Working Space 2

Recently we got two out of three cabinets (we're getting the last one this week) from marketplace for our house and moved one of the cabinets down to my sewing corner in the basement. Of course it is filled now with batting, finished items to sell, some photography tools and prototypes. I put my current sewing pattern on the top with my small business bullet journal. I moved some of my fabrics to the shelf so that now all of my fabrics for making clothes are separarted from my small business fabrics. I notice that I am running out of space for thread, so another thread storage shelf is on my wishlist. I'd also love to update my ironing board by making a new cover for it, but that likely won't happen for a while. I'd love a grey gingham on it though.

As for sewing clothing, I have a project that I've been thinking about for some time. It is the Frida Jacket by Fibre Mood. I have all the fabric and notions for it, I just need to practice sewing a zipper and a welt pocket before I try it on my new coat. I found a pattern from Peek A Boo Pattern shop with both of those features, so I want to make a kids jacket out of some purple fabric that I got from a friend. If I can't figure it out myself, or if I need extra support, I have requested my first sewing lessons from a professional--Sewing Till Sunset, for Christmas. Hopefully I can make the jacket to wear it for Spring of next year.

Working Space

This is what my current workspace looks like:

On the weekend we actually got a few more second hand ornate wood cabinets for a great price and so far have moved one of the three into our bedroom. So this space is going to be rearranged soon as I have another ikea cupboard that will move downstairs to hold fabrics or other things. I might move some of my art supplies and journalling items upstairs as well, so make more space on the shelves. So as an alternative, I could put my fabrics on the shelves which would display them and allow me to see what I have to work with. Anyhow, I'd like to post what it looks like after the revamp as well but I thought I would once again post about my process. Looking back on my blog recently I found that I sometimes don't give updates when things are finished but I would like to be better about that.

Rachelle Designs

Lately I have been sewing in the afternoons and evenings after my children are in bed. I have been working on products for my shop, Rachelle Designs. My first finished commission is this dice bag. It holds a few handfuls of dice and can either be laid out flat or can be cinched in and tied up to hold the dice for on the go. It's great for playing Dungeons and Dragons, and fits a medieval vibe. Some of the material is reclaimed fabric. 

I have also been making some book covers for my bullet journal. I've made about 4 book covers now and have really been enjoying the process. Two of them, I am currently using for my bullet journals. One of them was an earlier rendition and I have redesigned them now. The fourth one I made for my sister. I have learned something from each of them and hope to make many more in the future. This one, for my sister, I made quite sturdy and already put it through a wash and dry cycle. She picked the lovely fabric. 

I recently wrote about how Rachelle Designs started on my store's blog. Check it out here 💛

Brilliant Buntings

Buntings are one of my favourite decorations to make.

Check out my Instagram and my shop.

I'm going to design more things. There is so much to make!

Here is my first Christmas bunting for the shop. 

Patio Progress II

This is a follow up to the gardening post. 

So we ended up moving the shed with some friends. We moved it from the side of the yard, near the back door, to the back of the yard. In the "gardening" post I showed the patio pad that I made for the shed to move to. 

Here's it's original position.

My husband put 2 by 4s on 3 of the sides to be able to lift it up with about 8 adults. He originally jacked it up and put beams under with tubes so the shed could slide forwards. Him and I were able to move it a couple feet like that, however with enough people the we just lifted it by the side 'handles'. 

Here is the space as it looks after moving the shed. In this picture, the garden is also gone as I moved the flowers beside the sheds new space. They have been happy there. 

Here's the shed in the back corner (before the garden)

Without the shed, the concrete seemed to be in rough condition so we planned for that to be repaired.

First I pressure washed the area. 

Here's a close up on the concrete damage. 

After watching a few videos on how to attempt the repair, I drilled some holes then put in the concrete screws all along the missing piece. After cleaning the area with a vacuum and dry brush, I painted on some bonding agent for the concrete to adhere to.  

Next, I mixed the concrete. I felt nervous about this but my husband walked me through the steps before he had to run to watch a car show. lol.

So I mixed the concrete and it splashed all over my clothes and likely ruined my shirt, which I had made myself so I am disappointed about that. My skirt had already been ruined from a tie dying experience with the kids a few years ago. Anyhow, I mixed it to seemingly a good thickness and when I went to put it on the existing concrete. I could not get it to stick on the wall! Gravity pulled it right off. So I have abandoned the bucket and will do a second attempt in a little bit. 

In this next attempt I will do a few things differently. First, I will not dilute the bonding agent. Second, I will use the sand concrete that I bought the first time from home depot (the original video I watched called for the quick dry concrete so we went back to get that). Of course, I will be wearing the same clothes as they are ruined now. And lastly we might make a wooden form, as I believe gravity to be the reason the attempt failed. 

 

Painting Pals 2

 It's been a few weeks since I started that painting class with my sis and I thought I'd give an update.

I finished my first painting from the class! I didn't bring it home yet as it is drying but I did manage to snap a couple of pictures of it. The original artist is Lawren Harris.

I also started on a second painting from a photograph in a magazine. I did some of the under painting. It will be a fun one too. I learned that I can use a rag dipped in terpentine and add some paint to use for the background. I am trying not to be too precious with it and just enjoy the process.

My next painting will be a still life or a painting from one of my photographs and I will think about that one some more.

Petals in Pots

A few weeks ago, I collected some second hand pots. Each were ceramic and beautifully painted. Three of them were bought as a set, and one collected on its own. 

They stayed like this for a while until one day it felt warm enough to plant and I had a few hours. So I went to the garden centre to buy some glorious flowers to fill the pots. I could not believe my eyes there. I wanted all of the flowers. After spotting some begonias that I had to put on my cart, I went to the annuals section of the greenhouses, looking for full or partial sun. There I perused the aisles, thinking about the combinations of colours I wanted together (a pink theme for one, a purple theme for another) and trying to find a variety of shades of green leaves for interest and different heights for intrigue.

One of my daughter's wanted to plant that afternoon so we set to work, after school. We started with a base layer of soil in each, out of four bags, we surprisingly used about a bag and a half to fill all of the containers. Next we organized which plants went in which pot by setting them on top of the soil. Depending on the size of the pot, we decided how many plants each would fit. Then we roughly picked a tall, medium and flowing flower for each, keeping in mind what colours and styles went together well. I asked my daughter which she wanted to start to plant with (and was thinking maybe the biggest). She thought the smallest and I decided that would be a better idea. To ramp up with technique as we learned, so we agreed. We planted two pots that night.

Here are the first two of the night!

Todays goal became finish the planters. Which we got to in the afternoon. Both of my children wanted to help so we all set to work and planted the rest. I didn't get any photos because sometimes you are just enjoying the moments though here is the finished result:

We watered them after planting of course and rewatered the pots from yesterday so everything had a refreshing drink. Mission accomplished. They are now adorning our front entrance. I have left the info in each to refer to later. Here's hoping they all survive alright! 

Painting Pals

My sister and I are taking an art class together. Today was the first lesson. It's an oil painting class and I haven't oil painted since I was taking an art class in grade 7.. maybe once or twice since.

The instructor brought some pictures that we could paint and I chose a blue mountain scene. It took the whole class for me to lay down the colours on the page. I'll add more details next week and probably bring another canvas.

I learned that I can basically start anywhere but the instructor likes to paint the shadows first. She recommended starting with the background too. So I basically started at the top and worked down. The hardest part was starting, honestly. I added terpentine to the paint to thin it out a bit.

Another thing I learned is that French ultramarine and raw umber make black. Which is a trick I ended up using a lot because I had some dark blues to paint.

Here's my painting (bottom) plus the original print (top):

Gardening

 I've been gardening in the backyard lately and having fun. We are planning for a new patio and I have gotten some help from my mom and sister (and nephew), plus my own family. 

There's something about hosting and spending time outdoors that I love. I tried to find an alternative to Home Sense today that is Canadian but alas it is a challenge. So I went to home sense and picked up a tray so that I could bring all of our dishes outside for dinner. Thanks to a dear friend, we have a table back there, as they gave us their old one.

The plan is to move the shed to the back of the yard so that the patio can be a bit larger. I've done the measurements and math and got a quote on some patio stones that my husband and I picked out together. I made a foundation at the back of the yard for the current shed to move to. Next we need to empty the shed out (it mostly has my gardening tools) and attach pieces of wood onto the sides so that we can move it. 

Here are some pictures, in reverse order: