New Build: The Cozy Cat Bookstore and Cafe

This another project that I started over a year ago and then put on indefinite hold for several reasons, not the least of which was that we undertook real life renovations, including replacing the flooring throughout our whole house!

I'm still unboxing my minis and this project probably requires the least mess-making of my current WIPs, ha ha, an important consideration since I have been booted out of my craft area to make way for my husband who is working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

This project is going to be for my eldest daughter, who shares my love of books.  And really, is there anything better than a good book and a hot beverage to drink?

The scale is 1:12, and this is the façade of a shop room box I bought on eBay.  The kit came with stairs at the side and a railing along the rooftop, but it won't fit into her bookshelf for display with those on it, so I am omitting them.

So far I have painted the façade Hunter Green, and lined the interior of the box with embossed brick paper.  I've also constructed some bookshelves and painted them black and stained the timber skirting boards.  I'm going for a contemporary renovation of an old building kind of look?

Wish me luck!

Bates House Complete

Well, it may have taken 18 months, but I am finally finished (for now) with the Bates House.  It was constructed from a laser-cut kit I bought on Etsy and I'm not sure of the scale - I think around 1:32 or 1:35?

Anyway, whilst it was easy to assemble, painting and weathering is not my strong suit, and as a result this project had a LOT of stops and starts because I just wasn't happy with how it was coming along!

It all comes with practice though and this is only my second time weathering and landscaping like this so I have cut myself a break and called it done!  It is very overcast and my photos are dull, for which I apologise, but I am keen to get it off my work desk and onto display, lol!

I started with a black roof and then changed it to a red one, as I had seen in many photos of the house from the movie Psycho, however I wish I had left it black in the end?  If I was to start again, I would do the whole thing in shades of grey - including the landscaping - to reflect how I remember it from the original black and white movie.  I think that would have looked cool.

"Mother" in the upstairs window backlit with a nano LED light.  I would use a larger, yellower (warm) white light if I did it again.