Fanciful Felt

For Marissa

2012-02-10T19:36:00.001-08:00

I made this clip to match the top I got for my niece for her 12th birthday. :)

Resin Casting

2012-02-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show the resin castings I did Saturday night. I used the Easycast resin again and I used this to "tint" it. I thought it would be more of a pearl/opal, but it turned out to be just a clear glitter. It would look great with a color.

Here is a shot of what I made and the molds I used. Like I said in the previous post, I get my molds from MoldMuse by Silicone Molds on Etsy.

There are lots of great molds. I really love MoldMuse because she typically has multi-imprint molds, but I plan to buy some from other shops to check them out. And there are certain shapes I want that I have found in other shops. Just search "silicone molds" under supplies and you'll find lots. =)

A close-up of my little hoot mold. It's hard to see the glitter, but it's there I promise. =)

Here is the pigment I used for this set. About 8 or so drops. I wanted it to be super glittery. With the color pigments, you only need to start with one drop. In my previous post, the red ones were done with one drop. They were still a little transparent. Next time, I'll do three or so.

Tutorial: Tinting Sculpey Clay

2012-02-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I got REALLY into silicone molds because I wanted to be able to make my own little flower decorations for clips. I started with what was available to me. My mom had some nude colored sculpey, so that's what we used. Well, we thought, "Oh, we will just paint them afterward."....bad idea. It's too much work. Then I discovered the clear epoxy resin and just tried that the other day. SO great. I use the Easycast brand. I love it. I bought their dyes too but I'm going to try using acrylic paint. Fun! Here is my first attempt with the resin.

Tip: Don't use the clay on the more intricate molds like the fleur de lis. WAY hard to press it in. I mean, it's doable, but hard.

Tip: Get lots of molds. This stuff has to dry for many hours and even then it's not really hard. Anyway, you can take them out after about 12 or so hours, but it would be nice to be able to pour lots at one time. I made like an ounce of resin and I still had some left over. You don't want to waste it.

So then I got to thinking...there has to be a way to dye the sculpey. I googled it and voila! There's a way. So here it is. =)

This is what I used. It is a nude color.

Get a little amount and work it into a "patty."

Take a sharpie and dot it all over the top. I did dots because dragging it just made the clay stick to the tip. You get a lot more ink out by dotting.

Fold it over and flatten it out again. Repeat the dotting.

Keep folding it over and you start to get the marbled effect.

Mix it all up and once you get the color you want, you're finished!

These are the colors I made and the sharpies I used to make them.

Here are all of the totally fun cabochons I made with my tinted clay! I hope you will try it and have as much fun as I did.

P.S. You bake the clay according to the box and I baked mine IN the molds! This keeps them from getting distorted because they are hard when you get them out of the oven.

=) I get my molds from MoldMuse by Silicone Molds on Etsy

Sweet P

2012-02-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend Staci had her baby girl on January 9th and she is absolutely precious! Staci had purchased lots of bows and headbands from me several months back. It was so exciting to see her wearing two of them in her newborn photos!

I really need to streamline my shop and had decided to give up on the baby headbands. But, seeing them modeled by such an angel makes me want to make tons! What do you think? Maybe I'll do a post about the items I make and have a little feedback about which items you guys think I should cut and which I should continue.

Here's my Sweet P!

Chevron Board - DIY

2012-02-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

I just finished a really fun project! I have loved the look of chevrons for quite some time and just got around to incorporating them into my home. Here is my project and how you can do it yourself. =)

First I had my dad cut out a piece of plywood 5' by 20". That is the size I needed for the space I wanted it for. You could do any size. I white-washed it with white acrylic paint. Basically I painted it on and wiped it off with a wet rag as I went. I don't know if that's the "official" method, but it worked.

I got the chevron pattern here. I printed out four copies and taped them together.

Next I layed the pattern on the board and scored it with an embossing tool. I had to be very careful to line the pattern up right each time. It took forever and my arm was really sore from the scoring.

Then I had to tape all of those lines perfectly with painter's tape. My back is still hurting from all of the leaning over. =I

After I got all the tape on and pressed smooth, I spray painted it with grey paint. Spray paint works better than brushing on acrylic because it doesn't bleed as much and goes way faster.

Once the paint was dry, which wasn't long (another great plus for spray paint), I peeled off all the tape.

Then I painted a letter B I had on hand. I chose a golden buttercup color because I love grey and gold together. After that dried I used wood glue to adhere it to the bottom right corner of the board. I used clamps and a heavy canister of Rehydrate to weigh it down. haha

My husband attached picture loops and picture wire to the back to hang it. Here is the finished product! We love it!!

Who Dat?!

2011-11-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

Saints Flower - Hair Clips

Fleur de Lis - Hair Clips

How To

2011-11-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

Turn bunny ears into pig ears! haha, this was something I just randomly did for a coworker last week. She needed pig ears and all they had at the dollar store were bunny ears. My question is....why do they even have bunny ears right now? Weird. Anyway, she asked if I could transform them so I did! This is how I did it.

Here you have the regular bunny ears. I cut a slit in them and cut down the hard plastic that was inside to about the height of a pig ear.

Next, I folded the ear down and glued it to the headband.

I also glued the front of the ear to the back to secure it.

Last, I folded the ear flaps down and glued them. Not perfect pig ears, but good enough for a last minute bunny to pig transformation!

Penny

2011-11-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

For a dear friend. =)

Cowtown Indie Bazaar

2011-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Come see Fanciful Felt at the Cowtown Indie Bazaar next month! My mom and I will be running my booth and we are so excited!!

Details are over there ---->

Here is a link to the artists who will be at the Bazaar.

Try Harder

2011-09-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Whenever you approach someone with a problem or issue you never want them to make excuses right? Let's get real...everyone hates excuses. All you're really looking for is a simple "I will try harder" or something to that effect. Well, I am approaching myself with a problem - "Kristen, you need to keep up with your blogs better and post things with actual meaning and depth." To this I reply, "OK self, I will try harder."

----------------------------------

Deep, meaningful post #1 - sharing the deep, meaningful thoughts of others. LOL

My mom sent me this article recently and I'm so glad she did. It reassures me that my prices are indeed not too high. I'm always beating myself up about it. I feel that I produce a good product with great care and attention to detail. If something is not near perfect I will not list it for sale in my shop. I will keep it for myself or give it away to a friend who loves everything I make no matter what. Ha! ;)

So here it is. You should read it...especially if you are a handmade artist yourself.
http://whatthecraft.com/overpriced-cant-afford-handmade-pricing/

-----Side Note, I LOVE the top she uses as a demo in the article. I would TOTALLY wear that! Maybe one day I'll take up sewing and see if I can whip out a top for myself. One day when I have free time....haha yeah right.

Giveaway

2011-07-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have had the great opportunity to participate in two giveaways at IZZY B Designs on Facebook. It has generated a lot of fans of my Facebook page and probably some shop traffic as well. =)

The last giveaway I did was a custom wooden letter. This is what the winner and I came up with together. I love it!

You gotta love a hot pink giraffe!

Teacher Name Plates

2011-07-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have a new obsession. I LOVE making these name signs. It started with the pencil and I do realize there is no felt on them. Oh well, they are fun! =)

Up next: crayons. =)

Mobile for Bailey

2011-07-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

I made this mobile last year for my friend Leah's sweet baby girl. It was so fun. =)

I made it to coordinate with this bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.

And these are the wall letters I just painted for her.

Leah wants to hang them from a tree branch, so when she does that I'll post a photo! =)

For My Sister

2011-06-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

My sister took the reigns and threw me an amazing baby shower with everything else she has going on in her life. She is Superwoman! She absolutely loves sage green so I made her this wreath as a hostess gift. I love my sister!

Here we are with my little man #1

Hola, Soy Dora!

2011-05-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I made a Dora clip for a friend/customer recently and boy has she been popular! I've made three others since then. She's cute!

I donated some hair clips to a giveaway on facebook recently and in the process got 100 new fans! The giveaway was through IzzyB Designs:

I'm doing another giveaway for IzzyB and I've gotten about 60 new fans in just a few days. I have over 400 fans on facebook now!

I'm trying to get all those new fans to go over to my Etsy store and favorite me there. =) That would rock!

I am so grateful to IzzyB for this opportunity. It has generated some great traffic for my Etsy shop when I need it the most. Baby number two should be here in about one month!

Double Bow Organizer - Pink and Brown

2011-05-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

I just finished this custom order yesterday and LOVE how it turned out!

Paisley Splash!

2011-05-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

I recently finished these for a high school friend who is due at the exact same time as me! We are only days apart. =) I love how they turned out! They were painted and decorated to match this bedding from JC Penney.

The paisley letters have painted edges as well. Can't see in the photos.

Little felt paisleys. =)

Emerson

2011-04-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

I had to keep these letters a secret for a LONG time! But the mommy-to-be has received them and they are hanging in the nursery! Now the secret's out!

The letters are hand-painted with a damask print and felt rosettes are handmade and attached to each letter. Gingham ribbon separates the two tones of the letters. Damask grosgrain ribbon is attached to each for hanging.

Noah's Ark

2011-04-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I made this wreath for my friend Hillary who's baby is due a month before mine. =) His room is in a Noah's Ark theme and it's so cute! I just had to make a wreath to match it. 

I think she liked it!

Additions to Our Bedroom

2011-03-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

This doesn't have anything to do with Etsy or felt, but I wanted to share! Our room has been a work in progress since we moved in almost two years ago. It takes time! It was the first room we painted and we didn't do much else to it after that. We have five new additions in the past few months that make me very excited.

1. We hung artwork over the bed. 

I revamped these chalk drawings I did in college with some paint and ribbon edges and hung them over the bed. I love how they look!

2. We finally got curtains! 

You gotta love finding the perfect curtains on SALE! Great find. One of these days we will get a curtain rod that isn't so "dinky" as I call it. This is a cheap one I had in my college apartment...and in our first apartment. =)

3. We hung mirrors over the dresser. 

We got these at TJ Maxx a year ago for our spare bathroom (the boys' bathroom) because we were going to tackle it last Spring Break....yeah, it still hasn't been started. haha SO I decided to use them in our room. LOVE it. These mirrors were a great price. I think about $17 a piece. If you need a mirror check there!

4. We put a bench in front of our window. 

We got this bench for our music room, which became the guest room and is finally our second baby's room. It needed a new home because it doesn't fit in there with the baby furniture. I love it in front of our window. It's a great place to tie your shoes. =)

5. We hung up our initials by our bedside tables.

I have wanted to do this for about a year now. At first I wanted these to be HUGE letters, but that would have been really hard to do in my dad's workshop. I drew them out on cardboard and then stenciled them onto plywood. We cut them out with a band saw, sanded them up and I slapped a coat of black paint on them. So fun!

Still to come: 
A new white dresser for me. We may just refinish the one I'm currently using or we may get a "new" one. If I got a new one then mine could go in Joseph's room. It's brown like his furniture.
New bedside tables for both of us. I'm using one my dad made for me in college. It's great, but it's brown and doesn't have a drawer. Joel is using one from Target that is falling apart. I would LOVE to get mirrored side tables - SO glamorous! or we may find some to paint white. I saw these great ones at Hobby Lobby but we were unable to get them at the time. Now they don't have them. =(
Aren't they great!?!? Sad day. =( I love the storage and I LOVE the look. They would have been perfect. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be I guess.
GUT our bathroom - yeah it will be a while. =) It has floral wallpaper and outdated fixtures...and there's carpet. Ugh! It needs to be totally ripped out and redone. We shall see.

Spring!

2011-03-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

A custom wreath I just finished. Love daisies!

It's A Boy! for Julie

2011-02-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

I made this wreath the other day for a baby shower I went to yesterday. It was for a friend I used to work with. She is going to stay home with her baby too! We are excited because she lives about 5 minutes from me. Play dates! We all know that play dates with infants are just mommy dates. =)

I'm definitely going to make some of these for my shop. They are perfect for hospital doors, front doors or baby's door to announce baby's arrival!

Wreath - Browns and Reds for Erin's Birthday

2011-02-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

I made this wreath for my oldest friend. Yesterday was her birthday! =)

March is coming! Yay!

2011-02-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

I JUST finished and listed this St. Patrick's Day themed wreath. I'm gaga over it! It will be hard to part with it when it sells.

Happy V-Day from FF

2011-02-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

Wall Letters - My Spin

2011-01-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, I found a cool way to set my wall letters apart from the others out there. What is the secret? you ask... None other than felt of course! Why didn't I think of this sooner!? Here are the latest letters I painted. I added felt roses to two of them. So fun.

The a and y are green on the sides.

I am in love with these. I can't wait to find out what our second baby is so I can start on letters for the sweet one. =)

Down Time

2011-01-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm not really having down time, but my shop kind of is. I'm working on a commission for hand-painted wall letters. They are turning out super cute! I painted them and now I just need to attach ribbons, photograph them and post them. I decided to do custom, hand-painted wall letters in my shop now. It's something I love doing. Working on custom orders is always fun. I just get so giddy thinking about how much they are going to love it!

Here are some examples of what I've done in the past. I wish I had better photos of them.

Close-up of the red bandana print - Those paint pens can be boogers!!

For some reason this one won't go the right direction. So annoying.

Houndstooth R

These are my favorite. I love the damask.

I went beyond what I thought I was capable of with this one so I'm a little proud. =)

New Year

2011-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to be better about posting....even though I don't know if anyone reads this. Maybe more people will read if I post more often. ;) I may not always post something involving felt, but I will try to post something!

I made this iPaci clip for my friend Leah's baby girl. She started day care today so her mommy could go back to nursing school. I think it's the best one yet. I included a mommy app so that she will always have her mommy close by. (It's the pink heart one)

The apps are:

facebook, text messaging, camera

notepad, iTunes, iPod

mommy, email, calendar

Start button

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I decided to make gifts for our family rather than buying them. Christmas can get quite expensive and this saved us a lot of money. I drew out patterns for a fleur de lis and a cross several weeks ago. My dad and I cut them out using his band saw. Then I customized each one with paint and handmade felt flowers. Each one was made to suit the person it was given to. It was so much fun but took a lot of time. I'm glad to have given such a special gift this year. =) Now I can get back to working on things for my shop...like more of these! I decided they would be a great thing to sell in my Etsy shop. =) Fun Fun!

Here are a few of them. I wish I had better photos. I took these at the last minute. Silly me.

It's the Holiday Season!

2010-11-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to decorate with at Christmas time is peppermints and all other kinds of red and white things! A friend of mine has a tree in every room of her house. Yes, every room! Talk about a dream house! Each tree has a different theme and the one in her living room was red and white. I LOVED it. When I grow up I want a Christmas tree in every room of my house. =)

I hope you like this peppermint bow I made! It is available in my Etsy store now!

I Love Fall

2010-10-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

New Fall items available in my shop:

(Christmas ornaments coming soon!)

Felt Rosebuds - golden yellow

Golden Yellow and Dark Purple Rose Buds - Fall Wreath

Cowboys Flower

2010-10-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

This Dallas Cowboys flower was commissioned by my friend Jade. I think it came out pretty cute! I'm glad I had those star buttons! It was the perfect touch. And I love the silver ribbon.

Maybe this little good luck charm will be good for the boys!! We can only hope!

Paper - GASP!

2010-10-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Long before I started sewing felt I was a lover of paper. I scrapbooked like there was no tomorrow. I loved it. My mom even got addicted to it at one point and so she bought TONS of supplies. That was muy bueno for Kristen. When we moved into our house and I set up an art room, my mom dumped ALL of the scrapbooking supplies on me....including my sister's stuff. I'm bursting at the seams but I love having so many supplies! It's great. Although, I have yet to finish my book I started of me and my husband....I'll have to do a page here and there so I can get to the baby book too. Baby steps.

Here is a card I just made for one of our music guys at FBC Frisco. He's pretty awesome.

The name is a stencil. I cut the guitar out of paper and glued it together. Even the little circles at the bottom and the tuning pegs at the top are cut from paper. I decided to draw the strings all crazy like they were cut off because doing straight strings would be too hard. I think it makes it whimsical and fun. =)

This is the log I FINALLY came up with for my cards. I was Mrs. B when I was teaching and some of the kids thought my last name was BEE. =) Very cute. I had bees all over my room.

Black and White

2010-10-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

I love black and white. I always have. I love the extreme contrast between the two. My son loves black and white too. He stares at it with deep concentration and it makes him talkative sometimes too. I will do all of our nurseries with black and white incorporated.

Here is a black felt rose I made for a friend with a white leaf, stitched with black thread.

I've been practicing making roses and I think I've perfected a method. I can make a tight rose bud and just change one thing to make it a more open rose like this one. Fun!

Butterfly Mobile

2010-10-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

I created this butterfly mobile for a friend of a friend. The three main whimsical butterflies are made from glitter felt and jewelry wire. The small, different colored butterflies are all hand traced and cut out of glitter card stock. All of the butterflies hang from purple and pink satin ribbon and little mirrors are added to bounce the light around. The hanging apparatus is made from tree branches glued together and tied with ribbon and twine. Even my little man was mesmerized by it!

iPaci is a HIT!

2010-10-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

So far I have sold 5 iPaci clips and I haven't even been open for one whole month! Yay! I decided to make a few more and to stretch even further to make an iPaci smart phone paci clip. Here it is being modeled by my adorable boy.

Here is a close-up

This cute clip and more can be found in my Etsy shop!

More things are to come. My brain is exploding with ideas! I wish I were a centipede so I could do more at a time. =)

Sewing Lesson

2010-10-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

My sister and her family moved to Frisco from McKinney recently and you wouldn't believe the difference just a few miles makes. It is so great having them here. I feel like I see them SO much more now! I love it. =) Kelly, my sister, home schools the kids and works in the afternoons so usually they go to Grandma's house to work on their studies and play and once a week they come here. I have kept them every day this week and it has been so much fun. They are very sweet and very helpful.

My niece, Marissa, learned how to sew recently and she's been sewing doll clothes with Grandma. So the other day Tyler decided he wanted to learn how to sew and he wanted to make a bat. I cut out a pattern real quick and got to teaching him my method of hand stitching. He took to it SO naturally! He even tied the knots close to the fabric perfectly. It was awesome. He is going to be such a well-rounded boy. We made his bat into a pin so he could wear it on his shirt. I decided to make one along with him but turn it into a hair clip to sell in my Etsy shop. Here is a photo of us with our two bats.

And here they are close-up.

(Tyler's is on the Left and mine is on the Right)

And here is my sweet Tyler showing it off on his cool green shirt!

Etsy Shop: New Item

2010-09-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to make pillows! It has been so much fun and I've only made two! =) Here they are, and they are available in my Etsy shop.

Mr. Skully is so serious

Silly Jack...

And a sweet little pumpkie on the back

And Yay for my sister-in-law showing me how to add my shop to the top of my blog. Thanks sis! Visit her Etsy shop Picky Picky Peacock.

Spooky Friends

2010-09-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

My mom makes high fashion doll clothes for ball jointed dolls and she asked me to make a few Halloween friends to pose with her dolls. I think they turned out great!

Happy Ghost

(Back of Happy Ghost) "BOO" Ghost

Happy Jack

(Back of Happy Jack) Serious Jack

Mummy!

Houndstooth Jack

Skull - My favorite (He has a houndstooth back)

I will post the photos she takes of them with the dolls later.

Etsy Shop Coming Soon!

2010-09-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

My Etsy shop has been up and running for about 2 weeks now. It is very exciting! This has been a dream of mine for several years now. I have hair clips, paci clips and yarn wreaths for sale right now. Soon I will have Christmas ornaments!

Visit my shop HERE!

Here is a sample of a few things in my shop.

iPaci Pacifier Clip (also available in green and orange)

Jack - O - Lantern Yarn wreath with purple yarn

Black and Orange Hair Clip

Coming Soon:

More flower clips like this in popular sports team colors

Mushroom pacifier clip - Also available as a hair clip

And all things Christmas!!!

hair clips

ornaments

wreaths

I can't wait to get started on them. =)

Rowynn's Flower

2010-09-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

I made this flower clip to match this dress for Rowynn. =) It matched perfectly and I didn't even see the dress in person! That was very exciting.

These will be available in my Etsy shop soon. As will these:

To name a few.

I can't wait!

Hayden's Letters

2010-08-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

The same girl who commissioned the two little boys' names also commissioned this for her friend who's due soon. I think they turned out great!

Hand painted wall letters are one of my new favorite things to do. These have been my favorite so far. Please zoom in and look at the detail.

I apologize for the photo quality. I still don't have my camera.

I'm going to add black or pink ribbon to each one.

Etsy Shop Coming Soon!

2010-08-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

I finally found something fun and creative to make and have decided to open an Etsy shop. I'm hoping to have it open this fall. It will be called Fanciful Felt just like my blog. I will be selling hand-stitched felt hair clips. You will be able to purchase clips that are already made or choose your colors for a custom clip. Here are a few I have made recently:

(I apologize for the photo quality. I left my camera at my aunt's house. These are iPhone photos.)

Each one has a ribbon-covered clip on the back. You can see the clip on the heart one.

They just clip right to a headband. They are meant for little girls, but I didn't have a little girl to model for me! I was too excited to wait. My next post will have my adorable cousin Kaylee modeling.

This is a custom flower for my niece Rowynn!

And of course I have to do holiday themed clips. I love the fall and Halloween!!

=) !!

Other things I want to make:

Seasonal Shapes: ghost, skull, candy corn, holly berries, Christmas tree, candy cane, heart, clover...Who knows what I will think of?! =)

Fruits: banana, apple, grapes, watermelon, strawberry

Animal Faces: monkey, frog, pig, puppy, bunny, cat

Animals: owl, butterfly, snail, chick, bird

When my shop gets opened up I will post a link on my blog. In the meantime, if you want a custom felt clip (or custom painted wall letters) just email me at artkristenb@gmail.com

God bless all of you who read my blog. I appreciate your support more than you know.

Mr. Roboto

2010-08-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Robot Pillow for Jonah

The Robot Says: "Beep!"

Natalie and Jonah posing with Mr. Roboto!

I LOVE Hipstamatic!

2010-07-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Hipstamatic app for iPhone is the coolest thing I have downloaded. Here are the photos I have taken so far.

Best Friend: Michelle

First Day

Content

Cozy with Mommy

Happy Birthday Daddy

Daddy Cuddles

Morning Stretch

Handsome Daddy

True Love

In Mommy's Heart: Her Gift from God

My Nursery

2010-07-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

I painted this tree on the wall and my husband painted and recovered the  rocking chair. We really wanted a cozy rocker but it just wasn't in the budget right now. 

 Eventually there will be a small white bookshelf to the right of the tree. We love to read and we want our son to love it too. =) 

My sister and cousins had this quilt made by the etsy shop Moon Spirit Studios. She does very custom quilts that are just precious.

My sister-in-law made the owl quilt, my aunt made the bumper pads, and my future sister-in-law made the little owl pillow.

I made the letters hanging on the wall. I posted about them here.

This dresser has a dark green stain and was in my in-law's first bedroom set. It goes perfectly in this room.

This mirror was hanging vertically in our downstairs half bath when we moved in. And by hanging I mean glued to the wall. You know the type. Our house was built in 93. We had my dad take it and frame it out to make it look more modern but then it was too large for the space. I kept it knowing I could do something with it later on, and here it is! My husband restrung it and I painted black stripes on it. I love a good re-vamp!

Soon there will be a black floating shelf under the mirror and a shelf unit hanging to the right of the mirror. I'm going to cover the backing of the shelf unit with b/w striped paper. 

We went with a black dresser and white crib because I don't like all of the furniture in a room to match. It overwhelms my senses.

Our sister-in-law gave us this door pull and it is perfect! I wanted to get one for the one door on the changing table anyway. We probably would have gone with this one from Anthropologie - my favorite store. I may end up having to get this amazing wall hook for his room. It would be perfect.

While I was browsing Anthropologie's website I came across this adorable owl switch plate. I think I may need that in my kitchen. LOVE!

A Great Photographer

2010-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ashley Dawn is so talented!

She makes me wish I had gotten professional maternity photos taken. =(

I would love to win her contest, but I really just want people to know about her. She is a natural light photographer based in the Dallas area.

Here is her blog.

Monkey Mobile

2010-07-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

I made this mobile months ago for my brother and sister-in-law's precious baby girl Rowynn. Her room is a sock monkey theme. =)

I found the monkey at Walgreens and made her a little piano and a tutu. There is a heart on the C#/Db key because her mommy and daddy used that as their wedding theme. They are essentially the same note, but can be written two different ways. Therefore C# = Db: it's a love metaphor. =)

These are the ribbons that hang all around the monkey.

And here is the assembled mobile hanging from my art room ceiling fan! =)

New Cross

2010-05-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday we decided to go to Weinberger's Deli in Grapevine. I had never been and Joel knows a girl from high school who works there. Little did we know it was the day of the "Main Street Festival" in Grapevine and the deli is right on Main Street. We had to pay for remote parking and then we had to pay to get in! It was crazy. We decided to just go on in and enjoy ourselves. It was a lot more fun after we finally ate. =) It was delicious! As we walked back through the festival we saw a booth selling crosses and such and just had to have this brown and turquoise one for our house. Here it is adorning our entryway!

I feel like it really completes that spot. It looked bare before, but I didn't want to hang anything that would be hurt by the sun that blasts through the front windows. I just love that bench. My daddy made it. =)

Graham's Sports Name

2010-05-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished these letters for Graham's sports themed room and I like them! The client wanted them quickly so I didn't get a chance to attach the things they will hang by. She is going to attach them when she gets them in the mail. Under each letter I put what I would have strung them by.

Brown leather string - like a baseball glove

Plain grosgrain ribbon - orange (to tie in more orange and make the basketball A not stand out)

Plain grosgrain ribbon - dark red (to match the bedding)

Black or white shoelace - like basketball shoes

Plain grosgrain ribbon - black (just looped around, not a bow)

White plastic lanyard string - like football laces

A whistle (with the whistle on top) - like a referee!

Trent's Wall Letters =)

2010-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

I bought the supplies to do Trent's name ages ago but needed time to decide what I wanted to do with them. I decided on black and white with orange. That will go perfectly with his bedding... Next Project!

I used my houndstooth stencil and marker on the R and the N, and I used a ruler and a marker for the stripes.

I attached a houndstooth ribbon to each striped letter and a striped ribbon to each houndstooth letter. =)

I can't wait to find a spot to hang them!!

Sneak Peek at Graham's Sports Name

2010-05-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Graham is kind of a long name so I decided to do a few patterns mixed in with his sports. And if he's an Alabama fan it's all good!

I was struggling over how to make houndstooth that actually looks good. I knew a stencil was the only way. made a stencil out of a notecard and went to town!

I am using the same stencil on my son's name. I'll post a sneak peek soon!

Can This Be Real?

2010-05-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

It definitely seems too good to be true. Receiving two of these great pieces from Jayson Home & Garden for FREE?! I can't imagine it ever happening to me, but I'm definitely going to try.

Harriet Lamp - $195 Table lamp with white milk glass base

Go to Cocozy blog to enter! Of the three things she is giving away, this is my favorite for sure. They would look amazing in our bedroom. I love milk glass!

A Wreath for Cohen

2010-05-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Back in December I bought this cute pink metal crown in Canton and planned on using it for my friend Lisa's baby girl. Well something was mentally blocking me. I just wasn't sure. I even made the wreath months ago. I don't know what my deal was. I finally went in my art room and just did it, and I think it turned out cute. =) Her room is pink and black and VERY cute. I hope Cohen likes the wreath!

Here is a close up of the cute cute crown! I really wish I had a plasma cutter.

Monkey for Liam!

2010-05-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

I made this monkey pillow as a gift for my friend Brandy's baby Liam. =) I love that little monkey! And I will love Liam even more.

I stitched a little banana on the back of him. =)

I'm going to miss that little monkey!

I'm thinking I need to make more in various colors: pink, purple, yellow, green, orange, blue....yes!

Fire Hydrant for Cody =)

2010-05-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Ashley just had her precious boy, Cody. His room is decorated in a firefighter theme, which I think is adorable because his daddy is a firefighter! So, of course, I made him a firehydrant pillow for his cute room! It was so much fun and I can't wait to give it to him!!

Lately I have been adding an edge to the pillows I make. I think it helps them keep their shape better and they just look so much nicer. =)

Parker's Western Name

2010-04-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

I was commissioned to paint two little boys' names for their rooms. Parker's room is western themed and here is his cute name!

Each letter is hung by rope. =)

Want That

2010-04-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

My husband saw these awesome trunks at The Container Store yesterday. We totally want the orange one for our baby's room. Love it.

Grilled Barbecue Ranch Chicken and Corn

2010-04-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

This is something I came up with while eating at Fuddruckers. I had gotten a chicken tender meal and wanted ranch with it. I didn't see the ranch so I got some barbecue sauce. Then I realized they probably had ranch at the counter so I got some. Joel said I should try mixing them and it would be like Cane's sauce from Raising Cane's. It was so good! I decided I should make chicken with that sauce at home.

Barbecue Ranch Chicken

Ingredients:

chicken breasts
ranch dressing (your favorite)
barbecue sauce (your favorite)
black pepper

I mixed unspecific amounts of the barbecue and ranch and then coated the chicken with it. It might be best to marinate them overnight in the sauce. Grill the chicken until it's cooked through. Apply more sauce and eat! I also want to try baking it. it will take longer, but I think it might be more yummy.

Grilled Corn

Wet the corn in the husks and place on the grill. Cook until the husk turns black. Turn over and repeat. YUM!

I'm not sure why the photo rotated itself. Oh well.

Peanut Butter Banana Shake

2010-04-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok I lied....I'm going to post recipes more often than once a week. Think of it as fancifully felt by the tummy!

This one is so easy and it is a perfect breakfast..well first of many breakfasts for a pregnant lady like me.

Peanut Butter Banana Shake

Ingredients:

1 banana
3 spoonfuls of peanut butter - creamy
About 1/4 to 1/2 t of honey
Milk

First cut up the banana and put it in the blender. I just use my hands and kind of squish the pieces as I break them.

Add 3 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter - or more if you love it as much as I do!

Add a little bit of honey to sweeten it. I just eyeball it.

After you have added the peanut butter and honey to the bananas set the blender to Vegetables or Puree. Puree until smooth. You may have to stir in some banana chunks and turn it on again.

Last, add the milk. The amount depends on how thick you want your shake. Set the blender to milkshake and blend for a few seconds. You may have to use that spoon again to get things unstuck from the bottom.

Pour into your glass of choice and enjoy! I put it into two because my husband and I were splitting. Usually I would drink the whole thing myself! =)

Painting Re-Vamp

2010-04-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

oil and oil pastels on canvas.

I did this painting about a year or so ago and I have never been fully satisfied with how it turned out. I just felt like it was missing something. I had it hanging in our downstairs half-bath and it just wasn't thrilling me. I took it down and put it in my art room several months ago and thought a long time about what I wanted to do with it. I finally got inspired one day and added a black tree silhouette to it. I like it. I may add some more curls when I finally remember to buy a fine point black sharpie. Until then, here it is!

oil, oil pastels and acrylic on canvas

YUM-YUM Wednesday

2010-03-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have decided to post recipes once a week. I'm not able to make crafty things and paint very often right now so I need something fun to post on my blog. I love blogs that share recipes so why not be one myself?! This is the recipe for my roast. I got the main idea from my best friend, M. Thanks M! A lot of my recipes don't have exact measurements, sorry! I invent sometimes but I never write it down. =)

Slow Cooked Roast

Ingredients:

1 roast - any size really
1 can tomato sauce (the size of a standard can of veggies-add a small can if your roast is large)
3-4 bay leaves (depending on the size of your roast)
Garlic Powder or fresh garlic - I'm usually too rushed for fresh.
1-2 c water

chopped carrots, potatoes and onions - and/or any other veggie you like! Root veggies are good for a roast.
1 can of peas or frozen peas

Put the roast in the slow cooker. Cover with tomato sauce and 1/2-1 c water. Add bay leaves and seasonings to taste. Cook on high for about 8 hours (varies depending on the size). After about 6 or 7 hours add the chopped veggies. (By this time your house is smelling so good!) Add the peas last since they do not need to cook. If they are frozen, make sure they are heated through before serving.

Serve with rice.

I got some other great roast ideas today from a friend. I'm going to try adding one beef bouillon cube to this recipe and maybe serve it over mashed potatoes instead of rice. Obviously I would take the potatoes out of the main recipe.

Enjoy!

I will try to have photos for the next one. =)

Artist: Stephen Dikerson - Houston, TX

2010-03-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was the art show in Downtown Frisco. My dad took me and we saw some incredible things. I was inspired by many of the artists, but one in particular stuck out to me. His name is Stephen Dickerson and he is from Houston, TX. His paintings were so unique and beautiful and I couldn't figure out how he did it. He uses acrylic paint and colored pencil. The colored pencil adds a whole dimension to the artwork that is really visually interesting. I would LOVE to own one of his paintings.

There are more paintings on his website and facebook fan page. You can access his fan page through his website:

http://www.stephendickerson.com/

"Thorn Tree"

"Scattered Showers"

New Lamp!

2010-03-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

So one of our lamps went out a few weeks ago and we have been living in the dark. We finally went out this weekend to the Frisco Mercantile to get a new one. I had spotted this vintage green lamp months ago at the Recycle Goddess' booth and fell in love with it instantly. I convinced my husband that it was the one and he let me buy it! It looks really good in our living room.

Trent's Bedding

2010-02-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went out to Ikea yesterday to see if we could find some fabric to make our baby boy's bedding out of. Low and behold, they had some GREAT choices.

We picked these three:

I am going to make his bumper out of it and probably some curtains. The leaf/orange fabric will be one side of the bumper, the b/w stripe will be the other, and the green will be the trim. He is going to be the coolest baby in town!

I was reading in my "American Baby" magazine last night that black and white is a good choice for babies because it is stimulating. They are drawn to the contrast. Looks like we made a great choice! Oh and his walls will be light grey. I can't wait to get it all finished.

I have been working on a very fun project, but I can't post pictures for a few weeks because it is a gift. It is CUTE!

I hope you like my new header made of felt. I Love it! I needed to spice things up a little and I wanted people to see what I do right when they come to my blog. =)

I LOVE FELT!

It's a Boy!

2010-02-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Here is our little man, Trent James.

He is singing, naturally. =)

We are so excited to have a little boy! And he is excited to be our little boy.

Can't you see him smiling?

Now it's time to find some bedding and get to planning his room!

We love this crib from Walmart!

Could Baby Wear These?

2010-02-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

We should find out today!!!!

Today is the day my husband and I go to the doctor for my 18 week sonogram and GENDER reveal! We can't WAIT to find out who is in here! I even packed a bottle of cranberry juice to get baby moving for the sonogram. This will be the only moment in this child's life when it is encouraged to be unmodest!

Tonight the family comes over for the big reveal. I made two cakes last night: one pink, one blue. Whichever matches the gender of our baby will be iced completely and revealed to the family when my parents and sister cut it open! My sister is thrilled because it is her first time to be an aunt. She's been a mommy for 10 years! =)

Clearly I would be thrilled to have a little girl, but I know I will be thrilled if it's a boy as well! A little version of my husband is fine by me. And then one day he can have a little sister to protect.

A few weeks ago I was feeling girl so I made these felt flowers and heart. I'm going to attach them to alligator clips to put on little stretchy headbands. Maybe more will come soon?! Who knows! I need to make some for my baby cousin Kaylee anyway. =)

Etsy Shop: Lupin - Felt AWESOMENESS

2010-02-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this shop today in my neverending quest to find all ideas felt. I started to look around and new I was in love when I saw this brooch. How cute is this thing?! I would wear it in a heartbeat. That is an avenue I haven't thought of yet....felt brooches. I think I might have to try it out! This shop is very inspirational.

Here are a few other items I liked from the shop:

What I love about this flower is the color combination. I might do a few more stitches in it.

I thought this was a really awesome idea for a mobile. Abstract and colorful! Love it! I may use this as inspiration for our baby's mobile. I definitely want to make my own.

Of course I love this bird brooch. Look at his details! I love birds.

Sweet Valentine Hearts

2010-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

I made these little hearts to go in my aunt's booth at the Frisco Mercantile (mentioned in the previous post) and never posted a picture. They are just little sweet things you can hang around different places. I put them on corners of picture frames and hung one on a tall lamp I have that has little curly cues. They are all different and they each have a different colored felt for the front and the back. I just love felt. I can't get enough of it.

The pink one with the feathers (below) is my favorite. I love the shape and the feathers!!

Valentine Treat

2010-01-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

On February 6th, the Frisco Mercantile in Frisco is having a special Valentines event from 3pm to 7pm. All of the booths will be decked out for V-Day and each seller will have little treats for customers to enjoy.

I have been working on some very special valentine paintings and projects for my aunt's booth. She has a great booth called "First Impressions by Kay." She has all kinds of home decor, paintings, home accessories, and refurbished furniture. She also does interior design/redesign (she will come and rearrange the things you already have in your home) and custom draperies and apholstery. Here are some snapshots of her booth.

Come by and see it on February 6th!

Here are the little V-Day paintings I have been working on.

Notice the two little lovebirds in the tree. One is flying. =)

The Lovebirds decorated for Valentine's Day

"The Keys to My Heart Come in Three Types of Metal"

(This one is red, not orange...bad photo quality)

"Unlock My Heart"

(This one is also red in person, not orange)

"Hooo Will Love Me?"

Hoot Hat

2010-01-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

My cousin sent me a picture of this adorable hat she saw at the Frisco Mercantile in Frisco, TX and I just HAD to have it. I hope baby is a girl so it can be worn soon!
It is hand crocheted of chenile yarn by Linda Day of DayLee Design. I am not sure if that is the same name of the booth where I bought it. If you go there or are familiar with the Mercantile, it is the first booth on the right in the second aisle from the right-hand wall.

Bluebirds in the Tree

2010-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

I painted this recently. If you look closely you can see three little bluebirds walking around on the tree. My aunt is going to put it in her shop in the Frisco Mercantile. Her booth is called "First Impressions" if you live in the area and want to stop by. She sells home decor and furniture and she also offers interior design consulting. She is very good at what she does and she just moved from Idaho so she has a fresh perspective from up North that we haven't seen down here. =)

The Dream Fridge

2010-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

So my husband and I went to Lowe's to get our fridge and there were several out in the main aisle that were discounted. We started looking and found one that said no damage was found but it was still a great price. We asked the appliance guy about it and he said it had been returned because it was running loud. They sent it to be repaired but nothing could be found to be wrong with it. They said that new refridgerators just run loud at first because the grease is being worked into the motor. So since no repairs were done to it the fridge was still under warranty! The best part is, we got ice and water in the door for the price of a brand new one without that feature. Love it! Here is our beauty. =)

It is so nice having a fridge right there in the kitchen! I never knew how convenient that was until I didn't have it. Just ignore our bare backsplash and missing microwave. =) Coming soon.

Mimi

2010-01-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

I just remembered I had this picture of the frame I made for my mother-in-law to tell her about the pregnancy. She decided a while ago that she wanted to be called "Mimi" so I made this frame for her. She was so thrilled. I painted the little wooden letters and then made a stuffed heart out of felt. At the time, we had not had a sonogram yet so I just made this little card to put in it. It's not a great photo, but oh well.

Friday Fridge Day!

2010-01-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

My husband and I are venturing out tonight to FINALLY buy my dream refridgerator. I have been dreaming of this since I heard it existed. When we moved into our house the previous owners had left a side by side white refridgerator in the laundry room. We never moved it out into the refridgerator space in the kitchen because we knew we wanted to get a new one some day. The one we have works fine and has served it's purpose ok but I am ready for my dream fridge. We both are. The door to the laundry room is completely in the way of the door to the refridgerator and getting a cookie sheet or pizza box in there is nearly impossible. We are definitely ready. Baby is ready too. =) Baby has many requests like a new refridgerator, a new car, and much more. We will see how many of these requests baby gets.

Ok so HERE is the fridge we want. Not sure what brand we will end up getting, but the idea is the same. Double doors, freezer drawer, lots of SPACE! Yesssssssss! We decided not to do the ice/water in the door because it adds SO much to the cost. There is an ice maker in the freezer and I have gotten used to my Brita filter pitcher. =)

Owl for Baby

2010-01-11T07:13:00.001-08:00

I went to a painting class with my friend Dawn at "Painting with a Twist" and we got to paint this adorable owl. I did mine a little differently than the instructor but the colors are mostly the same. My husband and I decided it would be perfect in our baby room. If anyone I don't know personally still reads this blog, yes we are having a baby! I'm due in July. We will be finding out the gender in 7 weeks and we can't wait! Baby needs a name. =)

My Talented Niece

2010-01-08T10:48:00.001-08:00

My niece wanted to paint something for my sister for Christmas so she came over so that I could help her out. We decided that a Tuscan landscape would be best since my sister loves Tuscany. Marissa did an amazing job and I swear I only touched the canvas a few times at the end to show her how to make the darker spots in the grass. I told her techniques and shapes to paint and she did great. She is so amazing!

I Love Birds!

2010-01-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went to the Dallas Zoo with our friends this past weekend and the birds were so gorgeous!! I just really love birds. I think it has something to do with the fuzzy feathers and the fact that they are nature's singers.

Here are a few photos of some birds we saw.

O for Olivia

2009-12-26T08:06:00.001-08:00

This is a stuffed letter "O" I made for my baby cousin Olivia back in August. It was a challenge to make something with no corners! It is hand stitched with felt and ribbon.

Deck the Halls

2009-12-07T06:38:00.001-08:00

We finally got our Christmas decorations up. We are going minimal this year because I want to get some stuff on sale after Christmas. =) That's when I'll get the garland for the banister. Outside decorations aren't up yet due to wet weather.

My husband really wanted a real tree this year and I am so glad we got one. It is a 6' tree and it was only $40 at Lowe's! I love the way it turned out.

Pardon the bare window. We haven't gotten new blinds to replace all of the shades the previous owners put up, nor have we gotten our curtains up in this room. That is going to take some rigging because it's a bay window.

We walked into JoAnn to get some beads for a project I was working on and my husband spotted this great houndstooth suiting material that was 50% off. We got a yard-and-a-half of the red and black to use as our tree skirt. Love it!

I love the set of light-up gifts I got in Canton this year! They look very sweet in the corner of the room by our bookshelf. They will need a new home next year when we have more bookshelves in this room. Maybe on top of one of the shelves.

Our kitchen table got a little dressing up. The placemat is from Anthropologie, the platter is from Target, the candle bowl is from a garage sale (cha ching!) and the ornaments are from Target's after Christmas sale last year.

Now is a good time to not have kids with these beads on the table. It would drive me crazy if they got messed up.

Rockapella Rocks!

2009-12-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

My husband and I got a chance to see one of our favorite singing groups this past Friday. They are Rockapella and they are amazing.

Here is a video of them in 2000 - two of the members are different. One of the tenors and the Bass. Jeff, the vocal percussionist is unbelievable. Yes, he is doing all of that with his voice.

New Hobby: Headbands

2009-11-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

So I was out shopping recently and this store, not to be named, had an abundance of accessories. The one accessory I saw that I really fell for was headbands. They were so cute and I looked at them and thought, "I could make that." Luckily they had some plain satin headbands in packs of 2 or 3 for cheap so I bought them up. I have made two so far out of felt and tulle. More materials and methods to come. =)

Grey, black, and white felt/tulle with feathers at the bottom (hard to see b/c of the dark hair)
Black and white felt and tulle.

Thank you to my best friend for modeling them for me!! xoxo

Baby and Christmas Wreaths

2009-11-28T17:49:00.001-08:00

This is a Cottage-Chic wreath I made for a friend at work. Her baby girl is due in January. She told me the colors of her room and bedding and I went by that. I hope it looks good in her room! It's hard to see, but there is sage green tulle throughout the roses. Sorry about the color of the photograph. I took it in the morning and it was quite hazy out. I take pictures of my wreaths outside now. I bought this coat hook in Canton and I nailed it to my fence in the backyard. =)

This is the Pinecones and Holly Berry wreath I made for my best friend Michelle. She used to sing that at Christmas time in college so of course this is the wreath I make for her. =)

LOVE This Wrapping!

2009-11-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, so last year after Christmas I found this awesome red and cream houndstooth wrapping paper at Hallmark. Of course, as a houndstooth lover, I had to buy it. I was a little aprehensive because it was adhesive wrap and I've never used it before. I recently got it out to wrap a gift for my cousin's baby shower. Turns out, the adhesive wrap makes for a perfectly wrapped gift! It really helps when folding in the sides that never turn out flat with regular paper. The adhesive is just like a post it note. Love it. My cousin is having a boy so I paired it with a fun swirly, colorful paper. Luckily I had two boxes to wrap so I could present this awesomely wrapped gift. I love how it turned out. I love adding grosgrain ribbon to a package. It's so nice. =)

So the day of this shower, I woke up coughing at 5:00. It turns out I was developing bronchitis. So I woke up with all these ideas running through my head about a wreath to make for my cousin. At that point, sleep was not going to happen so I got up and got to work. Here is the wreath I made for my newest little cousin Tate who will be here on December 4th!!

A Touch of Fall

2009-10-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

Kitty in the window!
Ghosts in the dining room!

Leaves on the banister and a spooky sign to greet you.

I just love fall. =)

Candy Corn

2009-10-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

This is another one of my mom's awesome creations. She loves making witches for Halloween. I just love them!! They are so cute. This is her favorite. What a clever hat she made. =)

A Wild Wreath

2009-10-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

A Girly Wreath

2009-10-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

I love the yarn I used for this wreath. I thought it was so cool how it just turned out looking striped as I wrapped it around the wreath.

I thought I had a great way to sell my wreaths without having to post them online and ship them out, but the place I was looking at was just too expensive. I'm thinking my Etsy shop will be opening very soon!

More to come soon. I'm working on a new way to photograph them. =)

A Saturday Treat

2009-09-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

This is Holly Brook singing her song "Saturdays."

I love her!

Yarn Wreaths

2009-09-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new obsession. Yarn Wreaths! They are so fun. I make little mini stuffies and glue them onto the wreath. Probably opening an Etsy shop soon!

Pumpkins and Vampires and Ghosts, Oh My!

2009-08-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Being a fan of Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse books, I had to make some little vampires this summer. To be perfectly honest, I saw a how-to article that was extremely un-impressive and decided that I could and would make much cuter vampires. Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes I just see things published that look like a child made them. It irks me.

Well, here they are!

These are my three little vamps. The lady in pink is unnamed, and then there's Bill the Vampire and Alice.
They are the perfect size dollies for my mom's fashion dolls. Each one has a pipe-cleaner skeleton so they can bend easily and sit with their friends.

This is a wreath I made today. I'm ready for October!

I took a styrofoam wreath (from a dollar store), wrapped it in thick, black yarn (hot gluing only on the back as I went. You don't want those stringy things and clumps of rogue glue to be seen.) and then wrapped it in the purple eyelash yarn every inch or so (again only gluing on the back). I made the pumpkins and ghost out of felt, blanket stitched them and put green grosgrain ribbon as stems for the pumpkins. After everything was stitched and stuffed I hot-glued them onto the wreath. The "Boo" is made of vintage anagram tiles I found on Etsy. Yay!

Pretty Pink

2009-08-15T11:18:00.001-07:00

A few projects from this summer for my cousin who is expecting a girl. As if you couldn't tell from all the pink!

Kaylee should be joining us any day now! We are hoping for Monday.

This is the first time I've made a block letter. It was really fun and a challenge for my mind with all the measuring. I wanted it to flare on the ends, so it took maticulous measuring and cutting.

I hand stitched the stretch fabric onto the top cutout of the K and folded the edges over. I added ric-rac to the side panels. I love how it stands up by itself! It sure did require a great deal of stuffing to get it that firm.

These are burp cloths for my cousin's baby shower. The embroidery was done on a machine and I sewed the ribbon on with the sewing machine. I thought they turned out great. Which is your favorite?

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-08-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

My best friend Michelle just got married in New Orleans last Saturday. I am so happy for her that I can't even truly express it. She and Klint have been together for 5 1/2 years and their wedding was definitely worth the wait. It was perfect in every way. They live in Baton Rouge finishing their masters degrees in music. My husband and I are crossing our fingers that they will be closer to us after this year passes. We love them dearly and miss them terribly. They are our perfect match.
The St. Louis Cathedral where the wedding took place.

I took some portraits of her while we waited to walk from the hotel to the church. She wanted to keep busy. =)

Curtains

2009-07-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

I found these curtains at Pier 1 and fell in love. They are our orange and paisley. Two of our favorite things! We got them home and realized we needed them to be longer in order to hang them high and have them touch the ground. I remembered they had the same print in green, so I went back and bought one panel of green to add to the bottom. I am in no way a sewing expert, so my mom helped me rip the seams out and add a foot of green to each curtain. They ended up looking very professional because my mom insists on doing things to look good wether you can see them from the front or not. She had me cut the lining and add lining to each one as well. I guarantee that if I had done this project on my own it would not have turned out as nice. Thanks mom. =)

We found the fleur de lis brackets at a garage sale for like $10 and they were originally around $60. It was my husband's idea to put the black finnials on the white rod. I love the contrast.

We are going to hang our black letter "B" between the windows. Any suggestions on how to organize all those dvds? I have two shelves in the garage that need to be painted. I can't decide on black v. white or where to put them in our cramped living room.

FINALLY

2009-07-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since updated this silly blog! It has been driving me crazy. =) We have been hard at work on the house finishing a few things at a time. The dining room is the closest to being complete. It lacks an orange shag rug and some wall decor. We still have nothing hanging on our walls because we want to make sure we put things in the right place.

This is our orange front room that my husband likes to call the parlor. Since I took this photo we have added an organ to the left of the bookshelf. One of my husband's childhood friends gave it to us. We still need some chairs for the right side of the room to make it a true parlor. =)

I am very excited about what we did in the dining room. We had painted two of the walls asparagus green and couldn't decide what to do with this front window wall because it connected all the way up to the second story. There was just no good place to draw a straight line of paint. I had an idea of something I could do to blend the two walls, but I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to try it. We do not have the beige paint the previous owners used to paint the entire house. There is no room for error.Well, I decided I was brave. Here is the wall with my chalk sketch of how to blend the two walls.And here is the completed room with the curtains, table and chairs. You may remember this room from my previous post. I just love the way it turned out and I'm so happy I was brave enough to try it! Our dining table has black legs and we love the way it looks with the traditional brown chairs my mom gave us. I can't wait to get a rug!

Bookshelf-Ikea, Curtains-Pier One, Curtain Rod-Lowes

Coming Soon:

Breakfast Table Light
Completed Powder Bath
And some non-house projects I've been working on!

Finished Floors!!

2009-05-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of the finished floors in our dining room. I also finished the chandellier seen in this post. Two cans of white spray paint can do wonders!

Here is a shot of our living room. It's still a work in progress, but at least it finally looks and feels like a place to live! We still want to replace the blue shades with faux wood blinds, buy the chair that matches our love seat, and of course hang up art! We will eventually move the cable around and mount the TV over the fireplace. I love to see the TV from the kitchen.

I can't wait to get the library/piano room set up and posted!!

(Living room furniture and lamp from are from Rooms to Go, rug is from Lowes)

Home Renovation Update - Sub-floor

2009-05-20T06:51:00.001-07:00

The Floor guys started yesterday at our house. They got all the tile and carpet ripped up and the ply-wood sub-floor installed! Yay for progress! They may even finish it tonight. That would be wonderful!! Above is a lovely view of the huge pile of boxes that contain our beautiful wood planks. The funny thing about the ply-wood is that I actually think it looks better than the carpet and tile looked. haha

Here is a shot of the green dining room with the sub-floor. I can't wait to see that dark wood in there! Oh, and my newly-improved chandelier. =)

Art Room Ideas

2009-05-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

I know I want a splatter paint rug in my art room to protect the carpet, act as a colorful element to the room, and blend with any spills I might have. I think I am going to have to recreate this splatter paint rug from this website. It is too cool, but I don't think I want to spend $400 on a rug. =/ I doubt mine will have splotches this big.

Mine will probably be more 80s neon color splatters like these shorts.

Art Room Needs

2009-05-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have decided not to paint my art room in our new house. I am too afraid that a color on the walls will reflect off of my paintings and change the way I see the colors in them. Therefore, I need some fun and colorful accessories to brighten up the room. This chandelier from Chandeliera would be wonderful if I had a corner to put it in, but I'm afraid the room is too small to have a ceiling fan and a chandelier. Sad day.

I'll just get some brightly colored curtains and let my creations add color to the room. My husband said he would make me some customized shelving for my stuffed things and paintings. I'm thinking of getting a plain black rug and splatter painting it with neon colors. I'd like to protect the carpet in a fun way from my clumsiness when I paint. =)

Progress!

2009-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

The wood for the floors is in! All 42 boxes and nine buckets of heavy stuff...glue, etc. Now we just have to let them acclimate before they are installed. We pulled out one of the boards to look at it and confirmed that we LOVE the color! They are really dark brown, almost black.

Living Room

Front Room (Reading/Piano Room)

We also started painting the dining room asparagus green! We love the way the three colors look together. I can't wait to get the furniture in and the art on the walls!

The stairs will eventually have white risers and tread to match the floors. We will stain the banister darker as well

I need to find some fun fabric to make curtains for the green and orange rooms. I would love to find a sale to save some money. Any suggestions? I live in the Dallas area. Something like these from Anthropologie would be great.