Liquid Paper

finding the ugly

Our bathroom has been destroyed. We're in the middle of replacing a leaky shower, re-tiling the shower and bath, and removing old wallpaper. (By we I of course mean my contractor and her many helping hands.) I am doing my part though - today I'll be taking our old shower glass ouside and trying to scrub it down to a scum-free sparkle. Something it has not been for many, many years!

When I took these photos I thought, "Here are two of the worst corners in my home." Isn't it funny how looking at a thing close enough through a camera lens makes even the ugly beautiful?

figuring it out

This is my first attempt at making a bag. Not to be confused with my pre-first attempt when I made a big patchwork tote here. I guess I never count that one because I didn't create my own pattern. Well, now that I put my "logic" in writing it sounds silly - it makes no sense and I should count it! So let's start again shall we?

This is my second attempt at making a bag. I made it for my brother's wife Natalie (mother of Isaiah and my sometime assistant in the factory) because yesterday was her golden birthday. Happy Birthday Natalie! ♥

(For more informatin about the construction of this bag, scroll down below the picture. You can also find a couple of detail images here and here.)

The figuring it out part
First I picked out the fabric and I made a pattern on tracing paper. I tried to make notes as to how the construction would progress before I cut anything out. Of course, by the time I got to construction I'd added another piece of fabric to the exterior and totally re-worked how I would assemble it. That meant cutting out a new lining because the old one was now too small. (I'm a great problem-solver but it's mainly because of self-induced errors.)

I knew that I wanted the shape of this bag to be smaller at the top so that it had slits on either side. That way it opens wider for easy access. I also knew that I wanted the sides to be rounded - they ended up much more angular than expected but I still like the overall look. The lining (seen here) is tan linen and the brown binding I used for the top trim was a last minute change that I'm really happy with. So is the button closure. At first I'd thought it would be fine with out it but at the last minute I was scrambling through my buttons and remembered I had this great big teal button. I knew it'd be perfect with another smaller one on top (seen here).

Next time
I plan on making another one – this time the pattern will be a little larger and more rounded at the bottom. Natalie’s bag was only 6 in. wide (top) x 8 in. wide (bottom) x 8 in. tall.

Resources
Teal fabric, brown trim and linen lining are all thrift store finds.
The fabric stripes that flank center left and right are from the new Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy fabric line. **Update: thanks to the folks who caught my error!**
Dark chocolate brown fabric (middle stripe) is from an old jacket of mine.
Striped ribbon is from Michael’s craft store.
Teal button is from a fabric store in Dallas, TX. (Sorry, I can’t remember the name.)
Brown button is from a garage sale score.

a smaller litter than expected

I fully intended to sew and sew and sew all weekend so that I could add a huge littler of puppies to the shop today instead of just three. The little gray one in this photo is my favorite. (Click here to see the new ones and gets yours before they're gone.) You might be asking, "Why so few puppies, Laurie?" My poor husband came down with a nasty cold and if caring for a fussy man wasn't enough I had a fabulous allergy attack. Okay, poor Mark wasn't fussy. He didn't have a chance to be because I slipped him a mickey of non non-drowsy antihistamines and he slept half of the weekend away. Poor thing woke up and stumbled into the living room at about 11 pm Saturday night looking quite disoriented. He just sat in his chair (yes we have our own "spots" in the living room) and stared grumpily at the TV for a while. (Is it wrong that this still makes me giggle?) He looked so pathetic I gave him some juice, a little supper, and dropped a couple more pills into his hand so that he wouldn’t be awake all night.

Lately the things he does, even the ones that usually annoy me, are making me giggle. Like when we were cleaning out the garage last week and didn't agree (huge understatement) on where to put the old lumber from our last home improvement project. He got really irritated with me. As I watched him move the lumber to a neutral spot (one that I had not suggested but he felt would appease me and still not fully compromise his position on the issue) I got the giggles something fierce. I laughed so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks and I tried muffling the noise by covering my mouth with my hand. Oh, how I love that man!

But I digress... this was supposed to be about the puppies!

I do have a small litter today and I promise to get back to work and finish the others this week - so watch for them soon. Now go look at the new pups!

for the boys

This past Christmas my nephew David asked me to make him a blue puppy like the one he saw in my shop. Gee, it only took me three months! Of course, I couldn't send a puppy to David without making one for each of his brothers. So I've made four puppies - one for each boy. I put little collars on these instead of the usual neck scarf and used Velcro so they can easily take them off and put them on. Plus I added a little thrifted button for a tag.

To close out the week and kick-off the weekend... here's a picture of something that I see everyday: my bookshelves. I've always admired it when people's magazines were organized into holders. For my birthday last year Mark helped me assemble this shelf from IKEA and I put all of my magazines and books onto it. The lower shelves (which you can't see) have baskets full of fabric and notions. It's a great shelving unit because it's two-sided. The other side holds books too! The other side faces my sewing corner and holds some of Mark's books like his Penguin paperbacks. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a great weekend! See you Monday.

heaven, i'm in heaven

I have had a very, very good mail week. So many photos to share and show... let's just jump right in shall we? First up is this adorable tote that I ordered from Autum (a.k.a. creative little daisy). Her etsy shop is called Daisy Bags and you must go check out her work. Oh, and tucked inside was a surprise matching wristlet and key chain! Thank you again Autum - I love them! I haven't been able to bring myself to use it yet so it's hanging in my studio until I'm ready to break it in.

Next up are two photos of all the wonderful fabric I received from my swap with Melisssa (a.k.a. all buttoned up). I love, love, love everything so much! Check out the fabric with the little houses, and I got pom pon trim too! Everything she picked out for me is perfect - I'm so inspired now to make some little totes with this stuff. I really needed this package. Thank you so much!

From a swap with Claudia I received a bundle full of this wonderful fabric from Brazil. I love all of the prints, so perfect and delicate and pretty! And check out the trims she sent me too - I will definitely have to start adding more trimmings to my upcoming projects so watch for them! Thank you again Claudia. ♥

And last but definitely not least there's this lovely print from Dawbis, someone whose artwork I've admired for a while now. The title of this is dreaming of you and me in the clouds and when she put prints of it up for sale I jumped at the chance to buy one!

the ninjas are coming

Available soon... ninja t-shirts for kids and onsies for babies! I thought I'd try making some t-shirt designs at my sister-in-laws urging. I'm also working on a few other designs including a Mod Dots logo t-shirt and maybe more. It all depends on how much time I have in between the spring cleaning. Oh, and a new litter of puppies is due in the shop next Monday - just in case you've been waiting for them!

ten whole years

Mark and I have been married for ten years today. As we drove around town talking about the past ten years, he suggested that our goal for the future be to make the next ten years even better than the first. I like it. Here's to ten more, baby! ♥

Instead of a picture of us I'm sharing some of our favorite art. If you've never been to Mark's website now you have a reason to go because I think that this Modigliani painting titled Portrait of Leopold Zborowski is nearly the spitting image of my husband. Minus the cloudy blue swatches for eyes of course. The painting on the right is my all-time favorite: The Corn Poppy ca. 1919, is by Kees van Dongen (Dutch Fauvist Painter, 1877-1968). It has a sort of Edward Gorey feel that I love - I wish I looked like this. Oh, and I've seen this one in person because the original hangs in the MFA Houston.

p.s. I've been hunting for posters of these paintings for years so if anyone has ever seen one please let me know!

so grateful

Thank you so much to all of you who called, sent an e-mail and commented on the last post. I can't begin tell you how much better it made me feel. If it weren't for finding this community of bloggers, which inspires me to take photos of the things around me, I would never have had all of the images that I did of Hugo. I'm so grateful. ♥

Things are creeping back towards busy again after the quiet weekend and today I packaged up the last of the robot transfer orders. I am now caught up on all orders. Phew. Here's what the exterior packaging looks like. If you placed an order you'll get to see the inside and there's also an extra something tucked in there to thank you for supporting my work and the shop.

I have some new projects in the queue that include bags, robots, fabric and a super thrift store find for my studio that needs a little TLC. Plus, thanks to the help of my new friend Maryellen (who lives right here in Houston) I've found a craft market that just might be the right fit for my stuff. I already heard back from the organizer and it's supposed to be held sometime in April. Very exciting for me! I'll tell you more about it when I know more.

sometime around 3 a.m.

That’s when Mark and I left the emergency veterinary clinic last night: sometime around three a.m. We arrived at 2 a.m., my arms full of a kitty struggling for his breath, and we left empty handed. Charming and gentle ten-year-old Hugo is gone. I woke up this morning with the Pogues My Baby’s Gone in my head. It’s all too sad but also a relief. It turns out that he had lymphatic cancer and his small chest cavity had filled up with fluid. His body just gave out and it happened very quickly.

He was such a wonderful cat. He never met a softie, man, woman, child or repairman that he didn’t like. He even loved other animals. When we brought Clive (our other cat) home I was afraid for the fighting that I knew was inevitable. Mark insisted that we “just see what happens” so we put them together first thing and he was right! Hugo slowly walked up to this tiny kitten and when little Clive hissed at him, Hugo just sat down and waited for the kitten to calm down. They were cuddling within hours. Ahh… those were good times!

I was going to talk about new fabric and all of my plans for it today, but I think I’d rather share some photos of Hugo, if you don’t mind too much.

Hugo (on the right) cuddling on our bed with Clive. (I usually can't sleep with the cats because they bother me but Clive slept quietly at my side last night after we came home.)

Hugo cuddling with Trixie–the first puppy I ever made. A moment later he would be knocking that stuffed puppy right off the step.

Here he is in the bathroom watching me as I tried to take a self-portrait in the mirror.

Basking in the sun – his favorite pastime. *sigh*

robots 4 sale

Robot iron-on transfers are now availabe in The Mod Dots Shop! The iron-on transfers that you saw in this post are the perfect little gift for everyone and come in twelve different colors with two different ordering options:

The Standard Set - 3.00
The standard set includes three robot iron-on transfers. Choose your favorite color from the color palette.

The Custom Set - 10.00
When you order a custom set of transfers you get nine robots and can make your robots any color you like. Hey, make each robot a different color or make them all red - it's up to you! You can also have your initial added to the chest of your robots!