Colourful Open Sewing Studio

Look at that huge dresser! It’s customised for gift wrap and ribbon storage and it is just fabulous!

I have stated this prior to… and I will say it again…. Anthropologie aprons could be dresses. Just stroll backwards. Or never ever take off your coat! This apron is stunning and it makes a lovely addition to this decor.

Right now we have been lucky sufficient to enter the sewing studio of  Susan, the owner of Maple and Magnolia. The colours in right here are sure to brighten your day!

I’m so impressed by the organisation in this space! It’s fabulous. I’m ashamed by the state of my own craft area at the moment.

I want I had a couch in my craft area. I could lie and wist away the day’s when sewing made me sleepy lol. These flowers are definitely lovely! What kind of flowers are those? I genuinely like the colour of that chevron pillow. It’s very pretty.

I’m a large fan of hobnail milk glass but it appears to be a vintage American ‘thing’. I have two small flower pots but I haven’t been able to locate considerably else more than here in the UK and it ends up becoming very pricey on ebay!

This cabinet is absolutely fabulous and I love these bowls and storage jars!

This cabinet is marvellous! I may well require to do some investigation to locate out if this was painted by Susan as I spy the chalkboard! Those fabric bolts are so tidy!

I Enjoy the small ‘cut out’ alphabet letters! Or are these stickers?! I need to investigation that as well. I should be taking some notes huh :p

This is a excellent wide angle photograph of the studio and I adore the storage! The chairs that match the ikea cart are really impressive. Although I’ve never ever noticed an empty Raskog cart in a craft space :p

I enjoy stacks of blankets and these bright, colourful patchwork quilts are functions of art! I love this image ^_^

Such a bright a beautiful space! Susan’s colourful style truly benefits from the all the organic lighting and these big windows.

The one lesson I will discover from Susan is that tray’s are my friend! I genuinely like the bakers twine on spools. I’m a huge fan of twine! That small sewing machine is adorable!

This little yellow cabinet is fabulous! I have a white ikea a single and I truly am really tempted to paint it.

I truly want to discover a tall glass fronted cabinet! Susan is so fortunate! Maple and Magnolia is a fabulous weblog so grab a cup of tea and go check out ^_^

The post Colourful Open Sewing Studio

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Colourful Organised Sewing Studio

I am fully in love with this sewing studio that I identified! I love the 3 tier plant stand! Are those plants actual?! They are so colourful and beautiful. I truly want to get my hands on that plant stand! I also love these french doors. So considerably light is pouring into that space.

Olabelhe creates fabulous children’;s clothing so that explains the small mannequin! That is a single
great cutting table produced out of (what appears like) two Ikea expedit shelving units.

This etagere full of threads is just beautiful! I truly like the little wire basket that holds the sewing patterns. They are beautiful! I’;m so jealous of the fabrics organised by colours, I can in no way hold my sewing space this tidy!

This sewing area is so organised! I’;ve been tempted to acquire one of these rotating organisers from Making Memories you can see on that desk.

I am so impressed with the notion of using a curtain pole poked by way of those shelving supports! And there are lots of issues in this space that are fantastic tips to utilise in my own sewing area! I like all the lovely mannequins on the wall ^_^

I actually am so impressed with how organised every thing is in this room! These billy bookcases are crammed complete of organised bins. I can’;t even tell you how a lot I want these were just very effectively labelled and really look like the contents of my kassett boxes (a total mess!)

I love these colours! It is such a beautiful rainbow!

Look at those drawers! I have some Ikea billy bookcases and I’;m very tempted to get some doors and fancy knobs! I need to have to go to ikea ^_^

I enjoy all the organised ribbons! I also..can not think how many ribbons this lady has! I want the small toy sewing machine ^_^

Exactly where would I locate pink bins like this? I require some!

Olabelhe

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A Few Thoughts on a Lazy Afternoon

Summer is over or at least coming to an end. Our granddaughter, Mandy, Ivann and Miss Caroline came, camped with us and left. Our daughter, Nan, and her boyfriend came and went home. Hubs dragged me off to the wilds of Idaho for the last time this year. I have gotten the house in some semblance of order. At least most of the house. The craft/spare room is looking like...well, the photos below show what it looks like. I haven't put the craft table back up, but the sewing machine is up and running. This is a room that I can make a sewing mess and shut the door and no one knows the difference unless I choose to show them. You are one of those. ;-)

I'm trying to lighten the load on my shoulder when shopping by making a cute tote. I have a rather plain one that does the job but I wanted a snazzy one. Cute being the essential factor here, lightweight, over the shoulder/neck to leave me hands-free but security plays a factor in this also. I think I've designed one that meets the criteria I want. Less to carry but secure.

The boxes that I piled all the craft stuff into when I knew the kids/granddaughter/great granddaughter were coming still have not been emptied yet. I bought several little shoebox-type containers at Wal-Mart for this purpose but just haven't had the energy to do anything about that. I'm sure some of you understand this.

Yep, the beautiful fringe is still on the floor this morning. Remember: Close door and nothing shows.

You can see it coming together. I didn't have a pattern so just had to go by the seat-of-my-pants here. Lots of mistakes, but it is coming together. Taking notes for the next one though. Select fabrics I already have. Find that beautiful pink fringe I haven't seen for months. Then later I'll measure and cut a few pieces from different fabrics. Then I'll rest or "get away from" it for a while. Then go back and cut more. Leave. Come back. Sew. Little by little. It's taking me several days to complete this. I do it this way to not get frustrated. Didn't work. Trust me. I'm trying to have it done very soon though.

Later in the day:
As you can see I left the fold-over flap off. I just cut it too big for this one. I'll use it on the next one maybe. Plus I'm not that adept at flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. A ribbon rose I made along with a darling little rose button in the center, scraps of ribbon and snippets of lace plus one vintage lace I had on a pillow case that was falling apart—the lace, not the pillowcase. It's so ratty but I just couldn't throw it out so I sewed it on here.


As I've said previously, I love the color combination of pink and yellow so I've put a very bright lemon yellow lining inside with pockets of various colors on the lining for glasses, iPod, cell and a pen. You definitely won't see this little cutie at WM.
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I was sitting here yesterday while hubs was at a convention. He goes to a lot of them: train conventions locally and on the west coast, Marine Corps League ones when they're close enough to drive, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) when they're local or close enough to drive here in the west or northwest. He's very supportive of and loves our troops. After all, he is a retired Marine.

The VFW Post in our town helps veterans financially when the need occurs. The past few weeks he's gotten calls from a couple of people who need help with their utility bills. After a few questions were answered, he met them at a local grocery store where you can pay your utility bill there. He doesn't just give them the money or a check. He goes there, meets the person asking for help there, pays it with a check and they both get a receipt. How many other organizations do that?

One such transaction yesterday involved a woman. Her hubby was a veteran (they don't have to be retired, just a veteran of a foreign war) and Love Bunny heard her tale of woe. Hubby was cut back hours in his job, their leased vehicle went over the mileage and they ended up owing a lot of money on the lease—at least to the tune of $600 being taken out of his paycheck for at least a couple of times but hubs didn't know how many times. Then she applied for a job at a local school cafeteria and the background check showed a felony at 17 yrs. of age so they fired her. She couldn't understand that one. DUH. But as hubby was walking out to the parking lot he noticed a big truck and when she opened it there were cartons of cigarettes in the cab. As he was telling me the story and got to that part, I reminded him we're not to judge; we're only to help. (Our church doctrine.) He agreed but had trouble wondering why people buy very expensive cigarettes in lieu of food or paying their essential life saving utility bills.

A few days before he was paying a utility bill for a man who got behind. As they were going to leave the store the man told hubs his wife said they were out of food and asked him if he could buy them some food, hot dogs, hamburger and buns. Hubby told him he was only authorized to pay his utility bill. After all, it's not my hubby's money and he's a great caretaker of money with which he's entrusted. So he told the man sorry.

When he got home and told me that, I chastised him. He could have helped with our personal money and bought the guy a few food items. I think he was sorry he didn't after my admonishment. We are commanded by the Lord to help each other. That doesn't mean judging others when they need food or clothing or essentials. It does NOT mean helping to pay their boat, ATV or car payment! (Yes, I'm a judgmental person but trying to "catch the vision" and am truly doing better on this issue.) But as the Lord says, aren't we all beggars? Yes, we are. So we need to be loving, kind and helpful to our brothers and sisters, but still maintain being prudent. Giving is never something for which you'll be sorry.
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Okay, I'll stop rambling now.
~*~

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The Womanly Arts—Sewing and Embroidery

In my quest to get rid of some things, this beautiful vintage gown is on eBay here at the moment. I'm biting the bullet and putting this on there hoping it finds a wonderful home. I just can't take it to a thrift store. If you're interested in buying it directly from me, just email me and I'll take it off of eBay. I truly want it to go to someone who appreciates this sort of thing. It would look wonderful on a mannequin!

Growing up I didn't sew or do needlework or embroidery. It wasn't until later in life I found my love for embroidering. My mom was a professional woman. She didn't even know how to do anything encompassing the womanly arts. I learned to sew and embroider on my own. I love doing it but haven't for a long time now. So recently I looked and found my unfinished projects and embroidery threads because I wanted to do some new "fluffing" to some pillowcases.

You can see I'm partial to pink and green as evidenced in my previous post for Pink Saturday combining St. Patrick's Day with it. I have Irish heritage but a lot of other ancestors also so we don't particularly celebrate that holiday. I'm not much of a "holiday celebrator." I just look at it as another day except the banks are closed. ;-)

Threads of yarn separated and waiting for me to begin it again.

Another unfinished project.

This is my Ralph Lauren bag purchased many years ago to hold my projects and threadsl. I've since had to buy more tote bags to contain it all.

I believe this was my first book on teaching me the basics. I have some designs from here on pillowcases that are showing severe signs of wear and may need to redo them. I love this little book.

Perhaps I've waited too long to complete this one. I'll have to finish it before I can wash it properly now. Can't figure out how this got water damaged. Hmmmm...

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to finish them all.

And these are my colorful skeins of embroidery thread. To me, it's simply eye candy. I love looking at the colors. You see my preferences of colors from this photo.

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Changing the Craft Room Again

While trying to cut out the fabric for the aprons recently I realized I need more room in the sewing craft room. Love Bunny was not happy with my decision because that meant he had to take out another shelf in the dining area and drag that vintage desk out there. That's what he's FOR!! DUH.

While doing this I also decided to straighten the fabric again. I seem to have to do this every six months or so. Sigh... I have fabric I'll probably never use unless I open an apron shop and start making them to sell. I really don't want to do that but it may become a necessity since I'm making so many lately. I enjoy it and I only do what I enjoy now. I'm an ol' lady, ya know. ;-)

So since I'm not going to be refinishing this desk any time soon I decided to cover it with a vintage wilendur tablecloth. So this is how it will remain for a while. I really like the desk near the kitchen in that little part of the dining area.

Looking good so far, chicks.

But during that time I decided I wanted another mouse pad. One that was shabby chic with roses on it. I found the perfect ones on eBay and the woman was here in my town! Now, let me tell you there aren't too many women in the state of Idaho who are into shabby chic! Trust me. She definitely agreed with me. This woman came over after her day job and delivered it to me because she wanted to see my home. I was thrilled to show it to her and as she said (and I've always told you) it looks even better in person. She just moved into a new rental house and it is freshly painted yellow. Now, she's also a pink person and wants to repaint it again if they allow her. She is having a very rough time with the yellow walls throughout the whole house. I would too!! She's a shabby chic aficionado also and told me about a place in Eagle (near to me) and I plan on going over there some day soon. I'll keep you briefed on it when I do make it over...with my camera, of course.

Anyway, I needed 2 mouse pads - one for my desktop and one for my laptop. Are these not cute?!?!?! Squeeeeeeeal. So if you want to visit with her and buy some adorable mouse pads for your desk, check Lisa out on eBay or Etsy and tell her Connie sent you over. ;-)

~*~

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