What To Do With Wallpaper Scraps?

What do you girls do with your wallpaper scraps? I had mine in a box for awhile but bigger pieces wouldn't fit. I started using rubber bands to roll them up which was fine but when I picked up one of these pretty napkin rings on display at Cost Plus I thought they'd be perfect to use instead of old rubber bands. Turns out they are. The funny thing is that the whole pail of wallpaper rolls look so nice with a few of these linen flowers floating in the mix. I absolutely love it when beauty and function meet up don't you?

Cologne Ad Button Cards

I was lucky enough to find a whole bunch of these Hoyt's Cologne ad cards. The colors are so so pretty. My colletion of "favorite" buttons have begun to overflow the old muffin tin that I've been storing them in so I decided to use a few of these cards to sew a few of them to. As luck would have it the cards file perfectly long-ways in an old loaf pan that has 5 of them connected all together. You know the ones right?

We've got a busy weekend of birthdays, dinners and parties but I did plan a couple of hours Saturday morning to venture out on my own to see "The Button Lady", about 40minutes away. I've heard of her but never been to her home where she apparently has thousands of buttons. My favorite are the opaque glass buttons with the iridescent sheen, well, pretty much like the ones above. I'm already conditioning myself to stay within a budget. Can't be presentless for my 5 year olds birthday party Saturday night. Somehow I don't think he'd understand that I overspent at The Button Lady's.

Adorable {& Handy} Child's Chair

I found this old child's chair a few weeks ago at a great store in Berkeley called Home 101. I walked straight over to it when I saw it and took it right to the register. You know your smitten when you have no idea how much something is but it doesn't really matter because you want it. In a matter of seconds my mind saw it in my studio holding all of my "on deck" supplies that I want to use next or a few of my favorites of the moment. I've begun sewing some of my favorite buttons to tags so that I can find them easily and, well, admire them too. I DIG these old metal clips from the flea...

More than anything in my studio this old paper mache box has been the object of the question, "is this for sale?". Fraid not, I adore it :)

I couldn't resist clipping an old picture of my Grandpa that I printed out recently from the scanned in version. After he died my cousin Polly and I spent the night with our great Aunt Ada {his oldest sister}. We didn't know her that well and as teenagers we felt it was a bit of a sacrifice on our parts to stay over and sleep in a house we weren't familiar with. It wasn't however without it's rewards. She gave me this photo and one of my Grandpa standing in a wheat field. I've kept them filed safely away all these years.

And here's where things get a bit rough. The pocket that I sewed {at 2am this morning because heaven only knows I couldn't wait until daylight} is for definite, a prototype. I'll be sewing another one, probably with a ruffle but I wouldn't go to bed until I'd seen the pocket tied on.

And the cover of my paper mache box under the chair until I'm ready to pop it back on the box.

Cute and handy!

New Pretties

This week I started packaging up some new pretties for my Etsy shop. This rose applique galloon, or ribbon, is so sweet. I also have individual appliques in this beautiful beige/cream combination...

as well as individual red/pink ones. I use them alot, they just seem to find their way into most of my projects.

I've also bought up a bunch of gorgeous wallpaper (seen in the backround in the photos above). This has to be my all time favorite. It's embossed and the colors are soft and faded to be just right. Here's a close-up...

In other news - I received my copy of the new Somerset Life this week. It was a fabulous issue, as usual I read it cover to cover. And speaking of covers, even though I'd seen a preview of this months cover with my recipe card file on it, it was still so exciting to pop open the mailbox and see it sitting inside. That was a first for me and it was so exciting!

Project Beginnings

I've begun gathering supplies for the July camping retreat. I've been collecting these wooden child shoe forms for one of our classes. I have something in mind for this project and this is the very early beginnings of it.

I have just two spots remaining and the date has been changed to July 29-31st. The planning for this event is off to a great start and I've got so many ideas it's hard to choose the class projects. Please let me know if you'd like to attend, I'd be happy to send you additional info.

Not Your Grandma's Strawberry...

Or Martha Stewart's either for that matter.... When my fabulous friends asked me to teach a class on an oversized strawberry to go with their oversized spool I thought it was a great idea. This strawberry is approximately 6x9. I decided to go with cream velour for the fabric instead of the traditional velvet.

I didn't want to make something this big without it being multi-functional. Besides that, haven't we seen it all when it comes to this old notion? I decided to sew a pocket on the front for my scissors and needle threader, and I wanted the strawberry to hold embroidery floss as well so I sewed some buttons to the sides and back. It secures floss in 3 different colors like this...

I went with the traditional felt top but I covered most of it with a sewing pattern top and bobbin for a stem.

I just love a new take on something old, don't you?

Art & Camping Weekend - Save The Date!

Many of you know that I've been talking about hosting an art & camping weekend for ages. Well, I've set the date! I will be hosting this event in Petaluma, CA the weekend of July 15th. This event will be limited to 12 peeps as I will be renting 2 cabins for our stay. You won't want to miss this!

Our workshops will be outside in the sunshine, they'll be great food cooked for you by yours truly, campfires and girl talk, maybe a swap or two, shopping at a few great shops and quite possibly some late night karaoke at the local dive bar.

If you're interested or if you've expressed interest in this get a way before please email me or leave a comment. Lots more details will be forthcoming!!