what you’ll need:

• muslin: about ¼ yard
• decorative fabric: 1/8 yard (or leftover fabric strips)
• thin fleece: 1¼” wide x length of camera strap + 1″
• colored felts: couple sheets
• medium sized hard bristle brush
• acrylic paint: raw umber, orange or color combinations of your choice.
• small beads(optional)

everything is easily available at your local Michaels(www.michaels.com) or Jo-Ann Fabrics(www.joann.com).

to start, take your camera strap off. camera straps can come in different sizes. measure it. (measure up to where the strap meets the leather.) add a bit more than a ¼” to each side and ½” to each end. then, tear your strips of muslin to those dimensions. you will need to tear 2 pieces per strap. don’t worry about being perfect; it actually looks cool if one of the pieces is a hair smaller or larger.

now we’re going to work on the back. take the same measurements and take your pretty fabric and tear it. you could also panel together some smaller pieces for fun like i did in the photo on the 2nd one from the bottom. then cut your strip of fleece about 1¼” wide.

now take just your backside, not your muslin, and pin your fleece down the center. i started with stitching right down the center so i could determine about how many stitched lines on each side i could fit in. to add a cute little detail, i actually did the reverse stitch several times down each line. now take your time and really watch the fleece. it likes to move around, even with it pinned down.

pick your coordinating felt colors and have some fun! i chose simple circles with some alternating colors. remember: you are going to be stitching in on each side just a bit over ¼”, so don’t get too big.

after you have circles all laid out where you want them, go ahead and mark where they go with a pencil. there is no need to pin them because you’ll end up taking it out anyways!

using your free form/motion on your sewing machine, take your two-piece circles and starting in the middle, doodle your flowers or whatever you choose on your two pieces of muslin. take your time to watch the smaller circle so it stays flat. have fun and don’t be afraid to be messy. messy in repeat is organized pattern that doesn’t look messy anymore!

now you’re going to sew the front and back together. i like the frayed edges so I don’t turn mine inside out. make sure to check your camera strap to your fabric one last time to see how far in to sew. you don’t want to get too close to the edges nor be too loose on the strap

mix Raw Umber and Azo Gold(or colors of your choice) acrylics with quite a bit of water to get an antique brown that I just love. you can also just use a good orangy brown. then, loosely brush it around all the circles leaving a rough ¼” of original muslin. don’t worry about covering every square inch, it will add character. i’m sorry i don’t have a better picture of this stage. if you need to, take a paper towel afterward to soak up the extra moisture.

take the colored acrylic paint and again, loosely paint it on with a large hard bristle brush. leave areas of the brown to show through. i say “large dry bristle brush” because that way you can’t be too perfect! you shouldn’t have to water it down since you will already have so much moisture on your strap. also be sure to hit spots on the outside of the seam, this will help the muslin from fraying more than you want it to.

finish by hand sewing some beads on and you’re ready to make you’re camera oh so pretty.

putting on the new strap: tape the end of your strap to the end of a paintbrush and work your strap through your cover. you might have to “cup” your strap a bit to get it in but there should end up being a bit of give in your fabric by the end of it. if your cover seems too long for your strap it’s supposed to be that way. it will soon bunch up a little and you want it to be long enough to still cover the strap.

if you end up making one i would LOVE to see what you come up with!!!

good luck and if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comment section and i’ll answer them.

  Just click on the image below to open the file, then right click to save. enjoy!
(for personal use only)

ha! as i just scrolled down, i noticed that the unfinished painting… sits atop an unfinished dresser.
notice a theme here? ugh.

sometimes when i really like the direction a piece is going, i almost panic and don’t want to finish it, afraid i’m going to mess it up.
this is a bad habit. one that i really need to break.

a close up of my progress.
i hope to be back here to show you the finished piece by weekend’s end!
xoxo-m

and p.s. i really want to make one of these tables!
or a pillow like this!

for one though- let me just say i was CRAZY INSPIRED!
inspired by their sold-out-to-a-creative-life way of living.
inspired by their contemporary folk art style.
inspired by her home and collection of artwork.

i can’t say enough good things about her.
she & her husband, dylan whom i didn’t get to meet unfortunately, ooze of genius creativity.
she is as kind, beautiful, fun and original as her art is.

a yummy vegan lunch she so kindly prepared for us.

their capacity for creating unique characters is brilliant.
childlike yet refined.

and their genius continues- check out this video her husband made! it’s awesome!!!

nail care has never been my thing, don’t judge!

their pieces are mostly limited edition and each one is made to order.
treat yourself to more of their imaginary handmade works of art here.
as you can see by this one-of-a-kind gallery, there is NO END TO THEIR CREATIVITY!

check it out- they’ve also launched a kickstarter for their Mobile Art Studio!

thank you jo for the visit. i look forward to our next meet up!

our Allen Designs wiggles clock can be found here.

i like the idea of making that statement as i wake to encounter each day.
my days ARE better when i begin with that kind of attitude.
sometimes it’s fiercely hard. there are people & things that are constantly trying to drag us down.
it’s our CHOICE if we let them.
it takes practice & discipline to keep going back to a happy & thankful heart.
for me, i have to let myself lean into God and trust that he’s got my back.
he’s protected & provided, why should i doubt him now.

MAY (pun intended) you have a wonderful & sublime month! xoxo-m

 Just click on the image below to open the file, then right click to save.

please feel free to share it with your friends.

these colors are making me very happy!

this is actually a pretty decent round up.
tofu & green beans, corn, bread things that you fill with some sort of root/vegetable mixture, spicy fish (in the center there) and pork.

and this… i’m not a big seafood buff. is there such thing as mini lobsters?
if so, this might be them.

well, i’m off to sleep.
thanks for peeking in on me!

i’m working on lots of new designs. pretty darned excited about them!
after 10 yrs., i still get completely blissed out in the development process.

seeing two dimensional art become three dimensional is just downright fun.

table setting: plastic wrapped dishes (that you still end up rinsing in boiling hot water), ashtray (ugh, so many smokers here in China!), toothpicks, tissues (instead of napkins. always) and peanuts (quite common appetizer).

fish soup.

i love the farmland here. small areas with lots of different crops, sustaining the areas nearby.

something new to me on this trip- riding a high speed train. 200 MPH!!!
a little nerve-wracking. glad i’m still here to write about it.

more china travels tomorrow. xoxo-m

the local craft stores never seemed to have all that i was looking for.
so i ended up going to home depot/lowe’s (can’t remember which one) to find a tool bag.
it was hideous and very manly.
as curly girl designs says, “i am fairly certain given a cape & a nice tiara, i could save the world”-
for me it should read, “given paint and a paint brush i could change the world!”.

as you can see- over time a LOT OF paint has been added!

i also took a box cutter and removed some of the inside separators that I didn’t need and were just going to get in the way.

my friend Janne and i strongly believe that “arting” should be a word. right?!?!

i love all the outside pockets on this bag.

over the past few years i’ve worked it’s contents down to my personal arting essentials.

• • hard and soft bristle brushes
• • staedtler black fine tipped pens
• • lyra 6b graphite pencil
• • uniball signo white pen
• • sharpie paint pens (just a few for fun)
• • pencil
• • eraser (staedtler)
• • scissors
• • E6000 glue
• • golden gel medium
• • golden paints(mostly liquid), liquitex paints(concentrated & heavy body) & blick artists acrylics(heavy body)
• • blue shop paper towels- love these cause i can use them over & over again
• • recycled lids for paint palettes
• • washi tape
• • art journal or project of the moment

and there you have it.
that’s what’s in my bag.
obviously, you could make a bag like this for all sorts of hobbies- scrap-booking, sewing, crocheting, beading etc.
do you have one? if so, how does it differ? what’s in your bag?

on the fun side- we’re slowly redecorating our close2myart/allen designs studio!
painting some walls, rehanging & organizing clocks.
we’ve been in this space 1.5 years and haven’t really done much in terms of decorating.
so we’re all really excited about cozying it up a bit.

Alexis and her boyfriend… nice hair, eh?… like i’m one to talk  
another big thing… my oldest daughter turned 18 yesterday!
i seriously CAN NOT believe that she’s that old and that i’m THAT old!

finally got me-self a few succulents.
they’re doing their job and  making me happy every time i walk past them.

and the not so fun-
my graphic design gal quit and i’ve been scrambling trying to figure out what to do.
i’m holding off hiring someone, which has me taking over her tasks along with my own everyday ones.
all along just trying not to screw anything up!
it’s been a good opportunity to reevaluate our needs in the studio.
as hard and stressful as it is, i feel like it’s going to be a blessing in disguise.

found in our fortune cookie a few days ago.
so true. so true.