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Ravenwood, that is…

Need a little refresher?

Does this help?

No?

How about this…

You got it;) MARION RAVENWOOD!

It’s Halloween and though I haven’t taken full advantage of this spooky holiday for a while, I’m jumping in tonight. J came up with the idea to be Indiana Jones, so it seemed only right that I be Marion… from the Original - Raiders of the Lost Ark. We even re-watched it the other night for a little inspiration. I opted out of the Marion with either of the white dresses and went for the more rugged version. You’ll recognize her from the first scene you meet her in the movie, winning a shot drinking contest against one of the Nepalese locals. I doubt I’ll be slinging quite as many shots tonight, but I’m pretty stoked about the costume. Here is a sneak peek of my rendition. I’ll try to get some photos later tonight with the final result!

 

Curious? I made the scarf, prepared the chain for the amulet (which was fashioned by J with the help of his cousin), and made some necklaces. It’s hard to find a photo that shows exactly what she’s wearing, so I made a little of it up. I think it all worked out pretty well!

Happy Halloween!!

It’s been a little while, so I wanted to give you all a quick update. I haven’t abandoned the file cabinet… it’s just taking a little longer than I anticipated. You’ll remember that it originally looked like this:

I initially drew my inspiration from a post on DesignSponge showcasing this file cabinet:

[photo courtesy of Design Sponge]

I initially thought that I would cover my drawers with decorative paper like in this post, but then I got it in my head to work with stencils instead. I checked around for different stencils, but couldn’t find one that I loved. Never being one to settle, I ended up making my own. I found a great font to label one drawer with ‘files & things’. I found a few other designs to take over the remaining three drawers. Progress has been slow, but this is what I’ve accomplished so far.

I primed the file cabinet with Rustoleum, recommended to me by the guy at the Pond Cove Paint Store. I then chose my color for the cabinet and gave 2 solid coats. It’s a light grey with slight purple tones.

 

 

I printed the lettering and designs out on sketch paper, thinking that since it’s slightly thicker than printer paper, it might prove a better stencil. Then I sloooowly cut out the designs with an X-acto blade. This took a very long time. Once I had finished the cutting, I carefully taped the stencils in position on the file cabinet drawers. Using a sponge brush, I dabbed the paint onto the stencils. I allowed the paint to dry and carefully removed the stencils.

 

I wish I could tell you that everything instantly looked perfect, but no… turns out that even sketch paper doesn’t make for the best stencil. Paint leaked through in various places giving a very messy look. This is where my detail crazed side kicked in. Rather than throwing in the towel and going with a decorative paper after all, I found a very fine paint brush and started work on correcting all of the edges. It’s’ certainly not perfect and you can easily tell that I made fixes, but I’m still generally pleased with the result.

Still to come? Two more drawers, hours spent perfecting, covering the top with a decorative paper, adding some lettering to the sides… and then finally… UNPACKING MY FILES!!;)

Updates to come in the next few days. Till then…

xxoo

They’re here they’re here!!!

I told you about them before and now they’re available for purchase online! YAY!

Things to know about the Duck Bag:

It is

a book bag…

a market carry-all…

a perfect everyday tote.

You can

carry in your hand…

on your shoulder…

across your chest…

It fits

a laptop…

groceries…

all the stuff you shove in your handbag…

Stats

16″ high, 10″ wide, and 5.5″ deep

40″ adjustable shoulder strap + traditional tote handles

100% recycled cotton canvas

$18.00 each

Go here to check out colors and snatch yours up today.

So, if you’re a regular reader, you probably already know that I’m obsessed with the DesignSponge website. Grace Bonney has put together one of the most well edited, classy, informative and absolutely fascinating design sites. I’m consistently impressed and as long as the web site exists, I will continue to champion it… and try as many DIYs as my skill and time allow;).

This week’s projects? Switch Plates and a File Cabinet.

Let’s start with the Switch Plates… or Light Switch Covers. Whatever you’d like to call them. I used the idea from Design Sponge’s DIY and altered it a little. My process went a little like this (so sorry for the lack of photos to go along with the instruction!! my camera battery died, so I had to charge it up and didn’t want to stall my project):

Materials:

*self healing cutting board

*craft glue

*X-acto knife

*Decorative Paper

*Switch plates

Process:

*Select the decorative paper for your first switch plate (I used a blue flowered pattern that I purchased a number of years ago at Kate’s Paperie - the rest were also from Kate’s Paperie… collected over the years)

*Lay the paper out on the cutting board and select the area of pattern you want for your switch plate

*Place the switch plate over the selected design and, using the X-acto blade, cut a piece with a border about a 1/2″ larger than the plate

*Cover the face of your switch plate with the craft glue (it would be easiest to use a small paint brush…)

*Center the glue-covered side of the switch plate on the back side of your decorative paper - make sure to smooth the front to avoid air bubbles or wrinkles

*Before moving forward, make diagonal cuts on the paper from the switch plate corners out to the corners of the paper

*Roll the paper around the edges of the switch plate (you may want to trim the corners here… use your judgment - you want to have clean edges to glue down to the back of the switch plate)

*Paint some glue on the back edge of the switch plate, and a little on the inside - press the paper down until it firmly sticks, making sure to smooth the paper as you go along. Do this on all edges.

*At this point, you’ll have a fully covered switch plate without a hole for the switch…

*Place the plate face down on the cutting board and make small cuts in the paper where the switch goes so that you can wrap the excess paper around the edges. (If you’d prefer not to do this, I’m sure you could just cut a hole for the switch and still have a lovely result.)

*Paint a small amount of glue around the edges of the switch hole, pull the excess paper through and glue it around the sides. This will give a clean wrapped effect for the switch hole.

*You should now have a fully covered switch plate!

*Allow enough dry time and re-attach the switch plates to the wall. As DesignSponge says… don’t worry about the screw holes - you can find them as you’re re-attaching and break through the paper. Just do it carefully so as not to create any unwanted tears or holes.

See below for the photos I was able to snap. I’m really pleased with the results. Maybe not as professional as some could do, but good enough for this gal;).
 

 

 

  

Next Up:

the File Cabinet!! I’m picking it up from my dad this evening and hope to get started tomorrow. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet… decorative paper? Wallpaper? White? Brown? I suppose I need to figure out what room it will go in first and go from there. Exciting;).

Here is the before shot: (wish me luck!)

So, I can’t lie and say I always made it to CMJ. Some years I did and some years I was too tired out from the ‘out at shows all the time’ schedule that working in the music industry required to go see music for pleasure. I can tell you that now that I’m no longer living in NY, I’m realizing that I may have taken the incomparable NYC music scene for granted. Don’t get me wrong… Portland has some fantastic venues and there are great shows coming through here as well, but a quick glance at this year’s CMJ schedule had me salivating. I thought maybe I’d share a few of my ‘wishlist’ shows with you, on the off chance that you’re in NY right now and looking for something to do. Or maybe you’re in the biz and you’ve alread got your badge in hand. Either way… enjoy!

Wednesday, October 21:

10pm

Postelles @ Bowery Ballroom :: Postelles - White Night
11pm

Fanfarlo @ Bowery Ballroom :: Fanfarlo - I’m a Pilot
Broadcast @ Music Hall of Williamsburg :: Broadcast - Where Youth and Laughter Go

12am

Midnight Juggernauts @ Bowery Ballroom :: Midnight Juggernauts (myspace page)

Pete and the Pirates @ Bell House :: Pete and the Pirates - Jennifer

Thursday, Ocotber 22:

5pm

Pomegranates @ Bell House :: Pomegranates - Everybody Come Outside!

8pm

Small Black @ Bell House :: Small Black - Despicable Dogs

Paleo @ Bowery Ballroom :: Paleo - You Kings

9pm

Annie & The BeeKeepers @ The Living Room :: Annie & The BeeKeepers - Again and Again

Golden Silvers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg :: Golden Silvers - Please Venus

9:30pm

Dolorean @ Bowery Ballroom :: Dolorean - Fool’s Gold Ring

10pm

Ambulance LTD @ Mercury Lounge :: Ambulance LTD - Stay Where You Are

The Antlers @ Delancey :: The Antlers - Two

11:30pm

Deer Tick @ Bowery Ballroom :: Deer Tick - Friday XIII

12am

Local Natives @ Mercury Lounge :: Local Natives - Airplanes

Friday, October 23:

9pm

Warpaint @ Music Hall of Williamsburg :: Warpaint - Elephants

Motel Motel @ The Bell House :: Motel Motel - Coffee

10pm

The Love Language @ The Living Room :: The Love Language - Lalita

11:45pm

School of Seven Bells @ Music Hall of Williamsburg :: School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep

Saturday, October 24:

4:15pm

Local Natives @ Delancey Upstairs :: Local Natives - Wide Eyes

6:45pm
Mama Bear @ Delancey :: Mama Bear - You Make Me Feel Like Hips

8pm

Threes and Nines @ Bowery Ballroom :: Threes and Nines (myspace page)

9pm

Zach Williams @ Rockwood Music Hall :: Zach Williams - Fears

11:15pm
Real Estate @ Music Hall of Williamsburg :: Real Estate - Beach Comber