Game On!
Dec 29, 2008 Home Improvement
Last week, my sister and I entered a little challenge to see who could paint their bedroom first. We both need a little motivation to see this project to the end. So the loser will be buying the winner a $25 gift certificate to IKEA.
Today I got my start. I bought some paint samples and plaster stuff to repair a few spots of plaster.
As you can tell we’re going for a stunning beige.
Our new quilt has plenty of color, and I don’t want the walls to compete with my work of art. I prefer the beige on the right. Ross prefers the beige on the left. Unfortunately it reminds me of really ugly foundation makeup. So it probably won’t happen. Sorry, Ross. Right now I think I’m going to go with one shade lighter of the beige on the right. The current color matches the carpet a little too closely. I need a little contrast in value between the walls and the carpet. Oh, I hate choosing paint colors. At least the ceiling will be easy, Ultra White.
Christmas 2008 Recap
Dec 28, 2008 Life
Let’s begin with a weather photo:
This is actually the day after Christmas from out front porch. However it could have been any other day over the past two weeks. Luckily I live in a city that has snow plows. They’ve been plenty busy.
When life didn’t revolve around the weather, it revolved around family, good food, movies, and a bit of computer time. For Christmas, Ross gave me Adobe CS4, a very nice gift. Now, I need to figure out how to use it all. Really it’s the gift that keeps on giving. It will take me more than a year to even begin to get a grasp on it all.
1. Ross and Echo, 2. Dad Starts the Cake, 3. Maddy and Rachel Finish the Bear Cake, 4. Gift Opening
Tomorrow, I return to work for a couple of days. Then I’ll be using my time to paint our bedroom. Good times for all.
A New Kitten
Dec 23, 2008 Life
Lately, I’ve been thinking that we need another cat. We had two who I adore. Yet I wanted another one. On Friday we adopted this sweet little girl:
She’s about 4 months old and very cuddly. Of course she had a cold when we got her. So she went to the vet yesterday for a quick check up and a prescription of antibodics. She doesn’t have a name yet. Ross thinks we shouldn’t rush this process. However when we do pick a name it will be a Greek Mythology name. It’s always good to have a naming process to narrow down all the possibilities.
A Mighty Fine Pencil Roll
Dec 15, 2008 Sewing
Last year I purchased, Last-minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. This year, I finally made a project from the book, the pencil roll. It will even be a Christmas gift for my niece. Since my niece doesn’t read my the blog, I can share this project on my blog.
I used linen for the outside and the pocket. My stash is big enough to provide plenty of matching colors for the pencil pockets. I followed the directions and used a flannel lining. This provided just the right amount of puff for the quilting.
For my next pencil roll, I’ll add either a blank space before the first and last pencil pocket or make the end pockets even bigger. Despite my best efforts the end pockets came up shorter than I’d like. Luckily for me, the pencils still fit. Also I wonder if I should have used markers instead of colored pencils. My niece is going on 10. I’m sure she’d rather have markers. Yet I think colored pencils are still fun. Now I just need to find a nice notebook to go with the pencils.
1. Fabric for Pencil Roll, 2. 24 Pencils, 3. The Complete Rainbow, 4. All Rolled Up
Hexagon Table Runner
Dec 15, 2008 A House is a Home, Sewing
All my little hexagons grew up into a table runner.
I’m happy with the result. I copied the placemat idea by placing the hexagons asymmetrically. The background fabric is a wool/rayon blend. In a moment of desperation, I purchased the wool at JoAnns. It wasn’t my first choice. The quality isn’t as high as I would have hoped for, but it’s better than polyester felt.
Originally, I planned on making matching place mats. Now I think that it would a bit of any overkill. When we have dinner, I’ll use a nice red table cloth. Now I need to decide what I should do with all my extra hexagons. I enjoyed piecing the hexagons, and I have a bag full of hexagons.
Here’s the table runner in all it’s glory:
Update Blog Software. Check!
Dec 11, 2008 Techy Stuff
I know you’re all dying to read about me updating my blog software. It’s exciting stuff. It all started with me deciding that before I could update my theme, I needed to update the software to support all the new fancy widget and such. I use WordPress hosted on bluehost. As a service, bluehost provides WordPress installation via scripts. Unfortantely for me I was behind on my upgrades. Upgrade path included:
- Upgrading to 2.6.5 via Fantastico
- Switching from Fantastico script installer to Simple Scripts
- Upgrading from 2.6.5 to 2.7 (released today)
The upgrade went better than I could imagine. My blog is up and running. I like the new admin interface. Now I just need design a new theme. Fun stuff.
