Playing with Paper

 I have been playing with paper again and have made some unique wedding cards and favors from vintage paper and images from an old french paper doll.  I love the little groom with his stiff posture.  He looks slightly terrified!  I have decided to list these on Etsy instead of putting them here in my local gallery. If you know of anyone getting married these would make a unique keepsake.

Uncle Claude's Chair

I have had this chair for ages.  It belonged to my Auntie Florence and Uncle Bob (who were brother and sister living together as they used to do in those days).  Auntie Florence had a "boyfriend" who we called Uncle Claude.  He was the whitest palest human I've ever known with deathly pale skin and pure white hair, but he was always very well dressed and groomed.  He wore sweater vests and little bow ties. He worked as a haberdasher in a very swanky (for our town) men's clothing shop so I imagine he had a thing for nice clothes.  He used to sit in this chair and nod off during most family get togethers.  He was always there on the fringe of things.  Very nice man but very sleepy as I recall.  All of us kids descending on my aunt and uncle's house probably gave him a massive headache.  Anyway I inherited the chair and it was due for a make-over.

I have never attempted reupholstery and now I know why.  It's a lot harder than it would seem.  I was careful to take off the old fake leather and million plus nails and take lots of digital photos lest I forget how it was put together.  But I still totally screwed it up and under cut one of my pieces plus I underestimated the yardage so I bit my lip and went back to the fabric store and bought three more yards of the sale fabric which was still $12.99 a yard.  This time I found my upholstery guardian angel "Chris" on YouTube.  He is an expert and has put together a 13 part video series on redoing a chair very similar to mine. I watched the series multiple times.  I feel like Chris and I are old friends and I hope he would be proud of my efforts.  I think it came out pretty good considering I don't have Chris' snazzy staple gun (which I am totally saving up for if I ever do a project like this again!)  I went old school and used a tack hammer and tacks.  Chris was right, those electric staplers do not work.  Check it out:

 This is a departure from my usual floral choices but the drapes that are coming for the bedroom are floral and I wanted a more tailored complimentary look.  This almost looks like menswear (a fitting tribute to Uncle Claude as it turns out)  but I like it.  I made the pillow last night because it needed a little something soft.  I like the contrast between the wool and lace.

Good Swap

Part of being part of a great local artisan group is the opportunity to swap with some of the other talented artists.  I recently made a swap with my dear friend Sharyn who is a potter and avid gardener.  Here is what I made for her:

She grows the most gorgeous dahlias and I made her one out of vintage silks and taffetas.  She also loves sunflowers and features them on many of her pots so I made one from felted wool.

And here is what I got in return.  A beautiful and useful little pitcher with a clever little built in whisk.  I use it nearly every day for my scrambled eggs or salad dressing.  Thanks Sharyn!

My New Etsy Shop

Time to clean out and do a reality check about how much fabric and other supplies I really need.  I am always overly optimistic about how much I can really do in one lifetime!  I will be adding goods each day. There are bargains to be had!

Back in the Studio

It's so nice to be done with my project (very nearly) and have time to get back in the studio for some sewing projects.  I made this tea cosy from cute vintage kitchen fabric for a dear friend's birthday.  She loves vintage as much as I do and is a real tea lover so I thought this would be appreciated.

And then because our bedroom is nicely painted and all spiffed up I thought I would make a new dog bed cover for one of the shabby dog beds.  This is old Waverly fabric that I've had for at least 25 years and I still like it.  It was called "rosemary".  BTW, notice those lovely refinished floors!

I am getting interested in improving my slipcover making skills.  I have made several slipcovers in the past but they never felt up to my usual standards of quality.  I recently purchased a most excellent video on slipcover making from Slipcovers by Shelley.  This is so helpful to watch and she makes it look SOOO easy which I know it is not!  Her work is really first rate.  Be careful because after watching her work, you are going to want to run right out and get an industrial sewing machine.  Oh the way she zings right along on that thing!  I think some slipcovers are in my future and a good way to use up some of that fabric.

Back to the dog bed...looks like someone approves.

Showing Off the Master Bath

Come up the stairs and have a peek at the new Master Bath...

You may remember seeing it like this the last time.

What do you think?  Big improvement I would say.

We switched the tub to the other end of this narrow space and put the sink and vanity in its place.  I like having all the natural light in the morning!

This sink vanity was definitely the big splurge of the project but also makes the bathroom quite beautiful and functional with all that storage space.

A great improvement over the old sink!

This little bench has great sentiment for my mom.  It was her mother's and she remembers sitting on it with her while she got ready to go out.  My mom's mother died when I was very young so I don't really remember her.  It am happy to have this little seat and I love the new bright cushion that I made for it.  It just fits perfectly in this spot.

My new bath and shower.  It is so exciting to actually have a bathtub again.  We have only has shower facilities for the past ten years.  Time to stock up on bubble bath and all sorts of other nice bath time amenities. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Details:

Wall Paint: Ben Moore "Winter White"

Ceiling : Ben Moore "Silver Cloud"

Trim & Beadboard: Ben Moore Super White

Marble Subway Tile and Marble Mosaic Floor Tile: Home Depot

Bathtub and Toilet Fixtures: American Standard

Tub/Shower Plumbing Fixtures: Delta

Tub Grab Bars: Home Depot

Glass Shower Screen: Ark Showers

Sink and Vanity: Pottery Barn

Medicine Cabinet/Mirror: Pottery Barn

Sink Faucet: Symmons

Sconce Lights and Hooks: Pottery Barn

Overhead Hanging Light: Rejuvenation Lighting with Vintage Globe

Curtain: Vintage

Upholstery Fabric on Cushion: Premier Prints

The Big Reveal..Dressing Room

Just to refresh your memory...this was the room before.

 New closet built along the wall using four old doors that were found around the house.  We put them on two sliding tracks.

Old closet was removed when we took down this wall to make room for the larger master bathroom which I will show later.

I use this glass door cupboard to store my non hanging clothing and other accessories.  I like being able to see what I have at a glance.

 Large mirror with a lot of natural light... a little too much to be honest.  I haven't seen myself this big in natural light in a while and I must confess it's a little scary!

 A peek into the insides of the closets.  I am so organized now that I can hardly stand it.  It is a joy to put away clothes!

I realize that when you see closets in most magazines that they don't usually have someone's "real" wardrobe hanging there.  It is always carefully edited and color coordinated.  And I wasn't about to toss all of my perfectly good hangars to get ones that are all matching as those closet organizers say you should.  Let's get real...this is perfectly acceptable to me even with non-matching hangars!

 These drawers are particularly useful because they make use of every inch of space available.

 Some details from inside my cupboard.

 My ribbon lady collection hanging on the wall.  I love these ladies.  I only have these five as they are quite hard to find these days.  

Hope you enjoyed my make-over.  It is so nice to have it finally finished and thank you for all the kind comments.  I will show the bathroom and master bedroom/ hallways soon as I can. I am still putting on the finishing details-  the fun part!

Wall paint:  Behr "River Rock" satin

Closet Door: Behr "Sterling" semi-gloss

Trim: Ben Moore "Super White" semi-gloss

Mirror: Ikea

Closet interiors: Ikea

Glass Door Cupboard: Ikea

Light Fixture: Home Depot (online)

Drapes: Vintage

Drapery Hardware: Canopy from Wal-mart