2016 July
My Garden is Blooming!
7/21/2016
How awesome it is to see 5000 teens and staff with glow sticks celebrating at worship the last night of the conference. What a fantastic week! And after a week of 4-5 hours of sleep a night, I came home and slept 15 hours straight!
Of course, I had to bring home some of the 'stuff' that was being thrown away as we cleaned up the office. I just know I'll find a use for these pieces and parts and I hated to see it thrown away. It includes the tubes from the glow sticks, plastic connectors from the glow sticks and long cardboard tubes. Anyone have any fun ideas?
As I unpacked and cleaned up the studio I noticed the note that someone from the team put on the box, "1.25 million thingamajiggies!!" I agree with that!
After my long sleep, I was able to jump right into projects in the studio. I decided to make another chair since I was in line to have some upholstery done. I'm calling this one 'My Garden Wingback'. I also have two ottomans I've finished but forgot to get pictures of them before I left them with the upholsterer.
The flowers on this chair were done with the yo-yo technique and lots of covered buttons to create the centers. I was able to make the nails to hammer into the arm caps with buttons and wooden discs. Love the way this chair came out. This one is ready for the Memphis show in September -unless it sells first.
One of my favorite things about the new studio in my basement is the table set up.
I was able to spread out my fabric and cut two sets of drapes, square them up and have them ready to put grommets in the top.
The proper tools and layout make the job so much easier.
(!!!)
I was so pleased to receive a text from one of my customers from Florida after she got her room together with the Dancing Flamingos chairs and checkerboard ottoman set I had done for her. Here is one of the photos that she sent.
Thanks Liz!!
I'm getting set up for a impromptu class tomorrow before I head out of town again. I promise to post pictures of their creativity in next weeks blog.
0 Comments
Having Fun!
7/19/2016
The giant scrabble game says it all! I
am definitely having fun.... and working twice as hard as I ever work at home!!
This blog is a little different than normal, whatever normal is. Lots of pictures of a crazy week but hopefully a few different ideas that you might be able to use!!
Triennium is finally here and we have worked for several years to put the recreation plan of this conference together, knowing that this week will be one of no sleep, lots of exercise, missed meals and sore feet.
But it is so worth it to work and play and worship with some really good friends.
Lynn and Beth are some of the most talented and faithful women I know, and when the three of us get together we can do just about anything we put our minds to! Now if the bodies would just keep up with the minds!!
The star below is a much larger version of the small ones that I told you about before. It lead 4500 senior high youth from worship to the recreation field in grand style, and then used on stage as part of the set.
The middle picture is a sample sheep that we made for the nativity photo ops. It was cut out of foam core and then was covered with cotton balls. The ears were black poster board that were attached to the head so they were loose to flap in the breeze.
We definitely get creative as we try to find space and make things happen. There is a big, ladies lounge near our office that we confiscated for the recreation leaders to practice their energizers. We decided that we needed to warn anyone that would come in to actually use the restroom, hence the sign: "Rehearsal in Progress... Men inside" You do what you have to do! LOL
Do you remember the youth group that came to work in my studio on the 98 degree day? The kids who made all those colorful pantyhose balls? They also created these nativity and inn scenes with the foam core boards. They were fastened to the front of some 10 x 10 tents and ended up 3D that makes great photo ops. The youth loved them!!
Full scene with Mary, Joseph, baby and shepherds! Don't they have style??!!
Here are our Rec Leaders on stage opening night, ready to go! The baskets are strips of all the tee-shirts that we cut up for them to get creative on t shirt crafts.
Here is a little more fun.... a giant Kerplunk game, defaced pallets to create a hate wall that was then covered with prayers on strips of cloth, and a huge homemade Lite Brite sign.
330 pairs of shoe parts were cut out in a 2 hour period of time!! Wow these teens worked hard!!
If you are not familiar with SOLE HOPE this is something you need to check out. This is a ministry that provides shoes for children in Uganda to help eradicate jiggers; a sand flea that burrows into their feet.
What a simple solution, to recycle old jeans into shoes!!
What a beautiful view as the sun sets over opening night.
Off to bed... it is 2 in the morning and I need to be up by 6:30. We have several more recreation events and sleep does help!! Back to "normal" next week!!
2 Comments
Vickie Dieth - Leslie, you and Lynn and Beth are certainly an amazing team. Thanks for all your hard work. Now, if you all would sign up for PYT 2019, I'd certainly appreciate it, since my oldest will be there! Much love and many thank yous to all three of you!!!
Leslie - Thanks Vicki.. the three of us definitely have a good time together LOL!! It is so fun to see the children of friends come through.... but gosh it makes me feel so old!! We just keep plugging away and enjoying every minute of it!! Hope all is good with you...
A Tropical Love Story...
7/13/2016
Meet Phyllis and Fred and enjoy their tropical love story.
Flirty Phyllis heard that the flamingos down South were more colorful than the flamingos at home. So she decided to pack up and take a vacation to the Florida Keys to check out the night life.
Fred Plume has also decided to take off to the Keys to go people watching. He has his camera in hand, is wearing his lucky Hawaiian shirt, favorite straw hat, and is ready for some fun in the sun and sand! But... when he happened to meander by a tiki bar on the beach and met the beautiful Phyllis Rose, his people watching plans were put on hold.
Who would have guessed Phyllis would travel all the way to the tropics to meet the bird of her dreams, and that he would be a fine feathered flamingo from back home!
These are the custom chairs I just finished and delivered this morning. I have to say, they made me a little nervous. I had asked my customer if she wanted to see them as I designed them or be surprised. 'Surprise me' was the answer, which was great, but it is a little nerve racking wondering if they were going to be everything she wanted. We delivered them in the morning and about 6:00 o'clock tonight I got a call telling me how thrilled she was and how many people that she had already had over to show them off!! Sheeewwww....
Let's do a special chair for you with your own story!!
I made this fun coordinating pillow to go on the sofa across from the chairs. I figured this Dr. Seuss quote said it all...
She was not afraid to order the chairs that were definitely not the 'ordinary', and I think she stands out!!
Love the creative process!!
This is my "The Boss's Chair".
I had a friend of mine add the wooden balls to the bottom of the legs to add a little dimension and had plans to use the chair in my office at the store. It quickly became one of those UFO's that's been sitting around for several years.
I may not be the boss down at the store anymore, but it's still the boss's chair because I'm still the boss at home. :)
I decided to finish my 'boss' chair when some friends came over for the Free For All Friday in the studio.
I figured I needed to have something to work on and then my compulsiveness kicked in and then I just had to finish it. - Finish a UFO. Check!
This little rocker is Greta's project.
She had been working on her patchwork fabric for the seat. Love her colors and I can't wait to see the finished project.
Off to finish packing. I'm headed to Triennium to set up the recreation office in the morning. I'll share some fun pictures of our creative projects next week. I'll be running the office but my mind will be spinning on the next chairs that I'll be working on when I get home! (and I might just throw my sewing machine in the car in case that creative urge strikes!!)
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A Surprise Vacation!
7/8/2016
Bills paid. Check. Groceries bought. Check. House cleaned. Check. Bags packed. Check. Chairs ready to go to the upholsterer. Check. Lots going on to begin the 'surprise' trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see my Mom and my sister and her family in Paradise. My sister Tracy knew I was coming but Mom had no clue. Oh... she was so surprised!
The story really begins now!
I headed out on Friday and was to fly into Detroit and then into a little airport in Kinross where Tracy and John were going to pick me up. Now, there's no real way to get there from here, and when your Friday flight out of Detroit gets cancelled and the next flight is not till Sunday at 8:30pm, you punt!
They didn't have a pilot scheduled to fly the plane... REALLY???
I started talking to another lady in line, also named Tracy like my sister, so I figured that was a good sign. Tracy lived close to where I was going so at 11:00 Friday night we decided to take the airline up on their room vouchers and start out fresh in the morning with a car rental.
We had an Uber driver take us to the rental car lot the next morning and, to make a long story short, Ricardo, (Our new best Friend and Uber Driver) ended up taking us the 350 miles to the Upper Peninsula. Now, let me tell you, that was not a cheap drive!!! But definitely better and cheaper than renting a car! Great experience for a first with Uber.
A little toast to the trip from you know where!! We made a quick stop for breakfast and headed out again. It is amazing that you can feel like you have two new best friends when you're trapped by circumstances.
Thanks Tracy and Ricardo for making the most of a crazy situation. Now to get a refund from the airlines. Ugh!
Ricardo took a little snooze on the way up while Tracy drove. It's nice to meet such nice and trustworthy folks when you travel.
Tracy and John know I can't sit still for very long so they had a few projects for me to help with while I was there.
We were able to reconstruct a cute bench that she has in her garden with all her birdhouses. It just needed a little facelift and we were able to do that quickly.
Love this picture of my sister and her husband John with Lake Superior in their back yard. The weather was beautiful while we were there.
John and I spent time creating this fun mosaic in the bottom of a bird bath that he had made. He does stained glass and had lots of bright fun glass scraps left from other projects. I think we made good use of them.
You know my motto: "Nothing gets thrown away!" So glad John kept that scrap glass!
Besides enjoying my Mom and Walt, my nephew was there with his family and I was able to meet little 3 week old Penelope. My boys were never that tiny.
Little Penelope sound asleep...
Such a good baby.
Kayaking on Lake Superior with my sister was priceless. Tracy and I took off with the dogs swimming alongside us. That's something I've never done before and I was only a little sore when the day was over. I want to do this again.
Mom has a pontoon boat so the whole family went up the Tahquamenon river for several hours of boating.
Walt and mom enjoyed the ride when Walt was not driving!
So glad the weather cooperated. We just need to figure out how to get rid of the black flies and mosquitoes!
I loved spending special time with my family, and it was such a fun and eventful trip. But the holiday is over, I'm back in my studio, and it's time for me to get started on some new creative furniture pieces. That is, after I go check out the new batiks that were just delivered!
0 Comments
MY STARS!!!
7/1/2016
Penelope Christine... What a beautiful name for a very pretty great niece. I spent the other night getting her Tooth-Fairy Pillow designed.Now I only have two more to go and I'll be all caught up!
This pillow was done a little differently. Instead of just a square pocket I mimicked the flower in the fabric for the pocket. I enclosed a piece of Peltex in-between two pieces of fabric and then appliquéd it onto the pillow fabric. It gives it a nice 3-D effect.
Do you need a baby gift?
You can now order a Custom Tooth-Fairy Pillow online. Give me the baby's name and colors that you need and I will get it made for you. And I will even do it on time!!
MY STARS!!! We spent the end of last week working on Triennium stuff again. Linda, Beth, Gina and I created all day long in the basement. Here are some of the stars that we made for the opening night. They're the product of an idea and a trip to a local dollar store. Foam core, a fly swatter and a string of ten lights for outdoors and some aluminum tape.. Wouldn't this make a great fairy wand for a little girl or for a school play?? Almost finished!!
Games for Big Kids
This was the other project that we had on our agenda. Giant Lite-Brite boards made out of 4x4 pieces of peg board.
I attached 1x2's on the back of the boards to stabilize them and then hinged two pieces together to create an A-frame.
This will be at an evening event and we will use glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces for them to create their designs.
I love big games!!
Projects for Big Kids
Remember the t-shirts I've been dyeing for the last million years??
This cute cell phone bag is one of the samples that I made to set out at the T-shirt craft table as an idea.
It is all 'no sew' and has two pockets on the inside. I think I will make a free pattern for this so others can use it as an inexpensive craft. Anyone interested?
Not bad for a Repurpose & Recycle craft!
Expanding My Wardrobe
Going through my closet I came across a favorite blouse and decided to make a pattern from it. Once again, it's just two pieces, a front and a back - easy peasy.
I had some left over linen that I had pre-washed awhile back and it was just enough to make this little top. The drop sleeves make it just a little dressier than sleeveless.
Easy wash and wear.
I have been thinking about Flamingos for the past week. I jumped in today on the design work on the wingback chairs I'm redesigning for a customer and am now working on creating the 'story' of the two flamingo characters, Phyllis and Fred. It's so much fun thinking up a storyline. I'll let you know what happens with them as soon as I figure it out!
It was a perfect day to put the old chairs outside and paint the legs.
Did you all know when you go to paint already finished furniture that you can first use a liquid sander to rough up the wood so that the paint will stick?
I found this out years ago and it makes the refinish process so much easier.
This has been a very productive week. Love to head to the studio in the morning with a smile on my face and looking forward to what is next. If you ever want more details on a project let me know and I will try and help you out.
Cleaning up the studio now ... off to surprise someone I love!!
0 Comments
7/21/2016
How awesome it is to see 5000 teens and staff with glow sticks celebrating at worship the last night of the conference. What a fantastic week! And after a week of 4-5 hours of sleep a night, I came home and slept 15 hours straight!
As I unpacked and cleaned up the studio I noticed the note that someone from the team put on the box, "1.25 million thingamajiggies!!" I agree with that!
After my long sleep, I was able to jump right into projects in the studio. I decided to make another chair since I was in line to have some upholstery done. I'm calling this one 'My Garden Wingback'. I also have two ottomans I've finished but forgot to get pictures of them before I left them with the upholsterer.
The flowers on this chair were done with the yo-yo technique and lots of covered buttons to create the centers. I was able to make the nails to hammer into the arm caps with buttons and wooden discs. Love the way this chair came out. This one is ready for the Memphis show in September -unless it sells first.
One of my favorite things about the new studio in my basement is the table set up.
I was able to spread out my fabric and cut two sets of drapes, square them up and have them ready to put grommets in the top.
The proper tools and layout make the job so much easier.
(!!!)
I was so pleased to receive a text from one of my customers from Florida after she got her room together with the Dancing Flamingos chairs and checkerboard ottoman set I had done for her. Here is one of the photos that she sent.
Thanks Liz!!
I'm getting set up for a impromptu class tomorrow before I head out of town again. I promise to post pictures of their creativity in next weeks blog.
0 Comments
Having Fun!
7/19/2016
am definitely having fun.... and working twice as hard as I ever work at home!!
This blog is a little different than normal, whatever normal is. Lots of pictures of a crazy week but hopefully a few different ideas that you might be able to use!!
But it is so worth it to work and play and worship with some really good friends.
Lynn and Beth are some of the most talented and faithful women I know, and when the three of us get together we can do just about anything we put our minds to! Now if the bodies would just keep up with the minds!!
The star below is a much larger version of the small ones that I told you about before. It lead 4500 senior high youth from worship to the recreation field in grand style, and then used on stage as part of the set.
The middle picture is a sample sheep that we made for the nativity photo ops. It was cut out of foam core and then was covered with cotton balls. The ears were black poster board that were attached to the head so they were loose to flap in the breeze.
We definitely get creative as we try to find space and make things happen. There is a big, ladies lounge near our office that we confiscated for the recreation leaders to practice their energizers. We decided that we needed to warn anyone that would come in to actually use the restroom, hence the sign: "Rehearsal in Progress... Men inside" You do what you have to do! LOL
Do you remember the youth group that came to work in my studio on the 98 degree day? The kids who made all those colorful pantyhose balls? They also created these nativity and inn scenes with the foam core boards. They were fastened to the front of some 10 x 10 tents and ended up 3D that makes great photo ops. The youth loved them!!
Full scene with Mary, Joseph, baby and shepherds! Don't they have style??!!
Here are our Rec Leaders on stage opening night, ready to go! The baskets are strips of all the tee-shirts that we cut up for them to get creative on t shirt crafts.
Here is a little more fun.... a giant Kerplunk game, defaced pallets to create a hate wall that was then covered with prayers on strips of cloth, and a huge homemade Lite Brite sign.
If you are not familiar with SOLE HOPE this is something you need to check out. This is a ministry that provides shoes for children in Uganda to help eradicate jiggers; a sand flea that burrows into their feet.
What a simple solution, to recycle old jeans into shoes!!
What a beautiful view as the sun sets over opening night.
Off to bed... it is 2 in the morning and I need to be up by 6:30. We have several more recreation events and sleep does help!! Back to "normal" next week!!
2 Comments
Vickie Dieth - Leslie, you and Lynn and Beth are certainly an amazing team. Thanks for all your hard work. Now, if you all would sign up for PYT 2019, I'd certainly appreciate it, since my oldest will be there! Much love and many thank yous to all three of you!!!
Leslie - Thanks Vicki.. the three of us definitely have a good time together LOL!! It is so fun to see the children of friends come through.... but gosh it makes me feel so old!! We just keep plugging away and enjoying every minute of it!! Hope all is good with you...
A Tropical Love Story...
7/13/2016
Meet Phyllis and Fred and enjoy their tropical love story.
Flirty Phyllis heard that the flamingos down South were more colorful than the flamingos at home. So she decided to pack up and take a vacation to the Florida Keys to check out the night life.
Fred Plume has also decided to take off to the Keys to go people watching. He has his camera in hand, is wearing his lucky Hawaiian shirt, favorite straw hat, and is ready for some fun in the sun and sand! But... when he happened to meander by a tiki bar on the beach and met the beautiful Phyllis Rose, his people watching plans were put on hold.
Who would have guessed Phyllis would travel all the way to the tropics to meet the bird of her dreams, and that he would be a fine feathered flamingo from back home!
These are the custom chairs I just finished and delivered this morning. I have to say, they made me a little nervous. I had asked my customer if she wanted to see them as I designed them or be surprised. 'Surprise me' was the answer, which was great, but it is a little nerve racking wondering if they were going to be everything she wanted. We delivered them in the morning and about 6:00 o'clock tonight I got a call telling me how thrilled she was and how many people that she had already had over to show them off!! Sheeewwww....
Let's do a special chair for you with your own story!!
She was not afraid to order the chairs that were definitely not the 'ordinary', and I think she stands out!!
Love the creative process!!
This is my "The Boss's Chair".
I had a friend of mine add the wooden balls to the bottom of the legs to add a little dimension and had plans to use the chair in my office at the store. It quickly became one of those UFO's that's been sitting around for several years.
I may not be the boss down at the store anymore, but it's still the boss's chair because I'm still the boss at home. :)
I decided to finish my 'boss' chair when some friends came over for the Free For All Friday in the studio.
I figured I needed to have something to work on and then my compulsiveness kicked in and then I just had to finish it. - Finish a UFO. Check!
This little rocker is Greta's project.
She had been working on her patchwork fabric for the seat. Love her colors and I can't wait to see the finished project.
Off to finish packing. I'm headed to Triennium to set up the recreation office in the morning. I'll share some fun pictures of our creative projects next week. I'll be running the office but my mind will be spinning on the next chairs that I'll be working on when I get home! (and I might just throw my sewing machine in the car in case that creative urge strikes!!)
0 Comments
A Surprise Vacation!
7/8/2016
Bills paid. Check. Groceries bought. Check. House cleaned. Check. Bags packed. Check. Chairs ready to go to the upholsterer. Check. Lots going on to begin the 'surprise' trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see my Mom and my sister and her family in Paradise. My sister Tracy knew I was coming but Mom had no clue. Oh... she was so surprised!
The story really begins now!
I headed out on Friday and was to fly into Detroit and then into a little airport in Kinross where Tracy and John were going to pick me up. Now, there's no real way to get there from here, and when your Friday flight out of Detroit gets cancelled and the next flight is not till Sunday at 8:30pm, you punt!
They didn't have a pilot scheduled to fly the plane... REALLY???
I started talking to another lady in line, also named Tracy like my sister, so I figured that was a good sign. Tracy lived close to where I was going so at 11:00 Friday night we decided to take the airline up on their room vouchers and start out fresh in the morning with a car rental.
A little toast to the trip from you know where!! We made a quick stop for breakfast and headed out again. It is amazing that you can feel like you have two new best friends when you're trapped by circumstances.
Thanks Tracy and Ricardo for making the most of a crazy situation. Now to get a refund from the airlines. Ugh!
Ricardo took a little snooze on the way up while Tracy drove. It's nice to meet such nice and trustworthy folks when you travel.
Tracy and John know I can't sit still for very long so they had a few projects for me to help with while I was there.
We were able to reconstruct a cute bench that she has in her garden with all her birdhouses. It just needed a little facelift and we were able to do that quickly.
Love this picture of my sister and her husband John with Lake Superior in their back yard. The weather was beautiful while we were there.
John and I spent time creating this fun mosaic in the bottom of a bird bath that he had made. He does stained glass and had lots of bright fun glass scraps left from other projects. I think we made good use of them.
You know my motto: "Nothing gets thrown away!" So glad John kept that scrap glass!
Besides enjoying my Mom and Walt, my nephew was there with his family and I was able to meet little 3 week old Penelope. My boys were never that tiny.
Such a good baby.
Kayaking on Lake Superior with my sister was priceless. Tracy and I took off with the dogs swimming alongside us. That's something I've never done before and I was only a little sore when the day was over. I want to do this again.
Walt and mom enjoyed the ride when Walt was not driving!
So glad the weather cooperated. We just need to figure out how to get rid of the black flies and mosquitoes!
I loved spending special time with my family, and it was such a fun and eventful trip. But the holiday is over, I'm back in my studio, and it's time for me to get started on some new creative furniture pieces. That is, after I go check out the new batiks that were just delivered!
0 Comments
MY STARS!!!
7/1/2016
Penelope Christine... What a beautiful name for a very pretty great niece. I spent the other night getting her Tooth-Fairy Pillow designed.Now I only have two more to go and I'll be all caught up!
This pillow was done a little differently. Instead of just a square pocket I mimicked the flower in the fabric for the pocket. I enclosed a piece of Peltex in-between two pieces of fabric and then appliquéd it onto the pillow fabric. It gives it a nice 3-D effect. Do you need a baby gift?
You can now order a Custom Tooth-Fairy Pillow online. Give me the baby's name and colors that you need and I will get it made for you. And I will even do it on time!!
MY STARS!!! We spent the end of last week working on Triennium stuff again. Linda, Beth, Gina and I created all day long in the basement. Here are some of the stars that we made for the opening night. They're the product of an idea and a trip to a local dollar store. Foam core, a fly swatter and a string of ten lights for outdoors and some aluminum tape.. Wouldn't this make a great fairy wand for a little girl or for a school play?? Almost finished!!
This was the other project that we had on our agenda. Giant Lite-Brite boards made out of 4x4 pieces of peg board.
I attached 1x2's on the back of the boards to stabilize them and then hinged two pieces together to create an A-frame.
This will be at an evening event and we will use glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces for them to create their designs.
I love big games!!
Projects for Big Kids
Remember the t-shirts I've been dyeing for the last million years??
This cute cell phone bag is one of the samples that I made to set out at the T-shirt craft table as an idea.
It is all 'no sew' and has two pockets on the inside. I think I will make a free pattern for this so others can use it as an inexpensive craft. Anyone interested?
Not bad for a Repurpose & Recycle craft!
Expanding My Wardrobe
Going through my closet I came across a favorite blouse and decided to make a pattern from it. Once again, it's just two pieces, a front and a back - easy peasy.
I had some left over linen that I had pre-washed awhile back and it was just enough to make this little top. The drop sleeves make it just a little dressier than sleeveless.
Easy wash and wear.
I have been thinking about Flamingos for the past week. I jumped in today on the design work on the wingback chairs I'm redesigning for a customer and am now working on creating the 'story' of the two flamingo characters, Phyllis and Fred. It's so much fun thinking up a storyline. I'll let you know what happens with them as soon as I figure it out!
Did you all know when you go to paint already finished furniture that you can first use a liquid sander to rough up the wood so that the paint will stick?
I found this out years ago and it makes the refinish process so much easier.
This has been a very productive week. Love to head to the studio in the morning with a smile on my face and looking forward to what is next. If you ever want more details on a project let me know and I will try and help you out.
Cleaning up the studio now ... off to surprise someone I love!!
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