About Me Update

My Gosh it has been a while since I last Posted!!!

So many things have happened! I became an Aunt, I helped my friend get married and best of all, I GOT ENGAGED!

My now fiance proposed on the 25th of September, which is our 6 year anniversary. I was so over the moon and not expecting it at all!

So Now I am in the midst of planning my engagement party! I am not the best planner in the world, and it is becoming a logistical nightmare. There have been personal and familial issues of not being able to attend, food concerns (vegetarians, vegans, celiacs and diabetics!) as well as the invitations!

We have settled on the 24th of this month and the invitations went out 2 weeks ago. In my infinite wisdom, I didn't bother to keep a list of the guests I have invited or even their addresses!!!

I am hoping to start posting more as I find things to make, do and create.

Thats all from me for now!

Ashley

DIY Cat Condo

The first DIY project I want to share with you is one of the biggest ones I have undertaken so far.


When I first got Lilly, I bought her a 3 tier cat scratcher from Cheap as Chips. It was tiny compared to her and she never went on it, much to my dismay. So I sold it on to a friend and set about looking for a better one for her. It needed to be bigger to allow her on it without having to worry about it tipping over or being uncomfortable.

I did some internet research; there really is so much to be found. I couldn't find one that suited us or her that I liked and looked viable. So, I decided to design my own. It turned out to be quite easy. I started on graph paper and pencil and tweaked until I came up with a design I was happy with. I then used the 3D shapes in word to make a model.

The Bottom curvy thing is a hammock that she can sleep in and the higher curvy thing is a piece of tubing that I saw in another design that I thought she might like.

Because I had an inordinate amount of free time on my hands I created a scale model of it using cardboard and straws. I made a few modifications- the tube was moved over and another platform was put in below the hole to the top deck to make it easier for Lilly to get up there.

Choosing the measurements of my design turned out to be the hardest part for me. I ended up making a decision based on the measurements available in MDF boards at the local hardware stores. It measured 90X45cm at the base and would stand around 150CM at the top of the top box.

Michael then helped me figure out what materials I needed to make it and how to create a cut sheet. I can't remember the size of the sheet I ended up using, but it was the biggest one available that I could get all my pieces from. The uprights were 2 pieces of 2X4cm pieces nailed together to make a square.

I bought the piece after finalising my cut sheet and took it to Michael's Dad's house to borrow his power saw. I have never used power tools before, and he helped me to first accurately draw out the cut lines, and create guides to cut. I did all of the cuts except 2 that required free hand cutting, which would have been disastrous! I still helped by holding it in place.

My first cut! So very exciting for me! I am very nervous around power tools, especially those that can cut through solid objects like butter. My overactive imagination always substitutes fingers and arms for said objects with obvious and gruesome consequences.

All the cuts complete! I took all the pieces home and considered it a day well spent. The next task was covering the condo. I considered carpeting, as is popular with many cat trees and condos but it turned out to be very expensive and very hard to cover. I Then considered faux fur, which is another popular covering choice. It too was expensive and I had a budget to stick to... Not really, I just didn't want to spend that much money on covering materials.

Then I stumbled on the perfect thing <cue the angelic lights and halleluiah choir>. Polar fleece. Yep. $4.99 a metre, hardy, thick and oh so fluffy! Perfect! I chose red and black materials <my go-to theme>. All the horizontal pieces are black and the verticals red.

Using my trusty staple gun I began the covering! It is quite simple, cut out the material to fit the piece plus and extra inch or so. Pull one side over and generously staple down. pull the opposite side as tight as possible and staple. It would do well to perhaps mention somewhere in here that you must make sure your staples are of the right length so they don't go through the board :/

The material was thin enough that folding the edges like a present wasn't too thick and you could just staple it down. It took about 2.5 hours to cover all of my base pieces.

With specific pieces, make sure you get them the right way before you cover them. the little triangle piece I covered the wrong way and had to pick out all the staples and try again (nearly going the exact same thing again).

Covering the holes was a little trial and error. I didn't take pictures of the black hole, which is the one I did first. Here is how I covered the holes.

 Cover the piece like normal, making sure that the material is taut in all directions. Cut 4 lines through the hole, making sure that you don't get too close to the edge. Trim off the tip. Pull tight and staple.

Do the same for the remaining flaps and voila! If you cut too close to the edge, the board will show through and it will not look as nice. To cover the boxes I screwed them together and covered the whole thing, one side at a time. Michael came in handy as another set of hands to pull and hold while I stapled.

Once everything was covered it was time to start assembly. I mentioned above that power tools are not my forte, this extends to drills as well. Michael, being an electrician, uses drills everyday so I leave any drilling and screwing to him, so that it comes together straight and without a trip to emergency.

I nailed in those little extra pieces of wood to make the bracing for the platforms, not only are they straight and level, they are completely my handiwork <smug grin>

 I ran out of covering material for the top box, and decided to hold off until I was sure Lilly liked her new condo and would use it. above is her first time on it. below is about 2 weeks later when we moved it into the lounge room.

The condo spent a good 6 weeks like that. and Lilly was fine with it. I realised that she doesn't like enclosed spaces and so I modified the design of the top box to leave out the front plate for the scaredy... cat.

One day I had to go past Spotlight and decided to duck in and get the final materials. It took me all of half an hour to assemble and cover the top box.

TADA!

A short break and a few modifications, but it is complete. I left the hammock and tube off because I realised that she just would use them. I used the front plate of the top box for the bottom and store my green bags in there since she won't go near it <lol>. I also left off the top platform because there is no way she would ever go that high and I was worried about possible topples.

 The top box isn't secured down, but it is so solid it isn't going anywhere. I covered the inside of the box with remnants of material to make it pretty. I painte the posts black to tie it all together. Since taking these pictures I have added a toy dangly-thing from the top post and my childhood sheepskin in the top box where she naps. She gets few on the middle platform where any of the dogs we dog sit can't reach.

All in all, this build cost around $70 for the MDF boards, supports, covering material and hardware. Considering that something of this size costs well over $200 online I am very chuffed and happy.

Hope you like it!

Bye for now!

<3

About me

Hi there!

Welcome to my blog site, I am totally surprised you found it! This is my first post, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself. This is actually my second attempt at this, since the first was somehow deleted while I tried to fiddle!

The title has had a few people confused, it is rather odd. I am shocking at naming things an it turns out that <shock> blog sites are the same. The reason I started this blog site was I was laying awake late one night last week, wishing I could share with someone my world. I have been getting into Pinterest lately and I have been reading all these blog sites, and decided that I would love to try and do the same! I have an incessant mind that loves to mutter to me when it really shouldn't. Hence the name :)

Moving on!

My name is Ashley, I am 22 years old and I live in the glorious hills of Adelaide. I live with my partner, Michael in a 3br, 2 b house on a tiny street. As of the 25th of September this year ('12) we will have been together for 6 years! It has gone by so fast! I met him at Judo- his best friend brought him to the dojo were I was practicing. We are not engaged and nor do we plan to be anytime soon. My family are completely non-romantic and don't really believe in marriage as a requirement for a "successful" relationship. Our best friends are getting married next month and just watching them stress out is more than enough to put me off weddings and consider eloping. We have been modified Fructose free for over 3 months now, and it has been quite the journey that I would love to share!

We have a cat, called Lilly. She is a 2 year old domestic medium long haired tabby. Michael bought her for me for our 5 year anniversary (which in wedding anniversary is fur, lol). I love her to pieces, and so does he when he thinks no one is looking. She is also the most unphotogenic cat in the history of photography!

I graduated last year from Flinders University, Bachelor Education, Bachelor of Arts. I am now a fully qualified Junior Primary/Primary Teacher (k-7, 5-12 year olds). I am currently a free lance relief teacher, so work is very sporadic and unknown. Michael is a Crane Service Technician and fully qualified electrician.

My interests are ridiculously varied and many. I play Word of Warcraft, horde, and I have three level 85s- a holy/shadow priest, Varsalis, a Survival Hunter, Naraelina, and my bear tank, Aanya. I am an officer in my guild called <No Excuses> and we are 4/8 heroic DS. By everyone in the game, I am known as "Nara".

My characters: I love Xmog!

I also play the sims 3 on occasion. I am highly tech savvy and I love browsing the web. I read two online comics regularly: ctrl alt del <CAD> and Looking For Group <LFG>.

I am a creative soul, I enjoy cross stitching, colouring in, writing stories and doing DIY crafts and projects. I am an avid reader, loving Tamora Pierce and the Sookie Stackhouse written series.

In a month I am going to be an Aunty and the pic below is my latest cross stitch for it. Once "it" is born and I know the sex, name and birth date, I will put it in gender appropriate lettering next to it and frame the lot. It is a tradition in my family, that I thought I would continue into Michael's.

Pattern found here

The reason for this blog is to share my life, projects and different bits and pieces with the world <even if no one actually reads it>.

If you are reading this, then I hope you enjoy :)

Bye for now!
<3