The Right Light

These little lights came with my light box.

Before purchasing this set,

to help make my product photographs better,

I didn't realize how important the right light is.

They have made a huge difference.

Click here to view my post on The Light Box

Clever Imposter

This looks like a rug, right?

ah, but it is just an illusion.

It is a tile inset on a vertical wall...behind a restaurant

in Palm Desert, California.

Clever.

Nilak's Bed

We have an Mini American Eskimo...that we love...

but anyone that knows anything about this bread

knows that they must be with you at all times.

Literally. It's like it's her job...life or death.

She has to have us in her view.

I bought her a special pillow for our bedroom,

but she was not happy that it was on the floor and she couldn't see us.

She continued to drag it to the door and then get on our bed.

When we didn't take the hint,

she peed on it...lovely.

I had a small antique bench that my mom gave me

so I had an idea.

I made a protective pillow...

lined with a water resistant lining and removable cover.

I added ribbons to the corners and attached the pillow to the bench.

Voila'

A custom pet bed...

and she can see us.

She loves it!

Light

When you possess light within,

you see it externally.

 ~Anaïs Nin

Scrap Happy Pillow

I have a hard time parting with fabric...

even little scraps.

This was one of the last pillows I made

for my son's school fundraiser.

Fabric was getting low

but I was able to piece this together.

All of the fabrics just worked.

It took a little maneuvering

but it actually became one of my favorites!

Bird and Bunny Pillows

A pillow set I made

to display these adorable fabric animals

made by some students.

I loved the swirl pattern of the trim fabric

and while it didn't really "match" exactly

I thought it coordinated well

and gave the pillows a fun feeling.

The expression in the bunny's eyes

looked silly -  in a cute way

and I thought the swirls echoed that.

I think that trimming the edge in this way

made the overall pillow a bit more sophisticated

and finished looking.

They were also part of the fundraiser raffle

for my son's school.

I wanted to win these...

even though I made them!

Polka Dots and Animals Pillows

Another pillow I made

to showcase cute fabric animals

made by students at my son's school. 

They were all so different...it was inspiring!

Camo Animal Pillows

A pillow I made to highlight

whimsical, handmade, fabric animals

that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders made

at my son's school.

They were raffled off as a fundraiser.

I love the camo background!

Pillow Collaborating with Kids!

Kids are so naturally creative.

These funny little fabric animals

were made by some students at my son's school.

I added the background, by making the patchwork pillows.

voila'...cute, stylish home accessories

that would fit in any specialty boutique!

All inspired by 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders.

You will see more of our collaboration

over the next few posts.

Something From Nothing

We love to juice!

Anyone that has juiced carrots knows

that you end up with a humongous amount of pulp/fiber.

We didn't want to through away it's goodness

so I hunted for some easy recipes to utilize it.

I found one for a raw carrot cake type thing...

it was amazing!

A bit more like pumpkin pie and completely decadent. 

Throw all ingredients in a food processor and press in a pan.

After a bit in the fridge...

this is what you end up with!

yes, this is carrot pulp!

...and as usual,

no dairy, no eggs, no wheat, no refined sugars.

All real food.

Brought to Life

This is my latest creative passion!

I have listed a bunch of these little zipper pouches

  in my ETSY shop

Creative Potential Etsy Shop

I am now on to making new patterns and will be posting about them soon.

I LOVE FABRIC!

It just makes me smile.

The Birth of an Idea...

This is where it begins for me...

a pile of random fabric.

I love the challenge of coordinating

and working with what I have.

This assortment became a series of pillows

that I helped make for my son's school.

It sparked and renewed my love of sewing...

more to come.

Creative Canvas

We LOVE a group of restaurants called

California Pizza Kitchen.

In addition to great food,

they all have very clever artwork.

They display hand painted and decorated pizza boxed framed in acrylic.

Each is different...

different art, theme, colors,

but the frames are all the same

which unifies the eclectic assortment.

Just shows you that ANYTHING can become a work of art!

Passion

Renew your passions daily.

~Terri Guillemets

Wild Wire Bail

I was playing around with wire...

I think this is an interesting alternative to a simple, ordinary bail.

There is no right or wrong...just keep twisting until it pleases you.

I did hammer it a bit for added stability.

Embellished Out of Need

I found this pretty camisole...it was on sale and it fit well.

A great combination!

The only problem was that I wouldn't be able to wear a bra with it and the top was very sheer.

NOT a great combination!

I had a brain flash...I'll just embellish the top so that it is thick enough to be discrete.

That is what I did...at night, sitting in front of the TV.

I used fabric scraps, buttons and some crystals to make small flowers and leaves.

They were layered which gave them some body and construction. 

I didn't have a plan...just sort of added as I went.

If a spot looked empty, I filled it.

I am very happy with the outcome
and can't wait to wear it! 

Creative Framing

We picked up the components of this little treasure on our recent trip to Europe.

We booked our cruise based on the price, dates and basic geographic location...

as it was the easiest place for Steve to meet us from Afghanistan.

So when I looked closer at our ports of call I realized that one of them was Malta.

I knew nothing about Malta...truthfully, I wasn't even sure where it was exactly.

It ended up being a highlight of the trip!

Turns out The Knights...the actual Knights began there...

The Knights of Malta.

So cool if you are traveling with a 10 year old boy.

We visited their church and the entire floor was constructed of

 marble, mosaic tombs of the Knights.

A little creepy but pretty amazing.

I picked up this piece of handmade lace and framed it with images of some of the tombs that I cut out of a post card.

I used a "floating" frame so that it would look a little more special and so that you would be able to see the items from both sides if you wanted to.

It was hard to get a good picture but it is a really special piece.

Two inexpensive, readily available souvenirs...transformed into a personal work of art.

Think about that on your next trip!

Painting With Fabric

I love fabric! I always have...

These are some small children's quilts my son and I made in the beginning of the year.

 I didn't know what I what I was going to do. I didn't have a plan.

I prefer to wander the fabric store and get inspired by what I find.

I start with a focal piece and then I build around that.

I usually don't like things that match exactly...

I prefer when they coordinate.

I also love to work within a budget...weird, I know.

It takes time...much to my son's dismay.

When I am in the middle of it, it feels like painting...

only I am working with someone else's art/pattern creation.

Having time to wander a fabric store is the biggest treat!

A Small Touch

An old piece of lace can really change the look of a plain cotton camisole.

This was an applique I had been holding on to for a while...I really love the patterns and texture but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

I ended up using some variegated metallic thread to roughly hand stitch it to a brown cotton tank top of mine.

It is so delicate and I love how it looks peeking out of an open sweater or blouse.
I also like that the lace (being old) is a small link to the past.

Snow?

This seems so far away...
Spring has definitely sprung here!

Fabric Give-Away!

I just found this exciting offer through another favorite blog...and what perfect timing with my current sewing obsession!
Check it out....there are lots of interesting things to see on her blog.

FABRIC GIVEAWAY! Drawing on Friday, May 14th!
http://dianeknottsmusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/fabric-giveaway-drawing-on-friday-may.html

A Sneak Peek!

I have been in a sewing frenzy!
This is a little peek of some new lovelies I have whipped up. They will be in my Etsy shop soon!
Stay tuned...

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all of the beautiful, life-changing, dream inspiring mothers a wonderful day!

Many Hands Mirror

This is beautiful example of what can happen when the individual artwork of many little hands is combined with a little thought.

This mirror features mini ceramic tiles hand painted by the students in my son's class (4th, 5th and 6th graders). Each child painted two tiles and then another parent and myself created the over-all wall art.

My friend's husband made the copper sun mirror and edged the frame in copper.

It was recently raffled off as part of a large fundraiser for my son's school.

What a wonderful expression of youthful art.

Z is for Zebra Stripe

On a recent trip to New Hampshire, we stumbled on this really great restaurant…The Flatbread Company in Portsmouth, NH. They had the best oven fired pizza and even had gluten free crust and desserts. Yum!

I would highly recommend it.

They give you blank paper and crayons so that you can design a menu cover and then they choose some to insert in their rotating menus. This is one that Logan and I did during lunch. The waitress came by and took it right away…next thing we knew it was in a menu!

There was a big graphic painting of a zebra on the wall in front of me that inspired the pattern. Logan helped with the pizzas…

Y is for Yarn

I sometimes get into a knitting frenzy.


I love specialty and exotic yarns and with their availability these days I find myself using them for lots of things other than knitting.

Just a few examples….

I use a handful of them to finish off a gift, I use single strands to tie on jewelry or attech gift tags, several braided make wonderful necklace cords for handmade pendants, a remnant can be tied to a handmade keychain for a touch of texture and color, I have hung holiday ornaments with a strand or two, etc…

Because they have so much yardage, it becomes a really economical alternative to thin ribbon. For more bang for my buck, I like to buy the variegated/multi color yarns….that way they work with many projects and color combinations.

• Tip: For more permanent projects you can add a tiny bit of “Fray Check” to the ends to prevent unraveling. You can find Fray Check at any sewing department or craft store.

X is for ??

The only thing I could think of for X is Xanadu...

A movie I loved when I was a teenager...and recently showed to my daughter. It was really out dated...but I still enjoyed it.

Gotta love the leg warmers!

W is for Wanting More

As I get older and hopefully a little bit wiser I find that I want less.


Less stuff

Fewer commitments

Less to manage

It feels good to simplify…

V is for Valentine’s Juice

A happy accident...on Valentine's Day we whipped up a random juice. I used what felt good and what we had in the fridge. The result tasted great and was very pretty.

The perfect color for Valentine's Day.
If you have a juicer, I have included the details below.
It make a lot...about 4 large glasses to share!

Valentine's Fruit Punch

1-2 heads of romaine lettuce
1 lemon
3 red beets
5 or 6 apples
1 pear
1 inch of ginger
half a cabbage (we used napa)
half a canaloupe

run all through a juicer and enjoy!