Crafty Birthdays

My brother and sister have birthdays one day apart. I would complain about how that taxes a girls creativity and wallet…but since my birthday is also in September… I figure that I probably should just cowboy up and deal with it. This year I wasn’t spending a lot on presents so I wanted to do a little something extra in the presentation.

I got my brother one of those novelty lighters that’s the size of your hand, so I thought about doing something cute with fire for his card. Since the local fire department would not like me to experiment with fire during my crafty phases, I went with painting. A cute card with a caveman (my brothers nickname) dreaming of fire that he could make with a spiffy new lighter.

First I needed to draw a caveman. Despite my love of doodling, I’m not great at people so this was a challenge. I quickly decided that I couldn’t draw feet or hands so those were out of the question. Shrugging was my first option for expressing “how do I get that fire thingy?” but that included hands so I ended up with the easy-to-draw thought bubble.  Once I decided on which doodle I liked best (or which one didn’t include Captain Caveman because seriously…I liked him a lot!) I traced it on on a card in pencil and then went over in marker. Sadly, then I took a small break because my market was broken and I ended up covered in black ink. Lovely. I guess it’s not a Jencraft if there’s no calamity!

After erasing my pencil lines and choosing my colors, it was time to paint. I love painting! I’m glad I did the circle around the drawing because it gave me a limited amount of space in which to paint. I really like how it turned out and it was a free way to make an inexpensive gift a bit nicer!

Fall is here!

Things I love – Vacation Edition

There’s not a lot to say about boats. I have been on a few. I have seen a bit more than that. I really like the idea of glass bottomed boats but I’m not sure I’d feel save enough to ride in one. I’m terrified of cruise ships because they look very tall and unstable. I like freighters because they seem more structurally sound and I think it would be cool to travel around the world just bumming passage on them.

The Thomas Edison Inn offered an amazing view of freights, sailboats, pilot boats, coast guard, tour boats and the occasional skidoo. It was amazing to sit and watch these monstrous freighters power through the river right outside our balcony. There were some, like the great green Pochard below, that looked too big. Too big to fit in the river. Too big to fit under the bridge. But since we heard no crashing, I’m assuming it fit under the bridge and headed up Lake Huron. 

Things I love – Vacation Edition

 

I love taking photos at night. There’s a certain air of danger and mystery that surrounds taking pictures at night. You traipse through darkened streets and leaned against shaded buildings. The shadows that you are trying to capture could hold more than just the absence of light, and you are constantly pushing past that aspect of human nature that says “go, flee, get to the light.”

The boardwalk under Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron provided lots of photo opportunities. The lights shining on the water. The statue of Thomas Edison looking out over the bridge. The casino across the river in Canada and it’s ever changing light show. Even the blue lights lining the bridge made for a pretty sight.

I love the blur of lights in the distance, like tiny drops of watercolor paint on canvas. I love the movement of light when you move the camera. A boring streetlight suddenly is a beautiful rope of light, dancing across the frame. 

Walking a mile…

Actually, I never made it close to a mile in someone else's shoes. It was more like 20 minutes and the several aisles of a grocery store. Which, in light of sizing issues, is still pretty impressive.

Hung out with my sister and we spent a lot of time walking around (yay for window shopping!) this afternoon. By the end of the day her idea to wear her cute new heels was looking more and more like a bad idea. A bad, painful idea. She made it back to the car and was fine while sitting, but as soon as we headed inside to get food, she hit her breaking point. Her toes were sore, her feet felt pinched and she had blisters on her heels.

Like a great sister, I offered to switch shoes with her. I was wearing soft ballet-type slip-ons and I figured that since my feet were bigger, it would be more comfortable for her. Of course, that left me with her shoes. Her size 8 shoes…and I wear size 10/11. Yeah, I didn’t really think that one through. I crammed my big feet into her small shoes and then headed off to shop. There was a moment at the beginning where I faltered, trying to figure out how to walk in heels that felt entirely too small, but after that I just kept walking.

I joke about having a very low pain tolerance, but there are times when the opposite is true. When I just decide to be more stubborn that whatever pain I’m feeling. Usually it’s a pride issue…I once tripped and hurt my ankle in front of large group of people and instead of acknowledging my tumble, I just smiled and walked on a very twisted ankle for the rest of the day. Same goes for when I accidentally fell off a chair, ran into a glass door, rammed my foot into a filing cabinet, and got my hair stuck in a car window. (If it seems like I spend a lot of time ‘accidentally’ hurting myself…well…it seems like that to me too) I don’t like looking silly or vulnerable in front of people, so I would rather just mask any pain until I can deal with it later.

So I walked purposefully through the grocery store tonight, concentrating very hard not to let any pain show in my face or my stride. Eventually it felt like the shoes were cutting into flesh so I finished shopping, grabbed the keys and headed to the van, grateful to just tumble in and shed the very painful shoes. My poor heels did not look good, and I’ve spent part of tonight babying them with soft pillows, soaking baths and soothing cream. It still kind of feels like they are on fire tonight, but I’m sure that will fade soon.

And the next time I decide to help my sister with her shoe issues, I’ll just do something potential less painful on my part…like carry her piggyback.

Looking out on the world

There are seagulls and sailboats and Canadians and inventors. I’m staying at the Thomas Edison Inn which is practically under the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. It’s a beautiful hotel but really the best part is the view.

Right now I’m eating lunch and watching someone fly a kite right out in the courtyard and I can even see some Canadians across the river. (I’m assuming they are Canadians…they look like hockey fans)

Dresser Accomplished!

The last thing I needed to do was add knobs. Lil and I went to Menards and picked out these spiffy little knobs. I liked how easy they were to install…made me feel very handy.

And that was the last thing and now the dresser is done! I’m extremely proud of this project. I learned a lot of new skills, got to spend a lot of time with people working on the project and gained much needed storage space in my room.

 

Dresser Day 3 – Sew Much Fun!

Ha! I think I’m hilarious.

So I decided that my top drawer needed organization. Since I was going to have unmentionables on one side and other unmentionables on the other, I needed a  drawer liner and organizer. Since I’m handy with a sewing machine (and have  enough fabric to make my own island) I thought I’d make one myself!

My first boon came from my brother-in-law. He’s a packrat and sometimes I reap the benefits of his packratiness. Packratitude? Back when he had a factory job, he gifted me with corrugated plastic. I’ve used them for cutting guides and  bookshelves and even as a pizza plate in an emergency situation. (What? You don’t have pizza emergencies??) This time I used them in the structure of my dividers. I measured and cut them down to size, then slipped them inside a fabric envelope. Then I very carefully sewed up the open end. It wasn’t exactly the easiest job ever. I probably should have hand stitched it closed but I’m nothing if not lazy!  The result was a stiff divider that didn’t weigh much but was sturdy enough to keep its place inside the drawer and the fabric envelope would  protect everything else in my drawer. Total success on this fabric project!

The liner was supposed to be a much easier project. I would only need to measure, cut, and stitch what was basically a flat rectangle. No problem, right? Unfortunately, pride goeth before the fall and also before the bad sewing job. My old foe, straight lines, beat me again and I had to make several trims before it got anywhere near an actual rectangle. Despite all that cutting, it still ended up being bigger than the actual drawer. I suspect sorcery.

At the end of the day, I had one very purple drawer with one very green organizer. Just need to do a few paint touchups,  get knobs and then I will have a new dresser!

Suspicious Sunburns

That’s totally an awesome band name.

It’s also what I’ve got after today’s adventure in furniture restoration. It was a  very sunny day which was perfect for painting outdoors. I had great light to see where to paint and the layers dried quickly in the warm air. Unfortunately, the sun also meant that I burned a nice lobster color. I’m a freckler, so it will probably disappear in a few days…but until it does, it’s going to look very weird.

Why?

Because I’m an exuberant painter…in which “exuberant” means “messy”.  And “messy” means “I have paint all over me”.   Oh, I could come up with lots of excuses…there were bees that need to be swatted, and breezes that blew hair that needed to be fixed, sneezes that needed to be covered and brows that needed to be wiped. But really, I’m just messy. (same thing goes for baking…I’m usually covered in flour by the end) It doesn’t really bother me most of the time, I dress accordingly and most substances wipe off easily. But today there was a side effect to my messiness that I didn’t anticipate….my sunburn. Or rather, my lack of sunburn where there was paint on me. Yup, there are pale splotches across my forehead, cheek, nose and arms where the sun couldn’t penetrate the smears of paint. Very strange looking.

Lesson to be learned…paint is an effective sunscreen use sunscreen when painting outside.

Dresser Day 2 & 3

I had high aspirations for day two of dresser work. I was all excited about finishing up the boring work and getting started on painting. I planed to get up early, finishing scraping and sanding and then start slapping on some paint. The night before I set my alarm for dawn and went to bed dreaming of paint brushes and drop cloths. Of course, my dreams had to battle with my laziness and the laziness quickly won out. I must have hit my snooze button a dozen times as I tried to gather the will to get up and start working. It was a gray, gloomy day and I didn’t feel like moving my dresser outside…much less starting to scrap and sand. But the distant promise of paint finally lured me out of bed and down the stairs.

Scraping didn’t really get more fun the second day. In fact, without my brother-in-law and sister to talk with, it was actually more mind-numbing. I did scrape off all the paint from the decorative trim on one side of the dresser, carefully easing all of the paint from each tiny crevice. It helped me remember why archaeology is not the field for me. Jen is not a patient, careful worker. After finishing that side I felt like I needed to smash something. I curbed that impulse but I just couldn’t make myself do another hour of tedious work on the other trim so I just sanded it a bit and called it good. Then it was time to break out the screwdriver and get the knobs off the drawers. Despite one holdout, I managed to remove all the knobs. I think I’ll end up replacing them…but I them and their screws just in case. Finally I went to town with the sandpaper, and then set everything back inside. Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon (plus I needed to go to Red Robin and eat my birthday burger!) so I put off painting for the next day.

Day three was bright and sunny and perfect weather for painting. Well, at least I thought so. To be honest, I haven’t done a lot of painting (non-art-wise) in my life. I grew up in rental homes so I never got a lot of experience painting walls and most of the other times I’ve needed something painted, I’ve just used spray paint. It was nice to be able to paint the dresser because I really didn’t know that much about it. I love new experiences.

I did learn lots about painting. Things like how you should thinking about where you are placing your items because it’s hard to pick it up after it’s all wet. Or how you need to monitor how much paint you put on your brush or you’ll end up with drips all over your shoe. I even learned that the green I chose for the dresser was apparently very attractive to bees, since I kept having to swat them off all day. I also learned that while listening to the radio keeps you happy, it can also distract you and cause you to damage things when you get a little too excited while singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody. I also learned that sunscreen probably would have been a wise choice. The same sun that dried my paint for me also turned me a bright lobster red. But I soldiered through and got two coats on the drawers and three on the dresser.  All in all, a very productive day…and my dresser is looking awesome!

Dresser Project – Day 1

I’ve been searching for a dresser or bookshelf for my room for months. My current storage options have become woefully inadequate and since throwing out half my belongings seems like a rash step, I’ve put out the feelers for new furniture. My family is full of thrift store shoppers so I told them what I needed and turned them loose. Despite what I’m sure was a valiant search, nothing turned up. Everything was out of my (insanely tiny) price range, not exactly what I needed or needed way too much work. I had almost given up and decided that I should just invest in nice looking laundry baskets since it was obvious my clothes were going to take up permanent residence.

Then today I met a very nice man who very much wanted to sell me a dresser. He pushed me towards a 1930’s dresser with a great curve and lovely handles, and then the two of us both marveled at a great piece with carved clawfeet and intricately carved wooden knobs. Of course, at around $400 it was so far out of my price range that it couldn’t even see my range with a NASA telescope. Finally, I was on my way out the door and we were chatting about websites and marketing ideas and he remembered they had just gotten a dresser that day and he wanted me to have it. It was well built with deep drawers but it was a major fixer upper and when it comes to fixing things up, I’m like the opposite of Bob Villa. But he basically was giving it to me for a song and a smile, so I left the store with a new friend and an old dresser.

 It’s apparently mahogany that was painted olive green then painted white. It’s got four drawers, eight knobs and several issues. A few things needed to be nailed or fixed, lots of stuff needed to be sanded and several layers of paint needed to be peeled off. I mentally made a list of things that I knew I how to do and when my list ended up being a big ‘ol zero, I quickly enlisted the help of my brother in law. Together we hauled the dresser out back and while he started working on making structural repairs, I started scraping paint. I’ve discovered that it’s not a job that is particularly exciting, but it’s one that I’m capable of doing. For a long time.

A really long time.

Eventually, I got enough off to start sanding, which is actually less fun than scrapping layers of paint. Sadly, this whole activity was in the afternoon so I had to pack it in before the sunset. This project is going to take longer than I thought, but I feel good with how it went today. I ended up with paint on my nose, sawdust in my hair and more than one splinter…but I feel like I’m actually learning things and accomplishing something kinda awesome.

In the Light of Day

  For what human ill does not dawn seem to be an alleviation?  ~Thornton Wilder

I had a doozy of a nightmare last night and woke in the early hours of the morning terrified to move. I was sure that the horrors that chased me through my dreams had somehow followed me back into reality. It took long minutes of whispered prayers before my heartbeat calmed and my brain woke up long enough to recognize logic. Yet, even after getting up and splashing cold water on my face and reading the bible, the fear lingered. I panicked at the idea of turning out my light and plunging my room back into darkness. Eventually I gave up and wrapped myself up in a blanket and sat at my window, waiting for the sun to rise. As the hours passed on, and the black of night turned to the pinks and golds of early morning I could feel fear burning away like fog. There’s just a certain comfort that only the rising of the sun can bring.

“Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 2:22-23

I’ve always liked sunrise and it’s not just because it’s beautiful. One of my favorite verses talks about how God’s mercies are new every morning. The idea that God’s love doesn’t run out, what He gives us are not just replenished but are brand new. God doesn’t have to recycle His mercies, His compassion, it’s all brand new every morning. I love the idea that each morning provides new opportunities for us to see God working, to experience His love and to see His faithfulness. It inspires me to act in the same way, to use every morning as a chance to be new. Yesterday’s offenses shouldn’t bother me, forgiveness can be new this morning. The hurts of the past have no hold on me, my stumbles and struggles can be behind me. No matter how dark the night behind, there is a new start with the sun every morning.

Lazy Sunday

Sunburns and sweatshirts, fall leaves and mosquito bites, curled up on the bank of the river listening to the wind in the trees and waiting for the fish to bite.