Rain's Embellishments: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Awesome New Handbag!

For my birthday, my best friend (Amanda) and her mom (Debi) made me an

AWESOME Alice in Wonderland handbag! Debi is an amazing seamstress! This is my third bag made by her... the other two being my Harry Potter bags that she made matching ones for both Amanda & I for the release of the last two books!

Here I am donning my Chevy's birthday sombrero after opening my present.

Backside detail of the different characters from the upcoming movie.

Side pocket

Inside ... it looks like a garden ... not quite the talking garden!

...With heart print pocket <3

She even zig-zagged the print using three different colored threads!

I love it! I've been using it ever since I got it!

Thank you soooo much Debi & Amanda! You ladies ROCK!!!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

New Pillows!

I don't know about you & your spouse/significant other, but my boyfriend and I are always fighting for possession of the pillows! So when I saw that Beverly's was having a sale on fiber-fill, I traveled over there and purchase a couple bags to make some new pillows!

My mom had purchased and given me the owl fabric months ago, and I finally decided to turn some of it into one of my pillows! The other bird fabric I bought at IKEA to make curtains. I still had a bit left over and made my mini pillow. I thought that it was awesome that when I stitched the seam, I miraculously matched up the print! I wasn't even trying! Usually if I do it all goes horribly wrong and off center! So I was pretty proud that this one came out even (maybe just a hair off!?) : D

Friday, February 26, 2010

Inspired by Other Artists - Part III

I saw this Frida-inspired flower crown on the Crafty Chica blog (Click here to see her tutorial) one day and decided to make one of my own!

(photo from Crafty Chica Blog)

I'm sure you've all seen my profile picture with the flowers in my hair... Well, that's just me bobby pinning silk flowers directly in place on top of my head! This technique seemed to be a bit more fun & a lot less painful!

I might have gone just a teensy bit overboard on the flowers!?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Stitch in Time - Part II

Here is something intense! My grandma Carmen stitched this some time ago. My mom pulls it out for special family dinners with my dad's family. Now you have to understand, my grandma had arthritis so bad that her fingers curled. She was a phenomenal artist non-the-less! Aside from embroidery, she painted, carved wood and made paper sculptures! Here's a look at her amazing stitching:

The time it must have taken her! I love all the colors!

It's a face of ???

Butterfly

Pear, apple and bananas

An eye

I have to imagine this is an outline of her hand!

If it is, we have the same size hand!

It looks like a flower in a raindrop! :D

Beautiful bird!

You can probably tell from this photo that she re purposed a cloth rice sack! Yes, this use to be just a plain ol' rice sack! She use to recycle/re purpose things all the time! As above mentioned she made paper sculptures as well. This is a picture of one of her birds:

She created it using either a cardboard soda or beer box! Then she wrapped it in masking tape and painted it. And the eyes (you'll love this) are the little ball beads from rubber bands!!! (Remember those, you would wrap them around your pony tail and one would click over the other!) She used the same technique to paint her couch! (minus the cardboard boxes!) More pictures on that infamous couch later!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Stitch in Time - Part I

Recently my mom unearthed this quilt that her mother (my grandma Connie) stitched some time ago. They're all these beautiful outlines of birds:

It just so happened that it matched the "guest" room (my old bedroom) perfectly!

You can see it hanging on the right side wall:

(very "Shabby Chic" inspired!)

I love it all! All soft pink, roses, girly!

Here's some closer shots of the individual birds:

I think it's awesome that she included a humming bird because it just so happens to be my other grandma's favorite bird!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Then & Now

My how time flies! It's amazing to see a little girl grow before your eyes!

It's also amazing to see a man survive a tragic accident!

A little over nine years ago my dad got hit head-on when he was coming home on his motorcycle. It was a beautiful bike...# 8 out of 100 in that style! Needless to say, the bike didn't survive - thankfully, my dad did survive! After a month in the hospital & countless months of recuperation, he was able to get out on a new bike and ride!

This picture was taken the summer following that accident:

My niece was just a little thing at the time! She always loves to get on the motorcycle with her "Tata"! Here she is now all grown...a month away from being 12! She's already taller than me! (Not that that takes much! Everyone who knows me, knows how vertically-challenged I am! - LOL! :D )

It's just crazy to see what a beautiful young lady she has become! As mentioned, she is about to turn 12 years old! And for this occasion, her mother (my sister) and I are planning a special Alice in Wonderland themed event! Tea party, costumes, jewelry and a viewing of the new movie in 3D!!! Please stay tuned to see the projects we (my mom, sis & I) are working on!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Valentine Swap

When Claire had asked for volunteers for a Valentine swap (on the Glitter & Grunge blog) I didn't hesitate. I love to participate in swaps! Especially cute heart-filled ones!

I usually have a bad habit of procrastinating on projects; but I was so into doing this one I jumped right into it! I decided to make cute, but simple cards & fun little heart bracelets for my five partners in the swap. Here is what they received: