Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

Did the Craft Cottage Save Their Marriage? :)

 

What a surprise when organized, disciplined Bob with a Marine's spirit walked into this widow woman's unorganized, creative, spontaneous life. Bob was an empty nester with a quiet apartment neatly serving up abstract art in black lacquered frames on its pristine white walls. I still had two children at home (out of five) to raise and sported handpainted red, pink, and yellow cherries on my turquoise walls. (That was just the kitchen.) Bob worked out of neat folders and files in an office away from home, and I worked all over my house out of bins and tins, baskets and boxes that were in constant states of volcanic eruptions of paint, fabric, paper, and "vintage stuff." Bob just didn't understand the "vintage stuff".

 

 

So, after we married and had several exuberant discussions about my "vintage stuff", he so kindly offered me his old storage building. I graciously accepted and immediately thought of it as my Craft Cottage. This is how it made its debut appearance at our newlywed home.

Bob worked really hard getting the Craft Cottage's plain interior up to my cuteness criteria. Many hours of love went into putting in electrical, insulation...and other details that did not pertain to the cuteness factor. It was really what I call yucky on the inside at first.

But, the plan started coming together.  

 

Once Bob completed the inside job, he left me to turn my creative space into my dream Craft Cottage. What a guy!

What do I create and enjoy doing?

• collage with vintage greeting cards, magazines, and materials
• I sew- in a so-so sort of way- especially like using vintage fabrics and patterns
• paint - simple but kitschy is my style
• decopauge- anything that stands still long enough
• love to wear, buy, and sell vintage clothing
• collecting old wallpaper, wrapping paper, fabric for my projects
• buttons! crazy about vintage buttons, oh and trims too...rick rack and such
• love the art on old patterns
• aprons are divine
• reworking, redoing, saving old worn out furniture, frames, boxes,
• things that just catch my fancy!

 

The fun began when I started moving in! Here is a part of my sewing area.

I began sorting through fabric and moving in my new space...this is a teeny tiny portion of my stash. There is more. Lots more.

 

 

I obtained a freebie desk and gave it a makeover.

That became a work area in my Craft Cottage. Drawers are full of cards and all sorts of paper crafting supplies.

Here is one of my favorite spots in my Craft Cottage. I could just stand and look at all the goodness.

My little inspiration board:

My dress form with my handkerchiefs displayed:

My old phone that serves no purpose except to make me happy:

Yummy paints, pom-poms and whimsy...

 Fun storage:

No sew curtains added to the wall with gigantic clothes pins:

My Craft Cottage is still a work in progress (as is our blended family.) So many things  to look forward to accomplishing together. I'm so grateful for my creative space to do my thing. Knowing it was born out of my husband's love makes it very special. Yes, AND and his insatiable need for order and sanity in his life. Who knew sanity could be so cute?

Make sure you visit Where Bloggers Create by clicking on the button at the beginning of this post and then participating in Pink Saturday at Beverly's over at How Sweet the Sound!
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

  
  
 
  
  

 

 

One Big Ol' Pink Mess! It's Okay Though...

Tractors run in my  family. Some families grew up stopping at historical markers on trips...my father, the dad of four girls, pulled the green station wagon with wood panels over at every heavy equipment and tractor yard he passed. We might inwardly groan and dream of a Dairy Queen, but he was the dad and that's the way it was. Mother usually got out and joined Daddy being the loving wife and showing interest in backhoes and bulldozers.

We learned how to drive a tractor as kids. All of my kids have had their pictures made on the tractor.We went to tractor pulls, antique tractor shows, and tractor parades. A trip to my parents still includes Daddy hooking up the old tractor to a trailer, us all loading up in it and heading down to the fields for fireworks and fun, or just a tour of the farm. Tractors are sentimental in our family!

So, when I saw this tractor fabric, I thought what a great dress it would make to wear to an auction or even to go to the rodeo with my pair of pink and brown boots. A little pink. A little denim combined. Easy peasy. Done. What could be more perfect?

Wrong. Never have I made such a hideous concoction that had to be ripped out more times than this dress. It was a disaster from beginning to end. My seam ripper put three holes in the dress which I decided to cover up with the above sash. Sadly, my hemline was so unbelievably wonky and without every boring detail...I decided the perfect fix would be some decorative stitching. Yes! That would be the ticket.

 
Wrong! It was NOT the ticket and only highlighted the strange hemline, and the bizarre fit of the dress...part tent...part paintsmock. I would say I spent the better part of three days on this disaster of a dress. This was an outfit which no cute accessory could possibly save. So... I wadded it all up. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

....and started over with this cheerful fabric. I am calling it The Swiss Miss meets Flower Child. My rose necklace is right at home, and I feel like yodeling.  

I found these sandals that I think match perfectly at Hancock's Fabrics for less than $10.00. Aren't they cheerful?  Who needs cowboy boots? Grrrrrrrrrr.

 
My Pink Saturday is not a loss! (Make sure you go visit the other ladies who enjoy a little pink in their lives over at How Sweet The Sound.) I will tackle the pink tractor dress another day and in the meantime enjoy my successfully completed ensemble! I'm over the pink tractor disaster. Really. grrrrrrrrrr

   

A Well Placed Rose: Then...and Now!

This summer my goal has been to make a summer wardrobe without going to some of the larger stores and spending ten or fifteen bucks on a cheap shirt that I "kinda" like and will also be owned by ten million other people and ends up at Goodwill next year. I have a gigantic stash of wonderful fabric I have basically just been caressing over the years, (and you girls who love fabric will know exactly what I'm talking about) and I said to myself, "Melony, this is pure foolishness! Cut into that stuff and make you some clothes." Like the Little Red Hen...and so I did.

{It's Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest and I think you'll enjoy other inexpensive crafty ideas.} 

NOTE TO ALL: I don't do zippers, buttons that go into actual holes, plackets, brackets, twists, turns, facings, or bracings.

MELONY'S SEWING STYLE: Lay some heavy knives on the pattern pieces, cut them out as quickly as possible. Put the pedal to the metal and hope nothing goes wrong with the machine. Pray whatever I make fits. It doesn't get a second chance. Basically I sew 37 versions of peasant dresses and tops or upcycle things somebody else did with a peasant top attached (as in Wednesday's post below.)

WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DAY: Most anything looks better with a well placed rose.

 
A well placed flower is not a new idea. I discovered this when browsing through my beloved worn vintage patterns.

As if the hat, gloves, pearls, heels, and ear bobs were not enough for this dame's ensemble above! But perhaps, she was like me and the seams didn't quite come together as smoothly as she had hoped, and what better than to slap, I mean, carefully place a lovely rose right there on her wispy waist?

 Or maybe it's best if one isn't completely pleased with the way the outfit turned out, the best thing to do is just keep your back to the camera and carry the full fledged well placed boquet like the mysterious girl in blue. But take a look at the superior look on the blonde's face. I guess her dressed turned out so perfectly no flowers are needed. There is some pencil writing on the pattern noting the four yards of blue fabric to make the dress cost a total of $3.93.   

Below is a very simple peasant dress I whipped up in about two hours. I wore the rose necklace with it, but chickened out on the humongous rose on the waist area. My waist doesn't need anything more of dimension to bring any more attention to that particular area. I do love this dress. Throw it on, added some summer sandals, jewelry and I'm out the door. You really can't beat a good peasant dress.

On the other hand, if other areas are lacking......then, perhaps this girl has the right idea in placing her large rose. But, then, the other girl seems quite shocked by the whole situation, so maybe you should proceed with caution when placing your rose in the center of your chest. I'm thinking it could cause quite a stir...then...or even now!

 
 
 Happy Pink Saturday to you! Go visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to visit all the other girls who love a little pink in their life!

Goodwill Skirt + Favorite Fabric = Kitschy Retro Dress!

This may be one of the most favorite things I've sewn for myself and it all came about by accidental thriftiness. (Click on the link above left to visit some other great thrifty projects!) I have a habit of buying just a bit of fabric I think is wonderful. It's sort of like having just a "bite of chocolate". It's supposed to leave me satsisfied, but often it leaves me frustrated because it isn't always enough fabric to do what I envision...like make a curtain, a bedspread, or a dress. Such was the case with  this great Michael Miller fabric. Isn't it cute?

 

I just loved its cheerful print and the retro 50's mix of red, yellow, and green.  This fabric been sitting in my stash for some time and it screamed it needed to be a dress. Sigh. Not enough of it. But...tra, la, la... hiding in my stash was this Goodwill skirt, which I took apart. I'm a sucker for gingham and consider it a neutral. (Second Time Around is a neat blog who showcases other bloggers who enjoy repurposing used items.)  

I took off the skirt's original buttons and added some vintage ones that reminded me of old jadeite dishes and coordinated with my little bit of fun fabric. I also had to save some of the skirt's fabric to add to the sleeves of the top of the dress to squeeze out enough to make the whole thing work. Quite the frugal project, so I'm going to participate in Frugal Friday over at The Shabby Nest.

...and it all worked out to be this this little number!

My eleven year old curled her nose up at the whole creation and wondered what the "crooked stuff" at the bottom of the dress was, and noted she would have never added THAT! Oh, well...it is actually just quirky enough for me that my enthusiasm shall not be dimmed by the modern tastes of my perfectly normal daughter. Oh, and since the dress was cheap to make, I spent $11.99 at Compass for the matching necklace and earrings and I am one happy retro girl!  

Happy REDnesday to you, and please go visit Sue at It's A Very Cherry World  to enjoy some other blogs with a touch of red. It's a fun color! If you are needing some creative inspiration in your life, I can always find some on over at the aptly named awesome blog The Girl Creative!