Water update and $3 Thursday

I woke up this morning to find the towels I set out last night fairly wet.  So, apparently the one water line they shut off was not the culprit for the soggy carpet.

A couple visitors and a couple hours later the leak was fixed.  It was the hot water heat vent but it wasn’t froze, it was seal or coupler leak or something like that.  I really didn’t pay too much attention to what they said it was.  As long as it was an easy fix I was happy.

In this corner, the culprit:

See way back there in the corner, that is where the leak is coming from.  A fairly slow drip but none the less not easy to get to.

I guess I need to move this, the bookshelf:

5 shelves high with items stacked on top.  So I needed to empty it out so I could move the shelf so there was room to fix the leak.

No craft supplies were hurt in the water event of 2011, not unlike the water event of 2008.  I should however have a newly organized corner bookshelf.  For now there are items all around my apartment.  I’m hoping the carpet dries quickly so I can put the bookshelf back and get with the organizing.

I guess the newly organized bookshelf could be a no cost craft but I did find some time to do a quick makeover on a lamp.

 

Before, light green torch lamp, probably 10 years old or more.  I didn’t think to take a picture until after I had some painters tape on so no, that wasn’t a permanent part of the lamp. ;)

The supplies:

Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze.  Need I say more??

After, oil rubbed bronze torch lamp that doesn’t look like it was from my college years.  Well, at least to me it doesn’t. :)

   

I did a couple light, quick coats as it was fairly windy but I wanted to get it done and back inside so I could put it back in the corner.  (I did need to clean out two corners so the water could be shut off but they were quick moves.)

 

Much nicer, black looks so much better than the green.  Why did I wait so long?  Oh, I know, I got the ORB in the middle of the winter.

Look beyond the grainy looking picture and see that the lamp is not green.  Ahh, see it?  Yep.  One newish looking lamp.

Supplies:

1.  Torch lamp in need of makeover.

2.  Oil Rubbed Bronze paint.

3.  Water leak that makes you move items in front of the lamp and the lamp itself.  You might want to skip this part…..

4.  Painters tape if you want to keep part of lamp unpainted.

 

Total cost…… $0 as I had won the paint and had the rest.

 

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

 Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Frugalicous Fridays at Finding Fabulous 

Hodgepodge Friday at It's a Hodgepodge Life

Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life 

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring 

Fabulous Finds at Frou Frou Decor 

Weekend Wrap Up at Tater Tots and Jello

 Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

 Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely

 Tools are for Women Too

 Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lanes

 Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays at New Nostalgia 

I Made It Without My Hubby at Shanty 2 Chic

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

 Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Creative Share Wednesday at The Trendy Treehouse

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Water…. oh no, not again

A couple years ago I came home one day after work to a garbage bin outside my apartment door with some sheetrock in it and a note for me to check in with the caretaker. I checked the laundry room and everything looked ok. 

Then, I opened my door and everything was not ok. 

There was a huge hole in the ceiling, wet and ripped up carpet and wet sheetrock covering my sofa and some of my craft supplies.

It took a long time to get it cleaned up and one thing I don’t ever want to go through again.  It ended up that the hot water pipes upstairs had froze and busted.  Not one of the finer points of hot water heat.  While they had inches of water, gravity brought a huge portion of it down into my apartment.

On to today….

It’s hard to see but if you look close you might see lots of wet footprints in this towel.

If only it was the only wet towel.  It’s been at least half a dozen, some in different states of drying.  At first I thought someone (read daughter) spilled a glass of water and didn’t want to tell me.  Not the case.

I don’t really think it is the hot water heater as I think there would be more water.  Not that I want more water!  We are hoping it is the outside faucet that is leaking and that water has been shut off.  I guess we will see in the morning.  It seems to be a slow leak and with the faucet pipe shut off for hours I’m not too sure that is it.

I really hope it isn’t a crack in the foundation but who knows.  The ground outside seems dry so I’m not sure how likely that is but I just don’t know.

I sure hope I don’t wake up to completely wet carpet in the morning.  I’m not sure that I’ll be so forgiving this time.

A somewhat ironic thing is that this spring when I was trying to get my photos organized I came across the photos of the water damage and threw them away.  Hopefully I won’t have to take pictures of that type of damage again.

There is lots of talk of spring flooding here in Minnesota, I just didn’t think it would be in my apartment!

Keep your fingers crossed.

June

Finally…..

 

It’s been over a month since I first showed you this large floral wall hanging here and wondered what Donna, I should do with it.

It is a large Syroco piece that reminded me of Donna at My Shabby Chateau.

   I wasn’t sure what to do for the longest time but knew I had to complete it.

This is what it is like today.

I started with heirloom white and distressed it a bit to give it a slightly chippy look then added some pink, green and metallic rub on color.

Some places the color is very subtle.

    

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The final result wasn’t quite what I pictured in my mind but I finally got what I’m calling a completed project.

Maybe, just maybe, Donna will like how I made over this piece that reminded me of her.

 

June

Gallery wall

There are probably a million and one gallery wall pictures on blogland if not more than than.  Sorry if you’ve seen enough, just avert your eyes as here comes some pictures of one I just created.

I’ve wanted a gallery wall for some time now but never really thought of the right place for it in my apartment.  I decided that there isn’t any right wall and went with the wall I probably look at the most, the wall in my living room with the TV  on it.

It’s probably not the prettiest gallery wall but hey, it’s mine.  I finally have one.

I didn’t really do any measuring, most of it was trial and error.  I had seven nails in the wall already from some fabric covered frames I had hanging there so I started with them and then kept adding other hangers.

I think there was only one nail that I ended up changing.  Not all the items are as centered as I’d like but this is going to be a revolving display.  Or at least I hope it will be as most of the items on it are listed in my Etsy store so although I love looking at the wall, I’d be happy to have to redo it if and when things sell.

Maybe one of my sisters who didn’t quite understand a lone empty frame I had hanging on another wall will get what I was hoping for.

 

I do think the TV is a bit distracting in this picture but hey, it works for me.

I’ve got my gallery wall and love looking at it.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

 Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Frugalicous Fridays at Finding Fabulous 

Hodgepodge Friday at It's a Hodgepodge Life

Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life 

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring 

Fabulous Finds at Frou Frou Decor 

Weekend Wrap Up at Tater Tots and Jello

 Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

 Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely

 Tools are for Women Too

 Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lanes

 Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays at New Nostalgia 

I Made It Without My Hubby at Shanty 2 Chic

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

 Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Creative Share Wednesday at The Trendy Treehouse

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Me a versatile blogger???

I’ve been honored with the Versatile Blogger award by Melissa at Mel Dreams Often and Chris at Us and Them.

Thank you Melissa and Chris, I’m honored.

Ok, I’m not always the best rule follower and this award comes with a few rules.  Also the rules seems to have changed or at least the ‘rules’ that came with each award are a bit different.  I guess the ‘rules’ may change as it is passed on, maybe sort of like the ‘telephone’ game I played when I was younger…. what the last person said was not always what the first person said to pass on..

I’ll try to comply with the rules as they came to me today….

1 - Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post. 

2 - Tell us seven things about yourself.

3 - Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers

4 -Contact these bloggers and let them know they’ve received their award

One… done – thanks again Melissa.

Two… 1. I’ve been blogging for about a year.

2. I have 11, yep 11, sisters.

3.  I have one brother.  Some people say poor him but hey, I don’t think he ever had hand me downs. :)

4.  I’m the ‘baby’ of the thirteen of us.

5.  I’m currently watching the Amazing race.  Thank you DVR.  I love watching but don’t think I’d like to be on it.

6.  Besides 5 months I spent in Norway on an exchange trip I’ve always lived in Minnesota.

7.  I'm what you would probably call 'under-employed', working very part time, looking for a full time job.

Three…This one is a bit tough but as I don’t always follow or note new blogs that I like.  Sometimes I seem to ‘find’ a new blog over and over but don’t always follow it.  I kind of like discovering it all anew each time I follow links to them but here goes.  I’ll try to keep adding as I note some new blogs I like.

1. http://thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com/  - I love the April idea board, lots of fab ideas.

2. http://www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com/ – Ashley loves her Peeps, if you do too you gotta check out all her Peep ideas. 

3. http://mama-says-sew.blogspot.com/ – This girl can sew.  I recently described myself as a 'reluctant’ sewer.  There are just so many great ideas out there that I have to become a sewer to do some of them.

4.http://trophyw.blogspot.com/ She crafts, cooks and sews wonderful things.

5.http://cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com/ Another great site with crafts as well as food.  Be sure to check out her craft area makeover.

I’m stopping at 5 nominations tonight but will keep adding sites.

6. http://craftberrybush.blogspot.com/  Lucy's blog is one that I keep re-discovering.  I mean you gotta love a dollar store basket turned vintage look milk bottle holder.

7.  http://maluukkonen.blogspot.com/  Missy at the Little Green Bean has some serious crafting skills.  I can't belive I just found her blog.

8.  http://christyrobbins.blogspot.com/  Christy has it all, crafts, food and travel.

9.

10.

Thanks,  June

Coffee bag pouch

One nice thing in my town for a crafty and thrifty gal is our SCRAPS shop.  SCRAPS is St. Cloud Recycled Art Project Shop.  It is just that, a ‘shop’ of items that can be ‘recycled’ into art projects, and it’s all free.  Yep, a thrifty crafters best four letter word, free.

You can donate or pick up items that can be used for crafts.  I’ve donated some supplies I’ve had and items that I saved for ‘one day’ and decided that that day might not come for me.  It is a place to donate those things that you might look at and think that someone can make something with this.  Whether it is yogurt containers, egg cartons, fabric scraps, buttons, beads, plastic, paper, wallpaper, tea tins, foam, patterns or just about anything else you might imagine, it might just be there.

I went the other day hoping for some bubble wrap and just to see what was there as I haven't been there for months.  I lucked out and found one piece of bubble wrap and then  I saw a bunch of Starbucks Coffee bags.

My heart raced with the possibilities.

I just knew I needed to do something with them.  I wasn’t sure what I would make with them but knew I would have fun trying to figure out what to make with them.  The people in the shop asked what I was going to make and I said I wasn’t really sure, maybe a bag of some sort but I knew I needed to take a few to see what I could make with them.

I went searching for bag patterns but wasn’t really happy with anything I found.  I remembered that I had some zippers I got last summer so I decided to make a zippered pouch.  After some searching for some zipper tutorials I finally decided that I should attempt to make a zippered bag.

This is the first bag I made.

I used four of the same bag so the pattern was the same front, back and on the inside.

I realized that it was really ‘crunchy’ and a bit too bulky to use the foil packet for both the outside and the inside lining.

For my second pouch I didn’t line it at all.  The front and back are the same, it is the top of the bag from the first pouch I made. 

I decided that I didn’t like the way the zipper turned out with a lining.  I didn’t like that you could see all of the zipper.

These are the latest two each from one bag.  One side has the top of the bag and the other has the bottom of the bag.

I lined these with some light cotton fabric I had also picked up for free.

You gotta love when you use items right after you pick them up.

I thought about making some smaller containers but wasn’t sure exactly what I pictured in my head would turn out so I made a relatively simple container from two bag.  For now it will hold the zippered pouches I made.

I’m thinking of taking them to an indoor flea market next weekend with a few of my sisters.  We are planning on selling some of our crafty items.  Any idea how I should price them? 

Mostly free/recycled materials and I’m sure my sewing skills leave something to be desired but I think the idea is fresh and original for this area.   At least I haven’t seen anything made from coffee bags around this area.

I’ll only have a few to sell and I would like to price them to sell but not completely give them away.   Really I would appreciate any ideas on how to price them.  I was thinking around $5 but I’m not really sure.  What would you pay?

Thanks,

June

Using up supplies….

I thought I would share a few more of the square cards that I’m becoming obsessed with.

I found some orange peachy colored metal frames in my stash supply and thought of the more muted colors of a pack of papers I had.

Although the flowers don’t match the frame I thought the papers and frames looked good together.

Again I used lots of layers, some scrappers floss and a small heart embellishment that was on a bracelet at one time.

 

These flowers and jewels all came in a pack together.  I think I used a few of the flowers on another card or two but decided to use all the jewels and the rest of the flowers on this card.

Sometimes it feels good to be able to use all of an item and throw away the package.  It makes me feel that maybe eventually I’ll use most, ok some, of my crafty hoard stash that I’ve been collecting for years.  I figure for each package that I use I must be that much closer to being organized… Ha, well a girl can dream.

Here’s to hoping you are using your supplies too.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

 Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Frugalicous Fridays at Finding Fabulous 

Hodgepodge Friday at It's a Hodgepodge Life

Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life 

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring 

Fabulous Finds at Frou Frou Decor 

Weekend Wrap Up at Tater Tots and Jello

 Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

 Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely

 Tools are for Women Too

 Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lanes

 Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays at New Nostalgia 

I Made It Without My Hubby at Shanty 2 Chic

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

 Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Creative Share Wednesday at The Trendy Treehouse

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts