by Wendy Scheel | Aug 18, 2016 | Life
As you know, Wade and I got home from the Haven Conference a week ago Sunday night. On Monday morning we got some news from our sister-in-law Mara. She called to say that Rian was nearing the end of his journey here on Earth. Wade took off right away hoping and praying that he would get there to say goodbye one last time.
He arrived at a house filled with friends, relatives and co-workers telling stories and sharing the wonderful memories they had with Rian. Sharing this time with his brother and those that were there was good for Wade. Rian passed away late Tuesday afternoon. He was only 54 years old and will be remembered as a loving father, brother, son and friend.
The kids and I drove to Chicago on Friday to be with family and attend Rian’s memorial service on Saturday. It was a very touching service with a comforting sermon detailing Rian’s life.
RIP Rian. You are loved and will be missed.
Adjusting back to a routine has been difficult, but I’ve learned that whenever a transition occurs in my life it helps me to get organized.
Because there was so little time between the Haven Conference and the memorial service, I hadn’t had time to put away all of the freebies I collected. Cue reorganization.
There was obviously a lot to do, but where to put it? I’ve needed to clean up space in the garage for awhile now, and today was the day.
This included more work than I had initially planned. I unpacked boxes that had been sitting in the garage since move in day (mind you that was two years ago), I cut the remaining birch branches into candle holders and then vacuumed up the pounds of sawdust I had created. The final step was adding a shelf next to the workbench, where the branches had been, to make room for the Haven freebies.
You know how much I love a good before and after:
Even after a successful reorganization session, I needed a little DIY therapy. I started the deconstruction process on the settee and found a pleasant surprise. Underneath the arms of this piece I removed fabric to find a knotted bamboo. My plan had been to reupholster every piece of fabric on the settee, but now I’m thinking I might leave that bamboo for a bit of texture.
Stay tuned.
~Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Dec 12, 2015 | Life, Sidenote Saturday
I posted yesterday that we had not bought one Christmas gift yet, not one.
Well people, that statement is history!!!!!
Wade and I made a list, checked it twice because the song says you are supposed too and headed into town last night.
We knocked it out in 2 hours, 4 stops and still had time to drive the long way home and enjoy the Christmas lights!
But wait, after so many exclamation marks in one post, I have to confess that Jack, our 17 year old did not get things checked off of his list.
He wants things like a mother board key pad mouse and gaming chair thing. That’s not exactly right, but that was my take away when he started with the technical lingo. Wade’s mission today is to find…whatever it is Jack said. 🙂
The Etsy shop is in full swing/overdrive this time of the year and I love it. The constant humming of my sewing machine and drill press are a dream come true. I feel like one of Santa’s little helpers.
The down side of being in overdrive is that my studio gets so, so unorganized.
It was time. It was time to tidy things up and make it more efficient.
Here is the view of a busy studio. Warning: May hurt your eyes.
Here is the studio now, pictures taken from the same angle. Much better, right? Right.
Studio organized, Christmas gift purchased. Now to wrap everything. Tis the season!
Happy Saturday Everyone!
I made a new friend on Friday. I’ll tell you about it on Monday.
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Sep 28, 2015 | DIY
Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. It was a top 10 day here this weekend in Minnesota!
I took this picture yesterday. You can see what amazing weather we had, June temperatures in late September. Beautiful.
Let me introduce you to my neighbor.
Everyone, this is Jimmy.
Jimmy, this is everyone.
Jimmy and his cute as a button wife Nikki live two doors down from us. You may remember me mentioning my neighbor that works at the local tree farm? He cuts the birch tree branches for me that I use to make these candlesticks.
This is him. (Nikki said she wasn’t ready for a photo, silly Nikki. I’ll catch you next time.)
Jimmy and Nikki both love to mill around on Pinterest. Not only do the pin ideas to their boards, they actually make the ideas they pin.
Last weekend they invited us over for a fish fry.
Fish fry. Someone else making dinner. Win-Win.
They deep fat fried the fish out in their garage. Very smart, plus it was another beautiful Minnesota evening.
While Jimmy was frying, I noticed this tool organizer on the wall.
I asked him where he got it and he causally said that he made it off of an idea from Pinterest.
So today I would like to share with you the steps he took to make this.
He started with 2×3 boards. In hindsight he should have used 2×4’s, but he used what he had in the garage at the time. He then made this template to use as the cut out for his tool handles. The rounded top is a 1.5 inch diameter and the length is almost 4 inches.
His next step was placing the template onto the 2×3, tracing it about every six inches.
Here is where he drilled out the top rounded section with a 1.5 inch drill bit.
After that section is drilled through, he simply took his circular saw and followed the black lines until they connected to the rounded out section.
Place, trace, drill and cut each area until you have the desired amount of spots for your tool handles.
There will be a lot of weight on these brackets so for the final step Jimmy attached each one of these brackets into a wall stud.
Another suggestion he had was to attach a horizontal brace behind the vertical brackets to make them stick out further. That way the deeper tools such as shovels would sit nicely into the slot.
I love how everything is on the wall, organized and ready to use without digging in a barrel or a pile for the right tool.
I hope I can convince Jimmy to share more of his DIY Pinterest influenced items. The guy has so many skills. 🙂
Here’s to getting organized! See you Wednesday.
by Wendy Scheel | Sep 11, 2015 | DIY
I met Rob about two years ago. He liked a bunch of my pillows from my Etsy shop and when I realized he had a shop with Etsy also and it was located in Minnesota, I started up a conversation with him.
He not only has a shop with Etsy, he has a very successful shop named Rob’s Rustics
Rob and his family live in Minnesota, within twenty minutes of me. The other day I stopped over to buy some bank bags. I’ll tell you about the bank bags at another time. Anywho, as Rob was showing me some of the new items he will be listing in his shop, this metal industrial basket grabbed my attention.
It is a rustic, authentic egg basket with short metal handles and a shiny label. Love at first sight!
I can see this basket beside a fireplace with kindling in it, or beside a sofa holding blankets or even as a magazine rack. So many options.
But what I really wanted to do was put a liner in it so it could be used in an office or laundry room or even a bathroom. Rob graciously let me bring it home to create something.
I knew I wanted to keep a rustic feel for the liner, so I chose a creamy thick cotton canvas fabric. I measured the basket and then drew an exact pattern that would make any architect proud. #notsomuch
But in all honesty, that is how all my handmade patterns look. It makes sense to me. 😉
Moving on. I then cut the cotton canvas fabric from my pattern, adding an inch on each side for seams.
Ready for another great photo? Here is the fabric laid out just like my pattern.
Amazing, right? Maybe I need to think about writing a book and title it, Pattern Making for Dummies 🙂
Next step was to sew it together, making a cloth basket. I sewed all the sides to the bottom and then the sides to form the corners.
I decided to leave the pretty seams on the inside of the basket and finish the outside with my serger to continue with the rustic vibe.
For whatever reason this picture wants to be sides ways, but you get the idea of the finished serged edge.
The last step was to use my seam ripper to make some slits for the rope to be inserted through so the liner stays up inside the basket.
I then simply cut some six inch cotton rope pieces, stuck them through the holes and tied them into a knot.
Basket liner or no basket liner? Hmmmm…..
by Wendy Scheel | Jul 20, 2015 | Quick Thoughts
We’ve all heard the phrases, “Get your ducks in a row”, “Get your poop and a group” and for those that need to hear it a little stronger, “Get your shit together”.
I for one use the phrase, “Get your poop in a group” quite often when organizing my office and for that matter when I am talking to myself. I find it easier to create and really buckle down and actually get something done when everything is in it’s place.
However don’t be thinkin’ that my office is always organized. After a long day of sewing it is a mess. A joyful pile of scraps, thread, strings and unrolled fabric. And to be honest, I usually don’t clean up after a long day. I will wait until the next morning to get my poop in a group and attack another great day of creating.
So here are pictures of my office when is ready for a new day.
Have a great week everyone!
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