Lucy's Daughter

After Christmas Backlog

2012-01-09T10:45:00.000-05:00

I have some wonderful Christmas presents and ideas to share with everyone, but I've been super busy, especially since we just had our family Christmas gathering yesterday!
So, since I don't have time to write out a post for that just yet, I thought I'd share a couple pics of my Christmas Bostons.
Trust me when I say Santa Paws was very good to these two lil terrors...errr...terriers.

Here's Jovi, our youngest wearing her new Christmas pajamas that she plain hates, but she knew she was not getting a dingo without posing for at least one pic with them on:

And then of course we have Princess Blair who is twelve, cranky and doesn't let that missing eye slow her down even a little. She hates this Santa suit, but we still make her wear it for 5 mins every Christmas. We did compromise and not put the booties on her this year:

I'll be back soon with more actual crafty stuff, I promise!!
Always,
K

Good Wreath, Bad Wreath

2011-12-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

Who knew there could be such a thing, right? I thought all wreaths were happy, pretty decorative love. Not so. Not so at all, my friends.

Let's start with the good wreaths because they make me quite happy. These matching little darlings are going to hang on either side of the steps leading up to my front door. These were so easy it literally took me 10 minutes.

Believe it or not, they are just dollar store wreaths. I hot glued mini ornaments from Target and tied and bow and viola'! The thing that took the longest was making dollar store wreaths look like wreaths and not like a piece of wire with green spokes sticking out. I'm really in love with them!

Now, on to bad wreaths. You know all those gorgeous wreaths you see on Pinterest and Flickr that say things like "this was so easy to do" and "OMG, this just came together naturally". Well, they're lying. Or maybe not lying...maybe it's like childbirth, a few hours after the baby is born and is healthy and swaddled up cooing at you, you forget that you just ejected that living being from your body. Perhaps these wreaths look so darn cute afterwards that you suddenly forget all the burnt fingers from hot glue, the way the bulbs will not and do not just settle into place and no part of making it was fun. Not a dang part.

I will never forget. I will never make another one. Maybe I'm a little bitter because mine does not look darn cute. It's more oblong than circular and the stupid coat hanger shows through. I knew about 1/4 of the way through that I was going to hate it, but I was committed to finishing. I've been working on it for two weeks now, just so you know. And I cheated and had J cut the stupid clothes hanger down today so I could stop adding balls and just finish it.

So fair warning...don't expect cute. Expect done....and maybe passable from a distance:

I'm almost embarrassed to show it. Can you see the white coat hanger showing in places. No one said that would happen. No one. I am going to fix that because it's driving me crazy, but I'll be hot gluing a couple of baby ornaments on there, not feeding them onto some stupid dumb coat hanger that would probably be happier still hanging in my closet unused.

So anyway, that was my crafty day, how about yours??

Always,

More Pink Christmas

2011-12-10T15:14:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm still obsessed with my styrofoam trees. This one was actually made last year, but not finished in time for Christmas.

I simply took the idea of the fabric Christmas ornaments that I had been making for gifts for a few years and adapted it to the cone.

Here is a few of the ornaments I couldn't seem to part with. I keep them out year round in a big cookie jar.

Today we're decorating the house and watching a marathon of Harry Potter movies that we DVR'd. I hope to get some baking and Christmas crafting in also. Looks like another late night for me!

And better late than never I'm linking to Thrifty Thursday's on Quilted Cupcake!

Always,

Christmas Flag

2011-12-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure If I ever got around to posting my Christmas Flag last year, so as I just dragged it out from the cave of my basement I decided to post it. I just used sturdy canvas and machine appliqued the trees on. The first pic is before it was exposed to the elements:

The next pic is after it had been outside for awhile. The rain and snow caused the fusible adhesive I used to crinkle the trees and border a bit, but I liken it to a nice crinkly quilt after free motion quilting and washing. **Note that the flag is situated under a covered porch and only indirectly gets wet**

Hope you like it!

Always,

Homespun Holidays

2011-12-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

I am a huge fan of Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew. She does amazing work and has awesome ideas. Two years ago she had a tutorial for a Copy Cat Scarf based on one she saw at The Gap. My sister made me one for Christmas that year and it's still one of my favorites.

I decided to make the scarf for some quick gifts this year and am so glad I did. The hardest (and by hardest I mean most time intensive) part is the fringing. I sewed one up yesterday to make sure it turned out right after washing before doing the other 6 I have planned to make.

Here it is fringed but not yet washed:

After a quick wash and tumble in the dryer, here it is all fringy:

And a close up of the fringing:

I'm so happy how it turned out and am off to make the other 6. I hope to have them all sewn and ready for fringing before the Ravens game today so I can do all that tedious fringing while watching the Ravens stomp the Browns!

Think I can do it, the game is in 3 hours? (I wouldn't place money on it, I'm horrible at time management!)

Always,
K

Thrift Store Score

2011-11-26T12:54:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my sister's and I were getting together on Black Friday to craft. We had a great time, even if we barely got anything done! We decided we needed to go shopping, which threw off most of our crafty time, but I got a bunch of goodies from the thrift store so that made me happy. (And of course the bonus was that even though we didn't craft much, we did spend time together and that was what was most important!)

One of my favorite finds was this Candy Cane Softy. As a lover of anything polka dots this was right up my alley. It was in great condition, but I wasn't loving the lace.

After a bit of pretty white rick rack and 5 minutes of my time, it looks much better and is all ready to hang....somewhere!

I also scored a free 6' bookshelf compliments of my sister. It was headed to the thrift store and her wonderful hubby (Mr. Cupcake) and my nephew finagled it into the back of my Rodeo so that I have more fabric storage in my studio!
Today I'm going to attempt to make the Tulle Tutu Tree from the tutuorial on Quilted Cupcake. I got the prettiest vase to use as the base! We'll see how that goes, I've never worked with Tulle before!
Always,
K

My Not-Quite-Martha Mat

2011-11-25T00:07:00.000-05:00

When I first saw this awesome door mat a la Martha Stewart over at Say Yes to Hoboken, I was immediately in love. I was going to make that mat!

I ran to Home Depot the next day and had the nicest boy cut my wood for me. Hmmm, the sizes Martha suggests for the length would cover my whole tiny porch! No problem, I'll improvise and lay my slats length-wise. Spray paint? Those are some pretty cool colors, I'm going to get each of them. Check.

Then, I left all of those pretty colors at my sister's house for, oh say about 6 months?

Not being known as a big improviser (or being known for improvising or coloring outside of the lines EVER) I took this opportunity to give it a try. I'm not completely pleased with the results, but I am very happy that I did at least complete the project. I ended up using it indoors by my basement door since I didn't get as far as weather proofing it..

I still have another set of 8 slats that I'm going to do another mat with...maybe go for all the same color or one or two colors instead. If I get the motivation up I may do a blue/gray combo for winter.

Tomorrow I'm off to craft with my sisters for the day....I can't wait!

Always,

Natural Tree

2011-11-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

So this styrofoam tree was made specifically for J. He is NOT a "Deck The Halls" kind of guy. He's a bah humbug, Christmas is too commercialized kinda guy. So This basic tree made with jute, a stick star and just a couple of pearl beads is right up his alley.

He liked it...even though he just HAD to point out the star reminds him of the Blair Witch Project stick piles. Thanks, J.

Oh, and after a trip to the dentist this morning, I already stopped at the dollar store for more styrofoam trees. (The last two they had...I wonder who's been buying them all? Oh yeah...me!)

Enjoy your week!

Always,

Pink Christmas

2011-11-20T17:45:00.000-05:00

I admit it, I have an addiction to the styrofoam cones from the dollar store. I cannot go there without walking out with one (or three). I man, they're a DOLLAR. Do you know how much Michael's or AC Moore charges for the same thing? Well, neither do I, but I assure you, it's not a dollar!

This is the first creation for my stryofoam tree display this year:

Can you say cuteness? I used up most of my left over pink Prima flowers from back in my scrapbooking days and added a few random pink and white beads to give it some depth. The pink polka dot ribbon topper is some of my favorite ribbon.

I admit this took some time pinning all those darn flowers, but I just love the outcome!

Stay tuned for more styroform trees to join the display. Would love to hear any ideas anyone has for decorating the half dozen or so I still have to do!

Always,

Candy Jar Christmas

2011-11-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've gone a bit Christmas crazy this year. Christmas is normally a pretty sad time of year for me snce the passing of my Mom, but I'm really trying to get into the spirit this year. Mom loved Christmas and I know she wouldn't want me to be sad.

I've been wanting to do more ornament jars and this Candy Jar fit the bill. I picked it up a year ago at a yard sale for .50. How I beat my sister to it, I'll never know! This one is going to be the centerpiece on my dining room table.

What have you been working on?

Always,
K

More Homemade Christmas

2011-11-11T20:41:00.000-05:00

I made this apothacary jar last year because I saw a really cute tutorial for it. Unfortunately, once it was done and filled with gum balls I didn't like it so much. For one thing, the ball on the top is too big. It's sat in my craft studio trying to fit in but not quite making it. I decided the other day that it was time for it to get donated to the thrift store to make room for something I really liked.

Then I came across a cute idea on Pinterest (where else?!?) and I decided to repurpose it for Christmas instead. Ditch the gumballs, add some epson salt "snow" and a couple of vintage ornaments and I'm kinda liking it again. I'm going to leave it as is for now, but I think once Christmas is over I'll repaint it white and scuff it up some. Maybe fill it with felt hearts for Valentines day? We'll see!

Here's a close up of the vintage ornaments I scored at a yard sale last summer. A box of 9 for .50 in perfect condition. They were originally bought from Valley View Farms for those Maryland locals who may know where I mean. I couldn't find a date, but the box of 8 was 6.99 originally.

I still have several Christmas projects to share, so stay tuned!

Always,

Linking to:

Deck The Halls With Buttons!

2011-11-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

I love buttons. What crafter doesn't? But I tend to horde them, not use them. Lately I've seen tons of ideas on Pinterest for using them up so I decided to try my hand at a simple button tree.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Out of pocket cost was $0 since I used an old frame, buttons, beads and some linen fabric I already had on hand. This has definately made me want to make more and more Christmas projects early.

I usually wait until, around December 24th at 2am to start making Christmas projects, so I'm over 2 months early this year. I will have some more Christmas projects to share in the next few days. And maybe another fall project or two before it's too late to use all those yummy fall colors in some projects!

K

As usual, linking to
I swear I wouldn't get my posts done if my wonderful sister didn't remind me that I forgot to link to her weekly blog party!

Christmas Lantern

2011-10-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

So far, this is my absolute favorite Christmas project I've done this year. I'm not sure this one will be topped. Even J loves it and he seriously hates Christmas decorations.

I got the original idea from Welcome Sunshine Home via Pinterest (of course!). I was obsessed with making this lantern. When my sisters and I went shopping this week at several local thrift stores I found this lantern for $2.92. Score!

It took me about 30 mins (and most of that was fussing around with it) to make it all Christmas-y!

It's so shiny and pretty it may just have to be one of those things that sits out in my craft room year round.

Have you started on your Christmas crafts yet?

K

More Fall Fun

2011-10-22T13:12:00.001-04:00

I'm still busy crafting! Yesterday I made this cute wreath:

I wanted to keep it simple and I like that the star pattern on the wreath is visible.

I also found a tutorial for this cool star ornament from House Revivals that I kind of modified for my tastes. (Which totally means that I did not follow the directions and ended up with something different...twice!)

Both were pretty quick to make by using cardstock quality scrapbook paper.

I'll be spending the day doing a few more crafts, so check back soon for another update!

K

Linking to:

Pumpkin Trio

2011-10-20T17:56:00.002-04:00

There is no better time to catch up than fall. I have finally climbed out of the mojo-funk I've been in and have been crafting away at fall and even Christmas projects!

Today I wanted to share the pumpkin trio I made for $3. I found these cute lil pumpkins at the dollar store for just a dollar each and everything else I already had "in stock" as my sister says.

How cute are these guys? They were pretty quick and easy too, which is a huge plus in my book.

I'll show you some close ups and hopefully you will love them as much as I do!

The polka dot pumpkin was the easiest. I just made a little ribbon from a tutorial I found on Pinterest (OMG, I am addicted to Pinterest, aren't you?!?) and added the dots by dipping the eraser of a pencil into black paint.

For the ribbon pumpkin I used dressmakers pins that I had gotten in a batch of stuff picked up from freecycle to pin the ribbon to the top and bottom of the pumpkin and tied another ribbon on the top. The orange ribbon looks kind of off in this picture because of the lights but it matches much better in person.

This one is my personal favorite. I call it a doodle pumpkin. I drew the doodles onto the pumpkin with pencil then used more dressmakers pins to complete the designs. The light really dulled them down, they are very bling-ish in person! I'm not sure the aqua ribbon will stay. I was trying to do something diffferent instead of a bow and I think I will have to find something else because I'm not loving the ribbon.

Check back this weekend for some more crafty updates. I have lots to share thanks to my revived motivation!

K

PS I'm linking to my sister, Quilted Cupcake's, new feature, Thrifty Thursday's. Pop on over and check it out and add your thrifty/low cost craft projects!

Better Late Than Never?

2011-04-10T02:22:00.000-04:00

Yes, yes, I know, I have once again dropped the ball and let too much time pass before an update. And this little post will attest to it, since I've been wanting to share the wonderful present my oldest sister made me for my birthday....last October. Can you say procrastinator?
It's wonderful to have crafty sisters who understand the need to be creative and who give the MOST AWESOME handmade gifts.
This is just one example:

I love this for a ton of reasons, but mostly because my sister cared enough to make it for me. It was one of the best birthday gifts I've ever received! Now I just have to clean up my studio and get back to my crafty ways!

The weather is supposed to be in the high 60's tomorrow and I'm hoping to get some quality painting time in. There is a small bookcase in my hallway that is just begging to be painted and distressed. I wish I could share a pic with you now, but, honestly, I didn't realize just how dusty the darn thing was in the picture and I'm way too embarrassed to post it. I'll make sure to take before and afters if I do get to work on it tomorrow though!

always,

Have you seen my mojo?

2011-03-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

I took a bit of a break...okay, a bit more than a bit...let's face it, I dropped the ball. But after much badgering from my sister's I'm trying to get back into being a crafty girl. I'm starting small, like peeking at my favorites on Flikr to see what inspires me.

Honestly, a lot inspires me, but I can't seem to find the motivation to get started. I actually have worked on a few things here and there, mostly Christmas stuff (told you I was slacking!) that I hope to share later this week.

For today I thought I'd share some of what inspired me on Flickr then go from there, so here goes!

I'll start with my sister, for obvious reasons. You may know her as Quilted Cupcake. She inspires me on a daily basis. She runs her own business, runs a house with two boys (nuff said), hosts a crafy podcast and makes time every single day to be creative. Below is her candy display from this past Christmas. I just love how she puts things together. (By the way, I have two other crafty sisters that I plan to post about in a separate post. See, I'm planning ahead!)

Rick Cheadle inspires me too. I know I've shared some of his whimsical painted furniture before, but he keeps coming out with more stuff I love. I think this one is my favorite so far:

I love pillows as well. This one by monaw2008 is right up my alley with the red and teal houses:

I have to admit, zipper flowers entrance me. I can't figure out how they turn out so darn cute from just a zipper! Love this one from The Queen of Re:

This quilt from lalasmom is a hoot! I love applique and although these owls are probably meant for a childs's bed, I'd love to have this on my bed!

So that's it for now. Just my way of dipping my feet back into the world of blog land. I'm going to try my best to go back to posting more regularly. I know once summer gets closer and I start going to yard sales and pull out the spray paint I'll be back in the swing of things!

Always,
K

Halloween Wreath

2010-09-15T09:14:00.002-04:00

I'm so excited to have finally finished my Halloween wreath! I have a Scarlett O'Hara complex. You kow, the whole "I'll think about it tomorrow" kinda gal. I usually get in the mood to do Halloween crafts right about November 1st. Seriously.

This year I was determined to complete my take on Piccadilly Peddler's Christmas themed wreath but for Halloween.

I am so pleased with how it turned out that I may have to make another for Christmas. It took a lot of time to cut the circles, but I think the final product was worth the effort!

Also, a few of you have asked me how my dog is doing after her eye injury last month. Sadly, she ended up losing her eye due to a condition called a melting cornea. Trust me, is just as gross as it sounds. The good news is that she is 100% back to normal and is dealing well with the loss of her left eye. I thought I'd share a before and after pic of her.

***WARNING: The after picture is not gross, but it is a little shocking, so stop right here if you are the slightest bit squemish***

Blair before:

And after:

By the way, her eye does not always bulge like that, but she hates having her picture taken and gets all wide-eyed when the camera comes out! Our gal is a real trooper and it's so good to have her back to her playful, loving self. (I know my sister will disagree with the loving part, but honestly, her son only had to have 2 or 3 stitches and that was years ago!) She just turned 11 on Sept. 11th, so to bounce back so well at this age is a huge relief to us.

We are thinking of dressing her as a pirate for Halloween...eye patch and all!

I still have a few projects in the works, so I'm planning to do some crafting today and hope to post them later this week!

Always,
K

Linking up to:

Sunday Sundry

2010-09-12T19:51:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I took the time to sit down and browse through all the wonderfulness that is Flickr. I found so many things that inspired me today that I thought I would share some.

Rick Cheadle Art and Designs wowed me with this wall mural painted on paneling:

I think I love it most of all because I rent a house that has the tacky 70's paneling and I dream of doing something like this to it. Alas, my landlord is cool...but not that cool.

I love these adorable pincushions from mamacjt:

And this sweet wall hanging was also made by mamacjt:

I am amazed by this life-sized quilted Pink Panther shared by King Kong 911:

Big B always inspires me with her sweet embroidery work. I already bought both her "Merry Christmas" set and the "Gingerbread" set from her etsy shop!

And last, but definately not least is this wonderful softy created by Kell Ingram from the Melly & Me pattern "Magoo".

I absolutely adore Melly & Me patterns and vow to one day attempt one. I'm afraid that my limited sewing skills wouldn't do it justice. Magoo is my favorite, but the mushroom backpack runs a close second!

So you can see my mind is mostly on sewing right now. My sister's and I are headed to Lancaster on Monday to shop for fabric and donuts. We cannot go to Lancaster without going to Shady Maple Farm Market for their awesome donuts!

Always,

We Will Never Forget

2010-09-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

Three days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 I wrote this poem. Every year, I post it and I still light a candle.

Tonight I Lit A Candle

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those that died

I left the candle burning bright, to celebrate their lives.
We lost some treasured loved ones, their faces near and dear
We never had to know them to miss their presence here.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those we lost
To let them know we love them, are sorry they paid the cost.
We won’t forget your bravery, in the face of trying times
We vow to hold your memory close engraved upon our minds.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those we mourn
For it took your needless passing, for unity to form
Our nation vows its vengeance; your deaths were not in vain
Our flag still flies, our bells ring loud, freedom will still reign.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls for whom we pray,
Remembering your sacrifice with each and every day.
God Bless your souls and those of all the ones you left behind
And I pray that one day all will rest in any peace that they can find.

Tonight please light a candle, and add your prayers to mine
Let our silent blessings shout beyond the boundaries of this time.
Do not forget in months to come of how we feel today
Let September 11, 2001 become an Unsung Heroes day.

KAH 9-14-2001 (In memory of the many victims of the terrorist attack on the United States 9-11-2001)
(This is my original work, please do not duplicate it unless credit is given. Thank You.)

Pretty Painted Jars

2010-09-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

A quick and simple idea I saw on another blog a few weeks ago inspired me to try these painted jars.

What I love about them is that instead of the mess of painting the outside, you just pour some paint on the inside and shake, shake, shake it (with the lid on, of course!) to spread the paint around. After shaking, I added a little more paint and then kinda of turned the jars to cover the places I missed.

I will warn you that the jars take several days to completely dry, at least mine did. They probably would have dried quicker if I had set them outside, but I didn't.

I'm not sure what I will do with them yet, but the blogger I borrowed the idea from added vinyl letters to the outside to label the jars and it was adorable! (If you are that blogger or know that blogger, please let me know and I will definately give you credit for inspiring me and link up your blog!)

I'm linking this post to the Power of Paint Party over at Domestically Speaking. I love all the inspiration found there!

Please check back soon, I've just finished my first Halloween decoration and I can't wait to share it with you! Here's a peek to tease you a bit:

Always,
K

P.S. I'm still collecting donations for my walk to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Click on the donation graphic on the side bar if you can spare a dollar or two. It will take you to my fundraising page and you will be able to dedicate your donation to a loved one if you'd like. Your donation is made directly to the Alzheimer's Association when you use a credit card. I do not see your card, your name or any of your personal information!

Framed Door

2010-08-28T20:20:00.000-04:00

My sister, Jean, told me about the way cool frame that Blue Cricket Design used as a wreath on her front door and we both decided we needed one!

Jean, being a much more motivated craftster than me, finished hers a lot quicker than I did. Here is a peek at hers, but you must go check out her before shot at Quilted Cupcake because I would have never seen such cuteness in this frame as it was before.

While you are there, take some time to check out her other crafty goodness. She hosts a free podcast on quilting, sewing, knitting and general craftiness that rocks! (And I'm not just saying that because she mentions me often!)

Anyway, the frame for my door came from the local Good Will. Here is the before:

Not as bad as Jean's before, but when I went to pull it apart and found it was all foam core and it still had the original price tag of $29.99, I knew someone got ripped off. Luckily, it wasn't me, I only paid $2!

After some much needed scrubbing, painting, sanding and staining, here it is on my door.

I used a Martha Stewart paint sample from home depot for the paint and the bow is a strip of white scrap fabric.
The thing is, it's kind of bigger than I pictured it (no pun intended) but I'm hoping to replace it with a fall wreath next month, so it's staying as is. (I still have hopes of duplicating the Piccadilly Peddler's fabric wreath in fall colors, but it's slow going!)

I am working on a new project today that I hope to share in the next couple of days. Hopefully it turns out as good as I'm imagning it in my head!
Always,
K

Time For A Quickie

2010-08-21T14:05:00.000-04:00

My sister said I needed to post because I hadn't had an update in awhile. Nevermind that we have spent the last two weeks running to the vet's office for both dogs...8 times total and I won't even add up the $$ spent!

So here is a quick project I did.

I bought this tray at my local thrift for $1 and decided to give it a makeover.

It started as a small bread tray:

And ended up as a catch-all tray:

I think I'm going to use it to sit on my work desk to hold post-its, staples, etc. I haven't sealed it yet, I'm not sure if I'm going to. I may just use it as is and replace the paper when needed so that it is constantly different. (In other words, I'm too lazy to seal it!)

That's it for now, hope you're happy now, Jan! Love you!

Always,

Sew What?

2010-08-12T09:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I've updated, I know. I reinjured my shoulder and needed to take some down time from my crafting. I spent most of my down time reading and relaxing, but I was itching to do something crafty this past weekend.

I haven't been sewing much since it got warm enough out to spray paint and I was having a hard time getting motivated to start again. Luckily, I have two crafty sisters, a crafty niece and an adorable great nephew who convinced me it was time to get back to sewing! I was conflicted if I should go due to my shoulder problems, but who could say no when this little guy is going to be there?

I spent most of the day Saturday with the girls (and the little guy) and had such a wonderful time!

I was originally going to work on a Halloween themed wreath inspired by the one I saw on Piccadilly Peddlers but I was totally sidetracked by the projects that my two sisters were working on.

Jan took the time to teach us a quick way to make fabric post cards. She even precut all of the pieces for us so that we could just assemble and sew them. Love her (and the awesome banana bread she made) so much!

I ended up making the cat postcard that day and came home and made the other two on Sunday. I'm not really thrilled by the two I made on Sunday, but I'm still getting the hang of it!

Then, Jean showed us how to make a wonky star block by following the tutorial found on The Silly Bodilly blog. (Jean did NOT precut for us, but I love her anyway!) We all made patriotic patterned blocks to donate to one of our fellow quilters in our guild. She is assembling quilts for her husband and his fellow soldiers serving overseas. The one I made at Jan's house turned out pretty good for my first time...not too wonky though!

The Halloween themed one I made at home the next day did not fare so well, but was much more wonky! Me thinks I tried too hard for the wonkiness:

It was great to get back into sewing and I can't wait to get together with the girls (and boy) again. I always learn something new! We were all very excited that Steph has taken the leap into sewing with us. If she lets me, I'll share the adorable skirt she made with the help of Jan a couple of weeks ago in a later post.

Hope everyone else had as productive a weekend as I did!

Always,

Kelly

P.S. A huge thanks to Lynette who made my first donation for the 2010 Memory Walk. If you are able to contribute, please click on the link on the side bar!

We Interrupt This Blog For a Special Announcement

2010-08-09T22:53:00.001-04:00

I will be updating soon with some recent craftiness, but first, I wanted to make my yearly plea.

On October 30th I will, once again, be walking in the Memory Walk to help raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. As I have shared in the past, my mom, Lucy, lost her battle against Alzheimer's on 12/21/2008. I started this blog as a tribute to her and to the creativeness that I inherited from her.

Before she passed, I promised her that I would do my part to help find a cure for Alzheimer's. When she was first diagnosed, she was literally devastated. She wanted to give up. Whenever she was having a bad day, I would tell her that there is hope. I told her that every day, new advances are being made and there may be a cure right around the corner.

Sadly, it was not found in her lifetime. But I have not given up the fight. There are still millions of people suffering from Alzheimer's.

I am not someone who likes to ask for things from others. I am the one who always buys the candy bars, or orders the pizzas, or the wrapping paper or whatever is asked of me to support my friends' children. I don't have children, I don't have purse parties or jewelry parties and ask my friends to buy something (not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's not me.) Once a year, I ask this. For my Mom...and all of those that have lost the fight, but especially for those still fighting.

Please visit my fundraising page Lucy's Daughter and give. Even if you give a dollar, it is $1 more towards finding a cure.

Always

2010-07-17T23:20:00.001-04:00

Ever since J and I met, our saying has been "Always". Every email, every card, every letter, even every quick jotted note is signed "Always". I don't even remember how it started, to be honest, but I do remember how that one word has gotten us through a lot. It's our way to tell each other that no matter what, we will always support and love each other. When he was living in Michigan and I was living in Maryland, it was our way of looking forward to a future together at some point. Even while we were getting our lives together and were just friends, both dating other people, we would end our conversations or emails with "Always". If you notice, that is also how I sign each blog entry.

So when I found this tin sign for $3 at the thrift store, I knew it was going to go from "All Star" to "Always" and I knew I had the perfect spot to hang it.

It didn't take much, just a couple of coats of black paint to cover the old lettering, a little sandpaper to scuff it up a bit and my good old Cricut to make the letters.

I love how it turned out!

Before: After:

I love how even though I painted over the crackle paint, it stil shows the texture through the black. This is now hanging in the upstairs hallway and serves as a reminder of our love and committment to one another. I have more ideas to decorate the hallway and hope to share more pictures soon.

Unfortunately, I'm not feeling well this weekend, so no yard sale or thrift store finds to report, but I hope to be back in action for some good finds next week!

Please take some time to check out over 200 more links to Monday wonderfulness at Between Naps on the Porch! I *heart* that blog!

Always,

Kelly

Linking to:

Blame It On The Rain

2010-07-11T19:06:00.009-04:00

Doesn't it always seem like the days you really, really want to go yard saling or paint it always rains? Ugh, I hate that! All week I was browsing blogs and making a list of the items I wanted to look for at this week's yard sales & flea markets. It was over 100 degrees 3 days last week. The weekend called for cooler temps and sun. And then Friday they changed the forecast. Rats.

So Saturday was a big old bust as far as yard sales. I did make it to a couple of thrift stores, but it was pouring rain all day and my mood was as dark as the clouds in the sky.

Luckily, today I woke up to sunshine! There was a new flea market opening today near me, but as I rolled out of bed at 7am and saw the sun, I just wanted to paint, paint, paint. I know J appreciated that I didn't go out and drag more stuff home this week. I thought it best that I work on some of the things I've had on my list.

First I worked on my enamel topped cart. I first posted about this little treasure here a few weeks ago.

This wasn't in great shape, with a chip in the enamel, rust on the trays and missing 3 out of 4 wheels...but for $2, I really couldn't complain. I've been working on cleaning it up when I had a few minutes here and there. I washed it down really well (cobwebs, ick!) and thanks to my new blog friend, Joselyn over at The DIY Spot, I found some Porc-a-fix at Home Depot to fix the chipped spot. The color doesn't match perfectly, but it looks much better since I used it! Since it was raining yesterday, I took some time to cover and tape off the top so I would be ready to paint when the weather cleared up.

I really needed something to hold my small TV and printer in my home office (read: dining room) because my old set up was just atrocious. Don't laugh, this is what I previously had:

Is that bad or what? It was an old TV stand made out of particle board. If that wasn't bad enough, the printer/scanner/copier that J bought me for Christmas didn't fit on the adjustable shelf, even on the lowest setting so we had to take the shelf out and put the printer on the bottom. (Now let me be frank here, I am not a big bender-overer and kneeling in front of this thing while I printed, copied and scanned documents for work did NOT put me in my happy place.) To make matters worse, the TV stand wasn't tall enough and we had to use the gray thing shown in the picture (I have not idea what it even is) to make the TV tall enough to see. So, you get the picture, no part of my old set up was working for me.

Once I cleaned the enamel topped table, repaired the chip and added a few coats of white paint to the metal part, here is my new set up:

Much better! It's almost even with my desktop and the printer is accessible from my desk chair...yay! We did run into a slight problem with the wheels. I had planned to buy new casters to replace the broken wheels, but it turned out that the wheels were welded onto the base and not easily replaceable. I had to have J saw them off and I padded the feet with some felt so as not to rip the carpet.

I'm really happy with my new set up. I still plan to get a couple of baskets to hold my work stuff on the bottom shelf, but for now, it's fine. I also had to crop this picture pretty close because the desks on either side of the table (work computer desk and home computer desk) are old and ugly and still on the list to be replaced.

Next I moved on to making a cloche. I've been wanting to make one since I've seen them popping up all over the web and I finally found a decent cheese dome on my thrift store trip on Saturday. I've had the candle stick for awhile and have been saving it for this project. Here is before:

And here is after:

I'm so thrilled with how this turned out! The texture of the candle stick really adds something unique to it, I think. I did some light sanding around the edges and on the points of the texture to age it some and it turned out great. I have no idea what I'm going to put under the dome, but I know exactly where this piece is going! As soon as I redo the small bookcase in my upstairs hallway, this little beauty will be sitting on top of it...and I'm promising myself not to junk it up with all the paraphernalia that is currently on it!

I have a couple of more projects that are in the drying stage that I hope to share during the week, but this is it for now. What did you do this weekend?

Please check out other crafty projects shared for Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch and take a few minutes to check out the awesome redo of a church into a house.

Always,

Kelly

Linking to:

ReStore Love

2010-07-09T10:52:00.001-04:00

I have been infatuated with the Habitat for Humanity ReStore since I found out about this little gem of a store a few weeks ago from Cassie's blog Primitive & Proper. I go there once a week to visit items I really, really want but can't justify. Most recently it was this beautiful piece that I just drooled and drooled over, but had no way of getting because it was $85, all one piece and it wouldn't fit down my narrow steps. I hope someone gave it a good home, because I went to visit it today and it was gone. **sigh**

But I came across something I just couldn't leave without. This little table just called out to me and for $15 it was mine. I love how the table top is actually a removable tray! I can't wait to get to work on redoing this piece! It needs a lot of love and some reinforcing, but it's going shabby chic in the next few weeks!

Tomorrow is yard sale/flea market day, can't wait to see if I find any new treasures!

Always,

Kelly

Linking to:

Nanny's Chair

2010-07-05T18:01:00.008-04:00

I did it! Even though the heat was atrocious, I just couldn't wait any longer to finish my chair. A few posts back I asked for help deciding on which fabric to use on the chair seat. No one picked Option D, but that is the fabric I chose. Mostly because I decided that I wanted to paint the chair red and the fabric matched perfectly. I have to say, this project went so much quicker than I thought it would. I had primered the chair yesterday so all I had to do was add the red paint today. Its not a perfect paint job, but I absolutely love the way it turned out. I was going to distress it after painting, but the fabric is so modern looking, I thought that distressing would take away from it.

The funny thing is, that when I finally removed the old fabric, I found that my Nanny had recovered the chair as well. I thought she had bought it with the ugly green home dec fabric, but apparently, she bought it with some kind of funky animal print fabric and recovered it. It was so degraded and gross I couldn't even take pictures of it. It actually fell apart as I removed it. I was hoping to reuse the padding, but that wasn't going to happen, so I used quilt batting and went to work. I hit a slight snag when the staples for the new staple gun I bought didn't fit, but I was able to reuse the small upholstery tacks that were used on the original piece and it turned out just fine. Now the seat is much cushier than before and it brightens up my studio.

What do you think?

Please check out other Monday eye candy at Between Naps On the Porch! I'm also participating in my first PoPP on Domestically Speaking, the transformations there are amazing!

Always,

Kelly

Linking to:

Nine Out of Ten Ain't Bad!

2010-07-04T20:35:00.001-04:00

So the 10 days are up and I've completed 9 out of the 10 tasks I assigned myself! I have to say, I'm quite proud that I did that much. I tend to procrastinate...a lot! But I was determined and am happy with what I accomplished.

I really like how my apothocary jar turned out. I was inspired by Stephie over at Made By Stephie on this one! I changed it up a bit, using a smaller jar, gray paint instead of silver (I hate silvery paint for some reason) and making my own finial for the top. I did buy a finial for my jar, but just didn't like the look of it. Because I used a smaller jar, the finial was too big. I'm happy with how it turned out with the changes and think it looks cute filled with colorful gumballs!

Although not one of my tasks, I also wanted to make a luminary like I saw on The Idea Attic so after picking up a canning jar for .25 at a recent yard sale and buying glass frosting paint at Home Depot, I made this. The star stickers were a bit of a challenge to remove after painting, but well worth the effort it took to peel them off and use a bit of Undo to get the sticker residue off.

For another "off the list" project,I made a fun sign for my studio. I broke rule number one of spray painting and did not primer the board first so it took almost an entire can of paint for the board. (I seem to have to relearn this lesson every summer as I begin my outside painting.) This whole project took much longer than normal due to the primer issue and the fact that it took me 6 hours, yes 6 hours, to cut the letters out. Why? Because although I knew right where my Cricut was, where the cartridge I wanted was, even where the cord was...I had no idea where the cutting mat was. I put it in that super secret place where cutting mats go and promptly forget about it. But isn't that the point of super secret hiding places anyway? Anyway, instead of just tearing through boxes, drawers and totes, I decided to do more organizing and labeling and finally gave up looking for the mat, resolved to put off the cutting of the letters until Sunday when I could run to the store for a replacement. Then I found it in the last box I looked in. I should have known!

By the way, the "e" is crooked on purpose. That was my "thing" when I scrapbooked a lot. I don't know how it started, but whenever I used an "e" in a title, I always made it a bit crooked and it kind of became my signature.

I think the pinwheel may be overkill. I may remove it and add flowers or something else fun. What do you think? If no pinwheel, what would you put there?

I did also get this chair, mentioned in my post last week, primered (see, I learned my lesson!) but it was way too hot to start painting it. I guess it will have to hold off until next weekend because it isn't expected to be below 100 degrees here until next Friday.

So how did you do on your 10 tasks? If you didn't play, but want to see all the super cool projects completed by others on the challenge, visit Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage and check out the linky's.

Happy Independence Day all!

Always,

Kelly

How Did I Live Without This?!?

2010-06-30T21:38:00.000-04:00

After today, this is what I'm asking myself. This handy dandy Spray Grip has changed my painting life! Not only does it save me from "trigger finger" when spray painting, it also makes the paint come out much more evenly. I think I paid $2.99 or less for it at Home Depot. If you don't have one, get one. Like today. So worth it!

I am still working on my 10 Tasks in 10 Days Challenge. I am almost finished my apothacary jar, just waiting for the glue to dry. I will post pictures tomorrow or Friday, depending on when I get to the store to buy some pretty candies to fill it up!

I actually think I may finish 9 of the 10 tasks. I know I won't get to the bathroom cabinet this week, just too busy at work. But I'm hoping to get to it this weekend. I'm still deciding which color it's going to be painted. I'll probably just go with white or off white on the outside, and I'd like to do a bluish grey on the inside. Here's a peek at it as it looks now. I'm thinking I'll replace those ugly black handles with metal handles. I don't know what to do with the top, it's formica. I don't like it at all, but at least it cleans up easily. (Please disregard the bathtub caulk in the picture that needs to be cleaned up with a straight edge...keep in mind we're renting this house and sometimes you have to grin and bear the uglier stuff!)

Always,

Kelly

10 Tasks in 10 Days - Halfway There

2010-06-27T21:58:00.000-04:00

The good news is that I'm proud to say that I'm slightly ahead of the game at this point. I have completed 6 of my 10 tasks. The bad news is that I probably won't have time to complete the other 4 tasks until at least Friday or Saturday. The last week of the month is crazy for me at work and I am usually completely stressed out. Not to mention that the weather here has been averaging between 95 to 100 degrees and it's been too dang hot to paint out in the sun.

That being said, come take a look at some of the stuff I have completed!

These book ends were inspired by Bridgette & Rebekah over at All Thingz Related. When I saw these, I knew right away that I wanted a pair of my own! I am so happy with how they turned out. They were really easy to make and I'm thinking of making another set using bright colors to use in my office space.

Next came my pincushion. I have had this thrifted metal thingy (that's the technical term) for over a year. I knew I wanted to make a three tiered pincushion out of it, but never quite got around to it. It has made its way into and found its way out of my donation boxes about 5 times now. I decided it was time to get it done already.

I like how it turned out, although I'm not completely happy with the top level. It didn't sit right and I redid it once and then gave up and left it alone.

Then came Nanny's chair. I removed the seat, which was much easier than I had anticipated, and began to prep the wood for painting. That's when I found the the wood had some kind of veneer overlay. Ugh, not sanding friendly. I think I'm going to just lightly sand it and paint it instead of sanding it all the way down as I had originally planned.

But the painting cannot be done until I decide what fabric to use to cover the seat. I've narrowed it down to four. Any opinions would be much appreciated. Below are my final 4.

Choice A is from the Basic Grey Line "Blush". If I choose this, I would probably paint the chair to match the aqua color in the fabric.

Choice B is an Amy Butler fabric that I've had for awhile. I think I originally bought it to make a tote bag. If I choose this one, I would paint the chair to match the green in the fabric.

Choice C is the Cogsmo line by Cosmo Cricket. I adore this line. I love the colors and all of the fabrics. Any time I find a stray piece of it at a quilt show or shop, I buy it. I just don't know if the stripes are where I want to go with the chair. And if I choose this fabric, I don't know what color I'd paint the chair...maybe teal or red.

Last but not least is choice D. This is a funky fabric that I picked up for it's bright colors. Originally I bought it to make a pinwheel quilt, but ended up finding another fabric I liked more. I'm leaning towards this fabric with the chair painted bright red.

So where are you in your tasks? Is anyone finished this early in the game? Please let me know what you think of my completed projects and weigh in on which fabric you like for the chair!

And don't forget to visit Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage for lots of inspiration and tons of linkys to those participating in the 10 Tasks in 10 Days Challenge!

Always,

Kelly

Flea Market Finds

2010-06-27T00:45:00.000-04:00

Before I share my finds for the day, I have to share the important lesson I learned today: When you are going to Yard Sales and Flea Markets on a 95+ degree day, stay hydrated. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I missed my niece's graduation party because I didn't follow that little piece of advice.

Moving on...

I scored a few really good items today that I can't wait to work on! At the very first flea market I found this scruffy table for $3! It definately needs some work because of the water damage on the top, but I love that it has 2 drop leaf sides. Once I redo it, it will look great in my living room!

The next smaller flea market at a church netted me two more finds. The first was a metal table with an enamel top. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the gouge in the top of the table until after I had paid for it and the lady selling it removed the microwave that was sitting on top of it. Is there any way to repair that? No big loss either way, I only paid $2 for it. I plan to repaint the rusty metal parts. I'm hoping this will fit next to my computer to hold the TV and printer.

My other purchase was my absolute favorite of the day. A wonderful little chair for only $2. I can't wait to do something with this little gem.

I also picked up a pair of shutters for $2 at a random sale and a pair of wooden lattice/shutter pieces.

I have no idea what I will do with these, but I just couldn't resist them.

I picked up a bunch of little .25 and .50 cent things as well, all told, I think my total today was about $15.

Not too bad!

Hope everyone had a great day yard saling as well, I'd love to see what deals you got today!

Always,

Kelly

10 Tasks - Day Two Project Update

2010-06-24T22:53:00.000-04:00

I really think this challenge is what I needed to get my tush in gear. I have been getting up early and instead of wasting that time, I've been getting stuff done. I've also been doing a little on my breaks from work and heading right down to my studio when my work day is done!

Last night (Day One) I began working on organizing and labeling my surplus craft supplies. I am forever buying something then stowing it in a box or a cabinet or a tote, ony to never see it again...until I re-buy it. Then I find it right away! Ugh!

I tackled an easier spot first. My craft storage unit. This is one of those modular scrapbooking/crafting units made up of 6 glass front cubes and two connecting "planks". The top of it (not shown here) holds some of my favorite things, but the cabinets and the empty spaces are stuffed! The photo storage boxes fit perfectly in there. I spent two hours going through each box and putting like things together. Then I labeled the boxes so I can find what I need more easily. (I haven't gotten to the cabinets yet, they mostly hold scrapbooking paper and CD's.) I was happy that when I was done I ended up with 4 empty boxes.

When not in use, I have curtains covering the open spaces to make it look neater. I need to replace the curtain on the bottom, but I haven't found just what I'm looking for at the thrift store yet.

I also started working on my sketchbook to hold my project ideas. I'm calling it Project Redo. It will have sections for Inspiration, Before & After's & Future Projects.
First I painted the spiral edge of the sketch book with black paint, since it was purple and the paper I chose was black and white:

Then I adhered the paper (from the Scarlet Letter Basic Grey line) to the front:

I'm still working on the front lettering. I'm not sure I like this. I used plain chipboard because I thought it would illustrate the whole "redo" theme, but they don't show up too well. I haven't adhered them yet so I may break out my Cricket and just cut the letters out of cardstock. What do you think?

Lastly, I pulled out Nanny's Chair to start cleaning and dismantling it. I am going to sand it down and paint it and recover the seat. I call it Nanny's chair because it was the chair my Grandmother used at her sewing machine table. I also have her sewing machine and the table. I struggled with the decision to redo this chair because seeing it as is always makes me think of Nanny, but I think she would want me to update it and use it instead of just having it sit all dirty and ugly!

I also pulled out a wooden mirrored shelf that use to hang in my Grandmother's house. No immediate plans to redo this, but eventually I would like to redo it and hang it in my bedroom. (Sorry it's so dirty and smudged, I tried to do a quick clean up to take a picture and ended up making a mess!)

So, so far so good, huh? I'm really proud of myself for getting this much done. I've also worked a little on some of the other tasks, but no pictures yet!

How is everyone else doing? Let me know if you need some cheering on, I'll be glad to head over with my pom poms!

Always,

Kelly

A Little Motivation

2010-06-22T21:20:00.000-04:00

I discovered Gina's site The Shabby Chic Cottage last night when I was getting all motivated to craft. She is having a 10 Day challenge starting Wednesday and I'm joining!

This is going to be a tough one for me because even though I gained several hours a day by no longer having to commute to work, I seem to have lost them again to sleeping late! But I'm going to work hard to finish my 10 tasks.

Check my task bar on the right for my progress and visit Gina's sight to look around and maybe even join the task yourself!

Always,

Kelly

Painting The Town

2010-06-20T16:44:00.010-04:00

I was so excited to get started on some of the projects I came across yesterday that I couldn't sleep last night. Literally. All of these ideas kept running through my head and I kept grabbing my iPhone to add things to the shopping list I had started.

I finally turned off the TV and went to "sleep" at 1:45 am. At 2:30am I gave up. I was just way too hyped to sleep. So instead of tossing and turning and keeping J up, I got up and went down into my studio. I was even nice enough to take the dog so she didn't wake up J.

I was going to leave Jovi in her crate in the living room because she was sleeping very peacefully, but Blair (our bed dog) had to go over and wake her up, so both dogs came down to keep me company. I say that tongue in cheek because both of them promptly jumped on the couch in my studio and fell asleep.

I turned on some tunes and got to work. I wanted to take an inventory of what I had and what I needed to buy. I actually made some progress organizing as well. I should organize more often because while I was looking for the box I know I have of mason jar lids (to make those hanging pincushions I shared the link for in my last post) I found some fabric I had "forgotten" about. Seriously, it was about $50 worth of fabric from my trip to Lancaster with my sister last fall. Oops.

So 4 hours later I had my shopping list ready and just had to pass the time until the stores opened. I ended up taking a short nap on the couch thank goodness.

I headed out to AC Moore and Home Depot. It was so stinkin' hot there was no way I was going to Walmart as well. I was able to get everything I needed.

I started painting as soon as I got home and I feel like I accomplished more than I actually did. I think it's because I only completed two painted things. But I have 3 other projects in-process. I can't get to the painting part until the glue dries.

My first project was to repaint a mirror. I've had this mirror for at least 10 years, maybe more. It's been on a time out in my studio until I either found a place to hang it or got rid of it. But I didn't like it anymore. That border that I really liked in the 90s is tacky to me now:

The painting did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. Maybe I'm out of practice. I had one problem after another though. First the primer didn't want to spray right. Then the lovely brown paper that I took the time to fit perfectly was blown off by the wind. I replaced the paper and the new paper blew partially off and stuck to an area I had just painted. It was a nightmare, but finally, I now have a shabby chic mirror. I think I need to distress it a little more though, I don't know. This is my first time distressing and I didn't want to take too much off:
My next project went much smoother, mostly because it was smaller. My mailbox was a disgrace. It was rusted and dirty. I really really wanted to paint it bright pink and paint flowers on it. Unfortunately, since we rent our house, it's not really my mailbox, so I just repainted it black. I'm not sure if you can really tell by the picture, but it looks a thousand times better!

That's all I got done painting-wise. Next weekend I am going to concentrate on redoing the bedroom. Since we got the new HUGE bed we can't fit as much in the bedroom as we use to. I'm going to do some more blog-stalking during the week this week and come up with a plan.

I think I'm going shabby chic. Wouldn't some distressed white furniture look great with these awesome curtains I found at a Nearly New Sale?

I love these curtains and since I spend a lot of time in the bedroom I want to make it a comfy place to be. Right now it's functional, but not comfy since we had to move out at least half, if not more, of my furniture.

Last but not least, here is a sneak peak into another project I'm working on. Below are all the ingredients to complete it. If you read my last post and followed some of the links, you might know what it is. Let me just say that so far, I am absolutely in love with the half-finished product.

That's it for now. I will post the finished product this weekend once it's done. But check back again this week because I'm taking a motivation challenge and I will need some encouragement from my readers...both of you! (LOL)

Always,

Kelly

Inspiration

2010-06-19T23:02:00.013-04:00

It was such a pretty sunny day Saturday and I ended up wasting it. Seriously, I do that every Saturday and then try to fit a bunch of projects in on Sunday.

I did go to a couple of flea markets and the local thrift today. I didn't find too much, but I was happy with the few things I did find.

I scored this cake plate for $2:

And a couple of cute vintage-y pillowcases:

I've been inspired by Laurie over at Scarlet Fig to find a foot stool to redo like this one. I just love her Tufted Tweets fabrics! So I've been hunting at the flea markets and thrifts to see if I can find a similar stool.

Last night I was bored and decided to spend the evening watching movies and surfing some of my favorite blogs...i.e. Crafty Porn. Get ready for some inspiring links. If I weren't typing this post at 11pm, I'd be outside with my spray paint getting busy! I haven't done ANY spray painting yet this year, but seeing all of these cool projects have really inspired me.

I love what Tammy at Tattered and Timeless did with these ladderback chairs. I've come across a couple of chairs like this, but didn't know what to do with the woven seating. Well, duh! Just get rid of it and make a cushioned cover! I also love how she made a rolling grocery cart into a storage bin for her craft room. I could kick myself right now because I saw one of these carts at a flea market for $4 today and couldn't talk myself into buying it.

I also love what Cincy over at Living in the 513! did with this luggage rack and chair.

And let's just say that Pam at DIY Design Fanatic is a woman after my heart with her love of spray painted things! How gorgeous is this red watering can?!?

Some other crafty home things that I came across that I just couldn't not mention were:
-These awesome hanging pincushions from Kendra at On My Side of the Room How quick and easy are these? And Kendra has a tutorial on making them as well!
-These must-have bookends from Rebekah at All Thingz Related. Holy Moly I'm soooo making these!
-Homemade Apothacary Jars by Stephie at Made by Stephie. (Also on my to do list!)
and
- Pretty much EVERYTHING made or redone by Whitney & Ashley at Shanty2Chic

I plan to run to Home Depot and buy all the stuff for the apothacary jars and bookends with maybe a side trip to Walmart to restock my spray paint since I'm running really low.

I will post updated pics as I begin painting again. I have promised myself (and my wonderfully patient fiance, J) that I will get rid of 3 things for every new thing I bring into the house. I think I need to clarify the terms of that, since I don't think the vintage linens should count...

By the way, in case you are inspired to spray paint everything in your house, like I am, I have two tips for you.

First, I recommend buying a name brand of spray paint. When I first started my painting projects, I bought the cheap .99 spray paint from Walmart. I quickly learned that when painting a bigger project, such as a big corner table like the one I painted last summer, your finger will go numb quickly and it doesn't spray as evenly. Now I only buy Krylon Indoor/Outdoor paint because not only does it come in awesome colors such as Blue Ocean Breeze, Bahama Sea, Gumdrop & Watermelon, but you get an even spray and a better coating. I am also, not a big fan of sanding wood, so I tend to just primer everything first, then paint.

Check back in the next day or so to see my Sunday painting projects...they are still drying right now!

Always,

Kelly

Say Yes To The Hex, Part Two - Staying Organized

2010-06-14T10:07:00.009-04:00

One thing that I learned quickly when playing with hex's is that if you aren't careful (like me) you will end up with hex's and foundation paper pieces everywhere Like me). I work on my hex's in bed, which is situated right beneath a ceiling fan. I set myself up for disaster, don't I?
I had to come up with a way to keep everything together. I got sick of crawling all over the bed and floor to pick up stray paper.
Here is what I came up with for the paper:

As you can see, I skewered my hex papers. As I cut out each page of papers, I take the time to punch a small hole in the center and then push them right onto a skewer. I use a very small hole punch that I had left over from my scrapbooking days, which makes for a tighter fit so the papers don't slide back and forth on the skewer, but I would think that a regular sized hole punch would work just fine.
The skewer fits rather nicely into the open weave of my cheap, Dollar Store basket which also holds my scissors, thread, pincushion, templates and other odds and ends. I admit to cleaning out my basket before taking this picture because it had everything but the kitchen sink in it!
For every size hex I cut out of paper, I make a corresponding template, with the 1/4" allowance added, out of chipboard. This way I can just trace the template onto my fabric and have the perfect seam allowance every time. I hate to "wing it", I'm so far from being a "wing it" person. Ask anyone.
My other organizer that I've been using is made by June Tailor. I really don't know if these are made anymore because my Mom gave me this one at least 10 years ago.

This is a cutting mat on top of a wooden box with several compartments. The mat slides into a slot at the top.
Here is a messy picture of what it looks like inside (I forgot to take a full view picture after I organized it, but it looks better now, I promise!) The second picture is of one space after it was organized with some 1 1/2" hex's ready to use.

So that's what keeps me organized so far. I would love to hear from some fellow hex-lovers about how you stay organized!
Stay tuned for more hex updates in the future. I'm currently working on a placemat using 1/2 inch hex's. This is going to take awhile!
Always,
Kelly

Say Yes To The Hex

2010-06-06T22:15:00.015-04:00

I have a new obsession. Hexagons. I'm sure I've mentioned before that my Mom's favorite quilt to make was anything with Hex's. I would guess she made at least 20 quilts (all hand quilted, mind you) out of Hex's. She did mostly Grandma's Flower Garden's but also made each of her grandchildren Hex quilts.
In fact, when she passed away, each of her five children brought their favorite quilt from Mom to the funeral home to display and I believe every one of them was a Hexagon quilt.
My all time favorite quilt was the one she made for my wedding - a Wedding Ring Quilt. (The quilt was definately made to last...the wedding, not so much!) But this quilt runs a close second:

I use to watch my Mom assemble these quilts in amazement. She didn't use a pattern, didn't preplan the layout, she just made them piece by piece.
Here is a close up of another quilt of Mom's using hex's - hand pieced and hand quilted.

I'm not sure what the pattern is called, but, as you can see, it is much-loved and used daily on my bed. This quilt was actually the quilt that my Dad used on his bed before he passed away and each night that I sleep under it, I feel close to both Mom and Dad.
I have seen a revival lately of the hex quilts using English Paper piecing and decided to try my hand. I spent most of last Sunday in my new King Size bed cutting and basting pieces.
That, I found, is the fun and easy part everyone speaks of. Assembling the hex's is another story altogether. My first attempt turned out okay, but puffy and not so great.

My second attempt came together a little easier since I had spent an hour or so scouring the internet for better instructions. Turns out, I was making extra work for myself when piecing the hex's together.

I was really insprired to make a keychain like Xperimentl made and posted on Flickr. Check out the scale on that...each hex is the size of a dime! My picture does not show scale, but each hex is also the size of dime. I used 1/2 inch hex's. I actually thought it would be a lot harder to work with the tiny hex's, but the paper foundation makes all the difference! Just like Xperimentl, I made my keychain double-sided:

I have dedicated today to hex's as well. I have come up with a great way to organize my hex's and to keep all of the foundation pieces from flying all over the place when I'm working in my bedroom with the ceiling fan on.
I will post again tomorrow with more on that.
But for now, if you have considered making the plunge into hex's, I say Go For It! I never thought I could do it, but this is definately addictive and so portable!
Always,
Kelly

Weekend Wrap-up

2010-06-06T21:37:00.011-04:00

Yesterday, Jean and I spent the morning doing one of our shared hobbies, going to flea markets and yard sales. This was actually my first Saturday of the year that I went out to the sales. I've been trying hard not to go because I usually end up buying stuff I don't need just because it's cheap.
All in all I did pretty well though. I only ended up spending $8.50 total.
My favorite find was this vintage Sears & Robuck kitchen set:

I had picked up one small piece of this set about 6 months ago at a thrift store that I use to hold my pencils and pens in my studio. One of the yard sales we went to had 4 more pieces in a box for $3.50. The funny thing was, the very next yard sale we went to had even more pieces of it for $5.00. Jean and I split the $5.00 sale and I took the clock and the kitchen utensil holder and she kept the rest.
I think I like this so much because it reminds me of a 1970s retro kitchen.
I also picked up a dvd/vcr combo for $1 and a cat carrier that I had been looking for, also for $1.
When I came home and was trying to cool down, I glanced over at the dining room window and saw this:

Yay, the one plant I bought this year finally flowered! It was touch and go for the last week, because the poor plant was wilting in the heat, but I brought it inside and it decided to live!
J was sick all day Saturday, so I decided to make him (okay, ME) a cake. It looked yummy until I took it out of the bundt pan:

Once I flipped it, it fell apart. But it still tastes divine! It's an Angel Food cake with strawberries. I always use the Angel Food mix and add canned or frozen fruit instead of water, which keeps it lower calorie, but tastes better than plain Angel Food Cake.
Lastly, I wanted to share a better picture of the fun placemat I made for the bedroom last week. I am a sucker for novelty fabric (another trait I inherited from Mom) and this monkey fabric from Anna Griffin just makes me smile every time I see it.

So that was the highlights of my weekend. I do have a new obsession to share that took up most of my Sunday, but I will save that for my next post.
always,
Kelly

Back to Crafting

2010-05-31T16:24:00.012-04:00

My loyal followers (all 3 of them) have complained that I haven't had an update in awhile, so here I am!
I planned on getting a lot more done this weekend than I did, to be honest. It's a long weekend, I had no plans, I was golden....then the bed broke this past week so we ended up spending most of Saturday buying a new one.
Part of Sunday was spent shopping for new linens. Some may think that wouldn't take long. Some don't know J and I very well. We have polar opposite tastes on everything. I want one thing, he wants another. Always. We often joke that we have no clue what keeps us together. We usually come up with the same answer to that question...I'm awesome. (Hey, what can I say, he isn't a stupid man and he knows when to agree with me.)
So here I am Monday afternoon with not a whole lot to show from my weekend.
My plan was to make all new pillows for the living room. The ones we have are downright embarrassing. I won't show pics, you don't want to see them.
What I ended up making was one. One pillow. Uno. But I LOVE it.

The pillow was based on a tutorial by Allison over at Cluck. Cluck. Sew. I love her work. I asked Jean yesterday if she thought Allison would become our adopted sister. We want to have a sewing day with her and pick her brain. Okay, I'll stop there, don't want to sound stalker-ish.
J and I also did our Spring cleaning this past week and we mostly organized my studio. Any, yes, by mostly organized, I mean we shoved stuff into bins and boxes to clear a path because the landlord wanted to do an inspection. This means I will share pics of my studio. Yes, I know it's not gorgeous and awe-inspiring like some other workspaces I've seen, but it's mine all mine! And I can now work in it without tripping over stuff.

Note that awesome patchwork rug in the pic of the sitting area. I bought that for $4 at my local thrift store. I adore that rug! I also scored that vintage suitcase (currently full of fabric) at a thrift store awhile ago for $3 or $4. The incomplete star quilt on the table was made by my Mom. It needs the binding finished, and although I've thought about doing it, there is a part of me that likes it the way it is. Kind of like Mom put it aside to work on it later and will come back to it.

The last thing I made today was a new placemat to go on my bedside table. The fabric doesn't match my bedroom, I've just been dying to use it! I know this isn't a great pic, but I took it with my cell phone. I couldn't find my card for my camera when I was taking the picture.

That's it for now. As always, I will try to post more often to keep the masses (all 3 of you) happy!

always,
K

P.S. Please take a moment to thank a soldier or say a prayer for our troops today. They serve our country with courage and selflessness and deserve our best wishes.

New Neighbors

2010-05-10T20:33:00.006-04:00

Our neighbors built a bird house for their daughter a couple of months ago and look who moved in:

And of course there's always one who is still hungry after Mom feeds them:

It's been worth all of the noise they make each morning at feeding time to see a sign of spring since it's been a pretty cold spring!

always,
k

Adventures in Paper Piecing

2010-04-28T10:34:00.005-04:00

I belong to a local quilt guild, which is awesome. I never make the classes or meetings because of my work hours, which sucks. My sister's do go, which brings me back to awesome because they keep me updated and teach me the techniques they learn.

On a recent Sister's Day at my sister Jan's house, she taught us paper piecing. Jean being a "Sew Outside of the Lines" kinda girl hated it. I loved it!

It just amazes me that all of the upside-down-backwards sewing can turn into something as cute as this:

Jan also showed us how to do these cool little coasters that will be the giveaway at the guild's upcoming Quilt Show in the fall:

So even though I don't participate in person, I was happy that I, at least, was able to contribute my coasters. We were asked to use fall/autumn colors, so that explains all of the oranges and browns, but I am going to do a set for my house, too, using my favorite fabrics.

always,
K

Peep, Peep

2010-04-25T11:15:00.008-04:00

I'm still here! I haven't been feeling very creative lately, so I haven't had much to share.
I was determined to get my mojo back in the last two weekends and it feels good to create again.
Here's the little guy that helped me:

He was inspired by a stuffed Peep that Jean and I saw in a little oountry store on our trip to Lancaster last month for the APQ Quilt Show. I used Jean's trick of upcycling the beaded filling from a thrifted beanie baby to weight him down and now he watches over me in my studio to make sure I actually do stuff instead of just leafing through magazines thinking about doing stuff!

I was also inspired by a flat screen TV cover I found on Flickr by Modernjax that was just too cute for words. (Do you all find inspiration on Flickr too? I've never been disappointed by scrolling through my groups there!)

Apparently modernjax's TV wasn't cable ready because she got those bars that mean the station is off the air. Since I have cable and can always find something on, I tuned my version, which I'm going to use as a computer monitor cover, to "This Old House":

I'm not quite done with it yet,it needs a few little touches, but I'm happy how it turned out. This was pretty out of the box for me. I don't normally just wing it when it comes to creating, I like to follow patterns. (A+B always equals C in my house or there is hell to pay! Welcome to the world of mild to moderate OCD)
Yesterday I wanted to do something, but not get too involved, so I made a Spring-y flour sack towel for my kitchen:

I'm glad to be back in the land of crafting! I hope to spend some more time in my studio today and have another post before too long.

always,
K

Back To Basics

2010-02-21T22:44:00.007-05:00

My Mom was a hand quilter. Never once in all of her years of quilting (over 50 years by my best estimation) did she do any part of a quilt on a sewing machine.

She made all of her children clothes on her sewing machine. I clearly remember when all 5 of us kids were at home that she had her sewing machine set up in a corner of the dining room. I would watch in wonder as she cut out a tissue paper pattern, laid the fabric on the dining room table and created outfits we wore proudly. Our family joke is that Mom ALWAYS had rick rack on all the clothes she made us.

But when it came to quilting, she was a purist. She was taught to hand quilt by her mother and she taught us girls to hand quilt.

My first memory of quilting was when my grandmother (Nanny to all of us kids)would come spend the weekend and either bring one of her quilts to quilt or help Mom quilt one of her quilts. The living room would be taken over by the huge quilt frame and everyone would pull up a dining room chair around the frame to quilt a bit. How proud I was at a very young age to be able to quilt with the grown ups. No matter how big our stitches were (and at about 7 years old, they were HUGE)they were always left in and became part of the quilt.

My biggest regret is that I never completed a hand-sewn quilt while my Mom was alive. She would have been so proud.

When my sisters and I started quilting as our main hobby (about two years ago) we went right to machine quilting. It's just so much quicker!

This weekend I went back to basics. I have been sick for a week with an upper respiratory infection and it hurts to breathe. I didn't have the energy to leave the bedroom and venture into my studio. I wanted something to do with my hands while I caught up with my soap opera on DVR, but wasn't in the mood to pick up my current knitting project or embroidery project.

I remembered a plastic tote I had gotten together of some pieces of fabric that my Mom had cut out and never done anything with. It was in the top of my bedroom closet just waiting to be put to use.

Yesterday, I pulled out the tote and started sorting through it. There were hectogons of various sizes for one of my Mom's favorite quilts, Grandma's Flower Garden. Mom probably made about 15-20 of these quilts alone. (Her second favorite was the Wedding Ring, one of which I currently sleep under every night!) There were also about 100 diamonds cut out for a quilt that I will never know about.
I found what I was looking for in the 100 4x4 squares in the box. With very little planning, I began to hand sew the squares together.

I admit to breaking down early yesterday morning as I lay in bed, complaining to J about how horrible I felt. I had a nice long cry as I told him "I want my Mom!"

My Mom was an awesome Mom always, but mostly when I was sick. She was the Mom who when I was sick growing up, I stayed home from school and she made a nest of covers on the couch. I got to watch cartoons all day, no matter how much she wanted to watch Phil Donohue or Mike Douglas. She made a special trip to the grocery store for vanilla pudding and a trip to the neighborhood drug store for coke syrup to settle my tummy. She put cool rags on my head and a paper bag next to the couch in case I couldn't make it all the way to the bathroom when I had to toss my cookies.

Even after I moved out of the house at 19, whenever I got sick, my first call was to my Mom. Many times, she and Dad would hop in the car and drive to my apartment to bring me medicine or just to offer comfort to their "baby girl".

A part of me always misses her most when I'm sick.

Amazingly enough, as I picked up the fabric she had cut before she got sick and began to sew the squares together, I began to feel better. I swear, I really did. Just touching the fabric and thinking of her taking the time to cut out each piece made me feel like she was with me. I cried over some of the pieces of fabric and smiled at others. There were a lot of florals, some brights, some muted and some of the novelty fabrics that she loved so much. (Mom was fussy cutting before fussy cutting was cool!)

I spent hours yesterday and again today sewing those squares together. I didn't finish, not by a long shot, but I got several rows sewn together and started to join the rows today. I am determined to finish this entire mini quilt all by hand. In honor of my Mom and her purist view on quilting.

Anyone who knows me knows how linear I am. Jean constantly teases me about it, Jan joins me in the obsession with perfection. But I am determined with this hand pieced quilt to let that go. I've already made some errors on this one. My squares aren't exactly square. My seam allowance isn't perfect. The colors aren't perfectly coordinated. But I won't be discouraged. This one is for Mom.

Once it's finished it will be my "sick quilt". I will cuddle up with it and imagine getting a hug from my Mom.

These pictures are taken with my cell phone, so they aren't that great, but I will keep updating on my progress with this work of the heart.

always,
K

PS I am so into hand-piecing now, because of this project, that I also started piecing my very first pinwheel quilt by hand. I'll share pics of that one in a later post.

A Good Day For Crafting

2010-02-06T11:41:00.005-05:00

This is what it looked like outside at 7am this morning:

Here's what it looked like after J did a little shoveling:

And we are still expecting another 6-8 inches. If it were up to me I wouldn't have shoveled a dang thing, but since we have two neurotic dogs who need a cleared patch of grass, J did it. (Notice the doggy tracks to and from the pee patch in the second pic)

Anyway, it's a perfect day to hole up in my studio and work on....SOMETHING!

Jean and I have started a block of the month challenge (with each other) and I have already finished January's block and have February's cut out so I will finish up February's block and maybe work on piecing a quilt that I have wanted to do for awhile now.

Hope to share pics of what I accomplish later!

always,
K

Dog Days

2010-01-23T04:03:00.012-05:00

We have had a busy couple of weeks thanks to this little girl:

This is our new Boston Terrier, Jovi. (Named after Bon Jovi's song Runaway) A friend of mine called me right before Christmas to tell me that she was taking her son to school one morning and as she was loading him into the car, a dog decided to jump into her car and refused to leave. She ended up driving her son to school with the dog riding along. When she got home, she asked around the neighborhood and no one seemed to have lost a dog.

As soon as she told me that it was a Boston Terrier, J and I had the same thought: That dog cannot go to a shelter! My friend kept her for 3 weeks and tried to find her owner with no luck. She called me a few weeks ago and asked if we wanted her.

Now, we didn't want her to go to a shelter...and my friend couldn't keep her as she has a houseful of people and animals as it is, but we had one main problem....this girl:

This is our 10 year old Boston, Blair. Blair is not what you'd call a social dog. In fact, she is the exact opposite of social. She puts up with our two cats, but mostly because they stay out of her way. Her AKC name is Princess Blair of Essex...and she takes the Princess part to heart.

She has about 100 toys (that can be found strewn across the house at any given time) sleeps in the bed, under the covers, and won't allow anyone or anything to come within 5 feet of us without growling and or biting said anyone.

She has really only bitten one person, my nephew, but not for lack of trying. She isn't mean per say (although my sister would disagree) she is just REALLY protective of her humans. In her defense, she did bite my nephew because he was teasing her and got right up in her face when she felt she was protecting me. I still think the trip to the ER was unnecessary, but my sister will disagree. ...loudly.

It deserves mentioning that this was probably 6 years ago that she bit him and my nephew is over it. In fact, he stayed with us for a weekend this past October and he and Blair bonded. When he left on Sunday afternoon, Blair pouted and grieved for a couple of days. We think she thought he was her new "toy" and she kept looking for him in the spare bedroom and laying by the spare bedroom door looking said. But I digress....

We brought Jovi home with much reservations. We just could not not try.

The first night was not fun. Jovi is about 15 months old and just a puppy really. She came in a little skittish and a lot bouncy. She immediately wanted to be friends with Blair. NOT happening.

Both dogs stayed on their leashes and Blair growled and barked and made a general nuisance of herself. As for Jovi, she responded by peeing on the carpet. We were off to a great start...

Day Two started off on leashes again, but after a bit, we took them outside and off leashes. Jovi, who had already bonded with my oldest cat, Sasser, tried to bond with Blair. NOT happening.

Jovi spent a good part of day two on the stairs:

Finally on day three, Blair got the idea that Jovi was not going away anytime soon. (Poor Blair is so not use to sharing her humans!) They started sniffing each other and Blair growled and tried to nip Jovi much less.

On Day Four we took a trip to the vet for shots for both girls and to have Jovi checked for a microchip. (She didn't have one obviously!)

I must take a moment to say I love my Vet. My first job, from the time I was 15 until 18, was working for the local Veterinary Hospital. This was 25 years ago, but one of the vets I worked with then, Terry, is still at the practice. He is the only one I let touch my dogs unless it's an absolute emergency. He is an awesome vet and a good friend....and he never laughs at my neurotic Dog Mommy Emergencies...much.

Anyway, if you have no experience with Bostons, here's the thing...there is a 50/50 chance that they will have an allergic reaction to vaccinations (and dust mites and many other things if you judge by Blair!) So we get the dogs shots, heartworm tests, etc. I wasn't too worried about Blair having an allergic reaction because she just got her Rabies shot...I was more concerned about how Jovi would react...big mistake.

Apparently Blair is allergic to the rabies vaccination when previously she only showed a reaction to her distemper vaccination. Fifteen minutes after we got home, she started drooling...then this happened:

Poor old girl puffed up like a balloon and broke out in hives all over her body. Like I said, I'm use to this, it happens every time she gets her vaccinations. Normally, I just have Terry give her a shot of benadryl with her shots to avoid this, but like I said, I didn't expect it for just the rabies shot.

Well, J is NOT use to this. He's never seen her have an allergic reaction. He flipped out. I swear, if it wasn't so touching how much he loves this dog I would have laughed for a good hour over his reaction. I was working and he was bringing her over to me every 2 minutes. Here is a sample of our conversation:

Him: Does she look worse or is it just me?

Me: Just you

(2 minutes pass)

Him: Are you sure, it looks like she has more hives...or is it just me?

Me: Just you

(2 more minutes)

Him: Seriously, I think her left eye is more swollen than her right? Look. Look. Is it just me?

Me: Just you

(this time he waits 10 minutes)

Him: I think she's getting worse again.

Me: For the love...

Now, keep in mind, I had already given her 25mg of benadryl. I knew she would be fine. After about an hour of this pestering by J, I finally gave in and told him to go ahead and take her back up to see Terry to get a shot of benadryl and some cortizone. Sheesh, good thing we don't have kids, we'd probably have to have a pediatrician on speed dial..or on retainer.

The funny thing about this whole story is that Jovi never had a reaction. Then, a week ago, I'm working again and I hear J say "Hey Kell, you need to look at this" Dang if Jovi's face hadn't started to swell...here we go again! Best we can figure she got bit by a bug or something because one minute she was fine, the next minute - puffy, drooly allergic reaction.

I gave her benadryl, but of course J had to take her to see Terry. I refused to go again. I know Terry was probably laughing his butt off at us. Of course he didn't say anything other than: We need to stop meeting like this.

So, to wrap up this epic post I will fast forward to today. I am happy to report that Blair has almost accepted Jovi into the family and they are even able to both sleep on the couch together without too much bickering. Admitedly this took A LOT of floor work with J and the dogs. Everytime Blair would snap or growl, J would make them both lay down and rub their bellies:

Jovi is the sweetest dog ever. Other than the fact that she has had a few accidents in the house (which is to be expected with Blair bullying her around) and having a "toy issue" (Remember those 100 toys? Well, apparently they are ALL Blair's and she won't share very easily) and one other tiny problem she fits in our little family quite nicely.

The tiny problem? Um..when we got her she was in heat. Of course, since my friend who found her and kept her for 3 weeks has an intact Pitbull, we have a small (and when I say small, I mean HUGE) fear that she is pregnant, but we are taking it day by day.

If you've made it this far and want to hear more about our furbaby family, hop over to my new blog that recounts our insanely crazy life with our 2 Bostons and 2 ancient cats: B is for Boston.

Hoping to have a crafty update soon!

always,

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T18:14:00.006-05:00

I have several resolutions this year and one of the big ones is to keep up with my blogging! Between Facebook and Twitter, I've really let my blogging slide, but I enjoy this so I plan to make more time for it.

I am happy to report that my work has allowed me to begin working from home since the beginning of December so I have freed up some precious time and plan to use it wisely!

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to catch up!

My sister, Jean, is really the only person I make homemade gifts for anymore. She truly appreciates the efforts, being a fellow crafty person herself. I made her a couple of things this year.

First was an idea I saw in a magazine (sorry, I can't remember which one and am too lazy to go dig it out, but if anyone wants to know, email me and I'll look for it!) I believe in the magazine they called them towel drapes. I like the name Towel Ties better because the are intended to dress up regular plain towels. The tree pattern is one I got from the magazine, but the snowman and the ornament I designed.

The other gift I made her was a small wallhanging. It's wonky and the border is crooked, but it is my first time doing free motion quilting all by myself. I've practiced and I've had Jean help me before, but I really wanted to take the leap and do it myself. The results were what you expect for the first try, but I knew Jean would understand what it meant! I am no longer afraid to do it!

Jean made me some very cute things, including my very own sock monkey girl. I will post pictures of her on my next post, but if you want to see her earlier, hop on over to Jean's blog at Quilted Cupcake, she posted a pic a few days ago. She also made me some cute things for my home office and knitted me my very own pair of socks. I will post pics of those next time as well. They are AWESOME!

I really wanted to go crazy decorating this year. I planned on it. I meant to...but since I got the word on a Tuesday early in December that I could start working from home and then started just two days later, I have been concentrating on making that adjustment a success and never got around to actually doing much in the way of decorating.

J however knows how much I enjoy Christmas and did all of the decorating himself. The house looked awesome, even if I didn't get to pull out all of the stuff I wanted. He was most proud of decorating the ceiling fan in my home office. Don't ask me why....he's a guy. But I promised him I would share a pic of that. It did turn out kind of cool. I wouldn't dare tell him that the decorations dimmed the light in the room so much that I had to bring in a desk light...

Festive, eh? Next year, I'll make the time. I'm just saying...

Anyway, I planned to spend the New Year's weekend crafting all day everyday. Then I decided that December 30th would be the perfect day to have a root canal. Not the best idea, I can assure you. I spent some wonderful hours with Dr. House's favorite pain medication before I could function without pain again. Happily, by yesterday I was able to put the pain meds away and go shopping.

Jean and I hadn't been to the thrift stores in awhile, so we hit a couple of our favorites along with a trip to Hancock Fabrics to add to our fabric and notion stashes. Since they had Christmas fabric 75% off, I am now in the mood to sew for Christmas....two weeks late.

We got a couple of good vintage sheets at the thrift stores and I came home and immediately threw them in the wash so I could begin a new project with them today. I totally didn't do any sewing today. But I did pull some fabric to coordinate with the sheets so I'm ready when I do sit down to sew. I am the first to admit that I am HORRIBLE with color. Jean can close her eyes and match colors...it takes me an hour and I still think I missed the mark. But this is what I came up with (the sheets I'm trying to match are on the bottom of each pile):

That's it for now, but I do want to mention that I will be a guest reviewer on Jean's latest podcast (due to be released today or tomorrow) so if you want to give a listen, the link is on her blog. It's a really good podcast and she mentions me a lot...so I love it!

Happy New Year Blogland. I'll be back soon, promise!

always,

Breathe!

2009-11-22T19:12:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I've had time to post. I spent the last few weeks getting ready for the craft show and trying to get as much done as possible. Last weekend was the show and I had a great time with my sisters. I didn't sell as much as I had hoped for, but I did make my table fee back as well as a few extra dollars. I also got a few special orders that will bring in a few more dollars.

Here's a picture of our table:

So this weekend I decided to take it easy. I did work on some of the special orders, but I'm really itching to start a new project for ME. I know I should be working on Christmas presents, but I feel like I've spent so much time working on this craft fair, I haven't had a chance to be creative for me.

Next Friday J and I will begin decorating for Christmas. Last year was not a Merry Christmas because my Mom passed away on Dec. 21st. I honestly don't even remember much of last Christmas. This year, in honor of my Mom, we are doing Christmas up right! My Mom loved Christmas and her house was always full of Christmasy stuff. My motto this year is "Go Big or Go Home" when it comes to Christmas. I will share pics of some of my decorations after we are done.

Until then....

always,

Fall & Winter Projects

2009-10-18T20:35:00.005-04:00

Not a lot to say today, I'm kind of bummed that my vacation is over and I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'll make this short and sweet!

I've been in the mood to craft for Halloween and Christmas this week, as you will see from my latest creations!

First up is not something I made this week or even this year. I made this Halloween plaque a few years ago but it's probably my favorite Halloween decoration:

Next is a Halloween flour sack towel I made:

I also made a cute little stuffed pumpkin:

Even thought this isn't specifically a Halloween decoration, it is fall-ish. I love this memory board I made by recovering an old corkboard with some pretty owl corduroy fabric:

While hanging out with my sister, I came up with the idea to make some fabric candy. These are time consuming, but so fun and so cute once done. I plan to fill up a huge candy jar I have with little fabric candies. If I get motivated, I may make different colored candies for different holidays, but don't count on it:

The second picture shows the candy displayed in a small candy dish I picked up at a thrift store for a dollar:

Lastly I made two Christmas decorations. Both snowman, both not as cute as they were in my head, but they will still hang on my tree this year:

Overall, I didn't get as much accomplished project-wise as I had hoped while I was on vacation, but I'm glad I got some little things done!

Have a great week!

always,

My Staycation

2009-10-14T23:33:00.009-04:00

This week is the first real vacation I've had in two years. I've had time off here and there, but it always seemed to end up where I was committed to do one thing or another that made it not very vacation-y.

This year I was committed to making my vacation a real vacation. We had plans to go to the beach for part of the week and I made plans to spend at least one day with my sister. Then we checked the forcast. Rainy and cold at the beach. Why would we pay to stay at the beach in the rain? Well, we decided not to. We decided to have a stay-cation and stay at home and relax and do some things around here.

Jeff and I went out to dinner for the first time in forever on Monday. I forgot how much I love to go to dinner with my honey. We had a great time and great food and even ordered dessert, which we never do. The food coma afterwards was totally worth it!

On Tuesday, I convinced Jean to take the day off of work and we spent the day in Lancaster, PA. Can I just say WOW! Jean has been trying to get me to go to Lancaster for months now. It's only an hour and a half away...and we took the back roads so it was a gorgeous drive through farmlands.

We had two goals for Lancaster: Fabric and Doughnuts. If you think those two things don't go together, you don't know me at all...

Honestly, I think I spent every bit of money I would have spent on our vacation at the beach on fabric. Seriously. I bought almost 50 pieces of fabric. 50. I outdid myself. But the prices and selection were phenomenal. Did I mention we only went to 5 stores? There were at least 5 more we wanted to go to, but they close down the stores at 5pm there and we ran out of time.

Here are some pics of fabric I got:

These are my favorites:

I also bought lots of notions...and doughnuts. Did I mention the doughnuts? There is a grocery store there called Shady Maple Farm Market that is awesome. If I lived close to there and that was my grocery store, I'd spend $300 a week on groceries. (Right now, we go to the grocery store once a month and spend a max of $200).

Anyway, this place is HUGE. Think Sam's Club with only food. I got tired (and lost) just going from one end to the other. They have these doughnuts that are so good (and so cheap!) that I had to buy a dozen. I was going to freeze the extras as a weekend treat in the coming weeks. Jeff is not a sweets person...my total opposite in every way, this boy. I brought the doughnuts home and told him of my plan to freeze them. He wanted to try one after I raved about them. He ate 3. THAT in itself tells you how good these doughnuts are.

Okay, okay, I'll move on from the doughnuts now, I promise.

Since I haven't posted in awhile, I wanted to share some little things I've been working on. Nothing spectacular, but bits and pieces of stuff:

First is a cute, girly applique bib. Love this Robert Kaufman fabric.

Next is a new piece I started for a Christmas wallhanging using freezer paper applique.

Then some of my baby pin cushions displayed in a thrifted cabinet. Love this cabinet I got for $2.

This is a sample bookmark I made for our upcoming craft show. I thought these would be a quick sew...not so much. I'm using chipboard inside to keep them stiff and it's a pain to sew around once it's inserted.
And lastly, this is a prototype for some Christmas ornaments I'm making for the show. Jean says I need to make the yo-yo smaller or the heart bigger. I didn't think so until I saw this picture. You're right, Jean!

So that's it for now. I'm heading to Jean's house on Friday to play with some of my new material so hopefully I will have more to share on Saturday or Sunday.

always,
K

Wait for it....

2009-10-13T21:12:00.002-04:00

Big update coming tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. Just spent the day in Lancaster, PA with my sister and bought a TON of fabric. Lots of ideas and projects swirling around in my head...now to DO them!

always,
K

Short on Time

2009-09-27T22:06:00.003-04:00

I ran out of time to do my post today, but I did want to give a shout out to my sister for creating her first Quilted Cupcake pattern. It's up for sale in her Etsy shop for only $3.50.

I got a test copy of it and played with it a bit and this is what I came up with:

I will post more pics of what I was up to this weekend later in the week.

always,

Craft Show Prep

2009-09-20T19:25:00.007-04:00

My sister's and I are going to be vendors at an upcoming craft show. I spent the weekend preparing for it, which is amazing if you know me, because the craft show is in November and I'm usually a last minute kinda girl.

First, I did some painting of thrifted things. I'm not sure if we will use some or all of these, but we plan on have a bright, fun table and filling things such as my colanders with our goodies.

I spent the majority of my time working on mini pincushions for the show that I love. (I even made a picture of them my new header for the blog!)

I also worked on a few more of my fabric apples, but only completed one. I sewed a bunch and have them in a small container so that I can turn, stuff and finish them while watching TV during the week. I've altered the pattern a little bit so it looks more apple-like to me.

I also worked on a new pattern for potholders. This is my first attempt and I kind of like how it turned out. To make it a little different, I quilted it in concentric squares instead of straight lines.

My sister's and I also recently joined our local quilting guild and attended our first meeting last Monday. They had a class on applique and I was blown away! Up til now I have only done raw edged applique finished with a blanket stitch. This class taught us the freezer paper method and I instantly fell in love with the technique. My practice pieces are a bit rough around the edges (no pun intended) but I'm getting better. I started a new piece today and hope to post it next time if I get it done.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

always,

Remember Those Who Lost Their Lives

2009-09-11T08:18:00.002-04:00

I wrote this poem right after 9/11 and thought I would share it with everyone on the 8th anniversary of a tragic day in America:

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those that died
I left the candle burning bright, to celebrate their lives.
We lost some treasured loved ones, their faces near and dear
We never had to know them to miss their presence here.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those we lost
To let them know we love them, are sorry they paid the cost.
We won’t forget your bravery, in the face of trying times
We vow to hold your memory close engraved upon our minds.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls of those we mourn
For it took your needless passing, for unity to form
Our nation vows its vengeance; your deaths were not in vain
Our flag still flies, our bells ring loud, freedom will still reign.

Tonight I lit a candle, for the souls for whom we pray,
Remembering your sacrifice with each and every day.
God Bless your souls and those of all the ones you left behind
And I pray that one day all will rest in any peace that they can find.

Tonight please light a candle, and add your prayers to mine
Let our silent blessings shout beyond the boundaries of this time.
Do not forget in months to come of how we feel today
Let September 11, 2001 become an Unsung Heroes day.

KAH 9-14-2001 (In memory of the many victims of the terrorist attack on the United States 9-11-2001)

May God Bless America

always,
K

Weekend Goodies

2009-09-07T16:35:00.008-04:00

I spent the long weekend working on small projects for an upcoming craft fair that my sisters and I are considering participating in.

I worked on several new bibs using some vintage materials and one courderoy bib that I just love!

I also completed a few new pincushions:

I am determined to make at least a small quilt before this year is over. I keep starting and abandoning quilts in progress. This weekend I picked up some fabrics that will hopefully inspire me to begin (and finish!) a quilt.

I'm hoping these fabrics will go well together. I'm really really really bad at matching fabrics and patterns! Let me know if you think this will work together!

Until next week...

always,

Sisters Weekend

2009-08-30T17:57:00.003-04:00

Since I cleaned up my studio I now have enough room to craft with friends. This weekend, my bestest friend came to play! My sister and I spent over 12 hours in my studio playing and laughing and being crafty.

When Jean and I get together we always try to challenge each other to do something different. I haven't mentioned it for awhile, so I will remind everyone that Jean has a wonderful podcast on Itunes called "Quilted Cupcake". She shares her quilting and crafting ideas and techniques and, as a bonus, she gives me shoutouts a lot! You can visit her blog at quiltedcupcake.blogspot.com for more info on her podcast and to view her show notes.

Jean's latest podcast was all about quilting for a cause. She mentioned several great ways to share a love of quilting with those in need. One of the causes was to benefit the Alzheimer's Association called Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts. The basic idea is to create a quilt that is 9x12 or smaller...small enough to fit into a priority mailer from the USPS. Each month, quilts are auctioned off to raise money for Alzheimer's research.

Of course this is a charity that is near and dear to our hearts since our Mom, Lucy, had Alzheimer's.

Jean and I spent a good part of the day working on our Priority quilts. I kept mine simple and bright, but Jean whipped up a little masterpiece so quickly it left my head spinning.

I believe this has a lot to do with our personalities. I am a planner. I plan to make plans. I make lists and follow them strictly. Jean flies by the seat of her pants and is all the more creative for it! I spent forever trying to come up with an idea and by the time I finally settled on simple circles, Jean had already pieced the top of hers.

This one is mine. I call it "Gumballs":

This is Jean's, I think she decided to call it "Lucy's House":

I must say that these pictures do not do these little quilts justice. I am so happy with how both turned out and hope that they will both raise lots of money for Alzheimer's research.

If you'd like more information on the Priority project, go here. Also, Jean and I are walking in the yearly Alzheimer's walk this year and have set a page for donations. Please donate if you are able. We need to do all we can to end this terrible disease! Visit my donation page here.

That's it for today. I had planned on posting a few other things but I think I will save them for next time!

always,

Under Construction

2009-08-23T20:40:00.009-04:00

So my life has been a bit crazy lately and, to be honest, I haven't gotten much accomplished in my studio. I decided it needed reorganizing before I could get my mojo back.

I headed down there yesterday at 8am and did not emerge until 4pm. Sadly, I didn't finish everything I wanted to, but I did make some great headway.

I have debated about showing the before and after pics because....well...it was bad. Really bad. But in order to show the progress, I must show the before pics. So here goes (No judgements please!)

This is my main work area before. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to shove myself into the smallest corner of the room. Obviously, this wasn't working because I was bogged down by "stuff" piling up all around me:

I decided to put the two work tables end to end instead of perpendicular which gave me tons more space:

I still have plans to add table skirts to the two work tables that will hide the storage below among other things.

But moving the two tables allowed me to move my fabric to the bookcase I've been wanting to put it on. I was able to put all of my half yard plus fabrics on the bookcase and the quarters on a smaller shelf:

My previous shelf was full, so I stopped folding fabric. Now that I have more space, I can start folding again and I'm sure these two shelves will be full soon!

Here is a pic of the reorganized corner. (The stack of boxes will be moved, they are donation items for the local thrift store!)
So that's where I am now. I still have a ton of stuff to do, but it's progress, right?

Now, I can't leave without a little bit of crafty goodness, so I will share two quick projects I

completed.

The first is a bag that I made. In my mind it was much cuter and sturdier, and although I'll probably never use it as a purse, I still love the brightness of it:

The other project is my attempt to get a head start on my Christmas projects. I love this little snowman. He was fun and easy to make and I plan to make a whole family of little snowmen!

That's it for now. I hope to get more accomplished in my studio next weekend so that I can show pictures of the whole studio and hopefully get my mojo back!

always,

I'm Still Here!

2009-08-11T07:24:00.004-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know I'm still here and will be back this weekend with a post!

always,

Is Summer Over Yet?

2009-07-26T21:42:00.008-04:00

I think I am in the minority when I say, I hate summer. I can't stand being hot, the sun triggers my vertigo and migraines, I hate bugs, I hate to sweat. That about sums it up. The only thing I really like about summer is the yard sales.

Now fall...I LOVE fall. I love the smells, the weather and especially the colors. This weekend, while an awesome store brewed outside, I locked myself in my studio with Big Brother on my laptop and worked on some fall projects.

This was the weather outside, aren't those clouds fierce-looking?

Anyway, my favorite project of the weekend was a linen towel. I found the pattern at one of my favorite sites for free patterns Fat Cat Patterns. I decided to use fall colors and just love how it turned out. I also used a stitch I have never used before to applique the chicken and I like it more than the blanket stitch I usually use.

Here's a closeup of the rooster that hopefully shows the stitching better:

I also made another Grocery Tote like the one I made a couple of weeks ago from the pattern at Spool, this time in some new fall fabric I found. I added two pockets on the inside, one for my iPhone and another for my ID/credit cards. I didn't love the fabric as much as I thought I would when it was finished, but this one went together much easier and I made fewer mistakes! I planned to use it as a purse, but I think I will continue to search for fabric I like better.

The only other sewing project I completed this weekend was another free one from Spool. I made a quick and easy Sewing Machine cover. As usual, this first one was a test, and I will remake this at a later date with sturdier fabric. The cotton is just too limp for my liking, although this will do the job of keeping dust off of the machine just fine in the mean time!

So that's it for sewing this weekend. I did decide that I need to teach myself to crochet since my sister has been makin all of these cool dishcloths and I do need something to keep my hands busy while I watch TV at night. I already knit, but Jean says crocheting is much quicker.

I picked up a few books at the library and sat down to try my hand. This is not my first attempt to learn to crochet, by the way. My past attempts led to a lot of cussing and a lot of frogging of the projects.

This is as far as I got with my first attempt of a coaster. Not too bad so far, but the hook still feels awkward in my hand. I'm use to holding knitting needles I guess.

I'll have plenty of time to practice next weekend, because J and I are spending the weekend on the Eastern Shore at my Aunt's house. Love to visit my aunt and my sister and brother-in-law, who live on the same property, but with no internet access and no sewing machine, I'll spend my time crocheting, knitting and maybe doing some embroidery.

I hope to spend at least a few hours Saturday morning checking out some antique stores in the area though.

Hope everyone has an awesome, craft-filled week!

always,

Pillow Talk

2009-07-19T19:42:00.007-04:00

I'm finally feeling better and was able to get back to spending my Saturday mornings at Yard Sales & Thrift Shops. Jean and I planned to hit a few yard sales in the morning and be home by noon. As usual, things quickly went awry. The first community yard sale we went to was pretty much a bust, although we did pick up a few things. Then we happened upon a pretty good community yard sale we didn't know about. We were done by 10am so we decided to hit a couple of thrift shops. Five hours later we made it home...LOL!

We both got some really good deals including some new vintage sheets and tons of books to read. (We both love to read!)

By the time we got home, I was so tired from all of the time in the hot sun and all of the running around, I took a nap and never did get around to crafting.

This morning, I relocated my laptop to my studio so I could watch my Big Brother Live Feeds while I worked on some projects. I actually did not get too much done, but I am on a pillow kick, so I completed two pillows.

The first is the apple blossom pillow I started several weeks ago. This picture makes the red look really bright and overpowering, but the colors actually complement each other much better then they apear.

The second pillow is made out of a vintage sheet and an Ikea sheet I had in my stash. I had picked up a bag of small pillow forms at a yard sale for a dollar and used them to make this pillow. It was very quick and easy. Instant gratification...my favorite!

I was also able to (finally!) paint another colander. This one was kind of beat up when I got it, but I loved the floral design. How cute does it look painted teal? I think this one has become my favorite!

Before:

After:

That's really it for this weekend. I craft much less during the Big Brother season since I'm so addicted to watching. I'll try to do more next week!

always,

P.S. My cat wanted to say hello to blogland. He gets mad when I get the camera out and don't take a picture of him. (Polar opposite of the dog!) So meet Sasser, he is my 17 year old barn cat. Poor boy used to be 22 lbs and has shrunk to about 15 lbs in his old age. He's slowed down so much in the last 2 years, but he is still a big love bug!

A Wonky Weekend

2009-07-12T16:31:00.006-04:00

This past week was not a good one. What started out as a migraine last weekend triggered my Vertigo which resulted in me spending most of the week in bed with blankets over the windows to block out the light.

My first bout of Vertigo was back in March and since then I have dealt with migraines and ongoing dizziness to varying degrees. My doctor is concerned and now I need to go see a specialist. Lovely.

I hate missing work...hate it. I have a severe case of Catholic guilt which comes into play when I am late for work, nevermind missing 4 days! Ugh!

I have been forcing myself back to normalcy because I know I have to go back to work tomorrow like it or not, so I spent a little time in my studio this weekend. Unfortunately, everything I attempted came out quite wonky. I think it's because I couldn't concentrate for long periods of time.

I'll share a few things, but, you have been forwarned about the wonkiness.

I made this little ornament from one of the Art to Heart books I love. It's the Spring book. It looked super cute in the book...not so cute here. I'm trying to pretend I was going for Shabby Chic.

Next I attempted to piece a Stacking Coin Quilt. Clearly this will need some seams ripped and resewn, but I do like that I finally used the red, white and blue charm pack that I've had for 6 months now!

Lastly, I finished the owl embroidery pillow I've been working on for awhile. He isn't wonky, thank goodness, but that's because he was mostly done before I got sick.

Cuteness, huh? I am very happy with how it turned out.

Hopefully I will feel better with each passing day and be able to work on some painting projects I had to put off this weekend. Including these:

New/old colanders to paint. Yay! If you know me at all by now, you know I love colanders. I couldn't turn down these 2 colanders at a yard sale last week for .50 each. I think one needs to be orange and one purple. Not my usual colors, but I already have pink, blue and teal ones...time to get more creative with my colors!

If you have a minute, please wing some positive thoughts my way that I will overcome this Vertigo and get back to the business of living life!

always,

Down in the Boom Boom Room

2009-07-05T20:22:00.008-04:00

My dog, Blair, and I spent the majority of the long weekend in my studio. Not because she was feeling particularly creative (although I was!) but because she is terrified of fireworks. (And thunder. And birds. And cameras.) I try not to laugh at her and hurt her feelings, but this dog will run up to a pit bull or rottweiler and bark, but is afraid of fireworks. (And yes, I consider her feelings because I am one of "those" pet owners. The ones without children so we turn our pets into our "kids". Laugh if you like, I have come to embrace it.)

We considered giving her a sedative this year for 4th of July, but decided against it for two reasons. Firstly because she is allergic to a lot of medications and it would be just our luck that she would have a reaction and we would pay $300 for an emergency vet visit just so they could give her a shot of benedryl. Secondly, there is no such thing as fireworks on the 4th of July around here. In my neighborhood, fireworks start around June 15th and and end around September. Seriously. And I think it would probably be considered animal cruelty to sedate my dog for 2 1/2 months. Plus there is the added worry of her becoming addicted to the sedative. I mean, I can't turn down her sad little face when she is begging for an extra treat or move her surprisingly heavy little body when she is taking up half of my bed, do you think I could turn down her begging for one more pill? I'm an enabler, I tell ya! I'm just kidding....mostly.

Anyway, that is why we spent the weekend in the studio in the basement, which we call the Boom Boom Room. When there are "boom boom's" outside, Blair runs to the door. And pants. And drools. And thank goodness my studio is down there to keep me busy because we have a "No Animals in the Studio Unattended" rule.

I made a deal with her that we could stay down there all day if she let me take her picture. Well, since she is also photo-phobic, she let me take her picture but it looks like I just got done kicking her or something. She's all submissive and her ears are pinned back. I swear I didn't kick her, but I did say "SIT" in a stern voice. Now she's probably scared of the word sit too. *SIGH*

So here she is, looking completely cowed, but I swear she's usually a ball of fire. In fact, ask my oldest nephew, I think he still has a scar on his lip from when she bit him. To my sister, I still say he didn't need to go to the ER for that!

Anyway...I started the weekend by doing a little bit of reorganizing in my studio. I am still nowhere near organized, but I now have 2 new shelves hung. The first one is what I call a "favorite things" shelf. It contains things that make me happy: things I made and things that inspire me.

The second shelf is more of a cabinet really. I've had it for about 2 years but never hung it up. I got it at a yard sale for $5. Well worth the money. This one hangs right over my sewing machine. In this picture I have a WIP hanging from it. Mostly because I need to get motivated to finish it, but also because I like the colors. This shelf also has a picture of my Mom & Dad on their wedding day in 1953. Love that pic. Hard to believe they only knew each other a few months before getting married and ended up having 5 kids and stayed married for over 50 years.

After hanging the shelves I was ready to sew. I started out by making a tissue cover for purse tissues. I have always wanted to make one, but they seemed hard to me. I couldn't wrap my head around how to do it. After searching online, I found a tutorial and set to work. After 10 minutes I was done...and embarrassed. These things are easy! Why was I so afraid to make one? I wanted to make about 50 more. But I only have one purse. So I stuck with this one.

I used fabric from my Mom's stash. I used to "save" her fabric. I was afraid to use it because I felt like I was losing a part of Mom. Then I came to the realization that she would want me to use the fabric. I imagine her smiling down from Heaven, happy that I am using her fabric. And as a bonus I get to carry a little piece of her with me daily. Now I feel silly for not using the fabric more before. Plus, I guess I should mention that my Mom had a ton of fabric. I'll bet that I could NEVER use it all....EVER.

I will be making more of these. I kind of feel sorry for all of my friends. You can bet they will all have tissue holders for their purses sometime soon.

Next I worked on finishing a pin cushion that I've been working on for over a month. It wasn't a difficult project. I just had to find a button big enough to put on the top and bottom to shape it. It was way too puffy without one. I had to rein it in a bit. I don't even drink marguarita's but I think this looks way cute in the marguarita glass.

Another fear of mine in the sewing world has been making a purse or tote. I just didn't have the confidence to try one. My sister makes them all of the time. I had to try. My sister had posted a cute one she made on her blog from Spool Sewing so I decided to try it.

I won't say this was easy like the tissue cover, but it was easier than I thought it would be. I especially like the cool way they did the straps. I made mine out of inexpensive fabric, using more fabric from Mom's stash for the lining, as a test case. I made some mistakes, but it still turned out okay. (Note to self: always remember after basting something by machine to change the stitch length back to normal size)

I will definately be making more of these totes with some minor changes to the pattern that work for me.

After completing these sewing projects, I was in the mood to do some embroidery. So I pulled out my dozens of Aunt Martha's patterns and set to work finding one I wanted to do. I found one that was Summery and quick so I set out to do that. It went pretty quickly and I finished it before bed last night. I decided it needed a little fabric to make it pop so I added a stripe at the bottom. I'm really pleased at how it turned out. It now hangs from the shelf I hung over the sewing machine.

Today I dedicated to a new quilting project. I wanted to make a patriotic wallhanging. True to my nature, I thought of this the day after 4th of July. So next year, I will be ready! One of the blogs I just discovered, Quilt Dad, has a really cool looking 1/4 Log Cabin quilt on it and I wanted to do my wall hanging based on that. I worked on the piecing on and off all day (I kept taking breaks to fold fabric, I swear I'm obsessed with perfectly folded fabric!) and finished the four blocks I was working on. Then, when I layed them out they didn't look like I thought they would. I moved them around a couple of ways to see if I liked them better. I'm not sure which I like. So this is where YOU come in. Which way do you like best?

This is the traditional layout and best shows the 1/4 Log Cabin blocks. But anyone who knows me knows how linear I am and this is not linear to me.

This is more pleasing to my eye, but you can't really see the log cabiney detail of it and I could have made the same pattern with strips...know what I mean?

And this last layout looks more like a big old cross to me. So any suggestions or help would be appreciated!

Overall it was a very relaxing weekend for me and I think both Blair and I faced some of our fears. Okay, so Blair didn't overcome her fears, but I certainly made leaps and bounds in attempting my tissue holder and a tote bag with no fear!

I hope everyone had an awesome 4th and I promise to try to go back to updating at least weekly!

always,

To Be Continued...

2009-07-04T23:45:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know I will be updating tomorrow. I've been crafting all weekend and have several things to share!

Happy 4th of July to all!

always,

Weekend Wrap-up

2009-06-14T20:44:00.009-04:00

I want to start by showing off the project that Jean and I worked on this weekend. Although we didn't get together, we both separately made aprons for the quarterly challenge over at All People Quilt. Tomorrow is the deadline and since we both love aprons, entering the challenge was a no-brainer. Let me just say, I am not a contest person. I don't like to compete. I really don't like havng my work judged. I'm a novice quilter/sewer and still learning the ropes. But Jean and I wanted to do this together, so I thought what the hay?

Here are our entries:

This one is mine. Jean dubbed it "Read All About It" based on the old joke: What's Black and White and Read all over? A Newspaper!

This one is Jean's. Hers is called "Cherry Bomb".

Both are made with Robert Kauman fabrics. If you'd like to see these and other entries in the contest, here is the link. Feel free to vote for our entry, we'd love to win some goodies!

I also hit some yard sales yesterday. I think I spent a total of $15 and got some really great stuff!

This blue shelf was at the first yard sale I went to and was only $3. I have absolutely no clue what I will do with it, but I love the color and the aged appearance. The white one was at the last place I stopped and was $2. I think I'm going to put the white one in my bedroom and fill it with some knick knacks.

I paid .50 for this little owl, but he was a bit too shiny for me, so he quickly became teal in color:

I know he looks blue, but, again, the lighting in my studio makes for horrible picture colors.

I paid a dollar for this wire heart basket, which I'd love to fill with flowers, but since I kill all flowers and plants rather quickly, I will have to find a different use for this.

This black wire basket was probably my favorite find. This is a horrible picture of it because you can't really see the details, but it's really cool and once I fill it with a whole set of apples, I will take a better picture. I considered painting it, but I think I'm going to leave it black.

Speaking of apples, I made a few more like the one I made last weekend. I really love making these!

This is my favorite one. I love the fabric and it matches perfectly with the new blue shelf!

This is another one made out of a vintage sheet.

And this is just a better picture of the original one I made last week.

I think I mentioned that these are huge. More like a grapefruit size than any apple I've ever seen! After making these, I played with the pattern a bit and was able to downsize it to real apple size.

This was a test apple using the smaller pattern and it turned out fine. I have a wrought iron apple stand that I want to fill with fabric apples in coordinating colors and this is the perfect size.

After finishing the apron today and making the apples, I worked a little more on folding and organizing my fabric stash. I really don't like this wire shelf and I have a shelf I want to use for my fabric, but it won't fit into the space I have (yet) so I am using this one for now.

Sadly, I am quickly running out of space on this shelf and this is maybe a quarter of my fabric stash. I'm going to need to do a major reorganization of my studio soon!

So that's it for now! Please remember to check out my entry into the quarterly challenge and vote for my and Jean's aprons. The link above should take you straight to our entry!

always,

Sneak Peek

2009-06-14T00:32:00.005-04:00

I had a great day of yard sales and sewing today. I started to take pictures of my finds to post, but the batteries died in my camera. I didn't feel like looking for new batteries, so I will post pictures tomorrow.

I did have enough juice to take a few pics of a work in progress before the camera died, so here is a sneak peek of what I'm working on.

It will be finished tomorrow (I'm on a deadline!) so I will post pictures of the completed project tomorrow.

Can you guess what it is?

More tomorrow!

always,

Another Crafty Weekend

2009-06-07T18:56:00.009-04:00

I had such a wonderful weekend! After a crazy busy week at work, I needed some down time to be creative, and I got my wish.

Saturday, I got together with two of my sisters and niece, Stephanie, to catch up and do some crafting. Since Steph just had a baby we spent the first hour or so getting to know my great-nephew. Let me tell you, little Jimmy is such a sweetie! He is so tiny and adorable, I fell in love with him right away! I wish I could share some new pictures, but I grabbed my camera bag as I raced out of the house to meet him, but forgot to check if my camera was actually in the bag. *sigh*

Once we got down to crafting, my sisters and I decided to work on a nine patch wallhanging using bits and pieces of my mother's fabric. My Mom loved calicos and blues and purples and florals. So this is what we came up with. We all have 4 similar blocks to create something with. I decided to just join all of mine together with no border.

I still have to add the backing and edging and quilt it, but just looking at this jumble of florals brings back so many memories of my Mom. (Even moreso since, as I type this, I am looking out my bedroom window and seeing the window of my Mom's previous quilting room next door. In my mind's eye, I can see her standing at her cutting table cutting hexagon after hexagon for one of her many Grandma's Garden quilts.)

After we worked on this for a few hours, we decided to make a trip to a local quilt shop, The Bear's Paw. We got there just before closing and didn't have a whole lot of time to pick out fabric, but I did pick up two new books. Both are by Art to Heart (I love all of their patterns).

I really need to find more of their books, I only have 3 and I need more. The best thing about these books, for me at least, is that the patterns are doable. Other books intimidate me. These inspire me.

I've already completed one project from the Cider Mill Road book and have another work in progress from the same book.

This fabric apple is one of the projects. I made it out of a vintage sheet. I've tried other patterns for apples and they never turn out correctly. I love how this one turned out! I used a piece of a stick I found in my yard for the stem and cut the leaf out of felt. I can't wait to make more of these...very easy and almost instant gratification!

This apple blossom is my WIP. I think it's going to be pillow. But it may become a wall hanging. We'll see. I'm probably going to hand applique it so that I can add detail. The backgroung fabric looks washed out in this picture (horrible lighting) but it's actually closer to the color of the teal buttons. The same with the petals, they look kind of pinkish here, but that is actually white on white fabric from my Mom's stash.

So all in all, a pretty productive weekend for me! Last weekend I accomplished nothing crafty and I felt so sad Sunday night! I did hit a few thrift stores and flea markets last weekend and wanted to share my favorite score. I got this adorable little cupcake teapot for 50 cents! Can you believe it? I love it so much!

So on that note, I'm done for now. I have a head full of plans for next weekend already!

always,

Holiday Weekend Wrap-up

2009-05-25T21:45:00.006-04:00

I think I have end of the weekend-itis! Jeff and I found out that the contract we put in on a house we just adored was rejected, so we are very bummed out. Other than that, I had a pretty good weekend. I wanted to do a quick update before bed.

Here is the suitcase I mentioned in my last post that I scored for $3 at a local thrift store.

I love that it's beaten up and has labels taped on it from the previous owner that say "Winter Pants" and "Long Johns". I considered removing them, but thought they added a big of vintage appeal to them, so I left them. Still no clue what I'll do with this, but Jean and her husband went antiquing in Virginia this past weekend and she saw the exact same suitcase for $65 in one of the stores. Makes my $ seems even better!

I wanted to share a few projects from the weekend. The first is my new fabric holder. I found this cute little metal basket at the thrift store and added some green paint to it. I love how it looks holding rolled up fabric.

I also finally completed my inspiration board. Using a frame I bought at a yard sale for fifty cents, fabric I picked up at a thrift store for a dollar and a piece of foam core board, it turned out pretty cute. It sits behind a bunch of my thrifted items that I have painted. (Obviously I'm not too inspired right now because it's empty!)

The last thing I worked on this weekend was a little stuffed bear head. I wanted to make something for Little Jimmy when I got see him and I was inspired by a picture I saw on Flickr. I made my own pattern and had some issues with it, but he came out okay for my first attempt.

His ears are made from a vintage sheet and they are super soft. Today I made another one, this time I made a pig pillow. I haven't had a chance to take a pic of her yet, but will post one when I get a chance. I'm hoping to perfect these little guys and add them to my future Etsy shop. (I know, I know I keep saying that!)

That's it for now. If anyone besides my sister is actually reading this, please comment and let me know what you think!

always,

Still Crafting!

2009-05-23T10:49:00.008-04:00

I have been so busy looking at houses and purging the clutter around here, I haven't had time for an update! I promised myself that I would do one today so here goes.

Last Saturday, Jean and I spent the whole day checking out the local thrift stores and flea markets and we found some really cool stuff.

My favorite find was an antique Samsonite suitcase. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but I will soon. It wasn't priced, so I took it to the register thinking maybe $10 or even $15. The cashier charged me $3. Score! I have no clue what I'm going to do with it! If anyone has any ideas, please pass them along!

I also got a really cool cake stand and a teal polka dot plate that I just love.

I scored some really cool things to paint too, so I will post pics once they are done. (Right now, I have lost the paint that I was going to use on two of the things and am tearing the house apart for it. I mean, I just bought the paint 10 days ago, it couldn't have gotten that lost, right?!?)

When we got home, I began working on another "Hi Honey, I'm Home!" apron. It turned out okay but not as well as I hoped. I added a pocket to this one, and I'm not sure I like it. What do you think?

I used a vintage sheet for the floral panels and the rest is fabric from my stash. I don't know, it's just something I look at like "meh, it's alright".

Today, after I paint some stuff, I'm going to spend lots of time sewing. I found a site called Fat Cat Patterns that has the most awesome free applique patterns and I plan to work on one or
two this weekend. If you have a chance, check out this site and thank God in heaven that there are still people like Sindy who offer things for free!

Before I go, I must introduce one and all to my brand new great nephew, Jimmy. He was born Wednesday and I can't wait to meet him in person! He looks just like my nephew-in-law and I only wish that my Mom could be around to meet him. I had a nice long crying jag yesterday over this fact and my friend, Kelly (we call her Little Kelly or Kelly Kelly), was kind enough to point out that Mom had probably already met him. She knew him in Heaven and gave him a hug and a kiss before gently pushing him off a cloud and into this world. Isn't that just the sweetest sentiment? Love her!
I plan to be back later today or tomorrow to post more pics and updates!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

always,

Hi Honey, I'm Home!

2009-05-10T19:17:00.004-04:00

Another busy weekend has passed. Overall it was a very good weekend. Jeff and I decided to put a bid on a house we saw (cross your fingers!), I hung out with Jean a bit on Saturday, I spent time with my sister, Jan, today as we went to the cemetary and then to lunch and I took a little time today to work on a new apron!

Thanks to Jean, it is displayed above on my new dress form. Jean emailed me a link last week to a Craigslist posting for a dress form and I immediately emailed the seller. Jeff and I picked it up yesterday and it's perfect! It's not the antique one that I was hoping for, but it's clean and will fit perfectly in my new studio when/if we move.

Anyway, how cute is this apron?!? It's called "Hi Honey, I'm Home!" and I found the pattern for free on Robert Kaufman's website - it was so easy to make! Jean's last podcast was all about aprons and I've been itching to make a new one. I still have to add the ties onto the apron, but that shouldn't take too long. I have some other ideas for a similar apron that I want to make for my future Etsy shop and hope to work on that next weekend.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

always,

Owl Be Seeing You

2009-05-09T09:59:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post to show a new work in progress. I made this log cabin block with an owl transfer to be embroidered last Sunday.
I hope to get the embroidery done this weekend. I'm not sure if it will become a pillow or a wall hanging.

We have a busy weekend looking at a couple of houses today and picking up something I bought from someone on Craigslist. (I won't say what it is, because I want to blog it later, but it is something I have wanting for a long time!!)
Have an awesome weekend!

always,
K

Busy, Busy!

2009-05-02T06:44:00.006-04:00

The last week has flown by. Jeff and I decided last weekend that it is time to move from where we are to a new place. We rent a townhouse next door to the one I grew up in and for many reasons, it's time to go! So if posts become a bit few and far between, we are in a flurry of cleaning and looking at new places.

Anyway, I have lots of projects to share today, so here goes.

Last weekend was another weekend dedicated to painting things with bright colors and a bit of sewing and reorganizing my studio.

My first painting projects for the weekend were of two old colanders I found. I love colanders for some strange reason and I have seen them painted and selling for $8 and more. This first one I think I paid $1.50 for at a thrift shop by my work. I love that its deep. It started out as an eyesore, but add some watermelon paint and presto-chango how pretty is it now? I will use it to hold some yarn or other odds and ends.
Next came another colander. This one was more shallow with a star shaped pattern of draining holes.

I added some celery green paint and made it into this:

I also painted a candlestick that I've had forever. I haven't used it because it was just blah before:

But after adding some ocean blue paint, I know just where it's going to go!

My last painted project was my thread holder. Jean gave me this when I first got back into sewing and it was just plain wood. I can't say I'm entirely thrilled with the result because the yellow paint was much paler than I wanted, but I plan to buy a brighter yellow and repaint it soon. It still brightens up my studio a bit though.

In between coats of painting all of this stuff, I got some sewing in. One of my favorite blogs is Cluck. Cluck. Sew. Allison posted a tutorial on how to make a camera strap cover. I have been tempted several times to buy one of these from Etsy, but hesitated to do it because, as a sewer/quilter, I always think "I can do that!". I was determined to try last Sunday.

Let me just say that Allison's tutorial was awesome. If I had followed all of the directions I would have had no problems. Unfortunately, when I was about halfway through, I started thinking "I got it! I don't need no stinkin' directions." This is where things went downhill. Please, I beg of you, if you try her tutorial and are like me and get all confident about halfway...check yourself. READ THE DIRECTIONS!

Basically, I didn't leave enough wiggle room in my strap (because I conveniently forgot that it had to go over the little clippy things that attach the strap to the bag) and it was extremely difficult to get it on. But I am a determined woman. That cover was going on. I didn't care if every seam I had just carefully sewn ripped out in the process, it was going on.

Finally, it did go on. Thank you, Jesus!

This was just my test strap that I did for my Nikon Cool Pix camera. Last Christmas, Jeff got me a new camera bag for my Canon Rebel and I will be doing a strap cover for that next. This time, I'm making sure to follow the darn directions to the letter!

My other project is still a work in progress. Jean and I bought a bunch of flour sack towels to embroider and I have been working on one. I did the embroidery on one end but I still want to embroider the opposite end and add a fabric strip along the bottom. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.

I will post the finished product when I get it done!

Lastly was organization. Last week I posted the link to the fabric folding method I'm using. I spent a lot of time folding fabric last weekend and I'm still nowhere near done. But here is what I have done so far. I still want to organize it by color, but this is a good start:

Trust me when I say that this shelf will be full when I'm done folding all of my fabric and I will still have tons of fabric that won't fit! God Bless my Mom for all the fabric she left me!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It's rainy here, so no painting this weekend, but Jeff and I are making a quick trip to drop some stuff off at the dump and then to look at a few houses we saw online.

always,

10 Things

2009-04-24T22:03:00.006-04:00

Welcome to another episode of 10 things that made me happy this week!

1. Laptops - Come heck or high water, I'm getting a laptop tomorrow! Jeff already got the wireless modem up and running, now I just need to pick out my laptop. I can't wait to blog from bed!

2. Spring - Spring is finally here! It's supposed to be in the 80's this weekend. I hope we have a nice long Spring. I love days in the 70's and low 80's. above 85 is for the birds!

3. New Pajamas - I bought a new pair of summer jammies last weekend. They are washed and ready to wear.

4. Antique Stores - I took a bit of a long lunch today and drove to an antique store I pass every day on the way to work. I spent 30 minutes wandering through it. I could have spent TONS of money, but walked away empty. Sometimes, it's nice to just browse!

5. Decluttering - Jeff and I are still on a decluttering kick. We donated a truckload of stuff to the thrift shop 2 weeks ago and I want to donate more this weekend.

6. Super Secret Folding Methods - Okay, you have to be kind of an OCD geek like me, and it's not really a super secret since I found it posted on a blog for everyone to see (I found it on the Happy Zombie's blog and she learned it from her friend Karen who learned it from Lois Hallock), but finding a way to fold my fabric so that every piece no matter how big or small is the same width has changed me life. I've already spent hours refolding some material and I have tons more to go. Now that I know how to do it, I can't wait to display all my fabric!

7. Paint - I love slapping a coat of paint on something and making it look brand new. (See my last post if you don't believe me!)

8. Old Cats - My oldest cat will be 17 in June. What would I do without him? He's cantankerous, rude and snotty, but he's also a huge love bug and would spend 24 hours a day on my lap purring if I sat still long enough! (Not a great pic, but the only one available to me right now because I don't feel like digging out my disc of pet photos!)

9. Pregnant Nieces - My oldest niece is pregnant with her first child. We went to her baby shower last weekend and she is just so dang adorable! I can't wait to babysit!

10. Family on Facebook - I don't get to see my nieces as much as I'd like to. At the baby shower, I found out they are all on Facebook and have now friended them. I can keep up with them now. Yay! (I should mention that they all think it's hilarious that I have a facebook page and they all think that I'm too old to have one. What happened to being the cool aunt? I guess they grew up. *sigh*)

I hope to post pics of a new thrift store find I plan to paint this weekend and pics of my new laptop this weekend. Oh yeah, and if I get more fabric folded and arranged, I'll take pics of that too!

always,
K

Color Your World

2009-04-19T16:19:00.002-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a linear, rule follower. I like lists and routine. I have been diagnosed with a touch of OCD. But sometimes, I want to step outside of my comfort zone and try to break my self-imposed rules. When I first set up my studio, I picked a color scheme. That scheme was red, white and black. That was 5 years ago. Over the years I have wanted to add more color, but those darn rules kept bogging me down. This weekend, inspired by my sister's use of many colors in her craft room I was determined to add some diffent colors in mine. After a quick stop at Walmart, I was ready.

A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of a metal thingy (the technical term) that I rescued from a thrift store. When I purchased it, it was white and rusted. After a coat of paint, it was off white. No big leap in imagination there, huh? Today I took a leap. It's now RED. Not just red, but RED.

Next, I painted a small wire birdcage that I found at the thrift store yesterday. I forgot to take a picture of it before, but it was kind of gold, antiquey metal looking. I like it much better in this aqua color:

The color in person is more aqua. This makes it look baby blue.

Lastly I attacked a shelf that Jean had given me last weekend. It was white-ish. It cried out for pink. The color I chose is called Watermelon and I love it! I've already hung it on the wall of my studio and I keep glancing over at it and smiling. (I tried to take a picture down there, but they were all blurry, so I used these from the good ol' kitchen counter.)

I tried to get some sewing done today, but wasn't really in the mood. I think I'll read for awhile and then work on an embroidered towel I've been itching to make.

Hope my splashes of color have made you smile!

always,
K

Up All Night

2009-04-12T04:12:00.001-04:00

So here it is just after 4am and I'm still up. Apparently, taking a 1 hour nap on the couch means I'll be up all night crafting. Especially when that 1 hour nap turns into a 3 hour nap, but whatever!

Yesterday, I had the day off of work for Good Friday. My work offers a floating holiday twice a year. You can take the day off or save your day to be used at another time during the year. I have never been good at delayed gratification, so I took the day. Anyway, I spent the day with my sister, Jean, and we had such a wonderful day! What's not to love about grilled cheese sandwiches made with Ciabatta Bread, homemade Jewish Apple Cake (only my 2nd time making it and it turned out a little dry, but still edible), a quick thrift store jaunt and a day of sewing and giggling with my sister?

When Jean and I get together to craft, we try to challenge each other to do new things. This time it was Jean's turn and she taught me so much! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to share the very cool shelf I picked up at the thrift shop. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I looked at the price tag and saw it was $25. A bit steeper than I wanted to pay, but I really, really wanted it. So I put it in my cart and went off to find Jean and show her my find. I showed it to her and then showed her the price. She immediately pointed out that the tag looked like it was from whatever store/yard sale the shelf was originally sold at. The thrift store prices are written differently so we searched for that price and found it. Turns out, it was only 9.99! Sold!

So here it is:

It's not as big as the picture makes it look. The tag on it said it is a shot glass holder. I bought it to display my pincushion collection and other little crafted goodies. I think it needs paint though. Jean suggested pink...no surprise, since she always suggests pink! I don't know yet. I hate to do white, since I always paint things white, but pink may be too, well, pink for me. I love pink, but not in shelving I don't think.

Anyway, one of our favorite parts of any thrift shop is the linens. Before I was into "thrifting" I always wondered who would buy sheets or pillowcases from a thrift shop. It kind of ooged me out to even consider sleeping on someone elses linens. Then Jean opened my eyes to upcycling linens. No need to sleep on them when you can upcycle them to make something. I've seen a few examples of using pieces of vintage sheets in quilts and I love them. One of my favorites is on Crazy Mom Quilts. Love her blog! Lots of great info there, I really want to make an inspiration board like hers too!

So our thrifting goal yesterday was to find vintage pillowcases. We picked out a few and then once we were home, we started on our Project of the Day. I have been wanting to make an apron and have been too afraid to try. Jean, who is not afraid of a darn thing that I can tell, decided that's what our project would be. Using a vintage pillow case and adding a pocket and some rickrack this is what I eventually ended up with:

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the results. For my first attempt, it didn't turn out too bad at all! Jean taught me the super secret way to add a pocket (amazingly easy!) and how to add rickrack. As much rickrack as my mom added to my clothing when I was a child (and it was A LOT) I never knew how to attach it. Sounds silly now that I know, but I had no idea.

I love using the vintage pillow case with more modern fabric and the way the two complement each other. I cannot wait to make another apron now! If you want to see some very cute aprons that Jean has made, check out her Flickr photostream: Quilted Cupcake. Plan to spend a few minutes, because she has tons of other cuteness on her photostream!

The last thing I want to share before I collapse into bed is another thing from Jean. We celebrated her birthday Friday, hence the Jewish Apple Cake, and she gave me a gift. She made this quirky little bird and didn't dig it, so she gave it to me. I adore it. I just can't help but smile when I look at his silly little face. He will hold a place of honor on my new shelf!

That's it for now. I'm getting my sleepy self and my sleepy dog off to bed. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to post again!

always,

BIB-liography

2009-04-04T20:39:00.000-04:00

Today Jeff and I spent the entire day doing some Spring cleaning. Okay, okay, those that know me know that Jeff did 90% of the cleaning and I did a thing or two. Regardless, I spent zero time in my studio so I couldn't finish the pincushions I was planning for my weekend post.

I did steal some time to photograph some of the bibs I have made recently so I thought I'd share those today.

First is a plain bib made out of some pretty pink fabric that I found. I love circles and like how this turned out:

Another bib with circles, but this one has a black background is much brighter:

Next is my cupcake bib. Bright blue fabric with a hand embroidered cupcake makes this bib one of my favorites:

Last is another pink bib, this one with a machine embrodered birdie. I think the birdie is a bit too bright for the muted fabric, but he's still a cutie! The feet and eye are hand done:

That's it for now. I've made others, but haven't had time to photograph them yet.

Hopefully I'll be able to play in my studio tomorrow after taking some time to rearrange. I've been reorganizing and rearranging my studio in my head all week and hope to change it some to make it easier to work in. We'll see.

That's it for now!

always,

A Quickie

2009-04-01T09:32:00.000-04:00

No time for a long post today, but I feel bad that I didn't get to post any crafty goodness last weekend. Here is a peek of what I will be posting about next time....Pincushions! I am a pincushion addict and I'm always looking for new patterns and searching the thrift shops for things to turn into pincushions.

This pincushion is one I made from a teacup rescued from my local thrift shop.

More this weekend!

always,

10 Things

2009-03-27T23:10:00.000-04:00

Once again, I had no time to post this week. So I will wrap up my week with another 10 things that made me happy this week:

1 - DVR - I finally got the DVR up and working and I am in love with it! Nuff said.

2- Quilted Cupcakes - My sister published her very first podcast and it is awesome! I volunteered to be a guest on an upcoming episode! Check out her podcast on Itunes under Quilted Cupcake

3- Surpassing Goals - My team at work had a goal of 10 new orders each day this week. We fell short a couple of days, but today we got 23 new orders! Our total for the week was 65...15 more than we needed. Yay us!

4- Chick-fil-A iced tea - love it almost as much as McDonald's sweet tea and I'm drinking some now!
5 - Bibs - I think I mentioned before that I love making bibs. Above is one I made a few weeks ago. I have several cut out and ready to sew up this weekend. Hope to post the pics Sunday.

6 - Public Library - I love the library. I would go every day if I had the time. Being a librarian was always on my top 5 list of dream jobs. Except I wouldn't want to deal with people. They would interrupt my reading.

7 - Audio Books - How did I ever survive with these? My favorite audio books are ones by my favorite authors (Suzanne Brockmann and Janet Evanovich) that I have already read. I love to listen to the characters come to life. I always have an audio book in my car's CD player and usually listen on the way to work and back. It makes the 40 minute drive fly by.

8 - Memories - With the 1st anniversary of my Dad's passing this week, I took time to think back about my favorite memories of him. I love remembering something, some moment in time, that I hadn't thought of in years. It makes me feel closer to him.

9 - Talking Cats - My youngest cat (she's 16, the oldest is 17) "talks" to me from the minute I walk in the door at night until I go to bed. She will wait outside the bedroom door and follows me into the bathroom to talk. She sits in the tub (hence her current nickname, Tubthumper) and talks away. We joke that she is ratting out her big brother, the dog and Jeff on all the bad things they did while I was at work.

10 - Flickr - I spend hours upon hours on Flickr getting craft inspiration and just enjoying the wonderous creations made by crafty people.

Wow, I'm at 10 already. I have more, but I will keep it to 10. Hope to post some crafty goodness this weekend. I'm going to concentrate on pincushions and bibs this weekend.

always,

Another Busy Saturday!

2009-03-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

I started the day at Comcast, upgrading from digital cable to a DVR. I was so excited! No more missing my favorite shows because I had to work late or stop at the store. I could watch my favorites over and over. I picked up my DVR and moved on. Skip forward 6 hours and Jeff went to hook up the DVR and the man at Comcast gave me the DVR for HD TV. This after asking if I had an HD TV and me telling him no. *sigh* I really, really hate Comcast customer service. This is not our first run in with them and their extremely poor customer service and undertrained staff. I won't go into details about the last run in other than to say it escalated to a call to the president of Comcast and ended up with us getting 3 months free service. Todays incident ended up with Comcast promising to drop off the correct box on Tuesday at no charge. That would satisfy me if I hadn't planned to use the new DVR on MONDAY.

Anyway, my next stop was Ikea. I love Ikea. I can always find something there to spend my money on. Today I spent lots of it. Mostly on storage stuff.

After Ikea, I went to the cemetary to visit my Mom and Dad. Monday is the one year anniversary of my Dad's unexpected passing. Since I have to work Monday, I went today. I took the Daffodils I got at work to place on the grave. Hope this doesn't freak anyone out, but here is a pic of the flowers on the gravesite. My parents are buried at a Veteran's Cemetary and they bury the husband and wife in the same plot, that's why both names are on the headstone. (I've blurred the last name for privacy reasons)

After spending some time talking to my parents I headed to get my hair cut. I was a bit early and my girl is usually running a little late, so I ran into the thrift store close by and found this cool thingy. Not sure what it's supposed to be (I pick up a lot of stuff like this) but the top tier has a hole like you are supposed to put a candle or something. Anyway, it was chipped and kind of sad looking (left picture below), so I ran it out to the back yard once I got home and sprayed it with a coat of paint and now it looks great! (right picture below) Now I need to find a good use for it! (ETA: OMG, I just previewed my post and I'm extremely embarrassed at how dirty the wall is behind the pictures below. It's the backsplash of our kitchen counter and apparently it wasn't wiped down recently. I'm off to do it now, I swear!)

Overall another productive day! I spend a bit of time in my craft studio, but mostly organizing. I'm heading back now to dabble a bit. I'm still working up the courage to try those baby booties!

always,

Oh Happy Day!

2009-03-19T21:09:00.001-04:00

Since I don't have much time to post tonight, I thought I'd list 10 things that made me happy this week, so here goes:

1. Daffodil Days at work - My company sponsored a day at work called "Daffodil Days" and everyone received a bunch of daffodils. They were just stalks when we got them, but they opened up overnight and this is what I woke up to today. Spring is in the air!

2. Un-lost Ipods - I lost my Ipod over two months ago. Jeff and I have torn the house and my car apart several times looking for it. We finally gave up and I was resigned to the fact that I would have to buy a new one. This morning I was gathering up my stuff for work and there, in the bottom of the bag I carry to work was my Ipod. Yay!

3. Casual Fridays - I love wearing jeans to work. Fridays always pass so quickly and I swear it's because I get to wear jeans!

4. Crafty Sisters - Last Sunday, Jean, Jan and I went to a quilt show at Goucher College and loaded up on fabrics and notions. Not only did I feel especially close to my Mom as we walked the aisles of the show, I know she was dancing in Heaven as she watched three of her daughters doing something she loved to do herself.

5. Reality TV - I LOVE reality TV. Right now Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, Survivor, Biggest Loser and American Idol are all in the midst of their seasons. Big Brother is my favorite, can't wait until that comes back on!

6. New Episodes of One Tree Hill - One Tree Hill is my guilty pleasure. I have an unhealthy facination with Chad Michael Murray and never miss an episode!

7. DVR Days - I have decided that I can no longer live without a DVR and I'm going to Comcast on Saturday to pick mine up.

8. Law and Order -Law & Order is my lullaby. Turn it on and I sleep like a baby. Sadly, USA Network has decided that House needs to be played more than L&O and it's not as easy to tune into as it was a year ago, but I'm getting me a DVR (see above) and you can be sure I will have L&O galore saved on it!

9. Haircuts - I'm getting my hair cut and highlights done on Saturday. I haven't had a hair cut and dye since October...yes, its been 5 months and it shows....badly. I put it off as long as I possibly can because I am never happy with the outcome. Not that my girl, Diane, doesn't do a good job...I just have horribly thin, limp hair that never looks right. The dye helps though.

10. Jeff - He just makes me happy every single day of my life. He is absolutely the best man in the whole wide world and I am lucky to have him to share my life with. One day soon I will dedicate an entire post to him and his wonderfulness.

Hope everyone else has had an enjoyable week. I hope to post some new crafty goodness this weekend. I am determined to try the baby booties that I have been scared to try until now!

always,

Kelly

Oh Happy Day!

2009-03-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

My day started off pretty good. After suffering from a bout of Vertigo since last Saturday, I finally woke up this morning feeling more normal. I still had a little bit of dizziness, but nothing compared to the last week.

My day got better when I ran to Walmart at 730 am (I refuse to go to Walmart on a Saturday anytime after 9am when it turns into what my friend, Tina, calls "Suicide Saturday"). When I'm in Walmart I always look at the pajamas. Do I need pajamas? Heck no, but I always look. Anyway, I found these, pardon the pun, sweet pair of jammies with a cupcake on the top and cupcakes and flowers all over the bottoms. Score! I love anything to do with cupcakes and owls right now and I just had to have these.

So my next stop was the Goodwill Superstore. I love walking through a thrift shop and finding odd little things that appeal to me. I constantly waiver between "I can't believe someone would get rid of that!" to "I can't believe someone paid money for that...and then donated it!" I am currently on a mission to find wool sweaters to felt, owl stuff, cupcakey stuff, fabric and books. A girl can never have too many books. My favorite two sections of any thrift shop are the books and the housewares. You never know what you will find there. Today, this is what I found:

It's way cool and I knew as soon as I saw it what I would use it for, but I have no clue what it is. I snatched it up and moved along to gather a bunch of other stuff -2 big bags full. Grand total $19 and change. I will post the finished product of this once it is completed. Probably not until next weekend.

Once I left the thrift store, I headed to the library, got a bunch of new books and headed home. I kind of overdid it because I was starting to feel dizzy again, so I rested a bit then headed down to my craft room. Since I promised some crafty goodness today, here is a bib I completed. I have no clue who it's for, but I love how it turned out! (I know it's not a great picture, but I'm too beat to go take another picture right now. Trust me on the cuteness just this once.)

Anyway, that's my day so far. Kinda lame to give a blow by blow, but I love days like this so I wanted to share. Now it's time to eat some Chinese food and rest. Tomorrow is another day!

Going It Alone

2009-03-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

For the past couple of years, I have shared a blog with my sister and a friend. What started as a scrapbooking and papercrafting blog has turned into more of a sewing blog.
I don't post that much on that blog because, well, sometimes, I don't have anything crafty to post and I don't want to ruin the "sanctity" of that space.

So here I am, starting my own blog. I have to say up front that I am NOT big on follow through. I mean well, but I let life get in the way more often than not. So if I disappear at times, bare with me!

I named this blog Lucy's Daughter in honor of my Mom. I lost my Mom on December 21, 2008 to Alzheimer's. While I will never again hear her say "I love you", I will carry her with me each and every day as I sew, quilt, read, listen to country music (Alan Jackson was her favorite!), haunt thrift shops, flea markets and yard sales and even as I look into the mirror (I have her freckles, thanks Mom!).

So here goes...tune in tomorrow for some crafty goodness!

Kelly