Community Supported Agriculture

If you're lucky enough to live in or near a rural area, you might want to look into whether there are opportunities to participate in CSA near you.

CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. It's become a popular way for people to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. There are several advantages to buying food from a CSA, among them:

• locally grown food tastes better - it's fresher
• locally grown food retains more nutrients - it reaches you soon after harvest
• locally grown food doesn't contain GMOs - they're only licensed to factory farms
• locally grown food is better for the environment - no trucking produce cross country
• locally grown food supports people who live in your community

 

from Pinterest

There's a CSA in a town near us called The Farmer's Daughter. They have several dates and sites at which they drop their produce boxes in town for customers to pick up. The Farmer's Daughter offers different size options for their produce boxes and even allows customers to 'customize' their selections for a small additional charge.

 

In addition to produce, The Farmer's Daughter sells fresh and dried herbs, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, handmade soap and so much more. I think we might have to try a few deliveries from The Farmer's Daughter. It seems not only a healthier option for eating, but a beneficial relationship for everyone who participates, too.

from Pinterest

 And fear not, if you should run into a strange looking, perhaps odd smelling vegetable in your CSA delivery, there's always the internet. Just google  'what exactly can I do with a pound of <insert strange name here>'? You might be surprised to learn just how versatile some vegetables can be!

 

So CSA - it's a good thing. And if I can't live on a farm, at least I can eat like I do!

 

~ M ~

Going Forward

From Pinterest

Did anybody show up Tuesday? I apologize for not being here...just a few last minute changes that couldn't be completed in time. But now I'm back on the interwebs, managing my little digital corner of the world.

So...Paisley Press. It's different, huh? I feel so good about the direction; I hope you feel the same.

While I was gone, I didn't get nearly as much done as I hoped to. I did a lot of thinking...about this blog and my life and my bank account. It's all important stuff. Here's a bit of what I thought...

I'm interested in home and family and small spaces and lots of light and easy maintenance and happy colors. I want my house home to feel comfortable and welcoming and happy from the moment people walk in the door. I want shoes off and feet up and blankets and pillows and naps and fun and comfortable. I'd LOVE a kitchen like the aspirational one in the picture above. I want people to visit and never want to leave.  

I, like almost everyone I know, am on a budget. I, like everyone else I know, need to earn an income. So I'm going to try to decorate my farmhouse by helping others decorate theirs. That's just a complicated way of saying I'm going to start focusing more on home goods in this blog and in my etsy store. I'm going to create things that I'd like to live with and offer them for sale to others who might want to enjoy them, too. 

 

To me, farmhouse decorating isn't just one look; there are fancy farmhouses, rustic farmhouses, modern farmhouses, romantic farmhouses, and patriotic farmhouses. I think there are a few things all farmhouses, however, have in common: wood furniture and floors (both natural and painted), comfortable accessories, a lack of shiny surfaces, and great spaces to gather.

I'm just starting out with a few products: pillows, kitchen stuff, signs, and monograms. Wait...what? I didn't mention the monograms? They don't seem 'farmhouse' to you? Well I'm here to convert the world - a monogram for every farmhouse! Or at least a few napkins, table runners, and pillows.

 

So that's where we're headed: less paper, more pillows; less glue stick more gingham; less there, more here...

 

Home Sweet Home

Glad to be back.

 

~ M ~

P.S.  More to come - the etsy store and giveaways on Monday!

Vinyl'd Cutting Board - Version 1

Hello Friends!

 

Oh my heavens, what a crafting day it's been. Quite frustrating, actually, but that's the way the creative life is. It all started out so well...and then it took a turn.

I wanted to decorate some small cutting boards. I knew I wanted a doily-like pattern so I logged into the Silhouette store and found two designs I liked pretty quickly - one for a round cutting board and one for a square.

I downloaded my selected designs, resized them for my projects and cut them on the Silhouette. After they were cut, I weeded out the vinyl that was not part of the design and transferred the designs to transfer tape.

I applied the first design (the black one) to the cutting board and it was completely off center. And here's the thing about this vinyl...it's pretty unforgiving. Once stuck, you can pull it up again if you want to. But it's not pretty. I didn't even want to take a picture!

With hopes high, I tried to use a different method of application for the second (red) one. And it? Was a tiny bit more successful. But not enough to make it, you know, good. It was folded on itself and bumpy and...a fail!

So I struck out on both projects today...like I said, frustrating. But I'm not giving up. It's the nature of the creative beast.

 

This may not ever be my favorite medium but I'm determined to figure out a way to make it work. I'm not going to let this vinyl get the better of me! 

 

~ M ~

Rustic Chic Canister Labels

Hello Friends!

Do you remember this label, from here? It was the first of my new canister labels, and here is the second of two (so far). I'll be making more - for pasta, rice, beans, brown sugar, etc.

I'd labeled these canisters before; I painted a chalkboard square on each of them, but I found that it was difficult to write on smaller containers with chalk and the chalk rubbed off easily. A change was needed...

I know I'm becoming really repetitious but here it is again - I made these labels from printable vinyl and cut them on the Silhouette. They're great for kitchen jars; they're water resistant so they can be hand-washed without damaging the labels.

I wanted a rustic look so I chose a distressed and vintage (looking) font and a chalkboard background, as well. The shape is even a little irregular - all small details that add to the desired imperfect look of the finished product. Just what I had in mind!

 

Every day I find new ways to use my Silhouette Cameo and for so many different projects: home design, cards, gifts, organization, office products. It's kind of amazing, especially because it's so easy for a home crafter to use.

 

One of the best things about being creative now is the abundance of information about whatever your creative pursuit might be. There are so many YouTube videos, Facebook groups, and manufacturer and vendor web sites that it's easy to find answers to almost any question you'd have.

If you're thinking about trying something new, start learning now. With so much free information available, you'll know exactly what to do when it comes time to make your first project!

~ M ~

Pillow Covers and Other Good Things

Hello Friends!

 

I can not believe how quickly time flies. The weekend was here and gone in a blink and somehow, Monday snuck by, too! Here's what I've been working on...

 

What is it, you say? It's a pillow! Okay, not exactly a pillow. It's the beginning of a pillow cover. In a nod to farm-style decorating (love!), I've designed a set of pillow covers; this is the first in the set. It's heat transfer vinyl (HTV), cut with the Silhouette, on linen-colored linen. The pillow will be 20" square when completed. I'll share a picture soon.

 

I'm working on another pillow, too - gingham, red, heart...what's not to like? This, too, is HTV, cut with the Silhouette, on red-and-white gingham. And this pillow, too, will be 20" when it's finished.

All of these items are for future projects: water bottles, kitchen canisters, candy jars - even a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I printed these labels and shapes on printable vinyl. Once applied, they're permanent and water-resistant so they can be used in several ways. I'll be showing you how in the days and weeks to come.

 

So many projects, so little concentration...I think I may have crafting ADD!! Do you think there is such a thing?

 

~ M ~

Framed Monogram on Linen

Hello Friends!

 

This is my latest creation, another version of this design. This is the best yet, made from heat transfer vinyl (HTV), cut with the Silhouette, ironed on linen, framed in a $4.97 frame (before tax!) from dd's discounts. There's one little issue though...I'm not sure this the best of all - there might still be another version or two of this design to come. Be patient with me...

 

I edited the design from the original, widening some of the elements a little so that it's easier to 'weed' ('weeding' is the process of removing all of the extraneous pieces of paper/vinyl/whatever from a design, usually done with a good light, tweezers and a good bit of...patience ). I also welded the letters together on the bottom making that text easier to weed, too.

The frame is a lucky happenstance - it's amazing what you can find when you clean closets and nooks - I'm pretty sure it's been 'in storage' for at least 3 years. As I said above, it was $4.97, bringing the total of this project to about $7. And that might be a little on the high side. It looks pretty classy for a $7 project, don't you think?

I ran across these koozies at JoAnn the other day, at a steep 70% discount. I wanted to test how HTV and a hot iron would react with a koozie (koozie, koozie, koo....I can't stop saying it!) Well, I'd say it was average. I may have left the iron a little too long and I may have had the iron too high because something got a little too hot for ol' koozie (apparently koozies aren't as tough as their name implies). The vinyl shriveled a pinch and the iron stuck to one of the koozies a wee little bit. But it was only 2ish seconds. At the most.

So live and learn. I know that I need to be a little more gentle if and when I use koozies again. On the up side - I like the anchor on the blue and I like it very much better than on the pink/plum color.

 

Even though these test koozies got a little burned, they can still perform their duties as neoprene can-hugging coolers. And I'm very thankful for that in the over-100-degree heat we've been enjoying lately!

Stay cool.

 

~ M ~

Monarch Butterfly Pillow

Hello Friends!

I told you I'd be back with another monarch butterfly project. This time, it's a pillow. A toss pillow, a throw pillow, a decorative pillow...call it what you'd like!

 

I, like most people who love interior design, also love a good pillow. A good pillow is such a workhorse; it can change the look of a room, it can brighten up a room, it can help reinforce a theme or a color scheme. The same pillow can even be used in different rooms. And when you get tired of that old pillow, don't get rid of it. Recycle it - put a new cover on it and put that pillow back to work!

 

I made this project with a combination of techniques and products: the butterfly design, iron on t-shirt transfers, my Silhouette Cameo, fabric I already had on hand, an iron, and a sewing machine.
I enlarged the black and white monarch butterfly and printed it on t-shirt transfer paper. I let the ink set for a few minutes while I cut my fabric to size (this is a 16" pillow, I cut it a bit snug at 16.5 inches but it worked...barely) and ironed it. Then I cut the paper design using the Silhouette.

 

I found the vertical center of the pillow, turned the printed side of the transfer paper down and centered it, then ironed away. It took very little time for the transfer to 'take' - maybe about 2-3 minutes. After the fabric was cool, I peeled off the paper back. I finished up with the sewing and then...a pillow was born.

 

I would have liked the butterfly to have been a pinch bigger but I was limited to about an 8x10 print area - cutting limitations of the paper size and the machine. With a large format printer, the media (paper, sticker paper, etc.) would be larger so the available cutting size would be, as well. Maybe I need to put a large format printer on my Christmas list. Who knows what might be possible then?

 

Files tomorrow!

 

~ M ~

Anniversary Monogram Tile

Hello Friends!

 

Well...I have had a very frustrating week! Everything seems to be upside down and inside out...not in a major way but certainly in my creative world. Lots of attempts, lots of things falling short, lots of tossing out and doing over.

 

For all of the frustration, at least I'm learning a lot! I worked on this project today, creating an anniversary monogram with a tile (scrounged from my neighbor!) and vinyl cut on the Silhouette.

 

The tile is 12x12 so it's fairly large and a little heavy. It has no hanging hardware and I'm not sure I'd want to hang one of these - the back would almost certainly scratch the wall. Standing it in a plate stand is the perfect way to display it.

I bought this font already split (the split is where the name and date are filled in). It's great for monogramming because of the ornate detail. Some of the very small elements were difficult to keep intact when transferring the vinyl from the cutting mat to the tile. I had to jump through a few hoops to get it together. Not perfect but perfection is overrated anyway...right?!

I also created a houndstooth alphabet for everyone to use (monogram or otherwise) - I'm attaching both .jpg and .png files to this post so anyone can download it and use it for luggage tags, cards, or gift tags. It's a high resolution file so the letters can be resized fairly easily. Try it out!

Here are all of the goodies for download - I hope you're able to use them!

Houndstooth .jpg file

Houndstooth .png file

Scalloped heart .studio file

 

Stay tuned.

 

~ M ~

Pattern-On-Pattern Please!

Hello Friends!

 

 

In keeping with all of the monogram talk around here, lately, I have a fast and easy way to add a cute, quick, and custom touch to your home - and it just happens to be a monogram.

 

I cut this with my Silhouette but I would have been able to do it almost as easily without it - I'll tell you how in a minute. For this project, I entered a 'B' in the type design tool, enlarged it to the size I wanted, filled it with a houndstooth pattern and then sent it to cut. After that was done, I trimmed the backing paper down to fit inside the frame and taped the letter, with two-sided tape, to the backing paper, centering it first. I placed the paper down on the glass, put the backing on the frame and put it up on the mantel for a glamour shot!

Pattern-on-pattern design and decorating isn't for everyone - I know it feels way too busy to some people. I love it, but it SO has to be the right mix to work. These colors go well together - a classic combination - and neither one of the patterns is overbearing. This project took me no more than 5 minutes; you could make several of these monograms in an afternoon, hang them on the wall, and have a custom collection of artwork that not only adds a personal touch, but costs about $25 for everything.

 

Here's how to do it: Get paper: wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, book pages, cardstock. The Dollar Store has lots of wrapping paper for, you guessed it, $1 a roll. You could mix and match patterns, use the same backing for each one and change out the design for the monogram...get creative with yourself. Get frames: thrift stores, garage sales, rummage sales. They can be as little as $1-2 dollars at a thrift store. I suggest, for one wall, 5-7 frames. Get a can of spray paint: You'll need it to spray your frames all one color; I'd do all of mine in matte black. This helps the monogram - or artwork - stand out and become more of the focus. Cut your letters: print your letter in several different fonts and cut them out. Trace the letters on the back of the paper you want to cut - be sure to flip them before you cut - and cut them out. Cut your backing paper to fit your frames, assemble your custom monograms, and hang them on the wall. Pat yourself on the back!

 

 

The picture above is a cheat sheet for some fonts that I have on my machine. They have decorative characters and I can't begin to remember what each character is and in what font it lives. I printed these out, labeled them with the font name and then wrote, for each character, the associated key on the keyboard. Now I can put them in a binder and use them as quick reference for designing.

 

I hope to post tomorrow - check in if you find a quiet spot in your 4th of July celebration. Enjoy the day!

 

~ M ~