adventures in art & design
Inspirational
5 Things To Consider For Your Home Office
Sep 2nd
Image From www.PotteryBarn.com
Tim and I are in the midst of a home office makeover adventure. As with any makeover project, there have been many things to consider when pulling this space together. I thought I would share our top five picks and tips with you.
Lighting. Whether your space it lit by natural light, desk lamps, ceiling fixtures or a combination of lighting elements, lighting is a very important component for your office. Carefully consider it’s placement in relationship to your work area. This will ensure you have proper lighting and are not straining your eyes while working. If your desk includes a lamp, be sure to place it opposite of your writing hand. That way you will not have the shadow of your hand blocking light on whatever you are trying to read. Whatever type of lighting you go with, pick something stylish and functional that works for you!
Organization and Storage. Let’s face it, our home office is the one place clutter can accumulate the fastest. The best way to prevent this is to have adequate storage and a organizing space. Sit down and list out the things that need to “live” in your office to ensure you have a place for anything. This doesn’t just mean file cabinets, bins and drawers, also consider needed counter space and shelving for such things as printers, books and phones. Be sure files and drawers are properly labels so you can quickly locate items when they are needed.
Seating. If you are spending a considerable amount of time in your home office, you want to be comfortable. Make sure your chair is the proper height for your desk or work surface. If you plan to have clients visiting your home office be sure to accommodate for that as well in your planning.
Resources and Equipment. Make a list of the necessary materials you need for conducting your business. Whether your office is simply a space for surfing the web and checking emails or you’re a savvy business person working from home, you want to ensure you have all the right equipment at your fingertips. Having a thorough list of your necessary resources and equipment will also come in handy when determining the proper storage for your space.
Paint Color. When selecting a paint color for your office pick something that you can work in; something that inspires you. If you aren’t comfortable bringing in a lot of vibrant colors on your walls that’s ok. You can stick with a neutral paint color and bring in the boldness through accents and decor. Just have fun with it!
So there you have our short list of home office necessities. I hope you find these tips helpful and can create a space that inspires and works for you!
Where I Blog
Aug 30th
Today I’m participating in Kate’s blog party, “Where I Blog” over at Centsational Girl. Right now, my little blogging oasis isn’t much to get excited about. However, that’s all about to change as we put the finishing touches on our home office redo which I blogged about here. Just to highlight a couple things on my desk that make me smile…
There’s a milk glass vase my Mom gave me recently. Bless her heart, she’s always bringing me milk glass goodies from her yard sale trips! So when I was looking for something to hold my pens and such, I quickly brought this gal into the office. She’ll look great with the other black and white accents we bring into the room!
And of course there’s my pet Octopus, Mr. Octavius!!! He makes me VERY happy because if you know me, you know I have an undying obsession with the Octopus! I found him at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island on our recent family vacation. He’ll fit in great with the color scheme we have planned for the office too!!! He’ll inspire lots of artwork and many a post I’m sure. YAY!
That’s it for now. Please visit again soon to see the progress on our home office and other projects around AB! Also be sure to stop by Kate’s place and see all the inspirational spaces where bloggers get their blog on!
A Beach Inspired Dump Rescue
Aug 19th
A couple weeks back I found this candle holder at the dump. Yes, the dump! I know what you’re thinking…”Ummm, Humm, girl…you should have left it there too!”. But no, I thought just maybe it deserved a little TLC and a resurrection.
So I put on my thinking cap and pulled together some other supplies (play sand from Home Depot along with a glass candle holder and candle from Target). Little Mr. Candle Holder got a good scrubbing and a fresh coat of spray paint.
Oh, and a few shells from one of our beach trips. And TA-DA!!! I’d say he was worth the rescuing!
Check here to see the parties I link up to. Come on, join the fun!
Flying Melons and Salty Air
Aug 4th
We’re on vacation in Nags Head, NC this week. It’s so wonderful to be away for a while and just be together as a family! We’ve been spending lots of time at the beach of course. Yesterday we decided to take the ferry over to Ocracoke Island for the day. What a neat little place!
We had lunch at this roadside cafe, Flying Melon Cafe. Such a cute little place right off the main road through the island.
This adorable porch greeted us but with temps in the upper 90′s, we opted in indoor dining. And boy, what a treat it was! We tried a variety of dishes, anything from Sweet Potato Pancakes with Orange Butter to a Spanish Mackerel sandwich. Everything was YUM! It was the perfect meal to get us ready for spending the afternoon at the beach and exploring the island.
Today is going to be a lazy, indoor day. Some of us got a little too much sun yesterday. Hhhhmmmmm….let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into today! I just might have to check out some of those thrift stores I’ve been seeing along the way. Stay tuned!!!
Glass Act-Choices In Handcrafted Glass Chandeliers
Jul 21st
I came across this amazing kitchen design by Pitsou Kedem in Architectural Digest yesterday. My eyes were instantly drawn to that magnificent glass chandelier hanging over the dining area. (Sorry, I couldn’t find a close-up of it.) It’s constructed of interlocking glass loops and exquisitely handcrafted. Seeing this article inspired me to research other handcrafted glass chandeliers.
This piece is a Suzanne Guttman Glass creation. The delicate hanging mechanism and minimal metalwork allow the glass to stand out.
In contrast, in this piece by Elizabeth Lyons of Lyons Glass the metalwork plays an important role as the armature, tying the piece together. The metallic of the steel and glass are simply grand on this small piece.
This gorgeous opalescent and clear glass chandelier from Red Fern Glass is simply stunning. Oh how I wish I had the space for such a piece.
So here’s hoping you find inspiration today, even in the seemingly small places!
Valentine's Day Napkin Pillow
Feb 1st
So Izzy and I would like to show you what we’ve been up to while we’re snowed in here in VA.
I had this little pillow I picked up at a thrift store for .99 cents and two napkins from Target ($2.50 for the pair). Izzy and I decided it would be cute to make an envelope cover for the snowman pillow for Valentine’s Day!
I measured the pillow so I would know how much to cut down the napkins, which were 17″ square. My pillow was 12″ square.
I cut napkin #1 down to 12.5″ square, cutting off all hemmed edges. This is the front of my pillow cover. (Cutting to 12.5″ will give you 1/4″ around the edges for hemming.) With napkins #2 I cut it lengthwise to 12.5″, removing the hemmed edges along those sides.
Then I cut napkin #2 in half along the remaining 17″ side, leaving the hemmed edges along this side. (See below)
So these two pieces from napkin #2 are 8.5″ x 12.5″ with the original hemmed edges along the outer edges.
Lay out napkin #1, face up, and position the two pieces from napkin #2, face down, with hemmed edges to the center and overlapping so that all outer edges of the two napkins line up.
Pin along the outer edges and sew napkins together.
Once you’re done sewing, trim all for centers at an angle for neater centers when you turn the pillow right side out.
Ta-Da!!! You have an adorable Valentine’s Day pillow!
This project was super easy and super fast. It honestly took me longer to upload all the photos for the tutorial than it did to whip the pillow up! 
Sunday Grace
Jan 31st
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. ~Pslam 62:5-6
I hope you have all had a wonderful week. We’re snowed in here in Virginia….again. That’s twice so far this winter. WOW! Crazy. I’m loving it though because I’m getting some much needed time in the studio to work on school projects. Be blessed and be safe!
Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things
Jan 24th
- Virginia Commonwealth University-Fine Arts Building
This past Tuesday I started my Senior year at VCU! That means that this building will be my home-away-from-home for the next five months. And believe me, I will be spending A LOT of time here not only attending the four classes I’m taking this semester, but also putting in lots of hours working on projects in the various studios. I’m very excited about my classes this semester.
I’m taking a new course offered for the first time this semester called Intermediate Seminar. This lecture class is described in the syllabus as class where “we will talk (a lot) about all of your curiosities…and we will look hard at how other designers, makers, and artists have utilized their curiosities in their work. We will read articles, write down our thoughts, feelings, theories and our wild conjectures (and read them aloud in class).” And then at the end of the semester we’ll be required to give a presentation meant to “articulate our individual curiosities”. Yikes. Both exciting and scary for me. I’m not a get-up-and-talk-in-front-of-people-person! But hopefully by the end of the semester I’ll be ready!
In addition to this lecture class I’m taking three studios: Fabric Design II, Pattern Weaving and Lampworking II. Fabric Design II continues our exploration into various printing and dyeing techniques as well as fabric piecing and construction. Yes! Quilting! I can’t wait to put my new sewing machine to good use! Woohoo! Oh, and we also had to select a “theme” for the semester-something that our work would revolve around. I chose to continue exploring ocean life so you’ll be seeing a lot of octopi, squid, jellyfish, etc. in my work this semester.
Pattern Weaving is going to be great too. And of course our professor has us diving right in! We’re already working on our first project, called “Green”-either as a color and/or from an environmental awareness perspective. We’re also dressing our looms for our first samples. I’m honestly amazed at how comfortable I’m feeling in the weaving studio considering that I felt like I was all thumbs last semester! LOL I pray that comfort continues!
And then there’s Lampworking II. In this class we’ll be building on the skills we learned in part one but we are also free to choose the direction of our work. If we want to explore sculptural work, jewelry construction, etc., we are able to! Now, I just need to choose! I’m thinking about working with images on glass. I’d like to incorporate some of my husband’s photographs into my work!
Oh, and then on top of this course load, I found out Tuesday that I got an internship at the Virginia Center for Architecture helping with Education and Program Development!!! I’m really looking forward to it. I have a passion for non-profits, especially in the area of education and program development. And Architecture!? Oh yes! I’m hoping to get the opportunity to attend a few lectures and learn A LOT from the wonderful people there. I’m so freakin’ blessed! God is just too good!
Now, I just hope I can keep my sanity through it all and still produce good work, learning and growing all the way!
I’m going to try my hardest to post, at least weekly, about school and things going on with projects, lectures, shows, etc. I hope you’ll stop by!
Sunday Grace
Jan 17th
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” -Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
May you all have a blessed and productive week.
PRAYER REQUESTS
~All those in Haiti.
~All those without a warm place to stay during the cold winter weather.
~Josh: stage 4 Lymphoma. Just started chemo treatments.
Please email me or comment to this post with your prayer requests. God Bless.
Resolution Revolution: My Word For 2010
Jan 3rd
- “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
Well, its that time of year again. You know, the time where we make resolutions for ourselves for the year. Unfortunately we’ve been conditioned that resolutions do not work and thus don’t do a darn thing to improve our lives (at least not consistently).
I ran across this blog yesterday, Christine Kane’s blog. In her article, Resolution Revolution: A Better Way To Start Your Year, she talked about why resolutions don’t work and suggests another approach-choosing a word. This word is your guide word for the year. One word that sums up who you will BE in 2010.
So I thought long and hard about a single word that would reflect what I wanted to accomplish for the year. I had made a list of ‘goals’ so I looked over that as well.
Here’s my list:
-get in shape
-blog more
-spend more time with God
-tell the people I love that I love them ALLLLLLLLLL THE TIME!
-give more hugs
-spend more time in the studio being productive
-spend less time on Facebook and watching t.v.
-spend more quality time with the family.
-Be a better friend.
AND…GRADUATE Dec 2010!!!!( Good Lord Willing!!!)
Sitting in church this morning the word hit me(God has a way of doing that!).
L-O-V-E
I want to give love, show love, say love and embrace and receive love. Fits nicely with my goals don’t you think!?
I hope you’ll join me by choosing a word for yourself this year. We can encourage each other along the way and I’ll definitely be posting about my progress here. What better way to stay accountable!
Oh, and another thing I want to start for 2010 is a Weekly Prayer Request List. I’ll include Prayer Request in my Sunday posts each week. Please feel free to add any of your prayer requests as comments to these posts or send me an email if you prefer.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Katie: 6 yrs old battling Leukemia. Pray for strength and healing.
-Josh: 30 yrs old and just diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma.
-Those without a home and out in the cold. (It is 29 degrees here in VA)
-Strength for those wishing to make healthy life changes for 2010, that they will seek God’s loving strength and guidance throughout the year to stay on target.
Happy New Year!
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