Bee's anticlimatic return

I checked our stats, Kae. You don't want to know what searches got people to our blog. On the bright side though, we have quite the following Latvia!

My last few months have not been as filled with adorable babies and children like Kae's has. It's been a little filled with it, as I am currently close enough to Hillbilly Holler to visit once a month or so. Mostly it's been living in a hotel (a very, very lonely hotel) and trying to keep myself entertained with Señor Marine on the other side of the world. Mostly that entertainment came from nagging Señor Marine with messages every chance I get, a little sewing on the sewing machine he got me for Valentine's Day to keep me busy, and watching a lot of TV. A LOT.

Mostly this post is going to be about the DIY purse dyeing I tried out. Now, I tried to buy a used Marc Jacobs purse on ebay. I should have known something was wrong when I won a $12 purse. I got it in the mail the next week and saw all the things wrong with it that were not in the ebay pictures.

The overall view, minus the handle

The lovely pen marks, accentuated by the areas where the original color is completely worn off.

Now, I tried to sell it again on ebay. No one wanted it. Señor Marine told me to cut my losses and give it to Goodwill or something. Nice thought, but I had been reading up on how to dye leather purses, so I thought I'd give it a shot. That was how one rainy afternoon I ended up at Tandy Leather in the middle of the ghetto, and found the nicest man ever who was partially amused by my need to dye a purse and partially impressed that I didn't care about messing it up. 

This nasty smelling stuff completely strips everything off the leather. Just spread it all over the purse with a rag and watch to see what comes off.

After one pass with the deglazer. I'm not sure if that's dirt or dye, but it looked disgusting either way.

After the deglazer, I had a nice stripped-down white-ish purse to work with, instead of the original dirty white. Then came the dye. I had such a dilemma at the leather store. The salesman pointed me towards the right type of dye, and then debated colors with me. He was pretty into the color I chose: neon pink.

My lovely pink color, which I mistakenly thought would be a light pink. Just wait.

The leather man recommended mixing 1 part dye and 1 part water. It worked out kind of okay, but it was MUCH better the next day when it was less soupy. I don't know how that happened, but it did.

So there I was, on the floor of my hotel room with my sponge brushes, painting a $500 leather purse. It was pretty fun. I did the main part of the purse on the first day, then the next day when everything was dry, I did the bottom and the handle. It took a bajillion coats the first day (okay, it was like 5 or 6) but only a couple the next day when the dye mixture seemed less watery.

Coat one

Coat two

Coat three

Coat four

Final product!

I have been waiting to take it out to wear, so I don't have a final outfit picture with it. The reason is it's been crazy rainy here the past few days, and I'm not 100% convinced the dye is completely waterproof. How do I know, you may ask? I came back from running the other day and with my disgustingly sweaty hand, moved the purse, and got a little pink on my fingers. So, I'll either not take it out when it's rainy, not take it out on runs, or get a sealant for it.

So that's what I've been up to. Yep, pretty awesome. I'm not creating life or molding little minds, like Kae, but I am turning the world pepto-bismal pink, one accessory at a time.

Resurrecting the blog

So, I've had this annoying little Jimminy Cricket type conscience thing for the last 4 months. Who posts their end-of-pregnancy pictures and then stops the blog? Not I. I just take a 4 month hiatus and come back 4 months later in full post-partum glory with adorable baby pics.

 

Awwww,so cute and little, and going to make me start talking with the mushy baby talk voice.

 

We added another little boy to our family. Our little lion cub, Areli, was born way back on January 10th. I say it was after 44 hours of labor, but that's only if I don't count the easy early labor part. (It was actually 60 hours. Kind of longer than I was led to believe it would be).

 

 

Fast forward a few months...

 

A couple of months ago, but whatever. Getting a recent picture from camera to computer may not happen tonight.

 





...and the novelty of the little lion cub has yet to wear off.

And now I don't have the guilt of an unfinished project. I've completed this chapter of the kaebeeproject. We'll see if there's time to write the next one because...Aquaman got a new job! And it's farther up north. As in, the last civilization before you hit Canada. (That may be an exaggeration, but only a very slight one. Canada will be only a little over 100 miles away.)

So perhaps I'll have new motivation to keep up the blog now that the relatives will be a little more long-distance and Grandma will need to be kept up to date? And there may be before and after pictures of our new house because the living room is pink. There are other things to do, but the living room is Pepto-Bismal. So, first order of business after signing on the dotted line will be to slap some paint on those walls.

Also, Bee may find a renewed interest in the blog since she will be overseas shortly after my move. Not sure if I'm allowed to say where overseas, but substantial distance and culture change. But, she'll finally be with Señor Marine and able to continue the newlywed phase after a year long hiatus. (Has it been that long, Bee? My brain's a little fuzzy these days).

So there you go. My little worker bees and I will be packing away over the next couple weeks. Then perhaps the kaebeeproject will get a little injection of life.

--Kae--