Bombarger Blog

My Life in Charts

2009-11-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

Painting complete

2009-03-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

Completed the cactus painting.
I think the words add some fun to it.

Recycled - Twice

2009-02-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

My mom had taken bolt ends of fabric and turned it into a quilt top.
I then took the quilt top - cut it in half, lined it, and made curtains for my oldest son's room.

BEFORE

AFTER

Tornado Painting Done

2009-01-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished the Tornado painting.
The coolest part about the painting is that it fits right about my toilet in the master bathroom.

How cool is that - every time you flush - you see the tornado represented two places!

Bar / Lounge Curtians

2009-01-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

It all started when I told my Mom that I needed some crazy velvet curtains for my new formal living room. I told her that I have this awesome bar for the room and a leather wing back recliner and a huge antique cowhide couch. (So it's pretty much got a smoking/ Bar / Lounge feel to it and I needed some big heavy velvet curtains like you would see in a movie set.)
SHAZAM!
Mom dives into her material closet and pulls out 8 yards of black crushed velvet in black. So now I have big black cool curtains for the window.

Monkeying around

2009-01-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

Monkey painting for the boys bathroom.
It's kinda fitting because of the antics, funny sounds and number of bananas that are consumed in our house.

CROSS box

2009-01-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

What do you do with a pile of old cancelled stamps, a cigar box, paint and a broken rosary?
I take the stamps and glue em to the back of the box add some paint and glitter and then hang part of the rosary on the edge of the box and tah dah! A Cross Box.

2009 - Blog refocused on Projects

2009-01-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided to refocus my blog on ART Projects.

In keeping with that, I have worked on a project that my Mom helped me start.
It will end up being 7 pots with 7 different letters spelling out welcome on the front porch.

I took the terra cotta pots and painted them today - and now I need to add the letters.

Spurs Game

2008-12-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

The boys and I got amazing tickets to the Spurs game.
Great game and we ended up winning 109-104.

The tickets we got were down on the private club level.

Snow in Austin

2008-12-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow in Austin.
Big flakes! At 1am it started snowing and by 6am it was completely gone.
The best kinda snow, that that you take a picture of instead of shovel.

Christmas Time

2008-12-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

I told my neighbor that we put up the tree, had the yard lights out, had about half of the gifts wrapped and put the nativity set out. His comment was, "Did ya make gingerbread houses too, Bombarger?"
My answer - Of course - in fact we made gingerbread trains.

Are Democrats Cheesier then Republicans?

2008-11-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

And do Republicans smell like garlic when compared to Dems?
Since it was election day and the boys and I were going to watch the election, color in an electoral map and they both voted at school, I figured that an election dinner was in order.

Yes, I prepared both Liberal and Conservative Mac & Cheese along with our trusty Elephant and Donkey Garlic Bread. We all ate every bit of it.

Questions about the meal lingered: Was the salad independent? Did my glass of red wine help one party?

School Project

2008-10-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when everyone in Kindergarten is sent home and told to make a vehicle for the "Transportation Parade" at school. Mine little one came home and said I want to be a Limo. After weeks of saving boxes to paint black he changed his mind and said, "How about a motorcycle, Dad."

Cardboard, paint, electrical tape, tinfoil and some suspenders and here is what we came up with.

BYIP??????

2008-10-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

BYIP Balloons Yell Inappropriate Phrases? NO. Big Yellow Indestructible Poppies? NO. Bulls Yelp Into Phones? NO! BackYard Improvement Project - YES!

Before it's just some bushes.

If you start with 3 concrete rings that I got on craigslist for free, black spray paint, red mulch and plants from Home Depot and add some sweat you come out with a nice backyard.

After a little more interesting.

Patio COMPLETE

2008-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have finished my patio. The concrete was poured, the pergola built and I laid all the wooden tiles on the patio.

I'm a huge fan of these tiles from ifloor.com

Below is the picture of what the concrete looked like without the tile. Now I'm looking at the fence and thinking it needs an upgrade.

NOTE: The fireplace from one of my earlier posts.....now in it's place.

Mexico Photos

2008-08-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Back from Puerto Vallarta, relaxed and the boys had so much fun.

The scenery was amazing and should inspire some artwork...not sure what yet, but hopefully these will inspire you.

Banner Bags

2008-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Stephanie had a sewing machine she had never used, a bunch of banners from work and an idea. "Let's make bags out of old banners." So like a good friend with no concept of how to do this or how hard it might be I agreed. After 3 hours we had 2 great bags. Use em for the beach or grocery bags.....Super heavy duty, waterproof and great abstract logos all over them.

Hotel

2008-08-24T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest work of art I've completed.

I was wondering, "What do you do with the left over hotel key you find in your wallet after the trip?" Better yet, what do you do with 100s of them.
I say pile em up, paint a board, adhere them all to it and Shazam!
You have an art piece that says HOTEL.

here is a closeup.

Blue Porch Chair

2008-08-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Found a new chair for my front porch.

Advertised on craigslist for free. (my favorite)
Reworked the legs and fixed the seat with new wicker and painted it blue.

Now can sit on the porch and watch my kiddos play in the front yard.

HOT Summer Squash

2008-07-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Summer Squash from a good friend @ work provided a great supper this week. (Along with a salad and some parm bread)

Recipe for HOT Summer Squash
Yellow Squash
Broccoli
Red Bell Pepper
Purple Onion
Cheese
Salsa.

Blanch the Squash, Broccoli, and Bell Pepper. While that is draining, add the onion to the pan with some olive oil to make it translucent. Pile in the salsa, shredded cheese and all the blanched vegetables. Stir it all together and serve it warm.

Amounts of each depend on how much squash and how many hungry mouths you need to feed.

Free Fireplace

2008-07-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Since I finished my backyard patio and pergola, I needed another project, OF COURSE! While surfing craigslist for plants for the backyard I found and offer for a free outdoor fireplace. I emailed the woman and she said they had used it once. When I arrived, it was huge and took me two trips to haul it home. You can see how tall it is next to my 11 year old. After a little rust removal, some wire brushing and some heat resistant paint, it should be good to go.

Thanks Craigslist.

Backyard Project - Complete

2008-07-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Before: A wasteland of dried grass, stickers, a tiny patio with no shade from the Austin heat.

This project has given me a new perspective on working with a convicted felon. Yes, he ended up doing a reasonable job, but I was worried each time I gave him any payment.

AFTER: GREEN and some shade.

After:

Small Table Project

2008-07-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Recipe for a cool little table.
Ingredients :
1 free craig'slist table frame
a can of black spray paint
1 leftover piece of wood (table-top)
Acrylic paint and painters tape

Combine all ingredients while working in the garage which feels like a 350 degree oven.

Kid's Chair

2008-07-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

So I took 2 36" long pieces of wood.
3 cuts later and I have a chair for my son's room.

Here is the chair before I paint it.
His room has a surfer theme so, I may round the top off like a surf board and paint stripes down it to look like the old long boards.

Info from my MOM

2008-07-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

I received this note from my mom, this morning.

"I noticed the craft places on you blog. I recently received a little booklet about craft books. I joined, received four books for 25 cents each, then purchased one book at 1/2 price, have to purchase 2 more books the next two years. Anyway, there was a card to share with a friend, so if you want to check it out it's joincrafterschoice.com .

You can look thru some of the books and most of the others have readers comments that really helped me decide on a couple. The books I ordered are: "Crazy shortcut Quilt,"" 90-Minute Quilts," "Sewing in No Time." " 24-Hour Sewing Projects" and "Outstanding in the Field."

There are lots of cook books and gardening books. Let me know what you think. I'll share my books with you.

Love ya,
Mom"

Isn't she the greatest. She is an amazing quilter, cook, crafter and NOBODY throws a party like her.
Thanks, Mom.

New Paintings

2008-07-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

Watercolor has always been one of my loves. When I took lessons in high school the greatest thing was to learn how to look at colors in layers. My playful farm side took over in these paintings.
My favorite is the church one. These are simple line drawings with ink pen and watercolor washes.

Leftover T-shirts = New Favorite Banket

2008-07-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of t-shirts that were just taking up space in my closet and not being worn.
Grey - Blue tie dyed - white - tan -
Rather than sending the to goodwill, I took my rotary cutter to them and ended up with enough to make a good sized blanket.

Whirlwind - In Progress

2008-07-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

When I started the new painting it had a large sky and it became stormy as I painted it. Then before I had even finished painting the ground, a tornado erupted. The painting isn't finished I still have to paint more of the fields for the tornado to tear up and a red barn is going to be on the left side. (Can you see my pencil marks for the road?) I'm not sure if the inspiration came from my life which has been pretty crazy for the past 6 months or from growing up in an area with frequent Tornadoes. Either way, I can't wait to see it finished, along with the calm after the storm.
Take shelter.

Ruined Hoodie turned into Laundry Bag

2008-07-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Had a ruined hoodie that I cut the hood off of and sewed the neck shut.
Perfect for use in the Laundry room for clothespins.

Homemade Breakfast

2008-07-12T04:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than homemade breakfast. Last night after playing poker with the neighbors (and losing) I decided to make Cinnamon Bun Scones. Found the recipe on Mr. Breakfast.

The scones came out great - make sure and add the Glaze, because like typical scones they are a little dry.

YUMMY!

Welcome to my blog

2008-07-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

From now on I hope to provide you with a sampling of ART, FOOD and FUN stuff that I'm doing.
Having to write about my activities will also help motivate me to complete some of the projects I've started.

Today is the first blog post mainly as a test, so please be patient as I build the content.

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