The Same But Different

photo from - Cottage Style Magazine Spring/Summer 2016 

While the husband was choosing door frames and molding at Home Depot a few weeks ago, I hung out at the magazine rack.  Flipping through Cottage Style magazine, I landed on a bedroom layout admiring the serene space and thought, "Hmmm, I have nearly everything needed to create this look, and I must make a monogrammed bolster wrap right now!"  Nice to have a creative spark and design idea to update my own guest room – and the stuff to do it at home already, too. 

As I've never painted walls before, I started with the bedding.  Lillian (the seamstress!) sewed up a perfect zippered white bolster and two shams in a lovely textured neutral taupe while I spent way too many hours trying to create a new combo-font duogram for the wrap.  Hours later, we were ready to test out the look.  So pretty!  You'll have to ignore the yellow walls and the green metal bed – soon to be gray walls and a spray-painted charcoal gray metal bed.  For the window, I'm planning a monogrammed (of course!) valance that can be swapped out with floor length panels.  There is a chair to slip cover as well.  Coming soon … hopefully before the next guest arrives. 

As we finished up a tan and white South Pointe sham, it occurred to me this king sham would look great in front of the solid standard shams.  On the way upstairs with the camera, I grabbed the new Bordeaux Flourish monogrammed pillow for a third vignette to show off bedding accessory options.  So, same basic bedding but three different looks. 

Another same but different situation around here is … ME!  My 20+-year career as a Medical Transcriptionist, both as home biz since 1998 and a part-time job with a hospital since 2008, is over.  Well, it is over as I knew it to be, and my coworkers and I were replaced by voice recognition.  Technology!  We've known for a year it was coming, so I prepared myself the best I could with plans to go full–time with calicodaisy handmade.  Lillian started working with me this summer as my seamstress.  She comes with lifelong knowledge of sewing and a real Home Economics degree.  She is such a joy to have around and gets pretty much just as excited as I do over a beautiful seam or a properly hidden zipper.  I couldn't have a better assistant to hang out in the studio with me. 

We have loads of new products lined up and hope to start ticking them off one by one, week by week, and chatting about it all here again.  This week the bolster wrap.  Next week, maybe new table linens – just got started on those today.