Paisley Ann Design

1. Barnard Pendant, $199, Pottery Barn 2. Cake Mold Pendant, $79, Pottery Barn; 3. Ridged Pendant, $99, Pottery Barn

Just when I thought I was getting close to finishing decorating our room…the girl who saw my Russian Doll Desk at the River School fair emails me and says she wants to buy it. Ack! I just moved it into our room and I love the red candlesticks on there. I don’t know why I am complaining, I have been trying to sell that desk for what feels like decades. Everytime I looked at it, I loathed the fact that nobody would buy it. It has been in several shows, galleries, etc–nothing. And of course, just when I had found a place permanent place for it in our house, whooop, it sells! Isn’t that just how life is. When you finally accept that something is going to be in your life, and settle in to the idea, there is goes. Like this past week when we were visiting my family in SoCal, my mom introduced me to a guy who was selling one of his chihuahua puppies. The dog was only 10 weeks and had the most amazing temperament and he could fetch. Anyways, I was a little cautious about getting him, because I knew eric wasn’t dying to have a dog, and I had had a chi and at around 6 months, the sweet bubbly socialite Penelope turned into an angry little territorial, yappy dog. I think it is in their genes. Hard-wired. But just as I had accepted the fact that this was going to be a good thing..I spend $67.00 on a carrier, some food, etc. for the 10 hr. ride home. A half hour before picking up the dog, I call the owner who gives me the bad news. His family has grown too attached to the dog and they can’t let him go. Wow! Really?!? Could you have told me that before I bought all sorts of stuff to make the trek back to Reno with a puppy in tow? So, there again the theme, of letting go, and settling into an idea, and then, the rug is ripped out from underneath me.

Ironically, in the very same day that I sold the desk, all of the music equipment that has slowly crept into our room, actually became meaningful to me. Normally, Eric spends an hour or two once a week writing music in our bedroom. I appreciate that he gets that time, and, I don’t mind lying on the bed and reading while he is doing so. I love the fact that art is being created-but I was plagued with fear when it came to recording my own songs. Until now! Voila! Yesterday, Eric and I recorded our first song together. We will be putting it up on thesixtyone.com very soon with the other songs (sans lyrics) we have. Eric still needs to record the bridge. When he went to do it last night, there was a distinct humming noise in the background. “From what?” You might ask. Our 1940′s charmer house, doesn’t have electric ground. Aww shucks! So as soon as he records the guitar part–likely in someone’s house in the burbs–the song will be complete. I can’t believe it, after a year (1/2 of which consisted voice lessons), I almost done gave up on singing. I was so fearful–I mean like the kind of fearful that thinks, “a little wine would help.” I even considered taking up smoking pot, just to make a breakthrough. Then, finally we came up with a method that is not so scary. And now, I am loving it. It was too much pressure to be perfect and spot on with my pitch–I am not Beyonce, but I thought I had to be, to make music. We have a few other songs written that I was never happy enough with to record. I literally thought I sucked–so we have been like sitting ducks–our dream to play “live” together was slowing pulling away like the Midnight Train to Georgia. So how did we break through? Eric made it simple. Now I basically sing like three different words over and over again–record the track, and then record a separate track with the chorus, where I sing three different three words. Thank goodness for Eric’s patience. And the gin and tonic I downed. Maybe next time I won’t need it!?!? I am beginning to think that the desk and the music is somehow connected–’out with the old cob-webby stuff and in with the new.’ It is like I had to give up something, namely, my fear of failing at something, a white desk and a puppy, to actually create something new. What is something you really want to do, but are too afraid to chase after it, and to actually do it? Cheers–to no more fear and loathing in Reno.

This little coffee shop in Vancouver, Washington, totally hits the spot. Check out the chairs, covered in coffee sacks. And the lighting. A few years ago those teapot lamps with the holes in them were on Etsy. I am glad somebody took the liberty of using the design as a mainstay in a coffee house. Smart move, Thatcher, smart move! Anyways, the most inspiring part is the quilt on the wall. I love when modern design and functionality meets the warmth of a craft a few centuries old. I have had several thoughts about talking to the Bibo coffee man and asking him if I could make a quilt wall hanging for te store, since the rug that is hanging looks like something from Ashley furniture. Yikes! The kind that is trying to look modern/earthy/minimalist but misses the mark in all three categories?!? This is just the inspiration I needed. Thanks, to Grace, at Design Sponge for posting this first.

Come to think of it, I have got to find me some cheap coffee or flour sacks…so I can recover my pottery barn glider ($50-a la Jen Patrilla). Anyone have any suggestions, all of the usual suspects (antique dealers) want a fortune for them? Anyone know of a coffee shop that will sell them on the cheap to moi!!??!
Hope everyone is having a sweet day, I must stop rambling and move on to some metrics (Marketing gullash).

xoxo,
Ashley

The chicken coop is…finally…almost done. I am so happy with the results. Eric slaved over this thing. I did too, but not as much as he. He is really needs to stop working so hard.

Sadly, the chickies are even less maintenance now that they are in their own home. It is sort of sad, because I almost forget that they exist sometimes. I used to hear them go to sleep and wake up when they lived in the house. And I used to have to be outside a lot to watch over them. They were eating more than could fit in their feeding bowl, so I would have to feed them at least once a day. Now they are all self-contained. It’s like taking care of a loved one who is sick, it is almost a blessing because you end up spending so much time together.

My fave has become the biggest one who is our social buttterfly, “Nadia.” She is so happy to see me when I go into her run that she walks up and jumps up on my arm and then sees how high she can get. She would sit on my head if I let her.

My three favorite things about the coop.
1. The farmhouse look, Jeffersonian White paint and (faux) wood siding with black hardware.
2. The eggs sign I traded with Meg from Pickled Tink, in Reno.
3. The apple farm sign I got from JoAnn Fabric on sale for 70% off. We have one apple tree..not quite a farm. I am not even sure if the apples will even be good enough to eat. But…who cares..the sign–justified. Well, sorta.
4. The fact that it is a labor of love. All $800 of it and the multiple trips to Lowes to get just the right hardware..salvaging an old door.. painting hardware, getting stabbed by chicken wire etc. It was all poured into a big bucket of love and commitment that I have to my man and my family to make this house our own.

After doing marketing for over a year now–which is creative, but so not at the same time, I was recently commissioned to do a wall in Rainshadow, the venue where Holland project has all of their shows in Reno.  I am soo excited.  It has majorly spurred on my creative juices. The research I have been doing on set design and my inspiration drawer (etsy.com) is tickling the happy part of my brain.  So the wall I need to create a design for is the West wall which is all white. I need to come up with a concept that can be put up and taken down easily for each show.  That is the most difficult part.  I want to do something vintage-y.  Like a curio shoppe…having trouble…because I am so tempted to propose a permanent installation…but it is so hard to want to match anything with the teal, maroon, purple, and forest green.  I am a little nervous about that. So right now I am contemplating whether to create a fabric curtain type of thing, or go for the gusto–and ask for a permanent installation.  Hmmm. All of the questions. Yikes.  I am afraid I might have to stretch myself and do something that is not as cool as I would like…just to make everything go.

Yes, I know its summertime, but let these jackets speak for themselves and maybe think about saving up for one of these babies.  Hate to break it to you but October is just around the corner.  These are so London Fog meets Madeline (sp?).  So precious and classic and fitted.  Did I mention I look frumpy if I wear shirts/jackets/paperbags/pajama dresses that aren’t fitted?!?! This lovely Etsy.com seller was able to quit her day-job and go full-time designing her clothing line.  Check out her “Quit Your Day-job” interview here. Or check out her shop for more darling jackets and sweaters.

FOOD CHATTER-I always heard the age-old adage “You are what you eat!” Frankly, I never believed it. I never believed it because I had rock hard abs and was super lean for the first 19 years of my life, half of which I was playing soccer competitively. I never had to worry about getting fat, even though I lived on a steady diet of carbs. Then I got to college, and in spite of practicing 3 hours a day, lifting weights three times a week, I got a little soft. Those late nights filled with Ben and Jerry’s, and Friend Mozzarella sticks started to make an impact. Then I got married, and pretty much stopped exercising altogether–my husband and I joked that the weight I gained was “happy fat.” While that was true, I couldn’t get over the fact that I had once been a very strong, fit young woman and now my arms were jiggling. It was a shock to my ego and frankly I started to calculate how much I would weigh in 5 years if I continued at this pace. Hmmm 165 lbs on a 5’2″ woman is not exactly ‘healthy’. Especially when I think back to the fact that my mom only weighed 102 lbs. at my age. So I finally decided to get out of
denial and figure out something that actually worked. I had never ever dieted. In fact, I was one of those people who thought you should eat as much tasty stuff as you could fit in your belly. A friend of ours who lives in L.A. was following a man named Mark who has a blog called Mark’s Daily Apple as well as a book entitled “The Primal Blueprint.” We would only see our friend once a month and every time we saw her she looked more energized and had dropped a few pounds. It wasn’t dramatic, but steady. Anyways, we bought the book and over the past 6 months I have dabbled in changing our diet. About three weeks ago I actually started reading the book—and since knowledge is power, I actually jumped in to changing our eating habits. The results: I feel great! I wake up energized, my stress levels are low, and I am not on a treadmill at a gym 6 days a week. I go on hikes with the kids, or long walks in our Pasadena-esque neighborhood.
I would like to start doing some lifting, but for now I am just enjoying feeling groovy and the benefits of eating foods that actually nourish me. The best part is that I can actually eat like this all of the time. For breakfast I have a cup of coffee with heavy cream and bacon, or a smoothie (high fat), or some berries and homemade whipping creme, or an omelette with veggies, sour cream and avocado. Lunch is a big-ass salad with lots of yummy fats and chicken and veggies. Dinner is usually a burger with cheese, or fish or meat. Everything is organic and it tastes good. I am pondering how to start carrying our new lifestyle over to the kids. They are so picky and would live off a steady diet of hot dogs and Fruit Loops if they could. This will be a challenge. Maybe I’ll just tell them that it’s true what they say, “You are in fact what you eat.”

What are you secrets for feeling healthy and having the energy to do all of the things you want to do in this sweet life?

XOXO,

Ashley

The Selby is one of the fave websites of all time.  He shoots people, mainly artists/designers/actors/inventors in their abodes.  Their places aren’t cleaned up or tidied up or photo-shopped.  They are straight up–sorta how the “chief geek” likes his Scotch–’neat’.  No ice to water it down. Yaah, so I don’t care for Scotch, but I drank about two tsp. of Sapphire Gin the other day, ‘neat,’ as they say/ Now this was no ordinary day, this was one of those days when the kids have been crawling up my butt and/or requiring constant refereeing/and or requiring constant correction for things like eating shredded cheese out of the bag (licking their fingers, and repeat), and all you really want to do is crawl into dark, quiet hole with some dark chocolate and a glass of red wine.  That was about 4 blocks away at the local grocery store. I needed something now–an hour and a half before the kids bedtime. This sort of thing happens about once a month and I thought to myself, “It’s either Gin or bust.”  In a coffee mug no less.  Bad idea.  On first sip “Yucko!”–it tasted and felt like gasoline going down my throat.  I had two sips and poured out the rest.  I think I will stick to drinks that don’t actually taste like alcohol.   Anyways, now that you all think I am an alcoholic who hates my step-kids, check out these wierd pics. The post is about wierdness–beautiful wierdness and why I have the Selby to thank for giving me my fill of beautiful odd, curious, wierdness.   That site is like crack to the curious artist/psychology grad-school drop-out/ENFP.  Here are a few of my fave pics after surfing around the Selby as though I was on a virtual vacation.

Oh, the nooks and crannies of these homes. I want to explore them with a walking stick and poke around and ask questions. Our house is becoming somewhat of a curiosity shop. I can only hope that it gets wierder and wierder–and that it’s soul will eventually be visible from the moment one walks in the door. That is my hope for our house–that all four of us and our friends and family near and far, give it a beautiful soul.

I cruise the Internet all of the time.  Mostly looking for creative souls with whom I can conspire.

I came across Amy’s Creative Side, a blog about a woman living in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I wanted to share this post with you, because I think it sums up our biggest failure as women/mothers.  that is that we don’t take care of ourselves. I’ll let Amy , a mother of four, who was used to working full-time, tell you about how she lost herself and then she found herself again–in quilting. She now sells quilting patterns online, and has a great community surrounding quilting on her blog. I love the tutorials, you might find something else you like.

Feb. 4, 2010

More About Me

by: Amy

I have a question for you, but first, I thought I would tell you a little more about me.

Life of a stay-at-home mom (sahm) is not all bon-bons and manicures is it!?  Prior to our move to Utah 7 years ago, I was working full time in a Financial Aid Office at a private university in Orange County, California.  There was always lots to do, recognition for a job well done, and I had a great boss and co-workers. Joe was working through the Master’s program and home with Ella.

Moving to Utah was good, but hard.  Our small town has 2 grocery stores, no mall, and snow for half the year – big shock to the system!  Couple that with now being the one to stay home – I was ecstatic, but a little lonely.

Since being home I’ve always looked for ways to help with the “bottom line” of our family finances.  And done lots to help with the church Joe was pastoring, financial books, bulletins, etc. . . in the midst of having babies, and taking care of stuff - I lost myself.  I was the one taking care of everyone else, leaving no time, no energy for myself.  Sound familiar?

When I started quilting in earnest, I found more and more of myself.  Uncovering the layers, if you will.  I found this amazing online community, shortly after loosing our church community, and dove right in.  I set up this blog, an etsy shop, and began leaving comments everywhere!  There is so much inspiration to be had in the community, and I’m doing my best to soak it all up, and make connections.

As I became more and more inspired, a sketch book started filling up with quilt ideas, stuff I haven’t seen online.  In these moments of sketching a goal formed, a goal that supports my desire to help support the family, and find self-fulfillment at the same time!   My goal to sell patterns lead me to writing a book, and the ideas haven’t stopped flowing yet!

So my question –

Do you have goals?  Do you have a dream?  Aim high and make baby steps toward it!

I would love to know your dreams.

Amy

The pictures are a few that Joe has taken around town this week.

__________________________________________________________________

My Dearies,

I Hope you enjoyed hearing her story.  What are you going to do this week to get out of the slump of taking care of all of the “stuff” that goes along with being a mom?

If you are not a mom, I love you too, what are you going to do to take care of yourself, your health, or your craft?  You deserve some time to yourself.

I would love to hear from you. Tell me what you do to stay sane while being home with the kids all of the time.  Please feel free to leave your comments below.

xoxo,

Ashley

Simple changes I have made to take care of myself:

-Reading Primal Blueprint:reprogramming your genes

-Walking/hiking three times a week

-Only buying organic food dairy, veggies, fruits, and meats.

-Sewing/Crafting

-Starting a new monthly booklet called The Freeway, a voluntarist movement.

-Going out to coffee with a gf tomorrow night

-Joined The Flock- an online Soul Care group ($20/month) This is super supportive!

My newest Etsy crush hales from Arizoooona! Yes, where the sun done always shine.
She makes these rad iphone cases. These were the four I could not resist.  You know my fascination with the color red and geekery. The UK phone booth is absolutely my fave. But how hilarious is it that she makes so many nods to 80′s culture? The 80′s boom box and the Princess Bride reference!? Even the fact that they are printed on some sort of vinyl makes me feel giddy like when I first saw Lisa Frank stickers and notebooks with unicorns–oh yes and those clear vinyl backpacks. Haha-I specifically remember the high school girls who hung out at Holiday Skate Rink in Orange, Ca, who would put their female hygiene products in the front pocket, merely waving it in our middle school faces that we were not quite women yet. Luckily they got what was coming to them, when a group of boys totally called that out. Woops.

Who do you have an Etsy Crush on? The beautiful thing about us women is that we all have slightly different taste. I would love to hear what sellers make it very difficult not to pull out that little plastic debit card and charge away.

Click here to go to her Etsy shop.