Project Working

I think one of the things I find the most rewarding about designing and decorating is visiting the thrift store and finding a sad, inexpensive piece of furniture with good bones that just needs a little love.  Ive always been able to instantly look at a piece and envision what it could be.  I truly enjoy that.  I also enjoy gaining inspiration from others and their finds and redos so I thought it would be a lot of fun to start a monthly series featuring thrift store before and afters from our readers.


Beginning in October, I will choose a reader redo to feature a couple of times a month, maybe more, depending on time.  I want you to send me your before and after photos of thrift store or garage sale finds that youve reinvented or repurposed and I will choose a couple (or more) to feature here on the blog a month.  You dont have to have a blog to do this, anyone can send them in.  Just provide me with a couple of photos of your piece and a detailed description of what you did to redo it, including whatever products (paint, sandpaper, etc) you used, as well as, your name.

Photos and info can be sent to ourvintagehomelove@gmail.com. 
Please put Reader Redo in the subject line. 

You can check out my thrift store redos by clicking here.

I think this will be a lot of fun!  Its my version of a linky party (which I have no idea how to do) but a little more personal.  Im looking forward to featuring your project! 
Hope to see lots of redos in our inbox!

Did anyone work on a redo this past weekend?  Id love to hear about it in the comments section!

Enjoy your day,
Diana

This time of year its standard blogging practice to write a post where one either looks back at the year past or forward to the promises of the future. To be sure 2012 was a very trying year in my neck of the woods between surgeries and housing issues, but I refuse to recap the good, bad, and ugly and burden you with the reading of it.

Towards the end of this last year I had an exciting experience, unfortunately I am sworn to secrecy about it, but the fact that it happened caused me to rethink a lot about what I do and how I do it. It made me think more about where I want to be as I move forward in my sawdust and writing adventures. I want the opportunity to sit at that table more and more often as time goes on.

Hmmm.... a little cryptic huh?
I know.
My apologies, lets move on.

The bottom line is I have two woodworking books trapped in my head and they are struggling to get out. One is a straight forward concept, the other is a little more esoteric and research based. Both need some financial support to get off the ground, there will be new equipment and travel expenses involved and that leaves me with several choices.

I could try and secure a loan, but I have been trying to shed myself of debt lately and gathering more moss is contrary to the more independent life Im fighting for.

I could start to leverage the traffic I get here by selling myself to a variety of sponsors until Im wearing a shop apron that looks like a NASCAR entry and every other blog post is a review or announcement of some tool or event. Ive considered advertisement here for a long time and to be honest I cannot get my head into it, its not that I feel as pure about it as Chris Schwarz, but there is an integrity and independence issue with me. Some how all that advertiser/sponsor stuff just doesnt feel right in my gut. I dont want to waste my time and yours selling you someone elses crap stuff.

I could continue like I am and push a little from my bi-weekly paychecks into the game. After all is said and done there just isnt that much left and this process would take me forever, I would lose patience with things and be no farther along in a decade than I am now. This really wont stop along the way, my flesh is all the way into this game, this choice just isnt enough to be realistic.

None of these are perfectly acceptable, instead Im going for a combination of two other ideas.

First I am going to start to shed the excess tool baggage thats hanging around my neck. Over the next several weeks and maybe through out the year I am going to be posting tools up here on the blog for sale. These will be items Ive picked up as Ive grown as a woodworker. In some cases Ive found that I didnt need the tool or Ive found a tool that just works better for me. Some will be rehabbed, some will be as I found them.

In all the cases I will only be asking what I paid for them myself, plus shipping costs. The first person to email me will get the chance to buy the item.

The second part of the plan is simpler yet, for both of us. I ask YOU for help in supporting my dream.

Im including a new Paypal "Donate" button in this blog post and on the sidebar of the blog and Im hoping you will see it as a way to give help push me along this path. There are other ways to raise money for projects like this on the internet, but to handle everything here feels like the best way to start getting the ball rolling. As my way of saying thanks I will include the name of everyone who donates on a special dedication page of both books.

Im looking forward to this new year, I hope you are too. Thank you for your readership and your supporting me in this endeavor.

Ratione et Passionis.
Oldwolf

The Basics with Dave Richards
 


As you probably already know I’m a huge fan of sketching…by sketching I mean with a pencil on paper! But that is only the first step I take when designing custom furniture. I find that once ideas are quickly captured on paper, it can be helpful (and fun) to refine those ideas in a program like SketchUp.
If you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade and have never heard of SketchUp, then let me say that it’s a free product from Google that offers users the ability to design and create on their computer. ’3D modeling for everyone’…
Now being the neanderthal that I am, I’ve had a hard time using it and my learning curve has been, shall we say, longer than the average. ; )  I was convinced I had some disposition or mental block because I know dozens of wood workers who use this valuable tool day in and day out without any problem. So that said- I received a promo copy of the new  guide for woodworkers by David Richards and after watching the online video content, I immediately felt like a veil had been lifted from my laptop. I can see the light! Dave takes the viewer through a series of video clips and with easy to follow instruction, he walks the user through the process of using SketchUp. Geared towards the woodworking community, it demonstrates the steps needed to design and ‘build’ a small cabinet from start to finish with lots of extras along the way.
If you’re like me and have some shortcomings with the program, or if you’d like to start with a great foundation course on it, then check out this new release from the Taunton Press. You can do a video download for only $12.95 or purchase a DVD for $16.95. That’s about the price you’d pay to go see a movie and instead you’ll be getting an invaluable learning aid for this helpful design tool.
Cheers!

I mentioned this in a VLOG on YouTube but I dont think that I said anything about it here.  My new goal is to have a project video posted every other Tuesday instead of once a month-ish.  I will still be making random VLOGs when the urge hits me but the goal is every 2 weeks on the projects.  My last project video was posted on September 24th so the next one will be posted tomorrow.

That is all.