![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Long time no write.
Mar. 5th, 2007 11:33 amHas it really been almost two months since I posted?! So, what's happened since I last wrote? Lots! Jonah is so much fun. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this mom stuff. But I'm relishing this time because I know it's about to get a lot harder as he starts to move around and such. He's actually pretty easy right now. I have anywhere from 4-6 hours during the day to get stuff done while he sleeps. And some nights he passes out at 6pm or so and doesn't wake up until maybe midnight or later.
I'm mostly spending any extra time I have right now trying to finish up painting projects, mostly touching up in several rooms. The theory is that I've got this stack of paint cans in the living room that need to be put away, so I'm using my desire to get rid of them to wrap up all the painting.
It occurred to me the other day that I've got roughly 4 yards of 60" wide navy blue cotton velvet leftover from the rocking chair Chris' mom had re-upholstered for us. And it hit me. . . Starry Mantle! I just grabbed it to check the length and such and I think it's perfect! A little stiff right now since it's upholstery weight, but I think I can beat some softness into it. I've got it in the washing machine in a warm wash along with my slippers and my Teva sandals. I prewashed it in synthrapol before I sent it to the upholstery place, but I'm just using regular detergent this time. I figure I'll keep running it through washer/dryer cycles until I think it's soft and drapey. Like interior designer Sera Hersham Loftus says, "fabrics look better when they've had the newness beaten out of them."
Aside from that I may have found a better brocade for the Blood Red gown and I'm thinking about getting a yard or two of it to try to start that project again, and maybe actually finish it this time. I've got some different trim to try too, that I bought around the time of the wedding last year, I think.
Speaking of costumes, Chris bought a 42" LCD monitor for the den with his Christmas bonus. We moved the server I was using for a desktop machine down there as well. So now, I'm using a 42" monitor. :] But I went to look through some of my reference images the other day and I'm amazed at the detail I can see in even poor quality images at this size. And the ones we've taken with our 5 megapixel camera are amazing! Like the one I made this icon from, I can see the tiny hairs on the flower and leaves (on the full size image that is). It's funny, I'm getting a lot more jokes on The Simpsons because I'm able to read text in the background, heh. Like the other day they were in the attic looking for something and behind them was a box of Simpson and Son's Revitalizing Tonic. Fun stuff!
Oh, and the burnout silk velvet I bought in January turned out to be totally different than I expected. I thought it was lavender and olive green vines on a periwinkle background. Turns out, it was a navy background. It looked terrible in the living room. However, I carried it upstairs to our master bedroom and it matches our bedspread as though it were made for it. I've got those panels cut and hanging on the windows with thumbtacks for now, just to see how they'll look. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up enough to spray paint some drapery hardware. I might go ahead and try to hem the panels this week. The weather is supposed to be nice so I might find a day or two where I can spray the hardware and get them up. We finally replaced the ceiling fan in there yesterday. I need to make some beaded pulls for that as well as some tiebacks for the drapes. And yesterday at Marshall's we found a couple of end tables. They were perfect size and shape, but the tops are covered in red pleather, not exactly a match for our blue and brown bedroom. But, I think I'm going to find some brown faux leather and recover them. For as cheap as they were, I don't mind doctoring them up to make them fit in.
I've got a massive list of things I want to do around here, but I figure there's no hurry. It's likely we'll be in this house for the next 10 years or so. As if the interior stuff isn't enough, there's gardening and such to be done as well (we're starting some seeds indoors right now). I told Chris last weekend that he's not allowed to watch HGTV and DIY on the weekends anymore, heh.
I'm mostly spending any extra time I have right now trying to finish up painting projects, mostly touching up in several rooms. The theory is that I've got this stack of paint cans in the living room that need to be put away, so I'm using my desire to get rid of them to wrap up all the painting.
It occurred to me the other day that I've got roughly 4 yards of 60" wide navy blue cotton velvet leftover from the rocking chair Chris' mom had re-upholstered for us. And it hit me. . . Starry Mantle! I just grabbed it to check the length and such and I think it's perfect! A little stiff right now since it's upholstery weight, but I think I can beat some softness into it. I've got it in the washing machine in a warm wash along with my slippers and my Teva sandals. I prewashed it in synthrapol before I sent it to the upholstery place, but I'm just using regular detergent this time. I figure I'll keep running it through washer/dryer cycles until I think it's soft and drapey. Like interior designer Sera Hersham Loftus says, "fabrics look better when they've had the newness beaten out of them."
Aside from that I may have found a better brocade for the Blood Red gown and I'm thinking about getting a yard or two of it to try to start that project again, and maybe actually finish it this time. I've got some different trim to try too, that I bought around the time of the wedding last year, I think.
Speaking of costumes, Chris bought a 42" LCD monitor for the den with his Christmas bonus. We moved the server I was using for a desktop machine down there as well. So now, I'm using a 42" monitor. :] But I went to look through some of my reference images the other day and I'm amazed at the detail I can see in even poor quality images at this size. And the ones we've taken with our 5 megapixel camera are amazing! Like the one I made this icon from, I can see the tiny hairs on the flower and leaves (on the full size image that is). It's funny, I'm getting a lot more jokes on The Simpsons because I'm able to read text in the background, heh. Like the other day they were in the attic looking for something and behind them was a box of Simpson and Son's Revitalizing Tonic. Fun stuff!
Oh, and the burnout silk velvet I bought in January turned out to be totally different than I expected. I thought it was lavender and olive green vines on a periwinkle background. Turns out, it was a navy background. It looked terrible in the living room. However, I carried it upstairs to our master bedroom and it matches our bedspread as though it were made for it. I've got those panels cut and hanging on the windows with thumbtacks for now, just to see how they'll look. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up enough to spray paint some drapery hardware. I might go ahead and try to hem the panels this week. The weather is supposed to be nice so I might find a day or two where I can spray the hardware and get them up. We finally replaced the ceiling fan in there yesterday. I need to make some beaded pulls for that as well as some tiebacks for the drapes. And yesterday at Marshall's we found a couple of end tables. They were perfect size and shape, but the tops are covered in red pleather, not exactly a match for our blue and brown bedroom. But, I think I'm going to find some brown faux leather and recover them. For as cheap as they were, I don't mind doctoring them up to make them fit in.
I've got a massive list of things I want to do around here, but I figure there's no hurry. It's likely we'll be in this house for the next 10 years or so. As if the interior stuff isn't enough, there's gardening and such to be done as well (we're starting some seeds indoors right now). I told Chris last weekend that he's not allowed to watch HGTV and DIY on the weekends anymore, heh.
