I'm so tired...but I'm finally finished!

I'm leaving very early in the morning for a flight to see my family - I'm so excited for my first vacation of the year and I've been scrambling to get all my handmade gifts finished. (Please forgive the poor photo quality - the lighting in my house at this hour leaves much to be desired!) My brother just moved into a new apartment, the first one he's never shared with anyone. I offered to help with his decor and his only requests were, "only black, white, and red...and no flowers or polka dots". I hope he approves of the prints I picked! I also made him a multi-media collage using my favorite photo of us from way back in the day. I enlarged it and converted it to black and white and used the same fabrics I used for the pillows. He may only hang it in his bedroom but I think he'll appreciate it :) Since my nephew is just a baby I know he's stocked up on clothing and toys so I made a canvas set for his wall. I had just a little of the vintage nautical-themed fabric and I amped up the muted (and extremely dated) colors by layering primary colors and prints on top. My niece is only 3 1/2 but she loves books so I made a quickie book bag for her from fabric in my stash. I also included a copy of 'Olivia' by Ian Falconer, one of my favorite children's books. I'm so pleased to be finished with all my gifts...now I can pack and shower and possibly take a nap before we have to leave at 3:30 am (ohmygod!)

Signing off until September 2nd...hurray for vacations!

-M

New multi-media collage, "Sisters"

My family and friends are often my guinea pigs when it comes to new projects. My sisters in particular seem to love my handcrafted presents, which of course makes it totally worth it to make things for them! I wanted to somehow use an old photo I found for my sister Kellie's birthday present. I had some copies made of the photo and I played around with some ideas for a few days until I came up with this. I was happy to find colors and prints in my fabric stash similar to what we're wearing in the photo. I hand embroidered 'sisters' onto muslin and then machine stitched the photo to the rest of the material (I totally didn't think that was going to work, how great that you can sew through just about anything!)

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and Kellie left me the loveliest message after she opened her package, she didn't remember the photo so it was an even better surprise than I expected! I definitely want to try this again and think I'll be offering this type of collage as an option on my etsy page soon.

-M

Project Runway Challenge #1

I believe I mentioned I'm a little obsessed with Project Runway...so imagine my excitement when I found out there were online challenges - you can literally play along with the show! Challenge #1 was to use non-traditional materials to create your design. So I took my slightly smaller supply allowance (they gave each designer $75, I gave myself $25) and went to Long's drugstore instead of Gristede's. I'm pretty pleased with what I was able to craft out of shelf liner, an ironing board cover, some stretchy hair bands and a bbq tent (what? what is a bbq tent?!?) I'm going to do my best to stay on top of the challenges and continue to post what I come up with on here. 

-M

Project Runway is back!

If I could only watch one t.v. show, it would most definitely be 'Project Runway'. As soon as they started advertising for Season 5 I got a little flutter...and the wait was so worth it! Even though the judges complained about the lack of innovation from the majority of the contestants I thought the designs that came from all those disposable tablecloths were pretty amazing. How did Korto do that amazing pleating with her paper dress? And Daniel's plastic cup creation was so outside of anything I would have considered. Kelli was clearly the winner with her marbled 'fabric' vacuum cleaner bags, the studded belt-piece from thumbtacks, and that hook and eye closure from a freaking spiral notebook...
Check out the gallery from the show last night:
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/5/photos/gallery.php?e=episode_1_rate_the_runway
My favorites so far are Kenley, Emily, and that sassy Kelli - hope these gals can stay on top!
Over and Out,

-M

Square One!

"If you want something done, ask a busy person." Lucille Ball said that and I think it's a great quote. I am a busy person and while I sometimes get overwhelmed and procrastinate, I do get things done. Getting this blog going was somewhere near the middle of a very long to-do list for alberta alberta. It seemed like more than I could tackle a few months ago, but I think now is a great time to try it and see how I do. Once I make my goals public I feel a little more accountable, and I think having feedback will help keep me focused and inspired. So hooray for alberta alberta the blog!
Thanks for checking out my little space...

-M