tina's tiny house

2011-10-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have been working in the studio for over a month now and it's just divine! It feels like my very own women cave.

Our main house is old, build around 1929 and being that it's old there's no insulation. So being in a space that is fully insulated and weather proofed it makes me think about how energy inefficient our house is, not to mention that it's always cold and damp! Time to make some changes? Making changes also means $$$.

Well never mind.... for now I can escape to my little dream work space.
The only thing left to do now is build a sky light and paint the outside but it's totally workable. So for now I'll wait till the spring to wrap this project up.... next will be the green house.

2011-09-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

As promised here is a short video.

2011-09-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of foot notes to the last post.
In one of the photos you can see a blue tarp outside the window. Well under that tarp awaits my next project.... a green house built from old windows. But for now I think it will have to wait until next spring?

Also I will be posting a video or two soon.

ciao for now

2011-08-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

So as promised this post is about the electrical, lights etc.
To begin with My mentor Rick found a used electrical panel in an old house that was going to be torn down just the next block over from us. I mentioned this in an older post and I'm happy to say it has come in handy and the old house is long gone.

I had a family friend who is an electrician install the panel next to our main house panel. He then installed a GFCI receptacle 4 feet below the panel on the out side of the main house. GFCI is all Greek to me!

Next a neat little power box and extra heavy duty cord was wired in to my tiny house and discreetly placed on the outside.

This is when my sequence of events gets a bit mixed up. The painting was next so now I can finally put up the lights!

All went pretty well..... the funny thing about me is I like when things go off with no glitches, don't we all? I've got to stop doing that to myself. So the track lighting was a piece of cake so were the the pendent lights for that matter. The problem was when I finished the pendents not only were they not working but the tracks weren't working either and they were fine the night before. Turns out the light switches were on separate circuits and when the switches were put in they got wired as one. So that was pretty easy to figure out with a little help.... I was a little frustrated. But all's well and ends well, I'm so please with how it looks!

2011-08-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post and I have to blame the nice weather. I use to blame the bad weather for not working on the tiny house but with the good weather there has been so many other things to do. But I did make some headway with completing the floor. The trim is all done and we started painting last weekend and should be all done on the inside by the end of this weekend.

I've never really been an expert painter so who I mean by we is my hubby Walter... he's the painter in our house. Thank goodness for him too as he knows how paint works, how much pressure to use on the roller and so forth. He's the expert!

The electrical was also done this summer but I just realized I don't have photo's so I will have to save that for another post.

2011-07-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

The other piece that is finally done is the floor. This was another fantastic find. My neighbor found this floor all nicely packaged up in the lane way with a free sign. Brand new flooring! Crazy! It make you wonder why people are tossing perfectly good stuff out. At least they gave someone a chance to take it rather then sending to the land fill. I'm happy!

2011-07-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

OK so a lot has happened since my last post. I finally got the soffits finished! Yay!
The windows are now in properly..... on hinges and I've been running around town trying to find latches that will work with these custom windows. Not so easy.I may have to go to Jacks used building supplies over town he always has unusual stuff.

There's more to report but I'm crazy tired not just from building but I'm just coming off a 10 day juice cleans so me needs me rest.

2011-06-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well looks like I'm back in action!
I'm thinking I need to set a firm dead line for finishing the tiny house by the end of August so I can have the studio/store up and running when school starts.

Three days ago was the first day I've worked on the tiny house since the fall. I thought I would start small by getting the lock on.... maybe doing a simple job would give me a running start to what is ahead! It turns out it was more complicated due to the fact that the door frame was botched up and was headed to the land fill. With a bit of filing, patching and sanding a perfectly "brand new" door frame was saved from going to the dump and saved me a few shekel's.

Yesterday was soffit day. I thought this job would go quickly but it turns out it's quite time consuming. I needed to concentrate on every cut I made.... also it's a tight space to work in so lots of twisting and turning. Needless to say my neck is sore today and lots of niks and bruises on my legs.
The soffits are cedar tongue and groove that have come from my girlfriends house that is being renovated. Again material that still has some life to them that can be saved.

Up until now I have had Rick my neighbor as my building mentor but he has gone back to his old trade in sheet metal so I'm pretty much on my own. Having said that I can also call on my brother who is a journey men/cabinet maker with the school board for advice if need be.

So for today it's more soffits but looking out side a few minutes ago it was pouring and now it's sunny.... it's going to be an interesting day!

2011-05-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another look at a tiny house.

I've had this article from Country Living tucked away in my inspiration file for over 10 years. Usually I clean out the files ever year but I knew I had to hang on to this one. The idea of living in a tiny simple space has always intrigued me.

The two room tiny house was built by a couple in New York state who at the time were having their main house renovated but still enjoy the tiny house as a retreat once the main house was finished.... I think the tiny house is all I would need!

2011-04-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Still no work has been done on the tiny house.

It's been such a cold spring this year it's not to inspiring to work out side. Having said that it has extended our snowboarding and skiing time so we have been playing up in Whistler and locally on Grouse Mountain.

I came across this post card at a friends house that I'm helping out with some personal organizing.
This is what I found out about it on Wikipedia

Britain's smallest house
The Smallest House in Great Britain, also known as the Quay House, is a tourist attraction on the quay in Conwy, Wales. The 3.05 metre by 1.8 metre (10 feet by 6 feet)[1] structure was used as a residence from the 16th century until 1900; as its name indicates, it is reputed to be Britain's smallest house.
The house was lived in until 1900, when the owner was a 6ft 3 inch (1.9 meters) fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully and he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation. The house is still owned by his descendants. In June 2006, there was a 50% loss of tourists to the house because of roadworks that was being done nearby.[1]
This house is currently red. It stands nearby the Conwy Castle walls and people can enter for £1.00 (or 50p for children). There is information about the house inside. A Welsh lady stands outside most days. The upstairs is so minute that there is room only for one bed and a bedside cabinet. Visitors can't walk about on the 2nd floor, but can view it from the step ladder.
There's just about enough room for one stove, a water tap, a bedside cabinet and a bed.

2011-04-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

My photos have been rather random lately due to the fact that there has been no movement on the tiny house. So I could not resist taking a photo of these lovely cherry blossom trees up the street from me that I marvel at every year when they come to blossom.... photo worthy I think.

Having said that I had a family friend come over on Thursday to consult me on the wiring for the tiny house. I did most of it in the fall time with the help of my neighbor but he is very busy these days with bee keeping and I don't always want to bother him so I thought I could do the rest myself. Well.... This part of the project is hard for me to wrap my brain around. Yes yes, I know that this is probably easy for a lot of you but this is something I don't want to mess with.... maybe my next tiny home.

I haven't seen the quote yet but he did say he would give me a deal being family and all.... yikes. So I think I've decided to higher him to get the job done right and get things moving.

2011-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

OK so here is the latest.
I started a new job one day a week at a local garden center just to add a bit more busyness to my life. It's located in a nice little neighborhood and has that boutique kind of feel. With the extra cash it will help get my tiny house done and get my little store up and running.

Last Sunday I was in a spring craft market so for the last few weeks my time has been devoted to sewing like crazy as well as tending to my mom and the rest of the family.

My neighbor managed to find a sub panel at a house that is going to be torn down just the next block over from here. So now I just need to figure out how I'm going to wire it up to the main house.... I need to consult an expert.

I think the warm weather is on it's way so it's hight time I get back at it.

2011-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

I was think that even though I haven't been working on the tiny house it's good for me to keep my blog udated but what to write about today. Then I remembered the inspiration file.

Just this past week I have seen in two separate locations filing cabinets for free on the curb side. We had a big tall one long ago that we painted pink. I was more then happy to get rid of that big tank..... well maybe not.... after all my junk may have become someone's treasure.

This before and after on Design Sponge is a perfect example of turning someone's cast off into a treasure... well done!

2011-02-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

The idea of building with used shipping container's really intrigues me.
Quite often I drive by the loading docks where the containers are and I find myself dreaming up designs for a container home.
I can't remember where I found this post but I love this container that functions as a guest house or would make a great art studio!

2011-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

I seem to start dreaming of a new project before I even finish the last one. Needless to say I have a lot of unfinished projects around here.

Having said that I came across this cute little make shift green house on Design Sponge.

I like this plan but I'm thinking bigger.... uh oh

2011-02-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

It has been crazy times these days with going back and forth to the hospital but as of yesterday my mom is now at home and trying to adjust. Even though she has only been in her apartment for a day and a half she is doing remarkably well. It seems to me she could make a full recovery from her stroke.... on wards and up wards

Needless to say the tiny house has been totally neglected to the point that this lovely buffet I received for my birthday yesterday has been sitting in there for 3 days. I must have walked by the tiny house 20 times over those 3 days.

Wow was I surprised! I've had my eye on this buffet for a while.... I knew it would fit perfect and the mirror beside it will hang just above it. Thank you family, I love it!

Now to get working on TTH!

2011-01-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

Doing some dolly work today.

2011-01-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

I found this picture this morning when I was doing some house cleaning in my aperture application.

It's funny to see how I was visualizing the tiny house. The way it looks now I'm not to far off.

2011-01-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

It has been raining on and off for awhile now..... it is Vancouver after all.
There has been some leakage at the bottom inside of the door so I really need to get back to work on the tiny house before it gets any worse.

I thought there was mold under the vapour barrier but it turns out it was just a bit of loose insulation. Never the less this dampness needs tending to.

Toooo many things to do!

2011-01-13T21:21:00.000-08:00

On one of my regular visits to Thomas Haas I made a new friend who happens to be a sheep farmer. What a great connection as I use a lot of wool for my crafting business.

I haven't seen her for some time and last week of course we ran into each other at TH. She asked me if I would like some wool for free.... 75 pounds to be exact! Well who could pass up free wool and delivery in 2 hours. I took her up on the offer!

So here sits in my almost finished studio 75 pounds of "Raw Wool". Yes raw, that needs to be cleaned I don't know how many times then picked and carded.

This a huge undertaking... so I have been scouring you tube on tutorials. I've done this before in art class a long time ago but it seemed much easier. I think it was already washed and we just carded and spun.

I'm just going for it..... maybe small batches at a time. I even found an article on how to build my own carder.
http://www.spinningforth.com/articles/tools/carder.html
So wish me luck....

P.S. can someone tell me how to link a site, I've tried so many times and it doesn't work.?

2011-01-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy New Year.
Once again to much time has past since my last post.
Unfortunately my mother had a stroke over the holidays and it has really thrown my brother and I for a loop. Our mother has been healthy all her life, always helping everyone else out, volunteering here volunteering there. She is now 81 but she definitely doesn't act her age.
Well.... now she is going to need a lot of help as her right arm and leg barely work and her speech is slightly slow. Having said that my mom has a great attitude in life and we are hoping that her outlook is going to take her a long way!
I have to shamelessly say this picture of mom with her grandchildren is 7 years old..... I must have newer ones somewhere.

2010-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to update on the tiny house except that I have found a tiny bit of mold due to some leakage from the door.
News years is just a few days away so it will be a good time to get on with the tiny house project and get it finished!!!

In the mean time Christmas time was a nice quite affair and very simple... just the way I like it. We've been having some good mountain time as well and lot's more to come I hope. The day we went up was a nice mild day and the sky was very interesting to watch... kinda cool as my daughter had just finished a weather block in school.
I try to take my camera up the mountain once in a while... looking at the photos makes me think how lucky we are to do this every year... I count my blessings.

Well.... wish you all great new beginnings for the New Year..... also liked this quote...

Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey

2010-11-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

I think this has been the longest time span between my post and really not much has been going on with the tiny house but I realized I don't always have to be posting about building. There is a lot of other things going on in my tiny world that I have much to say about. In the mean time.......

I did manage to get the walls up and the trim has all been ripped up to size. Putting up the walls has shown a few deficiencies in my building skills but hey I'm learning as I go. I figure my next tiny house will be that much better. Just some fine tuning and then the floor goes in...... hopefully before Christmas!

Other then building it has been a busy crafting season and now with lots of snow in the last two weeks I'm itching to get on my board.

I came across a photo of the pallets for the base of the tiny house but this was from a different angle. It made me think boy I've come a long way seeing I had very little skills in house building..... strong will I guess.
Also a few photo's of my latest little ones.

2010-10-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hello folks.... yes I know it has been a while since my last post. I have to say though, it has been a lively 4 weeks!

First of all I did finally get my walls up but disaster struck........ wait let me back track a bit.

The interior of my almost free house has been somewhat of a challenge material wise. It's hard to find discarded free material of a certain quality that I could use for the inside. So after much searching I settled on a 1/8 riveted mahogany. Yes I know what your thinking thats awfully thin but that's what I could afford.

Installing this very thin wood was not an easy task but it was up in an afternoon and I was pleased to move on to the flooring.

The next day I had planned to go to the Interior West Design Show. My girlfriend picked me up in the morning and we had a quick peek inside the tiny house. Something strange happened the moment we both stepped in, our eyes started to burn..... strange. I didn't put much thought into it at that moment but as the day went on I thought I need to go back in before the end of the day. So after attending my sons boxing match that night.... yes my son is a boxer.... my daughter and I went in to investigate and sure enough our eyes started burning again but then our noses stared burning as well.
I had my neighbor come over and take a whiff but he whiffed to close to the wall and started chocking. The conclusion was formaldehyde.

It turns out this is off shore crap that doesn't have the same standards as we do in Canada. Because the wood is so thin and sprayed by who knows what % of formaldehyde and then all stacked together it becomes like a big sponge and the formaldehyde intensifies. I do understand that almost all wood is sprayed with formaldehyde to stop mold from growing and needs some time to off gas but this was way way over the top. It had to go! So the next day it was all ripped out and returned to the store. There wasn't to much of an argument getting a refund maybe they've had a few people complain.

So back to the drawing board.... I ended up getting 1/4" MDF board. Again not the best scenario but it seems more enviro friendly and in my price range. To date two walls are done and just waiting on 4 more sheets from the supplier. It's not that great dealing with MDF in the rainy season but once inside it will be fine.

In the mean time I made inside battens from pallet material and finally put on the door knob. I also have a side job doing some personal organizing for a friend as well as trying to put new things in my etsy shop.

* Photo Description

-first two photos are the bad wood.

-third photo was a beautiful hand built chair made in Sweden that I fell in love with at the design show.... cost 3,900.... maybe furniture making will be my next endeavour!

-fourth photo my son boxing, yes he won.

2010-09-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

It’s been a few days since I have worked on the tiny house and I miss it.
My crafting business has taken a front seat with orders to fill and that’s a good thing as it gets me in the zone of what is to come once the tiny house is finished.

I was hoping to come up with a good find for the inside walls but was not able to locate free material that would be suitable for the finished interior. Well, like I have said before not everything is going to be free so I’ve decided on the wainscoting paneling from Home Depot.

This order came in at the right time as it will help pay for the walls. Thanks Stacy for choosing me… I hope all your little children in after care will love their presents.

But first is to finish off the taping and put in the bamboo flooring that my neighbor found in our lane way, still new in their boxes. What a great find… I guess someone had changed their minds and could not take it back. Should cover the whole tiny house and then some.

2010-09-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spent insulating and putting up the vapor barrier.

I was so excited to get this job out of the way as my only experience with insulation was when I was 10. My friend and I played in bales of the pink fluffy stuff..... my god my skin itched it seemed for weeks.
Well insulation has come a long way and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to work with.

So now that I'm finished that job it's time to think about how I'm going to do the walls. I was thinking wainscoting but not sure now and seeing I could not find suitable material that was free I guess I have a lot of options. Home depot here I come!

I even went out to Ikea to look at lighting but they are in the middle of reno's and it was hard to find what I was looking for but for the time being I picked out two pendent lights that will go over my desk under the big window.

I can see it all finished now.....

2010-09-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day with lots of business going on meeting customers wanting dolls and so forth. Driving my kids to where they need to go or pick them up and finally wiring the tiny house.

I must say electrical is a lot easier then I thought. The hard part was drilling the holes and yes Rick was here to help me as some of the holes were a challenge to get through with that big drill bit. Also closed up the air vents with screen so no buggies can make a home in the insulation.

The evening has been spent on the phone with a customer, guiding her along with making a doll, drawing patterns, crocheting a purse and making more dolls.

I just want to go to bed.... but..... my daughter is working on set and pick up is sometime around midnight.

Oh well I'll just keep crocheting!

P.S. One of my snowboards sold today. Time to make more.

2010-09-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized tomorrow is the first day of fall and how fitting that I have finally finished the siding. Only the soffits are left to do and prime the rest of the siding but I'm rather anxious to getting moving inside so that can wait.

I have been looking on you tube for tutorials on wiring and have found quite a few helpful ones, but I also have my neighbor to show me the way too. Wish me luck!

2010-09-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been quite inconsistent lately and is a little frustrating when building a house, but I seemed to be ready when there is a break in the sky.

Yesterday I finished another side of the house with the battens and hopefully in the next few days I will be all done and then move on to the soffits.

Battens take a lot of nails and hammering and boy did I hammer a nail... my thumb nail! I guess I'm pretty lucky thats the first time it's happened and hopefully I won't lose it.

P.S. Thought I would add this beautiful picture of my daughter on her fall trip with her Waldorf High School.

2010-09-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

It has been 4 days straight working on the tiny house and it was another busy one today ripping battens. A bit of multi tasking too with laundry day, sewing and prepping my daughters room for her return home from a high school wilderness trip. I think she's going to enjoy a nice clean bed tonight!

All the battens are ready to go and two more windows need to be framed, but sadly the rain has come.... I could just keep going and going. Must get it ready before winter!

2010-09-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Another exhausting day today with much accomplished and by the end of the day the yard was looking rather messy.

Rick put in an air vent on the roof which was good as I would have never have known to do that.... I really am learning house building 101.

While I finished the siding in the back I put my two boys Misha and Sasha to work priming the siding.

I just need two more boards for the front and tomorrow I will start cutting the battens.

I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure to get the tiny house done as the rainy weather could just be around the corner. Also the crafting season is upon us and I have neglected my etsy store plus I have orders to fill..... I can't wait to be working in my tiny house!

2010-09-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Siding a house must be the most time consuming part of building. Saturday I finished side 2 and then the rain started so that gave me some time to catch up on house work on Sunday and back at it by noon today after getting the family house all ship shape.

The tiny house is progressing nicely with most of side 3 done except for 2 pieces. I ran out of nice boards for the front and only have scraggly ones for the back where they will not be seen.

The good news is the door is in and how sweet it looks!

I feel like I'm ready to drop but it's a good feeling.... it's been a long day.

2010-09-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

I am so giddy these days with excitement as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On Saturday the siding began and the door will be on soon enough so the creative juices are flowing of how I'm going to design the interior.

Saturday night I even set up my stereo and a light so I could start working on a furniture project. The view of the tiny house all lit up from the top floor of my house just melted my heart.... so cute.

Unfortunately the rain started the next day so that put a hold on the siding but that's OK as we had a few family functions to attend.

Now that the start of school is upon us there will be more of a routine around here and things should start really moving along.... getting so close.

P.S. thought I should mention that all of the siding has come from the original pallets that we collected last summer... so yes all free!

2010-09-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

Today the door frame was installed by my two neighbors Rick and Michael and I worked on the door. There were so many coats of paint on it that I had to break out the heat gun. Needless to say there is a bit of work to be done on the door but it was free so can't complain. Tomorrow I will have it looking like new and then will start on the siding.

2010-09-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

2010-09-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

Another fine day of work on tina's tiny house!
Today was a great day as it was finally the day to build window boxes and install the windows. Being these are like custom windows there is lots of trial and error, but everything went quite well. It was a fun day.. I'm so happy.
Tomorrow door frame and door....

P.S Rick brought by some persian sweets the other day, a nice reward for our hard work... thanks Rick.

2010-09-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been pretty productive on the tiny house.
My neighbors come over and helped put up the tar paper. I guess I could have struggled alone doing this job but it's way easier with two.

The next day was cutting and laying down the sub floor. I was exhausted by the end of the day as I have been struggling through a nasty summer cold. At this point I was in no mood for cooking so it was off to get some sushi... miso soup really hit the spot.

After returning home I was nicely re-nourished and ready to work again so I put the blue skin around the windows and door.
I managed to get it all done in the dark with the help of the back yard sensor lights.. a few staples needed to be redone the next day. Yes, I'm really determined to get the tiny house done by the winter.

I have to say a million thanks to my neighbor Rick who has been helping me and coaching me all along. If it weren't for him and his expert knowledge I don't know where I would be. Also you tube has been a great resource.

2010-08-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finally got the last of my windows finished... well except for a tiny bit of painting to do. The good news is I feel like the hardest part is over... famous last words, but hopefully not. So today I will be putting up the house wrap the black paper that is. Apparently I can't use the regular house wrap as the way my tiny house is structured with heat that kind of wrap would make my house sweat. Well this house is no regular house.
For now here is a few photo's of the fine job I did glazing the glass in. I was a bit fearful of glazing but I have to say once you get the hang of it it's not so bad.

2010-08-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Many thanks http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/ for featuring Tina's Tiny House on your site.
As the tiny idea gets out there in the world people will catch on.

Sorry for no new post... still working on the windows setting glass and glazing then painting... so on and so on.
Now the rain will be coming for a few days but hopefully when the sun comes out again I will begin framing the windows in.
In the mean time many nails to pull out of 2 by 4's for the frames and need to rummage around for a bit more siding.

2010-08-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

These windows have been a pain in the you know what.... but in the end they will be practically custom made.
Thanks to my bro who is a journey man for the city found these fantastic awning hinges for the big windows. The one on the right is cleaned and ready to go... they don't make them like they use to. As it happens they come from my old high school that was torn down and rebuilt a couple of years ago. Funny how things go around!

2010-08-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few custom orders I did a while back and... bad me just imported them today from my camera.
A new little touch that comes with every doll order is a little heart pin filled with lavender for mom or who ever.
The blue doll was an order from a friend who wanted to present it to her daughter on her graduation. As she said her daughter will always be her baby.... how sweet.

2010-07-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

So happy to be working on my tiny house again!

2010-07-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

Once again it has been some time since my last entry. It seems days go by and then I think of something interesting to write about and then it leaves me as I get side tracked. I think what will work best is to keep it short but sweet.
So here you are short but sweet... Blackberries picked from my back yard and voila my famous blackberry tart.

2010-06-08T23:34:00.001-07:00

Well last week was a whirl wind week with so much happening in our house hold.
My daughter was in rehearsals everyday and we also needed to get her organized for a week long camping trip the day after her big end of the year dance show. To top it off my husband had his big year end show too, The Leo Awards.
Needless to say it was a bit hectic.... thank god my two boys are self sufficient.
I managed to fit in two doll orders and one for our silent auction.

2010-05-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

For some reason I feel like I'm in limbo these days.

I get all inspired to create when I sift through my supply cupboard and then I get side tracked as I have to walk the dog or drive someone to somewhere. Make dinner or wait a minute there is a break in the sky... I can pull a few weeds or plant a few rows of seeds in the veggie garden. Honestly there are times I feel like I have A.D.D.

I long for a good stretch of sunshine so I can start working on the tiny house again.

Having said that I managed to finish a project last week and put in my etsy store.

Now to tackle all the wool sweaters laying on the floor that need to be cut into doll patterns.

2010-05-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Just received lovely mohair socks in the mail the other day. My friend Gillian introduced me to this fantastic product and now that I have worn them all winter long..... I can't imagine wearing anything else.

http://www.thermohair.com/

2010-05-01T17:40:00.001-07:00

After cutting the grass the other night and enjoying the freshly manicured lawn I noticed a cute forget-me-not growing out of the rock wall... how sweet. Sadly a few feet away I discovered my kiwi is being chewed up... weevils perhaps. I need to find a natural way of getting rid of these insects to stay true to my organic gardening practices. Any ideas most welcome.

2010-05-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

2010-04-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, yesterday I went through a huge learning curve with trying to customize my blog. It took me all day and into the night but I think I got it. Just a few minor tweaks to go.Yes and thanks to my friend Stacy who got me involved in blogging in the first place " you should start a blog"... never should me, I caught the bait.

Stacy and I had tea yesterday and so I took advantage of some of her know how with blogging. I just needed to understand some of the language, and I was off and running. Thanks Stacy. So now I feel good and ready to spill it all out on the pages or blog I should say.

I originally planned on just blogging about the adventures of building my tiny house and how I had a vision of building it for almost free, but it's more then that. This little house will be the future home of my studio and the creative goings on of CRAFTINA, yes that's me and where I will be creating for my etsy store. My plan is also to have the studio open to the public 3 mornings a week.

As you can see by my latest published photo's the process of the building and the final tarped up house to stay dry over the winter. I'm getting a bit antsy to get back on the job and the fine weather is coming so I'm hoping to have it up and running by the fall. Wish me luck!

2010-04-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

2010-04-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

2010-04-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

2010-03-17T22:49:00.001-07:00

Well it's about time I got this blog under way.... so here I go.

It all started.... OMG that sounds like once a upon a time....

OK.... so I have been visualizing a studio in my back yard for some time now and finally plowed into it by the end of last summer as I was anxious to get it going.

This was not going to be any ordinary space. The idea was to make my little house for free or almost free. I had found a few blogs over the summer with this same idea that were most helpful in particular houses being build out of free pallets. This was so inspiring and with the help of my neighbour Rick who is a handy man knew of a very good supply of pallets. These pallets are very special as the crates are full of steel from Europe.... therefor they are heavy duty.

The deal was I would give him a hand with another shed that was being build for our new neighbourhood community gardens in exchange for his expertise, storing all the lumber on my property and to keep a couple of bee hives in my garden. A fare exchange!

The other element to this project is not only the free aspect but there is so much stuff in the world that is just tossed into the dump with no thought of maybe this stuff still has life to it and lets stop filling up those land fills! It was my plan to recycle as much as possible.

So here are a few photos of the beginning stages of building

2010-02-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

2010-02-20T19:34:00.000-08:00