movin' on up!

i can't count how many times i have praised stairs here (actually, i probably could, but am not going to).  i love them.  LOVE them.  just love how they look and function - so cool.

earlier today, my sister-in-law sent a listing for her mother's childhood home which is on sale in north dakota (link here, if you're interested).  and this house has. amazing. stairs.

how nice are they?  such a lavish and beautiful entrance.  love it.

ironically, apartment therapy posted today about STAIRS.  funny!  small world.  and they explain what is needed to pass code for most stairs. so interesting.  here is a cool staircase that i liked from today's article (found here).

books make you look smarter

i don't listen to the radio much, but i've started to a bit in the mornings before going to work and recently there was a question of the day that i found chuckleable. it was something like "70% of people have this to make them look smarter." many people guessed glasses or pocket protector or things like that. the answer was books. its true that i used to give books to my brothers so that they would look well-read (even if it was just a jason bourne story). not sure they fully appreciated it, but i DID.  :)

in honor of books and reading and being smart, here are some cool libraries in people's homes that are enviable.

more where those came from here.

also, figured i would show you my small little collection. this is me at my desk with my books on one side and dvds/cds on the other - those make you look smaht, right??

next steps... job-wise

so i am in a bit of a transition lately... new home, new job (soon!), new health adventures, etc. just lots going on!  one of the things i've been thinking about career-wise, is how can i be more creative? AND... MAYBE... how can i work from home??  i'd love to be able to make a living doing crafts or blogging or something like that, but i just can't envision it just yet... maybe we'll get there.  we'll see.  in the meantime, these craft rooms are EN-VI-ABLE. even if you aren't in to crafts, don't they just seem cool??

from here. below are my favorites.

i LOVE the bright, colorful, disorganized organization of amy sedaris' craft room.

if i can't have a full room to myself, i do enjoy this hidden organized closet.

if i COULD have my own ROOM, i would love this version.  this might be the best.

but then again, i do love me some paper and this room is quite nice.

what do you think? want to pay me to blog??

painting as gifts - for kc

I want to get back to painting. I have a few things coming up for which I need to give some paintings, so I thought I would post about some paintings I created for friends.

First up, a Dixit card turned painting.

Dixit is this fun German-style board / card game that I have played many times with my friends.  The game has includes these beautifully designed cards that are a bit wacky. They are specific, but not at all specific at the same time. The card below inspired me for a painting for my friends.

I liked the ballerina and the record, so I started the painting leaving room for those items.

I wanted to finish the background first because I knew the ballerina and painting would be "on top" of everything else.

I liked the "stand" portion of the first card, but I decided to change it to be a painting on a painting. The painting I painted is a black and white version of a photograph my friends, kc, took on their travels. The train was red - it was a direct copy of a picture they had.  Finally, I made everything happen in space - hence the stars.

It's quite a big piece - perhaps too big. But I kind of like it.