It's Embarrassing

... what our dining set looked like until a week or so ago.  It really is.  It was bad.  It didn't start it off bad.  I'm fairly certain it's circa 1980-something based on the style and the fabric on the chair seats.  I got it from my parents when I moved to my first apartment in 2002; they purchased it for me secondhand.  It was actually in great condition at the time.  Not totally my style as furniture goes, but in my first apartment with a huge, empty eat-in kitchen, "free" and "gift" were very much my style.

Over the years, there was obviously some wear and tear, especially on the fabric.  Most happened in recent years, though, after Eric and I got married.  Having three cats who loved sleeping on the very nubby, very loose-knit fabric created a situation where I didn't want my guests sitting on the chairs, which had become completely interwoven with cat hair.  And then at some point, something spilled on a chair.

And we'd been using the table to make soap and candles, and the overspill of molten soap and essential oils had marred the surface.  Also at some point, someone (*cough* Eric) left something on the table that leaked and caused water damage to the wood.

I grew to hate that dining set.  Despise it.  It made me scowl every time I looked at it.  Scowling isn't a great look for me.  People get intimidated.

So it was long past time to refinish it.  Since both Eric and I pretty much hate painted wood, the natural solution was sand and stain.  Lots of sanding.  Using quite a few belts and even more squares of sandpaper.

Have I mentioned sanding kind of sucks?  Especially when the damned chairs don't come apart and they've got rounded bits and close-together bits and a bunch needs to be done by hand?  It took for-freaking-ever.

Boo for sanding.

On the other hand, yay for staining.  We decided to go with a much more modern and formal "Kona" stain that's not black, but a very, very dark brown, dark as night.

A good coat of polyurethane, and that was done!

In the meantime, at night when I couldn't be outside sanding due to chill and lack of light, I was inside reupholstering.  I've never reupholstered a single thing in my life before!  Had to make new cushions too.  Personally, I think I did a damned good job.  We chose an also formal fabric that we ordered from JoAnn.com.  They didn't carry this particular fabric in store, but did you know you can order a swatch of their online fabrics for $3?  We discovered it while fabric shopping, and it's a stellar idea.  In this particular instance, we discovered that we loved it even more in person than online.

Seats back on the chairs, and all done!  The set was all ready for our Kenucky Derby Party!

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So I Made a Few More

You know me, once I get going I keep going.  And having just one eyeglass case in the shop was silly.  So I made three more!

People were admiring the one I did for myself in black, white, and grey, so I added a similar one to the shop.

And then I went ahead and did one in greens and khakis.  It's a pretty nifty color scheme, if I do say so myself.  This one's in the shop here.

And then I went really girlie with this one, in a pink, red, and aqua floral print with some polka dots thrown in for god measure.

Like 'em?

Flossie the Cow... Sixteen Times Over

I took individual photos of the cows I made since each one's a bit different, and here they are!

 This is the one I gave to a friend at work.  Cows are her favorite animal, and she's been great to me since I started there.  She said she wanted to buy one, but no way was I going to charge her.  She's been too awesome, looking out for me.

 These three are listed in the toy section of Fabric of My Mind.

I love how this one looks so direct, like a good friend who's about to tell you something important.

And this one with the pinkish purple eyes looks so inquisitive!

While this cutie looks kind of needy, like a puppy.

Two of the rest are going to my nephews for Chanukah and Christmas, and the other ten to my fellow cast and crew members.

So... who wants one?

So there's this chick...

Andrea, from northeastern Ohio.  I met her at the Handmade Artists Forum, which I've written about here several times.  Andrea herself is an amazingly talented bookbinder who has a shop, Blue Highways.

I've been coveting her hand bound books for quite a while now, and I finally own one!  She was creative and generous enough to start a contest at HAF, involving the Handmade Highlights, with one of her own books as the prize!  I created a Highlight based on my favorite song, Castle Walls by Styx, and had the most commenters, so I won my choice of one of her gorgeous mini journals.

I got it on Saturday and was so enamoured with it that I had to share.  First, her packaging is terrific; each book is wrapped in vintage newspaper with twine.  The newspaper around my book was from 1963 and very interesting to read.

Also included with the book was a pretty notecard with a message to me and a book thong, also made by Andrea.  It was blue cord with blue glass beads, my favorite color!  I knew that Andrea included a complimentary book thong with every book she sold, but had no idea I'd be getting one with a book I'd won.  I thought that was just really sweet.

Once I unwrapped the book, I got to see the fabric I'd chosen in person, these awesome batik sea turtles, of course in blue.

The book's closure is a blue ribbon with dark blue beads on the ends.  The flyleaf is fun and also sea-themed, with pictures of urchins and shells.

The binding, though, is what boggles my mind the most.  The book is hand-threaded in this lovely pattern of thread, that I think is the most beautiful thing.

The care and expertise she puts into these books is evident from front to back.  I'm so glad I got it, and know I'll be buying more in the future.

New Shop Announcement!

Reef Botanicals has a new affiliated shop, Fabric of My Mind!

It's in that shop you'll find for purchase the results of my sewing, knitting, toymaking, and photography, as well as instructions and .pdf patterns that cross the Fabric of My Mind (see how I did that there?).  It's small yet, with just a few listings, but I hope you'll visit frequently to see what's new.  Currently, you'll find my hand-knitted cream scarf...

patterns for my felt dinosaur puzzle and busy book...

and the jumbo dolphin crayons that Eric and I make.

At some point hopefully soon, there will be another scarf available too, this one in a soft vintage lavender yarn.

Enjoy!

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