My Love of All Things Aged

I remember being a little girl watching shows on television about the sinking of the Lusitania or Egyptian pharaohs, stories of the Great Depression and the Holocaust. I've always loved history and things with a little dust on them. No wonder I grew up and went to college to study history and archaeology. Too bad my bum back kept me from digging holes in the dirt my whole life (or is it?). My studies and digs allowed me to read and research many different time periods and areas, so I often feel like I know a little bit about a whole lot of nothing. =^) Back to my point...

While I'm no longer professionally affiliated with history, personally, I'm in love with it! So in love, that in 2009 I bought a little stone cottage built in 1937

despite the fact that (as it happens) it is in the turdiest neighborhood east of I-65 in Nashville. Alas, I love my old lady. She is glorious with her hardwood floors and quaint fixtures. I'll be sad to leave her when the time comes. And come it must, 'cause momma's gotta get up out of the 'hood eventually. But she was a good first home and I had fun decorating her according to my love of dusty, aged things and pieces that might not have been too far gone from when she was built so long ago.

But my first "real" blog entry can't just be all about my silly old house and my granny knick-knacks! OH NO! It is also about my love for Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 fabric line from Moda. I first discovered it actually as a scrapbook bundle and just thought of it as lovely paper that I could use to accentuate the house and maybe use in a photo album for her one day.  But then, trolling through the pages of Etsy one day, HARK! I find a coordinating fabric to match these lovely papers I've found. This called to my inner craft hoarder like only few of you will understand. Fabric and paper with the same print?!?!?! Be still my heart! So I bought some scrap bags from the lovely ladies over at Southern Fabric. 

Today, 2 whole years later, I decided to do something with those scraps: quick and easy pillow covers for my living room. I've already used some of the scrapbook paper to make an art piece for the wall, so it was about time that I tie the room together and "Make it work!" as the fearless Tim Gun always says. I'm not one to fuss over the details, which has caused me a great deal of time and frustration when it comes to more complicated sewing tasks, but pillows are simple.

I use the pillows themselves as measurements (because rulers are boring, right? jk) and pair up the fabric scraps that I wanted to use for each case. Since I wanted them to be removable

because of a tiny terror that lives in my home (see photo of end project) I folded and sewed the backs envelope style so that they'd slip in easily without fuss and I wouldn't need to go buy zippers.

Three pillow cases didn't take me long and the boyfriend was super impressed with how quickly I worked. And now we have matching pillows and no more green velvet left over from when my mom made the pillows for me originally in a past life.

I must mention and show off my art on the wall that I used the Cosmo Cricket paper on. I had so much fun making this because it was a collage of sorts. I bought the Norman Rockwell prints at a local antique shop in Nolensville, TN that is sadly closed. I fell in love with the style and aged patina and thought they would look perfect in my house. The same shopping weekend, I stopped in at one of my absolute favorite antique stores in Nashville, Music Valley Antiques. I love this place and Lisa and Dean are so sweet. Their vendors always keep such interesting booths and my living room is filled with little touches from their shop. When I stopped in to see them, I found a set of windows with beautiful hardware still intact and for a price I couldn't pass up. So I came home and assembled a window/Norman Rockwell/Cosmo Cricket art piece.

I love it to pieces and managed to not break any of the window panes, yay me!  If you live in Nashville, or close enough, go see the good folks over at  MVA.  I bought an antique quilt there last week that I live to curl up in--seriously good stuff! 

I have more projects that I'm working on (always and forever).  And I promise they're more complicated than pillow cases.  Thanks for reading.  Pass along if I made you laugh or smile. 

xoxo
Mels

My Mother's Daughter: A #tbt Story

Hello Internet! I’m Mel: 31 year old female who lives with her boyfriend and three dogs.

My day job is a college registrar—so I am hyper detail oriented and thinking of a million things at once. I own a cute stone cottage outside of Nashville, TN that was built in 1937. It’s small, but there is room for Jason to have his hobbies and for me to CRAFT. And that’s what I hope this blog will bring to you, I little slice of my humor and quirky life but mostly my love of all things hand and homemade. Sewing is my ZEN right now, but I may sprinkle in a few other fun things—I hope I don’t lose you along the way.

I was raised by a crafty mother. She handmade many of my dresses in the 80’s and 90’s and after my sister came along, it was a wonderful opportunity for her to play matchy-matchy.

I, of course, hated this game after I got to a certain age. The Easter of 1993 was a particularly memorable occasion.

Really any religious holiday was an excuse for a new abundance of lace, eyelets, bows, ruffles and such.

I inherited my mother’s love of crafting and her creative spirit. I’ve had a sewing machine since I can remember. Mom and I made a pillow for my kindergarten teacher. She taught me how to crochet and I made blankets for my dolls. Throughout my whole childhood and adolescence I would have bursts of craftiness, but I vowed to never go “full tilt” with my sewing. I would never wear my own creations! Never dress my kids in handmade strangeness! But I suppose that is just like a kid thinking they know everything… 

 My mom found this magnet on my fridge and edited it. She covered the S-word and made a little “Yeah” tag to go over it.

I laughed so hard when I found it days later—typical mom behavior. But in so many fun ways I have turned into my mom. I LOVE to craft! I don’ t have kids to torture with my sewing, but if I did, they would wear dresses and rompers that I handmade. (Sidebar: the 80’s and 90’s were an unfortunate time for fabric prints—at least ones my mom had access to pre-internet, so I cut her some slack there). And why would I do that to my kids? Why do I do it to my dogs? Because it’s fun! And hella cute! And crafting is my happy place. When my sewing machine and I aren’t arguing about tension settings, we can have a wonderful Saturday together. I also have never been one to follow a pattern of any kind. I still can’t read crochet speak. So my creations feel extra special to me because they came from a thought that I worked on until I saw it out into fabric, yarn, paper, wood, whatever! 

 So, this blog post is a Throwback Thursday for my mother, Shelly Jean. We aggravated the mess out of each other when I was a kid (and sometimes still do), but I’m glad I have her. She gave me something that is my refuge.

My artistic talents come from her. I have a sewing machine (or 3) because of her. I craft because I can and because my mother showed me how to work with my hands 25+ years ago to make beautiful and love –filled things. Thank you, Momma! I’m not a spitting image of you, but we are similar in ways that make me happy and help me manage the stress of my daily grind. 

 I hope you all will keep coming back to see all the fun things I make, both on my sewing machine and with my can-do attitude. When I’m not posting here, you can find glimpses of my silliness on Instagram @melsischamp . I’ll post my current projects ASAP. I love what I have going! Thanks for reading!

 xoxo, Mel