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Arts and Crafts is Knitting Again

Knitting again and I have so missed it.  It's been so long and I apologize.  So much has happened in the year since I wrote.

I still am not done with my home projects but I have gotten farther.  Now, we're talking about moving again.

I will post some pictures of what more I have done to this little place.  

We've been to Italy twice since I last wrote.  My ancestors are from Caraffa di Catanzaro Italy and it's been a long time dream to see where they were born and grew up.  Walk the streets they walked, etc.

So much to tell you but as far as arts and crafts goes, I am back to painting our little place, I hung more pictures and, like I said, there's talk again of moving.

This is a great little single wide and we love it but he would love to have a garage and I would love to have a better kitchen.  I would definitely miss this park and all my friends.  Do we want to not have a house payment and continue paying rent?  Or do we want to buy a house and apply that rent money to the house payment.  Everything will go up.  Taxes especially.

I will come back with pictures.

I have a small knitting project going and I couldn't be happier.  Again it's Red Heart Super Saver yarn; I love that yarn so much.  I have made a few things since I last wrote, too.  I'm excited to show you what I have done.  Some of them I can't as they were gifts and I no longer have the photos but we'll start fresh.

I'll show you some of my art work as well.  I've done watercolor florals and charcoal and pastel drawings.  

So more real soon..........Come back and see what I've been up to.

Amazing Re-Do Ride! #1

I have been working on a project for the last few weeks and decided I really should, at least for myself, document this re-do journey.

We decided to buy a home.  We have been living full time in our 40' motorhome, an Alfa See Ya, that we bought in about 2008.  I'd have to look in my journals to tell you the exact date.  And I may add that later.  We lived on the road for at least 8 years in our Alfa; home on the road.  But we felt it was time to put down some roots.  We wanted a home base.  We weren't sure what to do with the motor home but because of it's age, we began updating the motor home, too.  We had looked for a long time for a house and went around and around as to just what we wanted and a house payment was not it.  We put it aside for a bit when this little mobile came up for sale at a price we couldn't pass up.

We bought a little single wide mobile in a beautiful over 55 community.  More on that later.  The little home is a 1986 Palm Harbor which has had a few owners.  Some did a good job of updating and some didn't.  The work is now mine.  I shouldn't call it work, I am so enjoying my little projects and I"m taking them one at a time.

We've had some problems along the way.  We made a quick tiring trip up to Seattle to bring back what belongings we have had in the Seattle area, actually, Kent, Wa.  We rented a Budget truck and hit the road.  Man that was a hard trip for me.  He drove the truck and I had to drive the car!  Me!  I've never driven that far in my life.  I was a trooper and got it done.

So, we arrived at our new little home and spent a long hard day unloading.  Loading in Kent and hitting the road in one day, arriving here and unloading in one day; we were exhausted!

Because he wants to update the motor home, he's still working in Amado, AZ so he can work on the motor home there in his spare time; he works 25 hours a week in an RV park.

Ok, I've been here at the house since we returned from Kent, WA with our belongings.

I started by cleaning the kitchen.  It seems it hadn't been cleaned in awhile and certainly not when the seller moved out.   I would have cleaned anyway.  Always do.  The first week I spent on the kitchen and putting away what dishes and kitchen things I could find in all the boxes in the AZ room.  It was fun and it was exciting!  I cleaned the master bath and you know, the usual cleaning when you move into a new place.

After as much cleaning was done as possible, boxes smashed and garbage pick up learned here, I moved on to, quite by accident, to peeling wallpaper from the main bathroom wall.  What fun!  Like peeling someone sunburned skin!  I know weird.

The outer layer of wallpaper came off quite easy leaving the paper backing.  It wasn't that hard to clean off either.  I was so lucky.  A little water from a spray bottle and that paper scraped off in sheets.  What did I find under the paper backing and paste?  Seems they had put up dry wall, for some reason, over the normal mobile home paneling.  Oh how I wish thet hadn't done that.  They didn't tape and mud the seams!  They papered over screws, nails, molly bolt anchors and right around the inner corners so you could poke a hole in the corner!  What an ugly mess.  I have been thoroughly enjoying my new project.  Don't know why but it has been fun.  And thanks to YouTube, I've mastered a few new skills.

This is the before and now that I see it again, it looks better in a photo than I thought it did.

 After removing the wallpaper, this is what I found in the corners.  This is at the sink.

 This is what I found under the wallpaper where the butted up sheet rock wasn't taped properly.  I'm working on that now.

I counted 29 molly bolt anchors in this little bathroom removing them creates huge holes.  Holes have been filled and I"m working on the seams.

The shower enclosure, one of those all one piece things, has a trim around it with big ugly screws holding it in place, so I caulked and used tape to hold it tight to the wall.  I hope hope hope this works.  Then I filled the screw holes with spackling made by DAP Patch and Paint and it's awesome stuff.  Fluffy and so easy to use. It has primer in it so you don't need to prime before painting.  (more on that later because it says patch and prime in one step but it doesn't paint so well)  Since these walls were painted before papered, I don't have to worry about priming.  One plus! (I didn't think they needed priming but after painting, I changed my mind.  The walls were so dry and I don't like the way they painted)

This patch n paint product seemed dry to me so I did add some water and mixed it up.  But it didn't paint up like it didn't need primer.  Prime and be nice to yourself. 

I kept working away with caulking and patching.  It seemed like it would never end.

This is several days into the project.  I'm kind of messy, huh?

The cabinets are almost done here.  I've put the doors and drawers back.  Can't decide if I like the dark hinges and should buy dark handles or buy light handles and spray paint the hinges.  You'd be surprised how many decisions there are to make with the smallest of projects!  Everything needs touching up.  Look better already don't you think?  Except, now the tub enclosure look yellowed and old.  That's another whole project but will stay "as is" for now.

The wall color I chose turned out to be way lighter than I really wanted.  I wanted a much stronger contrast between the trim and the walls.  BUT, it is what it is and I will choose different colors for the rest of the house.  At least, it looks nice and clean.  Well, except my mess.

Tomorrow, I will finish the touch ups, shop for handles or spray paint, hardware, a little curtain and a shower curtain.  I can't wait for this to be over.  I have been having fun but a month on one project is a bit too long for me.

Here's the porch I have been working on also.  I know what you think.  It's so cute, what doesn't she like?  Well, the picture doesn't show how torn and worn out faux grass carpet was or how dirty the rug was under that cute little table.

We pulled up the green carpet.  It was so rotten, it literally tore into pieces.  I primed the super dry plywood floor with Kilz primer.  It sucked it up and it was hard to apply.  That's my husband tool chest/cupboard thing and the blanket Frankie loves to lay on in the sun.

Today I painted it a porch and deck gray color.  I'll have to take an after picture tomorrow.  The plan is to put down a new outdoor type rug and set up the table and chairs so we can have our morning coffee out there.  Tucson mornings are amazing.

My Whimsy Art Studio

Several more listing in my Etsy shop.  Please go take a look and see if there's anything there you may be interested in for that special guy in your life, maybe for Mom, sister or your children.

There's so much there.  So many awesome, whimsical and not so whimsical and masculine photos taken while on vacation in Colorado at an old mining museum.

My Whimsy Art Studio

  
Thank you.  You have an awesome September fall day!

 Kathy

My Whimsy Art Studio

Listed two new paintings tonight.  Getting to my goal little by little.

Check them out!

 My Whimsy Art Studio


Thank you,
Kathy

Getting closer to my goal of 100 listings.  I just listed several more and am at 85!

 

Don't forget to stop by my Esty Shop and see everything!!