10 Minutes Each Day in an Unreasonable Manner

More mushrooms

2012-01-20T14:03:00.000-05:00

Here is what I did with the mushroom blanks I had left. (I ran out of white paint, so didn't finish off all my mushrooms for the craft show and gifts.) when I finally picked up my room after Christmas, I didn't want to pack them away as is so finished them off.

I like how they look on my woman cave/sewing room "mantle" (a marble topped bureau from dh's mothers family that I keep bed linens in.)

Hopefully will be over a terrible cold soon, so I have time for creating!

Kathy

Upcycled Shabby Shrooms Christmas ornaments

2011-12-11T16:53:00.005-05:00

I obsessively made 45.

Roses, hung with embroidery cotton and a small button.

Red with white spots, paired with a small german spun cotton shroom and sitting on a clothespin.

Same as above but pink.

Red one in the hibiscus tree:

Made with my childhood bedspread (50 yrs old) which really fell apart last time I washed it, and wine corks which I have plenty of!

Thanks for looking.

Check out some amazing creations at Motivate Me Monday over at Keeping it Simple and at Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase and Thrifty Things Friday at the Thrifty Groove.
Kathy

More flower brooches

2011-11-18T21:05:00.005-05:00

I just can't stop folding petals.

What to charge for them is the hard part.

Linking up to Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday again. Check out the other projects there!

See Wednesdays post for the link to instructions and explanation of my little changes.

Kathy

Kanzashi flower brooches

2011-11-16T19:42:00.008-05:00

This is what I've been working on the past couple of days. I found very detailed instructions plus a video to make fabulous Kanzashi flowers. I just did the big flower part and took the easy route by using buttons and what have you for the centers. They are about 3 1/2 inches across.

Making the flowers is fun - kind of like origami with fabric. One thing that I did differently - I didn't iron the first fold after the first flower. So much faster. And it came out exactly the same. I'm not trying to win a contest, just to make some pretty brooches.

Added later: Another thing I am doing differently is I do knot the thread so it is easier to keep track of and I don't accidentally pull it through. I may try leaving the other end on the needle when I tie the final knot. Sometimes it is hard to see.

Let me know what you think!
AND check out other projects at Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, and Finished for Friday at Lit and Laundry.
Kathy

Painting plates to use in garden art

2011-11-05T20:15:00.003-04:00

I'm linking up to Bunny Jeans Bunny Hop Party. And the Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence. Check out the other projects!
I've been painting plates lately, mostly small ones to use as centers for my plate flowers:

I've never painted much. It is fun. I'm going to do ivory accent lines on the sunflowery one to make the petals sharper. Pebeo 150 paints. Baking in the oven makes the paint glass-like and hard.

It just occurred to me when I was looking at one of the little cups that they would be very nice Christmas ornaments. I may hang my small painted plates on the tree this year.

The pebeo paints are expensive but the plates are often 25 cents or less! I started with 3 colors, and black pen and a gold outliner. With a Michaels 50% off coupon for one item the total was around $20. If you bought a kit instead of individual you could save even more with the coupon!

Kathy

Another dog outfit

2011-10-30T13:33:00.001-04:00

I have mentioned that my little dog gets cold very easily. I found this gap sweater at a thrift store for $4.00. Its cotton, mens XL.

I cut one of the arms off...I cut it so that the stitching holding it to the body came with the arm, to help prevent it from unraveling.

Then I cut along the sleeve side seam starting form the shoulder and moving toward the cuff. I saved enough near the cuff to make a rolled turtle neck and a breast piece. I used another doggie clothing article to measure how far to cut. But you could measure your dog. It needs to open up just before his front legs.

Slide it on over his head! Its pretty fashionable don't you think?
I may crochet around the edges to finish it off and perhaps a little flap and button under the belly to help hold it in place. He wore it yesterday in his crate on our trip to Boston. Very comfy for sleeping in the car!

Kathy

I've been painting saucers

2011-10-24T08:58:00.000-04:00

Pebeo porcelain 150 paints.

These are my initial experiments, not yet baked in the oven.

I'll post a pic after the cooking. Since the paint is dishwasher safe once cooked, I'm hoping they will last in the garden as plate flower centers.

I am not a painter. I wouldn't know what to do with a big plate, but these little saucers were fun! Since the paint is expensive I bought only 3 colors, plus a black "pen" and a gold outliner.

Thanks for looking.

Kathy

Quick dog coat

2011-10-02T10:01:00.004-04:00

I'm making a winter coat with a breast piece and everything from a womens XL quilted jacket for Iggie, but I needed a quick coat yesterday. So I had noticed that the sleeves of the coat were basically the right shape for a doggie cape. Here you see I cut out a scoop for his head. The long ends will be velcroed in the front of his neck.

Cut down a neck tie with one end sewn on top middle and the other velcroed across after passing under his tummy to hold in place: Voila!

Some of the edges should be finished, but because of the way the coat was made some of them don't need to be.

Thanks for looking.

Kathy

10 more plate flowers

2011-08-04T06:44:00.000-04:00

Now I have 40 new ones. All need hangers attached, not the most fun part of it.

I'm giving the 5 turquoise ones to a friend on Saturday.

TFL
Kathy

Too much glass! Work in Progress

2011-08-02T11:37:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to clean out my study. I'm not sure what I will do with these when I'm done, but I'm making plate flowers. Attaching the hangers for so many will be a huge job, but at least I've gotten the glass out of my study! I will also add embellishments to many of them.

TFL
Kathy

Mosaic works in progress

2011-07-29T10:40:00.003-04:00

Here is my current mosaic work in progress, sitting on a lazy susan for easy turning. I was using this clay pot upsidedown on my porch as a plant stand. I am using thinset to apply the glass, but I don't trust the cheap clay pot ($12 at Biglots) out for winter, so I will keep it as a plant stand on my porch.
My concept is a luna moth on a tree trunk, and on the back of the tree a little birch tree grows. I'm going to mosaic a saucer and attach it to the top, not sure how that will fit with the theme, maybe just cover it with leaves.

And here are some bricks that my friend Susan and I mosaicked to go into the corners of a planter in our downtown. I call them, Bright Lights Big City Rubicks Cube

Thanks for looking!

Kathy

Iggy is growing up, and I'm having trouble posting comments!

2011-06-05T14:49:00.001-04:00

Here is little Iggy. He is almost 6 mo. old and weighs 20 pounds.

I have tried to post comments on several blogs such as Stephanie's, and I end up in an endless loop of being directed to the google account sign on page even tho I am signed in and I went to the blogs from my dashboard.

So I'm giving up for a few days! I'll try again and hope the problem is fixed.

Kathy

Mosaic Lamp completed

2011-05-19T07:02:00.000-04:00

I took a mosaic class at the local art gallery with a couple of friends last winter. My class project is hanging on our back porch. Since then I've made a little mosaic table. And I've been saving plates with roses on them because my grown up foster daughter loves roses. In my last post, I showed the beginnings of the lamp I am making for her.

Here it is with everything glued on, ready to grout:

And here it is grouted:

She likes it. Yay!

The Process: Its easy, just takes time. Lots of time. I find it very restful, fitting the pieces together. I used the wheeled nippers that I got in my class mostly, to cut the dishes. Then I tumbled the shards in a little rock tumbler with water and a drop of dish soap. The pretty white glass tiles were at HD for $5 /sheet. I cut some of those in advance and tumbled them too. Anything that I cut to fit as I went, I filed the sharp edge. Glued everything down with Weldbond (for inside or covered porch objects only - it is water based.) Then grouted with sanded grout. I wish I had lightened up the grey just a tad. But generally I like it. I also really wanted a 6 sided shade in white, but I couldn't find one (only cream), so I settled on this 8 sided one.

Thanks for looking.

Kathy

Work in Progress: Mosaic Lamp

2011-04-24T18:20:00.001-04:00

I have a bunch of lamps from when I used to decoupage them.
I've been collecting plates with roses for a while. And I chopped them up the other day and realized they looked good with the shimmery glass tiles I'd picked up at HD.

So here is an ugly lamp with 6 somewhat flattish sides, and I have the lower half of 3 sides done...

I want to have it done by Wednesday to give as a gift. That means to have it ready to grout by Tuesday. But I had to go into work this weekend, so I'm off schedule!

Thanks for looking.

Kathy

Mosaic Table, new puppy and I'm glad to be back.

2011-04-14T22:57:00.003-04:00

I've had to be on line less for a while, but now I'm back. I was scared I wouldn't have any followers left. Thank you for sticking with me.

I'm linking up to Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, check out the great craft projects there!

Here is a mosaic table top that I just finished grouting. My concept is that a bird has flown out of a stained glass window to grab a bug out of the mosaic table. The hunt for dishes to break is a lot of fun. And now when I break something in my kitchen I'm not upset any more because I pick up the pieces and put them in my mosaic box.

Msaicking is a learning process and I hope to keep improving. Next I may mosaic the sides or I may take a break and mosaic a wooden bowl. Note added: Actually I have decided to use the plates I've been collecting with roses on them to mosaic a lamp for my grown up foster daughter who loves roses.

All you need are wheeled nippers, some dishes, and some weldbond glue! I'm not giving instructions because they are all over the web.

AND I have a new puppy, here is Iggy sleeping next to Zorro. As I type this he is next to my other cat Ringo. I feel very fortunate that the kitties tolerate him. He's been a lot of fun.

Here he is on my lap:

Thanks for looking!
I'm off to catch up on some blogs.
Kathy

Best use for Kindle AND Many projects but no camera!

2011-02-15T06:53:00.003-05:00

I've somehow destroyed another memory card for my camera so no pics. I just don't feel inspired to post without photos which is partly why its been so long.

The Kindle: Dh got me one for Christmas and it is wonderful for reading in another language if you are studying one! I bought a Spanish dictionary for Kindle from Amazon and made it my primary dictionary. Then I downloaded some books in spanish. Amazon has some free books and then there are places like Manybooks. I like to read children's books for the moment because of the more limited vocabulary. So I am reading The Secret Garden (El Jardin Secreto) in spanish. The great part is that when I move the cursor to a word that I don't know, the Kindle looks it up in the Spanish Dictionary! No more flipping through books while I (attempt)to read in Spanish! (It misses a few words and doesn't recognize verbs if they have pronouns atattached to the end, but generally speaking it is great.)

I also have Isabelle Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other spanish writers loaded in. But I have an idea, probably not true, that with books that I loved so much as a child the words will stick with me better. We'll see.

Projects: I am mosaicing a little table, crocheting a scarf and painting trees on a closet door. Hopefully will have picture capability back soon!

Kathy

I made a fringed zippered pillow.. AND use what I have self-challenge!

2011-01-12T12:00:00.004-05:00

I'm hooking up to Whatever Wednesday at Someday Crafts! Check out the fun projects there.

I really should have gotten longer fringe for such a big pillow. Well live and learn! This is just regular cotton fabric, not upholstery fabric. I'll see how it holds up. Hoping since its in the woman cave, it will be more gently used.

I decided to write a tutorial for one of those how to sites just for fun. I'll post the link here when I finish it. I'm sorry its not done yet, had those camera problems yesterday.

The longest I've ever left my Christmas tree up was .....

Valentine's Day!!

So Dolly is the latest, but Shawna and I are also in the February club. I took mine down this past weekend this year.

I had trouble with my camera yesterday - took hours to recover my photos from a defective card which I have now thrown out. I finally gave up and bought a recovery program because this has happened before. I have to say it worked amazingly well.

January and February I am doing a use what I have craft challenge. My pillow uses a zipper from grandma's zipper box which I was lucky enough to inherit. I've got some crochet projects lined up AND even though I really really want to go buy new yarn I am not going to. I've just got too much stuff and I need to use some of it up, to make room for more, of course.

Gotta go shovel show! And thank goodness I can walk down to work.
Stay safe if you are experiencing this storm. Its beautiful I must say.

Kathy

PS The pillow is Laura Gunn fabric. This is part of a lovely larger print line for Michael Miller.

My Christmas Tree is still up!

2011-01-04T07:14:00.001-05:00

I've been obsessively playing with the Kindle that dh got me for Christmas. I was in a lull from studying spanish, but now with Spanish books and dictionary loaded I can read and just move the cursor to words I don't know, and with luck, the dictionary recognizes them and tells me in a little screen at the top or bottom of the page.

Plus I've been buying or loading free books. Yikes! Its a time sink!

Meanwhile my beautiful pillow fabric sits waiting to be sewn.

I'm making a commitment to myself to post the newly made pillows and other things next week, Tuesday. I do so much better with deadlines.

I didn't see one of my friends until after Christmas, and Ididn't have the right size box for her gift so I made a little house with a roof that opens up out of some old file folders. I glued stones on the eaves so the box would stay closed. Little houses could be decorated differently for other occassions. Here it is:

What's the longest you've left up your Christmas tree? I'll tell my date next post.

Kathy

Woman Cave In Progress Brag plus need help about what to do on one wall.

2010-12-13T22:43:00.004-05:00

My not very comfy sewing room and furniture and stuff catchall is what our upstairs hallway/living room used to be. This fall I began the work to convert it into my own hang out spot. Dispite that it has 6 door openings there is a nice sitting area down by the south facing double window.

Here is the only before I could find, with some of the paneling already down. You can see some old wallpaper under the plastic vapor barrier that my husband put up (yes he took the paneling down to do it) after blowing in insulation when he bought the house.

This pretty wall paper was on the one wall that wasn't paneled. I love it and I enjoyed it for many years, but it was old and beat up, so it went with the rest of the wallpaper.

Here is a pic of the space in progress, with the plastic down.

Hooray! The wallpaper is stripped off the walls and walls and ceiling are repaired and a layer of plaster applied. Walls painted a cool green. Here is my new chartreuse couch. My sewing machine plays double duty as a side table with a groovy lamp on it. I want to get a nice big piece of art work to hang over the couch.

My house doesn't have a fireplace (or mantel clearly) but this old dh family heirloom marble topped bureau which stores our bed linens can be my mantel I realized.
QUESTON ??? Should I put a mirror over it? The one that came with it I don't like. What about a big round one? Or something else?

I saved some of the green wallpaper which I have framed and plan to hang on the wall where it used to be.

So here is the sitting room end, by the window. Sorry it was hard to photograph due to the bright window. To take the photo I'm standing with the marble topped bureau on my right and my sewing cutting (or craft) table on my left.
I've had my neighbor women's group over. And I spend a lot of time there. I love it! Though I still have a way to go, decorating reupholstering the chairs you can't see.

I was inspired by a Jamie Drake room. I may give more details about that in future posts. The room is lighter and less earth tones that my dlowstairs living room.

Thanks for looking.
I'm hooking up to Bobbypin's Boardwalks Bragfest and Project Diaries at Stories of a House. Check out the other fun projects!

Kathy

Christmas birds and woman cave preview

2010-12-09T10:47:00.004-05:00

I have wanted some of those old candy holder birds. The "cheap" cardboard ones from Japan in the fifties.

The head comes off and you put candy inside if you want.

Here are a bunch sitting in a nest of old plastic foliage pics and a star garland I just got from my mom. Along with a preview of my new woman cave chartreuse couch. I'm going to post about my new sitting room next week.

For some reason Mom cut some of the leaves off the mistletoe, but she saved them. Thanks Mom!

I really like that the birds are so determined looking, plus glittery.

Its a lucky thing that I like them so much because I got these on Ebay. In the heat of the last moments of the auction, I entered four digits and forgot the decimal point. Needless to say, I won. I'm fortunate that the other bidder wasn't completely wacko, and hadn't made the same mistake!

I got this cute sleigh at a thrift store. Its nice as is, but not the right colors for my new room.

The birdies do look cute in it. I couldn't find my doll that I wanted to drive it. But I might before Christmas.

I'm linking up to Colorado Lady's Vintage Thingies Thursday and the party at Very Merry Vintage Style. Check out the other cool vintage Christmas ideas!

Lamp shade without spray adhesive .................... and a future project

2010-11-29T08:13:00.003-05:00

Many people have posted about how to cover (plain white) lamp shades with fabric. And I thought I was going to follow their directions. I did roll the shade along a big piece of paper and trace it then cut out the fabric with enough margin to fold over top and bottom. But then I wanted to see how it looked so I thought I would just pin the back seam with a straight pin.

It took 3 tries to get the fabric even on the shade. And I was thinking, I am going to make a real mess trying to get the fabric on straight once I spray adhesive on the shade. I liked the look. A bit later I wondered what dh did with the spray adhesive so I could finish. But you know what? I decided to just fold over the top and bottom and glue right then and there. No spray adhesive on the body of the shade.

Skip this paragraph if you don't want details!: First I trimmed the seam at the top and bottom to be even. Then I turned over a little edge then folded down so I would have a finished edge and no threads. Held it together with clothes pins along the way. It took several steps as I waited for previous clothes-pinned parts to dry. Also I left a few inches the seam ends that were on top loose until I was ready to deal with the seam down the back. Finally I turned the long edge under and glued the back seam. Then I could do the last several inches of top and bottom. I held the middle of the seam with a straight pin and clothes pins at the top and bottom. (If you hot glue, don't pin, it probably wouldn't come out.) Do other people skip the spray adhesive? (I guess you could skip the pattern with adhesive, but I probably wouldn't want to do that.)

The bummer part is I (luckily) bought a whole yard of this fabric (54 inches wide) thinking I would do something else with what is left. The cuts were both through the line in the pattern that had birds! So I basically cut my shade out of the middle to get one of the birds on it.

Below is my grandpa's old rocker which I got from my mom's cellar yesterday. I've just done a preliminary cleaning. I'm planning to fix it up for my new woman cave. Any suggestions? I'd love to see pics of what other people have done with similar chairs. The lamp is also for/in my new room. I've not posted a lot lately because I have a lot of non showy projects going on that must be done to complete that room. I'm shooting for it to be presentable, though not done (I want to reupholster a recliner, that won't even be started), by December 7. (You can see my pale green walls, and my recliner with a drop cloth thrown on it in the lamp pic.)

Thanks for looking.

I'm linking up to Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday. Check out the other projects!

Kathy

Silk purse from a sow's ear, sort of.

2010-11-09T19:21:00.005-05:00

I love these cheapo "silk" leaves from the dollar store. I had a spray of them left over from my halloween porch flower project last year (see post here if you want). I've been thinking the leaf fabric must be good for something.

Notice that I have carefully torn two of the leaves off the stems so that I just have the material. (You see the plastic veins left behind.) Then I went to the box of used metal zippers that I inherited from my frugal Memere and picked out a shortish black one so I could make myself a leaf change purse. I had to trim the leaves to be the same shape, since they are identical and I needed mirror images. First sew on the zipper:
(Hint: bend the zipper to follow the shape of the leaf, don't try to straighten out the leaf edge!)

Then stitch up everywhere else. I did it all from the top (that is right side) because the edges of the leaves seem to be non-raveling. I should have kept my zipper foot on the machine because I didnt' get quite close enough to each end of the zipper and had to hand sew a bit...

Voila! A rather large change purse. But maybe I won't lose it like all my others.

I don't have a pic of this but since it is a cloth and metal zipper, the purse can be folded into quarters and stuffed into a small pouch in my pocketbook.

I like it. What do you think?

Kathy

I'm linking to the party at Simpsonized Crafts - AND Whatever Wednesday at Someday Crafts -- check out the other projects!

My stationery from Jr. High - the 60's!

2010-11-04T09:11:00.002-04:00

This is my One Hundredth Post! And its been about a year.
Here is some stationery that I have left from Jr. High ahd younger when I used to write a lot of letters. I'm not much for anniversaries really, but I'll celebrate this one by looking back in time with Coloradolady at Vintage Thingys Thursday. Check out the other vintage delights too!
Thank you to all my followers and friends for spending the time with me in blogland this past year! Its been a lot of fun.

Kathy

Fall Dance: Witch Hazel & Japanese Dogwood

2010-10-27T06:55:00.006-04:00

I love our american native dogwood, Cornus florida, but it seldom blooms this far north. So many years ago I bought a Cornus kousa, a very similar more hardy Japanese dogwood. I imagined it blooming beautifully in the spring, the centerpiece of our little wild area in front of the stone wall. And in the fall, it would have lovely red foliage. Here are the red leaves. I'm linking to Rednesday: check out other red things at Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World.

Years passed and nothing much happened. I forgot my vision. Then a few springs ago, I discovered the dogwood blooming. But dh had planted it in back of a native witch hazel accidentally and it was almost invisible in the treeline, hidden by the not very showy Hamemalis. I was very disappointed and we talked about cutting down the witch hazel.

See the witch hazel's little stringy yellow flowers? Its blooming now when almost all the leaves are gone, including its own. But the dogwood's red leaves are still there making a terrific backdrop.

I think I'll plant another dogwood somewhere else where it is more visible and leave this one to be a pleasant surprise in spring on our path by the stone wall and fall companion to the witch hazel.

Here is the view from my pantry window. Don't they look like they are dancing together?

Old wallpaper had to go!

2010-10-07T18:10:00.002-04:00

I've been saving money for quite a while to fix up my "upstairs living room" which is a kind of swollen hallway that the bedrooms and bathroom open into - SIX doors counting the stairway door. It does have a nice double window and room for a seating area at one end. And we're also renovating one of the front bedrooms which had yucky paneling on the two outside walls. We took the paneling down this past winter when we augmented the old blown in insulation, so that got me planning. The picture below is what was on the one unpaneled wall in the living room. I have no idea how old it is, probably the same age as the paneling. I kind of liked it, except that it was old and dirty. I saved a piece to frame and hang in the room if I want to later.

Here are more views of that room and the wallpaper. Dd and I tried to get if off with fabric softener this spring but it took forever and was very hard. So a few weeks ago a friend and I rented a steamer - and even then it took 2 days to do the rooms.

Here are a couple of pics of the walls in the front room. They had an interesting brown on cream botanical paper at one time. Most of it had paint on it too. Then underneath everything in both rooms was a gold paper that was often very hard to remove, though in a very few places on the green wallpapered wall it came off with all the other layers at once, easy peasy.

I don't know why I find the old paper so interesting. Its history I guess.

The old walls in this 1920s home were in rough shape underneath, so dh insisted that we put a kind of thin fiberglass stuff that goes up like wall paper. I've been doing unskilled labor on the project before and after work, like pull out hundreds of nails from the paneling and daily clean up. I'm going to paint the rooms when ready, buy a new couch (I've picked it out: its chartreuse), make curtains, paint some of the existing furniture and keep dh, who thinks i'm out of my mind, at bay. Oh and another friend has offered me a cute little love seat which is a similar style to the new couch, but I'll need to slip cover or reupholster it.

Other than that I've been repairing wallpaper and baseboard in another bedroom where we hadn't gotten around to filling the little holes left in the aftermath of the blown in insulation. (We had to make holes from the interior since we have aluminium siding.) And putting cork on the closet walls in that room, don't ask me why - long story. Its all taken a lot longer than I thought! And I've made some new plate flowers but they aren't in the garden yet. Nothing much to show yet! But soon...

Kathy

Yard Art Thursday - Faerie & flowers

2010-10-01T05:02:00.001-04:00

I'm linking to Work of the Poet. Please check out more yard art here!

Above is a faerie from my friend Sarah's garden. I think she is my favorite garden fairy ever.

And nature's garden art. Usually these would be long gone due to the frost. But I still have blooming begonias on my back steps this year.

I've also been busy doing things! Will post pics when I've actually finished a project.

Kathy

Gargoyles and gnomes in Sarah's garden

2010-09-22T21:38:00.001-04:00

Here are some of my friend Sarah's garden art:

I just love the gargoyle and these two gnomes:

Check out Yard Art Thursday at Mary's "Work of the Poet"

Sky shots from Windsor Vermont

2010-08-26T20:59:00.002-04:00

Check out amazing skies from all over the world at Skywatch Friday.

Mine are recently taken from Windsor Vermont.

Thanks for looking. I lost my camera, and my dh got me a new one for my birthday. I took these pictures on my birthday, and I'm not used to using it yet!

Kathy

More from the Path of Life Sculpture Garden in Windsor VT

2010-08-25T09:05:00.004-04:00

Here is the area for Family.

You can see the circle of figures symbolizing Community from Family.

And then a couple of closeups of the figures in Community. They are 10 or so feet tall.

You can look at an earlier post about these gardens here.

If you decide to visit, Simon Pierce glass blowing, and a brewery with a restaurant are nearby! The cost to visit the garden is $5 for adults.
Kathy

Update: I posted some pics of the maze on Garden Web. Here is the link. I hope that the fact that I also linked from there to here doesn't destroy the universe or anything.

I'm linking up to Yard Art Thursday at Work of the Poet.

Custom porch chair cushion

2010-08-20T08:51:00.004-04:00

I got this chair and cushion for our newly reno'ed screen porch at HD at the end of season sale. It was the last chair and last cushion at the HD in our town.

DH really liked the cushion, and wanted me to get another one for our old pale yellow rocker figuring we could use something else for the back. This nice compact rocker for our small porch has family sentimental value, but has been difficult to fit with modern cushions. And the few that sort of fit obscure the pretty shape of the back.

So I when I went to help my mom in my hometown, I went to the HD there hoping to find another like the one I bought. All that was left in that pattern was a chaise cushion - but it was only $21. Thats a lot of material and padding for the price. So I thought I can do this. In the picture below I've removed the padding and cut 3 layers into the shape of the seat of the chair, using a pattern I made out of newspaper. You can see it sitting in front of the rocker.

I did the same for the back, with 2 layers of batting. For the fabric on the bottom seat, to minimize sewing, I only made some adjustments to the existing chaise shape, making it smaller and sewing box corners on the front. The back I was more daring and totally remade, cutting 2 pieces in the shape I wanted then cutting strips for the sides. I intended the back cushion to slide in back of the seat cushion and just reach to top of the back, but I discovered its so much more comfy this way:

Its now the best seat on the porch! And it was easy, inexpensive and fun to realize I can do it. Now I want to make cushions for all my chairs.

Check out some inspiring finished projects at Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday and at My Romantic Home's Show & Tell Friday.

Kathy

Guitar guy! Yard art Thursday

2010-08-19T10:21:00.002-04:00

This 20 foot tall (my estimate)guy is made out of river drift wood and recycled wood. He is one of five similar musicians at the Path of Life Sculpture Garden in Windsor VT. The boards at his feet are the xylophone of the adjacent musician!

I went yesterday for my birthday with dh and dfd and her boyfriend. I'll post more on the garden with more pics this weekend.
Please check out Yard Art Thursday at Life of the Poet to see more cool yard and garden art.
Kathy

Yard art Thursdays - sculpture accidental and on purpose

2010-08-05T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm linking up to Work of the Poet's Yard Art Thursdays. Check out the other Yard Art posts there!

I love the way my dh stacked our birch logs then the cut down slabs of bark that the sawmill cut off first before making boards out of the trees that we cut down. (The operator brought a portable sawmill right to our drive way - it was very cool and interesting.)

Next to the pile is the old porch footing - concrete cast in a nail bucket (bucket long gone), and a round metal "box" from the dump on top.

My neighbor piled some stones up on one of the stumps which is almost flush to the ground. I kept thinking of Mama Rabbit in Beatrix Potter when I was in my driveway.

The funny thing is that my neighbor had them stacked differntly until they fell down, and that time they looked like Jemima Puddle duck to me! Can you see Mrs. Rabbit?

Kathy

Why I am following myself.

2010-07-19T06:35:00.000-04:00

I feel a bit silly, but its the only way I could get Google friend connect to work. Something changed and I couldn't access anyone's e-mails. This was particularly a problem if someone commented who doesn't have a blog and I wanted to respond or just say hello! I don't know why this worked, but I'm glad it did.

So do you follow yourself? Sounds funny, like being your own shadow. Or having an evil twin.

Kathy

Rainy day mushroom pillow

2010-07-14T22:31:00.002-04:00

OK it finally rained and was cool enough that I made some more concrete stuff.

Here is Ringo who ran into the picture to give you an idea of the size of these 'shrooms!

And here is one in its natural environment:

I made some other things, but they are still works in progress!

Check out the cool stuff at Yard Art Thursday at Work of the Poet and Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday!

Kathy

Udate: I secretly put one in a friend's garden whose birthday is Sunday. She hasn't found it yet.

Finally have a screen porch!

2010-07-14T07:19:00.003-04:00

Last night I had some women from the neighborhood over to hang out on my new porch! And I'm sitting there now to write this post. Check out other projects at Bobbypins Boardwalk's Bragfest!

Two years ago our back porch was listing and we knew we had to have it repaired. The 1920s vintage footings for the porches were concrete poured in nail buckets. In the process we decided that we should screen the porch in and make it look similar to the upstairs screened in sleeping porch. Finally the screening was completed on Monday! The reason it took so long, is that my dh wanted to do all painting and repairing before the screens were up. I'm so pleased. Our house is not beautiful, but it is a nice practical comfortable home. The trim is white (and peeling) in this pic - not sure where the yellowy green came from! And we did have lattice on the bottom, its been torn off in the pic in prep for the digging.

BEFORE:

AFTER:
We also replaced the skinny corner boards with wide ones all over the house at the same time. The porch faces east and the siding is a bit washed out looking cuz of the morning sun. We used Screeneze system (downstairs, upstairs is traditional screening.)

We have these engineered wood steps that are nice to sit on and a stone patio so that we still have outdoor living space. I was skeptical about the faux wood, but the steps are not slippery in winter like real wood steps.

Thanks for looking. I'm sitting here drinking coffee with the kitties. They are slowly learning to use the kitty door in the screen to left of the people door.

Kathy

Celebrate the Fourth of July

2010-07-04T08:24:00.002-04:00

I'm linking to Someday Crafts Catagorically Crafting: Patriotic Crafts. Check out what other people have done for the holiday!

I made a red white and blue glass totem and a plate flower.

I don't have the plate flower mounted cuz I can't find my right glue, so laying on the ground just doesn't do the red glass justice. But here it is.

The totem is out front in the heat. I may move it after the holiday.

Happy Fourth!

Kathy

Vintage Thingys Thursday - I wasn't supposed to go junk shopping but...

2010-07-01T18:01:00.002-04:00

I needed some more red white and blue pieces for holiday decor.

This post is about the other stuff that I got. Check out the Vintage Thingys at Colorado Lady to see lots of Vintage Thingies posts.

This pretty set of dishes and all these willow ware saucers:

Here's a closeup of the dishes (They are white with pretty edges):

Here are some other saucers (25 cents each), and some clear pressed glass to use for garden art. The glass goes with a "set" of 3 that I have already. This will make 2 yellows but that's ok. The terra cotta markers and birds aren't vintage but they were also 25 cents each.

I love the lily of the valley saucer:

I did get some red white and blue stuff. I may post it on the Fourth!

Kathy

Yard Art Thursday!

2010-07-01T13:49:00.001-04:00

Check out the other Yard Art at Work of the Poet!

I like to make concrete shapes and pile them up. I'd like to make really tall ones, but I haven't figuerd out what to use as spacers. Someday...

In the meantime:

The big blue pot and little concrete bird are "store bought"

Zorro likes this little one. Check out Spiderman's nemesis hiding in back of the trillium at the base of the rock:

Stepping stone flower:

I love making things from concrete. Want to make some mushrooms over the weekend.

Kathy

Who would get rid of that? (I would!)

2010-06-27T13:43:00.001-04:00

I've often said it when I see amazing things at yard sales or 2nd hand stores. Like last week I got a pretty oil painting for a dollar that was inscribed on the back. But then I like amateur art for my porch, the gift recipient possibly didn't.

I've lived in one place for over 25 years and things accumulate. I'm not good at yard sales because I can only stand to do a box or a bag at a time, not the whole house. Since some recent reno and work has disrupted several rooms, my house is looking like a hoarder house on hgtv. I've got to do something now, or give up!

Friday a friend of mine picked up a box of stuff I'd gathered together to take to her oldest grand daughter's house an hour away (friend's car was totally packed.) Gd is paralyed from the shoulders down, and she was having a yard sale to benefit a former care giver and friend of hers who has gotten a terrible illness. In my box were a couple of very nice, even moderately expensive things in perfect condition. I don't use them and they were taking up valuable space in my kitchen cupboards. If someone else loves them - so much the better. And if someone buys them from friend's gd and sells them on Ebay - then 3 people benefit - four if you count me!

Early this morning I couldn't sleep so I went and finished a closets cleaning project. I'll be giving a full garbage bag of nice clothing to the thrift store which benefits a woman's shelter in my hometown. I also found a pair of summer pants I can wear now (oops I tried them on since I wrote this - in the bag they went!), and some vintage stuff to send my niece who lives in Brooklyn NY. I did keep some dresses from the 1940s even tho I'll probably never wear them again. (I wore vintage in my youth.) Now there is space for Dh's cold weather jackets rather than the front hall. And my shoes will be with my clothes and mirror where they should be.

I felt a twinge many times in the process, "shouldn't I be selling this stuff myself and making some money?" I know I won't do it. If one of us was out of work I'm sure I'd have more incentive. As it is everything would sit in the closets and cupboards. What is important to me is to give other people the chance to use something in good condition.

Its such a relief to have things out.

Kathy

Mushroom dreams

2010-06-22T14:44:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted cuz I lost my camera.
But now I've comandeered dh's.
Here's a garden project of sorts. Check out others at The Garden Party at Keen Inspirations!
We had to cut down our Birch Clump. See the nice 4 foot logs?

Well I've always wanted to try growing mushrooms, so I ordered some oyster mushroom plugs and drilled and hammered. The three logs took 300 plugs!

Then I put them on a pallet underneath the hemlock bush on the north side of the house. Water twice a week more or less. And wait (and wait)....

I've got my fingers crossed.

Since its going to be such a long wait, here's something to look at: a picture of a Luna Moth that was on the telephone pole outside our house one morning. I saw it from a distance and thought someone had put a little cut out umbrella on the pole. Maybe one of the little girls who live on our street. But no. I was amazed to see. It stayed all day then flew away at night.
Looks a bit like a mushroom, no?

Have fun,
Kathy

Memorial Day: Remembering Uncle Arthur

2010-05-31T10:59:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of my Great Uncle George's Uncle Arthur. When Uncle George got old (95) he started giving me photos. Previously he had given me some to scan and return. He died right before his 96th birthday, and when I put together some commorative pages including his own service in WWII, I put together this page about Great Great Uncle Arthur who served and died in "The Great War".

No one who knew Uncle Arthur is living today. I only know he was one of my Great Grandfather's brothers. "Enlisted May 24, 1918 Died September 21, 1918" was on the back of the photo.

Thank you Uncle Arthur, and the other "boys" from my hometown in the big photo, and to our servicemen and women everywhere and when.

Concrete (table) 'n primroses

2010-05-25T22:03:00.007-04:00

I made this:

Using this plastic bird bath I got at a yard sale for $1 as a mold:

I plan to mosaic the top, but for now its on the edge of my lawn.

And here are the primroses growing nearby:

Check out Bobbypin Boardwalks Bragfest #10 and Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts to see lots of other projects; and look at the Yard Art on Thursday at Work of the Poet!

Kathy

Yard Art Thursday! Jester from Costa Rica

2010-05-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

I'm on the late side for Yard Art Thursday at Work of the Poet. Check out the other yard art there!

I was feeling nostalgic for our trip to Costa Rica in 2007. I'm trying to learn Spanish and I wish I could go back!

We loved Costa Rica. It has been a democracy for a long time and all the children go to school. And they like USers! Its more expensive than say, Mexico, but a society that sends its kids to school costs more. young people go to college to become guides in the rain forest and cloud forests and are very knowledgable.

The jester in this picture was in front of a bar in Santa Elena, a town up by the cloud forest. The bar was closed which is why he is behind a fence. There is almost no violent crime in CR, but a lot of theft.

I wish I had the talent to make him!

Enjoy,
Kathy

Tutorial for Plant label signs Part 2 of 2

2010-05-15T09:13:00.004-04:00

Hello! Welcome back.

I'm linking to Lit & Laundry's Finished for Friday again. There are more cool projects there since yesterday, have a look!

Today I will tell you about the letters and variations and alternatives that I have considered. See yesterday’s post for how to make and install the sign and post.

First I am going to tell you what I did, then I’ll mention a few other options. I'm considering yet another post on other label ideas, cuz I did come up with quite a few on the road to making these. Seems a shame to waste all my research.

Don't be disappointed if you don't have the equipment to do exactly what I did, i suggest some other possibilities at the end of this tutorial.

Here is a closeup of one of the ones I made for the gardens at the local shelter:

For the common name, I cut vinyl letters on my Graftec Robo cutter from outdoor rated vinyl sticker material. If you have a Wishblade or a Cricut, or another cutting machine, you can do the same. They are mostly just under 1 inch tall. The whole word just under 4.5 inches long or less worked best. This particular one, Lilac, was such a short word that I made the letters a bit bigger. I believe you can buy vinyl letter stickers that are for outdoors at the hardware store if you can’t make your own. I doubt the scrapbooking kind would hold up, but don’t know really.

Look closely and you can see where I filled the screw holes.

To print the scientific name and some information about the plant, I used CLEAR Avery LASER labels (Not Inkjet! Inkjet quickly fades.) I have read that the laser labels last for years in the garden. I only had time to test it for 2 weeks in my garden, but we did have rain and snow! If you don’t have a laser printer, you can set your words up on the template in Word, then go to a copy shop and have them laser print your file onto the labels.

How to find the template and fill it out:The template was in Word under Tools/ Letters & Mailing/ Envelopes and Labels/ Choose labels, then go to Options select the template, which is the brand and size. What you should see is the set up for a whole page of labels that you can type in and save. Avery 5163 is what I used. The front of the package will have the template name. By the way my pack of 10 sheets of ten 2” x 4” labels cost about $11.00. Eleven cents each. Once you have the template you can type what ever you want into each spot. I left some space around all edges, and I printed on plain paper before using the labels to make sure it would fit right. I had to fiddle a bit and edit to get the words to fit well. I really had to fiddle to get 8 point blank lines at the top (and the bottom.) Notice that I do have room top bottom and sides. They may not print well if too close to the edges.

Applying the letters and stickers:I put the plate on my knees so that the elbow was between and applied the stickers. I'm amazed that I didn't accidentally apply any of them upside down. Just be careful to have the plate right side up facing you. As I've mentioned I had to wipe powdery paint residue off with a rag first. (I did them all at once before this stage.) In a couple of cases I had to spray paint lightly again. Once the stickers were in place, I smoothed the letters and labels firmly with my pampered chef plastic scraper.

Here they all are (I made 24 with words and 2 blanks):

Other possibilities:
* If you prefer, you can write directly on the sign with a paint pen. (Sharpie will not last!)
* My back up plan, if the letters or stickers get vandalized, is to use my cutting machine to cut a stencil and spay paint the info. I couldn’t be as detailed, but it would be more permanent.
*A purchased letter stencil could be used, especially for the large common name. Outline the letters in paint pen then fill in.
* I considered just cutting the post at a 45 degree angle and attaching the switch plate directly to it. But this has 2 problems: 1. how to pound it into the ground and 2. if the switch plate falls off there is a sharp spear like stick reinforced with rebar pointing upward. Yikes! I don't think so.

For my garden, I may use the spoon attachment method invented by Gardencraze/Carmen of the Gardenjunk forum for hanging plate flowers. Below is a pic. The handle of the flattened spoon slides into the pipe. Not all spoons flatten easily and some handles are too big for the pipe, so choose with care if you try this. Forks and cake servers also work. They would be very easily walked away with tho, so I wouldn't do this in a public area. A great thing about the spoon (or fork) method is that you can hang things on trellis, fences or other things.

This is a round metal switchplate. Neat looking but they cost $2.49 each and are not really any bigger than the oversized singles. In the back ground I put one I made with painted pvc pipe and written with a silver paint pen (no P. Denticulatas in the pic, by the way.) I also plan to experiment with plastic switch plates because you can get big ones. I don't think they will last the winter but you never know!

Good luck and have fun. Please let me know if you make some! I’d love to link to you or feature your results.

Kathy

PS I'm repeating my Disclaimer, and adding that I live in New Hampshire, Zone 4: This project is experimental in that I haven't tested it in my garden for a full years weather. I have experience making things that stay out in the garden all year and have used that knowledge to design these. But only time will really tell.

Tutorial for Plant label signs Part 1 of 2

2010-05-13T23:23:00.003-04:00

Hello! I'm linking up to Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday!
Check out the other great projects there!

Here is a photo of one of the plant labels that I made for the gardens at the local shelter. I know I know there is no rhubarb in the pic. I just stuck it in my garden and took a picture to show you! I made 26 total.

Today, Part One: the signs.
Tomorrow Part Two: the letters, and some variations on the theme.

Disclaimer: This project is experimental in that I haven't tested it in my garden for a full years weather. I have experience making things that stay out in the garden all year and have used that knowledge to design these. But only time will really tell.

My Charge: To find attractive plant labels with room to write educational information.

Why I chose this style: 1) Relatively inexpensive, large, good looking plant markers don’t exist to purchase. 2) There are testimonials that Avery LASER printed (not inkjet) labels last for many years in the garden through northern winter conditions. 3) Pieces of metal such as stainless steel or aluminium tags are expensive. 4) I have a cutting machine and some outdoor rated vinyl for letters. 5) The shelter committee chose this style from the options that I came up with.

Materials: Metal rounded corner BLANK switch plates ($0.79 at HD, it is the oversized one); sandable, paintable epoxy to fill the screw holes (I used green log, as seen on tv); ½ inch 45 degree PVC elbows ($0.50 at HD. (make sure you get 45 degree elbows, they hold the plate at the perfect angle); rust inhibiting spray paint for the switch plates (I chose silver cuz I wanted to mimic zinc markers or yore and I knew black letters would show up. Consider what color words you will have when you choose your color); ½ inch PVC electricians conduit (because it is already gray so I didn’t have to paint it); rebar; Automotive goop; Oops gunk remover to wipe the words off the conduit. Note: Some brands of elbow don’t fit on the electricial conduit. Take an elbow over to it and test. While you are at it, make sure that rebar will fit inside the pvc also. It is fine to use regular pvc pipe. I wanted to avoid painting since I was making so many.
CAUTION: Make outside if you can. Paint, goop, and Oops are all smelly and bad to inhale. Sorry I couldn't find the Automotive goop or my epoxy for this photo.

Step One: Fill the screw holes on the switch plate. Since it is a blank, the only holes are the screw holes! Sand around the holes, then I used 2 part epoxy putty. An outdoor rated sandable paintable caulk might work. Let harden then sand whole face in prep for painting.

Step 2: Spray paint top of switchplates. I set them on little flower pots to make sure that I got the edges. Let dry and give another coat. I chose Rust-oleum Professional High Performance Enamel but it left a funny powdery residue which I scrubbed off with a rag. Otherwise the stickers wouldn't have stuck. Not sure I would buy this particular paint again for this purpose. The switchplates are cheap metal, so you want to make sure you use rustoleum or another rust inhibiting paint.

Step 3: Attach elbows to backs of switchplates. Put a nice thick bead of automotive goop on one end of the elbow (a circle). Now stick it to the back of the plate where you want it (in the middle, slightly high). Now right away - Pull apart! Yup that's right. Now you have goop on both pieces. Keep separate and allow to cure for 3 to 10 minutes, then press together again. Hold tightly in place for a few seconds. Set them where they won’t be disturbed and let cure over night. I was very carefully doing 24, so when I had finished the gooping, the first ones had cured enough so I just went on and stuck them together. BTW, I measured when I did the 2 preliminary ones. When I did 24 at a time, I eyeballed it. Take your time with this part. This connection is the weak link and you want it to be done right.

Step 4: Next day, paint the back side and elbow. I set each plate on something again. When I just did two I stuffed some newspaper into the elbow so paint wouldn’t go inside, but that took too long when I was painting 24, so I put a cork into each one before I painted. Spray, let dry, spray again. If you use silver, the automotive goop seam will look like you soldered it. Now the plate part is complete (except for words, that’s tomorrows tute). Its important not to get paint inside because the elbow might not fit over the post.

Step 5: Make the posts. Cut the pvc pipe or conduit into the lengths that you want. Remember that 4 to 6 inches or more will go into the ground. Most of them were for shrubs so we chose 2 feet. I cut 4 foot lengths then cut in half at a 45 angle to make a slightly pointy end that will go more easily into the ground. I also did some 1 footers, for the strawberries. The problem with the electrical conduit is it has a funny wide thing at the top, so there may be some waste, but at $0.82 for 10 feet, its ok. Once cut, I held the pointy end in my hand and wiped the black letters of the pipe with Oops. The pointy end will go underground so no need to wipe it off. (BTW: Neither paint thinner nor nail polish remover worked.) The first ones that I made were regular pvc pipe that I painted. But paint interferes with how the elbow fits and you have to be careful. I just didn’t have time to be careful. But for home I may make some brown ones.

Installation: (Normally after the letters are applied). Pound a piece of rebar into the ground, for my 2 foot posts, I used 2 foot rebar. For the 1 foot post, 1 foot rebar. I used a small sledge hammer, tho a regular hammer will work. I tried to pound the rebar half way, but it didn't always work, so in some cases it "fills" the post. Pound the post over it to the height you want. Carefully push and twist the elbow onto the installed post. Hold the elbow not the switch plate!!! The elbow to switchplate seam is the weak link. Do not pound on the switchplate.
It was pouring rain when I put them in. I will probably go back and add a bit of GE silicone II for windows and doors, clear to the seam where the elbow and post overlap. Just as a precaution.

The switchplate is at a nice readable 45 degree angle. And water will run off it.

By the way, they still were not "cheap". I estimate that they cost $4.00 each plus labor. So to make them for the shelter cost a bit over $100.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you how I made the words, as well as some other options.

Thanks so much for visiting. Please leave a comment so I know you have been here. And absolutely let me know if you try this, and if you make any improvements or interesting variations.

Have fun!

Kathy

Mosaic done and plant label preview

2010-05-06T08:51:00.002-04:00

Check out Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday to see other projects!

I grouted the mosaic that I made in a class: Charcoal grout. Dh made the frame for me out of left over porch skirt spindles.

And here is a preliminary pic of some plant labels I'm making for the landscape project at a local shelter. I'll do a tutorial when I'm done making them. (all 26 with stakes!)

Thanks for looking!

Corporations now have individual rights, what about the responsiblity for "ones" actions?

2010-04-11T08:24:00.000-04:00

29 men are dead. Coal miners in West Virginia. Massey Energy Company, their employer, has individual rights, according to our Supreme Court. What about "individual" responsibility? 11,000 safety violations in 3 years, and despite full knowledge of the danger, the choice was made not to ventilate the mine adequately. Who is the individual and will "he" be held accountable? In addition there have been a huge number of environmental violations. If Massey was an individual "he" would would go to jail. But no, a corporation just gets fines which are part of the expense of doing business. 29 men are dead. Its part of the price of doing business. 29 men are dead. Massey corporation can spend any amount of money in elections opposing lawmakers who investigate their practices because he she it (?) has the individual right to free speech guaranteed in our constitution. 29 men are dead. What about their right to speech?

Yard Art Thursday! Oops its Friday Plus FLOWERS! at last!

2010-04-09T06:04:00.003-04:00

I'm a little late for yard art Thursday. Go there to check out the other yard art!
I was so exhausted when I finished painting out side yesterday that I fell asleep on the couch after supper and didn't post thes pics that I took.

Below is a frog on top of some old bird bath pieces piled up to look like a mushroom, vaguely. In front are some Primula denticulata, the drumstick primrose. I love these primroses!

Primula denticulata "alba"

Next my feeble attempt at a concrete morel mushroom is in back of my Primula "Hose in Hose". You can see that the flowers appear to be one inside the other, which apparently is how gentlemen used to wear their stockings, with one turned down at the knee, hence the name.

And my new mini daffs - my favorite garden art, flowers!

Hope flowers are blooming at your house too!

Kathy

Vintage Thingies!

2010-03-25T10:43:00.003-04:00

Here are two platters that I bought at a flea market last Saturday. Even tho they were $3 each, I couldn't resist because I already have an identical pink one from my mom. What is it about dishes! They are like pre-pyrex. Sitting in the middle of each are some things I found in our cellar. I was cleaning stuff out in preparation for having additional blown in insulation this week. Dh did it years ago but a recent thermal imaging showed gaps so we fixed it. Because we have aluminium siding it had to be done from the inside = many little holes in walls and baseboards, furniture pulled away from walls and stuff removed from closets. I'm sitting in the middle of a total mess!

Any way, the shell and plaster of paris thingy is a souvenir of a trip to Florida when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I want to paint the plaster of paris part, or cover it with sand or something. The shell box, I 'm not sure where it came from. I probably bought it at a yard sale 30 yrs ago. the box is made out of box board, a bit heavier than cereal box, and it is hinged with red tape. I love it. Inside is a shell pin that I believe was given to me as a child by a crafty neighbor and some shells.
Here is a close up of the box:

Be sure to check out the other Vintage thingys at Coloradolady! That's what I'll be doing as a reward for cleaning and picking up this mess. Tomorrow I'm going to the Boston Flower Show with a friend as a reward!
Kathy

New link party for crafts at Tea Rose Home!

2010-03-18T09:37:00.002-04:00

Check out this new link party at Tea Rose Home featuring crafting creations. Don't look at my link (Kathy's totebag makeover) if you've already seen it (er unless you want to...)
Kathy

New Orleans Garden Art

2010-03-17T19:14:00.003-04:00

Here is a photo of one piece in a garden art display at the New Orleans Botanical garden a couple years ago when dh and I were there. I love these little houses and I want some in my garden! There were dozens, raised up in the air on poles or hanging. Can't quite figure out how to make them New Hampshire-proof though.

Here's another couple:

Yeah I added one more. I keep looking and thinking "gotta use this one its my fave!"

I'm linking to Mary T's Yard Art Thursday at Work of the Poet. Check it out to see other posts about yard decor!
Kathy

Tote bag make over & Happy St. Patricks Day!

2010-03-17T11:24:00.008-04:00

A couple of posts ago I showed some flowers I made from fabric strips. I put one on my purse and looked around for other things to do with them. I found this nice tote bag at a thrift store for 75 cents. Its burlap, backed with a flexible water proofing. Very sturdy, built to carry pottery apparently. I don't like the big knots on the inside handles, and I want a pocket that its safe to carry money in.

Here is a pic of the handles with knots:

My first task was to hide the words so I applied some flowers that I had already made, next, how to close up the pocket? Memere's zipper box came to mind and I found this big old metal zipper and hand sewed it to the flap. It wasn't long enough but left just enough room for a custom cellphone pocket. And see the bright green on the right? That is some giant ricrack that I really wanted to use for handles, but you can see it is the wrong color (when returned to Joann's I brought a piece of fabric).

There was no giant rickrack in a suitable color, but my dh actually found what I used. I wanted something flat so I could sew the ends together on the inside rather than having knots. A bonus is that I can gather 2 loops from inside to shorten the handle length (instead of shoulder length)and carry in my hand without dragging on the ground. The only thing left to do was disguise a small stain near the top. I did this by stenciling my initials. I cut a vinyl stencil on my cutting machine at work and then stenciled it during my Art Club last nite (9 of us this week!) I was going for a typewriter key look. Here is the finished product. Ready to go shopping on foot carrying everything I need and purchases too.

I'm linking up to Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts. Be sure to check out the other projects here!

I'm also linking to Tea Rose Home's new link party featuring crafty creations! Check them out!

Kathy

Yard Art meme My garden bug

2010-03-11T18:57:00.003-05:00

I decided to post at Mary T's YARD ART MEME. I just want to see some summer garden pictures!
Here is the rusty bug that my dh gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago.

Check out the other yard art photos.

He's flying amongst the crown imperials which haven't bloomed yet.

I am working on some projects, but nothing to show yet.

Kathy

Finished for Friday Youve seen these...

2010-03-05T08:18:00.003-05:00

I couldn't find my printable fabric last night, so I didn't make my plan... So I tried to do something different by making a star for the middle. Nah...
I never made these before - strips of fabric (the smaller ones are about 2.5 x 20inches) folded in half then hand sewed along the long edge and gathered. I gathered as I did it so I could use shorter thread, or embroidery floss in my case. They look like yoyos in the pictures, but they have more depth and texture in person.
I had already put the button box away when I discovered another flower so I grabbed a handy eyeball and put it in the middle for this photo:

I really wanted to put the green one on my purse to be springy and St Patricks dayee, but it just didn't look right, so I did this.
The lining is ripping out of this purse and I just can't find another one that I like enough to buy, so my plan is to make a new lining with a men's shirt. I'm hoping to post that Next Friday!
Check out Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday to see some great projects!
Kathy

Vintage inspiration for modern crafters

2010-03-03T18:32:00.003-05:00

Happy Vintage Thingys Thursday! Check out the other VTTs at Coloradolady!

Today I'm talking about and showing some of what inspires me.
First is a print from "La Natura e Coltura de Fiori", by Filippo Arena in the '60s. No not THOSE 60s, the Seventeen Sixties (1760s)!!!
Arena was a Jesuit professor of philosophy and mathematics in Palermo who published his beautiful drawings in the book named above.
Mine is a copy from one of the original prints, tho the color was probably added years later. Arena wanted his drawings to be of use to craftspeople. I love love them. Originals cost $700 to $1000, so I'm not getting one anytime soon. Check out my as yet ungrouted mosaic on garden web's mosaic forum to see how this print inspired me.

Next are a couple of pages from an old book. Bought the pages at a flea market. I have used the images in decoupage. Next to each are the circle thingys I made at Art Club last night while helping my friends to decoupage. My next post will be what I do with them on Finished for Friday.

Years ago I made a secret santa gift (decoupaged vase) for a co-worker who had a "thing for hyenas".

Last is a picture of some old flower drawings that I hand-colored. The b&w prints are from some of my copyright free Dover books. I hand colored with fancy smancy colored pencils dh got me for Christmas one year, then color copied then cut out to use for decoupage. That way I get something beautiful and unique and avoid copyright issues.

Thanks for looking! What inspires your art and crafting?

Kathy

Art/Craft Club - project: decoupage/collage

2010-02-24T17:08:00.006-05:00

One of my neighbors and I decided to start an Art/Craft group. We already have an informal sometimes weekly meeting of women on our street and nearby and decided to piggy back on that meeting. We decided on this format: that each person can bring their own thing or do something supplied by the host or their helper Or just show up and talk and snack as usual. For our first one, Susan hosted and I supplied decoupage/collage supplies. I also brought samples and books. Here are some of my samples, my ancester candle holders and my "decoupage under glass" plate.
And next examples are a frame I made for a decoupage class that I taught at a group home (they all made similar but bigger ones), and a different view of the ancester candle holders:
I need a new phone message book, so as a demonstration I took this plain notebook: and turned it into this using some paper that I brought. I layered papers and used partial prints along the edges and lots of mod podge:
On the back I decided to go simple:
It was fun! Everyone looked at my decoupage books and most of the 6 of us worked on crafts. Susan showed her gorgeous glass on glass project which unfortunately I didn't get a pic of and she cut up some paper to for paper collage/mosaic. The other Kathy cut out the middle of some pretty cards to use as frames for the table numbers at her daughter's wedding. Marion knitted. Heidi brought a box of patterns and started to teach Jen about sewing. Only Jen wanted to try paper collage on an extra notebook that I brought, but she didn't get very far and asked if I'd bring the supplies back next week to her house.
And I finished something. I have a beautiful new phone message book. Everyone said "you mean your husband actually takes messages?!" Well, that's another matter.

I'm linking to Whatever Wednesday at Someday Crafts. Check out the awesome projects and ideas here.

Also go to LIT AND LAUNDRY's Finished for Friday to see other finished projects!

Kathy

Valentine infinity card for dh

2010-02-12T10:25:00.003-05:00

Here is the infinity card that I made last night. My husband is going on a business trip on Saturday and he'll be gone for Valentine's Day, so I'm going to sneak it into his suitcase. I already trained him to open them properly by showing him my first attempt which I posted yesterday. I used scrapbook paper, and glued images on once I constructed the card. Here I added a butterfly to the front.
Then this is what you see

when you open the front by bringing the middle cut up and down. These represent things that my dh and I like to do, look for wild plants when we hike, go to the beach, garden.
Then you open those images like a cupboard door and you get this:
(I'm going to add words, in some of the white spaces). Then you open up and down from the middle again and:

this is the back of the card, but when you open it like a cupboard door, you find yourself back at the beginning!
I made another by printing on the back of scrapbook paper, but I printed some of the images upside down by mistake. I figured out how to make a perfect template in paint shop pro while I was in the shower, but I've run out of time this morning.
Thanks for looking. Check out yesterdays post for the link to directions and a video on how to make these. Very very simple really.
Kathy

I'm linking to Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday! Check out the other accomplishments there!

Vintage Thingies Thursday Plus Infinity Card!

2010-02-11T10:47:00.003-05:00

This week I'm mixing a craft with my VTT post. Visit Coloradolady to see the other cool vintage things!
I found the blog, Paper Forest, yesterday when I was looking for more info about my Craftrobo cutter that I bought to cut vinyl letters for signs at work. (It can also cut intricate scherenschnitte-like designs in paper, which I posted about here.) Instead, I was totally enraptured by the "infinity card" video tutorial by illustrator Marilyn Scott Waters that I rushed to make my own card - not finishing reading the directions (typical me, I'm afraid). I missed the gift PDF to print MSW's card as shown in the video with instructions. Check it out!
Above is my not very beautiful attempt sitting on top of some pretty paper. I used vintage images that I have handy on my computer. This is the front of the card, and you can see that it is split across the middle.
To open, from the middle you open the top section up and the bottom section down, and you see these 2 parrots, photoed here with my Royal Baking Powder vintage tin:

Next, you open the parrots out to the side and you get this kind of boring look at these 4 decorative squares. I'll do better on the next card I make!

Then you open up and down from the middle and you just see the design printed on the backs, shown here with my Memere's white glass salt pepper and seasoning shakers that she always kept by her stove, and finally you open that side to side and you are back at the beginning.
I think this concept would make an awesome valentine card if printed on the back of one or more of the pretty papers that I have pictured here with some salt and pepper shakers. I'm going to try to make some tonight and post tomorrow on Finished for Friday.

The salt and paper shakers say "Sterling - Weighted" on the bottom, and also "by Duchin". They are lined with glass, except not the shaker. I just found them going through some of my old kitchen stuff I had stored in the cellar! Does anyone have any suggestions for cleaning? Is it safe to pour salt through the unlined silver tops/shakers? Aren't they cute anyway?

Thanks for looking. Check back tommorow to see Valentine Infinity Cards!

Kathy

Mardi Gras week

2010-01-29T21:33:00.004-05:00

Hi There! I decided to participate in Mardi Gras week at Embellished Bayou by sharing the decorations that my friend Sarah and I made last year. Check out the other Mardi Gras crafts there.
Each circle has Mardi Gras beads that I got in Nawlins in 2004 glued around the edge. Also some medallions and coins are used here and there. We painted one side of each circle and put mostly Gold design wrapping paper on the back. Unfortunately the wind is too strong on my front porch, which I discovered the hard way, so I'm not sure where and how to display them.
Click here to go to a past post to see close ups of 2 (scroll down).
BTW, When we went to Mardi Gras (dh and I) we watched the parades in the family part of town, not in the French quarter with the wild college students.
Kathy

Vintage Thingies Thursday

2010-01-28T12:45:00.001-05:00

Its VTT already! Visit the other VTT posts at Coloradolady to see lots of great vintage items!

I am again showing some vintage things that I use often: My mom's crockpot, in use as I took the pic; an old spatula, one of my faves to use, good for quiche; a little individual creamer that I love I pour milk in it for my 2nd cup of coffee in the morning; my little house teapot; and a rooster nutcracker, the same as one someone showed last week.

Happy VTT!
Kathy

When you make a lemon...

2010-01-21T19:24:00.001-05:00

Ok. I was over at ~~Why Not~~ How About Orange reading about how to make coasters out of strips of magazines. And I ~~was technically at work and~~ had to make a long phone call that mostly involved me listening so I decided to do a little weaving while I listened. Any way, I got caught up in listening and didn't follow the instructions right, apparently remembering instead those woven heart baskets you hang on the Christmas tree. So I ended up with a two layer square pocket which is too thick and uneven to use as a coaster. What to do with it?
A wall pocket!
Ta Da!

I had my high lighters in it but took them out for the photos. And here it is in context:

Hey its better than buying plastic things to put things in isn't it!
Kathy

Vintage Thingies Thursday

2010-01-20T20:45:00.004-05:00

Visit Suzanne/Coloradolady to see the other Vintage Thingies Posts.

Here are some vintage thingies from my kitchen that I use often: My great grandmother's cast iron dutch oven and ceramic crock. Just to put them in context: these great grandparents married in 1900. I use the crock to hide things that I need nearby but don't want out in the open. Right now it has kittycat medicine in it. She had several more, I'm told, this one is the smallest. She kept food in them in the cellar. Then theres the world's best jar opener (see the gears on the underside?)is in the front on its side, and finally a grey pot that I keep on the counter as a catch-all.

The next 2 photos are plates and bowls that I got mostly for 25 cents each yesterday, some a bit more, to make plate flowers or (gasp) to break up for mosaic. There were 3 more but I took them to my mosaics class last night and broke them up for my project. I just love the hollyhock bowls. I will probably use the other bowls for kitty dishes. There was a whole stack of the glass star shaped plates but they were expensive at $1 each (as were the hollyhock bowls) so I'm going to play with them to see if they are wonderful enough on plate flowers to justify the price.

I just think the appleblossom plates are so pretty, I took a closeup.

Thanks for looking!

Kathy

Taking a mosaic class

2010-01-14T18:31:00.001-05:00

I am taking a mosaic class at a local non profit gallery. I spent three hours cutting up dishes and glass last Tuesday and I loved it. I hope I can learn to make something beautiful. We'll see!
Kathy

2010-01-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

Here is the amaryllis opened. I could have kicked myself yesterday because I forgot my camera at work and the sun was shining through it so beautifully at lunch time!
Happy Ruby Tuesday!

Finished for Friday - Show & Tell Paper beauty!

2010-01-08T08:29:00.012-05:00

I bought a Robocutter for work where I periodically have to make vinyl letters and signs. It had gotten expensive to order the letters out and then often they were not exactly what I wanted or thought I'd specified. And the robo cutter will cut any font that you've got. So that's how I justified the $200 purchase for the machine and materials. But I knew it had other purposes....
FINALLY I figured out how to use it and made a bunch of letters and signs that I needed yesterday. (I'd had to call the company some time ago and they helped with a software problem, but I got discouraged and gave up for a time.) The letters are perfect, and actually easier to place than the ones I used to buy.
So I decided I was allowed to have some fun and this is what I did, or rather what the machine cut out of bright pink paper for me! Its about 8 inches tall. The flower file was a share from a generous person, but the machine will cut any line drawing and there is free software called Inkscape on the internet with which you can convert pictures or your own drawings or what ever into cuttable files! In theory it will cut fabric, but I bought the less expensive machine so I'm not sure how it will work on that.

Wa hoo! So many possibilities. This particular one will make a nice Valentine. Or it would be lovely framed... Its sitting on my black dining room table right now and I'm thinking decoupage it (or THEM as in the ones I make today, lol) on something black...
Check out the other fine projects at Show & Tell at My Romantic Home and Lit and Laundry's Finished for Friday!

Added much later: Its the size of a small printer or a long shoe box, really the same as a cricut except you send images through the computer instead of through cartridges.

Ruby Tuesday Cat and Flowers

2010-01-05T09:11:00.001-05:00

Its a wintery January day, and I've been procrastinating on finishing the dress I'm supposed to be making. Check out the Other Ruby Tuesday Posts at Work of the Poet!
Instead here is my Zorro again, and also the amaryllis that didn't quite open on Christmas Day. I'm proud of myself because I saved it from last Christmas. Last summer I had it on my porch. This summer I think I'll actually plant the bulb in the garden, and get it some nutrition.

Zorro in the gift basket (the red throw was already there, honest!):

And here is the Amaryllis in bud. Had a hard time photoing it.

Kathy

Finished for Friday - End of the Christmas Goose

2010-01-02T08:40:00.002-05:00

This isn't what I'd planned to post for FFF, but I didn't finish my dress. Maybe next week! Check out the other posts at Lit and Laundry's Finished For Friday!

I didn't love my Christmas Goose. Tho I cooked it by Julia Child's directions in my new cook book and gift from my dh "The Way to Cook".
I thought I would like all dark meat cuz I prefer dark chicken and turkey meat, and I like duck. But no. It is actually kind of chewy which doesn't appeal to me. So after making various leftover dishes which my dh ate most of, I finished it off Friday with Goose Pot Pie, following JC's recipe (sort of) for Turkey Pot Pie. Its good! But I didn't think to take a pic until we had eaten some.
Goose Fat is supposed to be the best thing to cook potatoes. You can see I have a jar there that I canned. I also gave 2 smaller ones away, but for them I painted the top of the jar pale yellow then glued the goose picture.
I fried some red cabbage and onions in it and it was delicious.

Happy New Year!

Kathy

Ruby Tuesday

2009-12-28T16:48:00.001-05:00

I thought I would participate for the first time in Ruby Tuesday over at Work of the Poet. Check out the other Ruby Tuesday posts too!

I couldn't find my pic of my second batch of hand cream in jars with red covers, but I did make another batch.
So here is my Zorro inside the red interiored shelf. Everything looks better inside a shelf with a red interior or other warm color, as you can see from Zorro!

And here are two (the red ones) of a bunch of large ornaments that I made with my friend Sarah to put on the porch for winter cheer. They are about a foot across, and there are some much bigger, but not red. I never knew until I tried to decorate it how windy the front porch is in December! Everything got all tangled into a big mess! Maybe next year i'll figure out a way...

Thanks for looking - I was feeling sad that no one saw them.
Kathy

Merry Merry Vintage Thingys Christmas!

2009-12-24T08:39:00.002-05:00

I haven't been around much for a variety of reasons but i wanted to post once more before Christmas with Coloradolady/Suzanne. Check out her blog to see the other Vintage Thingies!

I posted the Christmas Gnomes/Elves that my mom FINALLY gave me from my childhood a few weeks ago. Here are a few other vintage ornaments from my tree. The old Christmas balls I got a decade ago at a yard sale and also have the same in pink, but chose not to do pink this year.

Here are two ornaments that we found when family went through my dear mil's belongings after her death a year and a half ago. My dh remembers them from his childhood.

And here is a funny elf in a sleigh, he is the same as the elves in the ornaments that I posted before from my childhood except in a sleigh instead of a kind of wire and mesh bower. His pine cone is missing tho so I have him sitting on a hazelnut until I find the right sized pine cone.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kathy

Face cups and Clowns for Vintage Thingies Thursday

2009-12-03T08:28:00.002-05:00

I found these cute face cups in different yard sales/junk stores within several months of eachother 30 years ago. They were vintage then. I've never seen any since! The cute animal clowns I got at a yard sale this summer. The blue teapot in the background is also vintage, I think from the 1930s.

Visit Colorado Lady to see all the other Vintage Thingies!

Kathy

Finished for Friday

2009-11-20T09:57:00.003-05:00

This is the first time that I've participated in Lit & Laundry's Finished for Friday. Be sure to check out the other posts at her blog!

I decorated some little baby food bottles and made some hand cream to give to some of my friends and relatives. Here's a pic. Yipee, I actually finished something. And gave 2 away already last night.

I decided to put a pic of my great grandmother Annedia on each bottle and also some flowers and/or butterflies.

Kathy

Vintage Christmas Gnome Ornaments - VTT Post!

2009-11-18T17:24:00.007-05:00

I thought i would do my Vintage Thingies Thursday post early this week. Visit Coloradolady to see all the others!
Here are some Gnome ornaments that my family used to hang on our Christmas tree during my childhood in the fifties and sixties.

My brother and I were totally enchanted by them when we were kids. Each gnome is sitting in a little bower which has 4 metal legs like a little stool on the bottom. Four of them are holding paper instruments and one a song book. Their arms and legs are pipe cleaners, their faces plastic, their bodies looked like a covered bead to me then I squeezed one and realized they are hollow thin plastic spheres covered with flock or thin felt. Each one is sitting on a tiny pine cone, in my memory, I thought their bodies were made out of pine cones, but no.
We've been after Mom to give them to us for years. I just found them in her Christmas closet yesterday and she agreed that we could have them. Not sure how we'll divide them up.

I'd like to make new ones.

If you are interested in making Garden plate flowers check out my tutorial, part 1 posted Sunday and part 2 this morning.

Kathy

Plate Flower Tutorial Part 2

2009-11-18T12:53:00.007-05:00

Hi there!

When we left off we had two completed plate flowers ready to have hangers attached to the back so they can be put on stems in the garden. I made the glass flower to attach to the other side of a flat sided bottle that already has a plate flower on one side:

I put GE silicone II for windows and doors, clear around the edge of the bottle where it would contact the back plate of my new flower and some in the middle. Then I pushed the glass flower onto the bottle, centering it with the already attached one, and let it sit over night. The "stem" that I inserted into the mouth of the bottle is a metal stake coated with plastic. Some people put plastic or bubble wrap when they put metal against glass. As for the design, my thought was that a similar flower would look best. I'm not so sure now that I've done it, but here it is:

I think it needs some more bling in the form of beads etc. It is also very heavy, so I'm not sure I'll do 2 large flowers back to back again, unless the bottle has a large mouth and a bigger stake can be used.

Then there was the other plate flower:

For the back/attachment: I flattened a stainless steel spoon and bent the handle backwards. Then I attached the flattened spoon to the back of the plate flower using Plumbers goop. I personally trust Plumbers goop more for glass to metal. The silicone is great for glass to glass or ceramic.

UPDATE: August 2010: I think automotive goop is better than plumbers in terms of wide temperature variations and that's what I used on the plant labels. But I've also started using ge silicone ii (for windows and doors, clear) on the spoon backings. I'm doing this because I now have a bunch of metal adhered to glass with it in my garden that has survived another winter and very hot summer.

I have flower height 1/2 inch electrical conduit in the garden pounded in over a 10 or 12 inch piece of rebar with other plate flowers. Both the conduit and rebar can be cut to length with a recipricating saw. Here is the back so you can see how the spoon handle goes in.

And here it is from the front, in the garden. Almost everything is dead except the grass. So its nice to see some color!

Carmen/Gardencraze at GJunk came up with the spoon idea, and dcarch took it to new heights by cutting it to look like a leaf, and by doing the same thing with forks, bending them into beautiful objects. You can search for their posts on the Garden Junk Forum if you are interested.

Here are 2 more variations: a plate flower in winter. Lately they have been gorgeous with frost on them, but I don't have the skill or the camera to capture it.

And here is a nodding plate flower. You can see the pipe fittings that I used to use. I am changing because after a year outside the fittings separated from the plate. If/when I do this one over, I think I'll use a spoon or a fork hanger. The sun was reflecting off it and I had trouble getting a clear pic.

Finally dcarch at Garden Web on the Garden Junk Forum has done some amazing backings. I've not tried to to these but someone reading might have the skills.

A spoon cut with a dremel and the electrical conduit stem cut for leaves.

Two forks bent by heating and soldered together

Another pretty fork:

So that's it!
Please let me know if I need to go into more (or less) detail about any part of this. I've never written a tute before. Also let me know if you make any plate flowers, I'd really love to hear AND see pictures!

Y si quisiera instruciones en español, dime, y preguntaré a mi profesor a aydarme.

Have fun!

Kathy

Plate flower Tutorial, part 1

2009-11-15T10:41:00.006-05:00

Several people have asked for a plate flower tutorial. The process takes a couple of days because adhesive needs to cure, so today we'll make the plate flowers. Tomorrow I'll attach the hangers, and ~~Tuesday~~ Wednesday after I put them in the garden, I'll post about hanger choices and show the final steps.

I owe everything I know about making these to the wonderful people at the Garden Junk forum at Garden Web.

The first step is to get some dishes. I favor clear and colored glass because they sparkle in the sun, but I'll make an opaque and ceramic one today too.

A rule of thumb, is 1 dinner plate, 1 small plate or bowl, and 1 center/candle votive or salt cellar. I buy what I call "daffodil" votives when ever I see them for less than $1 (I prefer 50 cents or less).

For adhesives GE silicone II for Windows & Doors, Clear. And I'm going to use Plumbers goop on a metal holder. Check the date before you buy! Sometimes it goes bad. There are some people who drill holes in the center with a ceramic/diamond bit. This tute is for the silicone method. Keep a rag or paper towel to wipe silicone off your hands but try not to get it on them.

Then once you have the materials: protect your surface, work where you have ventilation, and begin to pile up plates and votives to find a look that is pleasing to you. I had made a flower about a week ago to test a new idea I had of attaching the flower to a flat sided bottle which would go onto the "stem". Since it was experimental I didn't use my favorite plates. A cool thing about this method is another flower can go on the other side of the bottle. So I decided to create a similar flower for the other side today. I also decided to use some opaque and ceramic dishes because I know my vintage-loving friends are interested in using that sort. Here is what I came up with.

Gluing: Lay the largest (back) plate in front of you. Take the next plate or bowl and put it on the largest plate where it will go. Notice where the medium plate contacts the larger plate, this is where you want the ge silicone to go. You see here my medium plate has a rim on the bottom. I put ge silicone along that whole rim, being careful not to leave any gaps for moisture to get in. GE silicone ii for windows and doors dries slightly opaque which bothers some people, but it last through NH winters!

Then carefully place the siliconed plate in the center of the big plate, pushing in gently until the plates are in contact. Next test the little center plate on the medium plate which is now glued to the big plate. Its four little feet fit inside the indent on the medium plate which is good, but I need to fill in the gaps between the feet, as you see here. I put lots of silicone in between the little feet, up to their level, and less on the feet themselves.

Press it gently and firmly into the center of the medium plate. Now it has to set up. It doesn't take long to start to firm up, but should be left for the day to ensure total curing. But if it doesn't begin to set up within 10 minutes, your silicone is bad and you should return it.

Now same process with the glass plate. I used some extra silicone in the center of the gold ashtry because it is so heavy. The center piece here was flat, but I still want a solid seal, so I show a pic below of how I did the silicone. I put a green marble in the very center because there was a rounded gap. If it had been flat I may have glued a glass glob.

Here they are. The glass one I'm showing with the back of the one I made last week, you can see the flat sided bottle that I am going to attach it to.

Now they both have to sit. I'll post the final steps on Tuesday when I put them in the garden!

If you want to look at more plate flowers, here is a link to search results at Garden Web's Garden Junk forum for "plate flower". Scroll down to see the threads.

See you Tuesday!

Kathy

Vintage Thingys Thursday

2009-11-12T10:26:00.005-05:00

Since I've been sewing lately, I decided to post some of my vintage sewing and fiber craft vintage items.
This pic includes a potholder that I embroidered when I was a little girl. I still remember how thrilled I was!

And this is the Sewing basket that my Pepere gave my Memere for their 1st wedding anniversary 1927. I also have my Memere's (grandmother's) ham and sleeve presser and other small things.

I've been getting ready to make Christmas presents lately. On Sunday I'll post a plate flower how to!

Visit Coloradolady to see all the other Vintage Thingy Thursday posts!

Kathy

Inspiration Organization

2009-11-08T10:53:00.001-05:00

Lots of us save photos or descriptions of things that we would like to do someday. I tried keeping them in notebooks or folders, and I never looked at them again. So I am going to share what works for me. We are all different so I don't know if it will work for you, but I now regularly look at my inspiration pieces and more important find what I'm looking for. I have a place to keep them all.

I saw these cool photo albums on sale. The kind with clear plastic slots to slide your pics into. And I bought them even though I don't use that type for photos and I had no plan for them. (They were such a good deal,lol)

Then one day I wanted a place to put articles or pics from magazines or things that I printed on the internet and I grabbed the big album. It perfectly holds 8.5x11 folded in quarters. And quite a few folded pages fit in each slot. I try to fold it so what it is shows throught the plastic. If not I write what it is on the article where it shows. Recently I began the little one as a sewing inspiration to keep in the same room as my sewing machine. A plus is even tiny things don't get lost and I can quickly look at 8 in the big album and 4 in the small at once.

What works for you?

Kathy

Vintage Thingys Thursday

2009-11-05T10:03:00.002-05:00

I've been sewing each day and finished my curtain but not my dress.

I decided to post some of my old family pics for VTT. First photo: My grandmother and a cousin in a birch bark frame. My grandfather and his cousin, cabinet photo. (He is on the right!)

Second: My dh's great grandfather as a boy, then great grandmother and he in a nice paired frame.

Third: What I have done with copies of some of my old photos. I call them ancestor worship candle holders. Dh's family on the right one and mine on the left.

Check out everyone's VTT posts at Colorado lady! I'm still learning so I apologize if my link to her blog isn't hot.

Vintage thingys Thurday at Coloradolady

2009-10-29T14:46:00.005-04:00

This is a post in response to Coloradolady's call for vintage postings.
She is here:
http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/2009/10/vintage-thingies-thursday-1948-vintage.html?

My Memere gave me these 8 great paper mache pumpkins years ago. They were used as decorations when her children, my mom and her sisters, were young.And they actually burned candles in them! I love them! The second pic shows one of them on display with my dh's pine cabin from his boy hood. You burn pine incense by putting it on the chimney.

Use What I Have Challenge

2009-10-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

I challenged my fellow crafters at the Garden Junk site to use what they have. I am trying to do this because goodness knows I have a lot. I hate to throw anything away that is useful. Fortunately I can feel good about giving things to non profit thrift stores. But what about all my material, supplies, wall paper, scrapbook paper etc etc. And so many things that the TS is not interested in. I am going to try to use a lot of it up this holiday season!

Sewing repair

2009-10-29T12:10:00.001-04:00

OK so I fixed my old flannel bathrobe which had a huge tear. Not as creative as making a new one, but much easier and also meets my Use What I Have challenge to myself. Later today I will finally sew the piece of fabric I've had hanging in front of a closet for a year into a real curtain. That's the plan, a bit dull, but I'm sticking to it!

Today I made a plate flower

2009-10-27T22:45:00.000-04:00

It has a new style backing which is a flatsided glass bottle. We'll see how it holds up!
kathy

More flowers!

2009-10-24T20:48:00.000-04:00

I made 4 more bouquets. I picked up the arrangement from the museum to day and raided it! With it and left over flowers that we didn't use I made 3 for the building that I manage. We had a leak in the roof and the tenants who were affected adversely were so nice about it, I'm giving 2 for them and putting one in the conference room that they mostly use.. Plus I made a bouquet with yellow roses for my dfosterd. and I'm going to get myself a pretty orchid at the florist Monday cuz now I want one too!

Made a beautiful bouquet

2009-10-21T21:25:00.000-04:00

A nearby museum is having the local garden clubs set bouquets in front of art for a special show and fundraiser for the museum. We did a bouquet by committee. One of us picked out the art that would be our inspiration, I bought the flowers, and another club member came over my house and put the bouquet together. We ended up choosing a vase belonging to person number 1. Early tomorrow morning I bring it to the museum, and I'll take a pic of the bouqueton its pedestal in front of the art (beautiful middle eastern tiles that used to be the back of a fountain) and post it here. So that's what I've been doing creative for the past two days!

Halloween porch flowers

2009-10-19T14:03:00.001-04:00

Repaired them and put them out. The tall eyeballyhock is new. The others were part of a costume last year.

See more at my post at Garden Junk:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/junk/msg1014000727624.html

Why not NOW!

2009-10-18T11:41:00.004-04:00

Many people don't have the luxury of working part time and not having children at home. My only other things in addition to work are a certain amount of shopping, housework, home maintenance and to take my mom (who lives in another town) grocery shopping and on errands. Dispite this apparent huge amount of spare time, I find it difficult to motivate myself to do creative projects, gardening, studying spanish, and exercising. So to the ideas of 10 min per day & use what I already have, I am adding Why Not Now? Oh, also visiting friends or going to fun things that are up to an hour away. Why not now?
Why Not?

I blew it!

2009-10-18T10:35:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I intended to repair my home made halloween decorations and put them on the porch which I cleaned off in preparation. Porch is clean, had friends over for dinner which was very nice, but spent the time with the 10 min cooking and, earlier, studying spanish.
Today I will do at least 10 min of halloween decoration. Why not right now?

Finished Teeger memorial

2009-10-16T13:11:00.003-04:00

Finished last night, set out in garden today (attached to base, had to wait until temperature got above 40F.
It has a solar light in the top. I'm eager to see it shine.

Worked on memorial crystal tower/totem/solar light

2009-10-15T14:34:00.003-04:00

Today I worked on getting my memorial to Teeger into the garden. I set the base and was going to attach the rest to it. Then I remembered that I had to attach the solar light. Problem! The top light globe won't fit over the solar fixture and rest on the vase like I planned. So I had to add another piece that allows the globe to sit a bit higher.
Tomorrow when it has dried overnite I'll finish and then take pics of it in the garden. As long as its above 40 degrees F. That's my 10 minutes today!

Use what I have, yesterday and today's plan

2009-10-14T07:38:00.002-04:00

I posted a challenge over at Garden Junk (conversations side) for pack rats like me to use what we have, rather than buying new stuff, for one month.
Yesterday I began a glass totem to put near Teeger's grave. I plan to have a solar light in the top of it. I didn't have the right color glass globs to decorate it (I wanted orange like his eyes) but remember that I HAVE glass beads. So I used them.
Today I will work more on it and possibly finish it. I can use a solar light that I already have, by stealing it from the garden.

Use what I have and report on yesterday

2009-10-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took the suggestion of someone in the GW Crafts and Decorations forum and put my old spools of thread that are too old and break in the machine in jars in my sewing area. I added a couple other things like a very old 6 inch ruler and an old measuring tape.

Today, after doing some craft clean up in my house, I am resolving to use what I have and not buying anything unless it is something small needed to finish a project for the period of one month. What I have been doing is buying more stuff at a faster rate than I can use it and getting rid of the older things to make room.

Pretty silly!

Yesterday bowling ball, today decorate sewing room

2009-10-11T19:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday my friend Sarah and I began to decorate our bowling balls. I don't know about me and mosaicing, we'll see. Sarah's is unlike anything I've ever seen. But she's more artsy and I'm more crafty.
Today I'm making the upstairs living room (really an enlarged hall way that the bedrooms and bath room open onto, nicer for sewing and crafting. I'm putting my old thread on wood spools into jars etc. My goal is to get my stuff off the dining room table, lol.
What are you doing?

I'm still working on getting the comments embedded.

Mosaic bowling ball, and trying to get embedded comments!

2009-10-10T10:37:00.000-04:00

I am trying to get comments embedded under the post, but there is some glitch apparently in blogger. That way if/when anyone else reports on what they have done it will just be there, not hidden away.
Today I am going to help my mom, and a friend in the same town and I are going to begin to mosaic our bowling balls!

Buried Teeger today, Finished garden fairies yesterday

2009-10-09T12:32:00.001-04:00

The two paper garden fairies that I made are pictured on the right. They were inspired by some witches in Somerset Studio magazine. Copied really. If you'd like to see a larger pic, I posted in Garden Web Craft & Decoration Forum

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/crafts/msg1008305711510.html

Today, I don't know. Maybe something for Teeger's grave.

Thursday, October 8

2009-10-08T10:49:00.000-04:00

Last nite I finished one Halloween fairy, and this morning I started another. I'll post a pic here when both are done. Will probably post it at GW crafts and decorations forum as well.

Wed: Halloween paper doll. What about you?

2009-10-07T08:22:00.005-04:00

I'm determined to finish this Halloween paper doll. Its pouring so can't do anything outside (like concrete mushroom caps, or even buy the concrete.) I'm going to stay home for a while if I can avoid work because my Teeger, who has a congenital liver defect, is dying.

Here he is in April. His eyes are pretty orange cuz his liver doesn't filter out the copper in his blood.

Tuesday October 6 What are you doing?

2009-10-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

I am at work, but will post later what I have done with my 10 minutes. I want to photo graph my dress and post it at burdastyle. And I want to reassemble my concrete filled plastic birdbath in preparation for mosaic.

Monday's 10 minutes!

2009-10-05T10:57:00.000-04:00

I'm still traveling. In the airport in Toronto waiting to fly to Boston, then 2 hr drive home. But I'll do something creative today for at least 10 minutes when I get home and report here.
Micki sorry about your back, hope you are better!

Use the 10 minutes however you want and I'm still in Toronto

2009-10-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

Some people are cleaning up and doing yard work with their 10 minutes (or more as it may work out!). I think that is fine. What ever you need inspiration for is ok

Today I am still away from home in Toronto. I bought some fabric since I don't live in a big city and don't get the choices that are here generally. After choosing some likely patterns at burda style. My ususal problem is that I love to shop but don't follow through on making stuff (including garden junk). So what I am going to do today and !tomorrow is decide for sure what I am going to make with at least one of the fabrics, and then start it when I get home. I don't have to sew what ever it is every day, can do other creative things if I want, but maybe I'll say I have to sew once a week until this project at least is complete.

.

10 min away from home?

2009-10-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

I am in Toronto for a wedding. I didn't bring anything with me in terms of creative work. Not sure what I will do! I guess I could design or plan something. Or research. I'll report later. What are you doing!

Halloween is coming!

2009-09-30T20:06:00.002-04:00

Here are some Halloween plate flowers that I made last year. Need to dig them out and decorate soon!

And another:

The one in the garden I gave as a hostess gift at a Halloween party last year. I just love those fake leaves with the Halloween plate flowers. Too bad they fade.

Next week maybe I'll get out the eyeballs and make something else.