Done! (pretty much)

The art studio is pretty much completed! I still have to finish decorating and moving in, but all my supplies and materials are put away and I'm ready to get back to it. Thought I would post some before and after photos to show the difference. The studio is in a part of our basement...and it would be huge money to have it finished by adding walls, ceiling, etc. since it's so huge and all kinds of other issues...so we decided to fix it up as best we could despite all that. We sealed/primed and painted the cement walls and I covered up the insulation with pretty wrapping paper (as noted in the earlier post). We got all new furniture (thanks Ikea!!) and I'm so thrilled with the outcome. We decided we were sick of "making do" in an ugly basement and realized we could do something about it. It's not perfect, but much better than the pit of destruction that was once there. I have to make it my own now. Next... to print all my holiday cards! I'll post more photos of the studio tomorrow here and on my flickr site. Have a great night!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

My flock

Well, it's hard finding the exact paper I wanted to cover the insulation panels in my studio. Everything was either over the moon expensive or out of stock. ARG! I was in Paper-Source last night and found this silk paper that is flocked with this curry yellow pattern. I didn't see it on the online shop though. I bought a sheet to test it out and see if it could be seen through when placed on our silver insulation (and you can't...Yay!) so I think I will go ahead and buy several sheets. Since we aren't putting up walls (i.e. "finishing" the basement) I need a way to make it look more inviting and cozy in my work space down there. We need one more coat of paint and then I'll install the sheets of paper over the silver panels on either side of the window...the silver reflective surface is not my idea of inviting. I also bought some curry-colored solid wrapping paper to layer in if needed...which I think it will. Well, off to get back to work! Have a great day!
P.S. The show "Wicked" was really good! It got a little too shmaltzy during some parts which made me want to poke my eye out, but other than that I enjoyed it.

mmmmmMilk

We went to the farmstand near our house over the weekend to get fresh corn and I grabbed this glass bottle of coffee milk. I'm sad it's gone, but I can just bring the bottle back and have it refilled recycled/reused. I love having coffee milk and love the syrup...it's so tasty. Friends tell me that it's a New England thing and that you can't get the coffee milk syrup just anywhere. But I don't know; it seems hard to believe that. The basement studio area is cleaned out, primed, and my husband put on the first coat of paint this morning. Tomorrow will see the second coat of paint. Who knows when our furniture will arrive; I'm guessing it will be next week...in the meantime I will be printing my holiday cards down there amongst the mayhem. I'm also looking for decorative papers and accessories for the space and all the little things that will make it "mine." Maybe I will post some fun things I find on this blog and share the discoveries. I'm off for now, we are going into Boston to see the show "Wicked" this evening. Have a great day!

Inspiration

Today as a little inspiration bit: a favorite photo I found on flickr belonging to wikstenmade. Her photos are very inspirational for me: lots of colors and textures to see. This photo is a favorite of mine...I just love the colors in it. We all have favorite photos that call out at us, and this one grabbed me right away. She has a great blog too! Check it out. She's very talented and her clothes are just gorgeous; featured in her etsy shop too.

Am working today to clear up the basement studio area because it is actually being furnished and redone. We spent yesterday at Ikea (our first time!) rounding up the elements from the kitchen section that I want in my studio. Everything needs to be counter height...and today I picked out a robin's egg blue to go on the cement walls. We are going for a more industrial look down there since we aren't putting in walls right now. Anyway, I'll post before and after photos when applicable. Off to clean the walls and get going on the primer!

cool shop

By the time we found this cool shop on the Vineyard it was closed for the evening. Darn! And since we were only there for the day I never got to see it. It's called "Mix". I'll have to go back and make sure to see this shop first! I loved the great set in the window and the amazing blanket...you'll have to click to view the image larger...such a great pattern!!
Mix
6 Main Street
Vineyard Haven
Martha's Vineyard
02568
Tel: 508 693 8240

Sabbatical Day 5

It's going to rain all day today. I can't complain; we really need it! We are cleaning up and preparing for a visit from friends tomorrow; so we are excited for it. Today I am concepting designs for my holiday card packaging. I'm really excited with how it's coming out so far...I may end up using it for my packaging for card sets AFTER the holidays...that is, if I can manage to finalize it! Too many ideas = hard decisions. Today's photos are of a recent Save the Date I did for a fabulous bride I'm working with. I love the color theme she is using...
Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy!

Sabbatical day 3 and 4

Hi! Yesterday was incredibly hot; so we walked to the nearby pond and sat on the beach and swam. We were the only ones there so it was so soothing listening to the water lapping the shore. I spent the morning and afternoon doing work. I finally managed to design my Christmas cards to be sold on Etsy and I finished them up yesterday. I've ordered the plates for the letterpress and the waiting begins! I'll have a lot of printing to do soon, I guess. I've done 3 different designs that will be for sale and I tried to make them "cute" and a little different. But not "out there." I've decided that I can second-guess myself forever...so I might as well do what I like and leave it at that. I have visions of being stuck with 60 packs of holiday cards in July. We shall see! Today was spent doing work while Chris worked on mowing the lawn/doing yard upkeep. It's supposed to be thunderstormy soon so we're avoiding the outdoors. I decided to post a piece from my recent work: this was the invitation I did for my mother's surprise birthday party. I made 25 of them and they seemed to be a big hit. And for not a lot of money! I designed the inserts myself and printed them/cut them out on my own printer and used a paper cutter for trimming. I used a rubber stamp to do the red "secret" marking, and bought the mini folders and envelopes at Paper-Source. Fun! I even used "mission impossible" language throughout the invitation to keep to the theme...so that made it fun to read. And that's the one thing I like to pay attention to: not just a design, but language that relates and ties into the theme is just as important. Have a great day and enjoy!

Sabbatical Day 2

Happy Birthday to my husband, Chris! His birthday was yesterday...and a wish of his was to go to Martha's Vineyard for the day. So, we got up early and drove the hour and a half to the ferry terminal. After a great 45 minute ride, we arrived! I've actually never been there before. I grew up in Southern Maine, so I have always been familiar with the "ocean/tourist" thing. And I never tire of it; I love the ocean and the coast...I'd just never managed to make it out to M.V. before. Anyway, it was a great day! We wandered the shops, had lunch, went to a beach, walked some more and had dinner at Black Dog Tavern. We got to watch the sunset and the full-moon rise. What a day! I would definitely like to go back and explore the different areas of the island and see some of the shops.
The day was one for the senses, and here are a few things I noticed:
The cool breeze wrapping around us
The smell of fresh salt air
The bright aqua ocean
The cloudless blue sky
The scent of onion rings in the air
The sounds of the swirling waves
The hum of the ferry boat's motor
The fresh sea mist spray on my face
The sparkling sun on the water making it look like liquid silver in the highlights
The warm sun on my face (I now have a racoon face thanks to my sunglasses)
Chris told me to mention "husband getting older". (ha ha. Aren't we all...)
The smell of fresh steamed lobster (my husband's birthday dinner...I had the prosciutto-wrapped chicken)

It was a great day to just take deep breaths and let it all out. See more photos here.

Sabbatical and catch up

My husband is very lucky. For every seven years worked, his company gives an 8 week paid sabbatical to rest. He can do whatever he wants with the time... That being said, we're trying to fill it up with day trips, excursions, and fun. How many chances will we get in our lives to have this time together alone? We're looking at this as our last big hoorah before creating our family. So, by default, I am a lucky wife. Today marks the first official day of sabbatical. Although Friday night Chris had some definite spring in his step when he came through the door. (Whereas I seemed to look beaten by the elements). Saturday (day one of freedom) we went and met up with my friend Sue and her boyfriend at the Big E in Springfield, MA. For those not from the area, this is the "Eastern States Exposition" and is a huge state fair. There's musical acts, livestock, games, rides, food, food, and food. I had several fried items, of course. My husband said "I'm on sabbatical...I'm going to try the fried Oreo!!" I always wondered what a fried Oreo looked like...so I had to wait no more...it looked like a doughnut hole at first. But when you take a bite of the warm treat, you discover the melty Oreo inside. I'm ignoring my chest pains as I write this.And I made sure to buy a bag of cotton candy before we left...just to drive the nail in the coffin that holds my health. We had fun there checking out all the livestock and even the fancy butter sculpture (try to contain your jealousy!)

Sunday found us driving around as we searched for a new television for our bedroom. Happy birthday to my husband! We found a 32 inch flat panel television with a built-in DVD player made by Toshiba...so we snatched it up and now I fear I'll never leave my bed again. Again, my health is turning in its grave. RIP.
Today, the first "official" day of sabbatical, I did some work and Chris went for a run. He also made me a delicious sandwich of sliced turkey, cheese, lettuce, avacado, and pesto mayonnaise all on toasted break. *drool* After lunch, we went to Kimball Farm and played mini golf and then had ice cream Frappes. Now, here I am doing work and taking a break to blog. Tomorrow is Chris' birthday and the weather looks to be hot! So, we plan to head out to Martha's Vineyard for the day and see what awaits us there! I'll be sure to post on our discoveries.
On the work front, aside from client projects, I'm working on designs for my holiday cards to sell in my etsy shop. I'm overwhelmed by this task because so much has already been done out there and there's so much yet to be done. Ugh! I don't want to do something cheesy, but I don't want to do something boring. It's so hard to know what direction to go in. So, I've decided to just keep sketching until I feel the light switch on in my head. Am I alone, or do any of you get these pangs of uncertainty about your work? Feel free to comment. Perhaps some time at the ocean will awaken my muse (or put it to sleep with the fresh salt air...who knows). More to come! Have a great day everyone!

Catching up

Phew! I'm finally finished my corporate client work for now...so I'm back at the home office and studio and into my own routine again. So much to tell! I'll start with this post. A few weeks ago I posted about my Mum's birthday. Well, we ended up throwing her a big surprise party the next day. She's never had one, so it was great fun! My Dad drove her down from Maine to our house under the ruse that we would all be going out to dinner around Boston. Well, when she arrived she was welcomed by 33 people!

We promptly decked her out in her birthday gear:


She was so delighted and I'm so thankful to everyone who came and made the day so special. It was a steaming hot day in September...95 degrees! So everyone was melting outside. But we turned on the sprinkler for the kids and made the best of it. We had lots of good music from the 50s and early 60s, cake, gifts, and TONS of food. Even Morgan the dog got in on the action.

A wonderful day and even better memories were had by all. The last photo shows Mum opening her gifts with her brother (my uncle) sitting next to her. My brother is on the other side of him; and of course, Morgan is at her feet hoping he might get a treat of his own. (He did get a special L.L. Bean boot squeaky toy later that day...and a few meaty soup bones to chew on). More posts later!!

Happy Birthday Mum!

For the mother who I have always dreamed to be like one day:
I love you more than life. You mean so much to every one of us. When I think of you, I can only think of words like "sweet" "fun" "loving" "nice, nice, nice" "caring" and "the best."
This is a very special birthday for you and we wish we could give you the world; sometimes it feels like all of our love and thanks seems so small and not enough for what you deserve.
Happy Birthday to you, Mum. Cheers to many, many more!

Wren

Last weekend I finally printed my "wren" notecards. I've had this plate for almost a year just waiting to be printed. I have them for sale in sets of 5 on my Etsy shop. I've only printed 14 sets in this particular custom color...never to be again! I will reprint the plate, but in a new color next time. Right now it's a sort of pale olivey color...I wanted something that looked like it could be used all year round but also had a bit of a fall feeling to it. I'm excited about them. I saw a really fat wren on our front porch at the end of the winter and it looked like a softball with legs. You could barely see its head...it was just so chubby for the winter. And so cute. That inspired me to do the card...this one on the card is a bit more thin than the one I saw (which is really saying something). I hope everyone is well! I've been busy freelancing these past few weeks and will continue to do so for the next few. After that I need to get cracking on my holiday cards and my next limited edition print (which I already have the plate for). See you soon!

"New" type

Check it out! I am now the proud and lucky owner of a whole font of wood type! It's so pretty. I got it from a lovely man who is 77 and retired (and has letterpressed all his life). All of his equipment came from his father and himself (his father was a printer all HIS life). I loved talking to him at his shop and getting to hear all his different stories about all the different jobs he's had through his life. It seems like he's done it all! It reminds me that I'm just beginning my story....

Back to it

Phew! I've been gone from here for what seems like forever. We got back from our vacation to Salzburg, Austria last weekend and I've been catching up on errands and sleep ever since. It was an amazing trip and I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone considering going to Europe. It was so breathtaking: clean, beautiful, friendly people, rich history and much to see. An added bonus: we never even needed a map to find our way around! It was such a charming place with it's historic buildings, cobblestone streets, and music traditions. And I never once encountered a piece of trash on the ground or a dirty bathroom...even at the beer garden!!! (I say this with a smile, but it is very true!) I would go back any time if given the chance! We did so much there that it's impossible to list here. Let's just say that it was a fabulous time and there was a new discovery every moment. With this post are some favorite photos. Now that I'm finally caught up on my errands and am back to work I hope to start posting more regularly again. I hope you all have been well and I can't believe it is almost September!!! See you soon!

Tagged!

Yikes! I've been tagged again (this time by 3 people on the same day, so I guess I'd better do it!). The game is: you list 7 habits/things about yourself and then "tag" other bloggers in their comments section to do the same. You list their links in the entry and onward it goes. I'm going to have to be a jerk this time because most of the blogs I read have done this already (and I've been so busy and stressed with work that I am now too lazy in my last few free minutes to scout out more people to do it). So, here's my 7 things (without tagging anyone else...sorry!)

1. When I eat Oreos, I try to isolate the filling part all-together. I eat the cookie from the top and carefully break apart the cookie on the bottom and eat it so all I am left with is a perfect circle of the filling to eat on its own. Lots of work. But keeps me from eating too many.

2. You know back when they used to make those black markers that smelled "toxic" but were addictive to breathe in? I loved those. Not in a crazy addict way... I just liked to take the cap off and smell that lovely scent every once in a while. Don't try to deny you've done it once or twice. I know I still have one stashed somewhere. Do they even make those anymore?

3. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder. No, I don't wash my hands a million times or check the oven over and over. But I obsessively THINK. Really! When I let it get out of control I never sleep because I can't stop thinking and planning. It's like those nights you stay up worrying about things every once in a while... you know? And you can't get your mind to quiet down because you're planning the whole next day? Well, imagine that every single night. Forever. I've trained myself to NOT do it on cue (thanks to a helpful therapist and a lot of stupid practice; but when I'm stressed out I tend to plan my life years in advance when I should be sleeping! (No worries, it's under control.)

4. I recently learned that the song "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty is about Marijuana. How did I not know this? I've heard it called everything but "Mary Jane." Until now! I feel so enlightened! Or is that my special marker taking effect?....(kidding)

5. I love to concept my design work in little blank cloth books. I have some that Pottery Barn had put out a long time ago. I like to carry them around with me so I can write little words and ideas down as well as some sketches. You'll also see tons of lists...some repeating themselves (See No. 3 of this list).

6. I like to sleep. It's like a fun hobby for me. It's terrible...I like to sleep for 10 hours each night. Not that I get 10 hours every night, but it's what I prefer. If I only get 8 I feel like I've been hit by a truck. 10 always seems like the magic amount for me. One day I will have children and this will be an impossible dream. So for now, I make sure to relish it when I get 10 hours. (I hate relish by the way).

7. When I was in college I majored in Advertising Design. We had to take a bunch of studio electives throughout the time there so I took all figure drawing classes. And haven't done anything with it since. But at least the figure drawing was something I enjoyed. In fact, there's a lot of crap I haven't used since college. As for algebra from grade school times? Never used it. Never once. And do you know how many hours I slaved and toiled on that homework every day? How many nights spent worrying? I KNEW I would never need it. See? I was right. Not that I'm bitter or anything. I'm just saying...........

Sorry for my lack of posting lately. I've been freelancing for a corporate client (on-site) of mine by day and doing my own client work at night. Free time has been at zero; but hopefully soon I'll have a routine nailed down. Perhaps it's something I can think about tonight whilst trying to sleep? Or not....

Hope you enjoyed my list!! Comments accepted freely.