The Lampshade Lady Blog

Last Wednesday's Class and Winter Classes

Either my students are getting better or I am becoming a better teacher. Great Job Ladies! They came from far and wide. From Austin, Texas to Chicago and New England. Boy do we learn more than making lampshades!!! Such laughs and conversation. It is really about more than just making lampshades. And the visitors loved our "real" general store. My shop is 2 doors down from Mach's Market, the general store. It's very convenient for workshop lunches.

I have yet to announce the winter class schedule, but have started to give it some thought. I want to give a drum workshop; they are a very hot item. Also wanted to say if you have a group of 6-8 friends and would like to do a winter workshop, give me a call at the shop. 802-325-6308. I can't do this in the summer, but winter is more flexible. (too hot in the shop)

In the past workshops have usually been feb, march, april and may. Feel free to give me any feedback with ideas you are interested in.

Drum Shades Are Hard to Find, Make Your Own!

On a roll with Drum Shades. I have used a Sis Boom Fabric on this shade. I may just have to take this one home. It sure is tempting. The design couldn't have fit the shade better. And more purple; it'll look great with my turquoise walls. The Sis Boom designs, by Jennifer Paganelli are a blast to play with. This fabric also had a nice bird pattern, but I'd already used it for other shades. You can see I have used part of the fabric pattern for a self-trim.

I've got this lamp and shade close by my desk here at the shop. I always have my favorites close by my work space. I get to enjoy them for a little while before they go out the door to someone's home. This shade I have used an Amy Butler fabric on this drum shade. The size is 12" across the top by 12"across the bottom and 8" high. It's a handy size. This Shade is shown on a hard to find Jadite lamp, nice size and shape with pretty lines. A Nice find!

A reminder: there is a How-To Drum Shade instruction on the January 3rd, 2008 blog, Instructions for Making Drum Shades. They are easy to make and a good place to start if you are interested in making some fun shades for your house and holiday gifts.

Another Drum with a Susan Sargent fabric. Susan's fabrics are perfect for these contemporary shapes. The large motifs are well-suited for the large expanse of fabric needed for the shade. This shade lights up nice a bright; Yellow light is incredibly up lifting. Sure to perk up the dark days.

Lampshades for a Rainy Day in Pawlet

It was time for a new shade over my messy desk. I love this Heather Bailey Fabric. It is pretty dreary here today and COLOR perks me up and make me smile. Today I worked on these cheerful little goodies.

Today I used one of my favorite vintage dresser scarves. I must have been saving this for a Saturday project. The colors are kind of odd, sort of funky. I used a purple check from old euro duvet sheeting for the edges and was stumped on the top and bottom trim. The trims can MAKE IT OR BREAK IT!!!! To use pink and purple, yuck. I must have tried 10 different trims and then I found this old embroidery scrap that was on my desk, YES, perfect, just a touch of pink and purple and lots of texture. I like it.
this shade I made this week. It is from an old tea towel. It was easy to find great trims to finish this scallop shade. The top trim I found at the flea market this spring or maybe it was on ebay...??? The bottom trim was from Flights of Fancy. Check out their site. Lots of wicked nice trims on-line; they are pretty hard to find in my neighborhood.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting....and Ziggy, too.

Here's my new shop buddy. Ziggy!!! A very busy doggie. Perhaps a little to busy to be a shop dog quite yet. Ziggy comes down to the shop for bits and pieces of time. She'll be good company this winter when the shop slows down and it's just me and Ziggy. Ziggy is an Australian Shepherd, just like Odie. She has been keeping all of us running and smiling.


Check out the finial on top of this shade. Guess it is appropriate for the times. We are waiting.... for a CHanGE. Thought this finial just about sums it up for me. I feel sort of short on words with all the distractions in the world. But as country crafts people and artists we are good at making things, growing gardens, cooking and making due with what we have at hand. And waiting for Obama!!!!

Here's a pretty lampshade. This is the only piece of fabric I found on a buying trip to Maine this summer. Very old hand-block print. Sweet patterns. There are 2 of these shades. They are a hex washer. Size 8" top x 14" bottom and 9" high. They are $95 each.

Tomorrow is workshop day. A huge group for my little shop. Sisters, friends and past customers. It will be cozy in my little shop; good for a chilly damp day.

I am waiting to see the first round of my book progress. It is sure going to amazing to see words and photos all set in place in the book form. Waiting has been the word a the year. Just waiting..... not always something easy to do. My son is waiting to hear on an internship; waiting and waiting.

sorry about such a disjointed blog, too many distractions, but have procrastinated too long, just needed to get started again.

Vintage Pansies, Oh so Sweet Lampshades

A gray day called for a fun project. One of the fun parts of preparing for my new book was finding the best examples textiles or papers for each project. This is an amazing embroidery, check out the detail photo. The colors and beautiful needlework; absolutely one of my favorite finds. There are layer upon layer of embroidery thread colors blended to give the beautiful effect.

The Cut Corner Rectangle Bell frame was used to take advantage of the embroidery design. I tried several shapes to see which was the best to show off the lovely embroidery and chose this one. I am so tempted to take this one home.... Pretty, pretty.

Here's a watercolor of me.... done many years ago by artist Matt Solon. My shop looked so much different ten years ago as did my lampshades and me, too. But fun to look back. I have some early pictures of my shop when I had first moved in. It was so empty and clean.... and now it's full to over flowing, but it took lots of work to get it this way. Once I had a very dear lady in my shop and said she would be glad to tidy up my shop and make it look beautiful! I thanked her very much and giggled to myself. I know the shop is a working studio, but I like it this way.

Leaves are as bright as the pansies today; these gray days sure show the colors. Really pretty.

Class update. Still some room for Wednesday's workshop, Oct. 8th. The 22nd is full. Last workshops for the year.