my latest pallet project

i have confiscated the texas pallet map that i made for suzanne a few years ago. it hangs over my fireplace.

i made her a new map with the pallet she used in her wedding. she had pictures of the bridal party in all different frames on it. and of course i didn't take a picture of it! hopefully the photographer or someone did. well, i decided to make her & justin a special map. i think it turned out perfect!

the guy across the street saw me making it in my garage/driveway & he has ordered a Louisiana map! he said i should make a bunch of maps & sell them.

whatcha all think?

this is both maps.....

this is a close up of suzanne & justin's....

and these are some "closer ups"!....

flatbroke ranch has a cow!!!!!!

yes! flatbroke ranch is the proud new owner of a COW!!!!

my friend doris called me monday & asked if i could stop by her house on my way home from work - she wanted to show me something. when i got there, she handed me this:

I WAS SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she painted it just for me!!!!!!

i hung her in my craftroom. right now she's still nameless. can't really call her sam elliott, but i was thinking maybe "samantha"? she looks a little sad - like she got caught in the paint & is afraid i'm gonna yell at her!!!???!!!!

but i LOVE her & i LOVE doris!!!! she's the lady who painted my truck & tractor. now all i need's a barn!!!! i'm on the lookout for one for her to paint!!!!

8 months?????????????????

REALLY??? 8 months have gone by since my last blog post! i'm not dead - just took a little time off from writing and reading blogs. i have not looked at one single blog since last november! i have been busy with projects, changing jobs, projects & weddings & lots of other things and ONE DAY i will be at a place where i can blog about everything that has happened. but not today! as always, i've taken lots of pictures & written lots of posts in my head.....just need time to write them down! soon, very soon. be patient!!!!

houston quilt show

last week while i was on vacation my friend S & i went to the houston quilt show at the george r. brown convention center. this is an international show & takes up the ENTIRE convention center! it took us 2 days & we didn't even see everything!!!

so many beautiful quilts, but these were some of my favorites -- i tend to like the old fashioned looking ones!

that last one was made in the 1800's if i remember correctly. friends & family wrote special messages on the blocks.

this one is appliqued -- of course it's a favorite because it's sunflowers & bluebonnets!!!!!

there were hundreds of vendors - some were so nice that we made instant friendships - like sue & sandi from "pink eyed sissies" and laural from "simply put." we bought a lot from these ladies!!! sue & sandi are sisters who make the most beautiful jewelry from antique cards or ledgers & optician lenses. we spent not only a lot of $$, but a lot of time with them!!! they felt like old friends!!! laural is the designer & owner of simply put - a quilt design shop she runs out of her home in california. i LOVE her stuff!!!! and she was such a sweet lady - she offered susan & me jobs!!!!!!!!!!!! hopefully we'll be helping her run her booth next year during market & quilt festival!!!! that would be so much fun!!!!!

she had this cute little sign in her booth:

i told her i would definitely write about her on my blog!! i've already made one of her projects!!!!! since this post is pretty long & photo-heavy, i'll show you the project i did here, but i'll do another post later about laural & her booth.

the project i did last night was the "tin pan pin cushion" --- it's sooooooo cute!!!!! i stuffed mine with lavender scented ground walnut shells. it smells so good!!!! it's so my style & i apparently have a little tin collection going on!! i have some other tins in my living room that aren't with these so they didn't make it into the picture!

here's the pattern:

and here's mine:

i changed mine up a bit -- i didn't embroider the words on mine, i changed out one of the fabrics (didn't like the pinkish fabric so i swapped it out for the blue/tan stripe, i attached my quilt block to the darker background fabric rather than the lighter - the darker is more "me".

that's the beauty of crafts - you can personalize it to suit your taste. this was such a fun project & it took me about an hour to complete, start to finish, & that's with hand stitching the dresden plate quilt piece to the background fabric.

i want to make a bunch more of these!!!! this one's sitting in my living room. i want one for my craft/sewing room & one for my bedroom & i wonder where else i could put them??!! how many tin pan pincushions can one have???!!!

my house smells fantastic!

i've got a double batch of pumpkin muffins baking & a huge crockpot of apples cooking for applesauce and all of this cinnamony wonderfulness smells delicious!

looks like i need to clean the oven!!!!

after a long weekend at the quilt show, a trip to bellville to pick up a pig (i'll tell ya 'bout that later!), working in the garage cleaning, painting & building a workbench, and another day at the quilt show, i'm going to spend my last day of this vacation sewing. i've got some christmas presents to make & a couple shirts to make for my sister plus a BUNCH of mending.........

and speaking of christmas - i don't even have a clue what my christmas cards are going to be!!! so many ideas & i can't choose one!!!

this has been a great weekend -- i hope to get lots accomplished today then i have to go to work tomorrow..............why can't i just be on vacation forever....or retire.....where's my rich knight in shining armor?????????????????????????

(i DID meet a man who owns a castle this weekend.....but he wasn't a knight!!!!! at least i don't think so...............)

link: newman's castle

this was a two-man job!

but since i don't even have one man, i did it all by myself!!!!

i've been wanting to make a workbench for a long time and today i did!!

first i had to clean up the garage a little & i decided to paint the wall behind the workbench. i used the "taupe" that i did the guest bathroom with.

before:

after:

then i sorted out the 10 pallets i had & chose the best ones for the top & the back. the front legs were made with a 2x4. i screwed them together & braced them with L brackets & some scrap pallet boards. i attached a piece of pallet wood at the top/back to prevent things from rolling off the back. the top pallet is solid boards on the top & bottom so it makes a good storage place for things like the level & tape measure, etc.

it doesn't look level in these pictures, but it is!!!

it went together pretty quickly and i think it turned out great!!! total cost under $5 for the L brackets!! it even has a light above it -- that was free - got it from one of the cubicles at work when we demolished several to make the conference room!

after that i cleaned up the rest of the garage & painted the "tool wall".......... it really looks nice!

before:

after:

(that jewelry box was a garbage day roadside find - from the next door neighbor!!! -- i have plans for the drawers!

i even have a fancy little shelf (that used to be on the front porch a long time ago) to hold my drill & circular saw! adds a nice "girly touch"!!!

wonder what my 1st project on it will be??

i'm pooped! it was a productive day & now i'm going to take a shower & go to bed (& because it's time change night, it's only 8:15 now!!)

i'll show you, dr. kau!!!!!

three months ago when i went to the dr. he & i had a big fight. we actually yelled at each other! he kept wanting to give me all sorts of medicines that gave me or had horrible side effects. i kept refusing to take them. i got really - REALLY - sick one one of the medicines. when i left the office, i said, "i'll show you, dr. kau!!" (pronounced cow, so you'd think i'd like him!!! well, i actually do like him, i was just sick of his "cover it with a pill" attitude instead helping me fix the problem.)

from may to august i had lost 6 lbs. - after months of not losing anything. after years of eating nothing but salads. after walking with the dog a few times a week in the evenings.

after that day i began walking in the mornings with the dog & my friends s & f. EVERY day. and i began my paleo diet - paleo way of eating rather than a "diet". my body's getting the workout it needs & and it's not starving anymore. the scale frustrates me, so i don't weigh every day or every week. in fact, after weighing every day the 1st week, i've only weighed 2 or 3 times in 3 months. instead i'm gauging how i'm doing by how my clothes fit & how my body feels.

and now i've added "planking" every morning & evening to strengthen my "core" & abdominals.

i'm going to be adding weights & other exercises to my evening routine. and i'm really shooting for an earlier bedtime...........that one's gonna be the hardest!!!!

last week when i went to get my blood work done, the technician was impressed. today when i walked into the office, the nurses were like, "wow! look at you!" the head nurse said, "what have you been doing?" she was so excited & told me my numbers --- wow!!! i did good!!!!

i lost 11 lbs in 3 months and lowered my AC1 4 points!!!!!! so that's 17 lbs in 6 months and while the scale may not show it, i can really see it in the inches.

i'll have that "barbie body" yet!!!

dr. kau was a pooper & instead of being as excited as us girls were, he said "that's good, but you're not at the target # that i want you to be at & your blood pressure is higher than it was last time & your cholesterol is higher too. i want you to take these 3 pills." we "discussed" it back & forth for awhile. he took me off the insulin shots -- YAY!!! but because of my non-existent insulin production, i still need to take a pill for that. much better than several shots a day!! so i conceded on that point. rather than his other 2 pills, i'm going to look at lowering my blood pressure & cholesterol in a more natural way.

i walked out of there saying, "i'm going to show you AGAIN, dr. kau!!!!"

and yesterday i did something that a few months ago i NEVER would have DREAMED of doing ----

i posted pictures of myself in a swimming suit on facebook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

trying to show how much extra room there was in my shorts....

wow! that took guts!!! skinny guts!!!!