I know it's been a while...

But here are pictures of my living room... FINALLY. I got it all cleaned up and ready.. so enjoy!

Also, check out CincyChic.com for my spotlight interview! Interviewed and written by Linda Palacios. Thanks Linda!!!



The 'artsy' word above my door was an idea I had when I was shopping at Urban Outfitters. I kept watching these letters until they went on sale, but unfortunately, I never knew what I wanted to spell. So I asked my mom to describe me in 1 word; 5 letters. 'Artsy' was what she came back with! I found the letters and wasn't too pleased with the preexisting design on each letter. I found an old Rolling Stone magazine and traced the letters on random pages, cut them out and rubber cemented them on. And there you have it! Brand new letters - made inexpensively.


Oh the couch. Yes it's a futon... and I hope to have an actual real live couch soon. There's a retro furniture store downtown I plan on visiting soon to pick up a stylish new couch. Until then, I decided to cover up the drab neutral color with a blanket that has coordinating colors to my pillows (which I also got at Urban Outfitters.. love it there!)


My table, which was featured on CincyChic.com has made a huge improvement to my apartment. You can check out the previous post on it below. I love my books. I think I need to make a trip to Ikea to get a new bookshelf.. this one is starting to bow!


My art studio, which also has already been featured on my blog, is always a hard area for me to keep clean. But then again, who really cares? It's where art is made! Also, check out the most recent painting.. Dave Matthews for Gilpin's.. still drying!


My awesome leopard print chaise lounge chair and my sweet 'White Star Line' promotional poster for Titanic I got at the Titanic exhibit at the Museum Center a few years ago.


I love this little lamp! I got this at Ikea, of course. I liked them so much that I got one for each of my girlfriends for Christmas this past year! They come in a bunch of colors too.


I hope I can help you get inspired to get creative with your own home and make it your personal, inspirational, comfy place!

Curtains!

I finally got my curtains up! Observe....



I got into a little bit of a fight with the power screwdriver putting the brackets up, but in the end, I won. I got the fabric at Ikea, and had my good friend Christie make them for me! They turned out lovely. And what's nice is that they also keep some of the cold air out, since I have those big drafty windows (which I refuse to put tacky plastic or saran wrap on).

Apparently the lady at Ikea, who measured out my fabric, didn't really now how to, because I have TONS of fabric left over! But not to worry - I always find a use for extra fabric. So for starters, I had Christie make a little curtain, so I could cover up the little cubby in my bathroom with all my cleaners, extra toilet paper and what not.


So while Christie was making the curtains, and measured it all out for the 6 panels I would need plus my little curtain, she calls me and says, "You have a lot of extra fabric." So I say, "Ok no worries, I'm sure we can make a few pillows out of it or something." To which she replies, "No seriously. Do you want a car cover? Maybe a few shower curtains?" HAHAHA. I love it.

Projects around the house

I definitely had some fun this holiday with homemade gifts. I made white chocolate covered spoons with crushed peppermint on top. The snowflakes you see in there are edible - they are from where I work. They are vanilla and blueberry flavored. My family and friends loved these for gifts! It's perfect for melting in your hot cocoa.



I also made seasonal greeting cards as gifts too. I drew birds of the season, non Holiday specific so that they could be used year round basically. I put 2 of each design in a pack and wrapped it with ribbon.



This night stand used to be my grandmas. It was kelly green - as you can see in the 'before' photo. So I got a hold of some Design*Sponge inspiration and went hog wild with it! Love the look of this way better!



This bulletin board used to have yellow and blue stars and moons painted all over it, with a blue trim. Back in the day when I lived at home and stars and moons were the theme of my room, it was cool! But it was time for a change. So I painted it black and made those parenthesis signs with green paint. Simple. You can still see some of the stars and moons through the paint, but I think that adds character to it.

With the holiday season, I needed a way to hang my Christmas cards up. Nothing that a few thumbtacks and a piece of satin ribbon can't fix! I just tacked it up and used little clothespins to hang the cards. Since it's now after Christmas, I've taken the cards down and put up photos of my friends and Todd and me. One day I'll move it though - whenever I get curtains :)

Finally, Miss Bettie.. full body!

So.. I love the fact that I'm off tomorrow.. I got to stay up late and draw all night. I started, and finished, in less than 3 hours, Miss Bettie Page.



I thought I'd share this too: The other day, I got bored with my, of course, white walls in my apartment. I took some 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and some double sticky tape and spruced my laundry room doors up... observe:



I used tones of pink, blue, orange and green. One for each panel, but out of the 5 sheets on each panel, I decided to mix things up and have one sheet of tonal patterned paper; each randomly placed. Click the picture to enlarge and see detail!

Anyway, I hope this inspires some of my readers to get creative with some cheap art supplies and spruce up their own white walls!

Frank and I got into an arguement. We're not speaking.

So no trip to New York. The morning I was supposed to leave, my boss called and told me she had the flu. So bummed!! But Todd was there when I found out and he really cheered me up - he is so great.

But I did go to Destin! That was amazing! It was in the high 50's low 60's, but hey - there wasn't any snow! We were in t-shirts and flip flops and you could so tell that we were the tourists! The locals were in hats, gloves, earmuffs, scarves and winter coats! I couldn't believe it. I was running on the beach barefoot, jumping for joy - yay upper 50's!!!!

The trip was for Mary Kay, so it was awesome. We had a lot of awesome training and I met the 'who's who of Mary Kay'. Gloria Mayfield Banks, Allison Lamarr.. the most amazing, positive women you'll meet. Not to mention how awesome it was to spend 3 days in Destin, Florida with a bunch of your close girlfriends!!


Ok.. onto the art world.
I had last Wednesday off work - snow day!! It was so awesome! So I got bored and decided that I was tired of living in a white walled apartment (it reminded me of an asylum or something). I got some paint out from my previous apartment and preped up!

It's a beautiful sage green, and well the plan was to just paint the one wall in my art studio (aka dining room) but I got a little carried away.. here's what I did...



I know I know.. I need curtains.. it's a work in progress! But I had a lot of fun doing this - and it didn't take me that long!

I have finished Frank Sinatra.. sort of. We're not talking right now, me and Frank. I've tried and tried to get his face just right and I can't get it!! It's so annoying.. so I had to put it aside for a bit and recharge.

Next up: James Dean!

Todd bought a poster of James Dean last night and brought it over as a surprise! I needed a good photo reference before I started painting and Todd decided to take this upon himself to find one. So, I'll probably start James before I completely finish Frank.

I need to get on the ball - I have an art show on March 22nd, down in Covington at Fat Shannon's Pub. Actually, I might have to check on that: I just got word that the owner is selling the bar to someone else. I'm not sure if the new owner knows... I'll keep you posted on that!!

But I'm trying to get a lot of work done so I have enough to show. My friend Marley is going to be there as well. She's a fashion major at UC in the DAAP program. Very talented!

As soon as I find out if I'm still able to show at Fat's, I'll post it up on here!