This Room

Hello!  I have been obsessing over Miss Bean's room.  I have filled myself to capacity on Pinterest and various online searches.  Can't. Look. Any. More.  I've reached my visual fill and now I just need to get in there and work, but, um, I have to work so it's going slow.

Way back when--moving in.

 The image above is from almost 4 years ago when we were moving in.  The Lady Bean was little then.

The same wall a week ago.

This is that same wall; the space to the right of the window.

Detail of gallery wall.

This is a little bit of wall art DIY.  The empty frame in the previous picture became the home for a happy little salt dough cloud.  I made some ornaments in December (and then I wondered what to do with them).  I put printable paper from Mini Eco in the frame and glued the cloud on the glass.  Boom!  A little bit'a cute.

The new dresser when we first saw it in the store.

Another update since the first picture is a new dresser.  She's 13 and 5'5; I think she could use some grown up furniture.  We replaced the two pieces of children's furniture with one large dresser and I love it, but this finish wasn't going to work.

Our inspiration

The "French Maid" dresser was the inspiration for the new finish on her new dresser.  It's pretty great.

The room in 2015.

This is how the bedroom looks currently.  You can see that it's still very much a work in progress, BUT...  The dresser is done!  Look to the left, that's 5 feet of lovely.  Oh how I love to do finish work.  The decorations hanging from the ceiling are nice, but they need to be taken down.  The Lady doesn't do pink anymore so while I love paper decorations, we are going to move on to something similar, but different.

There are mirrors to paint and more frames to hang, cords to hide, etc. and so on, and so on...

xoxo,

b

Catching Up

Mr. Husband left town over the weekend and we had an all lady house (except for one kitty cat man).  We started our weekend by watching Maleficent and then we got crafty and loungey.  The Lady Bean listened to a lot of music and worked on homework (wow).  I decided it was time to pull out old projects and new ones... always new ones.

Let's start with the new!

Pumpkin form

I made progress on the pumpkin mask, but for some reason I don't like using a black bag for the form.  I don't even know why, but it's covered with paper now.

Linoleum block

I finished my first product review for Cut Out + Keep.  A project with a tutorial and final photos will be posted there.  I am not sure when, but I will put a link here when it happens.

I call this "The Louise Pattern".

Miss Bean decided to be Louise Belcher for next Halloween.  I know this seems insanely early, but I enjoy working on the costumes when I'm stuck inside during the winter.  I also realized after years of last minute costumes, it's much more fun to be done with a costume when October hits than it is to be starting one.  The other benefits are better costumes because I'm not rushing and if it's already made, it's harder for her to change her mind 5 times.

Now for the old...

From white to grey.

I pulled out a bag of supplies that I had for a project(s) started two years ago.  I used to feel awful about doing things like this (you know, setting something aside and then just sort of walking away from it), but then I realized that I often end up going back (eventually) and it works better that way.  Sometimes I need to develop a few skills or step away in order to figure something out.  The problem with this method though, is that sometimes you decide you want more of a certain fabric you were using, but you can't find it anymore.  So the photo above is me "making it work" and dying some similar fabric that I already have.  Not what I would liked to have done, but I learned to buy a little extra in the future.

Fancy Bat is back.

That brings us to this, Fancy Bat.  Fancy Bat wears a fancy hat.  Fancy Bat also wears a vest and maybe some sort of a pocket watch, sips drinks with a pinky out, etc. because Fancy Bat is fancy.  FB is inspired by Mary Engelbreit characters, personified animals in children's books, and a bit of the Victorian era.  I drew the original sketches and sewed the hood and cape in 2012.  I was using this piece to challenge myself to sew a complete outfit based on a created character.  At the time, I was planning to purchase a shirt and tights to layer the pieces over, but now I've decided to sew those as well.  If I'm using this as a personal "sew a complete look" challenge, I really should go all the way.  Anyway, the next piece is cut and ready to sew and I've made a few tweaks to the design. I am loving it.  

Does anyone write?  Fancy Bat needs a story.  Maybe someday I'll write one, but that's not really my thing.

xoxo,

b

Telephone

I'm participating in a game of Telephone.  It's an art project-collaboration thing.  You can read about it here.  You could also participate.

This is the image I was given to interpret.  I think my receiver might be broken though because I'm not sure what it's saying.  What do you think the message is?

help...

xoxo,

b

Food as Art

I've become obsessed with making the most amazing, perfect looking vegan jelly mold.  I have not succeeded yet.  The photos are in the order in which the molds were made.  The first two photos are of molds that did not contain enough agar agar to set properly and I accidentally made ice by leaving them in the freezer for too long.  The molds in the next two photos are from my second batch and I was determined that my vegan jelly would set... and it did.  I made a form of rubber.  In the third photo you can see what happens when you pull a mold too soon; the fruit falls out and there are little pockets that aren't set up yet so everything breaks or gets dropped.  Yep, that mold was dropped.  I also took a bite of that one and the flavor was fine, but the texture was awful.  Photo number four is the most success I had yesterday.  The jelly had enough time to set up, however, it will bounce if it hits the floor so I won't be eating that.  I will be doing a photo shoot with it in better light though now that I have located my camera.  I followed the ratio of agar agar to liquid in this recipe with the first batch of jelly I made, but I suspect where the ingredients list calls for teaspoons of agar agar powder, it should be tablespoons.  When I used this amount of water to powder, nothing jelled.  So, the next experiment in vegan jelly molding will involve almost 1 tablespoon of agar agar per 1 cup of liquid.  Photo 3 is my favorite and Mr. Husband is very uncomfortable in the presence of molded jelly.

xoxo,

hoping for a jiggle,
b

**Update: 1 teaspoon of agar powder is equal to 1 tablespoon of agar flakes.  I guess I have flakes, but I really thought it was powder.**

I forgot.

I forgot to do my thing; my unannounced Friday thing.  I forgot to instantly gratify (the three of?) you with "Instagramification"... oops.  I'll do it now.

I added some little art in the kitchen and found a spot for the mixer.

Kale chips because our CSA share is full of kale and I wanted to try something different.

It looks like a little book with a rainbow/cloud machine.

Welcome back summer porch and good morning kitties.

The hat arrived and I like it.  I thought it was a fedora, but the brim is wider.

It's coming!  I wish we were as cute as our cartoon counterparts.

The quick update:

I got the hair into the garden and I actually touched it.  Ick.

I made wheat and herb baguettes.

I met with our friend/officiant/organizer (he's a one-stop shop) and day of event wedding concerns came up.  I have found solutions and future tragedy has been averted.  WOOT!

Had I remembered to do this Friday, it would have been garden pics'.  We'll do those too, but later... there's so much to share.

Kisses,

BeeeeeeeeMerry

Instacanvas

I'm going to try Instacanvas, but in order to get a gallery, YOU have to request me... please?

It's me, Brooke.  God, are you up there?

Thanks

Oops and Ouch

I injured myself.  I was moving forward just blasting through my many self imposed tasks and it all came to a super painful halt.  I'm told that I pinched the cartilage in my lower back and then it became inflamed and irritated.  It certainly does hurt and today is my first day back with the living since Sunday.  I was moving around stuff in the house to incorporate the future mister, finally re-working the stairwell (it's looking much better), and doing some test baking, but none of this is done because the pain was immense and I gave in.  What else to do?

This is what the stairwell area did look like.

This is an in progress shot of my little make over.  New paint does a lot.

The kitty rug that is now the side door's companion.  It was over sized, but it looks nice cut down.

Now a look at something I did without injuring myself; I hung a painting by Future Husband in an effort to incorporate him into the house and I did not sustain any injuries.

I'm still on the search for the ultimate vegan meringue and making efforts to bake a decent macaron.  Some of my new kitchen indulgences arrived this week, but I haven't been able to stand long enough to try them yet.  I'll hopefully get to that soon.  Foe now I need to make a follow up appointment for my malfunctioning back.

Home!

I think I was talking about tackling the living room and other stuff.  I get behind very easily.  I have my own photos now and I suppose I should post them.  I also figured out some lighting by combining the ideas behind several of the pricey items that are commercially available.  I found a tutorial for making a pendant lamp out of fabric strips and a metal frame.  I can't find a picture right now, but maybe you can imagine it?  I sort of hated it, but the fabric strips were appealing.  Here is a not-so-great photo of what I came up with:

I have a basic and cheap cord with socket, a cheapy hardware store bulb cage, and a reproduction Edison bulb.  The bulbs are more expensive than a basic light bulb, but they a add a really nice detail and produce a different kind of light.  The bulbs make an interesting pattern on the ceiling (a little of this can be seen in the photo above-- look behind the wire cage).  They also have a warm, yellowy glow.  It's a different kind of light than what I'm used to, but it seems to be working.  Now I can see and I was able to put my other lights back where they belong.

The new living room:

The couch with a new throw pillow-bot and some art work that's been hanging around was finally hung.

Our Eames knock-off came and we put it together during a 2 hour school delay.  I absolutely love it.

Also, in keeping with tax return tradition, I got a new piece of artwork.  Yay for faux taxidermy and for art that goes on sale.

That's my living room round up for now.  I'm still trying figure out how to take pictures in the house.  The lighting is totally different and it's difficult to get good photos.  From the dining room/living room area I went to my daughter's room.  The weather has not been my friend for outdoor decor, but I have been piling up my project supplies.

The Bean's room is all about this:

Next time...

xoxo

Pharm Accident at the IMA's 100 Acres

Wednesday of this week we helped to christen the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres with the first full performance to take place at it's visitor center since opening. It was rather spectacular and even though I knew the IMA might get decent attendance, I really didn't expect to have an audience. It did though and there were more people present than chairs available. I was right between the crowd and the stage, moving in reaction to a saw blade being played, and... I couldn't look. I absolutely could not look at the audience and I wonder if anyone noticed.

Art Parade in Fountain Square

In addition to working on a show that opens in October, I've also participated in a few performances recently. This is video of the Anti-Fascist Marching Band conceived, composed, and organized by Joe Molinaro. The marching band received an award for community spirit and should be making an appearance in the local paper soon.