happy birthday elmore

i normally don't post non-craft-related posts, but today is the day we brought elmore home... from the parking lot... and i have so many good pictures of him to celebrate with.

(this picture was taken when we played photo booth a couple weeks ago. he loved it).

most people who have known me a while know i didn't really like cats.... but i love this stinkin cat.

a new couch

well, not exactly. but new to us.

finally, after living with this for a year... wait for it... *jaws music*

eek! well, to some people. at first i didn't hate it too much when ben had it in his apartment. but we've been well overdue for an upgrade. i love the contrast of orange and blue, so i wanted to tie that into my great grandmother's painting...:

and the fabric i'm using on the coffee table top for the antique "thing" from a textile factory in fall river, circa 1900 (the bottom of the table, not the fabric. the fabric was from the remnants at lorraine. see picture below for the coffee table. i still have to cut and sew the fabric):



pretty happy with the results, although the sewing is far from impeccable. i didn't photograph it, but the backs of the cushions are held with rusty red plastic buttons.

elmore likes posing and likes, uh, helping me too. the lump in the second picture below is my dear cat.

oh my god i almost forgot! total for the supplies used for this makeover: about $25. love the remnants. although i do have about another $14 worth of leftover fabric, but that's whats great about cheap fabric, i can buy too much in case i screw up. which i did a little.

my... "studio"

i have finally completed my little, tiny workspace. it consists of about a 4'x8' section of my little, tiny bedroom. unfortunately for ben, it's on his side of the bed...
i've lived in this apartment for a year now, and am almost close to being done with the major decorating and arranging. phew. not a quick task with a small budget and the primary source being yard sales and thrift stores. but much more satisfying than a quick ikea fill.




i've collected a few vintage pieces i love, including the antique typography drawer that i mounted on the wall and filled with spools of threads, and the egg-shaped case that holds fo's or projects in time out. i LOVE vintage suitcases and have them all over the apartment for storage/decoration, including the one holding my sewing supplies.

a big source of inspiration is family, including the pictures of my mom that i've blogged about before, a membership card of my grandmother's from 1968, from the amalgamated clothing workers of america, a picture of my father's grandmother knitting in a rowboat in 1917, and a knitting tag of my father's sister. i think about my nonna ALL THE TIME when i am sewing, which is such a great way to remember her.

the last step is a change of curtains. another long overdue decorating project will hopefully be posted soon.

a great memory

look at this! a friend from my days in fredericksburg still has a gift i gave her years and years ago. i kid you not that i thought about this gift not too long ago - i bought her frames because i knew how beloved her dogs were to her (like mine was to me) and i scribbled little pictures to go in there - i thought i was hilarious. honestly, i was a little too delighted with how funny i thought i was, and jokingly told her that the gift was actually the pictures, not the frames. then quickly corrected myself in case she should actually think for a second that i expected her to like my little drawings. but i guess she did! i don't know whether to laugh or cry. i love it. thanks jen!