Two for One!

My project for today actually turned out to be two projects in one (sorry for such a long post)!



It is my first real woodworking or building project completely from scratch. It's only a very simple bookcase, but it's something I needed and building it has given me the confidence to try my hand at woodworking again. Here's how it came together.

First, I assembled my materials.



And I gathered my tools, most of which were purchased at yard sales.



And then it was time to saw, hammer and nail. I attached the sides to the back first, and then the top and bottom.
Look, now I have (drumroll...) a large box!



And now for the moment of truth....is it level?



Yes!!!!
Time to put the shelves in!



The next step was painting...white, of course, and then I added some vintage ephmera to the back. I only taped it in place so that it would be easy to change. Finally, I added some wheels for easy portability. Here are some close-ups of the shelves. The first shelf features the cover from a piece of 1920's sheet music.


Here it is after I added some decorative objects. The little blue box also serves as storage for my plate hangers.


On the second shelf I used some vintage sheet music, a remnant of scrapbooking paper, and a vintage style postcard.


It holds some books, a family photo, and a vintage flower brooch. The book covers are made from aqua wrapping paper to coordinate with the room.


For the third shelf I added some old book pages and a piece of vintage sheet music. I really like the title of this song, "Why Must I Dream".


Here's another storage box; this one holds my plate and photo easels. I put the toile container on top because I like it, but I'm certain that it will soon become the stash place for something!


I put some additional sheet music on the bottom shelf, along with more old book pages, one of which, has photographs.


More books and a little milkglass sherbet for the bottom shelf.


Here's a photo of the finished bookcase, pictured with some other recent projects.


After putting it where I'd planned, I realized it needed something else. The front was facing the dining area, but the back was facing the guest/project room and looked rather blah. (I'll show you the bookcase in its permanent spot when I do the room reveal a little later.) At any rate, I decided it would look nice semi disguised as a column, so out came the pencil. I did a few practice sketches of columns on paper to find a design that I was happy with. Then I penciled the sketch to the bookcase.



I "painted" it by going over the outline with a wide Sharpie marker. Gotta love those little Sharpies --- one of my favorite "tools" anyway!


Here's the finished result.


So now it's a bookcase on one side and a column on the other.



Again, sorry for such a long post, but I just had to share my first absolutely from scratch furniture project.

Until next time,
Sheilla

My Art Prints Have Arrived!

Recently I decided to have some of my art work printed, but finding a printer turned out to be quite a challenge. After searching the Belfast area in vain for a print shop that could handle large, quality prints. I began searching online.
	"First Rose" - Pencil Sketch

My first several stops were quite discouraging. Most of the printers I found had extremely high prices for small quantities. But then I happened across Northeast Reprographics in Bangor. Their prices were quite reasonable, and to make things even better, Jeff was very helpful (and extremely patient) in guiding me through the process of preparing my artwork for printing.

"Stairway to Heaven" - Multimedia Collage

"Suite Madame Blue" - Multimedia Collage

I had 4 diffent types of media to print, pencil sketches, photographs, and collage, and I was quite happy with the results of each.
"Friends" - Black and White Photograph

The "Friends" shot is my sweet dobie-lab mix Lucy, with Prissy, my cat. It was an accidental shot, but one of my favorites. I'll be using the black and white images in the photo wall I'm putting together, and the collages will go in my guest room/project room that I'll soon be re-doing. I've just got to get the old bunk beds out of there so that I can start. Yesterday I visited a lumber yard and priced wood for a bookcase-room divider that I'm planning to build. It will be my first large woodworking project, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. The folks at Buxton Building Supply were extremely helpful in suggesting materials and, like Jeff at Reprographics, most patient in guiding a newbie! Time to get busy!

Until next time,