Out of Doors

My intentions this spring and summer are to have quite a dramatic change on the outside of our house. Big things like new siding, likely will not come until further down the road but landscaping, the rook and with any luck, the windows will be changing this year. Here are pictures of where we are starting from this Spring.

The Front of the house.

I can't tell you how much I am ready for that dish to go away!

This Spring we will start planting the front bed, we are already finding that there are a lot of bulbs coming up. So far, there was a LARGE clump of daffodils that I dug up a couple months ago and replanted along the side of the house and front walkway. There are some tulips and some yet to be identified flowers coming up. I have also pruned the rose bush and planted some bulbs of my own.

The big scale picture, will include rebuilding the front porch/sun room as there was water damage at one point in time AND all the windows and doors need to be replaced. Luckily, we have what was probably the original Front Door in the basement that just needs a little TLC. Those large picture windows will one day be replaced with divided light windows like the ones next to the front door...

The west side of the house...We are in sort of a wait and see with what is already planted here...

 

Here is the parking strip. Next week 2 of the 3 Cherry trees will be removed. There is a stump left where I took out the smallest of the 3 already this past fall. The 2 trees are in poor shape and are being overshadowed by the one large tree. Also, one is growing right under the power line and the other under a phone line. The one remaining tree will get a nice prune job taking out the previously poor pruning job, dead branches and off of the house.

 This is the flower bed I started last fall in the "back" yard along the side of the house. Those daffodils are the ones I found in the front. There are also 3 lovely hostas planted that I snatched up for $1 each during Home Depot's fall sale last year. All this needs right now is some mulch to cover the weed block...

This might not look like much now...but this is the garden. I planted a bunch of seeds a couple of weeks ago (so far only 1 kind of pea is showing signs of life...) That board marks where the old claw foot tub is going to be set into the ground to make a pond/water feature. Lucky us, there is already a hole started!

To the left of this picture, will be a deck and a hammock for Graham, probably a Dog House for Roxy as well.

To the right, at the end of the garden, will be a chicken coop that will house 4 chickens...

This is my dream coop.

But Graham says the flower boxes are ridiculous...

Along Graham's new fence, will the the hot garden with tomatoes and cutting flowers, also a lovely Mother's Day birdbath yet to be found...

Fence!

We finally have a fence!

Thanks to Mom & Rick and our 4 year wedding Anniversary, we were able to get the materials last Tuesday and the fence started on Wednesday. Graham worked everyday after work from Wednesday to Sunday to get the fence and gate complete. He may have actually had 1 day off but my days run together so I can't remember. Oh yes, it was Friday, he got home after dark and a really bad day at work (the next day he gave his 2 week notice! only 2 more weeks at that dreaded place and awful hours...) It looks as though he will have time off the 2nd week of March which coincides with Poppa J's birthday. Maybe we will be able to actually make a trip down for a day or two to visit? What a concept!

Anyway, here are photos of the progress...

The wood.

The last pictures of my beautiful car...the accident was just mere hours after these photos were taken.

:(

Doing what he hates most in this world...good thing he only needed to dig 2!

The post and it's concrete.

Creative post support.

The other post.

This was yesterday afternoon. Graham got the rails and all the boards up Saturday night after work, working well past sun down. Turns out he can build a pretty mean fence in the dark!

the front side...

99% done!

What is still needed:

Posts trimmed & capped

Decorative trimming over the gate

A latch

Sealing.

We also realized last night that we have about a 2 foot space behind the house that needs to have a little fence build to keep little children and dogs from escaping...I am so so so happy with it. It is exactly what I wanted and imagined. We already had a little taste of what the rest of the Spring and Summer will be like this afternoon.

Henri's Name up in Felt.

I recently stumbled upon a website that sells patterns and books for crafters, sewers & knitters, called Magpie Patterns. On the their accompanying blog, I read that they were looking for designers to make the patterns featured in their shop and blog about them. I sent a little introductory email about myself with some examples of my work and a link to my etsy shop. I was excited to hear back that they LOVED my work and were interested in me blogging for them.

The first book I chose is called Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule. Since recently purchasing and moving to a new home, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make some items for our home while sharing my thoughts with the rest of the crafting community (not to mention the potential for Holiday gifts...)

At first I was a little disappointed in the book, I found it to be a little crunchy granola for me but quickly realized how I can adapt the projects for my very own life. I am not one to make the Women's Cloth, but had I even thought that I could have made my own cloth diapers, I would have been scrounging my fabric stash to sew myself up a bunch! What I love about this book is that she emphasizes using scrap fabric and items from around your home, something I have been doing for years. It is written very well and easy to follow ( I personally add in a few extra steps). Compared to the tutorials and other crafting books I have read, it is one of the best in that aspect.

For my first project, I chose the One-Word Banner which is featured on the cover of the book. I decided to actually use Henri's name as I have been wanting to put his name above his bed like his big brother's since we moved in 3 months ago, but did not want to spend the money (and time consuming painting process) on more letter blocks. In Oliver's case, the letters were found in my Grandparent's garage from a long gone Real Estate office, primed and painted a fresh coat of white paint.

I had plenty of Cream felt on hand from my handbag supplies and many, many scraps. I sorted through all my scraps to find the perfect fabric & color combination for my Sweet Little Man. In the book, Amanda, suggests either drawing your letters out freehand or using your computer. I chose the latter as I wanted consistency and perfection with my letters. I printed them out using Word with the font at about 500pts. It took a bunch of experimenting to find just the right font and letter size, and in the end, I ended up changing them up a bit while cutting my fabrics. I cut out all of my paper letters and placed them on my fabric scraps, tracing them and cutting them out.

Next I wanted to tackle the end pieces. The Author, had sweet little birds framing her word "Dream". For Henri, I wanted Owls. I spent a bunch of time drawing out how I was going to do it and finally looked at my neighbor's etsy shop, Little Mamas Designs, as I knew she made owl appliques that I have been drooling over and then looked at Henri's Owl bedding and it all snapped into place what I needed to do, the Owl's needed ears!

This is where I added a step. The instructions tell you to place the letters, 1" up from the bottom of your flag, center them and pin. I went a step further and used some Stitch Witchery to fuse my letters and owls to my felt (you MUST use a press cloth here or your felt will melt...) This step insured that my letters wouldn't move on me during my stitching. Next, I took all of my pieces to my machine and stitched around them with a 1/8" seam allowance allowing for some natural fraying to occur over time.

Once I had all the letters and owls stitched onto my flags, I grabbed my tub of bias binding and found the perfect chocolate brown binding. I chose to make a slightly longer length for my banner, laid it out and placed all of my pieces pinning them in place. At this point, I stitched all along the open edge of my bias tape and across the top of the folded over banners, securing them to the binding, and Viola! It was finished! The next morning I was so excited to hang it on Henri's wall, that it was the first thing I did.

I am so proud of how it turned out, and I would have NEVER thought of making a cloth name banner if it wasn't for the book. I am thrilled with the experience and looking forward to my next project out of Handmade Home.

Branching Out.

I am so excited!

I stumbled upon this site the other day, Magpie Patterns, and their accompanying blog. On their blog, I saw that they were interested in having other sewers/knitters/designers make up some of the patterns they sell and then write about them along with posting photos. So I wrote an email telling a little bit about myself and included my etsy site address and some photos of my work. They loved it! Also now I am going to be getting a book at cost and sewing up the projects to blog about on both their site and my own. It's not a paying gig, but it will get me out there and help me make more connections. It's going to be so fun, i just can't wait to get started!

Networking

I found this site on etsy and got myself listed in hopes of driving more business to my shop.

Yaami Handmade

It is a great little site that I haven't spent much time on yet. They showcase various etsy shops along with all the other networking sites they belong to.

Cranking it Out

I've been having a lot of fun cutting and sewing the past couple of weeks. I hardly even miss my nap time! I have a lot more to fill you in on but I need to finish editing the photos so this post will have to do for now.

Here is my latest creation:

Meet Mr. Owl.

 

  

I think him and his future buddies will retail for $10.

1 very satisfied customer.
 

My new purse.

The Large Pleat Purse.

Mine has silk lining and would retail for $60. Cotton lining will retail for $50

 

Marci's new purse that she custom ordered.

 

  

The Diaper bag.

It is retailing for $115.

I never understood why they were so expensive...until now!

 

 

 

The Splat Mat.

These will retail for $20.

About half of what I have seen in catalogs and on the web...

 

The birthday dress I made for Miss Addison Oliva from an Amy Butler pattern.

 

 

Sleeve Detail.

 

Back Closure.

Inspirations

I've been getting a lot of sewing done lately for my new etsy shop and was able to pick up some new fabrics the past 2 weeks.

 

  

  

These bags came out of last weeks fabrics.

 

  

  

This is a new design I am working on. Adapted from a pattern I found. I am making some much bigger Tote size bags, adding a heavier interfacing to the strap and top piece & waiting on my magnetic snap closures to arrive.

I already have 2 people who want this bag and a 3rd who likes the style but wants different fabric.

 

  

These are the fabrics I got today, along with more of what I call Spring Flowers and the Yellow Birds.

I can't wait to cut into these fabrics and start sewing my new designs!! I have so many ideas and want to just pattern and cute and sew up the new designs but have to finish a custom bag order for Mom and get the stuff I already have cut made and posted to esty!

I am hoping the week to come will be a productive one!