this past weekend i drove up to visit my grandparents. it was a weekend i will never forget. from the second i walked in the door, i felt at home. homemade everything: pies, chicken-n-noodles, angel food cake, buttermilk pancakes, and even the pancake syrup. how does my grandmother do it??
after settling in, she and i decided to look through her boxes of fabric. and by boxes, i mean, BOXES! 22 of them. fabrics that were each bought for a project or a person in mind. each held a story that went deeper than the pattern, material, and color. it was fascinating. grandma allowed me to choose my favorites fabrics to sew with. the one i cannot wait to use is entitled, "freckles." it was one that my mom picked out when she was 13. mother like daughter. :)
apart from the sewing, i couldn't help but feel like i had taken a trip back in time, listening to my grandparents' stories of the farm, meeting each other and their courtship, and their prayer lives over their 60 years plus of marriage together. my grandmother read from old journals and letters, dating back to my great-grandfather raymond. it was almost like certain pieces of my life that somehow felt askew started to make sense and they aligned as i sat there.
i can't wait to tell more....and with that being said...i'll be sure to write and share more about my trip home this week.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
floating magnolias - part 1
this past weekend it rained. constantly. so i ventured into an antique store fully anticipating to find inspiration from something old and beautiful. well. after walking up and down numerous rows of antique booths, i chose to walk away empty handed. i couldn't find exactly what i was looking for...or more specifically i couldn't find what fell into a reasonable price range....but i did walk away with a few ideas.
idea #1 - stripped lamp shade.
it's a pretty self explanatory shabby-chic project, but this is what happened:
step 1 - find a lamp you love that has a detailed lamp base.
step 2 - find a lamp shade that you think has an interesting shape that would coordinate with the base. trial and error may be required. i wanted mine to be slightly too heavy or large for the lamp i had at home, and i wanted the trumpeted shape. after 3 or 4 stores, i found this chosen "one" at target for $16. pre-deconstruction it was made with a very pretty ivory linen fabric.
step 3 - delicately destroy the lamp shade with a seam ripper and scissors. starting at the inside seam along one of the wires i began to rip it apart. i then cut along the top and bottom wires to leave a fabric trim for accenting the shape of the shade. be sure to use a pair of good, sewing scissors.
i think it is important to choose a slightly larger shade than what would normally fit your lamp because you'll then be creating a lot of empty space, and your eye needs a good frame of height and width. this helps to create balance since there is not any fabric covering the actual upper portion of the lamp. the end result: the lamp base becomes more of the focal point, which is what i really wanted to achieve, and your light bulb has a delicate shabby-chic frame.
ps - be sure to choose a pretty light bulb!
part 2 and idea #2 of floating magnolias will be later this week....and the mystery of the floating magnolias will be answered!
stay tuned.
idea #1 - stripped lamp shade.
it's a pretty self explanatory shabby-chic project, but this is what happened:
step 1 - find a lamp you love that has a detailed lamp base.
step 2 - find a lamp shade that you think has an interesting shape that would coordinate with the base. trial and error may be required. i wanted mine to be slightly too heavy or large for the lamp i had at home, and i wanted the trumpeted shape. after 3 or 4 stores, i found this chosen "one" at target for $16. pre-deconstruction it was made with a very pretty ivory linen fabric.
step 3 - delicately destroy the lamp shade with a seam ripper and scissors. starting at the inside seam along one of the wires i began to rip it apart. i then cut along the top and bottom wires to leave a fabric trim for accenting the shape of the shade. be sure to use a pair of good, sewing scissors.
i think it is important to choose a slightly larger shade than what would normally fit your lamp because you'll then be creating a lot of empty space, and your eye needs a good frame of height and width. this helps to create balance since there is not any fabric covering the actual upper portion of the lamp. the end result: the lamp base becomes more of the focal point, which is what i really wanted to achieve, and your light bulb has a delicate shabby-chic frame.
ps - be sure to choose a pretty light bulb!
part 2 and idea #2 of floating magnolias will be later this week....and the mystery of the floating magnolias will be answered!
stay tuned.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
swimsuits and such
so. it's saturday, 2 may 2009. i live in nashville, tn. i drive a honda. i go to church on sunday nights. i like coffee. i love my family, which includes a lot of friends. life is good. i volunteer as a music teacher to inner city kids, and it's the highlight of life.
i am a pescaterian. i want to be more eco-conscious. oh, and i like to walk. i wish nashville had more sidewalks.
i want to write children's books and share with them the arts of our world.
i'm going to visit geneva and earl in two weeks. geneva and i are going to sew.
i'm thrilled it's spring. i want to seek out the sun and the beach.
anthropologie has some gorgeous, expensive swimsuits. shall we?? yes. www.anthropologie.com. my two favorites are the deckwork suit for the one piece and the heartbeats suit for the two piece.
i hope everyone had a great day! :)
i am a pescaterian. i want to be more eco-conscious. oh, and i like to walk. i wish nashville had more sidewalks.
i want to write children's books and share with them the arts of our world.
i'm going to visit geneva and earl in two weeks. geneva and i are going to sew.
i'm thrilled it's spring. i want to seek out the sun and the beach.
anthropologie has some gorgeous, expensive swimsuits. shall we?? yes. www.anthropologie.com. my two favorites are the deckwork suit for the one piece and the heartbeats suit for the two piece.
i hope everyone had a great day! :)
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