Here is a new piece that I created for the Hipfish Benefit Art Auction…. Hipfish Magazine was one of the many businesses that perished in the recent No. 10 fire. A big benefit is being held in a few weeks to raise funds to get Hipfish back on their feet!

2010 was a pretty crazy, unexpected, and incredible year. David and I satisfied one of our big life goals of giving the West Coast a go… below are some key happenings:

Highlights
Experienced both sadness and happiness about leaving nyc
Spent some quality time visiting with family in the midwest
Traveled across the US, it truly is a remarkable country
Went to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands
Had my first wedding anniversary
Moved into a cottage on the Pacific ocean
Hiked and camped
Sold art
Took lots of photos
Acquired some unexpected and new skills…. hopefully those skills will serve me well if I do decide to pursue my own design company in the future
Some 2011 goals
More international travel
Pay off my credit cards
Open an Etsy site
Portland? ? ?
Self-publish
Have a fabulous 30th birthday party
Read more
Win a design contest!

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It’s 2011 — how crazy is that? I find the change of years to be such a cleansing experience. I hope this new year brings you positive changes of every variety. The end of 2010 meant a move into town for David and I…. We are finally feeling settled into our new bright space. Here are some photos, enjoy and come visit!

Celebrating a lovely holiday here on the Oregon Coast.. hope your day was lovely too!

lovely winter day here…. just lovely

So I’ve never  really been a “collector” of much of anything… I think maybe it’s because I’ve moved so many times that I find it hard to hold on to something unless I REALLY love it. Years ago when there was an auction of my grandparents things, I snagged one of these wonderful little matchbooks… My grandpa Stanley was quite an entrepreneur… One of his ventures was a little store, in our town Tuscarawas. This matchbook was a little piece of his advertising and I find it absolutely charming and very near and dear to my heart… It reminds me of my grandpa’s humor.

Since this, I’ve begun collecting more matchbooks that catch my eye…. Here are some more that i’ve gathered.

My most recent addition was a gift from my friend and co-worker, Leah. She saved this from heading to the Goodwill pile and I’m SO thankful she did… what a gem. There are little tabs on the sides that you pull to open the match drawers. The face is ceramic.. Great right?

And finally…. a messy sneak peak at our new place… more photos to come soon, but I just had to share… This is our new hand knotted Persian rug we found on ebay for $70… WE LOVE IT ♥♥♥♥

Wow… I really do like color don’t I ?

Top Row: Jensen Wood Turntable $88, AFM Laugh Time from Swatch $50, Floating Sparks Cardigan at Anthropologie $69.95,

Bottom Row: The Map As Art $29.70, Scout Holiday Multicolor Flag Necklace $65

Jensen Wood Turntable

Sunset. First Night. Just Sayin’

So we are officially moved in to the new place…. mostly still living out of boxes, but projects are getting done… including my chair/table re-do! I still plan to eventually stain the top a little darker, but it’s officially SO much nicer to look at this than the old version! Not shabby for a free table and chairs, some $2 fabric and a little re-purposed paint!

This weekend David and I are officially moving into our new apartment. We’ve been trying to keep things DIY and inexpensive. It’s been a little tricky since our last place was furnished, and this place is not. We’ve found some great things so far that were easy enough to refinish and make great. Our new landlord let us know that the last tenants left a kitchen table and chairs and wondered if we would like them…. They were in rough shape, but have been a fun project. ♥ Here is the before:

The chairs and the table base look like they’ve been painted about 50 times…. I sanded it all down and got to work.

I repainted them in one of my new favorite colors “Dark As Night” Satin finish,  from Behr Premium Ultra Plus, paint and primer in one.. The paint was a little pricey but it did an AWESOME job. I love that the primer and paint is together and it went on really easy… plus the color is this deep grey/black/blue… Uh I love IT

Table After:

I will probably stain the tabletop a deep cherry too…

The chairs are looking great too I think:

Next project… re-covering these awful cushions and then spray painting this coffee mug tree I picked up for 50 cents!