A positive post

Okay, so you've already seen a few of my projects , but I thought I would post a few pics of a few other things I have been up to. Im writing this post from my phone, and I cant quite figure out photo captions so hopefully this all makes sense.

So this is a project I am stilI playing around with. I messed up the sizing of the decal here but you get the drift. Note that the design matches the curtain panel I made. Cool right?

Next we have a decal that I created for my neighbor based on an idea she found on Pinterest. Ill post pictures of the finished project once she installs the decal.

Next up is a cool decal I made for our front door.  Someone that lives behind me has something similar amd HOA hasnt dinged her for it, so Im going to take the chance. The good news is, its just a sticker so it can easily be removed.

Then we have our poor guest bath. Not much progress but I did hang full length curtain panels as a shower curtain and got some coordinating towels. The plan is to paint the walls gray with a yellow pop of color on that back wall behind the curtians.

And lastly are a few photos of our trip on the Eagle Train this past weekend in Romney, WV. Such a beautiful ride. And a very rare photo of Mike and I. Ive lost about 40 lbs since June, so I thought it was high time we got some updated photos of us.  Otherwise, Im usually the one taking all the photos.

Well, thats all I got for now. Ive got SO MANY more ideas, so once they are tangible I will definitely post updates. I can say that I see glass etching in my future!!

7 Month Check-In and a Warning

The initial purpose of this blog was to document our experience of buying a Ryan Home so other prospective home buyers would have a resource to go to before signing on the dotted line.  We have been in our home for 7 months now and have completed a bunch of projects.  That being said I wanted to post a warning to all of those prospective buyers.  DO NOT purchase a Ryan Home.  Run as fast and far away as you can. The workmanship is shoddy to say the least.  You can babysit them through the entire thing and there will still be things that you have missed.  They don't even come close to the "Qualtiy Workmanship" that they claim.  Do keep in mind that each region is different because they use different contractors for each community, but you've got no control over that.

I have HAD IT with this place.  Bowed walls, "rippling" walls, crown molding with reappearing seams, HUGE cracks that reappear no matter how many times they fix them, gouges in drywall in corners where they think you won't see them, etc.  The list could go on.  And after you read through my blog you will know how "on it" I was.  Even after all of that, there are still so many issues with our home.

Below are various pictures from the past 7 months.  Some are of my projects (not all of them) and there are a few of the craptastic workmanship of Ryan Homes.

This was after we removed the molding in the kitchen to install our tiled backsplash.  They had caked on so much spackle to make the wall right but failed to do that everywhere, especially behind the wall plate.

This is my craft/sewing room with the sewing table I made so that my machine work surface was flush with the table surface.  I have since installed a sheet of plexi to the top so that my fabric slides along the table better.

The most recent "fail" that finally prompted this post.  This wall is SO BOWED that we can't hang this floating shelf.  The shelf has to be floating because I just spent the past 3 days hand painting the silhouette of a table onto the wall.

Canisters with decals that I created, cut and applied on my own.

Our striped powder room.

Daisy in her Halloween costume.

Daisy's little area.  I created the name decal and cut it using my Silhouette machine.

Frosted decals on the fridge that I customized and cut with my Silhouette Machine.

Another one of the decals I created.

Part of our gallery wall and also a curtain panel that I made with my sewing machine.  I am still working on the other 3 panels.

And there you have it!  I'm sorry for such a bitter post.  But I am just so angry.  Im angry that I have put so much time and effort into making this place feel like a home, only to find random "fails" every step of the way.

Hopefully some of you have had better luck than we have.