The Great Inspiration Friday (TGIF)

Ahhh...we have made it to another Friday. I work in a lovely office during the week--but on the weekends, and some week nights when I have the energy, I am stitching, cutting, gluing, drawing, writing, cooking, gardening, and creating something.

Probably, because this is not a paid position, but rather a passion, I'm pretty driven. It's just something inside your soul that wants to be expressed. And Fridays are a great time to power up your inspiration for your weekend crafting.

So, I've renamed TGIF - The Great Inspiration Friday. Where do you get inspired? I find it everywhere. I get out my craft books, magazines...I go to Barnes & Noble and browse around...I look at all the blogs I follow...and I always love a weekend trip to Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They offer coupons every week, so I keep a perpetual shopping list of what I'm going to need now and in the future, so that I can eventually get all the things on my list at 40 or 50 percent off the retail price. Good idea, right?

One Friday, I started watching Etsy TV on YouTube...that was awesome inspiration to see all of those amazing artists and crafters and what they will do and sacrifice to follow their passion.

I love to spend an afternoon at a good arts and crafts fair too! I'm sure we all do. And sometimes I just walk around my house and find things to embroider or sketch out. And as a blogger, there is always that magical time of day when the sun is just right and you have your little photoshoot. I have to have the sun--I will not shoot with flash. I have a white table I love to photograph things on when I'm shooting my creations--and I like to take it outside to my dark brown wicker coffee table. I just put a fresh coat of white linen paint on a pullout surface in my crafty desk, because in the afternoon sun coming through that window, it's a great place to photograph. Writing about my stitching and creating I think motivates me to keep it going, find new ideas, and create more. It's like feeding the soul and nourishing the heart. Now...if I just didn't have to make myself get on the darn treadmill every morning! But I do love watching a good Meryl Streep movie while I'm on the TM.

It's no secret that Saturday is my absolute favorite day of the week--so I dearly love Friday...a day full of hope and inspiration...the yellow brick road to my rainbow.

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch all weekend.

Seven Days of Aprons--Friday's a Clean Sweep

TGIF! Except for the fact that today's work week of aprons is all about cleaning. In the traditional chore days, Friday is cleaning day--but who says you can't look cute doing it. 

This apron began in my fabric stash where I found yards and yards of Laura Ashley material. It was one of those things I must have purchased years ago, didn't have a reason to purchase it, and then I put it away. It is sturdy enough to cover a cushion or a chair--which to me makes great apron fabric! I pretty much worship Laura Ashley fabrics, and so this material called out to me..."make me an apron fit for a diva!"

Just a side note, when I was young and just out of college, I covered my first apartment in periwinkle Laura Ashley fabric--it had little white flowers and I adored it. I'm always on the lookout for more Laura Ashley! So this piece of fabric did not want to share the glory, leading me to cut one whole piece for the apron.

That's when the cross-stitching began. I needed to add some kind of extra element to the bib. I have a wonderful pattern book called The Cross-Stitch Motif Bible, and it has tons of lettering, borders, and all kinds of categories of patterns. Just buy the DMC flosses numbered in the book, and you are set. Last summer I bought all the DMC this book called for, when it was on sale of course, and got it all organized, so I use this book a lot. I decided I needed something to celebrate housework, and I had seen a little sign in a craft shop that said "Housework Makes You Ugly" so I turned it around a bit--because we all know that cleaning is a workout and actually makes you pretty (ha ha!). I made this up and then added in my little housewife figurine, and found a cute flower to put in. However, just this step of making an embroidery to applique onto the apron took me about 2 hours! It was fun though, and you can't tell, but I used the shimmering aida cloth, so it's quite pretty.

One of my favorite housekeeper/maid characters of all time is Mammy from Gone with the Wind. So, in her honor, for cleaning day, I added the red petticoat-style ruffle trim on the bottom--two rows of red ruffle ribbon sandwich a white eyelet trim. Speaking of sandwich, at this point, I was working hard on this apron, and my blood-sugar was getting low--so I took a turkey bacon and garden tomato sandwich break. My garden tomatoes are a daily highlight right now, and I deserved it! (my model, Lauren, had leftover lasagne)

Because Laura Ashley fabric is the true diva of this whole scenario, I used the fabric to make the side ties, and then finished up using the fabric for a wide pocket in the middle. Done! Finally. Then, I actually cleaned house. What a day! I need a Friday night out!

Don't forget to take a break inbetween all of your creative eating, writing, dreaming and stitching!