My Dream Studio

Eyelet Sage Studio, a blog I like to look in on pretty frequently, just posted a question that really interested me. Because I recently took the Sproost Test online in addition to ranting and gushing over various design elements I hate and love, Eyelet's question perked my Interior Designer's interest: "What would your creative space look like?"



I would love to have an open, lofty feel like this room has. Clerestory windows along at least one wall, and full windows from those on down to the floor. Light pine trims framing a creamy white wall. Recessed and track lighting smartly illuminating a glossy cream colored ceiling, reflecting even more clean light on the space below.

Sure, I'd love to have the furniture that's pictured above, but I would still need room for the necessary creative outlets such as an easel for painting with oils, my drafting table for drawing up floor plans... or for painting watercolors... or for the new and cute little Brother, sewing up the next Sewing Green project.

I would add a wall of light pine cubby shelving, each hole fit with its own plastic tub (like the shelving Katie and Saunders got for Katie Anne), and fill them all with my yarn stash in order of the colors of the rainbow, starting with light pink and ending in lavender. I'd also use it to store current (as in, the last year or two only) magazines for inspiration. And art history, color theory, crafting instructional books. A vase of sunflowers, paperwhites, or irises. And maybe even some of my ceramics.

And, again, I'd definitely have to have a hand-knit, hand-felted rug in the space to make the bumpy, scratched, abused, reclaimed black-stained barn wood floors cozy and comfy.



I'd also like a section of a wall--like, 4'x6'--covered in a coarse cork to use as a built-in, tack-on idea board. (Yes, you can buy cork as wallpaper! Amazing, I know.) A shiny white lacquered frame built around it could make it a great focal point. Inspirational magazine clippings, restaurant napkin ideas, and torn-out journal entry thoughts. What else? Fabric swatches that inspire. Paint chips that make me happy. And plenty, plenty, plenty (!) of lists. And a calendar that I picked up on our latest weekend flyaway to Paris, of course, daaaah-ling.


Wouldn't a potter's wheel be perfect, tucked away in a dark corner? I don't know why it's a dark corner in my mind's eye, but I think it would tend to the concentration aspect of throwing pottery... along with a sweet Bose speaker system.

And, now that I'm thinking of it, I really think I have a novel idea here... just bare with me as I think it out, it's something I haven't considered before. I'm thinking of a gallery wall, just on the inside of the doorway to the studio. I'd display drawings, sketches, floorplans, paintings, and shadow boxes of 3-dimensional artwork as well as a few short display shelves... but I wouldn't just display finished works. I think it would be a great way to step back and re-evaluate works-in-progress as well. Ever seen how many unfinished works the great Renaissance masters had? And they're displayed in museums around the world. Why couldn't mine be on display in my own tidy little studio getaway? :)

These are the off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts for my ideal crafting/art making studio. Some day, I hope to have even a couple of these for myself! "What would your creative space look like?"

Restoration Innovation

This is so smart, I just had to share it with anyone who might find it interesting in the slightest... and I know some of you will!

click here.

One neighbor's trash...

Is another neighbor's treasure!

I noticed a set of four chairs in my neighbor's front yard this afternoon. They were on the corner of the property, along with boxes of trash and piles of bush and tree scraps, waiting to be towed off by the garbage truck. The seat of the armchair is split right down the center, about an inch. But that's easily remedied. I don't really have a plan for the three side chairs, but I have a feeling the armchair is destined to be my art table chair for ever more.


I'm having a tough time deciding--should these all be painted the same color? If so, I'm thinking definitely black lacquer. If not, what color? If they're a color other than black, will they all be the same color? Coordinating colors? Three black side chairs and a neon yellow armchair at the drafting table?


I got four free chairs today! Ha!Ha! I get to make them look however I want! Ha!Ha! (Actually, I shouldn't rub it in, or you'll recommend something ugly!)

Poppin' parties, fun findings and hilarious happenings

Lately at work, there have been quite a few little pops of light that remind me why I love my job so much. On a regular basis, I play hostess to birthday parties for very little ones, middle little ones, and big little ones (this translates to average ages between 4 and 12). Pizza, pottery, cake, balloons, streamers, candles, and presents... just the way I like to spend my work days! Yesterday there was a small party of five girls ages 10 and 11, and they were so sassy and silly and prissy, and they welcomed me with open arms into their conversations and vogue-style pictures. Oh, these kids and their hats, pleated denim skirts, leggings, ballet flats, and feminine menswear vests. We were never so stylish when I was that age! Bold horizontal stripes are luckily a thing of the past. The Twilight DVD was the theme conversation of the two-hour ordeal.

Pottery painted during a birthday party:

Just a few days ago, as I was unloading a kiln of pottery from the day before, I came upon a small box that a man had painted. It was a box shaped like a treasure chest. Inside the lid of the box, the man painted, "Marry Me?" Oh, how sweet! I wish him all the best. Sadly, I left the studio and got all the way home before I remembered to take a picture, and by the time I was back at work the next day, he had already come by to pick it up.

And then there was last night. When working at a pottery shop, it becomes a semi-regular experience to hear a brand new, unpainted piece of pottery fall from a child's hand, or get knocked off a tabletop, or fall off balance from the shelf. Well, last night a t-rex dinosaur's movement-sensitive eyes spotted the movements of a young boy. His attempt at making a hasty attack resulted in an unfortunate fall from many stories (shelves) up, and he needed an immediate amputation of his left leg from the knee down. Poor guy! The surgical team (my comrade Nicole and I) were able to save the dino's life and give him a new life purpose - he is now a one-legged pirate dino, complete with a parrot on one shoulder, an eyepatch, and wooden leg. Needless to say, we had a tiny bit of time on our hands, and the little boy's heart wasn't nearly as broken in the end. Yaaaargh, mayteee!


Why do you love your job?

As You Wish!

How can you not have fun working at a place called As You Wish?

I work at a pottery painting place and love my job. You come into the store, pick out a piece of pottery, pick out what colors you would like to paint it, and make your piece of pottery look just as you wish!!!

Tonight the store closed at 7:00 and all of us employees locked ourselves inside the store to paint our own pieces together. It was a potluck painting extravaganza, and I volunteered the lasagna. I had all the ingredients already except for the tomato sauce and cheese, so it was easy and cheap for me! Plus, since I was off work today I had the time to make something from scratch in stead of bringing in grocery store cookies, or Dixie cups. Doors locked, food lined up, paintbrushes ready, GO!!!

The lasagna was a hit, someone else brought Doritos, another brought homemade enchiladas and some "Ay! Ay! Ay!" salsa (yum!), and then, of course, there were drinks and some tasty chocolate cupcakes.

I started by painting my "name plate." Each girl gets a 6" tile to decorate as she pleases, to hang on the wall behind the cash register, so customers know who is helping them. The managers also use the tiles to see what each girl's interestes might be, what colors she likes, her artisic abilities, and so on. Jessika plays volleyball for her high school, and her tile shows a flaming volleyball soaring through space with her name written on it. Haylee is a cute, endearingly preppy high school junior whose tile is a cartoon-y self portrait of herself with a side ponytail held by a hot pink ribbon. My original tile was the profile of a butterfly painted in neon green, purple, and bright red... and the first time I hung it on the wall, the nail gave way and the tile came a-crashin to the ground. So sad. So tonight I painted a new name plate. This time I went with a simple, classic white motif. My name in "puffy paint" in ALL CAPS in white on a white background. I'm playing with shadow and I'm excited to see how it turns out!

There are only two others who are as old or older than me at the store. Patty, my boss, is in her thirties and has a husband and a four-year-old daughter Gabriella. Nicole is a free-spirited retro pin-up model (I know!) 24-year-old with a husband and two little boys. All the other girls are either still in high school, or have just graduated. Sabrina is the next oldest under me, and she's a freshman in college dealing with an overbearing mother and the always unforseen party expenses that always seem to pop up. How did I get so old?!?? When did this happen? And most importantly, how do I fit in with these young(er) girls so well? It was a rare occasion that I got along with so many girls when I was in high school. Maybe my mood of painting a plain white tile with my plain white name in the center means I'm open to the other bright and colorful personalities around me?