Friday, May 28, 2010

"nesting" and look books

i am in a season of life where i feel the need to "nest". i keep dreaming of one day having my own house to paint and decorate, my own garden to till and weed, my own sewing room to organize and bring life to my art. since i do not have these things at present, i am compelled to want to paint other's rooms, or rearrange mine and nikki's rooms over and over.

don't get me wrong, i LOVE the place i am in. i love the freedom i have. i love the life i get to live. the part of me that is looking forward, is played by a small child in anticipation of a future christmas. i am giddy with excitement for what will one day be. BUT it is just beginning to be summer outside and i wouldn't trade my excitement for christmas, for the sun on my face and the smell of flowers everywhere!

on another note:
i'm five.
the other day i played dress-up and the talented melodie pruitt captured my moment of five-ness.
so here you have it, a look book of sorts.


oh yes, how i adore summer. :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

without further ado...


THE APRON POST!

oh yay! my apologies on this taking so long. been under the weather a bit and busy making stuff. :)

my love for aprons started with me great grand-mother Inace Mae Owen. every year,for christmas, she gave basically everyone she knew an apron. somehow, as fate would have it, i got her ridiculously fabulous sewing machine when she passed.
i also inherited her love for sewing.

last year when i visited my nana, she gave me one of grandma owens aprons.
isn't it lovely??
it's so nice to know that she was fashionable as well as talented. :)
that was all it took. one black and white apron, with pocket and lace trim.
it had me at hello!
haha.

when i got home last year i went straight to my pile of random goodies and pulled out some old green sheets and a piece of upholstery fabric that had made a valance out of for, my nana.

my very first apron. i must admit i believe i spent more time pulling it apart than i did putting it together! it took me forever to finish!
i didn't have a pattern so this was also my first attempt at drafting one.
fast forward a year and they are still my favorite things to make!
(i am getting better at making them from scratch too!)


this one i made for suzan, because she has started frequenting a once-a-month cooking club
and didn't have one.
sad day, right?
i also made her a full length one:



my favorite part about this one???
the cute pleats in the back of course!



so you would think that after making almost a bazillion aprons i would never use a pattern.
that's what i thought.
until i stumbled on the most
AMAZING
website on the inter-web.
burda style has become one of my best friends ever!
as soon as i saw the obi apron, i knew i had to try it out.

remember this fab fabric from the salvation army?
it was two-dolla
half off!

it is now a fabulous obi apron!


(nikki so kindly sent these pics to me as i forgot to take a pic of them before i gave them to her)
i also made this one for her:



isn't she she so dang cute???
i miss this girl!
i also got inspired the other day by a headband i got about three years ago from
(of all places)
walgreens.
i made a few and thought i'd share:



i up-cycled these from old t-shirts and a skirt that was WAY too short.
kinda fun and flirty i think.
thank you mel for modeling!

alrighty folks ta-ta for now!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

prom. *quick post

today was my baby sister's prom. i had the pleasure of doing her hair. she is so lovely and i cannot believe how much she had grown up. wow!

she takes my breath away!






yikes how am i going to feel on her wedding day??
so stunning!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Guest Blogger: Melodie Pruitt

Hey guys! It's Melodie. :)
Steph is by far one of my best friends, and has truly brought out the creative side of me since she moved in with my family. So, when I told her I needed more shelf space in my room, I was so excited to hear she was already cooking up a beautiful idea in her head!
Looking through the garage, we found an old shelf my Mom used to put toys on for daycare she used to use. Steph fell in love.

She briefly relayed her idea to me, and we ran out the door, heads cooking up with ideas.
We bought some spray paint, pretty papers, and some Mod Podge. (Mod Podge and spray paint are definitely top on my list of things I love.) Once we got home, we went straight to work.
With our KRYLON spray paint (metallic silver, of course) we went to work. We ran into a mishap with one of the spray paint bottles. But I simply blamed Stephanie, because as soon as I got ahold of it, it worked again. What can I say? I have the magic touch.

As soon as the spray paint was dry (and our brains had settled down from the temporary paint high), we got to work on the Mod Podge.
(Our papers, from JoAnn's, decorated in the perfect grandma prints that I LOVE, were a STEAL. Originally priced $.59, they were on sale for 4 for $1! How cool is that?!)
Steph did all the cutting (I have an issue with straight lines) and cut the papers to match the size of the back of each shelf. Then, we laid it out, and had a little too much fun with the Mod Podge.
We waited all night long for it to dry, and by mid-day the next day, it was finally dry.

(It looks a lot shinier and bumpier here than it actually is.)
I quickly loaded up my things on it, and found that everything fit perfectly. Even though, I know, in the near future, we may need to make another one because there isn't room for much more.

Isn't it PERFECT?!

Friday, April 30, 2010

mushy bananas and thrifting.

OH MY STARS! (as my sister would say)
today was incredible, or as i have said all day...delicious.

first i made the best loaf of banana bread that i have ever attempted. i found a wonderful recipe through one of my most favorite time wasting sites ever: stumble upon. my new all time favorite baking site? joy of baking! their recipes are so easy to follow and their website is easy to get around which i really love. :)

melodie and i ended up going on a picture run for a shoot she did this month, and we also decided to pick up some items for a DIY that i will post as soon as it is finished. *teaser: silver spray paint, grandma floral patterns, and an old bookcase. i feel that this is our best yet!* while we were out, we decided to run into the salvation army. after realizing that we have not been to the SA in forever we dug in to see what goodies we could find.

OH MAN did we hit the jackpot! today happened to be 50% off the ENTIRE store. apparently it happens once a month and that once was today!





mel just LOVES old smelly books,
and honestly who can resist a gilded dollar book?



i don't think we can ever pass up a french record.
i'll let ya know if it's any good.



i took out the mirror closet door in my room, and thought this old lady mirror would be nice to have since i have this weird thing about being able to do my make-up in my room.  
(it even has the magnifier on the other side!)

now for my favorite part:
FABRIC!!!!!
a dollar a piece!
i can't wait to sew!







this would be melodies new steal:


she got it mainly because of the strap, which i admit is stellar.



thrifting is always my favorite, but today was really cool. did i tell you that we tried on all the dresses from any era other than ours? ha! i am so glad that those pics are on film not digital.

queston of the evening: back in say the seventies, was it cool to be "vintage"? like did our parents run around in their grandparents old clothes because they thought it was groovy?

i will leave you with that mental picture!
peace and love!
stephanie


Thursday, April 29, 2010

let the creative juices flow

today is perfect. the wind has died down, the peanut butter and apple butter sandwich combo was an absolute delectable choice, my ipod on shuffle is playing the most amazing songs (i feel like i'm in a movie with a delicious soundtrack). oh, and did i mention the clouds look like an ivan aivazovsky painting?
like i said perfect.
yesterday was spent in a mindless lull as i was bit by a stomach bug, so today has been spent in a game of creative catch-up.

my creative impulse is usually overwhelming to see.
one word: chaos



there is always one thing too much, going on at once. it's actually amazing that i can get anything done in this environment. this is surprisingly a clean day so this picture is only a portal to ignite your imaginary reflex, the days i create anything from scratch are always abundantly messier!

today i grabbed a dress that has been on the top of my to finish pile for ages. i don't have the slightest idea why it sat there so long, as it took basically ten minutes to finish. i absolutely love this print.



this calico was on sale at walmart! i think i got it for $1.50 a yard. it is such a thin cotton that it was super hard to work with, but i do believe the finished product came out so lovely. like i said i just adore the print!




i got this amy butler pattern from hawthorne threads and i love love love them. the fabric choices are so unique and they ship! that is a nice thing since i live in the middle of nowhere. :)
here is a sneak peak at one of their fabric patterns that i made a gorgeous 50's, meets "sound of music" inspired skirt out of.














i'm hoping to do a photo shoot with mel soon, so you can see the full effect. oh so lovely! i believe this post has found its end and i need to finish another project. can anyone say mod apron? eek i'm so excited about this one! maybe i'll do an apron post soon. :)