The Basement

2020-03-30T13:15:00.002-07:00

DIY Pompom Bag

I've been seeing these fun pompom bags on Pinterest and thought what a fun project it would make for my sewing students, while we are "sheltering in place" in our homes. I recommend a canvas type of fabric.

Here's what you will need

7 pompoms - make your own Pompom tutorial
2 1/2 yards of cording
2 12x 10 pieces of fabric
Sewing Machine
Scissors
Pins
Paperclip

Here is a basic overview of the steps.

For the complete process see the video below.

Fold the long side edges in about 1/2 in, then fold the short edge 1/2 in down twice.

Sew along the folded edge

Do that to both pieces

Arrange and pin the pompoms in place

Lay the other piece of fabric on top, and repin all the pompoms in place

Sew around all 3 edges.

Trim the pompom tails

Clip the corners

and turn the bag inside out, or right side out rather.

Tie the cording on the a paperclip.

Thread the cording through the 1st pocket of the drawstring top, the back pocket and the back through the first pocket again.

Tie of the ends of the cording and your bag is done.

Make a pompom purse video tutorial

Share your creations with me!

Handmade Gift Bazaar Directions.

2017-11-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

Handmade Gift Bazaar Instructions.

First off my apologies... I'm no longer striving to be good at blogging because I realized I wasn't enjoying making things anymore and really that is my love. So now my blogging is done as quickly and as easily as possible so I can make more stuff. So this is my crude instructions blog. ENJOY MAKING STUFF~

Station #1 Bath Bombs and Bath Salts

Station #2 Beach Tote

This sewing tutorial is not exclusively my own. Here is the link to the original instructions.
I used http://radianthomestudio.com/beach-tote-tutorial/ and modified it a bit.

Station #3 Ring Holders
Again not my own. Here is the link to instructions.

http://diyinpdx.com/2016/05/24/concrete-diy-ring-cones/

Station #4 Silk Scarves

This is more or less my own. I first learn this technique in design school in the 90's. The original method was to steam set your dyes, but it was a long labor process and I cut out the steaming by using the microwave which steam sets the dye.

Station # 5 Geometric Shape Candles.. I love candle making and back ... way back like 18 years ago I wrote a little pamphlet or book on crafts and candle making. But I really like these designs from Homemade-Modern.

Here is the original link.
http://www.instructables.com/id/HomeMade-Modern-DIY-Bloktagons/

Thank you all who came to my Homemade Gift Bazaar. I hope you all enjoyed making things and will use these instructions to make more!

Mama Bear (5)

2017-09-08T19:15:00.004-07:00

Had a wonderful time in CdA bummed we lost a few hours and therefor we weren't able to hike Tubs Hill and take a dip in the lake as we had hoped. But had a blast non the less. The next day we made our way to stop # 7 Mt Rainier. Hoping that it too wouldn't be smokey. We did have to reroute a bit due to some road closures from fires. (At this point we are really feeling like maybe we should go home it feels as through the entire western US is on fire).

Here is what we saw for 3 days of driving... A red sun and lots of smoke!

We roll into Mt Rainier and just the beauty and mountains start to refresh and remind us of our original goal. We are able to see some of Rainier through the hazy smokiness. And really hoping the smoke goes away and we might be able to make it to Reflection Lakes for some photos and maybe even some night photography.

We enjoy the first day up in Paradise and walked to Myrtal Falls, enjoyed the Lodge which is very rustic and cute. I think I bought 4 of the most expensive Lemonades ever and we enjoyed them very much! He is the upstairs of the lodge where we sat and enjoyed our refreshment!

Did a few more waterfall hikes (took more senior photos) and even crossed this sketch bridge over the Nisqually River.

The Bridge is just a log with a railing on ONE side!

That night the kids found their inner child camp selves and built a Lean-to and teeter tooter. That night it rained and we woke to no smoke, but lots of mist. We packed up and headed to Olympia, WA for another hotel night for Kelsey to prep for taking the ACT.

Mama Bear and her 3 Cubs Adventure (4)

2017-09-08T18:22:00.002-07:00

Rolling into Yellowstone from the West Side Entrance just be for sunset was an amazing drive! We hit the paint pots around dusk so the lighting and sunsetting was mazing with all the smoke and I think it really set up this park for all of us!

We camped in Bridge Bay which was a great little stop! Day 2 we enjoyed driving around the Grand Loop and listening to our own personal tour... thanks to a little app called GyPSy. We stopped a bunch of places, saw Bison, smelled sulfur and just oohed and awwhed at the majestic beauty of Yellowstone. We stopped at Old Faithful, parked got out, walked up and it literally went off so lucky!

That night we had an amazing Ranger Program in our campground from a wonderful Ranger that led us through the History of the National Parks!

The next day we had a bit of a more relaxing day. Did a Ranger program at West Thumb and then sat on the edge of Yellowstone Lake for lunch and some ZZZzzzz's.

The next day we headed out to the North end of the park hoping to get a spot at the Mammoth Campground. But along the way we decided to try and get ourselves close to where Jeff had to catch a flight in Montana near Glacier. Which was our next stop.

But there were fires everywhere it felt like! We drove most of that day in smoke through Montana. Stopping in the the very smokey town of Missoula for the night. But to our surprise our Hotel had a Grand Piano and Kelsey stayed up till midnight practicing. We took Jeff to the Airport and then tried to get our selves to my Cousins in Coeur d'Alene which would hopeful only be a 3 1/2 hr drive. Bummed to have been SO close to Glacier which was the one park I was most looking forward to revisiting! But it wasn't going to work out. About 10 min outside of my cousins....we hit MAJOR traffic. We moved like 2 miles in 2 hours. We got of the fwy took a very sketch side road (VERY WINDY) and gravel.. I was a bit terrified... but I just followed a few bigger rigs and hoped for the best! When we got to CdA it was smokey too!

Mama Bear and her 3 cubs Adventure (3)

2017-09-08T18:13:00.004-07:00

So Kelsey completed her SAT in St. George. Mama got a pedicure for my feet YA YAH!! The car got a wash and we got our selves ready and packed for Great Basin. Since it was close to 100 degrees outside I had a brilliant idea to wait and go to the grocery until we were closer to Great Basin. Rather than having to get a ton of ice for the cooler and trying to keep it all cold. What I didn't know was there would be nothing from St. George to Great Basin.

So we rolled into Great Basin, no food, no ice, hardly any cash (I was planning to hit and ATM, but yep none to be found) and no campsite. Also Great Basin is the most desolate of all the National Parks we've hit. But on the way in we spied this little Ranching Exhibit with an old rusty car that called us to take photos. Kelsey was hoping to have me take her "Senior" photos in every National Park. So we got out and did a little photo session!

(no picture since I didn't bring my card reader so I just have phone pics and the ones my kids take on their phones)

So after the photo session I'm still hopeful to find a National Park pizza place for food and refreshment......Great Basin is known as a Dark Park .... meaning no light pollution so basically everything was closed and the two campground that were close to the entrance were full. So we found our selves traveling down a 3.2 mile gravel road to find a campsite. So much for the clean car! But we got a spot. So now for ice, food and water! We had seen a little cafe by the visitor center and I even spied beer there too! But since it's dark park everything closes at like 5:30pm! So we went into the town of Baker which is using the word town very liberally! If you sneezed as you were driving you literally wouldn't see it. We spied a "little" market and a sign that said ice! Stoked we were going to be rescued from drinking potable water at the campground and top ramen for dinner. Hopes dashed again! Closed at 7:00 (it was currently 7:30) We noticed a place people hanging out in and looks like there were eating and walked across the high way. There was a friendly cat in a sweater to greet us and we walked in to a haven! Cute restaurant, YUMMMY food! And their kitchen closed at 8:00 and we sat down and ordered at like 7:58 YEAH! And they sold ice too! So we had a campsite, food, water and ice now! Yeah!

I was thinking that 4 nights in this park might be a little too long, but it wasn't. I highly recommend this NP if you are looking for Quiet & Dark! It's also a NP that doesn't charge an entrance fee By the way.

The next day we kind got acquainted ourselves with the area and things to do. We went to the "Market" Which is where a lady goes to Walmart and buys prepackaged foods and comes back separated them and sells them. It was perfect though and the meat we bought in a plastic bag was excellent!

Before we entered the park we read about the Shoshone Indians and that in this area they were Pine Nut harvesters..... So guess what in Great Basin National Park you can collect pine nuts. So that's what we did....

The next day we explored the Lehman caves on a 90 minute tour! AMAZING! Truly awesome! It is said that Great Basin has over 80 caves!

Then we headed up to Wheeler Peak and hiked to Apline Lakes even more beautiful! We saw so much wild life ever where in this park. Including a baby deer leg... that I'm guessing an animal ate and then left the leg wit the food?

This park is know for being able to see the most of the night sky, including the milky way and 3 nights a week they have an astronomy program. Jake found a night photography book and discover his interested in night photography, including light painting! The perfect park to do night photography of the stars!

All in all thumps up for Great Basin. YOU WILL LITERALLY BE 80 Miles any REAL Market!

We left GBNP and headed to Salt Lake City to stay in a hotel and we all were looking forward to that since there were no showers in GBNP and NO FLUSH TOILETS! So the hotel was awesome! Then we pick up Papa Bear again and head to Yellowstone National Park.

Mama Bear and Her Three Cubs Adventure (2)

2017-08-30T17:57:00.002-07:00

So Faith's birthday came and went we celebrated in Durango, CO, such a cute little town! We checked out some bee place with yummy honey, a fish hatchery and the beautiful Animas River wish we had brought our rafts so we could float down it but still enjoyed playing on the edge of it! Then we checked out the mall. The birthday girl wanted to go shopping but didn't realized not all malls are like the one we have at home! So off to a brewery for dinner! Here is the birthday girls enjoying her bacon topped dessert! Then we took dad to the Airport and the adventure of being solo with the kids began. Then back at the campsite we found out the Elks lodge in the town we were in was having a fireworks display. What a way to end her birthday!

Sunday was a recoup day! Doing laundry, swimming, studding and the all important going to the market to stock up on food. Forgot that we have limited cooler space so we had to eat quite a lot that night so we could fit all the food in the two coolers we have!

Stop #4 Zion. Monday we left early to head to Zion. We had a guy swerve from the other lane on one of those two lane road into our land then off into the side of the road. Scary but also served as my morning coffee in waking me up! The drive from Mesa Verde to Zion was beautiful and filled with lot's of people on the side of the road looking at the eclipse. I didn't see but saw pictures of it. We arrived Monday afternoon in enough time to float down the river a bit!

So lucky right outside out campground was this cute little gelato place we walked to each night for ice cream! And yes we have a few more adventures with us! The Saneffs came and meet us in Zion. Thank you friends!

The big two set up their hammocks and slept outside. Thankfully it never rained! Kelsey is checking in with friends!

Even got in a little standing bow!

This is the view from out campground! Just amazing. I love ZION!

We loved stop #4!

This was a group photo, but I was filming! We are on our way to Canyon Overlook Trail! Amazing!

We left Zion and headed to St. George for a night at a hotel for Kelsey to prepare for taking the SAT Saturday morning. We loved the pool, the burger place in the hotel and a gym so excited to get a little work out in!

Off to Stop #5 Great Basin!

Mama Bear and Her Three Cubs Adventure

2017-08-22T08:50:00.002-07:00

I had high hopes of planning, preparing, organizing and charting. But my summer took off and I "Bearly" got myself to the Grand Canyon. Which was the start of our epic adventure.

It started over the summer more and more I found myself disconnecting from people, from relationships and from fun so I could be productive and get stuff done. So much so I finally found myself day dreaming about an escape. A way to feel, connect, care and engage with others and nature. I usually have a good balance and operate in a consciousness about maintaining that balance. But I think the vice of that is that it can feel all the same. And in an attempt to expand, to go beyond the comfort of my maintainable balance I undertook a little project that I thought would just occupy a few hours a few nights a week. Suddenly it became all consuming... 13 and 17 hours days became the norm, where I would eat and sleep only. I kept asking myself how I got here. Anyway that is what lead to my "bearly" getting myself to the Grand Canyon.

The escape adventure is basically this..... 10 national parks in 2 months (or 6 weeks depending on mama bear). Taking our pop-up (which for years we keep saying we need to buy another one, but haven't) with us.

Why did I have to get myself to the Grand Canyon, which was the 1st of the 10 National Parks? Here it is......3 years ago I undertook an adventure of hiking Rim to Rim with a great guy from my yoga studio and his extremely welcoming and encouraging friends. I then invited a friend and we went. I almost died (not really but I really did feel that way). It was a week or more recovering and someone had to carry my pack out to lighten my load so I could make it out of the canyon! All together not the success I was hoping for. So when I was asked if I wanted to do it again. My response was yes I wanted redemption, to be able to do it with success! I was going to train, pack well, learn what exact foods I needed, etc. Although I did do some of that it wasn't how I wanted it to look and not nearly to the degree I wanted either. I basically threw stuff in a bag and left. Leaving my husband and 3 kids an incomplete list of things to pack and hoping they would fill in the gaps for me and meet me in the Grand Canyon.

Stop #1 Grand Canyon National Park. This was my kids first experience and utterly awesome! 20 years ago Jeff and I made our way to the GC for our first time and I found an epic rock and asked him to take my picture (I would insert it here but it's on the home PC) when I met up with the family Kelsey was so excited to show me a picture Jeff took of her... and it's literally the same spot I had asked Jeff to take my picture 20 years early! How crazy! Talk about DNA!

Stop #2 Santa Fe, NM. I can not tell you as a creative artistic person (which I feel like is a past tense label) how long I have wanted to go to this city. It was truly awesome and we loved seeing a truly creative spot Meow Wolf I highly recommend it!

So on our way to Stop # 3 we stopped at Ghost Ranch.... where Georgia O'keeffe lived and and painted... here is a photo of Kelsey ...

Stop # 3 Mesa Verde. Talk about terror! Oh my we visited the Balcony house and it was amazing but also terrifying at least if you are afraid of heights! You can see the terror on my face. It doesn't look like it would be that way but it was! Here we sit in Mesa Verde KOA enjoy WiFi, a pool and the beauty of Colorado. So that Kelsey can get some studying in for the SAT.

Tomorrow is our youngest Faith's Birthday she'll be 12 and we'll celebrate in Durango and then we'll be sending Papa Bear home.... and then we are solo. So if you are an adventure and want to meet us let me know. We'll be heading into Zion, Great Basin then into Yellowstone! Come hang with us!

2016-11-28T20:19:00.001-08:00

DIY ADVENT CALENDAR

by Kelsey Retich

This is an update of my mom's post from 2011

Making our own advent calendar is a special tradition that our family has been doing for many years. Each year as memorable and different as the last. We usually resort to our staple look, a house with doors and windows that open up to be the different days of December! Through the years my siblings and I have done more than our fair share of cutting out windows, doors, plants, wreaths, people, cars, dogs, trees, presents, stars, and plenty other christmasy what-have-you's from every magazine we could find, as well as getting covered in glue trying to paste them on in all the right spots! The original post is quite, well, homemade, but not very pretty! Fortunately as our art skills improved, so did our advent calendar making skills, thus calling for an update to the old directions.

This is our finished product this year! Quite a fun improvement from our older years, and just as much fun!

The orginal post here:

SUPPPLIES

Large sheet of black paper (we wrapped our around an old bulletin board)
White Chalkboard markers (we use Pen-Touch)
LOTS of Magazines
Scissors
Glue
Exacto knife (or scissors if you're really talented)
Sharpie

STEP ONE
First thing to do is to take your large sheet of paper and draw your house outline with your chalkboard markers. Inspiration for this house came from drawings of old victorian houses and Pinterest (where else?)

STEP TWO
Get out your magazine stash! Cut out as many christmasy or just cute doors and windows as you need. If you find other stuff you like too, you can cut them out and glue it to your house as decoration!

STEP THREE
Once you have your house outlined and your doors and windows cut out, you can glue them down however you want to, however be warned, this step requires your hands to be coated in glue! And I mean COATED.

STEP FOUR
After you glue them down, you can add decorations to your house with the marker, curlycues, dots, little designs, anything to make it your own. Now take out your exact knife and take your house and lay it on something to cut on (we use a cork board, but any old cutting board would be fine as well) and cut around all your doors and windows!

STEP FIVE
Add white paper all over the back of your windows and glue it down. Then you can decide what days to label your doors with, and then you can write in fun activities in the spaces!

Hope you and your family enjoy making this fun calendar and that it brings lots of memories! Have a wonderful Christmas season! -Kelsey Retich

How I cook a whole chicken in 30 Min

2015-09-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

My mother in law got a an awesome new pressure cooker for my birthday I love it! Here is how I make a whole chicken in 30 using my Pressure Cooker XL.

Season chicken (Seasoning of choice herbs & Salt or coat in BBQ sauce)
Turn on pressure cooker and press CHICKEN/MEAT BUTTON.

Melt butter in pressure cooker, Brown chicken on all sides

Then Press Keep Warm/Cancel after browned nicely… (much browner than my picture)
You can add in more sauce, chicken broth, veggies, what ever flavors you like.

Put on the lid

Lock it in place and make sure the steam valve is locked too.

Then press the SOUP/STEW BUTTON and then press the COOK TIME SELECTOR button until you reach 30 min.

Then you are done it's seriously that easy!!

DIY Pillowcase - 5 Steps

2014-10-09T15:46:00.001-07:00

I just recently taught a group of young ladies how to sew this pillowcase. The object was to get these beginning sewers comfortable and confident in front of their machines.

MATERIALS

1 yr of fabric

Machine

Scissors

Thread

You are done! Embellish it by adding ribbon of your stitch or you can crochet an edging. I love making these for my kids for each of the holiday!

DIY Outdoor Bench - Update

2014-07-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

So I thought this summer I would revisit my most popular post. 2 summers ago I posted DIY Outdoor Bench which got a huge reponse and I have had a lot of comments/questions. So I thought I would do a revisit to this fun post.

2 summers ago I was eager to use some cushions that I had saved from a previous wood bench that became fire wood. So I need to make a bench but I didn't want to break out the wood working tools, I didn't want to spend too much money and I didn't want it to take more than an hour. I had seen a bench made of all cinder blocks and thought hey that looks easy. Until I got to home depot and started to lug them in the cart. I got a few in the cart and then I had an idea that seems to have spread. It was to thread wood boards in the holes of the cinder blocks to create a bench. And presto I had a bench for my cushion and a new post for my blog. I wouldn't call myself a blogger I'm more of a creator who has been encouraged to blog but I think I lack some skill because if I get into the blogging thing my creation suffers if I'm into my creation my blog suffers. Needless to say this DIY Outdoor Bench post has been a big hit. I have had over 114,000 hits in the past year and it keeps growing. I have noticed lots of other bloggers making their version which are all super cute. So here some picture of some other versions.

My cousin found my post online and made her version which are super cute check them out.

The second photo down is my parents house they did up two to look out at their view.

This one is from Lena at Simple Living

Here is another one from Everyday Fabulous Blog

I found this great one inspire from my bench on Pinterest but the link didn't work so I don't know who posted it but I love the wrap around style.

Here are a few more I found.

one more look at this fun bench from 2 summers ago..

So thank you everyone who enjoyed this post and created your own version what a complement. I especially thank everyone cause I'm a blogger hobbiest and not a well blogged machine like so many of you so I appreciate it. I have no updated photo because of this wonderful bench, because the area I created the bench in is now our chicken coop and so I am storing my beautiful cushions once again.

MATERIALS

4 - 4x4x12 pieces of wood I used the cheapest I could fine

8-12 Cinder blocks (using 12 the bench was a little high, my feet didn't touch the ground so we dug where the blocks sat so it would sit lower. Or you could do away with the top row 4 blocks and have it sit lower. It's a personal preference thing as well as hight.)

1 Tube Concrete Adhesive

Cushions Optional

Turn a 99 cent hat into a custom hat!

2014-03-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

While gearing up for a camping trip this weekend I saw this bright orange hat at the 99 cent store and thought I can make something out of that! This is what I came up with. And a little how-to as well.

$1.00 Valentines Apron

2014-02-02T16:45:00.001-08:00

This is a quick and easy tutorial. I was in Target and came across this $1.00 dish towel and thought I can make a kids apron out of this. Then we also bough a pillow sham for my daughter and I saw the ribbon on the packaging and thought great I'll use that for the apron. So total cost of this is $1.00 and it took me 2 min to make it and much long to take picture and do photoshop... which is probably why my blog pic aren't better I don't enjoy it. But I hope you can make one and enjoy that! I LOVE making stuff!!!

Confessions from a creative soul

2013-12-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Oh she's creative, oh he's an artist, etc.....a lot of people throw it around... Like it's an excuse or a privilege.

But those of us who are creative and know it, also know it isn't all roses. I'm not speaking for all creative types or artists, just from my own perspective. It may line up and it may not, or parts may line up while other parts do not. It's all ok. Take from it any part that comforts, encourages or spurs you on! For those of you reading this who are not in the artists/creative category, Many of us envy you at times! You have other God given strengths when displayed (albeit not in a gallery) they are just as beautiful and I've had people like that in my life and it's a gallery I'd love to go to. It's the gallery where relationship are appreciated. Forgive me please for any grammar or eloquence that is lacking and I pray you can hear what I'm "Confessing". Also another note I'm in no way stating that A) I'm the best at artistic or creative things or in anyway trying to have anyone view anything I make with esteem. (I make things cause I love to and I'm thrilled/overjoyed/ecstatic when it meets someones heart and they like it, not cause I made it, but the connection, the spark is the thing I love to feel and being able to gift that to someone is JOY) Also just because you are creative or artistic doesn't mean that everything that you "do", "create" or "make" is awesome, to be valued or counted as a great art by others, even if it has great meaning to you. Same way an old baby sock a mother holds onto not cause it's value, how it was made, etc, hold on to it cause of it's value to her of the child she held that wore it as a baby. Ok back to the talent thing many, MANY, MANY creative people don't develop that talent, that God given virtue. My guess is because, creative or artistic people usually lack discipline, at times myself included! Which if you know me you might disagree with cause I eat health, work out and train in other areas of my life, which requires discipline. But the discipline needed to develop a skill is at times hard for me. I don't won't to be told how to, I don't want to learn, practice, repeat, repeat, repeat until it's what I like I just want to do what I like. I just want to express. I often think about musicians (one of the reasons I don't play an instrument is I lack the ability to stick with it while it sounds awful in order to develop the skill to just be able to express) I see my daughter who can oooozzee musical expression and I'm jealous it looks to me like a girl twirling in a meadow just free and delighting in it... but there was work before the freedom. It's that work that I speak of when I mention lack of discipline being (in my opinion) something artists lack. Ok I think that's all my disclaimers and before comments about artistic, creative types. Now on the the confessions. Things I've learn and don't want to forget and try to remind myself of....
#1 - It's like riding a bike, practice, practice, practice, do it, over and over and over again, even when you don't like the out come or you feel like a fraud or a failure.

#2 - Nobody has to affirm me to do #1 (but it does act as an accelerant)

#3 - Find your own way.

#4 - Trust others who can see in you what (because your are to close) can't see!

#5 - Encourage and develop other artists/creative types around you, because #1 is so important, and so do #2 so other can do #1...... I won't read that line to to my son cause there is bound to be a potty joke in there.

#6 - Don't value yourself by your art or compare it to others.

#7 - Everything you do, you are learning from. So keep doing (oops that #1 again)

So what's the big deal. Well if you are like me the big deal is TIME. I'm a mother of 3, my husband runs his own business, he has an amazing idea for a new business and I want to help him get that started, oh and I home-school, and taxi 3 kids to various "appointment". So finding the TIME, is hard. I can barely do #1. When I was in design school I was constantly submerged in creating, starting and finishing projects, over and over..... my skill developed before my eyes! To this day I don't feel I'm able to draw as well and as easily as I did when I was constantly do it.

So after I've schooled the kids, made lunch, had a brief quite time, drove my kiddos around, made dinner, welcomed the hubby home, listened, laid kids down, etc. I just want to stare at the ceiling and praise God I made it through the day. The energy required at this point to round up art supplies, or take my camera out, etc. Is so big that often (way to often) I don't do it. One way I've found to fit it that time is to insert that artistic-ness in to my daily actives. When at the beach with the kids I sculpt the sand around their bodies so they become mermaids, or sculpt hello kitty in the sand, I've done fun scavenger hunts for the kids, transformed my dinning room into a "restaurant" to take my husband out on valentines day when we were didn't have the $ to go out. Or hand-made; love notes, dolls, etc.

Right now I'm really drawn (hey that's a joke get it .... drawn...) to indian headdresses .......

This is my first one.... I did in an evening while the family was away, it's done in pencils.... my go to medium.

My second one and in an effort to grow I pulled out my kids watercolor set and was pleasantly surprised I could use them.

My most recent I didn't have the energy to go searching for watercolor paper, so I just used good old printer paper (I know art snobs, the horror) I just wanted to get something out more than I wanted to make sure I used all the proper things. This I did mix medium pencils, charcoal and water colors... If I was smart I would have used crayon cause it would have acted as a natural resist to the water but I just went for it.

I long for the days when I can have a drafting table again, leave out project and work on them, develop them slowly over time, utilizing the mood as it comes. But for now I don't have that luxury so I just keep doing #1. Even if I only have an hour, a piece or printer paper and my kids art bin (which is always out cause I like to encourage creativity)

Oh and when you see me post a picture up (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - although I've lost my password and can't be bother to fix it, but I will) it's from a place of great fear I'll have you know! I'm not posting (like I know some do and that's ok) to say look at what I did I'm so great. I'm more like... wow I had little time, little energy and my tools were mere children's tools and I'm going to be bold and show this cause I think it's important. Cause I was given something that makes me "weird", I cry at weird moments in songs, or while looking at my children, making the bed, emotions take over me at times and I can't talk.... these are my components the components I've found most artist have. I look at these and I see shoot I'd like it to look more that this, or darn I should have done that, used that, etc. But I'm trying to train myself to see the good in it, to appreciate what is nice about it and posting it forces me to accept in on some level. Cause it's far better than a blank page.

So here is this.... I set out to start doing #1 more after reading a delightful book...(which I can't remember and I've just had knee surgery and am elevating my leg so I can't get up and go find it) It's like creative art journaling.. Anyway I had a journal in my purse and when I was waiting at the doctor or a restaurant or park, etc. I'd bust it out and a pen, pencil or crayon what ever I could find and bust out a little something in my journal... After 3 journals full of such things I wanted to do something bigger. So I found a picture of a woman in a headdress (the first picture) and started out sketching.... I got so frustrated the proportions were off, the lips looked funny, the feathers were all to straight and so I scribbled all over it in water colors doing random stuff. I consider this my warm-up exercise to my indian headdress series.........here it is....... really I can't find anything in this one I like......

If you look closely you can see on the left hand side the black parts of the headdress...and the ugly lips more toward the center. Some people bake cause they love to.... and I'm sure they have baked a few throw aways but they've still come away and learned something from the experience.... and learning is growth and growth is moving forward....... So here is to moving forward!

Thanks for reading....

2013-09-19T14:57:00.002-07:00

So what does it mean?

What does that mean?

Pinterest...... Well remember magazines? Remember find cool projects or pictures or designs or receipts and think I want to make, do, etc.... that? Then you cut out the article, picture, recipe or what ever it was? It's basically an online version of that but you won't loose that piece of paper somewhere or get water spilled all over it and have to throw it out.

Ok so I love Pinterest. It's my new of I don't feel good, I'm bored, I'm lame, I'm what ever and want to feel better thing to do. Go to www.pinterest.com and walla thousands of dazzling images, picture and ideas that renew me! I'm not really into Facebook. Mainly it's just so many words and then you get people who should have been a writer typing posts that well are SO lengthy I mean who reads it beside themselves over and over again. I'd rather look at a 1,000 picture then read 1,000 words!

Ok great so why do I do it?

First a word you will need to understand "PIN" this is not your code you type in at the ATM. This is a verb and it means basically to bookmark this picture, website, page, etc. "PINNED" items go on to your "BOARD". Ok so that's the grammar. So we'll go on to the why.....

Well let's say you like to cook.... you can go on to pinterest and view recipes, cooking tips, etc. that other people have pinned to their boards and see if you like something and pin it from there. Or you can parouse the internet and pin items directly from there. When you are ready to cook or want to look back on that tip you read about you can log on to Pinterest and click on your cooking board and then all the websites, blogs, recipes, tips, etc that you have pinned are right there in one place. If you are extremly visually like me this is much more usefully than a list of bookmarks online.

So WHY to catalog, keep track of or remember things.

So how do I do it?

First you will need to create an account. You already have at least 1,000 accounts, I mean I have to get a book for all my usernames and passwords so one more won't kill you! Also if you are on Facebook you can just log on using your Facebook account and then your done.

Then you need to log on

So this is what I see when I logo on. We'll break it down but t his is it.

First the search box. So you are looking for pumpkin recipes (let's say) you just type than in and see what pins come up. Or maybe you just want to look around in a broader topic like cooking...

So see those 3 little lines next to the search box? It's a drop down menu. You click on it and you'll see

A drop down list of all the different categories you can search through of pins other people have pinned. I frequent the DIY & Crafts.. and fashion.

Ok so I typed in pumpkin recipes and there I have a bunch of wonderful picture to look through I can scroll down and keep scrolling down will reveal lot's more and more and more pictures. Now these picture are links to websites. So with in each picture you will notice a comment below the picture. That is the person who pinned it's comment. Then there are other comments or likes under that, those are friends of the pinner or just who ever saw it and commented on it. Honestly I don't care about that part I'm just into the pictures.

If you notice in this picture above there is a chocolate kiss on top of a cookie. I have "moused" over that "pin" you will notice that there are 3 little boxes on the top of that picture that are not about the others. Those only appear when you mouse over or click on a picture/pin. So I have 3 choices I can do with this pin.

So I can "Pin it" to my board, "Send" it in an email to someone or myself, or "Like" the heart it.

Let's say we pin it.

Ok so this box will come up.... You'll notice the first thing it say's is board and next to it is a drop down box that say's CC..... Since this is a recipe and not a school thing (We do a school program called CC) I'm going to change that to say "Cooking"..

How did I do that? I just clicked on the arrow and a list of all the other boards I created came up. Now if you just opened an account you may have some preset boards. You can change them, add to them, etc.

Then if I want to add a decription as to why I'm pinning this. Like "I think Kelsey might like to make these for her class for halloween" then I'll click pin... now if I want everyone on FB to know I've just pinned this I can click the box next to Facebook.

You can check how I've organ/ized my boards here

xhttp://www.pinterest.com/kaylasbasement/boards

Well that's a little intro to Pinterest I hope you have some time to start pinning!

A week or so in Russia

2013-07-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Yes I recently got back from a missions trip to Russia. I can't even express what happened there and all that I experienced. But I will try to highlight a few insights. First off the picture above was taken as we walked through the town of Pskov... Some young men were biking around and then we stumbled on this. I just love this picture.

This is our first day in Russia. St. Petersburg to be exact. So we are traveling around the city sightseeing and waiting for our team leader to come from Czech so we can drive down to Pskov where the ministry will start.

We even went to the Hermitage museum which was amazing and had beautiful art, but I keep looking at the amazing floors and this huge thing. I have no idea what it was created for really it's so big!

So we finally arrived in Pskov and spend a day walking about the city... which is where the top shot of the door is from. Here is the Kremlin in Pskov... quite amazing.

Kelsey and a new friend Liza. She is so sweet, cute and just a ray of sunshine. Kelsey and I both miss her!

These girls we got to see everyday at the courtyard. Both every friendly and fun.

This little girl wants to be a gymnast when she grows up and she was showing me all her amazing moves. I showed here a little bikram but she's doing it better than me! I pray these three girls hearts would open to the love of Christ.

This is Jake he's from our team with the pastors son Mark. Another ray of sunshine. I miss frisbee with these two. I think it's a sport I might be able to pick up!

This is our last meal with everyone in Pskov. So glad we got a picture of the lady in pink. She is so beautiful and has a little girl about my youngest age and an infant son. She was there everyday preparing and cooking food for all of us! God bless her for all she did for us! Also Jim our team leader and amazing man of God. Some others from the team.

This monument is of Alexander Nevski (I hope this is right) He was a great warrior and lead the Pskov people in a clever tactic which lead to them defeating the Germans there on the lake. That is my summary of the story our wonderful host family told when she took us there!

This is Dennis and he is sharing the Gospel with the Russian people in the courtyard we were serving in each day. Right before he went up the sun got really bright and he grabbed some glasses from another team member. I had such a hard time taking him serious at first because of the glasses but... now I just love this picture. Lena is the beautiful interpreter who has an amazing heart and gift in express scripture!

Host family time. So my mom (in the middle) and my daughter (far right) all stayed with this one amazing family. Olga on the left and her friend Lyda (not sure if I spelled that right) in between my mom and daughter. Wish I could stay and have a photo play date with Olga!

This is Olga's mom Natasha and I do miss her. If I lived in Russia I would make sure I was in her bible study. I'd also want to help her with construction!

I've learned from the Russian culture and way of life, from these amazing people that I've capture in these photos and the Holy Spirit moved in my heart as I stepped completely out of my comfort zone in going on this missions trip. I pray I can go again!

Oh and the organization that supports this ministry is Encouragement International... If you are a giving person your donation to this organization will be utilized in a wonderful way... you can check them out..

Dwell on Design

2013-06-25T13:03:00.003-07:00

Ok so I live in LA and I feel like I'm always finding out about cool shows and things to do after they happen. So last week I found out about the Dwell on Design show that was this past weekend in LA, I decided I'm going. I love the Dwell magazine. If you aren't familiar with it you should be it's awesome.

So we went to check out the PreFab Home Builders and saw a few. They were awesome by far our favorite was BluHomes. And they are opening a model right here in Agoura down on Kanan Rd. The model we love too. Here is a picture and link.

Then I heard about this Passport to Design competition they were having and decided it would be so fun to enter. After having just completed a design project for a Green Room which was so cool. I'll post some finished photo's of that later. But back to Dwell on Design (#dod2013)... Here are a few highlights of what we enjoyed...

I don't know how I missed this on the way in, but when we left the show we snapped this of the kids.

There was a great booth with cool art. Like these ones. Which we goofed around with..

Wouldn't this be so cool.... to replace chalkboards and whiteboards with this lightboard. I love it!

I so love these lights. I even pinned how to make your own on pinterest... but they are made of paper.

Silly shot of Faith.

Then we found these live art murals happening and they even had a spot of kids to draw!

Had to take this shot with Kelsey.... she's thrilled can't you tell.

Oh and back to the Passport to Design. In the program they was this page where you collect "passport" stickers from participating vendors. I thought you had to get them all but later I found out you only have to get 3. Anyway this is the amazing part. I WON! I designed a room and I won. I loved the VividAR™ software I have to say it was a bit challenging for me in that I'm use to drawing a design.... but I loved it and could so get use to doing up designs this way. So fun and cool to see it in a photo of the actual space. Here is a link to the Dwell on Design announcing the winners page. I still can't believe it PINCH ME! Oh this is the winning design I did. I choose oranges because it's Kelsey favorite color. Click the photo to go to the link.

DIY Industrial Coffee Table

2013-06-14T21:58:00.001-07:00

So I came across this picture (below) on Pinterest and loved it! I was working on the design for a Green Room (A room in a theater or studio in which performers can relax when they are not performing.) I included the definition mainly cause when I tell people about it they say oh so it's all green....

Anyway.... I really wanted the space to have the edgy industrial look and this table was perfect! So the blog I found had a supply list, but there were no instructions which was ok by me. I love to figure things out but I thought it might be nice to do a full DIY tutorial on how you could create this yourself. The best part is you can vary the sizes, or make it a bench. The possiblities on this basic foundation are great. So here it is I hope you enjoy!

Materials

A -1 - 2 x 8 x 15 cedar (or pine) plank cut into 5 feet lengths (Home Depot did it for me!)

So you'll have 3 - 2 x 8 x 5 (this is your table top)

B - 8 - flanges (1 inch diameter)

C - 8 - 5" length pipe (1 inch diameter) (This is what you can adjust to make it taller or shorter)

D - 4 - T shaped connectors (1 inch diameter)

E - 4 - 2" threaded pipe connectors (1 inch diameter)

F - 4 - 1 to 3/4 inch pipe reducer

G - 4 - 3" length pipe (3/4 inch diameter) (This is what you can adjust to make it wider or narrower)

H - 2 - 3/4 inch T connectors

I - 1 - custom cut 51" long pipe (1 inch diameter) (If you adjust the length here you need to make sure you do it with the wood pieced too!)

3 Metal brackets.. I don't have a picture of them... sorry but they are long flat pieced of metal that I screwed into the bottom and they go across all three boards.

Ok so yes my ABC labeling and the photo leave ALOT to be desired but it works so I'm moving forward and trying not to judge myself.

Instructions:
So the pipe is all greasy and I suggest gloves or wipe them down or something that works for you.

SO the first thing I did was screw the metal brackets to the bottom of the wood planks. I had long clamps that I used to hold them together.

Then I assembled all the pipe.

LEGS - goes together like this; flanges into the 5"pipe then a 1in T-Shapped connector, into another 5in pipe and another flange.

SUPPORT BRACE - between the legs... 1in T-Shapped connector (from leg) into 2" threaded pipe connector into the pipe reducer into the 3" pipe into the 3/4 T-Connector.

MIDDLE BRACE - Insert the long 51" long pipe into both 3/4 T-Connetor (from the support brace)

So then I screwed the flanges into the wood top. Then I stained it.

Wallla!! Finished Industrial Coffee Table. I hope you enjoy and make fun pieces!

Also Featured here....

What an evening of Art has taught me.

2013-01-29T22:30:00.001-08:00

So tuesday I regularly find myself with about 2+ hours by myself. The kids (3) and husband are out at our churches Awana program. I usually spend that time doing stuff on a list of some kind. For school, my husband, the house, etc. Tonight I need a break from all the DOING. I was feeling like a slave and I didn't have an identity any more.

I remember all those hours I spent when I was a teen/young person with out kids, at my drafting table sketching and drawing. I wondering if I could still do it. Make something pretty. So I got out my sketch pad (actually it's my kids since I technically don't have one anymore) and sat down. I sat for a long period after I sketched the outline. It looked good but would I be able to add color and still have it look good. I went for and I got lost in transforming a blank white page into something.... something beautiful to look at. What I discover is a truth I feel I know, but seem to forget all to quickly. The truth is it will never all be DONE.... the DOING that is. The lists, there will always be something I should/need or could be doing. Like the pile of laundry to put away. But I NEED to put that all on hold, or pause the frantic music and make time for some soft sweet sounds of just being. Whether that is just by myself and doing something like drawing, or sitting on the grass with the kids looking at the clouds and marveling at God's wonderful creation. I need to make time for more pauses. That's what I learned for an evening with art. Pausing to do something that isn't on the list, will not help anything on the list. Pausing to do something like playing again....... I'm renewed and I hope you are too.

Simple Little Apron Tutorial

2013-01-25T20:39:00.001-08:00

First I'm so sorry it's been since Oct since I 've been able to capture what I'm creating/doing and then blog about it. So I've been considering starting up sewing lessons again and to kinda test it out and see if I'm up for it, I invited 2 beautiful college ladies over.

Meet Rachel & Amy.

I told them get two yards of fabric and we'll make an apron. Then we got out a few apron pictures and decided on a look. Then I help them create that look. Here is what we came up with. I really had so much fun I'm thinking of doing a series of apron tutorials. Oh and this is my first time to do a picture tutorial. Not a tutorial with pictures, but a tutorial completely done in pictures.

Then I had to rush off and leave them to finish and take final pic's for me. I loved this shot!

This post is linked up to :

Halloween Spooky Eyes

2012-10-17T20:23:00.001-07:00

So here is our Halloween Entry. When I was younger I had way more energy to give into these projects that and my children really like to be involved so I often just follow or help them see their ideas through. Anyway this year I saw some eye ball plates and thought I could make those and use them as decorations.

Here is what I did

We made whole bunch. Then I had this black leaf garland and we made an little wreath to add to our spooky decorations.

This post is linked up with

The Amazing Jake

2012-09-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yep! I think he's amazing. He's been busy since he was born. I love this "little dude" although he's not so little any more. So here it is my son he's a creator. He doesn't just dabble he does it pretty much non-stop. I decided sometime back that I would catalog these amazing creations by taking video or pic's. I've missed a few creations, such as his scuba tank made from hose, bike pump parts, gal. apple juice container and various other things. It was a big hit at the community pool and all the kids thought he was amazing and I think I got all caught up in the moment and forgot to snap a pic. Anyway. I'm just going to post as many as I can. Hopeful if you have a boy and he's a creator too they might serve as inspiration to get him creating. Also you can link me to any post your kids have done as we always love inspiration ourselves.

Way back in when he was about 4 or 5 he's learning about circuits with dad at a children's museum.

Dec 2010 Jake's Tinker Toys Creation

And this is when it all started at Legoland and the Mindstorm class. He just loved it!

This is a lego hand sanitizer dispenser. I especially like the wall mounting.

Oct 2011 He made a lego gun of sort.

This was an invention for his sister to help her water the plants. It's a watering can backpack.

This is a recent invention of a boat he's working on. He actually is try to do a submarine but I'm not about to let him submerge and $200+ toy under water.

By far my favorite. It's a machine gun that shoots lego brick. So cool.

Like most everything Jake does he read about this in a book. This is with OUT photoshop or anything this is just what it looks like. I don't even recall how he did it but he loved showing me this!

This is a door lock with that only opens with the right combination or "access code".

This is a joint creation his sister (the older one) helped Jake with the music aspect of this invention for his younger sisters birthday. Seriously I think she is one lucky girl to have a brother so cool!

This is Jake current invention a pinball machine.

I hope you enjoyed these little creations. If you have any questions please feel free. Jake loves to share his joy and love for creating.

DIY Sunflower Seeds

2012-08-27T16:59:00.002-07:00

Well my husband loves Sunflower seeds.... He's always got a bag of David's and as David's say's this is his snactivity. So this year when I was buying seeds for our garden I got some sunflower seeds so we could make some home-made seeds for him.

Once the flowers start to droop and hang down they are ready to be cut. After you cut then lay them out in the sun till they turn brown. I had the kids can rub the seeds out on to a tray they loved it. Then.....

I didn't salt my quite enough for my hubby so next time I'm going to dump in about 1/2 cup of salt. That's about 1/4 per head. Soak them over night. (if you don't want your's salt then just skip this one)

Then drain them. If you didn't already pick out the bad one or pieces of stems.

I laid out a paper towel and kind blotted them as I laid them out. You don't want a whole bunch of water in the pan.

I baked my at 300 degrees for 40 mins but I would do it different next time. Either I would have used 2 pans so less seeds were on the pan and cook for 40min. Or I would lengthen the time. My sunflower seed expert said he's like them roasted a little longer next time.

I hope you enjoyed this and your seeds.

Onzie Fun

2012-07-05T11:51:00.001-07:00

Ok so decorating, dying, sewing things onto...onzies is so fun and easy. Here are a few pic's of some of my more recent creations.. I'd love to hear about your creations.

DIY Outdoor Bench - in less than an hour

2012-06-26T21:02:00.002-07:00

This is the fun bench we created!

Ok so I saw this bench on pintrest maybe you did too?

And I thought we (my hubby and I) could make this for a cushion I already had. The cushion was about 100in long and some pillows from a previous bench. We had gone through a down sizing and the bench became firewood but I fought to save & storage my beloved cushions, and I'm so glad I did. Anyway I asked my hubby to help me create this cinder block bench for my cushion. So we headed out to Home Depot, where we felt a little overwhelmed. Suddenly we we thinking how many blocks we were going to need and then we'd have to pick them all up, put them in the car, unload them, stack them....and suddenly we were both less motivate to create this DIY bench.

Then "it" happened, I saw something that gave us an idea. An idea of how to create a simpler, cheaper and easier bench.... That actually turned out in our opinion much cuter. I just snapped some photos and then later decided it would make a good blog post.

So we picked up 12 cinder blocks (I think you could actually do away with the top row and make the bench lower) and 4 4x4x10 pieces of lumber to slip in the openings of the cinder blocks. It's wonderful the cinder block acts as a side table as well. All these supplies cost under $40.00 and we finished it in less than an hour. My kind of project!

We used a concert adhesive too.

I just love this project. When I get a chance to finish this little area I'll take some new photos.

Site's this post is linked put to.