I finally finished the table

I just wanted to do a quick post and announce that I FINALLY FINISHED MY TABLE!!! This is a big deal because it took me a while and I have really been needing a coffee table. I think it looks so nice and I am excited to move on to some other furniture that I am planning to refinish.

On another note, I discovered this show today on Fit TV called "Just Cook This", and it was this guy who cooked really quick meals that were really healthy. I was immediately drawn to the show because the food looked really delicious, very easy to make and they incorporated a lot of cool graphic design elements. If anyone has seen the movie "Stranger Than Fiction" (which is one of my very favorites btw) it used graphic design in the same ways. So this week I am trying two of his recipies, one is this yummy looking turkey burger and another is shrimp tacos. I will let you know how it goes and hopefully I will be able to add some delicious items to my weekly menu!

'Tis the season to be decietful fa la la la la la la la la!

The Plot... I got Jay some AWESOME wheels and tires for his truck, and I'm not going to lie they were a sweet deal. But the problem was, I cannot keep secrets so there was a few times that I came dangerously close to giving it away. So I had to come up with a decoy. I bought Jay a fake gift, it is a Jeep RC car, and on the bottom of the box I wrote a note that said, "You didn't think this was it did you? Go to the garage!" There in the garage, (with the help of my little elves) were the tires! The Video... So here are the videos of Jay opening the gag present and then the video of him getting the tires. I am pretty happy with his reaction!


The reaction



As a side note, Jay and I have pet names for each other, he is Bear and I am Puma, I just wanted to clarify that about the videos!

What a wonderful Christmas, I couldn't be happier!

Merry Christmas!!!

It is finished

Alright, I finished my painting of the fruit, and not a moment too soon. I got it to my friend Saturday, and it was for a Christmas present, so to say the least it was down to the wire. I think it turned out well, I don't usually like still life's but it has this dramatic feel to it, so I think it came together.

I just want to take a break and enjoy Christmas for a few days. Though I am sure there will be a bunch of stuff that I will have to do before I can take it easy.

Day 3

Alright so in an earlier post I talked about a painting I am doing for a friend of mine for Christmas. She is paying me (yay, this is the first time ever!) and I need to get on the ball with this one. So last night I got the picture all scetched out on my canvas, which I made the other day, and today I started the painting process.

I thought it might be cool to chronicle the process. I have to say I am really nervous about this one. I hope she likes it. I get so paranoid that I will put all kinds of time and energy into something and that whoever I give it to won't like it.



So this picture is what I did last night. I sketch what I am going to paint onto the canvas, this ensures that everything is mapped out the way I want it to be and that all my portions are correct.



Today I started putting down some paint. I began by blocking out some larger areas. I am using Acrylic paint, so when I am ready to do detail stuff I have to work quickly because it dries so fast. I worked on the bowl for a little while, but it just wasn't working the way I wanted it to so I moved onto the first lime. I am usually hesitant to show people my work while I am working on it because just that, I am still working on it and I don't want people to dislike something that hasn't been finished yet. I got a majority of the lime done today but there are still some details I need to work out. As I continue the painting, it is not unusual to revisit parts that I have already completed because a lot of the time I have figured out a way I want to work it. Sometimes you just need to move on and come back to it. Every time you force something, it never comes out the way you want it. Kind of like life I guess.


Alright, so day 3 is complete and I will try to keep everyone posted on my progress.

Axis of Evil

I am sure that anyone who reads my blog already knows the story I am going to tell. Essentially, our little house was invaded by tiny, evil creatures. Let me paint this horrific picture in your mind. It’s about one o-clock in the afternoon last Thursday when I am sitting at my kitchen table working feverishly on my business ethics paper. Out of the corner of my eye, my senses note something that is out of place. To my astonishment and horror, a GIGANTIC mouse is casually strolling across my living room, apparently it had gained an interest in my fantastic leather chair. To be sure that people don’t misunderstand the severity of the situation, the was more like a mouse- rat, rather a rouse or mat… the body must have been about 4 inches long, not including the devilish tail.

I grabbed my phone and ran up stairs, meanwhile I am dry heaving and getting exponentially dizzy. I call Jay at work and he informs me that I should get a broom and try to sweep it out of the house. This is not what I wanted to hear. So I hang up and dial my mom. She tells me the same thing. So by now I gather that I need some help, and seeing that we have a mortgage now, I can’t force Jay to come home and take care of it, so needless to say, I call Jen. She comes over, and when she sees the rouse, she flips out too. After some screaming and flash dancing, we realize that mat the rouse is not going anywhere. I leave her there for the time being so she can keep an eye on the fort while I get some WMD’s. I arrive at the local Home Depot, and the sales guy asks me if I want this to be done humanely… I looked at him like “REALLY?” I told him that I don’t care if they spontaneously combust, I want them dead in a hurry.

Let’s jump back a step or two first, before I went to the store I find another 3 in the basement… this is a big difference, its like realizing your kid has experimented with drugs versus finding out he deals them. BIG DIFFERENCE. This pumped it up to code red. I return from the store and put two traditional traps in the kitchen as well as a big thing of radon, and then another three things of radon in the basement and two more traditional traps. I grabbed a change of clothes and my laptop and went to my Mom’s. I made Jay and Scott do major clean up duty in the house.

Ever since it seems as though we wiped them out. The real point of my story is how one minute things can be hunky dory and in the next moment it is total chaos. I felt like my space was invaded and exploited by those furry demons. Saturday I went Desperate Housewife on my house and did a super thorough cleaning job and put together our Christmas decorations. So for now the problem seems to be under control. I hope my next post will be less gross.

New Project

I am still working on my coffee table, which I am beginning to think might be slightly evil, but I have accomplished several things for which I am proud. One, all of the painting in the house is complete, (I know I already said this, but it was a big job and I am happy that it is over), Jay/Bob Villa built some shelves for our entertainment center, and I pretty much have all of my pictures hung.

So besides the continual work that I have to do on the coffee table, it is time to get painting. On an earlier post I put up a picture of a painting I want to work on, which I still do, but I have another that is going to supersede it for now, (because I am getting paid to do it!) The painting is going to be a still life consisting of a bowl of fruit. At first this did not sound overly interesting, but I took some pictures yesterday and they came out pretty good. The picture I am posting here is nice because it is a fairly dynamic picture of the fruit, and compositionally (I know this is not a really word p.s.)it is well put together. I love the light and how it brings this drama to the picture, yet it maintains a certain level of serenity. I was showing my Mom these pictures and she informed me that she now wants one and that I should do a series, which I might to depending how this translates into a painting. I think this would be a great candidate for oil pastels as well. I am really excited to get working on it, and I think it would make for a good photographic print as well!!!

I also wanted to post one other picture. I went shopping last week with darling Jennifer and I was pretty proud of my purchases so I took a picture of the loot, (I acknowledge here that I totally ripped this idea off of her, and you should check out her blog which is castlerockcouponqueen.blogspot.com, which is also listed in my blog roll.
Not pictured are 4 whole chickens that I bought at 68 cents a pound as well as about 10 pounds of ground beef!

One may notice a correlation in these pictures, and that would because I took them all in my kitchen on my island. I have to say that is one of my favorite spots in the house! Sneak peak... I am planning to put a very rustic chandelier in there!

Insane in the membrane

How to begin this one... if Hell was a weekend activity that would never end, that is what we did last weekend. After my last post about being more productive, I seemed to have taken that a little too literally and went to the max! We painted our entire house... literally every available wall that was not the ceiling. So I am going to post pictures of our ridiculous adventure. We finished this up on Tuesday with our now lovely downstairs bathroom. Our house still smells painty, but I take strong chemical smell over nasty guy left-overs. Serious rant for a second here... what is with guys and their dirtiness? How do walls turn black and smell like sewage when they are around them? Why do they think it is ok to shoot bee bee's into the ceiling and wipe boogers on the wall? And what is that thing on the bathroom floor? Painting was a necessity to say the least! Alright, it's picture time.




It's ladder time! Yeah Jay spent most of Saturday on this scary, scary ladder; honestly my hands got sweaty just watching him up there!





This is the same, but you get a better feel for the scale, he was doing the tallest part of the vaulted wall! YIKES! He did write J Heart (the symbol) R, which was adorable since he was risking his life so I could decorate! Priorities!





This is about 1 AM in the stairwell... I like how he looks like he is glowing... I didn't realize he could do that!





This was also late, it is my Buddah picture. I was painting with our roller extender thing which we nicknamed "Extenze" ;). Anyway, this glob of paint soared down toward my face and landed right between my eyes! Awesome eh?





This was about the time was working on the stairs. This room was about half done! p.s I know these pictures aren't great, I couldn't find our good camera so I used good old celly.





I would like to introduce you to Papa Christmas! Enough said.





This won "Best Kiss" at the Academy Awards. This is touchup Sunday! I don't know why we look so dumb... but I am wearing a trucker hat so there you go!

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Tuesday... last room here, this is the downstairs bathroom. The back wall is brown ( I thought that would be appropriate for a bathroom) and the side walls are blue like my kitchen!





Another view.


So I am now decorating the place, and once I am done I am going to try to take some decent pictures and post them on here, so patience por favor! I just can't tell you how happy I am this is over!