First Day Dress - A-line version

Oh Oh Oh.  This pattern by MADE is so much fun to make.  There are so many options.  Swing Top, Swing Dress. A-line Top, A-line Dress.  On top of that...each of them is a blank canvas.  I sketched probably 10 versions of the A-line I could make.  10!

Here is one of them.  This one has been in my head since I first saw the pattern.

I LOVE PURPLE!

I don't have a lot of words.  It was so easy to sew.  It is fully lined.  It fits well.  I will be using the pattern for years to come!

Glass Onion Top Pt 2: Pleats and longer sleeves.

As soon as I finished this version of the Glass Onion Top by Shwin Designs I could not stop thinking about the pleated version.  All I could see in my head for days was the pleated version in a lavender linen.  Sadly, I couldn't find the color of linen I wanted at Joanns.  When I got home I decided to use a fabric I already had.   I HAD to make this shirt.

My main concern with using this cotton fabric was that it wouldn't hang the way I wanted the shirt to hang.  But when I finished it and  put it on the hanger I was surprised at how much I liked the look. The pleats looked great and the it hung well over all.

When she put it on, though.......I loved it!  It looks gorgeous on her.  The design surpassed my expectations.  The pleats and shape of the back make it so unique and beautiful.  Shwin Designs knows what's up.

I can't get enough of the back!

By the way...I am in awe of patterns with pleats on a curve.  I am sure there is an app for that or some business but I wouldn't know where to start if I had to make them up on my own.  They blow my mind. 

There are three sleeve options.  The earlier version I made was a cap sleeve.  This is the mid length sleeve.  The third option is a long sleeve.  I can't even comprehend the need for a long sleeved anything after the week of heat we had recently.  I was hesitant, even, to make the mid length sleeve!   

One more time

It's a good thing the back of this shirt is my favorite part...Whit and the camera were not getting along.  Most of the pictures were half closed eyes or her mouth was hanging open.

See you later!

Chandelier makeover.

This is nearly a completely unoriginal idea.  I wish I could claim some part of this is at least "inspired by..."...but it's pretty much a total copy cat project.  When I saw Jenny's post on LGN about spray painting her chandelier I had never seen or thought about painting a chandelier.

Chandeliers cost too much at their cheapest for me to buy one that I don't love.  The chandeliers that I love would require some saving and there are many things I would rather spend money on right now.  I had resolved to just live with our current chandelier and look at it as little as possible.  It was a metal multi color rub something something...I would never shop for this look so I don't have a clue what to call it.  I didn't get a before picture...oops.  You can see the bottom of it below.  It had small, off-white lamp shades over each bulb which I removed pretty soon after we moved in.

Whit and Uncle Ryan opening presents.

Also, the hardware in the kitchen is silver:

Oh and the sconces in the family room (seen behind Whit and Uncle Ryan) are brass.  WHAT!?  I don't know how this kind of thing happens.  It bugs me all day.

Ok so.  The light.

I love when you get an idea and know it's the right thing.  I could have so much more done if I didn't spend so much time wavering back and forth between ideas.  The second I read about painting a chandelier I knew exactly what I was going to do.  No wavering.

Here is the wall paper in our kitchen:

I am still surprised that I like it as much as I do.  I like the colors.  I hardly love any of the colors on their own.  I do, however, love how my furniture works with the colors.  There is an incredible flow happening in my house.  I have had flow in small doses in the past but never like this. (Finally!) My crazy bright chairs (here and here) and weird pink chest feel like they have a place in the real world...not just my world.

Incase you are wondering about the flow:  The overall feel of the wall paper is pink which is what works with my dresser and chairs.  Greens and blues are happening in the dining room and formal living room.

I knew immediately that my chandelier would be purple.  Purple things have been working their way into my kitchen accessories over the past two years but I haven't fully committed.  I have a love/hate relationship with purple.  It's one of those colors I like but can't wear or live in...you know?  I love the purple in the wall paper, though...a gray lavender.  Purple but not PURPLE.  Also, purple starts sounding terrible when you say it too much.  Purple.

Purple tray.

Purple canister.

After cleaning it and taping the electrical parts, I hung the chandelier from a tree branch and primed.

It looked so cool in the tree I was tempted to leave it.  Not really, but the juxtaposition was entertaining.

I used Krylon's Gum Drop.  I was afraid with a light color and all the pink happening already that I would get this pastel "ice cream" feeling.  I don't expect that to make sense but that is the name of my fear.  It's like when you go into an ice cream shop and the whole place smells like sugar.  By the time you get to the counter you don't even want ice cream b/c the smell was enough...it doesn't sound like a bad feeling..but it is.  It's just too much sweetness.

It turns out that feeling didn't happen.   Every time I see it I smile...literally.  

That's it.  Purple chandelier.  Even Sean loves it. I phrase it like that because he was less than excited when I told him my plans.  His first question was how much will it cost to replace it?  

Purple Pleasure

I was having an extremely hard time coming up with a title.  Oh well.

THIS DRESS.  This dress. this dress.  sigh.  Beautiful.

via

(Wow.  Her legs are thin!)  Purple has been catching my eye lately....someone is doing their job.  A year ago I would not have dreamt of wearing purple.  Darnit advertising agencies and designers!....you got me.