What a glorious weekend of sun filled weather. Apparently the rain is coming back mid-week so I'm enjoying it while I can. For me sunny weather is the equivalent of inducing copious amounts of caffeine, so it was on Thursday night that I found myself on my hands and knees sanding a table. Dan and Angel our lovely neighbours will soon be moving to Denver and have been having clear outs in preparation of the move. On Thursday I find Dan outside of his garage with a stanley blade and a very shiny looking table. Curious, I wander over. "What are you doing ?" I ask. " Trying to get rid off this resin coat?" I offer my nickel's worth of suggestions which include use of a hammer. It transpires that they will be getting rid of this table and I put in my claim and offer to chip off the rest of the resin, which is strangely satisfying. Dan is no stranger to projects (he is a carpenter pro) and beneath the layer of resin, is a very thick coat of copper paint, a layer of primer and some remnants of black paint. The table has had a few makeovers since it's days as a naked rubberwood table and it's time to take it back to bare. With the aid of a sander I spend about an hour and a half slowly removing the stubborn copper layer before I'm pooped out. Where I stop my husband picks up and over the weekend we have it stripped. Off to Osh to buy some stain and the transformation is almost complete. The similarities between my dream table and the the one I got for free (with some elbow grease) is uncanny. I am very happy. While it is relatively easy to pick up old stuff in London, not so here, it's antique with an antique price tag!!
The table I wanted (which was in
Oregon !) note weathered surface.
My newly stripped almost finished table. As I said, uncanny. (those are sun rays not weird patches)
Sanford and the coffee table.
The excitement at using the sander didn't stop there and we set about giving our coffee table a revamp too. This was a second-hand find and the coffee ring stains on it had been annoying me of late, but they are gone now. Due to the sun however a few spots were missed so a bit more sanding is required it just feels much cleaner now and it will be getting a natural wax coat.
So, in craft news I've been working on a new design for a Matryoshka plush, I made a speedy mock up but I need to make the head a softer curve. It is only after stuffing that you make these discoveries but I'm confident I'll get there. I also started to use my gargantuan felted jumper stockpile, I have recently come to the realization that most of it is too thick to comfortably fit in the sewing machine which requires hand stitching and well frankly I'm all about the machine!! In an effort to diversify my range of products for the show, I made some sample flower pins but I'm thinking I can put them on headbands too.
I managed to find some time to go surfing and quite frankly I got pummelled. I took myself on a time out as my ears were hurting a lot from being pounded. I did consider calling it quits but I figure you can only learn and become better by sticking at it (if you don't drown that is...) I had the weirdest dream last night which featured crocheted cushion covers, Johnny Weir at an airport and David Beckham. I don't know what it means, maybe I should watch less TV.
Oh and here are some paintings in progress. Before sun and after sun. I'll take better pictures once they are finished.
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