Pretty things...

When we brought dad to the lancaster museum in Nanton last weekend I just had to take a quick peek in a couple of the antique stores there... found this little jem... I can't wait for the room to be finished so that I can put some fresh flowers in it!  

Shit picture I know but I was just trying to grab a quick snap of the whole bottle... it even has a glass lid...

Love love love the crown on the jar lid!  And it just fits so well with the other elements that I've collected for the front room....

Okay and one more shot of the lid...

LOVE IT!  I plan on getting this room together this weekend... I even have the grocery list already made and we're going to go get the groceries tomorrow evening... yeah, Friday evening...  Once the weekend starts I don't want to leave the house at all... except for my hair appointment at 2 on Saturday... my regrowth is just out of hand now...  Anyway... I think Friday night we're also going to grab the large blinds for the front room so thats done and out of the way and the blinds in the house are complete... the sun pours in there and I'm starting to worry that its going to fade my swedish couch!.. not that I want to block out the sun completely... I've found in the front rooms upstairs that if you turn the blinds up just enough you can block the direct sunlight (from turning the house into a sauna) and the room is still full of sun and bright... win win!  Once the room is mostly back together then I have to decide if we're going to put curtains back up in the front windows... I think they'd be nice to have in the winter to help warm up the room... but what about in the summer?  Just a plain sheer?    

Oh and HI! out there!..  someone left a comment on a few posts below this one that they were visiting the blog from Exeter, California!.. I love to hear where you're visiting from and what brought you here!..  Let me know!..  Hey, become a follower of my blog!.. There is a link over there to the right somewhere...

Can't wait for tomorrow... Show & Tell Friday... what will I snap tonight to be ready for the morning!?.

Stormy night...

Well it was more like stormy evening... WOW... it came out of no where... blistering wind and rain and hail... when it was starting and I looked out my back window it looked like a wave was coming down the Deerfoot... it was crazy...

I've never uploaded a video to my blog before... hopefully it works... its only two seconds long... Its a shot out the front window...  Don't mind the mess in the front room there - its in the process of the redo... Once I get the chairs done that room is going to come together quick... I have just about all of the elements together for there now...

Oh and our street started flooding... water was just pouring out of the alley...

And just because I just took a photo of my new sweater to send to my friend Jirrian... I wish I'da worn jeans today... I think jeans are okay at work (on other days than Friday) as long as you're being stylish... but the jeans pic below is from a Friday... maybe I'll brave jeans tomorrow with a new top and some nice high shoes...

Got skinny pants and boots on today... Here's a closeup of the sweater... its from H&M...

The beady detail is jut on the top half of the shirt... and the cut of the shirt feels sorta 50's.  I think it would be better with jeans though...

Back to the Wingbacks...

I got back to the chairs yesterday evening... I can't wait for this coming long weekend... I don't care how nice it is outside... I'm staying in until these puppies are done, and the front room is back together... then all that'll be left in there is to make a few pillows, some things for the walls and to pick up a fern, to put into the little cage thing that I picked up...  All of the pieces are cut out for the chairs... the only sewing left are three of the wing pieces... I cut them all out yesterday and assembled one... I'm not liking the piping on that one piece so I might try to sew it over once more closer to the piping, or I'll take it apart and resew the piece together... I knew the wings would be the trickiest... but someone did it originally for the chair so I should be able to redo it!

I've just tacked the fabric onto the chair here with a couple staples so that I wouldn't have to hold the pieces on while trying to take a couple pictures... The foam is going to be replaced... along with that black piece of light fabric that is covering the back springs... it'll be that nice cream that you see on the seat part where the seat cushion is going to go... I know it'll be inside but it'll be nice and consistent all the way through... I plan on putting a layer of batting over all of the foam as well to make the chairs a little more plush and full looking...

I think they're going to be pretty sharp once they're complete!  

Show & Tell Friday...

Been busy this week... the Poppa is visiting us this week!  A last minute surprise visit... so I haven't spent any time working on the chairs or anything else really... and I didn't get a chance to get snaps of an item for my Friday Show & Tell but I do have photos of these sweet pillows that I made this past Christmas for some friends...

I made four of these - one had a rufle, two had this rick rack boarder and I think I left one trimless...  I had a picture of the three others together but can't seem to find it on my computer or phone... I swear I just saw it the other day... 

Here is a close up of the little owl... everyone loved their pillows... now to start thinking about what to make for friends and family this Christmas!

Hey check this out... and join in the fun...

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Here's a shot of my birthday kicks... and here is another...

Just learned to make a mosaic...

Perhaps its really lame that I didn't know how people made these mosaics... but I just googled it and found out... super sweet!  Earlier post from this morning below...  check out my golf ball photo...

Back to the grind...

Oh back into the full swing of the work week... weekends need to be longer... Just one day longer would be perfect... luckily today I'm laying out an invitation at work so that little bit of creativity in my workday is good... I wish I had to use more creative energy at work... Here is a snap for the invite that I took last night...

I didn't have good lamps to use to set up some proper lighting, and the balls are so reflective and shiny that they were all glare from the lights in the room and the daylight outside... solution?.. one of those sweet light boxes that you can get for around $100 for photographing small things... but I don't have one so I set them up on a white dish next to the big picture window in the front living room, tossed a white sheet over myself and the balls, like a tent, and voila!  More even light!

Oh Birthdays...

Saturday morning Chris and I had to do the tiniest bit of tidying in the house because dad was arriving at lunch, as a birthday surprise!.. after we tidied we went out for some birthday shopping... found some jeans and a sweet shirt... oh AND a birdhouse and this other bird type cagey ornament thingamajig... then we picked up dad at the airport and headed to Galaxy Diner for some late breakfast/lunch...

I found a pile of decorative pieces for the front living room this past weekend!  The green birdcage is going to get a couple coats of cream paint... and then find its way up to the Yellow Room.  The eggy shaped cage with the bird on the top is going to get some moss and birds eggs I think...  Then I found this one Friday afternoon:

The little pot inside the crown is removable... The nest I found on Sunday, at Golden ACre (not in a tree)... I was thinking of something bigger but this one fits in perfectly... Then I also found these at Golden Acre on Sunday...

Sweet little piece of glassware and set of keys... they had bigger keys too... might have to go back and get those...

And finally this super tall bell jar...

So this room's accessories are just about complete...  I think once I have the chairs done and in place with the table... and the other little table painted and placed I'll have to find a lamp for the corner... then some wall decor, which I'll make... and then perhaps a fern... and something for underneath the tall bell jar... a plant?  a pile of teacups?  Oooo and I want to crochet a few different size doilies to place on the table that you see in the picture directly above...  I'm hoping to finish one of the chairs next Sunday and get the second one stripped and the legs painted... I picked up paste wax yesterday to wax the legs of the chair that I'm working on now... I just have to give them a light sand to smooth out the paint and then a couple coats of wax... 

Birthday eve...

Last night we went out to try out sushi... Turns out I like my fish cooked... And thinking of the orange flying fish eggs that are on top of the rolls at the bottom right there as sprinkles doesn't help... It looks so pretty though...

Show & Tell Friday...

Getting up at 4am is not conducive to life in general... so apologies in advance for the iphone photos... I didn't have the most time before we left the house this morning... and I couldn't find my dslr... I think its buried under the piles of fabric for the chair reupholster in the sewing room...  Anywhoot here is my show & tell item:

My super sweet vintage styled tags... I won these as part of my gift basket from the Vintage Chicks sale that took place a few weeks back...

I've always loved tags... I have a frame full of tags from my fourth year independent work as an artwork...  probably to go back up in the front living room...  and I totally want to make more of these tags for around the house...  they're just so darling...

The ribbons are super sweet too... velvety... sparkly... all dirted up and old looking...

These are going to be such a great addition to the front den... hopefully in another week or two I'll have the chairs done and the room all together...

Join in the Show & Tell party... check out My Romantic Home...

Sigh... but a good one this time...

This baby runs smooth... its just a basic brother machine but it came with a pile of bonus feet... walking foot, free motion foot... ZIPPER FOOT... and like 5 others... and it has this nice table attachment...  I was so excited to be working on my chairs again that I ended up getting ahead of myself and sewing a couple pieces together only to have to rip them apart because they weren't exactly right... 

Here is an iphone snap of the front, and arm piece... I'm just holding them on to get an idea of how the chair is going to look... I still have to replace the foam that is underneath and then fatten it up with some batting... but I'm waiting until I have all the fabric pieces ready to go before replacing the foam...

I'm so jazzed that this is a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and the piped pieces are turning out so well!  Keep in mind in the above photos that the pieces are just temporarily in place... thats why they're loose looking...  I have to start thinking of pillows now that will go with both the couch and chairs... Cream maybe?  I don't want to overdo it on the cream though... but black cushions on the purply grey couch just won't look right I think... what do you think?  I know I want to make some roll pillows and they'll be sharp and have piping... I'm just unsure what fabric to bring in to tie them together without being too matchy matchy... so let me know what you think!

One last piping shot... hahaha, its funny before I had to rip and re-sew this piped piece the guy there with his arm out towards the piping looked like he was holding up a head because the pattern on the piping  had a guy's head right on the outside, and it lined up exactly with the end of the guy's arm...  more sewing when I get home this evening, and cutting out the last pieces of the chairs...

Giddy up...

Its Calgary Stampede time... c'mon pancake breakfast!  Check out the belt buckle and lumberjack shirt I'm sporting today... 

No luck AT ALL yesterday evening... again no zipper foot... I have one more place to try today, so I'm calling later on this morning to make sure they have what I'm looking for... and that they will in fact be open... If I go to any more places that I've called to see if they have the foot, or will be open and I get there and they don't or they're closed I'm going to throw a total tantrum!  I also have a few people checking to see if they have the foot... and if its compatible I'll be able to borrow it.  Then if not I might just buy a new machine because all new ones seem to come with the plain old zipper foot.

Here's another Stampede shot... taken a couple Stampede's ago...

Sigh...

Got a pile of work done... for the chairs - the legs of the stripped chair have many many coats of paint... and almost all the pieces are cut out for both chairs...  I'm waiting to replace the bit of foam, that you see above, until I'm about to cover those pieces with the new fabric... AND BAM production has ground to a halt because I don't have a zipper foot to sew the piping and to sew the pieces together that have piping in them... AND I went a few places to find the foot... and they were either closed or didn't have the foot... dilemma!  I'm thinking about buying a new basic singer machine just to get the foot...  my current machine is a big embroidery unit...

On another note, here are a few photos from the weekend...

Mmm... BC Cherries... our neighbors brought them back for us... they were soo tasty...

Water droplet on the little cabbage plant... given to me by another neighbor!

Show and tell Friday...

I found this beautiful blog: My Romantic Home and have decided to participate in Show & Tell Friday... there are so many beautiful blogs participating!

Here is what I have this Friday...

I've shown this before but I really love these eggs in the jar of eucalyptus leaves that I picked up from the Vintage Chicks sales a few weekends back...  Its in our yellow room... or the bird room... I'll have a few shots of that room once I get the vintage yellow chenille dry cleaned and put onto the bed...

I'm showing these eggs again because I couldn't wait until next Friday to participate... and I'm currently sitting at my desk at work (I'm here early... I'm not blogging on work time)... so I can't get any new photos right this second...  Ooo but the wheels are turning for next week already!  

I could use a nap...

...yeah its only 6:23am and I could use a nap...  the only thing that got done once we got home yesterday was supper cooked and the main level of the house quickly cleaned and vacuumed... today after work we're heading over to Rowlands Custom Furniture and Upholstery for some metal tacking strip, some cardboard tack strip and possibly some double welt piping - so that I can make a nice double welt to go around the bottom of the chairs... if not I'll see if I can make a double piece by hand tacking two pieces of single piping together and then using that inside the fabric... it should work the same...  the weekend can't get here fast enough for me - one - I want to sleep in until 8... yeah 8 is like 4 hours sleeping in for me... and two - I'M DYING TO WORK ON THE CHAIRS!..  and a list of other projects that have been put on the back burner while I'm working on these chairs...

Okay, okay...

...so there has been no progress on the chairs in the past two evenings...  I'm just bagged when I get home after work... but I've decided not to reuse the the metal tacking strips from the old chairs... they're too warped and crap... and the cardboard tack strips are just ripped to shit and shapeless, so I found a place here in town that sells upholstery supplies... after a quick trip there today after work I'll be set to get the chair put back together... well I need to find an electric knife to borrow... or purchase... I found one on kijiji for $5... maybe I can get there tomorrow evening to get that picked up!?  Chris is working this Saturday so I'll be working on the chair ALLLL day... and well probably all day on Sunday too... I'm so excited to see them finished...

Here's a sneaky peak of the chairs with the fabrics that I was choosing between... I chose the fabric on the chair to the left... the fabric on the right was too flimsy and satiny... the left one with the smaller print was more canvassy...

12 meters of the fabric on the left has been bought... what do you think?

Cut knuckles and a half stripped chair....

I strongly suggest some nice leather gloves while stripping furniture of its fabric... ripped my knuckle over a staple... but oh no, once wasn't enough... shortly after I smashed said knuckle into the wooden frame of the chair... another note... if the chair is musty and old and stinky either wear a respirator or tear it down outside... I'm pretty sure my last job wrecked my lungs... the dust from inside of this chair has me wheezing like an 80 year old who's smoked for the past 70 years...

Here is the chair as it is right now... really there are just not enough hours in the day... and even my four day weekend wasn't enough time to work on everything that I wanted to work on!  You can't really see all the work done on the chair because I have all the fabric and foam that I removed piled up there on the seat... There is going to be a bit of tricky sewing on just a couple spots for the chair... everything else is stapled or uses this long staple strips...  I'm so stoked to get it done... I'm going to try to remove the rest of the fabric tonight... and possibly replace the foam... then tomorrow start cutting the fabric and work on some of the sewing... I have to make a pile of piping too... I'ma go google making piping now...

Found it...

We've chosen the one on the far right... The two outer ones are the same pattern... just one is blue and the other black... and the middle fabric is a purple black and the fabric is flimsy in comparison to the other two... the outer two are nice and canvas like...  AND we found foam that we can use for the new seat cushions...  AND its all on for half price... gotta love a good sale... speaking of sale, we're having a multi family garage sale on our end of the street today... hopefully that'll pay for this fabric that we're picking up later...

Happy Canada Day...

The internet is on the fritz... I'm like a walking advertisement for allergy sufferers...  I'm going to sleep now... Tomorrow the hunt for the toile begins... wish us luck!

ps. Hope you've all had a great Canada Day!

Painted the living room...

Here are two quick shots of the front living room... the before was taken last night when the sun was in the front of the house, and the after this morning, when the sun was at the back of the house... so they're not true before and after... the lighting is so different... But you get the jist of it... the Heavy Cream colour is no nice... and I had just enough paint!