Sewing Classes, Buford, GA, Gwinnett County, Now taking Registration

Beginning Adult Sewing Class will start on March 13th and run March 20th and March 27th from 9:30-12:30 at the Hobby Lobby in Buford, GA.  Please call (770) 597-7003 to register.  Pre-registration is required.  Cost is $150.00.

Elegant Dining Room

I always love it when a project comes to completion.  I love seeing the changes take place and I love seeing visually what my mind was seeing in the design process.  This dining room is one of my favorite projects.  It has a lot of glitz and sparkle.

The changes from before and after are really amazing.  The dining room was originally painted red.  The trim was an off white and the cabinet was stained.  The ceiling did not have any interest or detail and the chandelier   was to ornate.

Dining Room Before

I decided to go with a very neutral color palette and really add a lot of surface materials that had shimmer and glitz, but still had an elegance to it.  The walls were faux painted in a Shimmer stone technique in grays and taupe.  Shimmer stone has a lot of sparkle in the finish and the technique really adds a lot of texture and dimension to the surface.  To make the built in china cabinet feel more like a piece of furniture, I had it painted a medium gray and then glazed with a gray/black glaze.  Then the cabinet doors were stenciled.  The cabinet now feels like a distress and aged piece of furniture and becomes a focal point in the room.  The ceiling was wallpapered in a Candice Olsen wallpaper that has a shimmery light gray background with a sand textured trellis design.  I replaced the chandelier with a fixture that had an aged silver finish and beautiful silk shades.  Style was simple but the details were amazing.  The trim was painted gray and then glazed.

Wallpaper in the ceiling.

Cabinets were painted then glazed and stencil was added to the cabinet doors.

Then a large dining room table was added.  Fabrics were very neutral but had a medallion design that added motion and dimension to the room.  And the final detail was a beautiful silk floral with dried hydrangeas, branches, moss in glass containers.

Beautiful floral design made with all natural and dried flowers, leaves, twigs and branches.

Area rug repeats the trellis design in the wallpaper on the ceiling.

Beautiful table runner and pleated drapery panels with a box pleated edge and beaded trim down the leading edge.

I love this dining room.  Very simple, yet filled with details and elegance.

My Pinterest Addiction

Okay, I'm coming out of the closet!  I am addicted to Pinterest!  I know there are others out there that can relate.  It is the best thing since ahhh!  I can not think of anything!  It's the best.  For years I have been saving pictures on my computer, when that filled up I moved them to an external hard drive.
http://pinterest.com/angelathee/

With Pinterest I have so many other people helping me find pictures of the things I love, the things I want to do, decor that speaks to me and recipes I want to try.

I have 26 Boards and 2890 pins (at this time that could change at any given moment).  I am now finding that I need more boards to organize my pins.

Pinterest allows you to save pictures to links for things that you like.  You can set up boards such as Home Decor, Recipes, Travel, etc.  You can follow other people and their pins and they can follow you.

Like many others, I can spend hours on Pinterest.  I don't consider this wasting my time, I think it's an investment in myself.  Supposedly Pinterest is for finding ideas and getting up and doing them, well I have discovered, that there are probably not enough hours in the days ahead to do all the things I have pinned, but it will be fun trying.

So here are a few of my favorite pins.

I love this bedroom!  I love the silver and blue.  And that black pillow, oh my my!

I have this obsession with burlap.  I love the texture and I really love the simplicity of it.

I love to crochet and have found great tutorials and patterns.

I love pillows and I love making pillows.  I have found some great ideas for pillows.

Go on, take the leap.  Join me and many, many others that just can not seem to get enough of Pinterest.

Beginning Sewing Class

Beginning sewing class is off to a great start.  Monday they learned how to drive their sewing machines and earned their license.  One of the most challenging issues in sewing is trouble shooting machine problems.  Having machine problems is one of the major reasons people pack up their machines and never turn them on again.  Once you know what causes problems and how to fix them you are ready to sew and feel much more comfortable and confident.  I always think it is so funny when my students tell me they have been afraid to even turn the machine on!!

Every machine is different and in a small class, we can tailor the class to each person and machine.  Proper maintenance is also very important to keeping your sewing machine running smoothly.  So understanding how and when to clean your machine is very important.  It's like keeping your car in tip top working condition.

The best part of class is when you give them a scrap of fabric and thread the machine and send them off on a test drive.  It's such a thrill!!!

Next week, we learn how to read a pattern, how and why pressing is so important, choosing the right fabric for a project, how to cut out the pattern and fabric and how to transfer markings.  Then we will tackle button holes and zippers.

I love sharing this art with eager students!  What a life changing lesson they are learning.  It makes me think back to when I first learned to sew.  There wasn't enough time to make all of the things I wanted to make.  I would wake up in the middle of the night and go to my sewing machine.  When I am involved in a sewing project, I loose all track of time.  It is amazing to look back through my portfolio at all of the things that I have made myself over the years.  My passion for sewing also created this eagerness to learn many other techniques such as embroidery, smocking, quilting and just simply manipulating fabric and figuring out how to push the envelope and come up with new techniques of my own.  And what a better way to earn a living than doing what you love!

I also love sharing the gift of sewing with children.  The only way children are going to learn to sew is if we teach them.  They don't have home economics in school anymore and unless you teach them, how will they learn.  Kids get a huge thrill out of making things themselves.

But my favorite part of sewing is making things for other people.  I love giving handmade gifts to people as much as I love receiving hand made gifts.  The time and thought that goes into them is priceless!