Ribbon Wreath

A while ago I found this link showing how to weave one really long piece of ribbon into a cool looking wreath shape. It's amazingly easy, just make sure you have a lot of ribbon!  The video shows it being done to a much thinner piece of ribbon but I wanted to try it on my fave Baja Breeze and since I hoard all of it, I happened to have plenty to play with! I did also try it out on the 1/4" grosgrain ribbon as well as the satin ribbon. Overall the grosgrain was the easiest to manage, partly because of it's width but I also think the texture of the ribbon helped keep it together properly and not slide around too much. I don't recommend the satin ribbon, it was too slippery and wouldn't stay in place and when I took it apart it had creases in it which I can't stand in my satin ribbon. The great thing is that if you finish and decide that you don't like the way it looks, you can take it apart and can still use the ribbon for something else instead of it just being wasted.

Craft Area Revamping Part II

So, after completing the chairs, I started focusing on the awful, not too useful bookshelves I had on the smaller wall. They looked like crap and were not giving me optimal storage space. I of course did not take a before pic, surprise, surprise. I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out the best storage options for the least amount of money. And of course, I found what I needed at Ikea. After making 3 trips, 3 days in a row, I decided on what I wanted, we took it home and I must've caught Mike in a good mood cause he helped me put it all together. And this was after he was done putting together Alec's new bed so I don't know, maybe he was sick or something. Either way, I took advantage of the help and we had everything together in no time at all. Turns out, we're a pretty good team. I'm good at reading directions and handing him the stuff he needs in the correct order and he's good at banging crap into place and making sure the screws are all nice and tight.

This is the 1st section of the new unit.....

Serendipitously they had one in a gloss gray finish! It perfectly matches the shade of the chairs and I finally get the gloss I wanted the chairs to have, lol. 

And the 2nd piece is quite versatile, you can stand it long-ways, tall-ways, put casters on it, all kinds of stuff. I chose to add it to the top of the large unit since that area is rather small.....

You can see in the background one of the new chairs and how well it matches the storage unit. 

There are so many options with this unit, which is called Expedit. You can purchase drawers, doors, baskets, bins, all kinds of stuff that fits perfectly into the square openings. For now, I chose to go with the red bins because that was the only choice they had that matched well with the fabric of the chairs. While the drawers they sell are too small for my needs, I'm considering buying some gloss gray doors, I have a lot of moving around to do with that area before I know exactly what additions I'll need for it. I did want more of the red bins but that was all they had in stock that day so I'll be going back soon to get a few more. 

And for the final addition for now, I used some of the leftover fabric from the chairs to make a french memo board. The frame was purchased at- you guessed it- Ikea, then sanded (ugh) and painted with some of the leftover chair paint. Batting was attached to the backboard of the frame then wrapped with the fabric. The satin ribbon is SU Old Olive and the 'buttons' are SU Basic Gray corduroy brads. I could not find upholstery pins that I liked so I had to substitute with the brads which I ended up being perfectly fine with.The ribbon doesn't look quite this shiny in person.

I still need to get curtains, which I dread, and I've got a few other ideas floating around that I'd like to add to the room when I get time but I'm very happy with the progress so far!

Waterfall Card

Ok, I don't really know if that's the actual name but it's all I could come up with. 

I found the instructions for this card by Catherine Pooler at TheStampNation. It uses a modified tag cut from the Two Tags die cut. Really neat card and very easy to make!

supplies: Baja Breeze c/s, Rich Razzleberry c/s, Crumb Cake c/s, Pocketful of Posies DSP, Baja Breeze Patterned Paper, Rich Razzleberry ink, Baja Breeze ink, Circle Circus, Sincere Salutations, Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Two Tags die cut

Happy Birthday April

A friend and fellow demo April, had a birthday recently so I made her this business card holder and matching card. Hope you liked them April!

card: Marina Mist c/s, Paisley Petals DSP, Old Olive c/s, Bravo Burgundy c/s, Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, Top Note die cut, Naturally Serif Sizzlits die cut, Fabulous Phrases stamp set

business card holder: Paisley Petals DSP, Top Note die cut, Bravo Burgundy c/s, pearls, mulberry paper flowers

Craft Area Revamping Part I

I've been working (for a while) on redoing, adding and getting rid of some things in my craft area. It's been a longer process than I thought but I'm pretty happy with the results so far, I still have a long way to go!

First up, the chairs. I guess the chairs are what started the whole thing. I've been wanting to do something different, something more fun and something that matched, lol, but I am an awful interior decorator so it was easier to keep putting it off than try to actually start doing it. My friend Carolyn, who is extremely knowledgeable about really awesome places off the beaten path to find goodies, took me to a place where I found very affordable used dining room chairs.  

So, here is one of the chairs before I started doing anything to it. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to take pictures until I had already cleaned all 5 of the other chairs and this one was not even close to being the dirtiest one! It actually looks really clean but let me assure you, the chairs were gross. I had to scrub all 6 down with Brillo pads, wipe them all clean and let them dry before I could even begin the sanding. Sanding is not fun. Not even an electric hand sander, which my husband assured me I would like. Nope, sanding is not fun, electrically or not. The cushions to these chairs were an awful green plastic fake leather with not much padding.

After many, many, many hours sanding electrically, sanding by hand, sweating, feeling like I was going to cry, painting, painting again, painting again, and painting again, along with scrubbing the cushions and reupholstering them, this is the final result:

Not too shabby, eh? The fabric is outdoor fabric, in hopes that it will stay clean longer and will be easier to clean than indoor fabric, and of course it was doused with Scotch Guard before I even began. Several coats of that stuff. The chairs are painted a semi-gloss gray. I originally wanted a glossier gray so that they'd be easy to clean and wipe off but the kid at home depot said the semi-gloss would be fine and I believed him. I wish I had stuck to what I wanted because while I love the way it turned out, I was going for something with a little more gloss. The pattern of the fabric was chosen to bring color to the room and also to provide several colors with which to coordinate the rest of the decor for the room since as stated above and also very obvious, I'm far from an interior design whiz. 

I absolutely love the color gray and I'm really happy that I've been able to make it a main color in the room. There's nothing dreary about gray in my opinion and it matches pretty much everything. 

And of course, I wasn't the only one in my house in love with the new chairs........

After attaching the cushions, I would turn and set the chairs off to the side and I barely had time to turn my head away before Deucalion jumped up and staked his claim on my new, wonderful, CLEAN chairs. I hollered for him to get down but instead he turned his back to me and continued to sit in the chair, because if he can't see you, he thinks you can't see him. He knew I was behind him though cause his ears are half down, not sticking straight up like normal. They're called the 'trouble ears'. He ignored me for a minute before switching positions.....

I guess he started feeling a little safer and thought he'd show his face. Still staying on the chair of course. And then he appeared to be feeling extra bold and decided he needed to be more comfortable....

It's such a rough life, isn't it? 

You could almost believe it was he who put in all that hard work with the chairs, he looks exhausted!

There are a few more additions to the craft area, I'll post again later!