I Need Your Vote!

Here we are, starting the season of political gobbeldy-gook where we have to start considering who we will vote for for public offices. Well, if you're too overwhelmed by choices (or lack thereof) then vote for something you like, like fabric! Connecting Threads is having a contest; vote for your favorite new design, and the winner gets to design a coordinating line of fabrics that will be produced and sold to the public!

It has long been a dream of mine to be able to design such a line, and this just might be my chance--that is, if you VOTE! Click here and vote for the Orange Owls on the Green Field, by me, Leona Jaeger. It is a far more fun to vote for cute fabric, isn't it? And Thank You for your support!

Finally--A Project Completed!

So as I was putting a stroke of paint on, an ethereal light surrounded me and covered me in warmth. Am I dead? Nooooo!--not now!!--I've got a chair to finish! .....Oh, wait....silly me...it's just the midday sun starting to swallow up my painting spot on the patio.  So after I regained my sense (I'd say "senses", but I'm not sure I have more than one), I looked again and realized--it's DONE! The second chair is finished! The set of chairs that Friend Nicole has been patiently waiting for is finished! So here they are, waiting so patiently, as did Nicole, to be shipped halfway across the country. Let me know what you think!

Tomato, ToMAHto

So, I go over to a friends house for a barb-e-que over the 4th of July weekend. She lives a little far away, so I don't get to her house often. She has a large yard with a pool and 2 or 3 seating areas--it's large and cozy all at the same time. And quite honestly, I'm surprised anyone could fit in her yard at all--because of her huge tomato plants! Gorgeous and easily 4 feet tall (the little girl in the photo is 4 yr old Gianna), the tomato plants were so full of tomatoes that Angela had to tie the plants up to the neighboring tree branches for support! I asked what her secret was, and she said  "Seaweed". It's a highly concentrated form that takes a lot of dilution, but apply every 2 weeks and you'll never have to go to the market for tomatoes again. If it's not too late to bump up your garden's output, then I suggest you run down to your local garden or hardware store and get yourself some seaweed. And enjoy those lovely tomatoes....or to-mah-toes.

Have a Seat

I haven't posted any furniture projects lately, simply for the fact that I haven't been able to work on them. But here is one of a set on which I'm finally making a little progress.  The other chair in the set will be the same colors, but with a different henna-inspired design. I enjoy doing patterns and colors that are not necessarily expected to go together, but somehow come together in the end. A kind of happy surprise maybe? What do you think?

A Cozy Space

Finally fed up with our random clutter on a section of our patio, we reorganized the area to contain our little bistro set, shade umbrella and some peaceful little plants. It's so nice to have a spot where you can enjoy your coffee, tea, or other delightful concoction of your choosing. Now it's a cozy and peaceful space. (Much cozier than my computer space which, along with my ankles, happens to be being attacked by a "ferocius jungle cat"--a.k.a, kitten). Looks like it's time to stop typing and start walking toward that little bistro set--with a concoction and without a kitten.

Some Photo fun

this is just a little quickie: I was playing around with a new app I got for my iPhone called "Hipstamatic" which will take your photos and add slight effects that give the photos a different feel. Sometimes a slight blur that gives an ethereal feel; sometimes it really saturates the colors; sometimes it gives a vintage-y feel.
Here are some shots from my garden for you to enjoy. If you have a phone that accepts apps, try Hipstamatic--it's a little addicting and a lot of fun.

A Little Progress...

For anyone who has noticed posts about my working on my friend Nicole's chairs, I've revealed a possible color palette before, and now I'm going to give a hint at what design I'm going to paint. I absolutely love the delicate, intricate, beautiful lines seen in henna tattoo designs. Florals, swirls, paisleys, etc. all dance around each other to create truly lovely patterns, and no two are totally alike. So here is a sketch of a partial design that I will be painting on Nicole's chairs, inspired by traditional henna tattoos. Although the difference is, from what I understand, in traditional mehndi  each design symbolizes something. I don't pretend that mine symbolizes anything other than pretty, swirly flowers and such. Enjoy.

Mother's Day Flowers

Today is Mother's Day, and as a Mom, I must say that it is the hardest, most mind numbing, energy draining, craze-inducing, most rewarding, and lovely job I've ever had the opportunity and been blessed to have. So this message go out to all you Moms and Moms-to-be: May you always feel as appreciated and loved and as special as you are. You will definitely get back what you put into it. There are days it doesn't feel that way, but please know that it is true.  So I'm posting these beautiful photographs by Maria Kalin as an appreciation and honoring of you--the Mother--may you continue to be honored and blessed!

More Color, please!

If you can still find an April 2011 issue of House Beautiful magazine, or if you'd like to go to their website, www.housebeautiful.com/, the have some fabulous photos of an apartment that has me coveting and drooling. It's a beautiful decor that is both bohemian and classy, chock full of one of my favorite inventions--COLOR! Although the colors are bold, the hues that were selected--a carribean blue, aqua, plum--keep that room serene. There is also another room highlighted that has a fabulous raspberry wall that lovingly hugs furniture of complementary color (an olive-colored couch accented with vivid patterns). Take a look at the photos below, then head on over to the House Beautiful website for more mouth-watering eye candy. One of the descriptions has put it better than I ever could: "It's an artistic twisting of a kaleidoscope, turning a collision of colors into a tour de force." Magic.

Waa waaa wahhhhhhh

If you didn't quite get the title of this post, it's that droning "musical" sound of disappointment that is played when something just doesn't pan out. Like my getting around to submitting a fabric to Project Selvedge (see previous post). I kept wanting to submit something new, as the designs I already have on Spoonflower aren't "boy" enough, really, and the contest was for a boy fabric. I had sketched puppies, frogs, and snails for it, but just didn't find the time among my plethora of other projects to get it done by the deadline. But if you'd like to view the finalists who did get their designs submitted in time, go here. Enjoy!

Project Selvedge, Here I come ( I hope)

If you mosey on over to Spoonflower, you'll find yourself eye-to-eye with this little logo glaring you down, just challenging you to a duel. Can you do this? What shall you do?

 Do you join the ultimate fabric smack-down? Of course I will. Naturally, I have been über busy with full-time work, freelance, and family, so haven't been able to work on this yet and the due date is next week--what is life if not challenging, right? But I will enter, and if I even make it to the first round of choices,

I'll be all happy-drooly and stuff.

Wish me luck! 

And good luck to you, if you decide to step up to the challenge! But most of all, have fun!

Another Cozy Quilt by Tina

My friend Tina at Little Blue Cottage has added another lovely quilt to her repertoire! I love this quilt, and I I commented to her on her blog, "it makes me all squealy on the inside". I love the simple-but-fun and frolicky design. Hand-stitched in areas, machine stitched in others, it has a balance that I like. As much as I appreciate a pristine edge, I love the look of hand-stitching and "raw" edges. To me, it adds to the slightly worn look of a quilt with a bit of age and a lot of love. And that's what Tina does, is quilt and sew with a lot of love. It is apparent in everything she does. Congrats, Tina, on another fabulous work of art!

Fresh...Like an Orange

You might be able to gather (by my logo, and by my business cards, if you saw them) that my two favorite colors, especially together, are orange and aqua. I love the energy that the color orange evokes, and the serene calm and just plain "prettiness" of aqua or even turquoise. I know a lot of people are thrown off by orange--don't really know what to do with it: too bright for some, hard to find a complimentary color for others, just too plain "loud" for many folks. But I love it--I feel refreshed every time I see it, and even more so when I see it put to good use. So I thought it'd be fun to find some good design samples for the home--the least likely place people may use the color orange, because they are not sure what to do with it, other than accent pillows. In the photos below, the use of orange ranges from all over (quite literally) to accent areas, but I love them all. Happy, energizing spaces!

What do you think? Do you think you could take a color as bold as orange and "run with it"? What other colors do you think you could use with it? (View my previous post, and you can see what might work to your liking....)

Just for fun...

Just for fun, I thought I'd share a peek into the color possibilities I've decided upon for my friend Nicole's chairs. I don't want to give it away completely, as she wants to be surprised, but I will say that 3 of these colors will be used in a design reminiscent of an Anthropologie fabric design that I came across. Sorry, that will stay a secret, too. Are you surprised at the color choices? I hope so! I like to take colors that one  might not think go together, but then make them work as a pleasant surprise. When I'm done with the chairs (and the last coats of paint are going on this week), I'll post the photos. Until then, you'll just have to wait--just like Nicole.

In the Meantime...

If you read this blog with any regularity, you'll know I love fabric. Designing it "for real" instead of as little hobby projects is a goal of mine. I would love to design a whole line--like a real fabric designer would! Occasionally, however, I do get to do it as a portion of a larger project. For example, for a toy food kit that has a little apron in it. These are samples for a client for a different project.  I did a total of 25 possibilites, and some did get chosen. Here are a few to peek at. Let me know what you think!

Live and Learn

It's been awhile since the last post, but this is one of the things I've been up to--Learning this little Lesson: If you choose a dark color somewhere in the spectrum of reds or purples, make sure you get the primer tinted, or--Streaksville! I have chosen a lovely shade that, when cured will be a rich, dark color. Unfortunately, it will take about 5 coats of paint to get there. I have had this problem once before with a deep red, but I was trying to be practical and use some primer I already had purchased (as opposed to getting a new one tinted). I also didn't want to have a bunch of tinted primer left over.  Sigh. More work for me. Oh well--on the bright side--good thing I love to paint!

The Start of Something...

Hello! It's been a while since I've posted, and even longer since I've had a chance to work on some new furniture pieces. Well, here is the start of a new project. I've started sanding these two and have a 3-color design planned for them. The young lady who is commissioning these is a friend of mine. We knew each other in college and thanks to Facebook got reconnected. Thanks to Facebook as well, she's been able to view some of my projects and decided she wanted one. The fun thing is, she wants it to be a surprise as to what they'll look like. I fished around and was able to find out what kind of color palette she likes, but she still doesn't know what colors I've gone with, or what the design will be. I love the fact that she wants it to be a surprise--because I love to give them as much as I like to receive them. Okay, Nicole, here goes....