crate wall shelving

Weekly Photo Challenge: Evanescent

Evanescent.  I just learned me a new word today.  Who’da thunk it?

Sorry I have not had much to say for the last number of years but hopefully that changes in a few months, maybe sooner, not for sure right now.  I know I am about to take at least a couple of months off after Memorial Day weekend.

I knew I was canceling my cable service, Comcast, due to constantly being overcharged for months now and not able to completely correct the various issues with my bill.  I had never dealt with this company before now & read all the complaints before going with them anyway.  Live & learn, it can happen to you too!  I had no issues the first year with my introductory offer locked in but after that year and one upgrade deal that turned out to be $33.00 more than the agreed upon amount of $142 which was still way higher than the deal advertised for only $109 per month.  They gave me a partial credit with more to come, but reneged on the deal numerous times so I’m done.  Been charging me $176 or more a month!  Probably sending a complaint to the FCC when I am done with them.  I don’t expect they will just let me cancel.  I actually expect them to pull stuff on me after the fact like sending some type of “cancellation bill” or claims they didn’t get all the equipment back.  That’s how much I don’t trust them now and will wait and see so I can give a full report to the FCC when I do file a complaint so everything’s included.

I will choose another service after I get a break from it for the summer.  Will give me a chance to create again instead of being distracted because I want to watch things and get my money’s worth out of this service while I have it.  I might do another post before I stop for a while.  This is some of the things I’ve worked on in the past in various media and with my computer graphic software of which I have three.  Photoshop, PhotoImpact & PhotoDraw.  Most are about 10 years old or more with some functions no longer supported by the company and as such no longer work like 3D in PhotoDraw 2000 because of their constant upgrades to Windows through the years.  I rarely touch Photoshop Elements 7 & 9 preferring Microsoft PhotoDraw when I need it.  The PhotoImpact edition I have came out in 1999, a year before PhotoDraw was introduced by Microsoft I purchased at a good price in my college bookstore.

I used to do restoration work on old photos back in then 1980’s for a couple of professional photo labs without the help of any software like we have now.

I have been suffering through yet another diet the last couple months trying to get rid of about 20 extra pounds after hibernating all winter with cable.  Was nice though.  Spoiled the heck out of myself.  I started keeping a journal with the approximate calorie, fat and carb info for everything I ate.  It helped me become aware of the nutrition in my food and make needed changes.  I still freak when I have a couple of slices of bread I want to use so it doesn’t go to waste but I don’t want the added calories and have other left overs that are more nutritious.  I’ve never been a big bread eater in the first place but did purchase it.  I pride myself in never wasting any food but thinking like that will put on the pounds for sure.  So will snacking on seeds and nuts thinking they are healthy but realizing just how many calories and fat is in them.

I made a “Pineapple Dream Desert” the other day for a treat after giving up cheesecake and ice cream, my favorites.  I’m not fond of just any sweets but what I do love I must have like chocolate at least once a day.  I created a “Diet Pineapple Dream Desert” in honor of my 11 lb weight loss.  I was about to go berserk feeling so deprived.  Click on the original desert name for the full recipe.

I did not make a crust, just the top sprinkle.  Whip all the ingredients together as you would any whipped desert and chill a couple of hours to firm.  Not bad but not as good as a cheesecake, fair warning.  Also found this great snack food called Cosmos Creations that I think may put a crimp in my diet plans. Like the coconut crunch in moderation.  Must be a Christian company because days later I was reading the back and found Psalm 89:11.

I have also added an additional 8 crates to my wall shelving.  I’m eventually going to sand them all better and stain them a darker color as well as input those battery stick lights in some of them for ambiance when I can find some that are decent quality.  I tried those years ago with my under the stairs storage and they eventually fell off after getting knocked.  They were cheaply made.  I will post the another picture once I complete that time-consuming project one day.  *WARNING: Again, would not recommend doing something like this with young children who could easily pull it down on themselves.  

I actually might just sand them and use white wash or milk paint.  I like both effects.  Viewed them on Pinterest.com.  I plan on being creative as far as placement once in a while now that I have 20 to work with.

I plan on starting and finishing a number of collages while I’m away for a while.  I will post them as soon as I’m online again.  In the meantime I’ll share some of my old work.

Lamp post collage
My first nude oil. Interesting technique before I started studying with other artists.
Rose transfer in center of large plexiglass with stamped border.
This is what happened with I drew a picture from my head. Not happy with it
More fun with a glue gun.
Acrylic cross on canvas with stamped border done in monochromatic metallics.
One of my childhood art projects in copper.
Stuck this “negative” bird
In front of a “negative” snow scene

Daily Prompt: Unfinished Furniture

Unfinished pine crates to be exact!

crate-shelving-001

I did not wish to spend much money because I do not think I will be in this apartment for very much longer but even if I stay here another year or two, I knew I wanted some kind of shelving for books, magazines and some of the knickknacks I had still packed away.  Most of my apartment is storage bins and I’ve been here exactly one year.  I figure if I didn’t really have a way to move near my family this year, a days drive away, the least I need to do is get more situated here just in case I’m in for the long haul.

Originally I got one of those cheap, DIY pressed board bookcases from Walmart but it was crumbling during assembly.  I put some Sauders brand together about 20 years ago but this was Mainstays and the quality was bad.  I took it back the next day and decided to purchase a number of the unfinished large solid end pine crates 18″ x 12″ x 9 1/2″ deep.  You have the option to paint or stain them as desired.  For now, unfinished is ok by me.  I might do something later depending on where I want to go with them.

I had seen some of these crates as wall shelves on Pinterest and fell in love with the rustic country bohemian look.  Even cooler when it has a light stain on it from some pictures I viewed.

Made in America as well.
Used a heat gun to remove that large stickers on each crate.
Got sanders and mask ready.
Roughly sanded some of the many rough edges.
The sanding files work great on the handles.

I would not recommend this type of shelving if you have pets or children due to the fact that they could easily be knocked or pulled over, not super stable. Some choose to connect these permanently but I wish to be able to move them easily and keep them free to use as actual packing crates one day. Also you would really have to do a super sanding job on all plus maybe add a number of coats of varnish to make it safe from splinters. I’m sure I’ll be getting splinters once in a while if I am not careful but I will have to see what happens once I start actually stacking books and things in them.
Important to note is that Walmart had two types of large crates in the store. One was in the Home Decor section and the other in the Crafts area.  I ended up with the ones in Craft because they were much sturdier and $2.00 cheaper per crate even though they were the same size.  I did not really check to see how well those were sanded and they were processed by a different company than the ones I found in the crafting area.  Some had slats on all four sides, which may make a difference depending on what you wish to do with them.  Also, I preferred the solid end ones.

I purchased 6 of them to try them out and ended up going back for 6 more.  I will say if you wish to stack them as I did you will need at least 8 if you want to finish your wall shelving straight across.  You can tell by the stacking that you will need at least 4 for each square if you stagger it as I did.  There are many ways to stack these and I plan on changing the pattern from time to time.  Some people placed battery operated lighting that you stick on inside some of the crates for special effects that were very cool.  Depending on what I do later on with mine, I will post updates.  I would never recommend placing lit candles in these but they do have many battery operated candles that look just as cool.

My original six crates.
Twelve crates in progress.