If the shoe sits?

For fifty bucks I could be the old woman who sat on a shoe.

HERE

Between the sheets

D.C. Design House 2013

In a recent dinner table conversation, I commented on how a few people I know think it is crazy to fold fitted sheets. My kids confessed that they had no idea how to do it. Its my mission to teach them how this summer.

Its easy. Here's how in case you don't already know.

I like to fold them on a bed so that the sheets can be fully spread out and smoothed as I go.

First, lay the sheet flat with the sleeping side down and those pesky gathers up. Using the corner seams as a guide, flatten the gathered sides to make a sort of picture frame. That is the hard part. The neater this is the better the whole thing will go.

Next, I fold 1/4 of the sheet over to the center line, smoothing as I go.

Next I do the same with the other end and smooth and flatten as much as possible.

In half again creating a rectangle.

From here I either fold it in thirds or quarters depending on the sheet.

folded fitted sheet

I like to fold the flat sheet the same size but truth be told, sometimes I just don't have the time or patience.

Do you fold you fitted sheets?

I am oddly particular about sheets. They must be 100% cotton, white if I am sleeping on them and I really love 1000 thread count sheets.

 I found 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets for King size beds at Tuesday Morning for $80. I thought it was a deal.

I am new to shopping there but I am liking there luxury bedding selection.

Pin-spiration

I saw this pin on Pinterest and was really inspired to paint using it as inspiration.

I cracked myself up trying to blend already dry acrylics and gouache. I am really accustomed to oils at this point and find myself forgetting about my paints which is OK with oils but not acrylics.

It was a fun and quick painting to make.

My result is far more literal than I usually end up with but I am kind of liking it.

"Mason jar" 16 x 20 acrylic and gouache on canvas by Kerry Steele

Odds and ends

The crooked tie and lack of tassel say a lot about the chaos of this last week leading up to graduation. It was a doozy. I was a little sick and my mother was visiting on top of all of my normal busy-ness.

Today the girls are at school and one boy moved out and the other is away for the week. The silence is awesome.

I have had little time for painting and the two canvases that I was working on seem to be a lost cause. Lack of focus is my excuse.

I have been spending a bit more time and energy on having my art in galleries here in my small city. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

One project that has been some time in the making did happen.

Let me tell you about the bumps and a good frame source.

I have two prints from the lovely Jennifer, at The Pink Pagoda. She custom made two small size blue and white prints that I had been wanting for my pink and blue and white bath. I wanted bamboo style frames and ordered two from an eBay seller.

Besides taking forever to arrive they were put together in ridiculous fashion.

Really?

That involved the hassle of opening a case with eBay and the indignant seller telling me ," No frame shop in the world would match up these moldings perfectly."

Luckily, LeRoys Custom Frames on Etsy can, in fact, achieve this Herculean feat. They were inexpensive to boot.

LeRoys only had this frame in black but I knew five minutes with a can of spray paint was no big deal.

I am so thrilled to have found a good and affordable frame source.

One more little thing coming down the pipe that only design junkies will understand my excitement for...

A few weeks ago I showed you all this fabric and mentioned more pillows. Silly me. I don't want more pillows.

In a flash of genius, I devised a plan to alter the much hated pouf in my family room and incorporate the fabric.

The circular, mirroe image on the fabric works perfectly with this nearly destroyed pouf. When I excitedly announced my idea to my husband, he looked afraid and said, "You need to get a life."

The co-founder of black is at it again

My mailman is pissed.

Restoration hardware, and all of its ludicrous iterations, sent me this bundle.

I'll give that RH has some rather tempting offerings but the prices and questionable quality really turn me off. 

I love Gary Friedman for his preposterous claims that make me laugh 'til I cry but, Dude! Wipe that smirk off your face! Its creepy.

Gary thinking real hard about the wheel

Let's talk about their latest discovery in the world of quantum physics.

Yes, tableware. 

The catalog gives us a synopsis of the creative vision and genius of Albert Einstein as a prelude to the introduction of their tableware collection.

"That is the philosophy we embraced to imagine our new tableware collection. Beginning with a quest to develop the perfect plate, one that would inspire us to replace our existing ones, we reconsidered every aspect - the material, the shape, the size the weight and the glaze - developing prototype after prototype until we explored every possibility and exhausted every option."

Guess what they came up with? Round. Wow, Gary my plates are just circles how the hell did you come up with this?

" The result is our rendition of the perfect plates (we developed three shapes, round rimmed, square and coupe), made of authentic porcelain. "

Groundbreaking round plates

If you are concerned about the word "coupe" its just round with no lip.

The other bits of ridiculousness include "Objects of curiousity"

Its a catalog of fake antiques  

concocted by "the Reimaginists" AKA big fakers who pose with silly expressions like this...

I'd love to work there inventing the old but I have not perfected my self-important pompous duck face. I tried but I couldn't stop laughing.
You really must read the original RH snark at WTF, Restoration Hardware?

My restoration project for an old friend

Last year I arranged a meetup with two of my high school pals in Old Town Alexandria. One of whom was my boyfriend for most of high school and some of college.

I was that girl who only hung out with guys in HS

Steve said he had his mother's 1940s ad poster that he wanted me to mount to a canvas and "antique". The little girl is his mother.

I told him  that I would not be a party to ruining this fragile piece of art and that he needed to take it to a restorer. Somehow I ended up coming home with the badly damaged poster and a project to do something with it. Luckily, I really like his mommy and she was super nice to me as a snotty teenager.

I procrastinated, did some research, procrastinated, bought a few supplies, and dreaded the whole process.

Did I mention that it was badly damaged? It had been folded several times and rolled tightly in a cardboard tube. The only thing more damaging would have been a lit match.

I started with a 48 x 60 canvas, distilled water in a sprayer and deacidifying spray.

Restorers repair tears in paper using special Japanese paper to strengthen the tears. I decided that it was so far beyond my skills that I would simply make sure I did not damage it further and ensure that everything I did could be undone.

I dampened the paper with the deacidifying spray and distilled water to relax the fibers.

In some spots the fibers were stretched and it was impossible for me to have it lay perfectly flat. I was using archival wheat paste to glue it to the canvas.

I covered the wet, glued spots with felt and weighted them with books.

I needed a spare hand but the project only took a few hours.

There are a few "bubbles" in the paper but I could not get them flat without further damage.

Next I deliver it and implore them to get a sheet of acrylic to protect it. You hear that Steve...acrylic!?

Where did my week go?

I think I might be overwhelmed. This month is the crazy, busiest in recent memory. I did finish this commission yesterday and I must say it was a fun one to paint.

The idea started out quite differently and neither me or the client were liking the painting I made a suggestion and she very sweetly let me run with it.

I used liquin impasto gel for the first time and was very pleased with the results.

This product added body without diluting the colors and it actually shortened the dry time.

I can't wait to see this one in its home.

The entry hall in this home is fantastic. I am talking about Quadrille China seas on two matching Chinoiserie stools, grasscloth and other gorgeousness.

 I had other posts planned that I still hope get up but for now laundry calls.