Go number six! Go number six!

Daaamn this has been a busy few weeks! I was doing a decent job of photo documenting all the happenings for future updates (still can't seem to make my blog ever keep up with real life) but then my computer experienced some sort of technical disaster and I lost a month's worth of photographs! How frustrating! Fortunately, the most important thing I wanted to share didn't get lost.

Most important thing = WINNING!

This sentiment may come as a surprise to those of you who know me as a good natured and laid back person. The truth is, I have a wild competitive streak that I no longer even try to hide under an air of dignified calm. I can't stand fighting but I love love love competing. I play Scrabble with narrowed eyes and lip-biting fervor. Nobody shit talks like I do when putting around the mini-golf course. I promise, bringing an irrational level of intensity to these games makes them so much more fun (for me).

I bring this up because I'm currently in the throes of contest-induced passion. I entered The Ready Aim Redesign furniture makeover challenge sponsored by the heartwarming Dwell With Dignity organization. I decided to participate because I'm always dragging junky furniture off the curb and into our garage while promising to fix it up but I needed a contest to motivate me to get it done. The best part is that the top ten finalists were selected by a handful of impressive people like my absolute favorite designer Jonathan Adler and favorite design blogger Grace Bonney of Design Sponge! I know I use exclamation points generously but I really meant that last one.

So, holy crap, I found out that my chair makeover made it to the top ten finalists! Now the winner is decided by popular online vote. I've been checking the vote counter like a spider checks it's web and I'm currently in a three way close running for third place.

This is the part where I ask you for a favor...

If you want to indulge my win-centric nature or maybe vote against me because I once sunk your battleship, please head to the official contest page, click over to the voting area and pick your favorite. My entry is number six.

If you are are not easily moved to vote and want to be convinced that my entry is worth your vote, I'll tell you a little about my chair and why I think it deserves to win. Also, voting is easy and you don't have to sign in or anything.

chair story:

I was walking home from work and saw this bedraggled chair on the side of the road waiting to be picked up on trash day. Despite the fact that it looked like it had been partially devoured by squirrels, I picked it up and carried it home on my back (+1 for being tough).

I gave it a thorough washing, sanded the wood and stripped off what was left of the cushioning and upholstery and gave it multiple coats of bright chartreuse paint. (+1 for color bravery?)

I have a habit of hoarding any upholstery scrap fabric bigger than a dinner plate that my boss is throwing away so I saved three pieces of gray wool for this project. (+2 for trash saves)

I wanted to make the chair as unique as possible to get the judge's attention so I decided to embroider the wool before upholstering the chair with it. I learned how to do french knots and I spent hours creating a barnacle-like pattern with the knots using pale blue thread. (+1 for imparting a tedious process?)

I'm very proud of the way it turned out. I love the lines of the chair and that I got to save a nice sturdy piece of vintage Drexel furniture. Hope you like how it turned out and I double hope you still like me after finding out how competition crazy I can be.

Making do

A fresh coat of paint and cushion covers for the porch!

I've been taking an unscheduled break from the internet and my business for the past month in an attempt to take care of a few neglected elements of my life that are forever being pushed aside so I can do Argyle Whale stuff.

One of the projects I worked on in my absence is apartment beautification. Justin and I realized that we're most likely going to stay in our current place for a few more years and that made me feel restless. Instead of making an irrational move, I focused on freshening up our space and treating it more like a home than an in-between-places type of apartment.

The worst eyesore in our life is the porch that all our neighbors share with us. It's a depressing dumping ground for bedraggled old furniture and since it's everyone's, nobody takes responsibility to care for it. My upstairs neighbor and I tackled the gloomy chipped black iron patio furniture and enlivened it with a few coats of intense green paint. Then, I ripped off the deteriorating cushion covers and recovered them in dark blue denim. We spent a whole day scrubbing the deck and tables and planting herbs and the place looks much livelier. I still have more to do, but it's made a huge difference.

I'm trying to embrace the old saying, "make do or do without". I'm hoping to save up enough money to reupholster our stained couch too. I'm also emboldened to break the no painting rule in our bathroom. The walls are the color of masking tape!

How did I forget to mention this?

I have completed the first major mission on my big to-do list (in the right column of this blog)!

With tons of help from Justin and Jenn, I now have a main website! ArgyleWhale.com has always existed, but it's former self was poorly organized and did not suit the Argyle Whale aesthetic. I'm relieved that I no longer have to make excuses for my website's ugliness when I hand people my business card.

This renovation makes me feel much more confident and better prepared to tackle my next big project of soliciting businesses who may wish to carry my products. Hooray!

I would so appreciate if you'd take a moment to visit ArgyleWhale.com and let me know if you see any mistakes or awkwardness. A few things have already been spotted so don't be shy (Justin and I are beginners at this). We'll fix it up!

Lastly, shame on me for using a photo that has nothing to do with the content of my post. Justin shot this picture of Kayla (my little sister-in-law) and I in Portsmouth NH and it's so nice that I wanted to show the image even though I don't have much to say about it.

New look!

Justin helped me with design work all morning. We made a little ad for Paper n Stitch's supremely excellent blog, tidied up my Etsy shop avatar and banner, and completely revamped this here blog! Hello Jenuine and Constant Casualty (my Sister in Law) did such spectacular jobs with their blog makeovers that it started feeling stale around here. I thought poor Justin's eyes were going to pop out when we had just finished and I sat back in my chair and said, "ennnnnh... maybe we should change the whole background to celadon green.". I quickly averted a meltdown Amelia Bedelia style by offering him a hot plate of garlicky rice. Whew!

I'm wondering what you think of the new design as I'm always game for a good critique. Did you have that momentary feeling of being lost when you landed here and things had changed? That always happens to me. Also, I can't stop looking at my new page. I feel vain. It's exactly like after I get a new haircut and keep posing in front of the mirror. I really hope I am not the only one who does that.

Cinema Cafe Wrapup

I expect that this will be the last time I mention the Cinema Cafe renovation project that has been a major recipient of my creative energy since April. I've been talking about it for months with nothing to show so I'm pleased to have pictures from the grand opening.

I have finally left my position of being the designer/manager. I quit awhile ago but lurked around until now. This renovation project was really a dream job but the whole experience turned out to be a roller coaster with major disappointments that required me to have obscene amounts of optimism and endurance. I have taken a deep breath and swallowed a fairly large lump of indignant negativity and I can finally truly be happy for the success of the cafe. Even though I will not be a part of the cafe, I still want it to be a great and successful place. I love the people and everyone has worked very very hard to try and make it work.

It was refreshing to see the realization of months and months of work. I'm proud of the job I did and will return as a customer. I will have to try really hard not to rearrange things every time I go in though.

I made a big set of images on Flickr of the cafe before and after so head there to see what I've done. I apologize for the grainy images!

I promised a Cinema Cafe update...

..but I never said it would be pretty!

The cafe renovation I'm working on is going "slower than molasses running uphill in January"(Mom quote). Things are shaping up a little bit but everything takes three times longer than expected and I'm getting sick of waiting for plumbing, electric and carpentry stuff. I want to decorate!

Still, I'm happy to report that I've picked out a good amount of art for the cafe walls. I'm hoping to get film-themed prints from Elloh, lakeillustration and almostfamous. I also had a nice time this afternoon taste testing fancy chocolates and granola mixes we hope to sell. I gave myself a stomach ache from working so hard!

I hope to be able to have a grand opening in a month but we'll see.

My hero...

I spent the weekend with Kayla (my new mini sister-in-law) and she made this awesome guitar hero picture. Justin couldn't be prouder to be influencing his little sister to be a Nintendo enthusiast and I'm excited that she is really into drawing and craft projects.

We also did some interior design and she helped me stick a flock of birds to the formerly boring bedroom wall. I got the decals from One Up Designs and I think they look boss. Our bedroom is the most hated room in our apartment. We hate the size, wall color, brick wall-facing window and hospital light fixture. We're not happy about the bunny turd box in the corner either. So, I've been really trying hard to make it special in hopes that I will be encouraged to be tidy and stop leaving my clothing strewn about. The wall decals, new duvet, curtain and small rug so far have made a big difference. Our room was previously all different shades of dirty tan but the bold orange color and patterns are livening up what we previously called "the cave".