Friday, June 22, 2012

HUNGER GAMES THE GAME!

Just a quick posting today.  Really just a Mom bragging about her awesome Son.  My 12 year old had a year end project to do.   And boy did he work his tail off!!  But then again he is my son.  We don't do any thing half way!   It was a 3 parter.  The assignment was to read a book or to re-read a book you have only read once and do a 3 part project on it.  He chose to do the Hunger Games.  I have never seen him devour a book the way he did this book and this series.
The 1st part was to present a "book bag".  In that book bag he had to present 8 objects that were from the book.  Some he collected.  Some he built from Lego.  If you are at all familiar with the book then you will know the significance of those objects.


1. We charred a loaf of bread with him.  Bread of course being a main theme that ran through the book.
2. He made a Mockingjay Pin- downloaded an image and them glued a safety pin on the back.


3.  He had a piece of coal- you can just make it out behind the pin- it represented District 12.




4. He built a Cornicopia out of all things..... Lego:






5.  He compared the have's and have not's between District 12 and the Capitol:




6.  He showed a broken bottle representing Haymitch as an alcoholic and a broken man.

7.  He showed a sign that had arrows for life choices.  Just like the choices that Katniss had to make in her own life.

And last but not least my absolute favourite:





8.  His Tracker Jacker made out of Lego:











 
When he came to me with his rendition of a Tracker Jacker (a mutated Wasp) I was so chuffed!  I mean- it totally rocks!!  I just love how his mind works.  This little guy will NOT be pulled apart EVER!  I love it!




The 2nd part he did a Poster and then a Venn Diagram comparing himself with Peeta.  He totally rocked the Poster:




The assignment had to have quotes in them as if other authors had read the books and was providing a quote for the poster.





The 3rd part was creating a board game.  He chose to create a completely different game than the usual.  By usual I mean, not Monopoly or some other game that was easy to use as a backdrop.  In all honesty he came to me with his first idea stating that he wanted to create a game similar to Monopoly.  I said "NO outright".  I wanted him to use his imagination and create something completely unique and all his own.  And he delivered!



He conceptuallized the whole thing and then we just helped him with the computer part.  We did it in Corel.
He created cards for 'battling" in the game- "Supplies", "Tributes", and "Weapons". 
We played it tonight to make sure that it was playable.  And you know what?  It was actually fun- way to go Aidan!!

Anyways- thanks for indulging me.  When I started this blog I never intended on sharing other parts of my life.  It was just going to be me and design- Period.  But somehow design and other parts of my life just kind of meld.  Whether it's me designing, my husband bringing my ideas to life or my kids and their love of lego and building- It's all design really.

Have a great day everyone.
Megan

Thursday, June 21, 2012

PAPER BALL ORNAMENT

Well Ornaments aren't just for Christmas you know!  I happened upon some paper ornaments here.  I was over at Vera Bradley and they have a blog. I found a little craft while I was over there.  Now it wasn't as easy as it looks.  You have to have a ton of patience.  I recommend using a heavy paper or use photo paper like I did.
Here is their version;







They originally got the idea from How About Orange.  It is such a great site for crafts you have to check it out.
Here is How about Orange's version:





Aren't they just lovely?

This is my version:






How did I get such a pattern.  Well......  I copied a pic of Vera Bradley's Summer Cottage pattern.  No copyright infringement intended at all!!  I just wanted to do a little craft!



   Tiled it in Corel Draw so that the whole page was covered in the pattern :



Now let me say that I am in no way going to sell, or use this pattern for selling anything.  The last thing I want to do is steal someone else's work and ---  a. pass it off as my own and b.  try to make any money with it.  I fell in love with the pattern and wanted to use it in my home.  I just wanted to tell you how I did my version is all.  I fell for the the pattern and the colours.  Would love to get a hold of some of this my friends!
Now if only Vera Bradley would sell this pattern in fabric I would be so there, 1st in line!!

Check out Inside Stitch.  It is great for inspiration.  Thanks Vera for getting my creative juices flowing as it were.
Have a great day everyone.
Megan


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

NAVY, MINT/AQUA AND RED

I happened upon a posting yesterday here.  It talks of Navy, Mint and Red.  Then it dawned on me, "That's my house too!"  I mean, I knew my house had those colours but it really hit home to see those words elsewhere.  And it made me think!  Where else are those colours?  I think they happen to look awesome together.  That's why I am doing them in my home.  You have seen a few pics I have posted for the living room and the dining room.  Here are a couple of refresher photos of those rooms and a few new little snapshots of Navy, Mint and Red from around the house.


You can just make out the wall colour in the kitchen - the lovely "Morning Jog" by Valspar - a lovely minty greeney blue.  And you can also just make out a corner of the island through the white chair - a lovely navy - "Mariner" by Martha Stewart.  And of course we have the Red of the dining room - "Hottie" by Para.  The funny thing is, I fought my INSTINCTS for so long about putting some sort of blue in the living room and kitchen.  Yet, it is the most perfect colour I have EVER put there!!





Again, here is the Living Room in "Morning Jog" by Valspar.  Can't say enough about this colour!!




Here are some other photos from around the house- - some new, some not so new!





















This pic is taken from the Kitchen into the Dining Room.  I just wanted to show the colours together.



Here are some other pics I have found on the web with the same colour scheme:





















Yes, yes....... I know!  I am slightly obsessed with this pattern!!!  I have an idea I am brewing to make with this pattern!

















I can't even put into words how lovley this pin is.  I's like a little packet of Joy!  Love, Love, Love the fabric.  And the pearl is the perfect complement to it too!  Check it out on the link I provided.













This has to be one of my favourite blogs that I go to everyday- House of Turquoise.  So much inspiration, can't say enough about this blog- it is awesome!!  Erin is everything Turquoise and that's why I love her blog everyday.  It's just a happy place to be!




Well that's about it for now.  I hope you have gotten some inspiration with Navy, Mint and Red.
Have a great day everyone.
Megan


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

ROMAN SHADES

When  I made the Roman Shade for the Dining Room I wanted to make darn sure that it was lined PROPERLY.  You see...... a lot of the times when I see Roman Shades that are home made they are lined with the wrong type of lining or aren't lined at all.  Nothing screams home made when the wrong fabric is used for a particular application.  If you are making sheer Romans then of course you would not line it-that's the whole point of sheers.  However, most of the time when people sew Romans they use the WRONG lining or don't even line them to begin with. I know that it is an extra step to line something properly, but, if you are going to all that trouble in the first place, then why wouldn't you line them PROPERLY? And for me that drives me nuts!!  I hate seeing Romans hung up and all that light coming through the fabric (in certain instances).  First of all it wrecks the whole look of the window.  Second,  all that direct sunlight is ruining that fabric and thirdly, I hate seeing light coming through  the fabric like that.  Light coming through Curtains doesn't bother me as much, but, Romans and Valances should be properly lined. Most people use the rubber backed fabric lining when they line their Romans.  I don't have a problem with that type of lining, it just isn't appropriate for Romans.  Since the rubber of the fabric is pierced by the needle and thread for the seams or hems, little holes are created.  And if there is holes, light can get through.
What people should use for lining their Romans is Black Out Satin.  It is a densely woven fabric that looks as if there are 3 layers all packed together.  2 outer fabrics and a black inner fabric (see below).  This densely woven fabric allows the needle and the thread to pass through the fabric without creating obvious holes.  That way, when the Romans are up in the window no light shall pass through.


Here is a great Pic of Blackout Satin.  I cannot stress  how it makes a difference when making Romans or Valances to use this type of lining or any Window Treatment where it has to be BLACKED out.







This Roman would have been way more effective if it was properly lined.  A Formal Roman like this one should have been properly lined.  Why do I call it formal?  Well...... the type of fabric it is made of - being a Jacquard and the attached trim at the leading edge of the Roman.  Look how the light and the shadows from the mullions of the window are ruining the look of this Roman (in my opinion).





Here is a gorgeous breakfast area.  I love the Slate floor, the Banquette area, the fabric used in the Roman, the ribbon detail on the Roman.......  I could go on and on.  The thing that undoes it all for me is the fact that the Romans are NOT properly lined.  When you see the shadow of the mullions of the window through the shade-it kinda ruins it!  At least it does for me.  Maybe it doesn't bother the homeowner, but it would bother me.





To me the only exception to this lining rule is when you have a Plain fabric.  If you have any type of pattern be it woven or printed I feel the light shining through the fabric just competes with the pattern or distorts and destroys the look of the pattern. Sometimes you may want a little light filtering through a Roman-it is a personal thing, but, I would only use Plain Fabric for this application.  Here are some examples of Romans that are plain and have not used black out lining that look great:














Look at how gorgeous these Romans look.  The beautiful Linen really shines here.  Using Linen in this way lends an air of casualness to the Breakfast Area.  I love Linen and I love how they have used it here.  Again, a plain fabric was used so it was OK not to line the Roman.





Here is a great example of a Roman that is unlined and provides beautiful filtered light and some privacy.  Again a Plain fabric was used in this application.




Here is a really nice example of a sheer fabric used to create a very relaxed tied Roman with an attached Valance.


This is such a great example of a Sheer Roman.  The clients/designer obviously wanted the look of a Roman with Light filtering capabilities and some privacy.  Really nicely done!










The main challenging part with the Roman that I made is the horizontal stripe.  If you do not keep the fabric "true" or straight as it were, the line of the stripe would look all wonky.  The only reason I did not post how I did my Roman was that there are many tutorials on the net about doing Romans.  When I sewed mine I did not want sewing lines on the front of the blind so any sewing for pockets for dowels was done only on the lining.  So, I had to make sure that the pockets for the dowels were straight with the horizontal stripes of the fabric-challenging but do-able.
To begin with, I bought a stripe that was actually vertical.  I then "railroaded" the fabric -meaning I turned the fabric and used it in the crosswise grain.  The fabrics stripes actually ran vertical with the selvedge (edge of the fabric).  I had to piece 2 widths of fabric together so that they would be long enough for the window.  But I did it in such a way as to "match up" the stripe.  Unless you look super close you cannot tell I pieced it-  So that is how I got Horizontal stripes.
In order to cover the mounting board I also attached a Valance in front so that everything was covered up.




Here is a close up.  You can see that the Roman is properly lined, the Valance is covering up the mounting board and matches the stripe of the Roman. The other thing is that the Roman properly fits the window.  That is one other thing that really bothers me when I see Romans or any type of blind or shade - when it DOES NOT fit the window.  No matter if you or someone else has made the Roman- if it doesn't fit the window it is like looking at someone in  really ill fitting clothes.  Again, if you are going to make it - MAKE IT RIGHT!!  If you have them professionally made then demand to have them remade if they do not fit.  Having Romans made for you costs a small fortune, you should get good value for your money. Not everyone is handy with a sewing machine and there are a lot of great people out there that do great work.



Here are some other great examples of Roman Shades that have been lined properly and fit the window:














These lovely Romans are the "Riad" pattern by Windsor Smith available through Kravet.  I love that pattern.  I am so happy that they were lined properly.  If light were to be filtering through, can you imagine how crazy that pattern would look?  It looks so much more effective lined.





Here is a great example of a Plain fabric that was chosen for the Roman yet it has been lined with a Black out lining.  Personally I think it looks great here.  They may have lined them that way to prevent the mullions of the window showing through.  It certainly would have ruined the look of the room to have mullions showing through the Roman.  As it stands now, the room looks very well thought out.  I usually am not a fan of "Beige" rooms but I LOVE this room.  Love everything about it.  Makes me re-think what "beige" can be when done right!!








I think the designer was very wise to have the Roman use black out lining in this application.  There is so much going on in this room (in a good way!), you would not want shadows from the Roman also competing with everything else in the room.  Great job of lining the Roman!

I know this has been a fairly long posting on Romans.  Originally I was just going to share the Roman I made and be done with it.  But I felt that I had to share some of my thoughts on Romans in general, give you some food for thought.  That way, if you ever make them or have them made you will be armed with a little knowledge that may help in the future.
One other note - If you ever use or have Silk made into Romans - Line them within an inch of their life.  Nothing ruins Silk more than Sunlight/UV.  You may also want to interline(extra lining) them as well.  Heat from the Sun also ruins Silk.

Have a great day everyone
Megan