Necessaries

(cell phone rings...)

Me:  Hello?
BFF Harriet:  Whatcha doing?
Me:  Sewing a skirt.  You?
BFF Harriet:  Going to Joann's.  Wanna go?
Me:  You bet.
BFF Harriet:  I'll pick you up.  Be right there.

The rest is history.  Stroll, talk, check out EVERYTHING in the store, chat, catch up, no interruptions, look at fabric, look at patterns.  We shut the joint down.  That's how we roll.

Hey, do you see a theme here?  Yeah, me too.  That's why it was a "necessary".  Well, of course I already have a pair of small scissors, needles, a seam ripper, and tweezers.  But, these are all in a cute ,"ready-to-go" apparatus.  Duh, no brainer there.

 

Another "necessary" - my other needles are bent from use!  Practical, functional.  Necessary.

Fabric, needles, and other small misc. items - $24.

Time away to breathe, think, plan.... and finish a complete sentence - priceless.

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Sharin' the Sewing & Photography Love

I just wanted to share with you today a few great blogs.  The first is one that I have followed for a few years now - Kinder Kouture by Jeannine M.  If I need a little pick-me-up and inspiration - I go to her blog.  I do believe she is Wonder Woman in disguise!  She is an incredibly talented seamstress/designer and photographer.   This lady does it all... blog, website, photography, sewing, Facebook, Flickr, Tweet, and has an Etsy shop! Even when she has a tough day, she turns it around and flips it over to look for the bright side.  So, go over and check out her beautiful blog.

The second is Photographers Blog.  (And thanks to Jeannine for sharing it with others!)  I am just beginning to pour through it but one thing that I like already is the Friday Editing Spotlight that they just started.  Christine and Leslie give editing advice each Friday and I don't know about you, but I can always use a little lot of editing advice!

And, they are having a super-cool giveaway.  (Pick me, pick me!)   But, I'm sharing that, too!  Sassy Designs has over 600 digital design items and more.  Hurry on over to the Photographers Blog and check that out as well - the contest ends soon.  Sorry for the late notice - I just found this information out myself!

Good luck!

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Photo Play

When your exposure isn't JUST right... take it to Photoshop.  Play.  Have fun.

 

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Take a seat!

Another project complete!  During our snow days, I was able to finish covering my kitchen table bench with the fabric that I used on these oven mitts.  I found it a while back and thought it was perfect to brighten up the kitchen! 

This is my plain-Jane bench before (no offense if you are named Jane, ok?)...

And now...

 

It wasn't a difficult process but I did learn some things along the way.  The first thing I learned - have a helper ready!  It was definitely a "two-man" show.  One person needs to hold and smooth the fabric and the other person will slap in those staples with a good staple gun!  

 

I purchased foam from JoAnns along with the fabric and some fairly thin vinyl.  I cut the foam lengthwise which just happened to be the perfect width for my bench leaving just a small piece left over.  I picked out the type that breathes and can be used indoors or outdoors because it seemed to hold its shape better.  Or so I thought.  More on that soon.  I cut each piece of foam diagonally at one end so that they overlapped about two inches, sat on top of each other smoothly, and left no visible mark between the two once the fabric was placed on top.

 

Adding the fabric went fairly quick.  Staple, smooth, tighten, smooth, staple, etc.  I finished the ends like a wrapped present.  When we were ready to add the vinyl (which had been purchased several months prior and had been stored in the studio under my counter space), we noticed it had too many wrinkles.  It was too thin and didn't hold a nice shape.  But, I had to temporarily cover  the bench with it since I couldn't leave fabric uncovered with a 4 year old and 8 year old in the house!  Disaster.  So, it was just stapled on loosely.  That drove me crazy because it kept coming loose.  After repeatedly yelling at the kids to pull it straight, I finally lost it one night and wrapped one end in blue painters tape to hold it in place!  Yeah, so unlike me.  But, better than having to replace the fabric!

I went back to JoAnn's (awww, too bad for me!) and purchased a heavier mil of vinyl.  MUCH better!  Ready to lay on the new vinyl?  Nope.  Since we had used the bench for several weeks, the foam had settled some and when we tried to attach the vinyl, it smooshed the fabric down and made a crease.  Not pleasing.  So, we pulled out the staples and re-stapled the fabric on each side to tighten it up a bit.   In the end, it all turned out to be a good thing.

We then stapled the vinyl on.  It holds up well and wipes up quite nicely!  Yay!  So that's my "Upholstery 101" for the day.

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Blanket of White

I always check the doors before I go to bed and when I looked through the glass of my front door, this is what I saw at 1:00 a.m.

It was so serene and untouched.  Another reminder of God's beauty.  Stay warm friends. Pin It

Pink I think

I like pink.  Enough said.

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday Harry!

Today is my friend Harriet's birthday!  When my son was little, he called her "Harry".  And, one of her daughter's called me "Mo".  So, when we are being silly, we call ourselves Harry and Mo.  Noice, huh?

Harriet was a good girl last year apparently, because Santa put a Nook under the tree for her at Christmas.  So, I made a little pouch for it just to keep it safe until she could purchase something made for a Nook.  It is padded and has a soft lining that won't scratch the it.

Then I bought my Nook. After looking at covers, I had a hard time paying that kind of money (especially after the purchase of the Nook and considering "I can make that" always comes to mind).  So I purchased a 3-pack of e-reader patterns from Birdiful Stitches and made my own.  It went together very nicely and keeps my Nook protected and pretty!  Included with the patterns is an e-reader hipster.  Gonna have to make that very soon.  Check out her patterns - way awesome!  She's done the hard part so you can do the fun part!

 

 

Harriet and I have been so busy that we haven't even been able to go to Barnes and Noble together with our Nooks so we can sit together in silence while reading them!  So here's  my somewhat selfish plan...

Harriet, when you get a moment to read this -

• Let's get together SOON.  I mean, put it on the calendar no matter what and get together.
• Let's go to B&N with our Nooks.
• I'm buying you whatever delish beverage they offer.
• And bringing you a little something-something I made.
• And if you would like a new cover with a clever little pocket and button - say the word and it will be so!

Happy Birthday Harry!

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Coasting...

With the crazy weather and the kids having a few "snow days" away from school, I decided I would indulge in a little bit of holiday myself.  They were all content to stay bundled up in their rooms (teenagers) or come in and out repeatedly from playing in the snow (young in's).  

I finished a skirt that had been sitting there for the past week or two.  My youngest claimed it for herself.  Fortunately, it was her size.  Wow, who would have guessed?

 

I'm sure everyone else (and their dog) has this awesome little light, but I just bought mine.  Having held off from spending the $50 on it, I had a weak moment at the local quilt shop.  That little person (not the lady at the quilt shop) was tapping on my shoulder saying things like, "You deserve it" and "Its a tool, its totally necessary" and even worse "You're old - your eyes need all the help they can get."  Thanks, thanks a lot.  Anyway, I held on to the guilt for a few moments and after using it, I don't know why I didn't buy it sooner!  HA!  (Little voice.. "See, I told you so...")

 

Another great tool in my arsenal of studio goodies - my new walking foot.  Oh yeah, it rocks!  Again, don't know how I lived without this little puppy!  Making these little coasters was a breeze, I tell ya!  I'll be making more of these very soon!  I found the tutorial on Martha Stewart's website.  Nothing fancy.  Just straight lines.  

 

 

Maybe now that I've made friends with the walking foot, I will venture out to sew some cool "mug rugs" like the these from Morgane from Bear, Dolly and Moi.  She even made a tray for them!

And this one from Jennifer of That girl... That Quilt.  Apparently, she is a neighbor of mine.  Well, here in the metroplex anyway!  These ladies inspire me to further this whole quilting experience!  Look, a place for her tea and spoon!

So what have you been doing during the blizzard of 2011? Pin It

Studio Bunting and Chalkboard Re-do

My chalkboard/magnetic board needed a new look.  I made some magnets that I intended to put at the top corners and possibly string ribbons across and down each side.  Nope.  Wasn't working for me.

So, I grabbed a few scrapbooking supplies and went to work.  Unfortunately, I don't have a Silhouette or Cricut so I had to do some of it the old-fashioned way.  I really had fun though with the process.  It was one of those "slow down and enjoy it" kind of projects, not "hurry up, dinner needs to be made" kind of projects!

 

I used three different papers, ink to age the edges of the bunting and letters, vintage seam binding and  buttons, stickers, and pearls.  After I affixed the letters and stickers, I sewed the seam binding to the button and then glued on the buttons.  Voila!

 

 

I also made some little yo-yo and button  magnets.  They are so tiny and cute and will hold up some pretties if I ever decide what I want to add to the chalkboard.  I kind of like it the way it is right now.  Simple.

I need to write some sort of inspiring or profound quote, too.  Do you have any you would like to share?

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