Detours

Lest you all begin to believe I am freakishly single-minded, I thought I'd post about the OTHER projects that I've spent time on this week. The creation of my art room has resulted in changes to my office, and I had a big wall to deal with over the bed, where a bookcase used to be. So I decided to finally hang some of my artwork:



In the center is a numbers collage made from tags, envelopes and stencils. On the left and bottom right are altered cabinet card photos I did in a class with Sylvia Luna at Art Unraveled. Here are a couple of close-ups of those fun little pieces, which I finally found frames for at 40% this week.







At the top right is a sampler mosaic I also did at Art Unraveled, in a class with Jill MacKay.



The guy at the bottom right was a lot of fun to create.



I also made a bulletin board as a going away to college gift for my neice, who leaves next week for UCSB. I'll give it to her at a party tomorrow night. She's doing her dorm room in black and white and hot pink, so I painted the frame and glued buttons on and stamped a bit on the cork. The buttons in the middle of the cork are glued onto flat-head tacks, so she can use them to post photos of her friends and other memerobilia.




Next up is decorating an envelope for an ephemera swap that must be in the mail by tomorrow. And at some point I might get motivated to dust my house (still fighting the ash) and clean the bathrooms. Ugh.

Decorative Touches

Okay, I admit I'm not taking a utilitarian approach to this room. It's just as important to me that I FEEL good when I'm in there as it is that I can locate what I need to create. So, I've been focusing on making the room look and feel colorful, feminine, and inspiring.

I finished the table cover for the folding table that will hold jars of brushes, pencils, markers, and all the stuff I need to be able to grab quickly. I ordered glass for the top of the table, but it is not in yet. Here's the cover, though.



I also stamped a design onto the old curtains I'm using from the dining room and got those hung:





Ah, but here is an item that is both decorative and practical. I've mentioned this locker-type cabinet before, and it's finally painted, in the room, and full! I'm still thinking of collaging the panels on the door, but as that's purely decorative (!), I decided to move it to the bottom of the list.




OOoohh, FedEx just delivered my cork to make my bulletin board. Gotta go . . .

Smoke and Progress

Though the smoke and ash from the massive Day fire has altered my plans a bit, I have been making steady progress on my studio. Painting furnuture and my floor canvas outside has not been possible, but I was able to paint a small cabinet in the garage (photos of that after it's all done).

Mark has been a big help. He hung the curtain rod on which I'm going to hang the yellow curtains after I stamp them with fabric paint. And he is still working on the best way to get an electrical box installed on the workstation. Of course, Tinkerbell keeps me company as I work in the studio.



I added a Vyco board cover to the top of the workstation. This stuff is really nice. It's self-healing for punctures, and will protect the table top, but is not as sturdy as the self-healing mat you see in the photo. I was surprised that it attaches with double-sided tape! And the cost for it was reasonable.



I also finished my little folding chair (thanks, Susan!) and one of the tablecloths. I love the colors, and this chair will be perfect when I find a little desk for my sewing machine.



I'm off to finish varnishing the cupboard so Mark can help me move it in before he leaves town for the rest of the week. Then back to "real" work.