Me and Ziggy poked our way up Haystack Mountain on Sunday. I breathed a sigh of relief as the sun warms up a bit this time of year. Phew, we got by the coldest bit of the winter! I woke up to a beautiful day off and I definitely needed some serious exercise. We are lucky to have this little gem right in the middle of town. I grabbed some lunch, dog biscuits, hiking boot grippers, my ski poles and off we went.
I find hiking in the winter is much more fun than in the summer if the trail is packed and not too icy- somehow it's easier to slide your feet a long the snow than step up on rocks. It was a supreme day on Sunday and easy to stop and take a peek at the beauty in the land. I must admit my legs are still sore from Sunday... 3 days later. It was a good grunt up and pretty sweet on the way down. I ran into a couple I know in town, a nice guy that works at the local high school, a nice young woman that grew up in the area and another couple as well as Phil who farms the land abutting the Haystack hiking trail. Phil and his kids came sledding down the steep hill ready for some farm chores or maybe a trip to town. Pretty busy day for winter hikers I'd say.
With a hike behind me, I was ready to kick off the week with some new lampshade making! This pretty floral lampshade is from some bark cloth fabric I found a few weeks ago. It's $98. and measures 9"top x 14"bottom and 9.5" high on slant. It's hard to find some of these soft color curtain panels these days and was pretty sure this one will do well in the shop.
A friend dropped by some of her vintage Blue Fish clothes that she had cleaned out of her closet. I put them on my ironing board in the shop and thought....ohhh, maybe lampshades? Let's give it a try.
This was the first Blue Fish Shade- a big rectangle. Often the design of a shade is determined by the size of the pattern or imagine you want to show off. This one easily spoke to being square or rectangle and my rectangle frame fit it a little better. Fun! It worked together pretty easy. I chose the homespun European sheeting for the other 3 panels and trim. The next Blue Fish Shade I did was not as great- the light really blurred the image....I am trying to add some fabric paint to see if I can make it pop better when lit up. Stay tuned, I've got stack of clothes to make shades with!
My farm animal shades have become a shop favorite! Happy to have a few back in my inventory. How could you resist for a baby present! Easy clip on shade- 7"top x 10" bottom x 7" high. $75.
a detail of my next shade. I found this children's needlework matted in an antique shop up in Maine. The wooly lamb sold me on it! Had to get it for another kid's lampshade.
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep lamp shade! Again, the shape of the textile led me to a rectangle frame. This one has a nice bell to it. I trimmed it with a rick rack and a vintage trim. $95. I can see this handed down from generation to generation. Sure was fun to make.
A pair of hex bell Daisy lampshades made from vintage embroidery. $68 per shade, 5" top x 8" bottom x 6" high and clip top. I found this embroidery on my Maine trip too. Always good to get away for some new inspiration! After a few days away I so happy to be back in my little shop again.
All for now,
xo
judy lake
ps, my Lampshade Lady book is no longer in print at Crown Publishing, but can be found on Amazon as well as maybe your local bookstore. I have a handful in-stock....would have been nice of them to communicate with me that they were selling them through... but why would I expect it now if they didn't communicate before... ahhh publishing..... guess I crossed that off my list after 2 editors (the second one didn't give a rats ass and came on just at publishing..... so helpful) and 4 assistant editors---interesting process during the crash of '08'. But sure glad I had the chance to make a book despite disappointments along the way.
Comments