Running, Taping and Painting - Not much Stitching

I have to tell you all about my dad! He just ran his first 10k marathon in Richmond, Virginia last weekend. He'll be 73 on the 8th and he ran it in 1 hour and 20 seconds! He was a bit disappointed in his time as he was hoping to break an hour but I say Whoo Hoo to you, Dad! Very impressive for someone who has had a quadruple bi-pass, followed by angioplasty and has never been a runner until recently. I'm very proud of you!! It's just downright impressive - it might kill me. If it didn't kill me, my legs would be so sore the next day I couldn't move. He started working for the Petersburg YMCA, part time a few years ago and became a certified fitness instructor. He's in better shape now than he was 40 years ago and jumping out of airplanes. If you're in the Petersburg, VA area, stop in the "Y" and say hey! Tell him Terri sent you!

Click to see a bigger image of this handsome man!


Sorry ladies - he's married!!!!

Most of the day today has been spent taping off my craft room floor so that I could paint. Not being a left brain thinker (is that right? Left brain is analytical, right?), this was hard for me to figure out. See, at first I just thought I'd tape the whole thing off, paint all the red squares corner to corner and be done! Julie (who is a left brain thinker) reminded me that the tape is going prevent the corners from being able to match up. DUUUUUUUHHHH!!!! Anyway, after much taping, hair pulling, tape pulling (and pulling up of white paint) and then more taping, I finally got started. There is definitely more tape on the floor than needed to be there but I only realized part way through that I didn't need to tape off every row since I couldn't paint that row anyway. Once all of these squares have dried and cured for a few days, I'll pull the tape (and hopefully not the paint) and then tape some more to do the final red squares. I had intended to make the squares a bit smaller but once I realized the amount of taping I was going to have to do, I changed my mind and went with a 12 x 12 inch "tile". Here are a few progress pictures.

Blue tape:

More blue tape:


This is what one coat of red paint looks like:


one more coat of red:


I'll add one or two more coats of red tomorrow and then let it dry for a few days. Hopefully by next weekend I can put a final coat of poly on it and be DONE!

During the drying period today I ran out to the thrift stores to see what I could find. Not much, but I did find this little piece that I think I'll sand, paint and use to store some of my stitching smalls. Hopefully it will look better than it does now. Of course, it was only 50 cents so not much lost if I do screw it up. I never fancied myself an artist and believe me, I am not - can't draw worth a lick and have no imaginative thoughts of my own. But, I can slap some paint on something and if it doesn't look perfect, I can call it primitive and be done!



Patti asked me a couple of questions on my last post so Patti, this note's for you!

The glass thingy holding my scissors is a flower frog. They are used to hold flowers at the bottom of a vase but now of course, I'm using them to hold scissors. Remember, I have no original thought so I can't take credit for this clever idea. I saw it, long before I started blogging, on a French stitchers blog, I think. I wish I could remember whom that was so I could give her credit. I found this one at an antique market but they're often on ebay and I'm sure you can find one from a seller from the UK.

The "white' heart scissor fob is actually a pink heart if I'm looking at the right one (just to the left of the big red and yellow bead?).
I bought the heart bead that a local artist made and then made the fob. I made all of the beaded fobs myself.

To paint those boxes is quite easy...... put your base coat of paint on the box. I use a sponge "brush" and use "Americana" brand craft paint. I'm sure any acrylic paint would work. Then, once that dries, I added my second color. While the second layer was still damp, I used steel wool to pull off some of the color. I tried sandpaper but it took off too much paint and I didn't like the look. After the steel wool, I used a craft varnish and called it a day. On a couple of the boxes I used an almost dry paintbrush to add some color. It's a play/learn as you go process. I also lined the inside with scrapbooking paper. I made one for a friend last summer, not quite the same technique, but close. I waxed hers rather than using the varnish and loved how that looked too but it took several applications and I'm into quick! The boxes are just those standard cardboard variety you can find at a craft store. Give it a try - it's easy!

Have a great rest of the weekend - blessings to you all on Palm Sunday and I'll check in again soon. Thanks for all your wonderful comments - I really appreciate them!

Peace,
Terri