Where I Create

So, very recently KAREN of MY DESERT COTTAGE hosted a party called Where Women Create. Well I missed the boat so to speak. Guess I wasn't keeping up with my favs and so I didn't get in on the fun. I have been planning a post for a while featuring my studio space, and this finally got me to stop procrastinating. Come on in...

Looking in at my studio...


Where I blog and chat with you...


Old cupboard where all the stuff lives...


Where I sit...


Old chippy column and one of the "girls"...


Super old buttons hand~sewn on a card and labeled in the hand of the previous owner. Some are 1800's...


One of three dress forms I own and love love love...


View of the old zinc-top table I covet. Above it a collection of found objects on an old piece of architectural trim from an 1800's home.


My fab table and an old medical stool...


Old French bottle drying rack used to hold ribbon and seam binding...


Found objects...



Fab old suitcase with gorgeous wallpaper lining holds my old grain sacks, an old frame and my initial "S"...



Perfect place to sit and read a magazine...


My "junk" collage on old baby bed springs...


Old oil painting of pansies...


One of my favorite old cupboards that houses my books and flower frog collection. On top, my favorite old corbels...


My inspiration board made from a huge old frame. I pieced together some old grain sack fragments quilt-style and added wire to hang found objects from...



Maybe the favorite thing I own~~an old French grain sack framed in a chippy old white painted frame with the original wavy glass...


Can't get enough of these old ghosting mirrors. The post card was my great~grandmother's.


I love wasp nests. This is the grand~daddy of all time and a double decker...


Gorgeous old silver beaded cord with tassels...


Pile of grain sacks...


Last but not least, my huge chalkboard I made from an old mirror frame. This hung in both of my shops and I could have sold it a zillion times. I never will...


Hope you enjoyed the tour... Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,
Shelley

WHITE WEDNESDAY

Meet me in the kitchen for this week's edition of WHITE WEDNESDAY. My kitchen~~like the rest of my home ~~is teeny but hey, somebody has to live in small houses right? But you know what, when I think back to the size of my grandma's kitchen and lack of counter space and storage, it's pretty amazing the meals that came out of that even tinier space. If she can do, so can I right? Hope you enjoy the little touches that grace this space...
















Cake anyone?

WHITE WEDNESDAY

Come with me into the garden for this week's installment of WHITE WEDNESDAY. I think I have said it before, gardening in Florida is a bit of a challenge especially if you have lived in another part of the US and know that there are peonies out there somewhere. But I digress... (sigh). So I try to give my garden the charm that I crave with crusty, rusty elements and fragments in my favorite WHITE...


Cute birdhouse from old pieces and parts. Notice something has taken up residence in the lower floor by chewing the opening. So much for the birdies...


Fab old rusty white wheelbarrow.


I love this white sunflower bird feeder.


One of my favorite hoe shields from my collection.


Iron garden chair that I found where? You guessed it~~in the trash!!! What is wrong with people?


A section of old concrete garden edging.


I never throw anything away until there is no other option. An old rocker that served us well now sits in the cutting garden...


Concrete bunny that guards my butterfly garden.


Architectural element on my garden cottage.


Old porch post and an old corbel on the garden cottage.


Old rusty, crusty vent cover.


White angelonia.


Fab old crusty painted trellis.


This piece would have protected the bottom panel of an old screen door. Now hangs on a section of old picket fence.


Another old trellis with a twig wreath.


Fab old architectural element on the porch.


Thanks for coming along. Until next week...

Hugs,
Shelley

And The Winner Is......

Congrats DEMAINCA on winning the box of goodies!!!!



Thanks to everyone who commented and for all the lovely words you sent my way! I am very blessed to have so many people interested in my little blog. And now to Bobbie, my winner, if you will please send me your mailing info this box of treasures will be on it's way to you toot sweet!!

Hugs,
Shelley

WHITE WEDNESDAY

This week's installment of WHITE WEDNESDAY features random photos from my archives and select quotes from one of my fav books on living with white~~AT HOME WITH WHITE by Atlanta Bartlett.


White has the appeal of the nothingness that is before birth, of the world in the ice age. Wassily Kandinsky


For those colors which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white background. Leonardo Da Vinci


White... is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black... G.K.Chesterton



Renoir said once that nothing was so difficult, and at the same time so exciting, to paint, as white on white. Ambroise Vollard

Simple Stool Slip Cover

Here is an easy way to change the look of a simple square upholstered stool. The picture on the top shows the original stool. The picture on the bottom is the slip covered stool in "Zebra" (color - Steel) available at Calico Corners.

The slip covers below are made from a remnant of Italian fabric (top) and a remnant of embroidered linen fabric (bottom) also purchased from Calico Corners.

Requiring only a minimal amount of fabric and simple sewing, this project can be completed in less than 1 1/2 hours. The button-tufted stool is from West Elm and measures approximately 16" square x 18" high but similar inexpensive cube style stools can easily be found at a variety of other places including Target and Marshalls Home Goods.

Directions:

1. Determine fabric measurements - Measure top and four sides of stool. Add 1 inch to length and width of stool top for seam allowances. Add 1 inch to width of stool sides and 2 1/2 inches to height of stool sides for seam and bottom hem allowances. Cut out all five pieces according to measurements. Note: The slip covers shown were made of home dec fabric and required only 1 yard of fabric. If you plan on matching up patterns or using 44" wide fabric you will require additional yardage. Also, if you plan on washing your slip cover, it is always a good idea to wash your fabric before you cut out your pattern pieces.


2. Sew sides - Place two side pieces right sides together along "height" sides, making sure both pieces of fabric are going in the same direction. Using 1/2" seam allowance, sew together. Repeat with additional two side pieces. Place these two pieces right sides together along "height" sides. Sew together along both matched edges forming a ring. Using an iron, press seams to one side.


3. Bottom hem - Using an iron, press bottom edge of ring (slip cover sides)under 2". Fold raw edge under towards pressed seam forming a 1" bottom hem. Sew bottom hem.


4. Attach sides to top - Turn ring inside out. Mark center point of each side of slip cover top and each side of slip cover side. Placing right sides together and matching raw edges, line up and pin center points of slip cover sides with slip cover top. Pin and sew around entire top using 1/2" seam allowance.


5. Turn slip cover right side out and place on stool. Enjoy!