If you’ve been following me for a few years, you’ll know how much I love vintage sheets for their sturdy cotton weave and their colourful and graphic floral designs. I have loved sewing with the fabric. Imagine my delight one recent day as I browsed thrift store racks for sheets and came across this set in the pattern I’d had in childhood!!!!! I so much loved the pillowcases and either sheet or comforter (I can’t remember which it was!) I had in this pattern. I didn’t buy this set, but took a photo for the sake of nostalgia. My childhood bedroom even had wallpaper and trim paint that I picked out. The wallpaper was striped in these colours against a white background (similar to this, minus the red), and all the trim was pink. Yes, the room was loud and colourful, and I still love a good colour and pattern combination.
On that same thrift store trip (always with my daughter, because she has inherited the love), I came across this wonderful display of colourful plates! I collect vintage plates with floral designs, but this little display of plain but colourful plates delighted me. I had to take a photo.
I’ve been experimenting more with beading, made into earrings. The first couple of pairs came pretty easily to me, but the third pair with smaller beads wrapped around larger ones was a challenge. It was an intriguing challenge, though; so I will be making more of those. Plus, I just love how the smaller beads give off so much sparkle.
I fell down the rabbit hole of stained glass crochet techniques. I believe this is an offshoot of what is known as overlay crochet, where you use longer stitches such as triple (and quadruple, etc.) that are laid over blocks of colour. I found this beautiful pattern at The Cookie Snob, but I found it wasn’t working out to be mathematically and geometrically “perfect.” I changed a few of the rows so that the stitch counts made the black triangles and stripes line up well. Then, due to the final stitch count of the circle, I made the motif into a triangle instead of a square. I will use these motifs to make a banner for our living room. I have seasonal banners, but I didn’t like the winter one I’d made. It had blue snowflakes, which were beautiful; but up against a white background, the banner seemed too cold (and I need cheer in the winter!). Thus, the stained glass banner was born.
These next two photos…swoon! A few years ago, I painted one of our bedrooms a beautiful purple. A few weeks ago, I finally got brave enough to do decorative painting on one wall. I’ve loved seeing the wall murals of Kristin Nicholas, the home of Mary Rose Young, and the home of artist Kat O’Sullivan (AKA Katwise). But I’ve always been too afraid of trying something like what they do. I finallly told myself to just do it, and don’t worry about perfection. So I did, and I didn’t even use painter’s tape for the orange stripes. I did measure, but the wall itself is askew, so out with perfection. Once I started painting the orange stripes, I began to relax into the process. After that, it was a much smaller leap to drawing and painting the huge flowers freehandedly. I had planned to create (perfect, repeatable) stencils, but I just wanted to get this done!
And after that, I naturally kept going with the flow I was in. I added dots and swirls, and VOILA! My first (but not my last!) wall mural! I smile EVERY TIME I see it. The purple bedroom is small, so this wall has a huge impact. A bed is now up against this wall, so the wall is a “perfect” headboard.
Take care, dear readers! I have more photo and art-filled photos in the pipeline for future posts! I’ve love to chat with you via the comment section!
This is beautiful and unique good for you for doing what you visualize such a great expression!
Thank you!