Pillows (Really? Pillows? Yes, pillows)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I haven’t been around in my digital form lately, tending the blog.  Maybe because it’s because I’ve been too busy sewing pillows.  Well, yes and other things that are too boring to go into here.  So.  Pillows.

My straight line sewing skills continue to develop . . . At this point I think I’ve mastered the envelope back pillow.  I had some peace sign fabric I bought on a whim at Anatols hanging around my craft room.  Paired with some tweed-y fabric I picked up a Garden Ridge that at one point was destined for a project chair in the basement, I turned out a trio of “peace, man” pillows.

(There are two of the 20×20 peace pillows, they just don’t both fit in the rocker.  And if it don’t fit in the rocker, it don’t make it into the picture!)

Another pillow project was the test pillows for the white canvas I want to use for the Danish Daybed Sofas.  (That are still in the garage — and the foam that I was considering reusing STILL stinks to high heaven.  I don’t know that these CoMo owners did to it to make it hold on to such an aroma . . . ).  The idea for these pillows is to have Shenanigan lay on them a whole lot, to see how they weather such doggy abuse.  I’m sure he will be happy to comply.   But I also thought if I was going to the trouble of making some pillows, I ought to make them a little more interesting than just plain white canvas.  

So I drew a connected chevron pattern on them with black permanent fabric marker.  I was considering strategically coloring in some of the shapes but wasn’t able to decide on color/placement/yada yada yada so I finally just sewed  ’em up.

They’re real classy — I only bought one yard of the test fabric, so they don’t really close all the way without the help of some safety pins. . . .

Let the testing begin!

Shenanigan was the first volunteer . . . . then Sophie hopped up there too . . .

She doesn’t have this compulsion to be on TOP of the pillows like Shenanigan does though, she’s content to just be near them  . . .

That was where I left them this morning and it’s probably where they are right now.  It’s a dog’s life all right!

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Hand Crafted

Oh the ways the internet can amuse

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

One of the nice things about using WordPress for this little ol’ blog is that it tells you all the search terms people use to find you. 

 Things like “dog manicure”

and  “help my husband has a guitar addiction!”

(Yes those are all guitars that have come or gone or still reside in our house within the last three months.)

The most popular are “lab corgi mix” (that’s Shenanigan – and really he is the most ridiculous dog)

For instance, while lounging on the sofa the other night, we look over to see little Shenanigan hanging out on and behind the new pillow I made (crochet!).  That long little nose always needs a pillow to hold it up. 

Or, a different day, he needed the crochet pillow for his front end and another pillow for his back end.  Sophie declined all pillows for the comfort of flat out snoozing on her side . . .

So.  Lots of dog pics.

You internet users has also searched for us via “music room floor plan” or “music room layout”:

Do you have a music room in your house?  I’d love to see it.  What about a lab/corgi?  I love those too (along with all other mutts and dogs in general).  Do you give your lab/corgi doggy manicures?  Or do you have a husband with an affinity for buying, keeping and selling guitars?  Let’s chat.  We might have a lot in common.

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Posted in Dogs, Guitars, Miscellaneous Diversions

Back Yard Reboot

Posted on March 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, husband and I spent a whole day with a sort-of-pronged post digger type dirt mover-thingy and a shovel, scraping and scratching away at the thick and densely tangled layer of weeds that covered our back yard.  That day of immense effort got about 1/8 of the back yard de-weeded enough that it could be seeded.  Oh my.

So after learning that a light-duty tiller rental from the oh-so-nearby Home Depot (even I with my girly arm could probably throw a rock from our front porch and hit it) was only $32 for four hours, it seemed a better use of our time.

  So last Saturday we undertook this total back yard do-over.  It was time —  not much has happened to this back yard in the seven years we’ve owned this house except a lot of dog shit. 

Farmer Ted and his magic tiller dug up most of the yard.  I even tried my hand at the tiller and let it drag me around a little.  The yard waste dumpster in the alley was empty in the morning when we started and F-U-L-L when we finished.  My arms may never recover.

Our “helpers” got tired out too, but mainly from all the overseeing they had to do.

It’s going to look a little weird for a while and not just because of the funky straw grow mats we put down.   Hopefully soon there will be grass or some semblance of grass though.  If the mangy South City robins manage to eat all the grass seed, we will end up doing sod but the effort will still be worth it in the end — the yard needed to be tilled up to allow anything besides this tangled mess of weeds to grow.

And . . . this little patch at the end of the yard that was for a few years an overgrown garden may soon look like something that resembles this:

I couldn't find the original source for this image but it's gorgeous. I want to go to there now!

A little “moment of zen” in our own backyard . . . . more to follow!

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Posted in Around the house, Yard Work

Am I the Chicken or the Egg?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

As the blue-ing of the Thompson house progresses, I’m starting to wonder — am I a Chicken or an Egg?  Meaning, did I jump on the blue bandwagon after seeing it pull down the street past my house or am I up in the driver’s seat at the start of the parade?

 

At the end of the day, I’m not sure it matters.  I love blue.  I have always loved blue.  I have a sapphire engagement ring I wear everyday for chrissake.  Because I loved blue so much, I steered away from it as a decorating/design decision.  I was trying to stretch and try out other things.  Look where it got me — I ended up back at blue.  So, the morale of the story folks, is to always design/decorate your own home/treehouse/apartment/room above the garage to reflect YOUR tastes, loves and interests.  That way you’ll always love it.

I think I’ll always love blue. I think blue loves me back.

(P.S. — It’s also just paint . . . .So if blue and I have a falling out and get a nasty divorce, we can start over fresh with green.  Or tan.  Not purple.)

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions

A weekend’s work is never done . . .

Posted on March 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It’s back to Monday folks and I am having crazy crunch time at work.  That is why I value my time at home so much.  So many people in the field I work in are workaholics.  I have always tried to work really hard (and efficiently) while I’m at work, but then leave it at the office.

And come home to . . .

Baby booties?  My Stitch and Bitch project is finally complete . . .

(See this post for the Purl Soho pattern and info.  Super easy to make, just takes a little time — best done in front of Netflix & How I Met Your Mother).

New bamboo shades?  I tried again (very unsuccessfully) to do the black-out cloth on the back of the woven shades we had already.  Total fail.  But they were all pretty busted up anyways (don’t buy cheap!) and afforded zero privacy.  So on a routine visit to Home Depot, we splurged(ish) on new shades for the music room and bedroom.

These are terrible, terrible pictures.  JT speed-installed the blinds on Sunday night as the light was fading fast.  I’m going to take all new pictures of the music room soon . . . .

And new light fixture (coming soon)?  The soffit over the kitchen sink has long had a scary, scary hole in it. . . Hole no more, light fixture to come. . .

Back to the grind.  I’m already looking forward to next weekend and finishing up some more projects (I’m looking at you kitchen soffit.)

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Posted in Around the house, Gifts, Hand Crafted, Kitchen

Another baby pillow, but for a big boy!

Posted on March 16, 2012 by | 2 comments

Sometimes my lack of follow through on projects means that instead of delivering a gift at a baby shower, I instead deliver it when the baby is three months . . . or almost two years old.  Yikes!  Better late than never I guess!

So, Jackson is the almost-two-year-old in question and he is adorable.  Since he loves dogs and has a cute little blue and green bedroom, I came up with this . . .

I was thinking about going with J. Dog on the side, but wasn’t sure if his parents were ready to explain rap music and all the surrounding terminology . . . According to some pictures I got from his mom, I think he likes it! My first user review!

Since JT and I don’t have any toddlers of our own, I didn’t think about the ubiquitous child’s show “Blues Clues” although my little sis sure watched it a whole lot when we were kids . . . and my younger cousin looks suspiciously like the boy/man character.  But Jack apparently caught on right away and got his very own “Blues Clues” customized pillow.  Hope you like it little man.

Have a great weekend everyone!  I’m off to finish these baby booties before all these girl babies are born!

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Posted in Gifts, Hand Crafted

Stitch and Bitch Success!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

** Content Warning – This is not your Grandma’s crafting! **

Working as a commercial interior designer is a great profession, but it’s not as hands-on as what you see on things like HGTV.  We work in AutoCAD, do Photoshop rendering and pick out materials.  But we also do ceiling plans, coordinate with mechanical/electrical/plumbing, do tedious room finish schedules and even more tedious shop drawings. 

So sometimes we designers want to get hands-on!  Together with some of my designer friends from college, we dreamed up what was at first called “D.I.Y. Day” to be sort of politically correct but then turned quickly into a “Stitch and Bitch” (way more fun).  JT preferred to absent himself (can’t blame him) and us girls took over the Thompson house for a Saturday of crafts. 

I was excited to get further in my New Year’s resolution of “bringing brunch back” so I went to town on that.

I found these great napkins at Ikea that matched the “stitch” theme and also had my beloved blue in them.  And yep, that’s a new rug hanging out in the kitchen — bought for under $30 online.  Sweet.  Ignore the horrible soffit, there’s a new light fixture going in this upcoming weekend . . . .

The girls pitched in with food (and cocktails!) and off we went . . . .

JT had set up the new Ikea Strind coffee table for us before he vanished into thin air and it came in handy having so much more free space in the living room now that the big ottoman has moved on to my brother and sister-in-law’s new house. 

I didn’t get a good before picture of it but Miss K came in with a busted up mirror from Hobby Lobby she scored for $8.  She had a big bag full of stuff and she took her frame to the horribly weedy front yard and made some magic with it.

She made a gorgeous little picture display for her little girl, Mila’s room.  She texted me a picture after, and I think the pictures of Mila with her mommy and daddy are what make it extra cute.  I love the fabric and ribbons and really, the overall pink and brown scheme they did for Mila’s room – very sophisticated but fun.

With all that she had to do, somehow Miss K even finished up first and came in to give us a hand . . .

Miss E had found some great inspiration images on Pinterest and wanted to do something spring-y for her front door.  Several yards of felt and some hot glue later, her wreath came out so great.

One of the nice things is that the felt flowers are wired on individually so she can change it out for the season if she wants (red flowers for Valentines day or orange and brown hues for fall . . . )

Isn’t it sharp on their black front door? I love it!

Now to me. . . . everyone I know seems to be having a baby girl.  So baby presents were in order.  I saw this adorable felt bootie pattern on Purl Soho’s website and wanted to try it out. 

I was the slowpoke of the group.  By the time brunch had wrapped up, I had only one unadorned bootie to show for all my effort.  I persisted in my hand-stitching and thanks to an extra long finale of The Bachelor, got one pair all the way done. 

 

Now I only have two more pairs left!!  All in all, the Stitch ‘n Bitch was great fun — it was nice to work on a project and be able to catch up with each other, drink really good cranberry-champagne mimosa-things and enjoy a beautifully sunny Saturday.  This might end up being a recurring event, but I think next time instead of starting off on a whole new project, I need to use these D.I.Y. days as a time to finish up all the ones I have started all over the house . . . .

Thanks to Miss K and Miss E for letting me share their projects!  Cheers – CT

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Hand Crafted

1966 Gibson LG-0

Posted on March 8, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Threw the wife and dogs into the car one night after work for a trip to Gerald, MO to pick up this one. For those of you who are not aware, as I was not, Gerald is about 60 miles this side of Jefferson City. Long drive up some dark, curvy roads. Ended up having to meet the dude in the middle of town. Fine little town. Quiet.

The wood on this guitar was dry as a damn bone. Acoustic guitars, just like anything made from wood, require oil and the right balance of humidity. Acoustics especially, will almost always crack right down the middle. Not fatal- in fact I have a 68 Gibson B-25 N which I play out many times a month that has a repaired crack. Still a wonderful guitar, can barely tell the damage:

The LG-0 had no such cracks. Plenty of finish checking, and the top was Johnny Marred pretty good, but no cracks. Applying the oil was a bizarre experience. The wood literally drank the moisture, so much that it drastically changed the appearance. Look at the contrast with the pick guard removed:

For a period in the mid-late 60’s, Gibson experimented with plastic bridges. Most of them were trashed in favor of a wood bridge, however this one was still in great shape. Long story short, I had found an all-original, perfectly working model that just needed cleaning up. Worth the drive. Up for grabs on Ebay- see it here!

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Posted in Guitars, Uncategorized

Dog Days

Posted on March 8, 2012 by | 2 comments

You may have noticed from the radio silence that things are crazy over here.  Or maybe your own life is crazy too so you totally get it and don’t really have time to read my boring blog posts about which wall I painted today, which I totally get.  At any rate, things are so crazy over here that I think both JT and I feel like we’re running around with our hair on fire most days.  Not pretty and scorched hair definitely doesn’t smell good.

You know who isn’t running around with their hair on fire?

These two.

Yep monkeys.  This is Sophie assuming the “Long Legs” position.  Also “Crazy Bat-wing Ears”.

Guess who thinks our new(-ish) bed belongs to him? 

Shenanigan.

Day after day, we find him laying in JT’s spot.  World’s largest dog bed.

Shenanigan ends up being photographed the most because he does the weirdest things.  His little lab/corgi body is so weird with his long long body and short short legs.  Sometimes, he hugs his pillows with those little legs.

Sometimes, he uses his pillow to cushion his feet only . . . .

And then Sophie uses him for a pillow and the world makes sense again . . .

I have my fingers crossed that I will have some design/home related updates next week.  I’m having some girlfriends over for a “Stitch and Bitch” craft day so I’m going to have some projects to share!  Have a great rest of your week.  (It’s going to fly by, especially if you’re running really fast because you hair’s on fire!)

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Posted in Dogs

Lights Out!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | 4 comments

Dejected by a long week of short days and high stress at work, it seemed like we needed a little unwinding in the evening.  Ally at From the Right Bank had posted a sweet blog letter (you can read it here – note her blog was hacked and she has been having some trouble with images) from Heather describing a power outage and I took inspiration.  We decided Tuesday was “Lights Out Night” and grocery shopped accordingly. (Salmon and lobster pinwheels with baked potato, steamed broccoli and a broccoli risotto, so good.)

And husband bought me some flowers.

We didn’t really go all the way “lights out”, we just said no TV or internet.  We made a nice dinner, had some red wine and settled in on the sofa to read Steinbeck (The Pearl for me, East of Eden for JT).  All in all a great night and I think this is a tradition we will keep.

While digging through the box of candles for ones to light up, I inadvertently brought one upstairs that had a little history attached to it . . .
 Yep, that may or may not have been the high school dance that started this whole crazy thing.  We didn’t actually burn it, but put it out on the table for grins.  Also, JT’s cousin made those incredible turned wood candle holders as wedding gifts.  Love.

You guys may think we are just wine drinking slackers over here but some progress was made.  The kitchen is now bluer.

The ironic thing is that when we bought the house the kitchen was painted a soft blue color and had this lovely blue plastic laminate countertop (prepare your eyes for a hideous picture . . . )

Oh the horror.  It’s come a long way baby.  I’ve got my mind set that March is going to finish this one.

Another little kitchen item was installing some more functional storage solutions – #1 a Grundtal rail system from our last IKEA trip.

I’m noticing red wine was involved in this project as well.  Hey, it’s good for the heart and I am all about heart health.  Also, while I understand the mechanics of power tools, I try to avoid operating them at all costs as I am left-handed and convinced one will kill me.   JT is kind enough and right-handed so he’s the power tool man.

Since we have a grand total of 8′-6″ of countertop with accompanying under-counter storage, having a nice way to store some of our pots and pans is something we really appreciate.  It’s still simple, clean and miles away from that tower of clutter shelving we used to have but gives us a way to really maximize our tiny kitchen.

So that’s it for this week.  We’re just hours away from another weekend and I’m hoping to get some more Grundtal installed but also have some family moving duties to attend to.

Don’t forget – life is what you make it.  If you want more evenings drinking wine and reading classic literature with your high school sweetheart, then take Nike’s advice and JUST DO IT!  Or maybe you want something else like more time playing Scrabble.  JUST DO THAT TOO.  Maybe a project might not get finished as quickly, maybe you’ll have to wait one more night to pay some bills but it will all be worth it in the end.  The blue kitchen will just have to wait (although I am absolutely loving how that kitchen of mine is  coming together! . . . )  All in due time.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Kitchen, Miscellaneous Diversions