CLOSET UPGRADE

BEFORE

Paul's closet before I took over

Paul made the biggest mistake a husband could do.  He mentioned to a friend in front of me that the master closet was made for a past live-in girlfriend.  The second the words left his mouth he knew it was his closet grave.  I don't care about the past girlfriend - we all have previous relationships.  BUT, I do care about taking over this closet and I knew it was my open opportunity to lay on some guilt for an ol switcheroo.  

If you've been a long time reader of this blog you might remember this post (click here).  It was a house tour of our bedroom and my closet.  Which isn't bad but waiting on our home renovation is a little too long to wait for a better closet.  

AFTER

I took everything out of both our closets and switched them all within 24 hours.  I knew I had to do this quick before Paul realized what was about to hit him.

...remember the painting from the art show?  Click here for post.

I've always saved my favorite shopping bags with no idea why.  When I was about to throw them away while cleaning everything out - I thought why not frame a few for some added girly color.  

With them all in one spot I didn't realize how many small purses I had.  I put a solo earring through the box for some added shine.  I never could toss it after Sergeant ate it's mate.  

I'm crossing my fingers I'll wear a different pair of shoes besides my sneakers now that I can see them.

  

I couldn't be happier!  It took me 3.5 years to snag THE closet but I finally did it!  Yippee!!

Paul handmade this flower on the hooks for me on my birthday.  Ohh wait!  I should still have a picture of it somewhere.  Hold on... 

Here it is!  How freaking sweet is that?  It was on my birthday the month after we got married.  I need to show him this to remind him of all the sweet things he does.  

Hope you never give up on your dreams and pounce on open opportunities! ;)

Love, Sarah

ART Party 2.0 Aftermath

Last night was ART party 2.0!  It was so much fun and went on way past 3:30 in the morning.  Of course I didn't take any pictures during the party BUT I went around and snapped some morning after pics.  

This painting started off as a blank canvas during the beginning of the night and by the end it was completed by so many of the guests.  It's really fun looking close and finding little small details.

Beka "Squirt" Johnson did a really cool take on her signature.  I have several of her paintings over the years and she always has a thumb print as her signature.  She did a linocut process on her thumb print on paper...

beeswax...

and watercolor.

My brother, Daniel King had so many pieces to choose from that I went to his house and just started grabbing them off his walls.  The bottom left painting was created specifically for this show.  I was a proud little sister the whole night after compliment after compliment of his work.

When the money is all gone ...we can still fish.  Lesli Marshall's pieces always makes you think past the paint and into her thoughts.

Elizabeth South created this day of the dead piece with colorful ribbon and glass beads.  We missed her at the show but Tahoe is a great excuse.   

 I showed my pictures that I took of each of the artists for their name cards.  It ended up turning into a little collection.  

Now I'm going to go take a nap!  

Love, Sarah

ART party 2.0

I'm counting down the days until Oct 6th!

Three years ago I put together an art show of several of my friends art and had a party.  It was so much fun and I'm finally doing it again!!

I'm only showcasing four artist this time so we can see more of their work.  Oh and guess what?!  I did a deadly shoot of all four of them and will be showing at the party too!

Please come and party with us and celebrate being alive and the world of art.

Click here for the Facebook event page with all the details.

Love, Sarah

Desk Makeover

I've been Downton cleaning today and decided to update my desk.  You can see before pictures here and here.  I found the hanging mask and statue during my last trip to Costa Rica (I carried them by hand on the plane to make sure they didn't break).  I added a small painted black canvas behind the statue to help it pop.  The art piece was a gift from my friend Jun and I added some fur I purchased from an estate sale last year to give it a larger feel.

It's so refreshing to have a sparkling clean home and an updated work space!

Love, Sarah

DIY Memory Board

I adore going to Home Depot and it's not only for a hot dog on the way in.  On a recent trip I started walking around the store looking for a little art project to work on.  I noticed how fun all the paint sample cards were and grabbed several.  I also picked up a board and some finishing nails.  At this point I still didn't know what to do with them, but headed home.  

The colors started to remind me of specific memories and then it hit me.  I could write the first thought that came to me for each color.  If there was a year associated to it, I also wrote it down. 

For example, take the deep red in the middle of this picture.  I immediately thought of Big Red the gum.  When I was in second grade I thought the gum was too hot, so I would only eat it in the shower where I could cool off while enjoying the heat.  It's a fun memory that only I know.  

I then take two finishing nails 

 ...and nail it to the board.

I try not to think about the height or color and just put them on as randomly as possible.   

Oh and it's important to put a thick towel underneath your board incase any nails pop through.   

The memories can be as significant or minor as you would like.

The whole board will be filled with fun colors and my personal memories.  I can't imagine looking at this board and not having to smile.  

Give it a try!  It's completely fun digging within for the greatest memories of your life so far.

Love, Sarah

Dream Living Room

I can dog-tag the crap out of a magazine.  I'm even known to pull pages, upon pages out for "inspiration".    My only problem is that I usually never look at them again after the initial tear.  

But, Victoria de Castellane's Paris apartment captured in VOGUE's May issue has grabbed my attention.  I love the muted base tones of the off-white furniture and classic rug.  I'm green with envy for the natural elements of the African chairs, wood and bamboo accents, and the enormous skull.  I could do without the print, but the pops of red and rich purple are just perfection.  

I try not to copy others, but isn't that the highest form of flattery?  I will however keep this picture for guidance that sometimes simple and clean can have more powerful of a punch than gaudy and loud.

How do you choose what to bring into your home?

Love, Sarah

Louis Vuitton Arrow Display

I've been wanting to do an art piece with using arrows somehow.  So a few weeks ago I googled arrows for art to see what my options were to buy some.  I came across pictures of this Louis Vuitton display.  It completely captured me and I can't stop thinking about it.  

A women's mind wanders so you known I've thought about everything.  Like "Who put it together?", "Will they let their employees keep the arrows when it's done?", "No way!  They'll probably destroy them all so it can't be duplicated.", "If I try something similar, will my cat try to climb them and brake all my hard work?", "Who cares, at least I could have a moment with this perfection."...and trust me the thoughts continue.

Back to the arrow art drawing board.

Love, Sarah

All pictures are from Flickr.  Not sure on how to give credit.  Thank you picture takers.

Living Room Renovation

We are dragging out our renovation.  If you didn't know, Paul can be quite a perfectionist and we've gone through so many wood samples and designs for the living room.  Since there is so much involved the timing has to be perfect.  We plan on creating new walls, wood floors, and custom furniture and they all have to be done in a specific order.

 This is what our living room use to look like.

This is what it currently looks like.

And we just confirmed that this is what it will look like.  Well, at least the entertainment piece.  We wanted to take away the permanent projector screen and have a fireplace for when we're not watching TV.  The screen will come down over the fireplace and the speakers will come through the fabric that is shown over the fireplace.  

Josh Rice is seriously the best designer.  He takes what we want and turns it into something that makes sense.

Here's to staying calm and carrying on while our house looks like a construction zone.

Love, Sarah

TSUMO Arcade Machine

I usually don't work on weekends, but this weekend I had to work at Comic Con.  Paul usually stays busy with projects and work, so I figured he wouldn't even notice I was gone.  Well...what does he do?  He goes to an arcade auction with his friend Robbie and comes back with this!

It's a TSUMO arcade machine and you know he's already taken it apart and is messing with the hydraulics before the weekends even over.  He got it for a STEAL and it usually starts at $8,500. and is easily worth $12,000.  Click here for a video of it in action.

Paul can't leave anything alone so he is going to find a race chair to replace the red plastic one it came with, put in back beams to attach speakers to, and enclosing it with camo net to make it look like you're in a pill box.  Ugh, does everyone's husbands come up with so many projects??

We'll have a welcome to the family party once this thing is all set up.  Please come and play.

Love, Sarah

A Jamie Morning Sunday

I went over to my friend Jamie's house this morning.  She has been wanting to recapture this picture with her white cat Finn.  Jamie is a huge cat lover and it doesn't stop with domestic cats.  She is on the board of Big Cat Care (where Paul and I adopted Serena).  She has volunteered over 750 hours and is always helping with fundraising opportunities that benefit the cats.  Right now she is working on raising money to cool the summer down for the tigers.  Click here to see details on an upcoming Hot Vinyasa class where all the proceeds goes to creating pools and shade for the upcoming hot summer. 

I hadn't been over to Jamie's new home yet and I was blown away with it's calm serenity.  The second you walk in you are greeted with fresh scents, a cool breeze, and soft colors.  I immediately felt at home.

She has three beautiful cats, this here is Monkey.  But just like my girl Lizzy, her girl wouldn't come out either.  Her two boys were the sweetest and had gorgeous soft hair.

Every detail in her home is unique and carefully selected.  I always new she had taste from her Pinterest, but she carries it over to her "real" world also.

I would love (for her) to bake cute desserts and hearty breakfasts (for me) in her kitchen.

We were giving Finn so much attention with taking his picture, that Monkey kept coming in front of me posing.  I much obliged and happily snapped his picture.

 I adored all her little details.  She took the ordinary and gave it a special touch.  

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday.

Love, Sarah