We have our trailer!

Ah yes.....twenty feet of steel on wheels, sitting in our back yard, just in time for winter to start. Perfect. I walk out in the back yard, and stare at the frame. Looking at it. Mentally trying to figure out HOW our house is going to fit on that?! It is not much space. Not much space at all. On paper, the plans look "roomier" and more open. But looking at actual space, I wonder how a fireplace is going to fit on there with two chairs, a galley kitchen, a sink and shower. *shrug* And our families both think we have lost our minds. Which is a complete bonus. Still, our goal is to move in 6 years with zero debt. No house loan, no car loan. And building a tiny house is the only way we will get out from under either debts before we are 60. Six years to build a dream house and purge within an inch of our lives. Sell, give away or donate what will not fit into the tiny house. Priorities. Its a scary thought.

Preparing to live tiny

As I have been purging, and pouring over plans, looking at furnishing and materials, and thinking of how much "stuff" will fit into 130 square feet, it occurred to me---what do I need to keep that won't make me feel poor? Which items make me feel rich?

I have been the unwilling poor, the person living paycheck to paycheck, deciding who gets paid "this month" and who doesn't. When I went shopping, I had only the cash in my pocket. I had to purchase "John Wayne" toilet paper because that was all I could afford. I hated my toilet paper. I would use work toilet paper to blow my nose and reuse that at home rather than use the "John Wayne" stuff. Final straw was going to the Grange Hall, using their bathroom, and having toilet paper envy. Seriously?? My toilet paper made me feel poor. More than my budget issues, having cheap toilet paper was a daily reminder of not having enough money.

In this purging process, I am also trying to keep that same principle in mind. I will need to winnow things down over the next several years. The amount of dishes I have, the number of pots and pans, how many books I have, the number of shoes (which isn't very many to be honest!). Still, with that, I will have to balance it with which items I have that make me rich. What gives me pleasure? And if I purge TOO much, will I feel deprived and have the unconscious need to replace those things?

It is all a balance. Trying to move stuff out, and get used to the more open spaces without feeling the need to FILL that empty space. Keeping in mind that there will not be that empty space in our new home.

Working on the process, and trying to make peace with it.

Purging

The trailer home process is continuing. The trailer has been ordered and is being made. We have gone to a few recycled home stores, picked up a tiny door (craftsman style and is LOVELY), victorian ceiling tin to use as the backsplash in the kitchen, a tiny bathroom sink, and various other items.

Inside our normal house, I am starting serious purging. Read a book "Fifty Things" that has inspired me. Sadly, I did not manage to throw away fifty things. I have been too busy with school starting, band rehearsals, etc, to work on the purging she is talking about (she counts 5 pair of shoes as ONE thing). I dropped off a very large pile of things to Goodwill this weekend, and am tossing item after item into the trash.

I am also reevaluating my art on the walls. We repainted our living room this summer, and I purged quite a bit at that time. But, now I am purging even more. Giving things the critical eye---will it fit into a tiny space? Does it bring me joy? What will I give up in order to keep this item?

I know I have a few years before we transition to a smaller home, but I am already shifting my thinking to that direction. Looking at my closet, my shoes, my coats, my kitchen supplies. Knowing I will have to cut all of those items by less than half to a third of what it is currently.

It would be nice to not have that junk drawer any more!

Downsizing and the 6 year plan

If you don't have a plan, you won't get anywhere, right?

We, my husband and I, have a long-term plan. To build a travel trailer home to live in once the children are grown (6 years from now), sell the house then, and move to where my parents live (Montana). Live in the trailer house for a few years while building a small house up there.

It is a plan! I was super against moving BACK into a trailer for a few years. Hubby had been talking about trailer living for a while now (just while the house is being built), but I have lived in a trailer. As a child (twice while a house was built), and an adult (twice, once with three other adults, once with another adult and toddler). It isn't as if I was being snobby or "too good" to live in a trailer. I know the logistics of it. Sweaty windows. Mildew everywhere. Cramped space. Tripping over people. And, WHY, for the sake of all that is holy, do they CARPET the blasted things?!! The area is too small for a vacuum, but gets dirty so fast with that kind of foot traffic. GAH!

*breathing* As I said, I have lived in one before. But, I finally recognized, that in order to get what my final outcome is---home ownership by my parents without having a mortgage--- means that I am going to live in a trailer for a year, or two or three, I want it to be on my terms this time. MINE.

We are going to embark on building a tiny house, on a trailer frame, from scratch. Based on the Tumbleweed House idea, and other tiny trailer house ideas gleaned from the internet. We intend on using these next 6 years to build a house (a HOME) in such a way that it will be cozy, airy, and well thought out. A place for everything.

Our current house is just under 900 square feet. Of those feet, I don't touch my son's room. Still, our new home on wheels will be about 130 feet. And I am already looking around my house thinking to myself "what will I be getting rid of?" I am NOT a clothes horse. I have a nice size dresser, and about 5 feet of closet space. But I will need to cut my clothing in half before we move. OUCH. I am an artist. I have tools that I have owned since I was 16. My workspace overflows with the stuffness of creativity that I NEED to function. (yes, a workspace is on my MUST list on our living space in the trailer, much to my husbands consternation) But I recognize that much of this will need to be stored, not out and visible the way it is now.

The art on our walls. Handmade blankets. Heirloom crystal candy dishes. Things I love but that won't have a place in a tiny home. Will need to be stored or let go of.

And here, at 900 feet, I always thought we lived small already. Thank goodness I have years to sort out the truly important things from what I am willing to part with.

Wish us luck, and I will be posting about our big adventure!

Repurposing a cabinet

This started out as a dingy, old, grey cabinet from my grandfathers garage. It housed screws and bolts, and other misc man bits.

After my grandfather passed on, my husband took this and brought it home. It mostly got shuffled around, and not really used. I am in desperate need of organizational help with my artist job (the small bits will kill ya), so this is perfect.

Husband cleaned out the dust and cobwebs, painted it blue to match our living room. After it dried, I added gold diamonds on it (oh, no! geometry is not my friend!), and then free-handed the bird and scroll-work.

A few hours later, a work of art. For free. Gotta love that. And, importantly, I have a cabinet from my grandfather.

Life at my speed

Life is different here, inside my head. The random, and odd way I choose to live. It isn't for everyone, and I know that.

I get up in the morning, drink my first cup of coffee, let the dogs out. I let the ducks out, and talk to them---generally to tell the girls that they need to lay me some eggs. I go inside, drink some more coffee, and get my kids up.

If it is a school day, one or the other of the boys will head off to school, or I will drive them off. Making lunches, making sure proper morning rituals are taken care of (teeth brushed? homework done? etc etc). On a summer morning, they get to sleep in.

Later in the morning, I head outside and take the ducks some grain. Watch them run up to me and eat from my hands. Then I hunt up some eggs, it's like an Easter Egg hunt every morning. Where did they hide them today? I know the "normal" hiding places, but they always find new ones.

More coffee. Start some laundry, do some dishes. Head to the library. Perhaps do some crafts (I make jewelery to sell). After school and in the afternoon, the boys have appointments, therapy, doctors, sports. Seems like I am gone from the house most nights.

It is the MOMENTS in the days that I cherish. The ducks running up to me to eat grain from my hands. Seeing a dragonfly on a leaf near the pond. Feeling the warmth of the sun on the deck. Moments of peace. Moments in the now.

My children are getting older. Their minds are busy and they don't want to talk to mom anymore. It is rarer and rarer that they open up and talk to me. Which is normal, they are becoming independent and growing into their own person. I am needed by them, but mostly as a meal provider, laundry do-er, and driver. It doesn't feel very "mom" like.

So I look to other things to find moments of peace and fulfillment. Transitioning slowly to a new time and phase in life. It is coming. It may still be a few years off, but they are growing away from me, and soon enough, this "mom" phase will be done.

It's nearly spring......

But you wouldn't know it from our weather lately.

I got a single egg from the ducks at the tail end of Feb. On the same day, it snowed. WHA?! We have been having a wonderful, warm weather winter, and suddenly we have snow. I finally get an egg from the duckers, begin to think that the egg-laying season is about to begin, and it SNOWS?!

I almost cried.

On the plus side, because of the increase in daylight, my girls have continued to lay eggs. (You go, girls!) I am getting three to four eggs a day, far more than we can eat. We are already starting to give some away. Which is a nice thing to be able to do.

Big goings on at my place!

Super exciting stuff!

Two birthdays this past week (happy changing of the years, guys! love ya!), and the normal mom stuff going on.

But the big news is that I now have an on-line web store to sell my artwork. All of those projects that have been piling up around the house can hopefully find a home out there in the world.

Not to mention, giving me further inspiration to create more pieces (which I love to do!).

Feel free to visit my shop. The site is a work in progress, but my art is posted. And I invite feedback (can't improve if I don't get feedback!).

Another exciting project, possible studio space! I have taken over the living room, kitchen, practically any spare cabinet...it has my art supplies in it (including the bedroom). Our neighbor has an unused shed (HUGE) that we can take if we can move it, and it would make a perfect studio outside for me. Add some windows, some insulation, and it would make fantastic workspace (that I don't have to tidy up DAILY when the kids are around!). I can't wait to have my own space where I can spread out and visually see where all my supplies are instead of hiding all my stuff in boxes all over the house. SQWEE!!! Fingers crossed this comes through fast for me!

Busy being crafty

New year, time to get motivated!

I have decided that I need to put my skills to use. I love making things, being artistic, using my hands and playing with various mediums. Along that vein, a friend (my rocking friend of MB, LLC) is helping me set up a web shop to sell my art. All the beads, jewelery, canvases, the things that I make for fun, and sell it.

I am over the moon excited about this concept! To be able to make money doing something that I love, that I lose myself in doing (creating and expressing myself in art), the chance at possibly helping my husband financially in doing this? I am stoked!

I will keep all of you updated on how it is going.

In the meantime, here is a little something I whipped up yesterday.



Made completely out of Fimo clay. Rolled, stamped, inked, dusted, antiqued and sealed. WHEW! The left-over scraps got made into a pendant and multiple beads (waste not, want not!). It matches my wall wonderfully well.

Fail of the week: storing the potato's that I grew all summer in the outdoor shed. It froze in December, causing all the potato's to rot. ARGH!! Total waste. Found them this week when I was looking for twine. All that work for potato's, wasted. I "should have" baked and frozen them. So irritated at myself.

Woolies, and fabric, and clay...oh my!

I have been one busy crafter, lately.

I spotted a blog on how to wet-felt wool over soap to make "coal" for Christmas, and then took that idea and made an abundance of "coal" for my team who have been naughty this year. Pruney fingers abounded in my house (no, just on me!), but I think the "coal" turned out cute.

I also saw a blog on how to make no-sew flowers out of organza, simply using scissors and a candle to singe the edges, then hot-glue the petals together. Once finished, glue together into a flower then onto a clip or headband. Again, I was able to use what I had on hand (self: WHY do I have four colors of organza when I have no little girls in the house and I don't wear this stuff?!). It was fun to make while watching television and I only burned myself a few times. Heh.

I scrounged up some clear plastic tubing from an air pump hubby got for an aquarium, I photocopied some old Sears ads, inked the edges, rolled them up and put them inside, then placed beads at the ends and used wires to finish it off. Makes for interesting and colorful beads!

I have also used my Christmas money to buy Fimo clay. *drool* My first attempts at bead making isn't perfect, but what do you expect? I tried a Skinner blend of ocher and chocolate, surrounded by black. It needs more work. Still, not horrible for a first try! I also made impressions of gears and nuts, baked it off, and then used antiquing to show off the details.

Here's the completed necklace I made with my beads I've been creating.



The tubing beads (four of them), the clay beads, and then two purchased beads (the key and number 7, both of which I used alcohol ink to color to match the other beads) and a purchased watch from Ebay (that is my inspiration piece).

I am having WAY too much fun with crafting.

Flops--it happens to the best of us

I've been fiddling with permanent alcohol inks lately. Much fun! Layering colors, able to color glass, metal, plastic, and then spray with sealer. Sweet!

Led me to think, shrinky plastic! I have some, and thought I would make some earrings with it. When I color them prior to shrinking with permanent markers, the color is too saturated when it shrinks, so I thought I would try to blot on some color AFTER shrinking with the alcohol ink instead.

BIG MISTAKE. Note to self and others: alcohol ink removes Sharpie and permanent ink.

There goes about an hour of my life drawing the picture that I will never get back. *sigh* So, if you work with permanent ink pens and alcohol ink, try to keep them separated from each other or it could "erase" the design. (I worked off of the back side of the plastic dink for my second one).

Decorated Glass Bottles---and a Christmas gift recipe

Aren't they pretty? An improvement over various shampoo bottles, if you ask me. There are two types of shampoo, a conditioner, and bath salts. If it were up to me, I would try to transfer all my bathroom goodies into bottles (but I think my husband would object).

Three of the bottles got frosted, just normal glass etching cream. I used templates from clip art books and a paper cutting book, which made it time intensive. I then used permanent ink on the etched parts to highlight the etching. Any excess ink can be removed with special ink remover.

The bath salts bottle was the easiest. The metal label holder was from the scrapbooking section, the writing was printed off my computer. A little stamping ink to match the bath salts, some glue to hold the paper onto the metal holder, then some hot glue to adhere it to the bottle. Easy-peasy.

Bath salts would make an EASY and INEXPENSIVE Christmas gift. Save some glass bottles and lids from your kitchen. Such as the artichoke jars, glass spaghetti jars, etc. Wash and dry well. At the grocery store, buy rock salt from the spice aisle (used for making ice cream). At the craft store, purchase fragrance and coloring in the soapmaking aisle (this is where you will spend a few bucks, but you will have a LOT left over). Also, to make the metal labels, snag some metal label holders from the scrapbooking area.

Pour about 1/3 of the box of salt into a metal or glass dish, use a spoon to stir the salt and mix in 4 to 6 drops of fragrance (to your liking). Remember, it will get diluted in water, so you can go on the strong side if you like, or go light. Either way. Once stirred in well, add 4 to 6 drops of color, well spread out. Stir in. Then, add to jars, and top with lids. Make labels as directed above with "Bath Salts" and the name of the fragrance.

If you want to "fancy" it up even more, add ribbons, or paint the lid in a matching color, or ......

Brick Doorstop

Mom was in town, and bought me some toys (aka: art supplies). They are wrapped for Christmas, so I cannot use them yet. But, got me in the mood to do crafty things...like I need incentive...so I purchased some permanent inks.

Last night, as we were shuffling around cat food containers and tubs to keep our door cracked enough so the cat can get in and out, but the dog cannot get out, the thought occurred to me, "we need a door stop". Question is: what to use for a door stop?

My thought is that a brick would work perfectly well. And looks somewhat hideous. Meaning? I need to decorate it!

First step was to find a brick. If you have seen my back yard, you would know that this is not a difficult thing. About 2 minutes of looking, I find a good one. I washed the dirt off and did a quick towel dry. Next step is to dry it. This took incredibly long. Over an hour on the fireplace top did nothing. An hour in the toaster oven at 200 degrees got closer, good enough to work with, but still isn't totally dry. Note to self: those brick hold A LOT of water. Who knew?!

I stamped the brick with permanent ink. This is different than normal stamping ink, and is specifically labelled as permanent ink. I used a background stamp (something small--text). After that, I used acrylic paint in cream, and stamped on the top stamps. Note to self: go lightly with the paint! If you paint the stamp too heavy (I was worried that the paint would dry before I stamped it), then it "gooshes" out the sides and is sloppy. Looses a lot of detail because of this.

I let the paint dry for a few minutes, then went back with alcohol inks to mellow out the cream paint color. I have "latte" that I used over all the cream to make it less harsh, and then used some "gingerbread" on the gooshy parts of the cream stamp to tidy it up. Last thing I did was spray it all down with sealer to fix it.

I am happy with how it turned out. Practical, but pretty.

Flops of the week!

And this week has been a dozy for flops for me.

I've been wanting a chain maille necklace for years now. I really wanted to make one (whatever possessed me?!), and this was the week for it! I had some wire in my jewelery kit, I wound it around a dowel, hubs cut it into jump rings for me, and I started following the instructions.

Somewhere along the way, it all went horribly wrong. I have about one inch done. After an hour (methinks this is not a good use of my time, and we aren't counting the time to make the rings in that time either). And the one inch I DO have is ugly. I am not sure if the wire is the wrong size, the diameter is the wrong size, or if I made an error in the pattern. What I have learned is, this is a case where I should support my fellow artisans on Esty. Yup. Some things I am simply not meant to do, and I should let this one go.

My other flop of the week isn't truly a "flop", it just didn't have the desired outcome I was hoping for. I saw glass etched shampoo bottles on Craftgawker a few months back (perhaps I should just block that site? nahhh, I get WAY too many wonderful ideas!), and thought I would love to do that for myself. My husband does not understand why I would need to move the shampoo from a perfectly serviceable plastic bottle to a glass one (because the prettiness of the glass bottle makes my heart sing when I see it isn't an adequate answer?).

I got the glass etching cream, contact paper, and a glass bottle. Spent two hours with a scalpel cutting out the pattern (why go half-way?). Since you likely cannot make it out from the picture, the top is a female face with wavy hair and a frosted area to write on, the bottom area is a large lily pad and flower.

Once I finished up, I thought that the red shampoo I had would really make the etching pop. Nope, not so much. Not at all.

I am wondering now if I could use stamping ink on the frosted area's to stain it to make it stand out more. I have some older votive's (Glade votive's, heh...I reuse them in other holders that I don't want the holder to get wax all over) that I can "experiment" on before I try it on that. But it bums me out a bit.

Plus, my fingers are red from filling the bottle with the shampoo. Wonder how long that is gonna last? Good times....good times.

Food Waste

Watching the Early Show. The average American Family has $1,300 in thrown away food every year. I am shocked and appalled. Stunned, actually. The family that they were spotlighting had half of a grass-fed cow that they were throwing away. That is appalling to me.

Food waste. *breathe, must breathe* On the one hand, I do get it. We buy things and we get busy. We eat out. Food goes bad. Truly, I mentally do get it. But emotionally, I do not get it. I simply don't.

If I get food, I deal with it. This means packaging it to freeze, or to store. This means checking dates, looking at what is in the refrigerator from time to time, adjusting meal plans to get rid of what is close to spoiling. If something is "heading over", I cook with it, encourage members of my family to eat it, bake with it, or feed it to the dogs, ducks or other animals (in my mind, if it is consumed, it is not wasted).

Case in point, I was given a partial case of tomato's on Sunday. On Monday, I was busy to my gills with things and couldn't deal with it. On Tuesday, I spent a bulk of the day, skinning the tomato's, stewing them for hours, and then preparing them in three containers to freeze, letting them cool on the counter, and then freezing them. I also used the skins of the tomato's to shine my pennies for my table (double use, no waste). This wasn't "convenient" for me, nor part of my planned week, but it was a windfall, a blessing, so I dealt with it.

I don't comprehend the American mindset of throwing out food. I don't grasp it. If there is leftover food, save it for another meal. Feed the scraps to the dog and then feed them less dogfood at night (and for the record, no, our dogs are NOT fat, I watch their weight closely). If there is A LOT of leftovers, freeze some and make a second meal out of it later in the month.

Pities sake, if for nothing else, you will save yourself money.

Getting off my soap box now.

Cut Books

OH THE HORRORS!!!

I am a book lover. Truly, I am. Huge reader, supporter of the library (I am there on a bi-weekly basis, they know my face), and here I am cutting up books?

Yes, but this is ART!

This is my third book that I have cut up. It is AA Milne's, "When we were Children". I chose it because it had so many wonderful illustrations. There weren't many Winnie the Pooh pictures (which is what most of us associate with AA Milne), but the other illustrations are fantastic.

After doing the cutting, I went a step farther, and hand colored many of them.
I also used foam glue dots to give support to the cuttings and give the book more depth (something more visible in person than in the photo). Next, glued down each page (this is the 'not fun, very tedious' part of the process). Lastly, covering the open front cover with plastic covering so the cuttings don't get destroyed. The cuttings are so easily torn, and when the books are handled, people try to touch everything, so the plastic is important to protect the cuttings.

It is an enjoyable process. Fun to do while watching television and chilling at home. Picking and choosing which picture is important and which one's are not.
A great use for nursery books that children have outgrown, or a topic book with pictures for a gift for Christmas. Good places to look for inexpensive books are Goodwill and second hand stores (I got mine at a library resale shop, so even in cutting up the books, I was supporting my local library!).

Making wool acorns

On craftgawker again (man, I REALLY need to avoid that site....it gives me idea after idea after idea....). The cutest little wool acorns. Awwhh.

First thing I needed to do was find acorns. Not as easy as it sounds, turns out. Took my son to fencing one night, and *angels singing* oak trees in the parking lot. There I am, in the dark with a flashlight, picking up acorn caps. Oh the lengths we crafters go to.

Next step was finding wool roving. Off to the quilt store (my favorite place!). Try...to...control...myself. Must refuse to look at fabric. Do I need a needle punch? Not really. Do I need a needle mat? No. Stick with just the wool roving.

After that, must complete other unfinished craft projects. heh. This is the harder part. Finish up the jackets (DONE!). Finish up cutting the books (DONE!). No, I still haven't glued those or put the covers on it, so they haven't made it to the blog, but the cutting is done.

Now I can start on new projects! Hooray! I spent the evening making the wool balls, meaning about an hour rolling wool in water and soap. Pruney fingers. Then they had to dry overnight. This morning, I did the fun part of matching wool balls to acorn caps, each cap being a different size and depth and each ball being different. I used hot glue to attach them.

Aren't they the cutest thing ever?

Tabletop water garden

I have several ponds in my yard. This is the first year I am trying to overwinter some of the plants (oh please make it thru winter!). They are hiding in the garage, and don't seem all that happy.

I was on Craftgawker the other day, and found the blog "in words and pictures" with a lovely picture of a tabletop water garden. Made me start thinking of my own plants just lingering in the garage.

My first thought was, running down to the craft store for a large, clear, glass bowl for the garden. My next was, why not use my hurricane lamp for candles for it?

I put it together this morning (nothing like gathering plants and dirt and gravel while in my jammies at 8 in the morning! heh Crafting triumphs practicality on some days!). I like how it turned out. I still want a larger bowl, something large enough to put a few fish into, but it can wait for a few weeks.

A little nature indoors! Ignore the dust in the picture. Obviously, crafting is more important to me that dusting as well!

My last remade jacket

I like how this one turned out. The black trim adds a lot to the look, placed along the zipper and the cuff. I also added a "mini overall" clips to the sleeves to gather them in a little. The sides are gathered in with vest buckles.



This jacket was purchased for me a few years back, size 14. I've lost some weight and it swims on me now. But with these few changes, and the soft fabric, the buckles really work to make it more fitted.

Later, when I can get some help from my mother, I would like to take out those side buckles and replace them with a triple row of buckles, as well as adding some decorative buttons on the sleeve or shoulders. Not sure...

And here is the before so you can see the changes.

My second jacket

This is a beautiful jacket. Fully lined, multiple princess seams in the front and back. The workmanship on it is excellent. Just a bit....boring.

I added velvet ribbon to the collar, cuffs and pockets. I changed out all the buttons (whoo-whee, that single center button was EXPENSIVE, but worth it). Stitching on all that ribbon was tedious, but adds a lot to the jacket.




It isn't flashy or overly "romantic", but now has a dash of old-world charm to it. Toss a frothy blouse underneath it, and you have a lovely outfit.

Here is the before of the jacket. Perfectly serviceable, if a bit dull.