HWW........ methinks this was just after our first surprise snow. methinks2- i never notice the tape (which is too high for me to reach anyway), unless i am in the photography mode

And HSS!

Container and roll of painter's tape. I use this to tape prints to my study wall. This allows me to live with the prints and notice changes I might want to make. No damage to wall paint.

Taken for Macro Mondays' theme: Container.

I always try to find ways to label my project pieces that won't involve a lot of erasers or sanding; painter's tape works perfect.

The two top and bottom pieces are going to be trimmed, and then doweled and glued together to make the right width.

I can already see things in the wood itself that I am not going to be happy with, but it's all about picking the wood with the least amount of flaws in the final product. We shall see!

Theme: Re-Creation

Year Thirteen Of My 365 Project

I have learned over the course of my years working with projects, that the design ever evolves. When you finish something, you realize how it could have been better, more effective, or whatever. Knowing that, with any project that is really important to me, I purposefully take my time, try things, see what works and what doesn't, and then decide on my design. Hopefully this time I have it...

I finished a lifetime dream of collecting the quarters of the National Parks some time ago, but the custom plaque / frame for them has been in the background for a while now. I believe that I have the design I will be happy with, the methods, and now... I can begin (again).

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

this week's MM theme - Redux 2014

repeat any of the themes from the past year

This is another version of the blue painter's tape that I posted back when the theme was sticky. This one works for:

sticky

one color

fill the frame

what is that

So far I am really pleased with the color stains using food coloring and vinegar. Some of the colors will be actual wood stain (mountains and tree trunk), but the rest are going to be the new method I found!

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

Whiskerino - Day 96 outtake

The National Parks display I am making will have a colorful center design, but I did not want to color them a solid color; I want to be able to see the wood grain through the color stain.

I researched a method of staining using food color and vinegar to stain wood, and I had quite a lot of fun testing different methods and color varieties!

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

This is actually the cutie from my class in a photo last week of helping a short friend, the volleyball player with braces. She was taking a photo of her big sister who was one of the dressed up candidates for some club . . . I don't think I got her photo. Oops!

Have no idea why the painter's tape is in her hand.

Painter's tape SUCKS!! It's expensive; It's a pain in the ass to put down; It's not wide enough -- frequently requiring 2 strips, and it's technically only supposed to be used for 24 hours! If we had tried to obey that rule, we would have likely lost more time than the time it took Carolyn to spackle all the messed up areas. But Carolyn may disgaree with that. Still, when you can only work 1-3 hours a day ... Having huge overhead that requires moving chairs all over (to tape areas near the ceiling) is not conducive to getting a lot of work done!

When Carolyn finally stopped working at her employers (she consulted after resigning; they couldn't get by without her), spackling all the areas damaged by painter's tape became her hell. Oh, and painting all the rooms. Thank you Carolyn!

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

drywall damage, painter's tape, shelf.

oops.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me./B>

We finally had no choice but to stop procrastinating, and conquer Mt. Trim (Read backstory below for explanation, it's different from backstory in our previous statining set.)

Here you can really see just how crazy this was. The ladder was off in two axis. Ladders are supposed to point towards the wall they lean against; this one didn't. Ladders are supposed to be equal height on both sides; this one wasn't. You're also not supposed to go as high up the ladder as I had to go -- I was not able to *reach* the ladder while staining. Feet only. Very scary.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the broken trim (and everythign else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. We called the broken trim "Mt. Trim", because it was the hardest spot to physical reach in the entire house -- and we had to go up there 10+ times to stain it.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness],and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

ladder, newspaper, painter's tape, painting, trim.

unsafe.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 23, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 4, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

Whiskerino - Day 101

Whiskerino - Day 96

Theme day: stripes!

The holes for the quarters are getting drilled, and then I will drill the center of each circle out, so I can pop the quarters out if needed. Not that I would ever want or need to adjust them if they were a millimeter off center. What am I? OCD?!?

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

I've struggled with previous attempts to shoot the ever cliched red doors on Grace Episcopal Church, on the capitol square. So today while doing my photo walk I lucked out and caught glimpse of the process that goes into keeping them ever so vibrant.

The blue painter's tape around the window casts a nice hue.

Photo: Sony NEX-5N + Yashica DSB 50mm, f1.9

I finished routing the National Parks Quarter display, so I will be able to start staining and finishing this one soon!

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project

One of many hassles was covering everything up so that nothing would drip onto it. Fortunately, as we horde and re-use anything re-usable, we absolutely do not ever throw away a plastic Peapod (small/thick) or Diet-To-Go (large/flimsy) bag. Our surplus was just beginning to become semi-unmanagable, when all of a sudden we used just about every bag in the house to individual cover our spiral stiar rails! Other items used in covering included some newspapers given to me by my co-worker, a green bathrobe, a purple button-up womans' shirt bought during our "rag quest" (yardsaleing for cheap rags to wipe stain on... A shirt would only last an hour or so), and 3-5 dropcloths throughout the project.

We learned that plastic worked better than paper, but paper had definite advantages, like being able to wipe excess stain onto it, and being rippable. Sometimes we used both at once. It just depended. But with the stairs, you had to TAPE everything down. Very annoying. At least painter'stape is re-stickable.

You can also see the current unsafe ladder placement, and the carpet-on-the-stairs from the previous unsafe ladder placement. We left it there since it also served as a dropcloth.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

bath robe, ladder, newspaper, painter's tape, plastic bag, spiral stair railing.

unsafe.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me./B>

One of many hassles was covering everything up so that nothing would drip onto it. Fortunately, as we horde and re-use anything re-usable, we absolutely do not ever throw away a plastic Peapod (small/thick) or Diet-To-Go (large/flimsy) bag. Our surplus was just beginning to become semi-unmanagable, when all of a sudden we used just about every bag in the house to individual cover our spiral stiar rails! Other items used in covering included some newspapers given to me by my co-worker, a green bathrobe, a purple button-up womans' shirt bought during our "rag quest". What was the rag quest? Yardsaleing for cheap rags to wipe stain on...! A shirt would only last an hour or so, and we went through a couple armfuls of clothes by the end of the project. Baby shirts with snaps were the worst -- cutting them all off, having a pile of snaps on the floor... we probably looked like baby-eaters!

We also had to buy 3-5 proper dropcloths throughout the project. We learned that plastic worked better than paper, but paper had definite advantages, like being able to wipe excess stain onto it, and being rippable. Sometimes we used both at once. It just depended. But with the stairs, you had to TAPE everything down. Very annoying. At least painter's tape is re-stickable.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

carpet, newspaper, painter's tape, plastic bag, spiral stairs.

diptych. wrapped.

downstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

One of many hassles was covering everything up so that nothing would drip onto it. Fortunately, as we horde and re-use anything re-usable, we absolutely do not ever throw away a plastic Peapod (small/thick) or Diet-To-Go (large/flimsy) bag. Our surplus was just beginning to become semi-unmanagable, when all of a sudden we used just about every bag in the house to individual cover our spiral stiar rails! Other items used in covering included some newspapers given to me by my co-worker, a green bathrobe, a purple button-up womans' shirt bought during our "rag quest" (yardsaleing for cheap rags to wipe stain on... A shirt would only last an hour or so), and 3-5 dropcloths throughout the project.

We learned that plastic worked better than paper, but paper had definite advantages, like being able to wipe excess stain onto it, and being rippable. Sometimes we used both at once. It just depended. But with the stairs, you had to TAPE everything down. Very annoying. At least painter'stape is re-stickable.

You can also see the current unsafe ladder placement, and the carpet-on-the-stairs from the previous unsafe ladder placement. We left it there since it also served as a dropcloth.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

bath robe, ladder, newspaper, painter's tape, plastic bag.

unsafe.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me./B>

My god it's full of cushions! Once cushions were deployed underneath the unsafe ladder, this was the view when looking down. Mt. Trim (see explanation of term below) could not be stained without as much of a chance of dire bodily harm. A fall would not be pretty; but it would probably not be fatal either.

I think I must have been changing clothes after work, and then realized it would be a good time to photograph, so I put my shoes back on. That's the only logical explanation for "pantsless with work shoes", which makes NO SENSE.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the broken trim (and everythign else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. We called the broken trim "Mt. Trim", because it was the hardest spot to physical reach in the entire house -- and we had to go up there 10+ times to stain it.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

looking down, wood staining.

carpet, cushions, ladder, painter's tape, spiral stairs, work shoes.

pantsless.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 23, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 4, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

A few layers of painter's tape on the sole of my Bosch jigsaw keeps the cherry veneer from marring.

We actually managed to stain the enclosure wall! Absolutley amazing, as it required an unsafe ladder, a brave Carolyn, and an unfaltering Clint to hold Carolyn's weight while she leaned so far to the left of the ladder that she would have fallen. It was the only way to get there.

Draped over the spiral stairs center pole, you can see the long-sleeved button-up purple woman's shirt (judging by the side the buttons were on) which I wore while staining, one of many items of clothing bought during our "rag quest" -- 2 weekends of yardsaleing looking for cheap rags. One old lady thought it was so funny, and just said, "Rags", in a laughing voice ... About 5 times while we were leaving. We still make fun of her today. That's probably her green (cyan in this pic) bath robe that we have draped over the metal rail..

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

bath robe, painter's tape, plastic bag.

Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

06.03.07

Shot with a ring light and a Nikon SB24 inside the icebox w/ Painters Tape as the blue gel

The flash makes it look white. It's gray. Doing the inside of the storm door was a challenge... But the worst part was putting the painter's tape on that curved window. We also had to temporarily remove our door knocker :) And at this point, both doorbells are total farces. One can only be heard in the front room, gets stuck so that it rings non-stop (but nobody ever notices it even when in the same room except me); the other requires you hold the button for at least half a second -- a concept humans are unable to comprehend -- and requires battery changes. They both suck. And after Hechinger installed a backward front door, they are now on the wrong side of the door. At this point, that might actually be a good thing, because it discourages people from using questionable doorbells... Recently we bought a door knocker to encourage people to use tried and true methods of gaining our attention. Sadly, our addition, loud music, and closed doors (to prevent heat runoff) places us out of earshot of the front door. My mailman actually YELLED at me for not hearing my door. Could this have something to do with all the broken Netflix discs?

doorbells, front door, house maintenance, knight, light, painter's tape, storm door.

after painting.

front yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 14, 2011.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

BACKSTORY: While dealing with Farmers insurance & Progressive/Homesite insurance's dropping our policy for us having peeling window sill paint (among other things), we had to do a bunch of house repairs. While painting our window sills, we also painted other surfaces that needed painting, such as doors, railings, soffits, stairs, gutters, pipes, and cinder block walls.

This is basically the same picture as 2 pictures ago, but now with cushions.

There was really no other way to secure a metal ladder onto metal stairs in a manner where it would not 1) slide and 2) scratch the metal.

Notice how the "feet" of the ladder are secured in two totally different methods... The left foot is nestled in between the steps (with carpet), while the right foot is secured between the rails of the stairs (with paper around it, to prevent scratching.) This is how you secure a ladder in the unsafe manner depicted earlier. But now -- WE HAVE CUSHIONS for falling on!

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge ofthe closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the broken trim (and everythign else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. We called the broken trim "Mt. Trim", because it was the hardest spot to physical reach in the entire house -- and we had to go up there 10+ times to stain it.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

carpet, cushions, ladder, painter's tape, spiral stairs.

unsafe.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 23, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 4, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

Notice how the "feet" of the ladder are secured in two totally different methods... The left foot is nestled in between the steps (with carpet), while the right foot is secured between the rails of the stairs (with paper around it, to prevent scratching.) This is how you secure a ladder in the unsafe manner depicted 2 pictures earlier. There was really no other way to secure a metal ladder onto metal stairs in a manner where it would not 1) slide and 2) scratch the metal.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the broken trim (and everythign else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. We called the broken trim "Mt. Trim", because it was the hardest spot to physical reach in the entire house -- and we had to go up there 10+ times to stain it.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

carpet, ladder, painter's tape, spiral stairs.

unsafe.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 23, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 4, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

The portal was probably the easiest part out of everything to stain. But due to the way our 20-minute cycles worked (four 5-minute sub-cycles: Step 1=Stain Area 1, Step 2=Stain Area 2, Step 3=Wipe Area 1, Step 4=Wipe Area 2), steps 2 and 4 didn't exist while doing this. You just had to hang around and do nothing, because there wasn't time to run upstairs and maintain an "Area 2" while keeping strict time with the clock. So even though this area was physically easy ... All you needed was a foot-stool for leaning ... It was still a pain in that it took twice as long as it needed to.

In this picture, you can see the "disaster" near the front-left of the portal wood. I sanded too hard in one area, and broke through to a layer of wood grain with different color, leaving what I consider to be the worst imperfection. But it was hard ... The existing wooden framing around the portal (which used to be a window outside) was already stained, but the portal shelf/floor was not. So I had to take the hardest sandpaper -- 60-grit -- and completely sand off just the top of the bottom window-frame board, so that it was re-virginated wood that could be stained to match the rest of the portal shelf/floor.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violationof the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

Murphy's Oil soap, mineral spirit, painter's tape, portal.

downstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

My god it's full of cushions! Once cushions were deployed underneath the unsafe ladder, this was the view when looking down. Mt. Trim (see explanation of term below) could not be stained without as much of a chance of dire bodily harm. A fall would not be pretty; but it would probably not be fatal either. They also gave us UNSTAINABLE trim (on the right of the square) which was a headache to realize, and which will never quite match the rest. Thanks, Dan.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain the broken trim (and everythign else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. We called the broken trim "Mt. Trim", because it was the hardest spot to physical reach in the entire house -- and we had to go up there 10+ times to stain it.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

looking down, wood staining.

carpet, cushions, ladder, painter's tape, spiral stairs, wood stain.

Minwax.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 23, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

LEGAL: To see an official VA DPOR sanction of $500 (+$150) against Dan Lopez and Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... These people were suing him for $400K last time I checked.To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.icture, pool table, sandpaper, scissors.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June 4, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

Getting the shelves back in was a PAAAIN. 2 layers of stain + 4 layers of polyurethane made the shelves physically larger. There was some worry as to whether we'd be able to get them back in at all. Each shelf managed to fit into exactly one place.

At one point, I realized that I needed a tool that would transfer a large amount (hammer amount) of kinetic energy into the boards, without damaging them. What would do that? "Rubber!" I realized I needed the rubber mallets that the flooring people used to install our hardwood floors! So I grabbed my boot! The rubber heel of the boot cushioned the force, and it was large and long enough for me to swing it like a hammer. It worked beautifully, and we got the shelves back in. The boards in the corner actually separated near the top, due to the increased size. A bit of a disaster, but ultimately unnoticeable.

The color matching was a success! The old doors photograph slightly darker, but appearto be the same color in reality. And wood stain actually takes quite some time to reach its equilibrium color.

BTW, the color was "Cherrywood".

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time athome has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

closet, painter's tape, shelf.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.tract-for-our-addition.jpg ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

One may recall the story about how Virginia Design Builders stupidly built the framing for the spiral stairs with 2 small boards instead of 1 large board, and how they began cracking more and more. One time, I heard it crack and wasn't even on the steps. Scary stuff. So they tried to cheap out, and had to pay more because of it, due to having to pay for 2 sets of wood and 2 days of labor. Haha. Joke is on them. Except it was on us too, and we live here. One good thing came out of it: The new wood was higher quality than any of their other wood. It felt different. It didn't need as much wood filler. It sanded different. It stained different (took color a LOT easier, for one thing). This was not knotty pine, but something high quality. The wood is actually the most beautiful wood that we got out of the whole addition endeavor.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats[which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

newspaper, painter's tape, spiral stair railing.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.tract-for-our-addition.jpg ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

During a hangout night (some time between 6/23 and 7/26), I complained about how we had no clue how to physically get to the top of the enclosure wall that needs to be stained. In the end, it was an unsafe ladder placement, plus having to lean past the point of impossibility -- the ONLY way this section could be conquered was to have someone support you, and to lean in such a way that you'd fall into the spiral stiars without support. So Lacey, Dave, and Evan helped me out up there, while Kipp & Casey stayed downstairs making out. At one point there were more hands on my ass than... ever? Thanks for not dropping me guys! Later, for the actual staining, Carolyn would go up, and I would support her by holding on to her belt loop with one hand, and her ass with the other. It was quite scary for her, and of course she had to go up 10+ times.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The assholes refused to stain the broken trim (and everything else they broke/threw away too) to match the pre-existing color, leaving US with the job of restoring what they broke to the condition it was in before broken. Months of wood-staining hell thanks to the inability of Daniel M. Lopez's company to follow simple contractual instructions, as well as a total lack of honor in fully restoring damaged sections to their pre-damaged condition. There were a few parts that we legitimately would have needed to stain ourself, but they were the minority. In this picture, we are dealing with one of those parts: The wood used to create the enclosure for the extra ventilation ducts to travel through.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

Carolyn, Clint, Dave, Lacey.

ladder, painter's tape.

cameraphone. triptych.

Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

June, 2007.

Pic by Evan.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

... Read Dave's blog at www.spugbrap.com/blog/

... View Dave's photos at www.flickr.com/photos/spugbrap/

... Read Evan's blog at rerunsrunons.wordpress.com/

... View Evan's photos at www.flickr.com/photos/evangoldstein/

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

Painter's tape SUCKS!! It's expensive; It's a pain in the ass to put down; It's not wide enough -- frequently requiring 2 strips, and it's technically only supposed to be used for 24 hours! If we had tried to obey that rule, we would have likely lost more time than the time it took Carolyn to spackle all the messed up areas. But Carolyn may disgaree with that. Still, when you can only work 1-3 hours a day ... Having huge overhead that requires moving chairs all over (to tape areas near the ceiling) is not conducive to getting a lot of work done!

When Carolyn finally stopped working at her employers (she consulted after resigning; they couldn't get by without her), spackling all the areas damaged by painter's tape became her hell. Oh, and painting all the rooms. Thank you Carolyn!

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

drywall damage, painter's tape.

oops.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me./B>

When Coastal Comforts Become Hard to Come By

14" x 11", mixed media on watercolor cold press

From my ongoing "Quarterlife" collection. "Quarterlife" explores themes and queries such as: where is and what makes a home, wanderlust versus the desire to nest, paradoxical paralysis, feeling lost or stuck, nostalgia for the past, fear of the future, grappling with the reality of human mortality, uncertainty and doubt of once held convictions, the search for a sense of purpose/meaning, and other common characteristics of the quarter-life crisis.

Cards and prints available for purchase @ www.redbubble.com/people/smilesvssmirks

Made this bright, cheerful thank you card for a friend. The white cardstock mounted to a black matte is adhered to the card base with pop dots for dimension. The blue and green inks are pearlescent and shiny in real life!

Materials used:

* cardstock: white, black, textured yellow

* Clearsnap/ColorBox Cat's Eye fluid chalk ink: warm red

* Creative Memories Corner Rounder (the only one that works for me)

* gemstones, small red (unknown brand)

* Hero Arts CL272 All Occasion Messages (just "friend" from "hello friend")

* Hero Arts K5107 Screen Shadow

* Hero Arts K5062 Stamping Green Tree (like the tree in CL230 Live Simply)

* Hero Arts CL142 Thank You Messages

* Making Memories Tool Kit: eyelet punch (version II is now available)

* painter's tape

* Plaid All Night Media Pop Dots

* Provo Craft Paper Shapers scissors: 34-0026 discontinued style

* ribbon

* Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Marker: lime green, red, and brown

* Tsukineko Brilliance Dew Drop pearlescent pigment ink: Sky Blue and Lime

* Tsukineko VersaFine pigment ink: Vintage Sepia

Thanks for looking! :-)

by Rena Leinberger

I was standing here, looking at the kitchen island and thought this was kind of cute. The painter's tape is covering the water dispenser on the refrigerator because it's broken, again. It will randomly just start pouring water; we've been quite lucky that it never happened while not home. I slapped a strip of painter's tape on it and called it fixed. :-)

One may recall the story about how Virginia Design Builders stupidly built the framing for the spiral stairs with 2 small boards instead of 1 large board, and how they began cracking more and more. One time, I heard it crack and wasn't even on the steps. Scary stuff. So they tried to cheap out, and had to pay more because of it, due to having to pay for 2 sets of wood and 2 days of labor. Haha. Joke is on them. Except it was on us too, and we live here. One good thing came out of it: The new wood was higher quality than any of their other wood. It felt different. It didn't need as much wood filler. It sanded different. It stained different (took color a LOT easier, for one thing). This was not knotty pine, but something high quality. The wood is actually the most beautiful wood that we got out of the whole addition endeavor.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

And then guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats[which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

painter's tape.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: www.acm.vt.edu/~clint/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.tract-for-our-addition.jpg ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me.

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

The finished Snoot and everything I used to make it.

A tea box

Scissors

Box cutter

Gaffers Tape

Painters Tape

SB600 w/Finished Snoot

I cut the box to fit around the Speedlight then covered both the inside and outside of the box with Gaffers tape. I couldn't find any Velcro in the house so I used Painters tape to temporarily close the Snoot around my SB600 Speedlight. I'll hit the Fabric store later this week for Velcro so I can re-use the Snoot for future projects.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 35mm f2@ f11| 0.3sec| ISO 800| Manual Mode| Hand-held

Another project completed. This time is was the bathroom ceiling. My sister and I painted the walls the day after I moved into the house. We were just too tired to do ceilings!! Got rid of the semi-gloss sheen on my ceiling and now have a fresh brilliant flat white to help the bathroom seem brighter!

The portal was probably the easiest part out of everything to stain. But due to the way our 20-minute cycles worked (four 5-minute sub-cycles: Step 1=Stain Area 1, Step 2=Stain Area 2, Step 3=Wipe Area 1, Step 4=Wipe Area 2), steps 2 and 4 didn't exist while doing this. You just had to hang around and do nothing, because there wasn't time to run upstairs and maintain an "Area 2" while keeping strict time with the clock. So even though this area was physically easy ... All you needed was a foot-stool for leaning ... It was still a pain in that it took twice as long as it needed to.

BACKSTORY: Anyone who reads our contract (link below) can see that it specified to move the closet and built-in shelves. But Virginia Design Builders's workers -- the workers hired by Daniel M. Lopez -- were unable to properly move the closet without destroying it. And they "accidentally" threw away our shelves. They also broke the trim at the edge of the closet.

Andthen guess what? The asshole refused to stain ANY of it, despite the fact that the only reason the color now didn't match was due to their inability to properly execute a contract. (It was a 3 month contract and was not finished for over 3 years.) This left us having to stain WAY more wood than we otherwise would have. It was quite literally a difference of several months' work, as we both had jobs (at the time), and spare time at home has been in deficit for awhile.

STAINING IS A PAIN: Just for reference, proper wood staining is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR pain in the ass. The wood filling, the sanding, the pre-conditioning, staining, the wiping, the dropcloths, the multiple coats of everything, the (4) polyurethane coats [which often required holding a lamp in one hand, to reflect light on it to ensure evenness], and the final sanding. And don't get me started on the timing: Stain 20 minutes after pre-conditioning, but only for 2 hours; stain in 20 minute cycles consisting of 4 sub-cycles: stain area #1, stain area #2, wipe area #1, wipe area #2. Then break, get new gloves, and start over. A 20 minute cycle might equal 2 shelves, or 2 boards from ceiling to floor. Our spreadsheet had over 200 cells. At the end of the day, the only way to get stain off your skin was to apply paint thinner directly to your skin in violation of the instructions, common sense, and one's best interests...

wood staining.

painter's tape, portal.

downstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

July 26, 2007.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

To see OUR contract with Dan Lopez / Virginia Design Builders: clint.sheer.us/download/filedump/2008/daniel-m-lop... ... Just in case anybody doesn't believe me./B>

I finished staining the inside frame of the National Quarters display, and then glued and assembled the frame that will sit on top of the quarters.

Next I need to stain it and route the frame, but this was a perfect fit (bonus of the day: I got to break in the new nail guns!!!).

Theme: Dream A Little Dream

Year Sixteen Of My 365 Project