Saturday 30 January 2010

Tiling extravaganza...............and a wee mistake...

The last week has been a tiling extravaganza !

I've been busy working on my dolls during the day but evenings have been spent laying the roof tiles and paving stones needed to finish the outside of Belle's Toy Emporium.


The roof tiles were very easy to lay.

They are made a from soft easy to cut material and I found I was able to shape tiles carefully with scissors, or score them easily with a craft knife when I needed to half a tile.


I havent yet decided what to do with the back of the house. My wiring will be visible here and I am toying with the idea of either bricking over the wires or making a flase back to cover them and bricking that.
I tiled the back of the roof first as it was an easy flat roof with no details.


The front has the attic window roof and the chimney stack so I knew this would take some time and much tile cutting.


You can see the mistake from the finished roof photos....................... I ran out of tiles ! The tile manufacturer advise that you buy all tiles needed together so they will match but I just assumed 1000 was plenty for a roof. A third of the way up the front roof panel and I ran out and had to send for more tiles.

As you can see they most definitely dont match !!!!! I will be working a little paint magic on the tiles later to match them up........................







The roof looks so lovely though with the victorian ridge tiles finishing it off perfectly.


I really enjoyed working on the roof !




The paving slabs are made from real slate and look lovely.
They were quite difficult to cut though so a very tiny bit of pavement took some time.
I used random flagstones from Richard Stacey
which are all different sizes and you lay them in a pattern to suit , a bit like doing a jigsaw !
Once they are all glued on you then grout them like bricks and they lookjust like a real pavement.
I used a tool for ceramic tiles which has a scorer and an edge to snap the tiles. Fiddly but worth it in the end as the "street " looks perfect.
I will add some moss to it for more realism.
































The outside of the Emporium is now almost complete. I need to do the sign writing and add the shop sign . I would like to add drainpipes and will be adding moss to the pavement outside the house entrance too.
I need some more door furniture but theres no hurry for that, I havent seen what I want just yet so will wait until I find the perfect letterboxes .
Next for the bit I have been looking forward to..............................the inside !!!
julie xxx





13 comments:

Tabitha Corsica said...

This looks wonderful, Julie! And to think you've only been at it for around 2 weeks. I'd still be readinghte directions.... I am sure you'll be able to make those roof tiles blend in just fine.

Michelle said...

It looks great and I love the whole look! I've used Richard Stacey tiles for my witch's roof, but luckily I did order enough. I have just ordered yellowstone random flagstones for all of the downstairs for Hogwarts. I've ordered four large boxes/packs, should be enough, they warned me too about batches not matching, but that for me is okay as Hogwarts is rustic! lol I'm sure you can mix a little acrylic paint to match your tiles. You can always add a little moss/lichen in the worse areas. ;o)

Michelle xx

Julie said...

Looks wonderful with all the details and I can imagine a game of hop scotch going on around the side or a child excitedly pulling at mums or nannys skirt to hurry her to the shop!
hugs
Julie
x

julie campbell said...

Thanks Tabitha, I dont think it will be hard to blend the tiles in , will try this morning and post a new pic of the end result!

Hi Michelle,yes moss is my plan B if all else fails LOL, great stuff ! I love the random flags and spent hours arranging them, theres so many different looks you can get and I didnt want mine to look uniform as its an old street . The yellow ones you've chosen will look fab :0)

Hi Julie, LOL my sister came round on friday and saw the house for th first time out of its box . The first thing she asked was " are you going to draw a hopscotch grid there " !
Yes I just might do that too :0)
julie xxxx

Arantxa Fariña said...

it's looks wonderfull!!
I like so much, it's great!!
Hugs

julie campbell said...

Thanks Arantxa, I am very excited to start work inside now !
julie xxx

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Goodness ,speedy Gonzales!!! I still have my poor roof looking at me, I must get more motivated, looking at your beautiful job should spur me on!! Where did you get the victorian ridge tiles Julie, i need to get me some of those!! it all looks amazing, and yes I agree with the hopscotch, definatly should go with that!Kate xxx

julie campbell said...

Hi Kate, those ridge tiles are sweet arent they :0) got mine from a company called minaco.co.uk they sell on ebay and from their website and are reliable.
I definitely want to do the hopscotch ! and am desperately craving the sid cooke orangery to go on the back of the house.
the emporium might be expanding !!!
julie xxx

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Yes yes yes you must get the orangery, its so beautiful!! Youll have it whipped up in no time. Maybe the toy shop could have a tea rooms for its customers !! Thansk for the link, will get right to it, will make me get to work on that roof! Kate xx

Crafts From The Stash said...

It looks great Julie, I dont know how you find the time.
Debie xxx

Tallulah Belle said...

It is looking even more wonderful Julie. I think the paint will be fine.

Hopscotch would be the perfect touch.

I would LOVE the orangery but the shipping costs here are too high for me.

Sandra Morris said...

I had fun and games with the dormer windows in my toy shop too. I used some self-adhesive lead strip (the sort used to tudorise full size windows) in the gulleys at the side of each one, then carefully spattered seagull 'guano' on them.
I only have one seagull on the roof so he must have had a very, VERY upset stomach.

Teresa Martínez- IGMA artisan said...

Muy bonita!