We Made This…

Creative Self, Making

My husband and I made this gate. We’d needed a new gate for years, our old one was falling apart, the hinges were  barely hanging on, and we’d thought it had had enough of our Midwest winters and that we wouldn’t get through the next one. Having one huge project in one summer is a lot on anyone’s plate, let alone two! We’d built the new garden at the beginning of the season, and this gate was finishing out the summer. I won’t go into all the details about what we’d done, but feel free to ask me any specific questions in the comments!

Getting the 12′ posts set was one of the hardest things on this project, primarily because we had to take out the old posts. What a bear!

img_2222

img_2225

After building the gate frame for both sides and fence pickets sandwiched in the middle, my husband installed the insert. There’s a template, but it’s a little confusing, and it asked for a 9/16″ drill bit, which is odd. Just ask for 1/2″! Still, that’s the size you need… ; )

img_2270

The pergola for the top was actually easier than it looks, but there is a lot of measuring and cutting. We wanted to keep the end cuts simple. Easy for me, because I didn’t get up on the ladder. Thankful the Mr. had no problem with it!

img_2272

img_2147

img_2148

We decided to only replace the fence on one side…

img_2276

And, to have a ninebark on the other side, between the post and the house. From a design perspective, I wanted a softer edge instead of a fence on both sides of the gate. With such heavy wood taking up two thirds of the space, we needed something to give the eye a rest, and to incorporate the structure into the yard. We didn’t want it to look like a fortress! ; )

img_2218

Our house number is the next project, stained glass mosaic. You can bet I’ll be posting those pix too!

img_2183

img_2197

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Creative Self, Curiosities, Illustration

May the 4th (Star Wars pun not intended) was the last piece I’d posted before our summer vacation started at the end of May. Our district is done before Memorial Day, and they had their first day back yesterday. We spent a lot of days reading (naturally we did the Summer Program through the library), evenings at the bookstore,

IMG_0112

cooked, vacationed (along the way I’d met up with one of my clients, and quick FYI, this was rootbeer, from Sprecher’s),

IMG_1558

IMG_1555

saw some barn quilts, took in some fireworks,

IMG_1117

IMG_1184

We really enjoyed Stranger Things and cannot WAIT for the second season! Speaking of stranger things, our older son has been writing for an online magazine, at 14, about comics, film and television (everything he loves). I can’t believe it, we’re so proud of him!

IMG_1569

canned, knitted (some for a hospital, some for friends and fam), sewed (some for RARE Science, some for friends and fam).

IMG_0638

IMG_1596

IMG_1108

IMG_0849

IMG_0241

Drew, a lot,

IMG_1376

celebrated birthdays, cooked some more, attended the county faire,

IMG_1622

IMG_2007

IMG_1828

and just all around have had a lovely summer! We are looking forward to Autumn though, with all its fab color, crisp nights, sunny days, and again with more of the cooking. I’ve heard there’s a pumpkin shortage coming, but each year we’re overwhelmed with them, I think being the number one producer and exporter of pumpkins skews our perspective a bit!

I did make a video of the process and progress of our garden, from May to present. The beds will also be “hoop houses” so we need to still attach more pipe to the sides, get the smaller pipes for the hoops, and I need to make the covers…

Music is Ghosts ‘n Goblins by Thiaz Itch under Creative Commons. Hope you’ve all enjoyed your summer, will post more soon!

a : )

Cute Lil Oil Cloth Art Bag!

Creative Self, Making, Print & Patternwork

Happy Friday!

I wanted to share this cute lil art bag I’d made for a very dear friend (a very late birthday prez), from oil cloth, grosgrain, and a jean jacket (I save all my denim)! I love making things for my friends. They’re each so unique, that I like to give something showing them how much I appreciate that they’re in my life, and a gift that no one else would have. The stone fruit fabrics were part of a theme as I’d sent a little cookbook using stonefruit for the seasons in pies and galettes. I tried to make the pom zipper pull to match the dotted grosgrain at the bottom. Hope all her pencils fit!

IMG_9959

IMG_9960

IMG_9961

IMG_9973

IMG_9975

RARE Bear Army

Creative Self, Making, Print & Patternwork

Last week, I’d finished my RARE Bear and sent him off to be stuffed and given to a very courageous kid. I’d found out about this organization through Spoonflower, as they’d had a “sew in” in March. Volunteers sewed up these cute little bears for children who have diseases which, not only is there no cure, but not researched because they’re so rare and the funding just isn’t put into treatments. Click on RARE Bear Army if you’d like to help the cause!

IMG_9958

IMG_9946

IMG_9948

IMG_9950

IMG_9956