Painted Rocks

I have heard about rock painting for a while and on our way to Canada in August, we found a couple and Dan kept saying “You should start painting rocks.” What? You want me to take on another hobby?  

When we were in Canada, my friend Suzanne was asking me all about the painted rocks.  So when I saw that there was going to be a Mandala rock painting in Frederick, Maryland, I told Dan that I wanted to go and he immediately said, “You should ask Suzanne to go.” So we went to the class!

We had a great time at a place called AR Workshop. I dind’t even know this placed exsisted and there is one right down the road from us.  They do different craft workshops.   The place is really cool and is a franchise.  Which would be really cool to own.

We had a great time learning how to do Mandala rocks. It is easy to do - we used pencils ✏️ (the eraser side), skewers, and the handle side of a paint brush. 

I stuck with the blues while Suzanne used all different colors. I really like it, so may eventually do it.

The funny thing is, the teacher was in her 20s, and didn’t know anything about The Kindness Rocks Project, and we had to tell her all about it.

A night out, and a trip to the doctor

I finally went to the doctor today and got some antibiotics.  I also had a strep test done, but that was negative.  I was wiped out afterwards, but feel a little better now.

Last night I went to the soft opening of Naughty Girl Donuts in Sterling.  It was fun and I got a gift bag and purchased a couple of donuts for Dan and a cupcake for me.

I saw a couple of people that I knew and met up with one of my BNI family members.

I signed up for rock painting class on Sunday.  I’ve been wanting to try it, and a friend signed up making it show up in my Facebook feed, so decided I’d go.  I’m looking forward to it since it’ll give me a chance to try it without spending too much to try it out.

Adventures: DIY and Bday Present

For months, I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to get us for some sort of memorial for Esa.  I looked on Etsy and saw some items that I liked (bracelets, keychains, etc.), but haven't taken the time to really go forward with it.

Then I was looking at the May 2014 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  This was on the last page.  Seriously....

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/73957618856070650/

Do you see that?  Of all of the names/initials, they use in this publication E S A.  Now, if that is not a sign, I don't know what is.  I have thought about making something, but never really knew what I wanted.  There you go, idea solved.

Today (May 30), is Dan's birthday.  This post is/was a work in progress (and not published until May 30 - just in case Dan decides to look at the blog).

Trial run with paper 

(and a backward letter - what can I say, I don't use stamps very often)

I used 2 Creative Memories tools to get the ovals (used the middle of the tools) .  I purchased the stamps at AC Moore and had the ink pad.

Of course, the next idea that came in my head was maybe I can make a Zed one too, but with his REAL pawprint!

Friday, May 23 afternoon

It took me about 4 tries to get the bottom right large one done.  It's a mess, but I decided to keep it and it would be mine for a reminder how much problems I originally had!  LOL!  I guess it would have helped if I had cleaned the stamps BEFORE using them on the clay!  Like I said, I don't use stamps very often.

I TRIED to do Zed's pawprint (he is so patient!), but his paw is bigger than the large oval AND even when I pressed on his paw, it didn't really make a mark.  His nails did, but not his paw.

Zed's charm has is adoption date on it.  Esa's has her birth date on top and death date on the bottom.

So side story - I made these around 1 pm in the afternoon and had it sitting on the oven to cool when I went on a walk with Zed and our neighbor, Lynne and Sable (Esa's best friend) around 2:15 pm.  I figured - plenty of time to hide everything before Dan gets home at 4 pm.  I had cleaned up the mess when the charms were in the oven, so only the pan was out on the stove.  

Lynne and I come around the corner and who is sitting on our porch but Dan!  PANIC!  I thought for sure that he saw the charms.  So I immediately said, "What are you doing home?  Did you see what was on the stove?"  He said no that he saw that the leash was gone and immediately came out to the porch.  He said he saw something sitting out, but didn't go inspect it.

So, truth will be told on Friday when he gets his presents.

Wednesday, May 28

The finished products.

Dan's

Mine

I enjoyed making these.  It was a quick and easy project that means a lot.

Adventures: Family Tree Collage

Saturday was my DIY day.  I have been thinking about doing a family tree picture collage for quite awhile.

I was thinking about putting it in the stairway, but then no one would really see it.  With our dining room now decorated, I was thinking of putting it on a wall there.  I had bought a canvas that I originally wanted to use, but at the community yardsale last week, I found FAMILY letters that caught my eye.  I got them for $1.

I knew I wanted to paint them - either black or brown to match the room.  I decided on black to match the picture frames and do all of the pictures in black and white.

That was an easy project, but my second using spray paint.  Still getting used to making the paint even!

Pictures - I have so many pictures for my side of the family.  My goal is to get "couple" pictures, but the farther back I go, the harder that is.  Either it's a family picture or single pictures.  The crazy thing - I went through all of my family tree stuff and found pictures that I didn't even remember.

L to R:  Mom & Dad, Great Grandparents LaSala, Grandparents Clark, Grandparents Caprarulo

I did a couple of pictures so far and started doing my templates for the wall.  I think I am going to wait a while to put them on the wall.  I am still gathering pictures from Dan's side of the family.  Plus I need to figure out the layout on the wall.

I'm making progress though!

Adventures: Stop Knocking on Our Door

We get a lot of solicitors in our neighborhood.  Whether it's flyers on the mailbox, flyers on the door, or people knocking on the door.  I have been looking for a cute sign on Etsy, but nothing has really caught my eye.  So, I picked up a No Soliciting sign at Home Depot and then picked up a wooden sign from AC Moore for a little DIY craft.

The supplies

The finished product.  No perfect - the newspaper stuck to it when I was painting the back and the gorilla glue soaked through the sign.  Didn't expect that one!

The finished product!

Adventures: Gingerbread House Party

Last night our neighbors, +Stephanie Segall  & +Daniel Segall, had a Gingerbread House decorating party.

This was the first time I had ever decorated a gingerbread house.  I had picked up a kit from ACMoore on sale for $6.99 (and then of course they were cheaper the next week!) and a couple of light up necklaces.

First up, trying to figure out what piece was what - yes, I had to read the directions!  Obviously, I didn't read the frosting directions very well, because I ended up with frosting coming out of the back end of the frosting bag & had it all over me by the end of the night! 

The first gluing/caulking job went well, until the roof was put on - then the whole thing collapsed!  Second try, went better.  I carefully put the roof on and held it for awhile.  After that, I let it sit until after we had dinner.

Next was decorating. I went for a red & white theme.  I used the red glitter frosting that we brought and some candies.

Well, the peppermint that I used, didn't stick and slid down, then when I was trying to put the necklace lights on it, I kept bumping against the frosting.  The biggest issue - when I put in one of the toothpicks to hold the lights, the wall started to collapse in. 

Anyway - not bad for the first time!

back of the house

front of the house (notice the bleeding red down the side)

one of the sides

the other side