Nailed It

(I love the way this photographed by accident last night. The blur on the tree roots and doorway are EXACTLY what I'd love Halfland to look like when filmed; smoky, storybook illustration-like.)


Finished trimming out the hardwood floor shape, hot glued it down onto the cottage set's cardboard sub-flooring. Worked perfectly, saved a lot of time and walking back and forth cutting each slat to fit by hand. It was like a hardwood floor carpet rolled out.

I began using the nails that I had been saving for years for this exact task. Felt great to finally be doing what I'd been thinking about for so long.



Little scrap slats were cut here and there to begin to fill in the missed spaces. Some dried wood glue leaks need to be either chiseled off or sanded down before the whole floor gets stained with a light tinted, dilute matte medium. I also need to marry the places where the flooring meets the natural earth, likely with my soil method and tufts of grass. Shoe molding will join the edges of the floor to the cottage walls where they meet on the other three sides.


Closer-up on nailing details on raw flooring.

Comments

  1. Are those finishing nails? It's a great touch!

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  2. It all look so perfect.

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  3. Hi thanks for the comment. Your work is amazing! My boyfriend loves this kind of animation with miniatures and when I found your blog it was like AWESOME! I love it too though LOL. Can't wait to see how it comes along. I've done some production work in school and I'm excited to see how this all works out!

    All the best,
    Allison

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  4. I really like that you made some of the floorboards different width's & colors. It adds interest and a nice handmade feel - the nails do too.

    What kind of stain do you plan on using?

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  5. Oh. "stained with a light tinted, dilute matte medium" ...missed that the first time.

    That first photo really does look like a storybook illustration! Esp. the hammer.

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  6. Hi Emmy, I don't know if they are finishing nails, I'll have to Google what those are BUT these were a nice scale & I think they will rust!

    Thank you, Elva!

    Hi Allison, you and your bf are cute together and both are welcome here anytime. There will be clips to see along the way.

    Thanks, Mike. I should have typed dilute GLOSS medium. That's what I've been using on the rest of the furniture. It's non-tox vs. stain and will last longer than plain beeswax.

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  7. Waking up to realize and say to Mike Letendre: Mike! What the heck kind of storybooks have YOU been reading!? Hammers?! lol ha!

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  8. Hi again, Emmy, Finishing nails seem to have smaller heads, almost like no head, these a have more of a flat top head like a common nail but shorter with the length of a tack.

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  9. Did you get bit by the progress bug or what.

    It's coming along so great!

    The floor looks super.

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  10. Thanks, Mark! no, I didn't even feel like I got much time to work this week. Maybe it seems like I did because the floor makes a more visible difference.

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  11. It's funny because we sometimes can't see our progress though other people do perfectly... Halfland is growing and I'm really looking forward to not only see it being made but being alive.

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  12. Ooooh, y'know, Shelley, I really hate that floor. Its just so ugly. Doesn't work at all. What were you thinking??

    ((HA! Gotcha! :) I'm kidding of course, I just get tired of saying the same thing all the time here...

    Beautiful work as always!

    You're just too damn talented for your own good...

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  13. Too talented for OUR good you mean!!

    Seriously, I think Halfland is going to blow away any film the rest of us are currently working on. Of course, Shelley is working on her life's dream, while the rest of us are just making little movies.

    Shelley, I"m proud to even now you!!

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  14. You are right, Jessica. I guess that's what great about everyone visiting each others' blogs, rooting for each other. Incredibly inspiring and encouraging. Thank you so much for coming here.

    Thanks, Ubbie! I liked the joke. That's the thing there's no way to screw up this project because if I try something that fails I can just do it until I have the way I want it. There are no wrong answers on this exam!

    I want to put your comment's last line on a t-shirt! hee.

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  15. Mikee, [blush] I'm making a little movie too. It's just that I do everything in an OVERLY INTENSE way! HA!

    (seriously laughing out loud at that!)

    Mike, I am truly taking in your kind and heartfelt words. Given the utmost respect I have for you, it's incredible to have your support for this.

    Thank you.

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  16. You are the only person
    I have met that can take
    tape and make a wood floor
    look like it was there for
    ages! Great job really....
    is there anything you are
    not good at? I bet not...
    if you don't know how to
    do it you more than likely
    perfect it on your first
    try!!! ....this really
    does look oh so amazing!
    I want to know what type
    of book mike is reading
    too...hammer? hum....
    maybe bob the builder?
    Hehehe! Just joking!
    But the first photo is
    very bookish! So sweet!

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  17. For me, the hammer stood out in the photo because it's the only thing not hand crafted.

    No specific child's book in mind involving a hammer...just a mixture of a few beautifully drawn ones and a little imagination.

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  18. Thanks, Rane, sweetie.

    Hi Mike LeT, I was completely teasing about the hammer-filled storybook, teasing, teasing.

    I bet if we looked there would be a fabulous folktale featuring around HAMMERS! HA!

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  19. Googled quick, found:

    "In Sweden there was a belief that the hammer didn't return to Tor's hand when he cast it, but that it could be found in the forests and fields. These hammers were in reality stone-age exceeds or arrows, but it didn't matter really. As charms to ward off evil or Trolls, they were thought to be as powerful as the Christian cross. People used to hang one of these hammers over the door at their home as a protection against fire, lightning, sickness and Trolls: in short, for the same reasons the hammer was used during the Viking Age. The belief was that if you hung a hammer over the barn door, your livestock would get fat and healthy. If one got sick anyway, you would scrape some stone powder from the hammer and mix it into the animal's medicine. That could cure anything!"


    Hmmm, maybe I should hang a stone hammer over Rana's door!?

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  20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM

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  21. Yep, Where the Wild Things Are, should be a great flick, especially for smart kids. But this clip is 2:06 without a hammer!? heh

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  22. Hi Shelley!
    Well done! I love the floor and the new pot. Just well done, so glad to see a post on the progress you are making. Isn't it amazing how far you have come.
    Blessings in your Day!
    Marcie

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  23. Hi Marcie, Halfland's Official Naturalist, hee. Yes, it really is when I see a picture of the set from a couple years back, I really can't believe that things have progressed that much.

    As I'm working in the moment, all I see is the long production to do list in the side bar. But when I look back, as you say, I am amazed these things are in fact getting done.

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  24. Eveything looks amazing as always!!

    There is one of your sentences means a lot to me..

    "I began using the nails that I had been saving for years for this exact task."

    You even thought about the nails years ago and saved for this task. Now you are using... Can I just copy Mike's comment here: "Shelley, I'm proud to even know you!!"

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  25. Thank you, thank you, Yaz. So kind of you to say that.

    YES! The whole project is essentially like those saved nails! I bought EVERYTHING to make everything for Halfland years ago while living in New York! EVERYTHING!!! Fur for Rana's legs, eyes for every character from a glass blowers eyeball shop, paint for all the fabrication, fabric for every costume.... EVERYTHING!!

    I think about the project every minute. Everywhere I look I see some that inspires a solution for how to build something or ideas of what in means in the film... The project is a constant creative companion.

    I could write a post about this and all the new metaphorical concepts I've found that make the film even MORE meaningful for me! BUT--

    I'm too busy making the set right now! (well actually right now I'm working on books jobs for money, but Halfland never stops! :)

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  26. Shelley, I see your dedication and LOVE for your art; Halfland in every little piece you create. Please keep going.. It is great to follow your posts about your progress. I would also love to read your post about the new concepts when you get a chance.

    Your friend and FAN !!! Yaz

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  27. Will do, Yaz! Thank you so much truly. YF&F, s

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  28. And I thought I was a perfectionist! Your details are stunning!!!
    Ulla

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