Scrapwood Bench

A scrap-wood bench....I have many in our home!  If I ask Mark to make anything, he will---I just need to draw out what I want, or give him an "inspiration" picture.  The picture below is about 3 years old, but it's the only one I could find quickly of the bench without spending hours on my computer searching!  (NOTE TO SELF:  Please try harder to tag your photos!!!  This makes it so much easier when looking for a particular photo!) 

(This was in 2008-my mother meeting my granddaughter, Ellie,

her great-granddaughter for the first time!)

What I really wanted in this bench was a sort of scalloped bench "skirt".  I love how Mark made it.  I painted it antique white, then simply wiped a blue shade of paint on all the edges.  Although this is a bench, I'm always used it for books.  Right now it's in our guest room with my Bible study books. It gets moved around our home once or twice a year.

(John Mark was so little...and so blond!)

We bought (cheap) a bundle of scrapwood from a little sawmill down the road. I've got so many ideas of things to make with this wood.  I've made totes and my rustic signs already, but have more things planned.  I never turn down wood!

Then of course I'll mention our headboard benches now.  We've made at least five of these, using the headboard and footboard (cut in half) of old twin beds.  This is the only picture I could find quickly, agian without a full-scale computer search!  I have one bench that I always use to when I photograph signs I've made.

Here's one of our outdoor benches, (photo from last year).  We didn't make this one! It's made of redwood and is about 13 years old. The children love to play on it.

(from 2010)

Have a wonderful and day, even if it's raining as it is here!

  Blessings, Heidi

Linked to Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphis Monday here.



Pinterest: Better than Flickr, or a magazine or Google image search!

My Pinterest page...

I had read about this a while back, but yesterday I jumped in and joined thanks to Between Naps on the Porch's personal invitation....I joined and I'm hooked!  It took me a little bit to figure the whole thing out, but I'm slowly getting there!

For an image-graphic-picture-thinking sort of girl like me, (I think I am even a image-hoarder) this site fits me to a "t"!  Now, instead of saving anything I find online to my "favorites", OR even worse yet, printing out pictures using all my printer ink, I can just click "PinIt" to pin to one my Pinterest boards.   I tell you....you can find some fun photos here...

(from Pinterest)

Oh, another bonus is by using this site, I don't have to feel so guilty for being so inspired by all the creative people out there!  You can pin any photo, image, graphic, etc., from any website.  This is as good as the invention of sliced bread.  Almost.  My daily breakfast is one slice of bread and enough butter to know it's real butter....which led me to laugh at this one (orignally from Etsy):

(from Pinterest)

So, if you want to join, and be a follower of me (you don't have to), just give me your email address on a comment here, and I'll "invite" you to join.  If you want to go through the Pinterest site and ask to join I hear it takes a little longer.  Also, please let me know if you're already there, then we can follow each other!

(from Pinterest)

Let's see, now I'll make a board for our two daughters;  "Ideas to show Melissa", "Stuff to show Jessica"...oh I love this site!  (Both empty, for now....watch how fast I can fill them up!)

This is my first pin for Melissa:

(from Pinterest)

This is my first pin for Jessica:

(from Pinterest)

Okay, now, are you in for it or what?
          ~Heidi

Sisters and Friends

" A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. "

(six sisters=six friends)

"Help one another, is part of the religion of sisterhood."

 ~Louisa May Alcott

                          

(six sisters=six friends)

(I saved a few of these vintage photos but didn't note where they came from.

I think on Flickr...if they belong to you, let me know and I'll give credit due!)

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life."

(My five sisters and me....I'm second from the left.)

"Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can  supply..."   ~Jane Austen

(My precious Mother and all her girls...my sisters and sisters-in-law,

and Claira!.)

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other."

(I was so blessed to be asked to paint this sign for one of my

Etsy buyers.  I will now offer this in my shop!)

I was blessed to be born in a large family, with five sisters and three brothers, there were nine children.  We moved quite a bit while growing up, but no matter where we lived on the West Coast, I my friends always moved with me!  Then when my brothers got married, one by one, three more precious and special sisters were added to my life. In addition to my family, I count so many other girls/ladies as my "sisters", my "sisters in Christ".  You know who you are, right?  I love you all!

A friend can be a "sista", too, you know!

Blessings, and hug a sister today!         ~Heidi

Some of the quotes I used came from The Quote Garden.

Linked to "Get Your Craft on Tuesday" here.

Oh Ya Oh Ya!

Oh ya, oh ya.....

Ellie and I giggling together....the sound of heaven on earth!

It's Friday and the SUN made it's appearance...finally!  Lots to do around here-gardening, painting, wedding preparations (for a couple weddings I'm helping with) and family to love on.  Maybe the grand-kids will come by today, we'll see if they surprise us!

Monday, May 30, was me and Mark's 30th wedding anniversary.  And it was Memorial Day, too!  We spent a few days up at our little cabin on the lake.  Mark caught a huge trout and a huge bass, as well as regular sized trout.  Can you say fish for breakfast?  And lunch? ...and dinner?  Good think I like fish!  Oh, and have you tried fish tacos yet? So good, too.

So, I'll show a few pictures from the lake now...

One of the little signs I painted for our cabin years ago:

I want to start painting custom cabin signs now!  Our little cabin sits on a small cove, so as I was trying to come up with a name to name our cabin I decided to use the word cove.  The sign I'm painting for our cabin will read, "Sweet Woodruff Cove Cabin".    Or something like that!

Summer is the most popular time for weddings, and boy have I been painting a lot of wedding signs lately!  The most popular sign is the "Love is Sweet" sign.  This is being used for reception candy bar, or candy buffets, as well as on cake tables.  Wish I could sample all that sweet stuff!

Have a blessed weekend!  ~Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here.)

White Chocolate Weddings ~~ Oh, sweet love!

Today I'm participating in Faded Charm's White Wednesday!

So....moving right along....  Weddings!  There's several special weddings written on our calendar this summer.  One of them, my niece, will have a reception filled with Sweets. Yes, Desserts with a capital "D"! Won't a ddessert rreception just be perfect? 

So...lucky Mark and everyone who comes near....I am experimenting with sweet desserts!  One of my first experiments I made was White Chocolate Cream Puffs.  I just made a batch of cream puffs (easy to make, they are in every cookbook, or look on All Recipes), then made a box of instant white chocolate pudding (yes, they make that now!), and topped them off with melted white chocolate chips.  They were so yummy!

But I didn't like how heavy the pudding felt, and the white chocolate on the top became hard, and yummy as they tasted, I didn't like how the combined effect.  I'll experiment with a white chocolate mouse type filling, then maybe even leave off the topping. What do you think?

All this white chocolate reminds me of the cake that our friend made for Jessica's wedding.  I have a picture of this on my refrigerator. I don't think a day goes by that I don't dream of that delicious cake. 

Gorgeous, too!  Jessica had found a photo of this cake online (don't remember where) and gave the photo to our friend to make.  The cake was a gift, and oh what a gift Jessica and Craig received! 

The pieces all around the perimeter of the cakes was rolled and cut white chocolate. I can't even imagine how many hours she spent working on this gorgeous cake.  There were three different flavors, but the piece I had was white chocolate---ah----TDF!!!! (to-die-for).

Here's one of the pictures of the cake from our photographer:



Speaking of weddings, this was my favorite wedding picture of Craig and Jessica, in black and WHITE:

...can't stop there....here's a few more favorites of mine...

Thanks for visiting today!  Blessings, Heidi

Linked to Cinday's Show & Tell Friday here.



Tool Box * Tote Box * Carpenter Box * Tulle Box * Tool Box *Wedding Card Tote*

Of

(made from driftwood from our beach!)

I don't care what people call these, but I call them a "tote".  For years I have purchased every old tote I could find at garage sales.  Hint:  These are usually found in the garage, with rusty and junky "man" stuff!  I bring the home and paint them white and store all my "girl" stuff in them, such as tulle, tags and trims!

(my tulle tote)

Mark and I made a bunch of these to sell at the Home Based Business Fair, where I primarily sold my hand painted custom signs.  I had a couple left over and when my daughter's friend needed some sort of "box" for her wedding for cards I knew the RUSTIC tote I made would be perfect.

(One of the totes I was selling at the Fair;

this was after a long day, I was about to tear down)

Back to the sewing room....

(tote for glues on back of sewing table)

On all the totes I made for the Fair I painted a strip of chalkboard paint on the front, and included some chalk for the buyers.  For the rustic wedding tote I'm giving to the bride she can hand write whatever she wishes, "Cards", "Best Wishes for the Mr. and Mrs.", "Love Notes",etc.  It will be a lovely addition to her rustic style wedding.

Then just today I saw on Funky Junk Interior's blog a post about making totes!  So guess what? Now I don't have to show and tell you how I make totes!  Funky Junk has a guest poster, Julie from "Follow Your Heart Woodworking", who tells how to make the tool boxes (totes--whatever!)  Her method is pretty much the same as mine!  The only thing is I'm pretty lazy in the shop, taking short-cuts when I can, so I use a nail gun with small sized nails to speed up the process.  Also, I use wood glue when I put them together, before nailing. 

But check it out here, "Let's build a tool box!".  Or, if you wait long enough, someday I may add totes (tool boxes) to my Etsy store!

Happy building!
       ~Heidi

Always showing and telling over at Cindy's "MY ROMANTIC HOME Friday Show & Tell.  If you have a couple DAYS go check out all the wonderful links!

Linked to Common Ground's Summer Blog Block PARTY!

Birthday Issue

Hurry now....jump on over to Amy Power's blog to sign up for the next issue of "Inspired Ideas".  This wonderful "Birthday" issue will go live late this afternoon!  Amy and her girls have worked their candles off getting this issue together! 

I'm exited to have something in this issue as well.  Here's a sneak peak at my project:

More soon!  Hugs, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's "Romantic Show & Tell Friday" here.)

May I show you a few pictures?

May I?  After all it's already May! It's a been a while since I've posted so I'll just play catch up today.  My nephew's wedding was fabulous.  It was really a weekend-long celebration.  We caravaned down in trucks, vans, and cars, helping to make the long (10 hour) drive fun for the grandkids.  I had a number of surprises for the kids, and every hour or so (when they were in our truck) I'd try to pull out something new.   

But you can't keep a princess from her sleep...

The wedding candy bar that my neice and sister set up was a hit, as any candy bar will be.  I painted the signs to match the wedding invitation colors.  ("Love is Sweet" has been selling fast in my Etsy store!). 

Young and old alike enjoyed selecting their favorite candy:





Last Saturday I had a table at our local Home Based Business Fair.  What a blast to meet so many people and be able to show my hand-painted signs in person!  A lot of people asked me if I stenciled the signs--no! I hand-paint each and every letter!   I also had made up some wood totes (carpenter totes, garden totes) to fill with things for Mother's Day or Father's Day. I had painted a strip of chalkboard paint on the side, and included chalk.  I even sold some of my dress pattern kits, altered nest spoons and clothespins, as well as sets of Brown Paper Bag Scrapbooks.  I also took orders for custom family signs and other custom signs. 

I finished the Passion Week booklet-study guides and gave them out to a lot of ladies (about 45).  I shared the study with our Ladies Bible study, as well as gave them to my family and even mailed a few out.  It was a study of Jesus' final week before dying on the cross and was ressurected from the dead (Easter Sunday).  It was encouraging to see so many ladies really get into the Bible that week and become passionate about Jesus' final days.  They learned so much, we shared and encouraged each other and were all affected in so many ways.  I really would like to offer it as a download, so let me know if you have any interest.  After I printed them out (4 small pages per page) I could them down and secured the pages together with binder rings.  I may offer it as a (free) download on Issuu.com or Mediafire.com, if I can get one of those to work for me. 

Speaking of Issuu, Amy Power's previous issues of "Inspired Ideas", such as the Christmas issue, are still available to view for free.  Check her blog to purchase the "Spring Inspired" issue  ($3.30). So many of the projects can be used other times of the year as well.  Soon, though, Amy will be releasing her lasteest issue.  I can't wait, I'll let you know when it's out!

Mother's Day is Sunday, whoo-hoo!  That means breakfast in bed for me (my Mark is the best!).  Just today I saw on the blog, One Pretty Thing, a wonderful collection of Mother's Day ideas.  They are good for adults and children, go look and get ideas now. I love that blog.  Here's a card she gives us link for:

On to more sign painting now. I hope by now you are getting a little more sunshine daily!

Blessings, Heidi

{{Linked to:  "Whatever Goes Wednesday #64 at Someday Crafts

and "What I Whipped Up Wednesday at Sugar and Dots.}}

Love is Sweet

So much going on here, but through it all we are still looking for spring!  We've had another cold spell, I even saw snow at 7 AM yesterday.  Though the ground is soaking wet, too wet yet to even begin pulling weeds, the grass is so green!  I am optimistic that we'll see some spring temperatures this week, as I'd sure love to be outside working in the gardens a little.

Here's John Mark looking for Spring (wearing my Mark's hat):

My friend Christina, who is ubber talented, coordinated a Home Based Business Fair (North Bend, April 30)  and I will have a table there.  I'll be showing and selling my signs and various other craft items for sale.  That is if I can get a supply made up in time! I painted a few new ones this last week:

{{Love is Sweet, sign.  24 inches long.}}

{{Home Sweet Home sign, 24 inches long}}

{{Yes, yet another "Sweet Dreams" sign! 24 inches long}}

{{Love is Sweet, sign. 

Many people are using these for wedding Candy Bar signs!

This one is 16 inches long.}}

Another big project I've been working on is a Passion Week Bible Study booklet for the ladies in my Bible study group.  I started out with a week long Bible study for Passion week, for the ladies to "find" where Jesus was each day on His last week on earth before dying on the cross.  I did this study on my own last year, but this year I wrote it all out in a booklet form to share.  I am very excited about this booklet and am hoping it helps the ladies develop a fierce passion for getting closer to Jesus!

Finally, next weekend is our nephew's wedding!  So we'll all be in a caravan traveling down to California for the wedding and celebrations!  Jessica will be joining us in the long drive down, so it will be fun to spend some time with her (Craig, sadly, has to work).

Easter is just a few weeks away and although I don't put a lot of decorations up, I do always do some.  So far...unless you count the Beanie Baby chick-in-an-egg set out.  We've had the grand- kids over a number of days too, and I will always set everything aside to play with them! Here's a few recent pictures of them.
So you can see why I haven't been able to post lately.  But thank you for visiting and I always appreciate your comments!

{{Playing on the kids' table with some homemade playdough.

This batch was a little dry, but as long it was blue they were happy!

Ellie sings and talks...non-stop! 

These kids are sweet!  Love is sweet!}}

{{Baby Claira.  She is sweet!  Love is sweet!}}

Blessings!   ~Heidi

(linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show & Tell Friday here;
and linked to Women Living Well Wednesday Linky set. )