Hiatus

 This week's post will be a non-event I'm afraid as I am in a bit of a hiatus.  I am trying two places to source the wood for my boxes.  More accurately trying to get two places to cut the wood for me.  As always my emails and queries are out there and nothing (sensible) coming back so far.

Maybe I can share a couple of fabulous purchases with you.

Firsty a teeny box from the breathtakingly perfect Mini Fanaberia .  I always find it an extra joy when you receive a beautifully packed little parcel, not to mention a cute little surprise gift enclosed

I have made a gazillion books but I thought I would like to treat myself to some really lovely, perfectly in scale ,cookery books from here.  I have measured heights and widths and they are spot on, so will all fit nicely on a one inch deep book shelf in my future kitchen.

They all contain pages and all have a perfectly printed spines so they can be stacked and read from that angle too.

The very next day after receiving these I got my meg-major purchase for this new adventure.......the flat pack kitchen from Elf Miniatures  I am sure these following photos are pretty meaningless to you but as these blogs are my diaries of a particular build I like to record almost every little detail.

In the case of the kitchen arriving from Elf, it is far from a little detail.  Other than the boxes themselves, this will be my major purchase for this project and also the major piece of intricate construction I will be doing.  Also, in truth, it is nice to register the moment of pleasure on opening my Elf delivery.

Ta dah! .... one flat pack kitchen

The next photo shows the pre-built cooker hood.  You can get this in kit form.  

The underneath stiffish card in the photo is subway tiling.  

The two rolls are plastic film. The large white one is for covering the cupboards - though I am still considering painting them again as I always do.  The smaller grey roll is for the 'granite' worktop.   Sadly the chap who used to cut the fabulous Decrastone worktops and hearths and floor tiles which I have used over the years, has retired.  There is a chance a member of the family may continue the business but it will be a while getting set up and me, being me, always wants to just crack on.

The ceramic cooker top is simple but looks really effective when in place.

The next photo is is also in the meaningless-to-you vein (probably). 

On the left are the components for a butlers sink - a cupboard, sink, pop up waste and tap.  

In the centre are all the pieces for a double oven and cupboard.  I haven't done one of those before

On the right is a bag of bar handles to be used on drawers and the dishwasher, and knobs for the cupboards - haven't mixed them before so I am not sure if I will like that.  There is a total of total of twenty-eight handles and knobs so that gives you some idea of the challenge ahead.

The next photo is the one which strikes terror in my heart - the box of a gazillion trillion pieces of cupboards.  I have spotted the glass shelves for four cupboards and the lighting for those.  Mmmmm ...... a mini challenge there then.  

Opening the box is always the moment of joy and regret.  The joy comes from looking forward to having made it and the huge regret is that I ever decided it was a good idea.

This is probably the largest Elf kitchen I have done but, cumulatively, I have done many.  Every single project has had Elf in it.  Some builds, like Chocolat, depended a lot on Elizabeth's kits. 

I love the painted finish, especially when replicating Ikea items, but it takes a great deal of patience.  Ideally it needs about six coats, rubbed down between each one.  Realistically, at least three careful coats with interim sanding and it is all done before construction so you are working on very many tiny elements for quite a long time.  That should make for interesting reading, not.  

Well OK, I'll take deep breath and put it away, this is a project to be tackled a good deal further down the line.