Not quite going according to plan...

OK, so I finished cutting out my egg carton bricks and sticking them onto a piece of balsa wood in a herringbone pattern - all good (or so I thought!).

Starting to paint them has highlighted a crucial error - I didn't leave any space between the bricks (and there was me thinking that I was being clever getting them so tightly together) so there isn't any space to see any mortar. In fact when I went to paint it, the bricks all gelled into one and you could hardly make out the pattern - aarghh!

I was a bit reluctant to start again so I've had a go at trying to 'fix' it. I traced the outline of the brick using a pencil which isn't ideal as the mortar now looks a bit shiny lol! Silly isn't it, I'm just typing this and suddenly thought why didn't I use a white or grey pencil (doh!)...
It looks a bit better with the bricks outlined. The next step was to add some black pastel dust....

And I was much happier with this.....until I put it into place......

Errr, it doesn't quite fit in with the existing brickwork lol! Oh well, I'm just deciding whether I can get away it or not. I suppose once I add a cauldron in and add some wood and ashes for a fire, it might not be as noticeable!
I do like this style of brickwork though, much better than my sandpaper bricks.

Fireplace taking shape

I've redone the fireplace and I must admit I'm a lot happier with it now. I sanded down the original polyfilla and glued egg box stones in above the fireplace. I then repolyfillered it (minus the PVA glue this time - don't know why I included it in the first place!). It's drying well and it just gives a hint of the stones underneath.

I just need to finish off in between the other beams now and then I will have a go at the colour washes - eek!

I've gone for a herringbone brick base for the floor of the fireplace. The Tudor/Medieval/Jacobean/Queen Annes Dolls House Project listed a fab tutorial for creating the brickwork from eggboxes. The original tutorial is from The China Doll. This is my progress so far -

Sorry it's not very clear. I just need the patience to sit down and cut out a load more bricks now before I can paint it.

Fireplace

Just a short one today. I managed to have a bit of a play with the fireplace. Rather than getting the paints out, I decided to use artists pastels on the surround and to add soot in the fireplace itself. I scribbled on a piece of paper and then brushed the pastel dust into the stones. It actually worked quite well and I'm a bit happier with the fireplace now.
I also finished gluing the fireplace into place and added a hook to the block inside so that I can hang a cauldron at a later date (you can just see it in the picture above). The surround is still loose as I think it would be better to add the wall texture first but knowing me I'll change my mind!

The Fireplace

I haven't had a chance to do much prior to today, so I thought I would save it up and include it all in one post.

As I wanted a deep recess for the fireplace, I set about contructing a false wall. I used tacky glue to fix all the supports in place -

After I glued it all I decided that actually I wanted the walls to be flush with the fireplace (why do I always think of things afterwards!). So I glued further supports, and measured and cut some leftover mdf to make the walls either side of the fireplace.

Next up was making the fireplace surround. My woodworking skill really aren't that good yet, plus I don't have the right tools to do precision cutting so I cut the surround from thick cardboard.
I'm really pleased with how well it turned out. I've decided that the back of the fireplace should be brick and as I have no brick moulds or anything similar, I've improvised!
I've cut another large piece of cardboard which will fit on the back wall of the fireplace (you might just be able to see it in the photo above). This means that I can put bricks on this card and glue it into place rather than trying to fit them straight on the back wall. I painted this card a creamy colour (it's still unpainted in the photo below) and then painted some sandpaper a reddish brick colour -

Once dried I cut out thin strips and then cut them into brick shapes and voila....

(It's a good thing tudor bricks were different sizes!) I still need to finish it and then do the same for the inner left and right sides of the fireplace. Once I've done that I will glue it into place.

While I was waiting for the paint on the sandpaper to dry I whizzed over to Casey's Minis and got some fabulous inspiration from her egg box tutorial for the fireplace surround -

Once again it still needs to be finished, I will try painting it a darker stone grey colour I think.
This is the final picture of it all together so far.

I will be putting anothe piece of mdf aboce the fireplace so it looks like one long wall. That's it for today, I'll hopefully be able to finish the bricks later so I'll post more pictures once it's done.