Corn Maize signs

I painted some signs for Craig at the Corn Maize in August. Turns out to be a really fun gig! I went down one very sunny afternoon and met with Craig (he is friends with my friend's Rasa and Charlie, thats how I got the gig) and got the boards and a feel for the place. Brandon came along and did a beautiful line drawing of the place while I was gathering the wood and info. I brought them home, and painted them up!

He wanted them legible (obviously), and since I'm an illustrator he asked me if I could also do the corn maize logo at the bottom, and the "get lost" to look similar to the one on the postcard. I said sure, why not! And I'm glad I did (even though for a moment I panicked at the extra work) because it was really fun to reproduce! Turns out that I LIKE to paint. I'd almost forgotten, its been so long.
You can see the "maize" logo in the picture above. I think if you click on it it will get bigger. Below are the two smaller signs that ended up saying "victory bridge" on them, but I forgot to take those pictures. Oh well. The green frame was inspired by the writing in the maize logo. its done up to look like a corn maze!
This was alot of fun, hope I get to do more signs for him, and in general. I love it! And I think I've got a new price per hour: $35 for signs. The lettering isn't as hard as a mural, but its ALOT more work than regular painting. Hmmm, guess I should put that up on the sidebar of this blog!

And in other news, I've started working part time at Collage on Woodstock. Its a great art supply store. So I'm working there tuesdays and wednesdays for a while, or the schedule changes. I'm busy through the second week of October, but the schedule frees up after that!

Maggie

Quick Update

whew! its been a busy month! Lots of seven day weeks trying to get work done at various locations, and fill orders AND make product for, and then sell at, the saturday market.

I will post pictures when we are done, but as a teaser we've been working HARD at the Lomaxes, putting in a new ceiling and wall, and painting. We should be getting close though! Next week is my birthday, and I am taking the entire week OFF. Perhaps then i can get caught up on my blogging!

Maggie

Raised Veggie Beds!

My friend (and often business compatriot) Iris and I built raised veggie beds for her family friend Alice this week. Okay, it would have been just us but her boyfriend Forrest was also working in town at her parents house, and we had a truck use conflict (as in, we both wanted it for our projects) so we compromised by sharing jobs! So in the mornings we were working at Alice's, and in the afternoons, the Lomaxes. It was good for us, cause he did all the "man work" of rototilling and chainsawing. This is what the beds looked like when we were done (we will be adding more plants next week when the seedlings I started in the greenhouse are ready to go).
They are four by eight foot beds, with about two feet of pathway between them. We filled the beds with two and a half yards of three way soil blend from Mt Scott fuel on Foster (I love that place).

Alice wanted a veggie garden so she could teach her grandson about gardening, and where your food comes from. She had this one really sunny spot in the yard, where it also happened there were two HUGE boxwoods that were destroying her fence. We decided since it was the sunny spot, and the bushes had to go, we'd do it all at once. Below is a picture of one of the bushes down, and the other just started.

Here the root ball of one of the boxwoods. Oh, man, was that hard to get out. It would have been easy if the chainsaws were cooperating, but well, one broke, and the other's chain needs replacing. we also broke the handle on the Maul wacking at it! To be fair, all three tools were kind of at the end of their usefulness without some maintenance, we just thought they'd last a bit longer!

Here's Iris with the four boxes, and Forrest in the background shoveling dirt out of the truck.

Another view of the beds. We put down weed barrier between the beds to keep the grass down that might decide to try growing again. Not gonna happen!

Pretty pretty dirt!

And the last photo is up top! I'm bringing over some starts from my yard next week. Along with the squash, beans, salad greens and basil starts I have coming up in my greenhouse. Hey, a late veggie garden is better than no garden at all!

And here's a list of things I need to get to replace what broke:

Maul handle (okay, got this one already)
wheelbarrow handles
new push broom (broom part broke in half!)
clutch for chainsaw
chain for chainsaw
blades for skilsaw

And I REALLY want a circular saw, I used one yesterday to build yet another raised bed at Elizabeths, and I am in love. LOVE. With a saw.

Magpie Chandelier

So I didn't make this for a client, but I just thought I'd share it, cause I did make it, I just made it for me! It was inspired by the Anthropologie catalogs "Magpie Chandelier." I just couldn't afford the real thing. I kinda like mine better anyway, its got more stuff on it!



Anyways, just thought I'd share, in case any of you get inspired to have one made for yourselves! Or if it inspires a different sort of lamp to be made. Perhaps one all in blue with fake leaves. Or one covered in different types of beaded or plastic goldfish.... hmm the possibilities are endless! If you want to see a more in depth discussion of the making of this lamp go to my papaver jewelry blog!

Workin' on a deck!

Here's some pictures of a six by twelve foot deck Harrison and I were working on this week in front of his house. Its not finished yet, so I'll post the finished product when its done! I like how its coming together!

The frame is just set up on some pavers right above the ground. we wanted it low, and with the pressure treated wood we don't really have to worry much about rot.

This plastic decking really is pretty cool. Its flexible, which sounds bad, but then as you are installing it you realize that while it might be warped, you can bend it back to where you want it and then screw it in. With wood, if its warped, you are kinda S.O.L.
I'll post more pictures when I got 'em!

Gardening, how I love thee....

let me count the ways:

instant gratification: you dig a bed, you put in some plants, you've got a garden! okay, so its not always that simple, but sometimes it is. and those little quick beds inspire MUCH larger ones later on.

seeds: its amazing, put some tiny dried out things in the ground (or flower pots) water, wait. A couple weeks later there are plants! tiny plants, sure, but plants!

veggies: it took a couple years, but brandon has finally converted me to loving veggie beds. I was the decorative gardener in the family, but after helping him with his veggie garden for a couple years, i see the beauty and fun of the veggie bed. and they are soooooo easy once you get going!

climbers: I want flowers and green everywhere, and there are some COOL climbers out there! we just started brewing our own beer this year (brandon's new years resolution, we should all pick such easy and fun resolutions. hmmm, i think that may be my new resolution for next year...) so of course we now have to grow our own hops! even if you don't make your own beer, you should still grow hops. its pretty, and very fast growing for screens and shade.

annuals: fun new color combos every year! its a fun way to change things up in your yard from year to year. and great to decorate for one year when you know you will be doing something more permanent the next year.

okay, so i'm sure there are more, but thats all i can think of right now with OPB going in my ear. if you need some gardening help, or know anyone, let me know! i can help!

Some Projects of the Past

These were projects I worked on last summerish. Three pretty different but all fun jobs. Two are from the same house, I think you can figure out which two!

Below is a picture of a regular, boring (but highly energy efficient) white refrigerator that I painted with Stainless Steel Paint! While I had my doubts, this is a really awesome product the homeowner found, and even after about 6 months, there is still not a scratch on it, and they have a five year old! And it really does look much better silver.

Hmm, same kitchen, but now: tiled in a crazy mosaic! This was probably the funnest project I have done in a while. I love me some mosaics. I'll try to get a MUCH better picture next time I am over there.

Okay, so I said the above project was the funnest, well, I also loves me some studio building, which I did for my other mother (my friend Iris' mom). I converted part of the unused upstairs bedroom into a studio wall for her! I hung the shelves, organized all the art supplies into bins, and even hid two stacks of boxes behind that curtain in the corner. THAT was a fun job too.


Hmmm, its hard, I pretty much love all my jobs, because really, I love seeing people get the most out of their spaces. We live in a tiny house, and I am always trying to find the most efficient, and pretty, way to use the space. I try to take those things I've learned from working on my own house and yard and apply it to my clients homes. It also doesn't hurt that I have been learning from my clients for the past 12 or so years helping them with their projects!

I started out as a teen being the neighborhood home project helper. I cleaned, painted murals, gardened and painted for several neighbors all through collage. After college, it was a good way to make extra cash, and I learned even more: refinishing, tiling, putting furniture kits together (IKEA, how I love you). When Brandon and I bought our house almost four years ago, I learned even more. Our house became the testing ground for wiring lights, plumbing sinks, drywalling, raised planter beds, building fences, you name it, we've probably done it!

So if you have a home project in mind but don't have the time or inclination to do it, email me and we'll talk!

Maggie