1ST BIRTHDAY DECORATING IDEAS

Beautiful Boat Crafts: Decorating Ideas and Projects for OnBoard

Make your boat a home! Expert decorator and "liveaboard" Linda Buckingham shares her wealth of knowledge with over 50 decorating projects for the boat. All of these projects can easily be completed onboard. Using only simple, accessible tools and materials, Buckingham takes you step-by-step through designs for all areas of the boat, from floor cloths and knotwork to chairs and glasswork. A wide variety of techniques are explained in detail-including stenciling, faux finishing, ropework and knotting-that will help you make items such as the Canvas Deckchair, Lantern Lashing, and Step/Storage Box. The one-of-a-kind Finishing Touches for your Boat is full-color and all projects are skill-rated.

The 'smugglers' who shared the cabin with me on the Trans Siberian always placed a generous cash gratuity into our passports as we were to be searched. Andre 'the elder' would assert his authority as the head smuggler and collect all four of the passports... including mine... and he would give them to the officials with a mischevous smile and a nod that said 'this is my gift to you.' This is my business. This is what I do.

Andre always put the American passport on the bottom... I think he thought it would draw less attention there...and then he always shushed me with a stern and piercing look as he prepared for these most critical transactions. The first thing the official would do is put the American passport on top. I began to realize that although we shared that cabin and the comraderie of the rails... or confinement thereof... that Andre 'the elder' didn't really think that having an American in his cabin was all that much good for business. It seemed to bring a little 'extra special' attention and scrutiny to his little clandestine smuggling operation. Maybe he had to bump up the bribes a notch or two to insure the safe passage of his valuable contraband. Either way you could just tell by watching him that Andre was a bottom line kind of guy.

By the end of the journey though Andre had invited me to live with him and his family in Poland... to work at his store... and to marry his daughter who he assured me had the bluest of eyes and breasts that were the national pride of Poland. Although I never saw him again I came to love Andre as a father in law even though I never met his daughter... somehow I feel like I know her.

It's no joke either about Polish womens breasts being an object of national pride. Somehow Andre 'the elder' seemed capable of working it into any conversation relating to his motherland... to which Andre 'the younger' and their female companion would invariably agree with.

This usually led to a toast... a clanking of the glasses... the tipping of a bottle and a slurred chorus of 'nasdorovia's.'

Whenever the merits of Polish breasts were agreed on, indeed that meant it was time to drink some more vodka. Even to this day... when I think of Andre or Polish womens breasts... it makes me want to knock back a shot of vodka... but I don't drink anymore and really I am more of an ass man... but still. I never had the heart to tell Andre that... I mean, talking about Polish womens breasts really seemed to make him so happy. I didn't want to take that way from him. You've just never seen a guy so filled with joy as Andre was whenever his favorite subject was being discussed or debated... it really lit him up from the inside.

Anytime you want to make a Polish national feel good... or homesick... just bring up the fact that Polish women have the best breasts. It's been good for a lot of free drinks for me.

I had just left Asia... everyday I travelled closer to Europe. With the passage of time and distance Andre's observations were indeed verified though... the closer I got to Poland... the larger breasts became. I'm not kidding. Andre was right.

The first Russian I met... the man smiling in the photograph... was like most Russians it seemed...named Sergei. A few were named Alexander or Andre. I think Russians have only three names... except for politicians or people of fame. I might have met a couple of Victors and a handful of Igor's as well. Somebody once said they'd heard of a Russian named Nikolai too. Still... most men in Russia are named Sergei. That's just the way it is there.

Seconds after I took this photograph Sergei slipped into his pocket without flinch or hesitation the currency that Andre had stashed in his passport. I knew it was coming and I was watching closely for it. I barely caught it. And I grew up in Chicago.

Living on that train with those smugglers was like taking an advanced college course in the subtleties and techniques of graft. It was Andre 'the elder' who taught me that you need to keep variable amounts of currency in each of your four pockets... like five in one, ten in the next, then twenty and a hundred...and that you must properly size up the person you are attempting to bribe and choose from one of your pockets the minumum amount you are betting it will take to pacify that official.

That's helped me more than once in life since then.

Andre also showed me that it was really important to telegraph the bribe... to look the mark right in the eyes and demonstrate that one... you were about to bribe him and two... that you were going to reach into your pocket and take out all of the money you had available to you for this transaction. It was really deep psychology according to Andre. The man had an ethic and he was a perfectionist. It's always remarkable to watch such a master at work.

Andre pointed out that it was good form to allow your pocket to turn slightly inside out so that the mark could see that indeed you really emptied it. This he noted ma

Historic Home Renovations Lead to Additional Development

The expansive Page-Vawter House, built in 1890, tends to speak to everyone who sees it. But it doesn't say "buy me" to just everyone.

Story by Ann Ali

ANSTED -- The expansive Page-Vawter House, built in 1890, tends to speak to everyone who sees it.

But it doesn't say "buy me" to just everyone.

Becoming a West Virginian was probably the furthest thing from Los-Angeles-native Jim Campbell's mind in August 2006, when, during a month-long trip in a motor home to visit the area where his in-laws grew up, he rounded a corner and saw nothing but the 5,800 square-foot house -- with a for sale sign in the yard.

"Ever since I'd known (wife, Debbie), she would talk about West Virginia and how beautiful it is," Campbell said. "We bought a motor home to take a trip, so with my wife, my in-laws and our two dogs, we set out for a month on the road."

Campbell said because of work on a bridge, his motor home full of family had to take the longer route through Ansted on the way to Jodie. That led them past the house, which he said probably was two years from collapsing.

"We wanted to see the house before we had to leave for Ohio, and we had to sort of twist the agent's arm because everyone in town wanted to see inside," he said. "We got a 20-minute tour and put an offer in that afternoon.

"We decided we were going to make a life change."

Campbell had quite a life to change.

He had made a living doing event production for names such as the Los Angeles Lakers, singer Jimmy Buffett, the Emmy Awards and Honda. He'd renovated numerous large homes and properties before, along with operating a few restaurants and bars. He said he really only needs a computer and an Internet connection to do his work these days, and he's often on the road. But he was ready to put a production in Fayette County.

"We rescued a landmark, and all these people have come out of the woodwork to tell us they're so thankful," Campbell said.

The Campbells began shipping their belongings from their Arizona home to their new life in Ansted, but health problems made them think they had too much on their plates to swallow, so the sale sign returned.

When Jim and Debbie visited the house to retrieve their belongings a few months later, the house compelled them to stick with renovating the town's crown jewel.

"I know God has a plan for us here," Campbell said. "(Debbie) said I'd have to pry her cold, dead fingers off the doorknob to ever leave that house. This is where her soul belongs, and I'm her soul mate."

The Campbells have the house's exterior work nearly complete, and they're tackling the interior -- with 11 fireplaces and 52 8-foot-tall windows -- a little at a time. They hope to see it become a destination for weddings and other community activities, but Campbell said the area would dictate what it needs the spot to become. As the couple's residence, Campbell said he wanted to treat the home gently.

They decorated the home this past Christmas to sponsor the local Christmas parade, and a car show is on the house's schedule for this summer. Campbell, who didn't have much local knowledge just two years ago, now can provide a 40-minute historical tour of the home thanks to his own research and local residents volunteering articles, stories and artifacts.

He said his natural talent is to see an end result when looking at the beginnings, and he has the ability to manage multiple projects at once. That has led to additional Fayette county projects.

Campbell said he observed a lot of traffic in the Chimney Corner intersection of routes 60 and 16, and when he saw another for sale sign, he had another vision.

"The idea is for me to quit doing shows and traveling so much," he said. "I like doing them, and the money's good, but if I could do this and make a nice living and support the house, it's what I want to do."

So the property that was the former "Aintcha et yet cafe" and country store soon will be a Jim Campbell production, as well.

"It's just really nice that he thinks as much of our area as we do," said Cindy Dragan, assistant director of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. "He's really infused a great deal of energy here."

He's been a candle igniting wildfire through Ansted and the Midland Trail area.

"There are naysayers, but the Midland Trail is exciting right now," Campbell said. "Nobody's tapping into it, except the ones who can see."

Campbell's vision for what he'll call the Chimney Corner Cafe will include camping spots, a rental cabin, a stage for local musicians and quality, gourmet food that will coincide with Page-Vawter house weddings and catering -- no deep fryers allowed.

Through its renovations, the sign currently proclaims it the site of the "Ain't Open Yet Cafe."

"The heartstrings

With its lush forests, rugged coast, and long rainy season, the Pacific Coast has spawned a style that is informal, organic, and above all eclectic. Northwest Style captures the spirit and diversity of this region's architecture, landscape, and lifestyle by presenting a collection of beautiful and distinctive homes in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Here, an overlapping of elements and architectural styles is common: A house designed as a tribute to nature makes use of an open floor plan and native materials—both significant elements of early regional Modernism; the decor of a chic urban loft reveals nuances of Japanese design. While the styles vary, a sensitivity to the environment and a desire to accentuate the natural beauty of the region lie at the heart of almost every design. Gorgeous color photographs show these dwellings in their natural settings and highlight architectural and decorative details. Full of inspiring ideas for architects, designers, and home decorators everywhere, Northwest Style is a defining volume on the seminal style of this spectacular region.

As the Pacific Northwest becomes ever more popular, a book like Anne Wall Frank's Northwest Style seems perfectly timed to highlight the eclectic interior and exterior styles that exemplify the region. Along with stunning photographs by Michael Mathers, the prose conveys the casual "style without a style" nature of the many beautiful homes featured.
Northwest Style takes a look at better than three dozen homes that range from a city apartment in downtown Seattle to a houseboat on the Willamette River in Oregon, as well as a couple of patrician homes that command some of the most amazing views of the waters and mountains of the Northwest. It's evident that one of the trademarks of this style is the influence of many cultures, as is the natural look of exposed wooden beams, high windows to let in the seldom-seen sunlight, and a profusion of artifacts from the region's fishing and logging heritage. There is a conscious effort in many of the homes pictured to define a portion of the West, be it Asian influences, the frontier sensibilities of bow saws and mounted bucks gazing down from above the fireplace, or the persistent architectural use of wood, as in the thoroughly appointed log cabin overlooking Hood Canal. At times, some of these techniques result in a home that is more museum than living space, but all are striking and do a good deal to show just how much independent spirit is still alive in the Northwest.
Northwest Style is less about any one definitive Northwest image than it is a sampling of the spectacular cultural and environmental influences of the Pacific Northwest. This, along with the extensive list of galleries, antique shops, and decorating stores in the book's appendix, provides a elegant look at the many possibilities open to those who call the Northwest home. --Kris Law