We Want to Know Wednesday

Since I’ve been a bit on a project hiatus with my foot issue, I thought I’d play along on the We Want to Know Wednesday. If you haven’t seen this link party, it’s co-hosted by the super cool gals at Confessions from an Impulsive Addict, The Johnson Journey, Our Dandelion Wishes, and Seriously Shawn.

 

  1.} What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Are you an eyes or a smile person? Maybe another body part?

I’ve been married for 23 years. I honestly don’t “notice” other men, except if they’re on a tv/movie screen and have a great smile and I like their character.

My current man crushes are Mark Valley and David Boreanz.

          

Both have great smiles, nice eyes, dimples and drool-worthy arms.

Hey, I’m married – not blind!

2.} If a movie was being made about you who would you like to see cast to play you? And would your movie be a comedy, drama, romantic-comedy, action film or a horror movie?

I’d pick Mary McCormack for her sass and snarky attitude that she portrays on In Plain Sight. She mostly matches what’s going on in my head most of the time. I suspect that  Melissa McCarthy is a better match to me in looks and personality, though. Her bubbly, fun, easy to laugh demeanor mostly matches my own.

     

I think an Action/Adventure, Rom-Com Drama Mystery would sum me up quite nicely.

3.} Does your senior yearbook include a senior comment section? If so share what you said about your future goals. Have you met those goals?  If you do not have a yearbook just share an old picture and let us know what your goals where when you were 18 and if you have met them. If you're brave enough, include your senior picture!

This picture is a few months after graduation, and it’s even the blouse I wore in my senior pictures.

My goal section was all written in code, which I’m sure made perfect sense to me at the time, but I have no idea what it means today. I’m pretty sure I declared my love for my boyfriend who ended up being a pig farmer! It’s a perfect vocation for someone who turned out to be pure swine! I thank God frequently that He saved me from that fate. God is Good because I’m pretty sure my biggest goal at the time was to marry the Pig!

It didn’t take me long to get new goals. By the time the above picture was taken, I was committed to graduating from college.

Truth be told, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!

I have a Bachelor’s degree in communications, with an emphasis in Human Resource Development. I’ve never actually worked in my “field” but I have been a customer service rep for an international import/export firm. I exported things like Callaway Golf Clubs and Coors Beer to Japan. I was a humor columnist, a disk jockey, a general assignment reporter, a sports reporter, an ad rep, a legal secretary, an accounting specialist, a GED teacher and community college instructor.

Currently, I am an engagement manager, which is not what it sounds like. I manage training “engagements.” I work virtually from the comfort of my own home. I’m mostly like an online administrative assistant.

Today being Administrative Assistant Day and all, I got this lovely bouquet from my boss:

as well as this box of delicious chocolates:

 

4.} What latest trend simply baffles you?

In home decor I do not understand the love of the gray. I cannot look at the color and keep myself from simultaneously picturing cinderblock and prison walls. It’s one of the most soul-sucking colors in the world to me, right after Renter’s Beige.

 

Sorry if you <3 Gray. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Gray was just too much a part of my life. I haven’t lived in the state for more than 20 years and I’ve yet to recover. Of course, it doesn’t help that I live in NE Ohio, which also has far too much gray for my tastes.

In fashion, I’m seriously confused by the headband trend.

Really? Who convinces these poor girls that this is a good look for them? Every time I see it, I believe that some stylist is secretly getting her revenge.

5.} When you walk into a room how do you present yourself? Do you walk in with confidence and command the attention of others or do you slink in and do your best to go unnoticed?

My current method of entering a room involves a knee wheelchair, so I roll into a room with confidence and panache.

It’s hard to slink on wheels. But if I’m late to an event, which is not out of the realm of possibility, slinking may ensue.

Suesan

Sneak Peek, Cast Froufing and a Confession

I haven’t been posting much lately. It’s not because I haven’t been working on things. I have. I’m trying to finish up my last cane chair so I can show you the finished results. I have one chair done. Here’s a peek:

 

It’s mean to tease you like that, but I wanted to show them both together.

It’s harder than you can imagine to work on things while standing on one leg. If you don’t know, I had surgery on my foot to remove a stupid bone spur that was growing into my Achilles tendon. Apparently, the spur went around the entire back of my heel, but angled away from the bone toward the tendon at about a 45-degree angle. They had to repair the tendon, so I can’t stand on my foot for 7 weeks. Actually, 5 weeks and 3 days, but who’s counting?

My foot looks like this right now:

I covered my cast with the cheetah print duct tape to frouf it up.

The tape is already pulling up in places, so I plan to switch it out for the zebra print tape in a few days. Either that, or the blue/purple tie-dye pattern. I’m not sure yet which way I’ll go, but I’m guessing the zebra print.

I’d made a cast cover for it for when we went to see Les Miserables last weekend.

Here’s my shiny, out-on-the-town cast cover.

I made it out of swimsuit fabric. I liked it because it kept me from scratching my other leg with the cast, but the silver started wearing off after a few days. I have some more fabric, so I may make another one.

I get around using this knee wheelchair.

Like my basket? It didn’t come with one so I had to come up with some way to carry things. I put my cast on the seat and then push myself around with my good foot. It’s a little interesting to try and go up and down stairs, but fortunately our house is mostly on the main level. It’s all man cave and boy’s rooms in the basement so I don’t need to try and go downstairs right now.

I do have some other projects in the works. I’ve got a roadside rescue shelf I’m trying to finish up. I’m working on making a purse for my sister out of my late-nephew’s army jacket. I’ll be helping out a fellow blogger reupholster some chairs and I’m excited for that project.

Finally, I thought I’d share make a confession. Back at Christmas time while Baby Girl was home from school, she taught us this game to play in church. You know, when the speakers are not quite able to hold our attention. Not that they don’t all have something terrific to say. Just sometimes, it’s hard to stay focused.

The game goes like this. One person starts by writing a sentence and then hands the paper to the next person. That person then draws a picture that matches the sentence. They fold over the first sentence and hand it to the next person, who only sees the picture. That person then has to write a sentence that matches the picture. They then fold over the picture and hand it to the next person. It continues on.

Here’s our best creation:

The first sentence reads: Once a girl with a golden tooth proposed to a boy with a wooden leg.

The second sentence says: Some ugly girl proposes to a Pirate Ninja.

 

The third sentence says: The sad, desperate carnie woman proposed to the agile ninja elf man.

The fourth sentence says: A pregnant vampiress offer a gift to a cat-man on a flagpole.

What can I say? Sometimes we are not a very reverent family. We’ll work on it for our next Family Home Evening lesson.

Suesan

Replacing Cane Webbing – Getting Started

I have the most exciting news!

Miss Mustard Seed has graciously agreed to host one my tutorials today! Squee!!! I know, right? Someone pinch me.

 

 

Awhile back, I saw some cane-backed chairs that MMS had purchased and was going to redo. Since the caning was damaged on one of the chairs and being the Buttinsky, helpful person that I am, I offered to walk MMS through the process of replacing the caning since I’ve been around the caning block a time or two.

MMS was excited to learn the process, but if you follow her, you know that no moss grows on that girl. She’s one busy lady cranking out the furniture for her stores and she had to get those chairs done, like yesterday. Things take me longer to do, but when I finally found some chairs, I asked MMS if she was interested in hosting my tutorial and here’s where we are today!

I found a couple of cane-backed chairs on Craigslist that needed the cane replaced. I picked up these two beauties for $20. The owner accidentally put a hole in one of the chairs when he was moving them, hence the great price. That, and they need some lovin’. I think you’re going to like where these chairs are going, but you’re going to have to wait a day or two for the big reveal.

Below is my guide to help you get started. In this post, I’ll give you some terms, show you some cane patterns, and help you measure your section.

Over on Miss Mustard Seed, I’ll show you how to remove the old cane webbing and install the new webbing. 

Determine if you have Hand-Woven or Sheet Cane Webbing

Back in the day, caned furniture was all woven by hand. These days, the caning, or  Sheet Cane Webbing, is made like fabric (sheet) and is set into a groove in the frame and held in place by a reed spline.

How do you know which type you have?

Hand-woven caning is identified by a series of small holes around the edge of the furniture frame. These holes can be seen from both the front and the back. If you have this type of chair and need to replace the caning, you’ll either need to hire a professional or take a class. It’s a process far above my pay grade!

If you have sheet caned furniture, you won’t see the holes. Instead, you’ll see a thin piece of reed spline between the edge of the furniture frame and the webbing. The frame will be solid in the back and you will not be able to see the spline from the back.

 

Where to Buy Caning Supplies

If you have a good woodworking store near you, check with them to see if they sell cane webbing. Some woodworking stores sell it in kits and others will have a more varied supply. It’s hit and miss, though, so I’d call the stores before driving all around. You won’t find the webbing at a fabric store or Hobby Lobby.

I don’t have any such store near me, so I went to www.rockler.com to order my supplies. I love how easy their site is. They have good illustrations of the supplies and their prices are pretty standard. Rockler.com is a great site to use for the first-time caner.

I stumbled upon another site, www.franksupply.com, which sells all sorts of cane webbing. I’ve never actually used their site, and it’s geared more towards people who know what they’re looking for, but it is another option for you.

The prices for cane webbing are pretty standard on all sites I checked, so if you’re shopping around for price, it’s not going to vary that much, but you may find better shipping deals.

Webbing Patterns

First, if you plan to match the webbing, you’ll need to determine what type of webbing you have. Most caned furniture uses conventional weave, or 6-way Weave.

 

This is the conventional weave pattern.

To be “conventional” the space from center-of-one-hole to the center-of-the-next-hole needs to measure half an inch. There’s webbing that has bigger holes and smaller holes, but half-an-inch is the standard. Hey, they call it “conventional” for a reason.

If you plan to replace all the webbing, you can go with whatever pattern and size you like. Keep in mind that the more open weave patterns are not going to be as sturdy as some of the tighter weaves.

If you’re webbing is on a seat, you’ll want a tighter weave pattern to give the seat the strength it needs. The looser weave patterns would be great for the sides of chairs where there’s not going to be a lot of pressure.

Here are some other patterns that are available.

   

           

The first two illustrations are from the Rockler site. The Conventional, the Modern Open Weave and Modern Closed Weave are the only patterns that Rockler sells, which are great options.

The rest of the pictures above are some webbing patterns that are sold on franksupply.com. If you hover your mouse over the picture, you’ll see the name of the pattern. Clicking on the pattern will take you to the site for ordering.

Caning is generally sold in the following widths: 12”, 14”, 18” and 24”. Since you can turn it either direction, you can save yourself some money by ordering the smallest width possible. The price goes up with the width. Webbing is usually sold by the linear inch.

My chair measured as follows:

Add two inches to both the length and width to give you an extra inch on each side.

I ordered the 24” width and I purchased 26” at $.69/linear inch ($17.94).

See the dark line around the hole of the chair? This is called the groove. You’ll need to order a reed spline to fit into the groove. Reed spline comes in rolls of set lengths. Rockler sells them in 10’ lengths and FrankSupply sells them in 7’ lengths.

See how the spline is wider at the top and gets narrower at the bottom? This helps you wedge it into the groove. The spline will hold the caning in the chair.

To know what size of spline you need, you’ll need to measure the width of the groove. Rockler does a great job of telling you the widths and depths of standard-sized grooves, while the FrankSupply site gives you more width options to choose from.

On Rockler.com the measurements can be in the thirty-seconds' of an inch, so get a ruler or tape measure with that increment shown. The measurements get even smaller on the FrankSupply site.

For your reference, I’ve marked the measurements on the ruler so you can see what they are.

Once you have the measurements for your webbing and the groove width measurement, you’re ready to order.

Another thing you might want to purchase are some hardwood caning wedges.

The wedges will help you force the caning into the groove. I had some wood shims on hand, so I just cut them down to fit the groove. If you think you’re going to do a lot of caning replacement, I’d invest in the wedges.

One more item you’ll need is glue. I used Gorilla Wood Glue, but there are glues made specially for caning if you want to go that direction.

While you’re waiting for your supplies to arrive, you have time to remove any remaining webbing, paint or refinish the chair frame, or sew any new seats or cushions. I had standard shipping on Rockler and it took about 3 days to get my supplies.

Be sure to check out my post on Miss Mustard Seed to find out how to remove the old cane webbing and install the new webbing.

I’ll show you the big reveal soon!

Suesan

Embossed Cheese Dome Cloche

Late last summer I saw a cheese dome cloche made by the wonderful Allison at House of Hepworths.

Not too long after that, I came upon my own Goodwill cheese dome and thought I’d give it a whirl.

I started with a basic cheese dome and candlestick and glued them together.

I was originally just going to do a straight copy of Alison’s cloche. You know, paint it the Oil-Rubbed Bronze (ORB) and call it finished.

About the time I was making the cloche, though, I was also working on my embossing techniques.

Since I had the cloche handy, I thought I’d try my hand at writing on it.

I piped, “These Are A Few of My Favorite Things…” around the edge.

I put in the row of peals, to see how I liked it. Then I ORB’ed it back up.

Eh. Not bad, but I wanted a little something more.

I got distracted with other projects and set this aside for awhile. As often happens with me, I change moods pretty fast. By the time I came back around to finishing up the cloche, my ORB mood had passed.

My copper mood has also come and gone.

I’m now in my silver phase, and truth be told, I’ll probably always be in a silver phase to one degree or another.

I picked up some Rub’nBuff in the Silver Leaf finish to hit the high points.

You do not need a lot of this product. The tiniest amount goes a long way. I like to put a rag around my finger really tightly and wipe a dot (less than a grain of rice) on the rag. Smear it around on a piece of scratch paper before you start wiping onto your project.

Then just very lightly hit the high points.

When you lightly hit the high points, it looks like the word “My” looks there.

I got a little carried away, but I liked how it looks.Let’s say I was going for more of an aged silver look. 

When you get carried away, it looks like the rest of the cloche. You’ll end up getting the Rub’nBuff on the background.

A light touch is important if you’re trying to just accent the highlights.

These little cloches are not very big. I’ve hard a bit of a time finding something that I already own that will fit in them.

Too much glass, not enough color.

Too much color.

Not bad, but doesn’t really thrill me.

Better, and this is how it was most of the winter. I had a blue theme going on the mantle.

It’s still a work in progress. I may yet copy Alison and find some mini fruit to put in there.

I found these birds at The Flower Factory closeout sale. They were $.34/each. They need a make over, but they fit inside the cloche. I may do a nest and have just one in the cloche. I just don’t know yet.

Cost Breakdown:

• Cheese Dome - $2.92
• Candlestick – $.25
• Rub’nBuff - $3.99
• ORB Spray Paint, Glue, Embossing Spackle – Stock on hand

Total Project Cost - $7.16

Total Project Time – About 1.5 hours (including drying time)

How about you? Have you copied anyone’s idea lately and made it your own? I’d love to hear about it.

Suesan

Bad To The Bone

Last year, I got sick and tired of being obese. I decided that living in a new area with nothing but time on my hands, I was out of excuses for not taking better care of myself. I started going to gym and working out. I loved going. For the first time, I enjoyed working up a sweat, lifting weights, having sore muscles, the whole deal.

About three months in, I started having some pain in my right heel. I thought I had strained it while lifting an elephant. Wait, how did an elephant get into the story?

See, my YMCA had this computerized circuit of weight machines and I’d get an email telling me how much weight I had lifted. I kept getting emails telling me how much I’d lifted and it’d say, “This is the equivalent of 5 elephants.” By the time my foot started hurting, I’d worked my way up to about 8 elephants a month (73,000lbs).

When my foot started hurting, I thought I’d overdone it.

A few days later I was cutting Hubs’ hair and I dropped the scissors. When I bent to pick them up, I heard a loud pop and a horrible pain shot through my heel. It hurt like crazy, but 10 minutes later I could walk on it again and so I didn’t think much about it, until I noticed a lot of swelling in my heel.

I thought I might have torn my Achilles Tendon, because of the noise and the swelling. I certainly damaged something in the area, because it’s been swollen every since. I know I have a bone spur like the one shown above, so either a piece broke off and is floating around and causing me grief, or it’s still there and has grown into the tendon.

After spending nearly all of last summer in a cam-walker, it finally calmed down and I thought maybe it’d just keep getting better.

False.

When it started acting up again after the first of the year, I went back to the doctor who told me to get the surgery on it, or be crippled the rest of my life. When he put it like that, I decided to schedule the surgery. I’m tired of having limited mobility. Walking hurts, especially walking up hills or stairs. If I walk too far, my foot hurts. I’m too young and have too much on my Bucket list to be so limited in my mobility.

This particular surgery means I will not be able to stand on my foot for 7 weeks for fear of snapping my tendon. I’ll be in a cast for 3 weeks and then back to the cam walker for 4 weeks. How will I get around?

One of these little knee walkers is being shipped to my house tomorrow. I have no plans to visit jolly ‘ol England while my mobility is limited,  but I will be taking in Les Miserables in Cleveland. I’ll also be working on some projects that I can do sitting down.

My disco ball has been patiently waiting for me to finish it. I’m about half way around now. It needs some attention.

I may just take it easy, too. We’ll have to see what I get done. I have some things up my sleeves, including some ideas for how to decorate my cast.

Stick around. You never know what’s gonna come next.

Suesan