Photobomb

I have a few artistic goals I would love to meet in the next few years. One of them is to find and hone my  photography style. 2 of my goals for this hobby include shooting in manual and editing with and without filters.  I have always loved filtered images (those of you who have instagram on your iphone know what I'm talking' bout) but never really understood the power of this style of editing until we got our wedding pictures back.  I happily found our awesome photographer Wes transformed a good portion of them with a Retro-style filter. The header of this blog was one of those photographs, and the colors he filtered the images with seem to soften the overall mood, and they feel to me to be transformed into little snippets of intimate moments.  oh, I just LOVE the colors!

Today I practiced with a few filters of my own using my baby sisters wedding pictures. She is so beautiful, and the natural light they were originally shot in allow the filters to have a more believable color range for skin tones and naturals, which is so important when altering images.

My goal was to give them a vintage feel, with complimentary styles in both bold and soft lighting.

Cookie Jar Terrarium

Nothing's better than eating a peaceful lunch, and hearing a doggle snoring at your feet. Such a loyal friend :)

who wants a vine?

I'm growing another vine this year, and I wanted everyone who reads this blog to know that if you are interested in growing your own vine, please let me know and I'll mail you some seeds!! You just have to promise to be my friend. dem da rules of da vine :)

Here's what I love about this plant:

1. I call it a "Perennial" - It's a very hearty vine that you can plant in the spring, and it will start to wither when the first freeze rolls into town.  It produces beautiful purple flowers that look like miniature orchids, that turn into seed pods...which are edible! And when I say make I mean after your first vine, you will have enough seeds to plant 6 vines every spring for the rest of your life. :)

2.  It's fancy sciency name I can't remember, but it translates to "friendship vine" probably because of the abundance of seed pods you get every year.  So if someone strolls by your home and says "oh, what a beautiful vine you have" you can share some seeds, and make a friend. I gave some seeds to my mail-lady, and we are buds. :)

3.  It is not a brick crawler, only a wrap-around-er.  Which means if you have a brick home, even if you plant it near your house it will not invade the brick. You can control where it grows by training it around a trellis or fence.  I started mine on a trellis then added long sticks for it to climb onto as it grew larger. 

4. This vine is definitely for those of us who like to see alot of growth in a short amount of time - it grows pretty quickly and very large; both tall and wide. Mine was around 6 1/2 feet tall and probably 10-12 feet wide.  When we took the picture below it hadn't reached it's full girth yet, but you can see how tall it was - whatahusband is about 6' 2".  I had to trim mine back quite a bit because it was reaching out to grab my rain gutters.  I always thought it would look beautiful growing all over a backyard fence. Maybe that's what I'll do this year!

I started the seeds for this season's vine about 4 days ago, and they're already sending out shoots...

Quilt

Today was a homemaking day for me, and it was a special day because I started my quilt.  I have always LOVED heirlooms, as well as the places and people they represent.  Being the granddaughter of an artist, I have incredible pieces that have been handed down to me, many of which my grammy wrote the place and year she purchased it, or in many cases, made it herself.  There is a small etching that is one of my favorites - it says "Holland, 1994" on the back, and I know that when she was in Holland, I was 12 and in 8th grade, and I can almost feel those awkward years and remember that I didn't know then that I would one day become a printmaker and make many etchings just like the one she bought that day.  I love that there is a specific time to think back on, and it helps me to remember her, and remember a younger me.

Anyway, quilts are so special because we snuggle and sleep in them, and to me - seem to be the keepers of our quiet moments. I became the proud owner of my first authentic handmade quilt after we were married.  When we returned from our honeymoon, we found we had been given a quilt from Whatahusbands Grandmother (NeeNee). She is a life-long quilter (a very good one) and this quilt is lovely. But - my absolute hands down favorite part is not the pattern, it's the preserved history behind it.  There is an inscription at the bottom that tells the story of how the quilt was made.  The quilt was started in 1995 and took over 2 years to complete.  I know the exact date she started piecing the quilt together, and what day she finished it, and that she made it for her and her husband Jack "to love and enjoy" over twin beds. :)  Beautifully, she added a second inscription to the right of the first, stating the the quilt was given to her grandson on the occasion of his wedding to me, and was dated with our wedding date, which is 14 years, almost to the day, after she completed it.

I know my quilt will not be nearly as magnificently and painstakingly precise as NeeNee's is, but it will be a gift for my hubby and will represent our first years together.

I wanted a modern, geometric design with big sweeps of colors and patterns, and a design that would not be too difficult to sew. I am going to send the finished piecing to a blog friend who is a professional quilter (http://www.eileenquilts.com/) to quilt with her aaaaamazing longarm quilting machine, then I'll put the edging and inscription on by hand.

fabrics!!

  

The original design, and a computer sample of the projected finished look.

 

Quilting (or in my case sewing in straight lines) is so much fun. :) I can't wait to see the finished product!

kitchens and crafts

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...largely because the sound of a dog puking woke me from a dead sleep.  (Any of you dog owners will attest to the fact that this may be the worst sound in the world.) I just couldn't seem to snap out of my bad mood.  Have you ever had one of those days? Things that just yesterday were only mildly annoying suddenly seem all wrong and make you want to move out of your own house - the kitchen is cluttered and not organized right, the fence is not built yet, and I just banged my knee on a transfer case in the pantry...ug!! Whatahusband tried his best to cheer me up, and eventually sent me to town to get some craft stuff I have been meaning to finish, while he stayed home and re-organized the kitchen.

On the way home, windows down in the pick-up, I looked out over the fields on this beautiful day sipping my cappuccino and  had one of those moments of humility, and God whispered to me through the music on the radio that I have so many blessings and so much to be thankful for.  I needed to get over my mood and go into my house with a smile, and kiss the man that spend his whole Saturday cleaning and re-arranging our kitchen. 

Now that the bad mood is over  - - it's time to craft! I learned this from my bestie Jessica, who I swear will one day be on the cover of Real Simple magazine, she is so crafty and cool! If I could vulkin mind-meld all her creativeness to my brain, I TOTALLY would.

This craft is called "How to transform a boring $5 shirt you would never wear into something cool you will want to wear all the time"

Cut out the neck of the shirt, and both arms and down the sides.

You will likely have to cut the new neck hole larger little by little until you can get both arms into the hole and around your back. (This shirt was a ladies XL.  The larger the shirt, the longer the "hang" in front.)

All done!

You just can't get cuter than this for 5 buckaroos, and I hope you try this and love it!

Dog Barn

This summer, I really really want to build normy a dog house. He has never really warmed to the idea of a scorching oven of hot wood with no breeze, but with some weekend trips already planned for the upcoming months, we want him to learn how to camp outside overnight like a big boy.  Since he is too big for a house, he shall have a barn. :)  This barn has to be special and aesthetically pleasing, so I am not going to build just anything...I'm going to build a barn with a roof-top garden. These "Green" dog homes are made from rot-resistant red cedar, and apparently the addition of the garden adds a kind of insulation to the house, which should make it a little more comfortable in extreme temperatures - a must in the hot hot summers of Texas.

Check these awesome designs from www.sustainablepet.com. My two favs are in the top picture - -  I love the distressed color of the red one, and the heart cut-out of the white distressed square house - simply adorable! These designs retail for around $1500 dollars, and if you have read my previous posts concerning DIY projects, you will know that I, as a rule, only craft on a budget.  So I plan to design and build one for a fraction of this cost.

Here is a step-by-step guide for building a sustainable dog barn:  http://www.readymade.com/projects/sustainability_goes_to_the_dogs/next_step#steps

Our Dog Barn will certainly not be "Green" - I plan on using some left over roofing materials for the protection and seal of the roof, and would love to plant some succulents (that I have, amazingly, kept alive these last 6  months!) that were originally in my wedding bouquet, as well as some other cuttings from my potted plants that love Texas heat.

Norms should be happy and healthy in his Dog barn in a few weeks! Stay tuned for updated pics of the project. :)


This project can be modified for just about any animal, and it's especially fun for people like me who love being outside enjoying our home, animal, and gardens.  For those of you who are not doggy people, maybe a garden chicken coup is more your style. :) Happy Building!

http://www.kippenhouse.com/products.html

Homemade DIY Soap

You can't get something for nothin', but if you're savvy, and can get your hands dirty, you can get something for almost nothin'. :)

I love quality & thrifty-ness. And if the item happens to be both, then I'm over the moon and won't be afraid to make it public.  So compliment me on my cute sweater and I'll tell you where I bought it and how cheap it was, and how many might be left in your size. There are so many places to find good deals (Whatahusband does not think the dollar bin at target falls in this category, but you can find some awesome deals in there like candy corn colored baby socks and a sparkly bag to put them in) but my favorite place to see good deals in action is daily use items in my house...and it's even better if I make it myself.  It's a small kind of accomplishment I guess, putting your time and effort into seemingly unimportant items (like soap) but an incredibly meaningful one for a family that spends as much time at home as we do.  We love being together at home, and I want my house to be more than a place we hang our hats...I want it to be a place we can't wait to come back to, and where we dance around in hats we made just for fun...and hopefully I'll have a bedazzler on that craft day because my hat would be awesome.

Anyway,  I have always purchased large bargain buckets of soap from walmart to refill our liquid hand soap, but was never satisfied with the selection. We spend alot of time in our kitchen, and I have a weakness for things that smell wonderful, so I need soap that works, smells good and doesn't irritate my very sensitive skin.The thing I love most about this project is you can make it out of any soap you want!

What you need:

8 oz. bar soap of your choice (I used MrsMeyers this time, which is a great natural soap. You can get lots of great soaps at World Market, many of which are natural)
1 gallon of water
2 T Glycerin (find this in the band aid isle of Walmart or any Drug store)
Cheese Grater

Grate the soap!

On Medium-High heat, stir up the soap, water, and glycerin until the soap is completely dissolved.

Let it cool for atleast 12 hours. I let mine sit overnight, and it was totally hard!

 

Blend the soap, adding water, until you get the consistency of thick hand soap.

I love how it's shiny just like store-bought hand soap! And the basil soap I used smelled soooo good.

 

Done!!!

My batch made a ton, and I had more than a gallon.

Note: This soap project was inspired by a site called pinterest, and if you're not a member, you should join because it is filled these kinds of crafts. All it takes is a fake twitter account and you're in! :)