Home Studio: Cliff Mansley of Heirloom Artists

I don’t have any artistic talent in my genes… but I DO have art in my blood!  Here’s proof:

The hands in the top picture are my grandpa’s hands (he’s a calligrapher) and the bottom picture is a painting that my grandma did.  They make such a great team!  For years my grandma would paint for my grandpa’s calligraphy (or maybe my grandpa would do calligraphy for my grandma’s paintings… I’m not sure).  Anyway, I love my grandparents and I think they’re so cool.  Check out my grandpa’s studio in the basement of his house (which my grandma designed herself):

He’s got a little office in the basement:

and even a frame shop in the back:

I just think in-house studios are so cool.  I might be a little bias since my mom has one, too but anyway… they’re neat.   My grandpa’s studio is really cool, too, because its all-inclusive.  I appreciate how he’s set himself up to be able to do a job basically from start to finish.  Aaaaanyhoo – hope you liked it.  Make sure to check out the product of this setup on gramp’s website.

Heidi

Organization Station

I learned this week that I have an incredibly organized cousin.  She is also getting married.  I know for a fact that her hubby will never ever loose his keys or his shoes.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Phil.  Phil is destined to a lifetime of misplaced doodads and messy tables.  BUT I can’t say I don’t try – because I do.  I really really really do try to be organized and (here’s the real trick) STAY organized!  So I picked up on a tip from my cousin (we call her Missy).  Missy had this SUPER GINORMOUS wedding planner and organizer book.  It must have been something like three inches thick at the binding.  Everyone has told me that I need one of these books but until I saw how helpful Missy’s was, I just figured I could keep track of everything online or in my head.  I now know that that only works until you get so far into the planning, at which point things begin to just fall out of your head.  So, I hopped out of the unemployment line and into Books A Million today to take a look.

I ended up leaving with a book called “The Ultimate Wedding Planning Guide.”  ULTIMATE.  Intense.

It’s actually a pretty reasonable size and not too overly detailed (sometimes more details just lead to more stress, am I right?).  If you’re curious, you can find the book I ended up purchasing here.  It took me quite a long time to pick out.  I probably sat on the floor of Books A Million for an hour surrounded by all of these books – comparing content, price, and practical use.  For a long time I had picked out a book by the same people that I liked a lot.  Actually, I think half the books there were written by Elizabeth & Alex Lluch (of wedspace.com).  I was stuck on that one because it was compact but still had all of the necessary features (the “Tips to save money” were a huge draw for me – they also included etiquette which I am always asking my mom about).

It wasn’t until I’d finally made up my mind that I changed my mind.  I saw the book I ultimately purchased with an enclosed binding, just a tad smaller, and with more tabs.  Tabs, I decided were huge.  Some of the books made you search and search for the right page.  Some were divided by month and I just decided I could not handle that.  I’m too ADD and excitable to stick by a month-to-month calendar for this thing. This book not only has a portion in the beginning with a month-by-month checklist, but the tabs are divided up by category.

This book should be really perfect for me.  Some, you can tell, are good for people who know exactly what to do and just need to have a checklist.  Some books are for people who are completely clueless and need lots of tips and advice and whatnot.  Some of those things would have been helpful to me and some of the things in the book I bought I already know but for the most part it’s a very happy medium and I am just really excited to start using it! (Yes, I was so excited that I wrote this blog-post before I wrote anything on its pristine new pages.)

Time to get to work on that!

Heidi

Where The Heck Have I Been?!

I have been horribly absent from the ol’ blog for a little over a week now (with the exception of yesterday’s post) and I feel the need to explain.  I was on the most amazing incredible fantastic family reunion/vacation to Black Butte, Oregon, just a few hours from where half of one half of my extended family lives (Portland, OR).  I hadn’t seen most of them in 8 YEARS (insane) so forgive me for not being as blog-happy as I normally am.

We all had such a great time.

We drove through mountains.

We hiked through mountains.

We even had a SNOWBALL FIGHT in the mountains.

We went antique hunting
(I got this great pasta jar that might just get turned into a vase)

And some of us tap danced…

While others got their hairs trimmed.

I have a wild-and-crazy-family (we sang campfire songs all week) but it was a blast.  Now back to Tennessee and back to blogging!

Heidi

Wedding Registries (or, proof that consumerism leads to depression in brides)

So far, a little over two months into wedding planning, the most difficult part about the whole thing has been creating a registry!  Okay, yeah, I know… this should by far be the easiest and most enjoyable experience (I’m basically shopping with other people’s money) but it really is a pain.  There are just so many steps and so many hoops to jump through and then there’s this moment where you sit back and think “do I actually need all of this stuff?  This is so consumeristic!”  Ultimately, I’d like to give people a guide because inevitably I will be given gifts for my wedding and I’d rather get stuff I need and like than stuff I don’t need and don’t like.  So here’s my painful process:

The first thing I did to start a registry was make a list of everything I think I will need.  The knot has a decent list of everything couples typically register for.  The problem is, it’s so much stuff.  Having been on a family reunion-vacation this week, I enlisted the help of my mom and my two aunts.  I went through the list and asked them what they thought was a good thing to have on my list and what would just end up being clutter.  They helped me put together a pretty solid list.

Then, I had to decide where to register.  That was pretty easy.  I love Sur La Table and Crate and Barrel.  Plus, I knew we’d want some quirkier/handmade elements that you can really only get from etsy.  Phil wants to register for kayaks so we’ll have to have a store like REI or Costco (hey! That’s where my dad got his kayak!) on there.  And, of course, target – it’s cost effective and might even have a wider variety of things.  That’s a lot to take in.  So I decided to research online registries.

I looked at four different online registries: Myregistry.com, Giftregistry360.com, eregistry.com, and Ourwishingwell.com.  After looking into these four, I learned that there are several different features that online gift registries tend to offer: compiling registries from other online stores, choosing items from other places on the web (say, etsy or ikea that don’t have their own online registry), the ‘thank you’ feature, which keeps track of who bought what so you can easily write thank you’s after your showers and wedding, and adding items to your registry like ‘honeymoon’ and ‘house deposit’ where people can give money for specific things instead of gifts.

Even though eregistry and ourwishingwell were cool because you could ask for money on them (you can also ask for money on myregistry and on tripraiser.com), I quickly narrowed down my list to giftregistry360 and myregistry.  I was all ready to go with myregistry since it allowed you to upload from all the sites I thought I wanted to register on (GR360 doesn’t seem to be compatible with Sur La Table) when I noticed all of the extra little features on GR360.  There, you can list a ‘priority’ for each item.  That seems to me like a huge benefit.  It would be such a bummer to end up with all of our ‘wants’ and none of our ‘needs.’  You can also search by a bunch of different categories like brand, price, retailer and category which might end up being really handy.  Plus, GR360 looks really cool (so shallow!  but it does help sway the scales!).

I had one last criteria that I wanted to check: how does each site make their money?  I was concerned about this because I knew I was going to register for a bunch of things from etsy and I wanted to be sure that the artists held on to as much of their money as possible.  From what I could tell, merchants paid $15/mo to be a part of myregistry.com, which means that they can add the widget to their website and have a dashboard to track how many people use their site through myregistry, etc.  Not bad.  I probably wouldn’t sign up as a merchant, but it seems like they aren’t taking money away for every purchase.  GR360 collects commission on every purchase.  Though I don’t know all the details with that, it worries me for the sake of all these independent artists!  I want to help them through my registry, not hurt them.

Oh, one other thing that I found when I was looking for all that information on how the sites make their money – I found some interesting tidbits on how the sites get updated when someone makes a purchase.  The GR360 website says this: “If a guest goes in-store to purchase an item off your 360 list that was added through our catalog and you do not have an in-store registry with that retailer, your 360 list will not be automatically updated. The guest should contact customer service for them to make the update.”  Myregistry says this: “all that one needs to do if they buy from a store that cannot be linked & synced is go back to the site and click a button next to the item indicating that they purchased the item.”  Myregistry seems like it avoids a huge headache with the way they do things.

I think I’ve made my decision – despite the look of the site and the search features that GR360 shows, I’ll be giving Myregistry a try.  In a few days, I’ll most likely have an update for you.

What online registries have you tried?  Has it been a dream or a nightmare?  I’m very interested in what everyone else has experienced.

Gotta go catch a plane!

Heidi

SPFPWCS IV

Everyone involved in putting Chatty Crafty on have been super crafters over the last few weeks.  We’ve been making TONS of little crafts to put in those vintage prize capsule vending machines.  One of the things we’ve been making for them are teeny tiny pin cushions.

However, since in real life there is absolutely no need for an extra little pin cushion, I’ve super-sized it for you!  By the way, I have to give complete credit for this project to Chatty Crafty, who I’m pretty sure would give the credit to Martha Stewart.

Here what you need:

• Fabric
• Needle
• Thread
• Fabric scissors
• Something circular to trace – a plate, a small basket (I used my strainer)
• Embroidery Floss (OF COURSE)
• A doll needle (shown in picture – it’s 3″ long! ah!)
• Filling – cotton doesn’t work all that well, batting is okay, but my favorite is polyester filling
• Pins and needles!

 

First, lay your fabric down on a flat surface with your circular object over it.  Either trace the object with a fabric pencil and then cut (told you it would come in handy at some point!) or just cut around the object.  When you’re cutting, don’t spend too much time getting the edges to be perfect.  You’ll barely notice them at the end.

Once you’ve got your circle, make a running stitch around the entire perimeter.  These don’t have to be perfect, but they should be as even as possible and fairly close to the edge.  We will be pulling the thread to scrunch the fabric at the end so if your stitch is too close to the edge, the tension on the thread might rip the fabric but if it’s too far away there will be a bunch sticking up and we don’t want that, either.  Be sure that you make a really good knot at the beginning of the thread but do NOT knot it at the end.

Once you have your running stitch around the entire perimeter, begin pulling the thread tight so that the fabric scrunches up around it.  Be careful not to pull too hard – remember, if you’re using a thin fabric or if your stitches are too close to the edge you could easily tear the fabric.  When you get a little bit of a pocket, stop pulling and scrunching.  You want to leave enough of an opening to stuff your filling in.

Stuff your pin cushion full of filling.  Be careful not to stuff it too full – again, you don’t want tears – but you do want it to be plump.  Make several stitches through the fabric at the bottom of the cushion to close the hole.  Tie a secure knot.

Next, get out that embroidery floss.  Measure out about an arm and a half.  Thread the doll needle (or comparably long needle!) and tie a knot at the end.  Make a series of stitches (I recommend 5) starting at the bottom and coming through the top center of the cushion.  Pull the embroidery floss tight after each stitch.  Instead of leaving a string of embroidery floss hanging out of the top, loop it over your other stitches and pull back through the cushion.  Tie a knot and presto-bingo!  A pin cushion.

If you want a challenge, sew a button to the bottom (or the messy part of the pin cushion – the opening).  That side will then become the top and it is CUTE (but a little tricky).

There you have it.  Sewing projects for people who can’t sew.  This week I’ll be in Portland.  I may get a chance to find something fun to blog about – keep your fingers crossed!

Heidi

Surprise Wedding Update

I’ve decided to skip the craftyness today and bring you a surprise wedding update.  Starting on April 18th (about 12 hours after Phil put a ring on my finger) it was full speed ahead in the wedding planning department.  Like anything starting out at a sprint, I’ve lost a little bit of steam.  I mean, it’s really easy to be motivated to nail down big things like a venue and a groom but after those are in place you have to think a lot more about money.  Boo.  But Phil and I have still been chugging along and making some progress!

You already know about the venue and about our band/catering dilemma but let’s talk about bridal party outfits.  Can I just say how much I love this part?  Because even though I still want to keep the cost low so I don’t have to break my friend’s banks, I’m still shopping with other people’s money – and it feels gooood.  (If you’re in my bridal party and you’re reading this, I love you guys and your bank accounts.  Hakuna Matata – I promise).

One of the first wedding decisions I ever made was what my groomsmen should wear.  What I’m embarrassed to admit was that it was initially a terrible decision (I’ll let Phil write the post on WHY.  I just can’t bring myself to do it).  After we put our heads together, we can up with a pretty snazzy ensemble that we’re both proud of.  And it looks exactly like THIS:

I almost wish I wasn’t joking.  It actually looks similar to this: (but only similar – I can’t give away everything!)

Now for the more difficult challenge:  bridesmaids.  Yesterday I visited my roommate (and bridesmaid number tall) in Knoxville and we did some bridesmaid dress browsing – but only browsing.  We found a really great dress at J Crew but for the life of me I can’t find a picture of it anywhere.  Its a really basic silhouette with an empire waist and a boat neck with fabric flowers sewn on it.  Two problems: its white (gah) and pricey (GAH!).  I found this dress a while back on the Ann Taylor LOFT website:

It’s what I’ve been going off of for a while now.  I’m pretty sure ATL doesn’t have it anymore though so we’ll just keep searching.  But, hello!  331 days.  We have time.  😉

Heidi

SPFPWCS III

If you’re busy making cards because of yesterday’s post but for some reason or another just don’t have envelops, have no fear – SPFPWCS III (what a ridiculous name) is here!  For some reason I was making cards for like a year before I realized that I should also be making envelopes.  To make envelopes, you can use hot glue (my known favorite) or, since I’m on a sewing kick, you can use a needle and thread.  Here’s what you need:

Needle
Thread
The card you are making an envelope for (it really should be the same card to make sure you get the size right)
Thin paper (brown postal paper is a good choice)

First, place the card caddy cornered on the paper.  You’ll want the side that is already a corner to be able to reach just past the center of your card.  There should be more paper at the top of the card than the bottom.  With the card in place, cut the paper so that it is symmetrical from left to right but give it a little extra paper up top.

Fold the sides and the bottom in towards the center.  Don’t worry about leaving extra space because when you start to stitch, you’ll inevitably make it a little bit bigger than you planned.

Now comes the tricky part.  Thread your needle and ever so SUPER carefully, make your first stitch starting at one of the bottom corners.  treat it just like fabric, making simple running stitches (the needle comes up through the paper and back down in straight lines).  Continue this along the edge of the paper.  When you get to the end, knot it and cut it.  Do the same thing along the other edge of the card, starting at the opposite corner and stitching along the edge towards the center of the envelope.  (This is not easy to describe, by the way)

Slide the card in, make any final stitches you feel moved to make, and close ‘er up.  I used hot glue (of course) to secure it shut, but almost any adhesive would be strong enough to keep it closed through the mail.

Personally, I think its a cute touch two wrap the envelope in thread to make it look package-y.  Fun stuff.

(Yes, this is as close as I could figure out how to get the blur effect on photoshop.  There is a blur tool but I must have been doing something wrong because it wasn’t working for me at all.  I still have soooo much to learn.)

Other fun things to make envelops out of: old maps, aged letters, resume paper, wrapping paper, notebook paper.  (That was a 5 second brainstorm so I’m sure you guys can come up with plenty of other ideas – I have to say, though, the aged letters idea is my favorite so far.)

Heidi

SPFPWCS II

Remember this post?  You should – it’s one of my favorites.  Finding cheap ways to do things is always near and dear to my unemployed heart.  As we all learned yesterday, embroidery floss is also near and dear to my heart.  Combining these loves of mine will get you this next project.

Hand Sewn Correspondence

Here’s what you need for the letters:

1. A bone folder (optional but helpful); 2. card stock; 3. embroidery floss; 4. needle; fabric scraps

Start by arranging the paper how you want it.  If you want to make a note card, cut out just a small piece but if you want it to fold, fold it before you start sewing so you can visualize the composition of it.

After threading the needle you can either tie a knot at the end to keep it in place, or put a dab of hot glue for a slightly flatter effect.  I chose to tie the knot 😉

One tip about sewing card stock – it’s really easy to bend card stock when you’re working with it.  The needle won’t go through easily and the last thing you want to do is send someone a dented birthday card.  If you’re a college student or a recent grad, chances are you have a lot of furniture that doesn’t matter a lot to you.  If this is the case, find a couch or something you don’t mind poking needle holes through and lay the card stock flat on the surface of it when you’re putting your needle through the card.  Then lift it out and finish the stitch.  This will avoid all kinds of unwanted creases.

From there, use your imagination.  I sewed pennant flags onto my first one (and one on the inside).  It was pretty difficult because the fabric I used was really thin so it tore easily.  After my first one, I focused on just stitching designs into the cards.

Tomorrow’s project: a home for these suckers!  Can’t mail a letter without an envelope!

Heidi

Beginners Sewing Kit (Thanks, Dad!)

It occurred to me immediately after I wrote yesterday’s first “Sewing Projects for People Who Can’t Sew” post that if you can’t sew, you probably don’t know what you need to have in a sewing kit.  I can’t sew either so I don’t really know, but I’ll show you what I’ve got anyway in case it’s at all helpful.  See, I have this one really great resource in my life.  It’s called a dad.  This particular model that I happen to have has a special talent for researching things and being very thorough when he does so.

Here’s the kit he helped me put together:

1. Thread; 2. Hem Tape; 3. Pin Cushion; 4. Scissor Sharpener; 5. Large Fabric Scraps; 6. Fabric Scissors; 7. A Sewing Ruler?  Or something else – I’m not sure; 8. Fabric Pencil; 9. Tools and Things for my Current Project; 10. Small Fabric Scraps; 11. A Thimble and a Needle Threader; 12. Needles; 13. Thread & Embroidery Floss Pieces; 14. Buttons; 15. Sewing Tape Measure.

Some of these things are no-brainers – thread, needles, a thimble, a pin cushion… But others might not be.  I had no idea I would need a scissor sharpener!  What the heck?  But now that I’m realizing the luxury of really sharp scissors, I get it.  The fabric pencil is another thing I never knew I’d need but that I love.  Sure, I could make do without it so don’t put it high on your shopping list, but it really does help when tracing patterns and whatnot.

A lot of this stuff has to do with the project that I’m working on at the moment (Spoiler alert!  You will see so many of these things pop up this week) but I included them in the picture to show how much I love having this little organizer.  The rest of my crafting stuff is NOT this organized and it makes all the difference!

One thing that I didn’t include in the picture (because it was being held hostage by my friend’s living room) was my seam ripper.  This thing is a God-send.  If you’re just starting to put together a kit, there are things you can skip.  Hem tape, the measuring stick thing – those types of things.  But DO NOT skip over buying a seam ripper.  I don’t want to say its more essential when you’re starting out because I’m just now starting out and I don’t know how much pros do or do not use their seam rippers (although I’m venturing to guess that it’s still a lot) but it’s basically invaluable.  It makes making mistakes okay (Can I have a seam ripper for life?  Seriously).

That’s my kit so far – it’s already grown a lot since my dad put it together for my birthday this past year (how well does my family know me? answer: super well) and it will continue to grow!  But for starting out, it’s treated me pretty well.  Thanks, Dad!

Heidi

Sewing Projects for People Who Can’t Sew: I

Alright so this week we’re trying something a little new.  I’ve come up with a week-full of sewing projects for people who can’t sew.  That’s right.  I’m helping y’alls out (because that’s what we say in Tennessee, I guess…).  A while back, I called out in desperation to a friend’s blog, asking her for advice on what kind of sewing machine to buy.  Whole she gave an answer, that still didn’t mean I could afford it!  Ooh, the economy.  But this is NOT an economics blog!  (Thank God for that, too!)  So, since I’m a problem solver (yeah college degree!) I decided to come up with projects that I can do without a sewing machine while I’m saving up to buy one (or searching for a solid used one).

This is project number 1: Ripped Toms.

Let’s just start by saying that I love Tom’s shoes.  Having written a final paper on cause capitalism a semester ago, focusing on Toms Shoes, I can confidently say that I think they do a lot of good.  I even own a pair or two of my own.  That said, let’s be real.  These shoes get ripped faster than Biggest Loser contestants.  If the end goal of this project has just become suddenly clear, hang on a second.  Yes, we’re going to sew up the toe holes that every pair of Toms will inevitably suffer, but I want to show you a different way of doing it.  And remember, I don’t actually sew (and if you’ve made it this far into this post, chances are you don’t either) so we’re starting out with a simple one.

exhibit A:

Last week, around the same time I was working on another project that will show up late this week, Phil came to me on behalf of his poor shoes, which were tore up from the floor up.  He asked me to sew them up the day after I started to get reacquainted with an old friend of mine from the ol’ camp counselor days: embroidery floss.  If you’ve ever made a friendship bracelet in your life you know exactly what I’m talking about.  I have TONS of this stuff lying around with absolutely zero purpose… UNTIL NOW (dun dun dun).

So grab your ripped Toms, embroidery floss, and a needle with a relatively large eye (because threading a needle with embroidery floss is no easy task).

.

The idea here is that if you’re going to stitch your shoes up, you’re not going to be able to do it in such a way that no one can tell it was ever ripped & fixed.  So just make it intentionally obvious!  Embroidery floss is perfect for this.  Also, its much stronger than regular thread so it will hold up longer.  With all of the wear and tear that the world’s collection of Toms gets, don’t under estimate this point!

Here’s how Phil’s turned out:

Heidi