‘Ink Re-Cap 109 and Inspiring Stories From Around the ‘Net

This week’s ‘Ink Re-cap 109
Happenings in our shop(s) and on the blog.
And inspiring stories for your weekend from around the ‘net.

 

The last two weeks have been sort of different for us.

We’ve lived our life almost completely off the blog.

Our Working Vacation

Last week we were out of town. We went to Nebraska to help our son and his family work on their 1919 house reno.

They’ve got a big job on their hands, and we wanted to get in on the action.

Talk about hard, menial labor! There’s so much of that before the fun stuff starts, unfortunately.

They removed a wall between the foyer and the kitchen, creating workable dining area from an almost useless front room. This house was a catalog ordered house which the farmer put together with lathe and plaster. Thick lathe and cement-like plaster.

It’s good that Mr. Farmer was zealous about doing things right. That’s why so many parts of the house are original 100 years later.

But it does create lots of effort to take any of that apart and/or remove.

There’s original wood floors beneath the layers of plywood and linoleum and carpet, which they want to refinish and restore. When they pulled up the plywood, millions of staples were left behind that had to be pulled out one at a time with a screwdriver and plyers or a vise grip or a nail puller… anything we could put into service to do the job. We must have pulled a gallon of staples out of a floor measuring 12′ x 18′. I think Mr. Farmer was told to secure the plywood with x amount of staples, and then he doubled that amount for good measure.

After a day of staple pulling, believing if I pulled one more staple I’d pull my hair out, we could finally begin a fun job.

Well, it was fun to start with.

Learning to Paint With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

We got a few quarts of Annie Sloan chalk paint and attacked the kitchen cabinets. We’ve never worked with chalk paint before, so we resorted to tutorials and asking advice of anyone who had tried it before. As a result of using this old kitchen as our training ground, I wasn’t completely sold on the process.

But I am convinced it will be perfect and completely up to Mr. OCD Farmer’s standards after 3 coats of chalk paint and 2 or 3 coats of lacquer are completed on those cabinets. They will surely last another hundred years.

So, much to my disappointment, we left before that job was done.

And came home to a week of playing catch up…

 

 

Now a re-cap of our week on ‘Ink…

On the blog, our Baby post was a collection of 25 winter themed birth announcements. Because if baby arrives in cold weather, you might want to celebrate that arrival with something cozy and cute and seasonal.

The Kitchen post was an extra delicious accidental recipe. When you run out of time and you have company coming, you try to fancy up what you have in the fridge. And sometimes, they become a family favorite. I love when that happens.

Thursday’s craft post was a continuation of our Learn Bespoke Sewing lessons. We finished the front bodice pattern that we started 2 weeks ago. If you want to get a personal fit for your sewing projects, check out this post.

 

 

 

 

And that was it for blog posts this week.

We designed and printed 2 new Baby Keepsake Calendars. We’ll be listing them next week. I wish could do it right now because we’re super excited about them, but… we ran out of time.

These were special orders for a two-baby/mama shower on Saturday. The mamas are cousins, both giving birth to their first babies in December. One boy and one girl. How exciting is that? It was so much fun to take their nursery decor ideas and make matching Keepsake Calendars. With the rest of you mamas in mind, because we knew you’d want to have these for your new babies, too. Can you tell we’re in love with these designs? Just wait. We think you’ll agree.

A new friend came for a pattern fitting one morning. Another favorite job for me: Bring a smile to someone who gave up getting a pattern that fit perfectly. I sent her home with a simple no-dart shift pattern to try. If this try isn’t perfect, she’ll come back and we’ll have another go at it.

 

Re-caps to take with you for the weekend…

My friend posted a truly inspirational story this week. Her trip to the thrift store was extra successful, because not only did she find great bargains, she also witnessed a touching story of true caring.

 

This is the year to visit this corn maze. If you’re in Saginaw County, Michigan.

I would say they went above and beyond to get their message out!

 

Every school needs a custodian like this man. He says he cleans the classrooms and restrooms as though he’s cleaning for a future president or a surgeon “who will operate on me someday.” One day in the future, I hope these students realize what this man did for them. A man who was told he couldn’t be a teacher because he’s dyslexic and “too dumb.” If this man is dumb, we need more dummies!

 

Our oldest grandlittle isn’t so little anymore. Sigh. She had her 9th birthday this week. And she loved her last-minute gift of a Pumpkin Spice NothingBundtCake.  All wrapped up in a bright pink ribbon and lime flower. If you’ve never visited one of their stores, go today. You can’t help but smile when you walk through the door. And the smells!!! They should advertise their places as not just good cake, but a mood enhancer. And giving a cake to someone? It makes your day just as much as the recipient’s.

 

And to end with words of encouragement…

Here’s a stanza of a poem to lift your heart like, well, like eating nothingbundtcake.

 

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/still-i-rise-by-maya-angelou

 

 

 

 

Have a most blessed and beautiful weekend.