DIY String Lamp Shade

Ever since my boyfriend and I bought an old house with no overhead lighting, we've been desperate to install ceiling lights. This has led us on a frenzied search for the coolest fixtures we can find without costing an arm and a leg. When I first came upon the idea of making a lamp out of string, it reminded me of the old papier mache balloon projects we all did as kids, but this had so much more elegance. I think I'm going to try my hand at it. Here's a great tutorial from the Naughty Secretary Club if you want to give it a shot yourself, and here's the look I'm going for:

For the record, this stunning lamp is from Design Without Regard and costs a whopping $980. Looks like it's yarn and fabric stiffener for me!

Projects for the Day

Thanks to thunderstorms and hungry cats, I've been up since the wee early hours of the morn and have started my projects for the day, which are all laid on on my rocking chair:

Yay! This is my favorite way to spend a rainy Sunday.

Too Hot to Work, so Here's a Link Instead

It hit 90 degrees here in Burlington, VT yesterday which I'm sure is nothing to most of you, but I am not built to be functional in anything above 80 which is one of the reasons I live here. And our air conditioner is conveniently buried at the bottom of our big closet, which is also full of 5lb buckets of joint compound from remodeling, excess artwork of ours we haven't hung, all of my planting supplies, and most of my home brewing equipment. Needless to say, it wasn't coming out for the few hot days of the season. So too hot to work on the dress I was going to make with my new dress form Lula that I made an epic excursion across the state to retrieve (long, kind of fun story I'll post later).


Which brings me back to the point, because when it's too hot to create, I read about other people's creations and look what I found on Design Sponge! Two people decided to write letters to everyone in a small Irish village. Best Idea Ever: http://www.mysteriousletters.blogspot.com/

Blog Fame

I'm psyched to have been featured in two blogs in the last two days! It's always nice (really, really nice) to get positive feedback for all my crazy creations. So check out my train case on Design*Sponge and my coffee sack tote bag on Floribelle! And for those of you who may be checking out my blog for the first time, please sign up to follow it or get the RSS feed for updates if you feel so inclined.

Yay blog fame!

Behind the Scenes of the Studio

I've been full speed ahead lately and wanted to share a few of my latest acquisitions.
Exhibit A: A very old, very beat up Samsonite suitcase I found at an apartment sale:


So far it has a fresh coat of paint but still as a long way to go, poor thing:


And if you're wondering what that is next to the suitcase in the last picture, it's a trash can chair. That's right, a trash can chair (in the making). There's a great charity auction that will take place during the annual South End Art Hop in September and I'm throwing my hat in the ring. I'll post when it's finished!

The original trash can:
And here it is in progress...

I also had an obsessive creative night on Monday and you can see the wine cork coasters, mason jar pin cushion, and completed upcycled blue train case on my etsy site, as always.

First Coffee Sack Project Complete

I've been playing around the bundle of coffee sacks I mentioned last post and just finished a tote with my favorite pattern from one of the bags:


I really like this project. No surprise since I'm addicted to tote bags. They're my constant companions for grocery shopping, running around town, bringing heaps of things to meetings (yep - I'm that person. The one who carries files in a tote bag. Hey, it's Vermont!)... And this particular one is fun and sturdy. You can see more pics on my etsy page. If anyone has suggestions on what to do with the others, I'd love to hear them!

Coffee Sack Grocery Bags

I just received 25 coffee sacks from a local coffee company and am so excited to make all sorts of bags and other burlap treats out of them! Besides the joy my cats get out of sitting on them, they're also good for making my home smell like green coffee beans...