I keep hearing about Evernote and all it’s benefits, but I still love my Moleskine, so this sounds pretty enticing.

Studio Rennovtions

Last week I decided to add a little wall in my studio space. I did this to create a clean wall that didn’t have conduit running across it, and to give me a storage closet.

Here is a photo of the space before the wall. 

Here I’ve cut all the 2×4’s to length and am laying them out. Since the wall isn’t much more than a divider, I decided that I didn’t need a stud every 16 inches.

The wall in place.

First sheet of drywall in place. Since I was building the wall by myself, I laid the drywall horizontally because it was easier to manage. It also creates a nice tight seem between the sheets because you’re using gravity to line them up.

Second layer of mud.

Here is the storage space I created.

Beginning to paint the wall. I had a tiny helper at this point. She just wandered around checking it all out. Making sure the paint job went well.

I taped off the upper half to paint vertical stripes. Vertical stripes give the appearance of height, and give it a clean crisp look. I used

Olympic Interior Eggshell Paint Olympic paint eggshell for the base coat, and their Exterior High Gloss for the bottom half of the wall, and the stripes. Both paints were “Milk Paint” color. Using two different finish options of the same color paint creates this subtle look.

Paint job finished.

And here it is with everything in place. I also created a ceiling on the top of my storage space so that I could display things on top of the wall. Here I have several of my vintage metal containers on display.

Printable Weekly To Do Lists

In order to keep organized, I am a big list maker. I also love forms. I use to use this form by Knock Knock, which is great, but I wanted to start making a list for the whole week instead of each day.

So I made up my own printable to do list. I also prefer to type rather than write things by hand, so I made it a fillable .pdf form.

Here it is available in two colorways, and as a .jpg, a regular .pdf, and a fillable .pdf form. These form are intended for personal use, but please feel free to use, distribute, and pin these forms.

Click on the image above to go to the full size .jpg, or click here for the .pdf, or here for the fillable form .pdf.

Click on the image above to go to the full size .jpg, or click here for the .pdf, or here for the fillable form .pdf.

New Earrings and a New Space

Last week I created these new silver basket earrings. They are big but very lightweight. They will soon be available on my Etsy.

I also had company while making the earrings. Sadie, joined me on my bench for a while. Since I’ve been back in Seattle my studio has been out in the garage, so I keep the door open while I’m working, and Sadie was pretty content just to sit and watch what was going on outside.

On Friday, Stephanie and I found a studio space in Ballard. We are pretty excited about it. It’s a nice large space. There are two other artists in the building – both painters – and a maritime IT guy. On Sunday I painted the floor, and yesterday moved my stuff in. Now to get everything set up.

Trunk Show This Saturday

I’ll be doing a trunk show at the Schack Art Center in Everett this Saturday August 18, 2012 from 10:00 am-7:00 pm. If you are in the area come by and check it out.

Gold Plated Lovelies

I’m excited to say that I will now be offering my lace collection in 14k gold plate with a satin finish! These items will soon be available on my Etsy site, but if you would like to order before they are on there, just email me (info[at]bittersweetproject[dot]com). Items from my other collections will soon become available with a gold-plated option as well.

Weekend is Over

My weekend began by finishing up a wedding quilt for my friends Stephanie and Brandt. Then we spent a good deal of Saturday at their wedding reception. The quilt is throw sized, all cotton, sort of free-formed. The color palette for the quilt was inspired by Stephanie’s lovely jewelry.

Then Sunday Dan and I went with a couple of our friends on a hike, to a lake, up in the Cascades. It was about an hour drive from Seattle and a 2.5 hour hike total. We saw a lot of nurse trees and some snow pack. It was kind of funny to think that it’s August, 80 degrees out, and we’re walking around on snow.

In this last image there is a young tree growing off of the upper nodule on the old tree. Also the young tree is possibly a different type of tree than the older one.

Renegade Buys

I bought some sweet stuff, and made a couple of choice trades, when I was at Renegade San Francisco. So, I thought that over the next few weeks I’d share with you my new handmade goodies that I am loving.

I bought a wallet for my brother for his birthday from Couch Guitar Straps – a maker from Long Beach, CA that repurposed old car vinyl to create wallets, guitar straps, belts and other accessories. And by using the car vinyl, all his accessories are vegan, which is sometimes hard to find in belts and wallets.

The wallet that I got for Sean is this one:

Made from this:

Dan also picked up a couple of things from him. A wallet and this black and white belt.

Should I Work For Free?

Jessica Hische has made this fantastic chart “Should I Work for Free?” – something that all artist should have hanging in their studio, and something my mom would love. According to her chart that’s the easiest answer – yes you should work for your mom for free.

 

She sells lovely letterpress prints of this in her Big Cartel shop, and you can also check out an interactive online version that can be translated into any language.

In addition she makes some beautiful fonts.

 

I also love this note pad to invoice people who have ruined your day. True to any letterpress printer worth their salt, she gives you wonderful details about the paper each part is printed on. “The covers are letter-pressed on 100lb Cover French Paper (Steel Blue from their “Construction” line) and the interiors are 2 color offset on 80lb ivory paper.”

So smooth

As a jeweler my hands take a lot of abuse and are always dry. Regular lotion never seems to work for me. It just doesn’t seem to soak in. I picked up this bar of lotion from Clean Getaway Soap Co. and I love it. I got the vanilla scent, which is not too overpowering, and my hands feel so much better because of it. Thanks Clean Getaway!