Thursday, August 27, 2009

Long gone....

are the days where we got new crayons at the beggining of the school year. Fall classes have started, and its starting to sink in. They never really stopped...just classes and more classes all summer and on through. Now we have 200 dollar textbooks and stuff thats over our heads. Maybe if I buy a Lisa Frank folder and close my eyes, my assignments will still be learning the alphabet.

What I want to be for Halloween this year....

Cool!! especially if you had like...a billion dollars to spend on your kids...

well, we can pretend right? This is the Potterybarn kids kitchen collection. It's to cute to resist. I guess I am reminiscent of playing kitchen in the backyard with my best friend and trying to get the neighbor's dog to eat our charcoal/sand/mushroom concoction. Too bad it cost more than a set of living room furniture...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

things I plan on making...

I love closet buckets....and Etsy....
I have found a coffee bag already to make one of these to hold magazines beside the sofa. My camera is currently broken, so i will upload the bag +process later.
this is awesome idea i will steal #two
I knew i wanted to make a floor cloth for the living room with my duck canvas i used to paint on. I had never thought of a smaller rug. They stretched this one, it looks like, and then painted it. I'm guessing for the circles they used a jar lid and then added heavy duty polyeurothane and rubber backing.

painting process for alpine trees...


my paints are kept in an old suitcase that my brother rescued from a water damage job.
phase 1, laid out the "under colors"
Phase two, added on some complimentary "undercolors". The unreal bright primarys provide a base for a deeper color. Their opposites are added on top in layers of tranlucent washes. The problem encountered here is possible scrape off with the watered down acrylics.
the next step was to paint on the last "layer" which involved the complimentary colors over the base colors to create rich varieties of browns. The build up continued, and chunky bits were added with the palette knife for effect. The highlighted grass is made by litte scratches with the tip of the knife, while the bottom corners are build up by slathering on paint mixed with modeling medium. As an experiment i added string and a dryersheet underneath the paint for texture.
I was unsatisfied with the final outcome, but in a hurry to be through, i went on to the final step. I added a two coat glaze varnish over the whole thing. This helped balance out the plasticy look of the acrylics. I love the effects oils give alot more, but for $'s sake...I have to stick with acrylics. 

good pillows

I plan on making alot of random pillows to mix and match for the living room, and these are my top favorite ideas. Throw pillows just make me happy, what can i say?

the studio space...

I am an art kid dropout...and I miss the access to the tools. No, I don't miss the crazed proffesors, the potheads or the time consuming progects...I just miss the abundance of art leftovers, the people who leave their work for view, and the woodshop. There is something calming about a used up palette and flecks of paint on all the furniture. I am moving to a new space soon with a new husband, and it is my goal to have a studio upstairs. No, I probibly won't have the track lighting or draft boards, but maybe I'll have a space thats clean and stocked with things that inspire. My goal is organization this time around, and i will eventually post a few of the cool closet ideas I've found.

a blog...really?

Well here goes nothing. I was toying with the idea of starting a blog for crazy ideas and good finds. It will be for projects to do and to accomplish. How to's of my own creations and recommendations of others. I hope to publish the adventures of house settling and create quirky design that is cost-effective in the process.