A New Supply!!!

Of sharp pointy sticks!  Tessie was thrilled... I am going to have to find a good hiding place, if I don't want to be poked with them.

I found these at Walmart this morning in the kitchen section along with small tools and other toothpicks.  Nowhere near the paper kitchen supplies.

They should be readily available.  They are put out by Diamond.  Not some off brand or import.

After the photo was taken, Tessie disappeared.  Toothpicks and all!  I am now officially in trouble... Where are the sharp pointy sticks?

I decided that there needed to be more pargeting than just around the door.  I don't know what they call it in North Africa... I do know that parget is the English term, so that's what I am calling it for now.

I did the base of the tub so that it can be seen through the bathroom door. 

Sooner or later I am going to get the bathroom installed.  I really want to finish this house, so that I can get onto other things...

If I do a bit every day, I may have it finished next year sometime.  I have to start concentrating... Oh!  There's a baby squirrel outside, eating lettuce....  No!  Concentrate!

Anyway, I am going back to it now.  I must finish!

See you tomorrow.

Frosting the Walls.....

Years ago there was an article in Sunset magazine about the real restoration work being done on plaster work. There was a photo of a man working on it and they said the he was doing it with cake decorating bags and tips! I cut it out and put it away for reference. I still have it somewhere.

I reasoned that, if it could be done on plasterwork in a courthouse somewhere in real life, it could be done in miniature. Today I tested the theory.

I got out an old cake decorating kit that I hadn't used in several years and stuffed it full of DAP patching plaster straight from the tub.....It was too stiff to come out of the point. So much for the bag.

I resorted to the old tried and true method of repair. I grabbed a plastic sandwich bag, stuffed the same patching plaster in it and squeezed it down to one corner. I cut of a tiny point of the corner.

I had used the patching plaster for a base coat of stucco on the walls of the teashop. It was pretty much dry to the touch.

First I tried my handy dandy new tool on a paper plate. I had a distinct handicap. The plaster didn't stick well to the dry paper plate, but it did work.

I jumped right in and did a rough outline with a pencil on one end of the building and started squeezing. Starting from the top and working down, I outlined and filled in the design on the wall.

Here is the first end. I will go back in and fill in some spots and use the pointy tool to clean up the design, but all in all, it turned out pretty good for a first try.

I usually do this kind of thing with Fimo or Sculpey, but I have been wanting to try this method for a while. I think that I like it better. It looks more like part of the plaster.(It is part of the plaster.)

When I finished the first end, I started to turn the shop around to do the other end. As I did, I saw a spot over the door that was just begging to be pargeted. I free handed that one in about five minutes. With poly clay I would have been messing around for an hour sculpting and cooking. This is soooo easy. I should have tried it a long time ago.

Anyway, by the time I got to the other side I was becoming an old hand at it. It's as easy as decorating a cake, if you have ever done that.

As I finished the last end, Tessie showed up. She hung over the end of the roof and said,"Hey! My design looks pretty good!"

Her design? Does she mean the 1/4" long mark that she made on one branch??? I let it go.

I am very pleased that the experiment worked so well. I see a lot more pargeting in my future. And besides I just like the fancy word. Pargeting can be fun!

See you tomorrow.