what I did today 365 days

Today Kids, Eddie and I went on a hike up at Lions Gulch Homestead, which was so beautiful.  It was a 6.2 mile hike we only made it 5.5 before it started storming.  It was worth it.  The kids helped each other and seemed to enjoy...and the dog has been sleeping since.

When I got home...there was action out the back door!

Apparently after the break down a few days ago of me weeping that my life is in disarray and I can't believe all the half done things around the house, Bobby decided to start the deck.

He wouldn't give me the price of the wood because he knew my asshole would tighten up so tight that the tears would be forced from my eyes just from the pressure...and it would appear to be a break down again.

 working on the right side

 No, it's not skeletor, its Bobby

 Ed enjoying the 3 feet of deck

much nicer...

He's so cute

We ran out of screws before I had enough planks put down to put my table on there

Bobby's back hurt and my feet hurt.

At least it's a start.

I won't break my leg when stepping out the back door when drunk.

RE upholstery: update of a semi mess

Well, Like I said, "It's not gonna reupholster itself, no matter how long I stand there looking at it."

 

   Arms are on....and all I could thing was, "Jeessus, this basement smells like the ass end of a garbage truck toting used litter boxes."

Pinning everything together to see if it is even going to start to fit together....hmmm?

(thank goodness I saved all the pieces)

Am I going to have to "ease" this in?  How hard and tortuous is that going to be?

This is too much.

Then I step back.....

Holy macaroni!

Kind of a busy pattern...gonna have to make a throw pillow to break that business up!

I have not started even looking at pulling it tight and stapling.  That is scaring me just typing it.

Bobby said, "Are we going to be able to sit in it when it's done...or is it just for looking?"

How would I know?  I am assuming we will sit in it....

But I have been wrong before.

Well, I am happy it looks like I am at least attempting to do it.  Remember it still has legs that go on it and...well, honestly I still have a looooong way to go.

remember the chair?

I'm scared to start it.

That just doesn't sound like me does it?

The silly thing is, the chair was destined for the dump, so by putting new fabric on it, what could possibly be worse?

heres the fabric, waiting for me to do my part.

I just can't seem to get motivated enough to even start.  don't know WHERE to start.

well, maybe I will do a bit of googling, get out the stapler and start.  I mean , really, what's the worse that could happen?   I fail?

constructive behavior

I took my lunch break and used the time to cut out a dress for Olive using McCalls Pattern M5796...I hope she loves it. I'm sure she will, the girl LOVES dresses.
I need to whip up some bloomers and buy leggings for the school year, because modest she is not and I don't think all the other little kids in her class really want to look at her Hello Kitty Panties.
I love to sew...I just hate the long process of it and I hate that I never get it right on the first round. you know?

The carpet cleaners come tonight (thank god), so we are eating veggie burgers outside, then I can sew in the sewing room.

If anyone knows of a good look for curtains I need it. I bought some fabric to curtain up my windows (yes, I just used curtain as a verb) if the craft room.
I was looking at the new BH&G and they had a little spread on the color coral.
I never liked coral, but then again, i guess I do like coral because it revved my engines. I knew Bobby wouldn't go for a room of coral so I picked my craft room aka the laundry room.

I can't wait.
but I have to, because I am a slow mover...
and occasional shaker.

so mad!!!!

the lady who had the Hutch decided NOT to sell it. I KNOW it's because I told her what I was going to do with it.

so ...instead of firing off a bunch of angry emails...

I sent Bobby to Home Depot to get me a new LG washer, which we can't afford.

I'm really angry right now...

reaaaaaalllly

I think I found my fabric Hutch!!!

Isn't she Pretty?

On Craigslist for 100$...
It will work perfectly in my craft/laundry room. I hopefully will get to go see it this weekend and then have it moved in and ready to go

the new Barbie Fashions

Olive has a new career...

Barbie clothes design and hair. Lovely. she finds scraps of fabric and whips up new clothes using string rubberbands and hairties....it's actually really funny. Yesterday they all had "bras" fashioned from tissue...even Ken, lucky guy. Enjoy the styles...she may be the next Marc Jacobs

haircut...and bow, from stuffed dog...this Barbie had long flowing locks last week.

Look at the Wedge cut she gave this girl...

Nice

star skirt, with light blue elastic belt

good for those PMS days

front view....notice the matching hair bow

Oh...and this Barbie skateboards in a dress...

(of course she does,unlike when I was a kid...she just wore high heeled Gogo boots and looked like a hooker)

Project: "Green with Envy"

I finally got started on my project for Olive's room. You may remember I picked up this little bookshelf/desk for 40$. I knew it had potential. I had previously worked on Olive's Dresser with paint and fabric and thought this time I would try something a bit easier and a bit more forgiving.

I took the back off so it would be easier to spray paint.

Lightly sand with fine grit sandpaper,clean with Naptha (my new favorite thing).

Spray paint until your finger gives out, then have a cocktail and start again.

Don't forget to take the hardware off.

I actually reused the hardware, it had a cool look

I need one glass knob for one drawer still.

get ready for the chair.

Remove the seat cushion and cut the fabric a few inches larger than the cushion.

I had some cool leftover fabric from a purse I was making. I was going to cover the seat myself but Bobby could barely stand to watch me with the staple gun...so he took over....

then hurt his finger,but Olive had some Band-Aids for him

chair all done.

now look how nice.

I'm sure it will all be a mess by tomorrow...but I was able to clean her room, pack up stuffed animals and rearrange. Just in time for her 5th bday.

This project took:

1 old dresser thing

4 cans of spray paint in apple green

fine grit sandpaper

clean rag

Naptha

screw driver

and a nice sunny day

...

m

Something beautiful

for a beautiful day...Although it is not Friday...it is Tuesday, time to prepare for the weekend

Pretty Little Cards for your Spring Party at Ruger Blue Designs by Synda

xoxoxox

Almond Funfetti Cupcakes for a picnic?

The Purl Bee has ideas for cool things for Mom's Day.

tHE bLACK aPPLE cute prints for your mom...or for yourself ;)

Bubble Inspiration make some yourself

It's not much...but take a peek.

Eco Wrap anyone?

So this year I made a decision to not buy any more wrapping paper. I will use up what I have but instead of buying such a horribly wasteful item I put my little brain to work.
Here are a few things we came up with.
First and foremost : 100% recycled Kraftpaper.
I got it for $1.88 a roll for 50 ft at Walmart. (1.88!~!!!!!!)

I can recycle it with the paper with no guilt.
Olive has been coloring some....we did some stamps on some ...and we bowed them with left over yarn. Perfect

The second one we used: Olive's Coloring Book pages She had to willingly donate the pages then we taped them together and wrapped. She had some of those gigantic coloring pages, those were perfect.

Newspaper is good. although I don't get the paper, we got some from the neighbors.

Remember to save giftbags for reuse, and all the cards. We cut the cards for gift tags.

I found that you can actually save about 27$ dollars by not buying any new stuff....Yes I priced it out using Target wrapping paper prices ... 27$ is not much, but it bought 1 small Lego set (Bionicle) and 2 little puzzles, and a 10 starbucks gift card. See?

crafty wafty

The other night Synda, the kids, a bottle of wine, a 12 pack of microbrew,me and a billion bottlecaps all came together in a beautiful way.

Ilin made Bionicle ones for his locker.  I put mine in tins...ready for someones lucky fridge

we made bottle cap magnets and although I couldn't quite get a good picture, they were awesome!!   The ones right above are of Amy and Blake...you know, heroin sheek.

I got to giggling so hard Synda had to put down her "fancy arts and crafts" to come on over to the trashy side and do bottle caps.

We did 6 degrees of seperation:  Brad P, Angelina, Jen, which lead us to Oprah, Dr. Phil ,Tom Cruise and Katie, all neatly placed in a tin.

A little glue, a splash of glitter and damn!...you have art fit for sale.

I made a Bin Laden magnet and Synda made an Obama magnet.  We couldn't find Bush...but we will, and he too will be hung out to dry in a bottle cap with glitter and glue.

Sydna found old Brittany S and let her live the rest of her life in a bottle cap placed on a barrett and then found Justin T, snatched his picture away from Jennifer B, and placed him in a bottle cap so that B and J could be together again, because as Synda pointed out we all really just want Brittany to get back together with JT.  So there you have it, Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake glittered out hair clips!

I guess what we need to do is do an artsy fartsy gift swap so we can unload some of this junk on other people who will appreciate at it as much as I do.  I was thinking as I made them....now THIS is a gift.  This isn't some coffee cup off the shelf at Target...this has thought, time, love, laughs and best of all,GLITTER!

We had so much fun.  We Must do it again before the holidays.

Now is anyone up for some Bottlecap magnets...maybe I should do a giveaway?

I've been out sewn!!!!

(You can click it to see the fine handi-work up close...along with dog hair)

Ilin Blue has started sewing these little dolls. Damn him! Look how cute!  This little guy is from "Little Big Planet"...He's a little ragtag because Ilin was toting him around everywhere as he was sewing him.  Synda and I think he should start his own Etsy site

Ilin looked at a picture, made a pattern with paper (so that he can make another), cut him out and hand stitched him together.  There are a few weird spots but all in all...pretty good.  Check out the tongue  :) He even put cardboard circles in the bottom of his feet so that he can stand.

Here's the original little guy from the game.

NEW FAVORITE CRAFTY WAFTY

Miss Cindy Lou at "Skip to My Lou" has fun easy crafts you can do.
Some for Xmas/ holidays...whatever....
party stuff and cute things to do with little ones.

also a build your birdhouse! how fun is that?

I'm inviting Synda over so that we can have a nice crafty day...take a break and relax.
I hope she comes...does anyone else want to come? Email if so.

Manic, OCD, and a drunk...all in one weekend

It started earlier this week.  I knew that after my long shifts at work then to clinicals (530 am-1030PM) I was done with school for the week.  One of the nurses at clinicals asked me,"How do you feel, you know, with school almost over and a new journey about to begin?"  Hmmmmmm  Not sure...I try not to think too far ahead.  She says to me," I always would get depressed."  

Thursday morning it hit me.  She's right!...I'm depressed.  What will I do with all my time?  I have to get a new job...Completely new, something I've never done before.  It's not like waiting tables or answering phones, nursing is new.  School is over in 18 days and a year and a half (actually 4 years since I began the entire process) and that's it.  

I decided that I would start my vacation week of no school with my Synda.  I left work early to hit a yarn shop with the girls and then the wine shop and hang out.  The little ones played and we sat and drank, and drank, and gossiped, and drank some more, had pizza, knitted poorly (had to rip it out the next day) then at 1045 pm Synda says, "Uhhh, we did NOT drink 2 bottles of wine did we?"  Yes m'am it appears so.  Yikes and i have to drive 20 miles home.  I gathered my kid, knitting and stacks of magazines on loan from Synda and headed home and thought how the wine only takes away the boredom until the headache sets in which is approximately 7 hours later for me.  I didn't let that stop me.  I sat my goals for the weekend and Saturday morning I started to try to avoid the depression.

(Click for bigger pics)

First...I went shopping then made Spanikopita

Next in line Needle Holder.  Kinda fun.  I had bought that material for 3$ for a yard.  I used about 20" for the holder and lined it with some left over fleece.  It only took about an hour.  I didn't care so much for sewing all the lines to hold the needles...but I didn't quit...I just grabbed a nice cold beer and kept going.

I finished this yummy little neck warmer and started one that is only 2 rows wide..They are cute and easy to do.  I'm hoping to get some up on Etsy before holidays.

While I was busy doing my stuff Olive made her own hair clip from some broken toys.

Good job, Olive!

As I was saying, idle hands are the Devil's hands and we'll have none of that around here.  I got up this morning and cleaned out the pantry...got rid of everything we don't,won't or can't use....and didn't look back.  

Next up the kid's bathroom, but honestly I think I might be losing steam.

Depression for me is evil.  Loneliness, gets me into trouble, and free time is the bane*of my existence.

All in one weekend.

* "bane" was once a very serious word. The Old English "bana" meant

literally "slayer" in the sense we now use "killer" or "murderer."
Early on, the English "bane" was also used in the more general sense
of "cause of death," and by the 14th century "bane" was used in the
specialized sense of "poison"

So, you can only imagine what the next few months have in store for me.  If only I could get my writing back on track.  

still need a costume idea

So, I found a few that you still have time to whip up.  Let me know how it goes.

this first one is quite clever.  I'm sure you can put your own spin on it.

(click on the links to see where they came from)

fake midget  

this next one kind of freaked me out...but it is good.

really check it out

WTF costumes

Maybe a few costumes for the entire family?

Just think twice before wearing these to the Neighborhood Halloween Parade...or at least don't email me back and bitch if you do.

anna maltz

How about a set of costumes for a night out with the girls?  I guarantee you will be a clit...I mean HIT.

Vagina Ladies

you and your husband could go as He devil and She devil

Oh wait...those aren't costmes.

how about for your 2 bestest guy friends

the Ambiguously Gay Duo?

Or this for your gross friend...

Me no likey

Well, anyways...whatever you choose have fun

where a rubber...and don't drink and drive...

and for the parents out there.... when trick or treating parents come to your door.  ahve a cooler of beer and small cocktails for them to trick or treat out of....make it worth their while.

story of my life...Unfinished Projects

I have anxiety about starting projects and then finishing them.  Crafty stuff is to be fun, right?  My head reels with ideas.  I have boxes of bottle caps, so many that my friends even save them.  Friends that come to the house and have a beer know exactly what cabinet the bottle caps go in and I have been collecting them for so long they have even stopped asking me what the hell I was going to do with them all.  I'm gonna bottle cap a table, or a house, or you know...do art.  I get on sewing kicks.  Like my computer bags...Then I don't even want to do them, well that usually happens when someone says ,"hey I want one of those, I'll pay ya".  BLAhhhh.  Yesterday I decided to finish some of my little projects I started so that I could start knitting or crocheting...since it is getting cold.  I need some Mittens!  I have baskets and baskets of cool scraps so I thought, hell, I could make some little bags to put "stuff" in.  Nothing in mind...just use the scraps, so that I could get something else.  

I started this cute little zipper bag.  Should have taken about 30 minutes to make, but what did I do?  I put the zipper in upside down, on the wrong side.  Story of my life.  So the 30 minute bag became the 2 hour thread rip out and mess.  But I did get it all out and redone.  It's cute...jazzy...something I would buy if I ever spent any money on cool stuff.  This is why I make things.  Every time I go to Anthropologie or some cool little boutique I say, "I want that...Shit...45$...I'll make it".  The birth of too many projects.

backwards zipper...nice and typical/

then I have this stuff I need to finish

computer bag

one of these little bags needs a butting hole...which I hate doing...so there it sits

But I did start over on the travel bag that i screwed the zipper up on and got that done

cute huh?

I'm hoping to relieve some of my crafty pressures by getting organized.  I'm going to open up my knitting bag and see whats in there.  Make myself some mittens.  and try to relax

hey de ho neighbor...

It's Tuesday...but you can see that from the time stamp.  I had my frst Operating Room Clinicals today.  Saw a double bilateral total knee replacement.  Not nearly as bloody as I thought it would be.  Not nearly as exciting either.  The scrub techs had a more exciting job than me.  Wah wah wah...  One more day of OR then I can move to the next subject.

I want to take a minute to not write anything great.  I should be writing a paper...but instead I'll take a minute to tell you about how much I love the Pumpkin Patch.  We went this weekend.  The big thing was the Tractor Ride.  It was such a big deal that Olive thinks she wants to be a farmer so that she can tote people around on a tractor.  She doesn't seem to understand that unless she is ONLY going to have a pumpkin patch...the only people she would be toting around would be migrant workers.  Oh well, why ruin the dream?  The Pumkin Patch is free and we get to get as many Pumpkins we can carry.  I LOVE FREE!!!  I got us up at 7 AM so that we could get first pick at the best pumpkins and we did GREAT!...Also got some cute pictures.  I edited them on Picnik...Does anyone else use Picnik?   

So what else you ask?  I'm sick of school and on top of that cooking dinners have become my least favorite chore in the world.  Is that wrong?  Is it wrong to offer your kids Pasta every night? I don't know, I just can't get my pea brain together enough to actually make anything worth eating...Why oh why can't kids just drink beer like me?  It's got everything we need.  Damn that business about growing and needing nutrients.

Next....Ilin wants to learn how to crochet so that he can make those little creatures and I don't have time to sit and teach him.  Anyone know of a super easy kid friendly book he can read and learn on his own?   He's been making these cool softies...they aren't perfect but they are creative and he thinks he wants to try to sell them on Etsy to earn money for his snowboard pass or something.  So I want to get him a book with actual patterns in it.

that's all for now. I need to write a paper

Olive Juice...my Etsy

Synda has been helping me with my Etsy store. I'm slowly adding things. There will be more bags and such added shortly, right now it is just a couple of little girl's shirts...but keep checking back if you like to buy handmade. I'm not one of those people who stick to one thing. I like to make a bit of everything, so if the store seems a mish mash of coolness, that is because it is...or will be once everything is up.

I'm hoping to generate a bit of income while in school. I used to make a product call Goat Girl Soap. I did really well, was featured in Marie Claire and even had a spot a Bendels...but I didn't have Etsy back then and it became so much work I didn't enjoy it anymore. When i picked up sewing again I said I was only doing it for fun...nothing serious....so the stuff that I'll be making is fun.

keep watching for coolness

Skull book cover

Because I couldn't let the kid go to school with a paper bag on his book or Lord forbid the purchased book cover...we made a hip happenen' perfect for the Hot Topic back to school gear cataloge ...

I was thinking...Hey I need this on a Tshirt...why am I always making crap for other people?...ok it is my kid, doesn't count.

The Book cover looks like a pillow huh? just realized that in the photo.

But it's actually pretty cool.

1. find the material you want to use.

2. Lay the book on top and allow for 4 inches extra on each side of the book and an additional 1 inch top and bottom.

3. I hemmed it with a normal double 5/8" hem all the way around.

4. Do one side first...Fold( right sides of fabric) over the 4" on one side pin and stitch at top and bottom.

5. Turn right side out and put on book.

6. make adjustment and pin other side of book so that it is tight, but so that you can close the book...(remember you have a binding on the book!)

7. Stitch other flap of book right side together to make the part you slide the book cover into....turn right side out.

at this point it should fit the book,somewhat tight, make adjustments on top and bottom if needed...If you measured correctly it should fit pretty good.

***we decided it looked kind of plain so I took a piece of craft felt and pieced together a skull and crossbones and sewed it on with contrasting thread. You could hand stitch or sewing machine.

I just winged this, so I'm sure you can do it also...It took about 45 minutes max from start to finish and it's not super fancy...just plain old cool
write ya later
m

hobo bag...almost done

Oh yeah...I'm almost done with the bag...

Synda don't kill me for posting such a crappy picture...when it's time to do Etsy we can do pretties.

Its a reversible Hobo bag with a groovy applique...inside is denim.

I love orange..so it's orange and yellow...uh and denim