Long Distance Advice . . . Pillows

While I am not really technically diverse, I do manage my way around my Samsung phone (which I really love by the way).

I love it when people send me pics and I especially LOVE it when my nieces send pics asking for help.  I adore every single one of them and I'm proud that they are all becoming not only beautiful women but smart AND talented.

One of them has moved away to another Province to follow her boyfriend and her career.  I miss her terribly but she stays in touch and it keeps us close.  She sent a text the other day with this picture saying "For a pillow.  What should I get to go with it?"

I suggested that she find a floral . . . "What about a muted floral or painted birds . . . floral is really in for Spring".

Here's what she came up with . . . first try - it couldn't be more perfect.

She's good . . . "now bring in one that has green on it or textured green or green that has a non-competing pattern to the black graphic" . . .

 

I think you can do better . . .

 

Great texture but not really the right colour - there's not enough to ground that . . . 



 

What about something with green and cream in it . . . OK now this is perfect!



So even though she was in a fabric store we both love she wasn't getting any help from the staff - they are not decorators or designers and maybe one in 10 of them who works there has a good enough eye or cares enough to help . . .  and after just a quick reminder to her to get enough fabric for front AND back AND work in fives!

Here is the final product!

I think it she did a fantastic job and it looks pretty good for a young woman in her first "together" apartment. 

Take note that all of the pictures above the couch were taken on their recent trip to Germany - she was going to matt them all in a colour that matched the photo and I advised her to just use white and use colour in the room another way!

Can you say PROUD!

A basket of Valentines

No Valentine is better than a bad Valentine . . . so they say . . . well "THEY" actually say "No Santa Claus is better than a Bad Santa Claus" and it's my Blog . . . and the day was about two weeks away.  I hadn't given the girls at work anything for Christmas this year (I usually make a small tree ornament) because I just wasn't into the spirit of giving  . . . and I missed it and felt a tad bit guilty I hadn't done it . . . and because Valentines Day was fast approaching I started goggling and pinteresting hand made valentines.  I came across quite a few that inspired me and decided to go into the scrap pile of fabric to see if I had anything appropriate.

I found three different "red/pink" fabrics and decided to put left over painter's tarp at the back.  I hand sewed them all together with embroidery thread, embelished every single one of them with a different look on the front, stuffed them with polyester fibre fill and stitched them shut.  I added a garden twine hanger and secretely delivered them to random people.  Sorry but not everyone got one - if you were away on vacation you got skipped - better luck next year!

Fit for a King (or a Queen)

Saw this on Pinterest, had to do it!

I took a piece of lace almost 2" in width, hand stitched it together (just large enough to sit on the "king's" head) and spray painted it with gold spray paint - ever so softly (three coats) - let it dry in between . . . you see I can be patient with some things.

Here is the final result!

A Table to Eat at . . . in front of the TV . . .

This is a post about a fail . . . for now . . .

I have been eating in front of my TV for as long as I can remember - in this house 9 years and 5 months;  that's when I moved here and it's just a regular occurrence because I live along - and it's not a sad thing - it's just life!

Currently I am using an 8" X 8" square outdoor collapsable table and occasionally when I have a plate in one hand and am moving the table in the other the table actually collapses or I put the plate on the table and go to move it with one hand (forgetting that it does collapse) and the food goes all over the floor - oh JOY! 

It's time for a new table.  So I purchased one from Pier One and brought it home - really excited - it's one of those that slides under the couch and it's quite a bit bigger - I could even put my laptop and a coffee on this one ... but I sit down to have my first meal and it's two inches higher than the one I have been using and I feel like I may as well be sitting on the floor - it was actually pretty funny.

So back to Pier One I go and pick out another one that I was actually looking at in the beginning but would have had to "embellish" it a bit to bring it up to my standards; and because it's exactly the height I need I do a quick exchange.  I can't WAIT to get in the door with this little table and have (in the meantime) purchased a package of gold leaf, the adhesive and sealer. 

DO NOT DO WHAT I DID . . . I sprayed it right in the kitchen (knowing I'd get spray adhesive all over the floor but I didn't care) - I was in WAY too much of a hurry - sprayed it, and immediately tried to put a piece of gold leaf on it - oh oh that didn't stick - place my fingers on it and now I have gold leav all over my hands and I can't get it off - try another piece - you nana you still have glue on your hands and the glue is still drippy so I DO IT AGAIN! 

Now I have to read the instructions . . . long story short - I read the instructions, get back to work and realize I don't have enough gold leaf . . . back to the art supply store and they don't have any more of the colour I picked . . . buy something that is reasonably close and finish off the job.  It's a bit too shiney for me . . . so I sand it down a bit and I now actually like it . . . BUT WAIT I have some other gold leaf that is in strips and put some more spray adhesive on the table - press in the other gold leaf and pull it off and it pulls all of the gold leaf off from the original application and now you can see bard spots where that has happened - no worries - I have gold spray paint - I'll try that . . . and I spray too much so I try and sand it off . . . are you getting my drift now!

So it sits for another day . . . I'm going to go back to square one and post the finals soon.  For now here is what it looks like in stages!

This is adding the gold leaf before sanding:

This is after sanding and after pulling the sanded parts off down to the bare wood!

Today's Design Tip - Drapes

Design Tip - How to lengthen drapery panels.

I know you've all been there - purchased drapes (probably on sale) and you loved them so much you just HAD TO HAVE THEM and they are either not returnable or you will just make do.  But you get them up and you think . . . What have I done? . . . they look horrible . . . and I don't know what to do to fix them.

Well that happened . . . not to me but to my niece and her fiancee who just moved into their first home together.  She purchased eight (yes I said 8) grommet panels to put in the living room and dining room.  They have 9 foot ceiling height and the drapes were only 84 inches.  That made them approximately 20 inches too short (and for those of you who only understand metric you can do the math - I only work in imperial)!

So being the good mother that she is, my sister (remember it's my niece) and niece went out and purchased a contrasting fabric to lengthen the drapery panels. 

Long story short . . . they thought the lengthening should go on the bottom - I thought it would look unbalanced and suggested the panel should be somewhere around 1/3 from the top, and the window mullion is how we decided where it should be.  We also decided I should do the sewing because . . . well because I offered . . . and, my sister just let me offer . . . and I got to work.

I measured 21 inches down, cut the panels (21 inches so that there was a 1/2 inch seam top and bottom); opened up the "hem" on either side just enough so I could insert the panel; straight stitched the panels in and then serged all seams; straight stitched the side hems back up and pressed everything into place.

Here is the final result:

Before


After Dining Room

After Living Room

SO fun and both niece and fiancee are super happy with the results.