A Dad And Son-A Father's Day Gift

This one's done and going out in today's mail.
I'm waiting to hear back from Heidi to see if she still wants her pet portrait done.....its been a while since she requested it and circumstances can change..........I should know ;-)
Next week I'll be painting a castle bed.

Never Assume

Well, this is just great. I mentioned in a previous post that I'd been communicating with a woman here about a job since last October. I finally met her last week and it went really well, I spent an hour with her. The job involved shopping, errands and cooking for them three days a week.....perfect. They're both busy doctors so I'd be working independently........perfect. Enter a previous employee wanting to come back.......the perfect job has suddenly disappeared........perfect!
FOCUS

Elementary Trompe L'oeil

Taking a break from the painting, I'll finish it tomorrow. Meanwhile I decided to do a little elementary trompe l'oeil on the plywood I used for the bed project.
I need to redo that shelf up there but tearing out these old shelves makes such a mess and I need to get some plaster cause the last one I removed left a nice little hole in the wall. I imagine the other one will be the same.

OK...its not gorgeous, but its better than the bare plywood and it didn't cost anything :-)

A Small Father/Son Portrait

I started on this yesterday and will continue through the day today.
11:00am progress
1:00pm...........
Just some bits and bobs now....

Sleeping Nook Update

Sleeping nook update. I went downstairs this morning and saw that my foam mattress had arrived already, with free shipping I wasn't looking for it until next week. Its early arrival was quite timely as I woke up this morning needing to fight my way out of a nearly deflated air mattress! It will be my most favorite thing to throw away.
When I first spotted the foam in the hallway I was a little skeptical, it didn't seem like a very large package for 4" thick foam.
But once unwrapped it puffed up proudly.
I went over to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought a mattress cover and found this perfect size storage unit to put against the side wall when the bed is up.........and pulling it forward a bit it will nicely support the bed when it is down....PERFECT!
At last a good nights sleep :-)

Little Brother's Portrait Finished

Finally! I'm about to call this finished.

He'll be sent off to join his big brother........I did this one a couple of years ago.

Trying To Get Organized

Anyone else?........I find it very hard to focus when I'm surrounded by disorganized clutter. And as true as that is, it was also a good excuse to run out and finally purchase this piece I've been watching on Craigslist for weeks. I just couldn't stop thinking about it.....one, I knew it would be a great candidate for a makeover and resale....and two, it would perfectly house the remaining bits of clutter piled in the corner of my main room. Now my hope is that I get enough work for the remainder of the month to get my rent together! Looks like its going to be a ramen noodle month.
Ok, she's a bit beat up, but oh the possibilities........which actually are going to have to wait, not a dime left for paint and materials.I love multi-functional furniture....this top drawer is a desk.

And here it is cleaned up as best I can for now and pressed into service.....no more clutter on the floor :-)
Oh! And look what I got for five bucks...........
Remember when I traded my truck for a car?.......a convertible car? Well I'm missing that truck every day. Hauling furniture around in and on a convertible is a true test of skill and determination. I mentioned to the guy I bought this from that I was going to have to take it in two trips and that I needed to buy a hand truck because I couldn't afford to keep paying young men (cute as they are to watch ;-) to carry things up to my second floor apartment.......and taa-daa......he sold me his old hand truck for $5. The wheels are a bit wobbly so I need to take a good look at them and see if I can't fix em or replace them. It got me up the stairs leading to the apartment building and up one flight of stairs inside, but then I decided it was easier to lay the thing on its back and drag it up the other two flights (the inside stairs had a lip that kept catching the wheels). But how cool was that, a five dollar hand truck!
Hopefully I can tag it and store it in the basement of this building.
So my next organizational challenge.......the closet. This is the only closet in the entire apartment. And again, it requires a no cost solution.
I discovered some wasted space inside the closet........
There use to be shelves in there, and on both sides. So what do I have?...........left over plywood from the bed project!
And I have a jigsaw. Perfect....new shelves it is!

Listen To Your Gut-If It Doesn't Feel Right....Change It.

Its back to work today. I'm going to finish up this painting today. If you go back a few posts to compare you can see I've made some changes and there are still a few adjustments I need to make and more background to add.
When I finish this I'll start this one, it will be a smaller painting.......
I got an email yesterday from someone looking to have some artwork done for a tattoo......The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse that would go on his entire back........pretty ambitious.

Remember this project I did for someone a while back........
....well she'd like to do a series of them incorporating other animals. I've suggested because these will be for the So Florida buying public that maybe the theme be changed to something more beachy, using this perhaps as the main backdrop..........
I'm still waiting to hear if she likes the idea.

Finding Inspiration Online-Creating a Sleeping Nook

How long does it take to get over sleeping on an air mattress?........ about this long. Today I decided I HAD to find a way to tuck a bed in here somewhere.....anywhere! I spent all day yesterday online looking for clever ideas......correction, clever cheap ideas.
I saw this inexpensive wall bed on a DIY site and got an idea.
It looked simple enough to construct, but could it be even simpler? Yep. See this barely used space in the tiny hallway that leads to the bathroom..........perfect!
A quick trip to Home Depot for a bit of plywood and some 1"x 2"s, some hinges...............
I didn't want the bed to be on the floor like in the pictured wall bed so I attached the 1" x 2"s up 20". I put part of the shelf I removed in place. I had the 1x2's come out to the front edge of the alcove so they would give support to the plywood when its laying open.

I brought in two of my hand made stools to help hold up the plywood while I attached the hinges to the shelf and the plywood.
I'm thinking maybe I'll just use them to lower the bed onto, its good support. I'll decide later whether to just leave as is or add something for legs. Next I need to find a good place to buy foam rubber for the mattress...that's going to be pricey, but so far I've only invested about $35 :-) Now to pretty things up.
Well this will do for now....hey.....its a NEW drop cloth :-) I'll give it a good washing to loosen it up and get a cool basket for the top.
Great! Just found some well priced foam rubber online... 4" thick for $67 and change with free shipping! I called a local shop on fabric row in Philly and it was $110. For a $40 savings I can wait a few days for it to arrive.

Hope and Happiness

Well I realized this morning that I feel happy. That probably sounds strange but its been a long time since I've been able to say that. I'm all settled in at the new apartment in Philly/Narberth (not having much has its benefits sometimes:-) and I'm thrilled to be back, it feels like home.
Last night I met with a woman that I've been communicating with over the last couple of months about a job working at her home and it went very well, although I still need to meet her husband before final approval. The job would be three days a week and involve doing their shopping and errands, doing bits of laundry, and cooking for them........no cleaning, no serving......its perfect, and she's delightful. I will be learning all about Jewish cooking and traditions. It was fascinating doing a walk through of the kitchen and hearing about the kosher lifestyle. The job wouldn't start for another two weeks so I have this time to finish up some painting projects......that child's portrait for one! So better get to it.

Finalizing Projects

I've finished any projects I wanted to complete on this job. My final little project was getting the tight laundry area cleaned up. I spray painted the dryer yesterday, it had some sort of faux finish and floral design hand painted on it....not a pretty sight, it looked like it was found at a junk shop. And the reserve frig/freezer stands right up against a wall to the left and the handles were originally on that side next to the wall making getting in and out of it really awkward, so I reversed the way the doors open......much better. Sometimes its just the small things that make a big difference.
Right now all I'm doing is continuously cleaning up after workmen in this house.....not sure I should bother because the work will continue after I'm gone. I'll be leaving here Sunday early morning for my new home in Narberth. I'm excited to reclaim my independence and my privacy and to be back in familiar territory with old friends. I can't wait to hit the thrift shops and start setting up a comfortable home. And I'm so excited about some art opportunities that I'm going to explore. Four more days and counting!
The tulips are up now......

Anxiously Awaiting The Move

My apartment won't be ready early :-( but that gives me another weeks pay :-) so I'll be leaving here the morning of the 1st and spend the rest of that day moving my stuff in. I'm so looking forward to this move.
I've got one paint job that will be ready for me soon with Sweet Dream Bed, with the possibility of two more from them. I've done work for them before. Hard to see all the little critters, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, porcupines, etc.
This company is a husband and wife team, he builds and she plans the decorations she (or the client) wants and she does all the marketing/promotion. I've always wanted to design the decoration for one of these....the workmanship on these beds is excellent.
The homeowner I may work for a few days a week in Narberth and I are trying to set up an appointment to meet, the couple are a pair of very busy doctors......hopefully this weekend will work out, I'm waiting for confirmation on that.
I've got painters in the house today painting the entire kitchen, walls, cabinets, ceiling etc. The homeowners looking for a fresher look to appeal to buyers.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring is finally here and the weather has been gorgeous here in NY.



My employers leave in the morning, back to their island home in Mustique. I'll stay on a couple more weeks for the additional income, then its off to Philly to a new home and new adventures.

A Day Off and Considering Options

I finally have some time off since my employers arrived for their 2.5 week stay here two weeks ago. A couple flew in yesterday for sort of a weekend interview, they are my potential replacements here and are being put to the test right away......so that's a day and a half off for me :-)...they leave tomorrow. And the employers leave Thursday, back to their island home.
Things are looking rather good for my move. I received an email from a lady I had talked to in Oct/Nov. She had contacted me about working for her family doing pretty much what I do here only part time, but the timing just didn't work out. The position is open again and I hope to secure it. Its only three days a week and enough pay to take care of my living expenses.
Then I received another email from a Jersey gal wanting to possibly partner up. She lost her job a year ago and has been thrifting, refurbishing, and reselling items on etsy and ebay ever since. She'd like me to do decorative work on pieces that she finds and preps. Of course that's something I plan to do myself too, but there's something very attractive about someone else doing the prep work :-) .....I let her know I'll speak to her once I'm settled back in Philly.
Things are looking good.

Creating Ads on Picnik

Today I'm spending a bit of time putting together some simple display ads for posting on Craigslist.
And if you'd like to do the same and don't have photoshop (I don't)..... hurry and I mean hurry over to Picnik.com upload some photos and start playing, its all free! Picnik is shutting down in April and they're allowing anyone to use the site for free until then, even all the 'premium' features they use to charge to access.
Of course you can create photo collages and stuff for any purpose, it doesn't have to be to post on Craigslist. But if you do want to use them for that, next go to Photobucket and upload your creation there. Once you've done that each upload will have four codes listed under them in your 'library'. Click on the HTML code for the image and copy it, then paste it into the text box for the Craigslist ad. After you click on 'continue' at the bottom of the Craigslist page you'll see your image in the box.....easy peasy.
Another note.......the HTML code is written to send anyone who clicks on your image back to your Photobucket album, personally I don't like that so I delete the first part of the code, the part starting with the first left pointing arrow symbol and ending with the first right pointing arrow symbol. Or.......instead of deleting that first section look for the photobucket address between the two quotation marks and simply replace it with your website address and thats where people will be sent when they click on the image.