Saturday, Sunday.....darn.

My vacation is nearing an end.

Actually I'm glad to be going back to work. I don't do well trapped in the house and without money to spend there isn't much else to do. It's too cold to spend any time out anyway. Of course I've accomplished a lot indoors. I've pulled out, sorted, purged, painted, mended, adorned, and put back.....and just got crafty and inspired. ...of course I also did some reading, writing, tuning in to music and even just tuned it all out for some all out relaxation and much needed deep thinking time. And now, I'm exhausted and I want to go back to work. At work I just do what I do and no one expects much more. Except for me to be my happy self without talking too much. I think I'll just be anti-social instead. It's much easier.

So I'm ready.....

DIY Network

I am so hooked on this channel! I could watch it all day long.... and have at least for much of the day. I've learned so many things while on my vacation. I've learned a little about fixing cars (or at least a few things I can do myself), making my home more energy efficient, woodworking (my husband loves this too), scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, journaling, embellishing things to make them more unique and special......and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. And the best part is the website. If I see something I'm really interested in trying I can go online and print up instructions. I already have a 3 ring binder with page protectors filling up.

Since I got a neat sewing machine for Christmas I've been trying to catch "Sew much more" which comes on at 9 am my time because of the 4 hour time difference. I keep missing it so my husband has it set to record every weekday :O) I've also been into the scrapbooking shows since I am planning to start my own and I really need help. My problem is I don't like clutter. I like to keep it plain and simple. I've been seeing some neat ways to make a main design on a page and then you can have little mini albums or envelopes with more photos tucked inside. Scrapbooking: Just Journaling with Sandi Genovese.

One of the idea's I saw today is available online in a PDF file: List-Style Journaling


I obviously love to journal. They had someone on today talking about these neat "circle journals". I have a friend (J) that I would love to do this with. She lives pretty far away and we have never met but we are pretty good friends. I think two of these (one for each) or something similar would be neat to pass back and forth!
www.Circlejourey.com

Ahhh vacation...

I have been having a wonderful time just kicking around at home with my kids for the last week. It is so nice to finally have some time to get some things done that I just haven't had the time for. I've cleaned and organized... I've ironed a lot of stuff. I got a sewing machine for Christmas so I've been tinkering around with that. It's been really peaceful too since the kids each got their own computers and some new video games also :O)

I'm in the middle of making of a fun project right now. My youngest son had a bunch of those wooden crates (like you can buy at craft stores) stacked in his room to hold his books. I planned to buy him one of those tall book shelves after Christmas. But of course, we had to rearrange his room to accommodate his new computer and desk. We managed to get a nice small desk (less than 3 feet wide) from a friend and it fits nicely into a corner of his room but we still have to work around the upright piano in this room... that thing is not moving. I turned his bed and moved everything around but he still ends up without a wall space for a nice shelf. So I'm back to the crates again. I stacked them at the foot of his bed in an arrangement which would allow him to have books on both sides. When he is in his bed he will be able to access the books on the top of the shelf which is over his mattress. The other side will have open area's for books on the bottom portion. I even knocked out some slats on one crate so he can access books from both sides. Now that I have a nice arrangement I'm painting them. That's the fun part :O)

He has a really nice tropical fish bed set with matching curtains that we got from Domestications. It is like someone took a picture under the ocean and printed it on the fabric. We wanted something to match that set so we took the pillow case to Lowes to get some paint mixed. After it's all painted I'll stack them up and fasten them together. His bed is a garage sale find that I plan to refinish later one. It has the drawers underneath which saves space in his room. When I finally get a sander to help refinish it I know where to go to get the paint colors I need. Then some nice tropical fish knobs and he'll have a very cool lookin room!

Well I better get back to painting!