Boo!

The summertime is coming to an end and the weather is getting cooler so naturally I have shifted gears to Halloween. 

Eek!  Zombies!
5 ¼ x 9 ¼”Painted wood

Oh bloody hell!
Blood spattered bathroom accessories.
Spray paint on plastic

Spooky Silhouettes
Painted wood

Something crafty is a-brewin'

To be continued....

I ♥ spraypaint

I bet it will be something Halloween-y

One more time

A little doodle for behind the washer & dryer.
Ok, a big doodle:

5 ¾” x 36”

Oops, I did it again

Made by request, for my lovely BFF again ☺

Once again, inspiration found on Pinterest!

16 ½” x 13 ½”

Signs, signs, everywhere

Well thanks to Pinterest I've become a micro sign factory.  I started off looking for pallet furniture ideas and ended up doodling my evenings away with paint pens.  

Here's what I have crafted in the last two days: 

Freestanding block to match the other beachy sign

Custom monogram sign for my BFF

I think this is probably my favorite, crafted for a friend's birthday.
She said it's "better than the original!"

This was made by request, my first sale.
Much larger than it looks, roughly 4' long.

Festive micro sign, also for BFF

I made it so you HAVE to like it.

This looks quite lovely above the bathroom mirror. 

Welcome to skid row

Well, Shawn has discovered the joys of crafting things.  I know what you're thinking, he's starting to Bedazzle his jeans but alas, it's woodworking.  On the upside it's a fairly cheap hobby as he's picking up skids from local businesses.  Pardon me, according to Wikipedia I shouldn't be saying skid as "a skid has no bottom deck boards."  at any rate he's made some pretty nice furniture, here's the very first piece he crafted-

Hey, get back to work!

Snazzy paint job

A friend of mine needed some furniture to officially claim the back porch space at her apartment so a few pallets, old shutters, nails and screws later she had a bench and end table.  We painted it brown and added some fancy stencils in white.

How cozy!

I'm not sure what's next on the build plan, must be something cool because there's a small mountain of pallets beside the shed.  If you're interested in your very own furniture, drop Shawn a line!

Greetings and salutations!

   Ahh, finally, nice weather!  With that comes the joy of playing in the dirt.  PA weather has been a bit gloomy lately and a bit brisk - so the garden planting in our space of the world was delayed until this past weekend.  I did my usual seedlings in the bathtub, not until early March when we came back from our cruise. 

   On the 2013 garden agenda - a multitude of peppers as usual and some new things...
     * Celery (from seed as well as celery scrap)
     * Romanesco
     * Big Mama tomato
     * Cucumbers
     * Eggplant
     * Peppers!  (pepperonici, cherry stuffer, jalapeno, bull nosed bell, big daddy, long mix)
     * Onions, purple/yellow/green beans, watermelon, pumpkin
     * Luffa, birdhouse gourds
     * Corn!

   I'm pleased to say that the luffa, pepperoncini, and most of the pumpkins are seeds I've saved from plants I grew.  The pepperoncini is actually second generation my seeds!  My goal is to eventually become self sufficient in the seed department and no longer need to buy any.  At any rate, we've gone from bathtub to outdoors.  All the plants have spent the past three weeks outside marinating in the various weather and Saturday they got tossed into the garden.

My, what a fine patch of dirt & rocks.

It doesn't look like much of anything right now, particularly from far away.  But, thanks to the rain we got right after planting, things are going pretty well.

Yes, yes, rocky as all hell.  Feel free to visit and pick rocks!

Mmmmm, bacon

This has almost nothing to do with bacon but it seemed like a catchy title.  It's what I do - lure people in with something fascinating then jump all over their hopes.  I'll weave a little bacon in so it's not too disappointing.  Today marks one year since I yanked myself onto the Weight Watchers bandwagon.  I don't do meetings because I'm not a terribly sociable person and have zero desire to sit in a room and talk about being chubby.  Online only seems to work for me as I have managed to drop 85 lbs.

I'm the one without the goatee.

Shawn (the lovely gentleman I've been shacked up with for the past bazillion years) follows the plan loosely and has lost 60 lbs.  I probably would have dropped a few more pounds if it wasn't for traveling to NYC and eating all the deliciousness the city has to offer - then on the heels of that Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This chick isn't about to go easy on tasty holiday food.  What's changed in the last year?  To put it simply - we eat better.  Some of it is weird shit that I never would have imagined consuming like almond milk, quinoa snacks, ginger candy and romanesco.

Romanesco: broccoli's creepy brother

I thank my vegetarian friend Tori for introducing me to many wholesome snacks like Gin-Gins and quinoa but most other things we've stumbled upon as alternatives to chips and bacon (are you happy now that I mentioned delicious bacon?).  I have learned to eat better, make wiser snacking choices, and I gnaw on fresh fruit vegetables regularly.  This year I will be incorporating much more exersize so I don't have to pin back the extra flesh to look nice.  Sometimes I don't realize the difference in the way I look until I stare at pictures from just a few years ago and I really notice it when I get kitty litter.  Strange statement I know, but I was at PetSmart two days ago and about had a stroke carrying the 38 pound bucket to the front of the store.  Then I stopped to think that a year ago I was carrying two of those around all day every day, it's no wonder I'd get winded going up a long flight of stairs.  Hell even a short set of steps would have me huffing and puffing.  Don't get me wrong, I'm no supermodel and I still have many many more pounds to drop to meet my goal weight by my 30th birthday next year but I am pleased with the progress I've made thus far.  If you are sitting there now thinking, "Gee I could stand to drop a few pounds" don't wait.

Head over to https://www.weightwatchers.com/ and check it out

Do something to make the change in your life.  I know people that have taken the surgical route and I am disappointed in them.  Gastric bypass does not teach you how to make better choices.  It cannot be as satisfying as doing it the old fashioned way - diet & exercise.  I don't feel right calling WW a diet because I still eat a lot.  It's just better food.  I know what I need to do and I'm not starving because I've cut out carbohydrates (screw you, Atkins diet).  The biggest improvement for me?   I'm not buying my clothes online, I go to the store and scoop up clearance clothes in a non-plus size like a normal bargain hunter.  It's great. My biggest inspiration?  This chick right here - http://shrinkingjen.webs.com/