Make It Your Own--Northridge Publishing

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to film with Kristine McKay from Northridge Publishing. It was so much fun to be in front of the camera and I hope I don't seem too goofy, shifty-eyed or nervous. I had a blast, and here's one of the segments we filmed.

Many thanks to them for having me!




And the super-sassy photo of Aubrey I took with her in the skirt (which weirdly printed up backwards on my printer the morning of filming, but I didn't have time to print a second, not-backwards version):

And, a close up of the owl:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Leaves Paint Treatment in My Master Bedroom

Ages ago, before we even moved into the house, I planned on doing our bedroom in greys, yellows and blacks. I knew I was going to paint the walls grey, the ceiling yellow, put up crown molding and have a grey bedspread. I've been looking for ages for an acceptable king-size bedspread that also didn't require a 2nd mortage. I happened to find a fuzzy grey one at Shopko for $30 not too long ago, more than 1/2 off. It's basically just a huge throw, but it works for me. I'm just happy it didn't cost $300. Eventually, I want to get lots of pillows and make a cheerful quilt to put at the bottom of the bed. I'm thinking I will probably even knit at least one of the pillows.

So, the throw started a chain reaction. Mostly, I've just painted the bedroom and the bathroom grey. I had the idea forever ago to paint the wall opposite our bed with a huge white graphic vine leafy design, so as I painted the room, I had to work out how to do that too. I was pretty darn proud that I figured out how to get it even, with my low tech painter's tape and poster-board template. It's not perfect, but you all are not supposed to notice that, 'kay?

First, I did some rough white as an undercoat. Probably should have just bit the darn bullet and risked the cracked teeth and consequential dental work and painted the whole area white, because it would have saved me work in the end. You can see how pathetically uneven my leaves are here, so when I did the measured ones, parts of the tan showed through. Eventually, David ended up filling in the whole area white for me for the bottom three sets of leaves.

(KEEP SCROLLING, THIS IS NOT THE FINISHED PRODUCT. DISCLAIMER ADDED BECAUSE OF A CERTAIN PERSON IN THE COMMENTS. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!)

Then, I ran a level piece of painter's tape from ceiling to floor. It was of the 3" wide variety. Then I made a template for the angle of the stems, and measured off the spacing of the stems, and used painters tape again for the width.

Then I made a template for the leaves (and extended the angle of the stems up onto the template so it stayed the same) and traced them on the wall and cut in the leaves in with a paint brush. Which was annoying, but not as annoying to me as trying to tape it off and having the tape bleed. And yes, the tape bled on the stems, so I came back with the brush to touch them up. I've heard about various methods to prevent this, but I've never had much luck with them--so rather than go through that, I cut in when I can and touch up when I can't . Maybe I need to buy better tape.

Repeat down for five sets of leaves and about a million coats, and I got this (which I took when it was still wet; it looks a lot more even now):

Another angle (it has low dressers in front of it now, and it looks awesome!):

All this was done between school assignments. When I couldn't stand to work on school anymore, I would paint. When I could stand to paint anymore, I would work on school. It worked well. David did all of the rolling, bless him. I don't like rolling much. I'm going to show the bathroom soon, which looks sooooo much better!

I'm dying to make some curtains for the bedroom. I have a fabric picked out. I fought the idea of making curtains, but I shopped around and discovered the curtains, they are not cheap. This fact was previously unknown to me. I do not own a single curtain. So, I could have generic yellow curtains for the same price as fabulous, beautiful, graphic patterned curtains. Guess which one I am going to pick. Eventually. When I decide I want to spend $100 on curtains for my two bedroom windows. I could probably do yellow curtains for a lot less if I made them myself, but if I'm going to make them myself, I think I will do the amazing ones.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Knitted Cowl

My husband has a gift for gifts. I'm starting to get a bit worried he can read minds. I'm fairly sure he doesn't sparkle in sunlight or thirst for my blood, but the mind reading--I have my doubts.

I am the opposite. I wander around stores and have no clue what to get anyone. I prefer to give hand made gifts, but that is tricky. You generally have to know someone really well to know if they will appreciate a hand-made gift.

So, when I wanted to get a friend a gift this week for her birthday, I was hoping that she would like this knitted cowl.

Yeah, I wore it. But only for a second to sew the buttons on the right place and to take these pictures. I used this awesome pattern, and I want to make myself one for sure. I have a thing for cowls. It knitted up quickly, probably six or seven hours and it was easy to follow (if  you've never tried cables, this would be an easy first project). I adore the cables and the seed stitch in the middle.

I think it was a success as a gift. I adore my friend, so I hope she feels that every time she wears it.

(Update: the site where I got the pattern appears to have been taken down, and I can't find a link to the pattern anywhere. Bummer. Raverly.com has some similar patterns if you're on the hunt for one.)

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Project Progress: Hexagon Quilt

Quick post to show you my progress.

Maybe I'm half way done? I'm not sure. I'm thinking I might want to do a few rounds around the outside to make it bigger anyway, so who really knows.

I'm just happy it appears to be getting bigger. Maybe I'll finish in time for Christmas. Darn. Now that I've said that, it sounds like a goal or something.

Midterm grades came out last week. I have an A- in my public speaking class (it will go up, we do a semester long test, and the best score out of three counts, so once I take it the final time, I think I will have an A in the bag) and an A in my Organizational Effectiveness class. I have to watch that one, because I'm at the point where I'm starting to be highly UNmotivated to do my assignments. Always dangerous territory.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Super Hero Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween, and no one was puking this year! I love it when people don't puke! Last year, Xander was so sick he couldn't move and he missed the Halloween party and trick or treating. We had quite the exciting Halloween. I meant to post earlier this week, but now you are going to get two posts in one day again. Our church did a trunk or treat in the parking lot at 5:00, and there was a front coming in, but it didn't look too bad. All of a sudden there was a blot of lightening, the wind was blowing leaves everywhere, children were screaming, and it starts HAILING. Parents are picking up their children and running for it. I've never seen someplace empty so fast in my life.

I will never believe action movies anymore. When there is a danger, people move and then they are gone. I never much believed that they hung around, mouths open and agog, waiting to be eaten or stepped on, but now I really won't believe it. And I can feel all superior, because even in a white wig and five inch heels, I grabbed Aubrey and ran for it! Although, I was Storm from the X-men, and someone yelled at me as the front was coming in, "Storm, what are you doing?" Yeah, something must have been off about my powers right then. I smacked my head a few times, but they didn't come back online in time to save trunk or treat.

Aubrey was not happy about the hail hitting her in the face and kept saying, "I don't like it when it rains ice cubes."

Oh, and then when we got home a few minutes later, the drain outside our house was clogged, and we got a lot of rain in a very short time, so we had a lake in front of our house and up one third our lawn on Halloween night. So, we don't have a garden rake (seriously, we are new homeowners, give us a break), so we called the dispatch line to ask if there was someone we could call to have them come unclog the drain. A very nice officer came out with a rake and unclogged the drain. The kids and I watched and ate candy. David went outside to talk to him. Then there was the most beautiful double rainbow I've ever seen.

We went up to my mom's and did a little more trick or treating with the kids, because we had beautiful weather by then. And then David and I put the kids to bed at her house, and went to Olive Garden and a movie in our costumes.

And since I just basically wrote a whole Halloween post, I guess I might as well show you what David and I would have looked like on our date. David gets into the whole Halloween thing. So, he was Wolverine from X-men, and I was Storm. He did the whole Origins thing, with the street clothes and claws--and yes, that is all his hair and facial hair. He made the claws himself out of wood, dowels and spray paint. I did the more X-men uniform thing. I could alternately say I was Lady Gaga (and I've lost 30 pounds in the last year--crazy, eh?).

Unless I do this to my eyes in Photoshop, then I think it's pretty clear who I am.

Xander was Ironman, Maxton was Cyclops, Griffin was Spiderman and Aubrey was a penguin. We tried to get her to be Pixie, a character from the X-men comics, and she loved the idea (she had pink butterfly wings and pink hair), right up until she had to put on the costume every time. Then she would fight us about everything. I have no idea what was up with that. So we pulled out the costume box and she picked a penguin costume, which she loved wearing.

I'm so bad, I didn't get pictures of all of them yet (one year I didn't pictures of them in their costumes until December), but here's Maxton as Cyclops. David and Max made his visor together, and I think he looks awesome!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.