Welcome Fall ... with a necklace DIY

Well it has been awhile and I can't say why - except that I'm busy with the new house and all the decisions big and small that come along the way.  I am thinking that this fall I am going to share some of the trials and tribulations of house building and share some of my design inspirations and dilemmas encountered.  There is so much out there to cull from but that can also be a stumbling block.  We'll see...

In the meantime... thank goodness for Jennifer Carroll and her Celebrating Everyday Life magazine.  She has forced me to come out of my box and rev up those creative juices again.  Without her prodding I am not sure I would keep "making".  I find it hard to deal with all the everyday stuff, including most of my supplies packed up in our rental, and get out the stash to make something.

I recently did get out the stash to make this "craft-stash necklace".  I was please at how it came out and plan to use up some of the rest of my supplies to make a version of this in a few other colours.  You can find out all about how to make it as well as some other gorgeous fall projects and style tips here.  Thank you again Jennifer for including me in your beautiful publication.

At the beginning of the summer, Jennifer got me busy again and I  came up with a re-work of a dollar store beach mat.  You can find out how to make this and other great projects at this link.

I hope to be back much more often this fall as the kids go back to school and life begins to follow along more of a routine.

See you soon friends...

DIY Linen slipcovered lampshade

After a recent minor flood, I was left with a really ugly lamp shade.  The lamp sits in my craft area and also suffers from a tear in the paper shade.  Okay, it is really ugly.  A few years ago, I think based on something I had seen in a magazine, I fixed up an ugly lamp in our guest room and I wanted to do the same with this lamp.

I used some leftover linen and a cotton tape to act as a channel for the twine.  I sewed up the edges of the linen with a half inch rolled to a quarter inch, then pressed and sewed the seams.  I sewed the linen into a tube and pressed the seams where the sides met.  I added a channel one inch from the top of my shade cover, on the inside (wrong side) of the cover.

Once my tube was turned right side out, I created a small slit in the middle of the channel stitches.  This only goes through the linen layer of the fabric (not the cotton ribbon of the channel).  With a safety pin tied to the end of a strip of twine, I guided the twine through the channel created between the linen and the cotton ribbon.

Once the twine was pulled through the channel to come out the slit again, I was able to tighten up my top.  This creates pleating in the fabric and once I got the top to fit the top of my shade, I tied up the twine in a bow.

BEFORE

 AFTER

My Guestroom Lamp inspiration.

Ugly lamp,  with really ugly shade.                                             Now with blue and white ticking cover,

                                                                                                                                                    cute lamp

Shell details were added to the cloth tie, to add to the coastal theme of my guestroom.

Both of these lamps are only for atmosphere so I have a very low wattage bulb in the lamp.  

Other than spending less than a dollar on the cotton ribbon for the channel, I had all the supplies on hand.  This was a quick and easy way to cover up an eyesore.

If I finally find a great lamp to replace these, I can always used the shade for a hat :)

DIY - Photo Wreath for Mother's Day

I find it hard to celebrate Mother's Day without my mom.   I can remember the first Mother's Day after I had Helana, she was just a couple months old and I was so excited.  Not because it was my first Mother's Day but because I could celebrate my mom both as a mother and as a grandmother.  She was so excited to finally be a grandma, and I finally over that last year, learned to appreciate what it takes to be a mom.  So this year, my fifth mother's day without her, I decided to do a little project that included a little bit of my mom. 

She loved linen and burlap.  I thought about burlap for this but I had all this linen and frankly I figured strips of burlap were going to make a big mess I just didn't feel like cleaning up.  I had a wreath left over from my valentine love note wreath so I thought I would do a version of that for Mother's Day.  Like the love notes - you could customize this wreath each year by adding and replacing photographs.  I just grabbed a bunch of photos from my photoshop folders - but the trick was to easily resize them to make a banner.

I used picmonkey to play around with 10 photos and added artistic frames to some and sepia tones to others.  Then I loaded those pictures into Picassa and made a grid collage with a 5:3 widescreen photo frame.  Each picture measures 2 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches deep.

I started out with an 12 inch diameter styrofoam wreath.

I wrapped the wreath in linen strips that I made from a recycled linen slipcover.

I added a little bit of twine to approximately 1/8 of the wreath or about 5 inches.

A separate piece of paper twine is the basis of the photo banner (27 inches long including ties at each end)

Once I decided on the length, I was able to lay out the photo arrangement.

Details : twine/glue gun/flower corsage

A little dovetail in each photo seemed to fit the banner and once arranged, I glue gunned the pictures in place.

The flowers are made from strips of linen (cream one made from thick, cotton ribbon)

You can find many diy's of rolled fabric flower making on-line including here. (my sparkle)

 I think my mom would have loved this wreath.  She would be so proud of her granddaughters and just amazed how much they have grown up over the past 5 years.

Wrap it up Thursday - Linen Wrap Bracelet inspired by Chan Luu

Inspired by a catalogue, I set out to create a casual bracelet to wear with my summer linens.  I think I will continue to experiment with silkier and brighter threads and maybe even tighter wrapping of the strips.  I'd like to try some different lighter weight fabrics as well.  Really, the sky's the limit.

My inspiration came from the Garnet Hill spring catalogue and these awesome Chan Luu wrap bracelets.

1 - Start with a strip of linen 1.5 inches wide and 26 inches long.  

2 - Iron it in half and sew a .5 inch seam from fold, creating a tube.

3 - With a safety pin, turn the tube inside out (unfinished edges now on inside)

4 - With bright pink embroidery thread, wrap one end as a point, wrap entire piece with thread, stopping every quarter inch or so and wrapping a few times as you make your way along the entire length of the tube.

At the other end, create a loop and wrap the ends tightly with thread for about half an inch.

I love linen with a touch of hot pink and I can think of all sorts of spring outfits this would work with.  The girls think I am too matchy matchy so I plan on going through my fabric stash and coming up with other combinations.  This is almost a reason to visit the fabric store :)

Wrap it up Thursday - East of India

I started out by planning to show you a wrapping related find from Key West but somehow it turned out to be a tutorial on wrapping up Easter, naturally.

All these great products are from a line called East of India.  I picked up a few pieces from my favourite store in Key West, Besame Mucho.  Oh, Besame Mucho how I love you.  I love all of these especially the "designed with love" tags for homemade gifts and the box of twine.  East of India, you had me at box of twine.

These were my recent purchases, save the thimble.  It was a birthday present to myself last spring from the same store.  I love that thimble and the packaging of course is what sold me.  "Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself"

Okay so I could put the ribbon and tapes on a paper bag and make it look cute but what to put inside?

I spotted a tutorial over at amy power's inspired ideas that involved wrapping a plastic egg with fabric and or/papers.  I ripped up some linen scraps into strips and glued them onto the egg in a random pattern, making sure to leave the thread of the egg free so that I could put something in it.  I wrapped up the egg with a couple of pieces of twine - very shabby chic.

Now to the bag.  Bits of the paper tape with "follow your heart" and "with love" phrasings looked cute on the parchment bag.  I decided to make a nest, like the yarn one I made in the fall (see here) , but with twine, and filled it with three small felted eggs.  "With love" ribbon, from east of india, ties it all up.  

I am going to see some nieces this weekend and I thought I could fill the eggs with a little pot of cute lip gloss.

I am still drawn to the pops of colour that Easter can bring but somehow when it comes to wrapping up, I find I am drawn to parchment, twine and linens.

Have a wonderful Weekend!

Gatherings Magazine - Feature - DIY Spring Nest Pin

Heather Sprigg's new issue of Gatherings Magazine is out and it is lovely.  I have been a fan of her previous issues, so it was a real honour to be asked to contribute to the spring issue.  My contribution is a D.I.Y. for creating a spring nest brooch in either linen or felt.  It would be great on a spring jacket or would make a cute placecard for your Easter table or Mother's Day celebration.

Gatherings Magazine

Heather is now making it possible to order this current issue and all others -  for only $4 - that means each issue is less than a coffee or $1 each. Click the link above or at right, for more information.

The issue also includes the beautiful styling and words from my friend Maaike of the blog Crejjtion.  Maaike has recently made a move to Canada from Amsterdam and in this issue she shows off her beautiful crochet work and how she is making her new home all her own.

Okay, now it's official - Spring is here!



ps. still time to sign up for spring desktop giveaway here