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Mural Monday ~ Week 20

Well folks, this is the last one I know of, but rest assured; I will ask around this week for any I may have missed ;-) This is the side of a snow/surf board shop. Those wave bubbles turning into skeleton heads are pretty ominous looking, huh?

I've had a few questions as to what does Madison look like? Other than a blanket bundle? Here's a sweet pic I snapped of them this past Saturday at five days old.

Yes, I know; that's probably not a 'real' smile, but it looks pretty sweet to me.

SO.

I was just visiting over at turkey feathers and I'm joining in with her fab idea of Dollar Days in December. Routinely from now til the end of the year I will offer something for sale for one dollar plus actual shipping. It may be something I made. It may be fabric or other supplies. It may be on my etsy site or here on the blog, in which case I will pick randomly from those who leave a comment. Just for fun and to keep you interested.  I'll start with this little five foot bunting/banner made from all vintage fabrics.

I started making these when my friend Bonnie brought a whole box of vintage (I'd say 60s for the most part) triangles from her 87yo mom's sewing room. Here's how the box looks AFTER I've made several buntings already!

So I just kept mindlessly sewing them into five foot lengths of bunting. Hung some in the craft corner

and now, well; you'd think I'd quit making them, huh? Nah. Then I'd have to do something yucky like clean a bathroom. So I've got a few. If you think you'd like one, maybe to hang across the back porch or something? Let me know by leaving a post here. A dollar for the bunting and a dollar to mail. Paypal and US residents only, please.  (Knowing me, I'll pick more than one person.)

Mural Monday ~ Week 19

Yeah yeah. I'm a day late. But week 19! Hey, ya gotta give me a little prop for that, huh? Well, we plum ran out of cat food this past Sunday. Our regular pet store was closed. The mall pet store didn't carry our brand, but someone there was kind enough to direct us out to The Farm Store, where we scored the cat food AND found this mural! A good day in my book! :-)

On Saturday we had THE Fall Dinner at Caleb's school. The big fundraiser of the year. We hosted a table again. I'd show pics but it was pretty much a rerun of last year's table except I changed the place cards.

Amongst the overglittered and inexpensive holiday picks at Michael's they have these mini-beaded fruit pics. I bought all the golden colored pears and just pulled the picks out. They sit nice and flat. I printed the names on an old journal page and used a tag punch. Thought I'd share the idea as someone might like it for their Thanksgiving table. Anyway, it was a fun evening. They served a full-on turkey dinner, for which I was grateful because we're not having Thanksgiving dinner here. I've told John to go to Oregon to visit his folks, suggested Melissa allow Travis to go eat with his family, and she and I will be spending what will probably be her last day in the hospital with Caleb and our NEW BABY MADISON! Here's a pic I snapped of Melissa Saturday night next to a lovely quilt that my mother kindly donated for the silent auction.

Let me tell you, that belly is just about ALL baby. You can just watch the waves as she rolls around and around in there! Well, my girlfriend Karen won mom's quilt, as well as the toddler quilt that I donated. I think the only reason she didn't bid highest on the cookie sheet calendar I donated is because she's bought four already and has run out of people to gift them to! Here's what I won for John:

No, not the precious two-year old. :-) As soon as we walked in to the silent auction area John took one look at this fire truck and said, "That's exactly like the one I used to ride up and down the driveway in singing Old MacDonald!" Well, of course I had to get it for him, so I did. The sweet part of the story is that unbeknownst to me, he made sure he was high bidder on the only item in the place that I had expressed interest in. Kinda romantic, huh? Yeah, guess we still have a little twinkle left for each other. ;-) By the way, here's the picture to prove little Johnny's memory is accurate

I'll have to retake a pic of Kadence in it out in our driveway from the same angle...that'd be neat to have her and papa's pics framed side by side. Well, now that the little darlin' lives back here in Eureka and I'm babysitting while her mama works, getting that pic probably won't be a hard thing to do. Which reminds me, I have her tomorrow at 5:30am so I better sign off for now!

And in case I don't get to say it on many blogs; WELCOME BACK SILVER BELLAS! By what little I've seen you had a  most splendiferous time! It looked so fun,  I just may even think about joining you next year!

Mural Monday ~ Week 18

Hello friends. I'd forgotten how much work toddlers are. You just can't take your eye off them for a minute! I'm really enjoying getting to know Kadence, our two year old granddaughter, who has moved back to Eureka with her mommy who now has to work full time, so I won't complain too much. Suffice it to say my hat is off to those of you who do it 24/7.

Well, Here's a little paint job that would wake anyone up:

This is down on the waterfront, not too far from where the homeless hang out. I've wondered if maybe they all got some free paint and just went for it one day.

I like how the sign says "Ignore the paint job and come on in". Some day we should do that.

Saturday was my only non-babysitting day and it was packed full. I took an all day quilting class with Cathryn Zeleny, which only served as yet another reminder of why I don't normally go to classes. Either I know the topic too well to really justify taking a class, or it's so far out of my comfort zone that I completely suck at the technique and between not producing good work and dozens of strange women looking over my shoulder I'm just uncomfortable all day (such was the case on Saturday). It's really more of a social opportunity, and I suppose those are things I should do more often. Later that evening we went to Old Town for the monthly Arts Alive. Larissa had asked me to be her featured 'artist' this month. We decided to showcase the perpetual calendars since I've been cranking out a few and because I thought they'd be a good choice to highlight her vintage crafter's corner.

I saw these metal decorative things at Michaels' earlier this year and bought all 8 that they had on clearance.

Wasn't even sure at the time I was going to use them for calendars, but I do like it as an alternative to the cookie sheets. I've already made (and sold) all 8 of them. Wish I had more!

I think Larissa did a real nice job highlighting my work and my supplies. She's a dear sweet girl who is very supportive of me and I appreciate her very much. Here's something that made me do a double-take on our way out the door

That John Duncan! You can't take your eye off him for a minute, either!

Well, there's 20 updated blogs showing in my Google Reader and I feel bad already knowing I probably won't get to go leave comments on them all. I've got to go tackle the ironing pile before Kadence comes back at 6:30 in the morning. I swear I'll catch up soon!

Mural Monday ~ Week 17

Hello friends. We're getting to the last of them I'm afraid. John noticed this new one in old town recently. Thanks for the heads up, John! Since I can't get photos to open BIG on this blog (even tho I've seen it happen on plenty of other Typepad blogs) I'll show two close ups as well.

Thanks for all the nice comments on the K-Mart monogrammed towels. I found a great site that not only has ALL the letters in stock, they mark down these Bigz alpha dies 20%. SO. By buying them at $16 instead of $20, and by utilizing the following tip, you can get the whole alpha for $320 instead of the $520 most people think the alpha set would cost for retail. Here's the tip; don't buy an F, I, L, O,  P or V. You can cut various appendages off an E for the L and F, the H to make an I (you'd get two I's, actually), lop off the first half of the W to make a V, remove the leg off an R to make a P, and snip the tail off the Q for an O. Voila! 20 letters purchased but you can still cut the whole alphabet.  AND, I'm happy to report to you Spellbinder's Wizard owners, these huge dies work on our machines just fine. I wonder if there's a die in the world that the Wizard can't accomodate? Hmm. Okay, there's my money-saving crafters tips for the day!  Still not cheap, but certainly cheaper! I have a feeling I've got lots of monograms and letter-related crafting and sewing in my future. :-)

Mural Monday ~ Week 16

This is an alley halfway through a very busy one-way street block. I asked Melissa to run out with me and snap it last night before it got dark and as I was parking she was asking "So where's the mural?" Seems all these years she drove by she thought this was a real building behind the tire store!

I did get a few new things put in my etsy shop this afternoon. It's Jenny's birthday today (go give her a shout!). She is the original Every Day is a Holiday girl, so in her honor I had to get up these vintage fabric squares. I do hope that whoever buys them will share pics of what they create! I also put up a few little soldered glass charms in a great new petite size. An all new vintage images CD, and some great unusual papers. Go check 'em out!

Mural Monday ~ week 15

TaDah!!!

I posted this when it was around half done on week 3. Rumor is that 'some guy' has photographed the work every single day from beginning to end and will run all the photos together to create a 'movie' of the process. oooh! I wish I had that great idea!! This, as you may recall, is the backside of the Arkley Center. We have tickets to see Kris Kristofferson there this coming weekend. I so hope I remember about that. So far this month I've forgotten to go to Quilt Guild and to a chocolate candy making class I'd signed up for. Dangit! I bought a weekly daytimer at mom's insistence when she was here in July. I misplaced it til mid-September, and now I just forget to use it. It just sits on the kitchen counter like a paperweight. Oh man, I need a system! Or maybe a personal assistant.

I came across a good get-to-know-me-better alternative to the ABC's of me that didn't last past letter 2. It's a LiveJournal weekly prompt called the Friday Fiver. This, I think I can handle!

1. What's your personal hell? Being in a really large crowd nowhere near the exit.

2. Do you prefer brightly lit rooms or dim spaces? Brightly lit. Preferably brightly lit with at least one pair of magnifying glasses. I can't stand not being able to see!

3. What's the weather like today? Rainy rainy and in the low 50's. Classic Humboldt County.

4. Is it easy to be you? Oh good God no. Haven't you ever read a word I've written?!

5. Friday fill-in: My heaven is Having a clean house and all day to play in the art room. (Gosh I hope I don't have to die and go to heaven to ever actually achieve that.)

I have lots of things to share but don't have pics taken. I promise I'll be back within a day or two!

Mural Monday ~ Week 14

I'm getting to the end of the line I think. Not there yet, but close. This one doesn't have the WOW factor that so many others do, but who am I to judge? I can't even draw stick people!

Before I forget, which I keep doing, I'm not going to pursue the ABC journaling that I made it to B on. I just get all jammed up with what's too personal to share, should I keep the letters in order, yadayadayada...just seems too much like work so I'm scrappin' it.

The party went well. I just about completely spaced on taking pics. I did grab the camera when Melissa started opening presents (so old school!) but beyond that I just forgot. The room was so nice, with fresh pink roses and pink napkins. They did such a nice job!

Mel has a funny look on her face in this pic but it's the next best 'room shot' I have

She liked the "I'm the Mommy" pin I made but wasn't so crazy about wearing a crown. I told her if she wanted to open presents she had to wear the crown. Other girls told her she was lucky she didn't have to wear a 'crown' fashioned from the present bows, as they'd seen elsewhere.

One last idea that I haven't shared here...I wanted to avoid playing 'organized games' so I came up with guessing game type things and set it all up on the "Game Table".

People could choose to go back there at their leisure and log their guesses, etc. Let's see; I had The Price is Right, Guess the Number of Diaper Pins in a Bottle, Finish the Last Line of the Nursery Rhymes (that was really hard!), Guess the Mommy's Circumference.  That second smaller table to the right was a good idea given to me by my hairdresser. I brought scissors, baby images, baby quotes ideas, stickers, stamps, inks. I precut little flag/banners 4x5", and had asked them to decorate a 'flag' with best wishes or remembrances to Madison (the new baby) and/or Melissa and Travis. Then I punched holes on either side of each one, ran a ribbon through to create a banner, and will hang it in their home for a while to welcome baby home. It was a great crafty idea and a good time-killer, too!

So, while I forget to take a pic of the lovely food spread, I did snap this as they tore down the tables afterward. The chef at Baywood does some FAB homemade 'crackers' and he made this little girl one as a centerpiece in the cheese display. Cool, huh?!

Mural Monday ~ Week 13

Still finding murals while out and about. I think when I finally run out in Eureka I'll start taking pictures of murals in other artsy nearby towns. After that I think I'll start sharing pics of local architecture. I love this town, and I'll bet you would, too! This little old firehouse is no longer being used as such. It was an antique store for several years, then most recently a private residence . It sits right next door to our fantabulous library.

Speaking of the firehouse, I got to drive with Caleb's class to visit the real fire dept today.

That nice looking lady on the far left is his teacher. I guess I'd look that happy too if I only had 10 kids in my class! They're very lucky children...I'd say they go on two field trips a month. I don't remember my girls getting to do stuff away from school more than two times a year! They got to scramble all over the trucks and even shoot the water hose

He had them aiming at an orange safety cone..trying to knock it down. Caleb was 3rd or 4th in line, and after observing the kids go in front of him, he was ready for action! Hah. He knocked that sucker down in less than one second! (competitive little bugger!)

I'm sure every post between now and Sunday will have to mention the baby shower. It's kind of the big thing here for now.  I got the favor bags put together last night. P.U. on those lavender filled bags. I hope it's just that there's so dang much of it in one place and the smell will subside as the bags get seperated from each other!

I'd seen the candy bar idea on several different sites, and a box of 36 at Costco doesn't cost much. Oh. To show you what a nut I am, here's how I closed the opening on the backs

I'll be the first to admit that seems a bit TOO detail-oriented, but I DID have the little clear labels already and I figured people would like to know what's inside, right? Yeah, I'm a nut.

Here's a bag with it's contents

and how it will look when presented to the guests

Whew! Glad those are done. Better move on to the next thing now. Tick Tock!!

Mural Monday ~ Week 12

I'm pretty sure these crazy cats are facing the crazy dogs that I posted on week 7 from across the alley. I was in such a hurry when I snapped it from my moving vehicle this morning that I forgot to check.  I did try very hard to get this posting done last night. I went with camera in one hand and "A walking tour of Eureka's murals" in the other. I guess the Chamber of Commerce put this flyer together...my friend Karen recently sent it to me. The first four of four that I went to check because I hadn't posted them yet were completely gone from the bldgs. I have no idea why so many are being painted over. Then when I did find one that I hadn't shared before the sun was shining directly in my camera and I just threw my hands up and decided "It can wait a day!". Tried to go back this morning and get the one that the sun was blocking and there were a bunch of cars blocking it! Looks like it may be one of those early sunday morning photo shoots...rest assured; I will get the shot for you! :-)

I recently decided that I want to buy each of our two granddaughters a miniature needle felted animal for Christmas every year. Might oughta buy a shelf that hangs real high up when I give them their first ones this year, huh? Today the VERY talented Jenn Docherty (she was on Martha back in the Spring) listed some for the first time since last March, and YAY!, thanks to email notification, I was THERE to buy one! You absolutely have to be THERE with these talented sellers. Her nine listings were GONE within 3 minutes! Here's the one I got; Ernst the Mushroom Hunter :-) These will be so fun to collect! And I'm confident the girls will someday love their collections.

I'm in major Baby Shower mode. It's in less than two weeks. Way back in July when Carla from Thriftin & Craftin (she's gearing up to host a baby shower as well) posted a pic of some great little Target dollar spot purses marked half off I ran and bought all 38 that my T had. I then directed Melissa that she could not invite more than 38 people ;-). And of course, she somehow took the invite list all the way up to 38. So NOW the challenge is making a few different things times 38 to put inside these purses! Argh. I think Carla did notebooks too...here's some (38, to be exact) that I put together. (Still coming up with new ways to use my old wallpaper!)

   

These measure 3x4.5" and come in two-packs for $1.99 also at Target. I just noticed when I went to link to Carla's blog that she did sachet bags...I think I need to do that, too! Use up some of this 2 pounds of lavender I recently bought! I'll post a pic of the filled and decorated purses/bags soon. For now I have to get crackin' on the diaper cake. I'll be a lot more comfortable once I scratch some of these things off the to-do list! Have a great week!!

Mural Monday ~ Week 11

Keen readers of this blog may remember this photo and say, "Hey! You already posted this picture!" Yes, I did...quite a while ago. But not as part of the Mural Mondays! It may have started the idea of doing these weekly shares, though.

I probably also bragged last time I showed this bldg that it is ONE of TWO big and fabulous health food stores here in little ol' Eureka. I really do love them both.

I'm still working on the bedroom remodel. I thought the painting was going to be the hard part! Ummm, nope. Not hard at all compared to the doo-dad jobs I've been creating for myself the past four days! Like, how many times and ways can you use vintage wallpaper in one room?

The door I like. I like the dresser, too

but right now I'm hating it against the green wall and near the curtains I made yesterday. Argh! I'm going to 'sleep on it', and if I wake up still hating it I'll probably send it to Larissa's store for resell and start over on something else. Or maybe stick a different paper over it? Double argh!!

OH, here's something sweet.

Our pool stayed open two weekends beyond Labor Day...I guess because LD was such a nice weekend nobody wanted it to end. So yesterday was the final final day for the pool... I took a break from decorating to go out there with the kids and we were the only ones there. And it was cold! God bless this boy tho...he'll jump in every time no matter what!

Back to work! xo