I'm alive! I promise! So, since my last post I've moved, passed off a semester of school and pumped out a few projects that I neglected to blog about. Life is tough sometimes. BUT I found this great blog that does an awesome crafty gift exchange that I'm participating in! I'm very excited about it and maybe it'll get me re-amped in posting more often here at Paint By Life!!

Why I need Craft/Sewing Room and New Fall Bag

It's come to my attention (thank you honey) that I need a space of my own. I've only been saying that for two years. Currently, our little two bedroom house isn't spacious enough for me to branch out much creatively. My kitchen/dining room triples as my artistic domain as well. Mainly because my dining table so so big that I can spread out yards of fabric and various other supplies while I'm working. My sewing machine and serger usually sit on the counter on the left of my table there where I can work on them standing and not get that uncomfortable hunch back feeling from trying to work sitting at the table. Thank you perfect height counters! It also makes it useful when I'm crafting with a friend cause we can both sit at the table and work on our projects simultaneously without getting in the other's way. However, my projects usually DO take over the entire kitchen/dining room for long periods of time (sometimes I'm a little lazy on the clean up) much to my poor husbands chagrin (he's a good sport though.)

This is what the chaos looks like at the moment. And no, normally I don't have beverages out while I'm sewing, these were set there between projects and I was too lazy to move them before taking the picture.
Another look at the crazy. Tool box not necessary, just there because I needed to use the screw driver for some other project...

Anyway, the point is that while my kitchen/dining room is working just fine as my artistic domain, it's not working so well when you try to actually have guests over for dinner, cook, or do anything else that you're SUPPOSED to do in a kitchen/dining room. Our second bedroom right now houses a twin bed, a dresser and a computer desk/computer. It doesn't get used very often other than the occasional guest and whenever hubby or I decide to go play on the computer in there. I had battled with the idea of tossing out the twin bed because we are hoping to actually have children someday (via adoption...and NOT a newborn). However, that time hasn't come yet, and I'm holding on to something that I can purchase again fairly cheaply when the time comes. So, hubby and I discussed it, and it looks like my "guest room" will turn into my "sink hole of creativity"....or "Craft Room". It will involve a bit of work to transform the room, including finding tables that meet my requirements, purchasing more storage/organizing shelving and bins and planning a layout that will benefit my insanity most. Then, perhaps my dining table can be set with a center piece and actually LOOK like a table, rather than just host itself as a large flat surface where I work. Plus, I can shut the door on the craft room and no one has to know what a messy project worker I am. =D

In other news...have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE ArtsyCraftyBabe's bags?! No? Well, I do. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Her patterns are so easy to follow even if you aren't a proficient sewer (newbies welcome!) and the end result is always a bag that fits comfortably and does exactly what a bag is supposed to do! I've made several of her "Phoebe Bags." The base bag design is simple to assemble and I LOVE that it leaves room for you to embellish and design as much as your heart desires! The Phoebe Bag is a free pattern, but she has several other bag pattern designs that you can purchase for a great price and they can ALL be printed from your own home printer. The Phoebe Bag has three pattern pieces. That's it. Three. 1, 2, 3. And one of those can be eliminated if you don't want a flap to close the top of your bag. You can also add and pattern pieces of your own to your bag to customize it to your specifications. I have an organization problem (you couldn't tell from my previous pictures could you?!) so I wanted pockets to help me hold items that I need quickly from my purse without having to dig around a lot....and so that I don't randomly purse dial people on my cell phone. So I made my own pocket pattern (just a large rectangle sewn to the inside lining of my bag with a seam down the center to make two pockets.) I also decided that I was in love with the idea of those giant ruffle flowers and I wanted a HUGE one on the face of my bag, so I added one of those. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
See how easily accessible my wallet and my keys are now?! And there's plenty of room in the bottom of my bag for all my junk...er other necessities!
Look at that flower. I know you're thinking, "That is SO cute!" That button is antique! That ruffle was the easiest thing to make...though next time I think I'll go with a thinner fabric so that my poor inept sewing machine can handle the thickness. It was grunting and groaning like a work horse.
The finished product is exactly what I wanted for this fall. Something simple, pretty, and functional. Check, Check, and Check! I used my bag last night when hubby and I went to see "Red" (which by the way, is AWESOME!) and I was so pleased with how easy it was to pull my wallet out pay for tickets and put it back in without having to take it off, dig around the bottom, randomly dial someone's number on my phone, cancel said call, keep looking for wallet, etc. etc. So nice! I'm working on another of these Phoebe Bags with more of my own style embellishments as a gift for someone I love and I have to say, it's coming out just DARLING! Even if I did break four needles on it in about an hour! =D That's a post for another day...how much I need a new machine.

Your Style Rocks!

I've recently discovered this great new website called, Your Style Rocks! Every month they host a themed based contest for you to design your own piece of clothing and then they pick one winner and MAKE the item and provide the pattern for free! How awesome is that?! So I missed out on the past two contests...since I didn't know about the website until today...but entered this months! The theme this month was Sophisticated Skirt. Hop on over and check out their website and the contest submissions and vote for the one you like! (hopefully mine! =P) I'm also posting my submission here with my description for those of you who just wanna see the goods. I know the image is small. Sorry about that. If you check out the website they have a slightly larger version. Enjoy!

This pretty skirt could be sewn in a heavier weight material or a linen. I picture this in my mind more in the linen look, slightly fitted, with a pretty ruffle that just grazes the knee. The flowers on the side should be made of the same material as the rest of the skirt. With these sort of fabric flowers popular at the moment I thought it would be a pretty touch. The waist will not have a band rather it would simply be sewn with a folded edge with the lining so that it flows nicely with the simplicity of the rest of the skirt. I picture a side seam zipper for this skirt. Lace detail could be added above the ruffles for a little more romance.

The Royal Treatment

My adorable pup-pup, Sable (a Border Collie/Belgian Shepherd mix), is in need of a new bed. He's been sleeping in a kennel since we adopted him last September. Since his birthday (well, his adoption birthday) is almost upon us I've decided that perhaps a new bed would be a great gift for him! So here are a few that have caught my eye for one reason or another. What do you think? Which is your favorite?
I love the shape of this bed. It would fit nicely in the corner of any room we chose to put it in. (Let's face it, he'll be in our room...he's got us wrapped around our paws.) I'm not too crazy about the fuzzy trim, I can see him trying to eat that. but the fabric they've got on there isn't too bad and I like that it's raised off the ground slightly.
While I don't have a kitchen island at the moment, I couldn't help but post this bed too. What a great idea! Sable is often my kitchen helper (he likes to help cleanup...he he)
Here's a whole selection of beds that I think are just adorable! I particularly like the middle top row bed and the first bed on the bottom left row. Both would fit the bed cushion he's already using.
This is my particular favorite. What better way to make him feel like royalty than his very own throne?! Also, that existing mattress he already has would fit fine in this.

So, what are your thoughts? Random tidbits? Rabid monkeys?

My Crazy Life

I'm going to put this blog on hiatus for now (as if I've kept it updated). Life is a bit busy at the moment and I need some time to revamp and get things in order to make more regular posts. So what's going on? Well, I recently switched jobs and I'm also finally going back to school to get my teaching credentials. Between those two things and regular life I just haven't had the time to keep up with my blogging. I WILL get back to it, maybe in a month? I dunno, we shall see! Until then, Happy New Year!

Redwork Ornaments WIP

I've been working on holiday gifts lately. My husband and I are doing a 12 Days of Christmas thing where we adopt a family (or in our case, two...cause we're gluttons for punishment) and anonymously leave them gifts and little messages and stuff the 12 days leading up to Christmas. One of our families is an older single man who doesn't have a tree or anything, so we're going to surprise him with a little table top tree, a tree skirt, and table runner to match and of course, ornaments for the tree! I wanted to do something really special with the ornaments, so I pulled out my old embroidery hoop and some red thread and searched through a packet of stuff I had acquired from friends and family of embroidery patterns. I found this little set and it just screamed perfect for this particular project. I've been plugging away at them all week and have just started working on number 6 this morning. 6 more to go and that set will be done! I've got another idea of some ribbon ornaments to accompany these, will post the finished product when it's completed! I think I'm having too much fun making these, and might find myself wanting/needing a set for me!

Fall Fun

Fall has begun! While the weather starts to change and I start to dig through my storage to pull out fall and winter clothing the leaves on the trees have already turned brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow. Time to start pulling out those favorite fall recipes! One of my favorite things to do in fall is bake (I know, that's my favorite ALL year long!) In fall, however, apples are plentiful (and cheap) and I honestly can't think of a better scent for my home than cinnamon apples baking in the oven. This fall I started off with my favorite basic, apple pie, as a gift to a friend for his birthday. (I'd promised him a few weeks ago, but botched the recipe cause I yakking on the phone instead of paying attention to what I was doing.) I'm told the pie was pretty yummy. It was a fun one to make!