Here’s hoping your Halloween was Great

I spent the last week eating way too much candy.  Hearing this you would assume that I got a lot done,  however sadly this was not the case.  This makes me wonder how old one is when sugar rushes no longer makes one move at double or triple speed.

On a similar note I proved several of Mom’s old adages true.  First, eating too much candy can make one lose their appetite for “real” food.  Second, eating an enormous amount of candy can in fact make one’s teeth hurt.

Above is a photo of a pumpkin I painted as a spooky gift for a friend.  I used an old Martha Steward template as an inspiration.  Hard to believe I would choose an owl motif.

 

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Kitchen curtains

When not working on the house, I have been working on a filet crochet curtain.  It is slated for the window above my kitchen sink.  This is my first attempt at filet crochet.  I found it not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

It was difficult to find a pattern that wasn’t filled with cheesy cats, hearts, or such.  Most patterns out there are very outdated (and not in a good vintage way).  I am not sure who would have found these appealing.  My grandmother sure wouldn’t have.   I happened across Hass Designs while surfing the web for patterns.  Their designs are European in nature and instantly appealed to my Norwegian and German ancestral sensibilities.  Now these patterns I could see my grandmother crocheting. 

I miss my grandmother a lot since I have become a mother.  She passed away at the wise old age of 94 right after I graduated high school.  I know she would just adore my little frog prince.  She was a food pusher and oh boy, can my little frog  eat.  They would have been a match made in heaven. 

I got to visit my grandmother quite a bit as a child.  I remember that she was a crochetter and promised to teach me someday.  However, we never got around to it.  She also made the best cinnamon roles on the planet.

I just realized that in the above photos the curtain is on our kitchen table, which used to be my grandmother’s kitchen table.  Call me sentimental but I can’t help but think, I bet Grandma placed her crochet down on that same table back in the day.

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Progress is being made…

Slowly but surely we are making progress on our house projects.  We now have front steps, new shrubs, grass, new sidewalk, and new door.  We are planning to hang a new screen door and make some railings.   Lastly, I plan to paint the shutters the same green as the steps.

Painting the shutters sounds like an  easy project, right?  Wrong.  We have vinyl siding which means the shutters are vinyl too.  This in and of itself is not a problem.  It is just that the shutters are attached with these anchors that can not be removed.  Basically, I will have to cut the shutters off, paint them, then drill out the anchors left in the wall, and reattach.   A little challenge has never stopped me before and won’t this time either.

I really dislike that the front door does not have an overhang.  I am working on designing a solution for this.  However, this is a project for a year or two down the road.

 

Where have you been?

Time flies ever so fast.  I can not believe that my last post was back in May.  That is just disgraceful.  Let me recap what I have been up to in this absence.  As you know we purchased a house last winter.  Well, there are countless projects we are trying to pack into an ever dwindling summer season.

Foremost in our summer projects was to redo our front steps and adjoining basement wall.   Our old steps were concrete with brick edging and in an awful state of disrepair.  As we started to take them out, it was discovered that they had an insane amount of rebar tying them to the foundation.  The steps had settle several inches and pulled the foundation wall out a couple of inches, leaving a hole.  Hmm, could that be why our heating bills were astronomic last winter?

 

The poor hubby spent a week and numerous weekends with the sledge hammer removing concrete and then patching the wall.  Since we spent so much time and money on this phase we settled on making the new steps out of wood. 

Then on to the next project.  The ground sloped into the house on all sides.  What is one to do but purchase a truck load of dirt and start filling in the low spots?  Sounds like a reasonably simple plan.  This should take a weekend or two.  Wrong.  We had the dirt delivered (aka mounded on the driveway) the day after Memorial day and still have a substantial amount sitting on the driveway awaiting placement on the north side of the house.  Which leads to another subproject.  While back filling around the house we found that the existing light wells had settled and that with the extra fill we would need two more light wells in the font.  Before we could fill we had to dig up the existing ones to raise and anchor them.

I have been kept busy most days by hauling dirt in the wheel barrow, replanting the shrubs, mowing (to free hubby for the real work), painting basement windows, and such.  Your getting the picture.  With all this real world work my time in blogland has suffered.  Any extra time has been allocated to order fulfillment for my Etsy shop or a little crafting.

 

My Little Frog Prince

I had a photographer over to the house to take photos of my little prince a couple weeks ago.  We got back a couple proofs and just had to share.  He is 10 months in these photos and even the photographer was impressed by his lack of crying and laid back nature for the two hours they were here. 

            

As some of you may have noticed I have been lack in posting the last couple of weeks.  This means I have been working hard in the “real” world.  The day before the big photo shoot I got worried about having the little one in all white.  I hectically ran to every store in town in search of an extra outfit in color.  I could not find a single baby outfit that did not have some graphic on it.  Side note: I don’t hate graphics on baby clothing it is just that it tends to date the photos.  I was looking for a timelessness and elegance to these photos.  Long story short I decided to sew a romper.  I have never sewn any real clothing prior to this.  However, this did not stop me from purchasing a pattern, material, and thread at 9pm the night before the shoot.  I worked feverishly throughout the night and the blue outfit above is the fruits of my labor.  I must say I am proud that it doesn’t look like mama went crazy with the sewing machine.  All of us kids of the 70s remember those outfits.

 

Upgrade to Pacifier Clips

I have been looking for the silicone attachment needed to attach button style pacifiers to my pacifier keepers.  After searching high and low I finally found a wholesaler on Ebay by the name of Babytex located in Denmark.  When I set out to make my pacifier keepers I had no idea that I would have to go so far to find materials.  That being said I am really happy that I can find what I want and via the Internet I can easily purchase materials from around the world.  I had a flashback to when this strange thing call the Internet came to our high school in the early 90s.  Our class all had to file down to library for a presentation and some web surfing.  Back then there was little more then some news sites and email on the web.  I never would have foreseen how much information, commerce, or entertainment I would find on the web in a little over a decade.  Ok, enough nostalgia back to the present.

As you can see with my photos, I am still struggling with my contrast settings on my photos.  Here is a photo of my pacifier keeper with the button attachment.  These attachments are as secure and safe as those found on commercial pacifier keepers.  If you have received a pacifier prior to this upgrade please drop me a note and I will gladly send out a button attachment.

                                                           

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Yet more branding ideas

  I keep working on my branding for my Etsy store.  I know it is going to be an ongoing process.  At the moment my banner is this:

The accompanying avatar is this:

                                                                     

I then print the following logo on return labels and stickers.  I currently am using the Paper Source labels in chartreuse and pool.  I have then used the logo and made matching cards to attach my pacifier keepers and stitch markers to.   With these new designs there is a continuity between web and print elements.

I wanted a design that is simple and fun.  I tried to recreate the feel of the Japanese sewing tape I use for pacifier keepers yet still have a hint of my own drawing style.  I appreciate any feedback you may have.  Is the logo too simple?  Would you be enticed if you just saw these images to check out my store? 

Here are a couple more images of my first run of packaging an order last week with the new logos.

 

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What’s in a name…

However did I come up with the name of The Frog and Owl for my little shop?  As the story goes when my little guy was first born he held his legs all scrunched up like a little frog. Sorry little one, that mama’s insides didn’t give you room to stretch those little legs for the last couple months of your inside journey.  When he came outside, I called him my little frog for the first couple months of his life.  He is still my little frog prince and inspires all my creations that are child related.  For instance, my pacifier clips where inspired by the lack of cute clips currently on the market.

I am a night owl by nature.  I also have a tendency to be introverted and analytical.  I remember taking those personality test where they link your personality traits to animals, back when I worked outside of the home.  Surprise, surprise, I came out as the owl.  So it just seemed to fit that I name my little shop The Frog and Owl after myself and my son. 

                                          

You may have noticed these gorgeous tiles in today’s post.  (How could you not, right?)  I found these at Gretchen Kramp’s Ceramic Tiles Etsy shop.   Her tiles are just amazing.  Browsing her store always inspires me and puts a smile on my face. 

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What’s on my knitting needles

While at Michael’s the other day I couldn’t help a quick trip through the yarn isle.  This Panton yarn there that matches our bedroom color scheme exactly.  I had to pick it up.  When I got home I decided it would make a really nice scarf for the dresser.  Here is a snapshot of it’s progress.

                              

The colors are a little wash out in this picture.  The colors are a blue gray, brown, and cream.  The pattern I made up from the standard  fern leaf and seed stitch.  (In the background you can see the baby blanket I crocheted and knitted for my little frog.)

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Needle Felted Birdie

I have started yet another new type of crafting.  I have been in love with needle felting every since I stumbled onto Jenn Docherty and her little needle felted creatures.  She also did a great tutorial on Martha Stewart.  I decided to try my hand at it.  I bought some wool roving and a felting needle from Joann’s.  Since I have been enamored with robins this spring, what better creature to make?  The other day I sat down with my needle and started stabbing away.  It is true, it takes alot of time.  Here is what I have accomplished so far. 

     

Her little red breast has not been added yet.  I am impressed with her shape.  She has a cute little tail, if I do say so myself.

del.icio.us Tags: needle felting,felting,robin,bird,Jenn Docherty,Martha Stewart