#620...limoncello

I just got back from sailing the Amalfi coast in Italy, and I was reminded how much I like homemade Limoncello. I picked up this dishtowel in Capri, which has a recipe for Limoncello on it, that I think I'll try. (note the size of the lemons!!)

It would be really awesome if I could make it from my own lemons as my cousin Marie does, but I'll have to settle for grocery store lemons. I have lots of photos to sort through from our trip. Here's one I snapped on my phone in Capri.

#618...travel pouch and packing

I've been getting ready for an extended trip to Italy, and decided to use some of my scrap leather to make a new catch-all clutch for my trip. I decided on a half-moon shape for my travel pouch and added a gold zipper. I made this blue one from a thrifted leather skirt...

...and this green one from a pair of thrifted leather pants.

We will be doing some city touring and some sailing while in Italy, which calls for different clothing needs. To avoid bring too much stuff, I tried laying out my outfits and snapping a pic of them and then editing down to what I really needed. Here's a few of my wardrobe planning pics where I was trying to make a few pieces work in multiple ways. This pictorial packing method helped me in keeping my suitcase light-weight.

#617...kitchen press

My kitchen is featured in the summer edition of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Magazine kitchen + bath makeovers! It was shot over 2 years ago here, and I am super excited that it finally made it into an issue. I think my kitchen really fits the "color" theme of the summer issue despite my black walls. Yay me! I scanned it for those of you who won't get to see the magazine in person. I picked up an issue at Lowe's, but could not find it at Home Depot, so I think it is a little bit hard to come across.

#616...kantha scrap pillow

I was in West Elm a few weeks ago and came across a bunch of Kantha pillow covers in their clearance bin for $7. The Kantha pillow covers were made from recycled embroidered sari fabric from India. I love the story and re-use of the Kantha fabrics. (Last Christmas I gave a few Kantha throw quilts as gifts from Connected Goods.)

I bought the above Kantha pillow covers from West Elm and decided to make them into one larger lumbar pillow cover for my bed. I took apart the covers with my trusty seam ripper and pieced them back together to create this lumbar cover.

On the back, I simply did an envelope style closure that you can see above. I still have a bunch of scraps of Kantha fabric leftover to make some more Kantha creations.

#615...hanging a rug on the wall

We spent last weekend in California visiting family and friends. While there, I helped hang a carpet on the wall in my sister's home office. My brother-in-law inherited the rug from his parents, who got the hand-made Navajo rug while living on an Indian reservation in Arizona during the late 1970's working as missionaries. The rug is special to my brother-in-law as he has fond elementary school memories on the reservation.

We hung the 4ft x 5ft rug using 3M command strips. I put about 12 or so on the back of the rug near the top. It seems like it is going to hold, but we'll see as it almost seemed too easy. This office is the same room that houses the big cactus painting I did for them a few years ago.

Also while in California, we spent an afternoon at Half Moon Bay...

(find Tyler)

....and Audrey and I practiced taking some self portraits

#614...tessa's leaf collage

My tiny client Tessa, who was born today, is coming home to a really cool art piece that I made for her nursery. Tessa's Mom Laura commissioned me to create a collage painting similar to this  Land of Nod piece, but on a larger scale. Here's how I made it.....

Using a few sheets from my canvas pad, I painted some solid and variegated colors using acrylic paints.

I used the back of my brush to scratch some patterns in a few of the colors.

Next, I cut out some cardboard patterns of the elliptical leaf shape, and figured out the appropriate size for my canvas.

I traced and cut the leaf shapes out of my dried painted canvas sheets.

I also cut some leaves out of patterned papers that I had on hand. Then I laid them out on the canvas and began gluing them down using Modge Podge.

Above you see the glue being painted on the back side of each leaf. Once all the leaves were glued down, I coated the entire canvas with about 7 thin coats of matte Modge Podge.

#613...bookcase styling

While at Corey's house last week, I did a little bookcase styling for her. She has built-ins in her living room with some very small cubbies. I picked up some thrifted pottery pieces, and some knick-knacks from HomeGoods and spruced up her shelves. Since the shelves are painted in a taupe color, I wanted to bring some lightness to them in the form of some white pieces.