Sep 1st, 2010
Our first house guest just left us on Tuesday ;_;- it was so wonderful to have family visiting just at a time when I had started to feel a little bit lonely in a whole new state, a thousand miles from all my friends and family. But while little Alyssa was here I realized that I had failed to prepare for dining for three! I’ve been using the same 2 placemats since we moved in simply because who thinks of placemats?! Being both thrifty and crafty I decided to make my own, which perfectly coordinate with our botanical dining room.
I used some really gorgeous fabric left over from an old Urban Outfitters tapestry, a green upholstery fabric from Ikea, my maroon striped bias tape, and some miscellaneous lace.
I wanted a layered look so I used some bits of my wedding lace and tucked them into the bias tape as I stitched. I know that’s a bit extravagant, but what else am I supposed to do with my love of ragged luxury?!! Let’s just say that these are special occasion placemats.
And they’re reversible! Look for the full tutorial on Friday. For now you can check out the adorable new bias tape now in the shop!
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Aug 27th, 2010
No reason for this post except that Petina is full of quirks and charming surprises. She knocked over my pots and found a biodegradable one that looked especially delicious, then she proceeded to carry it around the house with her until the appropriate time. And by the appropriate time I mean she destroyed it. How could I be angry when she was walking around like this for forty minutes?! I mean how did she even know where she was going?
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Aug 22nd, 2010
Num Num Num Num Num- I am so in love with the idea of free goodies! How did I never notice the FREE section of Craigslist before we moved? I’ve been trolling Craigslist for the past couple of weeks looking for stuff to fill in the blanks spots in the house, especially since we’re about to receive our first house guests. The result of my efforts is this awesome retro sofa that just happens to fit our decor to a T (a “tee”?). We attempted to fit the whole thing in the back of our mighty Versa, but alas, we had to return this morning with tools to take it apart. Our efforts were well rewarded! Check out the before and after:
Before- fabulous original plaid cushions didn’t quite make the cut.
After- Some heavenly green satin twill, a couple of fabulous pillows, an adorable Petina, and some odds and ends and voila! It fits our Harry Potter/ Botanical/ Library theme perfectly!
I think Petina was almost more happy to have a sofa than I was! She jumped up the second I was finished with the cover and with a great big sigh, she snuggled down like she hadn’t snuggled in months. Thanks Craigslist, and thanks Amy!
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Aug 11th, 2010
While my studio may have very limited wall space, the rest of the house contains more blank walls than you can shake a stick at. So Eric and I have been trying our hardest to fill that wall space with things we enjoy.
Eric has had this small, vintage Jesus portrait since college, when he found it, took it home, and drew headphones on it with a Sharpie. Little atheist Eric hardly knew what he was doing then, but years later that little picture with peeling paper has taken on new meaning.
I’ve always enjoyed vintage religious art and so I decided that little headphones Jesus needed a companion. And that’s how we ended up with the best paint-by-numbers Jesus EVER! Behold!
This is how collections are born, my friends.
Oh yes, and in case you were wondering, Eric is no longer an atheist.
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Jul 19th, 2010
Our POD is finally unpacked, ladies and gentlemen! That means that Eric and Polly are vagabonds no more! After 3+ years of moving from place to place, storing our precious things here and there, we finally have a whole house to ourselves, including all of our STUFF! It’s been so much fun to open boxes and find nostalgic things that I haven’t looked at in ages. And it feels really good that our scattered belongings are at last all within our reach whenever we want them.
So far we’ve only had 1.5 tragedies. 1. We couldn’t get the boxspring mattress up the stairs. It seemed illogical that it wasn’t fitting and we wondered what we were doing wrong, until we remembered that the previous owners slept downstairs so there were no beds upstairs since probably 1945 when beds were smaller or something. The regular mattress fit just fine and now our bed is just a touch lower than before, no biggie. And tragedy no. 1.5 is that two of the screws to the bed disappeared sometime during the move. We put it together anyway and hopefully the bed won’t collapse while we sleep!
Now we get to begin the overwhelming task of making our living room into a living room and not a labyrinth of boxes and assorted furniture. It’s going surprisingly fast and soon I’ll be back to posting about actual craftiness! I miss my sewing machine so much!!
I promise that next time I write I’ll a.) have something crafty to say and b.) I’ll have pictures!
P.S. The pups are LOVING the new house! They get a really big kick out of running up and down the stairs over and over again- crazy mutts!
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Jul 15th, 2010
Okay, so up to this point I’ve just been really excited to move to our new place and explore a new state. I’m a “band aid” kind of girl- don’t think about the painful bits, just do it. But now I’ve actually had to start saying goodbye to people and I’m feeling really down about it. Today is our very last day in L.A. sigh.
The really sad bit is that we’ve been so busy doing last minute things like cleaning out the house and going to the bank and the vet that we haven’t even gotten to say goodbye to everyone we love here. Ugh. I hate to ever be not happy on my blog, but it would be weird to pretend that I wasn’t really sad today.
I was planning on posting pictures and a post about this awesome diner Fel took us to this weekend, but to be honest I think I’ll save that one for later. Instead, here’s a list of all the places in L.A. that I’ll miss the most.
* Disneyland
* Griffith Park & the Griffith Observatory
* The Getty Villa
* Silverlake
* Daichan on Ventura (we have yet to find anything that fits the bill in Portland)
* Cliftons
* The Garment District
* Canters
* The drive to Canters
* The Rosebowl Flea Market
* The thin pancakes at Pie N Burger in Pasadena
* Last, but not least, In N Out- tragic. I may have to have some for lunch today.
Next time I write to you my lovelies, I will hopefully be much more cheerful and I’ll tell you all about the 5 Cent Diner ( my keyboard doesn’t even have the “cent” symbol, how sad!). Maybe it’s called the Nickel Diner, but I think it should be called the 5 Cent Diner personally. Look out for that post and wish me luck on a 16 hour car journey with 3 pups and a singing Eric!
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Jul 4th, 2010
Okay, lovely readers, I’ve officially got some dates. Shipments in the shop will be on hold from July 7-21. This means that anything purchased before the 7th will ship on the 7th, and anything purchased thereafter will ship on the 21st. The good news is that this is quite close to my current shipment times, so no worries unless you need a rush order. I won’t be able to do rush orders at all during these next two weeks.
The other good news is that even though HQ will be topsy turvy, packed up in boxes and I’ll be running around like a crazy woman, posts to the blog will be business as usual right up until the move, and again right afterward! Yay technology!
Now I’m going to go fantasize about how to turn that ugly space under my wonky kitchen window into a glorious mini-greenhouse a-la Hogwarts! In the meantime, here’s another sneaky peak- of my roses!
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