7 Layer Studio

On Giving Thanks

There are already some houses with Christmas decorations up around here.

Now, you know how much I LOVE Christmas and all that goes with it...but it seems like Thanksgiving gets more and more overlooked every year. 

Well, I'm not even hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year (gasp...I KNOW!  This is the first year in probably a decade that I haven't hosted Thanksgiving) but I couldn't let the one holiday that focuses on gratitude go unrecognized in my house.  Okay, I can hear some of you saying that Thanksgiving is about eating an insane amount too.  And I guess it means watching football games to some people, but certainly not to me!  :-)

But hopefully we can all sit back and recognize all of the incredible blessings in our lives, regardless of the (often silent and private) struggles we all try to work our way through.  None of us are starving to death, we probably all have roofs over our heads and somebody to call family or at least friend.  Any of us who have the time and the means to sit around and read eachother's blogs and pursue things like decorating, design, and crafts are so very blessed.  Billions of people in this world do not enjoy even the most basic of earthly comforts, and millions of orphaned/abandoned children in the world do not have a single soul to call family.  They have no sense of belonging, no sense of being loved and cared for. It rips my heart out.

So yes, I have a LOT to be grateful for.  Sometimes I feel guilty for pursuing such "frivolous" things as, well, pretty much everything you see on this blog!  I wonder if I'm using my time wisely.  But I also know that the talents that I possess are from God and I'm supposed to develop them and use them to accomplish good.  Creating a beautiful environment is important to me, it feeds my soul and brings me joy - I just need to be careful about balance, and I need to make sure I'm giving back to others. 

Which is why this is as far as I got on the fabulous new quilt I was planning to make and hang on my Wall O' Plates wall instead of the plates that you see.  It'll have to wait until next year, because I'm Mommy to 3 beautiful kiddos and I'm doing my best to help those nearly invisible, so very fragile Bulgarian orphans on the other side of the world.

I still had time to "Thanksgiving-ify" my china cabinet a little bit. :-)

Speaking of my kids, here they are being swallowed up by a giant, child-eating pile of leaves!

They don't seem to mind.

Can you believe that all of these leaves came from our small front yard?!  When it's Fall here, it is REALLY Fall!  I love it.

You've heard of Snow Angels, but what about Leaf Angels?  Now you have.

Okay, these pictures have nothing to do with Autumn or Thanksgiving...I just wanted to show you the skirt I made Hazel recently - I've had that fabric for at least a year, and have procrastinated big time.  This week I've been back into Skirt-Making-Mode due to birthday party gifts and fun things for the cousins.  Hazel was feeling left out, so I squeezed this project in.  Plus a matching skirt to the one she was bringing to her little friend's birthday party, which I don't have pics of.  Yes, she's spoiled...but that's what babies of the family are for, right?  :-)

Raaawwrrrr...she's a dinosaur...or a tiger....or something!   You can tell she doesn't have any idea how cute she is, can't you?

One more thing I wanted to give you a sneak peek of...another quilt!  I'm planning on making a downloadable pattern for this one - I just haven't had time yet, imagine that.  Hopefully in the next week or two.  I'm also ALMOST done with my studio!  Which means that, after about a year's time, I'll finally be able to take a bunch of pictures and show you the big dramatic Before and Afters.  Woohoo!  Very exciting stuff. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Not sure what I'm looking forward to most...the turkey, the stuffing, or the pies?  Hmmmm....

Falling for Fall

Having grown up in western Oregon, I used to associate Autumn with rain, mud, and falling leaves...mostly soggy brown falling leaves.

Don't get me wrong - Oregon is a gorgeous place - it's just very wet for over half the year.  I remember being very excited when I got to crunch through dry, crispy autumn leaves instead of watching them fade into the wet concrete like ghostly remembrances of what they used to be.

So you can well imagine my happiness when the multitudes of trees shed their leaves here in Virginia, and we can actually go PLAY in them (and crunch them, and rake them, and throw them in the air...)

Even this Autumn, with so much rain (and now SNOW, unbelievably) that the majority of my kids' soccer practices and games have been cancelled, there are plenty of dry days inbetween so the leaves can stay gloriously crackly.

As you can see, Hazel shares my love of the crispy Fall leaves.  Gosh I love that girl - such a cutie, and so much personality!  Boy, oh boy, does she have a personality.  Guess that goes with the territory of being the baby of the family.

I wish she could stay innocent and little and snuggly forever - I'm even going to miss her sneaking into our bed every night.  I know, I know, that's a huge parenting no-no to let your kid do that consistently, but she's so...darn....snuggly!  Plus I'm so groggy and tired that it's easier just to move over and let her in than it is to carry her 45 pound self back into her own bed and stay with her until she falls back to sleep.  And did I mention she's so endearingly snuggly?

Just look at that sweet face and tell me you wouldn't do the same thing.  :-)

Don't you just love that fabric?  The cats are from Alexander Henry, and I'm sorry but I don't remember who did the spots and dots.  I used up every last little bit of those spots - I really regret not buying more of it when I had the chance!

Sooo, are you at all curious about what our Halloween costumes are this year? 

Why, a family of many-eyeballed aliens, of course!

Ta-dah!  Eliza enjoys posing for the camera now, can you tell?

I know, she's pretty subtle about it.

I think she's just really excited about her costume, and the fact that I let her wear "real" makeup for the first time ever.

Hazel was even more excited than Eliza about the makeup...oh dear, what have I done?!!

At least Hyrum didn't want any makeup.  The sparkly, glittery headpiece was quite enough for him.  At least it had lots of cool eyeballs!

How do you say "CHEESE" in alien language?  No, seriously...I want to know.

Yes, I made all the costumes.  Took me 2 days, but hurray that they're finally done.

My secret weapon was silver glitter Foamie sheets...I had never used that stuff before, and can I say, it's AWESOME.  It even has sticker adhesive on the back so if you want it to stick to something (like a shirt front, or wrist cuffs, or ears) you just peel off the paper in back.  Beautiful. 

I'm sorry I didn't take any photos along the way during the construction of the headpieces.  Each one is different, and I just folded the sheets in half and started cutting - so I don't have a pattern to share at this point.  But maybe, if you're REALLY interested and say pretty please, I can do a couple of samples to show you the basic techniques of How to Make an Alien Headpiece. 

If there's a lot of interest, I'll make a tutorial about it.  Sorry it's so close to Halloween, I should have done this weeks ago!  Typical me, doing things at the last minute in the squeak of time.

But at least I got to go outside and throw a bunch of leaves around with my baby!

Halloween "I" Candy

 
Who needs chocolate when there are so many fun things to do to decorate the house for Halloween?

Okay, that's a stupid question. 

I, for one, cannot survive without chocolate.  Especially at Halloween time.

But a close second is all this fun stuff you see adorning my house in October.  Yes, I decorate for the benefit of my kids, but I have to admit that it's just as much for me as it is for anyone else.

I just can't seem to help myself.  I NEED eye candy.  The cat agrees.

I suppose it's a bit of an obsession, and it's surely not the most "important" thing on my gigantic, HUGE list of things to do, but it's a top priority for me nonetheless.

After all, I can't let Mr. Spooky Ghost salt shaker stay boxed up forever, can I?  That would be cruel, too cruel.

And what's a stack of dishes without a purple tarantula?

Oh - do you notice anything different about my dining room?  Besides my "new" china cabinet, that is.

Why yes indeed, I painted the walls a fantastic grey/blue color (which my sister has in her house and I loved it so much I copied her).  AND I finally installed some crown molding, which I'd been wanting to do for 2 years now.  It's actually 2 different parts:  some baseboard trim that I turned upside down and nailed onto the wall so that the bottom edge is 5" down from the ceiling, and then I installed the actual crown on top of it.  So you get the general look of big, expensive crown at a fraction of the cost.

The only trouble is that the baseboard looks wimpy and off scale now.  I'm planning to do wainscotting (sp?  I've never figured out how to pronounce that word either) all along the bottom 1/3 of the wall eventually, so when it's all done it will look proportional.  But that's way down on my priority list, so for now I'll be happy about the crown molding.

I know that pillows aren't typically a design element in the corner of a dining room, but I had to put them SOMEWHERE, and all my new pillows I made this year are covering my sofa now.

They're quite satisfied with their new home.

 

I discovered that spiders have an affinity for lamp shades when there are tiny loops of blue painter's tape stuck to their bellies.

This spider was a bit too big to fit on the chandelier.

Of all my decorations, that huge spider was the one thing that made Hazel squeal with delight and a touch of panicky abhorence.  I wish I had captured her reaction on video. 

All of you loyal blog followers will surely recognize these characters from years past - those 2 pumpkinheads are among my favorite Halloween things....so ugly they're positively cute!

And of course you've seen the Girlie Ghosts from my tutorial.

How 'bout my Halloween quilt, eh?  I love how it turned out, sorry I don't have a pattern for it yet.  Just not enough hours in the day. 

I didn't have a blank wall to display my quilt on, except my Wall O' Plates wall....should we pause for a moment of silence to pay our respects for the absent Plate Wall?  First time in 2.5 years that I haven't plastered that wall with my dishes according to which holiday it was.  But hey - now I have a fancy china cabinet, so they just got moved over a little bit.  And I love looking at that quilt - I worked hard on that thing!

You'll recognize this wreath I made last year too. 

It's one of my favorite handmade things.

Well, I guess it's not 100% handmade - I bought the bead garland on clearance after Halloween 2 years ago, and wrapped the garland around a metal wreath base.  I made loops of ribbon, grouped the loops, wrapped them with wire, and hot-glued them onto the frame amidst the berry garland.  Then I made the giant flower bows (see my tutorial in the left sidebar) and hot-glued those onto the wreath = Voila!  Super fun, spunky wreath just perfect for Halloween.

Okay, now it's your turn to go brighten up your place with eye candy...and don't forget the chocolate.

Buttons & Ruffles Pillow Tutorial

You might be thinking, "Too many buttons....I'm not taking the time to sew all those on!"

But wait!  I have an exciting new method to secure all those shank buttons, so you'll never be afraid to button-ify a pillow again....

To make this pillow, start by cutting 3 black rectangles:  2 @ 15" x 8.5" and 1 @ 15" x 5".  These are the sides and center of the pillow.

For the ruffles, cut 2 strips of contrasting fabric (I used cream) @ 3.5" x 35"

For the accent trim on ruffles, cut 2 strips of fabric @ 1.5" x 35"  NOTE:  If you want the accent strip to be wider, cut 2 strips @ 2" x 35".

You'll need a piece of stiff, fusible interfacing (I like Pellon Decorbond #809) cut @ 4.5" x 14.5" to stabilize the center panel prior to attaching buttons.

Also needed:  Lots of fabric-covered buttons with shanks, and 2 strips of ribbon 15" long each....and a hot glue gun.

1)  Use 1/4" for all seams in this project.  Stitch the accent trim, with right sides facing, along one side of each ruffle strip. 

Press seam toward accent fabric.  With wrong side facing up, turn under 1/4" of the raw, unsewn edge of accent strip. 

Then fold strip in half lengthwise to completely hide the original seam, which is pressed away from ruffle.  Stitch close to original seam to secure the folded edges of accent fabric.  Press well.

2)  Create gathers in ruffle strip by using basting stitch on machine.  Pull the bobbin thread to gather fabric sufficiently to fit along the 15" measurement of the black side pieces.

Place gathered ruffle strip, FACE UP (as opposed to right sides facing) on top of the face up side piece.  Arrange gathers to fit, pin, and stitch in place.  Repeat with other side.  Gently flatten the ruffles a bit with your hot iron to create creases in the ruffles.

3)  Fuse the interfacing on the backside of center piece, leaving 1/4" on all sides free of interfacing.

4)  Place the center piece, face down, on top of one side of the ruffle+side piece.  Pin and stitch together, then press the seam toward center.  Repeat with other ruffle+side piece.

5)  Stitch ribbon in place on both sides of center, sewing both long edges of each ribbon.

6)  Place the fabric covered buttons where you want them to go, leaving at least 1.5" on top and bottom without buttons or you'll have a hard time trying to sew the pillow together later on. 

Use a marker or fabric pencil and carefully put a dot beneath each button where the shank touches the fabric.

Moving one button at a time, carefully poke through the fabric+interfacing at each marked dot with a tiny Xacto knife or other very small, poky tool.  If the hole/slit is too big, you'll struggle later on.  Gently push/coax the shank of the button through the fabric+interfacing.  If the hole is small, the button will stay in place for now.

7)  When all buttons are pushed through, carefully turn fabric over to access all the shanks poking through the backside.

8)  Using a hot glue gun, squirt a small but generous blob of hot glue around each shank, making sure that the glue oozes inside the little loop of the shank to hold it in place and keep the fabric from fraying around the hole.  Let harden thoroughly.

9)  Stitch the raw ends of the ruffle in place in all 4 places.

10)  For the backing, cut 2 rectangles that are the same height as the pillow front (15") but the width is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is 15" high x 21.5" wide.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 14" (14 = 11 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.  Insert pillow form and you're done!

Tutorial for Buttons-in-the-Trees Pillow

This pillow is easier than it looks, with my method of attaching the buttons without ANY sewing!  If you're like me, you don't relish the thought of sewing on tons of shank buttons...but now you don't have to.

Start with a fabric that has about a 2" to 3" repeat.  The awesome fabric you see above is called "Ghastly Forest" by Alexander Henry.  They have the best Halloween collection this year!   Since I used the small, pale blue pillow form from IKEA (only $1.99!) my square was cut at 13.5".

Cut a piece of heavy, fusible interfacing that is 1/2" smaller in length and width than your square (Pellon Decorbond #809 is my favorite).  Fuse interfacing to backside of fabric, leaving 1/4" border around all edges of fabric without interfacing (to reduce bulk when sewn together).

Place the fabric covered buttons where you want them to go, leaving at least 2.5" with no buttons all the way around or you'll have a terrible time trying to sew the pillow together later on.  I used 2 different sizes of buttons and alternated them in rows.

Use a marker or fabric pencil and carefully put a dot beneath each button where the shank touches the fabric.

Moving one button at a time, carefully poke through the fabric+interfacing at each marked dot with a tiny Xacto knife or other very small, poky tool.  If the hole/slit is too big, you'll struggle later on.  Gently push/coax the shank of the button through the fabric+interfacing.  If the hole is small, the button will stay in place for now.

When all buttons are pushed through, carefully turn fabric over to access all the shanks poking through the backside.

Using a hot glue gun, squirt a small but generous blob of hot glue around each shank, making sure that the glue oozes inside the little loop of the shank to hold it in place and keep the fabric from fraying around the hole.  Let harden thoroughly.

Cut 2 strips of border fabric which are 1.5" wide.  Stitch to sides, press, and trim.

Add 2 more strips to top and bottom of pillow.  Press and trim.

For the backing, cut 2 rectangles that are the same width as the pillow front but the length is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is a 15" square.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 11" (11 = 8 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.

To create flange, "stitch in the ditch" all the way around the pillow where the border meets the main fabric.  Insert pillow form and you now have one very cute pillow!

Disclaimer: this is where I need to write about not having this pillow in a baby crib or within reach of a small child, due to the very remote chance that the buttons could come loose and be a choking hazard.  But you already knew that, right?  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Scrap-Busting Strip-Pieced Pillow Tutorial

I'm not sure what I had more fun doing....making the Crazy Triangle Quilt (you can peek at it here, but I'm still working on the pattern) or making use of all the leftover strips of fabric afterwards!

They're beautiful even just sitting in the trash can...but I didn't actually throw very many of my awesome Halloween fabric scraps away.

I used the tiny scraps to cover buttons for different pillows....

 

and I promise I'll post tutorials for these cuties soon.

 

For this one I sewed long strips together and then cut the strips into triangles, which I pieced together into a whats-its-called-agon.  Not a pentagon, not an octagon, but a hexagon...and yes, I had to look that up to make sure.  :-) 

Again, a future tutorial-to-be.

In case you hadn't guessed, I have had a LOT of fun playing with these strip scraps!

But I'm getting way ahead of myself....

 

Time to start the instructions for the pillow in above photo.

Gather your strip scraps and organize them according to width.  I used strips which were 2" and 1.5" wide.  The width can vary quite a bit, this is just what I had on hand. If you have super long strips, cut them into rectangles varying from 2" to 10".

As shown in photo above, start pairing up the strips which are the same width and run them through your machine, one pair after the other, without stopping to cut the threads in between.  Use a 1/4" seam throughout this project.  Try to pair contrasting fabrics for best results.

Clip the paired strips apart and repeat process of pairing the new groupings together, repeating until you have ended up with one big, giant strip.  Press seams to one side.

Repeat process with other strip widths.

Decide how big you need your pillow to be, and cut all the big long strips into shorter sections that are that measurement + 1/2" (for seam allowances).

(I apologize for a lack of step-by-step photos for this, by the way...I really thought I had taken more pictures along the way but apparently not.)

Arrange the strips however you would like, paying attention to the most dominant fabrics and making sure that they are spaced the way you would like.  Stitch the strips together until you have enough to create the dimension you're aiming for, + 1/2" for seam allowances.  In this case, I made a square.

If you would like a flanged border around the pillow as I have done, sew 2 strips on either side, press toward outside and trim even with pieced square.  Then sew 2 more strips on the other two sides, repeating the pressing and edge trimming.

For the back of the pillow, either use a zipper closure (not shown) or do what I have done with the two pieces of backing fabric:

Cut 2 rectangles that are the same width as the pillow front but the length is determined by adding about 3" to whatever the half point is on the pillow.  In this case, the pillow front is a 15" square.  I cut 2 rectangles at 15" x 11" (11 = 8 + 3).

Press under 1/4" of one of the 15" edges on each rectangle.  Press under again to hide the raw edges.  Stitch along that "hem".

Place pillow front face up on table.  Place the 2 rectangles face down, aligning outer raw edges so that there is about a 3" overlap over the middle of the pillow.  Pin in place all around outer edge of pillow.

Stitch 1/4" all the way around, clip corners to reduce bulk.  Turn right side out, press edges.  If no flange is wanted, insert pillow form now. 

 

 

If you're sewing a flanged edge (like mine), "stitch in the ditch" all the way around the dark border fabric.  Insert pillow form.  And now you're done!

Oh, Say Can you See...

...that I've finally posted something new?

Hard to believe, but true. 

I won't bore you with details, but suffice it to say that it's been pretty challenging to come back to "reality" after focusing on nothing but QuiltMarket for so long.

I haven't wanted to let myself do anything "fun" until I get all my sewing patterns finished (a MUCH bigger project than anticipated) and all my ducks in a row for starting my pattern-selling business (a MUCH, MUCH bigger project than anticipated).

Let's just say that I'm a much better creative person than I am a business woman.  But I'm determined to overcome my weaknesses in that area and face my fears/aversions to the whole red tape issue regarding starting a business, keeping records, dealing with credit cards, shipping, etc.  Plus my husband is doing a lot to help me figure it all out - thanks, honey!  Not exactly his cup-o-tea either, but he's working hard to help me along as best he can.

Add that to the fun and excitement of no air conditioning in our house for almost 2 weeks in stifling, record-breaking temps, plus preschool being over so I have my rambunctious 3-year-old Hazel at my side at all times, and all the end-of-the-year activities for my other kids, plus a bunch of errands to run, and you can begin to imagine how much time I've had to actually focus on getting my work done!   Oooops.  I forgot I wasn't going to bore you with details. 

 

I'm on the verge, though, of getting all of my patterns out the door, I promise.  And to celebrate my last pattern's content being finished today, I took a break and decorated my house for 4th of July!

Nothing fancy, just a bunch of stars I created on Illustrator and printed onto cardstock, then cut out and taped to things.

I can't believe it's almost Independence Day!!  This year is completely flying by.

Of course I had to put my red and white polka dot drapes back up for 4th of July.

And of course I just had to buy this GORGEOUS blue hydrangea at Costco.  Yes, it was an impulse purchase, and I love it.  After it's finished brightening up my front porch for Independence Day, I'll plant it in the backyard where the darn burrowing rodents (Ground squirrels?  Voles?) destroyed the root systems of my rhododendrons.  Grrrr....  Hopefully my hydrangea will have better luck.

You might recognize this banner from last year - I fused double-sided interfacing onto blue fabric, then cut the letters out with pinking shears and fused them onto the striped fabric.  Easy peasy!

And this little sign has been used for many years now.  I made it back when we lived in our first house in Hawaii, which was probably 7 years ago.  Wow.  I can't believe it's been that long.  Okay, now I'm rambling....

I'll post again soon - I have a bunch more stuff to share with you (plus that carrot cake recipe that I keep forgetting about....sorry!).  It's way past my bedtime though (actually I don't really have a bedtime...although I should!) so I need to stop now.  Goodnight!

 

 

Fuzzy Bunnies

 
There were little green bunnies leaping all over the place yesterday.

 
They were, of course, excited about it being Easter and all.

 

Can you tell?

No, I didn't make these darling little things.  They came from Pier1.  Aren't they adorable?

I love them so much I went back to the store this morning and bought the 4 that were still in stock, only this time they were half off.  Sweet.

Now I have a whole "litter" of them.  What's the term for a bunny family, anyway?  It's not a pack, herd, gaggle, or swarm, and I don't think it's a litter either.  Or is it?  Anybody know the answer to that burning question?

 
We had a lovely Easter dinner with friends yesterday.

 

I love an excuse to set the table all pretty.

I only had 3 of these gorgeous blue plates (snagged at a thrift store) so I mixed and matched all the plates on the table.

The other patterned dishware at the table (with the exception of my Japanese sheep plates - also snagged at a thrift store, but in Japan) is Villeroy & Bosch.  It's my wedding china, and I love it but don't use it enough because of the no dishwasher restrictions.  Time to start changing that, I think.  The using part, not the dishwasher part.

 
You'll recognize my blue eggs, of course.  I had to use my elevated cake plate for my carrot cake (shocking, isn't it, that I use a piece of dishware for its original intent?) so I changed the centerpiece around a bit.

 
Mmmmmmmm....if I do say so, that was a very. good. carrot cake.

 
It's adapted from a recipe my mother-in-law gave me a long time ago, and it is the most moist, tender, yummy carrot cake I have come across.  Probably because of the crushed pineapple, coconut, and buttermilk in the recipe in addition to the carrots.  Let me know if you'd like the recipe and I can post it for you.

 
I also made this yummy chevre cheese log with chopped chives, thyme, parsley, and toasted pecans....I thought it was wonderful, but the kids wouldn't touch it (surprise surprise). 

 
Here are my little munchkins, all dressed up.  Yes, you've seen those dresses before - Mommy didn't have a chance to make new Easter clothes this year.  I had been stalling, hoping my fabric would come in time to make their dresses from my fabric, but by the time I knew it wasn't coming for awhile, it was too late with all our other activities this past week.  It's okay - I love the dresses they have on.  And my little boy is all dressed up in a blazer!  Awww....that really tugs at my heartstrings.  Yes, Hazel's lips, teeth, and tongue are blue, compliments of the blue sucker she had in her mouth 2 seconds before this was taken.

 
Time for the Easter egg hunt!  That's Hazel's 7th outfit of the day, by the way.

 

I love this shot -my friend's boy was so excited about his eggs!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! 

'Twas the week before Easter

 
This is to prove that I am indeed capable of posting something other than spring flowers and remodelling jobs.

 
Does it matter if these eggs are 2 or 3 years old, and you've seen them in previous year's Easter posts?  Please say no.  At least the pics are new - I rephotographed them this week.  And not to worry - the eggs are hollow, all the insides are blown out.  No, I would not be saving hard boiled eggs, no matter how pretty they are.  I have vivid memories of the stench of rotten eggs from my childhood on the farm, when a hidden cache of abandoned eggs in the haystack gave me a memorable education in the effects of decomposition. 

 

Ooops.  There are those tulips again.  I said I was CAPABLE of not posting spring flowers....I didn't say I wasn't going to do it.

 

Just one more....

Actually I can't promise I won't post any more tulips this season.  My white and red ones just started blooming today.  So be forewarned. 

 
....and here's one of my darling Japanese plates.  You veterans of my blog have seen these many times, I know, but they're just...so...cute!  I can't help but post them again.

 
But back to those eggs.  You've seen these types of eggs before on Martha Stewart and many magazines, but have you seen ones with chevron stripe texture?  I wrapped the egg with a textured trouser sock before dying it, hence that very cool background.

 
Here's a different one, I think I wrapped a long blade of grass around the egg before wrapping it in the sock.

 

I haven't posted any cakes lately, so here's a pretty one, perfect for spring!  I made it for a friend's birthday, hence the candles.  Lemon cake with strawberries and whipped cream, mmmm....

 
Hazel was dying to eat some of it, but since I figured that my friend would probably not appreciate a big chunk dug out of her birthday cake, I made one for my family too.  My kids decorated it and put the candles on it by themselves, and we had an impromptu un-birthday party tonight.  They each got to blow out the candles (two times apiece) to ensure than plenty of melted wax got splattered all over the place, and then it was time to let them eat a bunch of sugar right before bedtime.  Gosh I love spring break.

 

...And here we have my ever-cheerful girls.  Hazel wore piggy tails for the first time (and kept them in all day, which is an amazing milestone!) and I wanted some documentation.

 
 Needless to say, Hazel didn't exactly feel like smiling for the camera.  And yes, she chooses her own outfits to wear.  A mere 10+ times a day.  Eliza never felt the need to empty out the entire contents of her closet daily while practicing getting dressed (and undressed....and dressed again) so this behavior is new to me.

Annoying, to say the least, but at least she lets me put her hair in piggy tails!  Eliza has an extremely tender head and won't let me brush her hair, let alone pull it back (hence the short haircut).  Hazel, my girly-girl, is coming to the realization that sometimes a girl's gotta go through a little pain for the sake of fashion.

 

But I guess that doesn't mean she's going to smile about it.

The Post Which Spans 2 Holidays, Some More Jewelry, and a Studio Update

 
Goodbye, Valentine's Day.  I never did finish photographing things for Heart Day, but it's time to move on.

 

There's always next year.  By then not only my studio, but the entire basement will be finished, and hopefully the dilapidated master bathroom will be gutted and reconfigured by then too.  That depends on how much income I generate this year though.  Anything's a step up from nearly zero!  :-)

 
Speaking of my studio, here's a current update of things!  After spending so much time and effort on redoing the wiring, which took several weeks, we decided (meaning I requested and Steve finally agreed) to go ahead a hire somebody to do the sheetrock for my studio area.  There just isn't enough time for us to be fooling around with sheetrock when I have such a tight timeline for everything.  I've GOT to get my studio back in order so I can find things I need to work on the huge pile of projects coming up.  The ceiling should be retextured tomorrow, and then I get to paint the walls and ceiling, patch the gouges in the cement floor, install the flooring, put up crown molding and baseboard trim, install the built-in storage system on the far wall, and move all my stuff back in.  Oh - and paint the doors once they get installed.  Piece o' cake, right?  Right.

 

In the meantime, St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!

 
 
So of course I had to deck out my dining room in green.

 
That's a styrofoam ball, cut in half, with moss hot-glued to it, in case you were wondering.

 

I have just one each of these darling plates (wouldn't they look so good en masse on a big table?) so before I put them up on the wall I had to take these shots.

 

I just love graphic patterns put together in fun ways.  Not that you would have ever noticed.

 
 
They finally made it up on the Wall O' Plates...

 
...and I had to sneak some blue in there because I didn't have enough green plates.  Close enough.

 
Making jewelry, I've discovered, is addictive.

 

Hello, my name is Shelley, and I'm addicted to making jewelry when I should be working on my patterns. 

At least I'm almost done constructing my booth for QuiltMarket!  Just have to do a few final things and then paint it.

 

Just one more piece....just one more...

How can I help it when I still have leftover beads?  Can't just let them languish in a box forever.

 

I made this set as 3 separate necklaces that I can wear independently, or for a more dramatic look, combine 2 or 3 strands together.  Way too much fun.  Now I want to make a similar set with charcoal-colored "pearls"...wouldn't that be lovely?  Oh, the possibilities.  But... Earth to Shelley....time to get back on track.  Maybe next week.  Or 2 months from now.  Depends on how soon I get my studio whipped into shape and when my fabric comes in!  Hopefully I'll have good news about both of those things soon.

Seeing Red

 
I knew it had been a long time since I had posted anything, but my goodness!  12 days?!  I think that's a record...and not one I'm happy about.  I'm amazed that I have any blog traffic at all with a gap like that.  Sorry about the lack of posting - I'm still alive, I really am!

  

This basement mess has really thrown me for a loop.  Not that I've been working on it non-stop, because I haven't...Steve's been dealing with various issues about the wiring and other work in the walls for weeks now.  I just can't work on anything with the entire contents of my studio packed up and scattered throughout the house.  I wasn't careful about keeping track of where things were because I thought I'd have the studio put back together in 2 weeks, max.  Hahahahahaha!

 

I didn't even make anything new for Valentine's Day because I can't find my craft and sewing things, and here it is a week after Heart Day and I still haven't photographed the decorations that I did manage to put up!  So here are a few shots of the decor, to prove that Valentine's Day did indeed happen at my house.  I didn't shoot anything else, I ran out of time between all the busy activities that a Saturday brings.  Hopefully this week I can at least make one project I was planning on (better late than never, right?) and finish the pictures of everything.  We'll see...

 
....but look what I was finally able to paint this week!

 
This is a beefy old dresser that I found for $70 a couple of years ago on Craigslist, and the original 70's plastic-wood-look finish was begging for a facelift.  It's real wood, it just had a severe case of laminate-look finish so typical of that decade.  Sorry, I forgot a "before" photo.  The weather was finally warm enough to spray paint (I'm so excited for gloriously warm spring weather!!!) so that became my priority this week.  Several trips to the store, 5 cans and 2 brands of spray paint later (long story short:  Do NOT use Painter's Touch from Home Depot on anything without testing it first!  The paint blistered and freaked out on the parts that I hadn't sanded down to bare wood), here it is!

 
I distressed the edges of everything because, well, I wanted to.  I don't like furniture to be so perfect that I then get upset when it gets dinged up or scratched.  So I just take care of it at the beginning and then I'm okay!  I'm really looking forward to being able to put this big red beauty in my studio.  Here's hoping that it will be on the soon-ish side.

ps Anybody feel like testing a quilt pattern?  I have 4 ready to go!

Have I mentioned that I really don't like keeping projects secret?

 
 
Remember when I told you that I was working on a big huge project?  The b--k one?  Well, it's killing me that I've been doing all these things for it and I haven't been able to show you anything. 

So I figured that maybe it would be okay if I just showed you some up-close details of some extraneous things without giving you the big picture.  Just to satisfy your curiousity a bit.

 

For now I will just have to give you little ones like this. 

 

I don't even dare tell you what exactly the b--k will include, but this will give you a nice sneak peak into at least one aspect of it.

 

 

I was finally able to bribe my girls into letting me take pictures of their Christmas skirts.  It's only 3 weeks late, no biggie, right?

 
Hazel was cracking me up - she absolutely, positively, would not look at the camera.  And since she also refused to wear the matching hair bow I made her, I have a gazillion shots of her beautiful platinum head of hair.  Not even a glimpse of a face.

See what I mean?  Ah well.  At least her hair was combed, which is a major accomplishment in itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eliza, bless her heart, was very eager and willing to pose.  Especially if she got to do some sort of a ballerina move.

 
Hyrum didn't have a skirt to model (I guess I should have made him a kilt!) but he still wanted to have his picture taken.  How could I refuse?  What a sweet boy he is.

 
No, I still haven't taken down the Christmas decorations.  I kept waiting for a fabulous snowstorm so the outdoor pics would look really cool, but so far, we've just had a couple of days of light dusting.  Like powdered sugar.  Nothing like the 20+ inches of last year...not that I'm complaining about not having almost 2 feet of snow at once!  It would just be nice to take the kids sledding on the neighborhood hill this winter, and do the snowman and snow angel thing. 

 

Winter's not over yet though - here's hoping we'll get some nice, thick, white "frosting" soon!

Abundance

 

Sometimes we (myself included) can forget the incredible abundance in which we live.  Our fast-paced, instant-gratification-oriented, and keeping-up-with-the-Jones's culture can make us focus on what we don't have rather than all that we enjoy. 

 

Any of you who have spent any time in a developing country can probably attest to the striking contrast between that which we consider basic necessities and what many people in the world would consider unreachable luxuries... 

A place to live with a roof overhead, glass in the windows, electricity, a means of transportation other than our own 2 feet, multiple pairs of shoes  FOR those feet, adequate food and clothing to keep us healthy, warm, and dry.  Freedom to pursue our own destiny, opportunity for education, and the chance for upward mobility should we choose to exert ourselves toward such goals.

 

Freedom of religion, freedom of personal lifestyle, freedom to think what we want to think and say what we want to say.

 

So what if the neighbor has a fancy new car and ours is 10 years old?  Who cares if our clothes are not designer name brands with ridiculous price tags?  What if we can't afford the latest technological gizmo or video game system?  Perhaps we are facing problems such as unemployment, family issues, personal tragedy, health conditions, or a host of other challenges.  Not to diminish the reality of those trials, but when we can stop and recognize the blessings we do enjoy, we will find our burdens easier to bear.  We'll be able to count the good things in our lives, however small, and in turn be more capable of reaching out to others in need of emotional or temporal help.  I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but at this time of Thanksgiving, that's what's on my mind.

"LIVE IN THANKSGIVING DAILY"...very wise words to live by.

Music to Cook By

 

I couldn't wait any longer - I had to put my Christmas playlist up!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been while beginning the big cooking extravaganza, otherwise known as Thanksgiving.  Here we have an incredibly aromatic cranberry pear relish - it has filled the house with the most AMAZING scent of cinnamon, citrus, cloves, and - of course - cranberries.

 

Would you like the recipe?  It's one that I have come up with based on several different recipes I have found online.

CITRUS CRANBERRY PEAR RELISH

zest from 1 small lime (just the green part - not the white pith)

 2 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 Tbls. lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick plus a generous dash of powder)

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp EACH nutmeg and allspice

4 cups cranberries

2 pears, chopped (I'd recommend chopping them a bit smaller than what you see here)

Rinse berries, set aside.  Combine all ingredients except berries and pears.  Cook in saucepan for 5 minutes at a gentle rolling boil, stirring frequently.  Add cranberries, simmer for 5 minutes.  Add pears and simmer gently for another 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like your pears.   Let cool at room temperature, store in fridge.  I like to warm mine up again for turkey dinner, it's SOOO good with turkey and stuffing!  Enjoy!

ps.  Thanks, everyone, for all your kind comments about my rock project, ornament tutorials, etc!  I'm really bad about writing back individually unless someone has a specific question (and even then I'm hit-or-miss...I'm embarrassingly scatter-brained with all the various projects and family things going on.  I need a secretary.) but please know that I really, truly, do love your comments.  One of these days I'm going to figure out the whole blog reader system so I can keep track of all your blogs.  Any suggestions on what you all use to make lists of blogs and when there's a new post?

Autumn Leaves!

 

Glorious, glorious autumn leaves, their fiery hues aglow!  Vibrant sparks of flame and flash warm my memory long after leafy embers fade to earth, covered in ice and snow.

No, I'm not a poet (obviously) - that just sorta happened.  Don't groan too loudly when you read it, okay?  I might hear you.
 
The leaves around here sure know how to go out with a bang - and I'm loving every minute of it!  This past week has been gorgeous and sunny, and the leaves on some of the trees have been breathtaking.  I've been working outside for the past couple of weeks, slugging away at all the rock work for stairs, retaining walls, and a back patio that I stopped doing during the impossibly muggy summer months.  The goal is to finish it before winter hits...wish me luck!  Anyway, I've been soaking in the beauty of these leaves as much as I can while the weather is so very lovely.

 
I was experimenting with how they looked in various types of light.  The top photo was taken in the shade with dappled light in the background.  The middle photo was just straight shade, and the third photo was taken facing the sun against a shady background.  Each version shows off a different aspect of these fiery wonders.

 

Compared to the real thing, these fake leaves don't stand a chance, but since I really didn't feel like stringing together a bunch of real leaves (they'd probably turn brown anyway) I figured I'd better compromise.

 
Most Thanksgiving decor leans more toward the orange/yellow/brown angle, but I like to stay with my beloved red hue.  Mixed with chocolate brown, it still feels autumn-y, doesn't it?

 
I made a new table runner for the occasion...in polka dots, of course.

 
Some of you may recognize this little guy from last year, he's making a reappearance on the inside of my house this time around, because

 
I made a new wreath for our front door!  I had to make a bigger one this year because the old one wasn't big enough to cover the missing wooden piece in the door's window panel...and because I found those fantastic red and orange blossoms on clearance and just had to find a way to use them.  It was a sacrifice, I know.

 
The fake leaves were from a fall leaf garland, and I added some faux red berries in the mix too.

 
This is another wreath from last year that some of you may recognize.

 

Now that I've done the wooden disc Christmas ornaments, I keep looking at those wimpy paper circles glued onto the ribbon "flowers" and wish that I had decoupaged the scrapbook paper onto little wooden discs instead.  Hmmmm, is it worth redoing all those circles?  Probably not, considering that there's only a week or so until Thanksgiving and then it's time to decorate for Christmas!

 
I always feel sorry for the Thanksgiving holiday, what with it being sandwiched in between Halloween and Christmas like it is = the importance of it is getting increasingly overlooked.  Especially now that Christmas merchandise is available for purchase in September, for heaven's sake!  Not that I don't love Christmas, because you know that I do...I just wish that we could focus on the spirit behind Thanksgiving a little more, and for a little longer.

 

 
"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."  ~H.U. Westermayer

 

 
Here's another quote I think you'll appreciate:  "Hem your blessings with thankfulness, lest they unravel."  (author unknown)

 

No holiday is complete at my house without its own version of the Wall o' Plates!  I found some turkey ones that I could tolerate (not much out there, that I could find, that fit the color scheme and the theme) so they make their grand appearance all over the place this year.

 

Okay my friends, as I come to the end of this post, please remember to...

 
...and...

 

Because even with all the awful stuff happening in the world, we still live on a very special, very beautiful planet.  With lots of things to be thankful for. 

 

Even (or should it be especially?) the leaves on the trees.