Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Favorite Things: Remnant Rugs

I have a few of these remnant rugs around my home and I love them! They come in so many different color pallets but I chose these pastel/muted colors as it goes with my decor.

While I didn't make this rug, I do have plans to give this technique a try. It's a great way to use up fabric scraps and even old clothing!

Re-used and re-cycled home fashion is where it's at!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Handmade Hearts

For Valentine's Day, I thought I would try my hand at different embroidery techniques that I have become enamored with. My mom lovingly keeps all sorts of things like old fabrics, clothing and luckily all of her supplies from when she used to do embroidery.

For the first felt heart, I stitched some hemp string to it by using beige thread. I tried my hand at candlewicking also known as french knots which is done on plain muslin fabric using cotton thread. There were some great how-to videos on you-tube. For the zig-zag heart, I used wool embroidery thread and stitched back and forth following the heart shaped outlines I had drawn in pencil.

I think I have opened a can of worms now and will have to start doing some serious embroidering!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Storyboard for my Stove

I had been wanting to do something with the space above my stove for a while now. When I did the kitchen makeover at the condo 2 posts ago I felt inspired to get started.

I loved the warm grey that I used in that kitchen condo and thought it would look great in my place too.

A friend who was moving had 3 small shelves to get rid of and I gladly accepted. Once the shelves were up, I got to work dressing them with some much loved items I wanted to display.

Some pieces belonged to my great-grand father's family like the drink shaker, the coffee pot and the bread tray. The brown betty tea pot belonged to my grandmother and like a good Scottish/English household it gets used everyday!

Now while I'm cooking I can also feel inspired.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Notorious Neo

This is my cat Neo that I adopted two years ago. Interestingly enough this has been my most requested blog topic even though it is a design blog! I guess because he is such a sweetheart and quite the character, anyone who meets him agrees.

Neo is my assistant

He likes to help, sometimes to pose and entertain me


He keeps my fabrics warm until I need them

He keeps an eye on me at all times

He's always excited to find out what our next project is going to be

During the holidays, he helps me wrap gifts and send out mail

Sometimes he likes to get my attention by looking cute

After a while...it all get's to be too much and he needs to take a nap