Natural Canvas Pillow Collection

I've been getting back into cross-stitching again. I find it fun and relaxing. I designed a few pillows I could stitch relatively quickly and I wanted to work in neutrals. I also found this great canvas that once I brought it home and washed it, it became super comfy and soft. Here are some images of work in progress:                                                                            

What could be more fun to stitch than footprints, flip flops and fish! Ha, ha. I like how they turned out:

They look great together too! These pillows are now all available in  My Etsy Shop.

Anchors Away Nautical Pillow

 

Counted cross stitch on burlap creates these two nautical pillows. The red anchor and white stars are stitched on a natural burlap, while the yellow anchor and stars are stitched on a bright blue burlap. Both are surrounded by strips of coordinated color cotton to form a 'frame' around the burlap. These were very fun to make. The design is a quick stitch project.

 

This fun pattern and many others with a nautical theme are available through Annette Eriksson's Etsy shop here.

Anchors Away Nautical Pillow

 

Counted cross stitch on burlap creates these two nautical pillows. The red anchor and white stars are stitched on a natural burlap, while the yellow anchor and stars are stitched on a bright blue burlap. Both are surrounded by strips of coordinated color cotton to form a 'frame' around the burlap. These were very fun to make. The design is a quick stitch project.

 

This fun pattern and many others with a nautical theme are available through Annette Eriksson's Etsy shop here.

Driftwood Signs Beach and Lake

Every now and then I find a piece of driftwood that is just the perfect size and shape that is screaming to be a sign! That was the case with these two pieces of wood -- BEACH and LAKE.

I was able to order wood letters from this great Etsy shop in Arizona https://www.etsy.com/shop/azwoodlady. Last year for Christmas I bought a saw for my husband so he could cut letters for me....did I mention I ordered these from AZWOODLADY....never mind, that's another story for another time!

I used two colors of paint on these letters. For BEACH I used the blue as the base and covered it with an aqua, then sanded/distressed it to pull some of the blue forward. For LAKE, I did the opposite. I then added a paste wax and buffed it out.

I just love the color and depth of the signs. Just a fun little addition to any ones beach or lake house. See the signs in my Etsy store here.

Muskegon Sailboat Project

I love how this project turned out. See all the details below.

I received a note via Etsy asking if I could customize the head sail on a driftwood sailboat. I responded 'most likely send me a picture.' This is what I received!

 

Woo, that wasn't what I expected. I thought maybe the sail had a blue stripe on it or something. At first I thought 'no way' but then I started to study it a bit further. I was asked to make two. Luckily I had two pieces of driftwood nearly the same size but they faced opposite ways. So I started by drawing out the colors and then creating a mirror image of the drawing. I then cut out each of the pieces.

 

I was able to find batik fabric which I think looks a lot like water color painting in all of the colors I needed.

 

 

Then I drew the warrior facing both directions and cut him out of black fabric.

 

 

I fused and appliqued all of the colors on to the sail and here's the final product!

 

 

This was a very fun, challenging project. The sailboats are gifts to two children who lost their father. This was the head sail on his boat. It was a pleasure to be a part of preserving his memory.







 



Wooden Boxes Before and After

You know how you go into an antique shop and spot something and think, "I want that but I have no idea why." Then you go home without it and it haunts you. So weeks later you go back and hope it's still there. Well, it was my lucky day because this set of three wooden boxes that I just had to have was still there. Here's my set of wooden boxes -- okay, truth be told, they are an old canister set. But they are solid wood and have such potential!

 

I brought them home and sanded them down. Mixed up a batch of chalk paint and gave them a few coats. Distressed them and applied a coat of wax that I then buffed out. I topped them with beach glass for knobs, and wow, what a transformation! When I get out to Seattle later this spring I'm going to search for the perfect sea glass chunks to become the official toppers for these fun boxes.

Handstitched pillow designs

I used to love to stitch -- cross stitch and embroidery -- I found it to be very relaxing. When I travelled frequently for work I used to take projects on the plane. Long flights and sitting in airports produced a lot of finished projects! But, since 911, you can't bring sewing needles or scissors on the plane and I just stopped working on things.

Recently I found a couple fun patterns and thought I'd take it up again. I just finished this seagull on black denim. I stitched it on waste cloth; when finished I pulled out the cloth, and there you have it. Watch for this to become a pillow in the future.

What's more fun than felt fish?

Not much!
I had so much fun making these little critters. I started out by cutting small felt circles to create the fish scales. Cutting the circles wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but I do like the look:

 

 

I then decided to try using small felt squares to create the fish scale pattern. I sewed the tiny squares in an alternating pattern to a piece of muslin. I found this great coordinating chevron-style cotton which I think works really great with the diamond pattern. I overlayed the felt square pattern onto the chevron fish and cut the squares the shape of the fish.

 

Here's the final product!

 

I'm trying some other combinations in citrus colors and I found another great cotton fabric for the fish. Watch for this project coming soon!

 



Turquoise and Orange Part 2 - Frames

My little beach cabanas, which I originally attached to a piece of driftwood, just weren't going over as well as I'd hoped. I decided to try something a bit different. I searched antique and thrift shops for frames with good character features, then repurposed them into these funky frames to give my beach cabanas new life! I think they turned out very fun!

Turquoise and Orange -- Love it! Part 1

As usual, my posts start with -- so, I found this piece of wood...Again, I had no idea what it was or what I was going to do with it, but it was interesting and I had to have it. So I brought it home and sanded and painted it a new great turquoise color that I mixed up.

I then decided I need to apply fish. It just seemed like the thing to do. So, I drew a few different shapes and my friend cut them out for me. I really thought a blue and butter yellow might work, but when I painted them up and laid them on the turquoise wood, it wasn't doin' it for me.

I decided to go bold with a bright orange. I painted them up and sanded them down and ...

Am really glad I made the switch as I just love this color combination. I arranged them into a 'school' and attached to the wood. Then, finished each fish off by adding an eye with a tiny Leland Blue stone from my treasure jar full of things like this that I collect on the beaches.  I'm not really sure what to call it, but I think it looks really great leaning against something or hung on a wall. You decide!

 

 

 

 

Beach Huts

I'm still liking Beach Huts; those little cabanas that you see on the beach are so cute! I found this image for an inspiration shot:

 

First it inspired some pillows and here's an example:

Then I went on to make some little beach cabana appliques and attempt to mimic the beach. I ended up with a small table top runner, 14" x 24". The center is deep blue representing the water. The edges are natural burlap representing the sandy beach. And, I've placed the beach cabanas near the 'shore'.

It was fun to make and I think it turned out pretty cute! I'm trying to make smaller sized table top because I've received feedback that some of the table runners are too large for some furniture. While longer ones work well for dining room tables, many want to have just a little something for a coffee or end table, or even for a kitchen counter.

This item is going to be posted on Etsy for sale. Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/Floatinteriors to check it out.