owen's olivia: May 2012

5/30/2012

slipcover progress

whoa. whoa. whoa. this is all i can think of at the moment. when i decided to slipcover owen's rocking chair for his room, i knew i was up for a challenge, but whoa. i took my chair and 7 yards of duck cloth fabric over to a friend's house, who has slipcovered several chairs now. she helped me with the inside of the chair and the arms, which is supposedly the hardest part of slipcovering. i hope she's right. my friend and i spent over 6 hours making the back, insides, and arms! after 6+ hours of work, i felt kind of bad that it was taking so long, so i decided i would take the chair home with me and finish it there. i know slipcovers are not perfect, and i am okay with that. but holy numb nuts. this is hard work, and for such an okay outcome??? i can't wait to see the final product though (but honestly, i think i will be more happy just to be done with it). my friend was SO awesome in helping me with this project. there is no way i could have done any of this without her help. she has shown me the basics, which i will use to finish up the chair.

so i ask this one question, which may not be a fair question because i am not done with my chair.

how do people make their slipcovers look so good?

case in point

Pink and Polka Dot

Biddibi BoddibI Beautiful

Ana White

Houzz

and now that your eyes have seen such a wonderful sight, i will now show you my least appealing photos of my chair. ha!

*my room is freshly painted (woo-hoo!), but i haven't put anything back up on the walls. :(

i can't wait to see the final product. this chair will not have ruffles or pleats since that is a little too feminine for a boys room. my ideal chair would look like the one in the last photo. i can't wait to get this baby done!

if you have slipcovered before, do you know how to get rid of those gathers at the arm????? i pin it straight, but it comes out of my machine bunched up. yikes.

and lastly, how 'bout i let you drool over the dinner i cooked last night.

5/29/2012

Lucky Jackson art

I found this art through Julie, who blogs at Button, button, and as you may know, I love some good art. I also have a thing for embroidery work these days, as I have jumped on the embroidery hoop bandwagon recently. The Canadian artist is known as Lucky Jackson, and she is ah-mazing and very talented. You can find her work in her Etsy shop or on her website. You must check her out.

All the photos came from Flickr.

*If you are interested in winning a slot to Whipstitch's 4 week sewing class (for beginners and intermediates), you can visit Plum and June, and enter there!

5/28/2012

Winners!

I'm a day late getting this out to you. It's Memorial Weekend here in the States, so sorry about that! What a GREAT giveaway week with Sew, Mama, Sew! Here are the winners for the the laptop sleeve and fat quarter bundle plus a few of my favorite pet peeve responses. The number one response involved food, chewing, and, in general, mouthy noises. A lot of them were hilarious! If you are stateside, Happy Memorial Day! I wish I could say I was sitting at the beach or riding a boat in a lake, but I am cleaning today. :)

Winners were chosen at random and have been emailed. "Trillium" won the laptop sleeve, and "Gill" won the fat quarter bundle.

Thank you to everyone who participated!!!

Here are a few funnies you might enjoy.

"I hate when people take pictures of their pets on the quilts of crafts they just made. Ewe! It skeeves me out. I just picture their fat cat just mozied out of the litter box with some hangers-on and it's now lounging on that lovely fabric. (gags)"

"I don't like watching people brushing their teeth - especially when they've used too much toothpaste and they are foaming at the mouth."

"Ugh! I cannot stand it when people make food noises while they are eating. Like Mmm.. oo... ah..
It makes me super uncomfortable."

"I would say what annoys me the most is when people let their dogs poop in my yard, and don't clean it up. Especially when it is right in front of my mail box . . . ick."

"it makes me crazy when people sing to themselves all the time. Especially if they're little made up songs, like about what they're doing or something. ARG. Those are just annoying, because it's like making the same joke over and over and expecting it to be funny all the time, but the serious singing is annoying too because I'm not sure if you're supposed to compliment the singer, listen politely, pretend it's not happening and just talk around it"

"I guess I do find people who talk on the phone in the bathroom pretty annoying. I always feel bad for the person on the other end of the line who has to listen to them pee while they talk! Gross!"

Happy Monday yo!

5/25/2012

Fabric Friday {ten14 Organic Textiles}

ten14 organic textiles has been on my Etsy favorite lists for a long while now. The collection is small but appreciable. I am not sure why I haven't shared them with you yet, but I am pretty sure I have included a few of their prints in other posts for Fabric Fridays. If you like tribal, colorful, geometric prints, you will love ten14.

ten14 is found on Etsy as well as the website.

All fabric is organic and printed in the US.

There's still time left to enter two giveaways. Laptop sleeve here and Birch's Next Stop 100% organic bundle from Cedar House Fabrics here. Ends tonight at 8 PM EST.

Have a great weekend! My niece is graduating high school, so we will be attending that. I can't believe she's 18 already. I remember when she was an infant spitting crap up everywhere. Oh my word. I.am.getting.old.too.fast.

On to a happier thought . . . oh, wait.

My son consistently climbs out of his crib now. In fact, I am sure he is taking his afternoon nap on the floor as I am typing this. Or cooking up some eggs. Who knows.

What are you doing this weekend?

5/22/2012

Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed.

I have teamed up with the wonderful Lela, from Cedar House Fabrics, and present you a wonderful giveaway for Sew, Mama, Sew! Cedar House Fabrics carries 100% organic fabrics including my favorites Monaluna, Birch, and Cloud 9. CHF is definitely my go-to shop for organics. Customer service is beyond excellent! You can also order any custom cut of fabric instead of the standard cuts!!!

PRIZE:

One fat quarter bundle of Next Stop from Birch. 100% GOTS certified Organic Cotton
Open to all
Ends May 25th, 8PM EST, winner announced on this post and emailed. Make sure I have your email address!

PLEASE ONLY LEAVE ONE COMMENT TOTAL. If you forget something, just delete your old comment and make a new one. :)

TO ENTER

What kind of marketing tool do you think is the most successful for small businesses? Facebook, Twitter, giveaways, personal relationships with the consumers, or something else?
If you have an account, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE "like" Cedar House Fabrics on Facebook and/or Etsy. Don't be a turd and not do it because it's one extra step. Be nice, and show your appreciation. This is an amazing bundle.

You can find Cedar House Fabrics at her main store, Etsy, and Facebook.

Best of luck my friends!!!

5/21/2012

A Pretty Laptop Sleeve Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed.

It is my pleasure to present to you the most awesome laptop sleeve. This sleeve was lovingly crafted by me, and I am so happy that one of you will be receiving it! People on the street will be like, "Yo! Where did you score that rad piece?" And then my dream response would be, "From this awesome girl who rocks and blogs."

This sleeve features:

Extra padding for protection
Elastic loop closure with bamboo button
Measures approximately 10" x 14"
Ty Pennington and Joel Dewberry exterior fabric. Peek-a-boo lining made with Monaluna and canvas.

Front side


Backside

Giveaway Rules

Open to all.
Ends May 25, 8PM EST, and prize will ship by June 1st.
Winner will be selected by random and announced on this post. Please make sure I have your email address, so I can contact you.

Tell me, what is your biggest pet peeve? I can't stand watching someone drink milk after eating cereal. Drives me bonkers! My husband will tell you he can't stand how many times I get dressed before any social gathering. lol

Good luck!

I'm linking this up to Sew, Mama, Sew!

5/18/2012

Fabric Friday {Fabrics for Under $10 Yard) + WIP

Before saying goodbye for the weekend I thought I would share with you what's in progress.

FOR THE HOME:

My custom window treatments for my kitchen are completed! This was a good month long process getting the right design. They should arrive at my door the first or second week of June. SO excited. If anyone asks what the heck these are, I'm not gonna dish until I install them. :) sorry!

My rug for the kitchen is on backorder, and it should arrive the first week of June. I haven't made any mention of ordering it, but here is a snapshot of the rug.

Still debating what to do with the back of my kitchen island. I have to wait until that baby above enters the room.
I painted my living room. I LOVE it! It is so bright and airy now. I use to get depressed in my living room. My living room is the next room to tackle once the kitchen and Owen's room is done.
Speaking of Owen's room, I purchased fabric to slipcover his rocking chair. I think I have been talking about his chair for a good 8 months now. All I have left to do for his room is slipcover the rocker, sew a pillow, hang pictures, and do a few little odd end things. And then my friends, I will be ready for the final reveal. :)
I reupholstered his ottoman. I will share that with you at a later date. I'm calling it the "ghettoman" because, quite frankly, it's ghetto. It was my first reupholstering job. You'd think the ottoman would be the easiest thing to reupholster. It wasn't too bad, but I'll wait to get into the details later. In final words let's just say it looks waaay better than it did before, which you can see here.

SEWING:

Oh my word. I am starting my second quilt, and I plan on listing it for sale. It will be very BRIGHT and girly, hence why I am selling it. I just loved the fabric too much, and I just HAD to have it! This quilt will be much easier than my last one! I'm doing hardly any cutting on this one, but I will be doing lots of top stitching. After that, I want to make blocks. They look like so much fun!
I am working on a few gifts for my nieces, but I can't really share pictures of that with you until they are done.
I've completed my giveaway, which will start on Monday, but I am working on some new giveaways for later dates. How much fun is that?!
I'm making zippered pouches to help my friend out, and if you can sew, you should take the opportunity to serve. :) You can read more about that here.

So I think it's safe to say that I have been one busy chica, but I haven't touched my craft room yet and Matt comes home tomorrow night. Boy, he will be severely disappointed. If only I could squeeze in a few more hours in a day. I should clarify. Kid-free hours.

Onto Fabric Friday!Here are a few finds that are currently under $10 yard, and most of which are on sale too. Just click the link under the image to see source.