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.

new beginnings!

in honor of a (partial) furniture delivery to my new place last weekend, i am excited to re-launch the art ramblings! so excited!  i've got lots of fun postings and pictures coming up, so stayed tuned!

in the meantime, history:

left my 900 sq ft, yellow-kitchen apartment on january 15 and moved back to my old apartment. i am the only person living here this time, although, i have a lot of visitors. i'm loving it.  i was really torn on the decision to move or not, but now i am so happy that i have moved. the ONLY thing i don't love is the commute - i'm 15 minutes further away from everything. so thats not ideal.  it actually impacts things more than you may think: i have to leave so much earlier for things like work, MOVIES, just to see friends. AND its not just the 15 minutes that i have to leave earlier - now i am dependent on public transport, so i usually have to leave MUCH more before than i'd like.  for example, i went to see a movie on saturday at 5:30. in my old place, i would have left at 5:15 and walked 10 minutes. now, because i had to rely on the bus, i left at 4:40, just happened to catch the bus immediately, and was at the movie theater at a little after 5. so nearly a half hour early. however, if i hadn't caught that bus, i would've been waiting until the 5:15 bus, which would've gotten me there after the start of the movie. it's not a huge deal, first world problems, i get it, but it's annoying nonetheless to me.

ok, so back to my new old place - eeeee! i'm enjoying decorating. and one of the main things i have left is my living room. i am still waiting for a couch delivery - was supposed to come last weekend, they told me 2 days before my delivery that it was damaged during shipping, and so they are making me a whole new couch. i only partially buy this excuse, but whatever. in any case, i got my entertainment stand and my desk chair. the desk chair is making a HUGE difference. like, massive. i was sitting on an exercise ball and ... not ideal. my feet never stayed in place (i don't wear shoes indoors) so i was constantly leaning against the desk. but now my chair! i LOVE it!

ok, and now... for the piece de resistance. the entertainment stand.  here is a before picture:

yes, that's a 50" tv on a wine fridge. a wine fridge that, no less, has a broken indoor glass. that's a story for another time.

and now...

what do you think? its a REALLY beautiful piece. its hard to be able to tell from far away, but it looks so nice. i'm so pleased.

paris hotels - how fun!

paris is basically everywhere (i look) for decor and fun stuff.  its wild.  i'm constantly bumping in to things online about paris.  maybe its a sign i should move there. or maybe its just because i love it so much, it sticks out.  ha. so there is this hotel in paris where you can pay what you want. cool idea. i dont imagine i would ever stay there since i have friends in paris with whom i would stay, BUT its cool to get the word out AND i love the decor.

here is the hotel: Tour d'Auvergne, a three-star hotel in the city's Opera district, which is an amazing location!

and here are some cool rooms:

and more stairs!

its true, i love the stair.  many in a row is preferable.  stairs.

so this website has a list of 17 awesome staircases around the world.  here are some of my favorites - i've never seen ANY of these in person - MUST. GO.

in my next apartment...

so it appears that i will be moving in 2 months time. i need to commemorate my current apartment, but until then, i am going to begin collecting ideas for decor (which i have been doing all this time, but now i might have room to do things!).

i've been looking at furniture, because i will have to buy quite a bit of furniture for my next place and boy oh boy!  its expensive.  so i would like to get some used pieces to redo or bring to new life.  the only issue is, living in a city, there aren't many random garage sales where i can pick things up for cheap.  der.  and the consignment stores are actually quite expensive.

in any case, i would love to do this on something.  here is the aftermath, what i quite love, and what it was.

maybe some colored books? from here.

many moons ago...

i lived in paris.  sniff.  i lived in an apartment in the 10th arrondisement that, if i remember correctly, was 18m squared. or maybe it was 15.  i can't remember. it was a small studio. i wish i had more pictures of it.

in any case, when i saw this apartment in paris, it reminded me of my place. my bed was lofted and my family (parents and 2 brothers) came to visit and stayed WITH ME in the apartment. it was soooo cramped. think dickens-style poor cramped.  this is a bit more spacious, it seems, but very small and yet ultra cool.

i've love to own a place like this for when i travel there and i could rent it out at other times.

more pics here and here is the floor plan.