Hedgewitch Cottage Progress Continues

Welcome back!  Thanks for stopping by and seeing my progress on the Hedgewitch Cottage!  

Finally I feel like I'm making some forward motion again on the build.  The field stones that I ordered came in and I've gotten the outside chimney almost finished! 

 As promised, I am showing you the good, bad and ugly (mistakes) that I make on this build so that you can learn from my mistakes too.  I was so anxious to get started working with the stones that I forgot to paint the chimney gray first (this is to help mimic the look of mortar in tight spaces that I may not be able to get mortar into).  So as you can see, I had to pull off the stones I had glued on (thankfully the glue had not dried) and paint the gray on.  Once the paint had completely dried, I then was able to start laying stones! 

These stones are fantastic to work with!  They are flat on the back can be easily glued to whatever surface you may be working with.  I still have to put mortar in-between the stones.  These stones can also be easily cut into a shape you may need to fit in small spaces. 

 While easy to work with, I have to admit it took me an entire afternoon, about 4 hours to just get this much of the outside done.  It's like putting a puzzle together, you have to fit stones together just like in "real life" stonework.  After all the stonework is done and the mortar has dried, then I'll go over the stones with a clear acrylic or varnish  and that will really bring the color of each stone out.  

I've finished making the cutout for the inside fireplace and chimney.  I've painted these gray as well.  Once the paint has dried, I will glue these into place.  Once the glue has dried, I will start laying stones on the inside. 

While waiting for paint to dry, I cut out 2 pieces of wood for the fireplace mantle.  I've glued them together and have them clamped until the glue dries.  Once all glue is dried I will use a Dremel tool to make final shapes into the wood to make it appear old and beat-up, then I will stain it in several different colors.  Then the mantel will be ready to put onto the top of fireplace.  I will have pictures of all this for you on my next posting.

So that's all for now!  I'm still laying stones, but it's definitely worth it for the final look!  

Be sure to stop by on Friday, March 22 for the announcement and pictures of our March giveaway!  Drawing will be held on March 29!