Personal Post

Re-Making the Desk: The Big Reveal

21 Comments / Home Dec, Home Decorating, Personal Post / By

Before I do the big reveal, I thought I would show you Anne’s room, so that you will see how perfectly her desk/dresser fits in with the decor.

For starters, she dressed herself – and was quite proud of her outfit!  Now you can see the butterflies going up the wall and all of her homemade cuddly quilts piled high on the bed. What is missing is her butterfly quilt, it lives downstairs. The butterflies are important…

More quilt decor – her wall hanging in blue, pink, gray and white was designed by me and the wall hanging that has been turned into a window covering was hand embroidered by a dear family friend. It has been protected with blackout fabric on the back and hung with looped ribbon. I wanted to make sure it was protected from sun damage.

And now…the what you’ve all been waiting for, the big reveal!

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Lowe’s sold me the wrong kind of paint and I made lemonade out of lemons. Here’s what happened. I told the guy at the paint counter that I wanted a glossy/shiny finish, and I intended to use a stencil to paint butterflies on after I was done as a nice detailing. He said no problem, they sold tester cans for $3.00. Well all of that is true, except that the Satin paint that comes in the tester cans will NOT stick to the latex enamel glossy finish!  So I decided to go with butterfly decals instead, and to take it one step further, I really almost want to thank the guy, because you know what, when Anne is 15 butterflies might not be so hip anymore and instead of having to repaint the whole desk, all I will have to do is take the decals off!

Here’s is another view of more butterflies:

Do you also remember yesterday when I mentioned I got primer and 2 different kind of paint? Well here’s why:

I turned the desk part of the dresser into a chalkboard!  For now it will be a fun place to color and when she is older it will be a fun place to leave her secret messages.

I am so happy with how it turned out and the best part is that the dresser in our guest room has been emptied of her clothes and can now actually be used by guests! Oh yeah, and she loves it too!

I think my next home dec project will be refinishing the chair my parents bought for me to go with this desk umpteen million years ago 🙂

A Little Something Special

18 Comments / Berenstain Bears, Personal Post / By

Yesterday I took Anne to the dentist, she was well prepared for it. Her favorite episode of The Berenstain Bears is when Sister Bear has a loose tooth and she loves the Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist book too.  I decided to take it one step further and make a special Berenstain Bears bag for all the little things she would get at her appointment: toothbrush, toothpaste, flossers and prize.  Check it out!

I had to add a couple of girly touches for my girly girl. I fussy cut the front and back, and the front was smaller than the back so I added some of the pink dots on white. For the inside I did white dots on pink. I couldn’t resist throwing in some ribbon for the handles.

It was such a simple little project, probably took me no more than 30 minutes on Sunday night, but look at the results it got:

Positively Priceless! She let the hygienist brush, floss, and put fluoride on her teeth – I was one proud mommy! Today I am heading up to the hospital to pick up some of Anne’s medications and to inquire as to whether or not I can get some anti-nausea medication because if I am going to stay on the new RA drugs I need to be able to function on them!

And because I can’t resist putting up ridiculously cute pictures of my baby girl – here is my mom’s favorite from yesterday!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!

 

Still Recovering

14 Comments / Personal Post / By

So I started my new medication this weekend. There were some pretty nauseating side-effects – literally!  Every time I sat for longer than 10 minutes the nausea would just start to roll over me in waves. If I sat even longer than the the vertigo would set it and my head would start pounding. The worst part is that the pamphlet the doctor gave me on the drug said it can take upwards of 12 weeks for the meds to start fully working! What? I have to wait until Thanksgiving to start feeling better?!? Ugh!

The nice thing about the nausea (I know kinda sick to say there was a nice thing but I’m all about find the silver lining) is that I got quite a lot accomplished in the sewing room and with my home dec dresser project. Unfortunately I am still having these symptoms so sitting at my computer and editing photos for this post is not very appealing right now. Hopefully I will have more energy for that tonight.  In the meantime, say a prayer that I adjust to the new meds quickly because this nausea is getting really old really fast and it is hard to have fun with my baby.

In other news, wish Anne luck, today she goes to see the dentist for her 3rd visit. I made her a special bag (pictures tomorrow I hope) that I am going to give the receptionist when we check in. I’m going to ask that they put all her goodies into it (toothpaste, toothbrush, flossers, etc.) so she has an extra special bag to take home. My little attempt at making the dentist a good thing. I used my Berenstain Bears fabric and before bed last night we read The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist. I’m hoping it goes well.

How was your weekend?

Good-Bye July

11 Comments / Personal Post / By

Wow! I can’t believe that July is already over. I am actually pretty blown away by that fact. Tomorrow is my dad’s birthday – Anne and I spent Sunday doing some fun art projects and I mailed them yesterday – here’s hoping they arrive on time. Of course I didn’t take any pictures before we mailed them! DOH!

Sometimes when the month comes to an end I really feel like I haven’t accomplished anything but this month I really dug into my sewing room and despite my hands being completely uncooperative at times, I managed to get a fair amount accomplished – I even made a little mosaic to show you!

I actually managed to finish 4 quilt tops which just blows my mind and scares that pants off me too because that means I have 4 more quilts that need quilting! I got 4 bee blocks done (might get 2 more done today, we’ll see). I also made 2 pairs of shorts to donate to Hopeful Threads – and for all those who sewed…did you see that Kristy has more than doubled her goal for July – that is AWESOME! I also participated in a fun take on the game Telephone – that is my sunset that you are seeing.

Overall I am happy with my progress in July. Next month I am hoping to knock out my nephews quilt top, I will have a bunch of bee stuff to work on and then I will start quilting everything that needs to be done before I go back to California again for the holidays.

What did you get accomplished this month?

A special quilt

15 Comments / Personal Post / By

In 2002 – almost ten years ago, we lost my grandmother to breast cancer. She fought and won the battle when I was in high school and when I was in my final year of college it took her from us forever. She was a fighter to the end, in a coma for the last week or so of her life, she held on through my Uncle’s birthday (November 14) and my Papa’s birthday (November 15) and died on November 17th. We are convinced she didn’t want them to remember their birthdays that way.

When she was re-diagnosed with Breast Cancer, my mom went out and bought a quilt kit to make as a chemo quilt. That was the plan. There is always a plan and then life happens. My grandmother’s cancer progressed quicker than anyone could have predicted and the quilt never got made before she passed.  When I was pregnant with Anne – did I mention my grandmother’s name was Shirley Anne…I asked my mom if I could make the quilt. I made the top in no time, it is a very simple pattern, but it never got much further than that.

When I went home in December for Christmas, I brought the top home and we picked out border fabric. The next time I go home my mom and I will pick out backing and binding. This quilt is going to live in my mom’s sewing room, a little bit all three of us – my mom, my grandma and me

Have a wonderful weekend and remember today is the last day to enter the Fat Quarter Shop giveaway for Kona Modern Quilts!

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