Saturday, September 25, 2010

quick and easy Christmas gifts & decorations

I found these ideas with instructions this morning on the Craftbits website. I have some wired ribbon already in my stash to make the ribbon bags. I would handsew the sides, not use glue.

I love re-using stuff. So, I love the napkin holders made from used bath tissue rolls.

http://www.craftbits.com/project/ribbon-bags

http://www.craftbits.com/project/quick-christmas-napkin-holders

Thursday, September 23, 2010

New Floor

Yesterday workmen started on my family room floor. They ripped out the carpet and pad, leveled the concrete floor and added a coat of water proofing. They put all the furniture into the dining room. We have a little tunnel to go through to get from the bedrooms to the kitchen.

We're having a hard wood floor installed - no more smelly carpet (the dog rolls around on it). It's supposed to be all finished when I get home from work today!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Fashion design really is engineering with fabric!

Rice University Official Page James Mischka, along with design partner Mark Badgley, debuted his Spring 2011 collection last week during Fashion Week. Who knew Mischka discovered his true passion — artistic design — while he was studying engineering as a Rice undergraduate student?

Read more at: http://www.explore.rice.edu/explore/Mischka.asp

My sweet new kitty died yesterday.


I got my little Bombay girl kitty from my vet in June. She was very affectionate and cuddled with me as I recuperated from knee replacement surgery in July. We grew so attached to her - such a wonderful personality.

She got sick during the night on Friday morning. We took her to the vet as soon as the office opened. She got some shots and gave blood samples for testing. On Saturday we went back to the vet for the results. She had liver disease and pancreatitis. But, with care she would get better.

Sunday morning her back legs were stiff and cold. We took her back to the vet where she died.

We are all in mourning. She was only 3 years old. Life is just so unfair.

Monday, September 13, 2010

A necklace made from recycled t-shirts!



I coiled strips of old pink and turquoise t-shirts into spirals. I stitched in several places to give the appearance of petals and added some beads. The cord is a long piece of pink t-shirt that I stretched to make it roll in on itself. I sewed the flowers to the cord and added some green leaves from a vintage crocheted doily. I added a clasp from an old necklace to complete the piece.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A paint chip necklace



So many pretty paint colors - I just had to grab some to take home with me from the hardware store.

I cut out triangular shapes, punched holes in the tops and some on the bottoms. I put jump rings through the holes and added the triangles to a chain.

Voila! I have a new colorful necklace.

I may try cutting out circles or hearts for more jewelry creations.

A pincushion from a powder puff-redo



I love to go to estate sales. I picked up this pink powder-filled puff last week. I thought it would be a quicky remake but it took some extra time to turn it into a pincushion.

I covered the puff with pink velvet and had to add more stuffing to get it to fill out nicely. It then took longer because I had to get a spherical shape with stitches and moving the filling around with a long needle.

I covered the handle with more pink velvet and added a silk ribbon flower and leaves on top.