Monday, March 4, 2024
Monday, February 19, 2024
Monday, February 5, 2024
Monday, January 29, 2024
Mama Wrote a Book!
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon an advertisement for a memoir publishing service. I decided that it would make a great gift. First, I would give my mother the gift of a subscription where the company would send her an email once per week for a year and she would write a memory or a story from her life. Then, at the end of the year, I could get a published copy to give her and a couple of copies to give my children.
The company whose subscription I gave to my mother is called Storyworth. (I am not being compensated in any way for this post.) I gifted it to her at Mother's Day. It was a really good experience for Mama and me. It worked out well that I got to pick through some questions that the company suggests at their website. I also could update some of the suggested questions to make them fit my mother's experiences a little better. Finally, I could just create a question on my own, if I wanted to do so.
It also worked out well for my mother in that she only got one question or prompt per week. They sent her an email on Monday and she had time to think about what she wanted to write and also time to actually write, revise, and update what she wrote.
Once she finished writing, we could upload photos that would accompany the story. I could add brief notes to expand the story and include a bit more information. I could also proofread her story to check for simple errors that we all make such as misspellings or leaving out a word.
As the year went along and Mama wrote her memories, sometimes when I read the new chapter, I would smile because I knew the story and had chosen that particular prompt or question so that the story would be captured and shared. Sometimes I would smile or even laugh out loud because the story or the accompanying photos would be something new that I had never known about my mother.
Of course, having a year's subscription meant that she wrapped up her writing in May of last year. Then, during the summer, we read and revised all her stories, when needed. We added photos and moved stories around a bit so that there was some flow to the book and so that there would not be blank white pages with no photos or stories. The platform provided by Storyworth was really user-friendly and the editing took a little time but was really easy.
Then, I ordered the complementary book that came with the subscription with the intention that I could read the hard copy and make edits, if needed. When the hardback copy came, I was so impressed with it that I didn't really feel the need to make edits. Oh, there might be some punctuation or capitalization errors in it but no more than can be found in any published book, really.
So, we ordered more copies. I ordered copies for each of my children and Mama got copies for my sister and her family.
I would strongly encourage anybody to take advantage of such an experience. In our case, the book turned out wonderfully. My mother is pleased with how it turned out. My two children were both excited to get their copy of the book. They have both read it and truly enjoyed recalling some of the stories that were a part of their lives and were glad to learn new things about their grandmother and the times in which she lived.
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Livening Up a Grey Room with a Roman Shade
Grey is a bleh color to me when it comes to decorating. I have hated the trend that everybody has been fond of - painting everything a neutral grey. To me it seems cold, dreary, depressing, and institutional or prison-like. So, I was not thrilled years ago when my mother-in-law had the walls and cabinetry in the basement painted grey. Knowing that it was to be her space, I did not want to object and really wanted her space to be her own. Now that we are reclaiming that space and repurposing it to meet our needs, I am learning to live with the grey as best I can. The paint is still in really good shape and I just cannot justify having it covered over just because it is not my favorite. So, I am looking for ways to live with it but liven it up.
We recently began to turn one of the front basement rooms into an office. I need a dedicated work space, since I still work from home many days. I will also want an office-type space even after I retire. I will want a space for bill paying and working on our farm paperwork. I will want a space for writing as I want to write a book similar to the one I helped my mother to put together as a way to share her lifetime memories with our children. I will want to have a space for sewing and crafting when I take on creative projects.
So, I began to look for ways to liven up the grey room and make it more friendly. I decided that an easy way to get started with that would be to add a decorative window treatment. I knew that I didn't want to cover the window because I want all the natural light I can get coming in through the window. There are blinds for controlling the sunlight where it won't be glaring in and blinding while I work at the desk.
My first thought was that I wanted to add pretty floral panels to the sides of the window and make the room rather feminine. Then, I realized that might not be a possibility because the window is not really centered on the wall allowing for a full drapery panel on either side of the window without covering any of the window. On the right side, there is about three inches and on the left, there is considerably more space.
So, I started turning through the pages of my 'house look books' and surfing the net and saving ideas. I began to notice a trend in what I was collecting. They seemed to all have some sort of floral Roman shade that draws the eye up but brightens and livens up the space. The inspiration I seemed to keep coming back to was this office with a Jacobean print shade and incorporated the greens and blues that I have going on in the room already.
So, my next turn was to dig through my fabric stash and see what I already had that might work to combine the color scheme I had started. Remember that I am trying to do this office on a budget and I want to use as many things that we already have as possible. I have a pair of pillow covers made of a Jacobean print that I first bought to try to work into a bedroom with my grandmother's cross-stitched quilt. The fabric turned out to be a bit too creamy or lean too far toward yellow. So, I made a couple of pillow covers that I use in the den and hung the rest of the fabric on a hanger to keep in my stash.
When, I pulled it out, I realized that it might just be the perfect fabric. It has the hunter green color that is found in the green check chair and it has a nice sky blue color that would brighten things up as well. So, I quickly decided that I ad found my fabric to use in the office. When I started measuring and planning, I realized that I was going to have to seam a couple of pieces together to reach all the way across the double windows. So, I gave my friend, Kathy, a call. She made thousands of window treatments over the years and I knew she would be a good resource. Of course, I watched dozens of online videos as well! The two that wound up being my strongest resources were How to Make a False Roman Shade and How to Make a Roman Shade.
Kathy suggested that I might not want to have the seam running down the middle of the window because that might draw too much attention to it. After I sent her a hand full of photos, she told me that I might not need to worry about the seam showing because there was so much going on in the fabric and I might be able to match the print quite well. So, I went to work.
I measured my windows and measured my fabric and used the instructions provided by the YouTube videos. Then, I stretched the fabric out across the floor and ripped one end to get a straight edge. I know that isn't recommended for all drapery fabrics due to the width and the nature of the fabric's weave. It is just something I feel better about when I am sewing. A straight edge makes my life easier. Then, I began to stretch out the next run of fabric to match the print for the seam.
Matching it up was pretty easy. In my mind, I was thinking I would just sew the two pieces together to make a tube. Then, I would split one of the runs of fabric so that I had a seam on both sides and the center panel would be one run of the fabric. As it turned out, that match up wouldn't work out for me so well. So, I decided I would stitch the two together and see out the seam turned out.
With excitement, I stitched the two pieces together and gave the entire thing a nice pressing.
Then, I turned to the other selvages and sides and realized that it wasn't going to work out as a had envisioned. The edges and the print was not matching up as I'd thought it would. So, the beauty of having this space is - I could walk away from it and leave it out for a while to decide what to do next. I ordered some trim tape to cover the seams and thought that might be the way I would go.
The more I thought about it, the more I began to think that the print of the fabric was not going to show the seaming as obviously as I had worried it might and I wouldn't need to do anything for it to be camouflaged it at all. So, I just decided to cut one side off and press the seam out and stitch the lining to the fabric. Then, hang it and hope nobody noticed the seam.
As it turns out, that was the right thing to do in this case. The shade looks nice in my office and really adds some life and pulls the colors I'm using in the room together.
I love how it brightens the space and looks feminine and cheerful.
Even with the sunlight streaming in, the seam is not obvious at all. And if somebody is nosey enough to look and see if there is a seam, they will just have to find it!
Designating a Room as the Office
One of the things Mike and I knew immediately that we wanted to do when reworking the basement and parceling out his mother's belongings as she had wished is that we knew I need a designated space as an office and work room.
Since I was sent home to work during Covid, I had just perched on a little desk space that my parents had made when I was a girl and it worked out fine. Sometimes my need to be online in a live virtual meeting was an inconvenience for Mike. Sometimes there were distractions when I needed to be working. All too frequently, I worked long, late hours because it was just too easy to work with my computer and desk right there.
So, now we have the space for me to designate a room as the office. Just after Christmas, I noticed an inexpensive desk and chair offered for sale on Facebook. It was just the right size - large enough to hold my laptop and extra monitor and microphone and notes but not a big executive desk. So, I jumped on that and brought the desk home. Mike helped me get it out of my truck and into the room.
I shoved the wicker sofa, chair, table, and accessories to the other end of the room. With the beginning of the new year and a new school semester I was beginning work in my new office!
I had already decided that we were going to set this office up on a shoestring budget. I didn't want to spend a potload of money to make it beautiful and functional when we already have so much stuff. However, I also wanted it to be beautiful and inspire me to work.
With a little time, I began to search for inspiration to make this really become a space where I want to work and am inspired to do good things. So, I started thumbing through my 'look books' where designers who are featured in places like Southern Living show how they have decorated homes for clients and themselves. I began to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram and save ideas that I saw which inspired me.My first thought was that I would put my desk in the space where the window would be off to my side. So, this office really inspired me. I had thoughts of painting the desk and adding panels of drapery at the window and really making it a feminine space.
- It is a basement room and there is very little lighting - only one can light in the center of the room.
- It will be used for my work as an instructional designer until I retire from the education business.
- It is where I will be working on writing projects and will continue in that capacity even after I retire.
- It is where I will be doing stitching and sewing in the space. So, there will be lots of stray threads and scraps of fabric.
- When I sew, I will also be using the ironing board and iron. So, there will need to be open space for that vital equipment.
- I will need to store fabrics, trims, thread, office supplies, crafting supplies, and such in there.
- I want the space to be a work horse but also keep to my shoestring budget.
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Primary Bath Update - Progress to Finish
Like any good project, this one started with a collection of ideas and inspiration. My drawings seemed like everything was going to come together well. Now, it was time to put those ideas into practice!
Here is where we started: