Just Pure Lovely

The Studio: The End

We're finally done with our studio project!  I'm sitting in the room right now, writing to you.  It's quiet in here, when I'm not playing my favorite Pandora station too loudly, so quiet, in fact, that the cat who has claimed the room as her own, too, bothers me when she gets to licking her already-clean self.  I'm very thankful to my man for all of his hard work in making this room such a special spot for me.   He calls it "your room," as in, "hiding in your room, are you?"   How fun is that?  To have a room of one's own!  Of course, I do share it with the littles.

Here are a couple of shots of our last day of work ("our" means I take photos while he works):

He's using the level on my iPod Touch because we couldn't find the small level (the workshop side of this remodel isn't finished yet, remember.  Not that we could find anything before.).

I was so excited that I started moving in a bit too early!

Here's the finished room!

See here, I do share the room...

Now it's time to do a bit of creating, starting with decorating that window!

p.s. Here's a link to the first post:  How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

And the second post: His Workshop & Her Studio

And the 3rd post:  On Love & a Project

And the 4th (it was a long project): The Project, 4

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The Project, 4

Thanks to how things have been, I'm behind in posting about the studio & workshop project.  Not that anyone has been begging me to post more (:::yawn:::) on this topic.  Still.  I'll post this, and the rest soon, just in case it inspires anyone else who has an ugly cluttered garage.

Here's where we ended Day 5 or thereabouts...

Here, below, my man is halfway up in the attic, installing air conditioning vents.  And electrical boxes. And lighting.  He's multitalented thataway.

But he's not very careful.  I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to stand on ladders like this...


(It's comforting, don't you think, that he works as a safety inspector for a BP contractor?)

I figured if our teen can figure out the XBox and Lego Bionicles, then he can figure out how to install a doorknob.  Sure enough, he did it.

Our little gal hangs around to ask questions and occasionally sweep, but mostly ask questions.

You really must look pretty when sweeping and asking questions.

Brushing hair is optional.

Standing on a ladder like Daddy does is not optional.

p.s. Here's a link to the first post:  How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

And the second post: His Workshop & Her Studio

And the 3rd post:  On Love & a Project

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Progress so Far (Garage Remodeling Project)

Here's our garage remodeling progress so far!

His Side, the Workshop, from the entry (off the kitchen):

That’s our teen, who tends to tinker when there is space and there are findable tools.

And here is Her Side, the Studio, from the Door Between The Sides:

There's more to do! The cabinets don't belong on the countertop, for one.

p.s. Here's a link to the 1st post:  How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

And the 2nd post: His Workshop & Her Studio

And the 3rd post:  On Love & a Project

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Twitter me @JustPureLovely

On Love & a Project: 3

I hope you're not tired of this studio project already.  We're absolutely not done yet!  My man and I have a tendency to begin projects, reach the 80% stage, and quit.  This time, we're determined to actually finish something since it will help organize our messiest areas (crafts and tools). 

God bless Dad and his good timing to come for a visit just when we decided to “clean” the garage on a whim.  Today we installed flooring ("we" did, since I did the hard work of snapping photos while the fellas put in the flooring).

Yay, a door!

And cabinets.

And a twelve foot countertop so I have room for doing things here and there and there and here.   I know the kids will want to come and do the same things here and there and there and here.  We placed the counterop at kitchen-countertop height so I can stand or sit on a stool.

(That’s mom.  She doesn’t do handyman work, but she comes by often to ask questions.)

Here's the new wall:

Mom and Dad are still truly, madly in love after 40-something years together.  It’s nice. Except when they kiss.  It’s loud and slurpy and ever since I was 7 or so, I wish they Did Not Do That.  But they do.  At Every.Single. departure from one another, whether it be across the city or across the room. 

I thought I’d get a picture of my man and I demonstrating our love, too, so here it is:

Yep.  There it is. Me chasing him, him dashing off.  That’s how it’s been ever since he got smart as a 19yo when he realized that I didn’t like him as much when he was too easy to get.  But I know he’s more than a bit crazy about me.  He’s building me a lil’ studio, for heaven’s sake.   And he does let me catch him sometimes.

To be continued...til it's done, I hope!

p.s. Here's a link to the first post:  How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

And the second post: His Workshop & Her Studio

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His Workshop & Her Studio: 2

Good morning!

Here is what I was doing early yesterday morning, before breakfast and coffee, even…

There is nothing like having her own studio space to motivate a gal.  “Studio” by the way, is what I’m calling my side because I’ve always thought it would be wonderful to be an artist or a designer, and although I shall likely never be either, because I like who I am as I am, I still think I should have a “studio” like a real artist or designer would. Which I’m not.  But the room, the studio, doesn’t know that.   

And there’s good old Dad, drywalling.  He put up with my pout about how long drywall takes to dry, then tried his very best to make it hurry up.  

On the “His” side of the garage, is the “workshop,” which I so named because I’m hoping a lot of carpentry-like work will go on in there. 

These aren’t really “his” and “her” sides, just so you know.  We can move around.  The boys will come paint in the studio, no doubt, and we girls can wield a scrollsaw over in the workshop side just as well as any boy thankyouverymuch. 

Sometime later, mmm hmmm, this fine thing came along to lay down the floor.

 I like watching him work on projects, which is why I make myself look busy staining cabinets.

I’m too busy “working” to clean the house even.  But I'm terrible at staining cabinets.  Still.  Sigh.  Somebody has to look at him work!

To be continued......(on Monday)

p.s. Here's a link to the first post:  How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

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How Things Can Get Out of Hand Around Here

Since Bonnie, the non-hurricane, was heading this way, my man wasn't able to work over the long weekend, so on his first day off, I said offhandedly, "Hey, wanna clean the garage with me today?"  "Sure," he mumbled.   

"Let's do it the Clean House way," I said.  He just looked at me.  He doesn't always know what I'm talking about. 

I talk like that. 

The "Clean House" way (or is it another show?) is to take everything out to the yard and put it on tarps (which we couldn't find) into piles of "keep," "maybe," "trash."

Life isn't clear cut like that.

So, we had trash cans and "goodness-this-is-overwhelming" piles. 

And then.  The garage was empty. 

"Wanna put up a wall so I can have a studio and you can have a workshop?"

He looked at the empty garage for a bit.  "Sure," he mumbled.

And then.  "How about a long counter?"  "How about flooring?"  "How about cabinets?"  "How about..."

And so.  We have found ourselves in the middle of a Very Big project with a Very Messy veranda full of the "keep" and "think so" piles, and a Very Huge hope that the oil job will continue long enough to fund this project.

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Studio Shots

These are a few shots of my (very humble) studio in the back of the garage.  If you click on the photos, you'll go to Flickr (in a separate window), and there you can view some detail notes that I wrote about the things you see.

Shots: Fabric Inspiration

These fabric stacks are on a shelf in my studio*:

 

I spend more time opening them, admiring them, refolding them, and restacking them than I do in using them up, I think...

 

because I just love the way fabric feels, from the scratchy ones to the fuzzy ones.

 Don't you?

Photos by Lori Seaborg, February 2008

studio = *that oh-so-loosely-used-term for the back of the garage where I create stuff.  oh, why do I always feel like I have to use a disclaimer every time I use that word?

Embroidery Inspiration

These sites have inspired me to pick up my embroidery hoop, needle and thread again:

Dacia Ray embroidered a beautiful bird quilt.  It is such an inspiring project!  Go here to see the Martha Stewart article that inspired Dacia Ray.

These line drawings of Wildflowers can easily be used as embroidery patterns, provided by the Umatilla National Forest.

And....something that makes me tingle all the way down to my toes and then shiver with glee are these old French embroidery books which some kind soul (bless 'em!) scanned and uploaded for us.  Click on each book to see different monograms.  One has (oh, my!)  borders and one has other designs.  Beautiful stuff!  I'm making an "S" from one of these books on blue linen.  Hmm, I'll have to blog a photo of that progress soon.

But this time, how about some gourds we grew in our garden?

They are on a cast iron holder we got in Mexico.  I hung it on a wall in my studio* for inspiration:

*studio = My loose (so very loose) term for the back of our garage, behind my man's lumber and guy tools, where I created a nook to create things by myself and with our (messy) children.   Calling it a "studio" makes me feel more creative, but don't let yourself conjure up images of perfection!  We're just us.  Which means, we're happy we can actually walk through the garage.