1- Modern Colorful Mobile by Jeanish at Project Wedding
2- Photo Globe Mobile Tutorial by Emily at Recipe for cute
3- Paint Swatch Chandelier from Rhi at Hey Gorgeous!
4- Fabric bird mobile by Laura at Spool

Have a great weekend!
XO

Some time a go I shared camera bags inspiration because I wanted to make a bag to protect my recently upgraded camera. Well, I kind of changed my mind in the process and instead of making one camera bag, I decided to make a camera bag insert. So I can switch it with different purses, you know I kind of like to match my bag with what I am wearing AND I do not have the money to invest in different color camera-purses. So here is my solution, I made this insert (It already fits all my big purses) and I plan to make other purses that fit this little cutie =]

My plan for this post was actually share the tutorial right away, but I’m pretty sick so I am trying to stay away from the computer, so the tutorial will come later on =] pinky promise!

In my last visit to the thrift store I scored 8 yards of this turquoise felt for $5 – I was pretty excited because it was EXACLY what I was looking for and in one of my favorite colors! Lucky me =] So I used left over foam from the laptop bag I made some weeks a go and Velcro. The sewing was actually easier than I expected at first and I can not be happier with my camera insert!

The shape of the handles is not very “weight friendly” specially when they are made out of felt, but I only grab it from there to lift it and change it from bag to bag, so to my it’s not a big deal. I just really wanted to have a straight edge look =] I also topstitch the edges because I wanted the look of the seam in the outside, I think it looks good. What do you think?

I actually used the old camera as the model for this pictures, because… well my actual camera needed to work! So just pardon the “vintage look” hehe. And what exactly do I carry in my to-go camera bag?
- Camera with the EF 50 f/1.8 lens on it
- 2 extra lenses
- Battery charger
- 2 extra batteries
- Remote control
- Flash light diffuser
- Tripod hook
- extra memory card
- USB flash-drive, why? I don’t know I just always like to carry one, you never know when you might have a file-emergency LOL

… and everything fits perfectly =] I also made 2 little pockets for the little stuff.

there you go! my new camera carrier-insert. sturdy. pretty. turquoise! accepts any kind and color purse – not clutches allowed sorry!

On another note, I will be going on vacations at the end of the month and I am arranging some guest post to keep the blog going while I spend some time with my family in Chile, so if you have a tutorial or a crafty post you’d like to share head over to my submissions page and send me quick note! I’d love to feature some fresh ideas, specially from new blogs!

p.s. The tutorial will come once I feel better OK? – Have you notice I am leaning towards turquoise A LOT lately? No wonder it’s one of my business main colors, hehe.

Have a great day!
XO

Many times while crafting, designing, sewing or just any creative process, we tend to do things that discourage us, or we simply don’t do enough of the ones that DO encourage our creative process. Today I wanted to share some pointers of the things that had helped me stay sane =] And as a reminder I made a little print for my office using a very cute free font, Channel by Måns Grebäck. I customize it to make the quote pretty and added some bright colors, who does not LOVE colors? huh =] So here it is, I hope they can help you too.

I think this is one of the most important things you should try to avoid (in any area), usually when we compare our self to other people, we don’t consider how many years they have been doing what they are doing; Or their background in the area they are really good at. When I was in collage I used to do that A LOT and it end up not being good for me, because I will end up sad, disappointed and frustrated. But then I realized I was comparing myself to people that had MANY years of experience on me. And that was not fare, because even when you compare yourself to people that had been blogging, crafting, sewing or designing as many years as you have; we all do things in a different way, we all have a different process. Some of us take longer to learn the same things others learn right away. So my friends, even tho it’s good to be inspired by other people, it’s never good to compare yourself, because many times that will bring you down.

One of the best ways to get inspired is by surrounding yourself with the things that makes your imagination go wild. And we all get inspired by different things, but it all comes down to our senses. Personally I am a visual person, so to me it’s all about what’s around me, images, colors, shapes, etc. For other people can be music, food, nature, etc. Identify what takes you to that mental state where you feel inspired and surround yourself with the triggers. Pinterest has become one of my favorite places for inspiration, but when I want fresh ideas, getting out to pretty places is what really inspire me.

You know “practice makes perfect” is amazingly true and many times we seem scared to even try because we don’t want to fail. Well, project fail is never a bad thing, because even after failing you learned something new. Now you will not do that in that same way, when things fail, you should feel encouraged to find a better way to do whatever you failed at. With each time you do not succeed you learn something new. And learning is a super fun, never ending process! So don’t be scared to fail, be scare of not trying =]

I actually run into Derek Sivers’s video a long time a go and I could not agree more, many times we give things for granted and don’t realize that what to us is so obvious, to others it can be amazing! And actually that happens more often than we realize. To me is where the beauty of sharing comes from, sometimes we don’t share because we think it’s not a real contribution to anything, well think again, because that little tiny things can be the most amazing idea to others out there.

To me sharing is very -VERY- important. Ever since I can remember I’ve always liked to help others and sharing is one of the most basic ways of help – I know in this case, sharing how you made something is not “life changing” kind of help, but you never know how many people might benefit from what you are sharing, or what you’ve already learned. Even if you are just sharing how YOUR experience with a pattern was or something very basic or simple, you might help others without even knowing.

Whenever you are making something from a tutorial or following instructions, do not be afraid to add your own personal touch to it. Own whatever you are making, add a little something of what you like to a recipe, experiment and take your project one step further. Because there is no need for you to invent the wheel to make a project successful, the wheel is already out there; now customize and make it yours =]

The best thing to do when a project is starting to get to you, is simply walk away. Clear you mind do something different, because many times after a refreshing break, things will look different and that little thing that was starting to frustrate you might be just that, a small little thing that you can achieve a different way.

Experimenting with new materials, techniques or just to try a different approach can many times inspire a total different side or your creativity. Many times going out of our comfort zones is how we can push our creative side further. Don’t be scare and try something different, take risks and your creativity might take you to a whole another level =]

I’ve found that the people that inspire me the most are very humble down to earth people. Being able to be humble and super good at something is one of the qualities I admire the most. Many people out there think that after some time doing an specific thing, they are the masters of the subject (you know the big head syndrom); and even tho sometimes that could be true, it’s also true that out there there WILL be someone else that knows WAY more than we do about that specific topic; So my advice is to always try to stay humble. Before your head grows too much, touch ground and realize we all make things in different ways. Never under estimate other’s work either, because you never know who you are going to run into/or who might run into your blog

INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS:

*Obvious to you. Amazing to others. – by Derek Sivers
-29 ways to stay creative – by TO-FU

As a reminder to myself I made this little printable, but as always I also wanted to share with all of you of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote “Comparison is the thief of joy”, so I hope you all enjoy =]

The top file is a multipage PDF file with 6 different colors, to see that file you will need to have Abobe Reader installed on your PC or MAC. Without the program you will not be able to download or preview the file. If you have troubles please visit this link, because each browser works different.

Below you can download each separate colors individually, all of those are High Resolution 8×11″ PDF files, save them in your computer by secondary clicking on the file once it shows in your browser or drag and dropping (depending on your computer and browser). Print using amy image manager. All files are hosted in a free server so sometimes there can be down time (because of the bandwidth), please wait and come back later to download. I just ask you lovelies to use this only for personal/non-commercial only, if you share them or blog them please share a link to this post and not directly to the download file-> you know that’s considered stealing and I made this for you to enjoy. Thank you!

* This printable is provided for personal, non-commercial use only.
Check the Site policy at the bottom for further information, Thank you!

Purple is my favorite color, that’s why it was one of the main colors of our wedding (along with green, Ken’s favorite color). But after the wedding and for longer than a year I could not even look at purple, I was so sick of it! Happily I am finally detoxing from purple =] So my first step to officially show my re-born love for that color, is to finally wear it again. I decided to make a dress for Ken’s cousin wedding last weekend and as usual I had to share it with all of you.

I had that purple fabric way before our wedding – I actually brought it from Chile – and yes, if you are wondering, did she really move to the California with a bunch of fabric? Yes I did =]

I used some leftover fabric from the bridesmaids dresses I made for our wedding. I made it strapless but after trying it on I decided to make little hooks for my bra on the front and back, so now I can wear it with one trap like in the pictures, with 2 straps or strapless =]

I used to love strapless dresses and never really had a problems, but since I moved to California I’ve gain some weight and a big part of it has gone to my front area. So now, I just need the extra support. Since I wanted to wear a bra with it, I sewed pieces of ribbon so the straps can pass through them and re attach to the bra.

At first I wanted to make something really busy and with tons of flowers on the skirt, but then I realized I only had less than a day to make the dress. So I changed my mind to something more realistic, based on the time frame I had, so I sketched an easier but still pretty dress.

I should have taken some pictures without the belt, but I integrated a same fabric sash and I fully lined the interior. I burned all the edges on the ruffles to prevent fraying and save me the time to actually fold and sew all the edges, I know I am a cheater =]

I love the little tripes on the fabric, some lines are solid, others see through and some very thin sparkly silver threats. So pretty! I should have got more fabric when I could hehe. (I will add that to my “to GET” list, for my next vacations in Chile)

I love the way all the ruffles move when I turn! My dress was so ready to dance! but with my dancing partner gone to a fire assignment, I had to convince my dress to wait for next time to get it’s groove on =] I did get some picture of it moving, let me tell you it really likes it

I wanted to get pictures of the dress at the actual wedding, but my brother in law cut my dress in every picture he took (what a goofball!) So here are the only ones I had with my dear Mother in Law, (yes, we like to be silly)

So there you go, I finally made it official and fell into Purple again =] so pretty! and ruffles make it so much better! I actually wanted to add rome ruffles to the top, but then I changed my mind because it was looking too busy and not very proportioned.

And I could not forget a picture with curly =]

I am still considering making pattern for clothes, but it’s so hard for me to figure sizes, because most of the clothes I make are either for me or measured with the person I am making it for. So pretty custom work =]

I will work on patterns tho (for crafts, accessories and probably handbags) while I am on vacations and hopefully I will launch my pattern shop right after that. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and check on Tuesday because I have a very cute printable and cool post for all of you my lovely readers =]

Last Christmas my in Laws gave Ken and I matching Desk chairs. We only had one and it was pretty broken. Ever since I’ve had a love-hate relationship with it. I love it because it’s so comfortable, actually one of the best I’ve ever had. My back does so much better with this chair, BUT it’s all dark and leather, in hot days I feel like I get stuck on it and it hurts when I get up plus it’s cold in the winter and I just do not like the look of it. So the other day I decided to prettify it with polka-dots and some spray primer and paint. By now you should know that I LOVE polka-dots hehe.

My main idea was to make covers that I could easily take out and wash because, well as long as it’s fabric it will get dirty. I used Velcro for the back piece and elastic for the seat so I can remove them later.

The chair had a couple of wear sports in the bottom of the arm-rest so it was perfect time to give it a little upgrade, I am working on the office-craft-sewing room, so I will show you all the pieces I am working on (I have 3 more half done projects right now)

Since every chair is different I will give you all general pointers in case you want to upgrade your own chairs. For the covers I use about 4 yards of outdoor cotton canvas (but you should measure the height of the back and seat – don’t worry about the width) + about 1 yard of Velcro and about 1 yard of 1/4″ of elastic.

First you need to identify the surfaces you are going to paint, in my case I had plastic pieces and metal pieces. So I got spray primer specially for metal and another one for plastic, so that way each surface is covered the best way.

You will need to pull your chair apart using whatever tool it came with, in my case this chair came ready to assemble with an Allen wrench. I separate all the different parts so I could spray them depending on the material. And make the covers for the seat, back piece and arm rest.

The arm rest was the only parts that I didn’t make easy-to-take covers, because mine didn’t really have room for anything and if I added elastic in the bottom like I did with the seat, I would have not screw to the arm piece. So I just staple the fabric, so when I need to wash it I’ll have to take the staples and once it’s clean I’ll re do the process.

For the seat I placed the piece I was going to cover on top of the wrong side of the fabric, so that way I could mold it to fit (doing that you will see the seat covered just like when it’s done) I measured 5″ to fold in (that will be the edge that has the elastic) from the top edge of the seat (remember you have the seat laying backwards). After that I made folds on the corners and pin them securely (you can see them already sewed for the back piece too in the image below) then sew on top of the fold. That made the gather on the bottom (because of the elastic) way better.

Once the sides are sewed  you will end up with a bowl shape and in order to make it stay on the seat you will need to make a 2″ fold on the top of your bowl, sew it leaving a little piece open to run the elastic. Tie a knot on the elastic and finish the fold seam. You now have a cover for your seat, but if your chair is anything like mine, you will need to make little holes on the sides (where the screws go). I marked them and cut 1/2″ holes and then I  zig-zag stitch around it to prevent fraying.

For the back part the process was kind of similar – but the main difference is that my chair had a  fold to separate the back with the hear rest, that piece looked kind of complex so to avoid having to stitch the cover to the chair I simply glued a piece of velcro to the leader using some Gorilla glue and then pinned the oposit piece of velcro on the center of my fabric. I laid the facric on the seat with the right side facing out, just like it’s going to look, and then I accommodate the sides and made the folds (just like the seat piece) I sewed on top of the folds and also sewed the piece of Velcro that I pinned at the beginning, I end up with a bowl shape again, but in this case I could not use elastic because that would mean that the back will be exposed. So I laid the fabric on top of my back piece again but this time with the wrong side facing out (so I could have the cover inside out) and placed a second piece of fabric on the back (remember that as long as you shape the top and not the bottom your slip will get out of the back easily)  I pinned both pieces together and cut out the excess, after that I sewed them and added a piece of 10″of Velcro centered on the bottom, so I could fold the sides in and close the back seat cover on the bottom.

Just like the seat piece, I had to make holes for the screws that go to the arm pieces, I zig-zag around them to prevent fraying when it’s time to wash them. You can see in the image below how I just folded the sides in and secure it by using the velcro pieces on both ends (top and bottom)

I know it will  be a pain to have to take the arms apart each time I have to wash the covers, but on the other hand I rather do that and be able to just trow them on the washer if they get dirty than spot cleaning. But that’s just me =]  I’ve had the chair for 2 weeks now and it works great! the paint has no scratches, even tho Curly has played with my feet a lot and his little pows scratch the bottom, so that’s great.  And I havent spill anything, so kudos to me =]

I would totally recommend to make covers that you can wash because to me spot cleaning is just a pain – hehe.  Ken laugh a bit a bout the fact that my chair now screams “I belong to Joy” but you know I think that’s good, no one will be stealing my chair any time soon  I just hope in the future Ken takes my offer to give his chair a little revamp =]

Even Curly liked the chair =] So here you go, I hope this post helps you if you are thinking about making covers for your chair, XO.

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

EDIT: Since I’ve got a lot of request I am adding more pictures of the chair, specially the bottom-back side. This are pictures of the chair a year after I made the cover, I’ve wash it several times and the paint in the chair is still perfect =]

Have a lovely day!