Studio Update

Happy Dance time! The dry wall guys are back and started taping the walls this afternoon. We had high hopes that it would be done by now but I'm just happy it will be done by the end of the week. Once the taping is done the texture stuff will be put on by hand. The guys are so funny when I show them what I wanted done to the walls. They are Italian (first language) and they gave my contractor the look of "you've got a crazy lady here". Since most of the walls will be covered with art, I gave in and went with a normal light texture coat. Hopefully the painting will get started on Friday.

Quick Card

Visiting Michelle Zindorf's blog everyday, I'm getting inspired to try more background color blending. I had to make some sympathy cards for my card rack this morning and I wanted them to be quick. I added the thin paper curl to make the front a little more interesting. My Genesis paper cutter can cut just a hair off card stock so I started to use those shavings like ribbon on the other cards. It's surprising how strong the paper ribbon is. If I get time I will post those photos.

What color?

Today was spent listening to our alarm system being update. If you have every had one installed, you know what I mean. We had to add the studio doors to the system so we did a major overhaul on everything. Both cats decided it was a good idea to stay out of the house until the noise man left. We had high hopes the drywall guys would show up to start taping, but no luck. Randy (the contractor) said this would be the reason the job may take an extra week. Drywall subs are known to be flaky. After the walls are finished, the painting will start. I'm not sure what color I should use. What's your vote? Warm light yellow or soft pale green? I plan to have some sheet metal in large frames to use as display boards and the floor will be a light gray so I put those color up against the wall colors. Since the studio space will be small and very little natural light, I want to keep the colors soft.

Iris Folding - Kimono

I'm not a big fan of Iris folding (too many steps for me) but I decided to give it a shot with one of my kimono die cut. Someone in my card class was talking about seeing something like this a while ago, so I came home after class and gave it a try. I thought it would be a good way to use up my washi paper scraps. I didn't use a pattern since I was just working with a circle. I think this will be the card I will swap with my card club next month.

In the garden

Some pictures of the flowers blooming in my front yard. Of course Mr. Purrcy was following me around and wanted to be in all the photos.

Studio Update - end of week two

Latest up date on my studio at the end of week two. The skylights are in and look great. The dry wall and all that goes into that is being done this morning and will take about 5 days to finish. The plumping is in and waiting for the floor to be done before the sink can be installed. If we keep this pace my studio will be done in three weeks. The floors will take about three days if the weather turns cold. We decided to update our alarm system and skylights in our house while we have Randy here.
Randy (the contractor) is really trying to work a little space into the studio for my husband. He really wants to make it so there is storage space in the rafters. I know that once something gets put up there, it's never is seen again, so I've veto that idea. The guys are really working on wearing me down. We are now talking about building a little out building in the backyard to storage all the things we pulled out of our garage. My husband is having a problem that his tools will not be stored in the garage anymore. He can't see his the tools anywhere else. Randy is working really hard at finding him a space of his own.

C.A.S.E. Card

This card was inspired by Michelle Zindorf, one of my favorite creative muses. She has a great blog (see my blog roll for the direct link) along with a step by step tutorial that shows how she makes all those incredible backgrounds for her cards. I changed up the card a little since I don't have much luck using a brayer. It took me several attempts to get the techniques down. It makes a BIG difference if you don't use a variety of colors blending one on top of another. Since I used sponges instead of a brayer, I also had fingerprints showing up where I didn't want them. I had to work much slower than I'm use to. This will be my card for my card swap group this week.

Cat Class

This is one of the cards I will be doing from my upcoming cat class at Cranberry Hill. I now have to work on the dog class.

Iris

Even though I live in California, I do have a change of seasons in my front yard. First the daffodils bloom turning everything white and yellow. Next comes my irises changing the yard to dark purple. After that, all the plants that suffered from any frost damage have come back to make a nice green back drop for the annuals I plant every year.

End of Week 1

This is the end of week one for my studio and we are moving right along. All the recess lighting is in place and being wired. The skylights are frame in and waiting for the roofing contractor to come back from March Madness in Las Vegas. I had another great day at the auction house. Pick up 10 comfy office chairs for the studio. I did silent bids so even I was a little surprised at how many I got. My daughter is home from school this weekend so she helped me load and unload everything.

Purrcy In My Light Box

I went to use my homemade light box this week and found the background paper had some teeth marks in it. I knew it was one of the cats and I guessed it was Purrcy. He confirmed it tonight.
Lucy (our other cat) is acting like a bull dog with our contractor, Randy. Every time I go out to the studio to answer questions, she is right behind me. She gives the guys the once over, inspects all their tools and then comes back into the house. Most cats don't come near the crew because of the noise and things falling from the ceiling but it doesn't seem to bug Lucy at all. She would really like them out of her space. The cam light shells and outlets are up and getting wired. The frame work for the new ceiling was finished yesterday, so we are moving right along.

Zen garden for the studio

The work on my studio is going well. The new rafters are in and ready for the cam-lights and wiring to be put in place. I sent Randy home this morning after I found out his wife had a list of things for him to do before their open house tomorrow. Randy is selling his home of 20 years in Cupertino so they can move into and remodel their home in Willow Glen. Thinking that his wife would be totally stressed out about things not getting done (I know I would be stressing) I asked why he was here and to go home now. It wasn't a total loss for me. Kristen (a good friend and a landscape designer) came by to go over ideas on turning my side yard into a nice garden/sitting area. Debbie suggested that I have a place for people to go for fresh air or a smoke during long sessions in the studio. It's the side of the house that looks right at my neighbor's two story house and gets no sun, so creative planting is needed. We brainstormed and now have a plan on what I will do once the studio is finished. It will be a sort of California Zen garden. Right now it's a post modern junk yard.