I've come a bit late to the party since I just today heard about it. Anyway, just click above on "My Romantic Office and Studio" and it will take you to where I work and create.
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Labels:
where bloggers create
Where Bloggers Create 6/19/2010...at Least This Blogger
Karen at My Desert Cottage is having her 2nd Annual Blog Party. Go visit with her please because you won't want to miss all the eye candy of where bloggers create.
~*~
Come with me, won't you, to view my magical place—to me it's magical—where I create my blog. No, it's not like those places you see in the magazines, and those are ones I've lusted over time and time again, knowing that I'll never have a huge office or studio in which to create. But I can have sparkle, glitter, bling, beauty, roses, serenity and romance. ;-) Yep, I sure can. And that's just fine for this ol' lady.
I've noticed that many people have a tendency to save up 95% of their money and effort to spend on 5% of their lives—festive occcasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, and the special, more public places in the home, such as the living or dining room. Instead the way to live a beautiful life is to make the daily 95% of your life wonderful. I absolutely do NOT decorate just the public places of this little home. Where you create can be magical or special to you! For me it's all about having the things I love staring me in the face every single second, minute, hour and day. I HAVE to and LIKE to be visually stimulated. I am so grateful for having been given over a month of notice to get this blog post up. It has taken me every single day of thinking about what I want to do to get my space to the point I'm happy with it. Then there's the actual sprucing up of the room along with a few changes.
So now, I actually made a "Page" with the new feature Blogger gives us. If you want to go there to view not just this office but the actual studio I use when I'm creating you can do that by simply clicking the URL here and going there—Connie's Romantic Office and Studio. More is featured there than on this page.
*
If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you know I pretty much redo something a couple of times a year since we moved into this house 5 years ago. Don't ask why; I don't know. In the beginning I just couldn't seem to get some of the rooms the way I wanted them. I think this is a trend among all creative people. But as the famous architect said, "Form follows function" and that is certainly my motto and creed also.
My office is where I spend most of my time. I do my blogs from here, take care of our household business, skype with my kids and shop from the internet. For me it has to be feminine and lovely with pink and roses and a scattering of beautiful things. That is essential to me.
I'm blessed to have a window seat in my office. I made a cushion for it and covered it in pink and white toile. But let's look at it as it was last year first and then venture forth to what it is now. I've made the pictures a bit larger than last year so you'll notice a difference in them. Indulge me for a brief time.
I found this old school desk on Craigslist and snapped it up so fast hubby thought I was nuts.
I then painted it white and put some beautiful rose fabric on the drawers. The hanging paper lanterns are covered in roses. These I snagged from my daughter. I. Love. Them. I've never seen any like them anywhere. They are now in a different place as you'll see later in the pictures below. I made the cord covers because I couldn't find any I liked or long enough. The desk also is now in my studio down the hall. It was getting too crowded in this room.
My cottage style white desk was perpendicular to the window so I could look out. Early last year I thought it would give me more room if I put it up against the wall.
Eventually I changed it back because I hated looking at the wall and not the window to the front yard. I bought 3 chair covers for my chair. I gave one to my daughter and one to a fellow blogger who sounded like she needed something to cheer her up. She's a stay-at-home mom and it was a bad day. She was shocked when it arrived in the mail. I didn't tell her it was coming. It perked that chick right up. ;-)
I love computers! I have always had Macs and truly, I couldn't function without my iMac or my MacBook laptop for when we travel to visit our kids and grandkids and now our new great-grandkid.
So now let's look at what it looks like now.
This is what you see when you enter the room—my window seat that is on the front of our home. It is filled with pillows I've made and a seat cushion I have actually just pinned on with straight pins in case I decide to change it at some future date. I've been known to change my mind a few times. ;-) Pretty boxes on the floor hold family photos and various other things for which I have no other place to store them. I hung that glittery garland with push pins and then hung some little painted teapots a friend gave me one year for a present. I cherish them! I love her roses.
The hanging paper lanterns covered with delicate roses were something my daughter had laying around and I snagged them really quickly. I love them and haven't ever seen any like it anywhere else. My radio sits on a chair most of the time. I don't usually listen to it while I'm in here but I like it in case I want to catch some news.
That fern is strategically placed to hide all my wires. There is nothing I can do with them; they must be there and I worked around them in the decorating of this office.
The wall behind me holds many things. I have a bulletin board I tack messages on. It holds my microphone for the telephone because I generally like to talk hands-free. The tape measure is there for when I have to measure something quickly before I list it for sale, although, I don't do much of that.
I don't care that I'm an old lady; I love froufrou and have put a pom-pom behind me and wrapped ribbon around it. Another brighter pink is on the opposite wall. It's all about eye candy for me! The little shutters I bought a few years ago and they have been in 3 rooms now, but I have a feeling they'll stay in this room. I decaled them and added some paper roses. I have several yards of this vintage bedspread fringe and thought I'd put it here and hang things that have been give to me or that I've made.
My phone has to be on my filing cabinet along with a darling little faux fern and tissues. All the essentials for women in the office. :-)
This area is where I do a lot of photoshoots for the blog or selling.
This is a corner of the room where I moved this etagère a couple of months ago from the living room into here. I was just tired of seeing it in there and put another one of the 4 bookcases I have in there with a lot less books. I gave dozens away to a thrift store. My boxes of tapes, ephemera, stationery, letters and CDs are stored on this.
This is the chair I use most of the day. I love the little chair cover I found on the web for a song, let me tell you—a fraction, and I mean fraction, of the cost of most other office chair covers you find on ebay or websites. This woman is absolutely fantastic in her combination of fabrics. I bought 3 of them, gave one to my daughter and sent one to a blogger who is a stay-at-home mom and having a difficult time. She was shocked when it arrived in the mail and I think it perked her right up!
Closeup of one of my pompoms.
Closeup of my shutters with the curling ribbon gracing its front.
This is sooooo true, chicks! Oooh, and you can see I attached the fringe with little rose pins I made. Darling!
My iMac. I did not clean my desk for this photoshoot because, quite simply, this is the way it always looks. Sometimes worse, but rarely better. This is a working office. The space ship looking thing on the left is my JBL Creature speakers. They can blast you out of the house! They're fantastic. All my essentials are on this desk or behind me on our filing cabinet. The little metal thing just to the left of my iMac is my external hard drive. I'm never going to lose anything if I can help it at all.
Love Bunny and I set up this little television with a webcam on the front porch so I can see whoever walks up to the front door. If I don't know them, I don't answer the door. I have no time for solicitors. This protects me from unwanted persons. And as you can see I still have a couple of shelves to hang somewhere in this house.
My view from my desk. Hand cream, cup for pens and a list of Apple commands when I need them, which is rare since I have them memorized by now. Extra pair of computer glasses, notes and my camera cord is always attached waiting for the next photos to be downloaded. My camera would normally be sitting on the left of my iMac but I was using it here!
My printer/scanner, modem and wireless router, essentials for the modern day technology office.
This little shelf hold things give to me, things I've made and in general eye candy to make me happy.
This shelf hold some books and just a jar I made over and stuck in a couple more lollis that I made.
This bottom shelf holds a few pillows I made that I can give as gifts or switch out with other pillows in the house.
The fern helps disguise and hide the cables needed for the computer and speakers. The little boxes hold family photos and various other things I don't have any place else to put them. The chair, when not holding the radio, is a place for any visitor to sit, like Love Bunny. ;-) The little Old Country Roses teacup is one of about 10 my daughter gave me as she doesn't use them anymore. I made it froufrou-y with some beautiful roses and let it sit there for more eye candy. I also made the folding chair cover to disguise ugly old chairs.
Come with me, won't you, to view my magical place—to me it's magical—where I create my blog. No, it's not like those places you see in the magazines, and those are ones I've lusted over time and time again, knowing that I'll never have a huge office or studio in which to create. But I can have sparkle, glitter, bling, beauty, roses, serenity and romance. ;-) Yep, I sure can. And that's just fine for this ol' lady.
I've noticed that many people have a tendency to save up 95% of their money and effort to spend on 5% of their lives—festive occcasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, and the special, more public places in the home, such as the living or dining room. Instead the way to live a beautiful life is to make the daily 95% of your life wonderful. I absolutely do NOT decorate just the public places of this little home. Where you create can be magical or special to you! For me it's all about having the things I love staring me in the face every single second, minute, hour and day. I HAVE to and LIKE to be visually stimulated. I am so grateful for having been given over a month of notice to get this blog post up. It has taken me every single day of thinking about what I want to do to get my space to the point I'm happy with it. Then there's the actual sprucing up of the room along with a few changes.
So now, I actually made a "Page" with the new feature Blogger gives us. If you want to go there to view not just this office but the actual studio I use when I'm creating you can do that by simply clicking the URL here and going there—Connie's Romantic Office and Studio. More is featured there than on this page.
*If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you know I pretty much redo something a couple of times a year since we moved into this house 5 years ago. Don't ask why; I don't know. In the beginning I just couldn't seem to get some of the rooms the way I wanted them. I think this is a trend among all creative people. But as the famous architect said, "Form follows function" and that is certainly my motto and creed also.
My office is where I spend most of my time. I do my blogs from here, take care of our household business, skype with my kids and shop from the internet. For me it has to be feminine and lovely with pink and roses and a scattering of beautiful things. That is essential to me.
I'm blessed to have a window seat in my office. I made a cushion for it and covered it in pink and white toile. But let's look at it as it was last year first and then venture forth to what it is now. I've made the pictures a bit larger than last year so you'll notice a difference in them. Indulge me for a brief time.
I found this old school desk on Craigslist and snapped it up so fast hubby thought I was nuts.
I then painted it white and put some beautiful rose fabric on the drawers. The hanging paper lanterns are covered in roses. These I snagged from my daughter. I. Love. Them. I've never seen any like them anywhere. They are now in a different place as you'll see later in the pictures below. I made the cord covers because I couldn't find any I liked or long enough. The desk also is now in my studio down the hall. It was getting too crowded in this room.
My cottage style white desk was perpendicular to the window so I could look out. Early last year I thought it would give me more room if I put it up against the wall.
Eventually I changed it back because I hated looking at the wall and not the window to the front yard. I bought 3 chair covers for my chair. I gave one to my daughter and one to a fellow blogger who sounded like she needed something to cheer her up. She's a stay-at-home mom and it was a bad day. She was shocked when it arrived in the mail. I didn't tell her it was coming. It perked that chick right up. ;-)
I love computers! I have always had Macs and truly, I couldn't function without my iMac or my MacBook laptop for when we travel to visit our kids and grandkids and now our new great-grandkid.
So now let's look at what it looks like now.
This is what you see when you enter the room—my window seat that is on the front of our home. It is filled with pillows I've made and a seat cushion I have actually just pinned on with straight pins in case I decide to change it at some future date. I've been known to change my mind a few times. ;-) Pretty boxes on the floor hold family photos and various other things for which I have no other place to store them. I hung that glittery garland with push pins and then hung some little painted teapots a friend gave me one year for a present. I cherish them! I love her roses.
The hanging paper lanterns covered with delicate roses were something my daughter had laying around and I snagged them really quickly. I love them and haven't ever seen any like it anywhere else. My radio sits on a chair most of the time. I don't usually listen to it while I'm in here but I like it in case I want to catch some news.
That fern is strategically placed to hide all my wires. There is nothing I can do with them; they must be there and I worked around them in the decorating of this office.
The wall behind me holds many things. I have a bulletin board I tack messages on. It holds my microphone for the telephone because I generally like to talk hands-free. The tape measure is there for when I have to measure something quickly before I list it for sale, although, I don't do much of that.
I don't care that I'm an old lady; I love froufrou and have put a pom-pom behind me and wrapped ribbon around it. Another brighter pink is on the opposite wall. It's all about eye candy for me! The little shutters I bought a few years ago and they have been in 3 rooms now, but I have a feeling they'll stay in this room. I decaled them and added some paper roses. I have several yards of this vintage bedspread fringe and thought I'd put it here and hang things that have been give to me or that I've made.
My phone has to be on my filing cabinet along with a darling little faux fern and tissues. All the essentials for women in the office. :-)
This area is where I do a lot of photoshoots for the blog or selling.
This is a corner of the room where I moved this etagère a couple of months ago from the living room into here. I was just tired of seeing it in there and put another one of the 4 bookcases I have in there with a lot less books. I gave dozens away to a thrift store. My boxes of tapes, ephemera, stationery, letters and CDs are stored on this.
This is the chair I use most of the day. I love the little chair cover I found on the web for a song, let me tell you—a fraction, and I mean fraction, of the cost of most other office chair covers you find on ebay or websites. This woman is absolutely fantastic in her combination of fabrics. I bought 3 of them, gave one to my daughter and sent one to a blogger who is a stay-at-home mom and having a difficult time. She was shocked when it arrived in the mail and I think it perked her right up!
Closeup of one of my pompoms.
Closeup of my shutters with the curling ribbon gracing its front.
This is sooooo true, chicks! Oooh, and you can see I attached the fringe with little rose pins I made. Darling!
Just a sweet lolli I made. It's for sale on my etsy but not sold so I stuck it in here. It really is precious.
My iMac. I did not clean my desk for this photoshoot because, quite simply, this is the way it always looks. Sometimes worse, but rarely better. This is a working office. The space ship looking thing on the left is my JBL Creature speakers. They can blast you out of the house! They're fantastic. All my essentials are on this desk or behind me on our filing cabinet. The little metal thing just to the left of my iMac is my external hard drive. I'm never going to lose anything if I can help it at all.
Love Bunny and I set up this little television with a webcam on the front porch so I can see whoever walks up to the front door. If I don't know them, I don't answer the door. I have no time for solicitors. This protects me from unwanted persons. And as you can see I still have a couple of shelves to hang somewhere in this house.
My view from my desk. Hand cream, cup for pens and a list of Apple commands when I need them, which is rare since I have them memorized by now. Extra pair of computer glasses, notes and my camera cord is always attached waiting for the next photos to be downloaded. My camera would normally be sitting on the left of my iMac but I was using it here!
I've found that this room needs greenery near the top especially so I've just stuck some faux greenery—since we all know I have NO green thumb—into pots and baskets. I've also placed things that have been given to me by my eBay group, friends and fellow bloggers. I am very appreciative of whatever is given me!
My printer/scanner, modem and wireless router, essentials for the modern day technology office.
I have 2 of these trellises behind 2 doors in this house just waiting for me to decide what next to do with them. Ooops, forgot to take the ladder and extra chair out before I took the photos. Sorry!
This little shelf hold things give to me, things I've made and in general eye candy to make me happy.
This shelf hold some books and just a jar I made over and stuck in a couple more lollis that I made.
This bottom shelf holds a few pillows I made that I can give as gifts or switch out with other pillows in the house.
The fern helps disguise and hide the cables needed for the computer and speakers. The little boxes hold family photos and various other things I don't have any place else to put them. The chair, when not holding the radio, is a place for any visitor to sit, like Love Bunny. ;-) The little Old Country Roses teacup is one of about 10 my daughter gave me as she doesn't use them anymore. I made it froufrou-y with some beautiful roses and let it sit there for more eye candy. I also made the folding chair cover to disguise ugly old chairs.
Another view of the front of the desk.
Top of the etagère where stuff is stored and a few of the coffee filter roses I've made. And yes, that box does indeed contain my coloring crayons. I color the books I buy that are in black and white.
Second shelf on the etagère with a box painted by a friend on my group and some roses with curling ribbon wrapped around the posts.
This shelf holds my baby book I had as an infant, a box given to me in a swap and a petal cake I made.
The wall facing me with plates I just couldn't resist, a little ceramic with a chip in it that I got for a great price and a hand painted sign by a friend in my group.
And these little sachets I've made over the years adorn a special door pull I found 5 years ago.
I bought this dress from a friend—the hanger she made as a gift to me—and have displayed it in my office as another piece of eye candy for which I can enjoy.
I found this little paper lace hanging lamp after I did these photos so here it is now. As I said, it's taken me weeks to get this done and the photos have been shot in stages.
Then I put up a smaller one over my closet.
So this is my office where I spend most of my time. To see more just go back up to the top and click where I told you to click. You were listening, weren't you?! Hmmmm? ;-) Enjoy...
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Labels:
desk,
roses,
school,
vintage,
where bloggers create
Where Bloggers Create 7/24/09
Karen over at MyDesertCottage has invited us to participate in her "Where Bloggers Create" today and since I have spent a great deal of time creating my own blogging/craft/creative spots, I opted in. Please go visit her to view all the others who are sweet enough to show us where they sit each day to do all the lovely things you see on the blogs. It's fun and exciting to look at each person's space. And it just may spur you on with ideas on how to beautify your home or just a room or a vignette within a room even.
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As I've said many times before we moved 4 years ago from a 5,000 sq. ft. on a rolling hill acre house to this 1800 sq. ft. house on a sub-division lot more manageable. The move necessitated a severe cut in furnishings and space for us. BUT we do love it here. We have 4 bedrooms - master bedroom on one side of the house and the other 3 on the other side of house. Only one serves its purpose as a bedroom - ours. The other 3 are hubby's office, my craft/sewing room and a computer/home office for me, so I really have 2 rooms for such. They are small rooms however.
I've given it much thought though and creating can be several ways under the umbrella of "creative." While I love creating items by sewing, I also create by decorating my home and writing, blogging and photographing many things. I want to do it all—or at least as much as I can—before I leave this earth and I don't have many more years left to do it all. So come with me for a tour.........
We are entering the craft/sewing room from the hallway. This is what you see when approaching. There are very, very few "spaces" in my home that are not feminine, girly, romantic, froufrou or pink.
~*~
As I've said many times before we moved 4 years ago from a 5,000 sq. ft. on a rolling hill acre house to this 1800 sq. ft. house on a sub-division lot more manageable. The move necessitated a severe cut in furnishings and space for us. BUT we do love it here. We have 4 bedrooms - master bedroom on one side of the house and the other 3 on the other side of house. Only one serves its purpose as a bedroom - ours. The other 3 are hubby's office, my craft/sewing room and a computer/home office for me, so I really have 2 rooms for such. They are small rooms however.
I've given it much thought though and creating can be several ways under the umbrella of "creative." While I love creating items by sewing, I also create by decorating my home and writing, blogging and photographing many things. I want to do it all—or at least as much as I can—before I leave this earth and I don't have many more years left to do it all. So come with me for a tour.........
We are entering the craft/sewing room from the hallway. This is what you see when approaching. There are very, very few "spaces" in my home that are not feminine, girly, romantic, froufrou or pink.
View of the whole room.
The blue school desk I've had for maybe 35 or 40 years. It's been many colors and has been blue for about 25 years now. I've been so busy with other things I've not had time to strip it and repaint it another color. The little brown vintage school desk was purchased a few months ago and has not gotten the attention it deserves but it will soon. This is where I sew. There is hardly a spot in this room that isn't taken up with something. I doubt I could squeeze one more item in. I plan on giving away some of the fabric and craft supplies to a little girl I know who loves to craft.
Shelves hold a great deal of stuff in this room.
This is where I paint. Several people, my daughter included, have told me to paint, decoupage or mosaic the top of this vintage school desk also. Nuuuuuuu, never will happen. That is the original desktop and I love it, but mainly because it is indestructible! I can wipe anything up from it—paint, Mod Podge, hot glue, anything! I did, however, put a shabby chic roses fabric on the front after I painted the sides and back. It was pretty ugly before I did that. And I got that darling little chair at TJMaxx in Boise and love the look of it also.
Can we say "shelves of fabric" here? Yep, lots of fabric but truly I've seen people with much, much more than this. Some of the shelves DO hold craft things. I plan on doing some more birdhouses and trying once again to sell them. *Sigh*...............
Trust me when I tell you THIS is looking neat for this photoshoot. Usually this room is a nightmare, including the desktop!
We are now leaving this room and traveling down the hall to my home office/computer room. I'm a computer nut! Love them.
~*~As we come out of the craft/sewing room and head down the hall to the front of the house we approach the my office/computer room.
My view upon entering the room. My daughter gave me those hanging lanterns. They are really beautiful when lit. I made a cord cover for them with some very pink toile. I love my window seat and the view out of that window onto the roses in the front yard and the street.
Also upon entering the room you will see my desk. This is the hub of our home, not the kitchen. I'd eat out 5 nights a week if we could. I'm in here most of the time. I do everything on this computer—skype and chat with kids, pay bills, blog(!), buy things on line, play at being a photographer and editor and generally conduct business. :-) BTW, that desk is a cottage style but I wanted something froufrou on the front besides the white so I velcro-ed it to the desk. When the glue wouldn't hold on the fabric I stapled it with my stapler and it's holding nicely. No one would ever know unless they got up very close to see the staples.
My view as I sit at this desk and work. That is an old wood bench we've had for about 25 years and painted it red. The paint is now flaking off and I just threw a Rachel Ashwell cover over it and a bench pillow until I decide if I want to paint it again or not. Probably not. I like it like this. The little shelves in the corner hold items I made that did not sell on ebay. Their loss. I'll probably give most of it away now.
Close up view of my desktop area. 
I bought 3 chair covers from a lady on the web and gave one to my daughter and one to another woman blogger who is a stay-at-home mom and struggling to make ends meet on a budget. She needed a lift-me-up! But this was my favorite chair cover.
My desktop is usually clean. What you see is what is usually on it except for my camera which I was using to snap this shot. The white thing on the left front corner is my JBL Creature with tiny speakers on each side of the monitor. It gives me fantastic sound when listening to music on iTunes. My monitor is an Apple Cinema Display and I run Apple OSX Leopard on it. I can't wait until Snow Leopard OS comes out next year! OSX is the most fantastic operating system there is.
Yes, this dress hangs there all the time. A friend had it and makes pillows and stuff out of old wedding gowns she collects. I got this one for a steal. My motto is "froufrou up"!
If I am selling something or just want to post a blog about it, this is where I do my photoshoot on it. This has changed over the last few years but this works just fine for me now.
This little shelf holds all my computer stuff on the top shelf and just miscellaneous items on the other two. Subject to change, of course. I have done photoshoots on this also.
A closer view of the corner of the window seat and the shelves. There is also a lot of computer paraphernalia on the top 2 shelves. My coffee filter rose is in that vase on the top. My daughter made me the mosaic old sewing drawer and I bought the hand painted one from a woman on ebay several years ago.
We now head out the door down the hallway where I have some Charles Wysocki americana limited edition art prints hanging on the walls. He is one of my favorite artists. That little shelf contains things people have given me in swaps and items I made that never sold. I guess I'm not too good at selling, huh??? ;-)
So there you have my "creating" spaces, chicks. Thank you for visiting. I now have to go check out the other participants.
~*~
Random Thought:
Look at the world around you whimsically. I do and it never ceases to delight me because it gives me such a laugh.
I bought 3 chair covers from a lady on the web and gave one to my daughter and one to another woman blogger who is a stay-at-home mom and struggling to make ends meet on a budget. She needed a lift-me-up! But this was my favorite chair cover.
My desktop is usually clean. What you see is what is usually on it except for my camera which I was using to snap this shot. The white thing on the left front corner is my JBL Creature with tiny speakers on each side of the monitor. It gives me fantastic sound when listening to music on iTunes. My monitor is an Apple Cinema Display and I run Apple OSX Leopard on it. I can't wait until Snow Leopard OS comes out next year! OSX is the most fantastic operating system there is.
Yes, this dress hangs there all the time. A friend had it and makes pillows and stuff out of old wedding gowns she collects. I got this one for a steal. My motto is "froufrou up"!
If I am selling something or just want to post a blog about it, this is where I do my photoshoot on it. This has changed over the last few years but this works just fine for me now.
This little shelf holds all my computer stuff on the top shelf and just miscellaneous items on the other two. Subject to change, of course. I have done photoshoots on this also.
A closer view of the corner of the window seat and the shelves. There is also a lot of computer paraphernalia on the top 2 shelves. My coffee filter rose is in that vase on the top. My daughter made me the mosaic old sewing drawer and I bought the hand painted one from a woman on ebay several years ago.
We now head out the door down the hallway where I have some Charles Wysocki americana limited edition art prints hanging on the walls. He is one of my favorite artists. That little shelf contains things people have given me in swaps and items I made that never sold. I guess I'm not too good at selling, huh??? ;-)
So there you have my "creating" spaces, chicks. Thank you for visiting. I now have to go check out the other participants.
~*~
Random Thought:
Look at the world around you whimsically. I do and it never ceases to delight me because it gives me such a laugh.
