Summertime 2013 in a nutshell...

This was the first summer I can remember being home with the kids and not working.  Because my energy level went from the energizer bunny on crack to a sloth on sleeping pills, there was a lot of TV watching and game playing w/the littles.  In between the resting I had the opportunity to get a few things done around the house.  While moving back home from the shop, we also moved my sewing room downstairs and the little upstairs.  And we turned the big bedroom upstairs into storage.  All of this moving around was quite overwhelming - and because disorganization and mess drives me nuts I pushed myself to get things put away.  I also took the opportunity to let the OCD run wild and deep clean everything in and out of sight.  I'm still working on the deep cleaning, but I'm getting so close to being done!

Amid all of the scouring,  I was able to do a few of the things I have been wanting to do, but didn't have the time.  The first project I checked off the list was recovering our bar stools.  Here's the before and after:

The before... just nasty. 

The after.  Nice!  You can't really see it in the picture, but we covered over the fabric w/thicker upholstery plastic.  Now, if there's a spill all we have to do is wash it off!  And the chickens (or roosters...) well - I'll talk more about them later...

The next project was SUPER fun!  And I'm not going to tell you what it is just yet...

First, I need to keep my hands busy or I'll loose the ability to do the things I love to do.  To keep them busy, I spend time beading or embroidering.  I was more than thrilled to do some beading for this project.

First, I picked out some lace that I could use as a gage to keep on track.  I used thicker (but not too thick) interfacing, and then muslin, and then the actual fabric, with the lace on top.  

Next I chose what to use to sew onto the lace.  I picked out a few old necklaces and broaches left over from the shop costume jewelry. 

 I took them apart and started on a design.

At first I was thinking to put these three larger stones at the center front...

but when I got this far I decided I didn't like it... So I picked it all off and started again. 

 After a few re-starts I finally got something I liked.  Here it is, almost done.  There's the necklaces as well as broaches, sequins and lots of szwarski  (sp?) crystals.  This is a bad picture - it really looks so much prettier in person!  I'll bet you're wondering what it's going on... unless you cheated and looked ahead...






The beaded piece goes around the neckline of this beautiful girls wedding dress!  I was so thrilled to make this beautiful dress for my beautiful and amazing daughter, Christina.  She looks simply stunning!

and here's the train in the back. 

This is the finished gown.  She is just breathtaking!  

Now, in the middle of all of this funness we had a new little guy join the family!  Grandchild #2 - Little Jackson.  This guy is a charmer!  Cuddly, all smiles and simply a love!  

After making Tina's wedding dress, I made matching dresses for Rachel, and Kelsey (Tina's new sister-in-law who's close to Rachel's age).  Here's Rachel modeling the dress.  And one of the little matching purses I made for the girls (for fun!).

                Summer vacation went by all to quickly!  I can't believe these little awesome kids are back to school now.  The house is quiet during the day.  I can get things done faster (though still in slow motion) and I can accomplish more with them in school but I do miss their crazy funness!!!

Part of going through and deep cleaning everything meant that I took the chickens off the shelves and cleaned everything.  So here's the scoop with the chickens... ok, they're mostly roosters - and yes, I've heard all of the funny jokes about collecting roosters.  Anyhow, when Austin and I got married, I was asked how we'd decorate the kitchen.  I wanted our home to be comfortable and cozy - so I wanted a country look.  My reply was something like, "I want a country kitchen - with roosters and stuff".  For our wedding shower I got lots of rooster and chicken things.  That was 11.5 years ago - and since then it's become somewhat humorous to give me chickens for any gift giving occasion. It is nice because I have some that the kids made for me, and some that we picked up at special places.  Needless to say, I have a country kitchen with many different roosters and chickens.  Thus the rooster fabric on the stools.  This leads into my next project to keep my hands busy:  embroidery!   I found this beautiful panel fabric years ago at a fabric store that was closing down.  FINALLY I was able to make a pillow with one of the panels!  

 I embroidered the rooster and the yellow checks w/stripes, and around the edges.  I LOVE it!  Now I'm working on the companion panel -

I used the same technique with this pillow as I did on the rooster.  I started by cutting a piece of batting the same size as the panel.  That adds to the quilted look as I embroider through both the batting and the fabric.  Hopefully you can see what I've embroidered,and what I haven't yet.  It is quite fun, relaxing, creative and enjoyable! 

Now more on the roosters... I've finished cleaning most of them, and the leaves and other decor that goes with them.  Here's what it looks like above some of our cabinets:

 You can't see a couple of the chickens as they blend into the wall behind them in the photo.  But I think you might get the gist.  We have another ledge to put the roosters on as well.  We took all the decor (roosters, baskets and floral) down to clean them.  We put a few bigger roosters up kind of just up there 'cause I have a plan!  You see, my amazing and crafty husband made me some of these crates:                                    

They're up in the upper right corner, and theres a third behind the huge iron chicken on the left.  I wanted to get some raffia (sp?) to put into the crates like nests but I don't get out much anymore to shop, and I didn't want to spend money so I came up with a way to make it myself.  I ripped up a cardboard box and used the pieces as bases.  Then I grabbed my shredder bin...

because seriously this looks better than raffia.  

 And I glued the shredded paper onto the cardboard in nest like formations.  I'm letting the glue dry, and tomorrow I'll use some left over spray paint in yellow, gold and tan to paint the nests!  Then they'll go into the crates, and I'll resume decorating the chickens and roosters that live on this ledge.  :)  And please don't ask how many chickens are in our kitchen/family room.  There's a lot.... and it is so funny when new people come over and comment to each other that we have lots of chickens - and then try to count them.  ha haa.  

That's all for now!  I found some pictures from the last few months as well, so we will jump into the blogging time machine and I'll show you some things from the past (few months that is...) 

See you next time!