Creative Drapery Designs and Full Moon Canvas Co.

"Play Time"

2012-01-13T08:32:00.000-08:00

More photos of our wonderful vacation!

"Play Time"

2012-01-13T08:09:00.001-08:00

My hubby and I LOVE the islands in the Caribbean. We have island hopped on big cruise ships a few times. The weather is always gorgeous, the water is amazingly beautiful and the local bars/food joints are right up our alley. Nothing like sitting at an outdoor, beach front bar where Santa is propped up among the limes & oranges. Christmas trees in the sand are so cool, with huge conch shells underneath them. We saw some really big iguanas hanging out by the restaurant's outdoor cooker...YUM YUM! The snorkeling was definitely in the top 3.....no joke.....Grand Turk has a 7000 ft dropoff with the most colorful fish I have ever seen. We saw our first ever full rainbow coming into St. Martin. We rented a car and toured the island, stopping to hop over to Pinel Island for sun, swimming, eating & drinking. St. Thomas has breathtaking beaches. We especially liked Sapphire Beach. I am hoping one day to go on our own sailboat.

Log House

2012-01-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

I am currently bidding on 23 window blinds for this gorgeous log house. My new son-in-law has been building it and got me the referral. How cool is that? The owners are working a ton to complete the finish work. The windows are trimmed in cedar as well as the mantle piece and the loft beams. The guy found a large cedar tree knocked down from Hurricane Irene and had it cut up.....really gorgeous. Check out the rock. We don't have rock around this neck of the woods. It is so pretty. I will get more photos when it is done. ENJOY!

Sailing Trip -- Oct. 2011

2011-10-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

My husband and I went on a sailing trip recently. We spent 5 nights on the boat, sailing to Cedar Creek and then down the ICW to Beaufort. Our friends on Cavalle sailed along with us. We had a great time. The weather was perfect...high of 75, low of 45. No rain and lots of sunshine.

Soft Cornices

2011-07-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

A very good friend gave me lots of upholstery scrap fabric. I used some of it to make soft cornices for my husbands office. I think they turned out really nice. Enjoy!

Tenara Thread & Boat Canvas

2011-07-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to bite the bullet and purchase that expensive Tenara thread. Everything I read says it will last longer than the sunbrella. I decided to buy black and use it on a mainsail cover that is docked right next to us. It turned out super. I had to do a bit of fine tweaking but it is definitely the stuff to use. Check out the main sheet cover I made too....sweet.

Naugahyde Bench Cushions

2011-06-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

I love my animal friends and when I brought the 2 kitties to my vet I noticed the exam rooms were being painted. The main lobby area is now a nice blue and the exam rooms are a beautiful light eggplant color. The benches were forrest green and awful! So.....I recommended a new color vinyl and VOILA....they have been recovered and look super. When I went to take photos I happened to see a friend there who had "Brutus" with her.

I LOVE KITTIES TOO

2011-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

I helped rescue these 2 siblings about 3 weeks ago. They are brother & sister (Cairo & Sydney). They are Lynx Point Siamese with bright blue eyes and tiger cat markings. We may end up keeping them. They are doing really well at Lake Waccamaw. We brought them to New Bern for about a week and they didn't seem to mind it too much. Girl kitty hid under the bed for most of her day but would come out at night. Boy kitty is all over the place. They are under 2 years old and were given up by a woman that is now in Phase IV Parkinsons and cannot keep them. Her daughter tried to keep them but one of her children is allergic. I didn't even have to pay a re-homing fee....freebies and I love them!

Sail Bags

2011-04-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

These were made out of an old windsurfing sail that was my mother-in-laws....no joke! She was an avid sailor, tennis player and all around great person. I decided to turn that old sail into something useful. Getting ready to market them on Etsy. ENJOY!

Sailing Stuff

2011-04-28T08:24:00.001-07:00

As you all know, Bill & I have sailed for years and I am now sewing canvas, sails, etc. We decided to tackle the sacrificial cloth on our head sail a couple of weeks ago. What a job! HUGE! Really HUGE! But it is done and we test sailed it this past weekend. Here are the photos along the Neuse River in N.C.

Henrietta III Riverboat

2011-03-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Over the last 3 weeks I have been diligently sewing up a storm......34 jabots & swags for a riverboat located just 3 blocks from my shop in Wilmington, NC. I literally walked some of them to the boat. These were made out of an embroidered sheer fabric lined in a sheer batiste. They turned out gorgeous. The riverboat was purchased in the mid 80's in St. Louis, MO. They brought her to Wilmington, cut her in half and lengthened her. Originally a casino boat, Henrietta III is now a cruising riverboat that serves lunch, dinner and offers lots of themed cruises too. Narrated cruises are available with Captain Daren and First Mate Dustin.....both great guys. Captain Carl Marshburn (Daren's dad) owns this beautiful boat. I worked with Helen on this project. She wanted the window treatments updated so more weddings would get booked. They also replaced the carpet, painted a bit and bought new seating chairs. Helen wanted jabots & swags and wanted a sheer so the light could come through. The angle irons were already there but too low and mounted into steel. No moving them......so Daren & Dustin built small 2 1/2" blocks to sit on the angle irons.....voila! 68 blocks of wood later and they are raised to the ceiling. A gal came by the workroom a couple of weeks ago and said they looked like wedding dresses. Mission accomplished!

More Sailbags--Colorful Ones Too!

2011-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm still at it.....using up some old sails and upcycling them into duffel bags and such. Great fun cutting around windows and words, jib hanks, luff & leech lines. I have already sold the orange duffel shown here. More to come soon....it's almost sailing season in N.C.

UPCYCLED SAIL BAGS

2011-02-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

I have thought about making these for about a year now. Finally got an old sail from a friend and put a duffel together. This is a gift but the next 2 are for hubby & me. Then it's probably 2 for the girls. Perhaps I'll have enough sail left over to market a few.

COLORFUL, COLORFUL, COLORFUL......love these!

2010-12-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share photos of 2 wonderful, colorful window treats I have done. So many of my customers are afraid to use color.........not these gals. What a joy to be involved in both of these rooms.....ENJOY!

I do love dogs.......:)

2010-11-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

I have always had dogs and cats. I LOVE THEM. Our 15 yr old cat (Ralph) and 13 yr old golden retriever (Honey Bear) died this past year. A few months ago I checked into fostering and came across the Great Pyrenees Rescue in Wilmington, NC. I applied to foster and had Lexie with me for about a month. She is now in her "furever" home and they LOVE her. Her new owners are tennis players, they are young and energetic, have a fenced in yard and she is now an indoor doggie :) Enjoy these great photos of her.

Northfield Gals National Workroom Tour

2010-09-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

We did it again! Several of us spent a few days in East Jordan, Michigan visiting with Nancy Letts and Pine House Drapery. We had such a great time. We took the ferry over to Mackinaw Island and rented bikes. We rode completely around the island (8 mi), shopped for taffy, ate ice cream, drank Guiness at an Irish Pub, and then headed back. We spent some time in Nancy's workroom.........making bags out of scrap fabrics. Helser Bros sent along t-shirts for all of us to wear and wear them we did!

Window Seat Cushion

2010-09-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

My first window seat cushion EVER! 114" long x 21" wide x 3" thick. Thanks to my good drapery friend, Nancy Letts, I tackled this and was very pleased with the result. It fit perfectly! I'm definitely adding this item to fabricate. When I delivered it to the customer she instantly ordered breakfast nook chair cushions with skirts out of the leftover fabric.

Helser Bros Artigiani Iron Rod

2010-09-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

I needed a custom rod made for a 5 sided bay window. Anita Boetsma at Helser Bros helped me a lot with this project. The end result is just lovely. The customer loved it and thought the pricing was very good on the hardware. Once again, "you rock Helser Bros"......:)

I CAN PAINT TOO!

2010-08-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

I have painted the interior of my house for years. I have wanted stripes for a very long time but would never take the time it requires. Well....I finally decided to tackle it and so glad I did. I first had to strip all the wallpaper that had been up for 15 years. Then all the marking & taping took forever. I didn't like the first result so I waited a couple of weeks and tackled it again. I do love the end result. My goal was to create enough pop in the room for the "wow" factor without spending the money on new countertops. I think I pulled it off.

Cockpit Cushions for "Starship"

2010-08-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

Okay...........so our sailing buddies Dan & Jamie needed cockpit cushions for their sailboat......like 30 years ago they were made. Needless to say they were shot........tears, zippers broken, just plain nasty. Jamie decided to have me make new ones for Dan's birthday yesterday. WHEW! Turned them around in 5 days! These were made out of naugahyde fabric. Here are the photos.....enjoy!

Drapery Fabric Bags

2010-07-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Bags made out of drapery & upholstery fabric & fringe scraps. Most of them are lined in coordinating leftover silk pieces. Pockets inside and out. What a ton of fun creating these.

Bags, bags & more bags

2010-07-22T17:51:00.001-07:00

What do you do with your fabric & fringe scraps? I save it all and then sew up bags. Something different every time depending on the amount of scraps I had. These are sunbrella and are on consignment at a gift shop in New Bern, NC.

Master Bedroom Project

2010-07-01T07:24:00.001-07:00

This is the master bath and bedroom of a tennis friend of mine. She had the fabric for quite a while and finally used it. We had a lot of fun designing this. I love the colors and also the use of different styles of window treatments in the same room.............it worked!

Boat Canvas Work

2010-05-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Finally finished sewing canvas for our 30' Catalina sailboat..................and...............finally remembered to bring my camera to the boat.....DUH! Here are the photos. The only thing I didn't make was the bimini. Everything else was fabricated on a portable Sailrite machine. Full Moon Canvas Company is now in full swing...............WOOHOO! Watcha think?

WCAA Southeast NC Chapter launch

2010-04-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Creative Drapery Designs is proud to announce we have a WCAA Southeast Chapter launched in Wilmington, NC. We had our first meeting yesterday with the fabulous Jenna Abbott (WCAA National Presient) in attendance. She came all the way from California. Great feedback from everyone. Spread the word...........next meeting is May 29th with Jeanelle Dech from the CHF Academy presenting, "Finding Your Niche".

Outdoor Living class at CHF

2010-03-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent 4 days at the CHF Academy in Charlotte, NC learning all about sunbrella and boat canvas. What a great class. We learned how to construct umbrellas, box cushions, awnings, outdoor grommet panels, porch roller shades, and power boat vinyl seats. Boy.....am I gonna get that Sailrite hummin..........

Mini Northfield Weekend in New Bern, NC

2010-03-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

What a great time we had........10 of us Northfield volunteers reconvening in New Bern, NC last weekend. Went sailing, worked a little in Elaine Hinchman's workroom, toured the town, ate lots, drank lots, laughed lots. SO MUCH FUN! Okay---here's the lowdown on the photos.......all 10 of us. Elaine Hinchman, Beth, Denise (a Pillsbury bake-off finalist), Laurie Canning, Sarah Dunlevy-O'Neill, Nancy Letts, Tommie Timblin, Lorraine, Susan Schurz, and Sue Sifakis. Me donning Elaine's "Jazzy Girl" workroom apron, some of Elaine's gorgeous cornices, don't ask about the next photo, and some of us sailing. Michigan in September.......oh yeah!

Florida Keys--Feb. 2010

2010-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

What a vacation we had this past week.................spending the time on our friends 42' Pearson Sailboat (Providence). We sailed, motored on the dinghy through the mangroves, went snorkeling, did the bar room tour in Key West and ate the most AMAZING meals cooked by the owners of the boat (Barb & George). We nicknamed the trip the 4 B's............Barb's Bed & Boat & Breakfast.

Light Weaves Solar Shades

2010-02-02T06:55:00.000-08:00

Another first for me............Light Weaves Solar Shades from Graber. One of my New Bern tennis friends needed to keep the summer sun & winter cold out. This is the end result. Pretty cool huh? She chose a fabric that keeps out 97% of the UV rays. Overlooking a creek that feeds into the Neuse River is her lovely home. They operate with a hold down beaded chain. The box valances cover up the roller. Not too bad to install. The box valance doubles the install time. It took me almost 4 hours solo to do these 6...........they had to be level. The best thing of all is you can still see out when they are down :)

Hard Cornice Boards

2010-01-30T13:49:00.001-08:00

These are my first ever hard cornices for Porter's Neck Country Club in Wilmington, NC. Lots of muscle power to jigsaw OSB board, join all the pieces together, pattern match with a fabric that has a horizontal repeat as well as a vertical one........AYACARUMBA! But they turned out really nice. The install was a bear but I was able to get the club's sous chef to help me. Isn't he a cutie?

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2010-01-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it! My daughter, Laura, and I sewed up a storm for 3 days! Met with the design production crew on Wednesday and installed 14 burlap drapery panels on Sunday night. They had 5" banding on 3 sides. Thank goodness they needed to be pretty for the camera and I didn't have to miter all those corners. It was definitely a worthwhile project. Here are some photos of Laura & I in the sweat shop and then after the finale. Enjoy!

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

2010-01-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

They're building a home about an hour from me in Horry County, S.C. Thanks to Jenna Abbott, WCAA President, I'm helping sew up some drapery panels. Lots of panels for the dining room & living room. Won't air for about 8-12 weeks but I'll keep you all posted. No photos until after the viewing........dangnabit! Did get to walk the site yesterday, tour the house with one of the designers, picked up all the fabric I needed and off to the workroom I went.............I have 3 days to fabricate 14 panels, lined, with banding on 3 sides............WHEW! Hope I can pull it off. More later.....:)

Check out the website..........www.extremehorry.com

Northfield photos

2009-12-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

We upholstered and re-upholstered more than 50 pieces of furniture in a 3 day weekend. So much fun, such hard work, so many memories, so many friendships formed. Several workrooms donated draperies, bedskirts, etc.

More photos from Northfield

2009-12-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

I helped with the pretty blue chairs. Lots of gals working, our Divine Tool Belt Diva winner (Elaine Hinchman), & our"coordinator extraordinare" Christine Shephard.

Northfield Foundation for Girls

2009-12-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

The incredible opportunity to help this foundation was amazing. Drapery workrooms from all over the country (like 60+ people) have spent the last 2 years or more getting this house "up to snuff". Check out their web site at www.northfieldfoundation.org and also www.picturetrail.com/northfield

I attended 2 of the several upholstery weekends there. Here are some of the photos.

CDDesigns Picturetrail site

2009-12-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

My picturetrail site is up and running full tilt boogey............check it out.

www.picturetrail.com/cddesigns

BILL LOVES SAILING!

2009-12-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

Some photos of sweet hubby and his other love..........Full Moon II. Since these photos were taken I have made a new main sail cover, a new wheel cover, and replaced the small fenders with larger ones covered in blanket fabric. I'll take updated photos after the holidays.

More Sailing Photos--with H.B. (Honey Bear)

2009-12-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

Drapery photos too........

2009-12-03T17:26:00.001-08:00

These are some windows I have done too.

More photos of Providence

2009-12-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

Enjoy! These folks are now spending the month of January at a marina in Jacksonville, Florida. Then they're off to the Florida Keys where Bill & I are planning on joining them for a week in February.

Sailing Purses

2009-12-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought enough about............made out of old sails and such? WOW! I'm gonna try that one. Thanks for suggesting Miss Rachael.

Providence--42' Pearson sailboat

2009-12-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Okay folks.....here are some photos of the work I did on this great boat that is on a 5 year voyage. ENJOY!

New Blog Site

2009-11-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Creative Drapery Designs & Full Moon Canvas Company's blog site. This is my first so please be patient. Having been in the drapery business for 16 years I am now delving into boat canvas. My husband & I have been sailing for more than 30 years and ultimately want to "sail away". Hence, the reason for embarking on boat canvas. We are hoping to work into it as our retirement job. I am currently doing all the fabrication and Bill is my consultant, my engineer, my inspiration. I'll post photos soon.