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(Thanks FMC for the picture, I didn't get a picture of this before sending it off!)
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Bring-your-own-seat. That's what it's all about with my latest project. Bart was kind of sad when I took apart "the sheep" as he lovingly called the ottoman I hastily made for our wedding last year.
I'm pretty excited about the suitcase ottoman. I've seen these on the internet quite a bit lately and have been dying to make one. I'm in love with the retro print I found in the bolt ends at Hancock Fabrics, the legs of our beloved sheep, and this great turquoise suitcase. It was really quite easy to make and I plan on making a chair out of the smaller suitcase as soon as I can find an old school chair for the frame.
I sanded the top down and stained it with a dark stain then painted the body of it turquoise, only to attack it with sandpaper hours later. After distressing it, I put the dark stain over the turquoise and wiped it off to give it a more muted look. And here she is in all her glory. If Bart didn't have such an aversion to turquoise (perhaps because I love it so much and do EVERYTHING in turquoise) then I would have a hard time giving this baby up. 
I've got more projects in process that I hope to have finished. I've got several lamps I'm jazzing up with a little spraypaint and bright fabric lampshades, a kitchen table that is finished but needs re-assembling, a bench that just needs distressing and a cushion made for it, oh and about a billion other things. The list keeps growing.
2. A re-upholstery project for my friend Andrea--chair is stripped down to the wood. I have to reupholster and figure out where the padding should go. Oh, and it has to match the one she has at home as well!
3. A bench pad for my friend Lori. Not too bad
A sweet retro folding table set. I'm planning on spray-painting the metal some great color and replacing the vinyl with something bright and fun! Ideas?
This great find just needs a little love. I'll probably paint it white and distress it and add a brightly colored vintage print pad to it.
A set of 3 turquoise suitcases. I've seen all sorts of cool things done with suitcases these days. We'll see what I can come up with, but I'm thinking maybe an ottoman or chair, medicine cabinet, or we'll see...something cool.
Lamps galore. I'll get some high gloss spray-paint for the bases and gorgeous fabric to cover some of the shades. I'll leave some of the shades as-is. They definitely have that retro vibe.
Cute wooden table. I'm thinking of sanding down and staining the top with dark stain while painting the base either turquoise, robin's egg, or chartreuse green.
I can't help it. She looks stinking cute in this, doesn't she? I've always scoffed at people who dress their pets (sorry, people who dress your pets) but necessity recently has facilitated my venturing into the world of pet dressing. Don't worry, it will stop here, I promise. Except maybe halloween--Tosia made a really cute Granny the year that Bart was the big bad wolf and I was Little Red.
Anyway, over New Years, hubby and I spent the weekend at the Mountaineers Lodge at Mount Baker. We brought Tosia along 1. because it's really hard to find someone to babysit a blind and diabetic dog when they have to give her insulin shots, and 2. They've let her in the lodge before when it wasn't very busy, so we thought we'd take a chance. Unfortunately, it was a very busy weekend, so we packed a huge down dog blanket and her bed and tried to make her as comfortable as possible in the car. It was a cold night, so we took turns every two hours running out to the car to warm it up. I had a thin down jacket that we put on her, but it was a little big, and frankly I don't share that well with pets. So, we decided to make Tosia her very own coat.
The pockets come in handy for her essentials: flashlight, treats, what have you...
This week I was browsing through my favorite blogs and I happened to read that the Flea Market Chics in Bremerton were looking for new vendors to sell at their store. I absolutely love looking through their blog at all the gorgeous things that they have for sale and I've always wanted to take the hour long ferry to check it out, so I took a chance, took a ferry, and showed them pictures of some of the projects I've done and they loved them! I'm the newest Chick! I am so excited. I get to start doing what I love and getting paid for it! Not only that, but now I have a REASON to go thrifting and a REASON to buy things! (Our little house is so packed that I haven't been able to justify any new purchases or projects!)
The bed was in my nephew's room. He now prefers to sleep with his mattress on the floor and have bookshelves made of cardboard these days so he took his bed apart and put it in the basement while my sister was taking a nap (he's 11). While it was well-loved, it was super sturdy and still in great shape. All the walls in our room are white, so I wanted to paint it to make it stand out.
Last weekend, while Bart was away on a climbing adventure, I went to work painting it my new favorite color--grey. I painted the bedside table and added new pulls as well. Love the result. I must say, I miss my husband madly when he's gone, but boy do I get productive!
I made the curtains, duvet and lampshade, got the pillows at Target, and made the starbursts on the wall out of rolled-up magazine pages. 
Now for the gem... I got this lamp at a thrift store for $11. I immediately fell in love with the base, and thought that it had some great potential in my living room. The lamp base with the shade was a bit too retro for me, so I ditched the shade and found a great purple shade from World Market.
Unfortunately, the attachment for the shade didn't work with the lamp so I had to buy some pieces at Home Depot to help extend the height of the lightbulb so the shade can fit.
Viola! A lovely new lamp for under $50!
