Color Hues

I just discovered this test that was blogged about at Lloydandlauren.com and it is simply amazing! You can test your color IQ by arranging various color tiles by hue. A score closer to zero is the best. (My score was 11 for those of you wondering.) This picture is what the non-online version of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test looks like...pretty sweet, eh?

I have also been working on my first commissioned project, which I delivered yesterday. It was basically reupholstering a baby swing seat. I must say that the seat looks super chic now. :-) Pictures to follow.

And We're Back

There were massive computer problems, and breakups to endure, but I have returned. Triumphant. I recently completed several projects! First, this chair was rescued from an alley by my friend Michael. It had sat in my room for many months, missing its seat, and being ridiculed as "the toilet" by my roommate. And oh, how it did look like a toilet. My landlord was able to cut me a new seat, and I cushioned and covered it the other weekend. Here is the result.
Other new and exciting things:
I am currently rocking to the band State Radio. I love the song Keepsake, which was featured in the season finale of the third season of Weeds. I also like the fact that the lead singer of State Radio used to sing for another favorite band, the now-defunct Dispatch. You can find out about Weeds and listen to State Radio's Keepsake here. Weeds has featured great music pretty consistently, so listen to some other great stuff there as well.

I went to Red Bull Flugtag when it was in Chicago the other weekend. It was pretty fricking sweet, and I have been inspired to start a team to create a crazy flying machine of our own for a future year. I encourage you to go see Flugtag when it comes to a city near you. And get there early - I cannot emphasize that part enough!

I went to the Renegade Craft Fair yesterday. Although it rained (read: poured), and is still scheduled to pour for the second day of the fair today, there were some pretty awesome crafts to be seen and scored. Here are my two finds:
I scored the tee from Red Paper Record. I love it! I also love the little notepad business cards, rather than the traditional card! I got the bee necklace from Erica Weiner Jewelery, and they were even nice enough th remove a few links from the chain while I waited!

Last but not least, the rainy outdoor events of yesterday (including a hole in my rain boots) prompted me to order these cute Wellingtons from Emilyhannah Ltd! They are currently having a 30% off sale, so check them out! I can't wait to have dry and stylish feet once again!

A Little Preview

Here is a little preview of what I have been working on lately:
(hint: think winter - yikes!)

Inter Alia, Icehouse on the El

The sewing machine is partially fixed, meaning just enough to do some basic projects, but not enough to do any quilting. The main problem now is a tension problem, but I seemingly have no speed regulation mechanism either, but that is nothing new. I am still on the hunt for a new machine - I hope to have that accomplished in the next month. Still, I was able to make some new sets of quilted note cards.
See my cute little "Atelier K" logo on the back???
I went to Maxwell Street last Sunday, and I got a shadow box for my sweat shop* and I also took this lovely little picture. I love the vibrant blues and reds and greens all mixed together, like a living urban landscape. Also recently thrifted, at a Salvation Army location that I'd never been to before (2 floors and some not so thrifty prices somewhere around Goose Island, possibly this location) was this gem of a vintage serving tray. Despite my claim of high prices, which I still stand by, this baby was a mere 45 cents! Score! It loves its new home already.
This vintage lightswitch plate was also recently "thrifted" in that I took it from my Gramma's dining room. I was hoping to install it in my bedroom, but it turns out that every single light switch in my apartment is of a larger variety, so it will have to be installed in my old bedroom at my parent's house.
And last, but certainly not least, this is what I surreptitiously took a picture of on the El at 1:45 this morning - this man had an Icehouse in the water bottle holder on his bicycle - if nothing else, this guy is a dedicated drinker!*"The Sweat Shop" is my roommate's affectionate name for my cozy little studio/workspace. And I do mean cozy, in every sense of the word.

Sunday Zafus

My sister and a friend are going on a yoga retreat at the end of this month, so my sister decided I needed a new project. The project was "meditation cushions." After some google work, I decided that was too vague. After some consultation, it turns out that they wanted zafu cushions. Here is the finished product:
Done and done. Who's got another project for me to tackle?
p.s. Yes, yes, the quilts are still in the works for those of you on the list, but a new sewing machine is required first!

Yesterday's Thrifting Finds

Thought I'd take a break from my legal work to show what I found whilst thrifting yesterday: an awesome vintage necklace with a leaf-shaped clasp, and more fabric to add to my ever-growing stash (hopefully this will become part of an apron soon)...

First I hit up the Salvation Army on Fullerton, then the Unique on Diversey. It was the first time I had visited the Salvation Army on Fullerton - I found it sparse and very overpriced. The Unique on Diversey of always a crowd pleaser though.

New Rug

I have been living in my current apartment since October, and have been passively looking for an area rug since. My roommate has a lovely jute rug from World Market, similar to this one, but I couldn't justify $100 for something in a larger size. Then, a few weeks ago, inspiration struck, and I was so in love with the simple idea from idahostudios that I decided I had to make one myself. I meandered over to the local carpet store today, and told the woman I was looking for greens and browns, the weirder the better. She was only able to come up with some weird ones (the plaid and then the smaller print ones), but I think they provide some nice variations to the rug. The pieces were marked $2 each, but I asked if the smaller ones were cheaper. I ended up getting all the pieces for $10, and I'm sure if I had a $10 bill, there wouldn't have been tax, but unfortunately I had to charge it, as I had just been to the thrift store, so the total for the carpet was $11.02. I also had to get a new roll of duct tape, which was a whopping $7.08, but I figured I'd get the largest roll of tape since I was out. So, without further ado, here is my masterpiece of a rug.After taking this picture I realized how hideous my black bedside table is. (You can catch a glimpse of its ugly spidery legs in the photo.) Therefore, I resolve to paint that sucker soon! The list of projects grows by the minute!

The kitchen light also got installed successfully this weekend - it was a 7:30 am daddy-and-me project, which necessitated me eating a bowl of cereal 20 minutes into the project so I wouldn't be so feisty. Other than that, we work well. The project was completed in time for me to meet my friend for brunch* and this included a trip back to the store to exchange a broken glass lightshade on a "final sale" item - see how persuasive lawyers can be!

Finally, this was last night's dinner and it was delicious! I used my bread machine to make the pizza dough from a recipe in this 1993 gem of a book, but I omitted the garlic from the dough. It was crispy on the bottom, yet still soft under the potatoes and fresh rosemary from the garden.


* My favorite and oft-frequented brunch place in the City!