Birdsong Two Projects

I'm sorry I  made you wait so long for this post but here it finally is.  I love to attend art retreats but the problem with me is, if I don't finish the project during the allotted time for class, the project comes home and never gets finished.  I'm determined to remedy this problem however and I'm thrilled to report that this morning I put the finishing touches on all my Birdsong Two projects and now they are done!

Lisa McIlvain from Tarnished and Tattered taught this adorable Faerie Theatre.  

Everyones projects came out so different but so sweet.  Some people were prepared enough to bring their own photos to personalize the project.  Plus, as with all the other projects we worked on this weekend, we not only got kits for our projects but there was an entire table filled with additional "stuff" to use if we wanted to. 

 Karla taught this sweet fairy vignette.  We constructed the mushroom out of screen and covered it in vintage paper and pretty mica flakes.  As with Lisa's project, there was tons of stuff we could add.  I waited until I got home and added the rosy looking flowers.  Also if you look close enough under the mushroom, you can see the sweet little bird I added too.

 Beth Leintz from Gathering Dust from taught us to make this fun collage.  She taught us how to create dimension in our work - something I need to make use of.  She also taught us how to do contact paper transfers.  I didn't end up using one on this but I can't wait to try it out.  I love how my collage turned out!

 Finally, Karla taught how to make this beautiful vintage watch necklace.  She collected all vintage beads that were just perfect!  I actually finished this *before* I left Birdsong.  I absolutely love it!

I still need to blog about all the sweet gifts and of course what swaps I received.  Better get on that.  :)

Projects on the horizon

Did I mention last week that we ordered scooter fabric from Spoonflower?  Well, we did and it arrived yesterday in the mail.  Obviously, when ordering it I didn't realize the scooters were going to be so big,  since I didn't pay attention to the scale that is provided on the website.  

I thought the scooters were going to be little, say, about an inch tall but instead, they are about six inches tall. The important thing is that Doug LOVES this fabric. He loves the argyle pattern and he loves the size of the scooters. As I sit typing this, the fabric is in the washer so I can get to work on sewing the scooter pajama pants I promised him. I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out. Maybe Doug will even model them for a picture!
Next up for projects is this little step stool I found at the thrift store, oh, about a year ago.  It's been in the garage while I've waited for some inspiration. Today I'm going to pry off that ugly vinyl top, give the base a good sanding and add a coat of primer. I don't have the perfect fabric for this yet but at least I'm going to get it painted.

 We are going to a specialty fabric store on Thursday (more on that in a minute) so I may be able to find something cute then.

This poor old shelf.  I think I bought this at hobby lobby back when I was in law school.  That means, it's moved with me 3 times and has been in the garage gathering dust.  At one point, I did sand it and fill the holes with wood filler but that is as far as it got.  Today, I took it out back, sanded it again and refilled some of the holes where the filler had shrunk and I'm going to give it a coat of primer. I have a vision for this and I hope it turns out as cute as I'm thinking.

It's going to be a busy week.  On Wednesday night, I'm picking up Sherry Goshon at the airport.  Next  weekend, she is teaching the Tulsa Dolling Dames how to create this awesome doll. This will be my first cloth doll class and I'm beyond excited.  I've been gathering my supplies but I still have to find my fabric for the doll's costume.  

On Thursday, a bunch of us are supposed to go to some specialty fabric store that I've been told is hit or miss.  Sometimes you go and there is so much stuff to buy that you can't even think straight.  Other times, not so much.  I'm hoping for a happy medium.  :)
Next up is lunch at the Amish Cheese House.  Everyone is raving about it and even Doug has said it is really good.
Friday and Saturday are the days for the class, Connie is hosting our lunch on Friday and then Sunday we are all going to Jean's house for a potluck lunch.  Should be lots of fun and I'll try to remember to not get so involved with what is going on that I take some pictures to share.

Four eggs and a new door!

Yesterday we woke up to find that the nest has survived the storms the last couple of days and now there are four eggs! The weather has suddenly turned cold again (in the low 60's) and today the mama is sitting on her eggs. When we go to check she just sits there very still probably hoping we won't hurt her. No mama - we're making sure everything is okay!

So, we are cruising along on our "to-do" list around the house but my question is this, "Why can't anything be easy or go smoothly?" It's always something, isn't it? Nothing major, just little annoyances along the way.

First, the patio. Now, it looks beautiful but we had to go round and round and had to ultimately go with the *most expensive option* due to an error that was made when the house was built three years ago. The patio turned out beautiful and even better than I thought it would and I am enjoying it immensely. I'm still working on the surrounding landscaping and decorating the patio itself but I just love the flagstone.
Next up was the garage project (no pictures just yet). That is actually still a work in progress in that we have to finish organizing. It took WEEKS to have the sheetrock and insulation removed and a huge dusty mess replacing the sheetrock with the bullnose edges. I couldn't wait to get to the painting phase where they would paint it a new, light color and just make the space feel so much better. In the middle of painting the guy went out for lunch and I checked his progress he had painted it the WRONG color! At first I was so upset since I had only told the project manager about 10 times I wanted a *new* color AND had called him the week before with the specific color I wanted. But, I decided to calm down and just tell the painter he would have to repaint the correct color and he did. Whew.

Finally, our custom front door. The door itself is beautiful and it lets so much light into the front hallway. I can't believe we didn't spring for this when we first moved in. Anyway -we were all excited that it was installed until we realized the company didn't put hinges on the glass panel so I can open it for easy cleaning. We paid extra for an operational glass door and we got one that is welded shut. So a call to the door guy and they have to build us a new panel for the door that will take several weeks. Also, new trim had to be put on the outside of the door so now that has to be painted along with the trim on the inside of the door that had to be removed and reinstalled for the new door.
In the scheme of things, I know these are minor annoyances - NOT major problems. I have to laugh that what seems like a simple project always involves more time and effort than what I originally think it will but the final result when all is said and done makes me wonder why it took me so long in the first place to get these things done.
Tonight we are off to see John Michael Montgomery at the Riverspirit Casino and tomorrow we have a wedding to attend so - a busy weekend for us!

Finished Patio

So, I've been blogging for a while now about having a few projects done around the house. One of the big projects was that we wanted to do something with the back patio. The old patio shown below was a small slab of concrete that made it difficult to really do anything with. It was too small to comfortably put our table and chairs and because the patio is on the west side of the house, the sun doesn't get to that part of the grass until afternoon which made for sparse grass and a real muddy mess.

After much back and forth we decided to pull the trigger and add the extended flagstone patio with walkway.
Here is the in progress:

And here it is complete:

Obviously we have to fill in the newly created garden and re-seed the grass up to the patio and I can hardly wait to get my planters out and filled with flowers. We love the way our patio turned out, don't you?

End of November...

This month has been so crazy for me and I can hardly believe that today is the last day of November!
I still haven't finished my Silver Bella projects - I went upstairs to work on one of them last night and I just couldn't get my act together so I worked on cleaning up a little bit of the mess I've got going on. No crafting today - just too busy~
I'm in the middle of decorating the Christmas Tree - usually it is up and done in an evening or so. Hopefully tomorrow I can get it finished.

I did manage to take 5 huge boxes and 2 bags of Christmas decorations to the Animal Aid store for a donation. That felt really good.
I also took Niles to the Vet for a recheck today and he got his staples and stitches removed and had his pain patch changed to an oral pain medication. We still need to keep him separated from the other dogs until Friday or so but he is coming along so I am pleased about that.


Doug and I had lunch at the Polo Grill - it was fabulous even if the atmosphere is kind of pretentious. I prefer to live so much more down to earth - life is so much more fun that way!
Tonight I went to an Open House/ Pot Luck Dinner Party with my friend Kathy and enjoyed good food and pleasant company.
My only real annoyance of the day was at the Post Office - but I'll spare you the details as I'm sure you can just imagine...
I had wanted to keep December's calendar fairly empty so I can just enjoy the season but somehow I'm managing to fill it up very quickly!
Plans so far:
3 Monday nights: Knitting class at Loops
Christmas Dinner theater with my friend Kathy
A paper clay doll sculpting class at The Paper Crown
A Christmas Ornament Exchange Party
My investment club Christmas Party

Looks like the month is shaping up to be a fun one and I'm happy for mostly informal stuff to do and no "stuffy" parties to attend.

I found out that I was the winner of Elizabeth's Christmas Banner! I just love her blog and was jumping up and down to find out that I won! I will post pictures of it as soon as it arrives. If you just can't wait to see it, pop over to her site and see all the beautiful things she makes. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Okay, enough rambling for tonight. I'm over tired and it's time for bed. Good Night!

Closing the book on that chapter

Goodbye Woodvine!

You were a good little house but it's time to say goodbye. When I first met Doug, the grass didn't look nearly this beautiful in the yard. I mentioned to him how that was one thing I wished for. Well, he went right to work and in no time turned the grass from a sickly yellow green to the beautiful, thick, lush grass you see in the picture above. I have to admit it did put a smile on my face to have the prettiest grass in the neighborhood (thank you sweetie!).

Yesterday was the closing on my old house in Edmond. It has been a long process getting it sold and I didn't want to post about it yesterday until I was absolutely sure the closing had happened. I went down a day early to sign the papers I had to sign and got notification last night from the other realtor that it did in fact close. Yay!

It has been an extremely hot week here. The temps have been over 100 degrees with heat indexes of around 110. I'm not complaining, I'm just mentioning it. I would so much rather have it be hot than cold and besides, the sun is shining!

Lots of projects that I want to work on now that the sale of my house is complete. Things that have been on my mind for a while now but I felt "stuck" until I didn't have an additional house to worry about.