Lamp make over

Lamp Makeovers are fun!  A friend of mine is the yardale Queen!  She gave me this lamp a while back.  As you can see it was not very pretty.  But I could see potential!  All it takes is a little spray paint and patience.  I sprayed the lamp base with silver spraypaint and added a new drum shade.  The lamp works fine so a new lamp kit did not have to be added.  Total spent for a new lamp:  $15 new shade, $5 spray paint = lamp for $20!  We are using this in our baby boy's nursery

 

Before

 

 After!

  

Don't you like the cute little base?

Fitted crib sheet

 I've made a fitted crib sheet before and typically it's not too bad, especially when you are using a lightweight sheeting fabric.  My most recent challenge came when a client asked for 2 fitted crib sheets out of minky dot fabric.  I was concerned about the stretchiness and thickness of the fabric.  I referred to Amy Butler's "little stitches for little ones" book for instructions.  I found them very easy to follow.  I made both sheets in one evening and I think they turned out great!  I tested them in our nursery (more to come on that later).

Cupcakes for baby boy Rogerson!

More quilt photos.   Thanks to my lovely husband for his assistance.  Hope your weekend is filled with lots of fall fun.

I was motivated to make this quilt based on this contest.  The rules were pretty simple: Make a quilt that is all you! What is me?

Sewing and quilting is a part of my memory for as far back as I can remember.  My mom an avid quilter always gave me her fabric scraps to play with and I remember sitting with Cary (a lady like my grandmother) learning to sew yo-yos that she later helped me sew into a quilt.  I first learned  to hand quilt and later to machine quilt.  I wanted to incorporate both the hand stitching and machine stitching into this piece.  So the quilt was machine pieced and hand quilted using pearlized cotton thread. 

While I learned to quilt using extremely precise quilting techniques, I have learned that this is not my style.  Mama, I know you are rolling your eyes right now.  I don't like using a ruler or a rotary cutter.  Instead, I find freedom in the estimating and cutting with scissors.  As long as my seam ripper is handy it always works out in the end.  The squares in this quilt don't line up exactly...I think this lends to the beauty.  When hand quilting, I left ties showing on the back and stitched using a variety of colors: blue, teal, green, yellow and orange.

I am a firm believer in using natural materials.  The quilt is made of muslin, printed cotton, and kona cotton.  The vibrant colors in this quilt reflect my creative attitude and the cool colors reflect my laid back and easy going personality.  I used a combination of patterns and solids because there are times that I strive to be outgoing, but ultimately I am an introvert. 

Testing the quilt on our bed.  I think this will come in hand during the winter.

Do you like these lamps?  I describe how they were made here.

I used scraps of the patterns and solids as a stripe on the back. 

This is a detail on the back.  You can see the way the quilting thread changes colors.  I love the pattern this made as I stitched around the blocks and squares.

The thread colors even change on the binding.

Trying out the back of the quilt.  I think it is just as lovely as the front.

Whew What a Week!

What a week!  I spent the majority of the week at a conference at Wrightsville Beach.  We stayed at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. 

 It's a hard life but someone's got to do it. Right?  My mind is on work overload so to relax I love to sew.  These iPad cases are some of the items I have been making and selling in my etsy shop.  Check them out!

 Isn't this picture hilarious?  These girls have been crazy because of the heat here at the beach.  We usually let them lay on our bed during the day, but lately, they have been tearing the blankets off because it is so hot.   Needless to say, we've given them the boot.  So I decided it was time to make the girls a bed of their own.  My friend gave me a random cushion.  I decided to cover it in crazy giraffe fabric with pieced green and blue squares (from a quilt I'm working on...more to come) in a stripe down the center.   You know these sassy girls need a sassy bed.  The cover velcros on and off so it can be washed easily.  I think the girls are pretty happy with the outcome.  Of course Jinx thinks she is queen of the world and doesn't want to share with Zoe girl.  

Chair Makeover

My sister was in town a while back.  She was looking for a desk chair and found the perfect one at the perfect price $20!  The only problem.....it didn't match anything in her home.  Problem Solved!  With a coat of paint and good lookin fabric we had one dynamite chair!  Easy as pie in one afternoon.  You can do this too!  Just paint, fabric, and a staple gun....and your done.

Lamps

  

I have been wanting to update the lamps in our bedroom for a while now.  However, I wanted lamps that looked expensive, modern, artsy, but I couldn't find any that I could afford.  That's when I stumbled upon this post on my friends blog and decided to make my own lamps.  I found two green glass vases at Home Goods, inserted a lamp kit in each, and used two new drum shades to finish off the vases.  Over all I am extremely pleased with the outcome.  They are really easy.  You should try it!

My addiction

Let me go ahead and confess my sweet addiction......I am addicted to reading design blogs.  I must read them everyday.  I guess the intriguing thing to me is that these ladies (or gents) are successfull independent designers doing the same things I love.  These blogs inspire me to keep at it.  I also learn a lot from these designers..through photos, tutorials and even patterns.  So today, I thought I would share my daily favs with you:






http://www.younghouselove.com/

http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/

http://www.remodelaholic.com/


I've been busy this weekend. I have been working on a wedding dress, curtains, and items for my etsy shop.  This is a preview of items in my etsy shop....designsbyber.etsy.com

Back to blogger

I've been a busy little bee. Check out these quilted iPad cases in my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/people/designsbyber?ref=ls_profile. 

I've been away from blogging about crafting for a while.  It is hard to get everything done!  However, I am creating anyways....so I might as well photograph and document in the process.  I might even create a few tutorials and patterns in the process.  Stay tuned for exciting things in the future!

Dishes

This is my latest experiement...painting china! It is so easy. You start with a plain plate, bowl, pitcher, etc and paint any design you like using enamel paint. You just cook the china to set the paint according to the directions! This set is on its way to my sister-in-law to use as a gift!

These are a few of my favorite tablescape designs!  

Floral Arrangements

I have always enjoyed vegetable gardening and flower gardening with my dad each summer.  I also enjoy creating bouquets for weddings and parties!  These are a couple of examples of my favorites.

Christmas Decor!

The long awaited Christmas decoration pictures are here!



Our Charlie Brown Tree



Our mantel....Lance and Jinx obviously did not want to pose for my picture.



The stockings....awaiting our embroidered names

Sometimes we need to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. That is why I like this card...simple lines, shapes, and colors. It also reminds me of an appliqued quilt! You can see more creations at http://www.eggpress.com/shopHoliday08.html

This past month has been crazy but fun. We just finished celebrating 4 Thanksgivings....my family, Lance's mom's family, church family, Lance's dad's family. Now we are gearing up for Christmas. Lance is an avid collector of nutcrackers. We have them running out our ears, especially in this tiny apt. I finally found a home for all of them. I also washed and put out or spode Christmas china we registered for. How exciting to finally be able to use it! Hopefully we can get a tree tomorrow and I can finish our stockings. Until then check out these neat wreaths. Perhaps I will be inspired to make one to grace our front door!http://blomsterverkstad.blogspot.com/search/label/Wreaths

Fresh

I am striving to keep my blog up to date. My life has been a whirl wind for the past five months. It is now starting to settle and I am developing a design routine. I am looking for inspiration in the small things of everyday life like this moth that I found on our patio and this Button Orchid I bought at our local arboretuem. What great pattern and textures these will inspire.

I also gain inspiration by looking at other artist's blogs. Check out this beautiful handmade and embroidered shirt by Allison Moorer. Visit her site at: http://www.1turtledove.blogspot.com/