All Washed Up...

So I have those moments when someone mentions a passing thought and as a friend of my describes it, 'I am solidly in the canoe paddling along side of them'.  No real prompting necessary.

One of those passing comments spurred this little number and now I am obsessed with vintage teardrop trailers to the Oh so modern Tab trailer.

Lorrie mentioned that she always wanted to decorate her laundry room in pink flamingos and the color teal.  That was all that I needed to get going with an idea.  Now don't get me wrong, she mentioned this around October and I really did not finish until it was a belated Christmas gift...

I had a bright idea of what I wanted but in all fairness things didn't work as I envisioned.  What should have been a simple little project - simply wasn't as simple as I had convinced myself.

I used an unpainted decorative 'bird house', a pre-painted fence piece and a pre-decorated wooden die-cut flamingo from Michael's.  Noting to it - right?  Not so fast cupcake...

To begin with the rough finish made tight details a bit difficult - I really should have sanded it first.  In the end I think it turned out I just think it may have made some of my lines neater.

I got the bright idea to use a fence as a 'make-shift' looking sign perched atop this little laundry trailer.  Getting that sucker to stay might have been easier in real life.

I ended up painting chopsticks the same color as the trailer.  I attached them with strong glue and then tried to reinforce it with my staple gun.  That really did not work the way I hoped it would.  The staples were difficult to get around the chopstick and into the roof of the trailer.  The chopsticks began to split as I missed and from the pressure of the staples that got the chopstick in it's hold.  I got the front piece to stay and glued the bottom edges of the fence.  Holding the fence piece down to the front set of chopsticks and against the trailer roof, I glued a single chopstick behind the fence to reinforce it.

As I moved things around certain ideas got displaced and reworked.  The windows really needed something to accent them but any attempt at a shade never looked quite right. I tried a micro-fiber towel in baby pink that I hoped to use as a curtain.  I gave edged card stock a shot as an awning of sorts but that really just did not stand out enough.
 

I wondered how I could jimmy-rig a popsicle stick and the cloth over one of the windows to make an awning.  The more I tried to make that work, the more elaborate it became.  In the end a coffee sleeve painted silver became the perfect corrugated metal awning.

The overall composition really took quite a bit of tweaking to get just right.  There were always those one or two pieces that stood out like a wall flower at a school dance; ackward and self conscious. The opening to the bird house 'laundry' just seemed to stand out too much when I left it undecorated.  But to be honest, my 'Open' sign really didn't look all that useable until I got the other pieces to look just right. The awning I mentioned never really worked out for the front of the trailer.  The 'corrugated metal' however, was quite useful for a few handy-dandy signs!

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Even my little flamingo moved quite a bit as all the other pieces danced around. 

In the end however, I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

And I'm happy to report that Lorrie was pretty happy with it too.  In fact, she doesn't want to leave it at home in the laundry room...she keeps it at her desk at work.

Let 'em know Pratt sent you...

I got a hot tip on a bunch of bolts bein' moved fast and cheap and well, I was just the sucker to spend my first Saturday of Spring traipsing between here and the the middle of nowhere.

I was bringing backup in case this turned shady as these word-of-mouth deals have a way of going.  We met up in the parking-lot and headed north in search of this back alley bargain. I stopped for some strong coffee.  I had no idea how long this was going to take.

We made our way out of the city, beyond the shipyard,  past the train tracks and down into the sticks.  The scribbled directions on the crumpled napkin ordered me to turn off on to the dirt road after the ranger's station.  We came up to a hook of homes, a few trailers and a tiny shed.  I pulled across the long yard up to the shed and a woman popped her head out of the door, "You Pratt's friends?".

"Yes M'am".

"Well, Come on in".

As we dug through the thinning bolts she relayed how her supplier closed shop and that she'd only have this inventory for a week.  She eyed our stacks, "Don't worry, I'm generous with my cuts" she smirked.    

100 yards later and chunks of paychecks handed over and recounted we were on our way.  "Now, be sure to send Pratt by".

Dr. Sketchy's (Part 1)

I surveyed the street, it was dark and a few cars swept past the city corner.  The street light cast shadows off the row of parking meters.  I made my way to the front of the club, an abandoned looking storefront with a Price is Right 's' marking the entrance.  I was making this trip alone.

'Six dollars for anyone drawing, eight dollars for voyeurs', the girl behind the counter smirked. 

I paid the cover and slid into the first available table.  I tossed my ragged bookbag into the captain's stool and pulled out my sketch pad.  A pale pretty girl dressed in black and pearls posed in a staged bedroom, posh and sparse like a New York hotel room.  I  began to draw.  The model moved.  Damn, I wasn't ready so I ignored the next pose and finished the first drawing.

To be continued...

Next year's gift will be bought...

So Saturday was a friend's birthday party and I was asked to bring the cupcakes...and of course I couldn't juuuuust make cupcakes.  But in my defense, she is obsessed with cupcakes, so they couldn't have been any old cupcakes anyway.

So thanks to Bakerella I was able to combine my friend's two favorite obsessions into one sweet birthday gift!