Back in the Saddle

Whew! O.K., the posting has been a bit....scarce...I'll go with scarce. A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of a post when I got a virus. A terrible, nasty virus that made me think I lost all my files of the last 15 years. Then my email server was down for a few days. Not that these things kept me from posting (well, actually the virus DID keep me from posting) but I was a little thrown for a loop. Add to that, I'm a single parent of two school age kids...my oldest just started high school (yikes!) and I work part time during the week, so the rest of my time is all about laundry, dishes, shopping, homework and all the other fun stuff! I do get projects in here and there; If I've got an extra ten minutes, I'll grab something that needs to be spray painted and go for it, and my sewing machine is always on stand by. You never know when you can whip out a pillow cover while boiling the pasta! I've seen so many blogs go by the wayside lately, calling it quits for all of the same reasons I gave....I don't want to quit because I have so many projects that I want to show you guys! So, I am just asking for patience and understanding...I know you all have the same issues and can totally relate and I want you to know that I appreciate YOU and everything YOU do. Yes, I'm talking to YOU, and YOU and YOU.......

Now then, I live in the desert and it is H.O.T. but we're in monsoon season and we get the best storms! The lighting, the clouds, the rain and the thunder are all so dramatic, it's inspiring. The local plants all thrive this time of year, soaking up the rains and exploding in fiery blossom and intense color. So for my first 'back-to-posting' post, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I've seen around the 'hood.

 

 The most amazing light just after a heavy rain. Gorgeous!

 Cute little green pods....but the stems of this plant were what caught my eye. Very pink.... This pic didn't quite capture it.

 Mesquite tree bean pods. Did you know, you can grind these into flour and bake with them? 

Get more info here

 The Santa Rita Prickly Pear....can you believe that amazing purple?!

 An interesting pattern 'burned' into the pads of the cactus. Or, it might be frostbite from the previous winter.

One of my favorite desert plants. The Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)

It is drought tolerant and thrives in the summer heat. I wish I could perform equally as well during the heat of high summer!

I am in love with this color combo! The purple of the Santa Rita cactus with the red, orange, yellow and green of the Bird of Paradise is jaw dropping! When in doubt, look to nature to provide the most perfect color combos.

I hope you enjoyed the view and thanks for visiting. I will never be like some blogs that post everyday (sometimes twice or three times a day!) but I will always give you my best, when I have it to give.

xox,

My Moroccan Crush....which turned into a virus!

Ok, so the title of this post is My Moroccan crush, but it became the post that turned into a NASTY computer virus!! While searching images on google of Morocco, I must've clicked a link that unleashed the plague on my laptop!! Boo Hissss. I have 15 years worth of files on that thing and was just recently going to back it up with an external hardrive. I SERIOUSLY hope I can get this recovered!!

This is how my post started:

I have always and forever been drawn to all things Moroccan. I absolutely love all the geometric patterns and arched doorways. There's just something about a Moroccan arched doorway that seems to calm and sooth me somehow.

Needless to say, I'm NOT CALM RIGHT NOW!!! I can't even provide the source for this image because I'm on a different computer. I will be back as soon as I get this virus contained and give a source credit. Until then, please send good vibes and computer virus eradicating prayers!!

Btw, I still LOVE Morocco and the image above IS peaceful (and NOT the one that caused the virus), and I WILL finish this post at some point!

A bit of shameless self promotion....

So, there's this contest going on and the grand prize for this contest is $250 in Apple gift cards. I feel a *tad* guilty for doing this, but sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do...and mama wants an i-pod! So, I am shamelessly petitioning you, dear readers to help me! The contest is for a logo for a Parrot rescue group called SoCal Parrot. Go to their facebook page link: 
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.404666139575544.84761.200322620009898&type=3
and scroll through the album to find my logo submissions (I entered two) and click 'like' next to my submissions. That's it! 

Here are the two I submitted

Go VOTE!! Thanks so much for your support!

That wasn't too terribly shameless, was it?!

Happy Mothers Day

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Don't Burst my Bubble

This secretly thrills me to no end! If you know who he is, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't know who he is, google him and find out. Floating away in my bubble......

Where the Wild Things Are

I Just heard Maurice Sendak passed away this morning at 83 years old. One of the most beloved childrens authors of all time, his books were definitely a big part of my childhood.

But the wild things cried, “Oh please don’t go - we’ll eat you up - we love you so!”
And Max said, “No!”
The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws but Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye.”

Goodbye, Mr. Wild Thing

Shades of Target Designer Product Launches Past (or, look who's launching a line!!)

Remember the major hype that overshadowed the Missoni product line for Target last September, and before that the Calypso St Barth line? Wellllll, I predict that this October, we may see that kind of activity again. Will we experience the hours (all day) long website crash that occurred when Missoni went live? We just might, as this October marks the launch of none other than the Nate Berkus for Target line!!!! I. CAN'T. WAIT! I predict lots of natural fiber textures, chevron prints, clean lines and a few quirky objects thrown in. I know I will be there the morning the line launches, will you?

A few sneak peeks........

***UPDATE***  Looks like this is to be a multi-year partnership coming on the heels of Target ending it's 13 year partnership with designer Michael Graves.......hmmmm, vedy intrestink *said in my best Eastern European accent*

Hand Printed Slipcover for Vintage Settee

All right, let me just tell you, I am THRILLED with the result of my recent slipcover endeavor.  Remember the vintage settee I wrote about here, here and here? Well, I am finally finished and can't wait to show you how it turned out!! I actually finished this back on April 17th, but I took so many pictures, I had to go through them all, decide which ones were best and get them loaded on the laptop. Plus, for every project I write about, there are roughly ten others on the sidelines in various stages of progress. I twirl a lot of plates! I will let the pictures mostly speak for themselves, but I have to say again, this project turned out better than I had expected! I am so, so, so happy with the result. So here is a recap:

Started with this

Inspired by this

and this

via

   Made this stencil

Printed this fabric

(six and a half yards of heavy white canvas)

Most of my fabric pieces had to have a curved shape, either cut on the bias or cut actually curved on the fabric itself.

This is an 'interior' shot of how I put things together. Even though I cut curves into the pieces, some parts still needed a dart here and there to ease the curves along. Here you can see some of those extra seams. This thing has more nips and tucks than Joan Rivers!

And made a slipcover

Not one to shy away from detail, I even printed the underside of the cushion platform.

So there you have it! 

I wish I could give you a step-by-step sewing tutorial, but my methods are a bit in-exact, what I refer to as 'hack and slice.' I really just draped the fabric roughly in it's place, lightly drew the outline for that piece on the settee (back, side piece, backrest, cushion pieces, etc.)cut it out, and pinned it all together before sewing to make sure it fit together properly. Because I printed my own fabric, six yards was enough since I wasn't having to match up the print on any two pieces. Cost breakdown: $40-61/2 yards of white canvas, $8-one quart of interior, flat paint in Grape Jelly by Martha Stewart and $5.99-two packs of stencil vellum. Settee was free. So based on the price of the couch I listed above as an inspiration for this, I saved $5946.01!! Ay, that's a lot of paisley! I will write later about some other changes I made to this area as a result of the slipcover being finished. As they say, one finished project prompts 5 others! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like the settee; I really, really love it!

Sharing at these fab blogs. Go check them out!
Addicted2Decorating
Serenity Now 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Under the Table and Dreaming 
Brassy Apple 
DIY Showoff 
Domestically Speaking 
The Shabby Creek Cottage
DIY by Design 
Someday Crafts 
Beyond the Picket Fence 
Momnivore's Dilemma 
Miss Mustard Seed 
Chic on a Shoestring 
Between Naps on the Porch