Happy Thursday!

BOY! Has this ever been a whirlwind of a week. I cannot believe it is almost Friday and the weekend is on the horizon.

It's been a while now since I last gave you all a peak at how my house is coming along.

We're getting into the finishing touches now with only the small stuff (except the KITCHEN) needing to be done.

The last couple of weeks we've been staining in preparation for installing the stairs. Needless to say I think all our DIY efforts have not gone astray :)

The actual stair treads themselves are not fully installed yet but they are well on their way!

Next up is the gorgeous tile floor my mom picked out for my front entrance. The fiance and I went out probably a half dozen times trying to figure out what kind of tile we wanted to lay, but liked NOTHING. I was so sick of trying to find a tile to suit that I delegated the task to my lovely mama who as more than a serious nack for interior decorating! This stuff comes from bella Italia! A little piece of place I love so much right as you come in my front door :)

I think the tile also complements the rustic characteristic of the hand-scraped hardwood we chose to lay.  

And here's my dining room! All finished, even if it's a little bit dirty. Thank god I have amazing superhero like carpenters for family :) Absolutely IN LOVE with the wainscoting. You might notice that there is no wall paper on the walls like I had originally planned. Let's just say THAT is a whole other post... but in the end I'm really very happy with how everything turned out, especially my perfect purple ceiling (YUP you read that right).

Outside of my ongoing housey project I have been getting some stitching time in. 

I need it for my sanity.

We are all burning out a little at this point, so some leisure time is well needed.

Until next time!

Melissa

Happy Tuesday!

Well I'm trying to be happy. That's kind of hard to do when you wake up to this:

We have a name for this kind of thing in Newfoundland. It's called Sheila's Brush. But BOY Sheila hasn't been too nice to us lowly Newfoundlanders of late. Normally she sticks to March to provide us with our last winter hur'rah! 

It wouldn't be so bad if it was actually Winter time. But nope, all we've had is horrible weather and freezing temps and a Winter that is hanging on with every tooth and nail she has left. 

It's kind of ironic to wake up to this white stuff when last night, for the first time in weeks, I got to sit down and stitch away on Santa's Magic. Santa, as much as I love the idea of magic, I didn't need it to bring me a helping of snow!!!

I've now started down the sleeve and things are certainly starting to take shape!!!

But wait... you didn't really think you'd make it out of this post without witnessing some DIY did you? I did a bit of a trade of last night. A bit of light work for the house in exchange for some quality stitching time.

Just after supper last night I whipped out my trusty latex gloves and a foam brush in anticipation of STAINING. Eeeek! 

To me staining is scary stuff. Once it's on it never comes off. And I'm not just talking about the wood variety of products.

As you can probably tell, my parents garage is filled to bursting with allllll my earthly belongings. One thing staining requires is lots of room to move. I didn't have luxury of that on this particular occasion. 

So I cleared what little room there was to be had and set to work. I have to say I'm prrrretty pleased with myself. LOOK at how awesome that looks. These leggy lengths of wood with very soon be incorporated into my very own DIY staircase project. Of all the things that we'll do for the house the kitchen cabinets and the stairs will be the hardest! But thankfully my father and brother have done this several times so we are in very capable hands :)

Until next time!

Melissa

Happy Monday!


Since my life is all about DIY right now I thought I might show you what it's like to be a weekend (and weekday evening) warrior such as myself :)

Step 1: Roll over blurry eyed and try to focus on the machine that is making that unbearable noise... 

Ugh. Yes that's 6:33... AM... on a Saturday.

Step 2: Find work clothing that isn't stinky. This is a constant struggle people, I kid you not. When you're spending every waking moment on a project there's not much time for laundry except what you can bring yourself to drag upstairs at the end of a long day. 

Step 3: Take care of your body!

Breakfast, Lunch, Supper, snacks, WATER - lots and lots of water. This is very important folks. You don't want to crash half way been nailing that nail, or painting that room, or sanding that piece of wood. 

I was tempted to say 'rest' here as well, but rest is for pansies! Gotta feel like the feet are about to fall off you to tell you if you really worked hard that day or not... I jest of course. There's nothing worse than this feeling and at some point in the day you know when it's time to give it up because you can't handle another second on your feet. This happens even if you take little rests here and there. Rather perhaps the tip here is to have good footwear! 

The puppies however get to rest all they like :)

Step 4: Take time to prepare.

It's no good to be running around and trying to find things just as you're ready to get started on a project. Make sure you've got everything you'll need within arms length. Spending 20 minutes looking for that footstool can be very distracting when you're in the middle of a project. 

Step 5: WORK! 

It's time to get'er done! And don't be afraid to get dirty while you're at it ;)

Step 6: Relax and reward yourself.

Some DIY projects are more rewarding than others. Some are just work work work and others fall more into the "Hey this might be a fun hobby" category. For some, the end result of a project may be the reward itself. Even so, I have found it still important to take a moment at the end of the day to take it all in a relax. A little bit of down time will help to rejuvenate you for the next day. 

If you don't take time for yourself, whether that's a nice cold beer or going to your friend's birthday party, or both, you'd better prepare to burn out. It doesn't have to be (nor should it be) all about the project. 

After spending weeks, days or hour after hour on a project, don't you think you deserve a reward ;)


Ciao for now!

Melissa

Happy Tuesday!

I'm happy to say I'm finally getting back into blogging again and am seriously trying to catch up on reading all your lovely blogs. I can genuinely say "I MISSED YOU!" :)

I was reviewing some of the older posts on my own little section of the blogosphere and saw this...

Pitiful....... 

Seriously?! 6 whole posts in the first 4 months of 2014. What's wrong with you Melissa???? Get your butt in gear!.

1 Post for all of February and April and nothing in January. SERIOUSLY????

OH! And here's the kicker - I forgot about my Blogoversary!

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE LAST 4 MONTHS OF MY LIFE???????

I can honestly say I don't think I realized quite how absent I've been of late :( It's only recently that I've been getting a real itch to get back to the finer, less DIY more crafty things in life. I miss it terribly. There's nothing I love more than stitching a few 'x's at the end of the night during my favourite TV show or running a bit of fabric through the machine at the crack of daybreak. 

Myself and Phil took yesterday off from the house, and despite the fact that we were crazy busy during the day shopping for the house rather than working ON the house.... despite the fact that the only time I get to myself these days is often spent soaking the ache out of my bones in a bathtub.... at the end of the day, when the hand on the clock was headed for 7pm I found myself BORED OUT OF MY MIND. 

If I was still in my teens, this would be an excellent turn of events. I would have thought "YEY! 3 hours to veg out of the couch and watch TV or go for a drive with friends or even to play some sort of video game". While I still like doing some of these things even now was an adult, I find it beyond difficult to spend any down time I might have not doing something productive. I've turned into my teen self's worst nightmare. But you know what??? I love it! More power to you adult Melissa!!! 

I kid you not. I cannot wait to get home today and start the next project! Will it be hanging some doors? Or perhaps painting the study? Or maybe even sanding down the walls/ceiling of the living room????

When the house is finally allll finished, I'm not sure if I could ever go back to a slower pace of life. I imagine doing more crafty projects, I imagine making curtains for my new house, I imagine more DIY projects. I don't ever want to stop :)

SO prepare yourselves for an influx of blog posts! This girl got a lot to show you from here on out!

Until next time!

Melissa

Happy Wednesday! :)

First off I want to say thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I really try and get back to all of you, even if it's a simple thank you :) I may have missed a couple because I've been so crazy busy, and honestly I have a brain like sieve. It hearten's me so much to have your constant support. So Thank You ALL so very much.  

As you have probably guessed by now, I haven't really been around to write many a blog post lately. This is primarily because we're finally getting into the final stages of completing our house!

I'm beginning to think I should have called this the St. John's Stitcher and DIY blog!

On the stitchy side of things I have surprisingly been able to stitch quite a bit over the last few weeks. I'm not sure how, but it seems that I'm fitting way more into one day than 24hrs generally allows. I don't have a picture for you but I did get a huge part of Santa's sleeve stitched.

To be totally blunt, Santa is probably going to stay untouched from here on out, at least for the next few weeks. It's now looking like we're heading for a late May move-in for my house. PEWF! I'm seriously getting butterflies just thinking about it. Both excited and terrified!!!!!

I mentioned this in my last blog but the last few weeks have been ALLLLL choosing the finishing touches for the house. Hardwood, tiles, trim, lighting... paint. I basically live at Home Depot now. In fact, I was in there with my better half not so long ago, made it 10ft into the store when an associate walked passed us and said "Back again!" There's something comical yet pitiful in this scenario I swear.

That day we were looking for doors. Lots and lots of doors.

In this pic we're prepping the doors to be spray painted as our plasterer offered to do it as he was also set to prime our walls the next day as well. Killing two birds with one stone? Yes please. I'm thankful that these are one thing that I will not have to paint and they'll look so much better spray painted with and even coat than if they were painted with a brush and roller by yours truly. 

I started painting the upstairs little more than a week ago and the first order of business was to get the bathroom done. My parents may live just up the road but I think I'd prefer not having to jump into my car with dirty clothes all in a hurry to make it to the bathroom!

Saturday was a busy day in particular for painting. I'm thankful that I have friends who will spend a Saturday painting when they could be off to the mall or watching a movie. All much more entertaining than getting full of paint. But they made the day more exciting than most day I've spent down there. We all did lots of work but had tons of fun doing it together.

At the end of the day who can complain when you get to have a feed of fresh of the grill steak and an ice cold beer. 

My very own art niche! Perfect home to highlight my finished cross stitches I think (when I get around to framing them that is ;) ).

 Current workshop / future dining room!

Now! I know what you're thinking... "Jeez, that looks unsafe/precarious". While yes it is rather precarious, we've got supports on the bottom of that ladder. Believe me when I say it's not going anywhere! That being said... there is no way on this earth that I'll be getting out on that board LOL! 

The Master bedroom. I only have the ceiling and the accent wall painted so far. But the walls are going an off white colour so it won't look much different than it is here right now. Just much more polished.

Room #1 is my master ensuite and that room at the very end is my walkin!

I got out on that thing. Not as scary as it looks, but still not fun when you're looking down 12ft to the first floor!

This is the first spare bedroom and WOW it looks lime green here! In actual fact it's a yellowish celery colour. Of all the rooms in my house this is the brightest. I'm still not sure if I'm in LOVE with it but meh. It's not my room haha. 

And last but not least is the final spare bedroom. This is my favourite colour out of all the colours I have picked for this house. LOVE IT!

The one place that won't have as much painting as the other rooms is the dining room! I've decided to do wallpaper. Here's what I picked up the other day on yet another trip to yet another hardware store!

I may have no clue how to wallpaper a room, but I seriously love this to bits! So cannot wait :)

Anyways folks that's all for now! I'll be back with another housey update or two before all is said and done for sure :)

Have a great day!

Melissa

Happy Friday!

***Warning, this is a picture heavy post... but then mine always are aren't they ;) ***

While I've been posting about my crafty progress of late, I've been neglecting the real progress that is literally happening in my backyard! 

Some of you may recall that I'm on my way to home ownership - an adventure that started back in June. Much blood (yes blood), sweat and tears later we're now in the home stretch! There have been bumps, scrapes and bruises, sweaty blistering hot days and bitterly cold days, and tons upon tons of wood and basically any kind of construction material you can possibly think of. 

I've been spending weekends, public holidays and vacation days doing this and that for the house. 

A couple of weeks ago, it was insulation, last week it was spray foam and over the last few days? Picking up gyprock and cleaning up the plastery dust that now covers the floor. So long golden wood, hello grey rock dust!

I've also just finished picking out paint colours!!! I love this part :) It took a few days of playing around and looking up ideas but here they are!

I think the last time I posted a housy update the house looked like this:

Boy! It has been a while since I last updated you all about the house!

Now she looks like this :)

Yup we've still got snow... and more on the way. Feels like a never ending winter!

Brother and newly minted Fiance on hand with ze dogs.
They're in what will be my living room!

Kitchen

Office

Front Entrance

Bonus room! To be a crafty hobby studio :) Don't tell the hubby lol.
Cleaning up this mess it what I have to look forward to tonight!

Dining room after the gyprockers... lots of mess.

Front hall yet to get some gyprocking love!

Living room disaster area after the gyprockers!

Mom's cleaning helper...
or hindrance depending on how you look at it ;)

Kitchen

Future home owners... scared as hell but we put on a brave face :)

Lots of work done and lots more to come :)

Happy stitching everyone!

Melissa