Giraffe Onesie

Today's Etsy listing & sewing project:

Minky..?

Minky is a new fabric to me, but evidently NOT the world! Today I made a baby blanket to sell on Etsy and backed it with a soft, white minky. I quilted it and quilted a heart in the center. I also made a Onesie by making an applique of a matching pink elephant and stitched it onto the onesie. I added a minky ear (I had a scrap left and didn't want to waste it!) and a tiny heart button for the eye. I use coupons for all the major craft stores and purchase things only when they are on sale, or using a coupons in order to make a profit on my items. My main obstacle on Etsy is the sheer number of talented crafts people! Stiff competition! :( But, hey, if you want a quality hand sewn or crafted item, it is the place to be!

How we did the Board and Batten...

My daughter, Julie, informed me I should explain how we did the board & batten. I guess I didn't explain because 1. I promised to keep posts simple & short, and 2. Karla at thelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com explained how she and her husband did theirs in their living room. Well.... I guess not everyone reads that blog!? Plus, we did ours years ago in the hall, and did our bedroom a year ago the same way. This was before Karla and her husband did their nice work so we did it a totally different way. We did not have the benefit of their knowledge! I have not read her post carefully enough to know exactly HOW they did theirs, but I do know they beveled the edges of the vertical pieces and we did not do that. (Ours were thin enough to meet the baseboard nicely). So other things may be different, also. You may want a choice of how to do the project, or one method may not work in your situation. So here goes...

What we did was decide where we wanted the top of the board & batten to hit on the wall. (I like a higher, more cottage-y look. ) I painted the wall up to that point white (just the regular wall). We used a thin, lattice cut pine board for the vertical pieces. They are just the right size and are thin enough to butt right into the baseboard. Decide on paper how you will space the boards evenly around the room. You may be able to miss switch plates and electrical outlets, but in a few places we had to partially cut out for them and they look great, still, when it is all painted out white. Pick a molding at the local home improvement store to "cap" the top. Think outside the box... We used a deep, shelf-like molding and capped that with a regular baseboard turned upside down. (Think layering!) The baseboard piece even had a notched groove in it which is perfect to secure plates, etc. Then the whole project gets caulked WELL!! (I caulked all along each lattice strip and each "seam" in the project so no light shows through and it looks like a solid piece of work. Then paint it out! White is my love.... Makes everything seem clean and so pristine! I used a semi-gloss from Valspar. It was not hard and not expensive but gives a breath-taking look. You can do it! The biggest expense is the molding and that coud be done with a simple board at the top.

Or latest project was a "pass-through" from our kitchen & living room. We wanted a more open look, but didn't want to redo any floors since we just finished redoing them not many years ago. Of course we did it with board & batten, too. It was quit a project with more than a few problems (4 major pipes running through that wall...) but I think it turned out quite nicely. It really opened up our living room space and now the TV is viewable from the kitchen which is so enjoyable while I cook or bake. I can also sew in the kitchen while the family watches a movie and watch it with them! :)

Newest Etsy Addition

Short & Sweet like I promised. This is what I have been working on today: a cute little size 5/6 gray, fleece jacket with a ladybug applique that I hand-pieced on the left yoke with ladybug buttons! I just listed it on Etsy and found I had made another sale! It always amazes me when I see that something has sold! :-) Off to bed....

Bedroom Remodel with Board and Batten

Finally getting around to posting the bedroom remodeling project. We switched out hardware on our 25 year old bedroom set, put up some what I called Wainscoting but have learned from another blogger that it is officially a "Board & Batten" look... Who knew? I just know what I like! Clean and simple is my style. I made a new Duvet (clearance fabric for 2.00 a yard), European pillow shams, and framed some prints from our last vacation in Maine to lean on the ledge. We did install a new ceiling fan from Restoration Hardware, which was the biggest investment money-wise. Time-wise, definitely scraping, sanding, and painting the ceiling a nice smooth white was the winner! (It also made the biggest improvement!) We also added two new nightstand lamps by Verlix in aged bronze to match the ceiling fan. Simple.. All very simple & clean. If only ALL the rooms in the house were finished!

New Endeavors....

I started this blog literally years ago, but now plan to keep it up by posting frequent but short posts! Everyone is so busy these days. I started an Etsy shop (named Posh Pilfer, after our pet mini-lop bunny) in July selling handcrafted items (mostly sewing projects) and have enjoyed it immensely! One item I posted (my favorite, actually) is a pair of tiny Asian-inspired baby shoes! I sewed two tiny black beads to look like tiny buttons on each side. They are lined with soft black cotton. So fun to design and make! Now if only a baby's mom would think so, too.... :)

God was in it....

When I started this blog I was determined to keep it positive, but I either have to keep that goal or tell the truth! This has been a rough month! First my husband finished his radiation treatments (37 of them) for prostate cancer. He sailed through treatments but then had terrible trouble with urination for weeks afterwards. The Urologist wondered (outloud) if perhaps he had permanent bladder nerve damage. Of course he did not (the radiation doctor said he hasn't had a case like that in the last 30 years!) That resolved on a Wed. (he has been absolutely normal ever since).

Thursday I went into the hospital for "minor" outpatient knee surgery. I had a torn medial meniscus from jogging all my life, I think, and recently starting a couch to 5 K program after not being able to run for a period. Anyway, what started as a simple surgery quickly escalated into a full-fledged code! My BP dropped to 80/40 and I was given Atropine... then I was okay a short time and then went into V-tach which is life threatening! Evidently I had several episodes and they called a Cardiologist in. I am now home and wearing an event monitor to try and catch arrythmias, and will have a stress test when my knee heals enough. The knee is wonderful and healing so fast. I walked 2.5 miles today and did squats, weights, etc. without difficulty!

Hard to be positive with all that going on. God has been good to us with everything working out so well. Our wonderful Sunday School class brought meals over for a week. We ate things we never do (white flour, sugar, desserts, etc)! Now we are back to our non-processed, fresh foods, low carb, healthy way of eating. We feel better and seem to be losing weight, but of course I do have to cook!

Saturday we mounted a flat screen TV in our bedroom and we are trying to catch up on some random projects we had started around the house. I made a new Duvet for our bedroom (which we are remodeling). I had just scraped the popcorn stuff off the ceiling, sanded and painted it before all the drama! I have a new project to start ... My DGD a quilt for Christmas. That is one of so many I would like to finish by that time so I really need to get back to "normal" and get back into life!

I am so grateful to God for being with me and keeping me safe throughout the while ordeal. I am thankful that DH is fine and has made it through the treatments without any lasting damage. He will return for a new PSA level in May... We are praying!