First prints in the new studio

We haven't even unpacked boxes yet and the orders are rolling in.  We had a custom request for Pop bot in orange so I dug out the paint and paper I needed and did a few quick prints.  Like what you see? Check out Skartshop's Etsy page and order one of them hot of the press!

4 on Friday: Geometric Patterns

Found on:
1. Ella and Elliot
2. Momfilter
3. Twoems on Etsy
4. Envelop

It is perfectly ok to hack apart children’s mobiles with a pair of scissors

Let me explain.  

My wife and I were doggedly determined that our nursery not resemble anyone else’s (a noble, yet common desire, I am sure; if you, the reader, are interested in piecing together an entire room from one single source, then I am afraid that these notes may not be of your liking; however, do not let that deter from continuing reading; a new reader, even if they be an antagonistic one, is always appreciated).  My wife and I also have rather limited space with which to work (see: 650 s.f. NYC 1 BR, 1 BA).  Using a professionally installed curtain from the Shade Store, we have split our living room in twain to create an 8x14 foot nursery (more than enough room for a five-and-a-half day old, although I wouldn’t want to have to store a teenager in the same square footage), while still leaving ourselves ample space for a living room (although many non-New Yorkers might be hard-pressed to use the adjective “ample” upon initial inspection of said living room).  Our original plan was to have a translucent sliding glass wall installed by the Sliding Door Company, but alas, our apartment building management company nixed that idea, leaving us to ransack our imaginations and finally alight up on the soundproof curtain idea (although categorizing the curtains as “soundproof” is a bit of a stretch).  The detail of the nursery with which this Note is concerned is what I managed to do to the back of the curtain in order to further enhance the overall design esthetic of the room. 

Picture a mobile.  The kind that connects to a crib in order to entertain a baby while you are out of the room doing dishes or taking a nap or running rabbits out of your herb garden.  Now, picture a pair of scissors.  Now, using these scissors, cut the hanging pieces off of the mobile proper and then throw the rest away.  Now, using light-colored thread, sew the mobiles onto your fabric item (a curtain, for example). 

Naturally, it is advantageous to use a mobile (or in my case, three mobiles) that you find especially eye-catching.  The three I used (sheep, penguin, and bunny) were all designed by Flensted Mobiles from Denmark for MoMA.  My original intent, I suppose, in addition to giving someone, baby or otherwise, something to look at on the otherwise empty back of a nine-foot floor-to-ceiling curtain, was to create a field effect where animals came to graze in peace, far away from the bustle of the business world.  Now, granted, penguins as a species don’t tend to graze (and thinking about it, neither do bunnies), and besides, sheep, penguins, and bunnies are probably almost as worried about the bustling business world as babies are, but as far as the design aspects of the room are concerned, I think that the overall effect was rather successful. 

Look at the Canadian TV show ...and smile!

See,  I knew the new blog title would translate itself well.

We "cut the cord" and got rid of our cable last week and now I'm hooked on internet TV. This weekend was spent watching episode after episode  of a great show made in Canada (no, there is no Degrassi in the title!)  I just ♥ this show.  Maybe its the fact that it takes place in Toronto, the city I grew up in.  Or maybe it's because the lead character is my age and I can relate to so many of her experiences.  Of course there is the time travel element. I never could resist a good parallel dimension story.(Think Quantum Leap meets Touched by an Angel)   It's a happy, feel good, moralistic, lesson learning, drama of a show that just makes me smile episode after episode.   Of course the roster of uber hot leading men doesn't hurt the enjoyment factor either!

If you haven't heard about it you can check it out in the US at Hulu.com/being-erica and in Canada at cbc.ca/beingerica 

I only have two episodes left -- Any suggestions of shows to watch next?

4 on Friday: Alphabet Walls

Found on:

1. Pintrest

2. Design Sponge

3. Little Loveables Blog

4. Nursery Murals and More

The new studio space

First a new blog name.  Next, new blog contributors.  What more can I have up my sleeve?

Well... drum roll please....

Today I got the keys to my the studio space.  Woohooo.

It needs a bit of work (shelving, furniture etc)  and I still have to move the rest of my stuff in.   But the space is great, the light is nice and the location is fantastic. Not much to look at yet, but I snapped a few pics so you could see. 

white walls = blank canvas of creativity

Lots of natural light, a bit o fluorescent and some A.C for those hot summer days

Note #1 from a Recent Paterfamelias

As I write this, my daughter is almost exactly five-and-a-half days old. As a new father, I have had little time of late to do any writing, which is unfortunate, as I am an author of fiction, poetry, and now, apparently, entries upon the metaphorical papyrus of the blogosphere, entries which I would like to call “Notes from a Recent Paterfamilias,” a title which is admittedly as pretentious as anything upon the face of the earth except for possibly celebrity baby names (this is particularly funny, as my own daughter is named after a Jane Austen novel and an ancient Greek emperor; pretensions abound!). An earnest promise from the author at the very beginning: I will ardently attempt to tone down any and all pomposity.

Being a new dad makes it impossible to guess what the next Note from a Recent Paterfamilias might be about. It might be about how I used an Eero Aarnio puppy as a guard dog for my nursery. Or how, if I had the property, I would have an entire herd of Eero Aarnio puppies in my back yard. Or it might simply be comments and confessions on fatherhood. Or it might be an examination on how amazing the Brinca Dada “Emerson” dollhouse is. Or it might be about my new series of Pop Art Cupcakes. Or it might be about shooting Nerf golf balls at Mark Wahlberg, Steve Coogan, and Will Farrell for an entire afternoon on the set of The Other Guys. Or how glitter and confetti on a film set in Chinatown will stick around on the streets for literally months. Or my next post might be purely design oriented. Like I said, it’s hard to tell. Maybe I’ll let the nearly six-day-old pick a topic (although, admittedly, it is often difficult to discern what, precisely, it is that she’s talking about; personally, I like to think she’s rehearsing her acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; heaven forbid it be the one for Literature; nobody in their right mind wants their child to end up as a writer).