Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Another month, another update, another giveaway!!



I really don't know how some people can post updates weekly, or more! I guess it's not my favorite thing to do, although I do read other peoples updates daily!
1st up....I have two finishes! Witches Wheel by Glendon Place was completed in July sometime. I ordered the frame for it today, so it should be done WAY before it needs to be hung for Halloween. The material for this is really what sold the pattern to me. It was th
e first time I had seen any material dyed this way Picture This Plus is a fantastic store for hand dyed fabrics!
You can see more closeups in this album: WW there are 5 more photos.
2nd- I was the lucky winner of a blog giveaway of Kate's from Australia.  

It is Lizzie Kate's 2010 Snowman. She mailed the pattern to me on Monday, I received it Thursday and I finished it on Sunday! He is just so cute I couldn't resist. Not only did Kate send me the chart she also sent a GC for $20 to 123stitch for me to buy the material for it! Little did she know I pulled out threads and material from my stash and started it right away! I didn't have 2 buttons it called for, but I did find one that matched the aqua, so he's a one button snowman. Since I received this pattern in a giveaway, I'm going to offer it to YOU!! One stipulation though! If you win it you must finish it within a months time and then offer it on your blog to another. If you don't have a blog, let me know you've finished it and I will repost it for availability! Giveaways are nice, but I hate seeing the pattern just go into a stash pile! Are you up for the challenge???



Then the only other thing that got worked on is Anne's Amsterdam piece. I got some more done of the roof of the red building. But my work is put to shame after seeing how much Gabi has gotten done on hers! WOW. Check out her BLOG.

And lastly, I left you with my house with deck removed and one big dirt pile. We had a stamped concrete patio put in. I had NO idea the process involved in getting to the finished product. So if you are interested I tried to get all the steps involved to show you! Here is the patio with the pouring forms ready for concrete delivery the next day.


This next picture shows the concrete, which has a custom color already added to it. We picked a yellow/tan base. The red you see is the "release" powder they throw on and then they "stamp" the pattern into the concrete before it cures all the way. The powder is finer than baby powder and it got EVERYWHERE! In the garage, on the cars, the rugs in the garage, the siding, the grass, the DOG!!!!! They had never used red before and they swear they won't offer it again!! LOL Can you see the red all over the house?? Well just multiply that by 20, for how much was in the grass where the dog walked.
This is a picture of the whole patio poured, stamped and released. It has to set like this for 24 hours.

Then they come back with a pressure washer and wash the red off and this is what you get! The last picture is just what the pattern looks like all over.It reminds me of "Tuscany" and I hope to find lots of cool accessories next year. All the patio stuff is gone already this season! Or the things that are left isn't what I had in mind. I hope you liked my stamped concrete tutorial!!!!
We (my mom, Lauren and Amberlyn) were lucky enough to visit Lake MI in Holland in July. The last 3 pictures are from there. It didn't take more than 15 minutes on the lake and Amberlyn was naked. She really doesn't like her clothes! Enjoy!!!

Thanks for stopping by my corner of the world! Until next time.........