Sewing!

I have just used my sewing machine for the first time! Just messing around with scraps of fabric. Today I plan on making some hammocks for my rats. Good practice project because it can sew as crooked as I want and no one will complain (haha).

Sewing is scary. I am going to break my machine, I am sure of it.

Yesterday I finished a painting of a dog named Uma for my friends Jonathon and Katie. They lost Uma this summer :(

One Year

These past few days have been awesome!

On Friday I took my last final EVER. No more college. Okay, I admit that I am taking a three week December course, but not only is it about the representations of dogs in popular culture, but there are no exams or papers, and it's taught by an acquaintance of mine. So it's a fun class, it hardly even counts as a class ;)

Yesterday, Patrick and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Feels like 100 to me. We have been through so much in this first year together. Can't wait to see what is to come!

We went and saw Mission Impossible 4. I love Tom Cruise movies because the stunts are amazing. And the trailer for the new showing of Titanic made me cry. I am a dork.

Then we got dressed up in our fancy clothes and went out to eat. We had the most fabulous queso and chips appetizer. The only problem was that I practically inhaled the cheese and unlike at cheaper restaurants, they did not bring us more.... D:

Pregnant ladies need cheese, don't cha know.

Patrick got me a sewing machine, so I can finally make all the things on my to do list (once I figure out how to use it). I got him breathe right strips. The gift that keeps on giving.

I love my huz.

Meet Liam Damian Davey

Hi all,

I have returned from no-mans-land! This, my last beautiful semester of college, has been quite a beast. My husband is a senior too, so combined with his Navy duties, the pregnancy and constantly sick animals (plus my recently found addiction to Vampire Diaries) blogging has taken a back seat.

I have been crafting and painting, just too lazy to share. Over Thanksgiving break we took some time to go on a roadtrip to Virginia. 24 hours each way made for quite a miserable drive but the trip itself was great - I'll post pics soon. Love going on adventures with my huz :)

But the main focus of this post is Bebe. I am now 21 weeks and a few days. We had wanted to be surprised by the sex, but I knew it was a boy and wanted it confirmed. I didn't want to get attached to him as my son only to see it was a girl after all (which, honestly, I would have preferred. A boy was never part of my plan, and as callous as it sounds, it is taking some getting used to. I do love him though.).

In any case, it IS a boy. Liam Damian Davey :)

I can't wait to kiss his nose!!

Also, for those interested - we are definitely having a midwife assisted homebirth. I had visited the only local hospital with midwives that our insurance covers to gain some perspective on that, but didn't like it at all. They were pretty rude to me and had a very negative view of the kind of birth I want. So, homebirth it is. As long as we qualify. The last time they took my blood my hemoglobin was very low, which is why I was always so tired, but as long as I get it up by week 28 I'll be fine. In the meantime, I'm taking a ton of natural supplements to help with that. Only four more months and then some change!

Pregnancy is going fairly smoothly. I didn't have much morning sickness, just constant nausea for the first 14 or 15 weeks. I feel great now, back to my normal self mainly, and judging by the ferocity of his kicks, Liam is doing pretty good too :)

21 weeks! My belly was looking rather pointy that morning.

Hope everyone else is doing well :)

Little 'ol me... and the scandalous truth!

Not JUST a Housewife is having an awesome linky party today. She wants to learn more about her readers so she having them link up posts posts about themselves. So I decided to get off my lazy bum and type up a little something about me me me.

My name is Helena Isabel Davey (maiden name was Rivera Navarro...). I was born to a German mother and a Spanish/Puerto Rican father who was stationed in Germany with the American army. I am sorta Rican and proud of it ;) My mom was an artist and wanted to go to art school. She got accepted but creative jobs in Germany are hard to come by. She got scared and went to nursing school instead. I basically did the same thing! Although I chose biology over art.

This picture really says a lot about me. I love animals more than anything. I love handmade things, and luckily my mom is a lot better at knitting than I am, so she makes me tons of stuff (like this necklace). I love old-fashioned things (hence the old-school glasses). In this photo I had a mullet, but I sneakily disguised it (yes, the mullet was done on purpose). And I have a habit of sticking my tongue out for pictures.

My mom and dad divorced when I was itty bitty, so I don't really remember him. I don't speak much Spanish on account of that. My mom remarried a few years later - another American soldier. I guess she had a thing for Army guys! 

This was my mom and step dad in their younger years :)

I grew up mainly in Germany. We moved around a lot, but I call a little town called Ochsenfurt home. It's the German Oxford. Pretty cool. 

I was a tomboy growing up. I loved sports, especially wrestling and soccer. I mainly hung out with my big brother and his guy friends. I also loved horses. Luckily I grew up around them and got to spend a lot of time mucking out stalls and feeding hay, even though we never had our own. This will change within the next few years, I promise you that!

Other than my big brother, who is 2 years older than me, I also have a little brother who is 4 years younger. Both of my brothers are very talented and creative in different ways. My big brother is very artistic and a free-lance graphic designer. He's also a body builder.... My little brother started making his own video games when he was 13. Self taught! He also designs websites and the like. 

I lived in Oklahoma from ages 9-14, and then we moved back to Germany. I graduated from German High School at 16, and after much begging and pleading, my mom and dad decided to let me move back to the States for college. Now that I am older, I don't understand how I ever managed to convince them and I think I was much too young to be on my own. But I am really glad they let me go, because I don't know where I would be if I hadn't come back to the States.

I moved back to Oklahoma with $113 in my pocket and an unsure future. After some initial trouble, I found a home in my best friends bedroom. Her parents are awesome. I owe them so much for taking me in when they had absolutely no reason to. They took me into their family and treated me like one of their own. 

She is my best lady friend since 6th grade, ever since got over our art rivalry and formed a Harry Potter Club together. She's a little bit crazy, but that's why we love her.

When I was 18, I got my first very own doggie. A Boston Terrier named Norton, after Edward Norton. He was the best friend a girl could wish for, and my soul mate. He was just over a year old when he was attacked by another dog and killed. Norton is the one who inspired me to get active in the animal welfare community. I basically owe my whole life to him. I will never stop missing him or regretting what happened to him. I should have been a better doggie momma. 

When I was 19, I met my my future husband at the University of Oklahoma. He was in my chem lab. What follows is a brief outline of our scandalous love story. Very few people know this, as it really was a bit of a... faux pas. The thing is, when I met Patrick, I was in an almost two year relationship. The guy I was with was awesome. I didn't really have any complaints about him at all, and don't to this day. I was very committed to him, so much so that when I saw Patrick for the first time in lab and his awesome smile made my heart go pitter patter, I felt like I had cheated just for noticing that this other guy had nice teeth. 

He really does have very nice teeth....

I never spoke to Patrick. Not for months. Not until I decided I was going to have to drop out of college because I couldn't finance it anymore. I was looking into the military. It seemed like a logical option, having grown up in a very military family. I think it was around April 2010 That I found out Patrick was in the Navy, which was the branch I had narrowed my search down to. I only talked to him to get information regarding the Navy. Yep, I was using him. After that, we actually became friends, and study partners. Thanks to Patrick, my grade went from an A to a B :)

My relationship with the other guy was on rocky grounds at this point. We just couldn't get a long. We broke up in May and Patrick asked me out the very same day. Here is the part where I sound like a callous whore: I said yes, and that's basically where our relationship started. Right then and there. It looked really bad, like I had been cheating, and I made an enemy out of a lot of mutual friends because of the way they perceived my treatment of the other guy. I didn't cheat, though. 

In my heart, it was like the other guy and I had broken up months ago. I was no longer emotionally attached to him. Since we had a very pure courtship - no kissing, even - removing my heart from his was surprisingly easy. It also made it very easy to fall in love with Patrick so quickly.

About six months after we started dating, we got engaged. (Our proposal went something like this: Me: Let's get hitched. Patrick: 'Kay.(Really, we put a bit more thought into it than that, but you get the idea...)). He rescued me from a military fate (although that's a whole other story) and we got married a month later.

Now I am married to my best friend.we have an awesome, fun life. Our little family consists of two Boston Terriers (Marla and Spock) and 4 rats (Turkish, Durden, Gus and Spencer). And soon we will be adding a human baby to the mix (April 2012, to be exact!). Our life together is full of creativity, adventure, and animals - and I love it!

In the near future, Patrick is going to start flight school to become a Navy pilot. I will continue to be a mom to our animals and human baby. And hopefully I will one day open my own rescue! 

Bun in the Oven!

It's been a while since I have blogged. I feel lazy and ashamed :( I have a good excuse, however!

We found out on August 14th that we are pregnant! We've been trying for a while, so this was awesome news. However, in between the exhaustion, morning sickness, and my last semester of college I haven't had much time to craft. Or the desire to. My husbands schedule is crazy, what with being a slave to the Navy and all, and so the care of the house and animals has largely fallen to me solely when I really feel like I need to be looked after... :}

I'm having to relax my standards about home orderliness a lot right now but I guess it's a good thing - excellent preparation for having a child. Unfortunately we'll be moving to Florida a few months after the baby is born, which means I don't get to decorate a nursery. Not even once we're there, because we will only be there for a few months.

Overall, I am very excited - even if I feel like death right now! They say it gets better after the first trimester ;) This is going to be an amazing journey. The Huz and I have decided to do everything as natural as possible - meaning no ultrasounds unless they become medically necessary, no painkillers during labor, birth with a midwife preferably at home (we haven't completely decided on a home birth yet, as it's fairly expensive...), delayed cord clamping, cloth diapers.... you name it!

I hope these next months fly by because I can't wait to meet our son or daughter! :D

Moss and Burlap Rosette Centerpiece

I recently had my first moss experience. It was very pleasant :) I bought a bag of craft moss at Walmart for just over $2, and used only half of it for this craft. I love leftovers!

This glass bowl is one of 12 that we used for our wedding centerpieces. They cost almost $4 at Michaels. I kept two and sold the rest on Craigslist, and finally made use of this one. I filled the bottom of the bowl with dirt, and then topped it with a think layer of moss.

I made a rosette out of burlap. You can see the tutorial for the flower here at the Tatertots and Jello blog site. Notes from the Plumb Tree has a nice tutorial as well. It can be seen here. I added the button, which came from Hobby Lobby. I paid just under $2 for a set of two gorgeous buttons!

Isn't it pretty??? :)

I placed the bowl on a pretty napkin from Pottery Barn and put the whole thing on this bar cutout we have in our kitchen wall. 

Please don't judge what you can see if our kitchen : / It's an apartment kitchen and I haven't quite figured out how to make those ugly cabinets pretty without permanently altering them. (Has anyone ever covered cabinets with removable wallpaper?)

Thanks for stopping by!

Linked at Tatertots and Jello, Simple Home Life, The Girl Creative, Saturday Social, Fabulous Friday, Show and Tell Friday, Feathered Nest Friday, Sunday Showcase Party, Serenity Now, 504 Main,Flaunt It Friday, Creative Bloggers Party and Hop, Not Just a Housewife, Tuesdays Treasures, Craftomaniac, Sugar Bee Crafts, Savvy Southern Styles Wednesdays

Upcycling Plates and Cutting Board

I needed some art for the dining "room" wall (I say "room" because it's really more of a dining area). I had an old wooden cutting board lying around that my mother gave me. I knew I would never use it, and it has been waiting for a purpose. 

So I decided to stencil the word "eat" on it with green paint.

                   

     

I also painted the nails I was going to use green. I planned to frame the board with the nails, instead of drilling through it. I had to dab the paint on the nails using a foam brush. Making actual strokes smeared the paint right off.

I also purchased some plastic plates from Walmart and Target to hang up.

                                      

The backs of the plates were not flat, so I needed something to even them out. I thought about using wood, but didn't want to waste any of my precious materials. I found that folding single sheets of computer paper and gluing them to the back matched the edges almost perfectly. You have to make sure and put plenty of hot glue between the layers of paper, otherwise when you mount the plates, they will droop a little. 

I am afraid I am not very creative about ways to mount things. I am sure there were better ways, but I used mounting squares. Hopefully they don't crash down while we are sleeping tonight! ;)

 These are the target plates. The large one, on the right, was $2.99, and the small one on the left was on sale for $1.79. I love moths, so I snatched them up. I hesitate to use the term "upcycling" in reference to the plates, as it implies they were not worthy of being plates. But they were! I love these plates. They just needed to be on my wall :)

The set of four green plates came from Walmart, and were one dollar and some change. I didn't know it when I bought them, but they are all a different shade of green. It worked out well that way!

And here is everything mounted on the wall!

What do you think?

Linked at 

The Shabby Nest
Sugar and Dots
Beyond the Picket Fence
The 36th Avenue
Tales from Bloggeritaville
Kissed By a Frog
A Glimpse Inside
Fingerprint on the Fridge

A Word on Keets

You may be wondering what a Keet is.
You are one. You just don't know it yet :)

It all started with our adult Boston, Marla (we also have a puppy named Spock). She has a million nicknames, one of them being Marlakeet. From there, I became Helikeet. Now, everything is a Keet. It's gotten to the point that my husband and I refer to ourselves as Keets using descriptive adjectives. For example, if I am sorry, I wouldn't say it - I would just call myself an apologetic Keet.

Things are getting out of hand.

Momma Keet and Baby Keet

Paula Deen and My New Place

I have an obsession with Paula Deen furniture. Not that we can afford it. But it's just so darn pretty! I mean, look at this bed!

Look at those slats! *drool*

And check out all the storage in this desk...

I just might cry.

Source

Don't get me started on her kitchen utensils...

In other news, we recently (one week and one day ago) moved out of our two bedroom rental house with zero closets where the second bedroom was simply storage, into a larger two bedroom apartment with enormous closets where the second bedroom is my craft/animal room. And the closets have to hold all of our stuff. It's been a challenge. So much work, in  fact, that I haven't had the spirit to craft much. I would rather sit in a vegetative state and watch Heartland on Netflix. I haven't even been able to make much of an effort to spiff the place up. But yesterday I was informed that school starts the week after next, and if we are wanting to have a house warming party, I better get on it. So I will. Any day now. 

Before I post any pictures of the apartment itself, let me show you a few of my favorite things...(the kitchen will not be included in this. Ugly, ugly thing.)

This is our new quilt! It came from Target. It was on clearance, so I couldn't resist.

Yesterday, two of these owls randomly appeared on my dresser. The huz snuck into Hobby Lobby and bought these for me while I was perusing their crafty isles. Hobby Lobby has a TON of owl stuff for fall right now. Plates, napkins, aprons.... they are hard to resist. I am not sure where these little guys are going to end up yet. I have too many nick knacks. 

I need some advice on how to throw things out, lest I become like one of those people on the hoarding show....

You Shut Up!

I finally finished a project I have been working on for a while now - a painting of my dog Marla! The painting itself was done a while ago, but I've been avoiding adding the stenciled letters....

I used Tim Holtz stencils and the only stencil brush I have, which was way too big for the task, but here is the outcome

So, Marla doesn't bark much. But she speaks. If you ignore her, or are talking smack, she will put you in you place. It sounds like she is saying "You shut up!" She is the best.

And here she is telling YOU to shut up! :)

Linked at Passionately Artistic

"Rustic" Curtain Rod

Today I finished another project - a curtain rod! I really like it.

It all started with a branch.Last month, we had a bad storm here in Oklahoma that took down a lot of trees. I found a branch that I really liked and Patrick dragged it home for me. After sawing it to size, and cutting off the branches - leaving small nubs for embellishment - we sanded down the branch. This was the really hard part. It made for a good together project, though. Patrick did most of the sanding. My wrist just didn't have the strength.

After using the coarse sanding paper, we should have used the finer one to get everything even. With the move looming ahead, we didn't have time or the patience, so it's not quite perfect.

Originally, I intended to spray paint it white, for kind of a modern rustic feel. Instead, we ended up going with a metallic bronze color. It looks really great with the new curtains!

The spots that aren't even and needed an extra sanding are a little darker than the rest, but it doesn't look bad. This was a really fun and gratifying project.

Here is the rod with the light teal curtains we purchased for our new place.

 I think the two together are really great. The rod lends a modern edge to the somewhat old-fashioned curtains (thermal curtains, by the way!).

The length of the branch

A close up of the color. It's a little more shiny than it appears here.

The spray paint! This paint was on the pricier end (It was close to $7, whereas most of the others were around $3) but I really liked it and am certain I will use it again in the future!

Linked at Polly Want A Crafter? 

The Girl Creative
Under the Table and Dreaming

Disappointed Stencils

I finally finished one of my projects. The others are 98% done, and I either don't have the time, the space, or the supplies necessary right now. The Huz and I are in the process of moving, so it's a bit crazy around here. Anyway, here's what I have been working on the past couple of days:

Sorry for the bad photo. Using my cell phone for pictures for now.

I used mod podge to attach Brother and Sister fabric to canvas. I then used a Show Offs stencil for the image, which I painted with Viridian Hue acrylics. 

I ran into some issues with this. First, anytime I glue or tape anything, dog hair inevitably ends up in it. So I mod podged the fabric before attaching it so I could cut it without frays, and got dog hair in it. It also dried somewhat wrinkly, so it's not entirely smooth on the canvas. Unless you get up close to it, though, you can't see the wrinkles or the dog hair. *phew* 

The other issue was the stencil. It wouldn't lie flat no matter what I did, so I couldn't get clean lines. I ruined a canvas on my first attempt (will be able to reuse it though). The second time around, I traced the stencil with pencil first and then painted everything by hand. The 176 coats required took FOREVER and is not as clean as a stencil would have been. Needless to say, I am not as satisfied as I should be, given the labor input and quality output.

I love the project idea though and think it makes for cool art. I'll definitely try it again in the future!

Linked at Not Just A Housewife

Dodgy Beginnings

Well here I am, starting a blog. I've actually had it anonymously for a while but that was somewhat boring, so now I'm going public.

Lately my life has been filled with crafts, and I'd like for this to continue consistently. I'm not very good yet. I'm learning how to make things like a mad woman, though, and can hardly complete a project before moving on to the next. I am way too excited.

Right now I am working on paper flowers, two blankets, and several paintings. I have more ideas floating around in my head. I'd like to blog about the things I make and cool projects I find online.

So here goes nothing!