by Susan | Apr 15, 2018 | Odds and Ends, Projects
When building our house I didn’t install a back splash in the kitchen. In part because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and in part because I just wanted to be finished! After seeing a tin tile ceiling in a restaurant, I started doing some research on...
by Susan | Jan 20, 2018 | Odds and Ends, Projects
Paul doesn’t get enough credit for things he does for me around the house. He’s a very handy guy. Ponds, duck and chicken coops, pot racks, you name it and he can likely do it. The only challenge is that Paul has one speed. He calls it “half...
by Susan | Dec 11, 2017 | Felt Patterns, Other Patterns, Projects
I’ve wanted to find another way to use my felt birds for the holiday. I created this Christmas stocking just big enough to feature an owl and to tuck a few goodies inside. The possibilities are endless. Use a wool or wool-blend felt for a sturdy stocking in...
by Susan | Dec 4, 2017 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I admit it. I’ve become a bit addicted to decorating Christmas wreaths. It started with my Whooo’s Home for Christmas wreath. Then we had some extra undercoated wreaths from our WHRL Christmas Tree Festival that I felt compelled to do something with. This...
by Susan | Dec 3, 2017 | Odds and Ends, Projects
Our Christmas Tree Festival and Auction at the WHRL is but a memory except for the cleanup. This year’s tree was inspired by an Adirondack chair we had leftover from our “Chairity” auction this summer. Paul said he wanted to paint it up for us and I...
by Susan | Nov 30, 2017 | Projects
It’s Christmas Tree Festival time here in town. The past few years I decorated trees with my owls, birds, and woodland critters. I’d planned to follow in that theme, but just didn’t have the time and was in the mood to do something different (I did...
by Susan | Jul 31, 2017 | Projects
The WHRL’s summer fundraising auction held over the weekend had a new feature this year. In addition to the raffle-style auction, we had a “Chair-ity” silent auction. Local artists decorated folding Adirondack chairs that were then auctioned. Paul,...
by Susan | Nov 30, 2016 | Projects
Hannah, Paul and I took a break from the hustle and bustle of life and attend a local paint and sip event. None of us have much experience with painting anything other than a wall, but we had fun! The subject was seascapes. From left to right: Hannah, Susan, and Paul....
by Susan | Nov 20, 2016 | Odds and Ends, Projects
Browsing through a craft show yesterday, I spied a display with holiday decorations created from wood discs with wood burned designs. Last year, I cut discs from a downed birch tree, but never did anything with them. I found Hannah’s wood burning kit today and...
by Susan | Nov 14, 2016 | Odds and Ends, Projects
Last spring, I showed Paul a picture of a wrought iron pot rack I saw on Pinterest. Granny Gadget gave me a wonderful set of pans that have a copper-type finish that easily scratches. A pot rack was the perfect solution to keep my pans off the counter and looking...
by Susan | Oct 13, 2016 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I just finished taking a class on Linoleum Block/Stamp Making at the Women’s Health Resource Library. Over the course of two nights, we learned how to carve linoleum block and rubber print-making blocks and then how to ink them and print on paper and fabric. I...
by Susan | Jul 22, 2016 | Projects
This morning, I played hooky. Rather than plugging away at my work to-do list, I took a class on paper collage with a local artist. Tearing and gluing paper was fun and even a bit therapeutic. My inspiration was a picture snapped of one of my favorite views....
by Susan | Jul 6, 2016 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I have this leather-topped writing desk built by the Maddox Table Co. of Jamestown, NY. It was my grandmother’s desk, a piece that came from the furniture store my grandparents owned when I was a child – The Jordan Store. In my mind, I can still see this...
by Susan | Dec 26, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I was feeling a little down when my Christmas gifts to my folks weren’t delivered in Pennsylvania when they were supposed to. And of course, I couldn’t find my receipt with the tracking number. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Mom called to report that my box...
by Susan | Dec 2, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
This past weekend, while I was busy sewing felt birds for my Maine Backyard Bird Tree and my Owl Wish You a Merry Christmas Wreath, Paul was working on a project using my Christmas Dove pattern. The Christmas Dove has only one piece. Paul taped the pattern to a piece...
by Susan | Nov 30, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I’ve run out of time to make birds! The WHRL’s Christmas Tree Festival is tomorrow evening and I’ve finished my tree with only 14 birds. I’d hoped to do more, but the clock is working against me. This year’s tree is a Maine Backyard Bird...
by Susan | Nov 29, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
“Owl” Wish You a Merry Christmas is the theme for this wreath I created for the WHRL’s Christmas Tree Festival and Auction. It started with a bare balsam wreath. I embellished the wreath with bundles of white pine and cedar harvested from the woods,...
by Susan | Nov 16, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
The mudroom makeover started in September with these feedbag recycle bags hanging in the mudroom. They replaced the overflowing plastic buckets that used to take up floor space. The “honey-do” list continued with these wooden cube units that Hannah...
by Susan | Sep 20, 2015 | Odds and Ends, Projects
Paul spent the better part of August building this veggie-mobile for Incredible Edible Milbridge (IEM), a project of the Women’s Health Resource Library where I work part-time. Incredible Edible Milbridge is a series of 25 gardens throughout our town where the...
by Susan | May 28, 2014 | Odds and Ends, Projects
I have a number of china tea cups acquired throughout the years – the where, when and why mostly forgotten. They’ve been stashed in a box in the guest room collecting dust since we moved to Maine. A few of the cups now have a higher purpose. I turned them...
