wanting... more time?

Well, more time or a shorter ToDo list.  I'm having one of those weeks where I feel like I have soooooo much to do and not enough time at all to get it done.  I'll spare you to the details, but I've got travel, crafts, and job applications in my not-so-distant future.  And life too, which I guess includes all of that, but also lots more.

Anyway, I figured I would pop in and give you a super small glimpse of what I've been working on... I hope to get some awesome pics of the finished product this weekend!

SO thats that!  Keep in mind this is just the tinyest peek, and it has progressed a bit from here... but I thought this was a pretty photo :-)

<3 barb

workspace want...

With all the work I've been doing to prepare for this craft show, I've been a little MIA in terms of blogging... I 100% meant to show you updates, and I did begin a treasury yesterday (I'm working on it... I hope to finish it and post it tomorrow)... and today I was planning to show you all the warm fuzzy things that this cool, rainy weather is making me want... but as usual, I got sidetracked, and now I'm thinking about my future office/ studio... you know, when I have my own business designing/ crafting whatever I want, spending all day sketching (I rarely sketch... but in my dreamland, I'm sketching all the time)... ANYWAY, here's what I'm thinking I want:

Obviously, my very large desk will have enough space to warrant a lamp that swings and adjusts and moves around a lot.  This one would be fab, but I could easily be happy with a vintage one of the same nature!

Part of the allure of this desk is that it matches my color scheme already... dark wood, orange, teal... even the yellow from the lamp! And while I always tell myself that I need drawers and stuff to keep things organized, thats not true.  I really like to SEE everything in front of me... spread out, usually in piles...

A dusty teal like this would be really pretty I think... equal parts bright and soothing.  My room in college was teal stripes, and I loved it!  Likely i'll save the stripes for another room...

I love notebooks, organizers, etc... so it should be no surprise that I would want one of these on my desk... despite the fact that I generally write my ToDo lists on scraps of paper small enough to carry around in my pocket... haha

Obviously there are lots of other wonderful things that I would want in my studio... a sewing machine, for one.  But I won't get into all that now; I think the aforementioned items are a good start!

<3 barb

PS I can't take credit for finding the lamp and desk myself... they were spotted via design*sponge, which you should check out if you haven't already!

crazy times already!

So, I think it was on Thursday that I decided I was going to have a vendor space at the Richmond County Fair, and since then I've been spazzing out, making lists, randomly blurting out ideas, and going a little crazy.
However, this is the good crazy... this is the crazy that happens when you are just BURSTING at the seams with creative energy!  And I really do love it, even though it makes me feel like I'm back in school, preparing for a major presentation... which I was rarely prepared for... but I think with all the support and help I'm already getting from friends and family, everything will be great!

So a quick weekend recap:
In between stints of being a human headband-making factory, PJ and I found some time for fun:

fun with balloons...

fun with piggies...

and fun with Spartans!

The headbands are happening at a pretty amazing rate... I'm impressed with how many are made so far!  If this keeps up, there will be plenty to sell at the fair, and I'm SO excited!!

completed headbands!

some ruffles... love these colors :-)

more works in progress!

There's so much going on here, and I'm pretty proud of myself and the way things are moving along... time to get back to work, but of course I will keep you up to date!

<3 barb

organize your treasures

its tuesday again and i'm trying to keep up with my treasuries!  this week, i figured i would focus back on my desk for a bit... now that it's DONE, i need some accessories to spruce things up... and where else would i look but etsy? i've defaulted back to my favorite colors here, but i know you expect nothing less from me... click to check it out!

and while we're on the topic of my desk, pop on over to the Bands&Bows Facebook fan page and check out the new photo album i've uploaded!  it's a whole set of pictures from the desk refinishing project, a lot of which never made the cut for my blog entries :-)

enjoy!!

<3 barb

thanks, mgmt

just a quick note to anyone who's watching:
you may have noticed that i just gave the blog a bit of a facelift! i tried to go a little bit sleeker, a little bit easier to read, and a little bit better organized...
i've also added the "you may like" feature to the end of each post (which suggests other, older posts that may interest you if  you like the one you're reading) as well as some easy share buttons (so that you can more easily link to my blog from facebook, twitter, etc)

i hope to continue updating my blog, learning how to make it pretty, and adding fun content via widgets along the sidebars... feel free to leave suggestions on what i could do some work on in the comments section :-)

and now: a picture!

my desk... a work in progress :-)

thanks for following!

<3 barb

i'm melting!!

so, its crazy hot here... so hot that we had a blackout at our office this morning... totally miserable... booo blackouts!
in other, much happier news, my desk is done! its beautiful, its gorgeous, its slightly disorganized, but im totally in love <3

its now full of junk, but i made sure PJ took some pretty pictures before i de-stashed my entire room into this super spacious desk

i picked a really pretty floral printed drawer liner for the inside... too bad it's now totally covered by all my crafty junk!
i'm pretty wiped out from finishing the desk, all this heat, and the nonstop activity i've had in my life since summer began... im thinking this week at some point i will find the motivation to do some crafting and make some new beautiful items for everyone!!

<3 barb

the saga continues...

...and no, i'm not talking about twilight! (although, i am pretty psyched about the new movie AND i'm currently reading the short second life of bree tanner)
i'm talking about my fabulous desk!  over the past few days, big things happened... i will show you, in pictures!

1- we pretty much finished putting the finish on the bigger pieces (huh?) ...all thats left is the door, which is tricky because it has 2 sides!
2- we taped off (and covered with newspaper) the areas that we were leaving finished... because obviously i'm using paint to infuse a bit of color into this project!

(gettin' my serious face on, as per usual)

3- we primed all the areas that we intend to paint

(pj is awesome at priming)

4-we made sure everything was settled... and left for our weekend adventure!!

(you can see almost all the pieces here... the door in the background is still being finished... and  the walls of the drawers as well as the organizer slots are all ready to be painted!!)

5- when we returned from the adventure... look what had arrived from DK General Store!!!

(i'm in love... they're perfect!!)

6- we began painting... the most gorgeous shade of ORANGE!!!

(its difficult to get into the tiny spaces)

7- PJ painted my nose... 

(self explanatory)

8- and so, i put him to work!!

(he didn't really mind)

9- then we cleaned up a bit (my nose and the desk) to put some of the pieces together and see how gorgeous it all really looks:

(desk with paint, knobs, and 1 drawer in place... i am completely in love with the way the stain and the orange paint look against each other)

10- we high fived, and formulated a plan for how we can go about wrapping up this project ASAP!

so, there you have it! while i am very much enjoying the time spent with PJ working on my very first furniture project, i really can't wait to have a workspace of my own... pretty much all of my crafty supplies (everything from fabric/ sewing stuff to scrapbooking goodies to piles and piles of ribbon) are stored in my room... in my closet, on my floor, under my bed... and its a mess, which makes it super difficult to be really productive!

i think because we are planning to finish this in the next 2 days, i wont post any pics until it is totally done... so you will have to wait patiently (or not, its not like i'm there to see your tantrum) for news of the completed desk!!

<3 barb

not wanting anymore...

ok, so for the past 2 weeks or so, i've been really wanting... in dire need of... drawer pulls for my new desk!
the original ones are pretty awful... they're just plain wooden knobs and there was NO WAY that i was going to strip them and stain them and put them back on the desk!

on our trip to home depot, PJ and i almost chose this one... or something similar... it was an early contender, but in the end, we figured we could keep looking, because in the end, it just wasn't working for me...

i then began looking online... where i briefly fell in love with drawer pulls... mostly because i love the way they sound when they fall back into place... they're like tiny little door knockers!  but alas, i decided that these were not what i wanted either!

eventually, it was etsy to the rescue... an obvious solution, but one i didn't think of at first!  these beauties are small and delicate, and look like they will match the existing hardware, which makes me happy... they were originally a lot of 12, but i only needed six... after messaging the seller (DK General Store), she listed a set of six just for me, and now they are on their way!  

...and just in time, too, because i think that this desk project will be done in the near future! hooray!

is there anything you've been searching for but can't find? try etsy... everything is on etsy!

<3 barb

fresh brewed fun

i report to you today on the awesomeness of beer, namely, the awesomeness of the NYC Brewfest that I went to this weekend!

it was a perfect day (saturday, sunshine, warmth) for a day of tasting ice-cold beer, and Governor's Island provided the perfect venue... here you can see how the whole Brewfest area was under a canopy of very tall trees... so there was lots of shade (good for when you're drinking lots of beer)

although we made plans to go with lots of friends, it was a bit overwhelming to keep track of a big group... luckily, i snapped this lovely shot with maeg, ili, and erica!

rob and april were our buddies for the day... the only ones we managed to stick with, and im so glad we did!!

and here's PJ and i... we are so happy... whether its because of the beer or just from being together, we may never know!

also, we did some finish coats of the desk on friday... you can't see it, because its clear... but here's some pics anyway:

a look of intense concentration... you can see how super shiny the finish is before it dries... but its satin finish, so it wont stay this way

PJ took over for me when i'd had enough... such a good partner on this project!

that's all for now... i'll quit being a slacker and post the new headbands on etsy tonight! remember, anyone who commented on my sneaky peeky post  gets 50% off any item in the shop, just wait for a revised invoice!

<3 barb

stained!

i know, i know... usually a stain is a completely miserable thing... but NOT THIS TIME!!

i figured i'd take a break from headbands to give you a little progress on my new desk...

P started off covering the area that i dont want to stain... its going to get painted later...

...but he lost patience with the painters tape... and so, i took over

look how pretty the wood looks all clean!

i make funny faces while i stain... 

but i really like the warm, dark color that we chose

here's me trying to get into the cracks of the main piece

and working on the side a bit...

i caught a pic of my cute photographer while we were cleaning up!

so now i just have one more piece to finish staining (the only piece that has 2 stained sides... boooo) and then we'll be able to put the clear finish on top... theres also that taped off area to be painted... i think it will be very pretty! and i can't WAIT to have my new workspace all set up, because i am SURE that i will be headbanding like crazy in the near future!!

i don't care if its not sunny...

i'm going to the beach anyway!

...this is basically what val and i said this morning to the cloudy weather... and it turned out to be a pretty decent beach adventure, we didn't even really care about the 10 min of sun we got!  it was a good day to just relax, chat, eat, and read books... and i got sunburn on my leg anyway... sneaky sunshine!

here's val disregarding the lack of warmth and sunshine by lounging out anyway...

and there is the typical "artsy" pic of my feet in the sand... note the cloudy background :-P

also, yesterday P and i continued work on the desk

here we are patiently waiting for the chemical stripper to work on the desk... its like watching paint dry... only we are waiting for it to get really gross and gooey

and here's me again... applying more chemicals to the desk and desperately trying not to get any on my skin!
so yea, im totally ready to have a new desk and i'm hoping that i can make some progress this week with sanding/ staining and painting, which would be awesome.

coming up soon on my to-do list:

• post some pics from my brief stay in ocean city
• photograph and list some new headband designs (obv with sneak peeks here)
• have a photo shoot with real live pretty girls wearing my accessories
• figure out how to sew a dress... and make myself a pretty one :-)
• reconfigure some old/ boring/ ill-fitting clothes that i have in my closet

i'll let you know if/ when any of these things happen!

<3 barb

perfect saturday...

im blogging today from my outdoor office... aka, a lounge chair on the deck.  i actually hate using my computer outside, because its too shiny... but its nice out and i've got everything i need right here!

anyway, yesterday was a great day... the boyfriend and i planned to spend most of the day working on my new desk, but got seriously sidetracked... he FORCED me to drive his big, scary, fast car!

this is obv my serious driving face... slash im totally holding back hysterical laughter... i dont even know how P took the picture... i think he was laughing at me too!  this is progress, because usually im scared to death pretty much anytime i'm in the car

...anywayy... we eventually made our way to the desk (after various other adventures and endless chatter)... it looked a bit like this:

P putting the stripper on some desk pieces to lift off the original (gross, damaged) stain/ finish

here's me (another serious face)... cleaning off whatever remaining gunk is on the top of the desk

P sanding off one of the pieces... the only one we managed to get to that point with... oh well

the spots are from all the floating sander dust... but you can see the difference between a clean sanded piece and the original piece!  

after working on the desk, we went out to dinner for my mom's birthday... delicious food and good company was the perfect end to a really fabulous day!

alas, it is now time to get back to working on my desk... and no P here to help me with it, so i'm on my own today!

<3 barb

a closed laptop day

yesterday started out with the best of intentions... i had pictures to post and things to tell and then, it became a CLOSED LAPTOP DAY...

i know, this sounds completely crazy... how can you just ignore the laptop all day? well, its easy for me... if its in my backpack, sometimes i just am not motivated to take it out and boot things up

this is a good thing... it keeps me from:

1. wasting time (while i don't necessarily think facebook creeping is a waste of time, it certainly prevents me from doing other things)
2. hiding in my room by myself (instead of, you know, spending time with my family and friends)
3. online shopping (really, completely unnecessary... i don't have money to burn)

so anyway... this is what i planned to show you yesterday:

boyfriend and i went to home depot to get some items to fix up my new desk... as i may have mentioned, i'm very excited about this, and i had SO MANY ideas for what i want to do to it!  the decision was made to refinish the wood in a lighter color, and then paint the little organizer shelves and the inside of the drawers a bright orange color... orange is sooooo my color lately

here you can see the orange, and those rolls of floral stuff? im going to use that to line the drawers... since i'll be keeping lots of pretty stuff in there (all my ribbons, fabric, paper, etc) i want to make sure it stays nice!  

hopefully this weekend i'll find time to do some work on this desk... i cannot wait to have a dedicated space for my crafting stuff! i will def be taking more pics and sharing along the way :-)

<3 barb