what's on the drawing board

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Since the closet mess and the party flag mess is all put away it is time to treat myself to junk robot mess. I've been collecting stuff for a year now. With a recent windfall of junk I now have more than enough to make a few junk robot sculptures. My ever ready assistant John has helped take a few things apart. And my poison control expert Phil has advised how to empty and wash out little containers marked POISON. More on this as some little robots start to emerge.

 

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I am currently engrossed in Cooking Doodles. And there might also be a Cooking Doodles Too. With the amount of detail in my drawings I can only get about 30 illustrations in one font. Since there are so many things to draw I may end up with a 2 font family. This is quite fun and moving along nicely.

 

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Also started is Nautical Doodles. And...

 

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Beach Doodles. While I am working on Cooking Doodles I am generally just thinking about these last two. If there is an image you need in any of these categories please leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

So what is on your drawing board these days?

 

 

DIY party flags!

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It was a DIY kind of Winter weekend. John reworked our main floor closet and I made party flags. A good division of labor.

Because we only have circular stairs odd things are in odd places. This closet holds my portable sewing machine and sewing supplies because this is the floor I sew on. What little sewing I do that is. And I had 2 rolls of fabric too. I do not decorate for individual holidays but I have wanted some party flags. Michael's had a bin of cheap ribbon so this whole project cost me $2. The ribbon was 3 yards each. I made a pendent pattern and cut out 12 flags from the scrap material. I did not finish any edges and just sewed them onto the ribbon. The polka dot fabric was especially nice and has a bit of an oilcloth finish. The squiggly pattern is a polished cotton so I think they will hold up well. If not I have a lot more fabric and can easily whip up more as needed. Can't wait for a Summer cookout to use these. I will use them outside our front door or inside. Versatile.

 

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For a condo we have a fair amount of closets. This closet was organized with bins and held a lot of creative paper products, art files etc. until the washer dryer went in above this closet and leaked and everything was a sodden mess. That was several years ago. After that the closet just became a catch-all. A water stained catch-all.

 

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John suggested we rework the closet in one weekend. Done. That is how he likes to do something. I am more inclined to chip away at something with lots of pausing to think and rethink. But who wants to prolong the pain of a closet redo? We had some left over white paint which freshened things up and replaced the old gray paint with water stains. And we ran to Target and got 6 bins. I now have good organization for mittens, scarves, hats, and bag. Lots of bags. These aren't even all my bags, just the ones in use now.

 

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One weekend. New organized closet. And party flags.

And now I get to set up a table and bring out all the junk I've been collecting to make junk robot sculptures. More mess. More fun.

 

(And Rhonda the closet redo was prompted by you! Thanks. Barby you really should make some banners for all of your birthday parties. I am sure you have lots of fabric scraps.)

DIY notecards

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i send a monthly mailing to my friend Nita. In another life we worked together and I ran the advertising department and she ran the credit department and our company lived by our weekly mailings. It had sales figures, that week's ad, signing info, etc. So now I send her a much more fun monthly packet of stuff. It usually includes a paperback, a letter and I know she likes stationary so I try to include something.

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I recently ordered these little one page scalloped cards from Paper Source.

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I had nice colored envelopes from my card making so I lettered her name at the top of the cards and added a colored envelope and volia, you are done! If you don't have mad lettering skills you could stamp something or make a little collage, whatever strikes your fancy. Envelopes also come from Paper Source and are of a nice quality. That is good because Nita only likes nice things.

 

bathroom remodel

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Drum roll please... here is our renovated main floor half bath. It has been a 2 month DIY project. My part is to have the vision, source the things needed and get them. John has the much bigger part where he learns the skills needed and executes the plan. And he did a fabulous job.

The mirror came from Crate&Barrel years ago and was in our bedroom. I often use something in one room and then move it to another.

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These are the sinks in all 3 of our bathrooms. Circa early 1970s. While still sturdy and usable they are dated and showing wear. The worst one was in this bathroom. It never looked or felt clean no matter how we scrubbed.

John tore the sink and cabinet out and put it on the curb during a week of off and on snow. And someone came along and took it. We were delighted. He took the mirror to the ReStore. They were happy to get it and we were happy to take a tax deduction.

Our new sink mounted on the wall so we needed some matching tile for the empty space where the bigger sink was. John learned to lay ceramic tile and did a perfect job. We scored matching ceramic tiles at the ReStore. We bought all they had since we have a lot of this tile. John found someone who cut the tile for him.

Next came painting. Two charcoal gray walls, two white walls and new white trim. In March Ace Hardware had Free Quart Saturday so we got our wall paint for free. The trim paint was outrageously expensive but went on beautifully. We did have a $35 Bucky Book coupon for part of one gallon.

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We did have our guy Scott come in and rework the plumbing for the sink. It has two drawers and is from IKEA. The shiny white cabinet will someday match the kitchen and buffet cabinetry. IKEA sinks have plastic pipes which lay flat against the wall. So Scott reconfigured the old metal pipes so John could attach the new plastic ones once the sink was installed. Since the sink mounts on the wall John had to reinforce the wall. We are still looking for some simple feet to put under the sink just in case someone ever decides to sit on the edge.

This is an average small half bath. Putting a smaller sink in gives the illusion of the room being bigger. And I like that. Plus instead of just one empty space under the sink I have 2 nice, far more useable drawers.

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Added a simple IKEA hook to hold the hand towel.

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I then hand painted the dots using the slightly shiny trim paint. Did not take much time as they are kind of bloby dots, quick and easy.

And I finally framed and hung two collages I made probably 6 years ago. I am delighted with our major Winter project. Happy to have it done as Winter is ending and happy to have a fresh new bathroom.

 

iron on transfers

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Don't these look like fun? I've never used iron on transfers but am going to learn. When our first grand baby arrived 2 years ago I knit a series of cute little baby hats. Baby #2 is on his way. Since I've already done the hat thing I was trying to figure out something new. I think I will buy little white Onesies and decorate them with these fun decals.

And I can make a couple white shirts for big brother too.