Coffee bean sack after a MRR DESIGN make-over

I gave myself an Atta Girl

when I saw the story below in 

the May, 2009 issue of Country Living 

because I was ahead of the curve.

I obtained recylced coffee bean sacks a year ago 

and constructed recycled green memento boards to commemorate

2008 Earth Day

check out the post here

 

Both bulletin boards are effective reuse of materials.

I am just partial to my creation;

I like the extra dimension of the puff and lattice

rather than a flat covered tack board.

I read recently about a sofa covered in burlap

not my idea of a comfy couch!

Embroidered ribbons

click on picture for close-up

ribbons ready for frames

I have used two very good embroiderers in the past

but the work on the ribbons is very pesky

and not too many people like it.

If you know anyone who would be interested in doing

embroidery work for me - please let me know.

In the meantime, if you need any embroidery work done:

mongrammed towels, bags, tee shirts, you name it,

contact Maureen at Personally Yours

MPersonallyYours@aol.com

Maureen is lovely and so easy to work with.

I just wish the ribbons were easier to do.

so busy yesterday I forgot ...

last friday of the month 

spring is here 

enjoy saturday with maira kalman 

click here for her blog on the nyt's website 

here is a teaser

pomegrantes are a favorite of mine

 In honor of EARTH DAY

via swissmiss again (4/5/09)

I can't help it. 

She posts such great stuff,

I must forward it along.

Maybe many of you readers already read swissmiss?

but for those who don't...

(click here to enlarge for readability)

This manifesto is the same as my mantra:

use it up 

make it do 

do without

and it really drives d.h. crazy

but it make so much sense.

Check out the repair manifesto in action in my world:

Bathrobe

Torn on the back from hanging on the hook for so many years, 

so I had some new fabric sewn on top of the rips.

Good as new!

Jeans

Miss Is loves these red engines

so we have patched and patched the knee tears

TV Table

This was an old sewing table that someone gave to me.

I painted it black,

cut a circle out of plywood and painted it black too,

added a piece of glass

and some fun black ball fringe.

Voila!

MRR DESIGN

SPRING 2009

Heather Bailey

#1 Sunflower (l)

#2 Paisley (r)

Heather Bailey

#3 Aqua Ice

#4 Green Ice

Anna Maria Horner

#5 Roses on Chocolate (front l)

#6 Pink Flowers on Mocha (back l)

see below for frame on right

Anna Maria Horner

#7 Indian Green

#8 Indian Rose

#9 Aqua Clouds (back l)

#10 Aqua Daisy (front)

#11 Mingle red

#12 Mingle pink/green

another view of #11 and #12

Denyse Schmidt

#13 Circles w/ aqua ribbon

#14 Circles w/ green ribbon

These checks are nice for birth announcements or photos

#15 Aqua check (front)

#16 Light pink check (back l)

#17 Rose check (back r)

Sis Boom

#18 Lime wallpaper

Sis Boom

#19 Pink wallpaper (front)

back in another view of Lime wallpaper

Sis Boom

#20 Flower Power blue (front)

#21 Flower Power pink (middle)

#22 Green/Blue (back)

another view of #22 Flower Power Green/Blue 

another view of #21 Flower Power pink

Sis Boom

#35 Paisley green/blue (front)

#36 Paisley pink/blue (back)

Fun, Fun, Fun

Seersucker patchwork 

#23 Seersucker Patchwork w/ aqua ribbon (front)

#24 Seersucker Patchwork w/ bright pink ribbon (back l)

#25 Seersucker patchwork w/ light pink ribbon (back r)

another view of #23

#26 Pink Maro Flowers (front)

#27 Pink Decals (back)

Whimsical Heather Ross

#28 Mermaids

Whimsical Jay McCarroll

#29 Ants in Woodpile (front)

#30 Bending Trees (back r)

For the happy baker

#31 Beaters

#32 Aqua Pucci (front)

#33 Aqua Circles (back)

#34 Sis Boom stripe

Contact Marnie about wholesale orders and prices.

(203) 216-8717

or marnie@optonline.net

Frames are sold at the boutiques listed below. 

Sea Beans Studio, Wilton, Connecticut

Darien Sport Shop, Darien, Connecticut

Milestones, New Canaan, Connectiuct

The Goody Shop, Westport, Connecticut

All She Wrote, Chicago, Illinois

All She Wrote, Winnetka, Illinois

If you are not close to one of these shops,

please contact MRR Design directly or visit my etsy shop.

I also do custom monogramming.

Great for graduations, birthdays, new babies.

If you know of a shop in your neighborhood

where you think the frames would sell well,

please tell me.

I will pitch the product and if I receive an order,

then you will receive any frame from my collection as a 

THANK YOU.

Just slip the photo between the fabric and ribbon.

Cheerful, fun, and so easy to change the fabric.

Perfect for 4x6 photo, birth announcement or postcard.

These new-fangled pictures frames are created by me!

Copyright protected 2008

The weather has finally turned,

the wind is from the southwest.

Daffodils - a welcome sight after the long, cold winter.

And Susan Boyle's stardom continues to grow

Talk about Spring and Rebirth

Hooray for Susan Boyle

She will be singing on Oprah soon

and talking with Larry King

and she has a fan site: Susan-Boyle.com

Read the lyrics:

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high,

and life worth living.

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid

When dreams were made and used,

And wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung,

No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hopes apart

As they turn your dreams to shame.

And still I dream he'll come to me

And we will live our lives together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms

We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seems

Now life has killed the dream

The dream I dreamed.

Success 

is peace of

mind which is a

direct result of self

satisfaction in knowing 

you made the effort to do the

best of which you are capable.

John Wooden

A STAR IS BORN

YOU MUST WATCH THIS VIDEO

click link here

I tried to embed this video clip but the embedding feature was disabled.

Trust me,

this you-tube clip is worth watching.

Susan Boyle performed on April 11, 2009 

on Britain's Got Talent Show

and 3 days later this you-tube video clip had 3.7 million hits

(and growing rapidly)

I also listened to John Wooden on Swissmiss

click on link above

good stuff

Piece by piece

to yield a fun patchwork

Going once, going twice, SOLD to paddle #-----

A donation to my daughter's school fundraising auction,

a one-of-a-kind memento board,

along with a LAX picture frame

& picture of girls lax team.

Yo-Yos

not the child's toy

but these fun circles sewn with scraps of fabric

You have seen quilts made with hundreds of these yo-yos.

Sis Boom has a tutorial.

I read it - but decided I needed to sit down with someone 

to figure out this yo-yo thing.

This winter I attended a how-to session offered by Ambler Farm.

A wonderful lady from the deep south

showed us how to make yo-yos.

Painstaking work but i figured it out.

I have a new appreciation for those yo-yo quilts.

 

modern take on Yo-Yos

new hair accessories as seen on habitually chic

click link here

and a painted version by Nantucket Mermaid

love the colors and organic shapes 

 Nantucket Mermaid circles

painted box above 

shrinky-dinks below

Jeanne turns these into fun pins and earrings

everywhere 

i keep seeing circles

crocheted jewelry as seen on Hidden in France

Preston Bailey's circle designs 

not sure where this lamp came from

it is made from cut-up plastic containers

sometimes i feel like i am chasing myself around in a circle

contemporary fashion yo-yos  

button wear

last but not least, circles of needlepoint 

stitched by moi as a special birthday present for d.h.