one night with you...

Hello all! What a weekend! Between being busy at work(s) and playing in the garden, my in-laws visited us on Monday to help fix our roof. We have had a little trouble ever since the hurricane and Pat's parents were a god send! With the beaming sun and humidity they were patient and so, so, so nice. They are fantastic people and I am really blessed to have joined such a great family! Here are a few pics from that sweaty, dirty day! Sometimes getting that dirty is the best and the shower afterwords is always so refreshing!!

Tonight I am auditioning for a musical...yikes! It is going to be fun but I always feel like everyone else is way more talented than me. Oh well! I am going to smile and have fun! Plus I will be able to hug a couple of friends and see some talented people sing! Wish me luck! Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

heart of saturday night 5/26/12

I love this time of year because everybody wants to hang out. Winter ends and we become little social butterflies. I have been laughing and socializing (and drinking) way more than usual and it has been great! Tonight I actually have plans to go dancing with a dear friend. I am not one for "clubbing" but it will be an adventure.
Have a good Memorial weekend. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

My Fair Lady album cover....LOVE!!!

Fashion Friday: First Stitch Fix!

I've said it before and I will say it again, I am a jeans and cardigan girl. I have been looking for ways to branch out of this "casual rut" for sometime and have been experimenting with my look. I have been playing around with makeup, wearing heels for fun and trying to think outside the box.

Recently, I was catching up on my favorite blog little chief honeybee and she was blogging about this new company called stitchfix.com.

The whole idea is brilliant! Basically you apply to their program, they eventually accept you and then you have to fill out this neat-o questionnaire. They ask you all sorts of questions about your life, your fashion preferences and your style. Then you pay $20 and they send you a box of goodies! If you like anything they send you, you simply pay for it (that original $20 fee transforms into credit!) and the rest you send back for free!! Easy right? Well, Kaelah from "honeybee" has awesome style and has had really good luck with her stitch fix(es) so I decided to give it a shot!

I was very, very excited when the box arrived on my doorstep last night and I couldn't wait to see what was inside.

 Well...it was a mixed bag. I understand that stitchfix prides itself on urging their customers to take chances (hello didn't I say I wanted to think outside the box?) but some of the things in this box were the bad kind of risks.

Lets start with the worse and work our way up...ending on a happy note? Here we go!

Item number one was the only dress in the box and I was excited about the shape because I would never pick a dress like this off the rack. The color however, will never be seen on my body...for those of you that don't know me...I really hate bright pink (unless of course, it is a flower, frosting or bubblegum.)

 

Neon pink aside, the dress was really, really well made and if it had been black (and the teeniest bit looser in the bum) I would have kept it.

Next was also well made, almost like a fine knit with soft cotton detailing at the arms but the color was too light for my skin and the cut did nothing for me (sad face). 

The third looked awesome in the picture but as soon as I tried it on, my brain went "nope!" It was a crochet cape/vest thing...all I could think of was "super granny to the rescue!" However, I know a few people that could totally rock this!

 

Finally there was some cuteness. I'll admit that this top is kind of simple but the colors were cool and the light fabric will be perfect for summer.

I recently purchased a vintage navy blue skirt and this top matched nicely!

The last item in the box was a super soft scarf. Again it was pink (sigh) but I might keep it and give it as a gift.

All and all, my stitchfix was a lot of fun!! I really love the idea of not paying for clothes until you try them on because I end up returning two-thirds of the stuff I order online. I also hate the mall so having a box of options delivered was great! I can't wait to see what arrives in the next box! I think I will ask for more dresses. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

Tuesday

Phew! I believe I have to rethink this whole Tuesday Tutorial thing! I have so, so, so many ideas but no actual time to post a tutorial every single week. The last thing I want is for this blog to be stressful. I love writing it so as soon as it gets stressful I just know I will ignore it....sigh. Since I have no tutorial worth sharing with all of you I will just write a little about my weekend.

This past Sunday I helped my friend Jon organize (and successfully execute) an awesome surprise party for our friend Shaun. Shaun is going to hike the Appalachian trail this summer and we wanted one last "hurrah!" It was wonderful to go to a party and know more than one person because when husband pants and I moved we didn't really know anybody. It is so nice to say that after three years, we have established a really fun group of friends. I love you guys!

Sunday was terrific and although I am sad to see Shaun leave, I know he will have a superb time and will come back with lots of awesome stories.

More good news:  Monday morning I received an email from a bride who is interested in some custom jewelry for her wedding! What a great way to start the week!
Lastly, I am anxiously waiting for my first stitch fix. Check back on Fashion Friday where I plan to blog all about it!! Until then, here are a few pics of my garden that I took on Monday.

I hope everyone is having a good week. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

heart of saturday night 5/19/12

Working on my jewelry tonight. Now that I have an Etsy shop, I have been trying to focus on my jewelry and actually FINISH some pieces. I started the bracelet below over two years ago and I just picked it up and finished it yesterday!
Of course in order to create I have to organize my studio. Who knew beads could be such a pain to organize! Everywhere I look I have a little bag of beads so tonight I am going to work on organizing and hopefully finish a few projects. Hope you are having a good weekend. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

Fashion Friday

 

Time for some spring cleaning! I am rearranging my closet and getting rid of things that I don't wear anymore. While a "closet purge" can be rewarding, I find that there are certain items that I cannot seem to get rid of. I have had this brown dress since college and it was one of my "go to" dresses. It is made of a light cotton material and has a neat safari scene printed on it (including a lion!) I don't wear it very often but I cannot seem to part with it. I decided to try it on and see if I can sneek it back into my wardrobe. It is so light and would be perfect for summer. This is one I think I have to hold onto. Do you have anything in your closet that you can't seem to get rid of?
Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

 

Tutorial: gathering fabric

I have been reading a lot of sewing blogs. There is so much to learn and blogs are a great source for sharing creativity and learning little tricks. I am an avid follower of Gerties New Blog for Better Sewing (she is writing a book..YAY!) where she shared a link on her blog, which led me to thefamilyhomestead.com where this little tutorial lives. Today's featured tutorial is not my own but is so GENIUS that I had to share it with all of you.

 I recently shared this trick with my friend Lynn, who took it with her to a sewing class and everyone was very impressed. I have used this method of gathering fabric on a few skirts  and it really, really works! Right now I am working on two quilts one for my brother that I posted on my blog here and this yellow and gray number that I am making with the leftover fabric pennants from my wedding.  Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

heart of saturday night 5/12/12

Spending mother's day weekend working at a flower shop is proving very, very exhausting. Hopefully, I will get out early enough so I can work on my own garden. I am putting in a new raised bed for all of our veggies and I need to get them in the ground. The person that owned the house before us had many small raised beds and we are realizing that it is silly to fence several raised beds...especially when growing vegetables. So we took the beds apart and built one giant L shaped bed!! I am attempting to grow beets, chamomile, beans and peas from seed and can't wait to get them started. Everyone have a good weekend. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate.

fashion friday

I will admit, I am kind of a jeans girl. That being said, I have been designing more jewelry and so naturally I want to dress up and wear it out. My goal this summer is to get a little more fashion forward and trendy. This summer I tend to work on my wardrobe and focus on clothes that look good and fit well....maybe even develop a makeup routine? This is exciting!
In honor of my fashion forward plans, I have been experimenting with Polyvore.com and my heart is all a flutter. Playing with fashion and color is so much fun!  I can take a photo of my jewelry and then add a little outfit and back story! It is great!
I am going to try and post about my fashion experiments on fridays...hence the "fashion friday" title. So check back to see my trials and errors...I am sure they are going to be amusing. Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

Vintage day dress
£650 - suzannah.com

Betsey Johnson platform shoes
$130 - endless.com

Square earrings
$25 - etsy.com

what is with today?

Sigh..I don't have a tutorial for you all today. I have been so busy with the new jobs and I have sold some things on Etsy! I can't believe it is only Tuesday...when working seven days a week you lose track. I promise next week I will be all caught up! In the meantime here are a few pics I took this week with my new camera!! Hope you are all doing well.
Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

she was helping me write my paper...lol!

heart of saturday night

Hello all!! I am sailing on the waves of nostalgia today.

Let me explain...a zillion years ago I was studying dark room and film photography as well as teaching dark room safety in several after school programs.
After I left school (rather abruptly) I couldn't seem to pick up a camera. With no access to a dark room and the cost of film processing getting ridiculous, I had to put it all aside.
Well, almost five years later my husband surprised me with a digital SLR!!! Picking it up again has been a little difficult but I feel like something is stirring inside me that has not moved in a long time. I feel... rejuvenated, inspired and really excited! I have been scribbling away all sorts of photo ideas and I can't wait to share them all with you.

Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate

Tutorial: strung jewelry

Hello all you crafty-types! Today, I thought I would follow up my earring tutorial with a basic stringing one.

Over the years, I have had many customers ask for help on properly securing a clasp to a necklace or bracelet. There are a few simple techniques that will help your jewelry look professional and stay secure.

You will need:
crimp plier
beading wire (I use Softflex medium but you can also use Beadalon which is available at most craft stores)
clasp of your choice
crimp beads- 2mm tubes work best with crimp pliers.
beads!!!

First, string on one crimp bead and then half of your clasp. 

Next, take the end of the wire and pull it back through the crimp, forming a loop. 

Push the crimp up towards the clasp. You don't want the crimp touching the clasp. You want to be able to move your clasp around and wiggle it back and forth.

 

Now, take a look at your crimp pliers. You will notice there are two holes.

One hole is round and the other is heart shaped or "kissy face."

Grab your crimp with the "kissy" part of your plier and squeeze. 

This will put a crease into your crimp bead. 

After your crimp is good and creased, you are going to place it into the round portion of the plier with the crease pointed up towards the plier tip.

 Basically, what the rounded portion does is fold the two crimp halves at the crease.

 

Now that you have used the rounded portion of the plier, your crimp should be folded. 

The crimp should appear with the sides together and roughly half its original size.

For extra security, use the flat tip of the plier to make sure the fold is really tight. 

When adding beads, make sure the beads closest to the crimp fit both the wire and the wire's tail.

Have fun stringing your beads! When sizing, keep in mind the length of your clasp.
For example, if you want a bracelet that is 7 inches around and your clasp adds 1/2 an inch then you will need 6 and 1/2 inches of beads...

When you have decided on your pieces length, you are going to add a crimp and the other half of your clasp. Repeat crimp process as shown above, making sure that the wire tail goes through the last few beads.

When finishing your jewelry it REALLY HELPS if you pull on the wire's tail. 

As you pull on the tail, the space between your beads and the clasp will get smaller.

 Don't forget to give your clasp a little bit of wiggle room.

TA DA!!!!

The possibilities are endless!
 If you have questions about technique or supplies let me know... I have so much beading knowledge it's kind of gross. Happy Crafting! Thanks for looking. Love, Ms. Kate