Spring is in the Air... and on My Balcony Part 1

It's that time of year! The long weekend came and went with a little bit of rain but a lot of sun that just made it so wonderful to be outside.

For the last few years I've been living in the city I've wanted to have a 'garden' on my balcony. Not having a garden or a lawn or green space is hard in the city, even though I do live in a fairly green neighbourhood. I think it's that there is something lovely about making from scratch, getting your hands dirty and making it grow.

I may have caught this itch from my grandmother on my father's side, my Nan, who was an impeccable gardener. She could make just about anything grow and had the most beautiful gardens when I was a girl, and kept great gardens up until she died. I best remember her cascading lawn garden with levels upon levels of fruits, flowers and vegetables. It felt like they were growing from nothing they always brought around the best birds and insects. My grandparents home in St. Catherines was like a secret garden, but I have a feeling I may be remembering it with rose coloured glasses.

Either way I've always wished I had an ounce of the talent she did with plants, but sadly there is a point I must confess; I do not have the greenest thumbs and in turn kill quite a few of my plants. Even the ones that are guaranteed to not die. I'm that good. So with the coming of warm weather I began a plan and plot for grander, though probably not truly 'grande' designs.

This is part one, of two parts (I think). Now as much as I love pretty flowers and plants I love cooking more and thought I'd try my hand at herbs and vegetables.

First thing I did was grab the essentials.

Soil

I had a bit of a time finding out how much I needed, 30L ending up being a large amount but it led t a two part project so I can't complain. That and Zach was a joy to help carry this back home as we do not have a car. It's organic, which I wouldn't normally bother with except for the fact that we'll be eating what comes out of this dirt. The nursery suggested going with this one and since it only cost a dollar or two more than the 20L non-organic I thought 'what the hell'.

Planter

I went with a longer planter so that maybe I could hang it later or it could sit outside on the table. It came with a solid bottom which was not what I needed so out came the drill!

These are the small but effective holes Zach drilled in the bottom of my planter that will allow for proper drainage. Which, again getting a little convessiony, is important as I overwater like a champ and must have that drainage to keep from smothering my lovely new veg with all the water.

Plants.... and Pommies

I guess something for the dirt would be smart? And what better to plant than onions, hot portugal peppers and 'comedy third option' (as Zach calls it) leeks! Not to mention we all need a drink here and there while gardening, especially on a nice, warm and sunny day in early spring.

I'm always a fan of all kinds of onions so I gravitate towards onions and leeks. I might not be getting huge yield on these vegetables but as the other half keeps reminding me, this is for fun! So what if they die.

A Touch of Spring

And there we have it! A small box happily filled (pun intended) with some hopefully tasty vegetables. It's still a little on the cold side right now so I don't think they'll be living outside in the evenings (I'll truck them in to my kitchen table, where all my other plants live).


I'm generally pleased with the progress on the weekend, was able to get a bit of part two started and can't wait to do more.

On a side note, remember to keep your plants up high enough, or have a squirt bottle ready.

This is what happens when your cats, who don't like onions, but like the stems of onions get near your newly potter plants. Bad Oscar. 

Mother's Day Carding 2013

Last year I made some lovely cards for Mothers Day. It didn't take much in the way of supplies or skill but certainly made more than a few smiles because it did take some time. This can be a simple DIY project you do each year, I could link you to a million resources online for how to so I will try to keep it brief. These cards go well with DIY gift baskets of some things you know they'll love.

Supplies you'll need:

• Card stock in varying colours and patterns
• Scissors
• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Tape (double sided) or glue

One thing to remember, or that I like to, is that it's all about layers. 

In this "MOM' card I've layered behind the 'MOM' enough that the letters really pop. Which they do in being another print as well. Playing around, it's a lot of fun. In doing your own cards you can't really go wrong. No one will throw it in your face and scream 'DO IT AGAIN BUT BETTER'. That'd just be mean as all hell. 

I like to layer card stock on card stock to great an embossed look that just feels nice in your hands. 

Like the hearts in this card. Not just one layer, but two layers of them, with a bit of tape beneath to give the look like the hover. I had to be particularily careful putting them in an envelope but they looked really nice. 

Dots: I love using a needle to create shapes in the card. 

This leads well to embossing if you are so inclined, but the cards look nice just with a little poking too. 

As posts go this is a pretty tame one but had some cute ideas that I used for last year. Maybe I'll do the same this year for the Mom's and Gma's out there. 

DIY: All you need is string?

I have been at the art-attack again. Well not really but I've been using my special powers of concept thievery to bring colour to a bland bedroom lined with oversized furniture and void of sunlight.

Originally I had planned for some picture to canvas transfers with two large canvas' I picked up months ago. When that didn't happen and I was devoid of something to fill the empty space on my bedroom wall I became antsy.

Zach had been painting a lovely table we found on the side of the road for our balcony (pics of that to come as well) and we had some blue paint leftover. Combined with my theivery of the DIY Idea from Apartment Therapy's post '10 DIY Wall Art Ideas That Anyone Can Do' which I'm very sure was inspired by some real abstract art (Birds on a wire 37, abstract oil painting) by Maria Kitano, I made this!

I love, love, love this blue. It's soo electric and I should really go find the name of it (there's still half a half gallon can left after these suckers and Zach's table) but for now it is my electric blue. It's one of those colours that jumps out at you and I'm pleased to say I now have a bathing suit in this wonderful shade.

I know in most of the 'Bird on a Wire' paintings the birds are hand painted along with the wire lines but I am not skilled with a paintbrush when it comes to details. Sculptures maybe, but pure paint on a canvas? I do NOT have the dexterity for that. So what did I do?

Here's my 'recipe' Bird on the Wire for the crafter how-to.

DIY: Chalkboard and Chalk Holder

DIY TIME!

So home alone last night as the BF was at work doing his teaching thing. I was terribly bored and so I continued working on a few DIY projects I finally picked things up for last week. First was some spray painting totally unrelated to this DIY post so I'll just leave you worrying about what I'm spray painting.
(insert maniacal laughter here!)

The final product:

The how to wil be much more complicated than you'd think... 

(P.S. Pardon the white space.) 

Saturday I picked up some stick on chalkboard.

HUZZAH! So after flattening it under some RPG books for a few days I was finally able to get this show going. 

Here's what came in the box.(RIGHT) Nothing too special. From here it was deciding where the hell to put this stuff. 

I decided on the front door. It's blank and we could use a note service of some kind here so we don't forget things like hugs and feeding the cats.

It should be noted that Chewie (one of my fantastic cats) feel the desire to help by standing behind me on the couch. 

Adorable little sucker.

Shopping Adventures!

Saturday I went shopping with Casey over at Waffling on the Danforth. The weather was pretty crappy, windy and cold as hell after a nice warm wave earlier in the week. But, we had a great time without nice weather.

How you might ask?
We were shopping fool. And Shopping is fun.


First stop was Moss after meeting at Pape Station. Actually, after the fact I realized we should have met at Chester, but anyways. Moss! It's a nice little store that specializes in outdoor and garden stuffs like furniture, some plants, decorative elements. Everything in this store I would put in my apartment so we went to look at awesome things and so I could share with Casey the greatness that is Moss.


First of which, that both Zach and I adore, is this pretty freaking awesome pillow. Now neither of us are sailors and I can't stand Moby Dick (still haven't finished it after years upon years of trying...) so you might think it's strange but this pillow is awesome. All grey and canvas-y and it's got a big-ass whale on it. It would go great with the new couch too, but something tells me that $34 for a pillow is beyond my spending habits so all I have is this photo of the original plankster.
Yeah.
I went there.

Spring ='s Dresses

It's no secret that I am not a fan of heat. I don't particularly like the cold all that much either but I can stand it. Being hot and sticky in the summer is no treat and I dread the end of spring just as much as I love the start of fall.

Now I'm not a little girl and I've never been a 'girly' girl. Well not never, my mother dressed me up in wool and corduroy dresses as a child and I twirled, but it's been a very very long time since I've worn a dress (not including weddings).

But there is always time for a change and I think a sun dress or two might be a good start. Wanna know why?

1. Pants are too freaking hot in the summer. There's nothing worse than sitting on a bus or subway in hot stuck-to-your-thigh pants. Okay maybe hot-stuck-to-your-bare-thigh-seat is pretty bad, but not so bad as long as you feel cool.

2. I look horrid in shorts. Always have and probably always will. I blame my family for my snu-snu amazonian thighs and thus don't really bother wearing shorts all that much.

3. Skirts require coordination. I'm a lazy girl who likes to get up 15-30 minutes before I head to work and coordination is the first thing to go in the morning. Dresses alleviate that need to know what you're doing. One piece, maybe some shoes (mine are all black or brown) and a shrug. Which is probably white or grey. It leads to thinking I might be less of a fashion disaster if I wear these one-sies.

4. I kinda want to feel pretty and twirl again. It doesn't mean I'm a girly girl, and I'm still going to love Star Wars (4-6 only dear Lucas) and play Left for Dead 2, capping zombie bitches one head-shot pop at a time.

And since spring weather is in full 'OMG SUMMER IS TOMORROW' swing I've been attacked with blogs on the weather and spring things to do. Since my originality is zapped by all that button arting I've been doing I've been shameless storing blog post ideas on cute things to do with summer attire.

Credit to A Beautiful Mess Blog. Clicks are encouraged. : )

Like today, A Beautiful Mess Blog posted a lovely feature on Jill from Lune Blog (seven degrees of blogging much?). Bleach Painting on Textiles D.I.Y. is a great 'beginner' idea to make clothing your own. I'm starting to think with my lack of funds thrift stores will be my source of 'sort of fitting' clothes for cheap. That and the Walmart I sold my soul to is in Pickering, and until I get it back I can't sell it to the one on Eglinton.

With some bleach painting I can make the thrift store nuggets my own. Instead of inspiring sayings I will probably just use the names of my blogs or famous Star Trek, Kids in the Hall and Archer quotes taken completely out of context.

So I'll leave you with your thoughts on what summer is inspiring you to do. Me; buy flowers, a new couch, dresses and a haircut (if all goes as planned).

I feel like I should say balls because I havn't yet this post.

Cheers!

Button Art is cooler than you

Long story short, I’m obsessive compulsive. When I’m bored I like to keep my hands busy by normally organizing, or when I was a kid I made those ‘rad’ fabric bracelets and wore ten of them at one time on my arm even when I was in the shower… ahem. Yes.

So needless to say after a month of living in the new apartment I started to get a little squirrely on the weekends when video games no longer sated the need to ‘do something’. The boyfriend will contest that it is a state most dire, when I flop of the couch, sigh repeatedly and say ‘I’m borrredd’.

He hates and loves that shit.

Well, I found myself bored with a lot of buttons.

‘Why do I have a shit-ton of buttons?’ you may ask?

None of your goddamn beeswax good sir. I had them for a very long time as I don’t throw out anything that could be useful. How I’m not a recurring star on hoarders still baffles me.

But I had all these buttons.

And a paint gun, some beat up cardboard and crap loads of time.

Button Art was born.

This is the final creation after one of the most frustrating outings to Walmart I’ve ever had. That is a whole other story about how no one in this world has buttons and apparently asking for them at the dollar store, Walmart, crafts stores and home hardware deserves ridiculous glares and confused looks like I've asked for Soylent green 

It took some time, but the design was simple. Curvy stuff plus cute bursts of colour surrounded by black (because my walls are all white) equals ‘art’.

How-To (thank me later)

1. Design: This is where you decide what you want to do with what you have. I did white swirls with small colour burst. You might be feeling a glob of rounded poop on a silver platter. Whatever floats your boat. 

2. Paint that on your cardboard: I didn't do this and now regret it. So make sure you paint your cardboard first. It also gives you a blue print to follow when putting back your buttons. I would have appreciated this earlier in the design. 

3. Heat up your glue gun: Pretty obvious what to do here and why. Cold glue is solid people. 

4. Begin with your least moveable object: Glue the back of your buttons with a small amount of glue and put them on your design. Make sure you start with your main focus or fixed center. It's better to start in the middle and build out. 

5. Continuing buttoning until your fingers hurt: That's just the hot glue, don't worry so much. Just remember to be safe and not to put the glue gun on anything important, like a cat. 

6. Dry

7.(actually#2) Hang: if you were smart enough you'll go back to number one and before you start gluing you'll add your hanging hardware after you design. I didn't so a hole was poked and it's sitting on a nail. Button's aren't heavy so it didn't need much to keep it on the wall. 

8. Take a picture and send it to me. This is the most important step!!! I must compare your button Art to mine and determine who's is cooler than yours. Which would be mine. (just kidding, I mostly want to see who else is compulsive enough to do the same damn thing) 

9. Enjoy!

10. 9 steps isn't enough. It took way too long. Or you could use this time to bandaid the blisters you most likely received gluing the tiniest buttons you've ever seen. 

Would I do it again?

I plan to but finding the buttons for my next ambitious project has been pretty trying on my tiny amount of patience. And I’m suffering from acute and super lame insomnia this week – so another time!!!

Do you like? Maybe not the blisters soo much but the art is lovely.

But remember folks, I feel no pain when ‘arting’. Nor should you. 

Technological Adventures : iPods

It’s official: I am behind the times when it comes to technology. 

Sure I have a computer with Window’s 7-64 bit. BUT I do have a laptop with Windows Vista (Please try not to vomit, and for those Vista lovers out there GET WINDOWS 7!!) It works, but it’s slowly getting slower and slower every day. Technology ages and in doing so dates it’s users.

I came to my retro realization while shopping for an iPod. Yes, I am an apple consumer whore. I can’t help it. They’re so pretty, and sleek and I get supa-jealous when I see other people enjoying them like it’s sweet sweet candy that I want but can’t have!!!

But I bought an iPod. The reason for this purchase as to replace my current iPod. Because it broke? No. It’s still in perfect working condition. And I’m sorry gentlemen for this next statement but it was because of the size. It DOES count.
I have a iPod Nano, 2^nd Gen. Yes it’s THAT old. But it was a gift, a wonderful glorious gift that made me squee and jump up and down for I no longer faced long walks and subway trips in silence. No, I had a marvellous and totally cool iPod Nano (2^nd gen was new then) with one whole gig of space to fill.  

That’s right. For the last, I’d say, five years I’ve only ever had one gig of music on hand.

That’s it.

Like 3 playlists if they’re small...