Mod note

[ilea.livejournal.com]

Hey guys,

I'm sorry about all the spam that's been happening in the comments. I'm in New Orleans and I've been without power since Tues night. I just got power and internet back today so I went in and cleaned it up and banned the spammers. If you guys see any more spam you can drop me a line at ilea@livejournal.com
<3
-ilea

crochet bamboo tank !

[rooftopscandal.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty happy with this one . . . an exercise in complete improvisation !
( Read more... )

GLITTER!

[hyperallergina.livejournal.com]

What do you get when you cross a giant bag of glitter with a dollarstore paint by number greeting card set and add some serious procrastination?


( This. )

Pardon the crappy instagram cellphone pic. I can't find my camera.

Smelly Box

[fabunobo.livejournal.com]

I had been hunting for something to store my cone incense in. We were visiting a friend in Manchester VT when I happened upon this fun wood craft store. I bought a handcrafted box and went to town crafting it up to match everything in my front parlor. I’m happy with how it came out.



( Mucho pics behind the cut. )

Crossposted.

(no subject)

[grammardog]

I got this bookcase at the Salvation Army store for $8, and finally got around to crack-filling, sanding, scraping, priming, and painting it! It now holds my television as well as some books and DVDs.



The shelf was one of those plywood cabinets that you used to be able to buy to hold sets of Childcraft encyclopedia (there was a Childcraft logo burned into the kickboard). It looked like it had been in a classroom for a long time. It was covered in crayon and marker, and for some reason, a TON of tape... the kind that is so yellowed and brittle and no longer sticky, just good and STUCK. It took a lot of scraping and sanding to get the residue off.

( I never think to take a before picture before my project is already underway, but here are a few I scraped together so you get the gist. )

For anyone interested in refinishing crappy old furniture like this, I recommend three things:

1) sanding well before and between every coat
2) priming with a high-quality primer (I use Zinsser Bull's Eye 1-2-3) and WAITING THE FULL SEVEN DAYS FOR IT TO CURE. That is the worst part, but you will regret it if you don't, because your paint will be tacky until the end of time instead of nicely hardened.
3) using a gently FLECKED foam roller (usually at specialty paint stores). A foam roller alone will give you air bubbles, but the feltiness of the flecked roller will give you a nice smooth finish.

Thanks for looking!

Hand dyed yarn

[shimmerngspirit.livejournal.com]

I spun up some more roving. Merino and bamboo silk. After I spun it I dyed it with mulberries and rose petals.