new page!

I added a page at the top of the bloggie for pet painting info! I had a great response after the post a few days ago, so I decided to just put the information out there for everyone! 

Super short post, I know. 

I'll leave you with this, because a post without pictures is like a night without Stars... 

Stars is a karaoke bar in Bham, mind you..

This is what I do when when I'm not doing projects.

HA! 

(Stars really is a karaoke bar here. I don't usually go there though.. I prefer Bstreet.. the play on words was just too good to pass up, though.)

real quick.

I was super busy after work today/everyday this week! A lot of times I set up bloggies to post for the upcoming week on Sundays and Mondays, and I just couldn't get it togetha these past few days! For some reason in the past few weeks, I have been determined to get a post out almost every week day (Mon-Thurs) and sometimes Sunday. I figured I'd just drop in real quick tonight for a life update! Is that lame? I feel like it's a cop-out post. BUT this is my bloggie, and I do what I want!! 

1. I am working on my first commissioned puppy painting for a dear sweet bloggie reader!! SO EXCITING!!!!! 

2. We are having a cookie swap at work tomorrow, and I just made some chocolate chip cookies. Now my house smells of deliciousness. JEALOUS?! Speaking of cookies, you know what is the worst? When you get a chocolate chip cookie, take a big ol' bite, and it turns out to be oatmeal raisin. Woof. Hopefully this won't happen to me tomorrow at the swap.

Cookie monster hates all fruit, which includes raisins.

3. My sissy Binky may be coming to visit me tomorrow. The primary reason? To take a Christmas card picture. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we still take Christmas card pictures. It use to be quite the undertaking. Binky gets SOOOO ANGRY whenever we take them. No one knows why. Not even she knows. There are some classic ones throughout the years: the bawling crying 3 year old Binky, the arms crossed glaring at the camera Binky, the adolescent "why the hell are we doing this" smirk Binky.. I am going to have to scan some pictures from the past when I go home for the holidays, because they are worthy of a post all themselves. It use to be TORTURE when we were younger because we would use a deposable camera to take them. Only 27 chances to get it right... You would've thought it got better once digital cameras came out but it didn't. 


We found a way to curb the anger by taking pictures throughout the year instead of waiting until December 20th. It seems to take the pressure off. And whenever we take a picture together, no matter what time of year, we say: CHRISTMAS CARD PICTURE! 

4. I went to Michael's to get some stuff, and they are having a 40% sale on frames!!!!! ALSO there is a 25% BONUS coupon for frames online or in your newspaper. SO THAT'S 65% OFF FRAMES, YALL!!! If you are doing your own (hold me closer) tiny art wall, or just need some frames, GO NOW!!! Sale ends on Sunday I believe. I bought 3 big ones and 3 little ones for $30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Note: they have frame sales a lot, but the bonus coupon was what stepped it up a notch). 


Can't wait to fill this baby out with my new purchases! I've added some new art, btw. I will unveil once I hang the new frames... although I don't have art for the new babies.. never ending art wall! 

5. I tried to set myself a bedtime. Or rather, send myself upstairs at 10:30pm to get ready for bed and stop doing projects, blogging, etc. So far I'm 0/3. It's 11:41pm. Oops. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll get to bed early..

fug as a bug in a rug.

Greetings! 

My new rug came in yesterday. Why no exclamation points for that? BECAUSE IT'S FUGLY. 

First off, here is how it looked online: 

And here is what came in the mail: 

I thought I'd give it a chance and check it in the daylight. It was a bit better..

But not how I wanted it.

I think it might would've looked alright if there wasn't yellow in the stool seats. It just looks out of place next to them.

And don't get me started about it not looking good with the pillows I thought it was going to match.

Woof.

Now, you might be thinking: it doesn't look that bad, Rachel..

Well, you'd be wrong. 

I think those pictures let in more light that what I'm seeing in real life. Here's a close up more true to color..

Brown with little yellow flecks.

Here is the rug in a room scene I found:

No way is that the same as what I got in the mail, I don't care how fancy the camera is that took that shot or how good the lighting is...

(also, I know the pattern colors are reversed, but it's by the same company and both were "gold/ivory". Here's a direct comparison for your viewing pleasure. 

 

Here's what kills me: I looked for this rug for FOREVER! I had seen it on one of those discount sites (where the sales only last 3 days), and I just knew it would come back around (the rugs usually do). Well, it didn't. For months. So in the meantime, I searched for other yellow rugs, and I couldn't find a pattern I liked. I finally found a plain yellow rug, and I decided to paint it! Yes, you can paint rugs. Google it, there are some awesome ones out there! SO I taped off this rug (which took several hours) and began painting it. Well that happened on one of the monsoon weeks here in Bham (aka it rained for 4 days in a row) so I stopped painting. I was planning on an awesome bloggie entry for it, but in the meantime, my "dream" rug came back on the discount site!! Of course I snatched it up. 

All this to say, I'm mad I found a rug to paint, stopped because I ordered this rug, and then it turned out to be fugly. 

The good news is there will be a rug painting bloggie next week! 

Hooray! 

puppy paintings!

Hello everyone! 

I'm back with a project I love to do: puppy paintings! Well, I love giving them at least.. sometimes throughout the process I get MAD if it's not going as well as planned.. Here's a little tutorial if you'd like to give it a go yourself! 

First I grid out the picture in Illustrator. If you don't have Illustrator, you can print out the picture and draw out a grid on top of it.

Meet Devo! Richard's pup pup! 

The grid helps with the sizing the sketch. I draw the grid out on the canvas I'm using and determine where I want the pup to be placed. Then I sketch it out referencing the grid on my computer. I used a 12" x 12" canvas in this example.

I started painting before I took a "before" pic. I also didn't like the way he was standing in the before picture, so I put his body in a sitting position. 

Close up view of the face. I've found it's best to paint from back to front, so I always start with the background.

I hated the initial color, so I made it a bit greener. Since Devo is brown, I made the background lighter around his body, and gradually got darker as it went out.

Here he is with some color! I did not like the way he looked in this picture. I had never done a brindle doggie before. I think it's easiest to start with the eyes, then the fur, and save the nose for last.

Here's my setup. I worked on Devo over a period of several days. I redid his coat 4 times. It was "les mis" during the process (aka miserable)..

But he ended up looking alright in the end! 

Everybody's happy! 

Here's another pic of Devo after he rolled around in the grass. I was using it to get another view of that crazy striped fur on his head.

Here's the first one I ever did: 

It's Possum, my sister's doggie. I call her my niecey pup, since she's my niece.. duh. She was a huge painting (24" x 30"), but waaaayyyyy easier because she has short fur that's plain white.

I love doing these. If anyone is interested in one of their pup pup, let me know! 

convex mirror obsessed

Hello everyone! 


Last week I told you how I had been searching for a mid century modern piece for a long time, and I finally found one at the thrift store. Unfortunately, this weekend was not as productive as I had hoped, so instead of a reveal post of that piece, I am going to tell you about another piece I have been searching for a looooong time: a convex mirror! I can't seem to find one anywhere (or at least one that is not super expensive). Here are some spaces with convex mirrors that I'm digging: 

This one below is actually what is called a Federal Mirror or Eagle Mirror. 

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So chic! 

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How soothing is this space?! I love aqua with gold accents.

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I love the pops of color in this room, and I am obsessed with the herringbone/chevron floors. I also love the high gloss teal walls! So fancy! 

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I like that the mirror is placed on the bookshelf. 

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I love this room! The chandelier, the chairs, the mirror.. ahhhh! 

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This couch is a bit too funky for me, but I dig the convex mirror with a sunburst around it.

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I'll just have to look at these lovely images until I can find one for my own!  

look at me now!

Look at me now! Look at me noooooooooowww! I'm gettin' paper!! 

Not really. I'm just getting a new bloggie header and layout! For some reason, the old header felt very generic. Not design-y enough. I know I did it myself.. but I guess I did it too fast and sadly, I grew tired of it very quickly. 

Here's a recap: 

I just now realized I should've taken a screen shot of the old layout. I had a background that was circles on top of circles like this:

Except it was blue on blue.

I thought it looked like fish scales.. genius, eh? 

Anyhow, it all felt too busy after looking at it for a while, so I decided to clean it up. Completely white background. Too plain, you say? Well, do you know how many sites you probably look at that have white backgrounds?? 

Facebook.

Google.

MSNBC.

Apple.

And some smaller ones I read..

http://simple-pretty.com/

http://www.invitationcrush.com/

http://lovelypackage.com/

You get the idea. There are tons more, those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.. anyhow..

Here's the new header! 

And here is a screenshot of the whole layout (bc I bricked last time): 

I lubs it!!! 

(until next time..)

Oh, and here is the video I was referencing in the title. It. is. amazeballs. 

my first mid century modern piece!

I have had an obsession with mid century modern for a long time now. I have scoured the thrift stores and garage sales in hopes of finding a credenza like these beauties below. It's what I originally wanted to go in the dining room where the blue side table is, but could never find one... Le sigh. Here are some I really like:

This one is very unique.

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I love love love the handles on the doors and drawers on this one.

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EEE! This whole setup is asking to be recreated at my house.. The globe, the blue lamp, the green accents.. I love this look.

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Ohhh myyyy greatness! TONS of mid century modern furniture in this room! I love the details in this space. 

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Not my favorite room, but one of my favorite credenzas.

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I really dig the white on wood look.

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Love! 

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Here is a plethora of wood with white accents. I'm obsessed! 

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Like I said, I always search places for these types of tables. I dropped by the thrift store closest to my house on my way home from work this week, AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!

FOR $45!!!!!!!!!!!! 


I love how the wood grain on the top row of drawers is vertical, while the bottom six are horizontal. There are obviously some scratches, but I'll just sand those out.

He rode around in my car for a few days due to the fact that it's rained here everyday after work (I didn't want his sweet self to get wet). Here he is! Thank goodness I have a big car to bring home these adopted pieces! 

I can't wait to get started! 

He definitely needs a little lovin'. It looks like he use to have a mirror, so I'll have to remove those brackets on the back.

I almost danced a jig when I saw him in the store. I have no idea where I'm going to put this puppy, but I know that he belongs with me. I may be tackling my first stain project with this one. I can't decide if I should paint part of it white or leave it all wood... decisions, decisions.. 

Hopefully there will be a reveal post next week!