Fabulously Crud-tastic!

Hi Everyone ...... first of all, I must say that I'm breaking some sort of blogging world record (for me, anyway). I must be on a major role, or maybe I feel I'm now accountable to provide an update on my couch reupholstery project.

So, here it is! The bottom photo shows the couch (with even more fabric & padding removed, and somewhat detached from the frame - note the lovely clamps I have holding layers together) with primer on the frame. The top photo shows the final paint finish on the frame (a little aging added), and the beginnings of replacing fabric on the seat.

I just realized that the fabric I've chosen looks a lot like my chocolate lab, which could be great for hiding dog hair.... but bad for keeping the dog off the couch. How will I see her? It's practically dog cammo. I do have another dog, a calico-looking little border collie, that is every color except dark brown. Therefore, I will probably be using my lint brush often on this couch. Speaking of my border collie (Olive), you can see her rear in the photo - how funny!

On the art side of things, I did manage to score an excellent raised panel door this morning while jogging. It's a nice shade of orange - which would normally make people cringe...... but I'm thinking perhaps some great fall & halloween themed second chance "door panel art"! We'll see what happens to it.

:) take care - Amy

Price paid for 4 lovely old doors = 1 scraped up bumper....

Hi Everyone - I know this is some sort of bloggin miracle, seeing that I'm actually posting again within the same week as my last post. Maybe I'm getting better at this!

So the other day, my hubby was gone the whole day playing volleyball - leaving me at home by myself. I think he was feeling a little bad for me when he returned, because he offered to take me on a "garbage date" (see my previous posts). I have been longing for one of these outings since the weather was a little more cooperative. This longing has also been fueled by the cancelation of the Kane County Flea Market in January & February, due to construction on the fair grounds (yes - it's NEVER supposed to be closed, but I guess there's a first for everything).

Anyway, we set off together in his truck, not expecting to find much - since home improvement projects seem to correlate with fair weather. We started up a steep hill - we did fine until about 30-40 feet up the hill... at which point we started sliding backwards, courtesy of the nice layer of wet, glazy ice coating the hill, and the truck being back wheel drive. After sitting on the hill sort of wedged against a cinder block retaining wall for about 10 minutes, my husband finally just started spinning the wheels - which jarred us loose & let us slide back down the hill a bit. Of course, he's scraping his bumper against the wall as we go. Ugh. We ended up sliding/backing down the hill & just skipping that alley.

Soo.... I'm feeling bad at this point, because we probably weren't going to find anything good.. and now my husband's truck has a battle scar (see the photo). We decided to venture down one last alley - which I've dubbed "the alley of wonder" because I've never gone down it & come home empty handed. Lo an behold - we found 4 lovely stained recessed paneled doors, with original hardware (unpainted!). How exciting for me - enough to cancel the "sliding down the hill episode" from my mind. (probably not my husband's mind though).

I guess in the future we probably won't be going down alleys with hills during "ice season" - but this experience contradicts the theory that there's nothing to be found in the winter...... perhaps more cold weather garbage dates are on the horizon??

:) take care - Amy

Am I crazy, or what??

Okay... it appears that I'm sticking with my pattern of posting every other month, which I'm sure is quite upsetting to those who are good at this blogging thing - right? Anyway... some blogging is better than no blogging!

Here's a picture of what I've been up to lately, or what I'll be up to in the near future. This lovely old couch was obtained on one of my husband & I's "missions" around the neighborhood. Well.... actually, I spotted it while running with my dog, and was compelled to bring my hubby back with his truck to get it - in the rain, of course! The carvings were so beautiful, I felt I had to give it a second chance. Don't ask what my husband thinks of this - maybe he doesn't share my fondness for beautiful, but wet, stained, & broken antique furniture.

After this poor artifact sat in my basement storage area for over a year (it's now thoroughly dry), I finally decided to drag it out & give it whirl. It's initial state was pretty sorry (missing a leg on the left corner, nasty old upholstery, etc). I've now stripped off all the fabric, and dragged it over to my Dad's for "surgery" - in which he's magically figured out how to add a similar new leg where previously missing. Did I mention we didn't recover the missing leg?

Now it's time to paint the frame (I decided against stripping & restaining, given the large number of scratches & "biffs" in the frame). And then.....new upholstery! Wish me luck - hopefully I'll have more pictures once it's a little more presentable.

More business info.... I've just found out I'll be exhibiting at the Wells Street Art Festival this summer (exciting! I haven't done this show in the past). I'm working on a business card redesign, and have also re-submitted my trademark application for "Second Chance Art & Accessories" - this time, with the help of a lawyer. (the story behind my first application could be a whole new post...).

As always - thanks for your support... and I will keep trying to post more often. :) Amy