Time for Hope

A vintage Elgin clock, painted green then discarded. ReDeemed! $38.00

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Home and Garden Show

I've been a busy bee preparing for the first show of 2010!

I'm participating in Arts Alive, the Wichita Falls, TX Home and Garden show.  Last year's show drew 200,000 people!  I'm all set up and ready to sell it all - I don't want to bring anything home except cash!  LOL

Just thought I'd pop in and let you know what I was up to.  If I get a chance to wander tomorrow, I'll share pictures :)

Ceramic cross and Scrabble (R) pendants

I've been working hard in the studio getting ready for the Wichita Falls Home and Garden show this weekend!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Post 101: a shout out to the single parents

I passed my 100th post!  I wondered if I would make it to 100, wondered if I had the staying power to keep it up!

This is a bad week to ask myself these questions!  My husband has been traveling for business, so I've been single-parenting and homeschooling, while trying to keep up wiht the rest of the world.  I'm not even gonna talk about the housework - that's too much!

So y 101st post is a tribute to all you single parents who make it work, never get to have time to yourself (not even in the bathroom!), are "on" 24-7-365 with no time to just "be".  You are amazing!  If I could grant each of you 12 hours of babysitting a day at the spa and a housekeeper, I sure would!

Have a great weekend,
Noel

My hubby's memorial tattoo

We designed this with Ian's 3 month old footprints.  It is just about actual size.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

HELP! Online Auction/Raffle how to?

Several weeks ago there was an online auction benefit for a family who had lost the husband.  I can't figure out who it was!  They raised nearly $9000 and had great response.

I wanted to touch base with that blogger to ask a few questions about my upcoming benefit auction.

Please send me anything you think would be helpful - and if you would like to donate item(s) to this cause I would really appreciate it!

Recently Sold:

Custom order "For This Child I Prayed" in lavender and eggplant.

http://www.noelgiger.com/

Marketing Monday with Trendy Treehouse!

I'm excited to join the blog-hop from Trendy Treehouse!

Please also be sure to check out an additional marketing opportunity - my benefit auction/giveaway!  You can donate an item for auction or raffle, or to add to the giveaway - and get exposure for your business!  I'll add your website link to the top of my sidebar as well as feature you in my posts!

The finished closet!

Honey put in the giant "plate rack" to hold all my previously loved artwork that is waiting to be ReDeemed!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Honey is working on the closet, stage 2. Stay tuned!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A closet makeover!

We got a $100 MasterCard gift card in the mail unexpectedly this week (woo hoo!)  We joked about what we would do with it.

We didn't have quite enough to go to Turtle Island in Fiji (my dream vacation - in case anyone would like to contribute!)

My husband announced "I know what I want to do with it!"  A bit suspicious (since today is his birthday!), I said "Oh?"  "Yes.  I want you to tell me what kind of shelves you want in your studio closet, I'm going to build it out for you.  Is that OK?"  Gulp, "Um, yeah!"

So off we went to the studio, sketch book and tape measure in hand.  I described my needs and vision, he made all the calculations and headed out to the hardware store, with my nagging cautionary request: "Don't spend more than the $100.00!" 

While he was gone, I cleaned out the closet.  (No - you didn't get a "before shot" of the closet - it wasn't an accident!)

Then I used my level to measure and mark lines, 40" from the floor, then at 14" intervals.

Hubby had the plywood cut to the size of the cloest at the hardware store, but had to cut the U-shaped notch out at home.  (yes, in the entryway, right on my pretty entry carpet, and a quilt that was sitting there, without a drop cloth - but doesn't he look dashing in that hat?)

Can you see the furrowed brow of concentration?

Can you see the giant pile of debris and sawdust?  (OK - it's not giant!)

Personally, I think that hubby's design is genius!  He did the U-shaped board, then the support strips underneath.  After a bit of discussion, we decided that it would be best to go in top-down, and not secure the shelves until all were in place (for manueverability).  The original plan was that I would hold the shelf up while hubby installed the support strips.  Then brilliant hubby decided that he could just put in a few screws to hold it up while I watched and took pictures :)

Hubby suggests that perfectionists will want to pre-drill their corners, so as not to split the support braces!

Here's what it looked like after banging the heck out off gently persuading the shelves into place. 

I think I made my dad and Red Green proud by using duct tape to finish off the edges.  You could use something a little more professional, but it's in a closet!  (And duct tape was free)  Red Green says that the mark of a true craftsman is smooth duct tape.  I'm sorry to say that I failed the test.

Here's what it looks like right now.

I still have plans (and supplies) for the bottom part of the closet - it's going to be like a gigantic plate rack to hold all of my frames awaiting [ReDemption].  Right now it's a pile of ugly pillows from Big Lots.

Oh - and the pile of sawdust?  Hubby cleaned that up right away (he's a keeper!)

Time in planning: 30 minutes

Time in shopping: 45 minutes

Time in installation: 3 hours

Time in clean-up: 30 minutes

Current total time: 4 hours, 45 minutes

Current cost: $127.00 (but we have some things to return!)

A closet for my stuff: Priceless!

THANK YOU WONDERFUL HUBBY!

Eco-Chic Valentine's Gifts: Flower Hairclip From Scraps (Tutorial)

Here's a project to treat the littlest Valentine this year!

This hairbow took only about 30 minutes and was effectively free, since it was made from scraps an on-hand materials.

Remember this?  Well, I had material left over and decided to make a hair clip to match!

I started out by putting the two materials wrong sides together.  Then I sewed tear-drop shapes free-hand on my machine, each approximately 2 inches long.  This could also be done by hand, but it'll take you a long time!  After making 10-12 of these, I cut them out, leaving aproximately 1/4 of an inch around the stitches.  I also made one circle about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

I played around with the layout until I decided on 4 petals for the bottom (because they were larger) and 7 for the top layer.  I stitched each layer together with the sewing machine and a heavy zig-zag stitch.

I chose to turn the layers in opposite directions for contrast, but you could also layer them the same direction.

Next, I used a 4-strand of thread on a hand-sewing needle and assembled the flower bottom-up:

Bottom Layer

Button (to provide spacing)

Top Layer

Circle

Decorative Button

I passed the needle through twice then tied the threads off securely.

Last - I hand stitched the flower to a hairclip (this one happened to already have a pink ribbon glued to it!)

Clip it onto the ribbon and it doubles as a package topper!

Thanks for checking out my tutorial!  If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment and consider following!  Thanks!

Eco-Chic (&free!) Valentines Placecards - A Tutorial & FREE download

This is a quick project that cost ZERO dollars, made completely from materials I had on-hand, basic office supplies, a corner punch and recycled magazines!

I took index cards and used a corner punch to decorate the edges.  TIP: when using a corner punch, use it upside down so you can see exactly what you are doing!

Next, I used a red felt-tipped pen to outline the edges.  I didn't try to do it perfectly, my vision was that they would look more home-spun and charming.  I followed the lines of the punched corner, then drew a straight line down each side.

Next, I leafed through my stack of magazines that I use for my business.  I love the "ransomed" look and have even used it to make a few of my Fender Washer Necklaces:

but I digress!

After I had selected all the letters and my lovely assistant, Jordan had cut them out - I grabbed some scrapbooking papers left over from a previous project (I don't throw anything out, much to my husband's dismay!)

I trimmed the scrapbook paper into roughly 1 1/2 inch squares (again, NOT perfect!) then applied the ransom-cut letters.  Next, I grabbed my corner punch and gave them a trim too.

Then Starburst (our cat) came to investigate.  She's always ready to be a part of a project!

Last, we attached the scrapbook square to the punched index cards with a glue stick. I finished them off with a heart sticker in the lower right corner for visual balance.

Violia!  Valentine's themed placecards!

(The silver heart with wings?  The heart was a pendant and the "wings" are a pair of vintage shoe clips.  I'm planning to make a [ReDeemed] necklace out of these soon, but I couldn't wait to share them!)

I'm using these for my BUNKO group - it's my turn to host so I asked each lady to bring a dish that started with one letter from VALENTINES.  These will be placed in front of each dish with the title/description.

Here is a free gift for you! Please use it as you wish!

Please click on "Follow" or "Subscribe" to the right so you don't miss out on a Valentine banner to match, or tomorrow's hairbow tutorial!

(And I love comments - so bring 'em on!)

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Post-It Note Tuesday #5

If you like this image, please take it!  And click on follow over to the right to see the tutorial tomorrow for Eco-Chic Free Valentine's Placecards!

Welcome to my 5th installment of Post-It Note Tuesday!

Can you guess what I've been doing for the last week?

(At least I finished my Personalized Reverse Applique Pillow Cover Tutorial first!)

Visit SupahMommy for more!

Eco-Chic Valentines - 2nd Personalized Reverse Applique Pillow

Here's another pillow I made using the steps in the tutorial.

It was made in a smaller size for a toddler, using all brand-new materials: white flannel with pink dots and pink polished cotton peeking through for the letters.

Several people have asked, and I am considering adding this to my custom order list with a price of $65.00, including the pillow insert and S&H.  What do you think?