The Arteest Is In

Both of my sisters are highly artistic. Unfortunately, the artist gene – like toned thighs and the confidence to wear a tube top – is something that I don’t have.  One particularly artistic sister, Susie, has her BFA and just painted this little number for her bedroom.

If you like what you see, Susie is offering her skillz as an arteest up to you, John and Jane Q. Public. Take a look at her portfolio of other work here. Interested in having her create a custom piece? Contact her by email at susieroupe{at}gmail{dot}com.

In other artistic sister news, my older sister, Joy has a children’s clothing line. She sells her darling things on Etsy here.

Desperately Seeking Susan… or Laurie Smith

My talented Mama made me a valance for my bedroom window three years ago.  It was perfect! But then I moved… now I have two windows in my bedroom and only one valance.  The simple solution would be to make another valance, right? Well… therein lies the problem.  The perfect valance was made from the Laurie Smith Mosaic fabric in Yellow.  It looks like this but in yellow:

Image from here.

Image from here.

Here’s a tiny picture of it in yellow from here.

I think I must be a bad Googler because I can’t find anybody who has this fabric lying around for sale. Has anybody seen this fabric anywhere? Where do I look?

I think I was born in the wrong era

How delicious and adorable is this dress pattern?!

If I had my own team of sewing mice, I would totally make this dress! The pattern would also be darling framed in a sewing room or dressing room.  Hmm…

Why don’t we dress like this anymore?!

I’m now officially weeping at my computer screen.  This does give me an idea though… I’m going to ask Grandmama and Mama if I can have some of their old patterns to frame.  The envelopes are so pretty and if I can’t have the dresses themselves, I can at least look at them everyday.

More loveliness:

* All images from various Etsy sellers

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

This year for Mother’s Day, I decided to do something a little different.  I’m a big gift giver.  I love finding or creating the perfect gift for someone – the kind of gift that helps that someone realize just how much you care about them and just how much thought you put into finding the perfect present.

Buying things for Mama is never difficult.  We have somewhat similar tastes and I can usually spot something she’d like (especially if it’s on clearance) from a mile away.  Mama is the kind of girl who loves table linens.  She has 1/4 of the attic sequestered for her pressed, hung, plastic-wrapped and marked tablecloths, a special chest in the dining room for placemats and a drawer system in the coat closet for linen napkins.  She could probably create a different look for every day of the year in her dining room if she was so inclined.  So to play into that love, I thought I’d give her even more linens.  Only this time… I’d make them! (dunt dunt dun!!!)

I found these adorable napkin rings (on clearance! Mama would be so proud!) and bought 4 Sparrows and 4 Finches in white. 

Then, I stopped by JoAnn’s in search of a pretty fabric that would complement Mama’s yellow dining room.  I decided on the Stonehill Collection Prairie Home Green Vine and took home 2 yards.

Then I set to work.  First, I washed and dried the fabric on the recommended hottest setting however the heck I wanted to. Then came the actual assembly.  Not being the most patient or accurate seamstress meant that I didn’t measure a darn thing.  I folded the fabric so it made 8 equal pieces and began cutting.  After I cut, I measured eyeballed about a 1/2″ fold on each raw end and pressed it down.  I stitched each fold down using Grandmama’s  sewing machine. (I have a sewing machine but it was feeling a bit under the weather)

Grandmama helped me pin about another 1/2″ fold down on each side of the napkin and I stitched them down twice this time.  Once close to the fold and the second time close to the edge of the folded over portion.  Viola! Finished napkins! They are by no means perfect and by no means acceptable to give to anyone other than family but I’m pretty proud of the way they turned out!

Susie and I fixed Sunday dinner for Mama and Grandmama on Mother’s Day so we set the table using the new napkin rings and napkins.

They don’t look half bad when pulled through like this.

I tied a cute little vintage children’s book tag (Mama is an elementary school media specialist) to the bird at Mama’s place and she seemed to be really pleased with the new additions to her surfeit of table linens.

Visit this blog for more detailed (and accurate) instructions.

Dont’ sew? You should order these beauties! Absolutely gorgeous!!