, including more orange Bodo Hennig arm chairs and sofa, so I am trying out various fabrics to recover them.
The hospital has been very neglected (almost as badly as many real ones), and one of the nurses has got so tired that she's actually lying on the emergency bed next to a patient!
The doctor looks like he's going to keel over soon too, so I'd better do something about it.
And today, I took my first steps into selling on ebay. It took me a very long time to list just three items - I hope it will get quicker with experience! Trying to estimate a reasonable selling price and reasonable postage costs is quite tricky, as I'm sure all of you who already sell know very well.
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SIX "teasers"! You work like I do..it's so hard to complete one little house without wanting to work on another. I am not a fan of "scraping and painting" so I am rather happy my collection hasn't gone in that direction...but so nice to see the great work that others do! Your Battlement House with the fantastic fireplaces has been on my mind a lot lately; any work in that direction? Liked the teaser on your new German house and anxious to see all of it! And your hospital reminded me of the rest of my Saturday nite in suburbia house...so now I don't feel so bad. Thanks for the update on all the fun you are having!
ReplyDeleteOOOH! A new bungalow???! Excellent! Please post more on it soon. I admire all the work you have been doing. I'd be curious to hear what you think of your eBay selling experience. Mine have left me feeling not completely satisfied. I find that it is not yet worth all the effort to list, package, and ship! I did sell a vintage doll house and that went pretty smoothly, but then I was thinking I should have put it up for more, etc. Lots of second guessing! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see all your work in progress! It doesn't look like you will be out of mini work for a while, you must have so much more patience than me!
ReplyDeleteI love your new bungalow after just seeing that one photo, so I'm really curious to se the rest!
And poor nurse, doctor and hospital, I hope they all get better soon :-) I didn't manage to get your ebay link working, hope it can be fixed as well :-)
And I've got the Shield ring now, but my life's so busy at the moment, I don't think I will have time to read it until the Christmas Holiday.
OH Rebecca...your hospital...has the H1N1 hit there? The poor fellow who's head has nearly blown up from a stuffy nose and the poor Mom watching it all unfold in front of her--the Dr. passing out and the nurse "flat out" on the bed. They need HELP! Oh my gosh selling on ebay! I'm just getting ready to sell again too. I do know what you mean about trying to figure "sellers" costs, especially now with Paypal costs. I think I'll just have to sell a few things and then figure it "on the fly". What is your ebay name so I can watch your FOR SALE items. I hope to start selling soon but not sure if I will make it before the holidays or not... on ebay I'm hlvette in case you want to watch. I'll probably post it on my blog when I actually start. I don't know how you have the patience to "scrape" off the paint. What are you using to scrape with if I may ask? You must have the patience of a saint. Good girl for saving that house though! Hugs
ReplyDeleteHi Florine, yes, I thought of putting something about the battlement house too! I have bought a few dolls and some early 19th century fabric, but so far have not done anything with it. Will update soon, I hope!
ReplyDeleteHi Callsmall, I thought you'd be interested in the bungalow! Now that I've mended a few bits of wall and put it together again, I am working on the furnishings, so hope a post will be forthcoming soon.
ReplyDeleteHmm, well, I'll see how the selling goes. So far I have a number of people watching the auctions, and an enquiry about postage to America, so that's hopeful! I love buying things for €1 or 99p, but can't see how the seller can break even, with all the fees. Selling certainly gives a different light on that! So I haven't started that low - just hope people do bid for what I'm asking!
Hi Pubdoll, I certainly won't be out of mini work for a long time, but I'm not sure if I or the poor dolls have more patience! It's not a good sign when the hospital staff start collapsing ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe ebay link works for me, but maybe that's because it's my page? Here's a link to one of the auctions: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Vintage-MIP-Lundby-Dolls-House-Girl-in-Jeans-1243_W0QQitemZ300369713921QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Houses_Miniatures?hash=item45ef6e1b01
Hope that works! My ebay name is tcreeknt63 - and yay, I have a bid!
Christmas sounds like a great time to read The Shield Ring - though sometimes Christmas can be busy too, especially beforehand.
Hi Louise, hmm, maybe the flu has hit it! Although probably not H1N1, as I think this is sometime in the 1950s or 60s! The poor person with the large head is actually on crutches with a broken leg, but has come back to the hospital as she's managed to break a toe now too!
ReplyDeleteMy ebay name is tcreeknt63. I've only got 3 things up at the moment, it took me long enough to do them! So I'll go slowly on that too, and hopefully learn from any mistakes.
For the scraping, I'm using a Stanley knife at the moment - I think you call them box cutters? I also used a screwdriver with a fine head to start with, as it has a good handle, but it's easy to go too deep with that. The stanley knife is very sharp and fine, and scrapes away fine layers, so I can see what's underneath each (more to scrape, often!)
Hi Rebecca, it wasn't a fault with your link, it's just my browser who won't give me access to ebay! Perhaps it thinks I have bought enough now :-) Congratulations on getting a bid, I hope you will get high prices for your items!
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