Treasury! Treasury! Treasury!

DeChon Designs made it into our first ever tresury on Etsy. I tried to get a picture of it on the blog but I wasn't quick enough! Phew! Those things go so fast!

Inventory & The Studio Mess

We made a small dent in the inventory. My husband took pictures of each fabric while I described it and measured it out. Then he made a fantastic spread sheet with all the information. I'm currently looking for a way to link it to this blog so that people can look at what I have and custom order items that are specially made for them.

Now I have to organize this mess. My wonderful husband allowed me to sell the living room furniture to make room for my studio and to make an office. He's very generous. And THIS is how I repay him. Ugh! I need to be way more productive and clean up after myself.

It just seems to be against my grain to be a neat person. Maybe it's the artist in me...maybe not. I know how to clean...I just don't. I'd rather be sewing! Maybe I didn't have enough messy art parties as a kid, or maybe I had too many.

Check this out! http://www.cookiemag.com/food/party/2006/09/finemess

Maybe it just shows that I think outside of the box, like artist Larissa Meek. http://www.larissameek.com/new-messy-art/

I think it's proof that I'm busy and creative and ... well a terror on cleanliness

Retro Bag & Over-Cycle Upholstery

Well the retro bathing beauties are up on the site. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep Nikki out of the pictures. She chose that exact moment to demonstrate her amazing ability to "shake" at all the most inopportune times and beg for treats. So almost all of the pictures contain the wonder pup. I think she adds a little glamour to all of those fabulous ladies on the bag. Don't you?

The bag came out really well. I was surprised that the grommets worked as well as they did. They're originally intended for paper and I found them in the scrap booking section of my local craft store. You see, the design of the bag called for the sides to be pleated so that the bag wouldn't fall open when walking. I didn't like that because it limited the size of the mouth of the bag and would only allow one large book in at a time. From my University days, I know that sometimes I'd like to be able to just shove all of them in at the same time. So I used a draw string on the sides. Lesson learned from the messenger bag: Don't be afraid to venture out of your own "isle" to find what you need. Sometimes it's not even called the same thing and may require some extra time to look for it. Other times, it's not even the same store! I've found that plumbing fixtures work wonders in a pinch for some projects. Fishing weights work well for weighing down curtains that fly too much in the breeze or have a tendency to bunch in the wrong places. Also, tiny woodworking hinges make great purse closures. By visiting different places to find your art or complete your vision, you'll not only expand your horizons; you'll also make your options virtually limitless.

Check out these links for some outrageous supplies made beautiful:

Insect Art http://www.insectlabstudio.com/index.php/item/287
Money Origami http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/
Eggshell Art http://www.avoova.net/products.htm
Phil Hansen http://www.philinthecircle.com/influencedetail.html Seattle artist Phil Hansen, painted 30 different people that influenced him, on on top of another on his own torso!


This last weekend was mother's day and since we had no children here, my husband hired me for a little project. We have two vehicles I call the retro-minis. One is a Turbo Sprint and one is an automatic Justy. Both are only three cylinders and two-doors. Both are excellent on gas mileage. Unfortunately, the Justy was made with a carburetor (YUK!) and the Sprint has a TURBO (vroom vroom!) The Justy is in perfect shape and was given to my by a very dear friend with the promise that I would love it and take care of it. The Sprint was a junker that I fell in love with and my husband rebuilt the engine for.

The project: reupholster the Sprint seats. The answer? Hand tailor the Justy upholstery to fit the Sprint! The original Justy seat is on the left and the new, hand tailored Sprint seat is on the right.The Justy has been not working for quite a while and frankly we were thinking of donating it. However, with my promise to my friend and the total beauty of the interior, we really didn't want to see it just get parted out. So, I switched the fabric and with little (yeah right) adjustments here and there...Voila!

I like to call this type of project "Over-Cycling," because it's not really an up-cycle, since nothing better has come from a lesser original product...and it' not recycling, because it wasn't really garbage to begin with. It's just received an over-haul.