Framed

(Imagine A picture of my family here.

I can't find one at the moment of just my siblings. Darn it!)

I grew up with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. There was bound to be fighting and breakage going on in the house. I mean, wait, we were the perfect children. We all sat down for dinner and loved every bite, we did our chores immediately when asked, we never talked back, seriously, we were perfect. Well, I was. I mean come on, little Cali, Number 5 of the 6. She could never do anything wrong. And I never did. I was always framed for it. Alright, I was not, and am not perfect, and I framed my siblings as well. It was never anything too bad, just the usual sibling stuff.

There was the one time where I called my mom a bad name because my brothers and sisters told me to do it and it was supposedly a nice word. Yeah, I had to wash my mouth out with soap for that one. That was the last time I trusted them. Well not really, I still trust them, but I can read and know how to use the dictionary now, so it is better.

There was the time my sister Tiffany fell down the stairs and broke her heal and she told my mom that my other sister Kacie pushed her. Kacie said her that she did not push Tiffany. So I guess Kacie was framed. (I am pretty sure Kacie has admitted the truth 15 years or so later. I am not sure though. She did push me and cause my wrist to be broken, so who knows. I do love her though. Really. We did not get along for a long time, and now we talk all the time. I love my sisters.)

We always cheated at card games. We always tried to frame each other for that as well. My Grandpa was the best at that though.

There were a few holes in the walls, I am sure there were broken dishes, candy stolen from moms secret stash that we were always trying to pin on each other, or the notorious empty Diet Coke Cans. Come on mom, don't you remember drinking that can? I bet it was Kacie! She is always drinking your Coke!

Seriously, we have all been framed at one point or another. Weather it be family, friends, your crazy neighbor, etc. It happens. I am just glad I can laugh about them.

What is the craziest, best, silliest, or aggravating thing you have been framed for? I would love to hear!

I *Heart* Redwork

In recent months, I have fallen in love again with hand embroidery. Oh, we were never "on the outs" with each other, but I got busy with other hobbies to try, responsibilities to attend to, books to read, momentary random talents to attempt. But hand embroidery was the first type of sewing I learned to do before I even touched a sewing machine, and I've been reminded of how much I enjoy it. I once embroidered two sets of pillowcases - you know, for my trousseau :-) - then I handed them over to my grandma who crocheted an intricate border around the bottom. Kind of old-fashioned, huh? Well, I'm so glad I have those treasures now.

Anyway, how many of you have heard of redwork? Basically, it's a form of hand embroidery that traces simple illustrations using two strands of red embroidery floss. Simple, right? Of course, you can use other colors, but they would be called *name of color*work. When redwork came to America from Europe, it was called Turkeywork since turkey red was one of the few colorfast colors at the time. A little stitching history...use it to impress your friends.

(I can think of so many people I'd love to make this family tree for, and one of those people may or may not be myself)

I love the look of redwork. The use of one color of thread kind of makes the picture speak for itself, and the simplicity is charming. I started this project just after Thanksgiving and was going to make it into a stocking but later decided to frame it. It's kind of Christmas-y but not necessarily, and I just may find a place to hang it year round. Someday when my daughter has her own room, maybe I'll design it around this picture.

When I frame embroidery projects, I like to use Martha's tip for ironing linens with embroidery to make it nice and smooth and also make the design really pop. This frame didn't come with a cardboard insert, so I wrapped the fabric (with a layer of thin quilt batting underneath) around the glass that did come with it. I'm not sure if I like it yet since the frame is kind of modern, so I'm thinking of taking it apart and sewing on a scrappy pieced fabric border and get a larger frame. What do you think?

Well, I'm off to cozy up on the couch for a little stitchin' time.

Frames All Around

I thought for this week, I'd take you around my house a little, and show you some of the ways our family is using frames these days. With apologies for the CFL quality of the light ... anyone know of a good way to filter that? I'd love to hear it!



Our stairway has these big blank walls, and I wanted someplace to to display my kids' art that wasn't "in-your-face" but also not just confined to their bedrooms. These walls are perfect! If you stay in the main part of our house you don't see them much, but they're there to greet all the members of our family as we walk downstairs from our bedrooms every morning. As you can see, it's not finished yet ... I still have frames in the garage to paint, and plenty of wall space to fill (I'd love to just cover these walls, like a gallery). This little red guy is one of my favorites. My daughter made it when she was probably 3-ish, after reading "Frederick" by Leo Lionni.


This hangs in our living room right now. It's hard to see, but it's one of my favorite things ever. When my mom made my wedding dress, she added some beautiful white-on-white hand embroidery and beading. On the train of the dress, she put this butterfly. But she wasn't satisfied with it, so she took the entire panel of the dress out and did it again. I think it's perfect. I had it framed to remind me of how much my mama loves me, and that most of the time we are the only ones who see our imperfections.


These are our family rules, hand embroidered and framed by one of my dearest friends. I love that we have them right there where we can see them every day, and the way they're presented is so friendly and warm.


In the kids' bathroom. This is the front of an old t-shirt my daughter grew out of years ago. But I loved the little bird, so I bought a thrift store frame, stretched the shirt over the wooden back, and trimmed it. Easy!


And this is in my son's room. My little sister made it after he was born. She took a thick, smooth frame and Mod-Podge'd paper squares all around. Then she added ribbon and a C for his first name, then she replaced the glass with a sheet of metal and added some cute little magnets. It's great for switching out art, or sticking photos and important reminders, like the one above. :)


This is in our hallway, exactly across from the kids' rooms and right next to their bathroom, as a daily reminder. It's another thrift store frame, with the glass removed and the backing painted with chalkboard paint. Again, super easy. I used to have our family calendar written in chalk there, and it hung in our kitchen. So there's another idea.


This is in my daughter's room. Yet again, I removed the glass, covered the backing with cute paper, then used a glue gun to attach ribbons to the backside. You could also put hooks on the bottom for necklaces and headbands, etc.


Also in my daughter's room. These cuties are actually stationery that she received as a birthday gift from one of her best friends. Most of these ones have "I love you Mom" written on the back. Which still makes me smile when I see them, even though I can't see the words anymore. I just thought they were so cute and so her that they should have a special place on her wall.


This one's yet another glass-removal project. Actually, I think on this one the glass broke somehow. In any case, I covered the backing with some of my favorite fabric, then screwed some of my favorite knobs through. This one hangs in my bathroom right next to my mirror.


And this is our "we don't have a bed frame, let alone a headboard" solution. The colors of my bed linens change so often, and right now they're so bright and colorful, that I wanted something simple on the walls. Simple black and white and silver frames, with just black and white family photos all around, suits me just fine.


And finally, this is my plea for advice. This is a piece of embroidery that my mom started years and years ago, and I'm too intimidated to finish. She meant to make it into a piano bench cushion, but I've been thinking of framing it. But! Should I? Or should I do something else with it (maybe a pillow cover? or ... ???) And if I frame it, should I leave it as-is, with all the pencil marks showing (I sort of like it unfinished, it's somehow symbolic to me in a way), or should I try and work up the courage to finish it first?

Frame It

For our topic of "frame it" this week I had high hopes to have ready an entire wall of newly framed pieces and instead of getting to work on that today I finally caved and put away my Christmas decorations.  Although daunting and sort of depressing it got me thinking of our recent holiday and reminded me of a fun gift/project I did with my son Payton for his grandparents. 

I had him draw them a special picture and after he was pleased with his work I transferred it onto a white piece of fabric where I then embroidered it and put it in a special frame.  Now it will last forever and they will see again and again how much he loves them.  He told me that it was his favorite gift to give and was definietly my favorite to make.  I wish I had a picture of his Grandma and Grandpa's finished product but you get the idea from his portrayal of his Gammie and Potts.    

Children's art should get to last forever and that's sometimes hard when you have to store or stash hundreds of papers in who knows how many places because you just can't get yourself to throw them away. This was a fun way to create something special and have it be displayed and preserved for as long as possible.

Do you have any fun ideas for displaying or saving your child's art?