#298...sneak peek for tracy

This week I have been working on some nursery items for my client Tracy in Finland. She wanted a jungle themed nursery because she and her husband had a safari honeymoon, and she has some great photos to hang of the animals they saw. We decided to use Alexander Henry's 2D zoo print in chocolate as the basis for her nursery decor. Since Tracy and I live so far apart, we were not able to meet to look at other fabrics to incorporate into her room, so I chose the coordinating fabrics and they will be a surprise to Tracy when she gets her things next week. I thought I'd give a little sneak peek of her fabrics and rocker pillow.

I appliqued the giraffe onto the orange circle print, and used a machine washable soft faux cheetah fur for the backing. Here are some of the other fabrics I used in her nursery goodies.

#297...long awaited laundry room

Prior to finishing the kitchen corner eating nook last year, our washer and dryer resided across from our stove for about 6 years. We always planned to move them to our back bathroom, which is the last room we have to finish inside our bungalow. Here is the bathroom in 2003, complete with rusted, purple, decoupaged claw-foot tub.

2003

The bathroom is still a work in progress, that has spanned years. We have managed to finish the laundry corner of the room. Here are a few progress photos of the bath...

In 2006 we gutted the room and added a door out to the deck, with the intention that this would be a pool bath.

In 2007 we had new drywall put up by professionals, and added a subfloor (yes, that is the ground under the house you see in the photo above)

In 2009, we painted the walls and tiled the floor

.....and finally in 2010 we moved the washer and dryer into their new home, in the back corner of the bathroom to the right of the exterior door, where the toilet was in the 2003 photo. We also managed to get a toilet installed in the room, but no sink or shower yet.

We stacked our units on a shelf that Tyler built. To the right of the dryer, I have a small space for folding. I put up the small Ikea floating shelf to hold my laundry soaps. 

Since my detergent is on display, I decided to cover the bottle labeling with a simple elastic top fabric sleeve, that I just slip onto a new bottle when I change out. The small bottles are peppermint and lavender oils, which I like to add a few drops of to my pet bedding when it gets washed. The white ceramic canister holds OxyClean, and the metal bin holds other wash day items like stain removal & dryer sheets. The metal bin was a thrift store find, and I intended to take the star stickers off if, but they've grown on me.

The artwork includes a large 1970's crewel work piece that I bought resale, an Ikea clock, a small painting that I did in the style of Michelle Armas, and a photo I took of a giant ceramic dog that my great grandmother painted.

It is so nice to have a clean, cheerful space to do laundry

#296...pinned

I saw this post from one of my favorite creative duos, Wary Meyers, and thought it such a clever way to store and display a pin collection. I scrounged up an old denim jacket, pulled my pin collection from the depths of my closet, and hung them up front to enjoy.

#295...mini pennant flag garland

This week I crafted a mini pennant flag garland for a client's nursery.

I made it using scraps of fabric, nylon thread, pinking shears,

fusible tape, and my sewing machine.

Here's how I did it.....

 I cut a stack of 5x5 inch squares of cotton fabric

Next, I folded the squares in half and pressed them. I made a cardboard triangle pattern and traced it onto the folded fabric and cut out using my pinking shears

I laid out my flags in the order I wanted them to hang on the garland

To string the flags, I folded them over a length of nylon string and used fusible tape to stick the flag front and back together. The final step was to sew along the top edge of the flags to keep them secure and in line.

I got carried away making the flags, and made way too many for the length of garland my client needed, so I made up an extra shorter garland, and put it up for sale here in my etsy shop.

#294...pink plaid for audrey

Despite that I spent two years in Fashion Design school, I rarely sew clothing. However, I did make my niece Audrey's Christmas dress this past holiday. My sister requested the dress in black velvet and holiday plaid, but when I found the pink plaid, I couldn't resist using it. While I was watching Audrey last week, she put on her dress to show me, and to do some dancing.

Here, she is loading her Hello Kitty CD player

#293...giant geography

This was my sister Julie's family room a year ago.

It held a new sofa purchased for the room, two wooden end table boxes that my Dad made several years back for Julie's former apartment, and a giant green lamp that I bought at the Goodwill.

While visiting this past week, and doing some thrift store shopping, I found this giant metal map of the US that we decided would be a perfect art piece for over the sofa.

...and here is the room now

The room got a coat of a warm chocolate paint. The end table boxes got spray painted with a black hammered finish. The green lamp got a new drum shade and a new terracotta color. Here is an up close of the lamp before and after.

before

after

#292...hanging cactus garden

My sister Julie loves potted succulent gardens. A few years ago, I painted this cactus triptych painting for her. She and her husband have it hanging in their home office atop a charcoal gray wall, which really makes it pop.