Happy Halloween

Today Steve and I decided just to hang out at home since the kids weren't here. They both went to their Dad's this weekend. We went to IHOP for breakfast, a new flea market we had never been to, and Menard's (basically a Home Depot or Lowe's but HUGE. We bought wood for signs. You know since I bought all those new Christmas stencils I had to try them out.

No I'm not gonna show you Christmas signs on Halloween LOL. Wait til Monday. Anyway, I asked Steve to get me some nice 1X8X8 planks and thought we could cut them down for signs. I was so excited to be able to use my stencils. Yea, well I thought Steve was going to unload them into my garage and come in. I was happily working on my quilt top when I kept hearing him in the garage cutting. Then in and out and water running. So I go outside to see what's up and here he is cutting the boards and painting them the colors he had chosen for each stencil. The boards were numbered to correspond with the stencil. HELLO this was my project. LOL. Then I start smelling burnt wood again out I go he is doing our bumpy paint technique on some of the boards. I figured I could always buy more boards. LOL. Next I tell him he has to stencil and of course he has never done it. We go upstairs he sits down at the table and is ready to learn. I give him a Reader's Digest Condensed version on how to stencil and off he goes. I check in periodically to see how things are going and he say "Fine." I'm quilting away and I here him humming "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him." He humming Christmas carols. LOLOLOL. Finally he comes down to the basement where I'm sewing and we chat. He admits that he LIKES to stencil and not to tell anyone. So yes I had to tell all of you. He is hooked. He made 7 different signs and not only stenciled, but added his own personal touches to them. I will take pics and show you. We have decided to sell some of them because I just don't have room. Stay tuned next week because he is still messing with some of them right now.

Anyway, I'm stuck on my quilt because my fabric is too short to make my borders and I don't know what to do. Do I add extra to the strips to make it long enough? But then there will be seams showing. If so do I do it in the middle or off center? Now I remember why I never attempted a quilt before. :Sigh: So I sit stuck. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Mental Health Day in 1 1/2 hours

Warning: Long post BUT with pictures. LOL.

Today I decided I needed a mental health day. Sure there was laundry to do and a house to clean, but I decided to take some me time. I took a whole 1 and 1/2 hours to myself. I decided to head to Kidron Ohio which is only about 15 minutes away from my home. There is so much to do and see and today is Thursday so it is flea market and auction day too. There is an awesome quilt/fabric shop that I was mainly looking to go to. But of course there is a thrift store too that I haven't gone to in about a year since the divorce started so I figured I'd stop there too. So my mental health day is your mental health day. I took my camera along for the ride. LOL.

First stop the thrift store... MCC Connections a church based thrift store where the workers are purely volunteer and the money raised goes to missions. On the other side is the quilt side.



This is why I love this store... I was trying to be discreet taking pictures. LOOK at all the fabulous quilts!!!!! They have throws on up to queen size.




See that one on the left in between the windows? It was beautiful fall colors and was a double bed size. Guess how much???? $95.00 Yep that's it. I looked at prices and a twin ranges from $45-$79



Sometimes when you come in these tables will be full of ladies quilting. Plain (Amish),Mennonite, and English people enjoying each others company. I saw about three or four quilt frames set up with quilts on them.



Now on to my bargains... I spent $9.93. I bought another stencil but forgot to take a pic of it.





The washed out thing is cross stitch cloth.









Alright time to move on. Just about 1/8 of mile is downtown Kidron. This is where Lehmans is. This is a famous hardware store where everyone who comes to Amish country visits. It is not just hardware. It's kitchen gadgets, toys, crocks, books, paint, fireplaces, non electric lamps, and old looking stoves and refrigerators. It is a really neat place to visit.



I thought this was hilarious!!!



This is another part of the building. Look how they just built it right over the creek.



Next is the quilt shop I went to.



Remember my quilt blocks awhile back? Well I had the extremely nice lady who worked there help me pick some colors to finish my quilt. So I will finish this quilt. I just am not gonna promise when. LOL.



Then I decided to walk over to the outdoor flea market acorss the street. There really wasn't much to take pictures of. Plus I didn't want to disrespect any Amish by taking pictures and them being in them.

So instead colors of fall and a few horse and buggies...









Now I'm home threw some laundry in and contemplating dinner for tonight. I am so rejuvenated that I just want to immerse myself in my quilt. I think that house work will win over though.

SWAP LADIES I sent each of you an email yesterday with your partners name and email. If you did not get that eamil please let me know. I would like all fabric sent out by Nov. 3.

My Unfinished Bedroom as Promised

WAY BACK when I promised to show you pictures of my bedroom after Steve built that "fireplace" surround for my birthday. Well, I have some pictures. Not sure I'm going to keep it this way, but I have pictures right? I hate decorating my bedroom. I find that this room is so difficult to decide how I want it.

Keep in mind I live in a very small duplex and can't change the wood doors. I might sneak and paint though. SHHHHHH... don't tell the landlord. LOL. He'll see it when I move out if I ever move out.

Alright then lets get started. You will see a rare glimpse into my world of decorating. I start with one thing and just keep rearranging til I like it. So rest assured this is not permanent. LOL

Looking in through my bedroom door... You like my electric fireplace? Looks real doesn't it?







There is something missing on the end of the shelf, but I can't for the life of me decide what it is. I know I need something taller. I just can't figure it out. HELP!!!!







Moving on around the bedroom... Warning: Fuzzy pictures. I will figure out this camera yet. LOL







Alright my bed is next. Since I can't afford the bed of my dreams this is what I did.

Like my new bed spread. LOLOLOLOL. He knew I was taking pictures and wouldn't move. So I had to do it with him on the bed playing with his phone.



My free quilt from a yard sale. WOOHOO



Not feeling this corner either. Steve put the stars on the wall to get them up off the cedar chest. I'm thinking about putting a single shelf bowl rack on the wall above the light.



Too plain and not doing it for me.



So that's it so far. As I change things I'll try to take more pics.

REMINDER: Today at 11:59pm will be the last day to sign up for the swap. Please see my side bar for more info. Those that have signed up I will get you your partners names on Wednesday as I work 30 hours in the next 2 days. Which I found out will be changing once again. I will be losing hours and working more days. WWWAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

Shopping with Steve...

Yesterday Steve and I had the day off so we just spent the day looking around. OK looking and goofing. I had to drop some papers off at the attorney first, but along the way was a Goodwill so you know I had to stop. I didn't find anything good but got some great pictures. LOL

This is my Steve.... LOL... Yep only $2.99 for these great glasses!!!!!



Next is my turn... The glasses take up half my face LOL.



Then we went to Lowe's to look at the Christmas aisles. There was some cute bead garlands there. Well by then it was only 10:30 and we were killing time until lunch before grocery shopping. So we went into the Dollar Tree and then he wanted to go into Bath and Body Works to smell stuff. He is like a kid spraying everything on his arms. LOL. I told him I wanted some perfume since I don't own any. So we went through and smelled everything and bought nothing. I can't make up my mind what perfume I would like. So I suggested we go to JcPenny to look around and smell perfume. We went and found some great deals on clearance shirts for Steve because he shops in the big and tall section. Then I bought some Christmas presents for my kids. You know we never did get to the perfume section LOL. Lunch at Longhorn grocery shopping at Wal Mart then homeward bound.

This morning I finished my sign with the custom stencil Becca made me. I love it.



Well, I need to go and pack my lunch and dinner for work. I'll check in with you gals soon to see what you've been up to.

WWWAAAHHHH I'm Old!!!! LOL

Yesterday was my yearly check up. Have I ever told you how much I hate these appointments? Well lets put it this way I sweat so terribly from anxiety that my shirts are soaked even before the appoinment. Anyways, I am 35 years old which I am OK with until the doctor says his piece. I now must have my first mammogram screening. WHAT???? REALLY???? Now I will tell you that I am not well endowed and I can only imagine how they are actually going to be able to this. Take my mosquito bites and flatten to nothing. So instead of wearing a push up bra alone I will now have to stuff. LOL. Then he tells me I need to really drink milk, eat yogurt, and take a Vitamin D supplement. Uhhhh... do I have osteoporosis already??? I don't want to have to worry about this yet. He did try to make me feel better by saying that here in Ohio everyone has a low Vitamin D level because we don't get enough sun and that he takes a Vitamin D supplement. I will tell you that when I had my kidney issues at the beginning of the year that my level was low, so today I picked up some Vitamin D. It's bad enough that I feel old some days the way my body aches after work, but for your doctor to tell you in a round about way that are is another thing. LOL. OHHHHH and I gained 13 lbs since last year. No wonder I had to buy new jeans. :-(

Sunday I had a fabulous opportunity to standby with my partner and the owner of my company at work during the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk in Canton Ohio. They said there were several thousand people there walking for a cure. It was awesome to see all the people wearing pink and pictures of loved ones they were walking for. The survivors were wearing pink ribbons that said "survivor" on them. I didn't get pictures, but my boss did and said he'd be putting them up on the website. I just checked and they aren't up yet, but I'll let you know when they are.

Enough with that stuff I did manage to finish a few signs the other day. Nothing spectacular, but I like them.

The checkerboard is actually barn red not pink as it appears here. This was a scrap of unfinished wood I found. I put this sign on my front porch.



Another scrap piece of wood as you can tell there is a weird spot at the bottom. It is not this bright in person. The background is again barn red.



I just got a bunch a new Christmas stencils from my friend Becca at Folk art from The Harbor. If you haven't visited her website and you like to stencil or to look at some fabulous prim premade goodies you should check her out. She even made me a custom stencil that I will show you later. I used it today but the sign isn't dark and primmed yet. So who knows I may have some signs for Christmas for sale. Depends if I can get my behind moving or not.

Well, I need to get some things done this evening before EMS training tonight then back to work tomorrow.

Reminder...

Just a quick reminder that you have until October 25th to join my Christmas swap. I want thank those who have already contacted me and signed up. I believe I have all of your names and addresses, but if you signed up and I haven't contacted you please give me another holler.




Please click here for more information.

Back to Normal

It is time to get back to normal posting. I just have to vent sometimes, but don't we all.

All right I had last weekend off so I decided it was time to clean my garage and basement a bit. There was a method behind my madness because I wanted to park in my garage when the frosty cold weather hits. I admit I had so many projects going on in my garage I had them everywhere. Then Steve would come over and unload things from the back of his truck so he could haul something else. Of course we then have bikes, a grill, and left over wood, and all of my storage tubs. My garage is the only storage I have in my duplex. So I took the time to go through tubs and weed out what I won't decorate with anymore and started a pile. Then I found things I had been looking for and couldn't find like my rusty bells, sponge brushes, and unfinished projects. So I decided on Saturday that I was going to finish some of these projects. On Saturday Steve took my son to go for a haircut, go cart riding, miniature golfing, to the truck stop to watch semis come in and out, and then finally to his apartment to spend the night. I didn't see either one until Sunday morning. In other words I got a lot done lol.

So on to my projects...

I finished my snowman because I found my rusty bells.



Next I found a set of paper mache boxes that I bought for $1.00 and painted those up and then found another 2 wood ones and painted those up to. I can't remember how much I paid for those, but I think $1.00 or less.





Then I ad Steve cut some wood for my backer for my "quilt" project. Remeber these were those preprinted pillow sham covers. It came out fuzzy, but you get the picture. lol



Then I bought these boards already painted red and black for a $1.00 a piece and finally decided what I wanted to do with them. The writing is not this bright as it shows in the picture. I have no idea where I will put them, but I enjoyed painting them.





Other than that I straightened up my "craft area" aka basement and organized a lot. I found some project redos that might keep me busy for awhile. Some I forgot that I had them, others I didn't know where they were. Oh and another project I am working on is my son's Native American project for school. Steve made the coolest canoe for him out of scrap wood I'll have to snap a picture and show you later. Anyway, stay tuned because who knows what I'll be doing today project wise other than clean my bathrooms yuck!!!!

Update

I will not be going tomorrow. His attorney got a continuance. The new date is Nov 9 the day after my 12th anniversary. The bright side is if we can work out this child support thing we will sign and have it completely over with that day. Had we gone tomorrow it would not have been completely done a separation agreement only then turned into a dissolution in a few months. I just found this part out. So I guess a blessing in disguise. I am still disappointed, but what can you do.

Extra Strength Needed From My Friends

I am on my way out the door, but I need a little extra prayers and strength today. All of you know I am SUPPOSE to go to court tomorrow to sign papers for my marriage dissolution at 9am. Well, I got a phone call from my soon to be ex yesterday that we now have a glitch. He is not ready to sign the papers yet due to an issue with child support, which I have no control over. Then I find out his attorney may file for a continuance because he has another case that he may have to go to court for tomorrow. He is a criminal attorney. I have contacted my attorney to see what's going on. He said it is a waiting game today as to whether I will actually go tomorrow or not. It is almost getting to late to ask for a continuance is what they told me. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I will try to update later on if I find out anything.

OH and I have some things to show you tomorrow for WWW that I did over the weekend. I cleaned my garage and basement and found a bunch of projects I forgot I had. LOL.

Score at the Goodwill

Yippee!!!! (whistle whistle) Doing the happy dance... LOL I had to go to the Goodwill (yes had lol) on Wednesday after I talked to you last. Remember my daughter needed a black pair of pants for her choir concert? Anyway, so as not to make a wasted trip I had to look around right. There is no way any of you could go in for one thing and not look around so don't kid yourself. LOL. In my little town we had the neighborhood yard sales last weekend. I did not go to any of them believe it or not. No, I wait for people to take their unsold items to the Goodwill. Well, I first look for the pants and find a pair that will work for the night. They wear choir robes over top so if they aren't perfect who will know and she stands in the top row. She is very tall for 14, yes, taller than her mama. LOL. Then I saunter over to the everything goes shelf and find this beauty for $3.00!!!!



The last unfinished cheesebox I found turned into this...



Now I must decide what color to paint my new one. Red, black, mustard, grey, hmmm what color would they use in colonial times???

Ok moving on as not to draw attention to myself. I know others are watching and stalking me to see what treasure I will find next. I just know they are looking for the same things I am. So I walk briskly to the Christmas shelves (which there is a lot of Christmas items). Do you see a theme that I am on the look out for Christmas stuff??? LOL I told you I am ready to decorate for Christmas this year!!!! After not decorating last year this year will be a blow out. Anyway, I find what looks to be a planter tray. But not for me... I will use it as a candle tray. I might even put a mirror in the bottom of it who knows.

This is only a close up of it. Just wait I will show you the rest in the next picture. LOL.





I now the big reveal of everything else... TADA!!!!! A checkerboard and some small candles on a stick as I like to call it. LOL. And a small primitive wood box to tuck in.



Not bad for a grand total of $12.36 including the pants and tax!!!!

I am now off of work for the next three days. I NEED to clean out my garage according to my kids. I agree, and who knows I may start a selling blog just to get rid of some stuff. LOL. It is a rainy day today with a possibility of up to 2 inches of rain. I think today will be a good day to craft or go to Pat Catan's. I haven't decided yet. And Becca yes it is nice being my own boss. LOL.

Yesterday, the final issues were worked out on my marriage dissolution. We go to court on Wednesday of next week to sign the papers. It will be approximately 2 and half weeks short of a year that my world came crashing down. I have recovered (not unscathed) with a lot of help from God, my online blogger friends, family and counseling. So big prim hugs to all of you who remember and were with me and did not judge me. To those who are my new friends prim hugs to you too because you have kept me blogging and helped me start anew. Love all of you!!!!