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A little blog about my big loves; family, friends, stitching and yep, chocolate!

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Saturday, April 4, 2009

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!

Photobucket
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

22 comments:

Sheila said...

Well done to your dad :)
Your craft room floor is going to look great with its red "tiles" and lastly, but not least----50cents for that fabulous wooden tray!!! Wow!!! That has to be the bargain of the month. It is perfect for smalls and bits and bobs :)

Diane (di) said...

Wow Terri, that floor is going to be spectacular. I'm cheering you on big time to get it finished this week-end. I'm completely in awe of your Dad. Just thinking about running makes me tired! So until I can figure out how to run and stitch at the same time... well, you get my point. lol Love that tray. What a great find and I can't wait to see what your mojo takes you to when everything else settles down! :)

Margaret said...

Wow, congratulations to your dad! And your floor -- can't wait to see the finished product! What a lot of work! It's going to be so pretty! And you'll be back in your craft room again! Yay!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to your Dad, that's fantastic!

I love the little tray you bought, it's ideal for showing off stitching smalls. What a find!

Brigitte said...

Your wooden tray is a great find, it looks fabulous and I can so well imagine it with needlerolls, little pillows and pinkeeps on display in it.
Great success for your father.
I'm looing forward to see the floor of your craft room finished. It will lokk great.

Loraine said...

It's looking great! The floor is going to look so cute when you are done. Your really don't give yourself enough credit, because I think your ideas are wonderful!
Tell your dad that I am inspired and motivated by his story! I can't believe how people can change their lives and bodies in a relatively short period of time. I should be more dedicated to working out as then I hopefully would live a little longer and finish all of the things I want to stitch and sew! LOL! Anyhow, tell your dad of my congrats!

Katrina said...

Woohoo for your dad! That's awesome :-).

Can't wait to see your finished floor, it's looking great.

Pam said...

Be careful when pulling up the tape from the floor. Sometimes paint comes with it.

That's so great about your dad! My dad was a runner and he used to tell us all about the races the he ran and what he needed to eat to keep his energy up for the races.

Patricia Lessell said...

Well done your dad! My ds is running the London Marathon again this year in aid of The MS Research Centre (that's how it is spelled here in the U.K.) and that is 23miles long. I am just so proud of him. He did it last year for the MS Society but I prefer this newer charity because they don't raise in the whole year what the MS Society raises just from the Marathon - he sponsors those charities because I have MS and I'm so proud of him I could just burst.

I love the way your craft room floor is look you have done a great job. Can't wait to see what you do with the tray and thank you so much for answering my questions. I have copied what you said and pasted it into a document so I can refer back to it again and again. Lots and lots of Love to you my friend Patti xxxx

Siobhán said...

Good luck with the taping and painting! I wouldn't be able to figure it out and I, alas, don't have a friend like Julie. ;) I can't wait to see the finished result--that red looks great!

Tell your dad a big huge congratulations for me. That is a major accomplishment! It makes me realize what can happen if I put my mind to it, too. My mom will be 70 in July & just started running last year. She has a bad back so isn't into marathons but let's just say that IF I was so inclined to run, she could outrun me w/o a problem at all. Of course, the only time I might be so inclined to run is if there were some linen or NPIs waiting at the finish line, but we won't go there. ;)

Love that wooden tray!

Tanya said...

Three cheers to your dad! I would have trouble running to the mailbox & back. lol! I can't wait to see the final results of your floor.

Deb said...

Wow Terri! Give your dad a huge Congratulations! I can't even imagine doing something like that at 73 (couldn't even do it now). Your floor looks like it's coming along great, although I know you wish the whole process would be over with so you can stitch again. Hopefully by this week, it will be all finished up!

The tray too, is a great find. So perfect for keeping stitching things close at hand!

Anonymous said...

Hi Terri,
Thanks for stopping by my blog and of course I will enter your name. I love how your craft room is looking!! I'm been working in an area of our basement family room for the last 16 years, but we are empty nesters now and I going to get a room on my own. I'm so excited a whole room for just me and mu crafts/sewing!! Thanks for sharing yours...it helps me to see how other crafters have their own spaces.
Hope you'll come back to visit me at my blog again.
Cindy

Anonymous said...

First of all, a huge "Well done!" to your dad. And then another one to you for your painting, and for grabbing that beautiful tray! It's going to be gorgeous once you've painted it and filled it with smalls.

Joy said...

Terri, that floor is going to be incredible. What a lot of work!
That is so fantastic about your dad! What an inspiration he is. Congratulations to him!

Jackie in UK said...

Well done to your dad, what an achievement!

Your floor is looking good Terri, you must be very pleased with it! :-)

Jackie x

The Scarlett House said...

Wow, Terri. That floor looks like a lot of work, but it will be fabulous when you're done. Congrats to your Dad. That's excellent. Oh yea, great score on the tray.

Holly Hills Primitives said...

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, it's always so nice to hear from new people - especially that live right here in Michigan! Hope I get a chance to meet you in person real soon. Come up and see me any time (I'm closed on Mondays) and we'll get acquainted. Dawn

Holly Hills Primitives said...

So nice to hear that you will be coming to Holly this week! I'm hoping to have lots more new goodies in by then. It is so much fun to meet new blogging buddies! Maybe you'll have the pictures of your floor finished up to share before we get a chance to meet. See you on Friday!! Dawn

Jan said...

OH Terri, that floor is going to be so awesome!!!!!!!!! Such talent and creativity you have...maybe I should add Julie's wonderful aide here too!

Yay for your dad's achievement...exercise is so important...why don't I do it, then? Grief!!!

Be sure and show us how the wooden tray gets renovated!:)

Nancy said...

Don't you love projects around the house? I'll look forward to seeing your floor finished. Your thrift store item too. I love finding treasures.

Wow, your dad looks like he is in amazing shape! Good for him!

Bine said...

Your dad ran fantastic. Congratulations to him.
Your floor is a lot of work but it will be worth it. The red colour looks wonderful....Hopefully you will be finished soon and get your stitching mojo back....since you have to fill your cute wooden tray or do you already have enough smalls to fill it?