Blue Door, Part 4

The blue door, after sanding, touching up the blues, aging it and now on it's hinges.  Still need to add a door jam stop, the handles, house number and then the bell.  Love how fresh it all looks.   The blue door is so heavy and I'm glad no fingers or toes were hurt in moving it!

Blue Door, Part 3

I've been waking up so early to avoid the heat and the sun beating down on me while I work on the blue door.  We sealed one side yesterday and this morning we flipped it over to finish the other side.  One board needed to be replaced because it was beyond repair.  I also repaired the water damage areas.  

Repaired all the water damaged areas.

Bought three shades of blues to touch up the faded areas, too.

The final look.  Touched up the whole door with the 3 blues.  The replacement board matched up nicely.   Put a light coat of seal, but it's so hot out the seal is tacky.  Hopefully, it will dry in the next few days.  We will be ready to put the door on the door jams, which we also replaced and painted.  I have to clean up the bell and it'll all look so nice.

Blue Door Repair, Part 2

We took the door off the hinges and it is extremely heavy!  Removed one board that was heavily water damaged.  I used a two-part bondo to repair all the cracks.  It all got a good sanding.  It refreshed the blues.  Found a piece of wood in my wood pile to that fit exactly.  It was a very early morning so we could avoid the hot sun.  Tomorrow morning I'll tackle the other side.

We removed the bell and I'm not going to touch the finish.  I like the look of it.  Love the sound the bells make.

 

Blue Door Repair

I took a trip to Mexico many years ago.  We stayed in Patzcuaro, Michoacan for a week and it was one of those weeks where I ended each day thinking this day was even better than yesterday when I thought yesterday was the best day.  The sights, the people, their craftsmanship, the food and which made my soul overflow.  Across the street from the motel was a wood shop full of carpenters and carvers and they let me spend the day watching and learning.  I drew lots sketches and when I came home we put up a courtyard wall and it needed a door.  I built this door from my sketches.  I painted all shades of blues and aged it.  I love my blue door, everyone knows my house because of my blue door.  The bell inside the window was from another stop in Mexico.  This door was built around 2007 and boy it needs some TLC.  Plus, the side boards need some repair so the door had to come off today.  I will be replacing some wood and repairing some boards.  I'll get busy finding matching blue paint colors to refresh the color.    

Side story, when we had our house painted and all the trim was painted black.  As they removed the paper and tape from the windows, I saw my blue door painted black!  Omg, I rushed out and said take that black off!  The painters simply said oh, we'll paint back to blue for you, I'm like no, it's layers of this blue and that blue.  Luckily the wax finish on the door protected blues underneath.  They spent an hour peeling black latex paint off.

 

Thrift Find

Went thrifting today just for the heck of it.  Nothing in mind just needed a morning out with my dad.  I came across this workbench.  It was sturdy and not too big.  It would hold my vice and grinding wheel.  It was solid and would work well with my stamping and cutting metal tools.  The issue will be where to store it while I'll keep working on clear out my garage.  For now it's all about unboxing the house.  I will  find the perfect spot.

 

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

 Getting ready for my Dad's visit.  Living within boxes made it easy to rearrange the guest room.  The biggest challenge turned out to be washing pillows.  My pillows have been stored in my camper and needed to be refreshed.  I put them in the washer  and one pillow was fine but the other was a disaster.  My washer was having no part of spinning out the water of this pillow!   First, I removed it and wrapped it in towels to soak out all the water, it was so heavy and water filled.  The washer would not spin enough to get the water out.  Finally, I sat it outside and with all the sunshine and heat it should dry and then I'll set it in the dryer to fluff it up.  I should of taken a pic of what it looked like out of the washer!

Another thing happened today... T*ump guilty on all counts.   

A Year Ago!

It was a year ago when my studio looked like this

Our house flooded while we were out of state. It was a hose connected to toilet tank which means it flowed for some time. By the time it was discovered water was sitting throughout the whole house running out of the front door and garage. Yep is was a lot. If any of you have experience water leaks you get what a mess it turns out to be. Today we're back in our house and my studio looks like this.

We're in the mist of unboxing tons of boxes. The QR code app that was used when the house got packed does not work. We have a inventory list, well a inventory list of box numbers. Nothing is in order, nothing easy to find and totally a guessing game. In some ways I compare it to xmas morning opening gifts. After a year everything being packed I am surprised each time I open a box, I'm like "oh, I forgot I had this or that". Taking advantage of this opportunity to purge atleast 1/3 of my stuff. That does feel good. I've done without all of it for the past year and that set it all in a different perspective. Do you purge on the regular?

House prep before the show!

The Open House went well.  I didn't realize how much stuff I had to sell.  A couple of friends helped decorate the house to get ready for the show.

Used greenery with couple glass jars.  Wooden trees I cut out last year.  I also decorated a  soy bean screen with a glitter reindeer  and a fabric tag.  Added my wooden bead garland, a evergreen garland and finally my vintage book page garland.

Using my metal tub for the tree was perfect.  My friend decorated the tree with what I supplied him with.  It's beautiful!  I made a burlap fabric star tree topper.   The metal was a bed spring and the fabric was an old coffee bag.  It came together so well!

Loved the tin filled with gold ornaments and a vintage postcard.

New Project!

I decided it was time to make some changes in our hall bathroom.  I painted the oak cabinet a nice white and added cabinet hardware.  Not liking the countertop but not interested in tearing it out.

I did some research and found a DIY on how to use a concrete product to use on the existing countertop!  It's called Henry FeatherFinish.  I also didn't want it to be the grey concrete color so I added a charcoal cement tint.  Love it!

Bought both products at Lowe's.

Mixed up a batch to test it out.  I wasn't sure if I used enough water.  Seemed too thick but I followed the directions on the box exactly.  I really love the color!  I used a putty knife to spread it out on a practice board.  I'm used to using a wet cement that levels itself out.  This is more like frosting a sheet cake.  I was happy with the look and texture.  So let's do it.

I started the project today.  Mixed up the cement according to the directions, but I found I needed to use more water than recommended on the box.  The DIY said to mix it to pancake batter consistency.    I added the colorant to the water and then added the cement powder.   Mixed it and then let it set for a few minutes.  It does thicken up more which I was not expecting.  The first batch covered the counter but not enough for the sink.  

Here's a closer look at the texture.  It's not as easy as it seems.  Getting it smooth as possible but not too worried since it's the first coat.  I can sand it after it sets.  I'm gonna let it be for 24 hours and then add a second coat.

 This is the finished first coat.   I didn't remove the faucet all the way and just raised it enough to work around it.  Once it's set tomorrow I'll lightly sand the whole surface to smooth out any imperfections. Then on to a second coat.  Let it set for 24 hours, sand, seal the whole countertop and sink.   I'm not liking the faucet finish...may need to paint it.  Overall I do like the look of the countertop and sink.  I'll keep you posted!