Painting a large fabirc couch making it GROOVY

ANIMAL SMELL ON YOUR FURNITURE? Paint it.

Taking an old couch that stunk of dog pee ( a reality for any pet owner, I'm just brave enough to state it) into a fun and funky outdoor couch! Yes paint gets rid of smell!

Last spring I took out of family couch and began a big project. Presently it sits outside(yes in the snow, the cats love it) waiting for spring again when I will finish it up. It weathered great all summer, repealing rain with its strong dose of the magic Gesso. I did not get to put the glitter and poly on , truthfully I got burnt out on it, but I will finish up this spring. Read below to see the process I used.

Allot of paint and gesso primer !
laying out the design

Fabric couch made plastic
This was one of the only pieces of furniture that my husband
and I have ever bought. Our home has been furnished with hand
me downs, inheritance or from the curb side clean up days that I so
often had cherished finding chairs that others threw away. I felt
compelled to add a dog into the equation, thinking rather
romantically that it made our home even happier. The girls
loved the idea. He, the dog, no longer with us, decided to claim
it as his own,which in his world , meant voiding that which
is meant for the sides of trees. Meant for anywhere in fact,
but on our new couch. I lost the battle, but so did he
(he went to the pound,let us hope he found a good home)
Our beautiful new couch was peeded on no matter what we did.
Late at night, while at the grocery store, with our backs turned, we
never saw him do it.
Indoor couch made into outdoor furniture
The couch smelled horrible. After getting rid of the dog, I
asked my husband to take the couch out onto our sunny
side outdoor deck. Our option was to throw it away. In the past,
when searching the streets for great findZ, I had found this charming
shaped chair that was ripped and covered in dog hair and it also stunk.
I thought I'm going to try to paint this, what can it hurt? After all it is fabric.
Just the other day while I told a friend that I was painting a couch,
he said"I didn't think you could do that." I said "Canvas is fabric,
so is the couch." Suddenly it made sense to him that of course
it could be done.

PAINT AND POLY eliminate pet smells!
Well, I dug in and painted that chair, I didn't use my good
paints and was hesitant and cautious at first,
but afterward, I was amazed at the transformation. The
smell was gone, the chair was made new. Up-cycled at its best.
In fact that chair is in my bedroom right now.
I covered the chair in poly and this is what I believe was the
ultimate order ELIMINATOR!
I told my husband that I was going
to try and paint the couch and see if it too could be saved,
otherwise we planned to take it to the dump. This thought did
not settle well with me.
Gesso, a must in this project.
This time I covered the entire couch in GESSO first.
This was a necessary step, albeit expensive.
This was a laborious task and not much fun at all. It
took nearly a full half gallon. White paint would not have
worked as well.
I purchased quarts of red,orange, yellow, black, light purple
and chartreuse from my local paint store. They were thin so
I let the sun bake on them and thickened them up a bit. The
beers I added for a bit of inspiration. I only paint on a nice
sunny day so I can get a bit of a tan,plus the paint drys faster.
I put the stereo up load with my favorite music, currently
TEEN DREAM. (you must check it out)

REQUIRES allot of paint and some beer
I am not finished. It is taking allot of paint and requires multiple coats.
I choose a very bright and hippie 1960s style. At my age I should be
ashamed, but ever since a young girl growing up during this colorful
and fantastic time, I have loved the colors and style of this periods
psychedelic art.
I plan to outline everything in black, apply highlights with my
finest paints, apply lots of glitter and at the
end but on multiple coats of polyurethane. The couch will become
like a plastic couch, it will have a fair amount of waterproof qualities,
and it will wash up easily.
I intend to keep it outside on the deck as an outdoor piece of
furniture. In the winter I will just cover it with a tarp. It will be
a wow conversation piece for our family. Already I receive
comments from the neighbors walking their dog. The children in
the neighbor hood think it is "really cool"
I am not finished yet, but I will let you know how my process is going.
So far I have about 30 hours into it. Difficult to believe. I thought I could get
it done in one day if I worked hard enough (and drank enough beer)
As with all art it takes time. But I am confident that this will pay off.
DAUGHTER helps as artist assistant .

My wonderful and very talented daughter Miranda has been
assisting me in this work. In fact she made the Happy face and
drew the peace birds. She helps in reapplying coats and filling
in large blocks of color.

It has been raining for days. I am anxious to get back to work.
At this time, I have all the color laid down. Now I get to do the
really fun work.

So You Think You Don't Like Poetry

Leave it to Robert Hass to write a gorgeous, painful lyrical poem about life and art and somehow work in the phrase "fucks in the ass." That's a neat trick. Clearly, the man's got cajones, not to mention mad talent.

Against Botticelli

1

In the life we lead together every paradise is lost.
Nothing could be easier: summer gathers new leaves
to casual darkness. So few things we need to know.
And the old wisdoms shudder in us and grow slack.
Like renunciation. Like the melancholy beauty
of giving it all up. Like walking steadfast
in the rhythms, winter light and summer dark.
And the time for cutting furrows and the dance.
Mad seed. Death waits it out. It waits us out,
the sleek incandescent saints, earthly and prayerful.
In our modesty. In our shamefast and steady attention
to the ceremony, its preparation, the formal hovering
of pleasure which falls like the rain we pray not to get
and are glad for and drown in. Or spray of that sea,
irised: otters in the tide lash, in the kelp-drench,
mammal warmth and the inhuman element. Ah, that is the secret.
That she is an otter, that Botticelli saw her so.
That we are not otters and are not in the painting
by Botticelli. We are not even in the painting by Bosch
where the people are standing around looking at the frame
of the Botticelli painting and when Love arrives, they throw up.
Or the Goya painting of the sad ones, angular and shriven,
who watch the Bosch and feel very compassionate
but hurt each other often and inefficiently. We are not in any
painting.
If we do it at all, we will be like the old Russians.
We’ll walk down through scrub oak to the sea
and where the seals lie preening on the beach
we will look at each other steadily
and butcher them and skin them.

2

The myth they chose was the constant lovers.
The theme was richness over time.
It is a difficult story and the wise never choose it
because it requires a long performance
and because there is nothing, by definition, between the acts.
It is different in kind from a man and the pale woman
he fucks in the ass underneath the stars
because it is summer and they are full of longing
and sick of birth. They burn coolly
like phosphorus, and the thing need be done
only once. Like the sacking of Troy
it survives in imagination,
in the longing brought perfectly to closing,
the woman’s white hands opening, opening,
and the man churning inside her, thrashing there.
And light travels as if all the stars they were under
exploded centuries ago and they are resting now, glowing.
The woman thinks what she is feeling is like the dark
and utterly complete. The man is past sadness,
though his eyes are wet. He is learning about gratitude,
how final it is, as if the grace in Botticelli’s Primavera ,
the one with sad eyes who represents pleasure,
had a canvas to herself, entirely to herself.

Suitcases featured in artfire collections

I will continue to add collections to this post , I have hundreds of collections to go threw on artifre. the shops at this site are very nice and have created many beautiful and interesting collections. i have not created a collection yet on artfire I am ashamed in some ways to say. So very busy with everything else, it seems such a luxury to me to sit and browse and create one, I am dedicated to it however. In fact I might make one with nothing but my suitcases! somewhat taboo I am sure, but I would like to see all my work together...all the color should blow the mind!

ITS A JUNGLE OUT THERE

Curated By: funkyluke

ArtFire.com

Indie Design

This collection was created by a much loved soul sister who I met on line, we are so much alike, we have never met , but I really love her. She is a talented artist whose work I adore. She created this wild collection with one of my favorite suitcases that I made from pulp art images, animal print tissue paper.

Skull

Curated By: AngryChix

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

all things altered

Curated By: funkyluke

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

For the love of suitcases!

I am a seller on etsy where my recycled art and vintage items are sold. They offer a nice feature where shops can create treasuries, to showcase others work or items, this is a fun one which features one of my favorites, cloth suitcases from the 1960s and early 1970s.

T-minus 45 days

Let the countdown to my 30th birthday begin!

45 days left in my 20s. And one of the things on my mind is what to get myself. What? Get yourself a birthday present? That's absurd!

I am a huge proponent of getting oneself a present for one's birthday. It's the only way to ensure you will receive something you actually want, as opposed to a mousepad shaped like a ladybug (sorry, Mom). It's not necessary to break the bank; last year, I treated myself to a lovely pair of earrings that cost under $20. I wear them all the time.

This year, however, I am planning to splurge a little more, since I am turning the big 3-0. Here are the current contenders:

1. Vespa


Admit it: I would look pretty cute zipping around town on one of these babies. When I told my mother I was considering this, she said "Do you want me to never sleep again?" Good thing she doesn't know about the next option...

2. Skydiving with my brother Richard

We actually talked about doing this when he graduated from college but never got around to it. It could be time. I'm terrified of it and can't conceive of doing it....which is part of what makes it tempting. Achieving something that seems impossible would probably be a great way to kick off the next decade of my life.

3. Lasik

Since age 15, my glasses have been my thing, the signature part of my appearance. Most people dig the look -- more than one member of the opposite sex has said they are a turn-on. Still, I might be ready to shake up what my friends call The Katie Vagnino Aesthetic.

4. Solo trip to Spain

Traveling with friends is super fun, but I've been craving the experience of taking a major trip abroad by myself. And I've never been to Spain. And don't all the men there look like Javier Bardem?

5. Breast reduction

This option I have floated by a few friends with mixed reactions. Women get it -- big boobs are a big annoyance. I long to sleep on my stomach and wear strapless dresses. Men think I'm crazy for wanting to change what they consider one of my better assets. You can't please everyone, I guess. I have done some research and talked with some women who've had it done (and are thrilled with the results) so at the very least, I think I'll get a consultation. And if I do decide to do it, I'll certainly throw my tits a farewell soiree. They deserve that.

So now, readers, I'm giving you the chance to weigh in.....

What should the gift be?

Clearview on side table

If you've read bijou kaleidoscope for some time, you'd know I LOVE dollhouses.

I've wanted a modern dollhouse so bad for so long... and this is what I want to do with it:



I don't want to create a "dollhouse room"... just a table with my beloved dollhouse (modern, btw, none of those Victorian stuff!).

One day... I'm eyeing the Emerson house by Brinca Dada. (The Clearview above is discontinued.) It actually hurts that it is going to cost me AUD$600 to get one sent here...



Actually, the Bennett House is kinda similar to the Clearview!

The writing on the wall, er, stall

One week from today, I will teach my first class in a course designed entirely by me. The only parameters: the class must involve a research component and introduce the students to multiple genres (i.e. other than the academic essay). Most instructors choose a theme or topic around which to build their class. My topic is the Women's Movement. Here is my course description:
will explore how informed writing can affect (and has affected) social/political
WR121: The Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves

This course will explore how informed writing can effect (and has effected) social/political change in the United States, as viewed through the lens of the Women’s Movement from the 19th century to the present. This is not, however, a class for or of interest only to women – in the context of this course, women will be considered as a social group with a history of advocating for legal rights and other privileges. We will examine the various waves of feminism, looking at why some movements were successful (the passage of the 19th amendment, granting suffrage) while others were not (the never-passed Equal Rights Amendment), as well as what the label of “feminist” means today. Political cartoons, op-eds, speeches, biographies, and blogs will be among the genres we study, and the course will culminate in a fieldwork-based group project where students will design an advocacy campaign for a local women’s organization. No prior knowledge of the Women’s Movement or feminism is required.


Now, when I came up with this, I was under the impression that this year, as it had been in previous years, the freshmen would be able to read the various section descriptions and select a topic that interested them. I was also assuming I'd have a class of mostly women, like last semester (ratio of women to men was 13:1). However, neither of these assumptions is true. For the first time, freshmen advisers slotted students randomly into sections regardless of their majors/interests and according to my class list, I will have 6 men and 9 women in my class.

Upon learning these things, I initially freaked out and considered going with a different topic. Oh God, I thought, what if I get a bunch of kids who think Hillary Clinton is a feminazi? Or think women should remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?

But I'm sticking to my guns, folks. My boss supports me, though acknowledges that making my course palatable and accessible to a variety of 18-year-old viewpoints will be, to say the least, a challenge. But as one friend reminded me, making freshmen write about something outside their comfort zone is not a terrible objective. My junior year in college, I took a Women's Studies course to fulfill a requirement and I was way more into it than I thought I would be. Do I have a secret agenda to make all my students militant feminists? No. But do I think it's important for college students, regardless of gender, to learn about the victories and defeats of one of the most significant, complex and (arguably) ongoing American social movements? Absolutely.

And while I'm not superstitious, something happened to me yesterday that I'm interpreting as a sign that I made the right choice. I found something tucked away in a book from college -- a transcription of graffiti from a ladies room bathroom stall of the (no longer existent) Cross Campus Library at Yale. I stared at this graffiti conversation and watched it evolve over several semesters before finally deciding to write it down. And yesterday, I found the scrap of notebook paper. The graffiti "debate" was as follows and try to imagine lots of different handwriting, Sharpie colors etc:

When do I turn into a woman?

What is a woman?

Never

When you kiss a frog

When you sway your hips

When you decide or discover you are one

When you have a child <----that's ridiculous, not all women can have children

or want to

It's when you love yourself

When you can look back & want to move forward


I found this so compelling then and reading it again now, am still struck by it, especially the last comment, the one that silenced the other scrawlers: When you can look back & want to move forward. Isn't that why we study the history of anything?