On Blogging

I'm approaching the six month mark for my blog.  Wow.  I'm glad that I've committed to this, and I think it is definitely helping me move towards some of my bigger goals.  I'm really proud of what I've put out so far, but I still want to improve ( a LOT ).  Maybe on some days I would like to be doing better with this thing then I am.  But I'm happy to have so many likes on facebook (holding strong at 178!), and my wonderful 21 followers.  Thank you for reading my blog everyone!  I couldn't be more proud to have you as my guest!  

Though I have to be honest, some days my lil' blog can feel like more work than it's worth.  For this Saturday Blogger Love, I wanted to share some bloggers that have written some inspiring words for when blogging gets hard, and it's the last thing you'd like to be doing.  I want to keep at this blog, because I have bigger goals for myself than where I am right now, and my blog is keeping my mind goal oriented, and my creative juices flowing.  Speaking of creativity Real Simple had a fantastic article by A.J. Jacobs on "How To Be More Creative".  Totally inspirational, and made me want to work harder to craft pieces that are true to my visual aesthetic, and to keep making things that make me happy.  

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Elizabeth over on Delightfully Tacky has been writing some beautiful thoughts on having an Existential Crisis in the blogosphere, and Clearing (your) Head when your blog hits a turning point.  I couldn't agree with her words more.  I want to move into the woods and have a garden, and Aaron and I could have our own little self sufficient haven, and let our natural talents flourish.  I'd love to own a boutique that sells an eclectic collection of unique handcrafted pieces.  I'm not always sure how all these goals work into my blog, or where I fit into the blog world, and Elizabeth couldn't have expressed these thoughts better.  

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My Girl Thursday wrote about being a quitter, and not giving up on her blog, even when all the other outside pressures make you want to run the other way.  On some days it's hard to remember that this blog is for me, and that it doesn't matter how many views I had today or yesterday.  Or that none of my new posts seem to surpass the ratings on my paper pulp seed cups DIY post.  This blog is for me to have a place to gather together all my thoughts, skills, and goals.  A place to stew on those things and let them grow into something bigger.  

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Heather over on Musings of A Girl and San on The In Between Is Mine shared their thoughts on blogging, relationships and connecting.  I've always struggled with my personal connections with other people, and a lot of Heather and San's words rang true for me.  It's always reassuring to hear other people feel the same way I do.  I read a lot of established blogger's tips on growing your new blog, and it's obvious that networking and making a blogging community is important to the growth, and maybe the sustainability of your blog.  I have to imagine having blogger friends helps on the hard days, and helps to push your blog to new places, and keep your posts current and relevant to the outside world.  I don't want fear of rejection to keep me from making blogging friends.  I want to write some heartfelt emails to some of the blogging ladies I enjoy following, but I don't want to get down if I don't hear back from any of them.  But who knows, maybe by this time next month I'll have one new blogging friend!  

In case anyone is wondering I photographed all the photos used in this post using a 35mm SLR (I don't remember if I was using my Pentax, or my friend's Nikon) back in 2003.  I love what my eye saw back then, I want to make more art like this.  Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Saturday, and Happy DIYing, chris!  

Fun Friday Fascinations

Happy Friday ya'll!!!  Hope everyone had a great week.  Here are some of my fun finds through out the week.  

Love this idea for a background from Mom*tog.  So simple, yet still beautiful.

 This is a great idea for awesome plant markers.  Found via The Craftinomicon.

 Leek, Carrot, and Potato soup.  I love Potato and Leek soup, and I'd love to try this new take on the classic soup from A Cook's Memoirs.

Love the pink baubles on this statement necklace found on ModCloth.

   

The two sizes of dots on this skirt are perfect!  ModCloth has the greatest products.  If I won the lottery I'd spend a good chunk of money in their store.  A girl can dream ...

Have a great weekend, and happy DIYing, chris.

Pen & Marker Storage

A couple weekends ago Aaron and I actual had time off that coincided with each other, and we were able to go thrifting.  Since we're saving for a house, and we want to buy some large piece once we move, we didn't buy much.

I did buy this great wooden glass bottle crate.  It used to be a Chaser liquor shipping container.  Someone painted over it with silver spray paint at some point, and the antique store I found it at had tons!  A whole walk-in closet brimming to the rafters (it was in the attic)!  This little gem was only twelve bucks, and I think it's perfect as is.

Except for this one lil' crack down the middle.  I want it to house my markers and pens, and they'll just fall right through that hole.  

I filled the hole with cardboard, and glued some scrapbook paper down on the inside.  On the bottom I used a piece of black gaff tape to keep the cardboard in.  i'm sure I could have used a jigsaw to cut a piece of wood to fit, but I had all these materials, and no wood or jigsaw for that matter.  man, I'd like a jigsaw!

This is what my marker and pen storage looked like before.

This is what it looks like now.  I'll be able to grab what I need ten times faster now!  So pleased with this purchase, and it will last me a long time.  Looks like I need some more fancy pens in fun colors.  I love buying home office supplies.  The beginning of the school year was always my favorite, because I loved going into Staples or Office Depot and touching all the fun new products.  I could fill a house with home office supplies, from pens to staplers, to notepads and erasers, scissors and rulers, and so many more goodies.  

Hope ya'll are having a great week, and happy DIYing, chris!  

A little planting

I did a DIY earlier today, and then I totally forgot to upload the photos, and write a post.  Opps!  I just finished watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and then I realized I haven't posted today!  Here are some photos from March, when we planted some kohlrabi and broccoli.  We planted them in our deck rail planters. They are made of plywood measuring 2 feet, by 1 foot, and 6 inches deep.  We drilled holes in the bottom, covered the holes with window screening.  Then we added feet to the bottom.  We built them three years ago, and they've held up great.  Our thyme keeps coming back in one of the boxes, it's fantastic.

As soon as this relentless rain lets up I'll take some photos of our garden's progress.  Things are looking good.  We have more plants to move into larger pots, and I can't wait until flowers start appearing.  I love eating our freshly grown veggies.  Happy DIYing, chris

Growing Garlic and Onion

This is my favorite gardening book.  

Don't Throw It, Grow It!, it has great tutorials with the cutest drawings on how to grow great things from your table scraps.

I posted previously on growing ginger, and this time I'm trying to grow onion and garlic in pebbles.

I used a tupperware container, and I rinsed some river rocks I bought at a garden center.

Rocks look awesome when they're wet.  I thought about painting the outside of the tupperware containers, but I then I decided seeing the pebbles would be pretty, and watching the roots grow around them (hopefully) will be rewarding.

 After washing the pebbles I filled my container 2/3 of the way.

Then I placed my onion on top, and filled with small rocks around the sides, leaving 1/3 of the onion visible.

To finish, I filled the container with water, to the top of the rocks.

This is what my indoor garden looks like currently.  From left to right I have an orchid plant, a gerbera daisy, the garlic and onion, and then a small collection of cacti.

I followed the same directions for the garlic as the onion.  I hope they grow big and strong in there.  If this works well, maybe I wont have to buy garlic again!  At the very least I could have a pretty display.

Hope ya'll enjoyed, happy DIYing, chris! 

Fruit Cup

Happy Nom Nom Monday!  I had an awkward work schedule, so I'd just made a little snack between my shifts.  I used what we had in the house, but this recipe could be switch up easily for multiple tasty combinations.  I made a simple fruit cup.  All we have are apples and maraschino cherries.  I've made this with just apples at night to bring for lunch during work the next day.  I'd like to try it with maybe peaches, pineapple, and strawberries.  Great easy snack.

This will make 2 fruit cups: one apple, 8 cherries (fresh cherries would be better than maraschino), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.  The sugar is to balance out the tartness of the lemon juice.

Chop the apple up in bite sized pieces, and quarter the cherries.

Place in a small saucepan, and add the sugar and lemon juice.  Cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve when the apples have softened a little, while still holding a little crispness.  The lemon juice will keep the apples from browning, so if you want to prepare this ahead of time, it will store well in the refrigerator.

Eating it warm is pleasant too, great on a cold rainy day. 

Hope ya'll enjoyed, and happy DIYing, chris!

Making a Pattern in GIMP

Today I want to talk a little about making patterns in GIMP.  I'm no expert, and there could be a better way to do this, but this works perfectly for me.  If you're no expert, and you'd like a simple way to replace the boring free patterns GIMP comes with, this tutorial is for you.  

 Begin by opening GIMP, and selecting the 'bucket fill tool', and the pattern fill.

Then open the pattern selection dialog box.  

 This box will open up, and then you will select the file looking button on the bottom right.

Once the image is open in it's own window, increase the px to 800%, which can be found on the bottom bar.  Next, select the eraser tool, and run it over the entire square. 

 Then go to View and check the 'Show Grid' box.  Next, change the canvas size, found under image.

 Lock the width and height, and make sure to resize all layers, then change the pixels to 40 x 40.

 Now use the circle tool to make circles in each square of the grid.  Pick whatever color you'd like to fill them!  This is my current favorite color.  Make sure to fill the circle before making your next one, or your previous circle will disappear.  Once each square has a filled circle save your new pattern.  That's all!  Simple as pie.

 Let's test it out.  Looks great!

 This is the pattern filled at 50% opacity.  Playing with the opacity can create a softer look.

 I love playing with mixing and blending my homemade GIMP patterns.  This is my pink polka dot pattern over the previous image I created.

Then I turned both layers back on, and played with the opacity of the top layer until I got the look I was looking for.  I'd use this background for a photo collage or maybe just some simple text for a header.  Like my Saturday Blogger Love, Fun Friday Fascinations, and Nom Nom Monday banners I made recently.  

Hope ya'll enjoyed, happy DIYing, chris.