oh domino

At the moment I'm between teaching "regular" school and "night" school; I should be making the best of this time at school and working on grading, but I've been working all day and need a quick break. Here are a few more inspiring images for my future dream home. The images above are mostly from Domino magazine--I think this will be my next subscription, it's lovely.

Below you'll find some kitchen floor is amazing; it's actually made from recycled wine corks. If Josh and I end up with one of the fun, but carpet-tastic ranch style homes we've been looking at we'll have a lot of carpet to rip up and replace with either bamboo, some sort of laminate, or cork. Here are a few places you can shop for environmentally friendly flooring: Eco Friendly Flooring (in WI) and Corkstore.com

mentally redecorating

The school year is winding to a close and my students are driving me a bit batty with their spring fever and shorter than usual attention spans. Unfortunately their behavior spreads to me some days and I feel just as anxious for some well deserved time off.

I did manage to finish 2 small pieces and one larger piece for the end of the year staff and student show. They are mixed media pieces with drawings, digital photos, and fabric sewn together quilt style. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. More ideas are floating around for paintings and sewn pieces, but I also have a mountain of grading waiting for me to get to tomorrow...so we'll see which gets done.

I've also been obsessively dreaming about finding and decorating our first home (the house hunt is still on, but we found a few really promising places today). Here are a few ideas I've come across and would like to recreate. Most images are from various Design Sponge blog posts.

feeling stitchy

I've been terrible about keeping up this blog--again. To those of you who don't know the reasons (and I'm guessing it's mostly my dear family and close friends reading this) I'll sum it up: got sick, got distracted, got stressed, and got distracted again--most recently by the arrival of spring, finally.

Craft wise I've made one new creature since my last post; I've dubbed him Sumo Cat. It's an all original pattern and pretty quick to make, so I'm planning on making more and tweaking the pattern a bit as I go. This one is already in the tiny hands of it's new owner, my second cousin, baby Sam.

I've got to get back on the art making track again, since we have our staff art show coming up next month and I'd like to put in some new work. Oh, and don't forget Mother's Day is almost here. I have a few ideas for both projects, just need to dive in.

errands and daydreams

Today I spent over an hour wandering around Jo-Ann Fabrics (a big suburban version) and was overwhelmed by the rows and rows and rows of fabric. I thought I'd hit the mother load, only to realize after looking through them that there were only a few bolts of fabric I even remotely liked. The selection was better than Hobby Lobby, my normal stand by, but overall the prints seemed a little dated and stuffy (lots of florals and little kitty cats, etc.). In the end I bought 2 yards of fabric, a few remnants, and some yarn to add to my crafting stash. Next I'm planning to check out Prints Charming II, a small independent fabric store.


Here are a few inspiring images (mostly from Design Sponge). I'm feeling the greens, grays, yellows, and whites lately...seems soothing and springlike.

pillow talk

On my first day of spring break (Good Friday) I finished my first machine sewn throw pillow cover. I searched the internet for a basic pillow case pattern that didn't require a zipper or buttons and came across a great one. Then I used an upholstery grade fabric remnant from Hobby Lobby and a few pieces of felt to create the embellishments I designed for the front. All in all a pretty quick and satisfying project (not to mention inexpensive). I think I may make a few more--for myself or possibly put up for sale in an etsy store that I'd like to start someday. I'm hoping to buy some more fabric soon to play with; I'm loving online vender Sew, Mama, Sew.

Hopefully I'll be productive and finish lots of fun projects over spring break...

a scarf story

Well, my first scarf is complete! It's a little wonky around the edges and has a few holes (5 or so-I counted) from dropped stitches, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

Next in Stich 'n Bitch I'll be learning how to purl and then how to combine my 2 stitches (knit and purl) together to make a ribbed scarf. Next time I may invest in better quality yarn and try to stay zen and peaceful while knitting to avoid my uneven tension issues. :) I'll keep you posted. I wonder which will happen first--warmer weather or a completed second scarf...?

stops and starts

Knitting continues to be a bit of battle for me. After finishing about 8 inches or so of my first scarf I decided the loose open weave just didn't do it for me, so I decided to switch to smaller gauge needles (10). The pattern called for "bulky" yarn and size 17 needles; I bought and used both, but I don't think my yarn was really all that bulky (despite what the label said). Now I'm about a foot into scarf round two and it's better looking, but I'm still not completely satisfied. The edges of my scarf are wavy and uneven. I'm guessing this is due to uneven tension on the rows---tighter stitches from time to time mixed with looser ones? Any thoughts?

Lately I've been day dreaming about buying and decorating a house (or townhouse). Here are a few lovely images that have caught my eye recently:
























What I love:
row one (left to right):
1) informal bulletin board in kitchen nook-fun and easy to change picts
2) unique old apothecary looking cabinet (fingers crossd that I'll find something like this on craig's list)
3) color, art hung collage style, and eames rocking chair--ahhh
row 2:
1) windows, built in window seat/entertainment center, mid century mod furniture
2) great wall paper cutout--sweet idea for the future
3) tree wall decal (?) and touches of red