Concrete Staining part 2

We ripped up the carpets then we set forth to clean, and scrape off the glue and white residue that is on concrete. We rented a big rotary polisher/scrubber thingy, put our rubber boots on and scrubbed some more. It took a full day to get the concrete clean enough for our intents and purposes.

I did my measuring and computing for the faux tile design I am going to stain. then we had to tape it off in the proper grids.

After all the cleaning and scraping, sanding, scouring and so forth there are still many bits of residue and discoloration in the concrete. My back is sore and I also think that because I am using Behr concrete stain (which soaks into the concrete and residue) instead of an acid stain ( which would react with the chemicals in the concrete) the residue and white stuff will blend and add character. So we are done with the scrubbing.




















After all the cleaning let it dry then use some sort of concrete repair or thin set concrete to fill any holes or gouges, large cracks etc. Allow that to dry then sand smooth. Vacuum, use a damp cloth to pick up any extra dust allow to dry again...

Then you can tape off your design. Or use stencils, etch with a dremel whatever you desire. after that is over make certain there is no particles etc and begin the staining.

I wanted to point out a problem we have to deal with on our floor.... the spray painted J.A. you can see it above in the photo. I am hoping it disappears with the many coats of stain that we are going to

put down.

I will post more later after I actually stain the concrete.

I think this can save you a huge chunk of change on changing your flooring, *but* it is labor intensive and you need to stay focused and complete all the steps if you want a nice looking finished product.

Stay tuned... see If I stay focused and end up with a nice looking finished product.

Goodbye nasty carpets.

Here we go, removing the nasty carpets from the front room. Carpet removal is easier than I thought... its those damn little tack strips that are nailed into the concrete that are difficult to remove.

The plan is to scour the concrete, make faux grout lines in a complex yet do-able design, stain with 3 colors, and seal this floor by tomorrow.

So I better get off this computer and get my rear end back to work :)

My first fabric design

This is my first fabric design, it is subtle and monochromatic but I have only just begun!

It took a few days to figure out how to draw in inkscape and create designs from my drawings.

Here is the sketch I made, I tried to keep it simple and still very "Cytel" I needed to be able to trace it in Inkscape.

I took the leaf and manipulated it in various ways until I got the green swatch above. So I am going to order a swatch of fabric and see how the colors and design actually look in a fabric.

This is another plan coming together, the orange flower with the green vines. I need to play and tweak it more I want the background to be colorized. I'm not to certain of the color combo, but I still have learning to do in regards to coloring in inkscape.

This whole design reminds me of Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. Hmmmmm

Spoonflower, and the home textile designer.

I discovered Spoonflower a while back and the possibilities were really astounding. As anyone that knows me can tell you I am a crafty momma and I LOVE fabric and art... so this site combines these two loves and lets the home textile designer create and print high quality fabrics from their imagination and get it custom made.

I'm smitten, I have many ideas in my head but the real challenge is not drawing it on paper but in a program. I did some sketching last night, but this is not really my intended design just ideas. I want a provincial motif with a border in bright colors.

As for getting it into a program I have many hours of learning ahead of me, but I found Inkscape and Gimp both are free programs that are like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. I would post my progress but I have not figured out how to format the file into a .jpeg.

So check back and see if I figure out this fabric designing, beautiful creations could come of this.

We are home, welcome to our new house... Bathroom first.

We closed escrow less than one month ago and immediately set to work making this house into our home. I will swear that the previous owner did not clean but maybe every few months ( or less) and worse than that the master bathroom must have served as a kennel. Use your imagination... it was gross.

Anyhow I wish I had a photo of how we received it, but We wasted no time and immediately removed the stained blue carpet and under pad to expose the concrete. The two pictures here shows the linoleum that was there in the other half.

While we would love to be able to spend any amount of money to make our dream bathroom, we have been spending plenty just to afford this house. So in light of financial responsibility we are going to keep it cheap. Our plan was to use a staining technique on the concrete to create the illusion of something more grand. We are very pleased with the results.



We had to remove old linoleum, that was a feat in itself, there was glue plus some sort of white stuff that was like plaster it must have been used to level the concrete. We used a small floor scrapper with a razor blade to remove most of the white layer and glue, them we switched to a disc sander and water to remove the rest. We had to give up on some of the white spots, they were small and impossible to remove so we figured they would add character in the finial floor.

The next step was to scrub the entire floor with lots of water and a stiff brush while my husband Steve shop-vacced it up. After that TSP cleaner, a stiff brush and a shop-vacc.

Boring stuff done, now time for the fun part!

We decided on a brown stain with green tints. I was trying to get a natural stone look. I bought some clear stain and a green avocado tint to mix my own green we had the store mix us up some brown.

At Steve's suggestion I used a feather to create the green lines and "cracks" and a paintbrush to feather and soften the color. You can see here how the green alone looked.

After the green dried I used a pump sprayer like you would use for killing weeds and sprayed the brown on in a random somewhat patchy design. I let it set for a minute or two then rolled a dry paint roller over to feather it and blend it. I went over some parts a few times to darken them while leaving other parts nearly untouched. After the floor was dried we added two layers of high gloss sealer. I was concerned it was going to be very slippery but it is not.


After the gloss was added it became difficult to photograph because of glare, but it looks really good.

So after two weeks of working on the bathroom in the

evenings here is our finial result. We are so happy with it. We
plan to rip out the carpets in the front rooms and stain the concrete in there as well, until we can afford what we really want... very nice hardwood.

All in all we spent $125 to do this and that includes the carpets, towels and shower curtain to match.

Happy April!

It has been a month since I last posted a word here. We are still in the PROCESS of buying a house. We should close around the 19Th of April. I'm not going to hold me breath, so far we have been packed since January ( the last deal fell through), I feel lost without my stuff.

I have been looking around Flickr at my contacts art and creations, inspiration is all around me. I've half a mind to unpack my stash just for some creative relief. I did try to locate a paintbrush for an hour the other day... I ended up huffing and puffing about how chaotic moving is and how much this sucks... but never found the paint brush.

I'm dying to garden, anyone who knows me knows I love dirt and all it has to offer. I've cleaned up the garden here, I will sorely miss it. As of today I have two pea patches, some lettuce and Swiss chard left here oh yes and a couple of potatoes are volunteering. I hope the new tenant likes to garden. The weather has been so pleasant, like it is begging for me to come out and plant early spring things. Alas, I cannot, I must wait for the new garden at my new home. Steve, my husband, is going to build me at least 3 big raised beds. He promises it will be one of our first projects to get done. Hallelujah !!!

One thing fun about moving is I feel like my next craft room will be much more organized in the beginning at least. My daughter and I have been separating the supplies as they are unearthed from wherever they had been stashed, I have a lot of supplies, that is what it boils down to.

I do have to admit I have bought more fabric in spite of the fact I am not going to be able to use it for a few more weeks... I could not help it. Whats worse, the shop I got this wonderful fabric from is closing and I feel the need to go get even more! Do I need to rationalize out loud why I need more? Probably not, but... Its on sale, its yummy and pretty , I'll make something fabulous and probably sell it... I need it. Thats right I need fabric :)

What I really need is to move so I stop feeling lost and chaotic.

Till next time,

Craft on.
Cytel

Home Purchase back to square 2

Update:

We got a loan all lined up YEAH!!! Previously you may know we found what seemed to be a pretty nice house, with a pool. It lacked a decent yard for my future garden but I was going to deal with that. I had a number of ideas. Anyhow we should have been closing in about 2 weeks... After they moved out we went back to see our new dream house OMG. We sent in the inspector and appraiser. HOLY S***T these people were horrible, they either lived like scoundrels or just destroyed as they left.

There was putrid standing water under the house that smelled like death. When you turned on the kitchen sink a meat like substance, looked kind of like fake crab meat came up in the shower stall in the bathroom. Not just a little either.. a 1/2 gallon at least. The vents from the furnace and water heater were broken off at the top so carbon monoxide just spewed... this is only the tippy top of problems. there were many many other repairs. To top it off the house was filthy and disgusting the cherry on top was a bookcase with books they left behind covered in puke. Grossssss. Anyhow I'd rather rent forever than buy a money pit like this.

So we have a loan and we are searching for another house. Wish us luck.

To tame the wild feeling I have been getting from this house buying I started my newest felted painting. It is only just started, but it is really turning out well.