Saturday, September 27, 2014

Today's doins revamped coffee table/TV stand sharpie pen transfer

I've had this coffee table that could also be used for a TV stand sitting around for awhile. Today....I spruced it up a  bit with some white and beige sponge paint. Then after hubby sanded the top for me I did a transfer with a Sharpie pen and then put some wood stain and clear varnish on the top.
I think the piece will enjoy it's new life the 2nd time around :)


It's cooling off a bit in Bako... I love the Fall....last year we didn't have much of one....hope ya'll are enjoying your weekend!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Red and Black table and chairs DIY today's doins

I started on this one yesterday and finished with the wax on the chairs today.  This table and chairs were painted with a dark brown enamel when I bought it the other day.  I added some black stain and then some red chalk paint and then scuffed it up pretty good.
I put a couple of coats of clear poly on the table top. 
I like the legs on this one!
 I bought these old metal and plastic chairs quite awhile back and hubby painted them flat black.  They were a dingy faded pale brown color and probably were pretty decent looking back in their hey-day.  I think they look kind of cute paired with this bright metal table that we painted yesterday.




Am working on a little kids table...still a bit of day light left.  I should get pics of it up sometime this week, :=) Hope ya'll had a nice day!

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Got Fish upcycled barstools

Hubby found these barstools at the thrift store yesterday for 10 bucks a piece....
Well this is what they looked like after he sanded the top of the seats for me.
Then I copied a couple of reverse images from the Graphics' Fairy blog (awesome stuff there!) 
here's a link
http://thegraphicsfairy.com/
and transferred them to the tops of the stools.....
then rubbed the oak with some ebony stain and put a coat of clear poly on top.
I think these are ready to spin for a few more years :=)


Yep that's Brownie in the first pic up there... he is a little upset with me today because I wasn't holding him as much as he always wants me to :=)
Hope ya'll had a Super Sunday!

A Pretty Good Lesson On How Not To Know Who some Of Your Family Are

So I guess to start this little Rhonda Ramble....
I'd have to be honest and start out with my 1st memories of my other Grams and Pops on my dad's side.
My memories of them go way back to when I was about 4 or 5 years old and being around them at that time is pretty vague but I do remember it.
Seems that after my younger bro was born..it was indeed quite true that what I was later able to verify...
my grams pointed to both of her youngest grandkids sitting side by side in their strollers and said "quote" yes...heard later from a couple of people who were there that day....
"That's my Grandson....the one on the left"
(when in actuality...they were both her grandsons)
Now...the real problem with that....as the years went by and a lot of wisdom later.....
the real problem behind that statement was not that both of those kids sitting in those strollers side by side were indeed her grandkids....
the problem was that her "Favorite child" up until very recently the one she always talked about yada yada yada....(My Dad)
well his wife had kind of gotten fed up with being told where and what and how to do things.
And a family falling out was just waiting to happen. Yep Yep.
So leave it up to that one comment to cause a break up that lasted many many years.
My dad...being one of the best men that I have ever known in my entire life....chose to be a husband and stand behind his wife and family.
In the years that followed my memories of my grandma and grandpa on my dad's side were only drunken phone calls ---them crying and Grandma D calling over and over and over and we didn't have things like caller I.D. back then.
In those days my dad was an auctioneer. 
Grandma 99 was there a lot but this kind of thing we were not supposed to notice. And every now and then it was Grandpa H who would come up to us kids and be crying and sobbing and we were just like WTF? when we didn't even know what WTF really meant.
So flash forward to about the time when I was 12....
Momma found a new religion.
Lordy Lordy....
we kissed and made up.
And grandma and gramps had given up their so called "drinking games."
We met our long lost other side of the family again.
And at this time I met my  Aunt (dad's sis who was several years younger than him) and her hubs and kids and was happy to meet and get to know new family members.
When I got older...found out more family history....
my aunt was actually preggers when she married her 1st hubby but for years Grams would tell the story that this certain person had abused her and beat her and "knocked" my oldest cousin out of her stomach which caused him to be premature and also cross-eyed.
Grammy...my dad's mamaw....knew the rest of the story....
and of course the whole family kind of ended up knowing it in the years to come....
but no shit.... 
I mean seriously 
no shit
my pops was actually the one who broke the news to my eldest cousins' child (on dads' side of the family) that the one he thought was his "grandpa" was not his maternal one.
And pops talked to me after the deal went down and felt so bad about it because he seriously had no idea that no one had ever told little "R" that another person was actually his real grandfather.
And it was all so surreal.
Why didn't my cuz slick R know who his real dad was?
And his kids did not know anything about who their real grandpa was?
Why all of the secrets?
I mean gosh darn it..this was the 20th century and yes..women did get pregnant before they were married without being burned at the stake. And why the lies about someone "beating and knocking" a child out of my aunts stomach led to her marrying another man is another story. All I know is that her new husband was always nice to me and seemed to be a really decent human being with good intentions.
I do know that when I was preggers that my "aunt" came to my house and told me that her 1st hubby was the love of her life and that if grandma D would not have meddled that they would have been able to work things out and be happy.
That is not to say she did not love the man she was now with.
Everyone has regrets of what could of and should of and might have been if only "if"
Shortly after that we found out that my beloved "Aunt" and Grams had filed an eviction notice on my younger bro for not paying rent that month on a building by the way that my dad had spent all of the money and paid to "add on" to the other business.
Bottom line...the building would never have been there if my dad had not have built it himself.
And another fact...my younger bro went to pay the rent and my Grampa "H" told him and his wife to keep the rent money and to buy a present for their new baby "A".
But my aunt always received  this money from the rent from the kart shop because her hubby was on disability and depended on it as income and had no idea that grampa H  had told them to keep the money and it was just another one of those huge clusterfracks that lead to big problems when people do not communicate with one another.
My mom ended up saying that my aunt was such a back stabber that if she saw her laying in the middle of the street gasping for water that she would not give her a drink.
years later my Aunt told me that my Niece had told my Grandma that mom had said if she saw her on fire she would not spit on her to put the fire out but I told my aunt that was totally untrue....
that my mom had said she (My Aunt) was the backstabber and would never again consider helping her under any circumstances.
Dad walked away from a deal where hermie had promised him the properties when they passed away and said that in turn dad's Sister would get whatever money they had in the bank.
Dad left it all behind and said that if his sister was that greedy to act the way she did that she deserved to have it all..he wanted no part of it.
When we moved back to Bako I kept telling my mom to forgive forget you only have one family yada yada.
My mom was adamant. She held no bad feelings towards the children but said she would never have anything to do with a person who had stooped so low.
I kept telling her that dad's sis was always the jealous meddling type in this instance but just a victim of circumstance. And that there was always room for forgiveness---- I begged mom over and over to just let it go. Up until the day my mom died I begged her to just let it go.
Then I get the sympathy card from my aunt who said everything was my mom's fault and she was basically bad-mouthing my DEAD momma in the dadgum sympathy card.
Yeppers.... I went a bunch postal after momma died...
but today as I sit and look back on it....
if my aunt could have just said something nice
or minimal and not bad-mouthed my mom in the sympathy card she wrote....
things could and would have been so much different.
When she did that I felt like I would be dissing my momma if I did not defend her.
And because of that I now know even less of a family that I and my immediate family are not connected with.
And last week my one and only aunt has died.
I feel sorry for her family.
I do not feel sorry for me because I do not know now how to even miss her.
I do believe that at the end of the day there is a heaven.
And I am thinking that if my aunt went to heaven...
her and moms just might be up there right now working things out :)
I guess my Rhonda ramble about this whole thing is that...
if you think you have a problem...then
go straight to the source
and if you constantly have problems with certain people
then all you can do is consider the source and figure out
if it is worth all of the problems.
Peace ya'll.
In closing I would definitely say that I never had a sister and would have loved to have had an aunt that I had a real relationship with.
And any of ya'll out there having some sort of problems that a simple conversation might work out....
consider it before it is too late to work it out.
just sayin...




Monday, September 8, 2014

#Zibbet people and some certain sheeples Can We Talk?

First of all because I used the "Can We Talk?" I am going to do a little upfront Joan Rivers Hollah ! with this little Rhonda ramble can we just talk here?
I almost hate to mention Joan Rivers in the same sentence as Zibbet because Joan is and was the Bomb.....and Zibbet could only wish to be the Bomb....instead of what I think is a huge B-U-S-T at this point.
Back in the 70's/80's.....my younger bro had a Go-Kart shop and I used to announce the races and some of the tracks would have me travel around to announce the I.K.F. circuit races. In one of their magazines I was referred to as "The Joan Rivers of the I.K.F. Circuit" and I was really honored to be compared to this wonderful talented comedian. I guess I have always had this rather strange gift of finding ways to laugh about the worst of situations. Sometimes we just have to call a spade a spade and see where the card lands.
Joan was/is an American Icon. Will truly miss seeing what she has to say next.
So enough said about that splanation I suppose.
What I want to talk about (yes again) is the Zibbet "you just couldn't make this stuff up even if you tried."
Okay.... so most people out there are of the same "Consensus" that being one---that most feel that the long awaited and anticipated and overblown talked about "Rebuild" has so far been a huge failure and B-U-S-T.... and they also agree with the fact that this "inappropriate TIMING" of announcing their new "Lifetime--get it while it lasts once in a lifetime offers" was almost a slap in the face to those who have patiently waited for so long for Zibbet to get this ball rolling.
We know that Zibbet powers that be removed all links to the Hub in the rebuild and any actual "sales links" --YEP---basically all links to finding how successful any sellers might be there.
What is really sad to me is that even though the Hub is a ghost town these days as was long ago predicted.....
Can we talk for just a minute here about one of the forum handmaidens who in my opinion has gotten waaaay toooo dad gum big for her britches?
Now just as a #ZibbetFlash for me.....
I recall this one certain poster who once went to a thread I posted about the fact that Zibbet Cheerleaders come in many shapes and forms.
This person went into the thread and thanked me and certain others and then went back and removed her posts because that is what you could do in those old forums....not sure if you can do it now.....
but seeing her do that made me realize just how wishy washy she was and is.
And that was waaaaay before I had my Zibbet Epiphany that it was time for me to get the Hell out of Dodge.
All I know is that from my own experience with this person that I actually used to respect....once I saw her actions on that one thread alone-----
I lost all respect for one who in my opinion is so wishy washy.
And that is my opinion and I am sticking to it here LOL!
Sad thing to me is that she is still there passing so much "judgment" about anyone in that hub these days who has a different opinion than hers.....
and I know from viewing her profile pics that she is a big gal ---(but shut the front door she has definitely grown some mighty Bossy Britches over there.) yes Indeedy! Amen!
And her "accusation" about some who follow others to other venues? Well jeeps....one must certainly hope that this Big-UN  will some day look in the mirror and call it for what it really is LOL!
I am posting this tonight because I know that many of the so called "Bad Humans" posts and threads and opinions now come up every time anyone might happen to Google Zibbet (if by some miracle they have actually heard of the venue LOL) Her lies alone in my opinion need to be kept in check. And yep that is why we are having this "Talk" here.
LOL!!!!!
For example....the thread over in that Hub regarding the crappy arsed Zibbet font.
Bottom line.... you do not have to have any sort of an eye handicap or illness whatsoever.
The fact is that most people who can see actually "SAW" that the font did not get "darker"...the Z boyzz did not fix that yet. I still have 20-20 vision with the help from my Optometrist Hee-hee.....
but the fact that the Zibbet font still sucks is not a Fanflamer issue.
It is not even a topic that needs to cause so much drama in those forums.
It is simply a fact and it needs to be fixed.
And it still hasn't.
That's a FACT.
And here's an even harder fact if anyone in that Hub chooses to look outside of that "Box"....most people in Cyberville are never gonna find Zibbet because at this point...
there's not a lot of advertisement or even unified effort from all of those so called "creatives" to share the #ZibbetLove.
The fact is that less than 20 people "Flashing" in that hub are not going to grow any venue any time soon.
And hate to break this to ya......
but if anyone new out there happens to for some unknown "miracle" land on the new Zibbet....if they can not read the font....they are gonna walk away and Pasadena quicker than ya'll can say "P-A-S-A-D-E-N-A"
And finally here's one last clue....to those of ya'll still in that Hub who are acting as formerly predicted here...like a group of Piranha's just waiting to take a nibble on anyone who offers up a different opinion than yours....wake up!!!! ( the very few still left there......)
you are chewing and eating away at whatever lifeline you think you still have there.
The Zibbet Flash group that is what? How many members weak? at this point is in my opinion.....still killing any chance for Zibbet to become something better and grow.
And if you would just let the small group of people still in that Hub simply talk about it without being accused of being some sort of #badhuman or equated to being some sort of workplace #massmurderers........
maybe just maybe.....
some still there spending lots and lots of time still trying to get their shops to work and load properly and to have their pictures look okay......
maybe some of ya'll wearing those Grand Poohbah hats if you would just shut up and offer some kind of support to everyone there.....
dayum.....
ya'll just might get a lifeline on that ship that is rapidly sinking more and more each day.
hint-hint :=)

Friday, September 5, 2014

#Zibbet drive by's and questions why

So I saw where someone was questioning why anyone would have the audacity to drive by the Zibbet Hub and post anything negative on their way out if they were actually leaving.
I'd have to say that why can't things there actually be a 2 way street just like the real world is?
Evidently some/most still there (as yes just as many predicted quite some time ago) there are very very few left there in that hub these days.....but the ones there still take it upon themselves to chastise anyone who dares to think differently.
Well here's the thing. 
Yep hate to break it down to some of ya'll there who think you are still fooling anyone from the outside looking in.
The fact that Jono is now "hiding" sales in the new Zibbet rebuild.....
well make no mistake that the fact that the ones there testifying that their sales are so great......
it really seems very odd that their feedback is a big fat Z-E-R-O. (In most cases) LOL!
We have heard the most reasonable explanation of why someone would "lie" about their sales is that they are simply making "faith" statements.
I.E.----if they say they have already sold butt loads of stuff that very soon........
they will have some sales.
But hey....
we all have dreams eh?
The real problem at hand right here and now is that so very few people have actually ever heard of Zibbet...and the only way to grow this into something bigger would be to have a large community of like minded sellers......
dayum cookie....
the last time I looked...there is not even a link to the Hub on the new Zibbet rebuild.
Then of course there is that big fat huge problem of search issues and site issues and Pay Pal issues and all of those things that would make a newbie potential buyer "JUST WALK AWay" before they ever even get started there.
And then.....in the middle of this flippin fiasco.....
the CEO's (minus the very mysterious yes Andy is still here but has seemingly disappeared mystery) dude.....well gosh....they come up with this new scheme of "Buy it now the Premium lifetime offer of the Century" where you can suddenly "GASP" now have your own stand alone as well.
But for anyone who has ever looked outside of that what is now seemingly Stepford community of like minded clannies.....
here's the real clue.....
wow just wow....
there are many many venues out there who are established and where people are actually getting sales and it costs the seller what?
OMG.....drum roll...
NOTHING!
here's only one for example that looks surprisingly a lot like the "new improved Zibbet"
but guess what?
The search function and the shopping cart function are actually functioning there.
And yep.....
all of that for
G-A-S-P.....
free.
that's right folks.
honest to goodness 
F-R-E-E.
http://www.storenvy.com/

gee kind of makes that Zibbet $299-$999 once in a lifetime LIFETIME of the century offer seem kinda moot at this point if you really walk around the web for a bit?
There's lot's to be said about fresh air if you get outside of the hub for a change...isn't there :=)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Easy peasy Urban shabby upcycled lamp shade

We scored this old lamp the other day at a little Mom and Pop antique shop on the outskirts of town. I think they made a mistake on the price...it was $2.98 and it works!
The lampshade was dirty and torn 
But no worries....I knew something simple and easy that would give it a quick fix....and less than 20 minutes later....a little hot glue and vintage lace, new burlap, and a cameo setting....and here it is back on the old lamp and ready to light up anew.
Still have to get around to polishing the metal on the lamp...but hope some of ya'll will be inspired and get a few ideas on this quick fix to an old worn out lamp shade. :=)