Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Sewing And The Fireplace






While I wish I could say I was sewing beside a nice fire, I cannot.  But I stitch away on my couch in the basement with the TV on and my husband working on his laptop on the other end of the couch.  We have an exciting life.

I have been working away at finishing the bits to the Mid Century Room box.  The slow pace continues.  I sealed all the window trim paint with matte clear coat.  Paint on plastic trim is a scuff and scratch hazard, so sealing is a must.  Then I repainted the kitchen walls (the same colour) to touch up scuffs.  I am still working on the breakfast bar.  I'm spinning my wheels as I think about an aluminum top or using a wood with a clear acrylic overlay (window "glass").  I'm going to test the wood one first and see if I like it.


The Fireplace


The fireplace continues!  Inside the fire place is the flickering fire LEDs from Evans Design. The wires run out the bottom of the room box to a little ledge where the coin battery rests for ease of access.  The LED light wire for the ceiling also run behind the fireplace and out the bottom (still thinking about that light).  The flames are cut from glue gun glue pieces.  I saw something similar with fake glass flames on TV and thought, why not mini it!?!  The base is filled with clear seed beads.  

As you can see, I have just cut the acrylic sheet for the glass.  The trim will be painted card stock.  Awkward to fit in there with giant hands at a tight angle.  


My Eyes!


credit: amazon.ca

In exciting news, I got myself the Bead Buddy Sight Light.  If you ever want to avoid attracting another human being or feel awkward spurning the advances of your loved one, toss this baby on and they'll be running away from you so fast you will see dust.  My husband just looks at me while I wear them and shakes his head.  I grabbed them at Michaels with a 50% off coupon, so it was just $15.  But that is well worth the money as I already wear glasses and any further eye strain won't help as I stitch.

I am only slightly more attractive then the woman on the package when wearing my Sight Light......but when I turn that LED light on at the front...whoa baby, call Vogue!


Stitch It Up!




Do you have a "lust" mini item?  Well, mine was the "Janine" rug from Janet Granger.  So, for Christmas I bought the kit and added it to my list of things to do.  Then right after my petit point workshop finished, I began my odyssey.  Finished, it is 8.2 x 5.1 inches worked in Appletons crewel wood on 18 count canvas.  I figure approximately 13,400 stitches in total.  It took 15 days and about 70 hours (likely more).  I stitched every spare moment I could! Its a very forgiving pattern, meaning, when your count is off here and there (*cough cough*) you can just correct it in the busy pattern and no one can tell.





And now that I have been bitten by the stitching bug, I snagged myself the Stitch Step By Step book.  It has all the fun embroidery stitches you need to make amazing mini pillows.  You can find these stitches on the internet, but instead of my iPad turning off as I stitch and all that hassle, I now have a great reference book that is much more handy. From start to completely finishing a pillow I am down to 4.5-5 hours of embroidery time, which is pretty efficient from my perspective.