ONLY HOURS LEFT!!

But there is still time to get (another) entry into the Great Giveaway!!

Just comment on any post from August or September, be a follower--And you're IN! Simple huh??  But let's face it....I am not about complicated.

Thought you would like a peek at a new project I am working on:

These chairs are Alabama Channin, but I recently purchased a few sad rejects from the local thrift that are very similar in overall design to these, and of course, the seats were shot (perfect!)......but they were sturdy overall.  I am going to try my hand at refinishing them, and adding webbing and thrifted men's ties to get a similar look as these. 

I totally refurbished the Baker's Rack I bought for the retail space.  It was not in bad shape at all, but by using spray paint for plastic I transformed the top from the fake vinyl butcher block to a more upscale black/white combo for the rack, and I think it certainly reflects my aesthetic much better.

So, as you can see I have been short on the bloggin' but not for lack of enthusiasm.  I have just been working hard behind the scenes :)  

Alrighty....I'll get this up so you have a chance for another entry!  Good luck to all of you!!!

Alabama Chanin With A Texas Twist!

I recently bought a fantastic book, Alabama Stitch Book, by celebrated and inspirational artist Natalie Chanin.  I have looked through it several times, trying to decide on a project, but since I have not hand sewn for some time, I wanted to do a 'sampler', so to speak, to try a few techniques shown in the book.  This latest pink top upcycle represents that effort.

So, lets see where it all started.

I wanted the top to go from kinda plain and boring, to something that reflected the more whimsical side of my personality.  I played around with fabric ideas, and finally came up with this combo.

I definitely needed a design inspiration, so I looked around through some wallpaper files and came up with this:

I played around with the items, and came up with this:

I kept messing with the flow of the design, and pinned it into place:

Then I used some embroidery floss I had on hand, and started working the stitches.  The book suggested working a cross stitch by doing all of one side of the X's one direction, then going back and completing the other side of the X's on the cross stitch.  It worked incredibly easily that way!  And like the book said, there was a certain peace and relaxation to the hand stitching.  It isn't something that has to be perfect, if fact, it's beauty lies in it's imperfections.     

Here is the finished top!