custom pillow RSS
Upcycled Dress turned Pillow
About 10 years ago my friend traveled to West Africa and he brought me a dress made from Bògòlanfini or bogolan ("mud cloth"). The dress was several sizes too large so it sat in my closet untouched. I absolutely love the fabric and wanted to display it in a prominent way - I decided to do what I do best - make pillows. [caption id="attachment_1097" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The Dress"][/caption] I agonized about cutting up the dress, but my friend gave his blessing and I went for it. I was able to make two 22x22 pillows covers. I added a feather...
The gray crowned crane inspiration
There are 2 gray crowned cranes living on the campus of my son's high school. Each morning as I inch along with the traffic, I watch them as the go about their business. They seem to peacefully coexist with the noise and confusion that accompanies teenagers. [caption id="attachment_1085" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The Cranes"][/caption] One morning my son took a picture of the cranes, he sent the image to me with this message - " I can hardly wait to see your interpretation". I guess he has noticed that I do not see thing the same way others do... [caption id="attachment_1086" align="aligncenter"...
The hello world handmade pillow
[caption id="attachment_1070" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="M and J goes for a bike ride"][/caption] A few weeks ago I was walking to my mail box - yes, I still get snail mail- and saw my two young neighbors (Lets call them M and J) enjoying a lovely Florida day on their bike. As I approached J turned and waved - "hey Al" - "Hey J, please be careful", I said, "hold on with both hands". After all, we live on a cobble stone street, so if she fell off, that would certainly blight her prospects of becoming a model. Seeing both kids...
A day at the beach - My handmade pillow process
[caption id="attachment_959" align="alignright" width="254" caption="She smiles"][/caption] Over the summer, my nephew, his wife and their 5 kids stopped by my home/office to rescue this workaholic for a day. Since the beach is only 2 blocks from my home - and it's one of my favorite places to work - I decided to oblige - plus I could not say no to those cute kids. While my nephew manned the grill, his wife took the kids for a swim splash. I sent a few e-mails, tweeted, updated my Facebook status, then walked down to the beach to join them. As I...
My Deer Pillow Project
I love going to the zoo. It's a constant source of inspiration. This pillow was inspired by one of my many trips - it features a mom and baby deer. Check out the look on the moms face - she seems so proud. It's the same look I get to when I see my son's report card. Here is a a copy of the image before I printed it to the fabric. [caption id="attachment_719" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The original Image"][/caption] The image was done in Adobe Illustrator. If you are familiar with Illustrator, you may recognise the grass, the flower that...