Nesting energy put to good use

A few weeks ago I gave my friend a pair of baby shoes that I made because she is expecting a child.  Her crafty sisters were there when I gave the shoes to her and said I should make more and sell them with them at a craft show where they were going to be selling their wares.  I thought I would take up the challenge and sew up as many baby shoes as I could in a week before the craft show.  I was sewing the shoes every chance I got and made 19 pairs!  I wanted to make it to 20, but ran out of time.  Here are pictures of the shoes I made.  Some of the pictures are a little blurry so excuse them :) 

I forgot to mention that I am 7 months pregnant, so this was a great way to pass the time away and put my nesting energy to good use!  I really enjoyed making them... they are really addicting to make.  Anything that tiny is cute and fun to make!

Hurray for a new buffet!!

I have been working on making our dining room a space that I enjoy, and a piece of furniture I thought it needed was a buffet.  We made our farmhouse table back in February, I think, which I have yet to post pics of and it is awesome!  I love the table, but the room needed another piece of furniture in it... something to use as storage and to set food on when there is company, etc.  I was on the hunt for one on craigslist for the last several months and I finally found one the price I wanted to purchase one for... $20!  It was my goal not to spend more than $20 on a piece I was just going to upcycle and make my own.  It was an old buffet from the 70's with an ugly stain and nasty knobs.  I thought to myself that that was the perfect piece!  I liked the simple lines of it because I wanted to find one that wasn't too fancy in it's shape so that it would work well with the simplicity of the farmhouse table.  I did like the curve of the little legs though which adds a softer feel to the piece.  I thought the big solid doors would be perfect canvasses to paint on as well! 

 First thing I did was take the nasty knobs off of the buffet and fill in the holes.  The buffet is actually really heavy and is made of mahogony wood, believe it or not, which is great!  I was glad it was a solid piece.  I decided to paint the buffet the same color as the base of the farmhouse table and chairs.  It is painted white and covered with a stain that I used ontop to antique it with.  I replaced the knobs with new ones I found at Anthropologie (my favorite store in the universe) that I love very much!  They were on sale... I only paid $15 for all of them!!  I chose to get a few different kinds to add interest to the piece.  I wanted the knobs to be more of the focal point than the actual color of the buffet.  

 Next came the fun part of doing the decorative painting on the front.  I seem to have birds that sneak into many projects I do in my house, so I let them out once again and let them fly all over the buffet.  I finished the buffet by sanding the edges just as I did with the farmhouse table and I love the way the piece turned out!  I can't wait to finish my dining room.  Now it is on it's way to being completed thanks to my new buffet! 

The Fireflies

I had the opportunity to paint a mural in a music school in our area.  It is called Firefly Music School (http://www.fireflymusicschool.com/ ).  I collaborated with a graphic designer that came up with the images of these fireflies playing musical instruments.  I changed some of the colors that he had originally had incorporated in the image of the band.  I also made the fireflies' faces flesh tone instead of green or another color which didn't suit them.   

I added a band name for the group on the front of the drum and mimicked the typography of the letters that are used in Fireflies' logo.  I thought it would also be fun to make the dot for the I a pair of firefly wings.

 I also made a lot of changes to the girl playing the violin.  The owner of the music school wanted me to make her look more young and "cool", so I gave her a fun school girl outfit with an anime flare to her.  I gave her a rockin' side braid too!  She is much larger than the rest of the band of fireflies, and she stands alone on an opposite facing wall from the band. 

 I finished the mural yesterday and it feels good to be done. I really enjoyed working on it despite one paint mishap I had one day while I was there!  I think the mural adds alot to the waiting room.  It gives it more life and will give children something to look at while they are waiting for their lesson and hopefully make them smile!  Two of my boys have taken lessons there an it is a great place with very talented teachers.  I was glad to be a part of making Firefly Music School a better place!

Silhouette Mural

A few months ago I painted a mural for some friends in their home.  They had a bonus room above their garage that they wanted to make special for their kids to enjoy.  I met with the mom and we discussed ideas for the room.  She thought of a silhouette idea which I loved, and I suggested we add splashes of color throughout to make it more fun for the kids and she loved that idea!  I created a backyard scene with her four kids encorporated into it.  Her one son hanging from a tree, her oldest daughter reading a book, the youngest daughter swinging on a tree swing and the youngest boy pushing her, and last but not least, their family dog chasing a butterfly. 

It was a great experience painting this room and getting to know the kids while I painted.  They were so curious and inquisitive!  The silhouettes were trickier than I thought they were going to be which gave me a real challenge.  We literally shone their silhouettes on the wall to get their outline so that they could look as much like themselves as possible.  Between trying to figure out how to make a silhouette upside down hanging from a tree, to tracing moving toes, etc. it was a challenge.  I am pleased with how they look though despite all of the challenges. 

The silhouette was done in a less harsh way with a more natural color... not the typical black and white.  It took a couple of hours to pick out the two colors, believe it or not, but it was worth every minute of that because the result is great... not to harsh of a contrast, but yet not too little of a contrast and they have a nice warm tone to them.

 It took me about 60 hours total to complete the mural and I did it in 2 weeks.  That was alot to cram into a couple of weeks, but it was so satisfying to step back at the end and look at what I accomplished within a short amount of time.  A great experience overall!!