Winter is Coming

Hello. My name is Ashley and I am a blog slacker.  

Sorry for the confession, but boy I really have been so slackin'.  The days and weeks have just gone by so quickly and next thing I knew it'd been like a month since the last post!  le sigh

So I actually had a wild Thanksgiving week.  The weekend before was the TAEA (Tx Art Educators Association) Conference and it was so fun! I got to see some old college (and high school) friends and learn some neat new tricks for art teaching (and art doing).  It was supposed to ice in Dallas, which of course didn't happen, but nonetheless I decided to stay the week and it was fun hanging out back at home.  

The husband and I enjoyed 3 deliciously large thanksgiving meals and lots of chats with family.  We also came home with a fried turkey in freezer bags for future dinners.  If you haven't had fried turkey, then you have never lived!  Do yourself a favor...inject one now...fry it...now!

After returning to ATX, I got straight to Christmas decorating! THE BEST time of year.  Take a little glimpse into our first Christmas in the new home.  

And because I couldn't bear to put away that Pam Garrison felt garland, I've added it to the dining room decor.

And I just noticed the stunning colors of the ripening fruit & peppers from the garden.  Basically, evidence of the last harvest before the next freeze (if we get those in Austin, I don't know exactly).

Here is a sneak peek of the art I've been working on lately.  

Check back tomorrow for a closer look at these little projects.  

Heart Bird

I had some time today to work on watercolor paintings.  Made me want to revive my print making schemes.  Anyone have recommendations on how/where to get prints made?  If I'm gonna resell, I don't want them to be super expensive, yet I'm not fully committed to buying a new printer right now.  Research has shown that laser jet is not ideal for art prints, which of course is what we finally got!

Had to snap a shot of Dr. PH martins concentrated watercolor.  The colors are insanely vivid.  I just love to look at that hot pink and orange!

Little bird on Aquabord.  Love these little boards!

I have my first sub job in the new district tomorrow for middle school English.  Should be interesting I'm sure! Goodnight all.

Craft Weekend

Wow. What a weekend! 4 of my girlfriends drove down to Austin to visit for a couple days filled with crafting and loads of delicious treats.  One of the gals' boyfriend also came and hung out with my husband, so the poor guy wouldn't be stuck in the house with 6 women all weekend long.  (They went shooting at the gun range and ate macaroni covered hot dogs. So manly.)

On Friday night the gals drove into town and Saturday morning we were up and at em brunchin' and  craftin'.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but alas, there was just no time for that between glue gun burns and countless hashtag jokes.  Silly ladies that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

I prepared a trio of crafts

1.   Faux Snow Globe

2.  Holiday (or non holiday) Wreath

3.  Oven Bake Clay Gift Tags.

We've all seen the faux snow globe, and seriously it is unbelievably easy.  You do not have to be crafty at all to complete this one.  My friend was supposed to take step by step pics in true DIY fashion...but I totally forgot about it.  I took it from a pinterest search, so check out THIS blog for a description.  Here are our results!

*Note the one morbid bloody jar. "A Walking Dead" Christmas. Even the people are painted green!

*Materials: Walmart-  Mini tree (.75 ea.), fake snow (2.50 bag),irredescent & gold glitter (2.77 ea.)                                     Mason jars (12/10.00)

                  Dollar Tree- Mini figurines (3/1.00)

We took a break after this craft to attend a church craft show down the street and then jumped into the felt flower wreath. Also found on pinterest and seen on THIS blog.  This lady said she did it under $6. I'm pretty sure I spent about the same, except I had lots of felt at home, so we added more flowers. If you search pinterest for felt flowers, you can find various ideas to add texture.  Tapping into my art teacher ways, I made little explanation cards for my guests for easy reference.

*Materials: Walmart- Wreath (3.47), 

                  Hobby Lobby- Felt (4/1.00)

We opted out of the last craft to spend time with the boys eating pizza and playing blackjack outside. We will save that one for our next craft night. This was such an amazingly lively weekend and I loved hosting my lady friends!  I sent them off with a parting gift house plant, to remind them of all the silliness and laughter we shared on their trip.

I look forward to many more to come!

Kitchen Redo (ish)

Hello blog world! Today I have been slaving away on home improvement shenanigans. It's a love-hate relationship really.  I cannot WAIT to get this house aesthetically up to par, buuuuuut I also know it's going to be full of trial and many many errors before I resolve all the visual problems.  Being a DIY-er (and a frugal penny pincher, well.. on some things) I have tried to be budget friendly and stick to not hiring people to do things I am fully capable of.  In other words, painters, landscapers, electricians... well, that's a job for my dad.  Nevertheless, do it yourself home improvements are fun and rewarding, but challenging for a beginner.

So, here is some progress on our new home kitchen cabinetry.  Or simple painting, for all you pros :)

I was scared the paint department wouldn't be able to mix a match to the spray paint I'm using for my cabinet doors, so I thought I would attempt the spray paint for all of it. It was going okay, even though I couldn't breathe.  Unfortunately, I am not great at spray painting perfectly smooth and even, SO I had to swing back up to Lowe's and grab some paint.  They mixed a pretty close match. A little darker, but shouldn't be noticeable :)

 

still a little wet here

And again, when you don't ever wear shoes, be prepared for the results!  

Don't forget to bag up any extra paint you don't use.  It's always good the next day! waste not, want not!  That is....if you can find a plastic bag.  (in our city, the ordinance is no plastic bags allowed, so we don't get any at target or kroger.  reusable or paper only!)

As Chance would say, "Ooooh I found a prized possession"

More to come on my other endeavors of ceramics and daily life :)

A little clay day

Today has been superb! I just have to say!  It has been a real winner.

Firstly, I had bible study fellowship this morning, which has already been a huge blessing.  Our multigenerational & multicultural group is just full of knowledge and experience.   I also met a girl in my group that just moved to Austin too!  She actually knows some people that I know from home....meant to be!  We are meeting next week for lunch. :)

Feeling great about the day, I came home to prepare my art goods and work on some clay projects. And then, well, the power went out.  Luckily hand building uses zero electricity!  Here are some images of my day in a nutshell, including some of my new critters.

Blue bird, blue bird

As I am unpacking some previously made art, I came across this little guy 

and he just really brightened my morning! I hope he does the same for you. 

Kitchen redo

Whewee people!  I have been outrageously busy! I haven't been avoiding my blog, but simply have been in a whirlwind of a move into our new home!  I am so excited to get things ready here and make this place our own!  A small bit has already been transformed, as I tackled the biggest feat yet, the kitchen wallpaper spectacle. And a spectacle it was!  Some people might love dainty floral patterns or, in our case, tiny bunches of fruit, but that is not our style.  Call us "youngins" but we are over the wallpaper!  Bring out the paint!!

We are planning on painting the cabinetry a dark blue-gray (same color as the table legs and chairs in This post on a DIY table re-do). The wall color is undetermined until we get the cabinets completed, but we just could not stand to keep that wallpaper around for a moment longer. So I set off on my first wall paper removal adventure.  And it really wasn't too bad, considering the horror stories I received beforehand.

And sometimes you need to stand on the countertops to get what ya gotta get!

Also, I never wear shoes, which is highly unsafe.

And finally, after lots of gooey fingers and wallpaper stripper dripped down my arms, I have torn off ALL of the fruity paper.  I did get a bit OCD behind the fridge and insisted on removing all of it even though no one will ever see it.  I....would always....know!

(Hey! these are the finished chairs & tabletop from the DIY post.)

One last tidbit of fun, just because I love my critters.

Stay tuned for the "after" shot of all that kitchen redo goodness!  :)