Strings ...... of Metal?

We've spent the last four days in Tahoe weaving threads of 3/8" steel rod. Does this count as a thing from strings??

The Crew:

Michele and Ginnie working the patina and waxing station.


Larry expertly cuts, rolls, fits a loft run.


Stu shaping one of the 154 "buttons" -- rounding off the rough end cuts -- up in the loft.


Stu and me. There's lots of fitting to do! Cut and "button" one end, fit, finish cut and button again.


Monty executing one of the 308 welds on four floors.


The finished railing:
The loft view.


The run down from the loft to the main floor.


Run to entry (and there's a third one to the basement.)


Happy. Done!


Oh, and the view? It's only the entire lake!

The Amazing Envelope Organizers

These organizers are perhaps the thing I am most proud of making. And they are incredibly useful for keeping track of all those bits of paper: receipts, stamps, business cards, lists, notes, etc. I got the original instructions for them from an old Martha magazine, but I like to think I've made improvements on the idea.

The covers are mat board covered with cotton fabric. The envelopes and covers are attached with bookbinding tape (which is really hard to find even online). The inside covers are rectangles of paper glued in to cover the mat board and rough edges of fabric. Picking the paper to use as an inside cover is one of my favorite parts.

Once assembled all you have to do to help keep track of all the paper bits is write a title or catagory at the top of each envelope and tuck in your purse...I dig a stamp or a phone number out of my own just about every day.

I attended a craft fair last weekend and sold a fair number of these. It was great to have others like the designs and idea enough to buy them, very flattering.