Stage 11 - Shadow House - Creatures

I have only put a few creatures amongst the vegetation but as I get more I will add the images.

This is a photo if a trout fly used as an insect and a snail (in the top left corner)

Another trout fly. I have used many varieties of flies. I won't show them all as there are too many.

I will see if I can get a better photo of this little guy. He is made from a Christmas ball, seed beads, fishing line, a bead, metallic foil and plastic flower parts. See the two snails on the right. They are made from a bead covered in metallic foil with a sea shell on its back. Then I have used fishing line for the antennae with one coloured microbeads on the top.

Stage 10 - Shadow House - Balance and Colour

Balance and Colour

I thought you be interested to see where I am up to, balancing the 'look' of the model.

In the first image you can see I have located a fern on the right side of the house. On the left of this house I have place the brown knobbly plant to 'balance' the model. The knobbly plant is brown at the moment but will be changed to fit in with the rest of the plants. It has a long way to go until I am happy with it.

 

When it comes to the colour I believe I have mentioned it before but I thought if you would like to see close ups of the colour scheme I have chosen then please click here.
The colours range through dark blue, black, gold, a splash of dark red and a selection of purples,browns and greens.

A good selection of colours.

Stage 9 - Shadow House - Using Smaller Plants

Using Smaller Plants

Once the basic large plants have been attached to the house it is necessary to start filling in the gaps. While doing this it is necessary to remember that there will still be insects and other creatures added so leave space for them.

I love making this type of moss. I use a variety of coloured fishing line and seed beads. I then stick them in a bright green moss that is made from synthetic grass. I have used Selleys Glass Sealant that is suitable for aquariums to glue all of this stuff down. You will see on some of my other blogs images of other colour combinations of moss. To me, they really add something special to the look of the whole house.

Now some aquarium plants are brilliant for my type of models. I have stuck these ones on with the Selleys Sealant onto the top of a vine.

This image shows you (to the left) three cones that are made from zips. In the middle and to the right are three plastic purple flowers with black petals as their base. On the left, above the two 'plants' are some tiny lavender coloured plastic plants. Above them are some brown 'fungi' that I have made out of fishing line and gum nut flower caps.

These red 'fungi' are made from a combination of materials. Yates flower caps, white plastic caps of window blind toggles, microspheres and red nail polish. When I first made them I thought,"Crumbs that will never do." but I was wrong. In this house they look really good.

The knobbly looking plant is plastic and was bright green. To colour plastic does really need the right type of paint. As I don't have that I made a combination of black paint and glue. This did the job reasonably well. You may not be able to see it on this small image but not all of the plant is covered. Tiny sections have been left to show through the bright green. It adds a different dimension to it.

I do love tiny things and these brown seed pods, which I have placed three read microspheres inside, look brilliant all in a row like this.

This image is just here to show you the combination of five different plants. I'm very pleased with the look.
New Images

These jelly like green plants are from a plastic plant that has had its covering taken off of it.

What I am showing you here is the handing down of the moss. It is made from lines of glue covered in moss which (when dry) then is glued in place individually.

I love these. They are made from gumnuts covered in sand. The inside is paint with metallic paint and a shiny bead placed in the middle.

These little red and white plants are made from stamens, plastic flower parts, fishing line and micro beads.

When placing all of these 'plants and fungi' on to the house it is important to consider the colour scheme, the 'look' of that section and how it plays with the rest of the look of the house.

I will probably end up putting more and more tiny and even tinier plants in as I go until something in my head says that is that and then THAT IT THAT. DO NOT FIDDLE.

Stage 8 - Shadow House - Decorating the Outside

There are soo many ways to decorate a house it would be impossible to list them all. Over the years I have decorated many houses attempting to ensure that each one is as different from the other as can be and yet the problem I have, for my project, is that all the houses have to look the same when put together. As I am aiming at building 70 odd houses I feel I have the time and space (within the village) to build enough houses to accomplish this.

My thought is to build one house, such as the Shadow House, and have other houses that are similar (depending on the amount of 'light' hitting each house thereby altering the look of it and the number and type of plants placed over the roof etc) that would then radiate out from the Shadow House like the spokes on the wheel of a push bike.

I thought of putting up photos of the other houses but they are on other posts and as I am concentrating on the Shadow House I thought I should stick to those images for this post.

The images below are of just a few of the plants I have added. This is only the beginning. The base if you will. There is a lot more to do. Each layer of plant life will get smaller and smaller.

These plants are made from lotus pods, yates pods, plastic flowers and zips

These two flowers are made from Christmas bells, blue beads, fishing line and seed beads.

This flower is made from silk flowers, wire and microspheres

I have started, of course with the vines - please note that you can add as many vines and lights as you like. I then choose some leaves from silk flowers and a large fern which I painted darker. I then placed two different types of silk flowers on the roof. It is not normal for me to use anything just as I receive it but in this case I loved the large gold flowers - they just have such texture to them I couldn't resist. I then used a number of dark purple silk flowers. The rest I have made.
I spend nearly every night making 'something' whether that be moss, fungi, flowers, creatures etc; then I put them away and use them later, sometimes years later.

This is how the Shadow House looks at the moment

I will now start to put on smaller and smaller plants until I end up putting on creatures, you know bugs, spiders, caterpillars, snails that sort of thing.