I'm Home from Berlin...

It is after 3pm and I am home. It was a chilly day of 52 and misting, and yes as much as I hate to admit it, I turned the heat on in the house. I kinda got a late start this morning since I got held over at work until 1am last night. I came home and stared at the clock until 3 am and finally went to sleep just to get up at 5:30 to get the kids up for school. It was then time to go back to bed for a bit.

The reason I didn't sleep was because I had a absolutely, wonderful, awesome idea for a swap. (OK in my mind it's awesome LOL) Not your ordinary swap... a special one for Christmas. So last night I was planning on how I was going to pull it off. I think it'll be a lot of fun and creative (hint hint). I will be announcing it in the next few days (but hopefully tomorrow) if all goes well. I have never headed anything up like this so bare with me.

So on to my trip today... since it was raining Steve couldn't work on his parents roof so guess who decided to tag along???? Yep

Steve says Hi!!!! LOL This was actually taken the other day but I thought it was funny. Not sure what that is growing out of his finger LOL



Ok first stop Country Gatherings... My favorite colonial/primitive store. I would've loved to take pics inside but there was a sign saying I wasn't allowed to. bummer. So this is the outside... I didn't buy anything here this time, but I sure did walk away with a lot of ideas that Steve and I might whip up and offer for sale around Christmas time. Not sure yet.





Next was Homespun Treasures and Amish Country Peddler. I had a 15% off coupon for my birthday and had to use it before the end of September... so I had to use it right??? I bought my partner a Maple Syrup candle by Crossroads. It is one of my favorites and so I took it to work and she loved it so I got it for her. Steve took this pic and I thought he was going to take more, but no. Before I forget the store is having their Christmas Open House November 12th and 13th for anyone interested.



And also I found this in the clearance section plus I got another 15% off so I figure it'll be awesome for Christmas.



And of course the new Judy Condon book... A lot of the homes featured are from here in Ohio!!!!




Then some new textiles. Who couldn't resist these for a discount too? Steve picked out the green table runner. LOL.



Then it was time to eat so we went to my favorite restaurant the Farmstead. If you love a good buffet this is it. I think Steve's dessert plate was bigger than his lunch plate. I got a piece of their coconut cream pie that is to die for. Then we went to a few other shops. No pics because my camera batteries went dead and my phone memory was full... GRRRRRRRR... I stopped in to the Country Craft Cupboard and bought a pattern for a sweet little snowman for Christmas and looked for fabric to work on my quilt. I found some, but I didn't have enough money to buy what I needed so it'll have to wait. Next we went to a furniture shop because I am looking for a bed. Yes a bed. I have never had a headboard or foot board in almost 12 years. I am looking for a pencil post bed that I can paint. Well let me tell you that there is not one to be found in Amish country. All beds are made of oak, cherry, hickory, or walnut and are NOT cheap!!!! So the hunt continues. Steve feels like he doesn't have the tools to make the posts. Do any of you know someone who could make the posts only???? Please let me know.

So homeward bound we came. While driving home Steve told me he was maybe offered a job with another plumber full time. For the last few months he has been self employed finding jobs where ever he could. He needs to go talk with them still, but fingers crossed it'll be what he needs with benefits.

Anyway, stay tuned for my Create a Christmas swap that I will be posting. I want to offer it early so that we have time to prepare and don't have to hurry to finish our items. So are you curious yet????

Update on Berlin

On my way to work again so real quick! Yep still going tomorrow. It will be a chilly day of 55 degrees and only 20% chance of rain. I am so sorry many of you live so far away from me. But could you imagine all of us getting together and shopping. LOL There would be nothing left in some of these shops!

So far seems like I will be going by myself tomorrow, but I know it was such notice. Maybe we can plan a day in November for those who want to go OR I've been thinking depending on how many are interested how about a girls lunch gathering at my home for Christmas with an ornie exchange??? Just a thought. Let me know. Obviously um my home is small, but I am willing to find a larger place if I have enough interest.

Happy Monday!!!!

This will be a very short post as I am trying to get ready for work. My bedroom is not done due to running out of stain to prim up some things. GRRRR.... I went to Wal-mart and they did not have the kind I use. So it will have to wait for a day off. Speaking of day off... For those who live in Northeast... OK... Ohio in general I am planning on going to Berlin (Amish Country) on Wednesday. I am not a serial killer or kidnapper LOL if any of you would like to meet me there. I think it would be fabulous to meet some of my friends who like to check in with me. It would be like a girls day out. Drop me an email or comment on my post if you'd like. We could meet at the corner of St Rt 39 and 62 at Primitive Gatherings in the parking lot at 9:30am. Let me know so I'm not stuck there by myself all day. LOL. If you live close to me (SUSAN RN or Wayne Medina county) we could meet up and drive together if you'd like. Check back later today for an update....

Happy Late Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday. I could tell you how old I am, but you know I would just say 29 again. LOL. My son takes great joy in telling people how old I am. Don't you just LOVE kids. Anyway, I didn't do anything for my birthday except work. Yep I was lucky to have to work a 15 hour shift. My partner, who happens to be a girl, got me present. We have only been partners for about a month and a half. She bought me a reed diffuser from Yankee Candle with a new fall scent called Harvest Fruit it is awesome. I have never tried the diffuser so I am anxious to see how well they work. Then my friend Steve bought me something and built me something.

The first gift was this beautiful stained glass piece. I had another one, but it broke. boohoo I wish I could get it fixed. Anyway, we had been looking at antique shops at stained glass pieces and he took it upon himself to buy me this new one. I LOVE it.



Now my next gift I have to lead up to. Saturday I got a bug up my behind and decided it was time to move my bedroom around. Now I have always found my bedroom hard to decorate. Do you have a room like this? I can never decide how I want it to look or what I want in it. So here is a RARE look into my messy side of life. This WAS my bedroom...



Keep an eye on this heater. hint hint...





HAHAHAHA an unmade bed. You caught me. Don't tell my Mom ok?



Once again I was at work and this was made for me and a picture sent to my phone. This is not what it looks like now because I have redecorated. But this is the way Steve decorated it for me to see. Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!



Stop back in a few days and I will show you the new bedroom look. I need to paint of few pieces and change a few more things.

Missing In Action

Wow! It's been a week since my last post. Unfortunately, it has been busy around the homestead with work, kids, and life in general. In between working 2 jobs orthodontist appointments, the county fair, Homecoming football and dance, fixing a toilet, trying to craft, and sleeping seems like the week got away. LOL.

In case your wondering, yes I started to fix the toilet even though Steve is a plumber. Do any of you notice that when it comes to fixing or doing something for you your significant other always finds something else to do? LOL. Steve and I bought the insides of the toilet a week prior to fixing it. You see the toilet in my bathroom liked to spray water everywhere because the little clean water tubey thing (yea you like my technical terms) kept coming out. Now mind you I have carpet in my bathroom (first of all DUH carpet in a rental bathroom Hello????) so I had wet walls and carpet. Yes I stopped using it after the second time it happened LOL. Anyway, I got tired of waiting so my son and I read the directions and started to tear into the toilet. "I am woman hear me roar" I was gonna fix the toilet... until I got to the flapper part. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work. Well now I was not going to call Steve and ask for help... NO WAY NO HOW I was going to fix it. So instead I called my other plumber friend LOL. I even snapped a picture of the inside of the toilet and sent it to him to help me. I found out Steve had bought the wrong insides for my toilet... WHAT????? You're kidding!!!!!! He will not live this down I'm thinking. He did not look to see what kind of toilet I had. It turns out I have a toilet from 1964 and not just any part will fit. So off to the hardware store I go... I picked out the parts I needed just by sight I still had no idea what kind of toilet I had. The guy behind the counter was a bit stunned when I told him I was fixing the toilet myself. He was basically speechless. I was loving it!!!! So back home I came with my part. In the meantime I call my plumber friend back and he then told me I would probably have to take the whole tank off to fix it. WHAT????? What have I gotten myself into. Then he tells me that he called Steve and that he was on his way to my place. I was so mad that he called him I wanted to fix it myself. In the end I gave in and Steve and my son fixed the toilet and yes the whole tank had to come off. So from now on note to self.... always look to see what kind of toilet you have before you buy the parts and try to fix it yourself. LOL P.S. this is a Mansfield toilet I know all of you in older homes are gonna go run and look to see if that's what you have. LOL

Since I missed yesterday WWW I'll show you what I'm working on and stuck on...

I made these quilt blocks... and no bad comments LOL I know my seams don't match this is like only my 2nd try at quilting. Here is the part I'm stuck at. What do I put in between the blocks. Do I just cut squares or do I cut strips, what colors should I use, how do I bind it, do I quilt it or tie it???? Maybe I shouldn't have started this project LOL. Here are some colors I came up with what do you think???
I will have to buy new fabric because I don't have enough of any of the fabric except the muslin to finish it.

Good old muslin...











I think I've ruled out the red...



Now on to other business... Boy this is getting long. One of my new friends Karen pointed out to me that my directions for my last Tutorial Tuesday may not have been clear so let me clear up a few things. Here were the questions...
Question: When you said you did small sections at a time....I need this clarified.

1. Do you keep doing the same little spot over and over till you get it and then move on repeating the steps?

Or

2. Do you finish the project with those little steps and then go back and repeat 2 or 3 times.

AND....it didn't say in the tutorial but do you put wax on again and again...it only said: Paint and burn, paint and burn....seems like it doesn't bubble if there isn't any wax left to melt.

Answer...

You know sometimes I type these directions up and they make perfect sense to me and I think they should to others to. LOL. Duh!!!! It's my ADD kicking in.

Alright for your counter cabinet... what I would do is base coat like I'm sure you did... now wax the entire piece then take your top coat and just paint say the top or one side. Then take the heat source and just burn(melt) that part. Move on the the next side and do the same until the entire piece is finished with one coat of your top color. Then go back and put additional layers as desired. As for the wax... I only put one layer on my piece, but I used latex paint. If you are using acrylic I have done it both ways using more than one layer of wax or just one. I found that I like only the one layer of wax. It seemed that even though we kept heating it it kept melting. Maybe it is because it was latex paint or how much wax you put on the first time. Hmmmm.... I know at first I wasn't putting enough wax on it and it didn't bubble too much and just burned the wood. Make sure it is a really thick layer of wax. We did this technique by lots of trial and error.. You have no idea how many pieces of wood we went through until I got what I wanted.

We also determined that a softer wax might work a little better than that really hard wax that you sometimes get at the dollar stores.

So once again thank you Karen for bringing it to my attention. Remember if anyone ever has questions please email me I am happy to help out all I can.

Fall Has Arrived 2009

Welcome to my home Fall of 2009. Thank you all who take the time out of your day to visit me and listen to all my ramblings. Please enjoy yourself and come back soon.

Click here to see all my pictures.

But if you don't have enough time to stop in here are a few snippets. Enjoy!!!!



























Of course my finished chair. I LOVE it now it is so comfortable. And yes this is the family Bible on the book stand I talked my Mom into giving me.

Tutorial Tuesday on Thursday

As promised I will explain how I get my bubbly paint look on my items. Sorry it took so long, but I have been working a lot lately.

Remember this... no not the spoon the towel rack lol



Ok so I'm not into Amish kids in my home for decoration so I base coated the whole thing black. EWWWWWW look at those chewed finger nails LOL.



Yep it's black alright... yep we can see that keep going Mary... I hear ya!!!



Next my secret ingredient... Wax yes an old candle I was not going to burn. Rub the candle all over the entire thing. Get a pretty thick layer on it. Mine kinda smells good too. LOL. Go to a dollar store and pick up cheap candles I'm sure they will work too. Or use what's left of a candle that is burned to the point where it is dangerous to burn anymore.



Next is your top layer paint that you will see the most of. I picked a grey. I love black and grey. Now this step is important... you can use your acrylic paints, but you will have to work fast because you don't want the paint to dry. I like to use latex for this step because it extends your working time. Paint a small area at a time right over the wax. I don't like to go straight back and forth I like the cross hatch look.



Next is the part I don't like. Yes I am a firefighter, but I don't like flame. Yea I know crazy. But this is where you have to use a flame to achieve the look. My Steve is a plumber so he has a torch we OK he uses to help me. PLEASE be very careful when using the flame I don't want anyone to get burned. Take the flame a get close to the paint until use see it bubble and raise.





I keep adding layers of grey paint until I get the look I want. This probably is like 3 layers. We paint and burn paint and burn. Little sections at a time.



Close up...



Now while the paint is still warm NOT HOT, you should be able to pick it up and not burn yourself, lightly sand the whole thing so that the paint moves slightly and you can see your base color. Don't forget your edges.



At this point it is cool and dry. You will need to put something over the top or the paint will continue to flake. I suggest either a furniture paste wax, stain, or polyurethane.



Of course you all know me I like stain so this is mine all finished and ready to hang.



Little update... I did finish my chair, but haven't decorated for fall. I have been running short on time recently. So I am hoping soon to get the decorating done for your viewing pleasure. LOL.


Edited... You can use a heat gun found at your local home improvement store.