Living Room Switch-a-roo

Although I have been working like crazy this week I did manage to get the living room spiffed up and re-arranged.

I am still hunting for a new couch which has been a more in depth process than I would have thought. I have been looking at West Elm, Rowe, and PB and scouring blogs to find a cost effective, quality couch, but I still haven't been able to find the perfect one. I am wanting something slightly more casual contemporary, but Chris likes the more rounded country look. As I look over at my living room I want something more out of it, for starters it needs a nice color on the wall rather than the beige that surrounds the rest of my house (it is better than builders white). I am working on talking my dad into building me some white built-ins similar to these found at Jones Design Company , her living room is almost identical to ours and we are loving the antique pew, well really I love the entire room. But for now this is what I have:

I re-angled the furniture something I do about once a month to switch it up

I centered all the wooden boxes to make it slightly more modern

Added a wooden white tray to the coffee table, we can't put anything too high on the table because of Foster's monstrous tail

I removed Foster's crate and put it in the office and moved an antique trunk, that was positioned near the door, to create a cute little nook, this is probably my favorite part of the living room and I found a gallon sized mason jar at Target to add to my collection, as if I don't have enough, look above my cabinets in the kitchen

Also, at Target we purchased a rug to go under the island, this is probably one of my favorite patterns, we already owned this rug in a smaller size, but the 5X7 was finally on sale, so here it is. It adds a nice pop of color.

Have you found any great deals on couches lately? Any brands you would avoid? We could use all the help we can get.

Now on to cleaning the rest of the house and packing for a long awaited trip to the beach.

Under the weather

As you can see, I have changed my background. I have been wanting something cute but clean, I am pleased with how it has turned out.
I have been feeling somewhat under the weather, I got the sore throat, runny nose, head pressure deal-not fun. I am hoping it is not the beginnings of the flu. One thing I have noticed as a nurse is that I fail to care for myself, especially at times when I am physically sick. Also, I am lacking the judgement of whether or not to go to the doctor, mostly I do not want to pay a co-pay for them to say you have a sinus infection, drink fluids. So for now I will force myself to drink more water and take ibuprofen as needed. Maybe tomorrow if it is not better I will reconsider. In other news I have sewed a little bit, pictures below, I had to get some last minute Christmas gifts finished. Below you will see a little card holder and aromatherapy rice bag I made from I am momma-hear me roar and another type of rice bag from Sew Mama Sew. I also made a coffee sleeve from The Cottage Home. Hopefully later today after I get some errands run I will get some sewing done since I wont be working tonight, I wasn't able to work last night either due to low census ( which is probably a good thing since I am UTW).

In other news: I got more fabric for Christmas from Braden and Mindy and an awesome window pane mirror made by Braden-probably one of my favorite Christmas gifts!

Chris is busily working at Winterfest, but he did make sometime to make me a new magazine rack (since foster chewed the old one) and it looks great! Just needs a dab of paint to finish it off, might try to sneak by Lowe's clearance section to see if they have some cheap paint. Also, I am not sure if I shared before but also for Christmas my dad made us an awesome island for the kitchen, we are super excited to finish it and get it in the house!

Well leave me some love or advice if you get a chance!

Current listening to: Speak Now by Taylor Swift ( or Tay Tay as some refer to her as)

Eye glass case 

Push pins and magnets out of buttons

aromatherapy rice bag with lavender oil made by Mindy Gates, LAc

Card holder

Rice bag #2 with lav. oil

Coffee sleeve-yum.

New Hair Cut by Sarah Kline

Window Pane mirror by Braden Hale

Magazine holder by CAW

Christmas Time

Since the last post we have travelled to Amelia, Chesterfield and back to Madison Heights. We visited my dad and stepmom for the first two days and then to mom and stepdads for two. My MIL and FIL came in town yesterday and are here until tomorrow. If you follow me on twitter you have seen that my burlap stockings did not get made :(. I made a very novice mistake- I forgot my sewing petal- I figured it out on the 23rd after I cut out my batting and burlap and was about to pin the fabric and noticed that my pedal was nowhere in site. Sad I was, very disappointed. So no sewing was done while I was gone. I had planned to make the stockings last night, but it just never happened. Instead we used my socks, will post pictures- pretty ridiculous. I do plan on finishing up some projects tomorrow after MIL and FIL leave.

Exciting news: for Christmas I got gift cards to Joann's and Quilt Expressions and a new seam ripper, fabric weights ( awesome invention), magnetic wand, large rotary cutting board and yard stick. These items have made a world of difference when I was working on my latest item- will post pic soon. Also for Christmas I got some jackets, trail/road bike, tennis shoes, scrubs, stock pot ( which I made some soup this evening in), Nike running chip, sheets, and other odds and ends. On another note: I didn't have to work today! We closed Thursday, what a great present! Today we, along with the ILs hung around played country music triviology and I figured out how to skype! We also drove around in the snow to look at Christmas lights. As mentioned above I made catchall soup-basically threw what I had in a pot- sausage, chicken, celery, carrots, Cayenne pepper, S&P, lasagna noodles, can of diced tomatoes and chicken stock with some spices and let it simmer for about 5 hours- didn't turn out too bad :) .

While out of town I continued my blog reading. I love scouring over blogs and finding some good ideas- loving Moda BakeShop!

Today my MIL gave me my first lesson on hemming pants-I am going to attempt hemming Chris's new Carharts and Dickies.

Well on my to do list is finishing some last minute presents and posting new pictures.

Your job-leave me some love or advice or suggestions.

Hope you had a blessed Christmas.

Busily creating

As you can see I have changed the name of my blog to be more reflective of what I have been doing lately. Since Saturday I have tried to make a creation everyday. Below are pictures of all of the fun. I have been scouring over sewing and craft blogs to give me some ideas. My favorite blogs are  Sew, Mama, Sew! (there are such great tutorials and links to other blogs) and A Pretty Cool Life. When I made my first sewing project on Saturday I felt completely lost and unable to remember any of the sewing techniques I once knew. Since then I have regained that knowledge through reviewing blogs and trial and error. Speaking of TandE (trial and error), I have loved everything that I have produced except an eye glass case I made today. Big disappointment, but I must say out of all the things I made I only dislike one thing which is pretty good. I am not sure if it is the fabric that makes me uneasy or just the way it turned out, but either way I love a seam riper. What a waste to just let the ugly duckling case sit around or to just throw it away, so now I can use the fabric for a smaller project.

What sewing is to me: Sewing reminds me of my mamu, my grandmother. She was an amazing seamstress, growing up I had entire wardrobes and multiple quilts made by her. She taught me a few things about sewing when I was younger, but unfortunately when I started getting into sewing she developed Alzheimer's. Although she is unable to teach me all that she knows, I am excited to visit with her over Christmas to show her what I have made. I know my passion for sewing comes from her.

Sewing is usually very relaxing and helps me get my mind off of the stress of life and work. There are the times when my bobbin runs out mid-project or tread collects in one area when I sew or no matter how hard I try I cannot cut a straight line, hopefully overtime these frustrating aspects will get better.

One thing I love about sewing is the joy of it, how can you be down when you are working with such beautiful fabrics! I have so much joy when taking a piece of fabric and turning it into a beautiful piece of art.

Handling the hardships of sewing: I mentioned a few of my beginner blips above, but recently I bought a rotary cutter and board to assist with my cutting handicap, helpful yes, but still struggling with my fabrics being the right size and not lopsided. Hopefully for Christmas I will get a big ruler (not sure of the real name) and some chalk or fabric pen. As far as my bobbin, I am learning to check it before, mid, and after  each project. Also mentioned above I am having issues with tread collecting on the underside of my stitch, haven't figured that one yet, any suggestions? Lastly, expense..fabric is not cheap, but I love me some Amy Butler fabrics.

I would love some feedback- leave me some love.

Braden's satchel

Ipod, Iphone, Digital camera, cell phone case

Eye glass case

Checkbook cover

 

Tissue holder

Eye glass case

Coasters

More fun coasters

You can get all of one kind or mix and match

Mix and Match

Christmas present