Oh my goodness, I think I might, no, I really I need to start doing a better job of posting more often! Or at least keeping better notes of my recent craft escapades so that I don't need to try to cram so much into each post when I do get on here!
Sound like a plan to you? :)
So as I mentioned in a recent facebook status update, I've been feeling a) really busy lately, and also on b) crafty-brain overload! I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but I'll go really hard on craft projects for a while with no break, and then I realize that I am BURNT OUT and need a little break. I think I felt that way this past month with quilting; I kept up on tons of other DIY projects (more about that later), but this most recent quilt I finished & delivered took me just about the whole month to make, which never happens!
The neat thing about that, though, is that this quilt was for a very sweet, long-time friend of mine who is having a little baby boy this August! I don't speak of it much, but as often as I remember when I'm making a quilt for a specific baby, I try to pray over them, their future, etc....so the benefit of having this quilt, and this quilt alone on my plate for the past month is that God has used it to keep my beautiful friend & her little guy at the fore-front of my mind, and in my prayers! Can't wait to meet Mr. Leiden! :)
So a couple of months ago, I had a brief discussion with Lacey about quilt ideas, and she mentioned that she loved chevrons, and a green/white/gray/black color scheme for the nursery, both of which I had an inkling about already; so the wheels were already turning! This is what I came up with:
(Note to self...and my readers. No, my iron is not broken, and I'm not quite sure my excuse is for always taking pictures of my quilts at their most wrinkly moments? Sheesh.. I'll work on that for next time. *wink)
Sound like a plan to you? :)
So as I mentioned in a recent facebook status update, I've been feeling a) really busy lately, and also on b) crafty-brain overload! I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but I'll go really hard on craft projects for a while with no break, and then I realize that I am BURNT OUT and need a little break. I think I felt that way this past month with quilting; I kept up on tons of other DIY projects (more about that later), but this most recent quilt I finished & delivered took me just about the whole month to make, which never happens!
The neat thing about that, though, is that this quilt was for a very sweet, long-time friend of mine who is having a little baby boy this August! I don't speak of it much, but as often as I remember when I'm making a quilt for a specific baby, I try to pray over them, their future, etc....so the benefit of having this quilt, and this quilt alone on my plate for the past month is that God has used it to keep my beautiful friend & her little guy at the fore-front of my mind, and in my prayers! Can't wait to meet Mr. Leiden! :)
So a couple of months ago, I had a brief discussion with Lacey about quilt ideas, and she mentioned that she loved chevrons, and a green/white/gray/black color scheme for the nursery, both of which I had an inkling about already; so the wheels were already turning! This is what I came up with:
(Note to self...and my readers. No, my iron is not broken, and I'm not quite sure my excuse is for always taking pictures of my quilts at their most wrinkly moments? Sheesh.. I'll work on that for next time. *wink)
(Folded in half)
LOVE how simple chevrons really are when you break them down into their most basic shapes, 1/2 square triangles!
Decided on a cute, but coordinating, "quieter" fabric for the back in case she gets tired of seeing the chevrons!
(Although technically you can see the imprint still from the quilting in green thread... I couldn't resist! I think it turned out so cute!)
While I was making another trip to The Happiest Place on Earth (aka: Joanns), I found this ADORABLE "bag fabric" near the utility fabrics and just knew I had to get it! I ended up making a cute & simple re-usable tote bag that I also used as the gift wrapping!
Lacey's shower was yesterday, and it was such a great celebration of her & baby Leiden! I just love getting to be a part of the joy surrounding this new little guy that hasn't even made his appearance yet!
Our mutual friend, Casey was there, did this great little summary of the shower, and had her camera on hand to capture this special moment as Lacey was opening her gifts:
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| {Photo Credit: Casey H. 06/2013} |
It's funny (not just because I look like a GOOF), but because I don't think many people understand the absolute JOY that getting to make these quilts for people that I love brings to me! I so LOVE that I get to have this as a memory! :) {Thanks again, Casey!}
Okay, now a summary of the DIY projects we've been accomplishing at home!
Here are the "before" pictures of our kitchen cabinets/counters:
Practical enough, and much better than what was there when we moved in, but not quite perfect, yet! Then we found two laminate counter pieces at Home Depot for $36/ea (regularly $145!), and this is what we came up with:
And this finished product deserves a few shout-outs! First, Mikhal helped SO much with fixing and stabilizing these cabinets that we found on craigslist, and making replacement drawers! And Alex & him worked together to get the vent adjusted, and got the counter tops installed.
Another Michael, my brother in law's brother (no I'm not stuttering) made us the three great drawer fronts (on the left above the doors)!
I found the curtain material at Joanns, and just LOVE it. There are so many cute colors, it matches the "hodge-podge" of kitchen towels, etc.. that we have in our combined household. Perfect!
Now I'm going to spend the next few months slowly working on additional "finishing touches" like these:
Cute $5 jars from Ross for storage above our stove! Love that it is starting to look more intentional and less cluttered. :)
I had a perfectly sized spare piece of the same flowered material left, and made this cute "cafe curtain" to help draw the material in on the other side of the kitchen. I think I might get some more and make some coordinating dish towels or pot holders to help bring the material through the rest of the kitchen too. And like I mentioned earlier, there are so many great colors in the material that decorating is a new fun adventure! There will be so many different things that match, so now it's a matter of picking just a couple of ideas!
The other project that we finally finished up is the "office" portion of our bedroom! I had made heavy canvas-esque curtains when we first moved in that I ended up not liking due to their stiffness and weight.. so those got moved over to our make-shift closet, and I made these much softer "linen" curtains to go over the cute lace under-lay that picks up our red accents.
And we finished the chair to match our desk/table! WAHOO! Mikhal did such a great job with the stain (it matches so well), and then it was just a matter of me having the time to paint the legs and back red, and clear coat the whole thing. Love that it's finally all together as a set. :)
Anyway, this is kind of the fly-by, stick your face out the window a free-way speeds version of what we've been working on recently! I hope you have enjoyed the summary! I'm going to be doing some serious thinking in the next few weeks about product, projects to upload to my Etsy! The burp cloths I had up have since expired, and I really didn't have much interest in them, so I want to expand the types of items I have posted to hopefully get it up and running with a bit more success.
My plan is also to look into some more craft sales/bazaars, because I think the face to face interaction would be a great way to get my name out there some more!
Any tips or suggestions about types of items to work on/look into?
I appreciate you all, and will do my best to update more often, and with some additional variety (topical)! :)
Until next Time...
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