Finally Finished!

I finally finished up some of the projects I was working on.  You got a sneak peak of some of the materials in last week's post here.  You can definitely see the results of my picture taking spree in San Francisco.  For these creations, some of which may end up in my Etsy shop, I've used two of my favorite photographs. One is of the Golden Gate Bridge and the other is of an architectural corbel found on one of the many beautiful old buildings as we walked down California Street.

Back to the Creation Station!

We've nicknamed the formal dining room - turned workshop the Creation Station.  I'm not sure who came up with the name, but it's a name that was given to my old scrapbook table in one of our former homes.  It kind of has become the nickname for my work room or work table wherever it may be.  So today, for the first time in a few weeks, I was back at the Creation Station working on several projects.  Some of them are for the house, some to be given as gifts, and some will go up for sale in my Etsy shop.  I don't have any pictures of finished products for you just yet, but I thought I would post a couple of sneak peek photos just to get you guessing.

Tuesday Treasury List ~ Skylines

'Skylines' by hartleyrowe

I love cities and I love their skylines. There are some amazing artists and photographers at Etsy.com that transform those skylines into amazing art. Click the images below to visit the talented Etsy artists and their shops. My favorite skyline is my very own city's skyline ~ San Diego. What's your favorite skyline?

Corbel Close-Up

I've been trying to decide what to do with several photos I took of architectural elements during our last trip to San Francisco.  I finally got to work today to try a new project.  Here is a picture of the first one in a series I have planned.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the elements I took; one of a corbel.  I love corbels and how they've been used in architecture over the ages.  Sometimes  referred to as brackets or cornices, the name's not important, but the beauty is.

I printed the photograph onto regular printer paper and adhered it to three sanded and painted pallet boards.  I used ModPodge and black acrylic paint.  You can see the steps in the picture below.

I had originally thought I would  frame the picture with smaller strips on the front, but  I decided to keep the front flat with the photo being the focal point.

The boards are held together by another pallet board that I split and nailed as braces from the back.  I then attached a saw tooth picture hanger on the back.

                     

It now hangs near our door leading out to our garage.  It will remind us of our visit to San Francisco to visit our son every time we leave the house.   You can read more about the pictures I took on our trip here.  It's my blog post about one of my favorite online photo editing programs....Picasa 3.

I hope this project gives you some ideas for ones of your own.  Please let me know if you have any questions...or suggestions for making this project even better.

Thank you!

~ Alison

This post was linked up at:

The Boogie Board Cottage
Thrifty Decor Chick
Home Stories A to Z

"Picasa 3, Meet California Street"

Most of you know, by reading  many of my former posts, that our oldest son lives and works in San Francisco.  You probably also remember how much I love to visit his beloved city.  I thought I would post a few pictures that I took on one of our walks down California Street from Pacific Heights to the Embarcadero. My son takes this walk every day as he goes to and from work.  What a lucky fella!

I have a dear friend who lives in New York City who told me during my visit to his city to always LOOK UP when walking our finest cities.  He was right!  I do this in every city I visit now. I am astonished at the beauty that can be found high above eye level.  All three of the pictures I've posted here were taken of buildings along California Street as I walked around... looking up.  ~  I must insert a safety warning at this point.....urging everyone to please have someone with you guiding you as you attempt to take pictures in a crowded city as you walk....looking up.  It can be dangerous! ~

I've always been fascinated with architecture and architectural elements.  I love altering the photos with photo editing programs and software.  Since I'm a true Google Nut, I love Picasa 3.  It's a free downloadable photo editing program produced by Google.  You must try it!  I edited the photos here with Picasa 3, and then uploaded them to yet another program, PicMonkey, to add the borders.    

So, there you have it:)  My photo editing secret....Picasa 3! With a little help from PicMonkey.  I just love sharing tricks of the trade for others to use.  I still love Adobe Photoshop ~ I just wish it wasn't so expensive.....

I'm curious to know what you think of my photos of California Street.  Can you identify the buildings?  Have you been on California Street?  I hope you have had the chance to "look up" in one of our nation's most beautiful cities.

~ Alison

This post was linked up to:

Home Stories A to Z

Give Me the Goods Monday @ Better With Age

Master Piece Monday @ Boogie Board Cottage

Create and Share @ The Trendy Treehouse

Inspiration Friday @ The Common Ground

Homemaker on a Dime

Catch as Catch Can @ My Repurposed Life

Building Andy's Bed

I just asked my husband what the title of my blog post about building our son Andy's bed should be.  He answered, "Building Andy's Bed", so that's it.  Simple and to the point.  This post is all about building Andy's bed.

Our oldest son lives and works in San Francisco and just spent a mint on a new mattress.  Just like every other young adult trying to save money while they further their career, he didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on a bed frame for that super comfy mattress.  As he is waiting to save up his hard earned cash before buying a frame, I thought I could put together a simple, pallet style platform base for him  until he could afford what he really wants.  As luck would have it, we were just getting ready to travel to San Francisco to visit him for the long Presidents' Day weekend.  I thought I could build a bed-in-a-box (Ikea Style) that we could take with us in the back of our Honda Pilot.  

Below you see the beginnings of Andy's bed.  The base was made from four pallets custom sized to 31" x 40".  When they were are all put together, the base measured 62" x 80", the perfect size for his mattress.

You  may notice some of the boards have green spray paint at the ends.  The are special treasures found in the culled lumber bin at Home Depot.  They cost $.52/each!  What a find!  Over half of the boards were from this treasure trove of goodies.  I had to purchase all the 2 x 4's; there were six of them in all.  The rest of the board were either 1 x 4's or 1 x 6's.  You can see below the basic boards side by side.  I had Home Depot cut the 2 x 4's to size, but I did the rest of cuts at home with my trusty jigsaw.

Below you can see two of the finished "pallets" side by side, along with our trusty Sears Craftsman drill we've  had for over 20 years!  I love it!  I also have a great little rechargeable drill that I use for small projects, but I bring out the big gun for the big projects.  

I decided to use the pallet style base after researching many wonderful sites online.  Many people use actual pallets and sand and stain them, but I was afraid to use them for a bed.  My son will be sleeping on this and I don't want him exposed to any chemicals that pallets may have been treated with.  Don't get me wrong...I love pallets and have used wood from them to build other projects; mainly ones that will be used outdoors, or for small decorating accessories.  However, I don't think they should be used in applications where constant contact may be made.....that's just my opinion.

I told my son that he would someday tire of the old platform style base, especially when he made his first million and could buy an entire fine furniture store.  So, when he does make that first million, I showed him how the bed could be taken apart and the pallets could be used as shelving or wall decor.  I had one of his Ferragamo shoe boxes in the garage (he has great taste in shoes that his mother certainly can't afford:), so I sat it on one of the base supports to show him how he could turn his bed into display shelves.

Below you can see the final product.  Please ignore how the boards don't completely line up from side to side.  I assure you, the dimensions are consistent, and the base is stronger than Popeye's grip on his can of spinach!

I just had to put a picture of my favorite tools below.  The old drill, you've met before; my very old tape measure and hammer both belonged to my father ~ and the hammer before that belonged to my grandfather.  And, lastly there's my awl.  It's newer and happens to be the fourth one I own.  I absolutely couldn't survive without an awl close by.  An awl can do everything from creating holes to give wood screws their start, to punching paper that will later be bound into a handmade journal.  An awl is one of the most versatile tools one can have.

My husband was inside vacuuming and doing everyday domestics while I was out in the garage building the bed.  We often laugh at how some traditional roles in our marriage are often reversed...he decided to take a break and sneak outside to check my progress..he snapped this quick photo of me decked out in my new tool belt he got me for my birthday.

After a long night's work and only hours away from getting on the road to San Francisco, I loaded the bed, four pieces in all, into the back of the Honda.  Look at how it fit!  I was so excited for Andy to see it.

We traveled all day and got into town just in time for Andy to get home from work and unload his new piece of furniture.

The finishing of the bed was going to be on site in his apartment in San Francisco. His plan was to stain it with a near black stain.  He wanted to let the wood grain show through.  He also plans to either elevate it by either using 4 x 4's as crossbars or possibly finding vintage casters, the really big six-inch ones, to attach to the bottom.  

Below you can catch a glimpse of the stained bed.  It turned out so great.  The pictures just don't do it justice.   

Here's a picture of the full bed.  He's promised to send more pics as soon as his room is complete.  It's still a work in progress as you can see from the rest of the photograph.  I love the paint color he has chosen for his wall. The other walls are white, similar to the amazing baseboard seen here.  He lives in an old Victorian home similar to the Painted Ladies you see in all the great San Francisco travel guides.  He actually has six inch crown molding, a chandelier medallion and a fireplace in his room.  All this, along with the amazing bay window with curved glass, makes for a wonderful retreat.  

I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished bed, casters or no-casters, as soon as he has everything finished.  I'm so happy he can actually put the finishing touches on his new bed.  It will become his own handmade family piece to have forever, whether it remains a bed or turns into shelving on his wall:)

I hope you've enjoyed viewing this post.  Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the photos or the process.  It was definitely a labor of love.  There's nothing better than working with your hands and building something out of simple boards...especially if it is something for someone you love!

Thank you for stopping by!

~ Alison

This post is linked up to:

Miss Mustard Seed
The Trendy Treehouse

A Little Bit of San Francisco.....

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I had almost given up on the project above, but I was persuaded not to by my son.  My oldest son, Andy, is moving back to his beloved city of San Francisco to start a new job.  I wanted to give him a small house warming gift for his new apartment so I worked on an inkjet transfer onto wood using one of the photos I had taken there during a past trip.  I was not happy at all with the way it was turning out, but he saw a "diamond in the rough".  I had abandoned the project and written it off as a "fail".  He took one look at it and could tell that it could become a beauty, something he would love to  have in his new place.   So, with the encouragement of  one of my biggest cheerleaders, a.k.a. Andy, I resumed the project and finished it up.  I'm happy to say, I have reports of it making the trip to San Francisco safely and it is now in its new home.  

~

Here are a couple of pictures of the transfer of the Golden Gate Bridge onto a reclaimed lumber board.  Andy, I hope you like it and and that you enjoy being able to see a bit of the bridge every single day....clouds or no clouds:)

Below is the inkjet printout I used as a transfer onto the wooden board.  I love the end result as it appears to be very aged and weathered.

One of the benefits of having adult children that live in amazing locations is that I get to visit them in their wonderful cities......I sure can't wait for my next visit to San Francisco!

I hope you all have some wonderful trips planned for 2013.  Be sure to take lots of pictures.  You never know what special treasures and creations those photos will become.......

~ Alison

Countdown to a Grand Opening!

It's so hard to believe that it's only one month before my Etsy shop opens.  I've been so busy winding things up at school that the time has flown by.  Several months ago I made a timeline showing myself what needed to get done, and when, in order to make it a July 8, opening.  I'm so happy to say that I think I am on track!

I have three more days of working my "day job" before the summer break begins.  I will miss all my students and co-workers, but I am looking forward to my great adventure this summer.  My two children that are in college will be home to help with the launch and my husband and sixteen year old are all set to be willing shop volunteers.  Even my oldest kiddo living and working in San Francisco is getting in on the action by sending lots of encouragement and ideas.  He's the businessman of the family and his advice is invaluable.

So here we go!  Only one month remaining until you see all that the Etsy Shop, Hartley Rowe, has to offer. I sure hope you stop by and let me  know what you think.