Silhouette Giveaway

Go on over to Beneath My Heart to learn about this giveaway. Here is what you could win:

• A Silhouette Machine
• 2 rolls of premium Silhouette vinyl
• 1 roll of transfer tape

and

• The new Home Decor CD!

There are several ways to enter to win. After you have entered the contest…sit a spell and check out the rest of Traci’s blog. I’m hoping to use her burlap tablecloth tutorial soon!!

 

Good Luck!!!

My Week

This was a good week.
While this was going on outside,

I was busy inside with:

and

and a little of…

First project was

this canvas tote with an ink transfer on the pocket.
Then I decided to try taking an old pair of pants and turning it into

this skirt. I was actually planning on using an old pair of jeans, but found a khaki pair of pants that went really well with this fabric…

…that I had bought to make a tote bag. Oh well, maybe there will be more of it at Hobby Lobby.
Then I took some scraps of fabric from my friend’s apron and made a

new pin cushion.
I also did quite a bit of baking this week, starting with

these mini spiced muffins. Sorry, I didn’t take pictures of the lemon cake, biscuits, or yeast rolls….Yes, I’m a bad blogger.
Oh let’s not forget what came in the mail…I think I’ve mentioned by slight obsession with love of books…


I can’t wait to find some fabric for one of these:

This book comes with….

the patterns.
I also washed

and

for a couple of future projects. But for today, I’m giving the sewing machine a break while I pick up a crochet hook to make a scarf. I’m hoping to find an old movie to watch while I let my hands do that busywork.
Have a great, creative weekend!

Finally….for now.

 

Remember my telling you that I was reorganizing my studio? No? That’s okay. I told you that a LONG time ago….way back on October 28th. 

BEFORE:

Yes, it was quite a MESS! It is a bit difficult being creative when you’re surrounded by that kind of clutter.

I have arranged, rearranged, rearranged again….tried living with it for a few days/weeks….and then started all over again. Most days the studio looked much better than the above photos. However, I just was not happy with it. I finally had to face the facts that: 1) I don’t have enough room for all that stuff. 2) Since we rent….I couldn’t knock out a wall! 3) I needed function over beauty. So the first thing I did was move a LOT of things (magazines, fabric, future projects) to a room upstairs. I still had MANY more books than I had space. So I told my dear hubby that I MUST have more bookshelves! He gave me that “It’s the middle of winter…my shop is full with a tractor with blade, snow blower, etc., etc. You’re not getting shelves until spring thaw”. And then I painfully went through my books and selected those that I could live without…temporarily. Those went into a large storage container. Sadly it is now the 4th large storage container filled with books. I have an addiction!

Then it was back to arranging, moving, rearranging, moving back….You get the picture. Am I happy with it? No, not completely. Some things I can remedy in the future as my budget opens up. Other things I just have to deal with, because it’s NOT my house….

But here are some AFTER shots:

The Studio Build-in.

 

A drawer from a cabinet that I had to disassemble…filled with sewing supplies.

 

My sewing table.

My project table.

Some storage under the project table.

My desk area… I decided to use the side-table for my printer until the spring thaw. Then it is getting a makeover like its twin.

Some of my design/sewing/inspiration books.

Some inspiration….from Country Living-January 2008. I so want to find some chippy benches to use for book storage!

The BANE of my existence…

Okay seriously, I DO need to find a better way to store my fabric. This is only a small portion of my collection. I have several boxes stored upstairs.

 

And finally…the view from my desk.

Now…I must give the rest of my much neglected home some TLC. My Christmas tree is still up!!! I’m usually packing up Christmas on December 26th….So it is well PAST time to deal with it. That is definitely a MUST DO for my Saturday. But come Monday, now that the studio is in order…time to create!!!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Plain Frame Gets a Makeover

Okay…I’m a bad blogger. I forgot to take a before photo. But use your mind’s eye to see one of those really CHEAP oak frames from Wal-Mart…I think this 8 x 10 was about $2.  At the time I really liked the oak. Sad? Yes, I know.

I was working on finishing another project when that frame caught my eye. I needed it for my tax certificate, but I just couldn’t stand the thought of looking at that frame next to my desk EVERY day. I already had my acrylic paints and brushes out. So I mixed some snow white and a teeny little bit of burnt umber… Then I took a dry brush and painted the frame with a light coat. Once that was dry I decided that it needed another light coat. The wood really pulled it in. After the second coat, just enough of the wood grain was still showing. Originally, I had planned on hitting the edges with a some sandpaper…but I didn’t need to. It already looked a bit shabby. I thought it did need a little something however… But what? Well, I happened to have some medium gray mixed with metallic silver sterling (about 50/50). I wasn’t sure about the metallic, but…..it is only a cheap frame. If it didn’t look so great, it would not be the end of the world. So I dipped a cotton cloth into the gray/silver and wiped it over the off-white.  Then I wiped off the excess with a clean spot on the cloth.

What do you think?

 

While I was taking the “after” pictures, I thought…. “burlap…wonder what that would look like as the mat????”

So…

 

Much better than the oak finish! And the best part? Cost: practically FREE.

 

Have a great day!

A Lamp Slipcover

…or what I was doing when I should have been dusting

Today I NEEDED some sewing therapy, but the last thing I wanted was ANOTHER unfinished project. So I did something super simple…and easy to finish in one block of time. (Even IF I should have been using that time to clean!)

I have a couple of lamps that I really like…except for the UGLY lampshades that came with them. They are cheapies that bought at Wal-Mart or Target many years ago. I didn’t like the lampshades even then and intended to buy new ones…but never have.
Here is the before of the one on my hubby’s bedside table….(please don’t look TOO carefully or you will see the aforementioned dust.)

And here it is after its makeover….

I made it from a piece of canvas dropcloth that I had left from another project.  And here is how I did it:

1)  Measure your lampshade’s circumference at the largest part and add 7” (you can add 1 or 2 more inches if you would like a fuller shade). Now measure top to bottom and add 4”.
2) Cut a rectangle from your fabric using your final numbers. In my case, my lampshade had a circumference of 38” and a top to bottom measurement of 9”. Therefore, my cutting measurements were 45” x 13”.
3) Iron your rectangle.
Now time to head to the sewing machine.
4) Since I was not hemming the bottom of my cover, I first sewed a straight stitch about 1/4 from the bottom edge. That will keep it from fraying TOO much.

5) Fold your rectangle in half, right sides and short ends together. Sew a seam down the short ends.
6) Back to the iron to press open that seam.


7) Now turn down a 2-inch hem along the top (and if you are hemming the bottom, you will turn up a 1/4 inch hem also) and pin.


8) Press your hem lines.


Back to the sewing machine…

9) Prep your machine for free-arm sewing.
10) Hem top (and bottom) along the edge.

11) Sew about 1/2” from the top hem to make a casing for your elastic.
12) Take your seam ripper and CAREFULLY open the seam between the casing stitches.

13) Attach one end of 1/4” elastic to a safety pin.

14) Insert the safety pin into the casing opening and feed it through the casing. This could take a few minutes…I’ll wait for you.
15) Okay…that safety pin has finally popped out the opening on the other side.

Now it is time for a fitting….
16) Making sure that your elastic doesn’t slip back into the casing…..place your slipcover over your lampshade and pull your elastic to adjust it to fit.

17) Since this isn’t clothing, I tied a tight knot in the elastic to join it. Then I took it back to the sewing machine to add a couple of reinforcing stitches.

18) Snip off the excess elastic and push the ends into the casing opening.

19) Time to grab a hand-sewing needle and a little thread. Your just going to put in a couple of simple stitches to close the casing opening. You can do a really pretty, invisible slipstitch if you would like. I wasn’t that worried about the stitches being seen, since it is on the wrong side of the cover.

20) Now trim off all those strings and you are ready to slip your new cover over the lampshade! Adjust the gathers evenly and voila!




Guess I will go take care of that dust problem now!

Have a wonderful, creative day!


I'm taking this lamp's slipcover over to the party at: