Anthropologie -How do they do this?

As crafters, we know that the Anthropologie stores have the most creative displays in the retail world! Each store is a little different. This window is from downtown Portland. How do they come up with these ideas?!!? Hangers?? Simply amazing......

introducing!!! My Daughter and fellow Bogger

She has been my best friend for a long time, she is a loving wife, she is the mother of my grandson, and now she is a fellow blogger!Her blog is a mixture of craft ideas, home inspiration, and tips for young mothers. Cori recently awarded me with a "Stylish Blogger"  award.(thank you, Cori!) Instead of passing it along, I want to introduce you to her.  Where You Hang Your Heart

1. She was the perfect child. Content, sweet, funny, studious, and mostly non-rebellious. 

Sorry, Cori, I couldn't resist!!!

2. Cori got the gift of writing from my Dad, Bill.She majored in English at Sac State. Cori wrote a great newsletter for her friends in high school, and has a wonderful and interesting writing style that you will love reading!
3. She went to all of her proms with a nice group of girls (that are still friends). And we bought all of her beautiful dresses from an awesome second hand bridal shop that used to be in Old Fair Oaks. She would have gotten her wedding dress there, but it unfortunately burned down.

5. Which leads to the next fact, besides her weakness for Anthropologie (who doesn't love them!) she has always been down-to-earth, thrifty and very responsible.
6. She loves books, and is always reading or taking classes to learn new things. She is taking a painting class,(she is a very good artist) and joined a Mommy's group, learned how to be a great cook, and wants to learn how to sew next! (I'll get her started when I visit next week)! Yay!!!
7. She is a WONDERFUL mommy! (of him)

8. She loves her Starbucks coffee 

With that said, hop on over to her new blog and enjoy! Where you hang your heart

I will be visiting her wonderful family in 2 days, can hardly wait!!! Stay tuned for new pics from the great Northwest.

Eyeglass case Winner!!!

Congradulations!!!  
 The winner of this leather eyeglass case is...........

  Annette, a wonderful fellow Blogger and FB Fan! Make sure you hope over to Sewcrazed  !
Annette also has an Etsy shop, So Many Memories were  she sells beautifully handcrafted dishtowel dresses, aprons, sachets, placemats and more! She does custom work too, so be sure to give her a visit!
Thank you, Annette, Angie and Sue, for entering!  Until next time.........Have a great week!

The Little Daffodil that could!

This touch of early spring we have been enjoying here in Sacramento, led me to venture into the garden. To my surprise, I found this little daffodil that found it's way into the ground, from a neglected pot that was spilled last over the winter.A Sure sign that spring is on it's way!!

Another sign of spring! 

Hope you all have a great weekend! And don't forget to enter my give away for a Valentine's Day edition of a leather eyeglass case! HERE!

Getting Creative in my new studio!!

Now that my studio has been repainted and organized, see here I finally started sewing again!! WooHoo! These 3 leather eyeglass cases were listed today in my Etsy shop. It feels good to be creating again!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for my Valentine's Day addition eyeglass case here  !!

Back  to work!!!

Linked up to Waterstone-its-a-wrap!

Leather Eyeglass case Give Away!!

I know it's getting late, but I just made this Valentine themed eyeglass case and decided to have a give away, FINALLY!! Only four rules:

• Must follow this blog 
• Must be a facebook fan
• Must be shipped in the United States (sorry) 
• Must post by 2/14/11 6:00 pm pacific standard time

Don't forget to leave a contact source so I can notify the winner!

Contest ends on February 14, 6:00 PM-pacific standard time. I know you won't get it for Valentine's Day, but it is an eyeglass case you can use anytime! It is red leather, with a white leather heart and red leather roses accented with a decorative stitching, completely handmade by me- for you!!  Good Luck to all!!!

Beets baked in Stonehouse Blood Orange Olive oil

On our ferry trip to San Francisco, last summer, my friend and I shopped at the Ferry Building.

It is a beautiful building with an array of unique of restaurants and  specialty markets filled with fish, chocolates, cheeses, olive oil, breads and more. We stumbled upon a shop called Stonehouse and were able to taste test a number of products. I found one olive oil that sounded sooo good, and it is my favorite olive oil ever. Thank goodness you can purchase it online, since I'm almost out.!
 It is extra virgin, blood orange. It has the freshest fruit taste of any flavored olive oil I have ever tried. I have splashed it on fish, salads, roasted veggies, you name it! You can always taste the orange no matter how you use it.

Today, I give you a recipe for baked beets.

We love to use golden beets, they have a milder, sweeter taste than red and you don't dye anything red, like counters, hands, etc! Just peel and slice one bunch of golden beets. Put into a small covered casserole dish and toss them with 1 or 2 tbls. of Stonehouse blood orange olive oil. Add a very small amount of water and bake at 350* till tender (about 1 hour). Remove from oven and cool a bit, salt and pepper to taste and toss again with 1 tbls of Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar, from, wait for it, Trader Joe's! (I swear, they should start paying me)! You can also use a good balsamic. Absolutely delicious served warm or room temp! Enjoy!

Wavey Pleated fabric tutorial

This is for my FB friend, Angie, who asked if I would share a technique I used on one of my latest pillows. I am happy to share it and an alternative. First I must give credit to Susan Wasinger, and her great book:

 

I have used a few of her fabric techniques in some of my projects. She has such great ideas!

Here is the pillow I used the wave pleat on: 

The linen one

First, use a lightweight fabric, roughly half again the size of your project. Measure off 2" lines with chalk or disappearing marker. 

Fold at the line and sew 1/4" in, like this: 

Continue until all lines are sewn. Then turn the fabric and sew the first line of pleats down like this:

Turn the fabric and sew the pleats down in opposite direction, like this: 

This is were you can experiment with different measurements. The pillow was sewn in 2" by 2" intervals. The jean fabric was sewn in 1 1/2"  (marked lines) by 1/2" sewn lines. The matching thread and larger intervals is more subtle. Try to keep your sewn lines straighter than mine! When you are done it should look like this:

Notice the crooked lines, boo. I wanted them to go away, so I added a decorative stitch down the middle of each space. 

Now I just need to incorporate it into something, not sure yet! Easy peasy technique, with all kinds of possibilities! Oh yea, because the pillow was too subtle, I simply took some embroidery floss, threaded it thru each intersection and tied it off into a knot to add a little color. Try varying the pleat sizes and see what you can come up with. And don't forget to share!

Studio Re-do...It all started here......

My daughter got married and moved out of her room. I always loved it, it has a north and east window and is always bright. I jumped at the chance to use it as a craft room. And so started the 2 year evolution of my studio!

the beginning

metro shelves are great, but too tall and overwhelmed the room

So I moved the metro into the closet and ended up with a mess, as I collected more fabric and paper crafts.

It's time to Purge!!!

I have only one full wall in the room,and two metro shelves that were too high. I almost bought some new shelves, but didn't really want to spend that much money. So I finally asked the key question, do they make shorter poles??? YES!!! the metros came out of the closet. I also found some nice looking and practical boxes to separate my fabrics, and actually fit on the shelves. WooHoo! Now we are getting some were!  As I started arranging the room, I looked at the walls that were painted years ago. They looked like someone took a machine gun to them!!! I've never been shy about nailing holes into the walls! I needed a neutral color, so my daughter suggested I look at one of her favorite blogs The Inspired Room . She discovered a color from Behr paints called Studio Taupe. Perfect!

 

The lowered metro shelves left space above for some art (mostly my daughter's). I painted the old door, used as a work table, with a faux  granite finish Tutorial here

Wire strung across the window to display some favorite things. I love the view!! 

While there will always be some tweaking, I think this room is finally ready for some serious creations! I really am blessed to have such a great space, truly done on a dime (or two).  What a great way to start the new year!!!

New Pillows for ME!! Yah!

I decided one of the things I would do this "new" year is take care of some things I've been neglecting around the house. I've been cleaning out closets, re doing my studio (reveal soon), and I finally sewed up some new pillow covers for my sofa. I love the multi striped rug and was able to pick up some colors from it in the fabric stash. I am pretty happy with the results. The room also needs new window treatments and paint. One of the many things I'll get around to this spring.

 

Now, to find the balance between work, home and crafting......I've been reading a lot of posts on getting organized this year, (some wonderful ideas) and hopefully it will happen for me too!! How are you getting organized?

Happy Anniversary at "Crush 29"

It was my husband and my 32nd anniversary yesterday, wow, were does the time go? We celebrated with a great dinner at "Crush 29" .(thanks to the suggestion from my son, Tom)  We scored a cozy seat by the fire

and had a delicious meal of mushroom bisque, roasted pear salad, duck spring rolls and pizza. Weird combo, indeed, but soooo good. It was our first time there and I highly recommend it. The blood orange martini was a great start! Thanks, Ric and happy anniversary! (why do I always forget to take pics of us?!?!?)