Sunday, February 13, 2011



Alright craftees, are you sitting down? You're on your pcs, of course you're sitting down. Anyways, get this; I got crafty this weekend! I know, did it rain? Nope, not even a snow day. I have been trying to keep my projects simple though, and practical and for my workspace. Also, all projects have been stash busters, which has helped make space in the space. I made a table skirt out of a really pretty thrifted duvet and a dust cover for my serger but I haven't pictures of those yet. What I do have a is a picture of a bulletin board cover I did. I'd like to think it is pretty cool and kind of mod. Not your usual ribbon board, but I'll let yo be the judge.

I have made the ribbon boards, and there are some pretty ones out there but I wanted something different. I didn't want just fabric and tacks but sometimes ribbons just don't cut it. So I wrapped some cork pieces laying around (From the aforementioned ribbon board) in the same fabric and black, then attached them with upholstery tacks. Easy peasy. I have also covered a lampshade but have yet to take final pics of it or hang it. It is on the to do list though.

Last week the entries were all so wonderful! Below is just a sample of the fabulousness of last week.

Shauna of His Frugal Servant baked this delicious looking "Hint O' Cocoa" bundt cake. Visit here for the full recipe broken down to steps and with a few notes. I know I will be making this one!

This gorgeous workspace is also part family space and was created by Heidi of Budget Wise Home. I cannot believe she shares this space with her boys! To see more great pictures visit the post here.

Amy of Flexible Dreams made this a-freakin'dorable batch of "Nilla Girls". Omgoodness, have you seen anything cuter? If you can handle the cute, visit her blog here for more pictures.

Wow, busy little bees you have been! Now, time to show us what you have been baking, embroidering, painting, scrapbooking! (You know and all the other great stuff you have been up to!) I managed to wrangle up a thumbnail linky for the occasion. I hope that you will visit eachother and leave some good bloggy karma in the form of comments! As usual, here are some buttons, I would love it if you shared them but it is not necessary to play the game! Have fun and get crafty!



 



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wednesday on Wednesday

Someone has been painting up a storm! I know that I am her mom, but sometimes I think Wednesday is better with a paint brush than I some grown ups are with pencil and paper. And it is true, the adage practice makes perfect because every time she picks up a paint brush she wows me more than before.


Almost as fun as the painting itself, dispensing the paint herself in incredibly important to the process.


You half expect to see the tongue sticking out she is so focused.


She's all smiles while she paints. She said her favourite part of painting is "Making the colours and boys and girls. That is my favourite part."


Right now she is on a mermaid kick and asks The Mister and I too paint her mermaids to copy. This is her version of a mermaid, I was blown away.


This one is my favourite though, it is a rocket ship, and I'll be darned if it isn't a fantastic one at that!


Lately Wednesday has been on a poster paint kick, but most often we keep a water colour set with water and brushes out like most people use crayons. Wednesday can colour in the lines like nobody's business. She is slower and more deliberate with a paint brush than with a crayon. I was going to show you some colouring book pages she has done but it seems she has ripped them all out to give to the neighbor as a gift.

What is your child's colouring medium of choice? Markers, crayons or paint?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

My Crafty Weekend


Happy Monday! There has been much going on here; much organizing, much photoshopping and much scratching ideas into my notebook. I finally have some teaser photos of my craft/sewing area. For your viewing pleasure I present to you a small series of colour.
fat quarter shelf
This is my vintage pillowcase and fat quarter shelf. (Although there are a couple pairs of fabulously printed pajama pants tucked in there as well.)
ribbon shelf
Since my first love was scrapbooking, and my new love is sewing, I have amassed a fabulously huge ribbon collection as this is but a sample.
spool drawer
I have since moved my spools to yet another drawer so that I could fit the black, white and neutral threads as well but isn't the colour wonderful?


And I think most of you either know about or have noticed the new blog changes. Complete with newly made painkalicious buttons! As with my first buttons, the old ones will continue to be hosted so don't worry about little image error messages on your sidebars and posts. But for those of you who enjoy the new look please feel free to replace the old buttons.




Two absolutely fabulous links from last week have the same punches of red but are for two completely different holidays.

This stunning bit of red awesomeness was made by Steph of Silly Precious Piggies (Not to be confused with Three Little Piggies!) and I just love it. It is a faux firework wall decoration for Lunar New Year. The 'firecrackers' are filled with goodies. I love it, and that rabbit is adorable! You can read the entire tutorial here.

Another gorgeous bit of red, this time made for Valentine's day by
Alright folks. It is your turn again. Show me what you have been building, painting, baking and sewing. Also, since I cannot find a linky tool service that offers free thumnail linky tools this week it will be a text only link event. I will visit every link though I promise.


Saturday, February 5, 2011

Please Mind The Mess

Source.

Those of you who read me via a feed reader or Facebook have probably not noticed the changes going on over the last few days. But for those of you who come visit the blog directly, please mind the mess. I am trying my best to freshen up this place but it can be tricky.I want to change it, but I liked the old layout. I want to ad sponsors but I don't want them to take over. I want to add some graphics but where is the 'too busy' line?  I think I have found a nice balance though. I hope? Please feel free to give me your constructive criticisms or compliments!

Speaking of sponsors, yes I have sold out. But in a good way...kind of. I thought maybe I could begin bartering ad space. I haven't really figured out how that would work but I liked the idea. I also love supporting the handmade industry and the ads in my sidebar are from such businesses so please go visit them. If you would like to see your 125x125px ad in my sidebar give me a shout (There are a few links in my sidebar you can use to reach me.) and I am sure we can figure something out!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

About Us...Right Now

This is me. My name is Melissa, Missy to most. I am the incredibly fortunate stay at home mama to Wednesday and wife to Ron (AKA The Mister).  I am a coffee loving, Supernatural watching, zombie fearing crafter in my early thirties. I have a bazillion interests but primarily I adore creating (particularly sewing) and natural living. I am also a fairly apt baker if I do say so myself. I am a patriotic Canadian to the core living in South Eastern Ontario (Belleville to those familiar with the geography.) Here in my corner of the blogosphere you will posts on sewing, crafting, baking with a little gardening (coming soon) and every now and then an editorial piece. Please grab a coffee (because you know I have one!) or tea if that is your pleasure and poke around, and if you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me via any of the links in my sidebar.

Wednesday is my three year old daughter and I am able to type, sew, craft, read, cook and bake "Until Wednesday Calls". She is my reason for waking in the morning. I love her to bits and pieces. She is a diva all the way. She loves to play dress up, perform for friends and family (And the odd strangers at the bus stop), she loves her Barbie dolls and making them dress up and perform. She is rarely seen imitating domestic activity but positively glows when using glue and glitter. She is a three-nager and sometimes you can hear our battle of wills in the next room but the self discovery (both hers and mine) is worth more than all the coffee in Columbia tea in China. I post recent photos of her every Wednesday in a weekly post called Wednesday on Wednesday. Sometimes it is a simple photo and other times it is a short photo essay about her, but always it is a super tenderhearted moment here.


Ron AKA The Mister. He is the reason I can be a stay at home mom taking care of Wednesday and the house. He is also one of the most wonderful people I know. I have yet to meet anyone quite as generous of both self and possessions. He is also a skilled carpenter and artist. We bonded over coffee (no joke) and it continues to keep us together (We have a rule in our house: No talky talky before the coffee drinky drinky.) . He is our provider, our mechanic, our comic relief and all around Captain Awesome.

Even in hard times I know that we are a blessed family to have each other and I am most thankful.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

My Crafty Weekend



First off, I would just like to say thank you for all the well wishes we have been receiving. It has been a tumultuous time for us as a afamily, what with all the snot, coughing and just general wretchedness. But we are very near our usual superhuman 100% and business in the Sweet houshold has returned to what passes for normal. So thank you, for both the sympathetic vibes and your understanding.

But enough about the mucus and germs, lets talk crafty stuff. Did I mention my craft area is all but operational? Oh yes, as soon as I had even the remotest amount of energy I spent it unpacking, organizing, sorting, and arranging. Wash, rinse, repeat. For serious folks. Some things, I must have unpacked and rearranged three or four times. You know when you unpack something and you 'think' you have found the perfect spot for it, that is until you unpack the next thing and that spot you just filled would in fact be perfect for the item you have in front of you. Yeah. That happened a lot for me. Not tom mention, the five shelf bookcase of books I had to relocate so that I could relocate a couple hundred DVDs. For serious. But, whatever. My point is (and I do have one) that my craft space is almost operational, and by operational I mean that all of my fabric and supplies have been unpacked, organized and arranged. My sewing machine is in my sewing table. All that is missing is a counter top, but I have that in the works, it is just a matter of sweet talking the hubby into actually procurring it for me. I am hoping to have pics (and projects) to share with you this week. :)

Blah blah blah until the pictures come though right? Ok, well, how about pictures of your stuff? Yes? Ok.

Allie, of What Allie's Making shares some pictures of an absolutely darling Valentine decor piece. So simple too. She made hers out of wood, but I bet painted box board or papier mache letters would work just as well. You can visit the post here for more photos.

Marissa of Threaded Together made the care package above for her deployed hubby. He's on an aircraft carrier so she made magnetic Valentines to send. So cute, Visit the blog post to read about it and get the instructions to make your own.

Ms. Muffin of Muffins and More made this adorable hooded scarf. She has a great post about the trials and tribulations of making your own patterns. Luckily it all worked out though. To read more or see more pictures, visit the blog post here.

Some wonderful stuff. Lots of handmade goodies for the holidays. What have you been up to recently? Been baking? I haven't baked anything in a few weeks (But to be fair I baked a sponge cake with a butterscotch and berry reduction AND a banana cream pie (from scratch sooo good) in the same weekend.) Been sewing? Or scrapbooking? I have unpacked all of my scrapbooking supplies and now...well, I am kind of overwhelmed it has been over a year since I have done a layout. Definitely intimidated but I'm working up to it. Whatever you have been up to,you simply must share it! Since there is only two weeks until Valentine's day, I am going to link up my Valentine projects from last year. I had went a bit crazy last year, but I can't help it. I even have a bunch of ideas for this year (but will I be able to execute them in a timely fashion?).Remember, buttons are optional but please please visit the link before you to leave some good bloggy karma in the form of an encouraging comment!


     
          

Monday, January 24, 2011

My Crafty Weekend : Sick Kid Edition

Good afternoon folks. I hope your weekend was full of nice weather, good times and of course fabulous crafting. Remember the sick little babe I posted a picture of last week? Well, she is still sick and I have bee just as, if not worse. So today forgive me if I don't post any featured photos? I will of course post the link up and I encourage you to visit each other's links and leave a note of encouragement. Link everything up that you have been working on, and if you want you can re-add the links from last week feel free, actually I encourage it. Especially some of those recipes I haven't had a chance to peruse yet. Okay, my sinuses are aching, I must go.


     
          

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wednesday on Wednesday

My sleeping babes
This picture was taken yesterday when Wednesday took herself to bed for an unscheduled nap. The kitten beside her is our newest family addition; Dinah. This is a rare moment of her resting. We have all been hit with colds this season. Wednesday and I are on our second round already which is nearly unheard of for us. So today is I'll just be hanging out on the couch watching movies with Wednesday and sleeping when she does!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I Tumble For You...

Hello! With the onset of my new obsession (DIY Storage) I realized I needed more than Google bookmarks to help save. Mostly because I wanted to share as well. Not every idea comes from a blog post and I found a way to save, share and comment on all of my favourite storage solutions.



Storage geek Screenshot

Enter The Storage Geek at tumblr.com! Yes, I have started yet another blog, but this one is so much fun! I can post to it at total random and since it is primarily a photo type blogging tool individual credit for every photo and blog post(if applicable) is given by tumblr itself. I love it.

I haven't a fancy button for it yet but if you click on any link in this post that says The Storage Geek you will be taken to the tumblog. Also, I have no idea how to comment on individual posts yet. Thanks to both Google and Disqus I was able to add comments to each individual post! I am still totally learning.

I thought I would share though! Do you tumblr? Leave a comment with your tumblog and I'll follow you!

Cheers ♥

Monday, January 17, 2011

My Crafty Weekend


Happy Monday Crafties! I hope your weekend was wonderful. We have mixed reviews from here at Wednesday Central. I threw my neck out, The Mister came down with something on his birthday and yet we rounded out the week(end) with a small dinner with close family. Whew, wish we had had more energy (and less pain) to celebrate but I think The Mister had a good birthday. I was the wrangler/cook/baker of the festivities so I hadn't time for pictures but I might be able to wrangle up one or two this week.
I wish I had a picture of the banana cream pie I made (The birthday boy`s request) and it was amazing. Amazing. I'll be making another soon complete with recipe. Mmmm pie.

You creations last week were wonderful! The following are just a sample, don't forget to visit your fellow bloggers and leave a note of encouragement.

I absolutely adore this faux stained glass plastic Christmas jar turned apothecary jar done by Erin of Luck & Bliss. Seriously, it is so easy, so clever and so cute it almost hurts. For the full how to and a hard-to-believe before pic visit this post at her blog.

The talented seamstress Donna of Comin' Home shows you how to create a lovely three paneled shower curtain with French seams. To see how to make your own, visit the tutorial.

And before you think that I forgotten Valentine's Day is coming up here is a great piece of word art by Bonnie of Somewhere in Craftland. I love the creativity behind finding letters around the home. I think I might even be able to make one of these for The Mister with my limited craft space. To make one yourself visit her blog.

And now it is your turn again lovelies! Did you bake anything this weekend? Sew? Scrapbook? Paint? Show us what you have created recently (Or not so if you are new) and don't forget to visit the link before yours to leave a note of encouragement!