unicornmeat

I guess for the most part my studio is done. Theres still a few things I’m seeking, and henceforth I will keep my eyes open at thrift stores – thinking of this room like any other room in my house. They need to be maintained, tweaked, perfected, and changed again.
To that end, there’s still lots of room left for additions.

The dapping punches are a tool of my metalsmithing days, mostly put out on this shelf so I can admire them. I loved working with domes and circles for some time.

I need more paint chips! Aside from being visually pleasing to me, this is meant to inspire me to wield more control over color in my work, instead of being so haphazard and spontaneous (aka poorly planned). I want to paint that pictureframe black. Too bad I already affixed it to the wall.

Last but not least I got some festive string lights to brighten up the overhead, and more importantly, my first impression when I look into the room.

I found these jars at goodwill. What the hell! They were put there just for me!

Getting back on studio reorganization project as of.. today. *
I took a brief break to create a necklace as a christmas gift.

This is the necklace in unfinished form.. unsanded, unpolished.
To make the gift more special, I created a book about how I made it. Somehow I didn’t get a good photo of that. Maybe I’ll re-make one for show.
I printed a booklet with photos and captions and appreciation to someone who has been a positive creative influence in my life.

*okay i started this post a week or two ago. I’m making good progress now, I swear.

One thing I’ve gotten to do a lot more of this year is hiking. Been all around the area, but in mid-november I discovered that Catoctin Mountain Park is having a 75th anniversary challenge to hike a 25 mile selection of the trails there.

I finished that endeavor last Saturday.

Seen here is my hiking journal, where I write about accomplishments, things I’ve seen, how out of breath I got, etc.

I got the brown notebook in Harpers Ferry one day and mod-podged some postcards on it

On my way out there I like to listen to The Thomas Jefferson Hour, this ridiculous yet informative podcast I found on ItunesU.
.

I can’t really describe it. It’s.. a weekly conversation with Thomas Jefferson.
I love ItunesU stuff. It has seriously improved my life.

tile collection..

studio organization coming along slowly but surely.
I’ve sidetracked myself with this awful project:

but more on that later. Maybe.

One of my first undertakings, a very simple one, was to spruce up my heatbox with some “wallpaper”

Doesn’t look impressive but the exposed cardboard was a bit of an eyesore and glueing things onto things is fun anyway. I use that little “tart warmer” to melt wax. I wish it were some pleasing color but there’s not much I can do about it.

I put my collection of colors on display:

Bit by bit I’m doing the same with my glitters:

Although I’m increasing the things I put on display, some things shall remain hidden forever… such as the drawer of mold purgatory:

augh!

to be continued…

finished the mirror, it turned out like so:

not bad but I decided not to keep it for myself and am instead giving it away as a gift.

Studio overhaul is underway. My biggest inspiration has been this:

I’ve thrifted a lot of useful items for my own particular craft and gathered containers to display tools and items which are aesthetically pleasing to look at.

When I’m away from home I stay inspired with some magazines.
I’ve been meaning to share this “Food & Drink” art zine I got a few months ago. Really beautiful art, so nicely printed. Feels good to hold and sniff and review again and again.


(photos from the etsy)
I wouldn’t mind ordering volume II but I’m focusing on things with lots of words to keep me busy.

I haven’t been able to find Zink anywhere lately, which is just as well because I just like it for the pictures.

I finally took the plunge and ordered a copy of Uppercase and am totally hooked.
The layout is fantastic but in general the content is pretty great. My new favorite thing is going to Ledo, getting 2 beers and a small pizza, and reading this magazine.

All in all my master plan to get organized is still going well and I am looking forward to a productive 2012.

I have been mysteriously bounding with energy for a few weeks.. getting organized has really helped.
Thanksgiving, which is my favorite because my family is great, was nice but I felt like I spent a few days trapped in unproductivity and that’s hard for me now!

For thanksgiving I made a praline topped apple pie, and a sweet-potato-chiffon pie. I was very happy with them both, but we had so much food that no one really had room for pie.

For fun here’s some photos of my kitchen, the room of my house that I am the most happy with.

It is hard battling clutter and keeping things out of sight but it really does improve my mood immensely.

I halfassedly slapped a ton of these decals on this ikea cabinet. This actually looks different now because I have the jars as seen in the pie photo and the area is more organized and less cluttered.

Okay, sometimes a little clutter is okay as long as it’s… curated.

My aunt gave me this rainbow glass hanging ornament thing years ago. Boy do I love rainbows.

I recently made this kitschy thing to occupy the doorway to the nightmarish broom closet bathroom that is hidden behind the kitchen. Talk about clutter. Well, cleaning products have to go somewhere.

Oh yeah so I felt a little bad about putting a Young Adult book on reserve at the library but I totally did.

You may recall my delight at discovering this series so I was eager to check out the next one. You know…. these books are pretty entertaining! I ought to write Jillian Larkin some kind of a fan letter, even though she is probably younger and definitely more accomplished than I am.

I have this pesky stopgap project to get off my plate.. decorating this mirror. it’s actually mostly done now but I have to carefully razor a ton of glue off of the mirror so I can shellac the whole thing. I have it hidden under a yard of fabric presently so it doesn’t nag me too hard.

My next undertaking is going to be the revamping of my jewelry studio into a harmonious (to me) place. I need to create a visually pleasing place to work or I’ll hate working.
The sorry state of the jewelry room may be partial cause of my jewelery hiatus, with the side effect of making me focus more on home decor elsewhere. It’s time to tackle this thing.

This was over a year ago and this was actually leaps and bounds more organized and clean than it has become. This photo makes my heart ache, reminding me of a productive summer, and that I’ve slipped away from doing a thing that I loved.

Lili makes a reappearance from the old apartment. Perhaps the jewelry studio is not where her guidance is needed most.. I don’t know where else to hang these though. This room is painted the same colors as that old apartment (black and purple), which are also the same colors of Ms. Noceras classroom at my high school. She was the art teacher and she was the coolest and always seemed to believe in me even before I was actually her student.

been crazy about books again lately.
I had once slowed down on book purchasing more and more after each laborious move.
But now I own my house and used books are cheaper than ever to buy used online.

I just re-bought a used copy of Pad. This book came out right as I was moving into my first apartment, and it was really influential to me as I came to realize how important my home environment is to my mood and creativity.
At the time I was researching burlesque and pin-up, old jazz and kitschy glamorous things. The whole pin-up aesthetic hadn’t become as saturated as it is now. There were very few books dedicated to the topic, less products bearing the images and Elvgren and Vargas imagery everywhere.

From Movie Star news I got Bettie Page and burlesque photos and glitterized some cheap frames to do the girls justice.
I glitterized my tv and covered its stand in zebraprint with boa trim. The futon and windows were trimmed with leopard. I hung fruit lights in the windowframes. Everything was glitter and animal prints and glamour. And my favorite paint scheme – purple with black trim.
I enjoyed lots of cozy good times with my records and books and projects in that attic apartment.

I had a nice little 20s-50s raunchy vhs collection.  I sold most of it in one big lot on ebay a few years ago.

view of the church out the fire escape. bats flew around it at night

sadly most of the photos showing off the decor are lost time time, hard drives, or undeveloped film

one of the things I miss the most about the magazines I used to publish is the mail.
For years after Star & Garter, I got a lot of great letters from all over the country. I wouldn’t always respond immediately but eventually I’d take a moment with my stationary and write up a long thought out response. In this case I had a lot of people with burlesque history questions or comments, or inmates with interesting stories.
I still have and love stationary but I don’t get the chance to use it very often.