Elsie Eleanor Designs

Witches Boot

2011-08-21T14:52:00.000-04:00

Typically, I am at the last minute trying to finish something in time for a holiday. For once, I am ahead!

I wanted to create something for Halloween that had a more elegant feel to it. This is my interpretation of a boot that a witch would wear for a special occasion.

It still needs a name. Any suggestions?

Hanging the valance without any d's (difficulty or divorce)

2011-04-26T12:28:00.000-04:00

My husband and I managed to hang my daughters valance over the weekend without too much difficulty. It did require me to do a little patching and painting afterwards but in the end that was a small price to pay!

I chose a rod that is black with walnut finished finials on the end. I thought it pulled in both the black iron of the bed and the walnut finish on her chest of drawers. The finials also mimic the detail in her bed.

Here is a view from the bedroom door:

Here is another view with more of the chair in the picture. I love the way the pattern of the chair mixes with the toille in the valance. I also like the way the contemporary feel of the chair is juxtaposed against the chest of drawers and toille:

My next project for her room is to make decorative pillows for her bed. My mother was here over the weekend and we came up with this:

Centering the lady in the middle of the pillow will pull from the valance where she was also centered. The raspberry colored fabric is the same fabric used for the piping on the valance and the dotted fabric is what I used for the lining. I plan on making two of them.

There is a shade of purple in the trim that I love with her room:

I'll take some pictures of her bed after I have the pillows made and it is completed.

Her and I are planning on visiting some antique stores and flea markets in search of unusual finds to hang on her walls and we're also hoping to get her end table painted soon. We're still debating on a color but we may go with a walnut brown.

This seems like such a long drawn out process to get one room finished! If only I could get her to put down the lacrosse stick it would go much quicker!

Easy defined

2011-04-18T21:01:00.017-04:00

Easy, as defined by Merriam-Websters dictionary, is a: causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort, or b: requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection. This is how I imagined my daughters bedroom redo to be. It would take time but it would be easy. Maybe I need to be hit on the head with said dictionary. Although it wasn't difficult it did provide some "discomfort" (see definition "a" above) and the "little effort" part described in definition "b".............not so much. Of course some of it is my own fault and as I have stated in an earlier post I must get past my "p's".........off of perfection and on to production. There's a good segue for me to share a little bit about the painting of her room. Talk about being stuck on my "p's"! I was very careful about the prep work. I patched the holes myself smoothing them out so they wouldn't be noticed, I cleaned the walls and I taped everything off using a credit card to smooth the tape down and a pair of tweezers to get into the corners. Still, there was one area on the wall where some paint got on to the ceiling and I was not happy with it. I tried desperately to fix it! I painted over it with the ceiling paint which then got on to the wall so I painted over that with the wall paint which then got back on the ceiling. That scenario went on for hours until I finally decided to throw away the brushes so I wouldn't touch it anymore. Then I remembered I had some of those craft sponges on a stick so I got those out and tried again. I repeated the above scenario and still could not get it perfect so I threw away those in order to stop myself. Then I remembered some make up brushes I had that were never used and I tried those too. Needless to say that area is still not right but I did finally get past my "p's" with it, which was not easy.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished painting:

Next, I covered her wall outlets with the same fabric that I am using for her window treatment. That, was easy!

After that I began work on the window treatment (not so easy). It's not that it was really difficult but it definitely required more than "little effort, thought, or reflection." I started with this fabric:
(that's a terrible picture)

Since the pattern I was using consisted of four swags with tabs between them (see previous post) I had to be certain the toille scenes were properly chosen and placed on the swags. I had to choose scenes with similar positive and negative space to create balance and I also had to be sure I had a good visual line going across the entire treatment. That was the not so easy part. It took a lot of time to be sure that I was getting that right. If one piece was cut too high or too low it would throw the whole thing off. Luckily, my mother was here and she helped me choose and cut out the pieces. She also suggested that I use the lady with the laundry on her head for all the tab pieces. That turned out to be an excellent suggestion! The treatment consists of 27 pieces in all which does include the lining and interlining but does not include the piping around it. That's a lot of cutting!

A bluish purple fabric with raspberry colored dots was chosen for the lining:

and a raspberry colored fabric that matches the dots was chosen for the piping.

This is not the finished product just yet. The tabs need to be pressed and the buttons need to be sewn on too.

The pattern is from pate-meadows and I must say I really do like the pattern. They rank all of their patterns as either a beginner, easy, or intermediate. This one was, you guessed it, easy. I have been sewing for a long time (over 20 years) and I don't think I would call this pattern easy. I wouldn't say it was intermediate either but if you are thinking of trying this pattern you should know it was not exactly easy.

I am going to be making some pillows for her bed out of the raspberry colored fabric that I used for the piping and I will incorporate some of the bluish purple dotted fabric into them. I have some raspberry colored trim in my stash that my daughter liked so I'll add that to the design too. They should pop off of the off white colored quilt she chose for her bedding. It's an adorable piece with ruffles over one corner. The only thing about it is that keeping it clean will not be easy!

A vortex and it's side effects

2011-02-24T09:28:00.011-05:00

Well, I was finally talked into taking on my daughters bedroom. She has been asking for over a year now to have her bedroom redone and I could no longer put it off. One of the reasons I hesitated is because I knew it was going to be an arduous task and trying to fit it in among all of her activities along with our other day to day schedule would prove challenging. Not to mention, my little boobala is quite a collector of stuff. I knew we would have to go through her stuff and start to get rid of things. We took 10 garbage bags out of her room and put more of her "stuff" into bins to be stored. I am not a fan of reallocating "stuff" via bins to another area of the home since I know I am just going to have to address that "stuff" later but she just couldn't part with certain things right now so I gave in to it. Her and her father have a nice little bin collection going on in my basement right now.

I wish I would have taken a picture of her room before we cleaned it out. It would have been a little embarrassing to show you but nonetheless you would have been able to get a good idea of why the thought of going in there made me hesitate!

Once we had her "stuff" pretty much cleaned out we moved on to taking down the furniture and carrying it out of there. She had a beautiful white bedroom set but it was youthful (Ashely youth) and she wanted something more grown up. So, we sold her furniture set on Craig's list and a lovely family bought it. I was happy to know that another little girl was going to enjoy it.

I have also allowed my daughter to pick out what she wanted for the room. Her first choice was purple paint. My first thought on that.......oh no! Now, I actually have a room in my home (play room) that is purple (eggplant) and I love it but when she said purple she meant a brighter tone of purple. All I could picture were bright purple walls with a zebra print comforter and hot pink pillows. Ugh. I just couldn't do it. I didn't realize, however, that that was not the direction she was going in. Yes, she wants purple walls:

but she doesn't want a zebra print comforter or hot pink pillows! Yes! The purple she chose is softer than what I expected her to choose too. Again, yes! I don't like the name of it though. "Purple Surf". The color one up from it is called "lilac bisque" and although she (we) don't like that color I like the name better. So even though this is purple surf I am referring to it as lilac from now on.

Next she chose a black iron bed. I love it! It's very simple and classy and I like the way it looks with the "lilac" paint:

The pillows you see in the picture we bought to coordinate with fabric she choose for a window treatment. Here it is:

It's a gorgeous toille! The picture is not clear enough to see the detail of the colors (off whites, black and grays) or how the two patterns work together but hopefully when the room is finished I can get a better picture. I was very happy and a bit surprised to see that she chose a toille fabric. I am going to make her window treatments from this pattern:

I do plan on tweaking it a bit. She does not want any trim on the bottom so I will add a contrasting piping made from the same color that she chooses to use in the contrasting tab section. I am going to lengthen it too and where you see buttons we are going to use 4 different antique buttons. We still have to choose a rod and finials.

My mother found a to-die-for antique dresser in a shop near her home. Originally my daughter wanted to buy an antique dresser and have it painted to look like this:

But once we bought the dresser and got it home we both agreed it should be left in it's original state:

It dates to 1940, is in excellent condition, and it is beautiful! I was able to do some research on it through this marker found on the top drawer:

The company was able to date the piece for me and they are sending me documentation on it. My daughter loves this piece which again surprised me a little. Not the typical teenage response I thought she would have. She loves that it is unique and she also realizes that she will have it for years to come.

She is going to pick another fabric, probably lilac and possibly whatever she chooses for the contrasting color in the window treatment, and I will make additional pillows for the bed. Oh, and a comforter, she still needs to choose that but she is leaning towards a simple off white quilt. What, no zebra?!

She has a few holes in her walls that need to be patched before we can begin painting. I called a handyman to do that for me since I thought it would be beyond my skills. I have not heard back from him (2 weeks now) and have decided I am going to try it myself. I watched a few videos on ehow and of course they make it look so easy. I'll let you know how that goes!

Since I pretty much live by Murphy's law around here in the midst of her bedroom redo my dishwasher broke and I had to get a new one. I was completely sideways over that! I knew I would not be able to use my existing panels that cover my current dishwasher and I didn't want to have to face the fact that I would have to choose a color. Oh well, you'll have that. It's coming today.

Aside from the vortex of my daughters bedroom redo I also had a party for my mother here for her birthday. I made her a "hobknob" from a photograph of her great- grandmother. Wait, I think it was her great-grandmother but now I'm confused. Is confusion a side effect from being in a vortex too long? Okay, I will have to find that out. The picture that is, not the side effect.

New Year, big plans and some cupcakes

2011-01-02T08:56:00.003-05:00

We had a very busy holiday season around here and now that it's winding down we are cleaning up and getting ready to take on the New Year.

I've decided that I need to prepare for Christmas all year in order to accomplish everything I would like to. I have "big plans" this year to make more Christmas stockings, make my own Christmas cards, possibly make my own tags, and have my shopping done early. I think the only way I can really stick to this plan is to have someone to be accountable to . You know, someone who will say to me every month, what did you accomplish this month for Christmas?

Lisa, are you reading this? :)

On another note....
I found this web site today while looking around. My daughter likes to bake cupcakes so I'm sure she will like this site but I thought I would share it here too. It's interesting.

http://layercakeshop.com/index.php/Pages/about-us.html

Happy New Year

Some special Santa's, a mismatched poinsettia, and finally those stairs are done!

2010-12-14T06:44:00.007-05:00

I am finally getting some of my Christmas decorating completed around here. I am way behind and unfortunately won't be able to do as much this year.....I'm just running out of time! Some of my favorite Christmas things are my Santa's. They are one-of-a-kind pieces made by a very talented lady not far from where I live. She gave so much attention to the details and every year when I get them out I am still amazed and impressed by them. She shopped estate sales, flea markets, and antique stores in search of unique items to add to her creations. The fur collar around Santa's coat is a vintage fur and the coat itself was made from an old suit.

His stocking was made from a vintage quilt and she filled it with both vintage and non-vintage toys.

Notice the vintage buttons on Santa's coat and the beads are from a vintage belt. I love how she placed them around his shoulders. And those velvet pants.......love em! If you look closely to the left of the photograph you can see part of a mitten. She attached a tea stained mitten to both hands.

Santa's shoes are a pair of antique baby boots.

This is one of my other Santa's made by the same lady. He actually belonged to my mother and after years of drooling over him at her house she gave him to me. He is truly unique and very special to me.

His coat is made from wool and is trimmed....from the front and completely around the back.....in goat hair. It is to-die-for!!!!

I raised his arms here so you could get a better view of his trim.

A black velvet vintage belt with some old jingle bells added to it.

Santa is holding this toy soldier which she also made.

Check out the details on his face! And how about that hat? I can only imagine the time she put into just the toy soldier alone.

I have some other things that were also made by the same lady that I still have to get out. No matter how rushed I am or how close I am cutting it I always make sure to get all of those things out. Once they're all in place I'll take some pictures of them too.

Here are my stairs before. Notice that huge poinsettia there? My husband bought that (without telling me) from someone who was selling them as a fundraiser. It drives me nuts because the color is all wrong but I don't have the heart to tell him.

Anyway, stairs after......

It's hard to tell from this picture but it is really quite colorful. There is chocolate brown, purples, dark raspberry, blues, and golds.

The peacock feathers are from a peacock that was owned by my Uncle. When the bird dropped his feathers he would save them, bring them to a family reunion, and give them out to us. I love the colors in them.

A few close ups.........

Well, I'm off to do some more decorating and shopping!

So much time, so little to do!!!!

Vintage Christmas Stocking

2010-12-07T06:24:00.002-05:00

I'm linking my Christmas stocking up to Centsational Girls Holiday Home party today.

I really enjoyed designing and making this stocking. There was a lot of hand stitching involved with it which I like doing. I also underlined the entire piece to weight it more and give it more stability. It's fully lined too. I love those kind of details. It has been through many changes before I settled on this final design! I originally had fur from a vintage mink stole around the cuff but then took it off because I didn't like the end result of it. I decided on the roses because I liked not only the color with the piece but the feel they give to it too. I didn't have enough vintage buttons in my own collection to complete the stocking so I began to search the internet for something interesting. I wasn't having any success with that either so I then scoured the city I live in looking for something. I wanted true vintage buttons but in the end I decided upon these:

It is very hard for me to capture the true beauty of these buttons. I included several different shots in different lighting to give you a better idea.

I fell in love with not only the design of them but with the colors in them too. They are unique and I was able to mix several styles together.

Lost Time, Old City, Living Room Design, and a Vintage Stocking

2010-11-29T13:16:00.018-05:00

Two months? Really?

It is hard for me to believe that it has been 2 months since I last posted anything here. Time flies by so quickly that sometimes 2 months seems more like 2 weeks to me. Actually, it feels like my whole year has flown by!! I don't know where it goes! I was recently at my chiropractors office and he said to me, "long time since I've seen you." I was surprised at that because I was sure I had been there just 4 weeks prior. He must of noticed the confused look on my face and then proceeded to tell me it had been three months since my last visit. What? 3 months? No way! I tried to tell him his records were wrong because I was sure it could not have been 3 months. He assured me his records were correct and gave me the date of my last visit. I couldn't focus on anything he said to me after that because all I could concentrate on was trying to figure out where the heck I had been in the last 3 months. I didn't spend too much time on that though because, well, I didn't have time to spend on figuring out where my time had gone! I had to move on to the next thing. Hmm, I'm seeing a pattern here. Oh well, here's some of what I have been up to in the past 2 months:

I spent a little over a week at the beginning of October here:

This is a view of part of the Old City, Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives. One of the many places I visited while in Israel. It was an amazing trip and I had an unbelievable time. Israel is a beautiful country with so much fascinating history that it is hard to experience it all during one trip. I saw many, many places while there and I have a ton of pictures along with stories that I will share.

Before leaving for Israel I began work on this project:

The client had some specific requests for some of the pillows but I was allowed free reign on most of them. So I mixed some different fabrics together and added a vintage pin in there too. I began work on them before I went to Israel and when I returned home I had to get right back to it in order to finish them in timely fashion. As you can imagine that was a little bit challenging for me! I left my husband and daughter for over a week with this:

Do you know what two people can do to this in one week??!!

So, I was catching up on everything around the house and trying to finish the current pillow project while still trying to fit in my daughters sports, etc. when my friend decided she wanted to work on her living room again. This is the friend who I have been helping decorate her house for over a year now. We have accomplished so much with it but still have a lot to do. Right now, in her living room, she has this rug (in cream and black):

I adore this rug in her house! It has so much drama to it but still looks classy. We had talked about putting a settee in the room and decided on this:

Upholstered with this fabric:

I was a little concerned about the fabric being too much with the rug but since it is being used on a settee style with wood that will completely frame the fabric I feel that it will ground it and the combination of the two will be both unique and dramatic. Did I ever tell you my Carlton Varney story? We met him at the Greenbrier while we were there over the summer. He was telling a story about how Dorothy Draper would come through the workroom and say to everyone "I don't want to see anything that looks like gravy." That's what I thought of when we were looking at the fabric and rug together. It's not gravy!! Oh, I'll have to share those Greenbrier pictures too.

So, I finally finished the pillow project and then moved on to this:

I really enjoyed designing and making this stocking. There was a lot of hand stitching involved with it which I like doing. I also underlined the entire piece to weight it more and give it more stability. It's fully lined too. I love those kind of details. It has been through many changes before I settled on this final design! I originally had fur from a vintage mink stole around the cuff but then took it off because I didn't like the end result of it. I decided on the roses because I liked not only the color with the piece but the feel they give to it too. I didn't have enough vintage buttons in my own collection to complete the stocking so I began to search the internet for something interesting. I wasn't having any success with that either so I then scoured the city I live in looking for something. I wanted true vintage buttons but in the end I decided upon these:

It is very hard for me to capture the true beauty of these buttons. I included several different shots in different lighting to give you a better idea.

I fell in love with not only the design of them but with the colors in them too. They are unique and I was able to mix several styles together.

I also hosted Thanksgiving at my house and am now trying to get ready for Christmas.

Something tells me I am going to be visiting my chiropractor in January and trying to convince him once again that his records are wrong!

Oy vay.

Heaven Sent

2010-09-22T07:56:00.006-04:00

I have had such a busy summer that I have not had much time to blog or visit all the blogs I like to every day. We traveled a lot this summer and I had a lot of projects to do too. I am hoping to catch up and share some of what I have been working on lately.

One of my current projects is a "hobknob" for a customer who contacted me via my Etsy shop. She was initially looking for a pillow for her new nursery. I suggested that she take a look at and think about a "hobknob" instead. I felt that we could customize a piece that would be more like an heirloom for her baby. I wanted to design something that reflected not only a nursery but would be able to grow with her and I wanted it to be of a quality that would last many, many years. It is my hope that this piece will become special and stay with her.

The customer described the room to me and sent me pictures of her fabric and furniture. I already had an idea of how I wanted to approach this but as soon as I saw the pictures I knew what I wanted to do. I came up with a few designs, sent them to her, and the customer then asked me to change a few things. This is one of my favorite parts of the process. Getting input, changing it up, and keep creating! The customer also sent me some of her left over fabric so I could be sure of the color match and to possibly include it in the piece. The colors were perfect but in the end we did not include any of the fabric in the piece. Although everything went together well including some of it took it in a different direction. A final design was chosen and I sent fabric swatches to the customer to be sure she was comfortable with them. She loved them too and the project is now under way!

This picture shows the design in the making. Her fabric, which I love, is the toile you see in the background. It is beautiful fabric!! It is very elegant and the colors are fantastic! She also chose a "to die for" black French inspired armoire for the room. The combination of the toile and armoire are seriously adorable!! So, the design needed to be elegant yet somewhat nursery like and still be able to grow with the baby. I always like to be able to tell a story through my work too. If I see something that inspires me I try to capture it and create it through some of my work. Like the butterfly ballet. That's my interpretation of a moment in the summer. Here I chose the fabric with writing on it because I thought it looked as though it was telling a story. It's like a page from the baby's "book of life". The black color pulls from the armoire and the color of the writing is actually very close to the shade of antiquing found on the toile. I chose the black with gold dots because it reminded me of a starry night. I thought it looked elegant yet peaceful. Some color was needed and the dark raspberry colored silk was perfect. Again, the fabric is elegant and I loved the pop of color. When I initially saw the picture of the toile fabric I wanted something that would compliment it but not get lost next to it. I wanted a pop! I looked at the very outer edges of some of the flowers and pulled from there. The piece of it in this photo looks a little red but that is not its true color. The flowers made from it are more true to color. Oh, and the flowers. They were a design suggestion by my design guru/mother. I love them! She thought they would represent a garden growing much like their family growing. I love the texture that they added too. The moon pin gives it a nursery feel and I absolutely adore that pin. It has a lot of detail to it and it is very unique. I am not positive but fairly certain that it is vintage. Love it! It pulls the piece together and fits in perfectly with the story being told here. Finally, the ribbon and chain you see were chosen for the handle. I am using a few links on each side of the piece and then will run the ribbon through them. The chain is very interesting in that it is actually a belt. I think it too is fairly old and the combination of the chain and ribbon together as a handle will be unique. The title of this piece is "Heaven Sent".

This is back of the piece cut and ready to go.

Here is the front of it put together. I cut the individual pieces so that when the pin is placed on it the bead at the bottom of the moon will sit on the raspberry silk and pop off of it.

Here are the silk flowers under way. This was a great fabric to work with because in the end when I attached them to the piece I was literally able to go in and sculpt them as I put them on.

Here is an example of the layout with the flowers.

This is a picture of the front and back put together. In the next picture you will notice a close up of the flowers and a bit of detail on the pin. You can see too how the flowers pop off the piece adding texture and you can see how they were sculpted on there.

Here it is almost finished. I still have some tweaking to do and it needs final approval from the customer before I can call it "finished".

I am also working on a hobknob for a family reunion this weekend. I transferred a picture of my great grandmother onto fabric to use in it. I'll post pictures of it before I take it.

I have a pillow project going on too with some great black and tan fabrics. I'll post those too as I go along.

The Butterfly Ballet

2010-08-10T20:20:00.003-04:00

My feet have not landed at home too much at all this summer! When I am here I am still on the run so much that they don't even see the ground! One of the benefits to all the traveling we do is I hunt down every nearby fabric store. I am fortunate that my husband is always a willing participant. I have found some great fabric stores and some great finds in those stores!

My parents came to visit us over the weekend and my mother and I dug into my recent finds and began creating a few pieces. She is extremely creative and I would go as far to say gifted with color. I always enjoy when she comes to visit and we get to create together. I learn something new every time.

This is our latest project:It's titled The Butterfly Ballet and is our interpretation of a snapshot in a garden on a late summer day.

The flower found in the green fabric on the top is extending its vines to the butterfly, welcoming her to the stage. The gold pin, looking like tall grasses bending in a gentle breeze, the gold chain, and the salmon colored fabric remind me of the warmth of the sun. The berry colors in the chenille fabric and the tassels on the trim represent the flowers. The tassels seem as though they are dressed in tutu's, ready to dance. A cut glass prism attached to the bottom is the last bit of dew found on a flower.

The next time you get a chance to enjoy your garden see if you can spot this moment some where in there!

I promised myself I was going to move on to Christmas now. If I don't get started I seriously will not get anything done and I have such big plans!

Orifiel's Birdie

2010-07-29T16:54:00.002-04:00

This little birdie has been a long time in the making and has a rather long story to go with it. I'll try and give you the Readers Digest version!

It all started several months ago when I had been working on a similar project. I was in the process of making a door hanging (hob knob) much like this one and was just about finished with it. I like to name all my pieces and was trying to come up with a name I liked for it. I just so happened to be reading a book by Randy and Colt Frid, the husband and son team of Claudie's from Bubblin Over. The name of the book is Demons at the Door and I actually bought if for my son to read. I read about it on Claudie's blog and it sounded like something that he would find interesting. It has to do with computers, computer games, and some physics is thrown in there too. Well, the day it came in the mail I started reading it first and I have to admit that I could not put it down. It is adorable and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next.

There is a character in the book, Orifiel, who had a pet bird named Birdie that died. She told the story of Birdie and his death to two of the main characters in the book and it brought with it a life lesson. I thought this part of the book was so dear and so I named the piece Birdie. Claudie saw it, sent me an email telling me she wanted to buy it but by the time I checked my email Birdie was already gone. So, I promised Claudie I would make another one similar to it but I would "Caudieize" it. In order to understand "Claudieize" you need to visit her blog and check out her adorable cottage. She loves pink and blue and her home reflects her love of these colors.
It took me awhile to find the what I thought would be the "just right" thing to add to the piece to not only reflect Claudie's personality but also what I thought would represent Birdie. Here's what I came up with:
A little touch of blue in the ribbon and in the rhinestones from a vintage necklace.

A vintage pink flower pin.

A close up of the blue rhinestones.

The blue rhinestone button is from Mood fabrics in NYC. That definitely reminds me of Claudie!
The pink rhinestone button was a recent find and the last "just right" thing I was looking for to add.

I named this piece Orifiel's Birdie.

I have been a pink Saturday wannabe for so long now so maybe I will actually figure out to link up to it with Orifiel's Birdie!

p.s. Visit Claudies blog and find the link to Demons at the Door! It truly is an adorable book! I'm looking forward to the next one!

Elsie Eleanor and a master bedroom redo!

2010-07-24T10:05:00.005-04:00

Check out Love the Decor (use the button on the right) to see how she used one of my small door pillows (hobknob) in her master bedroom makeover. Scroll down to the older posts and you can see the project from start to finish. Make sure to notice the dresser before and after! She did an awesome job on it! The difference is remarkable!

Debbie is an interior designer who does on line consultations and also has her own on line store. She has a lot of interesting pieces at good prices in her store so be sure to check that out too!

I am still on the run here but will be back again soon!

Time flies when your having fun!

2010-07-10T18:17:00.003-04:00

Wow! I can't believe my last post was written on June 6th! Time has flown by for me! I have been to Maryland, New Jersey, West Virginia, and I am currently in Philadelphia. Maryland, New Jersey and Philadelphia have all been for my daughters lacrosse team but West Virginia was for fun. We spent some time at the Greenbrier in White Sulpher Springs. It's a beautiful resort and I took a ton of pictures to share. We met Carlton Varney while we were there and heard him talk about his creative process behind the interior design in reference to the new casino, his new cafe, and Drapers new cafe. He also said a few things about Dorothy Draper; what it was like to work under her and some interesting facts about the colors she used. I'll share more about that and pictures when I am back home again.
I also managed to squeeze in a few hours on fabric row in downtown Philadelphia. I found an awesome store there and bought quite a bit of beautiful fabric and trims. I am anxious to get back to life with a little less travel and start working with them. My mother has also bestowed several beautiful vintage and non-vintage pins upon me and I am looking forward to working them into some of the designs. I have a few other projects that I want to finish first (birdie! and those darn mannequins!) and then on to some new things. I'm actually starting to think about, dare I say, Christmas and some ideas I have for stockings and door pillows. If I don't get started now it will never get finished!
Oy vay! I think I need a clone!

Please excuse the blue for a Blue Monday mystery!

2010-06-06T23:15:00.004-04:00

There is a flea market in my area that has both indoor and outdoor space and now that it is summer time the outdoor vendors are back in full swing and it is huge! I love to shop there! I have found some really terrific things in the past and yesterday I stumbled across these:

I know they're old (possibly Victorian) but I don't know what they are! The lady who sold them to me told me they were very old and she also told me they were earrings. Old yes, but earrings? I'm pretty sure that is not the case since the backs don't lend themselves to that.

I think the "posts" are too long and too big to be earrings.

Whatever they are they are gorgeous! Each rhinestone is individually prong set, they sparkle beautifully, and are in excellent condition.

Does anybody have any idea what these may be?!!

Oh, and please excuse my boring blue today (can blue really be boring?)! It is a piece from a tie-dye that I did with my daughter. I really wanted to share my mystery antique to see if anyone could help me discover what it is so I was hoping to get a "pass" on my uncreative "blueness"!

Be sure to visit Smiling Sally and check out some creative blues!

Thanks, Sally and Happy Blue Monday!!

A month? No way!

2010-06-03T10:26:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it has almost been a month since I last posted anything! Time really flies by around here! Here is some of what I have been working on:

The rooster button in the middle is a vintage button from my own collection. It is a very unique
button, one of my favorites, and I think the colors found in it are amazing.
I titled this piece "Chanticleer".

This is mannequin #2 under construction. This skirt was also cut on the bias (like mannequin #1 that is in the background) but I left an opening in the side. My plan is to mold the skirt a bit more and have some of the pink and black tulle spill out of the opening and possibly cascade in layers. I am also working on making her a sash from black satin and I have some vintage jewelry pieces that I plan on adding somewhere. She has a long way to go but she is definitely a pink Saturday wannabe!

This is a view from the back. I lined her in pink taffeta.

A close up of the front:

I also got talked into bringing home and "fixing" a mannequin #3! She's really going to take some work! I'm currently trying to sketch a pattern for her. I'll post pictures of her once I start to really work on it.

Oh, and I finally found these!! I had been searching for them for quite some time now! I knew they were around here somewhere but they kept alluding me! I should explain that I have "stashes" around the house everywhere. I like to think that it is organized chaos but it is possible that it is more chaos than organized. Anyway, they are blue rhinestones from a vintage necklace and I wanted them to add to the bird piece that you see in the next picture.

This is a blend of past and present. The pink pin in the upper left hand corner is a vintage pin, the blue rhinestones that I am going to add are vintage, and the button on the bottom with the blue rhinestones is new. It is from Mood Fabrics in New York City....one of my favorite stores! Now that I finally found the blue rhinestones I can finish this piece! It has an interesting story behind it too which I will share with you once it is finished. This is another pink Saturday wannabe!

I also finished a pillow project and got rid of those darn onions!

Now, on to the next thing!

Blue Monday warning: Never volunteer to dress a wire mannequin....even if it is blue.

2010-05-09T19:13:00.004-04:00

I wrote in an earlier post about how I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog or visit and read some of my favorite blogs. You can read about it here. Oh, if you do read it and know of an easier way to get rid of those onions could you share it with me?

This is one of the projects that has been keeping me busy. A friend of mine is hosting a picnic for our local Medallion Ball. She will have 120 guests and the theme is Project Runway. She bought these wire mannequins and decided to dress them and use them as part of a centerpiece. I volunteered to bring a few home with me thinking how long could it possibly take? The answer is....a long time!!!!! A really long time! I started with this:
I forgot to take a picture before I added a little bit of tulle but you get the idea. After many, many design alterations, dilemmas, some huffen and puffen, a few ripped out seams, redo's and thoughts of "seriously, what was I thinking?" I ended up with this:
She still needs to be hemmed but I don't have the exact stand that she will be on so I have to wait to do that.
The "buttons" down the back are rhinestones from a vintage bracelet.

I still have to do another one and I am currently contemplating the design. I have until August to do it but if I don't get it done now chances are it won't be done by then!

Now, I have to confess two secrets:

1. I actually did enjoy doing it!
2. Once again Blue Monday lit a fire under me! I was determined to get it done and post it for
Blue Monday!

It's nice to be back at Smiling Sally's Blue Monday again! I've missed visiting everyone's blog and seeing what blue they have to share. If I don't get to visit your blog right away I promise to be by before the week is over.

Be sure to stop by Smiling Sally's and check out the other Blue Monday posts!

So much time, so little to do........yeah, right!

2010-05-05T11:10:00.010-04:00

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post or read any of the blogs that I normally like to. I thought I would share a little bit of what I have been up to.

This is my friends house and has been an on going project for several months now. We have
gone from picking out everything while it was being built to now trying to furnish it. We bought a rug for the family room, dining room, and den and are still working on finding one for the living room. She ordered dining room furniture, a breakfast area set, and family room furniture. Here is what the living room, family room, and dining room look like empty. Well, actually there is an old couch in the family room that is temporary.

The dining room set and the breakfast area set are both in now so I will get some pictures to show you. We have to work on layering now. It has been a huge project and is very, very, very, time consuming! There is still so much to do and will take many more months to finish.

In the meantime, I did this:

And of course I watch a lot of this:

I have played around with a few more designs:

And then there is this:

This is my nemesis! The dreaded landscaping! The onions you see in the above photo are everywhere! They grow in the middle of my ground cover and are very hard to get rid of. I have to dig them out one by one and they don't cooperate with me at all! Does anyone know of an easier way to get rid of them?

You can't see it to well in these pictures but they are all through the landscaping. Not to mention all the other weeds too! Looks like I need to do some mulching and trimming while I'm at it. Oy vay!

I'm also working on this:

You must be wondering why I don't just finish one thing and then move on. Sometimes I have to shop around to find the perfect pin, ribbon, or fabric that I want so while I am doing that I will start something else in between.

Now I got talked into this:

Another friend of mine is hosting a picnic for our local Medallion Ball. She is having 120 guests and the theme is "Project Runway". She found these wire mannequins at TJ Maxx and wants to dress each one of them to use as part of a centerpiece for the tables. I went over to give her some fabric and ended up bringing two of them home to work on. This is a very rough draft of what I am thinking of doing.

And then there is this:

This is a mink I found at a local flea market. I went there in search of vintage pins and then came across it. So, then that gets me thinking of another project to do! I feel like the old lady
who swallowed a fly. I just keep taking on (swallowing) another project! I plan on using the mink for cuffs on Christmas stockings and I seriously need to get started on it or it won't get done.

In addition to all of the above my son came home from college. I can't believe all the stuff he has! I don't remember sending him with that much stuff! I'm not sure how it fit into his dorm room! Oh, and the laundry. My goodness! So I have also been busy trying to find a place for all his stuff and doing all that laundry.

Oh! I almost forgot! I also write articles and do features for this web site:
www.designstyleguide.net

So, that's what I've been up to! What have you been up to?

Pamela Angus and a giveaway!

2010-04-29T13:09:00.001-04:00

Check out the very talented Pamela Angus and her giveaway too!

http://pamelaangus.blogspot.com/2010/04/jean-cocteau-poster-giveaway.html

A different kind of tassel

2010-04-22T09:32:00.005-04:00

Although these "tassels" are not what you would traditionally think of when you envision one I use them much the same around the house. It's a tassel.......as I see it.

I am linking up to The Nester's tassel party today so head over and check out some more great tassels!

Giveaway!

2010-04-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

Check out this Mother's Day Giveaway from Design Style Guide!

http://designstyleguide.net/community/blog/2010/04/19/mothers-day-giveaway/

Sharing my love for red on Blue Monday

2010-04-11T23:44:00.005-04:00

Lacrosse season is in full swing now so I spend quite a bit of time on the sidelines watching
this:

Number 9 is mine!
So even though it's Blue Monday....
I'm sharing my love for red today!
But I will admit the blue uniforms look nice!

Be sure to go over to Smiling Sally's and check out the other Blue Monday posts!
Thanks, Sally!

Too busy to blog!

2010-04-09T21:27:00.008-04:00

I have been so busy with Easter and my daughters lacrosse
that I haven't had much time to blog or do anything else!
Now that the holiday is over and things have slowed down a bit
I managed to sneak in a little creating. My mother and I
actually worked on this piece together while she was here over Easter.

"The moon, like a flower
In heavens high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night."
William Blake

This piece, to me, captures a moment in a jungle or rain forest on a starry night. The cheetah print fabric, the vine like flower fabric, and the black fabric with the small squares (representing stars) were used to try and encapsulate the feel of one of these exotic areas at midnight.

This black antique button with rhinestones is my interpretation of the moon "sitting with silent
delight and smiling on the night."

I love this vintage pin of an exotic bird! I thought it was perfect for the piece. He appears to be mesmerized by the moon and I like the fact that he is gold. It makes him look like
he is glowing under that smiling moon, as if he is so affected by it he is shining from within.

I called this piece "Moonstruck" because the bird seems to be mesmerized by the moon. I must admit, I found it inspiring too.

Here are two quotes referencing the moon that I just couldn't resist sharing!

"When a finger points to the moon,
the imbecile looks at the finger."
Chinese Proverb

and

"Every one is a moon,
and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody."
Mark Twain

Fornasetti Plates

2010-03-31T08:18:00.003-04:00

My bff and I were discussing these Fornasetti plates yesterday. She gave them to me about 10 years ago as a house warming gift when I moved into this house. They are hanging in my kitchen and I have always loved them. I have never really "collected" anything (except fabric but I am not sure that counts) but I am considering starting a collection of these.
The subject of the plates was brought up because I was at my friends house (the one who I am helping) and I think they would go well in her kitchen. She has a perfect spot for a grouping of them. They are a bit pricey but....who can resist?

I found this information on Fornasetti here and thought you might find it interesting too.

Fornasetti
Conversation with Philippe Starck
By Brigitte Fitoussi
Publisher: Assouline

One of the most prolific decorative artists of the twentieth century.

Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) is often described as a visionary. A Milan artist, Fornasetti was at the same time a painter, sculptor, designer, craftsman, and an engraver of art books. In his lifetime, he created more than 11,000 objects, decorative schemes, and items of furniture in the course of his unfailingly prolific career, including a large number of unique pieces.
Drawings on a powerful mix of Italian cultural tradition and surrealist invention, his ideas were expressed on every conceivable support, from glasses and plates to umbrellas, lamps, furniture, and screens. The result is a very unusual and highly poetic body of work.

Today his son, Barnaba Fornasetti, is keeping the family tradition alive by reviving Piero’s most popular pieces and creating new ones.

Photo © Roberto Barbieri
Piero Fornasetti with his “Tema e Varoazioni” (Theme and Variation) collection of plates, 1961.

“Jerusalem” wallpaper designed by Piera Fornasetti for his home, 1950.

Photo © Marco Pratali
Chair with back in the form of a Corinthian capital, 1950s.

“Palladiana” chest of drawers, 1953.

The main versions of the cabinet or bureau, from the first version inspired by Gio Ponti to Barnaba Fornasetti’s “Fine Millennio” (End of Millennium) model and the black “Architettura” version of 2004.

Neckties by Barnaba Fornasetti 1993-2003
Lamp bases by Piero Fornasetti, 1950s and 60s

“Architettura” CD-holder, reinterpretation by Barnaba Fornasetti,1977.
“Farfalle” (Butterfly) obelisk lamp, 1950s.

“Raggiera” (Rays) chairs1950s, reissued in color in 2001. Sketches and ideas by Piero Fornasetti, 1950-60.

This illustrated Mémoire features a discussion about the great Italian master between Barnaba Fornasetti and a lifelong admirer of Piero Fornasetti’s work, Philippe Starck, who has used several Fornasetti chairs in the hotels he has designed.

“Everybody has tried to understand Fornasetti’s secret, but always in terms of technique, the way he applied his drawings onto furniture or any other kind of surface. My father was a very talented craftsman, so this kind of question never interested him. He always used to reply that “Fornasetti’s secret is the imagination.”
B.F.
“It is a mixture of imagination, culture and sensibility. Plus an incredible elegance, stemming from this tremendous freedom.”
P.S.
“Not forgetting the great rigor of the forms, inspired by classicism and ancient objects. My father was particularly attentive to precision, to the positioning of his drawings.”
B.F.
“Maybe, if we had to define the secret recipe, we would say: poetry, discipline, and freedom.”
P.S.
“And also, always that touch of irony.”
B.F.

“Eros,” prototype of the Philippe Starck chair for Kartell with an intervention by Fornasetti, 2005.

Fornasetti
Conversation with Philippe Starck
By Brigitte Fitoussi
Publisher: Assouline

Tough hide, tender heart

2010-03-25T11:54:00.003-04:00

A very good friend of mine has had some very challenging times in the past few years. She has now been facing some circumstances that have left her unable to get out of the house much at all. She is truly becoming a home hostage. There are days that it is even difficult for her to be able to talk on the phone. I thought about sending her a card just to let her know I am thinking of her and hopefully to brighten her day a little. Or, maybe I would send some brightly colored flowers. Although I liked both of these ideas I thought the card would eventually get thrown away and the flowers would inevitably die. I wanted something that would be a reminder to her every day that I am thinking of her. So, I decided to do this: There are so many things about this piece that remind me of her. From the colors and the textures of the fabrics to the vintage heart pin. I included small subtleties in the design that I am sure she will pick up on and appreciate.

The heart charm you see here is a prayer box. I tucked a quote inside it by Ruth Graham, "just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart". It is my hope that she will hang this somewhere that she will see it often, that it will remind her to pray for a tough hide and a tender heart, and that she will know that I too am thinking of her and praying for her.

I titled this piece "tough hide, tender heart" and I am crossing my fingers that it will bring a smile to her face!

Blue Monday Chez Fifi

2010-03-22T07:19:00.003-04:00

I recently purchased these two original paintings from Fifi Flowers. The colors in them are so gorgeous and I simply could not refuse a cow print chair! I think I may need one of my own! Life imitating art.
I would like to look out a window and see some of these:
Maybe someday I'll have a cow print chair or flowers similar to what we see here but, for now, I'll just enjoy it through my new art work! I'm not sure where I am going to put them yet but I want them to be somewhere that they are easily visible to me throughout the day. Maybe I'll make that my goal for next Blue Monday.....frame them and hang them. I love Blue Monday motivation!

Thanks to Sally at Smiling Sally's for hosting Blue Monday! Click on the link to check out her blog and more Blue Monday posts!

A pansy for your thoughts

2010-03-20T14:02:00.003-04:00

There's rosemary, that's for remembrance;
pray, love, remember:
and there is pansies.
That's for thoughts.
There's fennel for you, and columbines:
there's rue for you; and here's some for me:
we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays:
O you must wear your rue with a difference.
There's a daisy:
I would give you some violets,
but they withered all when my father died:
they say he made a good end.

--William Shakespeare

My interpretation:

I titled this one "Heart's Ease".

Larkspur Vintage Finds

2010-03-17T10:42:00.004-04:00

If you haven't visited Kim over at My Domestic Bliss you really should stop by and check out her blog. She is an adorable gal with some great vintage items in her Etsy shop. Here are two of my recent finds:This piece is a vintage frame that Kim added her own touch to by adding the beautiful printed paper inside. I love the colors in the paper and the design of it too.
It can also be used as a tray! I have it here on my vanity area in my bathroom.
The tray in this photo is my second find. I love the detail in it! It's a very unique piece and fits in perfectly with my kitchen.

Kim spends quite a bit of time searching for interesting vintage pieces to add to her Etsy shop. She has a good eye for it, puts a lot of thought into each one, and it shows! Check out her blog and you can find a link to her Etsy shop, Larkspur Interiors, there.

I love my new pieces, Kim!

How to avoid spring cleaning

2010-03-11T19:50:00.004-05:00

We have had some great weather the past few days and it makes me feel like I should be doing some spring cleaning around here. I have plenty of closets to organize and my sewing area could use a definite over haul! So, I decided to start with the area where I keep most of my fabrics. I say most of my fabrics because actually I have them stashed all over the house. I don't know why I do that. None the less I thought I would try and organize things a bit better. Well, once I get around all that fabric my mind starts going and before I know it I am no longer organizing! Instead, I did this:

The pin is a vintage pin found at my favorite flea market and the bead on the right near the ribbon is from a vintage necklace from the same flea market. The small button above the bead is from my own collection of vintage buttons. I titled this piece "Lunch with Aunt Dee". Aunt Dee was a relative of my husbands and although this pin was not hers it is definitely something she would have worn and she would have worn it to lunch with the ladies. She also would have worn the necklace that the bead is from and yes, she would have worn them together! There are two pieces of fabric used in this piece (the blue and blue-green) that remind me too of some of her clothing. I can see them as one of the "Chanelesque" suits that she owned. She liked to go to flea markets and she drove a Ford Falcon. She was a unique lady and I think she would like having this one-of-a-kind piece named for her. At least I hope so!

Okay, I'm going to try cleaning again!

Midnight Garden on a Blue Monday

2010-03-08T07:44:00.006-05:00

Last Monday I wrote about how I was ready for spring and looking forward to seeing some of this again:

Which inspired me to begin this project:
Here it is in the beginning stages. You have to love the huge shadow on the right of this picture! Is that my thumb?
Here it is finished...just in time for Blue Monday!

This is a close up of the two vintage pieces. I found them at a local flea market that I love to go to. The one reminds me of a moon (maybe it was supposed to be that?) and the other, which is actually an earring, looks like a flower to me.

I used a vintage rhinestone necklace to hang it with and I titled this piece "Midnight Garden".
Remember this? It was in last Monday's post too and here it is finished:
Vintage pin:
Vintage button:

I haven't thought of a title for this one yet. Any suggestions?

Be sure to go to Smiling Sally's and check out more Blue Monday posts! Thanks again Sally for hosting Blue Monday each week!

Pink Saturday Wannabe

2010-03-06T15:38:00.003-05:00

I have been working on this project for a few weeks now and finally have it finished!

Here's a close up of the ribbons:
I saw this pin at a local flea market and fell in love with it! I'm not sure how old it is but I thought it would look perfect with the bird!
This button is part of a collection of vintage/antique buttons that were given to me. The blacks and golds in the button go perfectly with the branches in the fabric.

I wanted to link this up to Pink Saturday but didn't realize that I needed to do that by Friday. So, since I still need to think of a name for this piece maybe I will do that by next Friday and link it up then. I guess that means that this is still, kind of, unfinished!

Giveaway!

2010-03-03T18:23:00.001-05:00

Check out this giveaway from The Muse! Hurry...it ends on March 5th!

http://adivashammer.com/archives/913/comment-page-1#comment-8694

Blue days ahead!

2010-02-28T22:43:00.008-05:00

I'm getting a little tired of seeing this:
And I am ready to see some of this:
and this,
and this,
I love the colors in all of these flowers but I especially like the reds and blues in this one. I like too the black of the background against them and the lime green not only beside them but peeking out from within near the bottom. So all of this inspired me to do this:

I am amazed at how different the colors look in the last two pictures. The true color of the fabric is more like the first photo. This is the beginning stages of a "door pillow". The front, where the flower will be attached, is going to be made from the raspberry fabric and the back is the same blue purple fabric used in the flower. It's what you see in the above photo but looks nothing like it should! (Look at the picture above this one to see the true color). The whole piece will be trimmed in black. I'm going to use the vintage necklace as the hanger and I plan on including the moon pin and the vintage earring in the design too.

I found them both at a local antique market and too bad that I can't take a good picture because they look much better than what you see here! The bead in the middle is a brighter pink and the smaller beads are more blue than they appear. I really like the earring. I can just imagine it being worn by some lovely lady and looking very stylish!

I was hoping to get this done over the weekend but unfortunately didn't have enough black fabric to make the trim. So my goal for next Blue Monday is to have it finished. I have a bad habit of starting something and not finishing it before I move on to the next thing! Like this:

Didn't I see a Pink Saturday out there some where? Hmmm, maybe that would get me moving!

Don't forget to check out more Blue Monday posts at Smiling Sally's.....you'll be glad you did!

Special blues from a talented friend

2010-02-21T14:12:00.004-05:00

My great friend Lisa, who I met through this blog, recently sent me some "blues"! Aren't these beautiful?!! Her work is impeccable and I love the colors!
I didn't want to just put them away until I use them so I decided to fold them over and keep them in this antique bowl. They are so cheerful to look at and make me think of spring, which I am ready for (notice the snow in the background?)!
A birds-eye view of my blue!
She also made me these cards! I love the detail in them.

She certainly is a talented gal and very generous to make these things for me. I truly appreciate all the time that went into each and every piece and they are all very special to me.

Thanks again, Lisa!!

Happy Blue Monday!

Check out more Blue Monday posts at Smiling Sallys and thanks to Sally for hosting Blue Monday!

Furniture shopping

2010-02-21T08:21:00.003-05:00

My friend and I have been shopping for furniture for her house. Right now we're working on her family room. She is more of a visual person and likes to be able to see what things will look like when they are put together in her room. Since we are looking at Norwalk furniture I was able to build different looks on their web site and cut and paste them together for her. My mother and I actually worked on this together over the phone. She is so good, I mean seriously good, at combining different fabrics together so it was great to have her opinion on it. I also cut and pasted in her fireplace, area rug (we just bought that two weeks ago) and a little piece of her armoire. Here are a few different ideas we gave her to look at:The swatch of zebra fabric on the rug is being considered for an ottoman.
The only thing that changed here is the settee.
In this photo and the next one the only difference is the couches.

Here's another settee choice.

All the legs on the furniture should be black and I just noticed that I forgot to change that on some of the pieces. There should also be red pillows on all the couches but it was getting late so I got a little lazy about that! We will probably throw a zebra print pillow in there somewhere too but I want her to pick the furniture before we move on to that.

All the choices are confusing her now so she had to step back and take a break from it. So far my mother and I like the first one the best. What do you like?

Giveaway!

2010-02-17T07:20:00.001-05:00

Check out this giveaway:

http://mypaintingroom.blogspot.com/2010/02/tweet-little-give-away.html

Hurry! It ends on 2/19!

Here's looking at blue

2010-02-15T08:18:00.005-05:00

Grant K. Gibson recently did a post on his blog titled "What are you looking at?" He shared some of the artwork around his apartment and has some interesting comments about it. You can read it here. I decided to share some of what I am looking at here in my home. Most of the artwork I own are things that I buy from local artists or from arts festivals in the area. So, here's what I'm looking at:

This piece is titled "Cat in the Cul de Sac". I love the colors in it and especially like the orange fish.
These two pieces are on my mantle in my family room. They are titled "By the Canal" and "Dancing Kitties".
This is a photo of a pub sign in London. It was taken by a husband and wife team who travel to many interesting places to take pictures. They were a unique couple from the mid-west that I met at a local arts festival and referred to themselves as Walrus One and Walrus Two on their two way radios. They are very talented at what they do and I own several more photos from them. Maybe I'll share them another day.
These two pieces are titled "Fuzzy on GG Bridge" and "The Mirror". They were done by the same artist as the two on my mantle.
This picture has two interesting things in it. The photo is of a door in Ireland and the women in the doorway is actually painted on the door. It was done by Walrus One and Walrus Two. It is one of my favorites and sits on the mantle in my family room. The other interesting thing is the green vessel. It dates to the 1700's and I bought it from a small museum shop outside of Ocean City, Maryland. I sent photos to a professor to get her opinion on it. I'll have to share her thoughts with you in another post. It was very interesting what she had to say about it.
I bought this from an artist at a local arts festival. I found her rolled up and stuck in a bin. The artist didn't like the way she came out so she just sort of shoved her in this bin. I really liked her so she sold it to me for only $10.00. I thought her face was interesting.

Well, that's some of what I'm looking at. What are you looking at?

Don't forget to check out Smiling Sally's for more Blue Monday posts!

Curing the winter blah's

2010-02-13T09:45:00.002-05:00

I decided to go through my stash of fabric and look for something bright and spring like to work with to help cure my winter blah's. I found these two pieces that I bought some time ago from Hawthorne Threads. My mother and I actually thought out a few designs with them when she was here one weekend. I put them away after she left to finish the current project I had been working on and forgot about them. Out of sight out of mind!
I love the colors and the print of these fabrics. The pink is very vibrant and I like the way it feathers into much darker shades at the edges of the bird. The same pink shades are picked up in the paned fabric along with shades from the branches. They blend beautifully. I also like the way the flowers cascade in a diagonal on the paned fabric.
We had paired these ribbons with it and the big antique button. The plan is to make it into a door hanging.
Here's a close up of the branches and the pinks of the bird. I love the darker shade of pink on the branch. It's such a small detail but I think it makes a big difference. I am trying to pick up that shade with the darker ribbon. I also like the golden yellow highlights on the leaves. It goes well with the gold found in the button....
I plan on making a piping out of the paned fabric to trim the piece in and I may make a trip to our local flea market and antique stores looking for some other interesting pieces to add to it. With the time it will take me to search for the perfect antique/vintage touches to add to it winter should be over and spring will be here!

Valentines Day Stained Glass

2010-02-09T14:58:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to post a picture of these two hearts for weeks now but have been so busy doing other projects I didn't have a chance. I came home a few weeks ago and found a box on my front porch with these gorgeous stained glass hearts in it! My mother has the same pieces in her house (except hers are red) and I have admired them for quite some time. So, my parents sent these to me and my family for Valentines Day. It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise and I love the way they look in my dining room.

Check out the length of the crystal on the bottom! They look so elegant.

My mother found them at an Etsy shop called The Glass Menagerie.

The artist, Diane Worden, has many things to choose from and does excellent work! It's definitely worth the time to take a look at what she has.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Blue Monday!

2010-02-08T07:45:00.002-05:00

I live in an area that got hit with a ton of snow on Friday! About 2 feet of it! It is pretty but digging out of it has been a challenge.
This picture was taken from my front door. Notice the huge amount of snow behind the two trees.
This is also taken from my front door. My sidewalk is under there somewhere!
Isn't it pretty?
My son was home for the weekend so my daughter got him to go sled riding with her.

There are many people here that have been without power since Friday but thankfully we are not one of them! It doesn't look like this is going to melt any time soon and we may even get more on Tuesday.....oy vay! I'm ready for spring!

Don't forget to visit Smiling Sally's blog and check out more Blue Monday posts! Thanks for hosting, Sally!

Design Style Guide Magazine

2010-02-02T09:14:00.002-05:00

Check out the new magazine by Design Style Guide. There are many interesting articles to read including 2010 spring trends, interviews with artists, color choices for interior design, and of course, the look for less features. It's truly a great resource to look at and can offer you a lot in the way of inspiration. Use the link on the right to get there!

Finished and Gone!

2010-01-28T10:01:00.003-05:00

I finished this piece, which I titled "Key To My Heart", and sent it off to it's new home. I hope they will like it!

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, Blue Monday

2010-01-24T22:32:00.003-05:00

I finished this book about a month ago and was ready to give it back to the friend who loaned it to me but decided first to share it here for Blue Monday. It was written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh and is titled "Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead". It is a compilation of her diary entries and letters she had written from 1929-1932. It takes you from the time she met Charles to becoming engaged, then married, and details the role she played in the many trips she accompanied him on. It was truly an hour of gold for her. Unfortunately, there was an hour of lead too. She shares, in great detail, the events of the kidnapping, the death of the baby, and how she coped after. In one diary entry she wrote:

"Saturday, July 30, 1932
Still absolutely numb about baby: "This is the hour of lead." I am waiting for the pendulum to swing back again from numbness to realization, and I dread the blow of it, yet this freezing is worse, for I grope for realization and cannot put my hand on it--only a dull ache."

So, if your looking for something to read you may like this book. It is very interesting, very well written, and brings with it some great life lessons.

Thanks, Sally, for hosting Blue Monday! Be sure to check out Sallys blog for my Blue Monday posts!

Has it been a week already?

2010-01-19T18:30:00.008-05:00

Things were a little busy around here lately so I didn't have much time for blogging! Between birthday celebrations for my daughter, her sports schedule, my son home from college for the weekend, and helping my friend furniture shop there wasn't much time left. I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post. I even missed Smiling Sally's Blue Monday...an interesting meme I really enjoy participating in! I have met some wonderful people through it and have seen some great blogs because of it too. If you haven't checked it out yet be sure to stop by her blog and take a look.

Once my friend makes some choices on furniture I'll share the pictures with you. She is leaning towards a couch upholstered in a smoke colored crushed velvet that is gorgeous!

In between some of the craziness of the past week I also got out this purse that I started a long time ago and decided I needed to start working on it again...

I have a lot of detail left in it before it is finished. I have some vintage buttons that I am going to add and have a few other ideas for it that I am working out in my head.

Before I begin the purse I have a pillow project that I will be working on that I am very excited to get started. The fabrics are gorgeous and the trim to go with them is beautiful! Can't wait to see them come to life!

I am also working on this Valentines Day door decoration...

Just need to "tweak" it a bit and it will be finished.

If only I didn't need sleep!!

My favorite future designer!

2010-01-12T10:49:00.003-05:00

This is my daughter, Isabella, also known around here as Boobala or Stinkerbelle. She plans to one day further her education and pursue a career in Interior Design. Today is her birthday and it makes me realize that day when she will leave gets closer and closer! I still have a few more years though (she is 15 today) so I plan on just having fun until then!
Happy Birthday Boobala! You're the best!

Tattered , torn, and worn Blue Monday

2010-01-10T23:21:00.005-05:00

I bought this interesting sculpture from a artist who is a friend of mine. Titled "spirit of determination" it is symbolic of some of the struggles she has gone through and how she overcame them. The bottom represents a tornado and the top represents her emerging from the tornado...a little tattered and torn but victorious. Thanks to the help of my children she is a little more "worn" than when I first purchased her. Actually, I am surprised that she is even still standing and in one piece! Poor thing made it out of the tornado only to be thrown into the path of my two children. I don't mind the little chips so much anymore. I think it makes her look "stronger" and "more determined"! I just hope I don't come home sometime and find her hanging in my light, you know, like the blue prewrap!

Thanks Sally for hosting Blue Monday! Be sure to go over to Sally's blog and check out all the other Blue Monday posts!

Kristina Laurendi Havens

2010-01-07T20:04:00.009-05:00

This photo of a small sitting area was the subject of last months Look for Less feature on Design Style Guide. I am responsible for choosing the room to recreate and researching more affordable ways to achieve the high end look. I can find most of the artwork for the rooms at Design Style Guide, the same site that publishes the feature and also represents various artists from many different mediums. One of the greatest benefits I have found from spending the time researching each month for the piece is the many talented artists I have come across. I have decided to begin sharing some of what I find with you and am starting with this..........

I chose some images from artist Kristina Laurendi Havens to recreate the gallery like look behind the settee. It was her art work that motivated me to begin sharing with you some of what I find. I just couldn't keep her a secret!

She has many, many images to choose from including both original works and prints. Go and check out her angels if you get a chance...they are stunning! Titled "Angel of Hope" and "Angel of Compassion", they were inspired by sculptures located on the Saint Angelo Bridge in Rome which she photographed and sketched while visiting there. I plan on buying the prints for my own home.

This is my friends empty living room and I think some of Kristina's art would look great above the mantle. She just moved into her home a few weeks ago and now we are starting to look at furniture for it....another fun project for me!

Blue Monday and a pop of blue in a redo

2010-01-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

For those of you who didn't see my previous post on my friends master bedroom redo you can read it here but I will also bring you up to date briefly.
This oatmeal colored fabric is being used for a duvet cover and two pillow shams. We are still waiting for them to be finished.
This silk fabric is called Sienna and was used for window treatments.
This animal print fabric is going to be used to reupholster a bench that will be placed at the end of the bed. I love this fabric! I also love the way it blends with these.....
A printed rusty-orange fabric along with a solid red and a pop of blue make up the decorative pillows. I finally got them finished!!

The back of the pillow is different from the front so she can turn them to get two different looks. I included this close up so you could see the print better and the trim on the two rectangular pillows.
Another view of the different look!
And a close up of the blue!

Thanks to Sally for hosting Blue Monday! To see some more interesting posts on anything blue visit her blog here.

This year live in the present

2010-01-02T17:29:00.002-05:00

I read an editorial in our local newspaper regarding resolutions and I thought I would share part of it with you....

......Perhaps that is why many of us resolve to make changes in our lives. We vow to lose weight, stop smoking, eat healthier, become more organized and above all be better persons. More often than not we fail miserably because, while our intentions are good, our willpower is weak or our goals are grandiose - unrealistic and unattainable in the time frame we propose.

Yes, yesterday is gone and we certainly shouldn't live in the past. For those who do will exist with regret. And, we can't count on nor worry about the future. For nothing is guaranteed and we'll live in dread.

Propose then to dwell in the present. Live each day as if there is no tomorrow. Fill each second, minute, hour with the effort required to reach a daily goal. Focus on that one 24-hour period. For success comes from taking simple steps. Remember yard by yard is hard but inch by inch is a cinch.

Happy New Year!

Planning ahead

2009-12-30T16:44:00.006-05:00

My mother found this pattern for a Christmas stocking/hosiery bag and passed it along to me. I don't know how old the pattern is (she found it at a flea market) but it has probably been around for some time. If you enlarge the photo you can see some more detail on the finished boot. Notice the buttonholes and buttons on the side? I love that detail and think it would look great with some vintage buttons. I also think it would look good trimmed around the top with fur. So, that's my plan for next year....to hunt down vintage buttons, some vintage fur, fabric, and to make several of these stockings by Christmas. I only have 360 more days to go.....so much time, so little to do!!!

Blue Monday, Blue Bike, and a lesson in fear!

2009-12-28T08:00:00.003-05:00

I'm using an old post again for Blue Monday...what can I say, it's the Holidays!! I did think, however, that the quote about fear was a good one so it was worth it to share again. I will tell you too that the fall off my bike happened this past summer and although my injuries kept me from riding for almost a month my fear of falling off again added a week or two on to that! Then I remembered this quote and decided I had to face my fear! Here is the original post:

Getting back on my bike after a recent fall off of it made me a bit apprehensive. Nonetheless, I did it and it made me think of a quote I once read.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Frank Herbert, Dune.

Be sure to check out Smiling Sally's for more Blue Monday posts and thanks to Sally for hosting!

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-24T12:33:00.002-05:00

One of the Christmas traditions my family has is to attend The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater's Nutcracker. My husband and I started going while we were dating and have not missed a year yet! We began taking our children when they were just 2 years old! I think they both still look forward to it every year. I never get tired of seeing it. The costumes are absolutely gorgeous...so detailed...as is the scenery. The dancers are very talented including the little ones who get to participate. If you are ever in the area during the Holiday's it is well worth the time to see it!
This is the backdrop for the opening scene. It is Clara's house and reminds me a lot of an old Victorian house here in Pittsburgh built and owned by Henry Clay Frick.
I love this lighting fixture.
Another view of The Benedum Center where the Nutcracker is held. It is a beautiful theater!
Can you believe all the detail?
If only I didn't stink at taking photos! This chandelier and the detail on the ceiling are so, so gorgeous but this picture just does not do it justice.

I love to hear about other's Christmas traditions. What are yours?

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Blue Sled, Blue Hat, Blue Monday!

2009-12-21T06:41:00.005-05:00

We had about 5 inches of snow over the weekend so my daughter decided to grab her sled (who knew....it's blue!) and take advantage of it!This hill is part of our backyard and has been great for sled riding....
Here she comes!
Although the snow held me back from getting the rest of my last minute Christmas shopping done it has been pretty to look at and I enjoyed watching my daughter having fun in it. Without it I would never have captured this great memory....
Now, I'm off to get some of that last minute shopping done!

Thanks to Sally at Smiling Sally's for hosting Blue Monday! Be sure to check it out here.

So much time.....

2009-12-18T13:16:00.004-05:00

Remember this? I started it a few months ago and never finished it. I do that a lot. I finally took some time out of my hectic schedule and got it done! One of the reasons it takes me so long is that I play around with the design so much. I finally settled on adding pieces from vintage necklaces, vintage buttons, a scrap of fabric with a bee charm, some brassy brown ribbon, another lighter brown ribbon, and a pinkish orange ribbon for a pop of color.

I love this bee charm and the vintage button beneath it is one of my favorites. It balances the bigger one at the top of the piece seen in the next picture.
This too is one of my favorite vintage buttons.

Blue Monday and The Queen

2009-12-14T08:07:00.005-05:00

I am running way behind here these days so I decided to use an old post for Blue Monday. I think I may be stretching the "blue" a bit here too! It is more like a blue-green color. Does that count?

This is a pillow inspired by what I thought the Queen Bees' quarters may look like. Colors of honey, bees busy working, flower and paisley prints, honeycomb stitched patterns, and beading looking much like dew from a flower.

Don't forget to check out the other Blue Monday posts at Smiling Sallys!

Star Santa

2009-12-09T21:40:00.003-05:00

This Star Santa is another creation by Cathy Spargo. He was also given to me by my mother, also after years of drooling over him! He is made from a golden colored upholstery fabric, his beard is wool, and his hat is red velvet trimmed with fur (probably mink). If you look closely you can see that there is a small
snowflake charm stitched to the end of his hat.

One of only two and some blue

2009-12-06T20:36:00.003-05:00

Is it Blue Monday again already? The weeks are really going by quickly and Christmas will be here before I know it! In honor of the holiday I decided to share the creche in Pittsburgh with you. It is the world's only authorized replica of the Vatican Christmas creche located in St. Peter's Square, Rome. It was constructed from the plans of Vatican architect Umberto Mezzana.
It stands 36 ft. high, is 64 ft. wide, 42 ft. deep and has over 20 life size figures. Too bad I stink at taking pictures because this is truly a great work to see...my photos do not do it justice at all!
The star on top of the creche.
A full-size view of the creche. There are speakers located inside the creche and they have music playing . The night I took these pictures Silent Night Holy Night was playing. It was so peaceful!
Isn't he great?
This picture is blurry but I just had to include it.

I took a small video clip with my camera to try and capture what it would be like to be there and hear the music playing. I need to edit it and if it came out decently I will post it.

Here's a little history of the creche:

A local architect, Lois D. Astorino, was on a business trip to Rome when he first saw the Vatican creche. He was so moved by its beauty he wanted a similar one in his hometown. He worked to gain approval from Vatican officials, secured the actual plans for the creche, and then commissioned the original sculptor to recreate the figures for Pittsburgh. It has only been on display here since 1999.

Thanks to Sally at Smiling Sally's for hosting Blue Monday! If you haven't checked her blog out yet Monday's are a great day to do it!

Another Santa

2009-12-06T13:11:00.003-05:00

This is the other Santa that I was referring to in my previous post. You can really get a good idea of how wonderful his beard is from this picture. It is made from wool, curls perfectly, and gives him such character. His jacket is made from a vintage wool material that was probably taken from a suit jacket and his collar is a vintage fox stole she found at a flea market.
Here's a close up of his sack of toys. The sack is made from a vintage quilt and his toys include a vintage wooden candy cane, vintage wooden beads, and a vintage block all found at a flea market. The teddy bear and doll are not old but she carefully chose pieces that would look old and then added her own touches to them. The bow around the teddy bear she added and if you look closely you can see a tag hanging from it which she antiqued and hand wrote "teddy" on it. It is an adorable detail! The doll is porcelain and is outfitted in a lace dress that has an antique look to it. Oh, notice too on the left of the picture, near his foot, that is a hand made wool mitten attached to his arm. I am not sure if she made it herself or if it is old but it is another well thought out detail.
Here he is holding his sack and looking very peaceful! Looking at him sitting here you would never imagine that there is more detail hidden behind that sack on his outfit! You'll see it on the last picture.
Another great detail are these baby shoes. Definitely very old and don't they look perfect on him?
A close-up view of what was hidden behind the sack he is holding. The beaded necklace she used is vintage but the compass, although it is not, looks like it could be. Did you catch the buttons on his jacket too? And how about those velvet pants? There is so much attention paid to detail everywhere on him that it is hard to show it all.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention the gal's name who made these lovely creations in my previous post! She is Cathy Spargo, from a small town in Pennsylvania, and I wish she would come out of retirement!

Another post for Bella Dreams Holiday Party

2009-12-05T15:09:00.004-05:00

This Santa was purchased by my mother at a small craft show near her home. After drooling over it for years at her house she decided one year to give it to me. He is to die for!!! It is without a doubt one of my favorite holiday decorations and of course since it was given to me by my mother will be cherished forever.The lady who made him is extremely talented. She searches antique shops, flea markets, and estate sales to find vintage clothing, toys, jewelry, etc. to use in her work. Everything she makes is unique, one of a kind creations and her attention to detail is incredible.
I raised his arms up so you can see that his coat is completely trimmed in goat hair! Notice the cuffs are trimmed in goat hair too. It may be a little hard to tell in these pictures but his beard is made from wool.
The belt around his coat is a vintage black velvet belt that she added some old bells to.
The soldier Santa is holding was also made by her. His face is porcelain and she painted the features on him herself.
A close-up of the soldier.

After seeing what my mother purchased from this artist I started to attend the same craft show. Her items sold out so quickly you had to get there early and wait for the doors to open.
Even then many of her things would be gone because the vendors who were also participating in the show were buying them before the rest of us were in the door. Thankfully I was able to get my hands on a few of her creations for both holiday and everyday use before she retired. I'll share another Santa I have with you in my next post. He is also to die for!! His coat is trimmed in vintage fox fur, he is holding a stocking made from a vintage quilt.....

The Nester's holiday home tour

2009-12-05T08:16:00.008-05:00

I posted these pictures previously but I am showing them again today for The Nester's Holiday Home tour.

Click here and here and here to see some more.

Lisa's five choices

2009-12-03T11:24:00.003-05:00

flower 1

Flower 2

flower 3

flower 4

flower 5

Okay Lisa, will any of these work?

If any of you are wondering who Lisa is let me explain...

She is someone who I met through my blog. She is energetic, very creative, and hysterical! She has been kind enough to comment on many of my projects and posts (via e-mail) and has also generously shared with me pictures of projects she has been working on (which I love to see!). She has done a lot of work in her home, all of which have come out beautiful, and her creativity and endless energy continue to inspire me. I can't forget to mention too she has kept me laughing with her humor!

One of her current projects is a couple of aprons that she is putting her own touches on. One belonged to her mother and the other belonged to and was made by her grandmother. Not only are they adorable but they have special meaning too. She saw the flowers I made in a previous post and thought one of them, in the right colors, might look good on an apron. I am flattered to know that one of my flowers could be used on something so special to her. So I e-mailed some black and white fabric choices for her to choose from. She picked out a few she liked but couldn't decide for certain what she wanted so told me to choose. I decide to give her the 5 options you see above. Some of the differences in them are subtle but, to me, it is the small details that make a great difference. I like detail.

Anybody want to help her choose? What do you think?

So, Lisa, I hope one of these will work for you but if not I can do some more. This has been a fun project for me and of course I will want to see the end result of your aprons. Thanks for being a willing participant!!

Remember this kitchen?

2009-12-01T11:39:00.002-05:00

It seems like so long ago that my friend and I started on her new house. After many delays things are almost finished. The next step for the kitchen is the back splash.

The gray tile is going to be mixed with the striped (only the striped, not the black) for the area underneath the hood. The rest will be done in the black.
I included this picture to show you what the different knobs look like mixed together. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture but the white cabinets have the plain knobs on them and the black cabinet has the crystal knob on it. We put the crystal knobs on the all the drawers, the black cabinets, and two doors under the hood (which we combined with a crystal pull) and two doors under the sink area also combined with a crystal pull. The rest were done in plain knobs with the exception of two big drawers under the oven which we chose crystal pulls for. The island cabinets, which you can't see in the picture, are a combination of crystal knobs, plain knobs, and one initial knob. They went missing but as soon as they are found and put in I will take a picture of them. It is an interesting mix!
Close up of crystal knobs.
Close up of area under the hood.

We've been looking for a table and chairs for the kitchen and also a piece to go along the wall to the left. There is any area there, next to the group of cabinets that holds the oven, that we left empty so we could put an interesting piece of furniture in that spot. Haven't found anything yet!

Blue Monday made me do it!

2009-11-30T00:13:00.002-05:00

Thank goodness for Blue Monday! It has actually helped to light a fire under me and get me moving on a project I have been putting off. I made these flowers a little over a week ago and decided that I would take the blue one, work on the idea I had intended it for, and finish it in time for Blue Monday!
So, here it is! I made a small "pillow" to attach it to, used a blue rhinestone necklace that I found at a flea market for a handle, added some vintage pieces taken off a very loved, very old necklace (found at the same flea market), and put a small crystal piece at the bottom. The fabric that the pillow is made out of came from a piece that I bought at Mood Fabric in NYC. My family and I spent a long weekend in the city over the summer and I dragged them all to Mood. My daughter and I loved it but my husband and son, well, although they went along with it let's just say their mood in Mood was not one of joy. I can't imagine why.

If you haven't visited Smiling Sally's blog go check it out today! You'll see some interesting blue posts and meet some great people too.

Thanks, Sally!

Starting Christmas

2009-11-29T14:47:00.004-05:00

This past week was very busy around here! I host Thanksgiving dinner at my house every year so I had to put my blogging, sewing, and all my other "fun" stuff on hold and get ready for that. I do enjoy it but it is a lot of work! With that behind me now I managed to get a few projects done and I am moving on to Christmas! This is my staircase before and...

Here are some after shots!

The peacock feathers in this photo are from a peacock owned by my Uncle Ted. I love using them every year just for that reason!
Now on to the next thing...the tree!

By the way, Lisa G if your reading this, I will have a few flower options for you to look at in the next few days so check back!

Blue moth, blue mood, blue prewrap, Blue Monday!

2009-11-22T17:49:00.001-05:00

I have become very fond of Smiling Sally's Blue Monday posts! I appreciate all the comments, have found some wonderful blogs through this, enjoy seeing what everyone else has posted, and have had fun finding some blue of my own. This post is a combination of a previous post and a new one. First, I have to share the old post with you. You may be wondering where the blue is. Well, if you look really closely you can see some in the black area on the bottom wings of the moth. After reading the post you may be able to tell too that I was a little "blue".'

This gorgeous polyphemus moth was found on my back patio the morning after a graduation party for my son. My mother urged me to grab my camera and take a picture of it and I am so glad I did! Not only are the colors and markings beautiful but it brought with it a life lesson for me.

As we were going in and out of the house cleaning up from the night before I would glance over to see if it was still there and to get one more look at it's beauty. Then, so quickly, it was gone. I came inside and said to my daughter that I was disappointed the moth wasn't here anymore. “Well”, she said, “it can't stay forever”.

My son is like this moth. Graduating from high school and getting ready for college he will be leaving soon. I will not be able to glance over and see him and I will be disappointed that he isn't here anymore. The years have gone by so quickly but like that moth he can't stay forever. He has to fly too. So, for now, we will just enjoy the time we have before he has to leave.

Good Luck, John!

(now maybe I'll finish those purses, the door hanging,etc.!)

Now, for the new part of the post.

My son is home for the Thanksgiving holiday and has had no trouble at all getting back into the swing of things as far as teasing his sister goes. In an attempt to keep her prewrap (something she uses to pull her hair back when playing sports) from her he threw it over the balcony from our second floor and accidentally into this lighting fixture. I may never have noticed it but since I'm now sort of noticing blue a little bit more it didn't get by me when I spied it out of the corner of my eye. This will require a ladder to retrieve it, something I am not exactly happy about, but instead of getting upset I just remember that he will be "flying" away again in a couple of days. He can't stay forever and we will miss him again!

Flower plans

2009-11-19T07:26:00.002-05:00

I am planning on using the flowers I showed you in my previous post with these fabrics. I thought I would make a piece that you hang from a door, similar to the one also in my previous post, but smaller. I plan on trimming the one above in black so the fabric you see around the crimson is just to give you an idea of what it will look like.

I may trim this one in the raspberry but I am not sure yet. All of these will probably change a million times before they are finished!

What I've been up to

2009-11-17T11:10:00.005-05:00

I have the 3 20 x 20 pillow covers for my neighbors master bedroom redo finished. I just need to place the inserts inside and stitch them closed. This fabric drove me nuts!! It wasn't so bad when I used it to make an 18 x 18 pillow but adding an extra 2" threw the pattern off quite a bit. It was difficult to find an area to work with that didn't end up looking like the pattern was in a "square" or the pattern formed "rows". After contemplating it forever I decided on what you see here. The two pillows on the end are the same and the one in the middle is just slightly different. I didn't want all 3 to be exactly the same. I took into consideration too what will be showing when the other pillows (2 red ones...still deciding on size) will be in front of them. Since that fabric was making me nuts I would take some occasional breaks from it and worked on this again....
I'm still not done with it! I would work with it a little, step back, look at it, change something, look again and then finally decided I needed a break from it too!
So I moved on to these flowers! I really wish my photography skills were much better because the color in the blue flower is so much more intense than what you see here. I am probably going to use each of these in a piece that you hang from a door, similar to above but not so big. I have picked out some fabrics to use with them that I love and plan on adding one of the crystal chandelier pieces I found at an antique store. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.

Blue Monday!

2009-11-15T23:13:00.001-05:00

I never realized how much blue I have around my house until I started participating in Smiling Sally's Blue Monday. Now I really notice it!

I thought I would share a few of my kitchen knobs with you today. When I was
making the decision to purchase them I have to admit I was a little apprehensive. Even though I like drama and things that make a statement I was still concerned they would be a bit much even for me! Each one is different and as you can see they are very colorful so I was worried
that I would feel like I was standing inside a kaleidoscope when I was in the kitchen. I have to say that, in the end, I can't imagine my kitchen without them and I never tire of looking at them.

Flea market finds

2009-11-13T10:19:00.003-05:00

I found these beautiful vintage pins at a local flea market recently. I thought about using them on some pillows but after sending the photos to my mother, who collects vintage pins, and getting her opinion on them I decided that I may hang on to them for awhile.

Hawthorne Threads new web site and giveaway!

2009-11-12T13:39:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite fabric stores on Etsy just started their own web site. They have some very unique fabrics to choose from and their customer service is great. You can check them out here.
Be sure to check out their giveaways while you are there!

Giveaway!!!

2009-11-11T07:36:00.004-05:00

My domestic bliss is having a giveaway!! She is offering $50.00 of merchandise from her etsy store! Have you seen her etsy store?! She has some fantastic vintage pieces so it will be hard to choose how to spend the money if you win. Check out the tray on her blog post...it's gorgeous!

Wish I was there....

2009-11-10T07:22:00.002-05:00

This video was made in the Antwerp, Belgium Central (Train) Station on the 23rd of March 2009.

With no warning to the passengers passing through the station, at 8:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing 'Do, Re, Mi' begins to play on the public address system. As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances.

Apparently they created this amazing stunt with just two rehearsals!

Enjoy!

Make sure your speakers are turned up and click HERE to watch

Blue Monday!

2009-11-09T09:05:00.004-05:00

It's Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's so I thought I would show you this bowl. My daughter and I made this bowl together. Well, sort of. I had gone with a group of ladies and painted it myself and had to return after it was fired to glue on the mosaic pieces. My daughter came with me when I went back to finish it and she was so excited to be able to help me. She was much younger at the time, maybe 4 or 5, but I remember the two of us sitting there picking out pieces and gluing them on together like it was yesterday. I can still hear her saying "Mommy, I think this will look good there". Every time I look at this bowl I think of that day. It's not the most beautiful piece of art but it is one of my absolute favorite things in the house!

Thought I would throw in the window treatments too!

Final destination

2009-11-07T14:29:00.002-05:00

Christie's pillows have reached their final destination! She was kind enough to send a picture for me to share.

Blue neck roll

2009-11-04T08:59:00.004-05:00

I am finally getting started on my friends pillows for her master bedroom. I made a pattern piece and as you can see here I had to do it twice! Since this is a closed end neck roll pillow it is very important to get it exact. If the ends are cut too big the pillow insert will not fill them out and they will look sloppy.After cutting the pattern piece out I place it on my cutting mat and use the grids to double check for accuracy. Here I can visualize whether or not the circle is exactly the size I need.
I have all the pieces cut out and ready to go. The long strip laying diagonally across the mat is a piece cut on the bias that I will use to cover cording to trim around the ends. Once I decide on the size of cording I want to use I will cut it down into smaller strips.
This is an example of a closed end neck roll pillow. Although I think the ends don't look too bad they are a little puckered in places. Looks like it may have been put together in a hurry. What would really make me nuts here is that lump in the middle. Do you see it? If this were in my home that would be all I would see every time I looked at it! Since this pillow retails for well over $100 (plus shipping) I would expect a little more quality from it.

And another giveaway!

2009-11-02T12:58:00.003-05:00

Room to Inspire is giving away some merchandise from a store near her (candle and a crown) and a $30.00 amazon gift card. Check out some of her old posts on her blog while you are there. She is very creative and has a lot of good ideas that she has shared.

Another giveaway!

2009-11-02T11:06:00.003-05:00

Room Remix is giving away a $75 gift certificate to Stella and Dot jewelry. Visit her blog to enter!

Love the Decor Giveaway!

2009-11-02T07:31:00.002-05:00

Debbie at Love the Decor is having a giveaway! Go to her blog to enter and be sure to check out her web site too (you can link there from her blog). I think the candles she is giving away are very unique...it's hard to choose just one design. What do you think?

Blue Monday

2009-10-31T14:12:00.003-04:00

Check out Blue Monday's at Smiling Sally's.

Foyer light

2009-10-30T09:03:00.004-04:00

Work on my friends house has been a little slow as of late but the light in the foyer has finally been put up and here it is! The knobs for the kitchen and other rooms arrived yesterday and should be going in soon. They are beautiful! I'll get pictures!

Hey Lisa, this is for you!!

2009-10-27T10:23:00.002-04:00

Keep in mind my photography skills stink so color is a bit off but you can get the idea of the print.

2009-10-25T09:42:00.002-04:00

The inserts arrived and Christie's pillows are finished! Here are a few views!

Moving on.....

2009-10-23T08:20:00.006-04:00

While I am waiting for my pillow forms to arrive so I can finish Christie's project I decided to move on to this: my neighbors pillows. I am going to start with the blue fabric which will be a 6 x 14" neck roll. Since this is going to be a closed end neck roll I will first need to make a pattern for the ends. Here's how I will do that:

Materials:

cutting mat
paper
sharp pencil
string

You start by finding the radius of the pillow (radius=diameter divided by 2) and then add the seam allowance to that number. The radius of my pillow is 3 and I will use a 1/2" seam allowance so my total number is 3 1/2. Now put a piece of paper on the cutting mat and tie a string around the pencil. Measure 3 1/2" out from the pencil on the string and place a pin through the string and the paper (close to the middle of the paper). Holding the pencil upright and pulling the string taut, draw a circle. Cut the circle out and that's it...your pattern!

Almost finished!

2009-10-21T08:32:00.003-04:00

Here's the 12 x 24 pillow pressed and ready for a pillow form. I am using down and feather inserts for all the pillows. They are a little more expensive but I like the results I get with them. Since these pillows will probably get moved on and off the bed a lot I wanted an insert that would hold up to being handled like that. Christie should be able to "fluff" them up and have them look like new for a long, long, time!

The inserts should be here soon (by Friday, I hope) and I should have everything completed by this weekend.

12 x 24 front panel

2009-10-18T19:33:00.004-04:00

I have the front panel of the 12 x 24" pillow stitched together now. This is what it looks like before I pressed the seams.
This is a close up of the unpressed seams. Not only is it sloppy but can you tell the way the black fabric with the chrysanthemum looks like it is coming "forward"? When I press the seams I will press both of them...(the chrysanthemum-orange seam and the orange-black with gold dots seam)...towards the orange fabric. This will bring my orange fabric "forward", which is what I want. I also wanted to point out the seams along the dotted fabric side. When I cut this fabric I made sure both sides were cut at the exact same point so when I stitched them to the orange the dots on the seams would match up. In other words, one side would not be black next to the seam and the other dots. I am not sure if that makes sense or not!
Here it is pressed! It is very hard to tell from this photo but the orange areas do come "forward".
Too bad I placed that trim there or you would have been able to see more clearly, now that it's pressed, what I meant about the dots matching! I didn't think of it at the time. You'll have to trust me on this one! If you look at the seam on the right you can see that the gold dots are right next to the orange fabric. If I had cut just a little more off of the piece the gold dots would have been hidden in the seam and you would see a small black area and then the next row of dots. So, in order to avoid that my cutting had to be exact! Darn, I wish I would have taken a picture without the trim.
You must be wondering why don't I just go and take another one? Well, I already stitched the trim on. I was working with it to see where, in reference to the seam, I wanted to place it when I took these pictures. Sometimes I will center the trim over the seams but I decided with this pillow I wanted it to lie very slightly over the seam. It's hardly noticeable but there is a very small scalloped edge and this is what is lying over the seam. After deciding where wanted it I hand stitched it in place. Although it can be stitched on by machine I prefer to hand stitch because not only does it give it a neater appearance but I have more control over it. I used to wonder why anyone would want to hand stitch anything! Then I got my hands on a book, Couture Sewing Techniques, and that changed it for me! This book demonstrates techniques for sewing garments (which I still occasionally do) but when I saw examples of some of the techniques they use and how one stitch looked exactly like the other, done by hand, the control they had over it, and the end results, I was amazed. It's truly an art! Now I like hand stitching. I feel like it "adds" something to the piece. I don't know that I would hand stitch an entire garment, though I would actually like to, just to see how it would turn out.
My husband just walked by the den, stuck his head in and said, "Hey, that's a nice pillow out here, who is it for"? I explained to him that it was for Christie, the winner of the Nester's giveaway, and his response was..."I think you should keep it"!! Although he does notice a lot of what I do it is rare that something captures his attention so much that he would tell me to keep it! Don't worry Christie, I'll make him his own!

12 x 24 pillow

2009-10-17T16:23:00.002-04:00

I have begun working on Christie's 12 x 24 pillow. The fabric that will be used in the center of the design is pictured above. I like the big chrysanthemum so I will make that my focal point. After I determine how big of a piece I am going to use (probably an 8" finished width) I will find the center of my flower and measure out from there.
Before I cut the fabric I like to lay it out to see how it will look. I like the position of the flower here so I will measure and cut next.
I wanted to include a close up of the orange fabric that will border the chrysanthemum. I chose a piece that has areas with smaller prints to it so it has more movement, versus this...
which is a piece with an area that has a bigger print.
If you look at this view of the orange fabric with the bigger print you can see how it may take some of the attention away from my focal point, which is the chrysanthemum.

Attaching the front and back

2009-10-16T19:47:00.003-04:00

Here I cut the piece that will be used for the back of the 18x18 pillow.
The front and back have now been sewn together. An opening is left at the side so a pillow form can be inserted and will then be hand stitched closed.
This is a view of the backs of the pillows. Look at the one on the left...I turned this one right side out before trimming and pressing the seams. Can you see the difference between it and the one on the right? It is not so noticeable on the other side with the orange fabric but if you look closely you can see it there too. I did this to demonstrate how little details can make a big difference!

Now on to Christie's 12x24 pillow!

The making of a pillow....trim

2009-10-14T14:07:00.003-04:00

In the above photo are my two front panels cut out. Now I am ready to add the trim to them.
First I will take apart about an inch of the trim at each end. Next, I find the middle of the bottom edge of the panel and mark that. I start by pinning at this point working and work my way around. When I am ready to join the two ends together I will overlap the ends of the tape that I had previously taken apart and wrap or ease the corded ends together to form one consecutive trim. It will look something like this:
This is a little bit off because I pulled the bottom edge down to give a better view of the two joining. After it is stitched in place it should look like one continuous piece and be difficult to see where the two ends joined.

The making of a pillow

2009-10-13T11:56:00.003-04:00

Since Christie has decided upon the pillow designs for her master bedroom I can begin to work on them. I thought I would post the progress as I go along so you can see what actually goes into putting them together once they are designed. First I straighten the unfinished edges of the fabric and then lay it out to see the pattern design.
With this pattern I am looking for what flower I think is the most interesting. I will look for pattern detail, the direction of the flower, colors that are in it, and what is around it.
I decided that I like this flower the best so I will center it in the middle of each pillow. Here is why I chose it:
I laid an 18x18 pillow form under the fabric to see what it would like with different flowers centered in the middle. I didn't like the above lay out because it formed a "triangle" in the center with the two larger flowers on the bottom and the smaller one on top.
Although this flower was one of my favorites I didn't like it centered because the four larger flowers formed a "square".
After several other options I finally decided upon this one. I like the movement of the fabric here. Do you notice the way the smaller flowers and leaves are going in different directions? I also like the colors that show up in this lay out. It is hard to tell from the picture but there are greens and reds in it.
Now I will find the center of my main flower and center that in the piece that I will be cutting for the 18x18 pillow so it will be the exact center of my pillow.

Nester Winner

2009-10-12T09:33:00.008-04:00

Christie, winner of the Elsie Eleanor Designs giveaway on The Nesting Place, has decided she wanted to have pillows made for her master bedroom. After looking at pictures of the room, her furniture, and her window treatment I came up with this design. Although the giveaway was for two pillows I felt to give her a more complete look she needed 3 so I am giving her 2 18x18's, and one 12x24. Does that orange fabric look familiar? I am using the same fabric in my neighbors master bedroom makeover. I usually don't like to use the same fabric for 2 different projects. To me, it's kind of like painting the same picture twice. No fun. Boring. I couldn't resist this time because the orange fabric was just too perfect! Of course I am changing it up by mixing completely different fabrics and trims with it so it takes on a whole new look. I thought it was a good example too to show how you can get different looks with the same fabric. It is hard to tell by just seeing the fabrics draped next to each other but if you watch the progress of the two projects on my blog you'll see what I mean.

This furniture is so sweet and I love the tones in her woodwork!
It looks so sloppy here but this is the layout we have decided upon.
This trim will be used around the two 18x18 orange pillows.
This fabric did not photograph at all like its true color. It is closer in color to a golden thread that can be found in the trim. This will be used to back the orange pillows so she can reverse them for a different look.

Breakfast and Dining Room Lights

2009-10-08T08:37:00.003-04:00

Some of the lighting has finally been installed in my friends house! Here, in the first and second photos, you see the breakfast area light and in the third and fourth photos is the dining room
light. Instead of going with a traditional chandelier in the dining room we chose this Tiffany style light. It is truly gorgeous and looks great with the yellow walls in that room!

Knobs

2009-10-05T22:09:00.003-04:00

If you haven't seen my friends kitchen check out the post here. We ordered knobs today and chose the 4 above. They are from Anne at Home at Interknobs and come in 38 different finishes. We picked a pewter matte finish (shown on the third knob) and ordered 2 drawer pulls, 16 crystal knobs, 32 plain knobs, and 1 initial knob. The initial knob will be on a drawer on the back of the island so it will not really be to well seen. Just something a little fun to throw in. Although this looks like a lot going on there is a method to the madness of how they will be placed.....I'll be sure to get a picture!! These are all handmade knobs so you have to wait 3-4 weeks to see it!

Master Bedroom Makeover Furniture

2009-10-04T20:04:00.002-04:00

Portman bed and dresser from Restoration Hardware.

Art Deco inspired mirrored nightstand.

Quoizel light.

Master Bedroom Makeover

2009-10-03T12:36:00.005-04:00

Another friend of mine is redoing her master
bedroom and has enlisted my help! This is a
total makeover from flooring to furniture. Here
is what we have so far....
The above photo is not her bedroom but I
included it to show the colors picked for her
walls. This is actually a picture from Sherwin
Williams color visualizer. The accent wall (behind the bed) is
Rookwood Terracotta and the remaining wall
is Dromedary Camel. I think the Rookwood
Terracotta looks a little bit lighter in this picture
than it truly is but it gives you some idea of
what the look should be.

This silk swatch sample, called Sienna, is going
to be used for window treatments. They will be
panels that will go from floor to ceiling. The
windows are located on the Rookwood Terracotta
accent wall so this will give a tone on tone effect.

This fabric will be used for a duvet cover and pillow shams.
It is close in color to the Dromedary Camel being used
on the remaining walls.

The orange/rust, red, and blue fabric
will be throw pillows on the bed. There will
only be one made from the blue fabric (probably a
bolster) to give a pop of color. It ties in with
a chair in the bedroom of the same color. The rhinestone
button in the picture is an antique and I hope
to include it somewhere in the pillow designs.

Finally, a bench will be at the end of the bed
and will be covered in this animal print fabric.

It is a bit hard to tell how all of this will tie together from just these pictures. Keep in mind my photography skills are not the best (actually, they stink) so some of the colors may be off a bit.

A final decision will be made on furniture today so I will let you know what it is tomorrow and I will be sure to get before and after pictures of the room!

Kristens Creations

2009-10-01T19:22:00.003-04:00

Check out Kristen's Creations....
she has some beautiful frames and you can enter to win one in her giveaway.

Kitchen Design

2009-10-01T18:55:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine is in the process of building a new home and I have been helping her with it. The kitchen has finally been put in and the granite arrived yesterday. There is a "glitch" with the island....a bit too small......but it is fixable. Check out the photo of the leg that will be part of the island when it is finished! I can't wait to see it completed! I'll keep posting more pictures of the house as the work progresses.

And the winner is.......

2009-10-01T13:00:00.002-04:00

Christie!

Christie is the winner of the giveaway from Elsie Eleanor Designs on The Nesting Place! I am very excited to begin working on this project. Check back to see what pillow designs I come up with and watch the progress of the project here!

One more day!

2009-09-30T07:16:00.003-04:00

I just checked out The Nester's blog this morning and found out she added one more day on to the giveaway! So, if you haven't already entered use the button at the right to go to her blog and enter all the giveaways. Remember to look for Elsie Eleanor Designs!

Giveaway Day!

2009-09-29T12:53:00.001-04:00

There is still time to enter the giveaway at The Nesting Place! Use the button on the right to check it out.......look for Elsie Eleanor Designs!

Paris flea market

2009-09-28T13:33:00.005-04:00

This small pillow (8x12) is my interpretation of what I might find at a Paris flea market. Golden yellow fabrics along with an antique brown fabric combine to give this pillow a vintage feel. I added a small glass frame to the front and added a piece of brown paper with scrolls highlighted in gold (reminded me of a baroque wallpaper) and a vintage image of people walking under the Eiffel Tower. It is embellished on the outside with an antique albalony button with a rhinestone in the middle, a small vintage flower button, and is sprinkled with rhinestones from a vintage necklace. Finally, it is topped with an organza ribbon trim that has eyelash and copper threads within it.

Another pillow that is small.....but has drama.

I don't want to part with it but I am putting it in my Etsy shop!

Elsie Eleanor Designs

Witches Boot

Hanging the valance without any d's (difficulty or divorce)

Easy defined

A vortex and it's side effects

New Year, big plans and some cupcakes

Some special Santa's, a mismatched poinsettia, and finally those stairs are done!

Vintage Christmas Stocking

Lost Time, Old City, Living Room Design, and a Vintage Stocking

Heaven Sent

The Butterfly Ballet

Orifiel's Birdie

Elsie Eleanor and a master bedroom redo!

Time flies when your having fun!

Please excuse the blue for a Blue Monday mystery!

A month? No way!

Blue Monday warning: Never volunteer to dress a wire mannequin....even if it is blue.

So much time, so little to do........yeah, right!

Pamela Angus and a giveaway!

A different kind of tassel

Giveaway!

Sharing my love for red on Blue Monday

Too busy to blog!

Fornasetti Plates

Tough hide, tender heart

Blue Monday Chez Fifi

A pansy for your thoughts

Larkspur Vintage Finds

How to avoid spring cleaning

Midnight Garden on a Blue Monday

Pink Saturday Wannabe

Giveaway!

Blue days ahead!

Recommended reading

Special blues from a talented friend

Furniture shopping

Giveaway!

Here's looking at blue

Curing the winter blah's

Valentines Day Stained Glass

Blue Monday!

Design Style Guide Magazine

Finished and Gone!

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, Blue Monday

Has it been a week already?

My favorite future designer!

Tattered , torn, and worn Blue Monday

Kristina Laurendi Havens

Blue Monday and a pop of blue in a redo

This year live in the present

Planning ahead

Blue Monday, Blue Bike, and a lesson in fear!

Christmas Traditions

Blue Sled, Blue Hat, Blue Monday!

So much time.....

Blue Monday and The Queen

Star Santa

One of only two and some blue

Another Santa

Another post for Bella Dreams Holiday Party

The Nester's holiday home tour

Lisa's five choices

Remember this kitchen?

Blue Monday made me do it!

Starting Christmas

Blue moth, blue mood, blue prewrap, Blue Monday!

Flower plans

What I've been up to

Blue Monday!

Flea market finds

Hawthorne Threads new web site and giveaway!

Giveaway!!!

Wish I was there....

Blue Monday!

Final destination

Blue neck roll

And another giveaway!

Another giveaway!

Love the Decor Giveaway!

Blue Monday