Saturday, October 27, 2012

Essie My Place Or Yours + Pink and White Feather Nails



Essie My Place Or Yours is my favorite pink nail polish in my collection.  I have been on a hunt for a dusty rose color for a long time.  My friend Lora and I went nail polish crazy this past summer when we decided to go to a Nail Supply House in my local area.  This deeper shade of pink is feminine and classic.  I really like how well this color transitions into the new season.  I have been seeing feather prints everywhere as of late, and it's becoming one of my favorite graphic prints.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Where has the time gone

It's finally starting to feel very chilly in southern California, and I realize I do not have a single pair of warm fluffy socks.  Thinking how good fluffy socks and a good book in my hand can make me feel right now.  But it's okay because my fury moccasins makes me happy too.  Rapidly loosing my summer tan... does not make me happy.  With all the holidays and dress-up events coming up, it's looking ghastly pale.

This week, I have the entire house to myself for the whole weekend, starting today.  Speaking of holiday, this month has been extremely busy.  In a post, earlier this year, I talked about feeling like I'm sleepwalking through life and how I vicariously want to live life in the fast lane and be in the mist of all its busyness... well it's been very busy around here.

The shop continues to do well, new ideas for the shop are set in my head and down on sketch, baby showers and weddings are over for the rest of the year.  My sister, my brother, and I have taken on a house project.  We've decided to redo the entire living area because I decided I was going to host the baby shower this coming January at my mums house.  I wanted a nice and inviting area to work with.  With the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas well on its way, we'd be sure to enjoy a new space by then.  Oh, my sibling and I are finally going to be able to get our very first real Christmas tree this holiday because of the make-over in the living area.  We've opened up the fireplace, that we so longingly hid behind an enormous television set because we were too young to appreciate a good log-burning fire.  This winter I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of sipping hot cocoa and hanging out by the fire and watching movies.  With my brother's new baby fast approaching due date, I wouldn't mind baby-sitting at all.  I know I'll enjoy being at my mums house more often now that we've created a space where it's more family oriented.

Where have I been?  So far the house project has taken us 14 days.  We've patched the holes and damages in the walls, fresh coat of paint to the walls and fireplace, replace screen door, new area rug, new curtains, new lighting, new picture frames, more photos, new decor and accessories, more plants, and lots of diy decorative pillows.  Oh, and we've taken apart my brothers room and redid his room to ready the space for the baby.  It's been so much hard work trying to find every little thing to fix up these two spaces, but it's proving to be worth all the trouble.

A couple of the diy decorative pillows I made for the sofa.  I do not favor the black sofas, but because my uncle have given us his old set that were still fairly new, there was no sense in getting new couches just yet.  It's very difficult trying to find colors that would soften the rich black tone.  So far I've incorporated a medium gray, white and a little bit of lavender to pick up the wall color.  The wall paint color I chose is 'smoked oyster' by Behr.  It's a bit of mauvy purple in the evening when the sunsets, but as soon as the sunrises in the morning, there's a hint of pink.  The color was very worry some when we first applied the first coat to set dry, it was looking very pink.  Once we applied the second coat, the mauvy purple seems very dark and we we're afraid the living area was not going to have that light fresh feeling we we're hoping for with the sofas being the dark element.  However, after an hour as the paint set and dried, it lighten up to a rather cozy and inviting space.  Final photos of the entire project coming soon I hope.

It's such a surprise to me that a baby can jump start so many new beginnings.  My family is not really into decorative and comfy space like I am.  They're all about function and efficiency.  So I get a lot of questions like what are you putting on the shelves?  Why are you putting a sofa table behind the couch?  Why do we need a lamp, why not just get a light fixture?  Until I show them the final results, it just doesn't make sense.  But I must say, remodeling and decorating is really hard and frustrating.  No matter how much HGTV or internet surfing I do to draw inspiration, sometime I just sit it out until I find what I want.  It's no wonder it's taking a little longer to feel like it's finished, at least for the moment.  

This has got to be my record post.  What chilly weather, fury slippers and pj's can do to a person.

How do you decide what goes into your home design?  What goes and what stays? 

Monday, October 1, 2012

DIY Felt Cloud Mobile

You know you're all grown up when your family is expecting a bundle of joy.  The days of worrying about finding jobs, finishing school, finding our selves and growing up has finally hit a plateau.  Everyone is growing up so fast.

My cousin's baby shower is this Sunday and I have been thinking about what I want to do... give... make.  Being in a rough place right now (financially), it was either buy a cute baby outfit or make something.  The last two baby showers, I had a tough time finding a gift.  Although they were we'll received, anything you give for the baby is always well received, I just wished it was something more special.  This time I'm going with my crafty side, spend a little time making something for soon-to-be Baby Natalie.

And... this was the end result

A nursery mobile made of felt in a whimsical cloud shape with heart shaped rain drops.  I know that the nursery theme is going to be Disney Princesses, so it was obviously going to be sweet pinks.

All you need is:

felt
cotton floss and needle
ribbon
O-ring
poly-fill (for stuffing)
scissor
paper and pencil
pins

Create a template.  With a big enough sheet of paper and pencil, draw the desired cloud shape and cut out a pattern.

Trace the shape onto the felt.

Fold over or layer another sheet, for a total of 2 layers of felts.  You'll need 2 layers if you want to stuff the cloud.

Use pins to keep the 2 pieces of felt together so that it does not move or shift during cutting and stitching.  Pin all the way around the cloud.

You should have 2 layers of felt pinned together and cut out.

Do the same for the hearts (2 layers each heart).

Make it extra special.  You only need one layer for the name since the name will be stitch onto the cloud, not needing the extra stuffing.  Pin the letters down in place to position the letters first, then begin stitching the letters to the (top) layer of the cloud.

Once the letters are stitched down, stitch the two cloud shapes together, leaving 2-3 inch opening for the stuffing.  Fill the cloud with stuffing, then continue stitching to enclose.

I used a straight stitch technique for the letters and the cloud. I used a blanket stitch technique for the hearts.  You can also do a straight stitch on the hearts, it's your preference. 


If you do not have cotton floss, you can always use sewing tread, string, yarn or anything on hand.

Unfamiliar with the blanket stitch?  Not to worry, it looks complex and confusing, but it's rather easy and simple to follow.
  • Start from the back, and insert needle towards you
  • Insert needle to the left going through to the back, without pulling to tight, leaving a small loop created by the second insert.
  • Pull the the needle through the loop from the back to the front, lightly pull the floss to tighten and complete the stitch.
  • Insert needle to the left and repeat 
 
 Stitch all the way around leaving an inch or two opening for the stuffing.

Stuff and continue the stitch to enclose.


Once you have all the pieces sewn and filled, attach the hearts to the cloud at various lengths.

Create a hanger for the mobile with an O-ring and satin ribbon.  Loop the O-ring through the ribbon and sew the ends of the ribbon to the top of the cloud for easy hanging.

That's it!  If you've got a little bit of time to watch TV in the evening, you definitely have time to make something.  It does not even have to be for a nursery, perhaps a girls room, boys room, add a little whimsy to your craft room, etc.

As always, be creative and Good Luck!