by Wendy Scheel | Nov 16, 2015 | Business
Customer service is a big part of my business. It is also the part I enjoy the most. Okay, customer service and fabric shopping tie for most enjoyable. 🙂
With Etsy, if you like something in my shop but don’t see a size you need or if you would like to have something customized, there is the option of sending me a “conversation” so we can work together.
I have made several pillow covers, a table runner and coasters for a customer from Michigan. Then they sent me a conversation asking if I could make them a custom bench seat cushion.
Of course! was my immediate response.
It was so fun to make something different and stretch my sewing skills.
I heard from Justin last week that they had received the bench seat cushion and how much they were enjoying it!
I was so happy they were happy.
Justin also sent a picture showing where they had put the seat cushion.
How cute is that! They picked a four inch foam cushion with blue and white cotton ticking stripe fabric that had matching piping around the edges and a zipper on the back.
But wait…what really caught my eye was the antique level they hung on the wall as a place to hang their coats. How cute it THAT!
So I got to thinking. I wonder how the pillow covers look and the table runner they wanted for their 9 foot French farmhouse dining table?
I contacted Justin to ask if he could send me pictures of the other items they had purchased.
He graciously agreed.
And attached this note with the pictures.
Hi Wendy, Sure you are welcome to blog about us if you like 🙂 We recently moved into our house in March and had Claire in June. We live in Birmingham, MI, a suburb of Metro Detroit. Julie is an OBGYN and I’m an engineer in the auto industry. We’ve been rushing to get everything ready for Claire’s arrival and to get the finishing touches done. We’re very busy, so we really appreciate the ability to work remotely with you. Have placed several orders already, it’s great to have a source that we can trust. My wife and I both work and are busy with daily activities. Your quick support has been a great help. Let us know if you’d like any more specifics! Have a great day!
JT, Julie and Claire 🙂
Justin and Julie designed and decorated these rooms themselves. Beautiful. Job well done!
And that safe as a coffee table…speechless.
Thank you Justin for sharing. 🙂
Wendy
by Wendy Scheel | Nov 14, 2015 | Sidenote Saturday
You made it! Not only to Old Lake George, but past yesterday, Friday the 13th!
I don’t consider myself superstitious, but the mention of the 13th being on Friday, is always a little creepy. 🙂
What isn’t creepy, at all, is Thursday’s post from Miss Mustard Seed!
She is presenting a table setting in DC this weekend.
I was so excited to see a table decorated in a similar table runner that I sell in my shop! Great Minds think alike!
Check out her blog post and then compare her runner to this one.
Both look great!
Have a happy Saturday the 14th! 🙂
See you Monday,
Wendy
By the way if you love the opening picture, it is also available here.
by Wendy Scheel | Aug 3, 2015 | Quick Thoughts
Do any of you play Trivia Crack? You know the App that is basically the board game version of Trivia Pursuit? If you don’t, you should. It is so fun and additive. There are six different categories to answer questions from. I always, always pick the history category last. It is my weakest subject. That and geography. Ugh, geography.
Why am I bringing this up? By some miracle,  I have a quick little history lesson for you today. It will never be a Trivia Crack question, but well, maybe someday it will be and then you can thank me when you win the game. 🙂
Did you know that way back in 2012, Old Lake George was named Pooh Pooh Pillows? Yep, you read that right, Pooh Pooh Pillows. PPP.
I started my Etsy shop making pillows and my family refers to me as Pooh. So logically Pooh Pooh Pillows came to be. I messed around with the name Pooh Pillows, but it made me think that I was selling Winnie the Pooh Pillows or Pillows made from pooh, and ain’t nobody wantin’ a pillow made from pooh. 🙂
Fast forward to 2015. We bought a house on Lake George in Minnesota.
The feeling of Pooh Pooh Pillows was changing because I was now making several other items besides just pillows. I had more of a vintage, French farmhouse rustic vibe and I wanted that to be reflected in the name. I played around with “Lake Studio”, “Sewing Studio”, “Pillow Studio”, etc but there didn’t seem to be the all encompassing feeling of what I wanted to project in a name.
Then one day I was giving someone directions to our home and within the actual directions, you turn right onto Old Lake George. Ba-zing-a!!  I guess I literally needed a “sign” to direct me to the answer for a shop name.
End of story. End of history lesson. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Aug 3, 2015 | Quick Thoughts
Do any of you play Trivia Crack? You know the App that is basically the board game version of Trivia Pursuit? If you don’t, you should. It is so fun and additive. There are six different categories to answer questions from. I always, always pick the history category last. It is my weakest subject. That and geography. Ugh, geography.
Why am I bringing this up? By some miracle,  I have a quick little history lesson for you today. It will never be a Trivia Crack question, but well, maybe someday it will be and then you can thank me when you win the game. 🙂
Did you know that way back in 2012, Old Lake George was named Pooh Pooh Pillows? Yep, you read that right, Pooh Pooh Pillows. PPP.
I started my Etsy shop making pillows and my family refers to me as Pooh. So logically Pooh Pooh Pillows came to be. I messed around with the name Pooh Pillows, but it made me think that I was selling Winnie the Pooh Pillows or Pillows made from pooh, and ain’t nobody wantin’ a pillow made from pooh. 🙂
Fast forward to 2015. We bought a house on Lake George in Minnesota.
The feeling of Pooh Pooh Pillows was changing because I was now making several other items besides just pillows. I had more of a vintage, French farmhouse rustic vibe and I wanted that to be reflected in the name. I played around with “Lake Studio”, “Sewing Studio”, “Pillow Studio”, etc but there didn’t seem to be the all encompassing feeling of what I wanted to project in a name.
Then one day I was giving someone directions to our home and within the actual directions, you turn right onto Old Lake George. Ba-zing-a!!  I guess I literally needed a “sign” to direct me to the answer for a shop name.
End of story. End of history lesson. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Jul 30, 2015 | DIY
Incase you have forgotten, I love estate sales. And for some reason I am always drawn to the chairs.
When I first started going to estate sales I would buy all wood chairs, no fabric on them. I would clean them up and usually paint them. But I wanted to branch out. I wanted to try re-upholstering a chair. This is the chair I branched out with. Go Big or Go Home Wendy!
How hard could it be to take off each piece lay it out on some new fabric and tack it back on? Seriously, how hard? So I started and I removed all of the fabric and then painted the wood.
So far so good and only a couple of hours of work. Then I put the old fabric on top of the new fabric and started cutting. BUT, I didn’t mark anything down as to where the new pieces were suppose to go! I had so many different size pieces and no idea how to put it back together. Ugh.
Instead of trashing the whole thing and losing the $40 I had into it, I cut off the arms of the chair so I didn’t have to re-upholster them! Bra-ill-ient!
Now it was just a matter of sewing a couple of square corners and, done.
(I will share more about this chair on another day. It is now part of my daughters first apartment. )
Since biting off more than I could chew in the re-upholstering department, I have reverted to buying chairs that aren’t so difficult to re-upholster.
Exhibit A:Â This chair that I painted and re-upholstered the seat.
Exhibit B: This rocking chair. It needed a little TLC and an update of fabric. And here is how I did it. The right way.
After removing the fabric, I washed the wood with water, dried it and polished it up with Hemp Oil from the Miss Mustard Seed line of products. Instant beauty.
I knew I wanted to go with the French Farmhouse fabrics to replace the not-so-desirable fabric that was on the chair. Here is the line of pillows made from French Farmhouse style fabrics in my shop that I chose from.
The winner for me was the beige/khaki line fabric.
So, I removed the old fabric pieces and laid them out on top of the new fabric to cut them out. With only two pieces I figured I would know where to replace them.
Self explanatory right? The same process was used when the head rest part of the chair needed a little padding. To hold the padding and fabric in place I used some basting adhesive.
Incase you were wondering, this was the brand of basting adhesive I used to hold everything in place. Incase you were wondering. 🙂
And now for the big reveal…..always my favorite part.
And one more beautiful collage.
I haven’t attempted another large re-upholstering project. Going Big or Going Home! wasn’t the best choice. 🙂 Have any of you miscalculated your skill set when trying a project?
And as a side note, Spencer my product photographer didn’t take some of these pictures. I think it’s pretty evident, but in full disclosure, wanted to point it out. 🙂
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