Summercraft

So, summers off? Summers off of work, summers off the blog. Weddings, babies, seminars have kept us busy for the pst four months. Not too busy for crafts, just too busy to remember to post the creations.

A quilt for baby Meadow....

Up close the stitching is supposed to look like tree bark. She turned out pretty cute (both the puppy and Meadow)

Tye Dye with the wonderful Heather...

Not really a project... but this zucchina/squash/carrot/ham tart was cool lookin' and tasty.

Finally, Baby P's baby shower. 

Invites! Those little pennants tried to warn me away, but I perservered!

Stuffed animals hanging out on the mantle for the Jungle theme.

The cake turned out pretty well--but I am convinced that I am going to improve on this technique.

These are the little animal magnets I made for favors. They're stuck to a magnet picture frame made out of a sheet of metal from Home Depot and a picture frame. I kept an Emu for ma-self.

A Treasure for Trash

We have the prettiest trashcan on the block, nay, the city, nay, the county!

My parents have this pretty utilitarian wood trash can. It's sturdy and has a solid to keep the smell of onions from permeating the house... So both my sister and I requested reproductions. She got hers around her wedding(ish) time, which was a few years ago. After our most recent escapades out west, I requested one as well.

My Dad has been refining his woodworking skills--- Here's the lovely beetle-kill ponderosa pine trash can :-)

On top of the lovely box itself, my Mom "inlayed" some turquoise powder into all of the beetle holes in the pine. Below is a picture of the top. You can see all of the different flecks of the individual shavings when you look closely.

Thanks Mom and Dad! You're the best!

Wedding Gift

Inspired by a piece at the lovely vineyard where she had her bridal shower, I made a friend of mine a driftwood mirror (after I discovered that they're, like, $200 at the store...) I'll just say mine is a significantly better deal.

The pictures aren't very good. The deck where I took pictures was hot. Instead of going inside to put shoes on so I didn't burn my feet, I decided to take pictures recklessly instead.

I think it looks better in person. Happy with the outcome, though!

Firmly Planted

Today has been a whirlwind of a productive day. I've been grocery shopping twice (once for cupcakes, once for weekly shopping), went to Old Dover Days, hit up Lowes, went to Clark's Seeds for Vegetables, built a climbing trellis for my snow peas, planted all my vegetables and a whole bed of strawberries, and made 75 cupcakes.

Here's what the garden looks like now:

Peas with new trellis!

Strawberry Plants

Tomatoes

Asparagus!

Yeah Mom, our asparagus plants are really that big :-p

(Not pictured: cucumbers, zucchini, and spinach)

Decisions Decisions

My AP Students are taking their test next Monday. I decided to make them cupcakes (lots of cupcakes...) but I can't decide on what flavors. I'm thinking I'm going to make four flavors total. SO, here's how you can help. See the poll on the side? Vote for the flavor(s) you think I should make. You can pick as many as you want, but let's be honest, that's not going to help me. Pick 1 or 2 or 3 so I can make my decision!


Also, feel free to comment if you have a suggestion for a flavor.

Springtime Sprucing

I could certainly use another day of the weekend. I've been crafting and gardening.

Over the past few weeks I've been setting up the permanent garden (as opposed to the one on the patio from last year). Jeremy's dad came and tilled up the section I marked off the other day. Now I have parsnips, peas, carrots, and lettuce planted!

I mulched inbetween the beds to make nice walkways. I'm edging with stones to make a nice line.

We also dug an asparagus bed near the side of the yard. Asparagus is a perennial, so if we're able to get it established it should produce for the next 15-20 years.

We also planted some annuals around the yard to brighten things up a bit.

Marigolds in the mailbox boxes.

Spanish Lavender by the driveway. I think I'm going to make this my lavendar bed.

Bog rosemary in the front bed. I'm hoping this'll spread a bit in the future and cover this area.

Snapdragons on the back deck.

Some lavendar cuttings from one of my established plants. If I can get these to root I'm going to move them over with the other near the driveway.

Treebutcher

I supervised the removal of 2 trees and three stumps today (meaning I snuggled in the house while the tree removal gentlemen labored tirelessly outside.)

Here's what it used to look like:

(this one is from the summer) ^

Here's what it looks like now.

Turns out it was a cherry. There was no way that we could tell that given how dead and vine-covered it was. It was also rotted in the center, so we didn't end up keeping an ant infested slab.

We also got the holly tree removed while we were at it. Our yard looks huge!

Here are some shots from the removal. I measured the stump before they ground it out-- literally 4 ft by 3ft.

The knobby bumps at the top are vines... They're trees in their own right!

There's all the wood, vines, and mulch from the yard!