Christmas Decoration 2015, Part I - 18th-Century Headdress, DV style

This year I will revisit, with my good friend The Countessa Papera Ephemera, the period from where she comes from, the 18th century. If you recall, she lost her head during the French Revolution, you can read about her here and see the first dress I made for her. So in this spirit I will lose my head for this holiday creation and decorate with appropriate excess and frivolity,

starting with the head dress. The image above The Flower Garden was the trigger 

for all this 'madness'.

The Queen of excess and frivolity was, of course, the legendary Marie-Antoinette, which started the whole thing rolling.

The first image The Flower Garden is a caricature, but not that far off from the reality seen above. Hight and volume is what I aim to achieve, but mostly with elements from my garden. 

Two types of hydrangea blooms, sedum, lemon grass, pine cones and branches. Although I have a huge walnut tree growing in my backyard, I did not risk collecting its fruits as the flesh is poisonous.
All these elements made from a drab palette so I used vegetable dye, mica and gold spray paint to liven it up.

I mixed the dye and micas in water then swished the hydrangea blooms around and left them to dry.
It added colour, all the while keeping the look natural. In some cases, I sprayed the blooms with gold paint and in other cases, I added a touch of gold to a dyed bloom.

The Countess' glass head has been left clear this year. Chicken wire and garden mesh was used as foundation to achieve height and volume.

The branches were cut straight so they can rest flat on the head and secured with hot glue. I made sure this stage was very secure as I did not want everything to collapse once finished.

I started building the wig with a dab of hot glue where needed.

Almost done...

Southwest Corner Veranda Pillar Restored

My last exterior restoration project for this season was the pillar at the southwest corner of the veranda. When we first moved in to the DV, the eavestrough and downspouts were leaking and long overdue for replacement (see: New Eavestrough on the Old Lady). This corner of the veranda was receiving more than its fair share of water. Making matters worse, an overgrown cedar had extended its branches into the veranda, adding still more water to the area when it was raining or when snow was melting off the branches.

 Now that I had acquired proper precision power tools and the confidence to use them,

it was time to see how extensive the damage was.

The base moulding was bad, enough, but the exterior portion simply disintegrated. It was like prying off an old wet sponge.

 I expected the box surrounding the post to be rotten as well, but it wasn't bad at all. 

The water damage was in the flooring.

The south side edge was very brittle, understandably so...

but the west side was in good shape. That dark wood was just dirt.

The support beams under the floor's 45 degree cut, showed rot. It also showed previous 'doctoring', an indication that this was a recurring problem. 

Water seeping through that seam affected the support beam. 

I proceeded to repair it with 

wood harder and epoxy (forgot to take shots of that step).

 Removing the old floor boards, I was relieved to see that the exterior support beams were sound.

 I replaced the floor boards and salvaged a few of the older ones 

for shorter pieces needed near the pillar.

Before painting the floor, I sealed the 45 degree cut with some caulking.

 The crown moulding was also severely damaged by water 

so I proceeded to cut and install a new one. It's so hard to fit everything perfectly when nothing is quite square or level - custom work big time.
Good thing I'm detail oriented, but it was a difficult job.

 Coming along...

 and done.

Voila! It looks like it was done in no time at all, but that was real finicky work, done in stages throughout the summer.

The Dusty Victorian, September 2015

 I'm retiring my tools for the season and throwing away my work clothes.

I will be spending more time in my studio from now on.
Drop in and see what I'm up to during the autumn and winter months.
To keep the winter blues at bay, I've lined up a few projects such as Christmas decorations, Hypertufa containers and, of course, art projects.

studiovignette.blogspot.com

A Bird's-Eye View of St. Marys