When I first started making little houses, I looked at a bunch of children's books illustrators for ideas. I stumbled upon a Maud and Miska Petersham whom I remembered from some books in my childhood. This particular book has great houses in it for ideas, Tales Told in Holland. You can actually download it for free. My brother found our copy and brought it to me.

Anyway, the building that intrigued me is called the "Sint Joris Doelen Guild House". It sticks in my mind because the building is light-colored brick with bright red shutters and the upper facade is so appealing. So that is my current project. It also reminds me a little bit of Howard's recent castle and Will's tall building with the copper roof - lots of windows and trim.

I'll post photos on 2 separate posts.

Lucy

Ok, so here are some more progress photos of the house. First is the front piece which consists of 2-3 layers of cardboard.

This is a brief description of the steps to make this house (not that ya'll need instructions, but someone might be curious.)
1. My custom die cut house template where I cut out the windows, then glue the front facade on, flipped it over and then cut out the windows on the facade.

2. The stepped gables are 2 layers each glued on top of the my custom die template. I did the same thing the windows on that one.

3. Then painted with white paint with just a little bit parchment color to give a little color.

4. Trim added and painted. I antiqued the trim a little bit to give it a little dimension. Have not decided if it adds dimension or makes it look dirty.

5. Glued on the red shutters.

6. The back piece is 3 layers of cardboard with a door cutout so someone can add a light source of their choosing. I attach the hinges with both brads and E6000 glue. It doesn't lay perfectly flat. I haven't figured that out yet.

7. The roof is inserted between the stepped gables. The flaps from the cardboard die cut piece support the roof. I add some thick cardboard flaps inside for extra support.

8. I used a die to make slate-like shingles. I just didn't line them up perfectly though. I meant to, but the glue slides a little when you're working on another piece and before you know it's a little wonky and already stuck down. It's not terrible, but I notice it.

9. P.S. Try to remember to glue down the chimney before you add the shingles. I think the chimney is a little large for the house. Oh well.

Working on the base now. I would like to draw the date on the front of the house, but I haven't gotten up my nerve yet. I'm afraid I will mess it up. Also I do have a blog about making little houses and other crafts, often I show more photos there cause I don't want to take advantage of Paul's generosity and bandwidth too much - withglueandglitter.blogspot.com.

Wow what a great house and a great job!

Just darling Lucy. You'll soon have a whole Dutch village of neat houses.

VERY nice, Lucy. Good job converting the important features of that drawing into a very charming structure!

Finally finished the house and made the base. It took me a long time to figure out what kind of fence to use and what color for the base. I settled on a light colored base of ochre and white gesso, antiqued a little with a ground espresso paint, then I used a Martha Stewart edge punch called "Iron Gate" for the fence. I painted that the same grey as the roof. I haven't actually glued down the house yet. I'm going to try to clean up a few edge details on the house first. Some of the seams are sloppier than even I can tolerate.

Lucy

Great job Lucy, looks like it came right out of the story book! Love the hinge on the door and your little light inside!

I echo what Brian said!...storybook perfect!...what's next?...

Howard...

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View my Little Glitter House Photo Album
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOODm--XeeYEyxSdc4RY4DdTpQBRuRSWuipFHFP7-QWtidYW9c6Az-qbcAAQXLsBw?key=YlNqQjVkbWRLcjlSS3F6dHZQa3RhN0x5Mm9MTFd3

http://www.tinythingsarecute.com/index. ... ts_id=1708

Little miniature Dutch couple!

Lucy, I keep coming back to look at this. Stunning, with your distinctive touch. Maria, I like the Dutch couple you found!
- Paul