Closet Project

Our 1922 house has never had a coat closet. You enter into the front living room/dining room/LARGE room, and there is no place for coats... other than the chairs at the dining table which evolved into ON TOP of the dining table.
What we did have was a hall linen closet that was unusually deep... like 4 feet deep which me (my short little self) would have to get a step stool to reach anything that had been inadvertently shoved to the back. Usually those things remained forgotten.





Children are for scale...



You can see in this shot with the drawer out how deep it is. And that there is wasted space beyond the back of the drawer. You did not, under ANY circumstances, want to pull one of these extremely large drawers out all the way. You could not hold them and, as you let go, would hope to high heaven that you could get your toes out of the way in time.



So we ripped everything out. Used some of the unfinished fir to put in the floor... there was no flooring on the closet floor that matched the fir in the hall... Now there is. And primed and painted... and then added shelves up the back.




In front of the shelves is a coat rod, so the coats hang in front of the shelves. There is plenty of space for both things, and we cleaned out tons of stuff from the closet that we didn't need or could have been stored in a more appropriate place. Read as: stored somewhere that we would remember and be able to find the item at a later date.
There is always one box of stuff leftover...



I'm still trying to figure out where to put these things.

When they are too quiet...

So I had a meeting this morning on Skype. I was on my headset and Mister e was keeping himself busy with some Nick Jr. shows and a finding Nemo game and doing some drawing too. He, like his mother, likes to have a lot of things going on at once. Apparently he branched out a bit, and I lost track of the time, and he presented this work of self-art:



Note that each side is it's own color complete with coordinating eye details. I am not sure if he used the mirror down here or not. If he did, he was REALLY quiet. A bath was required for this clean up.

It's raining... and I'm excited!

It's been raining since last evening, and my allergies are SO much better! This is probably one of the few times that I will be excited about rain. I also have a new $100 allergy nose spray... thankfully we didn't have to pay the full price. So now I'm on double allergy meds and decongestants 24 hours a day. I am able to breath which means I can function once again! Hope to be more productive in the next few days.
On another note, I found this cool site called Frugal Living. It's all about saving money, coupon clipping, and living on less. Good info... and a cute little bird logo to boot!

Springtime allergies... yuck

So it's 4:30am in the morning... and I've been up since 2 am with a running nose that is also plugged tight. How the two things can exist simultaneously is beyond me. After suffering from allergies all week, I felt really good yesterday afternoon and went outside to do some weeding. The spouse was sweeping up grass clippings and the side walk (which was covered... and I mean COVERED) in pollen. Apparently I got into the cloud of yellow and have been a mess ever since. It's a bummer because I really like gardening and can't participate yet. This year is the worst that my allergies have ever been. I think it's time for a trip to the doctors to adjust the meds.
For now I will leave you with this lovely picture done by my 2-1/2 year old son.



He is really into circles and will spend lengthy amounts of time creating these topographical maps.... which he prefers to do in marker... never crayon or some other less messy media.

Shark Softie

Miss Elsie received this invite to a birthday party this month....



The shark really caught the spouse's eye, and we decided to turn it into a custom softie for the birthday recipient. So I scanned in the invite and blew it up really big.... YAY for Illustrator!



The result matched the image very closely.



I like his teeth.

Well... hello there

It has been awhile since I last posted. I needed to slow things down a bit and take a break from a few things. My blog was one of the things that was pushed to the side. In the meantime, however, spring has finally arrived here in Portland. I can tell because:
1. I now have all sorts of flowers that I can cut and bring inside and
2. My allergies are on overdrive. Apparently my allergy meds wear off around 5:45am. As long as I'm asleep it doesn't matter, but if I wake up... look out!
I planted these lovelies last fall. They are very orange but have a little big of light tipping on the edges.



I think there are 2 different kinds of tulips in this bouquet... both orange. I can't remember what I planted.



Bulbs are like that, though. A little bit of a surprise in the spring.

Family Room Redo

So right after Christmas, I decided that the family room needed a redo.



It wasn't as light and bright as it could be. I've been seeing so many beautiful rooms with light colored walls that seem so airy and calming... especially in the now defunct Domino magazine... R.I.P. So as you can see from the pictures, we had a LOT of stuff on the big bookcases.



When the bookcases were emptied most of the stuff was toys and about 60 pounds of magazines. We moved the bookcases into other rooms that desperately needed the shelving. I repainted everything! Ceiling, trim, walls... everything is really, really clean with brand new paint.



We bought a new shelving unit from IKEA that would hold our television... which was 1/4" too wide to fit on the old bookcases. No, you couldn't just wedge it in there... we tried and it looked, well, wedged.



After we completely assembled the bookcase, we realized that it didn't have feet and had to sit over a heat vent... the only heat vent in the room. And we discovered this at 10pm at night. Everything was closed so there was no way to finish this project that night. Which was extremely disappointing as I had painted and used fans to get all the paint on the shelving unit wall done and dried so we could install our new furniture and get the TV back up and running. The next day the spouse bought wood and ebony stain and started making block feet that would raise the shelf about 1-3/4" off the floor. You cannot make stain dry any faster than it is designed too. We checked with two experts (my dad and his dad) and both said "Don't rush it"... speaking from experience, of course. So the 6'x6' case was flat on the floor for 2 days while the feet dried.



The result is exactly what I had envisioned... and I LOVE it.



We even replaced the the spouse's "unauthorized purchase" couch with a brand new couch from Dania. This is my first brand new couch that I have ever purchased in my life! The old couch is on Craigslist if anyone is interested.

Hello Spring!!!

I love spring. I really, really love spring and summer. I like a little winter, but not too much. I was done with winter 3 weeks ago. I know, I know... too early... but mentally I was already sitting in my back yard smelling roses.
So I started some seeds...



.. because it's that time of year....



I have a lot started. I might have too many tomatoes, but I'm always afraid some might not come up.



But outside I found my first few flowers opening up their sleepy heads...





I love green flowers, and hellebores fits the bill so nicely.

Crater Lake

I was cleaning out my iPhone and found this lovely picture of Crater Lake:



I fly back and forth to Irvine for one of my freelance clients, and it was a clear day on the last trip. I have never actually been to Crater Lake, but fly over it frequently. I really want to go this year.

Board of Inspiration

So here are the images that I have affixed to my board with my fancy new magents....




The first image has a couple of sheets that are part of a "Decadent" inspiration board. I think that defines my style... as I like the images, color, and materials of those sheets... and, of course, you can't go wrong with John Galliano who is featured smack in the middle of those tear sheets.
Now I just have to figure out how to make all this work with my existing wardrobe.....

Why does it take me so long to get around to doing things???

So I posted back in the middle of summer that I had put up these linen covered magnet boards.


...which have basically remained linen covered boards with nothing on them for 6 months. I finally got around to making my magnets for them. I wanted to use these clear, thick scrapbooking lens stickers with letters, but my magnets were, of course, magnet color which is black meaning the letters wouldn't show up on the black magnet.


So I painted them all with a couple of coats of a cream colored acrylic.


I let them dry and stuck the stickers on top. Ta da! They look pretty swanky.


I have now filled my magnet boards will all sorts of inspirational images to help me stay focused on sewing some new things for me and revamping my wardrobe a bit. While I am delighted to have beautiful images to look at, I have discovered that I have completely conflicting views of style. I love vintage looks and tailored suits while swooning over goth gowns and heavy eye liner. I'm a sucker for rhinestone jewelry, but also love elaborately detailed coats and jackets that would not require any additional adornment. And I love the look of combat boots and layers of tulle... I don't know why, but I really, really do. I'll post pictures of my dilemma board tomorrow. Either way it still looks better than empty linen.

So nice to know other people work the same way...

I was over reading French General's blog this morning, and there was a picture of her office in complete bury-ment and disarray.
It makes me feel so good to know that other people work this way. I'm a big piler, but can find things easily. I appreciate a clean desk, but can never get there myself.



This is as clean as it gets for me. I just happy that the piles fit under the lamp shade of my desk lamp.



I am been putting forth a lot of effort into removing the piles from the floor. I am now down to about 60 pounds of magazines that I need to go through and tear out the images I want to keep. I have even purchased clear binders to organize my tear sheets... someday I'll get there.

Look at these cool things!

I have been absent from the blog for a bit. My January has been very full so far. My class that I teach at the University of Idaho has started; I've been asked to assist in a presentation in Second Life for the University... which is very fun and exciting and groundbreaking, but requires time; my sister and I are planning our promotion strategy for Mister Judy, since we have A LOT of spring merchandise that will probably not be sold to retailers... and then the usual business with family, freelance, and house.
But for now... check out these cool clothespins that the spouse gave me for Christmas!






For now they are marching around the edge of my Fire-King teacup... I think I will try to frame them in some way... I have never seen anything like these before. It's amazing they survived, as clothespins usually receive a fair amount of wear and tear.

Pens

Mariko at Super Eggplant always has the coolest pens and accessories. She just did a test between the classic Sharpie.. that we all know and love... and the new Bic Mark-it. I think I need to make a trip to the store.

The CPSIA and Small Business

In August of last year, Congress passed bill HR4040--the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This bill is aimed at protecting our children from toys containing lead and phthalates and addressing other safety issues. However, parts of this bill will directly effect all small handmade toy makers, designers and store owners in such a way that many may not have the means to continue operating.

The CPSIA now requires all children's products, including natural handmade toys and clothing to be tested by a third party lab, often at a cost of up to $4,000 per item. That could cost a small company more than $20,000 a season. That could easily put many small companies out of business.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children's goods that have earned and kept the public's trust: toys, clothes, and accessories made mainly by small businesses in the US, Canada, and Europe. This must be amended before it's too late.

We strongly urge Congress to amend the current legislation to exclude small businesses from this exorbitant type of testing, similar to the exemptions granted by the FDA for small producers under the food labeling laws.

It is our small businesses that have worked hard to maintain the trust of consumers by ensuring handmade toys, clothing and accessories are safe. It is unfair to punish the businesses who truly are the backbone of our country and who have been committed to producing safe toys and crafts for the consumer.

For more information, visit the Handmade Toy Alliance. You may sign a petition here.

Many of you know that I have a small children's clothing business with my sister called Mister Judy. This law will effect out ability to produce our products if the testing is required. Please help us and our fellow small business owners by contacting your congressmen and requesting them to clarify the CPSIA and exempt small businesses from the third party testing in the US.

Christmas and the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday season. We are still recovering from the festivities, the cookies and candy, and basically not eating any fruits or vegetables but living on a diet of turkey dinner leftovers and shortbread.
We started off the Christmas season with an amazing snow storm which kept Miss E home for 3 of the last 5 days of school. It turned our neighborhood into a frosty wonderland which kept all the kids busy for many days.




Then we visited the Sugar Plum Fairy at the Nutcracker.... so beautiful and inspiring.



Some of the decorations around the house... some fabricated and some natural...







I was sewing and knitting like a mad woman for most of December. Here is the log of creation:
3 sets of man-style pyjamas
3 sets of leg warmers
1 eyelet slip... after we discovered the Miss E's party dress was slightly transparent
1 girly purse/tote bag for art supplies

Here is the slip...

I was determined not to purchase any additional fabric but use up all these bits of eyelet that I keep leaving behind after various curtain projects.

The spouse, in a flurry of creativity, crafted The Atomic Death Trap 3000 sled for the kids. Obviously it was a smashing success...