PagesPat's Ponderings

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

My Summer Flip

I was driving to the grocery store and spied a dirty, rusty neglected patio table sitting on the end of  a neighbor's driveway, waiting for pick-up by the garbage truck. It had a thick plate of glass that showed the possibility of a beautiful outdoor dining set, but I had to be quick. The garbage truck was at the end of the block, coming our way.
I got there not only in time to rescue the pieces, but the driver of said truck helped load the chairs into my car. He promised not to take the table and glass. after dropping off the chairs at my house, I returned just as a neighbor was parking his car in his own driveway. He helped me take the glass off and put it into my car. One more quick trip back and forth and he helped me put the table in as well.
I started with the heavy piece of glass, which needed two hours of elbow grease and window cleaner to make it shine again. The table was next, but I had to sand off the rusty frame so I could spray paint it. I had recently bought a few cans on clearance from HobbyLobby and Michaels.
After the table was painted, I cleaned, sanded and painted the chairs, having removed the chair pads. I gave them a good cleaning and sorted thru my excess material before choosing one large enuf to cover all six chairs. 
Last weekend, I held a garage sale and the table and chairs were very popular. I sold it the first day!!   Here's the before photo. I also decluttered my basement, emptying two bookcases. I repainted the top of one of them, and they were sold the same day as the table (and three sets of cozy mystery series went as well. My mom, before she passed, was an avid trading card collector. I had mountains of tubs in my basement of non-sport trading cards, some still in factory-sealed boxes. I never realized how many collectors are out there!! I made some pretty good money selling two tubs of them (and yes, I checked E-Bay for the going rates).
Now my main focus is to clean up the slightly empty basement and make it a livable space for my sister and her husband when they come in from Germany for a visit. My secondary project is to pull out all the Holiday and Halloween crafts I've made throughout the year for a craft fair in September.  My work is cut out for me.,.



Saturday, August 2, 2025

I'm Busting Out Another Birthday Card Today


 After my cardio workout this morning, I felt like using lots of color on today's card. I found the perfect paper to go with a new birthday card. It's from Close to my Heart. I had a friend who sold their products. She also facilitated weekend crops which I loved to attend. I haven't scrapbooked in a long time. My photos and memorabilia are spilling out of their drawers and filling up my computer's memory.

Meanwhile, I'm making birthday cards. It's a nice quick craft whose supplies don't take a lot of room, and I am all about decluttering this year. I want to pare down my many craft interests, but my ADHD craves new projects like an addict...

Meanwhile, my card uses one of my favorite images, of which I can't remember the artist/designer. If you know whose image this is, please comment below. I like to give credit where credit is due. The paper flowers are from my stash, as well as the celebratory die-cuts. I colored the image with my Copics. And that's all, folks! At least for today...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:
CRAFTY ANIMALS -  AG w/Animals
HEARTS QUEST CELEBRATIONS OF LOVE -CcHALLENGE #7, BIRTHDAY
LOVE TO CRAFT - AG #87
PAPER ROCK SCISSORS -  AG using papers and scissors on your project
CREATIVECRAFTERS - Anything Goes



Friday, August 1, 2025

It's Coming...

 

I created another "two-fer" today. That's what I call it when I create two cards i/o one with pretty much the same supplies. The papers are both from a DCWV paper stack, as well as the greetings. On the featured in the forefront, I used a brand-new-in-the-package set of acrylic stamps that I bought years ago (!) from Michael's. It's one of their own Recollections stamp sets. 

I also changed the orientation of the two cards, but not much more than that, besides the focus of each. Like I always say, It's just as easy to make two cards as it is to make one...

Are you filling up your stash of Halloween cards? There are only two months left before we get our scary on! See you at the Halloween & Other Occasions Challenge Blog this month!

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING: