Showing posts with label gollybard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gollybard. Show all posts

Upcycled DIY Tutorial - A Log Table & Chalkboard Sign or what to do when you need to cut down those trees


A couple weeks ago, we had to cut down 5 trees - it was a hard day for us me.

George was very certain these trees were going to crash down on our heads and we have had enough trees fall over the years, including one that hit our neighbor's garage, to take our tree problem seriously.

You can see from the holes in these poor trees that they had seen better days, but it was very hard for me to make the decision to cut them down.

This decision was not so hard for hubby who longs for any reason to use his mostly idle chainsaw.

(for a man who likes to makes things, he really likes to "unmake" them, too)



I have a few projects planned for some of this wood and the rest is being picked up by some friends with fireplaces. I saw these log stools in a magazine and knew I would be making one for us and a couple for other people.


You will need:

1. a log that has been cut to be level
2. your handy drill
3. 4 swivel casters

(if you are going to sit on this log you may want bigger casters than these and longer screws)

4. screws, screwdriver and marking pen


1. Lay out your swivel casters fairly close to the edge of your log
2. Mark your drill holes

(I actually skipped this step and just drilled through the caster holes, but this could be a good step if you are a litle less lazy than I am)

3. Drill your screw holes
4. Screw on your casters
5. Flip your table
6. Voila- and this is a heck of alot easier to move around than the heavy log is!

BONUS PROJECT - WELCOME SIGN
Using a round template paint a chalkboard onto a slice of wood- add a little welcome message!


And for some amazing Etsy creations you can buy now- check out:


1. Log #20 original water color painting by Gollybard
2. Personalized carved initials necklace by Lisa Hopkins
3. Tiny wee hoot owl by Buttercupbloom
4. Tagua nuts eco-friendly earrings from Decorate the Diva
5. Custom tree heart pillow by Cozyblue
6. Pileated woodpecker by StudioLyon

Uncommon Goods Catalog is in the Mail!



Very exciting to come home and find the Uncommon Goods Valentine's Day catalog in my mailbox. If it is in your mailbox, too- check out page 65 for three exclusive sets of Polarity lockets only available through them - Unusual by Christy Zaragoza (Peppermint Daydreams), Nature by Holly Ward Bimba (Gollybard) and Whimsical by Jessica Doyle!

This is my first catalog for Polarity and I have loved Uncommon Goods forever and am so happy to be in there!

Thankful Thursday or I did not really cause Katrina... really

I am starting to like these thankful Thursdays now and feeling like a much better person

(glass half full, remember)

than the one who whined all the time.

And I have alot to be thankful for this week .

Gratitude 1: This amazing giveaway over on Lory's The Sunshine Studio blog where you can win your choice of one of my Polarity lockets

so hop over there and get yourself entered!

Gratitude 2: Polarity's soft launch on Uncommon Goods website

yup, THAT Uncommon Goods (and if you are asking what a soft launch is, I am not exactly sure, but it sounds..well... soft and kind of launchy)

I was totally going to do a big announcement for this in January - when I thought we would be making our debut, but somehow we are on their website now and I am a bit speechless...

well, not exactly (have been howling at the moon a bit over this actually)

I love Uncommon Goods and this is very exciting for me and 3 of the Polarity locket artists - Holly Ward Bimba (Gollybard), Jessica Doyle and Christy Zaragoza (Peppermint Daydreams) and I will chat more on this later when the Valentine's Day catalog comes out and yes, this is my first catalog, ever!

Gratitude 3: I am very thankful that I found my missing keys (that have been missing for almost a week)

at the bottom of my pocketbook

the pocketbook that I use everyday and had checked a few times - well, at least I thought I had checked it a few times, I mean who loses their keys and doesn't check their pocketbook, right?

Gratitude 4: I broke a major OCD habit today

well, maybe not so major because I have alot of them, but I had my little bag of peanut M&M's

(well ... actually a HUGE bag, why is everything else getting smaller while these damn bags of peanut M&Ms are getting super sized)

and instead of eating the colors in alphabetical- well, red first and then alphabetical order, I just ate them out of the bag, one by one, distractedly, without thinking about the color

I stared at the empty bag with shock and awe when I realized what I had done and then knocked on some wood that I hadn't just caused a major disaster somewhere in the world

(like Katrina- don't even ask me what I forgot to do that day)

Gratitude 5 - The security camera in our local video store is totally broken.

(now I had nothing to do with the actual breakage, but am happy that someone else out there had just had enough of this already, too)

I mean, have you ever seen yourself on a store security camera?

It is horrifying. You totally think you are having a good (looking) day and and then you see yourself on one of those, and you're like, "oh my God look at that sloth coming into the st-- wait, that's me."

then you feel like crap

or maybe that only happens to me.

Oh, and I am totally grateful that the customer who ordered the Mad Scientist cork necklace and discovered that I had reversed the last 2 letters of the word scientist, which kind of changes the meaning a bit if you see what I mean, was kind enough to tell me about it and not tell everyone else by putting it in my public feedback - of course I told her I would fix this problem immediately, but couldn't resist telling her that as far as the problem piece goes - I wantit back.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree


We have a very large, very old black walnut tree in our yard. My husband has hated this tree for years. Normally, George loves trees; I mean he has planted trees and cared for trees. When the sole dogwood in our front yard started to go after a particularly terrible ice storm a few years back he used herculean methods that winter to try to save it and shed a few tears when it died anyway. But the black walnut tree is another story.

There are a couple problems with this particular black walnut tree. Its dripline is over our roof and it drops gigantic green 'fruit' (you need to run these babies over with your car to crack them open) every fall. I am sure this tree is one of the reasons we have so many squirrels (another of hubby's nemesis lately since he is convinced they are getting into the garage out back and eating into our gas cans and lawnmower gas caps - no idea why our squirrels or maybe one particular squirrel would want to do this, but George is convinced).

Every time George has to go up on the roof, which believe me is surprisingly often considering the terrible state our gutters are in - what he does up there I have no idea - he gripes and complains for days about the pits in the roof left by these fruit. When we replaced our roof a couple years back, George tried to get that roofer to agree with him and tell me that this black walnut tree needed to be cut back; way, way back, like into the last century kind of back. Fortunately, the roofer could see that he was stepping into a little domestic landmine and safely did not choose sides.

The other problem with a black walnut tree is that it emits a certain poison that restricts the growth of some plants which are planted within 75 feet of it; these plants include tomatoes and peppers which are our favorite vegetables to grow. Now, we didn't know this for a long time. We had a couple summers of wilted vegetables before we realized the problem was the nearby black walnut tree and George, being very stubborn and slow to reach forgiveness still begrudges the tree those missed seasons.

Now that we are trying to grow as much of our own food as we can, he is trying to use this to turn me against the tree (even though we have enough yard to avoid this area and the solution of raised beds in this area is very do-able also). We both know that I am the only thing standing between that tree and the chain saw which he does not get to use nearly as often as he would like to. For a man who likes to build things- he really likes to unbuild them.

There are many things working against his ever swaying me to do anything about this tree. First of all this tree provides lots of backyard privacy between our house and our nearest neighbor (privacy is not a word my husband really understands but something I will not give away willingly). Its nuts attract the squirrels that I do not see as pests but as outdoor pets (how would Olive spend her afternoons if she was not chasing squirrels?). And the new firehouse being built across the street from our house has resulted in so many trees being cut down that I have wept openly and often (once so out of control I had to call upon my inner Norwegian to get a grip on myself) for their loss.

So when hubby starts griping again about this "problem" that we need to do something about - which although I am no home improvement expert I hardly see as our biggest "problem" around here- (I mean, I don't think most people have to mow their asphalt driveways and most fence gates probably do not need to be lifted and twisted in a certain sequence of about fourteen steps, that only a handful of people on the planet could ever possibly remember, to get them to latch as ours has since the Clinton administration) when he starts to gripe - I will just tell him he is barking up the wrong tree.

Through Thursday May 14th get a free pair of matching earrings with any necklace purchase from either of my shops Uncorked or Polarity by writing Black Walnut Tree, Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Annoying Husband or some such something in the comments to seller section of your order.

A. SnappingTwig - Walnut Light Photograph
1. GollyBard - Logs Print
2. LydiaLayne - Large Tree of Life Necklace
3. GetReadySetGo - Upcycled Train Case
4. Larimeloom - Olive V Neck
5. UnderGlass - Twisted Oak Necklace
6. BareTree - Woodland Green Cap
7. 3BeesDesign - Tree Baby Quilt

Newest Artist Collaboration Lockets

This week I am so fortunate to add four more amazingly talented artists to my Polarity locket artist series!


GollyBard - Holly's paintings represent a whimsical and peculiar narrative of both an everyday and make believe world. Watercolor scenes painted with detail and exactness, though filled with ambiguity. They are jumbled, untidy stories inspired by anything and everything that she is infatuated with for the moment.

Fricdementol - Ana lives in beautiful Portugal where life is her inspiration. She loves simple things like a smile, her dogs or cooking. She uses all her senses to live! She listens to alot of music and she also watch movies. She has no car so she rides a bike. Ana is fascinated by people's portraits and expressions. Portraiture is her obsession.

zJayne - Jane enjoys creating art with meaning. You’ll find her salvaging an array of found objects, metals, once loved jewels, costume and semi precious treasures to create one of a kind defining images. Jane has learned that being authentic and owning your talent brings a form of peace of mind that is well received and encourages her to live in the moment.

Brief Moments - Maribeth has always been fascinated by an artist’s ability to capture a brief moment of time, whether that moment was of clarity, of joy, of disappointment, or even chaos. All of her photographs and paintings strive to capture the brief moments that are quiet and sometimes overlooked, moments that she hopes speak to you as much as they have spoken to her.

Check out their amazing shops. The purchase of any locket from my new locket series gets a FREE set of extra lids this week!

This week's giveaway is at the amazing blog of Helene's Dreams for the gorgeous Dilkabear locket. This giveaway ends on Earth Day 4/22- so get over there and get entered! Also check out Helene's gorgeous Etsy shop!