Beautiful!

It was a GORGEOUS weekend! We spent Saturday morning at the beach (surprise, surprise) and went to the driving range today... which was a blast because I am improving (this of course isn't saying much)... and I bought Uber a fairway wood so now I get to play with a fun club all the time! No sharing for us!
Here are some beach pictures for all of you with crummy weather

Here's one for mom and dad. The dog on the right was a gorgeous golden

the dog had no fear...obviously...he kept running right into the waves and then bounding around like Brinkley does in the snow. Every other dog we saw was running away when a wave came...

Meanwhile I have been crazy busy this last week! I am STILL not completely over being sick... which is annoying because I went to the doctor right away and I still got terrible! I have a feeling I am just going to be congested for a while... I know thanks for sharing right!

I am designing some invites right now (almost done) and I will be sharing that with you soon hopefully... though not the completed invite because they are going to take a couple weeks to get them printed ...that's right they are going to be printed which means there are graphics that were created by me... I am so excited to show you all - I want to know what you guys think!

Also I'm in the middle of another batch of six growth charts. I had a special order for one and another mom with an idea for one that she might want (which I liked so I am going ahead and making) so I just added a few more to make it worth the effort. I will show you those as they start getting completed they should be mostly new designs. I am really not sure how many more of these I will be making... they are definitely done for fun.

Well that is my update. Sorry if I am scarce everything is good over here just busy! I am off to take a walk...

Quick Dinning Room Redo

So I mentioned this last week after the Orlando trip and never got back to you about it- mainly because I am not done... but what ever I am really busy and who knows how long it will be before I'm 'finished'.
Here's a reminder of the dining area before:

I LOVE my James Christensen painting but it is WAY to small for this wall. I really felt like the dinning area felt claustrophobic and tiny because of it. But was hard to find something to go there because I didn't want it to compete or clash with the living room art.

I have been stalking really neat shelves for a while now you should see my folder of ideas I have pulled from decorating blogs and magazines. But there were two problems 1) I can't afford any of the store bought ones that I want and 2) I can't find any corbels large enough to make my own (plus Uber is REALLY busy with school.

I think this one was pulled from simple song:

Don't remember where I got this one but it is by far my favorite I LOVE it!

Hmm... this one either oh well thanks who ever posted them! (I suck at sourcing!)

Then I ran across this picture, it is from This Young House which is a totally fun blog and the couple who runs it completely sources everything in all their rooms so you know where to find it (I mean everything people) Can anyone guess where they came from? IKEA that's right! They are 75 inches long and only $25 a piece can you believe that? Just the deal I was looking for.

I was originally planning on beefing them up with molding and corbels but after getting them up I am actually happy with them just like they are for the time being ... this has NOTHING to do with the thought of having to paint them... hahaha

I'm not done accessorizing yet. The second frame still needs art work that I will get to...someday... mainly I want to keep this shelf light and airy.

Here is a close up of the left side I am totally digging the green pitcher it is from Crate and Barrel it is recycled glass which explains my immediate attraction to it I love the color. I almost didn't get it I was worried that it would be to dark - in the store it sparkled but you just never know if it is the display lighting and the nearest C&B is 2 1/2 hours away if it didn't work out. But Uber of course told me to get it, so I did and it is perfect.

The rhino is from Zgalleries something I also saw on the TYH blog. Most of you probably don't know but I have ALOT of animals tucked around my house... I try to keep it classy though, not so much of an in your face animal obsession... I hope, oh dear...please don't send me them I do NOT collect them they are carefully chosen and adopted! ...just saying

Hope you had fun. I have some more really neat Ikea ideas up my sleeve but since we live to far for a quick trip (in my opinion) they will all just have to wait until the next time we happen to be in Orlando. Uber is sighing in relief, I think he is sick of hearing about them!

Also they are having a giveaway at This Young House and it is all Zgallery booty! It's open until Thursday so go check them out.

I'm alive... kind of

It was supposed to be a productive week but I have been laid up on the couch since basically Tuesday! I sound like a mix between a frog and an elephant... it's lovely, let me tell you...

On the bright side my tags came it. I am digging them ... now I just need to make something to put them on!

look at this massive strawberry from right off my back porch. It was a nice suprise for my saturday morning (I lead a crazy life I know)

My Gardenia topiary is finally blooming it has had a hundred buds on it for ever and they are finally opening...

To bad I can't smell!!

Crafting tomorrow for you I hope... or at least something a little more interesting...

New project

First I would like to show what first inspired me to make my pillows. I saw a pillow in a boutique in Amelia Island they only had one and I totally fell in love with it. Then I looked at the price tag and about keeled over and died... the staff wasn't exactly overly social (it was a absolutely gorgeous boutique with scrumptious french antiques) So I didn't want to ask any questions about it, I couldn't even get a picture so I just went home and looked at their online store hoping it would be on there. Of course no luck. I ended up calling later and asking if they knew who designed it and finally got this website as a answer. More beautiful stuff but they still didn't have the original pillow I saw and wanted (not that these prices were affordable for me either) so I started designing my own. And no I don't think they touch this woman's work. I finally saw her work again in the latest Ballard Designs catalogue -I was so excited! This is the closest I have seen to the original pillow - it might even be the same pattern I only saw it once for a few minutes. I love the way she has the work displayed. Can you believe I have none of my stencil work in the house? I had been wanting to frame it or something but I couldn't think of a way it would look good and now I know. So I got to work on what I think is my favorite stencil so far and here is what I came up with

It was really hard to photograph because of the glass. I did all the framing myself with only one call to my mum for a few questions. The supplies are all from Michael's. The frames is one from their more expensive line that comes with no glass, I fell in love with the simple leaf design (and I bought it on their 55% off sale) I bought a large piece of matte board (that I cute to size at home) and had them cut the backer board for me. I also picked up spacers and framers tape. I hand stitched the fabric to the matte board. I am SOO glad I hung out with mum in the frame shop for a day a few years ago I was so much fun to put something together again!

The frame fits a 16x20 piece so it is a pretty large piece. But I still shrunk the design from what goes on a pillow.

Just a few close ups. I have a smaller one that I still need to do, same frame just in an 11x14 size. I still need to decide what I want to do for that one... decisions, decisions...

Meanwhile earlier today Uber informed me I had a surprise when I got home... you never know what this could mean with him they've varied greatly in the past.... sometimes he's just joking... I tend to figure he is joking so I reminded him I wanted a plant from Lowe's and told him the colors and figured he had an out if he was kidding about it (I really wanted a surprise) When I got home he gave me this

yes, that would be candy from his office... what a sweet heart right! I was like come on REALLY where are my plants?! And he was like ohh... yeah ok well I will bring those tomorrow... So we were making dinner and he got a business phone call and sent me to get his PDA for him out of his briefcase and this was next to it

I think I screamed but you would have to ask him because sometimes I just make noises in my head. I did yell at him though!! Since no where locally has it setup to try out he decided to just bring it home so I can see if I like it, if not I can take it back the store has a 30 day return policy and said it would be no problem to return it. I am hoping I love it and don't want to take it back, but just in case. I've played with it a little so far it is easy to draw with but everything looks like a 3 year old did it... I am REALLY hoping this improves....

One thing is for sure Ubers AWESOME!

It was a beautiful weekend

The weekend was great though. We spent Saturday morning at the beach, our first visit for the year and all you get is pictures of the beach. We both were not okay with showing you any of us in bathing suits- Yikes! We took a looonnngggg walk and threw a softball around. It was the perfect temperature not hot not, cold and no breeze.

I FINALLY (years later) got a box for the flag my dad gave me. It flew in either Iraq or Afgahnistan - Dad? On October 13, 2005 I don't know why I cant remember which...

I just realized that I forgot to tell you all how the interview went - it was great! Loved the school (it's the Art Institute). The lady I met with had really nice things to say about my work and gave me some really great information about local art events. I still need to make appointments with the other schools I am looking at and see what they have to offer. The interview definately has me more excited to get back into school again. I am also stalking the Intious 4 again... I really wish there was somewhere to try it out though... who wants to spend that kind of money and not know it's worth it!

I have something fun to show you tomorrow!

Last Weekend

We headed down to Orlando this last weekend to see my cousin who was in town with his college rugby team (California Maritime Academy) for the Sweet Sixteen Tournament. They placed 6th in the nation which they are pretty bummed about... personally I think this sounds pretty good, but I am just a girl. Anyway we kidnapped him for the night and took him into Orlando for some fun... or maybe I should say for some old fashion Florida weirdness.... We went to the Universal City walk and boy do they have a plethora of very special people down there! (for example picture VERY large woman in see through spandex pants) I found it especially amusing since the day before I had to listen to a conversation that a group of Floridians was having about CRAZY Californians (totally unprovoked)... if they only knew... I have run into many, many more crazies here then I ever did there... and we were in L.A. sooo.... back to the story

Isn't he adorable? I can't believe how much he's grown up! It seems like just yesterday that we annoyed each other to death. We had a total blast hanging out with him.

He wanted to see a gator but we didn't get him until it was too late to do that ... but I did spot an armadillo and we hopped out of the car and chased it around to take pictures of it (it was not harmed in the taking of this picture...or the hundred others on my camera actually it seemed a little too used to humans... we were only 2 feet away from it.)

I leave you with a picture of him sporting my blinging glasses... and I only do this because you can tell he's thinking - Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?

P.S. We also did some fun shopping after dropping him off at the airport. I will show you what we were up to why I get it finished. It involved Ikea, and a little bit of Crate and Barrel and Zgalleries...

P. S.S. I spent all tonight putting together a VERY thrown together portfolio for my appointment with the art institute tomorrow night.

Presenting the completed CatBirdFish Studio Logo

I have had a total blast putting this together! After knowing for sure which direction to head in I got to work again last night and I am very happy with the results. So here it is --

For the fun of it (and because my interent went down right when I wanted to post) I colored it in. I didn't expect to like it more but I think I might!

Uber is pushing me to get back to school... blech! But today he told me there is a graphic design institute locally that is connected with a larger one in Miami. Now I am interested!! I think we are going to go check out an open house next weekend... I'll let you know how it goes!