Crazy Days of May Giveaway Winner!

Wow, Today was an exciting day!!

My Ikat fabric tutorial was featured on Centsational Girl's Best of the Blogsphere. If you haven't had a chance to check out this fun Sunday post, be sure to check it out. Kate features projects from different blogs on her site, they are amazing!

I hit 303 followers yesterday and drew a winner for my Crazy Days of May Giveaway.

I compiled all of the comments, in order, into an excel spreadsheet. I then used the True Random Number Generator from Random.org to pick a number.

The winner was #5, Gina.

Gina, entered twice. She said " I would LOVE to win an E-design!! I'm a follower already and love your blog. Wow, I just saw your wedding photos when I LIKED The Mustard Ceiling on Facebook. How gorgeous!! "

Unfortunately, Gina did not leave any contact information.

Gina, I hope you get this post and email me so we can start your e-design.

If I don't hear from from her within 48 hours, I will hold another drawing and choose a new winner.

Happy Monday! I hope you all had an amazing weekend.

PS: I am hosting a new giveaway Tuesday,
be sure to stop by for a chance to win!!

Airstream Winner and Workin' in the Jungle

I wanted to pop in really fast to give you the Airstream results and to show you what we're working on this weekend. To learn more about this project, check out here and here.

Thank you again for your votes, it was another close one!
But it looks like the Retro design is the winning design by one vote.

I'll keep you posted on the Airstream progress, we still have a lot of work to do before we get down to making the final design decision.

This weekend we took a break from working on the Airstream to tackle the jungle in our yard.

I am not going to lie, our yard is a MESS. We moved into the house in 2008 and have been trying to gain control over it ever since. I have never seen weeds grow as rampant in a yard as they do in ours, we have tried and tried to tackle them to no avail, but we're not giving up!

We also have two flower beds full of pachysandra. It has grown and grown and has turned into an overgrown jungle of ground cover. This weekend we decided we were not going to take the over grown jungle look any longer, so we're clearing out the pachysandra. We are planning to plant a few bushes along our neighbor's wall and we're going to either bark around the bushes or fill in with rocks.

Our progress so far...

The Jungle

From the front

Alfred starting to clear the jungle

Progress

It was my job to clear the weeds in the yard

Almost finished, look at that progress!

We stopped early to have dinner and to go see Pirates of the Caribbean.
We're hoping to finish clearing it this afternoon.

This weekend I am working on another project too...
Remember this lamp?




I found it a couple weeks ago at a garage sale for $5. I am fixing it up!

It should be completed and ready to show you on Wednesday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

I have a feeling it is almost time to choose a winner...last chance to enter
Crazy Day's of May Giveaway!
( (I only need 4 more new follower's before I draw a winner)

It's a Tie!

Last Saturday, I updated you on our Airstream progress and ran a poll to get your opinion on which design concept was your favorite.

It looks like it is a TIE between:

The Classic Design

1. cabinetry 2. stainless countertop 3. exterior awning 4a. (option) cork flooring 4b. (option) wood flooring 5. faucet 6. rug 7. light fixtures 8. camp chair 9. pillow 10. bedding 11. blanket 12. decorative pillow fabric 13. roman shade fabric 14. gaucho fabric 15. decorative pillow fabric 16. decorative pillow fabric

and The Retro Design

So, now onto the tie breaker.

Leave me a comment voting for classic or retro.
I will tally them and tell you tomorrow AM.

My husband and I trying really hard to decide whether we should
*restore the Airstream (make as close to original as possible) or
*renovate it (modernize,change what we want have fun with it, make it ours).

I would love to hear your opinions on whether you feel we should restore or renovate.

Happy Friday, Awards and Thank You's!

Happy Friday!

I am so excited!

Brittany at Gallery No. Eight emailed me yesterday to tell me I won the print of my choice from the lovely Etsy store PrintPrint.

I had such a hard time making my decision, just look how FUN! I love all of the energy Ellen Lee, the owner, puts into each one.

Pow Wow


Love, Always

Heart and Mind

and the one I chose...

Diamonds I

You know what they say, diamonds ARE a girl's best friend.

Now I just have to decide where to put it!

I would like also like to thank the following ladies for passing these awards onto me over the past month. It is such an honor.


Miss Walker, passed this award onto me late last month.
I apologize for being so late in posting it on the blog.



Heather, from Interior Groupie was sweet enough to pass the Liebster blog award on to me,
it is intended for blogs with fewer than 300 followers.

and this week

Carmel from Our Fifth House and Michelle from Ispirato Design passed along


to me.

Thank you ladies, if you haven't checked out their blogs, please do! They are all fabulous.

I am supposed to write 7 things you don't know about me,
and pass the award onto other blogs.

Click here for my 7 things!

I am excited to pass this award to:

Gorgeous Shiny Things
Green Street
Honey and the Moon
Lovely Things
Oak Ridge Revival
Sadie and Stella
All Things Bright and Beautiful

I would also like to thank Danika at Gorgeous Shiny Things, Rene at Cottage and Vine,
J&J Home, and Carmel at Our Fifth House for featuring my ikat project this week.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I have a feeling it is almost time to choose a winner...last chance to enter
Crazy Day's of May Giveaway!
( (I only need 6 more new follower's before I draw a winner)

Ask The Designer: E-Design for Lesley and Drew

Wow, I can't believe it is already Thursday...again, the weekend is ALMOST here.

Today on Ask The Designer, I wanted to share with you a couple of design concepts that I have been working on for a client. One of my readers, Lesley emailed me asking for design help on her living room.

Here are a few current photos:

Existing items to incorporate into the new design:

* Leather sofa and love seat
* Dining room furniture
* Drew (Lesley's husband) would like to keep the living room rug,
Lesley would like additional options
* wall color will remain the same

New items to add to the new design:

* coffee table
* side table
* table lamp
* decorative pillows (soft ones that can be used for napping)
* window treatments
* a new rug (potentially)

Lesley and Drew prefer warm colors and traditional design. Even though Lesley is most drawn to warm, natural colors, she also likes blue.

We have just started working on this project, and are still in the early phase. I just sent three design concepts to Lesley and Drew, and wanted to share them with you!

Option 1:

The focal point in this design is the traditional Persian rug. The cool gray blue in the rug brings in Lesley's love of blue. However, the warm tan and burgundy hues in the rug work well with the wall color,the stripes on the dining room chairs, and the warm wood tones.


Option 2:

Option 2 incorporates the warm tan and burgundy tones currently found in Lesley and Drew's space. In this option,we opted for a solid, neutral rug. The focal point of this design are the pops of red we brought into the space with the red, paisley pillows for the sofa.

Option 3:

Option 3 incorporates the existing rug and brings more cool colors into the design. Drawing off of the hunter, burgundy and tan in the rug we opted for a combination of tan (1) and paisley (3) patterned pillows for the sofa. The blue-green pillow (2) will accessorize the side leather chair. This will continue the cool blue throughout the space, tying it together.


All three of the design concepts incorporate a variety of natural textures. Bamboo blinds, wicker and natural woods are the base of the design.

Drew loves maps. To incorporate his love of maps into the space I would love to see Lesley and Drew create a gallery wall of maps behind the sofa (layout shown in design board above). This will be a creative way to fill the space above the sofa and incorporate Drew's passion into the room.

What do you think? We would love to hear your opinion. I can't wait to hear which option they decide!

If you're interested in an E-design, check out my interior design services or if you have a design dilemma that you would like answered on Ask The Designer, email at themustardceiling@gmail.com


Don't forget to enter Crazy Day's of May Giveaway!
( (I only need 12 more new follower's before I draw a winner)

Also, I am offering

for the month of May!

Ikat Fabric Tutorial and Printable Pattern

Last Thursday, in this post, I asked you to help me with my design dilemma.

I wanted to bring coral into my dining room again, this time on the seat cushions. Most of you thought the Malabar Ikat with the coral background was the best choice for the room,
and I agreed.

Today, I am excited to share the end result with you and show you how I did it.

Part A: Create the Stencil

1. Create an Ikat stencil in photoshop.

To do this, I cut and pasted this photo of Malabar Ikat from Ballard Designs into photoshop.




In photoshop, I created a seamless pattern out of this design and sized it 8 x 11. This made it large and easy to work with.

2. Print the pattern .



I created an 8x11 printable for you. Click here.

When you are finished cutting the stencil out, it will not look exactly like this pattern,
this is just a guideline.

3. Trace the pattern onto stencil sheet with thin permanent marker.

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I bought my sheets from Hobby Lobby, they were a little larger than 8 x 11.

If I had to do it over again, I would buy the largest sheet I could find and trace the stencil onto it filling the sheet. This would make the stenciling process alot easier.

This stage is where your stencil becomes your own. I had to alter the Malabar pattern to make it work as a stencil. I had to make sure all of the individual pieces of the pattern were connected so the stencil would be successful.

4. Cut out stencil.

This tool is a lifesaver for cutting out stencils, I think I paid $7.00 at Hobby Lobby, definitely worth it!

I wanted to make the background of my fabric coral. To do this I cut out the gray areas of the stencil. If you wanted to make the ikat coral cut out the white of the stencil.

Part B: Set-up your Fabric and Paint

1. Select Fabric.

I used a cream linen for my fabric. I was very pleased with how the stencil and Simply Screen paint worked on the linen.

2. Iron fabric, lay it flat on a piece of posterboard (something you do not mind getting paint on) and tightly tape the fabric to the board.

3. Paint

I decided to try Simply Screen, screen printing paint, after seeing these incredible DIY pillows by Cyndy on The Exchange.

She had me sold when she said "when the screen print paint dries, it is just like fabric and doesn't look "painted" on." I hate crunchy paint on fabric!

I mixed a custom color using Simply Screen Firetruck, Orange Peel and a little white to cut saturation and make the color less intense.

Cyndy was right, this paint is AMAZING! When you mix it, it becomes an inky goo more like ink than paint. It does not bleed, and there is no variation of color when you put it on the fabric. Best of all it is not crunchy when it dries.

Before I started stenciling, I rubbed stencil adhesive onto the stencil, especially around the edges to keep it tight to the fabric.

Wow, this is a looong tutorial. Bear with me the fun is just beginning, it is time to stencil your fabric!

Part C: Stencil

1. Lay your stencil straight onto your fabric.

I used a T-square throughout the process to keep the stencil straight.

2-5.

2. Paint, use a lot of paint, make sure the fabric is wet.

3. Move stencil vertically, lining your stencil up with the portion you just painted. Make sure to keep the stencil straight.

4. Paint

5. Move the stencil horizontally to the first panel you painted. Overlap the first area you painted, to make the transition seamless.

I had to use the stencil to paint two rows vertically and four columns horizontally to fill approximately 3/4 a yard.

This is why I recommend using a larger stencil sheet, so I would not have had to overlap the stencil as often.

Me stenciling away, doesn't this look like fun!?

Finished with the first piece, three to go

Unfortunately, I ran out of paint after the third piece, so currently I have one more to paint....but I'll show the results anyway...But before I do...

I couldn't put my beautiful NEW ikat fabric on my old, beat up chairs...so I gave them a fresh coat of Dover White Gloss spray paint.

READY?!

...and Here is the new dining room

I still have a few things in here to finish, but I am happy so far.
I hope the tutorial helps you get your Ikat on!

Don't forget to enter Crazy Day's of May Giveaway!

I am participating in these parties this week: Spray Paint Party,Whassup Wednesday's, Wow Us Wednesday's, Swing Into Spring, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Hookin Up With HoH, Get Your Brag On, Thrifty Thursday's, Somewhat Simple, Transformation Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Delightfully Inspiring, Flaunt it Friday, Simply Designing, My Repurposed Life, Feature Yourself Friday, Frugalicious Friday, New Friend Friday, Weekend Wrap Up, Saturday Spotlight, Chic DIY, Sundae Scoop, Crafty Day, Not Baaad Sundays, Sunday Showcase, Petite Hermine, Just Something I Whipped Up, Making the World Cuter Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Make it for Less Monday,DIY Project Parade, Party Time, Market Me Monday, Mad Skills Party, Motivate Me Monday, Tip Me Tuesday, How To's Day

Tell Me Tuesday...Bam or Slam!

I had so much fun with this post last Tuesday. I thought I would do it again this week, maybe I will make it a series on Tuesday. What do you think?

Last week we voted BAM (like) or SLAM (dislike)(don't you love it when your husband helps you choose post titles :) to the porter chair .

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It was a close call, but it was a hit BAM!(by one)

This one has been trending for awhile,

how do you feel about Faux Taxidermy...

BAM OR SLAM?

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How about...

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Patterned?

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Adorned?

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Or Painted?

Would you ever display real taxidermy in your home?

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Tell me what you think,
I'll tally the results and let you know whether it's a hit or miss next week.

Don't forget to enter Crazy Day's of May Giveaway!
(I only need 28 more new follower's before I draw a winner).