Forty in Five

Full steam ahead

I met with the crafty ladies of Petaluma Downtown Craft Mart Monday night for jury selection of the 2012 Holiday Crafterino vendors. The process was smooth and we feel excited about the selections this year.

I also used the opportunity to use them as a "focus group" for the products I have been developing. I received positive feedback about my mixed media works on canvas (can be bigger and work on a series). My bags were judged high quality, and suggestions were made to flair up the iron on images somehow and add an iPad size. Well, it looks like I have been given the green light and now I am in full production mode. Also full play mode. It's going to be fun and I must remember to take time off of "work." My family needs me too.

On finishing

Three weeks ago I wrote this post about having another back log of projects just waiting to be finished. I challenged myself to finish them by the end of July. I started out strong, then the day to day put some things on hold for a while and I ended up finishing 6 out of 9. Not bad considering that if I had not made that goal, a public one at that, I would probably have finished one or maybe none in the same amount of time. 

One thing I learned is that when I set a goal to finish projects my creativity starts flowing a lot faster. I had so many ideas about new projects. Some I will leave on the back burner and some have already reached completion. These rainbow circle skirts went from concept to completion in a day using this tutorial from Made. I don't know what my next goal (or set of goals) will be but I do know that setting goals works for me!

Teepee Time!

Wow! The teepee is done and I did it! I am so proud of myself for following through on this project that started cooking about a year ago when I saw a picture in a magazine. I put the picture on my vision board and kept it up there when I revamped the other images a few months ago. It is now a reality and I am so happy to have this beautiful thing in the backyard.

How I did it:

I used 5 reclaimed grape stakes I got at Sonoma County Waste Management. They were pretty splintery so I sanded and stained and sanded some more. It became apparent that that was not going to cut it. After some brainstorming, I thought, why not cover them with duct tape? I had some black on hand and went for it. It worked! I bought two more rolls of white for contrast and they are now covered and splinter free as far as the kids can reach. I left the tops alone for a natural look. I tied the poles together with sisal rope starting with a tripod and then added on the 4th and 5th pole. I measured all the distances between them on the ground and made them as even as I could. I measured the triangle shapes to get started with the cover. I had bought two full sized matching sheets recently and they serendipitously ended up being perfect for this project. I measured, traced and cut out 4 triangles and two 1/2 triangles for the opening. They came together quickly and since they were cut on the bias, I didn't have to do much finishing. I tried it on and realized it needed something to hold it onto the poles. I sewed on some ribbon which did the trick. What a relief to have it done. I get to see it from my kitchen window much to my delight.

Vintage sheets

I have become very interested in vintage sheets lately. I am fantasizing about a big quilt for our bed. I also have 2 other ideas for quilts percolating in my head. I have been hitting the thrift stores looking for gems. I have found some great ones. I am not quite sure what "vintage" some of them are but if I like them, I buy them. I would love to participate in a vintage sheet swap so I know I have to be sure they are authentic.

They are just so bright and cheerful. I have been really wanting to brighten up my bedroom lately. It is fun to dream about what it might look like one day but for now I will just keep on collecting.

Girls dress

Here is the dress I made for my niece Ashley who is turning one. The dress is so cute and summery, perfect for San Diego.

I used a tutorial from Sweet Emmelie's blog to make this dress. The tutorial was pretty easy to follow and is easily adaptable to different sizes. I feel very pleased with how this turned out. I look forward to making some for my girls.