New year, new resolutions

I apologize for not posting this until now, I meant to have this ready at the beginning of this month. Much of my schedule has been packed with filling in holiday orders, my part-time job on the side, and general holiday festivities. And the latest Dragonborn DLC. That took up much of my free time as well. How has your Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice been?

I won't lie. Much of 2012 consisted of much drama and stress that has left me feeling emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained. However, I view life's curveballs as an opportunity to build character and become a stronger individual, so misfortune can bite my cute, well-toned ass. I'm plenty thankful for friends who have stuck by me through thick and thin, as well as new friends that I've made along the way...People who are fellow recovering "sponges" and "doormats." We get each other.

Moving along, I've met most of my goals for 2012, and I'm certainly not beating myself up over crossing off every single one from the list. Shit happens, ya gotta get over it and move on.

1. Fitness: Become ripped like Jillian Michael. Although I'm now about a size 4US, I still think I'm a bit "skinny-fat" when I look at myself nekkid in the mirror. I can see some muscle definition in my legs, butt, and arms, but I definitely need more work done to get rid of the remaining jiggliness in my midsection. Currently doing a mix of beginner/intermediate/advanced moves of Level 2 of Yoga Meltdown, and will eventually do the advanced moves of both levels in a row to get the most out of this dvd. Upon completion of that, I'll try out either her Ripped in 30 or No More Trouble Zones next. And perhaps I should also plunk down some extra monies for a pair of those Bowflex adjustable dumbbells, but well see.

2. Do an overhaul on my art style. Over the previous year, I've been stewing over my illustrations and have come to realization that I'm not satisfied with how they turn out. I feel that I'm getting a tad rusty in my technique, which partly explains the lack of new work as of late. Haven't had much time to curl up with my sketchbook and draw. I think now is a good time as any to experiment with new styles and see which one will "click" with my audience.

3. Sew moar cute outfits for meself! Since I started my part-time office job a few months ago, I've been having trouble finding cute and unique business casual attire that were reasonably priced. Luckily, I have a large collection of patterns I've amassed over the years that have remained in style (and those that weren't only required some minor alterations), as well as acquired several new patterns from Jo-Anns. So far, I've sewn five dresses, two skirts and a tunic, most of which were made from my existing fabric stash. Huzzah for couture clothing on a shoestring budget!

4. Install cherry hardwood flooring in one of the spare bedrooms. SO freaking glad that Lumber Liquidators just recently opened a new location in my area. I can just pick up the flooring in person and not have to pay high shipping costs.

5. Stain concrete floor in art studio.

6. Enjoy life more. Take my first vacation in years.

7. Find happiness...This will require some soul-searching.

That's pretty much it. Again, I'm making promises not to beat myself up over not achieving everything on the list. I'll just have to try harder next year. As for you guys: What are your New Year's resolutions?

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Hardwood Flooring Update

Sorry it's been a while since I've last posted, guys. Life's been hectic as of late, which included shop-related things. Since Etsy's relevancy switch, I've been seeing a LOT more sales (yay!) which has been keeping me busy. I've also spent practically the entirety of August working on the third outfit for my friend, Cortana for PAX 2011 (pics for that coming later).

And now onto the hardwood flooring!


As you can obviously see, it's still a work-in-progress and it's almost finished (yay again!).

I used Roberts Black Jack underlayment for laminate and engineered wood flooring (purchased from Home Depot). It was easy to cut and lay out, and was even more pleased to find no hollow noise when I did a test walk on the installed flooring portion. For the plank adhesive, I used Lumber Liquidator's Tongue and Groove adhesive. Application was a cinch, leaving very little mess, although I may need to pick up a third bottle to finish the job.

After I took these pics, I've installed a couple more rows and laid out the last row of underlayment. Yes, I'm uber-slow at installation...don't judge me. What little spare time I had to devote to this project, I was lucky to get in two rows at most each time. But overall, the floating method was much, much easier than I thought it would be. The Bosch jigsaw has been serving me well *strokes it like a Bond villain stroking his cat.*

After putting in the last few rows, I still need to stain the quarter round trim, purchase the threshold and stain those and rent a miter saw to cut the corners. I think that's all that's left to do, and I can finally move all my crap back in the family room and not have to stay cooped up in the bedroom!

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Goodbye, carpet!

When I first bought my house, one of my first home renovation projects was to replace the manky 20+ year-old carpeting in the family room. Initially, I wanted to replace it with new carpeting, but then I remembered, oh yeah, I hate carpeting. So after much contemplation and research, I finally settled on engineered hardwood flooring.

The benefits of engineered wood flooring is that they can be installed above or below grade and have a higher tolerance to moisture compared to solid hardwood flooring. My family room has a screen door that leads out to the deck (pictured below), it snows and rains a lot where I live so you can figure out the rest yourself.

After several months of shopping around, I fell in love with some lovely handscraped acacia finished in a luscious cocoa brown with a satin sheen. With a janka rating of 2400, I'm hoping it can take the punishment of a 75lbs. lab and a clumsy housemate. All nine crates arrived without any problems (with the exception of hauling each 60lbs. crate up a flight of stairs!) and are currently sitting in the tiled portion of the family room. In the interim of the shipment, I hauled out all of my furniture into the now-cluttered living room. Below is the "before" picture:


Gross carpet, huh?

My friend, C. helped me move the uber-heavy TV and stand onto the tiled portion, which may the heaviest objects in the room combined. I then spent about a week ripping out the carpet and foam padding into 2-to-4-feet sections, prying out the many nails and staples and lastly, the tack strips (my most hated part). This was followed by much vacuuming, patching nail holes, sanding, more vacuuming, leveling and finally hauling the carpet rolls down to the basement. Got a great workout in all this, at least. Below is the work-in-progress:


As of late, construction came to a halt until I can get an electrician to remove the two old electric baseboard heaters (not pictured). :/ Since this is the "summer slump" for sales, I was hoping to take advantage of this free time to finish up this project by the end of the month, but it's likely not going to happen. Fingers crossed, I'll be able to begin installation soon!

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Sectionals

Currently, my living room is bare, with the exception of a couple of folding bookcases. More friends and relatives are wanting to pay a visit later this year so I probably need to get the ball rolling in furnishing my house to accommodate them.

For said room, I've been eyeing a few cushy-looking modular sectionals that will suit my love for all things contemporary while at the same time not break the bank.


The Baxter Sectional from West Elm
I love almost everything that West Elm offers and if there was one place where I can max out my credit card, this is the place! I've been drooling over this particular sectional for the past month, with the clean lines, the low/deep profile and its supposed comfiness (from what I've heard). Unfortunately $1,597 for the faux suede (plus shipping) reaches the very end of my budget. Plus, there are no showrooms located near me, so I can't exactly test the product personally.













Home Reserve's custom armless sectional in Altima Sand (photo pictured in Delmar Spice)
I personally own a Monroe-style sofa and loveseat set from Home Reserve, and I can personally vouch for how awesome they are. Practical and aesthetically pleasing, you can customize your sofa, sectional and more in a wide variety of styles and fabrics. They're also renewable in that you can always order replacement parts should your furniture be ruined by act of dog, cat or drunken room mates.

I've been fawning over the particular layout pictured above, but in their Altima sand fabric. Said fabric is great for those who have pets since it's been treated to resist stains and liquids. I have a 75lbs. lab/coonhound mix, so this may be the wisest choice for me (and at a more fair price of $737 + shipping). The downside is that their seating isn't very deep. For reference, I'm about 5'7" and I can't lie down on the sofa without scrunching up my shoulders some. Home Reserve does offer a new piece called the Lounger, but the backing is a bit too short and I can't really piece several of those into a sectional without them looking awkward. I suppose that for the aforementioned pictured layout, I can maybe spring for the corner ottoman to add more depth.













Bobkona 5-Piece Sectional in Pebble
At $744.63, this sectional looks like a reasonable deal. While the seating looks deep enough and comfy, I'm not too crazy about the leather bonded base, but for the price I'm willing to put up with it. Again, I wish I can see and test the product in person.

Lastly, I've also been checking out Ikea's sectionals online. The downside is that I would have to rent a truck and make a day trip out the Pittsburgh location. Decisions, decisions...

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Canvas prints!

A few friends of mine suggested that I turn my "Oiran" illustration into canvas prints. And so I did. :)


"Oiran" 18x24" Canvas Wrap Print


"I'll Have a Pint" 12x16" Canvas Wrap Print


I didn't have much of a selection of acrylic paints, so I took what I had and simply mixed up a couple batches of the desired shades, hence the slight variations in color. Both turned out rather nicely, and would go great with a fair variety of interior decor styles. Also, notice that Seamus McChirpin is now available in wrapped canvas form as well. Hopefully this shall be a regular thing. I gladly welcome custom orders.

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Hibiscus!

Since moving to PA over two years ago, I still can't help the fact that I miss SoCal just a little. When I recently made a trip to Lowes to check out their garden section, I found this:

Which is kinda funny because I used to HATE hibiscus plants. Back in SoCal, I'd see a bunch of people walking around with the tropical flower emblazoned all over their clothing (and I'm not talkin' about Hawaiian shirts either), bags, other accessories, tramp stamps and so forth. I've also seen many a hibiscus tree and bush growing in other people's backyards. So to sum up, I got sick and tired of seeing them. But now it's been a while since I've come across any...it made me appreciate some of the beautiful things from my home state. Don't get me wrong, I still have a love-hate relationship with California for personal reasons, but it's still home to me. And now I have a little piece of SoCal sitting in the corner of my deck. Plus, Ant really loves hibiscus, which gave me another reason to buy the little tree.


And yes, I'm aware of some of the yellow spots on the leaves, I'm already taking care of the issue. =P

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First Post in 2010

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - After spending three months in escrow, we've finally moved into my new house, and still have tons to unpack. We're also kinda lacking in furniture, seeing as that we've upgraded to much, much more space. Tony and I don't even have any bedroom furniture at the moment - we've been sleeping on our memory foam mattress on the floor. So it'll be a while before we get the place fully furnished. *le sigh*

Upon closing day, we got up before the crack of dawn, crammed all of our belongings into my car and made the 2.5 hour trip from Grove City to State College (we were staying with some of Tony's relatives at the time). We met up at the property with our realtor, Maria, where we did a final walk-through before heading over to the attorney's office. The paperwork didn't take long, and before I knew it, the guys and I were unlocking the door to our very own house.

We didn't even have to worry about cleaning up the place because the previous owner was very tidy. The movers came later that afternoon, unloaded our stuff and left within a couple of hours. The guys and I then set on unpacking the necessities first - toiletries, kitchen stuff, etc. While they were busy, I had to run out to the local grocery stores to get more necessities (read: toilet paper). By Christmas, we were pretty much settled in.

Oh yeah, and we got a doggie. He shall be discussed in the next post.

Christmas and New Years have been relatively quiet. Had some lovely, home made Ethiopian cuisine along with the obligatory booze and Christmas-themed movies.

I'm gradually migrating all of my art supplies into the art studio, which is massive (in my standards, at least). It's big enough to accommodate a sewing station, an illustration corner, a screen printing area, an office and a photography area. However, there is a large, old coal bin left behind that's taking up a chunk of the place, so that will need to be removed. Plus, we have to install a drop-ceiling and a paint the walls/floor to make the place look more inviting.

So every now and then, you'll be seeing some of my (frustrating) adventures in redecorating and rennovating (accompanied by pictures, of course). Stay tuned!

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