Before and After

~Click on the picture to enlarge it~

I had intended on posting some before and after pictures of my "studio" aka "far left corner of my living room". I haven't done it yet because it always seemed so messy and I thought people would think that it looks just the same as it did before. So, today I actually cleaned my work area. Now I'm not as embarrassed to show you where all the brilliance comes about. Once I started taking the pictures I just kept going, so I put together this 360 view of my living room/dining room/studio. I hope you enjoy it. I finally found the picture of the before:BeforeAfter

I bought that cabinet with the glass doors at Ikea and I think it has changed my life. I really do still love IKEA. The orange wool dividers are also from Ikea. I have some artwork that I purchased from Etsy that still needs to find a home. Oh my, the work is never done.

Handbook to Handmade Vol III

I participated in this book that is being created called "Handbook to Handmade". Each artist gets 2 pages in the book with their designs featured. I can't wait to get the book, even if all I use it for is to say "hey, I'm published!". But what's even more exciting is that my necklace was used as one of the photos on the cover of the book. Ha ha there I am. See me? "My heart belongs to...". I am not totally sure what I will do with the book but I'm sure there's a good use out there for it. So thanks to Timothy Adam for doing this book and choosing me for the cover!

You may purchase your own book here for only $28.

oh, and check out TimothyAdamDesigns shop. He has some awesome stuff in there that I have coveted for a long time. I think this would be an awesome Valentine's present for my husband.

Murakami

I mentioned in my last post that we went to MOCA on Sunday to see the Murakami exhibit. It was so cool. That guy has a crazy sense of humor.

I am impressed with how he allows his mind

to wander and come up with it all. We watched an animated short about growing watermelons that was really funny.

There is something that is so happy about his art and something a tiny bit twisted also.

The Postcard Exchange

I check the mail excitedly every single day hoping, just hoping that there is a gift, or a letter, or an enormous check that I wasn't expecting. But, no, it's usually just 5 different credit card offers and 3 different "URGENT!!!! your subscription is set to expire in 6 months...act now so you don't lose your membership privileges" (those ones particularly drive me nuts!). I recently went online and registered my name and address to take me off of junk mail lists. Well, now I'm getting barely anything in the mail. I miss my "Act now for a credit card with $600 limit and 32% interest rate" offers. Ok, not really...but I have found a way to combat my lonely mail blues.
Postcrossing! (Thank you SheasyTime for posting about this on your blog - which, by the way, is a hilarious blog! Go read it, Sheila is so funny). Postcrossing is a website where you register to get an address of someone on the other side of the world from you. You send them a postcard. Once they get the postcard they register it and then you are next in line to receive a postcard from someone else. I can't wait. I just wrote my first postcard tonight. And what luck, I bought a pack of postcards at the Murikami show at MOCA today. It's a sign! And if you are concerned about the impact on the environment from mailing postcards, Postcrossing does support environmental groups by planting trees.

oh and if anyone is interested here are the websites where you can register to rid yourself of junk mail. It really, really works. (Thanks to Martha...Stewart, that is....for these links):
1. Catalog Choice - let's you selected catalogs that you do want to receive and opt out of ones you don't
2. DMA Choice - DMA stands for Direct Marketing Association, a trade group for companies and nonprofits that send advertising mail. You can have them remove your household from their list for $1 for 3 years. Worth it!
3. Opt Out Prescreen - This will remove you from the major credit bureaus' mailing lists for pre-approved credit card and insurance offers.
4. These guys are the big guns - GreenDimes - you $15 and they do all this for you and plant trees with your $15. I didn't do this one so I can't really attest to it's effectiveness personally, but my sister did it and she said it worked.

some other "Martha" tips for banishing junk mail are:
1. opt out whenever you join a club, register for a conference, or fill out a form of any sort
2. Donate anonymously (I like that one!)
3. Beware of warranty cards. Usually a warranty is active without filling out one of those cards.

These are a few of my favorite Owl things

You probably already figured it out, but I have a sweet spot in my heart for Owls. There is just so much character in those huge eyes and stoic faces. How can you not love them and attach a personality to them. I love to see different people's interpretation of the famed owl. Here are a few owl things that I've found lately that I really like:
This one is called "Owl Love" by Petit Collage. It's a Gocco print on maple veneer. $40This super cute print is by Brownington Forest (a Los Angeles local!) It's called "Miss Owl". 10% of all sales are donated to a different charity each month. This month is Free Arts for Abused children. Visit her blog for more info: Brownington Forest
Hilarious!!! I mean...seriously cracks me up! This is called "Masked Owl" by Yellow Monday from Sydney. I just can't explain how much I love, love, love this! I look at it and I giggle. Ok, no owl collection could be complete without something from boygirlparty. I love this starry eyed owl. She is so sweet and dreamy. This is Susie's trademark owl used on a yellow grid memo pad.

Valentine's is coming

Well, I was hoping to get a few more pieces in my shop for Valentine's day over the weekend, but a power outage snafued that plan. Apparently having a computer running, a kiln and then turning on the microwave is more than my 81 year old apartment can handle. I guess I don't blame it. I had to use the microwave. I needed a cup of tea and I needed it fast. Well, we are finally up and running and I will vow to only boil tea on the stove top now. Alright, so here's my unveiling. Two pieces - "JE T'AIME" and "TI AMO". For clarification "Je T'aime" is French for I Love you and "Ti Amo" is Italian for I love you. There will be a few more pieces coming your way.

I had another beautiful walk today. It rained this afternoon (woohoo). You know I'm in Los Angeles when we cheer for rain. Here are a few pictures that I took while walking home from the mechanic shop. (There's another story - why I was at the mechanics).


Basically the motor to the power locks died. No big deal, right? Well, turns out that the lock to the gas tank was locked closed when the motor died. Luckily I was close to home when I tried to fill up the gas tank and realized that I couldn't open the cover. I'm fortunate because I went down to visit my dad and his wife and got stuck in 2 1/2 hours of traffic. That could have been bad if I ran out of gas out there. Here's a picture from our gorgeous walk along the beach.

Val and Viv

As promised, here is a picture of the Christmas gift I got from Dave. It is a print of "Val and Viv" from artist Heather Scholl. Heather has a shop on Etsy also, but I have the pleasure of being friends with her also. I think this is such an amazing painting. It seems like there is so much story to be told in this one rectangular shape. The look in her eyes and the grip of her hand says so much.....but what? hmmm. That's what I love about it. I actually have a few favorites of Heather's so I'm glad that I'm not the one who had to make the decision. You can also see to the left of "Val and Viv" another print of Heather's. It's called "Pez Girl". She gave that to me last year for my birthday. And so, my collection is growing. Nice!

I couldn't resist posting this little picture of my 2 girls. Roxy is the one that you can barely see because she is black as night. Betty is the goofy golden one. I can't believe I was able to get them to stay there that long.


Well, while we're at it, I might as well post this adorable picture of James in his guitar shirt. We went to his music class today and he got to strum the guitar. I believe this was the highlight of his day. He's been talking about the "ki-ta" (guitar) all day long.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. I will be posting some new Valentine-inspired jewelry on Sunday. Sorry I didn't get to it today.