This is a great article for dealing with sandy soils. There is even a list of plants that should do well....
a great article for me considering I'm moving to an area with just about ALL sand!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Friday....
Ok. So I got tired of trying to keep up with the 'Day 1, Day 2, Day 3' stuff so I'm just winging it now.
This morning I'm sitting with my cup of coffee with the whole day ahead of me. Hubby is off to get parts for our new Jeep so I'm left to amuse myself. I think it will be a day of cleaning, sorting and packing again and hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done.
For the past week I've been sanding that dining room set almost every day. With the temps in the low 40's it feels like a heat-wave and I can't resist being outside to enjoy the sunshine. So far I've finished the table's top and three of the chairs. I still need to sand the 'band' around the table's sides and the legs....plus one last chair. I don't know if I will get to this today as I've been breating in varnish dust for almost a week and I should probably give my old lungs a rest.
We went to Home Depot the other day and picked out the clear varnish and black paint for the set's colors. We're going to leave it a natural pine/oak kind of color with black accents. Strangly enough...this set is approx 37 yrs old and we discovered that the backrests are some kind of resin material and not wood. Thought it was strange but that's the part that's getting painted black anyway so it really doesn't matter. I also found some really neat bear and pine tree stencils that I am probably going to incorporate in the top of the table to give it a bit more of a 'rustic' feel. Found some bear footprint stamps also so maybe those will go around the edge of the table and the bear and tree will go in the center. I might also put one paw print on the front of each chair too. Not sure about that yet.
Packing, sorting and cleaning is taking forever. We did manage to clean out part of the garage and I organized and packed a bunch of my gardening stuff in boxes. Kept out only the necessities so I can dig up my faves to take up north with me when we move.
Within the next week or so I will be putting ALL of my shops and my studio into "Moving Sale" mode. There is so much I need to clear out before I move so I'm going to drastically bring the prices down so I can clear everything out. I suspect that all of my shops may be closed for up to a month while we're in the moving process but we'll see how that goes too.
Almost out of coffee now and feeling motivated to get to work. TTFN!
This morning I'm sitting with my cup of coffee with the whole day ahead of me. Hubby is off to get parts for our new Jeep so I'm left to amuse myself. I think it will be a day of cleaning, sorting and packing again and hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done.
For the past week I've been sanding that dining room set almost every day. With the temps in the low 40's it feels like a heat-wave and I can't resist being outside to enjoy the sunshine. So far I've finished the table's top and three of the chairs. I still need to sand the 'band' around the table's sides and the legs....plus one last chair. I don't know if I will get to this today as I've been breating in varnish dust for almost a week and I should probably give my old lungs a rest.
We went to Home Depot the other day and picked out the clear varnish and black paint for the set's colors. We're going to leave it a natural pine/oak kind of color with black accents. Strangly enough...this set is approx 37 yrs old and we discovered that the backrests are some kind of resin material and not wood. Thought it was strange but that's the part that's getting painted black anyway so it really doesn't matter. I also found some really neat bear and pine tree stencils that I am probably going to incorporate in the top of the table to give it a bit more of a 'rustic' feel. Found some bear footprint stamps also so maybe those will go around the edge of the table and the bear and tree will go in the center. I might also put one paw print on the front of each chair too. Not sure about that yet.
Packing, sorting and cleaning is taking forever. We did manage to clean out part of the garage and I organized and packed a bunch of my gardening stuff in boxes. Kept out only the necessities so I can dig up my faves to take up north with me when we move.
Within the next week or so I will be putting ALL of my shops and my studio into "Moving Sale" mode. There is so much I need to clear out before I move so I'm going to drastically bring the prices down so I can clear everything out. I suspect that all of my shops may be closed for up to a month while we're in the moving process but we'll see how that goes too.
Almost out of coffee now and feeling motivated to get to work. TTFN!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Starting on a refinishing project
Recently received a beautiful old dining room set through freecycle. Tonight we went to the Depot just to price sanders and walked out with a great Ryobi sander. I couldn't believe how easy it is to use. I finished almost a whole chair within 1 hr! The wood under all that old varnish is kind of pretty and has some interesting woodgrain almost like a pine-look. Considered leaving it the lighter color and just clear-coating it but the woodgrain look doesn't match the style of these chairs. So we've decided to go with black. It'll look rather classy and then with new cushion coverings..... I think it'll look a little 'cabin-ish' too. I'll start posting pics (before and after) soon.
Had a great time at my neice's birthday party today too. The little cutie was wound up and hilarious....we were laughing so hard! It was good to see the family too.
Had a great time at my neice's birthday party today too. The little cutie was wound up and hilarious....we were laughing so hard! It was good to see the family too.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Day 14 ...I think? Cleaning, sorting, freecycling....
Day 14. Well, I haven't been keepin up as well as I anticipated with the blog but can bring things up to speed I guess.
It's now day 14 of my cleaning, sorting, freecycling, packing - beating with wintertime blahs quest.
Been slow going but I've managed to get some things accomplished plus we took a mini vacation too. Last weekend we spent the night at Timber Ridge water park here in town and had a really good time. Lots of swimming and relaxing. Only about 1 mile from the house but it felt like 100 miles away which was nice.
Besides the vacation, I've managed to get rid of a lot of clutter. It doesn't LOOK like a lot of clutter is gone but considering all the things I have.....especially crafting goodies, I'd say I'm doing pretty good so far. Books, candles, recipe magazines, clothing, craft supplies, household items...it's all getting sorted and booted out the door. Hubby and I did manage to get a new dining room set (which I'm going to refinish) and a new sleeper sofa in beautiful condition through freecycle ourselves. (tried to bring the sofa inside this house tonight and that was NOT a good thing. Nuthing funnier than watchin a stubborn Irish girl and her Polish hubby trying make a huge couch fit through a little doorway. I swear they built the doorways in this house for very tiny furnishings because it just would NOT fit. So back in the garage it went to await it's new home.)
So much more to do. Almost got the sunroom cleaned out but it's hard when 1/2 of the stuff out there (paintings) are for sale on Etsy. Oh well...working around it I suppose.
Anyway, I've added lots of new goodies to my ArtFire studio and two of my Etsy shops. Clearance jewelry in the ArtFire studio and RD Designs on Etsy plus some vintage cookbooks and vintage craft books in my other Etsy shops. (the links to my other shops are available on my RD Designs Etsy shop)
It's now day 14 of my cleaning, sorting, freecycling, packing - beating with wintertime blahs quest.
Been slow going but I've managed to get some things accomplished plus we took a mini vacation too. Last weekend we spent the night at Timber Ridge water park here in town and had a really good time. Lots of swimming and relaxing. Only about 1 mile from the house but it felt like 100 miles away which was nice.
Besides the vacation, I've managed to get rid of a lot of clutter. It doesn't LOOK like a lot of clutter is gone but considering all the things I have.....especially crafting goodies, I'd say I'm doing pretty good so far. Books, candles, recipe magazines, clothing, craft supplies, household items...it's all getting sorted and booted out the door. Hubby and I did manage to get a new dining room set (which I'm going to refinish) and a new sleeper sofa in beautiful condition through freecycle ourselves. (tried to bring the sofa inside this house tonight and that was NOT a good thing. Nuthing funnier than watchin a stubborn Irish girl and her Polish hubby trying make a huge couch fit through a little doorway. I swear they built the doorways in this house for very tiny furnishings because it just would NOT fit. So back in the garage it went to await it's new home.)
So much more to do. Almost got the sunroom cleaned out but it's hard when 1/2 of the stuff out there (paintings) are for sale on Etsy. Oh well...working around it I suppose.
Anyway, I've added lots of new goodies to my ArtFire studio and two of my Etsy shops. Clearance jewelry in the ArtFire studio and RD Designs on Etsy plus some vintage cookbooks and vintage craft books in my other Etsy shops. (the links to my other shops are available on my RD Designs Etsy shop)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Cute: Advice from a Singer Sewing Manual from 1949:
Advice from a Singer Sewing Manual from 1949:
Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. . . never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. . .When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on . . . If you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. . .
Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. . . never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates. Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing. . .When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on . . . If you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. . .
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Days 4 & 5 - and HAPPY Valentine's Day!
Ok...Day 4 was kind of a bust as far as cleaning and sorting goes. We went shopping instead!
Visited the new Ben Franklin Crafts in Delevan for their Grand Opening event and it was PACKED! Amazing how many people were there. I bought six skeins of yarn and figure that since I can't buy the blanket I wanted (cuz someone already got the last one grrrrr) I will MAKE the blanket I want. Picked up sage and pine green, a peacock kind of blue and some mocha brown. Unfortunately they were out of the dark chocolate color I wanted so I'll have to go back (oh shucks) and pick that one up later. I also found a great youtube video on the ripple crochet stitch.... so now, I've learned the stitch and that's how I'm creating this blanket. Here's the video. And if you look on the right side of the screen you'll see where you can check out the blog with more great info.
Day 5 was much more successful with cleaning and sorting. I went through a lot of things and gave away about 4 bags of goodies on freecycle. I boxed up the remaining things we will still use. It was a great feeling to declutter so many items and to be able to pack up some things we don't need to use right now. Hubby also got a van-load of more boxes so I'm probably going to be a packing fool now LOL I'm looking for a warmer day so I can tackle my gardening supplies in the garage though. That REALLY needs to be gone through.
Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!
Visited the new Ben Franklin Crafts in Delevan for their Grand Opening event and it was PACKED! Amazing how many people were there. I bought six skeins of yarn and figure that since I can't buy the blanket I wanted (cuz someone already got the last one grrrrr) I will MAKE the blanket I want. Picked up sage and pine green, a peacock kind of blue and some mocha brown. Unfortunately they were out of the dark chocolate color I wanted so I'll have to go back (oh shucks) and pick that one up later. I also found a great youtube video on the ripple crochet stitch.... so now, I've learned the stitch and that's how I'm creating this blanket. Here's the video. And if you look on the right side of the screen you'll see where you can check out the blog with more great info.
Day 5 was much more successful with cleaning and sorting. I went through a lot of things and gave away about 4 bags of goodies on freecycle. I boxed up the remaining things we will still use. It was a great feeling to declutter so many items and to be able to pack up some things we don't need to use right now. Hubby also got a van-load of more boxes so I'm probably going to be a packing fool now LOL I'm looking for a warmer day so I can tackle my gardening supplies in the garage though. That REALLY needs to be gone through.
Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Narrowing Down a Style - Day 3
Today my mind is on working toward narrowing down a style or a theme for the new house. With a limited budget this is going to be a little tougher but it's definitely possible.
Styles = cottage, woodsy, lakeside cabin, shabby chic
I think that these styles can
work pretty well if mixed together but I'm leaning toward the more "woodsy / cottage" combo right now.Colors = sage, cream, chocolate, sand, terra cotta, pine green, olive
Other things: wood, wrought iron, cotton fabrics, stoneware, antiqued brass, copper and nickel.
Will be updating my 'likes' as things progress. I need to get measurements for the windows so I can make some new curtains. Since the kitchen and family room are pretty open to each other, I'll probably use one color as my starting color point. Today we found the coolest sage and sand colored area rug for the dining area.... so it looks as though sage is going to be THE accent color in the kitchen and it'll be incorporated into the family room. The 3 colors that I'm hoping to have "work" together in the kitchen/dining/family room area are sand, chocolate and sage. We'll have to wait and see though......
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sorting and listing.... Day 2
Still continuing my quest to beat the winter blahs. Today went much better than yesterday. Went through a tote and a couple of boxes of items, sorted and listed/relisted lots of things in my Etsy shops. Didn't get anything packed up today but it felt good to organize lots of my extra crafting stash.
So...if you get the chance, I've listed 13 new items in my destash shop and extremely low prices. Plus, I've relisted a bunch of fun collectibles in my Gypsy Wynd shop AND I've relisted a couple of beach glass jewelry pieces in my Rustic Diva Designs shop.
If you take a peek...thanks for looking! I'm looking forward to Day 3. :o)
So...if you get the chance, I've listed 13 new items in my destash shop and extremely low prices. Plus, I've relisted a bunch of fun collectibles in my Gypsy Wynd shop AND I've relisted a couple of beach glass jewelry pieces in my Rustic Diva Designs shop.
If you take a peek...thanks for looking! I'm looking forward to Day 3. :o)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Beating the wintertime blahs....packing - Day 1
I've decided to find a way to beat my wintertime blahs. Lately I haven't had any artistic inspiration it seems and I suppose it's just cabin fever. I do have our move to look forward to so I'm going to start sorting, giving away and then packing up the things we'll be taking along. Freecycle.org is a wonderful thing and I'm going to be listing a lot of items in my local groups. For now...I'll just be boxing up things we don't use everyday since we're not "officially" going anywhere for about 5 months. At least it's something to keep me occupied for now and I'm sure we'll be very busy once Spring is here anyway.
Day 1 has begun! :o)
Day 1 has begun! :o)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Researching veggies for zone 4
I have begun my research to find veggies appropriate for an even shorter growing season. Being in zone 5 is hard enough at times...with the limited amount of warm days. Not I'm trying to find varieties of tomatoes, sweet peppers and especially hot peppers. (hot peppers is really going to be a challenge for us LOL) I just came across a website dedicated to gardening in zone 4. http://zone4garden.com Appears to be FULL of great tips and info.
Granted...there's not a HUGE difference in the zones but besides having to deal with a shorter growing season...I also have to learn about amending extremely, EXTREMELY sandy soil.
I've found so far that California Wonder is one type of sweet pepper that should do really well. Also..the early jalepenos should be ok but I will also have to find a couple of the hotter varieties such as Serrano, Cayenne and Thai for the hubby. Maybe they'll have to be babies or brought indoors if it gets too cold too soon.
Tomatoes will probably be a bit easier as I'll just find some with an average of 70 days from transplant to harvest.
I still need to research other crops such as melons, cukes, squash, pumpkins and zukes.
Granted...there's not a HUGE difference in the zones but besides having to deal with a shorter growing season...I also have to learn about amending extremely, EXTREMELY sandy soil.
I've found so far that California Wonder is one type of sweet pepper that should do really well. Also..the early jalepenos should be ok but I will also have to find a couple of the hotter varieties such as Serrano, Cayenne and Thai for the hubby. Maybe they'll have to be babies or brought indoors if it gets too cold too soon.
Tomatoes will probably be a bit easier as I'll just find some with an average of 70 days from transplant to harvest.
I still need to research other crops such as melons, cukes, squash, pumpkins and zukes.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Time for change....
Time for a change for my family and I. We have decided to move. Sometime this summer...probably in July, we'll be moving about 2.5 hrs north of our current home. My hubby's DD has a property, a small fixer-upper on a wooded acre that he's going to sell to us on a land contract. The price is so right that we'd be insane to not take him up on the offer and if we've figured correctly, we'll be the owners in approx 6-8 yrs. So...for the next 5 months (give or take) we will be busy bouncing between home and working on the new place. The plan is to add 2 new bedrooms, a hallway with a laundry closet and a screened in porch.
Plus, (from what I can see of the yard even though it's covered in snow) I will have to do a lot of yard/debris clearing. Mostly weeds, small scrubby trees and bushes. After that is cleared out, I can start to plan on where I'll be putting my new flower beds and vegetable gardens. My hope is that I can also talk my FIL into letting me use a very small part of his 20 acre parcel (open, sunny prairie type of land) to grow a variety of crops that I can sell at a local farmers market. I would like to eventually own/operate my own gardening business but that is a few yrs up the road.
For now...my mind is full of plans. Curtains to make, paint colors to pick out, building the rooms, finding some appliances and generally working on fixing the little place up. What started out as a "job" to help the in-laws out so they could or rent the place has turned into a wonderful opportunity for us. It was really very unexpected for us to "fall in love" with it....but we did. I just walked in and immediately felt at home...in spite of the mess of construction, the smell of paint and tools lying all over the floor. More to come...the adventure is just beginning!
Plus, (from what I can see of the yard even though it's covered in snow) I will have to do a lot of yard/debris clearing. Mostly weeds, small scrubby trees and bushes. After that is cleared out, I can start to plan on where I'll be putting my new flower beds and vegetable gardens. My hope is that I can also talk my FIL into letting me use a very small part of his 20 acre parcel (open, sunny prairie type of land) to grow a variety of crops that I can sell at a local farmers market. I would like to eventually own/operate my own gardening business but that is a few yrs up the road.
For now...my mind is full of plans. Curtains to make, paint colors to pick out, building the rooms, finding some appliances and generally working on fixing the little place up. What started out as a "job" to help the in-laws out so they could or rent the place has turned into a wonderful opportunity for us. It was really very unexpected for us to "fall in love" with it....but we did. I just walked in and immediately felt at home...in spite of the mess of construction, the smell of paint and tools lying all over the floor. More to come...the adventure is just beginning!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
What's new.....
Lots of new things happening with the shops and studio.
First I've added a new shop on Etsy that is dedicated to destash and supplies. Fabric, beads, findings, buttons, beach glass, sewing notions, ribbon, yarn, scrapbooking goodies and more. I also have a fan page for the shop so if you can...check it out. I'm adding new stuff daily.
http://divawynddestash.etsy.com
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diva-Wynds-Destash-Shop-on-Etsy/233456912329
In my Gypsy Wynd shop on Etsy...I've been adding lots of new vintage jewelry items plus I've updated the clearance section and marked everything WAY down so take a peek there also. Plus...I'm having a special 100th sale celebration so make sure you check out the shop announcement to get the details!
http://gypsywynd.etsy.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gypsy-Wynds-Etsy-Shop/246135655083
And finally my home shop on Etsy and my ArtFire Studio... New items added. New sections like Crochet Fun and Simply Sewn have been added to both. I have so many projects that I love to do that I decided to really jump in and list all the things I enjoy creating. Crocheted cupcake pincushions and patchwork pillow are a couple of the new additions. Plus the clearance sections in both the Etsy shop and Artfire studio are bursting with awesome deals. I think there's maybe only 2 or 3 items that are over $5 so you can find some real steals there.
http://rusticdivadesigns.artfire.com
http://rusticdivadesigns.etsy.com
Thanks for reading and I hope you're all having a wonderful New Year!!!
First I've added a new shop on Etsy that is dedicated to destash and supplies. Fabric, beads, findings, buttons, beach glass, sewing notions, ribbon, yarn, scrapbooking goodies and more. I also have a fan page for the shop so if you can...check it out. I'm adding new stuff daily.
http://divawynddestash.ets
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pa
In my Gypsy Wynd shop on Etsy...I've been adding lots of new vintage jewelry items plus I've updated the clearance section and marked everything WAY down so take a peek there also. Plus...I'm having a special 100th sale celebration so make sure you check out the shop announcement to get the details!
http://gypsywynd.etsy.com
http://www.facebook.com/pa
And finally my home shop on Etsy and my ArtFire Studio... New items added. New sections like Crochet Fun and Simply Sewn have been added to both. I have so many projects that I love to do that I decided to really jump in and list all the things I enjoy creating. Crocheted cupcake pincushions and patchwork pillow are a couple of the new additions. Plus the clearance sections in both the Etsy shop and Artfire studio are bursting with awesome deals. I think there's maybe only 2 or 3 items that are over $5 so you can find some real steals there.
http://rusticdivadesigns.a
http://rusticdivadesigns.e
Thanks for reading and I hope you're all having a wonderful New Year!!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Free Craft Patterns and More
I just stumbled upon a great site called "Craft Stew". I was searching for easy skirt sewing patterns but this site offers much more than that.
Take a peek! http://craftstew.com/
I also just opened another shop on Etsy dedicated to destash supplies. Working on stocking it with beads, fabric, yarn, craft books, paper goods and much much more. Hope you'll come take a look.
Have a wonderful New Year everyone!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Sock Monkey Tutorial
Take a look at this wonderful Sock Monkey Tutorial that I just found on the web. Great directions and good photos. Easy to understand! I think I might have to try this out!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Winter Cardinal
Just added my "Winter Cardinal" to my Etsy shop. This was a fun painting with a little textural interest in the background and bright colors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
