Kitchen Grapes

I have a great post for you today; I want to share the darling hand towels I made for my new kitchen makeover.  Just a bit of background about my recent decorating projects, I decided I did not like the coffee shop décor I chose for our newest home, it was something I had actually picked out for another home and just dropped everything into place when we moved in, without really thinking things through.  After living with it for almost three years I was not a happy camper, I started to think about what would make me happy and the answer was to go back to what I originally had in my first/favorite home.  I really adored my wine/Tuscan inspired home, the colors really spoke to me and everything complemented each other nicely.  Time to decorate with what I loved no matter what anyone else thought or what the decorating trends and colors are now, no more brown, gold and red.  I decided to use my sage green, burgundy, cream and Tuscan gold, all elegant colors when put together in small doses.  I did not have to purchase much since I had all my décor items in those colors in storage, all I had to do was go get everything and put it out.  I was short on curtains for the kitchen window and the family room windows, lucky for me Bed, Bath & Beyond still had more of the same drapes for the windows in the family room and I had great fabrics in my stash which would pull it all together for the kitchen window.

Most of my kitchen accessories were a bit worn out making it time to create some new ones using one of my own patterns.  Since it is a pattern I sell I won’t be doing a tutorial here but I will share that the tops of the towels are machine quilted and they also have some really sweet pleats on the back side and I was able to sew up four in just a couple of hours. Aren’t they darling! I just love the rich colors which are repeated throughout the kitchen through accessories and artwork. You will be seeing photos of the whole kitchen makeover when I share the kitchen valance tutorial next time.

I hope you enjoyed your first peek at one of the projects I did for my kitchen makeover. Keep reading to see the new kitchen window valance tutorial I will be sharing in a few days.

See you soon.

Laurette

The Blue Dress

Hello everyone, I have been away from my blog for some time now due to unforeseen medical problems and a nasty fall resulting in several sprains and a concussion. Yikes!! I have been a mess but I am finally healing from my fall so I can get back to doing what I love most, creating, sewing and blogging.  I have several quick sewing projects I was able to get done before all of that stuff happened so I will start posting them so we can all get caught up. I will also have new posts on my other blog page as well so look for those in the next few days as I get going again. I completely missed Easter so you may see some out of time projects from that as well.  So…. Let’s get going here is the first sewing project I want to share with you.

I decided I needed a new dress for Easter so off to my sewing and pattern stash I went and chose a beautiful blue double knit fabric and a dress pattern by McCall’s, pattern number M6112.  It was easy to cut out both the pattern and the fabric; I was sewing in no time and had the top half completed quickly, the best part of the dress is the kimono sleeves.  The pattern also had options for pockets, a cowl neck or kimono sleeves with a slit on the top, I pretty much did my own thing to get just the right look.

The rest of the dress went just as quickly and it was finished in no time, about two hours start to finish. Isn’t it cute! Very light and airy, I can wear it alone or with boots and a turtleneck underneath it if I want to wear the dress as a jumper during the winter months.  I usually try to make garments which can be worn for dual seasons, I get more use out of them that way and I can justify spending a bit more on a great fabric when I find one.  Too bad I did not get to wear it to Easter dinner at my daughter’s house, I had to stay home and get well instead, oh well, there will be another occasion to wear it soon.

Thanks for letting me share my little blue dress with you; it was fun to show you my new outfit.  I have some sewing projects I made for my kitchen makeover to show you next time; one of them is an easy tutorial, look for those in a day or so.

See you soon.

Laurette

Watch for a new blog post on Create*Upcycle*Decorate*Organize, coming very soon, it is about our new stone patio just completed last weekend; my husband did a fantastic job on it.

Curb Appeal

Hello Everyone,

I have been gone for some time now, a lot longer then I planned actually, I was down very ill and I was just not up to working on any creative projects, but I am back to my old self ready to get to work on lots of interesting projects.  In fact I have a new one to share with you on my new blog page over at Create*Upcycle*Decorate*Organize, it is a curb appeal project I think you will all enjoy, I will say no more, you will just have to click over and check it out.

I have also been working on redecorating the whole downstairs of my home the past week or two, I am not sure if I am going to share that project with you or not, we will see how I feel about it when I am done.  I will say I have gone back to my roots by bringing back my Tuscan inspired colors/ theme and replacing the reds and browns of the coffee shop theme.  I can also say I am much happier now that I am almost done and the tranquil atmosphere of my home has returned, no more red! That's a story for another time.

I look forward to sharing many more fun projects with you from my studio. Don't forget to check out my new curb appeal project, Southern Carriage House.  
See you soon.

Laurette

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello Everyone, I want to wish each and every one of my readers a very lovely Valentine’s Day.  I hope you all have some kind of special plans for your day even if it is just cooking a special dinner, setting the table with your best china and popping in a love story DVD to watch with that very important someone in you life.

I apologize for not writing for a bit, I am and have been down with a very nasty bug which seems to be plaguing just about everyone.  I held it off as long as I could but alas I succumbed to it and still have not recovered.  I do plan to return soon, I have several projects ready to sew up and I also have my spring and summer color forecast, which I do each year, so you can be up on the newest color trends released by Pantone for home and fashion, I can not wait to share those with you right away.

***Check out my newest blog post; Adventures With Adhesive over at createupcycledecorateorganize.blogspot.com. It is a fun post featuring recycled containers for organizing your kitchen and office. Check it out by clicking on the button on the right side of this page; it will take you right to the post.

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

See you soon.

Laurette

Apron A Day #6

Today is double post Tuesday so you get two for one. The first thing I want to share with you is the great news about my new blog, it is now completed and I have already written my first post which went live last week on January 23.  You can access my new blog by clicking on the button marked Create*Upcycle*Decorate*Organize on the right side of my page which is right below the Pinterest button.  Everything on that side of my blog page is a link to the symbol shown; like my Pinterest boards, the link to Where I Sew with Pink Chalk studios and the story I wrote for Coats & Clark 200^th Anniversary. I am totally in love with my new blog page and the fantastic work my Graphic Artist, Jolene Burt, did on both pages, she is fantastic!  Anyway, hop on over and check it out!!! The new blog will show all my projects for anything I create which are not sewn on a sewing machine.  Buttons, Bows & Bling will remain a sewing blog for clothing, toys, quilts and home décor items, like pillows, drapes, etc… For those of you who get this blog notification by email you will have to go to my new blog and sign up for email there to keep getting all my new projects which I will post on that sight; basically you have to sign up for email on both if you want to see what I am creating.

Now for the second post of the day, today’s post is a juicy orange apron, I made from one of my patterns, to wear while teaching sewing classes.  I fell in love with this fabric but I had no idea what I would use it for, I adore fabrics with sewing themes on them and this had that going for it with all the cute measuring tapes and polka dots.

Because I wanted to wear the apron while sewing and teaching I felt it needed lots of useful pockets for scissors, measuring tapes, tailors chalk, pins and all the rest. One small pocket was added to the top for my glasses and one long pocket divided into four sections was added along the bottom width for my sewing notions, making it easy for quick access.

I added some retro 60’s orange pom poms, from my stash, to the top and bottom of the apron and some jumbo orange rick rack to give it a little more retro flare; you know how much I love my retro accessories on aprons. I lined the apron in a complimentary fabric to give it enough body so the pockets would not sag when I placed my heavy cutting shears in them. This was a really fun apron to make and wear since it is so bright and cheery.

Thanks for letting me share the fantastic news about my new blog and my cheery orange sewing apron. There are still more aprons to share with you on this blog and lots of fun new posts on the new blog.  I am working on organizing my small office space with pretty new accessories so it will be functional and attractive. Be sure you watch for that new post over there in the next day or so.

See you soon.

Laurette

***On our new blog, Create*Upcycle*Decorate*Organize you might like:

Small Office Organization – Part 1

Apron A Day #5

This darling shoe apron is one of my designs sewn with three coordinating fabrics from a great collection. When I purchased the fabric I had no idea what I was going to use it for, I just fell in love with it so I bought it and the fabrics became part of my ever growing stash. I wanted to use all three of the prints so I picked the panel for the front and the smallest print for the lining with the tiny shoe print for the ties and ruffles on the top and bottom.  I did not include a pocket because I chose to embellish the apron with complementing buttons and rick rack to bring out the pattern and colors giving it some added dimension. The apron is lined to add weight and extra body, not to mention good protection for my clothing while I am cooking, always a good thing for a messy cook.

This little diva shoe apron was meant for cooking and compliments, thanks for letting me share it with you today.  There will be more aprons featured in a few days, the next one has some real retro flare and is one of my favorites.

See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Apron A Day 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Archives 2012 for 1, 2&3)

Apron A Day #4

Today’s apron is not one of my own designs it is a retro inspired 1940’s apron by Heidi Sheneberger.  This was the first apron I made in several years, it reminded me of the one my Grandmother Sota wore while cooking holiday dinners.  I chose three coordinating retro prints, jumbo rick rack and antique buttons to complete the look of the 1940’s; it is one of my absolute favorite aprons to wear.  The little green and white buttons came from the first flannel nightgown I made while in Junior High, I salvaged them when I wore out my gown. I think those were the first buttons I ever picked out by myself and I paid for them from my babysitting money, I still have the rest in my button box; I guess I was into recycling even back then.

Thanks for letting me share my retro 1940’s apron with you, look for more adorable aprons to appear on my blog in the very near future. 

See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Apron A Day #1,2 & 3 - 2012 archives 

Toy Room Makeover Reveal

I finally found a few minutes to post the before and after photos of the toy room makeover we did for our grandchildren’s playroom.  The room has been used several ways until we decided the best use of it was going to be a playroom. We sanded and painted the walls, built benches and bookcases, made curtains and cushions for the benches and decorated it.  There are still a few little projects left to finish but I did not want to wait any longer to share this project, so here are the before and after shots of the room.

                                 

Before & After:

Before

Initially we had a bed in this corner which our oldest granddaughter slept in when they came to town to visit. After they moved back home we put a play size table and chairs there, now we have the storage benches, a wall mural and a high shelf for books and toys they are to young to play with yet.

Before

Before

                                                             After

These shots show the opposite corner, the old dresser with a TV on top and the bookcase with toys crammed into it, always a mess. Now the toys are organized by age group and type, a clean look and easy to use and clean up. On the top two shelves in the corner is the art center which can be brought down when the oldest wants to make a few new creative projects. The child size table and chairs will be placed on the carpet in the center of the room once I finish repainting and varnishing them, it got cold and wet so I had to set that project aside for a while until my outside studio warms up a bit allowing the paint to dry.

Thanks for letting me share the toy room makeover, we are very happy with it and so is my oldest granddaughter, she already loves playing in there.

The New Year: "2013"

With this new year I am re-evaluating my blog and where it will go from here, I think there will be some major changes on the horizon but they are not finalized as of yet so you will have to keep reading to see what’s going to happen next. See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Toy Room Makeover Projects 

Toy Room Makeover – 1, 2 & 3 Enjoy!!

Happy 2013

Hello everyone, just wanted to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year!!!

This is the time of year I usually evaluate all my goals from the previous year to see how I did with everything I planned. After looking at what I accomplished I was very happy with my progress, I did not get to everything but some things far exceeded my original goal, so overall I am a very happy camper. This year my goals are a bit different in some categories and the same in others with new ones being added as I plan out my year, I am very excited about the coming months and can't wait to get started. Here is a clue to one of the new projects I am already working on.

A Time to Blog:

It was a real privilege to have so many of you follow all year long as I began my very first blog, you hung in there through a few technical problems and several unforeseen absences, what a crazy year it was, I am so blessed to have shared it with all of you.  As many of you know I was having issues with Blogger/Google and could not resolve them last year, as far as I can tell I think things are worked out, time will tell, so for now I will not have to start a new blog but I will be reworking this one to avoid future problems.  You may see changes to the format and the amount of photos I use to help prevent the same errors with the exception of the tutorial posts which will still have the right amount of pictures to help you with your own projects.

I am looking forward to sharing all my projects with you as I complete each one. I want to wish each of you a very creative and fun filled New Year!!!  Look for my first post for 2013 this Friday.
See you soon.

Laurette

Photo Troubles

It looks like I have run into photo storage problems with Google which will not allow me to download photos from my files into the blogger program so I can share them with you.  I am not sure if there is a resolution to this problem, if not, I will not be able to continue using Blogspot for my blog hosting site and I will have to wait until the new year to see what can be done to transfer it to a new site, not sure how that works.  What a total pain in the behind!!!!  Sooo.... I won't be able to share the toy room reveal or the Apron a Day series, or all the holiday projects I had planned.

In case this cannot be resolved:

I wish each and everyone of you a Very Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year!!!!

I hope to see you then!!!  Look for me on the web in 2013!!!

Hugs,

Laurette