Working on the kitchen

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Not only have I just started back at work after a year long maternity leave and started working on a business making baby stuff (more to come on that later) but I've also been trying to get our kitchen and bathroom finished. The kitchen is directly opposite the front door when you come into our house so it's the first thing that you see. I was fed up with cringing at the sight of our kitchen every time we came home and something had to be done. New cabinets were definitely not in the budget so we had to be imaginative to create a vintage inspired kitchen that wouldn't be ruined by the 1980s melamine and wood cabinets. I had the brainwave to paint all the wood trim a dark red, thinking a bright colour against the melamine might detract attention away from it. We painted the walls a really pale shade of blue and laid new vinyl tile in burgundy and grey/blue. It definitely ties in way better with all of our vintage accessories.

Before

This cabinet was found at a thrift store (before you start getting jealous it wasn't that cheap). Someone had gone to the huge effort of stripping it and I would never paint over wood on a piece of furniture normally but it just didn't look right. It probably explains how it ended up in the thrift store. Besides painting the cabinet, I lined it all in oil cloth and I polished all the chrome handles. I used a permanent marker to draw red stripes into the grooves on the handles to match the other red accents on the piece. I am so happy with how it turned out, it's definitely the centre piece of the room now.

We wont talk about how I was up until 3:30 am laying this flooring and how at 2 am I discovered I didn't I have enough red tiles to finish the room. I also shouldn't mention the huge scratch we made in the floor putting the fridge back.

I'll share some pictures of the finished kitchen in my next post.

Stay Still Exhibition at Katie Gingrass Gallery

I was thrilled to be invited to be a part of the show "Stay Still" at the Katie Gingrass Gallery in Milwaukee. I just wish I could be there for the opening. The gallery looks beautiful and carries the work of some stunning artists. I'm honored to have my work shown alongside theirs. If you are in the area the show will be up from the beginning of July until the end of September.

Wren's Birthday Party

I had a hard time coming up with a theme for Wren's birthday. In the end I decorated with lots of bright colours and an image of Wren's face.

Hanging paper lanterns, a bright table runner and freshly picked tulips and lilacs.

I didn't want Wren's first taste of sugar to be too much so I made banana cupcakes with whipped cream instead of frosting. She devoured the entire thing so I guess it was a hit. I also made bird's nest cupcakes with chocolate frosting and mini eggs for those with more of a sweet tooth.

I sliced up lots of fruit and veggies to make rainbow trays

Layered jello

Don't put pineapple in your jello mold, it will end up looking like a creature from a horror movie!

Balloons and a fabric bunting I sewed alternating stars with images of Wren's face that I had printed on fabric using my Print Gocco

I also sewed a bunting with Wren's name using vintage floral sheets. This will look great in Wren's room afterwards

I sent the guests home with loot bags featuring the same image of Wren's face. The adults got gummy candies and the 2 babies got a board book and a toy each.

Camera 4: Imperial Lark

We're half way through the year and I am finally admitting defeat on my camera a week project. It quickly became a camera a month project and now I'm completely abandoning it for a new project that I will be sharing with you soon. Anyways here's the last of the sculptures for a while, the Imperial Lark.

This cute little camera from the 1960s has been on my to do list for a while now. I put it off for a long time because I didn't know how to approach the flash bulb and the domed piece the flash sits in. I knew that I wouldn't be able to construct a dome shape with flat felt but I finally came up with the idea of wet felting around a styrofoam ball to achieve the shape. I thought it would be fun to be able to take the lightbulb out so it's attached with a snap. The camera also has a working viewfinder.

Wren's Birthday

I'm a little late posting this. Last week was Wren's birthday. It is so hard to believe that my little Wren is one year old. We celebrated with a small party of a few friends and family.

Wren certainly took an interesting approach to eating her cake. Something she had never done before and has yet to do again. I guess it's her party piece.

Felt Toy Storage

We've turned a corner of our living room into a play area for Wren. It's crazy how quickly the toys overtook the entire room so I decided to make some storage bins to contain and organize all her toys.

I made them out of industrial felt that I dyed one end of with food colouring.

Camera 3: Agfa Silette LK

Okay I admit it, I've been too embarrassed to post since it has taken me so long to finish this camera. I'm more than a little behind on my camera a week plan. I'm thinking a camera a month (and that is probably pushing it) is more my speed what with this little thing called raising a baby! I've also had out of town visitors and been strangely more social than I have been in a long time. My weekends and even some of my week days have been booked solid meeting up with friends which has been great. I've also been doing a lot of Spring cleaning. I started to attack the basement this morning, it's pretty scary down there.

Anyways onto the camera:

This camera is modelled on the 1970's Agfa Silette LK camera that belonged to Spencer's grandfather. Spencer has shot a few rolls of film through it and says it's a fun camera to shoot with.

This felt camera has a working viewfinder, you can look through and line up your shot.

I think that this is probably the most detailed camera that I have made to date. I have started incorporating clear vinyl in my last few felt sculptures to mimic glass lenses and plastic screens. I'm really enjoying the contrast between the shiny, artificial material and the warm, soft felt.

The lightmeter and exposure counter were created by layering embroidered felt and clear vinyl underneath the main piece of felt.