Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Couch

 
As I said in my last post...mom wanted her couch reupholstered...It was WORN OUT and dated but she loved the size and it "worked perfectly in her space and she would never be able to find anything that she liked better..."soooo
I took an upholstery course this summer with Jennifer at Metamorphose Upholstery and Furniture, upholstered a chair in class, did one at home....
and mom thought I was ready...
but this is a SOFA, like a whole SOFA
not just cushions or a pillow...
needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed, but for some reason,
as always, accepted the challenge. We picked it up Christmas night and brought it into our foyer.
Here, I stripped her down....
 
 
then moved her to the garage where I worked on her on my days off....
 
 
here is a peak....

and here she is back in my foyer...
and today....in moms family room...
moms decorates with a lot of navy and red....
so we threw some of her old pillows on her to give her a pop of color....
Mom and Dad seemed to be very pleased...when we left Dad had thrown all the pillows but one on the floor and was stretched out watching football. He said, "Yes! It feels pretty good!!!"
While we were visiting Dad mentioned that the next thing Mom wants is a new cornice over her large window in the same room. She asked Dad to build her one and he quickly said...."UUMMMM, I think Mandy would like to do that"  :))))
Good ole Dad!!!
 
...on a side note...as I mentioned here ...
I met Miss Mustard Seed, who is and has been a fabulous inspiration for a while now.
I have a fairly new Nikon camera and she gave me a quick tutorial on how to actually use it.
This prompted me to start trying to learn a little bit more about using the silly thing on MANUAL....
that has been one of the most frustrating things I have done in a while.
 I was not totally pleased with my pics of moms couch in her family room, her room is kind of dark with the paneling and wood floors, but I am learning...I will get there...
 
eventually....
 
 
 
Oh, one of the things I did this weekend was to sign up for this tutorial online and these guys were extremely helpful!!! So, hopefully my pics will be much better the more I practice!!!
 
 
Mandy 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The After Christmas Project

I took an upholstery class this summer from Jennifer at Metamorphose.
When we got the chair stripped down we fell in love with the wood frame and started thinking...
hmmm....there is a particular catalog that has this wonderful deconstructed look that is so cool...should we try that???
We quickly got online to see if this was something we thought we could do with this chair....we decided...YES!
 
 
 
Here is the finished chair....
 
 
 
 
I just love it!
 
 
 
so...fast forward a couple of months
my mom, who thinks that I can do anything and everything....
wants her couch reupholstered.
It was time, the upholstery was worn out and dated, but geez, a COUCH!
That is much different from a chair!!!
 


So, Christmas Day...we loaded this baby in the back of the truck and headed home...
and placed her in my foyer (the whole house is my workshop :) )
 
I stripped her down.... 
 

 
 
And, she is finished....
 
 
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I will post some REAL pics when she is back in her place of honor in mom's family room, but here is a sneak peak.
I cannot say it was easy peasy, but it was certainly a learning experience.
Not sure if I am ready to tackle a couch again anytime soon, although, I have in my stash 3 couch frames..go figure...
someday, I will get brave and show you my stash...good heavens, it is taking over our home!!!!
 
 
 
 
Mandy

Sunday, January 13, 2013

We met Miss Mustard Seed!!!

On Friday Miss Mustard Seed flew in from Pennsylvania and came to see us here in little ole LaPorte!!!
She was a guest at Altar'd and Traci and I were just about the first ones in the door.
We have both followed her blog since the beginning and are truly inspired by her energy and creativity.
 
 
She is just as she seems on her blog...friendly and gracious...
 
 
 
 
After working the room and introducing herself to everyone that walked in the door she gave us a painting/distressing/antiquing/waxing demo. She was so open with all her tricks and techniques.
 
 
 
 
 
Mandie of Altar'd was stocked with Miss Mustard Seed's new book
 
 
and also her line of milk paint, furniture wax, antiquing wax, bonding agent...etc, etc, etc
 
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We had a great time, met some of the nicest people and had our picture made with Miss Mustard Seed to boot!!!