Oct 20, 2016

A studio closet makeover!

Scroll down a couple posts and you can see the before and afters of my office studio. The walls were khaki without the pleats! ;) haha. We painted the studio all white except for the closet...I wanted that khaki color because I was to paint a mural in it utilizing that shade. Here are the before and afters. :)


painting snow mounds


adding a little snowdrift [?] texture


painted my "Roxy Marj Winnie Pine Trees" on each large mound... but I didn't want them to be so bold looking. For this mural I was going for a modern/rustic vibe with some softness...


I whitewashed over the trees, the whole closet


now to add little mountains, cabins, cottages, and gypsy wagons! So fun. :)


then with some watered down black/blue/grayish paint, add some smaller 
trees to fill in the white space


After that was complete, we installed a shelf to put my sewing books and old sketchbooks on and then put my industrial sewing machine and serger back in it's place. My next revamp will be those curtains. They're nice and simple...pretty even, but not magical...they need some magic! ;-[)



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Lastly.... we have a new friend staying with us. Her name is Sidney, she is six years old and is a Terrier mix. We found Sidney through Lead and Love Rescue just outside of Redmond, OR. 

Sidney wasn't treated well by the people who owned her. She was overbread, kept outside the whole time and because of how stressed she was she would chew on rocks...so she doesn't have any of her front teeth. This past Monday when picked her up for the first time [from the vet] she had just gotten spayed and a couple teeth pulled. She's on a lot of medication and was nervous to come with us. 

But she has done really well so far, she and Harley are getting along fantastic considering he kinda has "only child" syndrome [Harley is 14 years old for those of you who don't know] and that makes us even happier that he has been good about sharing his bed, food and water with her. Now I just love that little guy even more. We are supposed to foster Sidney for a week and the plan is that if all goes well we will adopt her.... it looks like we may be adopting her. ;) 

Day 1:
pretty out of it. :(

 

Day 2: curiosity sets in and she is starting to eat some food and drink some water.

  


Day 3: a friendship is starting to forge... ;-[)


Day 4: Doggies that nap together look out for each other! Melts my heart. :)


So so glad these two are getting along. Dogs have such a sweet spirit don't you think?
Lately:


A few weeks ago I attempted to try and make some biscuits... ;-p 


The biscuits turned out to be a hot mess! 8^0 They actually tasted good, but they were sooo
flat, I kneaded the dough too much... I think it's gonna take a couple more tries for me to figure out how to make this seemingly simple item. The recipe I used was from the NYTimes... However, the next morning I decided to make a Frittata [also a NYTimes recipe] but I tweaked it some...and that was probably the best Frittata i've ever had. Jesse had a biscuit with his slice...then we threw the rest away! I'm going to make this Frittata again here soon and actually write down what I did and take pictures so I can share it on my blog. It was legit.


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Over Columbas Day weekend, Jesse and I went camping at Allen Springs in the Deschutes National Forest. It was enchanting, the weather was amazing, we camped right next to the river and as always, Harley was in his element. Here are some pictures from that trip.




It's pretty amazing that if you ever want to find inspiration, all you need to do is look at nature. Every year, every season will bring something different. I was really attracted to all the many warm shades of dried up ferns we saw. Dormant looking things have their own kind of unique beauty.


I couldn't get over at how cute these burnt logs were...they look like two gigantic whales that have been dropped in the middle of a forest and are kissing. I was lucky enough to snap a picture of this aquatic meets rustic forest romance.... I wonder if they're still there kissing? ;-p


The burnt wood next to the faded orange ferns made our camping trip in October so magical!



It goes without saying that most people aren't fans of forest fires... but there is something so incredibly beautiful in the aftermath of it all...  There's beauty in the physical sense, and then there's beauty in the spiritual sense.... these trees were burnt, yet they are still standing...they literally experienced the refiners fire. Just another Mother Nature lesson that is best learned in the moment.


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10 days ago I started doing yoga again, but this time in the morning right after waking up. Before that, I had not been getting a solid night's sleep in a really long time... So I restarted "30 Days of Yoga with Adrienne" and she is by far my favorite yogi [?] that I have found that makes me feel confident, healthy and comfortable. She puts you at ease, doesn't take the practice too seriously...but at the same time guides you through poses so effortlessly that you're shocked when it's all over. The last 10 days i've been sleeping like a baby! Why did I stop doing this two years ago when I was just getting started. :/ I guess because my mind was in a different place mentally. I think what is also contributing to me getting really good sleep is the yoga + drinking way more water [warm water] and not eating processes sugar/foods anymore. In the last month and a half i've had 2 unhealthy desserts... I haven't sworn off sugar, but instead if I do have a processed or somewhat processed dessert, it's now on special occasions only...just like how I drink soda. But that healthy routine is another blogpost.

I've also noticed that I have a better experience with my morning yoga if I get to it right after waking up. Yesterday I woke up and tidied up the kitchen really quick before getting to it, and for some reason I just felt more shaky...also, doing yoga the same time the sun is starting to rise is empowering. Why is this? I'm sure it would be the same if you were doing it when the sun was setting? Or perhaps i'm just being a little dramatic, either way it is good all times of the day. ;)


Here's proof of the sunrises we experience here in Bend, OR almost on a daily basis. 
If this isn't magical, then I don't know what is...


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I recently finished up a little side freelance job = designing a baby announcement for a lady in France. I tell you what, I could make baby/kid things all day long. I live and breathe this stuff...which makes it even more ironic that 4 years later, Jesse and I are still trying to get pregnant. Funny how life plays out, but I don't say this to have people feel bad for me. I don't feel bad for me, especially since a lot of good things have happened to me during this time of trying to conceive, that most likely wouldn't have happened if I did have kids right now...so it's all good. :) 

I did a ton of doodles for this project and combined them to make these 4 baby birth announcements, my client chose the salmon bear....and how darling is the name Mazal? just cute!


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Last weekend Jesse and I had a date night carving pumpkins that our friends from Sandy, OR brought down to us. Jesse was a sport to let me watch Hocus Pocus while carving... yes yes, I love teeny bopper movies, ESPECIALLY ones from the 90's ;) Jesse had seen online that using stamp carving tools and pottery tools is a lot easier to carve pumpkins with than your classic kitchen knife technique. It actually made the process more enjoyable.. Can you tell which pumpkin is mine? ;)








Oct 5, 2016

Fall 2016 Office/Studio tour:

It's been a couple months since we moved from our house in Brightwood to Bend. Our house here in Bend has carpet through the whole upstairs... not a big deal, unless you've got poop brown as your carpet color...and we do, so that's gross... lol ;-p luckily the carpet was installed a few months before we moved in, so we only have one evil to deal with... [the other would be worn-out carpet]  If you're looking to sell your house, and you think installing new carpet will help the sale. DO. NOT. DO. IT, just tell potential buyers you'll pay for the carpet, they can pick the color and now you've got a real incentive on your hands... it's such a waste of money. 

I thought I could hold out with redoing our upstairs floors, [my office specifically speaking] for a year or so, till we've put some money aside for that, but after spending 2 months upstairs in this funky bedroom with super thick brown carpet [it is cozy plush though!] and trying to roll my desk chair back and forth to my work stations... I basically wanted to pull my hair out. Jesse was out of town for a week, and I was so tempted to rip all the carpet out myself and just paint the subfloor, but instead I chose to watch a lot of movies and Frasier. That was a better decision considering how handy Jesse is, plus he knows way more about remodeling and hand-tool operation than I do.  

As you can see from the photo below, my office-studio was pretty "busy" looking... I actually think it was subconsciously my way of trying to mask my frustrations with the room: "If I have a lot of things I like to look at, the things I don't like won't be as glaring." It kind of worked... for like a month... But as i've gotten older and more interested in curating our home after my favorite interior design books [i.e. The Simple Home ] I don't like having tons of things covering every inch of wall space, furniture lining the walls etc. It gives me anxiety, where as 10 years ago it didn't bother me as much. So, with all that said...some before and after pics of the process. If you're dealing with the same feelings of your space, hopefully these photos will lend some inspiration and you too can create a place for yourself that makes you feel all sorts of good inside. 

BEFORE:


 

Painting walls: I am probably the worst wall painter you'll find. I take forever when it comes to painting walls, and that's not because i'm meticulous...i'm just sooo slow. This job is BORING!


Ripped the carpet out, the carpet tack strips, staples etc.  This is where I start to burn rubber... ;-p


Originally, I had wanted to put in Armstrong vinyl tiles [ found here: floorcity ] but because the subfloor under the carpet wasn't perfectly even, some boards were a little higher than others... this made me nervous considering you're using a hardcore glue, and we just can't afford a costly mess... Jesse suggested we just rip some large sheets of plywood down, paint them with polyeurathane and hope for the best. It was somewhat of a risk, but not really...because I would have been fine at this point with just painting the subfloor, I just wanted that carpet GONE!

Jesse showing me how to lay down the plywood strips, using a finish nailer and my hip curve ruler as the spacer. This process goes by so fast, especially if you have two or more people working on it. I actually nailed down most of the floor myself.  Jesse did laid 1/4 of the floor as well as the tricky math cuts around the edges of the wall and closet... that part would have taken me all day.



I am much better at painting floors than walls! ;-p 


First coat of "Stonewall" polyurethane... went on really well, you can see a lot of gran/texture in this picture. We did 2 coats of the gray, then a coat of clear poly...but it left a yellowish tint on the floors so we did another coat of gray poly over that... each coat takes about a full day to dry. Took longer than we had liked, but our floors are pretty hearty now, so I guess that was a happy accident.


AFTER:

Now for some real floor action, AND a office studio I can really get excited about, again. 
Just look at those floors...I love how they shine and reflect light. We opted for gray instead of white because in our first house, we painted our wood floors white [also glossy] and as beautiful as they  were, dust particles, hair, etc. were way more visible. Our floors in our last house [in Brightwood] were a warm yellowish color [I don't know what type of wood. yikes!] and they were wonderful, you could hardly see any dirt or hair, you literally had to look for it. So as far as the gray goes, it's another one of those colors that hides the dirt and hair really well...which means vacuuming less often. ;p





My Great Aunt Annie crocheted this white horse.... I've had this for a really long time, it's one of my very favorite family heirlooms. Great Aunt Annie and her sister [my Grandma] were amazing at crocheting, producing crocheted blanket after blanket... those two were crafting machines!


These brass horse badges were something I started collecting back in 2008 when I was working on my Senior Thesis Fashion Collection. My collection was inspired by Barbara Cooney's book "The Oxcart Man" - I had made a couple bags for my collection and I wanted some sort of primitive type hardware. I had been visiting Utah over Christmas break and went to an antique shop, where I came upon 3 of these brass badges. I never ended up using them in the collection, but ever since my collection just keeps growing. They are unique little treasures.


Before I made a full time go of my business Roxy Marj, I was signing my artwork R.ANA [for Roxana, my full name] This is an unfinished painting of a rug that is SUPPOSED to be napping, but refusing too...just like kids. I keep going back and forth as to whether or not I should finish it, as of today it remains as is...  Painting rugs is my calming therapy.





You know how Oprah LOVES BREAD??  Well... I LOVE CHILDRENS BOOKS, the same way Oprah LOVES BREAD! :-p Instead of having them all out on display, I try to have just a few, and rotate them every month or so...that way just the "featured" ones get all the attention, and it's not so overstimulating... And how great are these little poplar shelves I made all by myself! They only cost $12 for all the materials, but look like I paid a ton huh. easiest/fastest/chicest DIY ever.





It was Jesse's suggestion to put in track lighting. Before, it was the typical Home Depot ceiling light fixture that lacked any style whatsoever. Track lighting is FANTASTIC! You can pop lights out, and switch with something else in literally10 seconds, turn the spot lights around... and the 4 lights instead of one brightens the space up like WOW.  Wow wow wow wow! This is something to really consider in your office/studio. We should have done this in our Brightwood home office!



I've been looking for a big cozy chair to put in that corner [below] so I can drape my gigantic sheepskin rug over it... I was thinking I wanted to lay down rugs in my studio, but now after seeing the whole room put together, as of right now i'm thinking no rugs.


Testing out the work table in the new and improved space : a gazillion thumbs up!



That's the end of my studio tour. This space is officially warm and cozy....some major love goes to my husband Jesse. I can be pretty high maintenance at times, like wanting to rip out the carpet and paint the walls asap. Jesse has this amazing ability to never get annoyed or be short with me when I want to do a project all of a sudden. I don't know how he does it. He is crazy patient and such a good teacher to me. There's no way I would have such a beautiful space if it wasn't for him.  His office is downstairs and he is struggling with the same issues of just not feeling creative or inspired in that room...and yet he puts my wants and needs before himself. Always a good example. I love you Jesse and I'm grateful for all that you do for me! Now let's tackle your office! ;-[)
xoxo Love, Roxy 









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