This is a knitting blog, right?

I've been feeling awfully artsy/craftsy lately.  For instance, over the past couple of days I've been working on more counter tops.  Specifically, the counters that are on either side of my stove.  I'm having to take the counters on in tiny little steps due to lack of time and dealing with children, but it's getting done!

But alas, it's been digging into my knitting time.  I'm not saying that I haven't been knitting, ya know, but I'll show you a report on that tomorrow.  It's hard to get crafty people to be completely monogamous with their hobbies, isn't it?

Back to the counters.  Here's a couple of in progress shots:

Once again, I almost forgot the before and after.  The one on the left has the first base coat of paint, the right is the original counter.

Both with a base coat.

Faux finish applied, but no resin

And this is how it looked a few minutes ago with the resin and paint touchups!

Please ignore the crap shoved into the cabinet on the left.  Having cabinets open has allowed all sorts of things to land there, like coupons and other misc. paper.  I couldn't get the stove shoved all the way back in by myself today.  It's stuck on something.  When the hubby gets in today, that'll be his job.

There's only one more counter to go, but it's a doozy.  It's easily the size of the other two combined and we are going to have to pull the sink out of it to do it right.  That's also the spouse's job since that's not something that I'm qualified to do!

I'm very pleased with how all of this is turning out.  Oh, and by the way, the new resin (EX74) is working out beautifully.  I've gone out and purchased a resin mold to make jewelry with it as well as using it on the counters.  It's way too much fun to let it just sit in bottles. 

Eek! A Mouse!

I saw a vinyl decal on a website last week (and for the life of me I can't remember where) that had a mouse hole and a clothes line on it with tiny little clothes on it.  I thought it would be perfect for the boys' room.  I kept it in black except for some tiny little flames on the mouse's shirt to mimic the flames that we have going on the roman shades and the light switch.

Here's a pic with the light switch included:

If you'll notice, this is as wide as this piece of wall gets.  There is molding to both sides and on the left is the boys' closet.  The mouse hole fits perfectly here.    It's a small, but fun detail.

And here's a close up of the mouse hole:

The color is a bit faded thanks to the camera flash, it's a bit darker in real life.  And yes, for the record, mice have a real problem making their mouse holes stand up straight and not lean to the right.

*****

Edited: because I forgot to mention the supplies used.  These are just basic acrylic craft paints.  I also used a black sharpie to clean up the lines a little bit.

One Last Post for the Day

Today's my Big Baby Brother's 34th Birthday!  Happy Bday Dude!

He used to be really cute.   

The family's still not sure what happened to change that.

Contest Results

Times Up!  Put down your pencils, um wait, you're not being tested are you?  The contest results are in.  This time around, the contest was not too popular.  No one cares if my Boy Scouts have fun or not.  Except for the four people that left me some suggestions.  To those four I say, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"  I will indeed be incorporating a bunch of your suggestions. 


I used the Random Number Generator and got the following number:

 

Please excuse the weird "a" in there.  It seems my cropping "skillz" are not in abundance today either.  Anyway, the winner is:

SAMMIE!

Congratulations Sammie!  As soon as I get your address and as soon as the Labor Day Holiday is over and the mail is running again, I'll have your yarn and pendant out to you asap!

Asymetrical Necklace

Jewelry mania has really bitten me this week.  This was today's endeavor: 

Click to enlarge!

It's worn asymetricaly.  I had a devil of a time getting a photo of this.  If it was laying down, it didn't show it off well and then when I was wearing it, most of the pics came out all grainy.  But I figure these two pics are enough for you to get the point. 

Click to enlarge!

This was a fun piece to create.  My problem solving "skillz" seem to be a bit lacking though.  It took far longer to put together than it should have. 

The black cord is a silk cord, and the silver is silver plated chain.  Almost all of the materials used in this project were purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The two faceted beads came off of another bracelet that I deconstructed.  The chain connector that connects the pendant and the chains, not sure the official term on that part, is vintage from a necklace that was my grandmother's.

I love this!  Not sure what I'll wear it with, but I love it!

Counter Top Follow Up

Several people have asked where to get the Envirotex Lite and the cost.  If you are just looking for a small amount, you can check out places like Michael's.  At my local Michael's, they were carrying this product only in the 8 oz sizes at $11.99.   This size only covers about 2 square feet.  That's not enough to do the job on my huge kitchen.  Just one counter in my kitchen is 10 sq. feet.  I don't think they carry enough in stock to do what I need to do.  Another Michael's may carry larger sizes.  If they do, that's where your Michael's coupon will really come in handy.

However, You can go to the www.creative-wholesale.com website and they carry the product in the gallon sizes for $58.99.  There's also a product called EX74 that is basically the same product but has a UV filter in it to prevent yellowing, which would be really great for a sunny kitchen.  It also has more "open time" which gives you a little more leeway in spreading and getting rid of the bubbles.  Instead of 25 minutes of working time with the Envirotex Lite, you get an hour's worth of working time. You can get a 2 gallon kit of the EX74 for $105.83. 

Basically, for me it's a size and ease of use issue.  I'll probably be going with the EX74 to complete the rest of the project.  Of course, your mileage and product may vary.

As always, remember to follow the directions completely and keep safety a priority when using these products!  Wear gloves, no open flames, lots of ventilation, etc. etc. etc.

New Bracelet Up in Etsy Shop

New Earth, Sea and Grass Bracelet up in my etsy shop!

Rugs & Sweaters

Since I've been on a home decorating kick lately, I thought I'd throw out a question to all of you.  I need to find a 8 x 10' rug for my living room.  It needs to be $400 or less.  Remember the tight budget?  We've got some tax money coming back (finally) and I'm allocating some of it for a rug.   

I had a 5 x 7' rug in our living room to cover a big black spot on the floor, but it's now going to the curb.  The black spot appeared about 4.5 years ago while we were on vacation.  Evidently one or three of our zoo (3 dogs, 2 indoor kitties) decided it would be a good idea to "go" on the floor while we were gone and the house sitter wasn't there.  The sitter didn't know anything had happened.   When we got back, the damage was done.  We did the best we could to fix it barring having someone come professionally sand and strip the floors and replace the boards.  Until we can get the money to fix all of the floor problems, I need a rug. 

Anyone got any good ideas on where to look for inexpensive large rugs? 

*****

Knitting news:  The green sweater has been frogged.  For some reason, every time I've tried to knit with green, I pick a pattern, frog it and then make something that I like.  I'm hoping that when I pick a new pattern for it, things will work out.  Until then, I've begun a new project:

 

This is the Quidditch Sweater by Anne Bergeron from the book Charmed Knits.  The Eldest has been begging for it.  I figured I'd better make it for him since the last thing I knit for him was a pair of socks about three years ago.  I better indulge him now before he hits his teen years and refuses to wear anything that I make him.

*****

 Don't forget the Contest which ends September 4th!

 

New Countertop! Sorta

Wait until you see this! As most of you know, I've spent the past year doing a kitchen renovation. That would be with a capital "I" by the way. As in "I" am doing a kitchen renovation pretty much by myself. This is what has lead to the project taking an entire year.

First, there was the three, yes three, layers of wall paper to be dealt with. The bottom third layer had no primer underneath so I had to leave it on the walls. I primered over it twice before painting the pumpkin color that is on there now.

Second, the cabinets, that are still not finished. I'm getting there, I promise. My dad came and put wood trim on the cabinet and door fronts. You'll see that in just a sec. I finished painting two set of cabinets and have yet to do the third. You guys, this is a huge kitchen!

Third, and this is what today's post is about, is the countertops. We have been living with the most horrible blue laminate countertops. I cringe when I look at them. I've been abusing them so badly, cutting on them, putting really hot stuff on them and it's made no difference. They're still there. Or, at least, they sort of are.

See, we have an extremely tight budget with no room for budgets or errors. Go ahead and read that as we're almost broke. Go ahead, I don't mind. Being broke is not such a bad thing sometimes, it leads to more creativity. And boy, did we have it in Spades this weekend. Yeah, you read that right, I said "WE". My Mom was the lovely assistant on this project. Thanks to a post over on Craftster, I got inspired.

Here's where we started:


Notice the hideous blue on the countertop. I almost forgot to do the before pic. I remembered after I started the base coat.

For the base coat, we used the same paint that I'm putting on the cabinets, a biscuit color. Once this dried, we began applying paints using about six different natural sea sponges. The paints were all acrylic craft paints, seen here:


Here's my lovely assistant slaving working away:


The next step, once everything was dry and the Youngest was in bed (around 8pm) we started the cool part. We applied resin. Specifically, Envirotex Lite. I had used this resin before when making study boards. Those were so cool, but I'll have to tell ya about those at another time. Anyway, there's very little time or room for error when using this product. Once mixed, you have 25 minutes to get it the way you want it before it begins to harden.

I only did one countertop this weekend. I wanted to make sure it was going to work before moving on to all of them. This section was 9.66 square feet not including the back splash. I have three more countertops to go, two small ones and one that is about 20 square feet. I figured if the project didn't work, I would just rip it out and buy more laminate which would cost around $1100 dollars if someone else installed it. Installing laminate is not my thing.

Here's how it turned out:



Oh, and just to show you how good we really are, (I'm not bashful am I?) here's a laminate sample that we used as an example that had all the colors that I was going for:

Not bad huh?


I'm so incredibly proud of this project.

We only did one coat of resin. I have one or two more coats to pour on and give it a little more strength.

When all is said and done, we will have saved about $800.00 dollars on this diy countertop project. What do ya think? Doesn't look like laminate now, does it?


ETA the Legalese:  Please if you try this make sure you do it safely!   Resin can be toxic if handled improperly.  Use gloves to minimize skin contact and do this in a well ventilated area.  Also, the directions tell you that you can use a torch to help get rid of the bubbles.  If you do this, and I didn't because I chickened out, please follow the directions to the letter! Carbon dioxide is what makes them release.  I used a straw to blow on the bubbles to release them.  I didn't want my house to burn down in the middle of my craft project.

Fun New Site To Play With!

I found the most fun site. It's called Fun Photo Box.

I won't tell you how much time I wasted on this site, but suffice to say, I could/should have been doing other things like tackling dish mountain and laundry mountain. It's really easy, just upload a pic - yourself or someone else and in the photo effects section plug it into one of the many choices they have. The results are super fun. The Harry Potter one would be great for a Harry Potter Party Invitation. I plugged the Eldest's pic into that one since he's the big fan:

And this one? Yeah, it's just part of my campaign to become famous:

Knitting Monogamy

Knitting Monogamy can be such a pain. I tend towards working on just one project at a time. I find that if I don't do this, putting off the second project for "just a little while" results in me never finishing it.

I am totally bored to death working on my present sweater. I have doubts as to whether or not it will fit anyway. I'm just not overjoyed with the project. I may frog it and begin something else. I haven't quite decided yet. My son wants the quidditch sweater (think Harry Potter) from Charmed Knits and I already have all of the yarn that I need, so I may start that. I just know that if I put off the Buttercup sweater, it will go to UFO heaven.

I've noticed that not everyone is overjoyed with the contest prize. I have only had two entries so far. So I've decided to sweeten the pot a little. Along with the pendant I'm offering up this yarn as a prize:

Tertiary Fun! -Handspun by me (127 yds worsted weight wool)

So send me in some ideas!

Bill Manipulations

Several things have been driving me nuts lately and today I decided to take some action to fix things.

1. The first thing is my internet service. I'm being charged by AT&T for the highest speed internet available in the area. I went online today and did a speed test. Now get this, I'm supposed to be getting 3mbps download speeds. What was my actual total? .30 mbps. Somehow, AT&T misplaced a decimal there and I've been getting overcharged by a mile. So. byebye AT&T internet service and hello Clear.com where I'll be getting around 6mbps or there abouts for the same price. It absolutely irks me to be paying for a service and be getting subpar performance with my internet.

2. The second thing is no cable/dish or local channels on our tv. I'm feeling deprived. We've been without these for about three years now. So, I'm canceling my home phone land line and going with cell phones only so that I can afford the tv stuff. Besides, it's silly to be paying twice for phone service.



So this afternoon I've spent my time rearranging all my bills. It's been a stressful experience all around. I feel like I've been robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Once I've gotten both of the internet and dish stuff set up, I'll be giving AT&T the boot (except for my cell phones anyway.) I can't wait. I know my Eldest will be thrilled. He's the only kid he knows that can't get the Boomerang cartoons. How has he ever survived? :)


Don't forget to enter into the contest. Someone needs to have a non stress moment and win something free and it could be you! Jolene left me with some fabulous suggestions. Anyone else wanna play?

I feel a contest coming on!

To celebrate the opening of the AllThingsShea Etsy Store, I'm having a contest! Here's how to enter and win:

The Eldest is having a birthday coming up in September. We've picked a Cub Scout/Boy Scout/Camping theme for this big birthday bash. Help me out with some party activity ideas and you'll win yourself, or someone you love, this lovely pendant (comes with black silk cord):


ETA: New prize added! Tertiary Fun Yarn - my handspun (127 yds, worsted, wool)

Two ways to win:

1. Leave me a comment with your party activity idea (please make it camping/scout/survival oriented).
2. Leave a mention on your blog about the contest!

Both of these gets you an entry in the contest. Winner will be randomly chosen from those who enter. Contest ends September 4th! Good luck!

Etsy Shop Update

More jewelry is up in my etsy store! 2 new pendants and 4 baby charms.

Leftover Childhood Fears

Today's is an odd post. Not sure what made me think about this one, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Growing up is tough. Childhood fears abound and sometimes never let us go. Some people fear the monsters that live under their bed or in their closet. Hey, remember that clown from the movie Poltergeist?

Personally, I had a couple of different things that scared the bejeezus out of me. Thanks to a "friend" named Julie, I became terrified of one of my dolls at night. The doll was from Vietnam and my father brought it to my Mom after he was stationed over there during the war. Julie, being the mean person she was, told me that as soon as I closed my eyes the doll would begin to grow until she was the size of a real person. Then, the doll's nails would grow really long and she would walk over to my bed and gouge my eyes out. You have no idea how many hours I spent lying in my bed and letting the shadows fool me into believing that stupid doll was growing and moving towards me with her dragon lady nails. Thankfully, that fear disappeared.

The one that lingers in very surprising ways though, is the fear of vampires. Anyone remember that one while growing up? I figured that the only way to combat a vampire while growing up was if you slept with all your covers bunched up real good and tight around your neck. That way the vampire would never be able to get to it to suck the blood out of me. Today, the fear of vampires is long gone, but would you believe that I still sleep with my covers up over my neck? No matter how hot it may be, the sheet manages to be up there and wrapped tight around my scrawny little neck. It's amazing the fears or the habits caused by those fears that we carry with us into adulthood.

So let's hear it. Don't leave me to be the only one out there like this. Tell me some of yours!

Melting Pony Beads

I tried something last night that I've been wanting to try for a while: melting pony beads. In hindsight, this wasn't the smartest thing that I could have tried this week. Perhaps the fumes from melting plastic are best dealt with when one isn't already nauseous from the post nasal drip caused by a recent bout of the flu. None the less, I did it anyway. No one ever said I was the sharpest crayon in the box.

If you try this on your own, please remember to have open windows and lots of fans going. Melting plastic creates toxic fumes that need to be vented and released immediately! I plan on getting a thrift store toaster oven to use on the back porch next time I try this. I will also avoid doing it while already sick. Learn from my mistakes folks. :)

This is a super easy project that can produce some stunning results. For some examples, head on over to Craftster and do a search on melting pony beads. Especially look at the Tiffany style lampshades some people have created.


Here's what you'll need:

Plastic beads, cylindrical object, cookie sheet, aluminum foil, oven

Also, don't forget your oven mitts. You really don't want to touch melted plastic with your bare skin, do you?

Set your oven to 400 degrees, then while it's heating up, make a lovely arrangement of beads on a tin foil covered cookie sheet:


I was planning on making a simple bangle for my first go. I have tiny wrists, so I only made it 6.5 inches long and two of these fruit loop looking beads wide.


Melt it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Then, carefully shape it around a cylindrical object. I chose a glass jar.


Now, before we go any further, please know that this project did not work out for the best, but it's really not my fault. Really! Because, immediately after the shaping of the bangle, the Youngest got hold of it.

The pretty bangle now looks like two sets of false teeth for clowns:

So, it didn't quite work out this time. There will be another time for this. Maybe next time I'll try for a pretty bowl or platter and make sure the Youngest is no where near me when I do it.

Good Things/Bad Things

Quick update (it has to be quick, I have to turn all my stuff in for a children's consignment sale by tomorrow morning and I'm nowhere near ready):

I am alive, but just barely so. This was one nasty little bug that I had over the weekend. The fever alone lasted four and a half days. I still feel weak as a kitten. But, I am recovering. So, yeah!
That's the Good Thing.

The Bad Thing? I found a big 'ol mistake in my knitting project and had to frog about three days worth of work. Not. Happy.

Thanks so much for the Get Well Wishes! They were much appreciated.

Flu

Everything in my life has been sidelined by the flu over the past two days. I am not enjoying myself. Fever, chills, aches, pains, cough. You name it, I got it.

To make matters worse, I was supposed to sing the National Anthem with my choir at the Braves Game tonight. Not fair, not fair, not fair. It's not everyday you get the chance to sing in front of that many people. Oh well, maybe next year.

There's also been no knitting or anything else remotely crafty going on because of the flu and the three year old has had carte blanche to destroy the house as he sees fit as well. At this point in time, do I care? Not even remotely. I'll call in the Hasmat teams to clean up later.

Healing vibes are being gratefully accepted. Please send them!

Back to Knitting

I've been plugging slowly along on Buttercup (Ravelry Link). It's very difficult to show the progress being made so far, but I am almost to the point where I begin working on the body. I've begun the lace on the front and I'm almost to the point where the body and sleeves are separated. At this point, it looks way too big, but I think (hope) it's an optical illusion caused by the raglan shaping.


I made another modification, but this time it's not anything big. There's a point in the pattern that calls for you to cast on 46 sts on a separate needle. I didn't have a separate needle free that was the correct size so here's what I did:

Instead of casting on the 46 sts on the separate needle, I continued with the pattern while skipping that section. When I got to the point of purling across the 46 sts, I did a backwards loop cast on. I did this one at a time and purled each onto the right needle before casting on for the next stitch. Similar in theory to picking up each stitch and knitting it on, which I hate to do.

This was quite tedious and I don't recommend it, but it did work. What I should have done was just find a bleeping pencil and cast on to it. It would have saved tons of time. Of course, it wouldn't have been the right size, but there ya go.


At first this pattern was going incredibly slow. Not the patterns fault, mine. I don't knit well in silence. I need something to listen to, usually a tv show. My favorite is Top Gear (UK version) but since the season has wrapped up, I've been left with nothing. I don't have cable, I have to watch over the interet. Another difficulty is that most tv shows just don't do it for me. Evidently I have the attention span of a flea and if a show doesn't wow me from the start, I ain't watchin' it.

But now I'm totally hooked on a show that has plenty of episodes to keep me going. You might have heard me say that I'm about 20 billion years behind on movies and tv. This is no exception. I'm now officially addicted to Battlestar Galactica. No, not the old one with Dirk Benedict, but the one that debuted in 2005ish and is already officially cancelled. Like I said, 20 billion years behind.

My fingers have been flying on the needles since I started watching this. Unfortunately, I have to only watch this at either naptimes or after the kids have gone to bed. There's just too much mature crap going on for an 8 and 3 year old to be watching it. But man, is it ever good. How did I miss this when it came out? Oh yeah, that's right, no cable. I'm hoping to remedy that real soon.

The All Things Shea Etsy Store!

I finally started up my Etsy store!

It's only taken me a good two years to get on the stick and get things rolling. Shea's the name, procrastination seems to be my game! Well, maybe not procrastination, more like having needy kids or something. I only have six items in the store so far, many more just waiting to be photographed and inventoried. Do you know how long it took me yesterday to get the six items up in the store? About three hours. How pitiful is that? Three hours. Thanks, kids. My day went like this: start something, stop to deal with kid, add two more words to the item description, stop to deal with kid. etc. etc. etc.

Obviously I won't be contending in the big leagues for a while. But I have made a start! Here's what's up there now:

Polymer Clay Pendants!

For every pendant purchased, a black silk cord will be included so that you or your loved one will be able to wear it right away!

I have more jewelry and some fiber stuff coming. This is just the beginning. :)

More Flames

Remember how I said the new computer desk needed a chair or bench? Well, it's got one now and it's perfectly decorated for the guys in the house!

When I finished making the roman shades in the boys room, I had a lot of the flame fabric left over. So I decided to repurpose my grandmother's old vanity table bench and make it the new computer seating.

Here's the before:



The tools used:




And now the after:




Didn't it turn out great? It now matches the desk and the boys love it. My grandmother would be thrilled to know that this bench is still being used today by her great grandkids. She was pretty crafty too, I think she'd even like the flames.


Did I mention that I had a ton of the flame fabric leftover? Still do. I also covered their light switch plate. It ended up being a bit crooked, but it's not as noticeable in real life as it is in the pic:



That, I think, will be the last of the flames for a while. Think the boys would go for something pink next? There's got to be something girly in the house. I mean, there is at least one girl living here. Jeez.

Buttercup

A new project is on the needles! Of course, it may come right back off the needles if things look like they're going downhill. I think I became very spoiled by the Dark Green Day Sweater Vest. I was practically obsessed with that project and I'm just not feeling that for my current one.

I'm making Buttercup, by Heidi Kirrmaier. Here's the Ravelry link: Buttercup
I'm using Hobby Lobby's Love this Cotton! in Sage. Here's the progress so far:



I've already made quite a few modifications to the pattern. This is an A-line top, but I'm planning on omitting the a-line part and make it more fitted. I'll also still have gathers under the bust, but not the back. So far so good, especially since I'm only a few rows into it. It's being knitted in the round and has raglan sleeves, so I'll be able to tell sooner rather than later if I like it or not. That's the plan anyway. :)

Have a great weekend!

Dark Green Sweater and Computer Woes

At last, at last, I'm free at last. The computer transfers are complete. All did not go well though. I did lose one thing - my blog reading list! I think I need to change blog readers so that this won't happen again. This is the second time this has happened, except this time there was so much more to lose!

If I usually come by your site and don't in the next couple of weeks, do please send me a quick shout out. I lost most of the sites that I frequent. I'm so bummed by this. It's like losing all your friends at once. I remember some of the site names, just not all. I believe I have recovered most of them, but I'm betting there are one or three that I've missed getting back.

Oh, and if you have a blog that you'd like me to visit, leave me a comment as well. I'm always looking for new places to lurk look at!

On to the good news - I finally have a pic to show you of the Dark Green Day Sweater:


I'm so in love with this sweater! This was the most fun knitting project that I have ever undertaken, and I'm not saying that lightly. I never once grew tired of it or bored in any way. It fairly flew off the needles. I can't recommend this sweater vest enough. I'm definitely going to make more of the designer's patterns.


I also had a great bit of luck on Craigslist this morning. Since I have a spare computer sitting around, I decided that it needed some place to sit, a desk perhaps? Check out what I got for a mere fifteen dollars:
It's in pristine condition, practically brand new and fits perfectly in the one spot that I had for it. Which, by the way, is not where you see it pictured. This was before it went upstairs to it's new home. I also found in my garage a great bench for it. The bench needs to be painted and re-upholstered, but it is perfect for this desk.

New Computer, Little Progress

Where has Shea been for the last couple of days? Sitting in front of two computers - my old dinosaur one and my shiny, new, lightening fast one. I'm trying to get all my old data transferred over and it's taking forever. The transfer can only go as fast as the dinosaur lets it and that's not very d#mn fast.

So, no pics to show you as I'm using my spouse's laptop and no new topics to discuss since I've just been staring at two monitors for hours on end. I'm hoping this will be completed in the next couple of days. The Eldest wants it done quickly as well. He's getting the old one to use for homework and games. He's pestering me to death about it. He already has a plan about which game to play first. :)

Peach Jam

I swear I've been on a roll this past week. Sally Homemaker has nothing on me I tell ya.

We have a White Peach Tree in our back yard and everything decided to ripen this week. And for the first time, I made peach jam! Yay me!

In process

Finished!

There's more coming, but I'll have to take care of it after the weekend. I'm not sure if I'll make more jam or if I'll just freeze the peaches. I had the Eldest help me with pitting and deworming the peaches. You should have seen his face when he came across the first worm. Ewww Yuck! This is the kid that hates all kinds of bugs and things and hates getting his hands dirty. He's such a city boy like his dad. It's so funny to watch them with stuff like this. He thinks all peaches and fruit comes out of the garden like they have them at the stores. I tried to explain about pesticides and all that, but I think he'd rather eat the chemicals than play with the worms. :)

I finished my Dark Green Day vest last night, but I have no pics as yet. I'll save those for next week. Have a great weekend!

Dumb Cat

Check out where our outside kitty decided to take a cat nap - the left front tire on the Mom van:


She's not the smartest kitty on the block.

Roman Shade Inflamed

A while back we moved the boys into the same bedroom and turned the spare bedroom into a gigantic playroom. The decor in their shared bedroom was still coyboy nursery themed and the Eldest hasn't been very happy with it. Now that the Youngest is three and a half and into Hotwheels as much as his brother, we decided to make that the theme of their room.


We started by decorating the walls with vinyl decals of cars. There were four cars to the pack (can be found at Joann's), but they didn't originally come with flames as seen below. The flames came with a gigantic tire decal. I decided that there were already more than enough flames with the tire and moved some flames to come out the pipes in the back of each car. I placed all of the decals strategically around the room just for fun.

Another problem that had to be overcome were the windows. They had blinds on them, but the Youngest spent the better part of his naptime one afternoon destroying them. It was far to late by the time I realized he was doing this for me to save them.

I really want to make roman shades for the kitchen, but wanted to practice first before I tackled making them out of expensive fabrics. So I found a wonderful roman shade tutorial online and got to it. This was the result:

Please be aware that the children picked out the fabric for the curtains for their room, not me. :)

I just noticed that the top right of the right hand shade got loose when we put the screws into the molding of the window. I'll fix that as soon as the Youngest gets up from his nap today. But besides that, didn't they turn out cute? In a very rugged boyish way of course. All in all, I'm pretty proud of this sewing project.

If you'll notice, I left a curtain rod up over the windows. These did hold a bandana valance at one time. I'm planning on suspending a bunch of hotwheels cars on the rod with varying lengths of ribbon or yarn or something. If it turns out well, you'll get to see a pic of that later also.

See ya tomorrow!

Typical Monday

Wanna know how my week is starting out? With a typical Monday, that's how.

1. I have so much to tell you about what I did this weekend, but guess what? My camera battery died, so I can't show you. It'll have to be tomorrow.
2. My children are driving me to the brink. Fights all day, defiance of Mom all day, you get the picture. School can't come soon enough. Countdown 'til August 10th has begun.
3. I dropped a needle out of my sweater and now have to fix 10 stitches.
4. I now have a blazing headache.

I may take an aspirin and cap it off with a Margarita. That should fix things me.

Sometimes You Just Get Lucky

Dinner time is always a challenge and never a pleasure in my house. Not one child likes what's on the menu unless the menu is either hot dogs or pasta with white sauce. It's always stressful for me and tonight was no exception. We had Fruit Sauced Chicken Breast and Green Bean Almandine, but this time we ate by candlelight.

Turns out that kids will eat a lot of food in order to blow out candles. Who Knew? For every bite eaten, a candle was blown out. I kept the lighter handy. :)

*********

Significant progress is being achieved on the knitting project:


Dark Green Day Vest Progress:


Have a great weekend!

DIY Fun - Joint Compound & Stencils

Ever wanted to add a little subtle pizzazz to your walls or cabinets for little to no money? Using joint compound and stencils is a great way to do this and I'll show you how to do it on the cheap!

Basic Supplies:

Joint Compound - you can get much smaller size buckets of it than this. This is what I had in the garage already.
Wall or Cabinet Surface
Putty Knife - I couldn't find mine for this tutorial so I grabbed a joint knife instead.
Stencil(s)
Painter's Tape - please don't use masking tape, it will pull up paint from your wall's surface.
Tape Measure
Pencil
Level - optional



Step 1:

Working on a clean dry surface, use a tape measure to accurately pinpoint where the stencil should be placed. For this tutorial I am using a scrap board, so I did not measure anything.

Step 2:

Place stencil on the surface and tape it down with the painter's tape. At this point you may want to use a leveling tool to make sure that your stencil is level and not crooked. I can't tell you how aggravating it is to do all the work of getting a stencil on the wall and then take two steps back and notice that it's crooked and have to start all over.

Step 3:

Load up your putty knife with joint compound.


Step 4:

Lightly and carefully pull the putty knife across the stencil making sure to fill in all the blank spaces. Please don't make a thick layer, it's supposed to be subtle, remember?




Step 5: (do this as soon as step 4 is complete).

Carefully pull the stencil away from the wall.



Step 6:

Using a damp paper towel, gently wipe away any unwanted joint compound that is on the surface. If you are neater than I was and use a putty knife instead, you'll be able to skip this step.



Step 7:

Did you make a mistake and want to start over? No problem, Use a damp paper towel to wipe away the whole thing and start over. Easy!


Step 8:

Step back and marvel at your creation.

The picture below is above my cabinets and right below my ceiling. It is unfinished as of now:


What should you do with it once it's dry?



This is the fun part.

a. If you want a very subtle tone on tone look that will play well with lights and shadows, paint over the piece with the same color that is already painted on the walls or cabinets.

b. Want it to show up a bit more? Antique it with a glaze paint.

c. Want it to really stand out? Paint the work with a contrasting color to the walls or cabinet.

Once my kitchen renovation is complete, I'll be using a combination of both a and b. It will be tone on tone and then very lightly antiqued to make it stand out a bit more on the cabinetry.

Enjoy!

Green Day Sweater Vest

Yesterday I mentioned that I'm currently working on the Green Day Sweater Vest by Mari Muinonen. I'm still using the Paton's Classic Tweed Wool in Deep Olive that just didn't want to be the 1930s Sweater. I like it much better in this project.

Here's the progress so far:

I was worried that the flecks of color would detract from the cables, but I don't think that 's happening, do you? If you noticed that the left cable is different than the two right ones, it's because the panel in between the two cables on the left is the center front of the sweater. There are four large cables total on this vest, two right and two left.

There are two mods that I've made so far, only one of which was completely intentional. I added two stitches to the front to make a panel in the center of the sweater. That's the one that I meant to do. The second was on the baby cables at the bottom. I left out a row in the center of the baby cables, unintentionally, but decided that I liked it anyway and continued the mistake throughout the bottom of the vest. To make up for the lost rows, I added another baby cable repeat before starting the body of the sweater.

I had a difficult time figuring out the pattern instructions for doing this in the round. I've figured it out for the body so far, but who knows what will happen when I get to the straps. :)

A new project

It seems that today was a day for killing chickens, so to speak. My apology to those of you that actually have chickens. I'm not allowed to have real ones since I live in snob country. Evidently, anyone that owns livestock is considered riffraff around here.

Okay, back to chicken killing, or in other words, errands. School starts back in just two tiny little weeks. Yippee! Shhh, don't tell the kids I said that. But before school can start, supplies must be purchased and medical forms need to be signed off on, and garbage like that. So, I did at least get the form to the doctor. Then there was the dry cleaners, oh, and a birthday gift to be purchased. And last but not least, The Eldest and I got a wild hair and rearranged the living room. Whew!

Obviously, I haven't knit a thing today. But I did start a new project yesterday: The Green Day Sweater Vest by Mari Muinonen. I've seen some amazing things done with this pattern over on Ravelry. So in an effort to regain my knitting mojo, I decided to try it as well. I'm doing this sweater in the round. That way I can try the d*mn thing on to make sure it fits me as I go along. Kinda important in my book since knitting flat has failed me lately. I did get about 1.5 inches done yesterday. I'll hopefully find some time tonight to work on it.

Oh, and just for giggles, here's the Youngest showing his muscles at the beach last week: