Blush Newborn Baby Cardigan

I knit this wee baby cardigan because I am guilty of worrying about having insufficient yarn to knit a project, then end up having too much.

This was knit in 100% mercerized cotton and will be in my Etsy shop when I've knit a matching hat and booties or shoes, because I still have yarn left over for Pete's sake.

I really, really need a baby girl to play dress up with and rock and coo all over.

Little Country Girl Rag Doll

I made this doll and sewed her some new clothes to match the colour scheme of the room she sits in.  Yesterday, I knit her a little sweater vest to complete her ensemble.

Framed Rusty Tools

I was cleaning out my dad's tool bench recently and found these assorted rusty tools hiding at the bottom of the drawers and decided to frame them because looking at them makes me happy.

I don't know what my dad is going to think when he sees what I've done with his stuff, but they were just sitting there unappreciated in all the glory of their age and rust.

These tools are up to fifty years old, they just don't make them like that anymore.

Norah Gaughan Cabled Summer Sweater

I knit this adorable cabled cardigan and finished it last week.  It's pure cotton so I can wear it in warmer weather.

I'm in love with everything about it.  It's the second sweater I've knit using this pattern because.  Cables.

Details can be found on my Ravelry page.

Tiffany Blue & Red Crochet Edged Pillowcase

I made this for a friend who likes to bring her own pillowcase when she travels.  I'm in love with this print!

Upcycled Bucket to Clothes Peg Holder

I've been using a redneck Margarita cocktail bucket to store my clothes pegs in for three years now.  It's great because it keeps my pegs dry, I'm able to hang it from a post within reach from my clothesline, and it's just the right size.

It's become grody over the years, and since everything else about it is perfect, I decided to cover it.

I'll give you some tips on how I did it after the break.

Sunflower Pillow

I sewed this sunflower pillow to give to my mother on her birthday.  

I have a tutorial for this project here - these petals are a different shape from those in the tutorial, but the pillow is made in the same way.

Don't you hate it when you photograph something and then you notice a wall socket figuring prominently in the finished product?  Ugh.

Wedding Memento Subway Art

I made this canvas to give as a gift for a cousin's upcoming wedding shower. 

I simply painted over a canvas I was tired of looking at, then arranged Dollar Store stick-on letters, using three different fonts.  The bride to be is Italian, hence, the use of that language in some of the words.

I painted another coat of the same colour, and voila, a unique personalized gift that will be treasured long after the honeymoon is over.

Deck Decor

I came extremely close to selling this unused tea cart that was living in my basement.  I never thought to use it on my deck in the summer, but boy am I ever glad I finally realized it's a useful and pretty thing to have outside!

It does double duty on sunny laundry days, and it's going to be handy as heck during barbecue season.  My sister completely surprised me with this galvanized watering can that is forty years old.  I literally jumped up and down when she showed up with it.  She has four of them sitting mostly unused.  I am dying to poke around in her basement because she has a ton of things like this gathering dust.

Dollar store cherubs.  Can you even stand it? I can't!  Dollar store, I just love you to bits.

Decorated Birdseed Mason Jar

I saw this idea on a crafting blog and made one a little different.  I made the bird from cotton muslin and the legs out of bent out paperclips.  I had wee heart shaped wreaths on hand and that became the nest.  Add a bit of greenery, a bow and a flower or two and you're done.

The little flower arrangement was made using a candle holder which I absentmindedly sat in cool water after it had been on low heat on the stove to melt the wax in order to clean it out.  It cracked (ugh!) so it became a flower pot.

Peonies In Milkglass

I'm so thankful for my bountiful garden.

Frame Your Child's Poetry or Artwork

My son won a Canada wide poetry contest when he was 14 years old, competing against youth up to age 18.  His poem was published in Word Weaver magazine, and I was a very proud mom to say the least.  I actually needed  to sit down and cried when I read this poem at parent - teacher night midway through the school year.  The poem is a tribute to Roland Deschain, the main character in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, which we both love.   I framed it yesterday and hung it in a place of honour where the  light allows me to read it day or night.

I splattered the paper with out of the ordinary things like olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, sprinkled trace amounts of cocoa powder over spattered  water spots, then carefully rubbed burned blackened  paper bits over some areas with my fingertips.  I sat a coffee mug on one edge to produce a, well, coffee ring stain, then misted the whole page with water, and voila, paper that looks convincingly old.  The frame was brilliant gold, so I toned that down with black paint and glaze.  The poetry was mounted on faux cherry wood which I also toned down by dry brushing it with black paint.

 And there you have it.

Mouse In An Anchovie Tin With Tutorial

I made this mouse for a friend who travels around the world, and brings a similar mouse I made for him for company.  He shoots photos of Ivan the mouse bungee jumping in Australia, touring the Pyramids at Giza climbing Kilimanjaro, and the list goes on.  I think I counted 30 or more places in the world Ivan has been so far with my friend Jyriki.  I thought Ivan could use a friend other than a human, so I sent him Fu.  I'm placing a tutorial after the cut.

Garden Inspirational Art

I put together this decorative canvas to hide a rusted fan cover that's mounted onto the brick wall beside my deck today.

My mother was visiting and told me about a botanical garden she toured and that these words were on a plaque, and I thought they were lovely.
  
Disclaimer: I should have written Buddah instead of God since I'm more of a Buddhist, but I was on auto pilot today and my Catholic upbringing is ingrained in my soul. 


Here it is hung over the fan cover with the recent addition of a butterfly made out of feathers.

I'm placing a very simple tutorial behind the cut.

Vintage Canned Goods Labels

Is there anything old that I don't love? No, there doesn't seem to be.

I searched for some vintage canned goods labels, resized them, printed them, and then Mod Podged them to tin cans.

They're just sitting there looking fabulous but I'll be using them for plants when I've found some that won't poison my cats, and which I won't kill easily.

If you'd like these prints, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you the files, which are Word documents.

Remove A Kitchen Cabinet Door, Get A Fresh Look

I decided to remove a cabinet door and display some pretty dishes my best friend gave me, and another set I recently splurged on. I needed new dishes like I needed a hole in the head.  Also, my obsession with little pitchers has to stop.

I painted inside the cabinet using the same mushroom colour I had used on the brick wall.

I wrapped some twigs in jute to add a little something tall in the top cabinet.  My son gave me the the miniature coffee pot which is a creamer.  I just love little gifts like this that are so thoughtful.

I had been admiring these gorgeous hydrangea dishes and when I showed my friend, she surprised me by having them sent to me completely out of the blue and for no other reason than we are each other's best friend.

Later on, I fell in love with the all white set and when I showed my best friend, she went out and bought a set too.  I used to be 'saving' these two sets for I don't know what, but I recently decided that every day is a good day to use pretty dishes, so they're not being 'saved' for some undefined special day anymore.

Backyard Transformation

It all started with a new fence. That inspired me to transform the backyard and give it some love for a change. It has been a neglected mess for years on end and I haven't cared. Every day for the past two weeks minus the weekends, I got out there at about 6:30 am and did stuff and things for six to eight hours without a break which caused me to collapse onto the couch with four Tylenol with codeine and a screaming back.

I put in brick trim around the above garden, dug out the tired soil and added fresh black earth mixed with peat moss and then I trimmed the periwinkle with scissors stem by stem and planted portulaca. 

 I ripped apart the circular rock garden from the front yard, hauled a metric ton of rocks to the back yard, reassembled the garden, filled it with fresh earth and planted a bleeding heart, flocks and some stuff I don't know the name of which is a perennial.




 

 

I edged this garden with brick and hauled a butt load of rocks to cover the ground under the cedar to the right of the shed which I trimmed and tied up because the winter had flattened it. I planted a bunch of pots with lobelia, begonia, marigold and some basil in the larger pot. I planted nasturtium in the window box

I'll be repainting the deck and I replaced some of these flipping heavy flagstones on the walkway which had started to crumble.

  I edged this garden with brick, threw down fresh black soil and sowed wild flower seed, trimmed back the lilac a lot, and planted more nasturtium in the cement urn thingum. I got down on my hands and knees and dug out a butt load of weeds on the lawn. Butt. Load. Then I reseeded the lawn.

Not shown is an area where the hose is wound up and I put down and leveled some flagstones that had to have weighed thirty pounds each at the very least. Mud be gone under that damn hose, praise the Lord.

 

I planted cherry tomatoes in the pot behind the rock garden and scrubbed the bird bath and transplanted a hosta beside it.

On Friday I went to my ex's house and dug a new garden and transplanted my son Justin's raspberry bushes and confiscated an antique phone for payment.

Stay tuned for the front yard transformation!

Summer Potting Wreath

This is what I started with. I ended up changing the flowers and adding a birdhouse.

I made this backyard garden wreath using all dollar store items at a cost of $8.00.

I started off with a pool noodle and duct taped it together then wrapped it in taupe fabric.  Since this was going to be large, I knew it would take a lot of work and materials to fill in, so I decided to wander around the dollar store and find larger items and came up with a potting theme.

The pots were three for a dollar and were attached with jute, and the garden tools were three for a dollar twenty-five and were attached in the same way.  The bird was two dollars and hot glued and then wrapped with raffia to resemble a nest.

I put the Gerbera daisies on stems and hot glued them in the pots and stuffed them with raffia.

There are five or six types of greenery which I had on hand.

I ended up adding the birdhouse which I had purchased last summer for $2 at the dollar store and had stained and changed the roof.  I drilled two holes at the back and attached it with wire.

I am in complete love with this one!

Spray Painted Headboard

 I spray painted my headboard today as the finish was rubbing off, exposing the chrome which was not a good look.  I wanted to change the headboard because I'm really tired of it but I'm not in a position to do that just yet, however, I am loving it a lot more now that it's white.

I was at my ex-husband's house transplanting raspberry bushes yesterday and I confiscated the phone that sits on the bedside table.  I said to him, 'You got rid of your landline, right?' and he said yes.  I said, 'I am taking this phone then.'  and he said 'What do you mean? That was a gift from our son!'  So I said, 'Well, you just regifted it to me then, and our son has great taste.  Consider this my payment for the back breaking labour I just did for you.' 

Anyway, I used Krylon spray paint with primer added, and this paint covers more area than the same paint that doesn't have the primer in it.  I needed three cans for this queen sized bed.

Here is the before, taken soon after I had painted all my bedroom furniture black:

 

Garden Wreath

I made a garden wreath using dollar store greenery and some silk hydrangea, a lutin, and an unidentified purple thingum I had in my stash.  

I recycled the straw wreath form, ripping off the horrid arrangement I put together a decade ago when I wasn't very good at doing this sort of thing.