My New Obsession: Etsy Treasury Lists

Porcelain & Leather Hanger by FarrahSit

I go on binges.

Oreos.
Sewing.
Blogging.
Chairs.
The interwebs.

You name it, I've probably sat laser-focused for hours on end gorging on whatever you might imagine, stopping only occasionally for oreos. And when I've steeped my brain to the point of saturation, I simply walk away. Like a cat who's had enough of your petting, I traipse off, casually leaving whatever you might imagine alone with their own thoughts, taking my attention with me.

It's a character flaw.

My latest obsession - well the one I was obsessed with around Christmas and have since betrayed with my silence - is creating Etsy Treasury Lists. It's really fun. The constant searching, the tireless favoriting,  gorging my ego with power by passing over one pillow for another. I have standards after all. There are only 16 spots to fill.

Retro Wooden Ampersand by Edie's Lab

Unlike Pinterest (another obsession on its own) where I can add as much as I want to any number of boards (Oh the power!), where I fantasize that my life is much prettier, DIY-ier and more organized than it might be, Etsy Treasury Lists force you to be picky. To be a curator of things that fall under the well-crafted headline you've given it.



Maybe it's the structure that suits me during these binges. I need boundaries.

Here are a few things from my treasury lists. You can see the rest in all of their glory here. Maybe I'll get back around to obsessing with it again sometime.

From "Gifts For Your Femme"

Gifts For Your Femme Treasury List

From "For The Home"

For The Home Treasury List

See more here...

Brass lamps make my heart weep.

$9 each from the thrift store

Kind of in that same way old oak cabinets do when I'm about to paint over them.

I know I should feel bad.

   

Look at them. They're practically being brought to you by baby Jesus himself, all cloaked in soap opera light.

But my house isn't the brassy kind, so something had to be done.

I couldn't help myself.

Around spray paint, I cannot be trusted.

Rustoleum Ultra Cover in Lagoon

Even the finials look sad over there by themselves, just as blue as blue can be.

Is that a teardrop or is it just my super high gloss turquoise spray paint?

$25 shades from Lamps Plus

Turquoise makes me happy.

Hey folks, I got a new gig!

what?!

And by new gig, I mean quite possibly the best new gig in town. I'm the new design assistant (behind the scenes) on HGTV's show "Curb Appeal!" I design and implement the mini neighbor makeovers and contribute to the main house re-design for things like house colors, lighting, staging and other final touches. I just gave myself a giant pat on the back. And a gin & tonic.

It happened really quickly in comparison to how long I've been looking for a new gig. Ever since The Start-up Who Shall Remain Nameless kicked the tech bubble bucket and took my newly minted Vice President job with it, I've been on a roller coaster of reexamining what my next step would be. Of course there's always the fall-back of re-starting my little design consulting business, of which I am so lucky to have the option.

But working alone is a lonely business, and it's hard to teach yourself new tricks. It's hard to be your own challenger in a one-woman workplace, no matter how many design magazines you subscribe to or how many hours you spend sitting alone in the Design Center cafe, hoping someone will notice your awesomeness and invite you to sit at their table. 

I crave learning new things. I need collaboration and water cooler chat and gripe sessions about that lady from Pottery Barn who thought she knew everything but was so far off the mark. I miss happy hours with my co-workers and constructive criticism from my boss. I need to work with actual human beings so that when my sweetie gets home from work, I don't meet her at the front door spewing word parts about how the new Anderson Cooper daytime show is surprisingly two parts boring and one part Maury Povich.

This is what working from home *alone* will do to you. 

You forget how to work. You get job search ADD and start applying for jobs you've never done but think it would be cool to try out. You get rejected on a weekly basis for jobs you're over qualified for, and you take yourself to the brink of excitement that the next interview will be the one. You bury your head in a good book and forget that you need a job. You start to think that you could actually live on unemployment for a while.

John Gidding = Handsome Personified.

And then POOF! You get a text that says your name is being considered for an opening on a design show! And then you go in the next day to interview with some producers and (name drop alert) John Gidding! And the first thing you say to him is, "Hi! I'm Shannon! I want to run my fingers through your hair."

So inappropriate.

And then they go through your portfolio, ask you a few questions and say, "Yeah, I think this is going to work out. Do you want the job?"

YEEEESSSSS!! 

Thank you very much.

Ok, I might be a little too excited...
Photo by Peter Campbell

But this is what you've been waiting for, get excited! The right job in the right environment with people who will challenge the way you think about design, teach you new ways to communicate your ideas and take full advantage of what you bring to the table.

Will Work For A Windex Endorsement.

Filming in the rain...

Rudy, Kwasi and Suz
modeling the aprons I made during my unfortunate unemployment stint...

Kimberly and Rudy
(Rudy is the Dir. of Photog., not the painter, by the way.)

Bill, Charlie, John & I!

For this opportunity, I give thanks.

-s

Design Inspiration: Speaking of yellow, if I were you . . .

Photo Sources:

1. Turquoise couch
2. Yellow paisley settee
3. Fabric selections
4. Red lamp
5. Yellow Paris artwork
6. Turquoise winnebego art print
7. Yellow kitchen
8. Yellow tulips
9. Meyer's dryer sheets
10. Yellow camper
11. Ginger lemondrops
12. Dancing lady
13. Pinwheel party
14. Yellow barn door
15. Yellow ruffle pillows

DIY: Easy No-Zipper Pillows

This is how it usually goes:
Ooooh! I love this fabric. Well... I'll just get a yard, that's all. Just enough for a pillow, no harm here! Oh, and maybe just a yard of this one, too. And some contrasting fabric, that's all. Just a yard of this, a yard of this one and this one, too. See, it's not that much and out of all of this, we'll have all new pillows.

Pillows! Pillows for every room in the house new PILLOWS! Pillows Pillows Pillows I love PILLOWS! I'll sew them all!

Cut to:
Piles and piles and boxes and closets filled with Just A Yard Of This and Just A Yard Of That. And nary a pillow to be found.

Wanna know why? I flippin' hate sewing zippers. Hate 'em like the day is long. I know, it's not that hard, but it's literally the only thing that keeps me from sewing all those pillows. I just hate it.


So, be still my beating heart, I came across this post for envelope-back pillows. Duh! How many times have I seen these and not thought to do it myself!

I have been staring at my cute Pink Pig fabric for about a year, it taunting me day by day by day. 

Soooooome Pig!! It would say. 

Finally yesterday I took care of business and made my Pink Pig Pillow.

******************************************************************************************************************************

Sewing 101: Envelope Back Pillows

You'll Need:

Pillow form - I used a 21" pillow, so the measurements below are based on that.
Measuring tape or large ruler
Straight edge - you can use the large ruler or anything else that has a straight edge.
Rotary cutter or scissors
Fabric pencil
Sewing machine & thread
3 Pieces of fabric cut to the measurements below - you can use a contrasting fabric on the back.
        *Note: If you have a closet full of fabric, ahem, you can dig around and piece together scraps that are the
         measurements needed. No need to buy more.
        **Second Note: Use any old fabric you have that measures up - t-shirts, old curtains, throws, skirts, etc.

1. Measure and cut 3 pieces of fabric based on the size of your pillow. Use contrasting fabric on the back pieces if you want. You can also "railroad" the same fabric to make contrast if you don't have two fabrics. Simply turn the fabric sideways and cut your back pieces across the pattern. That's what I did.
        For my 21" Pillow:
            - Front piece = 22" x 22"
            - One back piece = 11.5" x 22"
            - Second back piece = 14.5" x 22"

2. Back pieces:  Press a hem 1/2" on one edge of each piece, then fold and press another 1/2".

Pin the hems.

3.  Sew the pinned hems.

4.  Overlap the two back pieces about 2", making sure that the total width equals 22" once overlapped.

5.  Pin & sew the overlap.

6.  Lay the front and back pieces on top of each other with the patterns facing each other.

7.  Pin the pieces and sew around all four sides with at least a 1/2" hem, double locking the corners. You can do a 1" hem or more if you want the pillow to be tighter.

8. Trim the corners and turn it right side in. Use a chopstick or bone folder to poke out the corners.

9.  Put a pillow in it!

10.  Take pictures and stare at it for at least 7 minutes.

Sooooooooome Pig!!

Succulent Rehab

I did some urban gardening this weekend, which basically means that I replanted the potted succulents that were dying on our back steps.

I planted them all last year when we first moved into this apartment. I was so excited because we finally had that long-coveted outdoor space that city dwellers die for. Although it's nothing more than a back door with a stoop barely big enough for a welcome mat, I love that it opens up to the clear blue sky.

San Francisco fog hovers over Twin Peaks
like a thick fluffy cloud blanket.

I got so excited about our new 'backyard' that I rushed out and bought $200 worth of succulents and colorful pots. I don't know if you know it, but in succulent currency, that's a shit ton.

I love my plants. I talk to them a lot. I stand and stare at them, willing them to love me back and to show it by growing a little. I squeal like a pig every time I see a new bud popping up.

Unfortunately for them, I also love a lot of other things, too. Like parks, reading, television and beer contests. So sometimes I forget that my plants need water. Luckily succulents are extremely resilient little suckers, and this weekend I spent the day trying to win them back over, promising that this was the last time. It would never happen again.

I've changed.

Don't you love it when they grow those crazy flowering things?!

They had grown so much over the past year, that I had to combine them in bigger pots. I really love seeing them swimming altogether in the same place. They get along so nicely.

Hello.

Sadly, not all of them made it to new pots. Succulents grow in all sorts of crazy directions, and when I was transferring them, these branches fell off. So now they're in mason jar rehab, trying to sprout enough to be planted in all of my leftover colorful pots.

We are so good together.

DIY: Easy Blackout Curtains

I had taken to nightly whining fits. 10pm. 11pm. 2am. 6am.

There's a lampost right outside our bedroom window that's on all night, so it's not just the morning sun that pokes through our curtains and slaps me like I'd been dancing on bar tops all night long, when I know for certain that I had not been. I'm not 30 anymore.

So what's a girl to do with her cute, store bought, thinly veiled curtains?

Source: West Elm Ikat Ogee Linen Curtains

You dream of hotels, that's what you do! Like the one you stayed in the night you got engaged. 

Bar dancing hussy turns into bed jumping monkey
at the stroke of a sapphire.

I digress.

Hotels get it right every time. With their thick, fluffy duvets, remote control tv's, bathrooms 3 feet from the bed and, my personal favorite, curtains so dark that you could live there for 10 days and forget that the earth revolves around the sun.

We're staying here when we go to London next month. 
It's going to be so dark!!!
Source: Base2Stay.com

So back to the problem at hand: my super thin curtains and my lazy solution for night fits. This is the easiest sewing project you'll ever do, I promise. I did this yesterday in about an hour, and boy did I SLEEP last night!

The most awesome thing about blackout fabric is that it cuts like butter and doesn't need to be hemmed!

1.  First buy your curtains.

These are nice.
Source: Urban Outfitters 

You could make your own, which I've done plenty of in my lifetime. But sometimes the thought of measuring, cutting, folding, pressing, pinning and hemming 36 yards in circumference is a little too much for a Tuesday, so you buy them readymade.

2.  Get some blackout fabric. I usually use white or cream, depending on the fabric color.

3. Roll out the blackout fabric and lay your curtain on top of it. Trim all around the edges just outside the curtain. Cut it like you cut wrapping paper. Wheeee!

**Save yourself some cutting by scooting the curtain over to one side of the b.o. fabric and making the top of the curtain flush with the top edge.

Yes, those are my haircutting shears. 

4.  Sew it! And guess what, you don't even need to pin it. I'm a renegade, so I don't play by no stinkin' rules. If you have a steady hand and focused eye, you can just hold the fabrics in place as you feed them through the machine.

Sew all around the edges - you can skip the bottoms like I did.

5.  At the top of your curtain, sew the b.o. fabric just below the panel where the rod goes. I just followed along the existing seam. Trim off the excess.

And voila! You have blackout curtains!!

Ginger couldn't be bothered with celebrating my handiwork.

Sleep well, my friends.