Hubby says: "Can you do something less colorful, less floral? I mean it's nice what you make, but I think people like plain, one or two colors stuff."
Me: "Well, but this is me, hubby. I already had this thinking of making plain things, but these colorful results are part of my personality and my culture, I guess. I know I can do something plain, but I won't be happy with it. I know there are a lot of people that would never wear a red shirt. But I do. I like it bold. I like it strong. I wanna do what I like and sorry, I can't please all the people".
This conversation we had several weeks ago...to be or not to be so colorful? I prefer to be. If you like it, stay with me. If you don't...say bye. The sun shines for everyone.
My comment box remains closed and I am thinking about reopen it...maybe not. I have good reasons to not let people to comment here, I prefer e-mails at the moment.
And today I took the kids to the community pool. Warm day, when the sun is not hidden behind the clouds. My skin is a bit red. Love this, but with lots of sunscreen, please!
I heard that Hancock Fabrics is closing several shops in the country and the one in town is one of them. they had a huge sale and lots of stuff were sold for almost nothing. I got lots of Waverly samples like these below for 50 cents each...
Remember those clothespin dolls I was making? I just put them in a box, unfinished. Yeah, I did. I just discovered that I don't like messing with small things. My fingers get nervous and I lost my patience with them. Besides, I don't really like dolls. Sometimes, I do. It depends...I am so afraid of those Blythes. I see them everywhere on Flickr. I totally understand those that like them, but they put me off a bit...they really make my hair to stand up!
And this (below) I started last night...Will you guess what is this? You don't need to. If you wait, you will see. Hopefully it will work perfectly. Burlap is so very cool to work with...love it.
They gave her a name which I like. It's Molly, my mannequin. Perfect to hang my clothes and photograph my handmade bags and brooches...I don't like to be a model to show things I make and I dislike using a tripod, so this mannequin is just great! It's not heavy and I can move it around easily.
And the bag was renamed Amelia. It's gonna be back in the shop soon. I wanted to redo the lenght of the handles as I thought they were a bit too long.
And I made a brooch with scraps of embroidered linen, cotton and a covered button...
Last, just because I am happy about it and I know it's too silly to report that, but I will just because...I finally found the perfect bra size for me!!! After over 6 years living in The US, I am happy to know that Victoria's Secret sells 38 A bras. The sales girl told me they are new and it's not even in the catalog yet...and they just had half dozen in a forgotten drawer. Yay, I don't feel like an alien anymore!!!
I've been thinking about blogging since Monday. I can't believe it is Friday already! Summer is the busiest season for me. I have both kids at home and they beg to go outside, to ride their bikes, to be in the pool, to take a walk...and somehow I have more energy in this season. I even cooked today. I mean, I always cook but I am talking about good food. I don't like cooking but it's a pleasure for me when my kids are excited to eat something special that I make. I made a good soup today and fried yucca roots. Have you heard about these roots? Yucca roots are what we call in Brazil aipim, macaxeira or mandioca. I never make fried foods. I avoid fats as much as I can. I do an exception for yucca roots that are so much part of the brazilian culinary and very popular down there. Peel it, cook it in salted water and when soft, not mushy, damp in really hot oil. Not too long, because you don't want it too hard. The best is when is crunchy outside and soft inside.
Today is Saturday. I could not finish the post last night. I was too tired.
I guess I did not mention that our trip to Brazil was cancelled. Yes, we must wait a bit more. We will spend one week in California in July. My children haven't seen the ocean yet. Well, the oldest did but I don't think he remembers it. I bet it will be a blast! So, I can go back to my sewing room and make some pretties for this Summer. I've listed some totes in my Etsy shop last week. They were made of my own pattern and ideas.
Yesterday I started to work on something new. Super colorful. I dyed the linen with Rit on stovetop. They say to stir the fabric back and forth in the pot and they mean it. If you don't, the result is no good. I had to redo the process once and I think it looks nice now...
In my opinion these two look great...
I have more linen to dye in red and orange. I hope to show you next week!
This is my work in progress. I am loving it. Yes, it's a bag. Very soon I will try other things, like crazy colorful pouches, brooches, collages...
I can't forget to mention these books I got a few days ago. I've seen a lot of people talking about Lotta and her cool ideas for printing on fabric. I've been thinking about trying these ideas this Summer...with my own drawings, of course!
The another book is D.I.Y (Design it Yourself) by students and faculty in the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. For those that are looking to learn something about Design, it is a nice start. It was published in 2006. I am looking foward to learn more about graphic design.
Another book that I got not long ago and I think is the best in the subject, it's called Craft Inc. (Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business) and it comes with great advices and important stuff we need to know if we would like to go business with our little arts & crafts. I like to surround myself with these readings lately. I wish that one day I can have real profits from whatever I do.
These links take you to Amazon. Happy Shopping and happy weekend!
Because as always, my time is hectic. You can't read about this anymore, I know. Nothing really deep and dramatic comes from my soul to put on the blog and I don't find it really necessary. So, better show what I've been making regarding sewing activities...
This is the second zippered pouch I make in my life...
As I've mentioned before, I am making some totes for the summer. These were the first ones made and they will be on Etsy shop soon. I don't have full photos at the moment. Stay tuned for more...
I am playing with different fabrics and being less shabby at this time. I am loving the machine stitchery on linen. How about pleated tops for these bags ? Linen is so cool to work with. I am looking for true natural linen. At Joann I find this linen labeled 100% linen, but I wonder if there is any blended rayon in it...I purchased some linen look yards of blue, pink and yellow as well and they are blended...hmmm, if you know any shop that sells great natural linen, would you send me an e-mail? Thanks.
I need to make this clear, this wreath below it's for my home. I am not selling it. The first time a saw a wreath alike it was on Danielle's blog, which is one of my favorites. She made this wreath inspired by this artist, that has a Etsy shop and sells her gorgeous wreaths.
For our home we can make whatever we wish, right? So, taking the idea of covering the styrofoam with yard, I followed my own taste to adorn it, with birds, fabric flowers, paper flowers, etc...
I was looking to make one for my home since a long time. I almost purchased one at Target some months ago, with pretty cherry blossoms on it, but seriously, I have so many supplies that I am not using and I love to craft...I just needed the yarn. So here is mine...
These crocheted flowers were made by my mom, on top of them plastic flowers and pins...
I am just not sure if I am hanging on the front door...can someone steal it? I would get really mad if that happens!!
After finishing this wreath, I got ideas to finish the styrofoam trees. I was suppose to finish them for last Christmas...hmmm, I show them later...
The week was good. I am bit tired, I would like to sleep till noon, but...I can't. At 7 am the alarm scares me out to death (I feel like braking it, throwing that cell phone on the wall!) and if I don't jump out of the bed that same second, I will probably oversleep.
The joys and the therapy of stitching after they go to bed or with little one seated by my side, talking away and making many questions, the cats making noises, I have one that snores really loud, these are just like lullabies...I thought that I would get bored doing this simple embroidery, but nope, I really enjoyed the process. The drawing I did myself with a fabric washable marker direct on the fabric (linen). I do draw a bit, I don't really need the ready patterns. I just don't draw anymore like when I was a teen. So do my husband. He is incredible. He is an artist, he is definitely better than I, because he can draw anything without looking at it. I don't have such good memory to make certain drawings without observing the object...funny! Sometimes he will say that he would like to paint and draw things again, but he will soon forget about it. Hectic times, hard work, there is always something to fix at home, places to go and we forget about us, as human beings full of needs and wishes. And I, well...although I have this gift, this talent (whatever you wish to call) for drawing, I chose other hobbies...we must do what we feel confortable with, right? I enjoy sewing and reading now, much more than drawing. Let it be! Sometimes I wonder if I open the sketchbook and doodle for good one of this days...
Lolita, it's the name of this bag I just finished. I thought about Lolita because I am reading a book that has something to do, I mean, everything to do with this name, since it's part of its title.
It has pale colors that I often do not use, but doesn't mean that I don't like it. I usually like brighter ones, but this captivates me somehow. It's delicate. I used some vintage buttons to adorn the back of it and crocheted laces. I don't know if I should sell it or not. I like it so much. Lately I've found myself removing things from the shop to keep them for me.
...
I feel so good in this room, having all my bits and bobs scattered all over the table like on the photo above. You can also see a piece of the book cover I am reading at the moment. I just got it. I felt like reading something and after several minutes of search and little one whining about going home, I picked "Reading Lolita in Tehran". So far, I am liking it. I've read 4 chapters already and I find interesting how the author describes some details about the girls, but this is just the beggining. I might get bored in the middle, I have no idea. All the books I got recently were left forgotten in the drawer of my side table with a book mark right in the middle of them. Sometimes books put me to sleep and they end in the drawers, forever. All the books I read till the end were in portuguese, brazilian literature. That's right. Great ones. I remember reading 3 or 4 books a week when I was around 18-22 years old. I wasn't so busy that time because I failed the tests to the university (I tried Social Sciences : Anthropologie and Sociology), so I had to read. I find books about social/cultural matters more appealing to me. I do approach the shelves on biographies and politics too. I don't know why...they can be hard, sad sometimes...
BTW, are you tired of seeing my craft room? No? Good. I am never tired of that. Today I want to take a walk to some parks around here. All the trees are blooming and it's so inviting! Let's see if I get different photos...hopefully, won't be so windy today. I hope, because I am tired of this cold wind.
You can't comment anymore on my blog, that's right. I decided to remove the box for reasons that I prefer do not discuss about it. I really appreciated the comments, but I feel like not having it at the moment. My e-mail is still available though. I might have it again in the future...who knows?
Several weeks ago, I went to Phoenix and curiously I had to stop at Ikea. I got a table for little one's room and some small storage, like those drawers that are not sold online. So, last week I made a little decoupage on one of them (I bought 2) with fabric and modge podge. Here is the result...
These drawers are fun because we can personalize it, but I tell you what...hard to put them together! Next time, I will let my husband do the not so fun part!
Do you have any Ikea Drawers still "naked"? Have some inspiration: here, here and here.
We used to go Vegas often when living in Lake Havasu city years ago. I don't really love that place, but hubby wanted to go there. It's always full of people and we don't gamble. It was good to walk around and see people from all over the world. You actually see all sorts of things, weird things. We went window shopping 'cause we have to save money to go to Brazil very soon... A long time we don't go anywhere, because it's a bit tiresome with small children. They had fun at Circus Circus. They actually had more fun than us.
When little one does not want to go in certain places...ha! He will stop at the doors and say it laudly..." I am not going inside there." You try to convince the boy...it takes like 15 minutes to make him to accept the fact that mommy and daddy would like to have fun too...that happened at Anthropologie. I wanted so bad to go see that shop that I hear so much about it and he would not let me go. The little brat started to cry by the door and after some little talking (pleeeease, let's go there to see beautiful things, pleeease!) we stepped in. We were all around the entryway looking what we could, because little one was not happy at all. I told my husband to take him out for 5 minutes, but nothing would make him go out with daddy and daddy, off course wanted to be by my side to watch how much I would spend there!!! He definitely had good tactics to stop me wishing Anthropologie goodies.
"Pricey, isn't it?" He tapped on my shoulder and said: "Have you seen the labels? It's all made in Asia. I said: "yeah...I see, but what is not made in Asia today?" He touched my heart right after saying: "probably made by a kid that earned less than a dollar sewing these clothing and they overprice everything to sell here for rich people looking for a brand name, a hip style. It's so frivolous Zee." And I just looked at him and "sigh, you are not wrong, just tell me that you can't afford it, cut this torture in half please."And how about the quality?" He asks. Well, I must agree that some shirts sold for around $ 80 bucks after looking at the quality......I got a bit concerned about it. Really, but a lot of things are fine and I think the price is ok, like these cushions for example. I guess it all depends of where you live and how much you make, it depends also of our evil part of being not so futile and knowing that living in this world is not a fairy tale, while we pay 118 bucks for something that we don't really need and the same amount of money would feed a family in Africa for the entire month... Ahem, I can't be hypocrite. Should we all feel guilty of being alive and have good food on the table? Should we all blame ourselves for all horrible things that happen in the world? After all, I just looked and got inspired and I got sad too. I like the style, speacially the houseware goodies, lamp shades, frames, embroidered pillows, all those colors... Some of their clothing I would not wear, but I loved some pants and shirts they have. It was great to go in, but shopping with kids and husband does not work.
I wonder if the brazilian shops are still making their own designs and sewing locally their creations. I worked as a seller in some shops and I knew that clothing were made locally. I am not sure about how much a seamstress makes in Brazil, but they probably make more than what people make in Asia, still not enough and it's obvious. Visiting Anthropologie gave me some DIY ideas...hmmmm....I love patchwork, crewel and details made with colorful scrapped fabric!!!
Wouldn't be nice to see shops owned by groups of local artisans, crafters, artists, something like Trunkt out there, in the streets? I think so...perhaps they are already there and I did not see yet. I live in a small town and I don't see much around here!
Work in progress...these cell phone pouches will be ready soon...
A bit late, I know! All right, life back to normal. It's snowing again and hopefully it will stop soon. All these days I've been working on new bags. They all have quilter's batting in between the layers for softness. Some mistakes I did, but fortunately I can fix them without problems.
How about 2008? Resolutions? Yes, some. I hear that if we write down our resolutions, it's better, but in my case, I will forget to look at them, I know, I will. My mom used to say that I lived in the "land of the moon" all the time, because I don't pay attention to things that....errrr, do not interest me very much. It's true. In high school all the girls used to seat at the same huge table to chat. Ha! I was always somewhere else. Maybe I can use my inspiration board for it, write some big red words to catch up my attention. What do I want? Confidence, more positive thinking, more skills, time management (guilt free), lots of inspiration...anything that pushes me foward will be great and I want peace, love with the family and hopefully, no more weirdos after me! Weirdos, please get a sewing machine! I tell you, it's good.
2007 was a calm year, although I had many of my mood swings bothering me, lack of motivation in the beggining, but in the end, I was just fine. I can't complaim. It was a good year. I have my kids, my family together and that is what matters.
Here are the bags I just finished this week...
The green + grey bag it was made with a piece of Scotland wool sweater that I wasn't going to wear it anymore, and instead of giving it away, I cut it in pieces. So, I came up with the idea of making a bag out of it. It was delicious to make it, the idea worked out pretty well and it's on my Etsy shop. You will notice different prices. Yeah, I had to do it. I put more than 5 hours on each of these bags and I am not even counting the time I spend shopping for supplies and taking photos and uploading them to the websites I use. If people like, if people love it, they will buy it. This is being a great experience. I am not really worried about it, the story of making money from home is great, but it's so complex. It demands a lot from me and I am still learning a bunch of stuff. If happens, I will be glad and it will motivates me even more. I think this is just the little beggining...maybe...
I was reviewing the year of 2007 with photos. I think I do better if I put together a photo gallery to work as a subdomain, I mean, another web page besides the blog. I do it later.
Have a nice weekend and thanks for all the messages, all the kindness last post!
Hello, after some days, I am back with this easy tutorial to make a bulletin board for your fridge. The idea probably not new, maybe you've seen something like that before. I take it as mine, because I did not copy from anyone, but I believe there are people with similar ideas. The first one I made I did not use fabric, ribbons and tacks. It was just cork and magnet. Today, I like to give it a nice touch adding upholstery fabric and the materials mentioned above. You can free your imagination and do it yourself a nice one. At Michael's craft store (if you live in USA), you will find the rolls of magnet sheet. They have adesive on the back, but it's not enough to hold on fabric and cork. Do not purchase those magnet sheets for printers. Those don't work. You will need hot glue, a lot! There are for sale at Michael's, Target, Wall Mart and other shops these squared pieces of cork, ready to use. I like the one below (I can't remember it's brand name - sorry!) because it's light weight and thick.
If you use tacks like the one below, you can glue two pieces of cork together, like I did...
On the photo below (not the best, but...) you see my 2 squared pieces of cork and the fabric. You will fold the fabric on the back and use hot glue. Don't forget to iron on fabric before to start this project and do not leave wrinkles on the front side. Pull it as much as you can. It has to be tight, be gentle with the cork!
You can do a nice hem for it, I did not. I was in a rush, I've been really busy with my children lately, they are full of energy, my home cleaning never ends and I don't have a maid. Ha!
Are you doing all right? Ok, now you take the magnet sheet and fix it the adesive side on the back side of the bulletin board. It must be smaller than the cork's size ( like half inch), because you don't wanna see the edges of the magnet showing around the edge of your bulletin board. I hope my English is not so bad!! Ugh! Do not glue the edges of the magnet, leave at least half inch free of glue, because you will need to stick the ribbons underneath the magnet sheet later.
Time for ribbons. Choose the sturdy ones. Satin ribbons are no good. They are suppose to hold your grocerie cupons, cards and whatever you stick on the fridge. To keep them on place, just use a pin while you attach them on the back with hot glue.
Attach ribbon underneath magnet sheet...
Finally the back of your bulletin board will look like this...
Zee
♥
mom of 2 little boys, wife, cats, photography, Photoshop, crafts,
sewing, handmade things, Rio de Janeiro, Arizona...
hey, my mother language is
portuguese!
If you like what you see, get a cup of tea and enjoy! Thanks!
♥
