Cheekystitch

Living Room Makeover:Apartment Decorating

I spent some time getting my living room in order, here are some of the pictures of the decoration I added

The framed print is made by Chanel Kennebrew over at Junkprints, Shes a fantastic graphic and clothing designer.

My friend brad gave me the large painting, it was the first piece of art he bought when he moved to new York, recently he moved to Tribeca and decided he had outgrown it and gave it to me. Its called “Girl With Ginger

Cheap Kitchen makeover: Before and After

I have a really nice apartment but the kitchen needed some work. When I moved in it was completely white but some of the walls were really dirty. The kitchen was the worst, there were a lot of food stains behind the stove and near the fridge.

The second issue is that my kitchen and living room occupy the same space, loft style. The high ceilings of this parlor floor apartment help keep the airy feel but I wanted to define the two spaces.

I picked a sunny yellow for the kitchen, and a light aqua blue for the wall. I was going for a robins egg blue but I think the girl at Lows gave me the wrong color. It was obnoxious at first but looked way better when it dried, like most drunk people

Recycled Fashion: IKEA Bag dress made by parsons professor

I love Ikea hacker for so many reasons the first of which is that its hands on DIY madness that allows you to turn cheap furniture into functional less cheap looking stuff. This parsons professor turned the Ikea take home bag and created this nifty dress. Its not funtional but it makes you think dont it?

She says, “I fashioned the top of the bag and one handle as the neckline and halter for the top of the dress. Then I cut open the seams of the rest of the bag to make a backless, A-Line outfit. I sewed darts in the front and back to be shapely for my bust and back. I cut the long handles off of two more bags to create ties for the back of the dress. Waterproof and ready to tote!

Raven Burgos

Better than Paint: Contact Wallpaper makes it easy

I have a huge empty white wall in my apartment I dont know what do do with.  I always loved  this wallpaper

I have been obsessed with it since I saw it in apartment therapy a couple of years ago, its from Cole and Son and is called Birch forrest. Tempaper, makes temporarily adhesive paper in a number of different designs and shades.

“Tempaper is a vinyl coated self adhesive wall decor. Our printing process incorporates the traditional technique of gravure or intaglio copper plate engraving with state of the artmaterials to bring a classic look and feel to the finished product. these designs available for your home or decorating needs.”

So you can stick it , move it, re stick it, and brink things like your nasty fridge back to life.  many of the designs are great, but they arent quite what im looking for, I have been ruined by the birch forest. Do you have any suggestions?

Tempaper.com

Raven Burgos

How to knit an Aran Fishermans Sweater and other Insane Projects Part 1

I was at a friends house a couple of weeks ago and one of get guests had a handknit chunky sweater, I swear you must have needed like 25 gauge needles to knit that thing, it was so thick it mad me sick. It was from The Gilded Age, an incredibly expensive line of high end rugged mens clothing I covet. ( apparently they will be coming out with a ladies line Im sure wont compare to the mens , because it never does)

So I set out to price the thing, turns out I couldnt even locate the sweater online, much less its price. Iits like the thing appeared out of no where to make me sad. Every 100$ cashmere i found  could potentially run me, hmmmm, I dunno 1200.

Like the good crafter that I am I set out to figure out how I would acquire my very own cashmere sweater.  So I decided to knit one, even though I have never knit anything more complicate than a scarf.

I decided on a pattern first, I looked at many many cheesy patterns, lamented that Japanese sewing patterns would be too much of a challenge to me. It difficult enough to decipher sewing patterns. I settled on the eternally stylish Irish fisherman’s sweaters, in my fantasy I saw myself wearing this an an old lady with a grandchild balanced on my knee, in my fantasy I’m also a cartoon, but whatever.

This was perfect, I got the pattern at Downtown Yarns in New York City. Its a Yankee Knitter Design pattern for and Adult Aran Sweater. The pattern seemed complicated, the sales woman assured me it wasnt anymore difficult that any other sweater. I choose to believe her.

Next was finding the cashmere yarn. The pattern called for about 13 skeins in my size, I use a size small. I looked all over the nets and luckily found somebody who was selling yarn on ebay for 16 a skein, which would bring my sweater cost to about 200$. its not cheap but its not 1200 either, and if i was buying a thin cashmere sweater in a store I could expect to pay that if not more. So that’s how I justified spending 200$ on yarn on a project I may or may not finish. if your like me you make preemptive strikes on craft/fabric/and art stores, I am well stocked but rarely finished projects. I have about 20 unfinished projects and a dozen or more possibilities.

So armed with needles, yarn, pattern I cant read, and a case of dyslexia, I go forth!

Listen to this Noisettes

“UK indie rock-ers the Noisettes
might have been armed with an unapologetic, rebel blend of razor-sharp
punk, classic rock, jazz and blues that drew heavy critical praise, and
an eye-grabbing English/ Zimbabwean beauty of a frontwoman with a
background in theater and the circus and an oh-so-cool government tag
(Shingai Shoniwa), but sadly, all these elements combined weren’t
enough to draw them much commercial fortune. With a sleeker
re-formatting of their eclectic style on their latest cycle, though,
the three-piece’s luck seems about to change.”

Via Mixtape Maestro

Raven Burgos

Get FED: Greensbury Market brings the (organic) meat home

Anybody that knows me knows I love eating animals. LOVES IT.

My friend Brad Started Greensbury shortly after his son Elvis was
born, Greensbury delivers fresh meat to your house, Sure some people
like things like
'flower of the month" clubs, but i don't hang out with
those people, im friends with vegans and people who run organic meat
companies, no middle ground. Buy From Greensbury, its local , healthy,
and run by a good dude.

GreensburyMarket.com

Green Porno: Isabella Rossellini wants you to watch her do it

I was working on a tv series when or PA left to go work on what she called" her favorite production ever. " They were just beginning to film this years Green Porno series Staring the great Isabella Rossellini Watch the video here Green Porno. there are 22 shorts i all this one is entitled "Why Vagina" she wants "Penises, species specific penises in her vagina"

Enjoy Green Porno

Raven Burgos

Weird: 82-year-old Cloris Leachman wears Cabbage for PETA

UMMMM yeah, ok. I love vegetarians, I live with one,have had sex with a few, I even did it for two months so that my then boyfriend would go down on me, otherwise he wouldn't. How is she alive without meat?

I prefer the one my friend Concetta aka Princess Superstar (Super-Vegan) did for German Peta ( ha German Peta)

Raven Burgos

New York City Apartment Gardening : Make your own Ecoststem Terrariums are Beautiful

I have gotten a hold of some beautiful antique ball jars and will be posting how to's and techniques for making your own little ecosystem. This is great book that can show you how to get started on your own

• different venues for cultivating your terrarium
• plants that flourish in these gardens under glass
• ideas and designs for creating your first terrarium
• how to care for and maintain the environment you’ve made

Martin has designed a unique range of imaginative terrarium
projects, including ones that are suitable for children, enliven the
seasons, incorporate plant propagation, and show off a nature
collection. Whether you are a gardener or city-dwelling nature lover, The New Terrarium
is the perfect way to spark your creativity, while helping you to bring
your favorite plants into your home and giving them a place to thrive."

Via crafster.org

Raven Burgos