Roben-Marie Smith

Roben-Marie Smith

 

 

 

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Roben-Marie Smith

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Wednesday
Sep142011

{day 3. pin cushion with vintage gauze trim}

 

So I know that I have been going crazy with this {inky vintage gauze trim} but I just can't get enough of it. Today I used it as a shabby ruffled trim on a pin cushion I fashioned from a few scraps of muslin.

 

 

That tiny cream colored flower is from my vintage findings collection. I use them sparingly as they are so hard to find anymore. This one was part of a tiny "boquet" that still had the stems in tact. I just sewed over the stem a few times to adhere to the front panel of my pin cushion.
 Remember that hand dyed vintage seam binding that I used on that tiny package?
That is the creamy blue trim used to make the tiny rosettes...
I love this paper flower...it was stamped with letters in a really cool circus style font.
 I have been really great about using up what I have on hand lately, so I filled my pin cushion with some leftover "beads" that we needed for a school project. They are most often used to stuff fabric dolls.
Since the muslin is a very think fabric, the beads worked better than the traditional "sand".
No leakage once you have a few pin holes in your fabric.
 Another perk to using the beads, is that the pin cushion will stand quite easily too...
 Of course, the vintage style pins don't hurt either!
 I love the look of the free form stitching, so I just zig zag back and forth over anything I am stitching numerous times...this way it looks random and sweet at the same time.
 See how I stitched the stem? Just a few lines back and forth to tack it down.
 The same with the paper flower...{isn't that dyed gauze trim just yummy?}
 I have made more than a few pin cushions and I like to leave one whole side unstitched to fill it...this way I can hand stitch the last side to look gathered, or ruffled. I love this look. Makes me think of a vintage sack filled with some yummy textile.
 This little project only took about 40 minutes, including gathering supplies. I always take a bit of time laying my design out, so it could go quicker depending on how involved you make your front panel.
If you decide to make a pin cushion with your vintage hand dyed trim I would love to see a photograph of it when it is complete!
Happy Sewing!

 

 

Monday
Sep122011

{day 2 vintage gauze trim equals super sweet packaging}

 

I love the packaging of gifts. I could wrap things all day...I get great {JOY} each time I make a special little something and then {WRAP} it all up beautifully! It is almost like getting {TWO PRESENTS IN ONE} when you receive a  gift in precious wrappings.
My new inky gauze vintage trim makes for such a lovely finishing touch on a package. I love the way it looks so time worn and loved.  
This simple brown kraft gift box looks sweet with a piece of dyed vintage seam binding (coming soon to the 723 etsy shoppe) and a vintage lace rosette. Add lovely vintage hat pin and it is a gift worth beholding.

 

Whether it is a gift, a beautiful piece of mail art, or a simple vase you want to dress up, this vintage style trim adds just the right touch. A double wrap of  this dreamy {CORNFLOWER BLUE} gauzy ribbon looks beautiful on a simple brown paper wrapped gift. Add a few vintage stick pins and a vintage tag and it is simply lovely.

 

Sometimes, we just need a little bit of lovely to perk up an old item.
I love the way this plain silver vase was transformed into a timeworn center piece with just a small length of vintage inky gauze trim. I added a simple crystal star stick pin to give it a finishing touch.
Wouldn't these be lovely little centerpieces for a garden tea party?

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday
Sep112011

tutorial: gauze rosette earrings

 

A yummy new batch of inky vintage gauze trim just hit the etsy shop shelves and I couldn't wait to share this {SWEET & SIMPLE} earring tutorial with you all.
These charming little rosette studs are easy and quick. You will want to make a dozen pairs! They only took me a half hour to complete, including gathering my supplies...so grab some {VINTAGE TRIM HERE} before it is all gone!
First, gather your supplies. Don't worry about having each item in the photograph...as long as you have the inky vintage trim you can use anything you love or have on hand to embellish your rosette...you will need:

 *scissors
 *glue gun or strong adhesive of your   choice
 *silicone pad for creating a circle of hot glue
  * two earring posts and two backs
  * something you would like to use to cut out your leaves from.(this can be cardstock, fabric, canvas, or anything else that will give you a good leafy texture) I used a leftover prima leaf I had on hand.
  *small hole punch (size will depend on how large you create your rosette)
 OPTIONAL: tweezers, string or yarn, rhinestones, buttons, etc.

 

For my rosette earrings, I cut two 6 inch lengths of {plum pudding inky vintage trim}
and tied a small knot in the end of each piece. Trim end of knots. 
 Next, using your silicone glue gun pad, create a small circle of hot glue. 
 Make sure it is pretty thick. Squeezing gently with constant light pressure works best. 
Place your knot in the center of the glue and let it set for 10-20 seconds. This just helps the glue gel a little bit.
Now start GENTLY twisting and wrapping your inky gauze trim around the center know, patting it in close to the trim it is wrapped around. You want a nice tight rosette when you are finished. Continue wrapping until your trim has covered your entire glue dot and then trim with scissors. Press flat gently and peel SLOWLY off of the mat. Tack end of trim to back side of rosette.
Now take your fabric or cardstock or leaf material and cut four small leaf shapes. These DO NOT have to be perfect. Flowers in the wild are not perfect and this gives your earrings character. 
Choose two leaves and layer them until you have your desired effect. Glue them together.
Set your leaves aside and go back to your rosette. Use whatever embellishment you like here (or none if you like...the pair I wear has NO BLING or anything, just SWEET AND SIMPLE!) and add it to your rosette's center. I used some inky dyed string for my center (coming soon to etsy shop) to give my center a little nesty look. Just twist and twirl the string until you have the shape you want and tack down with a dot of hot glue. Then I added a small rhinestone with a dot of hot glue.
Now take some old leftover cardstock or thin cardboard. ( I used some recycled packaging from my rhinestones ) Punch two circles and adhere one to the back of each earring. This will help disguise all of your layers of glue and leaves and flower.
Now take your earring post and clue that to the center of your cardstock. Let dry for a few minutes or until hot glue has completely cooled.
Your beautiful {INKY VINTAGE GAUZE TRIM} has been transformed into a darling pair of rosette earrings.

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday
Sep072011

{yummy vintage gauze trim gets a dye bath}

 

 A peek at the yummy new colors I have been using in the {DYE LAB}!

 

I stumbled across a large roll of this beautiful {OLD} gauze trim in a local shop and fell in love with it. It was not a good deal, and while I often limit my purchases to just that, I could not leave without said trim.

After a bath in lavender water, I dyed each batch a beautiful bright shade of the rainbow. After a good scrunching and lot of drying it is now ready for the etsy shop.

I plan to use this trim { I hesitate to call it ribbon as it has the original unfinished edges of old world gauze trim} on a new hooked project in the coming weeks.

Enjoy looking at all the beautiful colors...they make me smile!

{And me a lover of white!}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday
Sep052011

{less than perfect, ODD and why they create HARMONY}

 

I am a detail person. I love the comfort I receive from having things in order. Every little item its' own rightful home...

 

...so when I find perfect order in the more random aspects of everyday life it uplifts me.

Of course to me this means numbers. Perfect would be odd. Odd would be perfect. Not {TWO} but {THREE}. I get such a soothing feeling from this odd inbalance, this less than perfect duo.

And so when I look to my left and I see this {PERFECT TRIO} looking out at what? it doesn't matter, because the beauty of the scene is them. {THREE} so absorbed, so intense. I feel all three hearts beating, sense all three minds reeling.

One mind intent and focused would be beautiful. Two minds quizzical and wondering would be amazing...but {THREE} minds...three minds, searching and inhaling the beauty around them is oddly perfect. It is {HARMONY}.

 

Wednesday
Aug312011

{there is no medicine like laughter...and a healthy dose of friendship}

 

You might remember that recently I vowed to {LIVE} a great deal more
and  {BLOG} a great deal less.I have been faithful to this self made
promise and I have reaped the rewards. 
To have a few {GREAT FRIENDS} is to be considered fortunate. 
To be able to leave the door open to your {SOUL}
when you are in their company is a {BLESSING.}
I know this good fortune.
I am this blessed.
I, once again, found myself in the company of not one, not two, but {FOUR} cherished friends last weekend.
I was, once again, {LOVED & UPLIFTED}.
I was, once again, {TREATED WITH KINDNESS & UNDERSTANDING}.
 I was, once again, {RESPECTED & LISTENED TOO}.
I was, once again, {RESTORED}.
{AND WE CREATED}
I consider myself to be {BEHOLDEN UNTO GOD}
for the gift of these women I call {FRIENDS}.
I am blessed beyond measure.
I am loved without condition.
Each woman brought to the table a gift fit for a king.
One brings a gift for creating beauty. A beauty that shines. A beauty that makes the others smile. Creations that bring joy and inspiration world wide.
One brings the gift of compassion. A deep and real love for mankind. A gift for seeing the good in everyone, everything. An ability to make one feel worthy...even when we feel we are not.
One brings the gift of insight. A knack for seeing and knowing who we are, even when we doubt ourselves. A gift of direct and unwavering love. A keen sense worth. She is a steady pipeline that connects us all to one another.
One brings the gift of optimism and laughter. A bounty of charitable thoughts and ideas. A superior mind filled with creative & loving ideas. An all encompassing spirit of good and possibility. 
And when I sat across the table from these women and their gifts I realized something.
While each woman might have placed their own sweet boon on the table, their one ingredient ready to be added to this wondrous and rare recipe of kindred friendship, their was something else...
...I looked around and  I realized that each one of these extraordinary women had taken on the
collective gifts of the others. 
When at first I thought a single woman brought creative beauty to the table -  I now realized that each woman had brought the gift of creative beauty, but in her own dynamic way. The same for compassion and insight and optimism.
These women were indeed kindred spirits ... and I was among them. 
Uplifted and strong. 
 Dedicated and devoted. 
I was the fortunate one; adding to the pot, my own strength of creative beauty. My own cup of compassion. My own pinch of insight. My own dash of optimism.

 

And in the end? When the weekend was over and the time came, once again, to part ?
Well it was bittersweet. Like any great meal, I left feeling satisfied.
Full, yet hesitant to leave the table.
Sad that our time together was to be suspended....{FOR NOW}.
And so I have the next gathering to look forward too.
My appetite will grow in the interim and I will be ready to partake in the banquet of
love and laughter and creative inspiration. 

 

I will come to the table hungry with expectation...
...ready to feast on the joys of {REAL FRIENDSHIP}.

 

God is so good to feed my {SOUL} in such a way.
I am so very {BLESSED}.
I {LOVE} you all.

 

Sunday
Aug212011

{summer in snapshots-week 9}

 

It is time again for {SUMMER IN SNAPSHOTS} !
I can't believe it is already week {NINE}...where has this summer flown?
It has been a whirlwind and I am sad that it is coming to a close next week...
...officially.
School will start, and with it, all the {BUSY,BUSY,BUSY} times that come with it. There will be swim meets and golf sessions. There will be Math Club and Bible Club and Debate Team. There will be late night events and many, many early mornings. Substitute jobs and weekend volunteer events.
The list is of jobs and responsibilities is endless, but thankfully, so are the rewards.
I will receive tons of hugs goodnight, and kisses good morning. I will reap loads of sweet smiles after just a tiny bit of homework help...and sighs of relief as I help collect project supplies. 
I will be rated the {NUMBER 1} taxi service by the kids and {NUMBER 1 IN MY HEART} by my husband, whose job no longer allows him to be here for most of these events...
...but for now...

 

 

I have {ONE MORE WEEK} to love, hug, and enjoy my "babies." 
All of them.

 

 

 

Thursday
Aug182011

{I never thought I would love a rainbow this much}

 

Anyone who knows me will tell you this

 

 

{ I LOVE THE COLOR WHITE}
...and so it is rare that I find a real connection with things of vivid color. 
Don't get me wrong. I do love color. I love to dye wool and see all the shades that can be created. I love to see my garden abloom and the sky at sunset.
It is just difficult for me to mix a lot of color and love it. Was difficult.

 

 

Recently I was introduced to one of the most talented women I have had the occasion to meet. {ROBEN-MARIE}. She is so over the top creative and so inspiring.  I love everything that she does...and she does it with color. {LOTS OF COLOR} She mixes it, smears it, rubs it off and adds more. She swirls it, circles it, stencils it and blots it off. She is a {TRUE MASTER OF COLOR}

 

 

She has inspired me to get in touch with color again. Since meeting her I have dyed some of the most beautiful swirly colorful wool I have every dyed. I have made some of the most luscious mail art. I have dyed and painted and stained and stenciled and {ALL OF IT WITH COLOR}

 

 

Please go check out her blog and all her {AWESOME TUTORIALS AND VIDEOS}

 

 









{I just dyed this batch of muslin and monks cloth today... along with some yummy marbled wools...I even decided to keep the paper towels & stray strings from the clean up!}

 

It is all so random & beautiful.

{JUST LIKE ONE OF GOD'S RAINBOWS}

 

 

Tuesday
Aug162011

{rested, sun-kissed & back to busy}

 

It goes without saying that the time off from 
{REAL LIFE} 
was just what we needed. WE. ALL OF US. 
It wasn't until we were a few hundred miles away from home, safe on a pretty little island that we all heaved a collective sigh.
It was as if the whole family looked around at once and realized what we had been missing...time together. 
{REAL TIME}
We laughed, we rested, we laughed a whole lot more.
We were comfortable. We enjoyed each others company. We wandered and never looked at a clock...never asked what day it was...never made a phone call.
I missed my family.
{I MISSED THEM A LOT}
I missed all the time that life cheats us out of...
...but we made a pact.
We aren't going to let the every day hum drum life swipe from us what is {LIFE REAL}. We aren't going to sacrifice out laughs or our hugs or our simple moments anymore.
 We are going to carve out time. 
{REAL TIME}.
Time for games, time for walks, time for random love and hugs. Time for each other.
Vacations are a thing of rare beauty around here. We can not afford to wait around for another one.
{WE MUST MAKE TIME EVERY DAY}.
Time for "mini vacations." 
There is no excuse for putting off today what we could do tomorrow.

 

 

The ride home was quiet. We were rested, sun-kissed and a little sad that we would be 
{BACK TO BUSY} 
in no time. We were thinking. Thinking that we loved what we have. Cherish out time together.
Rarer today than it was yesterday. 
Bad economies led to worse hours at work.
Worse hours at work led to less time together.
Children are growing and leaving the nest. This year one couldn't make the trip. 
Next year it might be two, or three. No one knows today.
Time is precious. More precious the older we all get.
{TODAY HAS TO COUNT}
Tomorrow will just have to wait.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday
Aug052011

{see you in eight days...}

 

It has been two long years since our family went on a vacation together. Time and jobs and all the other little divets in life kept getting in the way.

 

Well God has blessed us with a tiny window of opportunity -that coupled with the gift of extreme budgeting -and we are off to the beach for a week.

When we had ALL FIVE of the kids together on that last trip it was so wonderful...and yet we knew it was maybe the last time it would happen. 

With the girls getting older  {18,20 & 22} it is just getting harder to plan around their jobs, as well as ours.

 ...I think we have been blessed beyond words to have them along for as many adventures as we have...this year we are revisiting this happy and memory filled little island minus one.

 

{ the sweet joys of having children from 10 -22}

 

 

Our oldest daughter just could not get the time off work and while it is 
heart breaking to us, and her, she is quickly realizing how "unfair" LIFE can be.
With her own new little place and bills to pay, it just was not a good time for her to leave work.
We will miss her deeply and are hoping that the weekend will allow her a short escape.
{six sets of crossed fingers can't hurt}
We hope that this year will bring as much adventure and blessed weather as two years ago...
...the time together...the real down time is what we are all seeking.
Eight days of sweet, precious time to relax, explore, connect.
Together.
It will be Heaven!