Friday, March 6, 2015

A Friday Chat ( about this & that ) and giveaway winner !

Coffee's on the counter - help yourself !
What shall we talk about?

T.V.
Again.
T.L.C.
( To Laugh or Cry )

This week on TLC there was a story about a lady who had 14 inch long nails - and was looking for love.
She may or may not have found it - we'll see - but driving to her date she broke one of them !
OMG - I was hanging on the edge of my seat !
What will she do now?
Can she get over this hump?
What a riveting story line !

Thankfully she had glue in her purse and someone helped her fix it - otherwise this would have bordered the
" Who Shot J.R. ? " cliff hanger !

Her date took her on a cooking class evening - and she manoeuvred those puppies around the frying pan like nobody's business.................the Chef was impressed ( and we all know how difficult Chef's can be )
I was impressed. ( not with the nails but how she can actually live with them )
John wasn't/

John says - What the hell are you watching now?
Suzan says - This lady's nails are 14 inches long - come see !

He almost threw up - poor thing - he has a sensitive stomach.
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There's a new show on " Little Family "
Personally I find it a little insulting to little people everywhere .

See how little people live.
See how they cook their dinner.
See how they brush their teeth.
See how they run...............type of thing.
I mean they're just people in my mind.

Anyway - they've decided to take their story public - ( good for them - the money's good, I hear )
So here they are - out and about - and they end up at the Lincoln Memorial - strolling around with their children - a typical family day EXCEPT THERE'S A CAMERA CREW FOLLOWING THEIR EVERY MOVE SO THAT IT CAN BE TELEVISED INTERNATIONALLY.

And the Mom notices that someone's taking their picture.

" No No No she waves her finger at them - No pictures - Please NO pictures "
She then explains to the camera man ( and us millions of people watching ) that she doesn't want people taking pictures of them just because their little -

Come again?
THEY'RE ONLY ON TLC BECAUSE THEY'RE LITTLE !

_________________________________________________________________________________

Are you politically incorrect?
Bet you are !

There was a big hooplah on social media this week.
The " R " word was used again.
Apparently a weather person said the weather this winter was retarded.

Ok - it's on odd choice of words to describe weather.  ( even if it describes it perfectly )

But the outcry?
I don't get it.
At. All.
How can calling the weather something be an attack on all mentally handicapped challenged children?

I'm not an insensitive person but we're getting so damned politically correct that soon we'll be grunting like cavemen in case we sound offensive.

Can someone explain it to me ?

I'm really asking this question because I don't get it.
And I'm risking sounding like an ignoramus here, I know - but I want to understand.
Help !

Here's a list of others words and phrases that are considered Politically Incorrect

Pet Owner is a no-no
Apparently we shouldn't say we own them - but rather we are Pet Guardians.
( why do we have to buy them if we're only their guardians - and who sits there and thinks up these reasons to be offended? )

Swine Flu
Offensive to Pork Farmers ( I kid you not )

Christmas - and now supporters of Happy Holidays are not thrilled with that either because Holiday derives from Holy Day - and it gets better - the X in Xmas is the Greek letter CHI - which is the first two letters of Christ...................
( maybe we should just be telling everyone to go to hell around the holiday season?

Black sheep - Black day - White Collar - for racial reasons.

Senior Citizen - to be replaced with Older Person ( apparently it sounds more inclusive )

Oriental - but only from North Americans - because it refers to Asia from a geographical perspective
( this is NOT satire ) it's perfectly acceptable for Europeans to use this term -
So what happens when a European tourist uses the phrase while in North America ?  You see how complicated it all becomes ? You'd better have your passport on hand at all times to prove you don't live here !

Flip Chart - offensive to Filipinos - OMG - I'm flipping out here !

No Worries - possibly offensive to those with O.C.D. who tend to worry too much

The list goes on and on and on -

Here's me being completely Politically Incorrect.

I  was going to make a flip chart to showcase them all because I have a white collar job - but since I'm a black sheep I decided not to.
I asked my Senior Citizen if he could walk Soda - since we're Pet Owner's and he said No Worries and took her out while I vacuumed the Oriental carpet.
It's been terribly cold here - hope I don't catch anything like the Swine Flu ( since I was really sick at Christmas...................

Oh and maybe you should check this site out GLOBAL LANGUAGE MONITOR before you open your mouth to say a word about all of this !
You could end up in deep sh feces ........................
_________________________________________________________________________________

And guess what arrived yesterday?
The package from Australia !
So here's the winner of the HEART TO HEART  giveaway ( I'm not sure - but giveaway might be offensive to people who sell things - have to check that out )

True Random Number Generator  9

Carol - Art & Sand - it's YOU !!!
How appropriate - you were the one that gave me my first hearts !!!
Can you drop me a line giving me your address?

Have a great weekend  ( so as not to offend those who love to work ) 2 days everyone !
Hugs,
Me

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Oh Yeah ! I forgot my Bergere Chairs !

Too much going on - really - just. too. much.


I'm working on one thing - and then move on to another before finishing - so I have a house full of half done projects ( including the house itself )

Begaere Chair with painted fabric


Painted Begere Chair

While I was pulling out the dining room chairs to repaint - ( a room I NEVER go into because it hasn't been touched in this year of reno's and it quite literally makes me sick to see it ) I noticed my sad Bergere chairs sitting in the corner ..............

You can see the post ( with some beauties ) HERE

John was horrified that I would even consider these..............and I seem to recall him laughing his head off when he came home with them..................because really he only saw this


While I only saw this - the same chair - with a little work done to it !

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - painting fabric


Begere Chair transformation

The last photo I showed way back in September was this one


Because that was all that had been painted - once I wrote up the post I guess I quickly shoved them into the hell hole ( that's the official name of the dining room in it's current state )  and forgot all about them !

So yesterday I promptly stopped painting the dining room chairs ( and I'll probably forget about them too LOL )  You can see the before and after's of these HERE


and started resumed working on these................because that's the way I roll.

I knew I was painting the fabric from the get go - because a quote from the reupholsterer was in the 400.00 range - PER CHAIR - and that was just not happening  ( maybe down the road when reno's are finished - perhaps a beautiful linen would be nice - but there's no way I can justify spending that now- that's a set of French doors for the dining room ! )
Which is where I'd like to put these chairs eventually - flanking each side of French doors..............

So - ok - here we go -


Most of you know how to do this by now - but for those of you that don't - first and foremost you must dampen your fabric -
Some use a spritz bottle of water as they go - ( which is smart )  I just use a damp rag and wet the fabric that way ( which is lazy ) both ways work.
Dampening the fabric allows for the paint to work almost like a DYE -
Those of you that question paint's adherence to fabric - have you every tried to get it off clothing it's spilled on?  Impossible!

I also use ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT ™ - ( believe it or not many years ago I painted a leather chair using latex paint and it held up beautifully ) but now as you know I mostly use chalk paint for everything.

Step 1 - I watered the paint to a milky consistency and applied it to the fabric.
Step 2 - I lightly sanded the surfaces that had just been painted - removing the " stiffness "
Step 3 - I put a second coat - watering it to a gravy consistancy.
Step 4 - I sanded
Step 5 - I slapped another coat of the gravy on........................


The most difficult part of this chair transformation was the upholstered arms - HOLY SHIZ, I can't tell you how much I hate removing old fabric from chairs................and how hard these particular ones were.
At one point I was going to try to paint the ripped fabric and leave it as a deconstructed look lol ( which I actually like ) but I persevered instead.


This is what I used to do the job.


The most important item being the polysporin because I now have a pinky finger that has been rendered useless - and a middle finger that's wrapped in 10 bandages to stop the bleeding.

The pain of a screw driver plunging in to your finger while using all your strength is worse than delivering a baby.
I thought about that long and hard - and I stand by it.
We forget the pain of giving birth -  I was in labor for 8 hours with the twins - and if someone had shoved a screwdriver into my bones for 8 hours I would have never forgotten it.



John was out when I was working on this chair - and it struck me that I didn't scream.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around........................
I know for a fact that if he'd been home I'd have let out a scream - isn't that strange?
And then I'd say - No, no, I'm ok - and press my finger so the blood would splatter all over his feet.
Actress?
Why yes, yes I am
But I could never match the yell John would have let out - never 


The beautiful details ( and it's all in the details, right? ) which didn't really show at all in it's original state - pop ( I hate that word with decor but I can't think of another to use right now ) and besides - they really DO pop


I think I'll dab a little silver on the " relief " for a little something - something





Level of difficulty?
Pffft - trust me, if I can do it, anyone can - all you need is patience.
And polysporin.............

THIS chair was a lot more work because I reupholstered it - painting's a breeze compared to that
( hmmm - how many chair makeover's can I fit in one post? )  But it's still one of my favorites :)


Back to the Bergere - all that's left is to wax it - but here she is
Marie Anoinette !
I'm just going to bombard you with photos now..............
As you can see I didn't bother with replacing the fabric on the arms - I'm fine with it for now - if it bothers me at some point in the future, it's quite an easy fix.


( and I forgot to mention - those little nails you dig out from the reupholstering - make sure you get every single one of them up before sitting on the floor to take photos - they also hurt )

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - Painting Fabric

Did I mention I painted the back fabric with Paris Grey?


Or that I paid 50.00 each for these chairs - a steal for such a well made - well designed chair ( and they don't come by often here in Montreal especially as a set )






There's still another one to do - I think I'll forget about that one for another 5 months LOL


 Maybe not quite as drastic a change as some face lifts


but awfully close, don't you think?
( no insult intended here because I happen to believe in face lifts ! Go Goldie ! )

This post is Marie Antoinette approved.

SOURCE

If I wasn't so busy painting chairs - I'd maybe be able to sit by the fire -
In my Bergere
With a good book.


The magic of paint..............


Have a great one everybody!

Hugs,
Me
( the Chairperson of Simply Vintageous )
I finally have a title





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