artsy-crafty babe

so long, april...

April was a good month.  Busy, but good.  Tomorrow starts a brand new month, my favorite month of all.  As busy as April was, May will be a whirlwind.  May is a big month in our family.  All three of us girls have birthdays - Ava on the 1st (sniff, sniff - where's my May Day baby going?), me on the 14th (ugh), and Lily on the 24th (big 7 going on 17).  Along with that is Mother's Day, about 57 other family member birthdays (not really, but close), plus all of the end of school year activities, a dance recital, and Memorial Day.  On one hand I'm excited, but on the other I'm kind of scared.  I know that these next 4+ weeks weeks are going to fly by!

I've decided to challenge myself this next month.  Instead of going on a blog break, I'm going to post pictures with just a few words, if any at all.  This will be hard for me because I'm such a blabber mouth - especially with all that fun stuff going on.  At first I was going to do pictures only, but come on, I can't do that!  So I'll try to be quiet and express all that is going on around me through my photos.  This should be interesting - a challenge, indeed!

**photos above are of the party dress I made for the first birthday girl - modified Simplicity 5118

a sewing machine

My sewing machine and I are getting along swimmingly.  I set her up on my kitchen dining table and go to town.  I have a lot more distractions sewing in the kitchen, but I get a lot more accomplished.  I think it's a fair trade off.

Besides my home decor sewing, I did manage to squeeze in some bags (no surprise there).  I finished 4 of them.  To be honest, 3 were partially assembled during the week, so there wasn't a whole lot to do to finish them.

I played around with the granny style again, using one of my thrifted sheets.  It's okay, but I already have a tweaked pattern ready to go for round three.

I finished those two pleated pocket totes I started earlier in the week.

And, I made a custom order, manipulating my short & sassy pleated bag.  I'm really happy with this one.  I wasn't planning on finishing it in one sitting, but once I got started I couldn't stop.  My customer supplied the fabrics, giving me free reign to come up with what I wanted.  I love customers like that!  Thankfully, she was pleased with the result.

If you're interested, these bags (minus the custom one) are available in the shop.

the dining "area"

I never know what to call this space.  It isn't the dining "room" because it isn't it's own room, but an extension of the kitchen.  So, dining "area" it is.  This was the big project this weekend.  I finally got my bench.  It's an outdoor love seat, purchased from here.  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I figured that it would be a useful piece of furniture whether we kept it with the dining table or not.  I do think about these things when we buy furniture.  I'm not a willy-nilly furniture buyer. 

So, the cushions that came with the bench didn't go with my new theme, so I made removable covers for them out of white twill.  A little crazy?  Maybe.  I finished all the interior seams so that they would withstand LOTS of washings.  I love it.  Please excuse the throw pillows, those will be recovered once I get the table top quilt made.  I'm very happy to report that since adding the loveseat, we've eaten at the table twice!  The kids love it.  This space is so much cozier now.

I also painted the two keeper chairs brown.  As I was painting them I thought that the color was totally yucky, but once I got them in the space I was happy.  I *heart* spray paint!  Now I need to find one more similar chair.  I'll probably make some sort of little white seat cover or something.

The plates got hung.  This turned out way better than I thought it would.  There is a mix of vintage and new plates up there.  I love it!

Last but not least, this old girl is getting a new dress.  I love this chair.  I've talked about it before, my $1 Salvation Army purchase.  I've reupholstered her and made slipcovers many times, so this should be a snap.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the wooden parts, maybe just an antiquing with dark brown?  I don't know, but I'm sure she'll look great!  Yep, this space is coming along nicely.  I think I'm even ready to start that table top quilt...

unwinding

This weekend turned out to be way more busy that I thought it would be.  I can't say I'm too fond of weekends like that.  I really am more of a homebody than I'd like to admit.  Anyway, we had lots of fun, I saw lots of pretty things, and I got lots of accomplished around the house.  I'd love to share it all right now, but I don't have any good photos thanks to the gray, rainy weather we're having.  I promise, I'll share it all through out the week.  I'll give you hint - it involves my kitchen.  Until then, I'm going to try to unwind and go to bed early.  I need to catch up from my marthon sewing session last night.  I don't know why I do that to myself!

gratitude friday

Do I need any words?  These three bouncy blessings are the light of my life, and for that I am most grateful.

Happy Friday!  I hope you all have a great weekend :)

thrifty thursday

I think I need an intervention.  I know I already have plenty of thrifted vintage linens collecting dust, but look what I brought home this week.  I couldn't resist!  One of these days I'll get around to doing something with them.  Well, there is something I can do with them right now.  Have you heard about Lisa's Summer Skirt Sheet Swap?  Go on, check it out.  I signed up.  Doesn't it sound like fun?

Look at the two pillowcases on top - aren't they fabulous?  I think those will be dresses for Ava, if I can part with them...

pooped

Oh boy, am I tired!  For the past two night I haven't been able to get to sleep before midnight.  Did I mention that I get up at 5:15?  Yeah, that's not enough sleep, even for me!  I'm hoping that tonight I crash.

Other than driving myself crazy with my thoughts, I did manage to cut out two more pleated totes. 

I picked up some cute fabrics to make dresses for Ava.

And, I brought home a new to me chair.  Not bad for $24.50.  I think she'll look great with a white twill slipcover sporting a box pleated skirt.

I think I have enough projects planned to last me a few lifetimes - no wonder I never get enough sleep.  Ta-ta for now, I've got some rest to catch up on!

thinking about...

These are the types of things that go through my head at night before I go to sleep.  I should have been sleeping when I wrote this, but for some reason I couldn't (I'm blaming the sinus medicine).

• color washing an armoire
• what color should I go with - white?  taupe?  something else?
• slip covers
• monogramming pillows
• white twill or natural linen?
• should I buy that secondhand wingback?
• how can I make an ottoman for my living room?
• painting my rocking chair
• Ava's birthday in a little over a week
• how is she 2 years old already?
• should I do a taco bar for her party?
• how about margaritas?
• summer dresses for Ava
• a tote bag for Alex
• will Lily still wear clothes I make her?
• the exposed selvages on my dining room curtains are bothering me
• how should I hang those plates on the wall?
• do I have enough to hang?
• I really should get those River Road prints framed
• I want a table skirt made out of burlap
• do I have time to paint the kids bathroom this weekend?
• rugs for the kitchen
• will we ever get around to tiling the counter tops?
• will I ever make my table quilt?
• I like having real flowers on the table
• daisies sure last a long time
• what kind of pillows should I make for my dining table bench?
• will I have a bench in time for the party?
• where did April go?
• should I work on publishing my purse patterns?
• will anyone buy them?
• do I have the technical skills to make them?
• where in the heck is my ID badge for work?
• is there a load of laundry in the washer?
• why am I not sleeping?
• why am I watching the Real World?

*sigh*

P.S. I bought the wingback today, next on the agenda - a slipcover!

Is Monday over yet?

Yes, I do believe it is.  Today wasn't a terribly stressful day or anything, but I had a sinus headache from hell that put a damper on the whole day.  Thankfully, the kids were in good spirits and happy to eat sandwiches for supper, followed by oreos for dessert (I know, I know, not the most nutritious).  Now that baths are done and things are settled for the night, I'm going to indulge with Martha and my favorite glass of red.  Ah, the color issue - I can't wait!

some sunday sewing

I am happy to report that Family Movie Night was a success, sort of.  Alex and Ava lost interest rather quickly, but they really enjoyed all the stuff we did beforehand.  We started the night with homemade pizzas that they got to top themselves, then we had popcorn, followed by chocolate chip cookies.  My living room floor needed a good vacuuming afterward, but it was worth it.  We plan to do it again, real soon.

Starting the weekend off in such a family friendly manner made me not want to do much more than just hang out with the family, which isn't a bad thing!  That's pretty much what I did until Sunday.  The youngest kidlets went to their grandparents for the afternoon, so I had some free time on my hands.  Matt was busy working on a school project, so I sewed.  I ended up making a pleated tote for Holly (I hope you like it!), a little shoulder bag from Amy Butler's Midwestern Modern fabrics, and a granny bag (is that what those bags are called?) out of a Martha Stewart kitchen towel. 

I think they all turned out pretty well.  I was pretty much experimenting with all three of them - tweaking the pleated pocket tote pattern, trying a new pattern, and just trying my hand at that granny one.  I've seen those all over the place and wanted to see if I could do it.  I like sewing like this, no plan, no pressure, just playing around.  If Holly doesn't like the pleated pocket bag, then all three will be in my shop, otherwise, the other two will get there eventually.