Ginny's Small Studio

It is All in the Details

Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference. Sometimes it all about a person just going one step beyond the norm that makes your day. I ordered greeting cards from a new (to me) company. The cards came wrapped in a simple kraft paper sleeve held together with Washi tape. I thought that was a nice touch, but then there was a thank you wrapped in brown peer with a stripy twine, an old red bordered label calligraphed, a postmark and a few old stamps. Awesome attention to detail.

Sometimes it is something kind of big that makes all the difference. When we first moved into this house I wanted to change out the light fixtures. They were "builder's" lights. You know, average, non descriptor kind of lights. Not bad, Not good.This week is our 8th wedding anniversary and we decided to buy each other a new kitchen light. John and our friend Josh installed it today.

Need a close-up?

I am so happy with it. So now I would like you to pay attention to some details. Go to our website and sign up for the workshops we offer. We have wonderful instructors coming to Small Studio just for you. My web girl has updated everything this week and I am standing by ready to process your registrations.

Distressed White

New in the store today:

SMALL STUDIO

26113 Detroit Road

Westlake OH

Tue-Sat 10-5

Accepting Registrations for our fabulous Workshop Series

Sunday Morning on Lake Erie

I have no idea how these drifts of ice are formed, but they are several feet tall. The Lake is endlessly entertaining.

Out Of The Woods

We are very lucky to live on the edge of a golf course. It is like having a really beautiful backyard without having to take care of it. The golf course is on three sides of our house. The fourth side had a beautiful wooded lot.

This little forest shades our home from the brunt of the morning sign. It is home to deer, rabbits, a fox, hawks, cardinals, orioles and who knows what else. We have always loved this wooded area. Our house has been here for eleven years next to this woods.

We have always known that the lot was for sale. We even tried to buy it, but we would have had to agree to put a house there. We were lulled into thinking it would not sell since it was really one of the only lots not to have a view of the golf course and this is a golf community. Then the other day these little orange stakes appeared. See the one at the bottom of the above photo?

Yesterday morning the big tree removal equipment arrived. I took the above photos yesterday morning. The photos below were taken this morning.

John and I are so sad to see these friendly, lovely trees disappear. We will miss the wildlife that visited us and sought refuge there. On the positive side, we are hoping the new neighbors will become great friends to compensate for our loss.

Monday, Monday

What a glorious morning it is here in Northern Ohio. The view from the deck:

And my Hydrangeas are in bloom:

Doesn't all this renewal make you want to learn and create?

Well, my friends, get your act together and sign up for the following instructors in our workshop series at Small Studio here in the Cleveland area.

July 28-29 Carol Owen teaching Altered Books

Aug 24, 25, 26 Teesha Moore teaching Collage and Journals

Aug 24, 25, 26 Tracy Moore teaching Bookbinding, Jewelry and Journals

Sept 21, 22, 23 Pam Sussman teaching Bookbinding

Oct 5, 6, 7 Keith Lobue teaching Metalworking and Jewelry

What are you waiting for? An invitation? Here it is. We have so much fun at these workshops with a whole weekend and just one or two instructors. Most are multiple one day workshops with a couple of exceptions. All photos, descriptions and other details are online at our website. We would love for you to join us.

Fajita Friday

We always go out for fajitas on Friday nights. It is our official Friday night date. What do you do?

In yesterday's shipment was this awesome industrial, round metal 41" diameter bookshelf. This morning John hung it for me. I love it. We can order one for you. Here is a close-up.

Hanging it required moving half of our authentic vintage framed London bus destination signs. They now reside in our classroom on the back wall and can still be viewed and purchased.

Also just in is this month's Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine.

Red & White China

You know how sometimes you get totally wrapped up in one look or one thing? That has happened to me with red and white dishes.

I have always been drawn to things red. We have red walls in our family room. Our bedroom and dining room are both red and white with a bit of pale green thrown in for good measure. But currently it is red and white china.

It is easy to find pictures online, but more difficult to find in person or to purchase.

I own red plates and I own white plates, but red and white, I have only a few.

I particularly like to layer my plates and patterns. Green looks great and so does black layered mats or chargers with red. Plates have always been a weakness of mine. It is what I bring home from trips as "souvenirs".

What are you hooked on?

Black and White

Silhouettes have always been around but it seems they are making a big comeback. I see different versions of silhouettes in gift catalogs all the time lately. When my kids were little and we lived in CA, the place to get silhouettes done was Disneyland. There was a "street" artist who would cut a quick profile and slap it on a card while you waited. Today, Debby Glick stopped in while traveling from Ann Arbor to her home in Pittsburgh. She shared a project she made using a silhouette made of her as a child.

Recently Debby and her husband were in Paris (lucky them!) and she had a silhouette made of herself. This small book is the result.

Thanks, Debby! I love show and tell in the store.

I also had a fun visit from Kelly and Kathy, owners of Spirit of Clay, a paint your own pottery shop in Mayfield Village OH, where they make cool stuff like this:

You two are a hoot!

We need a bit of white to round off this post. Here are two photos that I just love of white decorating. I need a tray that says "room service". Don't you?

And the cubbies below with a chair where one can just sit and gaze at those cubbies. Perfection.

Magazines

My name is Ginny and I love beautiful magazines.

Jeanne d'Arc Living is one of those lovely magazines that does such a great job of the pale color decorating that I admire so much. We now carry this magazine in the store! It is $13.95. Come on in and get your copy.

Also new today:

Authentic 1900s Dutch newspapers would look great as a decor item or rip them up for collage projects.

In keeping with the whole white decorting theme of this particular blog entry, we offer these creamy, dreamy little jars. They are about 5" tall and would make nice pencil jars or vases or look good on a shelf.

As much as I love to look at the basically cream colored rooms, I always opt for the deep colored walls and splashes of red here and there. What do you like?

Falling...

While the West Coast has sun and the East coast has snow (!!!) today, we are enjoying the last days of Fall.  It is glorious here right now.

My brother Doug and his wife Leslie have returned to their home in CA.  We had a wonderful visit with them and miss them already. I hope they come back soon. Now it is my other brother Bruce and his wife Sheri's turn to come here for a visit.  I have the very best brothers in the whole world and I miss them.

We attended an auction last night and were surprised at the price some of the items went for.  A Stickley bookcase went for $6,500.00 and a small 1950s plastic robot toy went for over $200! It was fun to watch but way out of our range.  

 

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Yesterday we drove a few hours to a small antique swap meet.  It was a beautiful dive through rolling hills spattered with Fall colors. This Fall has not been spectacular, but rather quietly lovely.  The wind was blowingwith gusts of 35 MPH so many of the vendors had packed up and were leaving. This, my friends, makes it a great time to bargain and we got some treasures. It was a fun, fun, fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Today was a good day to clean the house since my oldest brother and his wife are coming from CA to visit us.

I am really excited that they are coming. We ususally go to CA and visit everyone at least once a year so family seldom comes here. We get to show them why we love Ohio so much.

As I was dusting my antique hutch, trying to get into all the grooves and spindles, I wondered how many other hands had dusted this particular piece of furniture in it's 100 plus years. Did all the owners love it as much as I do? What were they thinking while they dusted it? Sometimes I wish all old things came with a diary. Oh, and photos of the rooms and families they lived with.

I bought the hutch in The Netherlands when we lived there in the late 80s. It has traveled from there to Westport CT, to Westlake OH, to La Crescenta CA and back here to OHio. I wonder where it will go next.

British Route Signs

Here are some things you can do with these British destination rolls.  Overdone above, but then it is a store showing their wares. I have added some sections of these rolls to my travel etsy shop.  They are authentic, old (1940s) and not a print, but the real deal and come from a bus like this:

See the destination displayed on the front of the bus?  These iconic British buses are being phased out and not replaced so the signs are a bit of history and becoming rare. That is what I have for you in my shop. The pieces I have currently listed are linen on paper and have been handled enough to be a bit soft.  Good for covering a bench or stool.

Here is another idea from Renovation Hardware's latest catalog:

Frame it! I have been seeing this often in decorating magazines. John and I bought several from an estate in England which makes us feel quite cosmopolitan. 

 

More Writing on the Wall

I ran across these two photos that I had in my idea file. I so admire this kind of decorating, but I just can't seem to live with this kind of distress-ness.

My daughter has just learned how to crochet.  Funny how those old arts just keep recycling. I hope she doesn't get carried away....

I really loved reading your public comments and private emails about Borders.  It is so sad to see them go. Next may be the post office as we know it. My little town post office has had a huge downsizing. Why don't they just stop delivering on Saturdays and charge more for postage?  It is such a huge bargain to have someone hand deliver a letter across the miles for under a half dollar. 

Let us all agree to write 10 letters this week and mail them.  I am in.  I owe several of you mail art so I should get busy.

Today at Our Antique Mall Booth

John and I have spent the week cutting and framing a destination scroll from a 1928 London Transit bus.  In the 20s, London was recovering from WorldWar I.  Cars and trucks were still considered a somewhat new form of transportation.  

Today John hung the framed numbers in our little room at the antique mall. Regular readers will understand how difficult it was for me to part with these graphically wonderful pieces. We sold five others before we even had these hung. I am quite in love with these train, bus and subway signs. They have been showing up in decorating magazines with increasing regularity. 

Last week we added these other British bus destination signs.

Below are a few views of our room at the Brothers' Antique Mall on Rte 3 in Medina OH.

I may be late to discover the blog In My House. I have really enjoyed looking at the flamboyant photos of this (maybe Danish?) blog. The blogger also likes the vinatge destination signs.

And other signs, too:

It is an absolutely glorious day here in Northeastern Ohio.  I am going outside!

What if....

What if this was the kitchen you walked into every morning? What would your day be like?

What if....

What if you woke up in this bed this morning, what would your day be like?

Or this one?

What if...

What if this was where you bathed in the morning......what would your day be like?

Seeing Red Revisited

I loved all your comments about my last post.  My family room that is open to the kitchen is also painted a deep red.  The people who previously owned the house did it.  They thought no one would buy the house because of it, but we loved it and it went with all our stuff.

You can see my green kitchen walls although there really isn't much wall.  In the "red stimulates the appetite" discussion, I do have many red dishes. Maybe if you look really hard you can see them in the cupboards.

The chairs in my dining room are red.  Does that count towards appetite enhancement?

We have red in the bedroom because I just like red. It is crisp and clean and also cozy at the same time.

John even has red felt on his pool table.  That is Keith Lobue he is playing.

Red accents abound throughout the house. I am just drawn to red.  Love red and white combinations as well as red and yellow.It is fun to read that many of you like it too.

If you have photos, put a link in the comments so we can all see.

Odd Bits

Remember last year when I was showing you unusual chandeliers?  Well, here is another for you.

Constructed of book sculptures, this piece of usable art was created by artist Lucy Norman. And this face sculpture, also made from books, is by artist Nicholas Galanin.

Both of these are on a great website sent to me by my friend, artist Tracey Truly. Tracey is a wizard at well, making wizards and other cool characters.  You can view her art here.

And while I am hooking you up to other websites to visit, I would like to mention that my good friend Gaye Medbury is teaching this spring in Virginia.  Gaye is a wonderful instructor and often taught for me at Art Continuum, Artful April and at my store.  Her projects are always well thought out, organized and she is a very generous instructor. Here is the link to Art and Soul where she is teaching.

Don't forget to check my Etsy shop often.  I add a few new things almost daily.  Yesterday, I was going to announce here that it was LetterPress day because I had listed 5 boxes of letterpress, but by the time I got them all uploaded, they were sold.  But I do have other new items, too.

Upcycle/Recycle

It used to be called recycling, but now when one repurposes a piece of found "junk", it is called upcycling.

There is an interesting blog that highlights this kind of decorating.  I must be in a spring cleaning mode, because I want to change everything around in our house.  Maybe it is because I have spent so much time indoors the last 6 weeks and more time than usual blog hopping and finding many ideas.  They are fun ideas, but although they appeal to me, I probably will not have anything quite so rustic in my own home.

Aren't these stair treads fun made from old crate sides? The rustic table below is also made from old crates.

And the table above is cut from and old sign.  You can see much more on the Funky Junk Interiors blog.

In the same decorating trend is Miss Mustard Seed. Her interiors are a bit more refined, but also incorporate found dressers and furniture.

You could do this easily at home. Ledger pages, blueprints, music sheets, old book pages would all look great. Or cover a stool with a burlap bag.  Also fun.

I am also very attracted to black and white decorating especially black and white check.

Love the old tub.

An all white kitchen with a over the top checked floor is pretty eye catching.  Note the double door glass front fridge on the back wall. That would enable grocery list making to go quickly.  Teenagers would probably still stand there with the door open.

Black and white check is not new.  It is definitely classic as evidenced by this photo of Versailles.

 

Baby, It's Cold Inside

We woke up this morning about 5 am, both of us feeling cold and wondering what those weird noises were. Seems that our 9 year old furnace decided to quit on us.  Nine years seems a little premature, but the motor had malfunctioned.  Several long, cold hours and several heavy layers of clothing later, we have a new furnace motor for a mere $800.  Considering that it is supposed to get down to 12 tonight. I guess it was a good buy.

John and I decided we needed some comfort food for dinner, so we made a big pot of beef stew together.  John likes to peel and chop.  Lucky me.  He has actually been doing most of the cooking since the beginning of the year.  Lucky me.

Then we made fudgy brownies with cream cheese frosting. John remarked how great it was that we don't have kids living with us so he can lick the brownie bowl and the frosting bowl. Lucky him.

I haven't been playing in my studio since before Thanksgiving. I will have to retrain myself all over again. But here is some random eye candy for you to look at.

A David After piece.

So this is "outside"?

I have been getting cabin fever.  Two weeks of flu and colds have taken their toll on my energy and I haven't felt much like doing anything.

But then the phone rang this morning and son Tim suggested that John and I meet him for lunch downtown Cleveland.  I perked right up.  What mom doesn't love to be invited to lunch by one of her kids?  

Off we went to the Hard Rock for lunch, feeling very cool....well, actually feeling pretty cold.  It was 25 degrees. We had a lovely lunch and chat over the noise of the rock and roll of our youth.  Prompted lots of fun comments from John about our past history.  Thanks, Tim.  This was such a nice, spontaneous jaunt.

When we got home, the mail had arrived and the new Pottery Barn catalog was waiting for me.  I want to move into the Pottery Barn catalog.  It is always so inviting and unique.  Did you get your copy?

This page is one of my favorites:

Click on the photo to enlarge and enjoy the wall treatment of old documents, maps and blueprints.  So cool.  I know I am easily amused, but do any of the rest of you like the PB catalog?

Simple Tasks

I really like using cloth napkins.  Not everyday, but whenever we have company and sometimes for a special meal for just the two of us.  Then I wash the napkins and fold them and put them aside for "next time I am ironing". The trouble is that I don't iron as much as I think I do and the clean napkins start to pile up.

This morning was ironing day and finally I got around to doing the napkins. I actually like a bit of ironing.  I love the crispness of a nicely ironed shirt.

My mom was the queen of ironing (or maybe the witch of ironing).  She ironed everything: pillowcases, sheet hems, underwear.  Yes, really. She would lug out the heavy ironing board and iron and set it up in the dining room.  Then she would get the previously "sprinkled" bag of rolled up and now damp ironing out of the refrigerator and begin the task. As we got older, we were required to take our turn and minute inspection took place to see if we met her standard.

The former owner of this house built in an ironing station. There is a fairly unobtrusive cabinet behind a door that is rarely closed. Inside the cabinet is a pull down ironing board, a shelf for the iron and the spray bottle. There is also an outlet and a small spotlight that shines on the board.  It makes setting up very quick and easy.

So now I have a nice drawer full of freshly ironed napkins ready for the next special meal.

To amswer some questions from comments:

Michael DeMeng is coming in April, Teesha and Tracy in June and Pam Sussman in October.  Info will be online in late January.

Dreaming of Christmas Decorating

I don't know why I like  photos of "white" decorating so much when I have done my house in a dozen deep colors.  The white photos are dreamy and calming and impractical for the way we live.  We are a feet-up kind of family.  We own our furniture, it does not own us. Christmas decorations come in all colors. I own mostly traditional red and green stuff, yet I love the photos of the white stuff.  

Here are some photos that appealed to me today.

I also love red and white and look at the black and white checkered floor.

Our bedroom is red and white whereas this one above is white with a bit of red.  Great headboard.

I like the apple green accents and the hardwood floor in this photo.

I just like this black hutch with the wreath.  I can picture the family sitting round the table sharing stories and laughter.

These plates would look great in the cabinet above.  Red and white again.

I like this little pinecone tree, too. All photos are from Country Living, Elle Decor and Fresh Home.

Odds and ends:

1. I can't believe how many catalogs we are receiving in the mail lately and many are for things we never have or would shop for.  We recycle them at our library.

2.  We saw "Morning Glory".  It would make an good tv movie.  Rachel McAdams was over the top perky and Harrison Ford was over the top grumpy and Diane Keaton was the character she always plays. It was cute and predictable.

3.  We have noticed more outdoor Christmas lights already up.  Maybe it is because we had a warm spell and everyone decided it would be easier to put them up early rather than in the cold. Many of the lights are a combination of red, blue and purple.  This color mix doesn't show up as well as plain twinkle lights.

4.  Monday and Tuesday were about 60, Wednesday about 30 and snowflakes that didn't stick.

5. We have confirmed Michael deMeng, Teesha and Tracy Moore and Pam Sussman for our workshops next year (2011).  I will let you know who els as soon as they are confirmed.  Registration will begin in late January.

 

Blog-Hopping

Kelly Kilmer always lists a few of her favorite blog friends' posts at the end of her entries.  I love blog-hopping over to each one to see what I will find.  It is always interesting and varied.  Following is my personal version of places I visit. If you haven't seen the websites or blogs of these people below, join me for some wonderful content.

You all know how much I like big bold words and numbers.  I love this website.

British Route Sign Designs

Cake.  Ace of Cakes.  Cake Boss.  Magnolia Cupcakes.  Trendy and tasty rolled into one, but these cakes are truly art.

Maggie Austin Cakes

I can never get enough books to read, to look at or to use as design/decorating elements.  Go have a look at Lisa Porter's blog entry about books.  Lisa is a designer/decorator. Great photos.

Lisa Porter

I am going to try something new here.  I will be responding to most comments in my comment section rather than privately.  Let me know if that is okay with you.