Random things

This is what I see sitting next to my Keurig coffee machine in the morning. It makes me happy :)


Just before Christmas, my husband painted our dining room. It went from this:


to this:


I like the after SO much better. The whole area is so much brighter and seems larger. For the record though, my favorite bright color is red. Once when I was watching Color Splash on HGTV, the host David Bromstad said to never paint a whole room your favorite color. It's too overpowering. Instead, use that color in your accents. I thought that was interesting coming from the host of a show called Color Splash!

I never got to show these Christmas stockings I made before Christmas. I had a whole bunch of Christmas decoration pictures to post, but never got around to joining any of the linky parties during the holidays. Hopefully I will this Christmas!
The stockings were sewn out of a painters drop cloth I got from Home Depot. I washed it a few times and used lots of fabric softener to soften the fabric. They turned out really nice, though they started out to be much simpler and shabby. I just had to add the decorative cuff though. It was the first Christmas in quite a while that we've had "real" stockings. I made a template for the stocking by tracing one of those red furry stockings you can buy at Walgreens for .99 cents. I loved sewing with the drop cloth, and plan to do several more projects with the leftovers.


Linking to Funky Junk Donna's SNS

What I've been up too

This. This is what's been occupying my time lately.I have to tell you I love it!!
I bought this for myself as an early Christmas present at the end of November. For the first week it sat on my table completely untouched. My husband asked me why I needed to buy it if it was going to sit on my table. The truth was, I was so intimidated by this piece of machinery!I was afraid to even turn it on. The sewing machine I had prior to this one was a small mini blue machine that I bought from Sears for about $50. I bought it solely for the purpose of sewing on cards and scrapbook layouts. I think I used it in that capacity for maybe a month or two. Then I never touched it again.
I can hardly be described as a seamstress. I call myself a "survival sewer". Everything I know was self taught. And that isn't a whole lot! I have never sewn a button hole or a zipper. But I can sew a pretty straight line if I have to! I can't follow a pattern to save my own life. I actually do pretty good sewing from my mind's eye. In the past I've sewn window treatments, a bed covering, embellished towels, etc. Lately I've been reading alot of sewing and quilting blogs. I have seriously been bitten by the quilting bug. I made a quilted rag purse a couple weeks ago. And I made a lap quilt for my youngest son for Christmas.







The lap quilt is FAR from perfect, but overall, it's not too bad for a first timer who was under a time crunch. My son loves his quilt and I enjoyed making it for him.My oldest son asked if I would make one for him too. I have so many other quilting projects I want to make. I am in deep I think! Now I just have to figure out how to afford 2 spendy hobbies at once!
Linking to Cindy at Cottage Instincts

Twice Remembereds Make Your Monday


DIY Show Off


Somewhat Simple's Strut Your Stuff

My craft room

The picture above is the view of my craft room from the doorway. My room is pretty small, about 10' x 11'. As you can see, one wall is basically a huge window. I love that window, it brings in so much natural light. In the morning, the sun just streams in through the window, making the room very cozy, especially in the winter.

I mainly do rubber stamping. In fact, I am a demonstrator for Stampin'Up!. I love the company and it's products, so I became a demonstrator to support my habit.

I am a recovering scrapbooker. I think I really liked collecting all the pretty supplies more than actually using them!

I recently bought a new sewing machine. I'm in love with it, so this table is pretty much covered in fabric and sewing supplies at the moment. I made a quilt for my youngest son for Christmas. It was my first quilt, not a bed sized quilt, but more of a lap quilt. I really enjoyed making that quilt, and now I've been bitten by the quilting bug!
I've pretty much done most every craft imaginable over the years. I know I'll stick with rubber stamping, but I think quilting will always run a close second!

I am linking this post to Room ReMix http://roomremixblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/craft-roomcraft-organization.html

Menu board

What do you do with a piece of art you no longer care for? Sell it? Take it to Goodwill? Sure, you could do either of those things. Or you could turn it into something else functional for your home.
I have to get better about remembering to take photos of my "befores". I promise to work on that.So I'm sorry to say I don't have a before picture. Just imagine a landscape scene of the Tuscan countryside. I started out with a picture that measured approximately 42 x 30". The frame was nice, but I wanted to paint it white. So I got out my trusty can of Rustoleum spray paint. Then on the glass I rolled on 3 coats of chalkboard paint. This was my first time using chalkboard paint and I am amazed at home nicely it rolls on, and the outcome once you're done. I really love it! I let the paint cure for about a week and then I put the frame back together. And by the way, the piece of art I no longer care for is still in the frame.You never now when I might change my mind again *wink*. Then I applied a vinyl word I purchased. I love how the project turned out. It is hanging in my dining room which is not formal by any means. I plan on using this for a menu board or maybe even to keep a running shopping list.



Linking this post to Cottage Instinct's Make it for Monday

Fluffing my nest!

Check out my new blog design! I couldn't be happier with everything. Becky at Creative Blog Design designed the whole thing. I love the little bird she designed in my header and the one in my signature.....too cute!Feel free to grab my button. Santa came a few days early for me. How did he know what I wanted? *wink*

Monogram canvas

I purchased a beautiful monogram from an Etsy store recently. But I didn't want to put it up on a wall, since the room I got it for needs to be repainted desperately. I also didn't want the monogram to sit around in a closet for who knows how long. So my solution to the problem at hand was to apply my monogram to an artists canvas and hang that on the wall. I picked out a beautiful pale shade of blue called "Wave Crest" from Behr paints. Home Depot mixed me a sample jar of the paint that was just perfect. I only used about 1/2 the jar, so now I have to find something else to do with it. I really would love to paint the ceiling in my bedroom this color. I think it would look like the sky painted up on the ceiling! I'm still trying to convince my husband on this idea. He truly believes ALL ceilings should only be painted white.
We typically only use Benjamin Moore paints, and if I do convince him to paint the ceiling this color, I will have the Benjamin Moore paint store color match it for me. There really is a difference in the quality of the paints!
So this is my finished project. Let me explain how I got to this.

Here is a shot of the paint chip, Wave Crest at the top is what I used.

I forgot to take a picture of the naked canvas, so here is one I took after I started painting it. I know the color doesn't show up well. It is such a pale shade of blue, it would be hard to capture in a photo. I ended up painting 3 coats on the canvas before I applied the vinyl monogram.

Here is is all done and hanging on the wall above my bed. I love how it turned out! The blue paint matches my duvet cover perfectly! I couldn't have found a better match if I had taken the duvet with me to Home Depot!


This is a big wall, and I still need some other things hanging on the wall. I'm thinking of doing a few more canvases with mine and my husbands first initials on either side of our last name initial. I want to paint these walls a nice creamy white. I like for my bedroom to be serene and relaxing, no bold colors here for me. I'll let you know if I am successful in convincing my husband to paint the ceiling blue!

Linking this post to TCB's Get Your Craft On

and DIY day at SPTL

Flower Pins

I made these flower pins using my Sizzix Big Shot and the Flower Folds and Scallop Circle dies. The Big Shot cuts out the flowers from the fabric and then I layer different sizes of flowers and lightly sew them together. I just keep adding layers of flowers till I have a look that I like and then I hot glue a pin on the back. I use a button covering kit to make my own buttons out of coordinating fabric and then hot glue a button on the front. They are super easy to make and would make awesome Christmas or Birthday gifts for girls of all ages. I have one on a tote bag and one on my purse. I'm making some small ones for my neighbor's 2 year old little girl in the form of hair clips. I have so much fun making these flower pins, somebody might need to stop me!






Linking this post to Today's Creative Blogs Get Your Craft On



and also Strut Your Stuff Thursday

What to do?

When I found this awesome cloche and urn at one of my favorite local 2nd hand stores, I was SO happy!! I fell in love with it immediately. Then I committed the cardinal sin of shopping. I left it in the shop and went home!!! Now of course you all know I thought of this incredible piece ALL night! The next morning I went as quickly as I could to the shop, all the way thinking someone else had seen it and taken it home. When I got there, there it was! I felt at that moment I was meant to have it, I suppose to rationalize me paying what I did for it. It wasn't horrible expensive, but more than I usually will spend on a whim. But, it was MINE!! The saleslady asked me what I was going to do with it. I told her I was going to put seasonal items in it and change it every season. I got it home and filled it with polished stones. The concrete urn is quite deep, so I needed something to fill it up. Then I used some knobby starfish and then some sea stars on top. I love this and have had it on my dining room table since early summer.It's very large and very heavy. I know I am way late on my autumn decorating. And part of the reason is I can't bear to put my sea stars away!!
I love how they look in here. Maybe any of you reading could give me some ideas of what to put in my urn and cloche. I'd love some inspiration!!

Thanksgiving card

Here is a Thanksgiving card I made to send to family members I won't see at Thanksgiving.

This is a notepad I made to write down all my lists that I use to keep myself organized for a big event like Thanksgiving. It's slim enough to fit in my purse so I have it close at hand if I need to jot something down.


On the inside there is a little pocket to keep receipts or other things in one place so I don't lose them. Both the card and the notepad are super easy to make. The notepads make great gifts for teachers, friends and neighbors.


Linking this post to Kim at

and also to Kimba at A Soft Place To Land DIY day



Thanks!
Lynda

Another blog?

This is the first post to my brand new blog! I'm not new to blogging, but I'm new to home decor and DIY blogging. I've really enjoyed reading all the awesome DIY blogs and wanted to get in on the action. And I want to start joining in the blog parties.
For my first post, I thought I'd show you my latest French memo board. For this one, I used a vintage frame I've had in my attic for years. I honestly forgot it was up there. I stumbled across it a while back and thought it would make a fabulous memo board for my guest room.

Here is the frame before I started. It is quite shabby with peeling paint remnants on the wood. There is some damage to the frame at the very top. I considered trying to repair it and quickly decided against it. It adds more character, right?

I used a piece of foam core board that I roughly cut with a craft knife to fit inside the frame. Then I covered the foam board with a piece of polyester batting to give the memo board a little "give" when you place mementos on it. I used clear packing tape to secure the batting to the foam core board. It's not pretty, but you'll never see it once it's hanging on the wall.


Then I covered the batting with a burlap. I used a cream colored grosgrain ribbon and upholstery tacks on the front, wrapping the ribbon all the way around the back and hot glueing it to the back of the board. The whole thing was then placed inside the frame and secured with offset clips to hold it inside the frame.
And here is the finished project. I added some vintage postcards and family photographs to the front. It is now hanging in my guest room, which is decorated vintage coastal.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope to post on a regular basis with other projects I'm working on.

Linking this post to Today's Creative Blog

and http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/

Lyn