Outdoor Update

As i have told you all I've been working outside alot lately soo i thought i would give an updated view of my yard. Its come along way but still has a long journey ahead.

BEFORE:

Our Front Yard When we bought the house in Dec 2010

My first garden, I expanded the existing flower bed that was in front of the house, I made the flower bed more curvaceous

The yard was all cut up by 2 different sections of fencing, This was attached to the old deck

Second Fence was half down and attached the house, by the pond

Our lovely pond was in need of some fixing up, also the previous owner tried to have the pond circle up around the tree and come back to the pond, but it didn't work. Just divided the back yard

This Part of the backyard fills with raspberry canes and lilacs. Looks like it was a garden at one time, dug up iris's out of there and there is a gorgeous hydrangea bush

AFTER: I do alot of thanks to my sister for coming to help me work on my backyard on her holidays.

I've got some plants coming up and my grass needs cut, but I've had comments on how lovely my flower beds are, which I'm grateful for

I found those 4 red stepping stones buried around the yard soo i reused them in my garden.

This center part of my garden needs to be redone. i didn't add much to this area last year as its the original part of the flower bed and i wanted to see what i was going to get first. but i think its mainly weeds

I just added and extended this end of the flower bed so it looks more proportionate to the rest. I also moved the cedar bush that i put there last year to the back yard.

NO MORE GATES & a tree missing

Built up the flower bed that runs along the house. We are gonna plant our tomatoes here and i have morning glory planted in front of the gate.

Thanks to my Sister MEGAN my pond is looking marvelous. She helped me redo all the rock around the pond

We had a guy come cut some trees down for us and now we are waiting for someone to get the wood.

Ive removed all the rock that was connecting the tree to the pond and redid the rock around the tree. Just need to fill it in with good soil and some hosta's and shade loving plants in there.

I still have a bunch of rocks to move. but they are really big and i need Craig's help.

Craig has built a fire pit last year but some bricks that were left here but sadly we have never used it yet and you can tell i have a burn pile assembled.

Recently ripped out everything along the side fence except a hydrangea bush, my cedar and a white lilac Craig's mom gave us.

And finally I got Craig to cut some more trees down in the backyard to clean it up more and they were obstructing my clothes line.

Also i just painted these 2 planters chartreuse green like my other planters, just need to put something in it. Brought my Fern out and it fried but new growth is starting.

So that's it for today, but I'm sure i will have more to post on the outside and hopefully something soon from the inside of our home.

Time For TEA

Ive been seeing these Keep Calm and Carry On signs all over design blogs lately. I love them and I've seen how creative people are getting with them. So of course I'm not going to spend $10 or more plus postage on a paper poster to be delivered. I love tea especially Davids Tea, my sister got me into there tea and its grown into a collection  i have a big red can full of all David's Tea, Craig has even started drinking it.  SO i choose to use KEEP CALM AND DRINK TEA
So here is what i created on canvas and how too instructions:

KEEP CALM AND DRINK TEA

 First you will need these supplies to complete this project:

1. 1 Artist Canvas- i purchased mine at Dollarama for $2 its 12"x16"
2. Letter Stencils- i purchased at Dollarama for $1
3. A Pencil
4. Acrylic or Folk art Paint- One colour for your canvas background and one colour for your letters, I got mine also at Dollarama for $1, they are double the size of Walmarts paint for $.97
5. Paint Brushes - I used a 1/2 inch paint brush for the canvas and a fine tipped paint brush for the letters.
6. Fancy Paper, Scrapbook paper or any remnant piece you have laying around for the tea cup- i choose scrapbook paper
7. Scissors or utility knife- i choose the utility knife and used a cutting board underneath the paper.
8. White craft glue.

 First Step- I painted my entire canvas in Leaf Green. I only did one coat as i like the choppy uneven look of the paint on the canvas. Make sure you paint the sides of the canvas so you don't see a white edge when you hang it up. Let dry Completely
 Step Two- Using the letter stencils and a pencil i traced the entire saying onto to canvas, centering the font down the center of the canvas. If you don't have stencils you can free hand it, but i prefer the look of the stencils.

 Step 3- Then using the white paint i choose, i started painting in the letters in.

 Step 4- While my letters were drying i grabbed my scrapbook paper and drew a teacup out with pencil.
 Step 5- Then using a utility knife and a cutting board i cut the tea cup out.
 Step 6- Spread white craft glue liberally all over the back of the teacup cut out and apply to the canvas. Wipe up any excess glue with paper towel.

And here's the finished product. I'd love to show you where i placed this in my kitchen but sadly i don't have my shelves installed yet soo its siting on the counter right now. But i will post later when i have it up.

I even made one for my sister Megan in purple because she loves purple

So i hope you guys all enjoyed this project and have fun creating your own Keep Calm and Carry On signs.