Little Girl Peasant Dresses from T-shirt

This is an old t-shirt of my Mother-in-law. I really liked the lady bugs even though the shirt isn't my favorite. I wanted to made dresses from the ladybugs from my daughter and two nieces. Now remember- I am new to sewing! 

This was the first attempt. I liked the red and the yellow together. But this one was too short for my daughter. I did like the "pillow case dress style," but I would probably add a shirt underneath. I decided to try sleeves for the next one. There was a great tutorial for a peasant dress I saw on pinterest. It didn't require button holes or a zipper, so it was safe for me to try. 

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2012/01/infant-peasant-dress-free-pattern-and.html

http://www.sew-much-ado.com

Here is my model. Cutie huh. Still a little too short. Luckily the other two dress are for girls a year younger then my daughter. I did the last one with the white background butterflies. I really liked the baseball tee look to the dress. 

There were a few boo boos and changes I made on the way. Well, it was mostly to the first dress which is shown here in the middle. First I redid the seams on the side. I had the edges exposed like when I sewed the stripes on. That made it look like she had two poster boards sewn together. The next thing was the sleeves. I put red sleeves on it. But I didn't make the sleeves wide enough. they were really tight on her arms and shoulders. Since I didn't have any red jersey left, I did the sleeves in white. Which ironically for that dress I like better. Since it had both red and yellow stripes I think it would have been too busy with the red sleeves. Or- maybe I'm just saying that because that was my only choice. 

All in all- I am really pleased with the way the dresses turned out. And now I know I can make a dress! Oh, and bows that match to come soon. 

Sweet Owl and Darling Dino

These are my recent custom children's artwork. 

The owl painting matched this Pottery Barn set. The color is off on the screen. But I had the sheet as I painted it to make sure the colors matched perfectly.

And I think this little dinosaur needed one more post. He kinda got lost in the last one.

This is another example of a 16x20 canvas painting that I can do for those that would like to support 

"Keep pounding 5K Stadium Run"

http://events.carolinashealthcarefoundation.org/site/TR/Events/PoundthePavement?fr_id=1280&pg=pfind

Art for a cause

As some of you may already know, my mother-in-law passed away last April from a brain tumor. My sister-in-law said she was running this race in memory of her mom and asked if we wanted to join. 

Miriam, my mother-in-law had a very tender spot in her heart for children. Hearing her tell stories of her own five kids growing up and witnessing how she loved and interacted with her 12 grandkids it was quite evident.   As I am sure that she would love cancer research to progress as much as possible for everyone, I know that she will be even more greatful for the help that we can help little ones in our area that are going through the tough illness that she did. 

This is the race...

The Keep Pounding 5K Stadium Run, 

presented by North Highland Consulting, is Charlotte's first "stadium run" that will take runners up all five levels of the Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, with a finish through the players' tunnel onto the field. 

This is a fundraising event that benefits pediatric cancer research at Levine Children's Hospital.  When a family is faced with a diagnosis of cancer, their entire world gets turned upside down as they face an extreme fight.  One of the most important resources that is vital to beating cancer is a strong local support network of family and friends.  Thanks to Phase I and Phase II clinical trials now offered at Levine Children's Hospital, familes have access to the most advanced treatments available where it matters most - close to home. 

I added the link on the previous post.

I am selling children's room decor paintings to raise money. All the proceeds will go to this charity.

A 16x20 Acrylic on Canvas is $30. 

An 8x10 Watercolor and Ink on watercolor paper is $15 (unmatted and unframed).

If you are interested please leave a comment below with contact information and we will work out the details. Thanks for your support!

To get a sense the style here are some examples on canvas.

This is the most recent painting I did. It is for the sweetest little boy. His mom said that when he wakes up he says, "Hello Dinosaur." 

Watercolor and Ink examples:

http://events.carolinashealthcarefoundation.org/site/TR/Events/PoundthePavement?fr_id=1280&pg=entry

http://events.carolinashealthcarefoundation.org/site/TR/Events/PoundthePavement?fr_id=1280&pg=entry

Flip Flops!!! the best accessory of summer

Who doesn't love a good pair of flip flops? 

 I think I have found my new obsession. Rather then hairbows that my girls wear, I can wear these too! The pink and blue flops I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. So, happy birthday Connie! And here is how I did it...

Cut the original plastic straps off. Then I added four strips of fabric about an inch wide to the sandal. Pulled all four through the center hole and tied them so the knot fit in the hole, then glued, then trimmed. 

After that I twisted two stands of fabric per side. Then threaded it through the side hole. There are your straps.

I made a fabric flower in the same manner I make my flower rose hairbows. 

Added bling because I know my sister-in-law would like that. Hot glued that sucker on the top.

And Voila! 

(please don't look at my toes which are in desperate need of a pedi). 

On to the pink sparkle. I left the existing straps and simply hot glued glitter ribbon.

 Added one of my favorite hairbow flowers...

And there you have diva flip flop #2. 

Next go round I think I will use a black sole. I think it would make the additions pop more. Oh, there is nothing I love more then a fun pair of flip flops. I will post more when I make them. At least one pair per swimsuit! Summer here we come!

Farmall Tractor

This is a painting of a tractor for a little boy's room. My client's father made the wood fame. A great idea, but since neither I nor my husband own a saw, it was impossible for me to make. Thank goodness for dad's, right!

I asked for a few scraps of wood to get familiar with the surface. That makes big difference. Knowing how the material takes paint is very important. I was pleased with the wood. It still allowed for me to maintain my "watercolorish" style. The main thing I had to remember was to keep the brush as dry as possible. If the brush was too saturated with water the colors would bleed in the wood. No one wants runny lines!

The family will add the painted wood frame. I hope they will send pictures. I asked if they could wait to add the frame until after I was finished. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of space for the painting. Now that it is complete I don't think it would have been a problem. It is best to play it safe.

Here is the inspiration for the wood painting. My client found these and asked if I could do the Farmall tractor. And of course my answer was "I can paint anything on anything!" Okay, that might be a stretch. I doubt I could do the Mona Lisa on wood. Thankfully there aren't too many requests for things like that.

Decorative Paintings

These are paintings that I completed a few years ago.

This triptych I sold on ebay. It was hard to let this one go. 

 I created these for my mom's dinning room. There is a large mirror in between the paintings. I applied molding paste to the canvas first to create the peonies. Then painted them red. In the picture the gold looks very intense, but it is not that way in real life. The gold is a paint is only visible with it catches the light in a certain way. If I remember correctly it is called gold interface? 

 This was a commissioned piece. This is a large watercolor. 

 Another painting I sold on ebay. 

This is a study for a mural for a powder room. It turned out to be a nice stand alone painting. Happy accident!