Our Loft color inspiration!

One of the things that I noticed from the first time we visited Arizona is there is a shocking lack of Green.  I actually am NOT a huge fan of green but it is my hubby and my 5-year-olds favorite color so we have a fair amount of green things around the house.  When I was trying to find something that struck me to use as a color for our upstairs loft, these are the materials that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go and I just couldn’t get them out of my head. 

Felicite Mineral 

Paddock Shawl Mineral

Aren’t these materials just beautiful?  They feel amazing too. So soft and luxurious, especially for cotton.  Because I’m a girl with a budget I got them from Joann’s when they had a 50% off Home Decor materials and I was lucky enough to have a gift card for doing some sewing for someone.  I am so pleased that I got them even if they were a little pricier than I usually spend on material.

I  painted the Walls in These Benjamin Moore Colors Fernwood Green 2145-40 and an accent wall in Terrapin Green 2145-20.

I’ve already finished making pillows with the material, so I’ll have to post the photos soon. I am so pleased with what I’ve done with our loft even though we’ve had to do it on a budget.  We have been using it as a family/library/office and I love being in here!

Grey Ruffled Dress…

In July we had a wedding up in Utah to attend for my cousin.  I needed something to wear that would fit me, be cool in the heat, and be appropriate for a wedding. 

After spending some time looking at dresses and not really fitting anything (my post-pregnancy body is a little more "hippy" than usual) I decided to try my hand at making my own dress. I pulled out one of my favorite patterns that I tried and never was happy with the results. Then I headed to Wal-Mart (The only store with fabric that was open within a 10-mile radius) and picked up a remnant of some grey cotton material that had some stretch to it.

I decided to add a ruffle to it as a lot of dresses right now have ruffles and little fun feminine details and I wanted to be special too (besides the fact that the ruffle made the dress a little more modest was a bonus).

 

Here I am at the wedding…

It turned out pretty nice I think.  After the wedding my sister sent me a link to this dress to show me how similar they are.  It only cost me about $5 to make this dress… that’s a little better than $130 don’t you think so?

Infant Play Mat Combining Functionality and Design…

One of the things that I indulge in way too frequently is watching HGTV.  I don’t love all the shows, but I think the real problem is that as the ability to buy a house is approaching, I’m completely enamored in the idea of knowing what I want to do with my someday home.  Good grief, I’ve wished for a home since I was 14 and I asked my mom why she did something a certain way and she said “You do it your way when you have your own home”.  My favorite shows have designers staging or redecorating (I love “Divine Design”!).  Jared is a HGTV addict too but he’s much more interested in Holmes on Homes and the Home Buyers shows. 

One of the common threads that I’ve found in all this TV watching is that a lot of parents let their children’s toys overtake the main rooms of their homes.  In my parent’s home toys were banned from the front room.  This is fine and dandy if you have a family room as well as a living room.  But for those of us who have less space it’s tricky.          

I came up with a wonderful solution… I designed a tummy-time play mat that uses the colors of my front-room and is a piece of art—using a bold contrasting pattern while mixing patterns and not being too garish—a visual delight.  I used a combination of cotton, velvet, valor, and faux suede to indulge the tactile sense. The leaves make crackle noises while the centers of the flowers squeak.

Now my baby can play on the floor in happiness with lots of stimulation and my room still looks organized and modern.  I’m considering opening up an on-line shop to sell these.  I would customize them to match the colors of the room that they were made for (not necessarily the nursery colors).  What do you think?  Would you pay for something like this?  Or would you rather have a pattern and make your own? I am planning to design some that are more gender-neutral/masculine as well if this idea is well-received.  If you do like it, what would you pay for something like this? 

Constructive comments would be very welcome.

Sea-Blue Bracelet

      I saw these beautiful sea-blue beads on Saturday while at Michael’s and just had to try making a bracelet that reminds me of the color.  It reminds me of something that one would wear walking along the Caribbean sea or somewhere just as tropical.  This is one of the most flattering colors because of where it is on the color and one of my favorite colors.