I just got back from Vegas yesterday...that drive is so long. I've got a set move-in date now of August 10th. It seems like so far away but really it's only two weeks from tomorrow. I still can't believe I'm actually doing this, it's really spontaneous, even for me. But it will be fun. I'm really excited to have my own place again and not have to go to school. I think that's the most exciting. No school. Wow. Actually having time during the day to do things for myself, now there's a concept! I'm especially glad because now I can devote proper time to my crafts and games. I've decided I need to be more committed to my gaming, so this is my chance to start doing that. :)
Right now I'm in Whitefish, MT visiting with my dear friend Jess. She's the Equity Stage Manager for the Alpine Theatre Project. I'm going to see their first show of the season - The Full Monty - tomorrow afternoon. Apparently it's been sold out houses the last few days, which is really good news for them. Also tomorrow, I'm going down to Bigfork to see the Benefit Reveue in the evening and see the Bigfork peeps one more time. So I have a very theatrical day in store, how exciting. :)
That's about it for interesting news....I still haven't fixed my camera situation, which is a shame. I need to do that here very soon. Until then, I suppose I'll have boring words-only blogs, lol. Catch you all later!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
False Alarm
So upon going back to the first apartment the next day, I asked to see the actual apartment I would be moving into and it wasn't anything like the model. I was actually really disappointed, and I panicked. I then went around to about 7 more apartment complexes, and really, actually did find one this time. It's just a little way down the road from the other one, but the neighborhood is so much nicer. I can also get it on the first floor instead of the second, which is what I wanted to begin with. It's still a one bedroom, which is still not quite what I was hoping for, but with all of the places I've looked at I've realized the ones I want to live in I can't afford right now. However, I feel much better about settling for this place than the other one, and it's a little bit bigger even. I went back to the second apartment today - in Turtle Creek, cute huh? - and I asked again to see the actual apartment for rent, and..... it looked exactly like the model I saw. Imagine my relief! So HERE are the pictures of my real new apartment! :)
Living room. It has these two cute cubbies in it, I love them.
A view of the dining room from the entryway, looking through the kitchen.
The bathroom. That other open door opens into the nook (picture down farther), the door I stood in while taking this was the door from the bedroom.
Living room. It has these two cute cubbies in it, I love them.
Here's a better view of the living room, sans cubbies.
A view of the dining room from the entryway, looking through the kitchen.
The kitchen looking in from the living room.
Behind the kitchen counter
My laundry. A full-size washer and dryer too, woot!
The bathroom. That other open door opens into the nook (picture down farther), the door I stood in while taking this was the door from the bedroom.
The shower. That I LOVE.
The bathroom vanity
The bedroom. My camera died before I got any other pics of the bedroom, but it's actually really big, that bed in there is a king. And the closet is a decent sized walk-in.
The nook connecting the bedroom, bathroom, and laundry to the rest of the house. The doorway you see open is to the bathroom, to the left is the bedroom, and the laundry is to the right.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I found a place! OMG!
So, I happened upon this place completely by circumstance. It's a one bedroom, which is not really what I wanted, but it's huge and I'm getting to the point where I can't be that picky anymore. It's within the budget I had set for myself, and the community seems really nice. I'm a stone's throw from Henderson (where all the shopping is), I'm close-ish to the Strip (where my job is supposed to be), and I'm also about 10 blocks away from my other friend that lives here. So yay! These are pics I took of the model, when I get my very own I'll be sure to take some photos of that too. :) Oh, and the property is called Firenze, like the centaur from Harry Potter. Cool eh? I thought so too. :D And also, I love all the windows!
This is the living room
Built-in computer nook, nifty! (This will be my crafting area! Yay!)
The bedroom
This is the living room
And more living room
Built-in computer nook, nifty! (This will be my crafting area! Yay!)
This is the dining nook, and behind Wil is a full-sized washer and dryer. And yes, those are wood floors.
One view of the kitchen from the living room. Granite countertops!
A view of the kitchen from in front of the laundry area.
The bedroom
The bedroom walk-in closet!
The bathroom
The shower
And the patio
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
My Favorite Place
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Rusty Wood
As per a request, I'm posting steps to paint wood to look like rusted steel. Since my camera bit the dust, a friend of mine was nice enough to pop in and snap some photos for me. There aren't as many as I'd like, but they're decent and should give you the general idea. :) The wood we used is luan (also known as 1/8" ply some places) and 1x4 pine. You can use this treatment on any surface, but that's just what this example is painted on for your reference.
Things you will need:
Some paintbrushes you don't mind beating up just a bit
A palette knife
Sawdust
A paint sprayer (we used a pneumatic one, but a hudson garden sprayer works decently and a regular spritz bottle should also work in a pinch)
Paint
Colors:
A base color for your "steel" (we used a very light white-blue, a dark grey-blue, and an olive green)
A warm dark brown, about twice as much as you think you'll need to cover the surface you've got
A dusky orange-red
Some really watery black or very deep brown
A smidgen of yellow
Alrighty, step one:
First things first, base your object with the color you've chosen for your steel.
Step two:
Take your paint sprayer and lightly mist over the base coat, giving it some variance.
Step three:
This is a fun step. Take some of your warm dark brown and add some water. Then, slowly mix in sawdust until it is oatmeal-ish in consistency. It shouldn't be too soupy, but should stick to together when you stir it and not clump up. If it's soupy, keep slowly adding sawdust. If it starts to get clumpy, add a bit more paint.
Then, take your sawdust mixture and plop it on some areas of your object that would be naturally rusty. For us, this was the outside edge of our "panels." Then let this dry. It takes some time, seeing as the sawdust holds so much moisture, but it needs to dry completely before you start the next step to minimize crumbling.
Step four:
Use the orange and dab over the brown. Although you want to stay mainly on the brown (since the more severe rust would be on top of what has already started to decay), it is also helpful to dry-brush lightly over some of the unpainted center portion, just to give it some depth. This is my favorite part, the orange is kind of the make-or-brake color, so care not to get too random with it. You can always fix brown gone wrong with the orange as well. :)
Step five:
Using your palette knife and both the orange and brown, make a few random streaks on your object, a'la Bob Ross. It is helpful to do the colors side by side, and also some of each individual color on it's own. The more you do the more beat up your object will look.
Step six:
Last step! Almost there. :) Actually, this step can be optional, since we use it mainly because it helps give movement and a little more texture for viewing from far away (say 10+ feet for an audience). For this step you will want to water down some of the brown you have left (without the sawdust), as well as the orange you have left. Also, add just a little yellow to the orange to make it slightly brighter than what is painted already.
Using the brown, run your brush along the edges (top mainly) to create drips. The more drips, the more dirty it will look (obviously!). Also using this color, so some slight spattering by gently flicking the brush toward your surface, creating (hopefully) small spots of paint.
Using the newly lightened orange, repeat with the spatter technique.
Voila! You have your very own rusty object! :D Also optional, we added rivets (styrofoam balls cut in half) to our I-beams to make it look more realistic.
A view of the base sprayed, with the layer of brown texture.
Close up of the texture
Close up of the orange on our I-beam part
These are our finished sample boards. I love them both but tend to favor the darker of the two.
Things you will need:
Some paintbrushes you don't mind beating up just a bit
A palette knife
Sawdust
A paint sprayer (we used a pneumatic one, but a hudson garden sprayer works decently and a regular spritz bottle should also work in a pinch)
Paint
Colors:
A base color for your "steel" (we used a very light white-blue, a dark grey-blue, and an olive green)
A warm dark brown, about twice as much as you think you'll need to cover the surface you've got
A dusky orange-red
Some really watery black or very deep brown
A smidgen of yellow
Alrighty, step one:
First things first, base your object with the color you've chosen for your steel.
Step two:
Take your paint sprayer and lightly mist over the base coat, giving it some variance.
Step three:
This is a fun step. Take some of your warm dark brown and add some water. Then, slowly mix in sawdust until it is oatmeal-ish in consistency. It shouldn't be too soupy, but should stick to together when you stir it and not clump up. If it's soupy, keep slowly adding sawdust. If it starts to get clumpy, add a bit more paint.
Then, take your sawdust mixture and plop it on some areas of your object that would be naturally rusty. For us, this was the outside edge of our "panels." Then let this dry. It takes some time, seeing as the sawdust holds so much moisture, but it needs to dry completely before you start the next step to minimize crumbling.
Step four:
Use the orange and dab over the brown. Although you want to stay mainly on the brown (since the more severe rust would be on top of what has already started to decay), it is also helpful to dry-brush lightly over some of the unpainted center portion, just to give it some depth. This is my favorite part, the orange is kind of the make-or-brake color, so care not to get too random with it. You can always fix brown gone wrong with the orange as well. :)
Step five:
Using your palette knife and both the orange and brown, make a few random streaks on your object, a'la Bob Ross. It is helpful to do the colors side by side, and also some of each individual color on it's own. The more you do the more beat up your object will look.
Step six:
Last step! Almost there. :) Actually, this step can be optional, since we use it mainly because it helps give movement and a little more texture for viewing from far away (say 10+ feet for an audience). For this step you will want to water down some of the brown you have left (without the sawdust), as well as the orange you have left. Also, add just a little yellow to the orange to make it slightly brighter than what is painted already.
Using the brown, run your brush along the edges (top mainly) to create drips. The more drips, the more dirty it will look (obviously!). Also using this color, so some slight spattering by gently flicking the brush toward your surface, creating (hopefully) small spots of paint.
Using the newly lightened orange, repeat with the spatter technique.
Voila! You have your very own rusty object! :D Also optional, we added rivets (styrofoam balls cut in half) to our I-beams to make it look more realistic.
A view of the base sprayed, with the layer of brown texture.
Close up of the texture
Close up of the orange on our I-beam part
These are our finished sample boards. I love them both but tend to favor the darker of the two.
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