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Inspiration

Make It Perfect

.My Yarn Wreath.

Well, all of that wreath eye-candy paid off because look what I finished making this week…

I didn’t think I would be so into using wool to make a wreath from, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out!  I followed these instructions to cover the wreath and make the flowers, then hunted around online…Etsy, Flickr, etc to get a bit of inspiration for the rest of the decorations.

I wanted the wreath to look Christmasy so stole a few baubles from the tree to string across the middle.

I couldn’t resist adding my signature and popping a few doilies on one side, balanced out by some crocheted lace on the opposite edge.  All of the flowers and leaves were made using felt and I used my trusty hot glue gun to stick everything into place.  It really was a very simple process.  Wrapping the wool around the wreath was quite time consuming, but once that was done it was loads of fun coming up with different ways to decorate it.  
I am almost tempted to go out and buy a few more wreaths (I used a foam wreath as my base) to hold onto for other holiday decorations.  We live on a main street and I think it would be cool to be known as the house with a different wreath up for each holiday!  I’m not sure how I feel about having a wreath on my door for day to day decoration though.  But who said a wreath has to go on the door anyway, I think it would look kind of cool hanging in a small wall space or maybe even in my studio…these wreaths are super cute…1, 2, 3 and 4.

Once I had finished making the wreath I realised that I hadn’t given how it was going to hang to the door a thought!  Nails and holes were out of the question, so I took a length of organza ribbon and looped it through the wreath then stuck it to the top of the door with masking tape…so far, so good!  Hopefully it will last until the end of the year.    

It was quite refreshing to do some non-sewing craft.  Now I’m ready to get back into things though.  I’ve just finished sewing something for my brother in Japan but don’t think I’ll share until after Christmas because it turned out so well that the rest of the boys in my family might be receiving the same!  Next project will be the new Versatile Wrap skirt ready for the photo shoot on Saturday and new cushion covers for the couch cushions…then onto more Christmas presents and hopefully I’ll sneak in preparations for a new pattern or two somewhere in there aswell!
December 10, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Glimpses of Christmas.

There’s a bit of Christmas Cheer in the Coward household…
For the last few years the tree has been a blue and silver colour theme.  It just didn’t go in the new house so we revamped and went red, lime green and silver.  Love it!
(and yes, the tree is a little sparce at the bottom.  We tend to have a good year and then a bad year with decorations…this year is a bad year with Tommy dismantling the tree!!)  I was going to make a tree skirt but ran out of steam so wrapped a bit of Michael Miller Ta Dot fabric around the bottom instead…tree skirt, next year!
The Willow Tree nativity is on display and as much as I tell the children it is not for touching, it is arranged in a different format every time I walk by!  It actually makes me laugh every time and they do tell me they are very careful when they do touch it…
 
When we were in Melbourne, Kate told me about a cute family tradition they have started at Christmas time.  I loved it and have instigated it with my own family.  We told the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus and then focused on the Three Wise Men and talked about how they bought gifts for baby Jesus.  Then we told the children that the best gift they could give Jesus on his birthday was to be kind and loving to each other.  Every time I catch them doing something kind or loving towards another family member, they get to put a “warm fuzzy” (pom pom) in the jar.  Then on Christmas Eve we will place the jar underneath the tree as a gift to Jesus.  The kids are loving it and trying extra hard to earn warm fuzzies!  Kate has written more about her tradition on her blog here.

      

 
I did, however, keep my blue and silver “Joy” letters and have popped them in the front entrance.  You might also notice a sneak peek of another very cool decoration for our house.  Will be back to share more about that with you soon – I love it!

December 9, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Meeting Jenny.

Earlier this week we were privileged to have a visit by Jenny Phillips.  Jenny is a top-selling LDS singer and song-write and produces beautiful inspirational music.  We have been awaiting her visit all year and were so excited when she and her husband Dan arrived from Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday.
Jenny and Dan have four children – including an 8 month old baby boy, so their visit was very short, which made us even more grateful that they had sacrificed a lot to come and perform for us.

Their trip was certainly a whirlwind, with one of our congregations putting on a special Thanksgiving Dinner for their first night, some sightseeing and lunch at the Raspberry Farm the next day and then a special fireside and musical performance that evening. 

I have always been a big fan of Jenny’s music, but after hearing her in real life I am absolutely smitten.  Her voice was truly angelic and she shared some very special messages with us also.

Apart from being a talented musician, Jenny and Dan are both so easy going and down-to-earth.  It was great to have the opportunity to spend a few special days with them and hopefully the next time we get together is when we get to visit the USA!!

November 28, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Designer Pillows.

We had a fun morning yesterday with Miss Fiona while she took photos for a couple of my new patterns.  I so love handing the photography for my patterns over to someone else.  Truth be told, by the time I get to the end of a pattern, I am usually feeling a little over it and it is refreshing to see someone else’s interpretation of the pattern.  Helps me to get excited about the pattern again!
One of the photo shoots took place in my bedroom.  I have had this thing about having an all white bedroom for awhile now.  Totally not what is expected from me…a colour freak!  But I really like the clean look that white provides.  So I only buy white sheets and doona covers now and on our recent trip to Ikea we bought a new white bed and bedside tables.
It was all good until I decided that we needed to invite a bit of colour into the bedroom for the photo shoot and wrapped our pillows in some of my fabric stash.
                   
Oh dear.  I REALLY like it.  Which totally goes against my white bedroom plans.  And now I am experimenting with all of my fabric stash, trying to find the right mix of fabrics to make pillow cases from.  Ooh, maybe I could change them every season?!!
 

And just to prove how make-shift these photo shoots are…this is the very technical way I attached the fabric to the pillows!  Which actually is a really handy way of visualising what feel the fabrics are going to contribute with the room!!

November 12, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Christmas Wreaths.

Happy Monday!  No recipe for you this week, things have been busy, busy, busy and no time to cook!  Change of plans…Clare shared the BESTEST Rocky Road with us on the weekend.  I thought I made good Rocky Road, but this is better than any I have ever had before…so I’m linking to her Rocky Road recipe over at Clares Place today – thanks Clare!  (Oh, and it is so delicious it really needs a better name than just “Rocky Road”!!)

I’ve been writing THREE new patterns to get ready for Australian Quilt Market, which is coming up in just under two weeks.  Still got heaps to do though, so if the blog is a bit quiet for awhile, then that is why!  I’m really excited about these new patterns…am doing something a bit out of the ordinary for Make It Perfect and hopefully it will be something that you all enjoy!  So the rest of my week will be spent sewing and writing patterns and unfortunately there is not a lot I can share with you until closer to release date 😉

In the meantime, my mind has been working overtime thinking about all of the wonderful things I can make for Christmas, Annette shared heaps of inspirational images and ideas at our Stake Relief Society activity on the weekend and I really want to make a special wreath to hang on our front door this year.  

I really like wreaths wrapped in wool (yarn) and found this cool tutorial to help me out so hopefully when the preparation for Quilt Market has died down, I can start wrapping a wreath in wool!!  There are some cool yarn wreaths on Etsy to buy too…great for a bit of inspiration or if I can’t be bothered making it yourself – I particularly like this store.

Ooh, and then there is the new advent calendar I want to make, presents I want to sew and the grand idea I have to go with a pink/red/green decorating scheme this year…yep, I really should have started thinking about this WAY before November!

November 7, 2010