Monday, July 22, 2013

July 22, 2013

Gadget  dislocated his hip again on Thursday. I took him to the vet and he does have to have surgery to remove the ball of his hip. He will be confined for 4 to 5 days and then he will finely get out of his bubble for good. I might make him sleep in it at night so that he doesn't get twisted up in the blankets and pillows again.

Poor little guy he has to go in and have his surgery in the morning. He will have to spend the night and then when he gets home he will be a mommies boy and not want to do any thing but have me hold him..

Sunday, July 7, 2013

July 7, 2013 Toilet paper roll mini book.

It to totally awesome that you can take a toilet paper roll and turn it into something unique,

I made this for a person close to my heart. It was a thank you/ going away gift. For she is moving to Portland Oregon. I took step by step photos of this project. I am going to be posting them here so you can all see them.

                                                                 Step 1. The roll

                                                       


Step 2. flattened roll. 

I flattened the roll then I ironed it. Then I put heavy books on them as they cooled. This helped keep the from warping from the heat. 



Step 3. Coloring the roll.

I inked around the outside of the roll. I wanted the roll to show. It was part of the design. Then I decoupaged it so that the ink wouldn't rub off. Then I sanded the roll to distress it a little. 



Step 4. paper on the roll

I put paper on the roll. I left a good portion of the roll showing. 



To this point in the project I did the same with the tags. I cut them out with my cricut. I then sanded them so that they had some distressing. Then I inked them like I did the rolls. but I heat set the ink instead of decoupaging them. 

Then I put a green dotted paper on them like I did the rolls. 
But I forgot to take a picture of this step. 

Step 5.  Putting pictures on roll.

I put the pictures on both sides of each roll. I started with the title on the front. 
I printed out a picture of the city of Portland and then put it in the cricut and cut out the letters. and for the shadow letters I used a picture of a cloudy sky. I wanted them to feel like Portland.
Each picture had a picture on the tag that went the the picture on the roll. 






Step 6. Pictures on the tags.

I put the pictures on the tags
Then I put stickers on the ends of the tags to that when they are inside the rolls and you flip the pages it says  Discover P O R T L A N D O R 






Step 7. The finished project.

I used rings to complete the book. I sanded the rings to distress them so that they went with the theme of the book. 

I wanted this book to be about the toilet paper rolls and the city of Portland so I didn't had any bling of any kind to it. 




I used eleven toilet paper rolls and eleven tags. I Put all the places I like to go when I go to Portland and there are some that I loved to go when I was living in Portland. 

There are a few things I learned about myself and about the things I did for this project. 


The first thing I learned is that I really don't like inking that big of a space. It is a big mess. The next time I do something like this I will use paint... 

Another thing I learned is as nice as it is to recycle those cereal boxes it is a pain in the butt when you are using them as a double sided tag. you have to sand the label off..... I would go out and buy chipboard the next time. 

I would use decoupage glue for the ink next time. I would use a clear coat paint. 

And the most important thing I learned is that this kind of project takes longer then I ever thought it would and I would start it weeks in advance of the time it needs to be done. 

I really enjoyed doing this project. I was doing it for the right reason for this very special person and I am so very happy she liked it. 

I put the finished book into a tube type box so that it could be safely stored. It was really funny because it was like a large toilet paper roll when you  laid it side ways. 











Friday, July 5, 2013

July 5, 2013



I can't believe it is already July. Time goes by so fast.

Update on Gadget. He had his 2 week check up. His hip is doing great. It is still in and healing like it is suppose to be. The tape holding his leg up is gone and he is not liking to stand on his leg yet. Which is a good thing because we want him to use it very little. He still has to be confined for a couple more weeks. The tape cut his leg so he has staples. They come out at his 4 week check up. He is on antibiotics and he still gets his chill pills.  He is doing great. We are hoping that this time the hip will stay in place for ever and he won't need surgery.