I'm back...

Hello again… Sorry being MIA for almost two months, but I had my reasons: a baby girl was born just two days after my last post, a terrible flu that went on for almost four weeks, and oh the wonders of living with a newborn attached to your hip!
One of the outputs of a short lived springish weather was to paint an eye sore of a lamp I got for free a couple of years ago at a Fells Point thrift store that was closing down.

The before:

And the nicer after:






Resources: SW trim paint leftover.

Great finds at Goodwill

Finding Tiffany's candlesticks and a great bar on wheels at Goodwill is considered a good bargain finding day, right?

Genevieve

With the replacing of the windows on the 2nd floor "reading room", now being transformed into a playroom, some of the many toys that were housed in our family room have been moved into the new playroom, and a more adult environment has been created.

In the family room, a built in has survived and houses memos, books, and orange color galore!

I love orange color, it reminds of my travel to Thailand, the Buddhist monks robes, the praying beads,...for me is a very soothing color.

I have added some of my souvenirs from several distinct places, such as Mozambique, Ethiopia, England, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Goodwill from just around the corner!

Mr Y has a very good eye for bargains and nice things, as well. He was a darling when he got an antique print with a lady called Genevieve, my late mom's name.

I used the holes that can be found on the sides of the built in to pass through the red and white ribbon I  got a few years ago in Cape Town, added a clock from Target bought for song at Goodwill, and slowly my built in is being nicely dressed with my cooking books, cake stands and magazines.

Hand embroideries: a dying tradition?

I was born and grew up in a tiny Island, Madeira Island, where hand embroidery was one most beautiful traditions and in some families a source of income.
Every young woman had to accumulate a trousseau made up of amazing pieces. I was able to get some of my pieces made by my late Mom, and every time I go to Madeira I try to get some more. It's considered a luxury item, even for tourists. I don't see as many stores as there were while growing up, so every opportunity I have to purchase a piece, I don't even think twice, more when you can find amazing pieces like this I got: a table cloth with six napkins for a steal!

You just need to know how to differentiate a real hand made from a machine one done in China, and that is turning the piece and check the back. In a hand made piece the finishings are always well hidden, the thread used is double, making it feel as it was embossed in the cloth.
This amazing piece I got at one of my favorite stores in my neighborhood: The Turnover Shop.

PS: the "white" spots are actually reflections from the chandelier I have on the dinning room.

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Before & After: Chinoiserie at best!

Before my adventures into upholstery, and with the help of many youtube and blogs tutorials, I decided to put to some good use an amazing Bassett McNab's Tea Garden fabric I purchased from FHG (fabric holly grail, aka, DeBois).

I had already seen the impact and use of the wallpaper of the mentioned fabric:

                 

Room by Gideon Mendelson as seen at House Beautiful

After many theories in how to make a headboard (thank you Rachel and Sara), I decided to take the plunge and go for it:

Add amazing fabric:

Some plywood and MDF:

Et voila! In less than 3 hours (matching the fabric was the most difficult of all tasks):

There is still a lot to do before I unveil the final product: my blue guest room. I still need to use the remaining fabric to do a roman shade for this room, add a rug, paintings, and a nifty chair I just purchased from Goodwill!

Linking my DIY project at The Pink Pagoda

Before & After: "Almost perfect" and I am fine with it!

I love evenings... So much, that I have trouble going to bed at night. I prefer staying up reading and spending endless hours on Pinterest. However, due to this last "addiction", my mind is filled with ideas (please read grand ideas, zero-how-I-will-translate-that-to-real-life).
To add to those grand ideas, I have become a fabric hoarder.  Since reading at the fellow Baltimorean blogs design par Deux and Pigtown Design about the "fabric holy grail" that is Debois Textiles.
My furniture hoarding "enabler/feeder" is an amazing store in Hampden filled with great pieces and people David's on the Avenue.

This is an example of one of my most recent adventures into the needles and thread ruthless world...
You mix a great chrome black leather, tarnished with a few cigarette burns:

With 2 yards of Windsor Smith for Kravet, Mandella fabric, and you get:

An awesome, almost perfect bench! 

I must thank Rose from Nifty Needle that with loads of patience and trust on my poor, almost non-existent  sewing skills, lead me through my first upholstery project!

It's not perfect at all, due to being short of fabric I was unable to align the patters, and will not win any Martha Stewart crafty honor badge in a million years.

Beijinhos, MY.