Tour of the Taylor's Unfinished Kitchen. Narrated by Antoinette.

"Hello everyone.  I thought I would give you a tour of the progress on the kitchen so far.  There is still a lot of work to do, but the kitchen is at least usuable now. "

"I have 2 assistants helping me today.  Assistant #2 is apparently on lunch break."

"Mommy, I'm assistant #1.  Can I show them my crazy straw."

"Sure, honey. Go ahead."

"This is my pink crazy straw.  I can't drink my milk without it." (Straw was part of the LIV Cabana playset. I made the mac n cheese.)

"This is assistant #2, Mr. Cranky. Don't let the smile fool you. He is supposed to be napping."

"We will start at the cabinets that need 1 - 2 more coats to be up to par.  After that, they will install the knobs that I picked out.  They promised me that they could finish without me removing everything from the cabinets again."

"I will add some greenery up top.  I need to find places for my Cuisinart and my food processor."

"This is just a small sampling of my cookbooks."

"This is my temporary island.  The new one is still being built."

"This will be my bill paying and menu planning area.  The top cabinet still has to be painted off white and hung on the wall."

"Mommy, can we show them where we keep the cereal?"

"Sure honey."

(Most of the items in here are Rement.)

"Zahara, I don't think we have any cereal.  Mommy has to go food shopping.  We will buy some more cereal."

"We had the refrigerator and the stove delivered with no problems."

"As you can see, I really need to go food shopping.  We have the bare minimum; milk, eggs, chicken, strawberries, and ice cream.  I almost forgot, I also have some white potatoes."

"We try to keep the tempting items on the top shelf, away from little hands.  I am not sure why the dijon mustard is up there."

"I am always trying interesting cheeses.  I also keep cream cheese on hand for baking."

"Now I know why the dijon is up top.  The whipped cream was too big to fit up there.  This shelf is mainly used for condiments."

"Mommy can I have some grape soda."

"It's 'May I have", and the answer is no. Close the refrigerator please."

"On this wall, I was thinking about having a window installed.  I like having lots of light in the kitchen."

"Oh, lest we not forget about the wonderful French patio doors. Every time I see them I get a little miffed."

"There they are. Still unfinished. I am kicking myself for not going with my first choice.  If the builders can't make these look the way I want them to, I will have to bite the bullet and pay to have them redone.  Tony, my husband, will just have to be upset."

"Hope you enjoyed the tour.  As you can see, we still have a ton of work to do, but at least I can cook in here now.  Seems like we lost one of our assistants along the way."

"No you didn't mommy.  I'm right here."

"Zahara, I didn't say we lost assistant #1, I said we lost one of our assistants."

"Ohhhh."

"Tell everyone goodbye and go finish your mac n cheese."

"Mommy, I don't want anymore."

Antoinette forgot to mention that she borrowed Danielle's table to help her decide whether she wanted a round table or a rectangle table. She still hasn't decided.

She also forgot to mention that flooring needs to be changed and walls still need to be painted and wallpapered.  She is counting on her dear friend Vanessa, the interior designer, to help her bring this project together.

It Took All Day to Load the New Video

My patience was tried more than once today.  Yesterday I finished shooting and editing the video.  I spent the morning putting the finishing touches in place.  I started the upload.  Sometimes the upload can take hours.  I had plenty to do, so that is never a problem.  I do try to stay off the internet during this time.  I don't want to affect the upload in any way.  Hours later, the video loaded to YouTube, I pushed play and there was no sound.  Darn!  Since I did the same thing on the last video, I knew what the problem was.  I deleted the video and started another upload.  So I bit the bullet and knew I would possibly be waiting another 4+ hours for the video to load.  Would you believe I still had no sound the second time around?!  Now I was a little ticked.  It was still my fault.  In my haste, I had selected the wrong file to upload.  Losing confidence that this video would get loaded today, I tried for the third time.  Success!

Had to shoot this video when it got darker outside, so that it would be later in the day for the cookout.  So there are some strange lighting things happening.  I didn't want to spend too much time trying to be perfect, so it is what it is. 

Double Click to see in full screen.

Here are a couple of still shots from the video.

I made this little sleeper set this past weekend.  It is a little big on her, but still looks cute.  It was my first time making them.  I have to make the feet better next time. 

I used white polymer clay in the bottle.  I like that I can change it to orange juice or apple juice.

These are footed pjs I made 5 months ago for Josepeh to wear at the Beach House. But I never got to do the scene with the kids in their pjs.  I'm just glad that he can still fit them. LOL!  You should see him when he is walking around.  His pamper that I made him sticks out of the pjs, just like a real baby's would.  Sorry, you won't get to see that in this video.  You just have to take my word for it.  I hope you enjoy the new video.

  

Animal Attraction and Apple Green Plaid

Don't be confused.  They are just the names of my two latest furniture pieces.  I have more coming, but I have to take a station break to work on a commission or two.  Both pieces are listed in my Etsy shop.

This is one of my favorite fabrics.  It is so soft. I made a chair from this fabric about 4 years ago.  I didn't have a lot of fabric to begin with, but I was able to get an accent chair and ottoman out of what I had left.  If I look at it too long, I may be unlisting it and putting it in someone's house downstairs. LOL.

Look who I found.  Jacquelyn Langford.  Poor child hasn't had any camera time lately.  If you look closely, you can see the scowl on her face.  I sure hope she hasn't been hitting the bottle all this time.  If so, she may need some professional help by now.

The latest sofa is called Apple Plaid.  This sofa makes me smile. 

So happy to see that she is eating cake and drinking tea.  I was getting worried.

The next post should feature food, but it won't.  I have been patiently waiting for new plates to arrive before making any new food.  I sure hope the plates are the right size.  So instead of food, you will probably get the next and last segment of the Labor Day Cookout. 

I Forced Myself to Sew a Little Bit

I used to sew very well.  As a matter of fact, when I had my porcelain doll business, I used to sell doll clothes (11" to 18") in a local store.  That was back in 2003/4.  My motto was, "NO VELCRO".  Most garments had zippers, even the Barbie clothes. The rest had snaps, and hooks.  I was sewing pintucks, using double needles, lining everything, etc.  I have been trying to get back to my sewing, and I feel like I am starting all over again.  All those tips and tricks I used to know, seem to have left me.  All my pattern drafting skillls.... gone.   I know it is just a matter of spending a few weeks of doing it regularly and it will slowly come back to me.  Over the past year, I have made a few dresses for the ladies that turned out fairly well, but the process wasn't second nature like I want it to be.  So I am going back to the basics.

Last week I read a post by CorsetKittenWorkshop.  She made 90 garments in 2 weeks.  I thought surely, I can sew a few (that would be three) pieces in 2 weeks time.  Well, yesterday I needed a break from the furniture making, and I sewed a few garments just to get my feet wet again.  I am not thrilled with any of them, but I am thrilled that I have taken a step to getting back to sewing the way I used to.  Hopefully in 3 - 4 months I will be back in good form. Part of my "Ultimate To Do List" is to sew up as much fabric as I can and to use as many patterns as I can.  So I need to get started.

Danielle tore herself away from Rod so that she could model the new clothes. I think she understands that this will increase her chances of wearing them first.  She was happy with the bodysuit I made.

I paired the bodysuit with this pair of red trimmed jeans.  I didn't make the jeans.

I don't like these 2 pieces together, but I made the skirt and decided, as unattractive as it is, I still need to show it.  It will be something to look back on in a few months and laugh.  A belt and some jewelry would go a long way to make it look a little better.

This outfit is for Zahara, but she was busy picnicking, so the new kid on the block decided to model her new outfit.  The top makes a perfect dress for the Kelly doll.

"Get it girlfriend".

Maybe Danielle will take up yoga.  These new pants would be perfect.

I made this little skirt first. I needed to make something quick and dirty. I cut this from a swimsuit I bought from the $1 store.  It is meant to be for lounging or as a bathing suit cover up.  She may need something like this on her overnight trip with Rod.  He is probably thinking clothes is optional.  Oh, I forgot this is Rod we are talking about.

It doubles as a dress.

So I made six basic garments in one day.  I exceeded my goal.  If you notice, most of the garments are red.  That is because I had no desire to change the thread and bobbin during this project.  Any little thing like that could completely throw me off course.  My goal is to sew something at least once a week.  Let's see how I do.  I hope to be designing originals pretty soon.  Once I get there, I think I will rename my store Furniture, Food, and Fashions, oh my!  Just kidding.



The Shabby Chic Sofa was a Success

The custom shabby chic sofa was received yesterday and the customer was thrilled.  I gave her lots of pillows to mix and match to have different looks.  I actually offered her a choice between two base sofas, and this is the one she chose.  The other one had a mix of the two fabrics from my previous post, entitled "If I Believed in Coincidences..."

Customer Comments: 

Vanessa, it’s WONDERFUL!  The pillows are delightful – LOVE the fine wale corduroy one with the “belt” and button – that was inspired!   And I love the other two with their lovely fabrics!  The feet are perfect – really, it’s a thing of beauty.  Everyone in my office loves it!  ;>)  I think people want their own human-sized one, but it’s so much more special being small.  I love it!  Many thanks – I know it’s going to be perfect for the room and the Momokos are going to be very happy sitting on it!  Yay!  I’ll send you pics when  I have them.  Thanks so much – it was a great experience and I’m 100% delighted!

I’m really so tickled by it!  I think it’s the size and the shape…it’s just so REAL looking and we’re all having so much fun looking at it.  These are non-doll ladies, but they really appreciate nice furniture!  J  I’m looking at it right now – it’s on my desk – and I just so love the patterns of the pillows.  Really, you did such a great job!  One thing that makes it so nice is the shape of the back cushions, the way they curve over the arms!  I didn’t really notice it before, but it’s so perfect!