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

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

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

 
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

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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!

 
 
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!

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

 
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!

 
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

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...

 
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

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

 
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