Friday 25 April 2008

Busy, busy, busy :)

Well it's Friday night and time for the RAK draw... I asked Dave to pick two names out of the hat (actually it was an old tupperware container) and he pulled out three so I'm going to make another RAK parcel up and the lucky winners are (imagine a drum roll here LOL) :

So if you ladies would like to email me your address I'll get your parcels out to you :) And a BIG thank you to all of you who left me comments... was especially nice to hear from other 'Gothic Archers' out there :)

I've been busy doing LOTS of creating over the last couple of days (in amongst D.I.Y. stuff which I'll share shortly) but lots of things I can't share because they're for swaps. However I can share another new ATC folder cover. This folder is for my 2008 ATC swaps:

I've also been busy making a few cards:And now for some D.I.Y show and tell. If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know that we did a MAJOR D.I.Y. project at the beginning of the year and one of the things we needed to do when we were finished was to get a new retaining wall built... well we've done it!!! It's such a relief because every time it rained I thought it might come down! Unfortunately because it looked such a mess down there that more and more stuff kept getting dumped there until it ended up looking like this:So with the school holidays coming up (and me having a lot more time available) Dave got stuck in and cleaned it up a bit:And then he started digging some post holes:I'm glad it wasn't me digging because the holes had to be really DEEP!And of course we needed more pretty pink string and bright purple spray paint!!Then it was my turn to help so I got to mix lots and lots of concrete:I really do like making concrete... it's very satisfying!! But just like baking (honest Mum it really is like making a cake!) you have to do the 'dishes' when you're finished LOLBy the time we'd done that (on Wednesday) we knocked off... besides we had to let the concrete actually set!The next morning we checked our posts and they were all still lined up perfectly :)Then we got started on actually building the wall:We got 4 rows put on yesterday but there were a few tricky bits like banging in the nails with only a tiny gap between the dirt wall and the back of the wood... but we managed. The first couple of rows were the hardest because we had to make sure that everything was perfectly lined up! But it did make it much easier to carry on today:It was hard work getting the planks over the posts too... sometimes being short isn't such a good thing!!Dave checked EVERYTHING!!! Talk about fussy!!! But it really has made the wall look quite professional:We ended up with quite a good system going... first of all we'd put on a new row of planks and then we used the old soil to backfill each row as we went:Dave even did some of the back filling LOLWhen we'd backfilled enough I got the job of brushing down the wood so that there was no dirt on the top... the planks are like tongue-and-groove so little bits of dirt really do stop the planks from fitting together properly!After a few more hours of solid work we ended up with this:We've still got to add some top soil before we can plant, weed mat and bark it all but it's looking SOOO good!!And the final photo of the day just really appeals to me: HIS and HERS shovels LOLI'm so pleased this project is basically finished!!! We've got no more D.I.Y. planned for a while... I'm hoping to have lots of time for crafting over the winter... maybe I could move my table in front of the fire place... hmmm maybe not LOL

10 comments:

  1. Busy busy busy is right omg gosh it is supposed to be a holiday LOL but it looks totally fantastically AMAZING, I am sure when you finish you wont even recongnise your section at all!!! You guys are doing AWESOME a super big well done....

    and you even go time to be creative, I am in awe and I love the folder and all your cards!!! Just stunning !!! I am sure you much be a extra super organised person :)

    THANK YOU so much for my RAK that has sooooo made my day, thank you, thank you, thank you :)

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  2. OMG you have been sooo busy and it looks amazing - Can I employ you and Dave to come up and work for us one weekend lol!

    I am loving seeing your creativity and can't wait to see your Care 2 Crop Album!

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  3. The word 'busy' takes on a whole new meaning in your house, or should that be section. Love your big mixing bowl!!!!

    Looks awesome and look forward to seeing what you plant.

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  4. Wow what a massive job! Your so lucky though DH wont let me make the concrete lol! But I get to hold posts and dig - not so lucky lol!
    And you still managed to whip up some cool cards - you shame me!! Ive had the least productive few days lol!
    Thanks for drawing my name out as a RAK winner - thats a very happy buzz!

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  5. Gorgeous cards Shell:) I love them all! Your middle name is Busy!

    And..I love your ATC cover! Its fantastic:)

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  6. Wow - great job on the retaining wall!!

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  7. Wow, you have been so busy, do you ever rest?!? That wall looks amazing, I am so impressed with all the DIY you've been doing. Love the creative stuff too!

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  8. you know I wonder what you will get up to next holidays??? That retaining wall looks great. So now aren't you pleased you didn't sell because look at what you are enjoying right now!! Love your cards.

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  9. You guys just amaze me true Do it yourselfers !!!

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  10. heh heh - I know where to come for retaining wall advice ;)

    And THANK YOU for the RAK! I will email you.

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Thanks, Shell xx