The morning marine layer gave me a lot of time this morning to put the finishing coat on the kitchen stairs -- and they look great! Didn't get round to doing the Adirondack chairs; perhaps tomorrow. We'll see. I also need to wash the front stairs in preparation for this painting project. Which terrifies me. Tempting to just work on the gate and arbor -- at least that's something I know how to do.
So tomorrow will be mainly doing Brooks things, with a bit of Adirondack chair goodness thrown in. And putting the stuff back under the stairs so our back garden doesn't look quite so scutty... :)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
outdoor projects
So, I'm going to consider this crafting, because it's definitely project based! (That said, I'm buying supplies, so it's not really within the stashtacular idea, but oh well...)
On Monday I put the first coat of oil on the back stairs. It turned out a bit darker than I expected, but it still looks great. I'm going to put another coat on tomorrow morning and then clean up the side wall.
Today I washed the top part of the porch -- not sure it really made a difference, but it was either an important first step before painting, or a way to avoid actually having to paint. (Sadly, I suspect I will need to paint, but...)
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get a coat of Penofin on the Adirondack chairs -- at least one of the sides. That shouldn't be too difficult, and I am only planning on putting on one coat.
On Monday I put the first coat of oil on the back stairs. It turned out a bit darker than I expected, but it still looks great. I'm going to put another coat on tomorrow morning and then clean up the side wall.
Today I washed the top part of the porch -- not sure it really made a difference, but it was either an important first step before painting, or a way to avoid actually having to paint. (Sadly, I suspect I will need to paint, but...)
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get a coat of Penofin on the Adirondack chairs -- at least one of the sides. That shouldn't be too difficult, and I am only planning on putting on one coat.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
"bibfolio"
At some point last year I gathered up all of my race bibs and put them on one of those 3" ring clasps to keep them together. I love looking at them, remembering all of the races and places I have run. It's a very simple sort of race scrapbook.
Then the other day in a running mag I saw something called the "bibfolio" advertised. What a great idea! Now, just putting the bibs on a ring is great, but the bibfolio inspired me to make "covers" for my bib collection, too.
I already had some of that black chipboard, and of course I had a bunch of running paper leftover from my running scrapbook, so it was easy to whip something up. I decided just to stick with the one ring -- my bibs are very differently sized, so I couldn't imagine getting them all to line up somehow.
It was a very easy project -- only took a couple of hours, but the result is absurdly pleasing to me. Yes, I'm a dork.
In other news... became obsessed with the idea of a "running charm bracelet". Someone, somewhere, mentioned it, and I thought it was a great idea. I picked up a very simple "premade charm bracelet" -- aka, a large-linked bracelet -- and tested my theory by actually attaching the charms that I had collected from our early life together. Let's just say that charm bracelets are AMAZING.
Might have gone a little overboard, picking charms to represent my different races.... and then also filling in the last few years of our travel history.... but now I'm pretty much "caught up", and the bracelets will be SO BEAUTIFUL.
Finally, and it's not really "craft" so much as "project" related, on Friday I bought some "wood wash", a stiff-bristled brush, a gallon of Penofin, and some rubber gloves, and yesterday I spent part of the day cleaning the back stairs. It's sorta icky how dirty they were, but they look much nicer now. This afternoon I'd like to start oiling them up. That's a huge project done.
The next project should be the front porch, but for some reason that just seems really difficult. So I might refinish the picnic table instead. Yes, it's a cop-out. I should at least commit to learning the steps of an exterior paint job.
Then the other day in a running mag I saw something called the "bibfolio" advertised. What a great idea! Now, just putting the bibs on a ring is great, but the bibfolio inspired me to make "covers" for my bib collection, too.
I already had some of that black chipboard, and of course I had a bunch of running paper leftover from my running scrapbook, so it was easy to whip something up. I decided just to stick with the one ring -- my bibs are very differently sized, so I couldn't imagine getting them all to line up somehow.
It was a very easy project -- only took a couple of hours, but the result is absurdly pleasing to me. Yes, I'm a dork.
In other news... became obsessed with the idea of a "running charm bracelet". Someone, somewhere, mentioned it, and I thought it was a great idea. I picked up a very simple "premade charm bracelet" -- aka, a large-linked bracelet -- and tested my theory by actually attaching the charms that I had collected from our early life together. Let's just say that charm bracelets are AMAZING.
Might have gone a little overboard, picking charms to represent my different races.... and then also filling in the last few years of our travel history.... but now I'm pretty much "caught up", and the bracelets will be SO BEAUTIFUL.
Finally, and it's not really "craft" so much as "project" related, on Friday I bought some "wood wash", a stiff-bristled brush, a gallon of Penofin, and some rubber gloves, and yesterday I spent part of the day cleaning the back stairs. It's sorta icky how dirty they were, but they look much nicer now. This afternoon I'd like to start oiling them up. That's a huge project done.
The next project should be the front porch, but for some reason that just seems really difficult. So I might refinish the picnic table instead. Yes, it's a cop-out. I should at least commit to learning the steps of an exterior paint job.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
not very crafty...
You'd think that, being recently unemployed, I would have created plenty of time in my days to craft. Somehow, I haven't. Still not sure where exactly the time goes -- I get up, I look for work, send out some resumes, and then suddenly it's late afternoon.
But I did FINALLY manage to finish my Florida scrapbook -- and to tidy up my supplies a bit. Still chaos, with paper everywhere, but it's a start, eh?
I'd like to scrapbook the Rock and Roll Half (always a thrill to add to the running scrapbook!) and work on the camel for the rest of the month.
But I did FINALLY manage to finish my Florida scrapbook -- and to tidy up my supplies a bit. Still chaos, with paper everywhere, but it's a start, eh?
I'd like to scrapbook the Rock and Roll Half (always a thrill to add to the running scrapbook!) and work on the camel for the rest of the month.
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