almost-Tween Room Tweak...

My almost 10 year old decided her room needed a little tweaking so we picked out some fabric and I ran some valance ideas past her and came up with this....

I am soooo thrilled with how they turned out!  (and so is she...I think).  We replaced her frilly pink ruffle valances with a scalloped aqua zebra valance that is trimmed out with green sequins and a green gathered rod pocket.  I purchased commercially available curtain panels because, let's face it, fabric is not cheap!  I used Illustrator to create a bracket/scallop and then printed it to scale to create my template for the bottom of the valance.  I lined them with basic drapery lining fabric, created a gathered rod pocket and then stitched the sequin trim over the seam to hide my little imperfections.  We also removed her closet doors which opened up the room, but seemed a little unfinished.  So, we created a valance and hung curtain panels along the edges to hide the door frame creating a boutique feel.  All in all, a few quick little changes that opened the room and gave her a more "grown-up" space.

Goodbye Old Friend...Hello New Love!

     Alas, my Canon Powershot has been retired. It started to give me an error; my research (though minimal) has lead me to believe it is the lens. While I was extremely excited to receive the error because it gave me an excuse to enter the world of DSLR cameras, I am one of those ridiculous people who assigns sentimental value to inanimate objects...although, it's not so much the object itself as it is the moment(s) in my life that it represents.

     I fought dearly against purchasing a digital camera...what did I need that for? Film printed so much better than digital (at the time, way back when). But a chance accident (my beloved film camera had disappeared form the diaper bag) left me in need of a camera. So I began researching, and researching, and researching a little more and decided the Canon Powershot S2 IS would be a good fit. It had features that appealed to me, it looked nice and it just felt right in my hands. It has captured so many moments in my life (and more importantly the lives of my children), that though I am excited to start a new journey, I am somewhat saddened to let it go.
      So I am saying goodbye old friend and welcoming my new love...the Canon Rebel EOS T3i. This camera didn't exactly get glowing reviews...it is a Canon and so the image quality could not be argued against, the burst mode feature left reviewers wanting more. However, it fit in my price range and I think it will be a great entry level DSLR for me. Again, it looks and feels good in my hands; although professional photographer, I am not...I don't even know if I would qualify as a novice. I have a very basic understanding of the fundamentals of digital photography (though they tend to elude me when I'm actually "in the field" shooting). With this new purchase, hopefully will come a better understanding and an increased skill (as well as increased motivation to learn more).
     These are few of the images that my old friend the Powershot captured....

Fabric, Flowers and Buttons Oh My

Yet again, I am turning to my fellow Etsy sellers for inspiration...searching the supply section for rich texture, bright color and pure creative muse. Some nasty little flu bug invaded my poor children over the past two weeks and I am now woefully behind in my shop goals. This week I plan to create scalloped valances for my daughter's room...giving her a bit of a room makeover. In that vein, I will also need to create some surf themed vinyl for my son's room...got to keep things fair and even. In the coming weeks, I hope to share some of these things visually...my old, faithful Canon Powershot has died and I replaced it with an entry-level Canon DSLR. I am very excited to explore the possibilities with my new camera! In the mean time, I have shared another treasury shot at the top of this post...hopefully, sharing along with it, some crafty inspiration.