Lookit I Made: Lino Prints, Papercuts, Chairs!

I'm glad things are coming together so nicely at home, because my hopes for Seattle are vanishing before my eyes.

First, I was informed that the behemoth red truck will NOT be making an appearance. There goes my dream of bringing home lovely furniture. Then, I was told by my husband that a stop at ikea (for a couple of sheepskins, a blanket, picture frames, and a rug) was out-of-the question because he has some MUSEUMS to go to. MUSEUMS. Gosh darn learning. 

Sigh. It stinks, but, realistically, the cost of driving that beast out there would have been ATROCIOUS, and there really was no guarantee that I would have found something worth hauling back in the first place. As for ikea, we can go the next time we're in Denver. It makes more sense to wait and do it sometime when our car isn't packed with man flesh. 

I'm just a little disappointed. Hopefully there will be lots of walks and days filled with cute little shops. That would be fun too.

But I digress. 

I've been working on some stuff. I finally finished a couple of prints I've been working on forevvvver. You would not believe how difficult it is to find white paper in Billings. Not ivory, not off-white, not cream. White. And then getting that piece of paper home without crinkling it....especially when you have a watermelon rolling around in the back of your car....even more difficult. 

The smaller one is a lino print, and the larger, geometric shapes are paper cuts. I kind of wish I had done them the opposite of that - airplanes as a paper cut, shapes as stamps. It would have been cool to have some texture in the shapes, I think.

Yay for more pictures that I probably won't hang on the walls!

This brings me to my most favorite project in the history of the world - my chairs! I have had soooo much fun sanding and oiling and waxing and upholstering these things. Uh. I seriously want to do this forever. So. Much. Fun. So far, I've completed two of the four.

I ended up getting some linen to cover the seats (sale! only $6!), and while I'm not the best upholsterer, I think they look pretty sharp! Hurrah for me!

Shall I show you "before" pictures so you're more impressed?? This is what they looked like when I first got them:

The seat backs were by far the worst. They were really faded and had quite a few nicks and gouges in them.
This is after I sanded the heck out of them:

And this is after being oiled:

This picture does not do them justice. It's amazing, but after being oiled and waxed, these chairs practically glow in the sunlight. And they're so silky smooth....

A side-by-side comparison:

I'm really proud of myself :) I'm having so much fun!

 Here they are hanging out in our freshly painted dining room....

Now to find a table! And a rug!