{the summer buzz}

I have been so busy the last month, I forgot I even had a blog for a few weeks.  Since Memorial day we -

Went camping!  Highlight < it was nice to spend some one on one time together, it had been the first time we were actually by ourselves for the first time since Korea >  
Low < I found 12 ticks on me... Andrew got ONE>

We signed a lease on an apartment! We move in August 1st.  I am very excited to be moving closer to work.  I will actually be within a couple of miles and plan on biking to work on nice days.  Andrew  has taken lots of pictures and measurements of our new place and we get to pick out the carpet and accent wall to be painted in a few weeks.  We only have 4 weeks till we move in and still need to find a bed and get things ready to move.  Once we get moved in I hope to do a before and after blog post of our new home.  These are a few pictures of our place and the floor plan Andrew has thrown together.

This is our screened in porch on the third level with vaulted ceilings, and our view.

I went home two weeks ago for Father's Day and my mom's "29" birthday.  I told her when I turn 29 in 5 years she is getting bumped to "39".  It was a nice weekend but I was very busy packing up all my stuff for them to move up the first weekend of August.

Work has been going well.  I've been putting in a lot of over time and working from home after work hours the last couple of weeks.  Unfortunately my daily/weekly "design juices" have been dedicated to work and my blog is quickly turning into a monthly design blog.  I hope that once I no longer have to spend 2 hours of my day commuting to/from work that I will have more design inspiration to blog about.

Added to my list of creative to-dos are:  Making a duvet cover for our lime-green comforter that will go on our bed, and making a headboard for our new bedroom. 
I've blogged about these before in inspiration {do it myself} <--see link for source details

We are going shopping tomorrow to pick out some furniture and a few things for the apartment tomorrow.  I hope the crabby shopper in both of us can keep contained, for it will probably be a long day of shopping and debating which things we like more.

Andrew's sister, Angela, is also getting married in 7 weeks and so there is a lot to do before the wedding.  Last weekend there was a bridal shower in their hometown and it was a reality check of how much work there is to be done still.  I'm hoping to produce some creative juices this weekend and work on some digital work for her wedding.  I'll be sure to blog about it when I'm done.

In two weeks I'll be flying to Chicago for work!!!  I get to go to a job site and document where we are installing all of the signs.  We will be there for 3 days and then I will fly home Friday, when Andrew will pick me up and we will go to our first Rendezvous of the year with his parents. 

Not much on my end for artsy stuff to show, but I'm hoping to get my act together soon!

life update

It has been a few days, maybe a week or so that I have not blogged any of my inspiration or design thoughts.  I mostly blog to share what design stuff I have been doing or thinking about.  I mostly do it for myself, but I know a few of you out there like to also know what I am doing from time to time.  

So...What have I been doing these last few days that I have not been able to blog?

Well there has been a lot of napping for a certain kitty

A lot of rainy days and thunderstorms <my favorite>

Celebratory flowers for a job offer!  Still waiting for a contract before I fully celebrate.

And a little more cuddling and knitting going on

This last weekend I also went shopping for some new shoes.
I loved the color!

And this afternoon I took a few pictures of all the foliage we've been getting from the rain -  more seen {on flickr}

Andrew and I have also been starting to apartment shop, which is just as time consuming and frustrating as job searching.  Tomorrow over lunch we are going to look at a place.  Hopefully things will start falling into place!

inspiration {photo to paint color}

How fun is this!  With Sherwin-Williams new Chip It! button you can take any photo online and find out what paint colors they are.  This is a great source for creating a theme for your home or room.

http://letschipit.com

From this website you can put in the photo image location <URL> or use a toolbar button  just like the <Pin it> buttons.

This is what it looks like when you go to chip a photo.  I used a photo from my flickr set.  You can select to have 5 colors or 10 colors.  I think the only downside is not being able to select which colors you want from the photo.  This app automatically chooses the colors for you.

Once you have saved the chip board you can click on each color and it will give you a lot of information about it.  I chose
< Golden Rule >

From this screen you can click on Color Visualizer.  Here you can upload a photo of an interior or exterior room and paint it using saved colors you have chosen. 

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/visualizer/#

Here is there Informational Video on how to do it.  It's very in-depth, but the introduction part gives a general description of what it does.

The Sherwin-Williams website also has a few other color tricks up their sleeves, what a great find.

inspiration {spring & color}

The end of the week has come!  This week has snuck by me.  I have been working on a new project but it is not ready for turnover yet.  I have been teaching myself color theory.

Many of you may think {what more is there to know than "Roy G. Biv"?}

There is tons more! I've been researching the basics and how to apply it to graphics.  I've learned the difference in the technical terms of color theory. I've expanded my knowledge of how to use Photoshop color picker. I've had a few new ideas of color for my blog. And to make it even more fun I am developing a few graphics as reminders for myself & to put what I learned into good use  - {Learn  Apply  Execute Critique - Execute Critique - EC...}  Say "execute critique" 5x.  This was basically our studio regiment with a little inspiration, lists of deliverables, and all-nighters thrown in there.

So next week I will be spending one more week at home and will have lots of time to finish up my own list of deliverables for color theory.  On top of that I've added another project to my list. I want to create my own handwriting font.  I've found a few websites that explain how to do it.  I'm quite excited about it.

In addition I have taken some photos of the sprouting greens outside!
Consider this my inspiration for the week {flickr set < sprouts of spring}

inspiration {singing frogs}

This week I decided to travel home for my dad's birthday.  He turned 48 but for some reason I keep thinking he's 58, since everyone I know has older parents. Well it just so happens that for his birthday this year, we have had an early spring, or summer - I'm not sure what season it is outside.  Today it was 80, along with a high string of 70's this last week. Because of the weather all the buds are starting to come out {the rose bushes, tulips, trees, chives, cherry tree, mint and the over growing ivy throughout our rock walls.}  

My parents live in a log cabin on 3 acres of wooded lot with a retention pond at the bottom.  In the summer the frogs croak at night, and it's really quite pleasant to listen to them with the cool breeze coming in the window as you sleep.  This season they seem a little confused and have non-stop croaked day and night very loudly! I still find it very refreshing to listen to at night, and it's a great change from cars and people outside in the city.  Let's not even mention the star gazing potential at home.

As the sun was setting this evening I took a little video of one off the side of our deck in the front yard + a few pictures.

 

my first attempt at HDR photos

I love the soft sunset colors

I discovered a massive spider web!

you can see it better here. it's about 20 yards from the deck and 3-4 yards wide/tall