When It Rains...

It Pours!  And baby I could  build an Ark! 

There are only 11 days until my first craft show and the final push is on! I am trying to get as many things done as possible because my shows start October 9th and my sister is coming for a visit this Sunday.  We have many things to do before her daughters wedding and this is going to be a working visit as well as play.  She is bringing her husband, Dan and that will give Mr. MySpareTime a playmate!  They have a long list of HoneyDo's to work on while my sister and I shop and craft. It works for me!

When you would really like to spend time crafting is the exact time everyone wants to place an order on one of my websites.  It seems like 10 orders come in every night and my email box is full of special requests.  I know I shouldn't complain, but that is something I do very well! 

Here are some of the things finished recently.

An old tea kettle,

A prim paper mache' Santa,

A cute snowman tray,

And a vintage recipe box, it says Holiday Memories on the box and I included matching cards.  I thought it would be great to give each person in your family a card and let them write down their favorite Holiday Memory, then you would have a collection.

I am working on chairs these last few days and will finish today. Better get back to work, October 9th will be here before you know it!

Heads Up!

My oldest son is going to California today for some additional IT education and certifications and this will be his first big trip alone.  He is going just north of San Francisco and will be there 10 days.  We are very excited for him, but wish that he could have more time to really enjoy the area.  San Francisco is one of my all time favorite places to visit and I wish I was going with him.  But I transgress, the reason I need to post today is he is taking my camera.  {guess I know what the boy should get for Christmas}.  

I know I posted a picture of the old vintage Canadian baby sled Mr. MySpareTime found at Habitat For Humanity.  It was in great shape, but honestly who the heck needs a baby sled in South Texas?  Sooo, here it is all painted and stained and ready for someone to enjoy.  

I have a vintage one of these and use it to display some primitive Santa's on my coffee table during the holidays.  

I love the saying that I painted around the sled!

So I will talk to you later, I have a few shirts to iron
{for you know who!}
before I get my day started.

Oops!

Ever have one of those days?  Sometimes it feels like everything is going great and all things are aligned with the universe and then something happens.  Now this is not the end of the world, I was rocking right along getting things painted and in my over zealous crafting I painted a large wooden bowl that was not ready for paint. All of my items are base coated and then lightly sanded before I paint on them. Then after the paint has dried all wooden items are either stained or waxed. 

Well you can see for yourself what happens when things get out of sequence. 

 I never should have painted on a piece that wasn't already sanded.  Mr. MySpareTime gave it a light sanding and boy did it do a number on the paint job.

 

Totally my fault!

{there dear, you have it in writting}

Lesson learned, always check your paint surfaces before you spend a good hour on a piece.

But all is not lost, I just had to touch up the painted areas that got the worst of it and then once that paint had dried we decided to poly coat it.  {better safe than sorry!}

Once again Santa has a white, not black speckled, beard!

Time is drawing near for the first show, so back to the grind stone!

Update!

Last month I posted a picture of a vintage school desk that Mr. MySpareTime found, well here it is finished!

I love the way it turned out and it is very comfortable to sit on.

The days are all starting to run together, but I am really starting to push out the product.  Sometimes when those creative juices start flowing you can really get a lot accomplished.

I have planned to get as many of the big items finished this weekend as possible.  Then I will concentrate on all the small stuff that still needs to be finished. 

Here is a preview of things that will be at my first show October 9th. That is if my girlfriends leave anything behind, they all like to come to preview my stash and dig through the shelves and tubs to find a treasure.

A funky little chair, maybe for a hobbit!

A few wooden stools,

A dolls table and chairs,

A cute accent chair and

A curb alert! Found in the garbage on trash day.

Very old and loved (except for being left in the trash part).

Better get back to the grind stone, I have my work cut out for me!

25 Days and Counting!

Just under one month and My Spare Time Designs has kicked into high gear.

I am working on all the unfinished pieces that have been in my game room for months.

I realized I never posted pictures of the finished pieces, so here are a few of the Fall things I have finished.

I only have two shows before Halloween so I only make a few Fall items. 

I love this time of year!

For the next 3 weeks I will be spending every spare minute getting my show items ready.

It is always amazing how it takes a full year to get enough items to do my shows and then it takes just 4 days to sell them all.

Thanks to all my customers, we truly appreciate you!

This Is A First

Things have been so crazy around here that I haven't had a minute to do anything.  Mr. MySpareTime is out of town tonight and I thought I would post those pictures of my fall decor.  I don't think I have ever post twice in one day!

Here are those awesome plates I made that look so creepy!  I will post a tutorial on Kraft Outlet's blog, The Kraft Journal, on how to make these decorative only plates.  We sell the decal paper and  the graphics are courtesy of Graphics Fairy. 

I especially like the brain!

And here is a painting I did for my dining room.

Want to see more of my Fall Decor? 

Here is a slide show.

Fast Forward

Remember two posts ago I showed you a great chair Mr. MySpareTime found for 5 bucks?  (just scroll down a little and you will see the chair)  When I posted that I said it had my name on it and boy howdy did it!  Take a look.

I loved how it turned out.  I saw the seat design on a needle punch that someone had and I took my inspiration from that.  I wish I knew who the designer was so that I could leave them credit, but I just love how it turned out. 

It sits in my entry along with my good witch, pumpkins and black birds over head on the crown molding rail.

I was really ready to put up my Fall and Halloween decorations, so Mr. MySpareTime and I took some time to get that done.  I will post a slide show (when I get a minute) and let you see all the treasures I found for this Autumn!

Got to run, Garden Club meeting in a few minutes.  We should really change the name of our women's organization, we do great charity work for our community, but we really should be named the Northampton Ladies Who Lunch and Shop!  We never pass up a meal (or snacks or refreshments or samples) and we always find a place to shop on our road trips.  Today is our Welcome Back Brunch (see a pattern here?) and it is a great time to catch up with everyone.  Happy Fall Y'all!

Just Wanted You To Know!

As some of you know I own the website KraftOutlet.com.  We sell paper, cardstock, tags and all kinds of cool stuff for the DIY crafter. 

About a week ago a lady contacted me on Etsy and said that she worked as a guest designer for people and that she would love to work with Kraft Outlet.  Well after a few convos we decided this would be great for both of us.

Kraft Outlet would like to welcome Tifany from Ink Blots by TRD as the guest designer for the month of September.  Here is the first project she has created using our Buff/Ivory Cardstock and Blank Lunch Bag Kraft Notecards.  What a great card, I love the bright green and brown kraft together and the buff ivory cardstock gives it a little polish!

She will be doing a project each week using our products and there will even be a tutorial!  So stop by
The Kraft Journal and take a look at all the new things Tifany will be creating.

It seems like summer has flown by and it is hard to believe that Labor Day is here.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend.  If you come looking for me I will have my fanny parking in the swimming pool, sipping on a long cool drink and waiting for the Bar-B-Que to be ready!