What a slacker?!?!?

Yes, I know...the ultimate slacker...spring and summer has come and gone and fall finally came in a few weeks ago...the cool air can't seem to decide if it really wants to stay or not...wish it would make itself at home!

My summer was filled with scrapbooking...MUCH needed I

might add...the piles of pictures are still plenty but I got a lot down and was pleased with the amount.

I did two shows this summer...being IN one and choreographing the other, so that along with work and life took much time, so it is a wonder I got ANYTHING creative done!

The past few week has been a productive one - housewise, that is. Last week's trip to the High Grove Antique show was SUPER inspiring! I ended up with the prettiest Christmas present I could have gotten - a prim bench made from a headboard. She looks so sweet sitting in my hallways now. I made the bench pillow with quilting squares that I got from the show as well - that will have to be redone as the fabric is sooooo old and is tattering...I need to reinforce it!

I've made a pillow or two (including one to sell!) and several other stitcheries.

I've also been busily working with the sander and the paint! Good grief....I am SOOO thrilled that my best friend trusts me with his sander...otherwise, I'd have some awful carpel tunnel with all the sanding I would have had to do! I SOMEWHAT enjoy that...a piece is fine....but I did 2 shelves, a box, 4 wooden bowls, and a small bench...I

gave out before I even began to work on the little chair and big shelf I have left! I think it is the final product that I love so much that makes me able to withstand it somewhat...I much more enjoy the journey I take with needles and thread, looms and yarn, or paper and photos...but...there ya go!

I finished the little bench for my bathroom and stained it with coffee...yes, you can use strong instant coffee...it is pretty and gave it a little "cedar" look to the edges...but I will probably use something else later - I was just impatient to put it in there! The paint I used for it turned out wonderfully!!! It is called Spanish Tile...when I painted it first I was SOOOO disappointed - it was magenta! UGH! I was about to make another run to Lowe's when I realized it was drying that lovely barn red I was wanting...I am not anywhere pleased with the decorations on the bench, but since I am planning on painting that bathroom in the next few weeks, I will let it go for right now.

Anyway...the process has been nice...I've said it so often...there is something very therapeutic when I work on some project!

Good grief!

Well...here I am, nearly a YEAR later and I am just making a new post. There have been so many projects that have come through this house over the past 3 seasons....your normal variety of holidays, the trappings of daily life of work and family, sadness and loss, and much, much happiness.

The biggest accomplishments as of late have been the redoing of my bedroom with paint, paint, and more paint and the use of many reclaimed "goodies" from the thrift shops. Amazing at the little things you can find that people just toss away. Of course, shifting through the junk isn't always a fun thing. That whole proverbial idea of having to kiss a lot of frogs...yeah it pertains to thrifting too!

I also recovered a chair that belonged to my grandmother - Ma, as she was known to everyone, my dad's mom. Anyway, the chair as I remembered it was a white leather...vinyl...leather...vyn...heck I don't know what it was, but it was white! AND SOOOOOO COMFORTABLE. We always fight over who could sit it in. Amazing the memories a chaise lounge chair can conjour! It was given to my dad when Ma passed away. For some reason, it was in storage and was ruined. Mildewed and stained beyond cleaning! So my dad had it recovered for my mom...and momma hated it...well daddy agreed...the recovering changed the whole feel of it and it wasn't the comfortable chair it once was. So it sat in the room with that awful Pepto pink/mauve color and became a catch-all cat bed. So back into storage it went, this time better storage, more air tight and weather-proof.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, when I asked them if I could have it. It was a no brainer, of course I could - they knew I could probably do something to it. I already bought the material before it came to my house! I found a sale for upholstery fabric (Holy Canoli!!! What is the deal with that???? That stuff can be up to $79 a yard?!?!? Mine was $23 a yard and a sale and a frequent customer coupon got it down to $8 a yard! Whew!)

And the project began. I researched on the internet (of course, I did!) about the best way to do it. I didn't simply want to cover it like a slipcover - would have been perfect in the new "cottage" style room, but I wanted a more finished look. SO I began ripping...that was fun. Seriously. I enjoyed that...UNTIL..until the discovery of the 81, 003 staples AND the abundance of dust mites. Yeah, I ripped the back off and WHAMMO...it hit. This huge nasty dust cloud of nasty little dust mites. (And that's all I say about that, onto the funner stuff! LOL!)

I finally returned to the project a few days later and began piecing it back together. I admit, I did not rip off the seat cover, I figured it would at least help me with the cushion formation. I worked and worked with the top and arms. So the covering goes in this sequence...arms, seat, back, and skirt. I had planned to do just the skirt, but then when I got it done, I liked the classiness of the blue toile enough to say maybe it didn't need a skirt. Then I thought that maybe it would be "softer", dare I say it...more feminine (sometimes that word scares me as I equate it to dainty and I am sure not dainty! LOL!). So, the skirt began. It was probably the most tedious work, as I had to hem and iron the hems and sides. However, the look was quite polished!

When the folks saw pictures, they were amazed. (ooh props for Trace!) They were very pleased with it and thought the skirt was some great feat....not, although it was tedious to iron and sew to get the hem straight, it stapled right on easily and the "pleats" were the easiest part of it.

So I guess mission accomplished. I am still a bit unsure about the arms....one tucks down like it should, and the other rather tucks to the back...it is getting easier to look at, but it is certainly something that I will make a point to work on should I tackle another chair. (which may be soon as my uncle has a chair he wants recovered...sigh)

Slack...

It has been a while since I’ve updated my blog. Partly because I have been busy, yes, and partly because I’ve been just plain out lazy. Figure that 50-50 on each part and it takes up all of your time. I have managed to get my clothes straightened out – winter clothes packed up…I swear this has been the cause of this unseasonal cool deal we had earlier last week.

I’ve only managed to make two pillows over the past week, but I’ve been stitching so much that when I DO sit down to pillow-making, I’ll be busy! I’ve been cutting out patterns for some primitive dolls too. I hope to try my hand at that some soon.

Machine is still down but I'll get that worked out soon.

This weekend brought on the sale at Hancock. I ran to get material to make Bonnie a blanket. Then realized all of the fleece was on sale and thought this would be a GREAT time to pick extra up and get busy with Christmas. (Whoa...what had come over me???) The lady at the cloth table was simply with envy and jokingly sneering at me. She said she had not even started. No reason to get overly excited...I probably won't buy another Christmas present until after the turkey and dressing are digesting as I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I am very proud that I've gotten 4 blankets done this weekend. Bon and Chase are both excited with theirs...like we need more here, we are blanket poor as it is. I've managed to finish two presents and have three more to do. I'm thinking at LEAST one more will get done tonite. They are wonderful "TV" crafts...after cutting, I can just sit and tie them up...feeling my way to skip the correct flaps. I guess it is much like my knitting...quite therapeutic.

Drool...

On Wednesday afternoons, the kids and I usually end up staying at my folks' house as we have choir practice. Too much running. Those days are so long although I do enjoying visiting with my folks then. After leaving school, the kids and I have a ritual...we MUST go by the "junk store." It's a used furniture and antique consignment shop...there is also just plain junk in there, too. I've had my eyes open for a primitive bench, as well as an antique (or faux antique) wash stand.

Today I scored something soooooo wonderful. I've wanted some ladder back chairs to make planters from. I wanted to knock the bottoms out. I found two there, very inexpensive, but when I got them to my folks house and took one to show, I fell in LOVE with them...they have the prettiest old finish. I simply can't bear the idea of ruining them. Plus, they were a sweet deal at $15 for the pair!!!

I also got a child's or doll's chair. I definately will refinish it to have an old look. That will be a fun project. It cost me $7.

I also found the coolest...box...I'm sure it has a name, but I love the OLDE look it has and I plan to tuck in some candles and dried lavender. $2.00!

And last but not least, I scored a beautiful pottery bowl. Not an antique, it is marked 1986, but it has a gorgeous blue and earthy brown glaze and cost a FRACTION of what I've seen pottery at - $7.00! (my pic was way too dark to post!)

Last night's pillows...

I was very pleased at how these turned out. I loved the mustard check fabric that I used for a couple of them. That willow tree took a long time to stitch! All the little leaves on it! And it isn't really even that detailed!

Pics are bad as I used my cell to take them...IN the kitchen where the light is pretty bad anyway! (and then note how the willow tree close up is truer light! UGH!)

Working on...

three pillows right now. I just coated one with the distressing mix...the house smells so good right now. I have one to stuff and one to finish stitching. The damn machine is wanting to mess up so badly...the bottom stitch keeps messing up, which is fine for the inside sewing...but once it gets turned right side out, I'm in trouble. Unfortunately I am NOT handy enough with the sewing maching to figure out why it doing this...hell, I can't even oil the thing!

Empty kitchen...

My kitchen is a bit empty today. The large 4 foot cage that sat in the corner next to my water heater has now been placed outside...empty.

Yesterday, started off wonderfully, my best friend coming over to give me a wake up call and spend some time with me...and then an hour later, there we are in the back yard...burying my baby squirrel.

Scuttle had been with us for about 3-4 months. She was about 4 weeks old...still had her eyes closed, when she came in to my heart. She went everywhere with me, as I had to feed her with a syringe every 3 hours. As she grew, she got to be so funny! I'd let her out of the cage, only to look for her minutes later and find her in the huge bag of bird seed on the back porch. She liked sitting on my shoulder. I could walk into a room, and immediately she run to me, run up my leg and up to her place on my shoulder. She was just such a fun little creature.

I have no idea what happened. She seemed completely fine early yesterday morning, when I gave her water and gave her a cracker. She drank and ate and then soon, her little heart stopped beating, her sprity tail ceased twitched...her soulful eyes lost their twinkle.

I cried. And I still have some today. So sad to have lost her. She had brought many laughs to me and even brought a confidence of being able to take care of this little orphaned one. It was pure hell to reach in and lift her soft little, still warm, body from her cage...but I wanted to hold her one last time.

My best friend was with me all the way and even cried with me...I am so glad to have shared such a raw moment. It is a wondrous thing to be able to be yourself...I didn't have to think twice about being upset about a small little being -- I mean in the whole scheme of things...life, kids, jobs, money...a little gray squirrel dying isn't a terribly big thing...but to me, its the small things...the small treasures in life that bring such joy to my heart...things that others pass by without so much as a second glance...my best friend knows that of me and even shares that wonderous gift!