I spent the entire day in my studio yesterday, with only a brief respite for a quick but necessary trip to the grocery store.  I am loving unemployment.

My day began with the windows.  I've never liked the mullions in kit windows, they're too thick and out of scale.  Using a cutting wheel in my Dremel I removed most of them.

I also removed the silly scallop from the top of the ridge trim and replaced it with a piece of 'wrought iron' cut from black plastic fencing pieces I have scads of (thank you, Charlene).  I like it!

Then  I cut a groove in the top of the walls to insert the wrought iron trim there as well.

Then I wondered if the remaining section of the fence would fit in the walls...

...almost....but when trimmed, it does....

I don't know if I like it or not, I'll have to think about it.

Then I took the house out of dry fit and prepped it for color by sanding it down and wiping it off.

I tested all the inks from my stash (in large bottles) on a piece of scrap basswood.  None of them worked for me, then I remembered I had two bottles of Rit dye left from dying plastic flowers to make succulents for the library roof.  I was imagining a dark grayish green, and the peacock green Rit dye was close.

Because I'm using a dark color on the exterior I needed to do some shadowing beforehand to keep depth in the details.

Coat one done, then sanded...

Coat two drying...  It looks horrible right now, just keep in mind this is early in the process.

I have to go to the beauty supply store today for more sanding blocks, and run a few errands while I'm out, so I'm not sure how much studio time I'll get today.  But...I don't have to go to work!

For my second attempt at a dishrack for the contest build I constructed the frame to interlock and angled the feet to sit well, favoring stability over accuracy.

I used the smallest stripwood I had on hand for the slats.  I contemplated splitting the pieces lengthwise to make them skinnier, but was afraid I couldn't do it cleanly, as the grain of the wood usually directs the split.

It was SO FIDDLY to glue together.

It's too large.  Sigh.  Not by much, but by enough.  I won't use it.

I used the last of my tiny stripwood, so can't make another attempt until I restock.  Restocking allows me to buy the size I wanted to work with to begin with, so you'll see this project again, improved.

After I moaned about the dishrack for a bit I played with the conservatory.  I think I've got the layout determined.  There is little square footage, so the more delicate and diminutive the contents the more spacious the interior will appear.

Nancy texted me last week, "Did you see this?"...

Factory-Second-Conservatory-Kit

Of course I bought one, I've always wanted to build this kit.

It arrived yesterday and went into dry fit.

This is what is wrong....

The roof support beam may be 1/8" too long and need to be cut down.  Mine was fine.

Seven of the trim pieces for the roof are too short.  No problem, I can either cut new ones or add a strip along either the top or bottom edge to compensate.

(The missing scallop on the roof ridge trim is my fault, I dropped it.)

I'm glad I didn't pay full price.  At full price I'd have expected perfection.  For the discounted price I can live with glue smears and a gap.  Glue smears are especially unwelcome when the instructions tell you to stain instead of paint.  You can't stain glue smears.  Also, wood and MDF don't take stain the same, so boo for combining the two materials.

Also, at full price I would have expected the trim on the columns to be mitered and wrap around the sides.

While this sits in dry fit I want to finish up the last thing I want in the contest build.  I made a first attempt that went in the trash, but learned what to do to make it right.  I'm building one of these...

Someone with a laser cutter should make a kit for these.  Hint, hint, Pepper or Shannon...

I hung posters  yesterday, it makes the loft look fuller, so I'm satisfied.