third time's a charm?

Redecorating has it's ups and downs sometimes... I just wasn't crazy about the stripe I used for this valence at the Lake House. After shopping til' I dropped, I had settled for the right colors in this stripe when what I really wanted was a geometric pattern. So... last week when coming across a geometric fabric in the right green that I did like, I bought it. This weekend, I actually cut the tabs off the curtain and changed out the stripe for the geo. I like it so much better!

And... I'm almost ashamed to say, we re-painted (for the 3rd time, yikes) the great room at the lake. The Calabash was a bit too limey for me afterall. So to sum it up, I went from Behr Dried Palm (too neon) to Martha Stewart Calabash (too limey) to Sherwin Williams Hearts of Palm (just right) I feel like the 3 bears. At least we only did 1 coat of each color! We.are.done.now. Who knew green could be so tough?! I wanted a change from the yellow it had been for 10 years and green seemed the next best choice to go with my furniture. Having finished late in the day, the jury is still out on the "love it" factor, but yes, that's it, the final green SW "Hearts of Palm", it is what it is. 

 It's hard to tell from the photos with the light changing, some of the pics makes it look too yellowish, but it really does go well with the fabrics in the room. I love all the fabrics! It's a warm cozy green and it brings the outdoors in... 

well... okay, I guess I do love it!

ready to sew, my closet is complete

Rainy weather calls for indoor projects, and I have plenty of them! I caulked and painted the desk we made for my sewing closet, and then put all my stuff away. Here's the space...

Yes, I have 2 sewing machines, the one on the desk top is my Brother embroidery sewing machine. I love it!

 There's storage for my patterns, and all the little "stuff" that comes with a sewing machine. 

 This side is for trims, elastic, velcro, etc... and a couple empty bins for what comes along.

I added cork board (from Hobby Lobby) to the back wall to pin my patterns to. The seam where the two boards meet was staring back at me, so I decided to trim it out. Looking for a piece of trim, I found a yardstick so I chopped that to fit. Pretty and useful!

  Here's the fabrics from my current project... the bumpers and another minky sheet.

All organized and ready to go! I love organization... don't you?!

sewing room in a closet!

 I don't have a designated craft or sewing room. I usually set-up on the dining room table, but that's not the greatest for keeping the house neat and clean, especially since it's the first room off the front door.

Since my youngest daughter now lives in her own condo, I decided to turn her closet into my new sewing space. 
I love the idea of leaving the machine set up and just closing the door on the mess. 

 Here's the empty closet with a new light installed above the doors

 We had these cubes from something else (?) that were the perfect height.  
We decided to use them as end supports. We added a board across the back, 
one on each side and one across the front of the doors to support the table top. 

Here it is, all level and perfect!

 I still need to trim out the top with some 1/4 round and paint it all with semi-gloss white...

but, the sewing machine fits!

And here's the best part... the doors close on any mess I leave behind for the day... hooray! 
The other best part... my dining room is perfectly neat and clean.

linking to:

DIY Showoff Project Parade

Metamorphosis Monday

Just Something I Whipped up
Centsational Girl linky party

baby bumpers!

This is a first for me! I bought the Nu-foam bumper foam from Joann's, with the 50% off coupon of course, and it comes with instructions. I added a small navy blue cording at the top for contrast. One end section is done, with one more and the two sides to go. I thought it turned out great and wanted to share it with you!

One side is the yellow giraffes and the other the gray graphic.

 Which side do you think Baby Nathan wants to look at?

yellow and gray

I'm taking a break from my own home projects to sew my new grandbaby's nursery bedding. 
The colors are yellow and gray with navy blue as trim. Here are the fabrics:

This stripe is for the dust ruffle

This geometric will be on one side of the bumpers and...

this cute giraffe print on the other side.

 The gray minky is for the sheet, so soft and cozy!

The dust ruffle is almost done... next I'll sew the the sheet. 
In the meantime we'll be painting the nursery this weekend. So much to do!


sharing at Somewhat Simple

new year News!!!

I guess I'm allowed to tell you now, since all the phone calls have been made and emails sent out... my Big new years News! If you read this post "blessings to share with you" then you know my oldest daughter is pregnant and due in May. Well, today we found out from the sonogram that the baby is a Boy! Oh boy, oh joy, another boy! Carter is the most excited of us all! He is so happy he'll have a little boy cousin to play with. As the proud grandma, I'm already calling them "the boys".
What fun lies ahead for us all!

Since finding out just this afternoon, we've already started looking at fabrics for the nursery. I love a good design project and what's more fun than a nursery! She wants the colors to be fairly neutral, with maybe a bit of gray or navy or yellow.

But now that we know boy, I was playing with a bit of baby blue too. There's a great user friendly site I found Carousel Designs that lets you custom design the bedding from the fabrics they offer. So much fun to play with and a great way to visualize the finished product!

I can't wait to get started helping to prepare the perfect nest for this new little one.

I hope your new year is looking as promising as mine. Wishing you all blessings of health, happiness and prosperity in 2011!

creating memories

I have really enjoyed getting back into sewing and the fun things you can create. My latest project is the costume I made for Carter's first Halloween... here's the almost finished progress:

and here it is with the cuffs and legs finished:

and on my cute baby model:
He loves having a tail!
That was the "fitting" and it fit perfectly. I did end up tweaking the hat with a bit more "mane" to make it more lion-like. Besides the trim, I added two strips of fur loops that I made out of the furry fabric I had used for the tummy.
Now he really looks like a lion cub, right?!

Carter modeled the hat at Gymboree class today. It's way too hot in there though to wear the entire costume. He'll debut it all Thursday at his playgroup Halloween party!

The best part is he didn't even mind wearing it!
I can't wait to see him all dressed up on Thursday, maybe even with a bit of face paint?!

I loved expressing my creativity and making it for him!
And... I love that I'm a part of his first Halloween memories!

when the girls were little...

... I would always make their Halloween costumes. Three little girls and countless Halloweens equals a lot of costumes. Some that stand out to me are... Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, a pink poodle, robot, mummy, stuffed pumpkin, clown, ballerina, space girl, a Christmas tree all decorated, Santa's Elf and a boxed gift Package (sister costumes). So fun!
Well, with this being Carter's first Halloween I just had to make his costume. His Momma chose a lion, so a lion costume I'm making! Before I totally finish all the details though, I want to do a fitting tomorrow. Then, all it needs is elastic and Velcro.

This is how I started... I didn't have a lion pattern (because... I waited for the patterns to be 99 cents and the lion was sold out. So... I adapted a mouse pattern with smaller ears, a tuft on the tail and added a mane). I found some trim on mega-sale for the mane!

I may add some longer loops on the back of that mane,
I just want to see it on a cute little head first!

Boo!
Baby C will have a fitting tomorrow...
so stay tuned for more photos and the cuteness that follows!

Roooaaaar!