I have a thing for Circles

I used the Cricut Expression, and contact paper to cut out concentric circles that I used as a stencil. No messing around with expensive vinyl, contact paper is cheap and comes in a big roll!

Let me start at the beginning, for which I don’t have a photo.
I had some scraps of door from making my desk, and one scrap was 30 x 50”. Perfect for a nice big wall canvas.

I painted it with a thick white layer of wall paint, lay a piece of ironed white sheet over it, and painted on top of the sheet.(using a roller) This gave me a large fabric canvas that was sturdy as all get out. I did the same to the sides with paint, and on the back I used spray adhesive to connect the fabric to the door because the wall I’m going to hang it on is newly painted, and two painted surfaces don’t like to touch, even if they are both dry.

With the canvas ready, I moved onto my stencils.

To make the circles, I set the blade housing at 3, the pressure at med, speed to low, and the result was the blade cut through the sticky side of the contact paper, but not the backing. Now I know that PC makes vinyl, but because I didn’t use it, I can’t say this would be the right settings for their vinyl.

I first pressed shift, and the circle 4th up from the bottom on the left side of the overlay. (accent #11) This gave me a single circle. Then I changed my dial size by ½ inch, moved it back to the starting point, and moved the blade housing into the circle three nudges. (this would be from the right edge of the matt, not the inserted edge. Then I cut out the funky circles button third from left on the bottom row of the overlay. (Accent #43)

I cut it out in multiple sizes.

When it came to laying it on my canvas, it wasn’t the stickiest stuff, but because I was using a stencil brush, and was going to be pressing downward as opposed to painting across, I figured it was good enough. Also, a thin circle, once removed from the backing, and pliable as vinyl is, laying the circles perfect took some getting used to. I was an expert after the first color ;-) I also used some masking tape on occasion when a circles edge was a bit on the thin side.

I used every other circle from each set of cuts, so I got twice as many circles to stencil, and more variety in size. I did use the outer square edge cut too. (I cut my contact paper into squares before I put it on the cutting matt.

I started painting in the middle of the canvas with one color. I worked my way left, mixing my original color into darker and darker shades of brown. When I began working my way right, I started mixing green into my original color.

I wanted to wait till the whole thing was finished before I removed any of the stencils. This is what it looked like with all the stencils still attached. A bit of a mess.

I touched up just a few places with a sharp edge 1/4" brush when I was done.

Next I'm going to spray the whole thing with Glimmer Mist. My cool friend Shellie Hubbartt is sending me a bunch of her colors to use on this, who knows what it will look like after those arrive.

I am also, hanging an eclectic assortment of picture frames to the left and right of the painting that line up with it's top and bottom edges. The effect will be a decorative "stripe" that spans a white wall. I'm also thinking of shoving some color into the grooves on that white wall to make it look a bit oldy-worldy. (This is in the room that I just retextured)

So I guess I've posted a work in progress again :D

TFL!

The Sticker Gripper

I just wanted to comment somewhere, and why not on my own blog?

My post STICKER GRIPPER on Outta This Funk has so many comments, with lots of people saying how they took this idea and ran with it. Some modified it, others went right out to the hardware store to get the supplies, and others said they made it in no time whatsoever. Nearly every comment said Thank You for Sharing.

Well you are SO WELCOME!

I just wanted to say how much it pleases me that you all found usefullness in my idea. Hearing the happiness in the comments people posted brings me joy. (and if that sounds corny, too bad.)

The majority that commented will probably never see this, but I've been telling these people in my head how pleased I am they used the idea, and I finally decided to just put it in print somewhere.

:) TFL always!

Anyone reading this that wants to see it, I have a link near the top on the right, under "Worth seeing".

Changing icky walls

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but where I live, lots of houses were built with this texture on the walls they call "orange peel". Isn't that what you call cellulite? Ick.

This is the before photo of my cellulite walls.

With these tools... mud, a tray, a trowel, and a putty knife, I changed the whole room.
I did forget one thing in the photo... fine sand paper.

What I did was clomp it onto the wall, spread it flat with the trowel for the most part, and when it was dry I sanded it down so it was a slightly smooth surface. With dents and divets part of the goal, I used my putty knife to come back and fix any holes I didn't like the look of, and then sanded it again when it was dry.

The first time I did this to a room in my house, I was too cautious and I spent FAR too long on it.

This time, I decided it was going to be much rougher, and easy to do.

After this point, I primed it, and painted it!

One word of warning, well maybe two, for this project... Dust gets everywhere when you sand, so put up sheets in doorways to slow it down. AND do it when you feel good. All that shoulder action makes you sore!

That's why this room took me a year to complete. I couldn't do anything on it when my shoulder/back was giving me grief. So take on something like this when you feel ok.

Feathers!

I went to an India Fest on Saturday at a Hari-Krishna Temple. They had a cool gift shop there, with Sari's, jewelry, lots of brass, and among other cool stuff... peacock feathers.

They have a farm, with Zebu, Lama, Cows, Koi, a couple Parrots, Peacocks, and at least one turkey that I saw. It was a neat place. Oh, and they have one of those white Peacocks!

Anyway... to the point... They had SO MANY peacock feathers for sale in the gift shop for .25 cents each I bought a few dollars worth and treated them as a flower arrangement when I got home. I didn't buy any of the feathers with the eye at the end, (they had thoses too) but the ones I got were amazing blue, green, yellow, and orange.

They are like neon hairs... that sounds dumb, but they are so frilly and airy. Placing them in a tall vase, I'm pleased as punch with how beautiful they look. Like I say, kind of like a flower arrangement, kind-of. ;]

Just think how easy they will be to dust. Take them out side, and give them a shake.

Yard Sale-ing again

I haven't actually been more than a couple times this last summer. But I went a week ago, and found a few good bargains. This guy was $5. Average price, not the bargain of the year :)

Normally I like to do lots of photos, but I actually got this clock dismantled, sanded down, and partially stained before I thougth to take a photo.

The handle was pale pine, the clock had a thick coat of pale green acrylic paint on it, and on the front, it had a little painted image of lavender, and the word, "lavender". (Not me)

So, convinced this little project was going to be quick, I whipped out the clock face, grabbed some sand paper, and started taking off as much paint as I could. I went all directions with the sand paper to give it a real rough finish!

Then I got out my walnut stain, and got rid of that light handle, and covered the whole thing with dark stain before wiping it off.

Forcing it into the grooves was the part I liked best. When it's in the grooves, it doesn't wipe off, and then it looks old and funky. It came with the tassle, which I'm just a little unsure of, but I put it back on when I was finished because I think it could grow on me :]

Would you believe... I don't like antiques. I do however like making something look old. I also did this with a table I have... Let me see if I can find the photo....

It's not clean (sorry).

This was a table I found at Big Lots with a Pier 1 price tag on it. The original price was $300. I got it for $87. Not damaged or anything.

It was that pinky/yellow beach color, which I don't care for, so I sanded it, and stained it with walnut stain. It was a beach veneer, so I coulnd't sand deep enough to remove the finish, which is why the color is uneven, but I was happy to just get rid of the beach color. It looks bruised and worn now... like it's happy to fit right in.

DH jokes that I can't leave anything alone. It's true. I think maybe I have to make it unique, and then I'm satisfied to have it part of the family. It's my catch all junk table for the kitchen. I've always wanted one with drawers, so when we found each other at Big Lots, it had to be mine.

Hey, I don't think I've been back to Big Lots since I got this table! I need to. I've bought 400 thread count sheets there twice! They have a lot of junk, but it only takes a few minutes to walk the store and find some gems!

Happy staining!

Find a color you like and revel in it!

It's almost done...

As you can see... I need a new hall light (two actually), and to finish the skirting boards!

I started this project because I don't have a window in the stairwell. I figured that I had to come up with a way to get light upstairs when all the bedroom doors are closed. (and with cats, that's always.)

Overall I'm quite pleased with this new Library/TV room. Removing that wall, removed a hall, now you come up the stairs, and it's quickly open and light.

Sorry I've taken so long to post this.

I bought the cute couch from my friend Kristy! That puppy is comphy!

I've been doing so many projects lately, there are a bunch coming!
Trouble is, when you spend so much time on a computer at work, you tend to avoid one when you aren't on the clock! Sorry bout that.
TFLGirls!