Recycled Samples

A while back I made these: 

My sister in law and her boyfriend thought they were pretty cool and asked how I made them and what they were made of. I told them I'd make them one. Here is the how-to and the end result. 

First step is to have access to, or be creative enough to get some free marmoleum/linoleum samples - really any sort of flooring sample would probably suffice so long as they are all the same dimensions. As an interior designer I mistakenly ordered a box of every sample forbo made - not only that but they sent me 3 samples of each all in a nice file box. There was no way my work had any need for this quantity of samples so I took the gigantic (and heavy, I might add) box of samples home with me. There it sat for about a year and a half. I had no idea what I was going to do with all of these samples and the thought of just throwing them out made me cringe. I'm not a hippie "save the Earth" Eco-person but I try to do my best at keeping this world a greener place, so I recycled them into art!

Next is to pull out the colors you think you'll want and lay them out on a piece of 24x 36 foam core (I had a ton of this leftover from school projects). Granted you can make your art any size you want, I'm partial to larger artwork so that is what I made!  

 After the design is set, grab yourself a tube of liquid nails and a caulking gun. I used the cardboard dividers that separated each color of the linoleum samples as a spreader for the glue and did small sections at a time, starting at the outside of the foam board (it's a straight edge) and working my way until I ran out of room on the board. It's a little hard to see but there is some metal mixed in there - that my friends is a metal laminate sample that was leftover from another project at work. I tucked it under the forbo samples and kept it the same size. Definitely adds a different texture and a little more interest to the overall piece of art, especially when you add more than one.

 Cut off any excess foam core with a sharp blade, you can choose to use a straight edge or just follow along the edge of the forbo samples like I did.

And the finished product! (note: I used the cardboard dividers yet again as the hangers on the back of the foam core, just takes a hole punch and more liquid nails!)

B&A: Buffet

This before & after was done a little over a year ago. I got this pine buffet cabinet from a seller on craigslist for $100. Loved the style of it, but I am not a fan of pine. I prefer darker colors like espresso and chocolate. I found a paint color that was similar to our dining table set and had at it!

Before:

  After:

 

Settling in.

I've been meaning to update for the last month or so. I'd say the lack of frequent updates it's because I've been so busy setting up house or doing some super cool thing/s, but in reality I've just been lazy. Not to say I haven't been doing anything - I've just been avoiding the update. We've been moved in for a month+ now, there are still unpacked boxes, but with a lack of furniture it's hard to find places to put things. We've made some good friends here and I am excited to get to know them better. We are going on a backpacking/camping trip this weekend - well, Craig is backpacking with the guys while us girls will camp until the guys reach us. Should be loads of fun!!

In regards to my 101/1001 list, here goes:

22. Dexter - I've watched up through season 3 of Dexter. So far that is all Netflix has released so checking this one off as done! And yes I do intend to watch future seasons as they are released. Love this show!

30. DVD storage unit - No longer needed. We bought a coffee table off of craigslist and as soon as it's painted I will be transferring my DVD's from the pretty boxes they are in, to one of the drawers in the table - it'll be the perfect place to keep all of them in ONE spot, filed alphabetically. I know - it's a bit obsessive.

33. Ireland - well since moving to Portland our Ireland trip that we were planning has been pushed into the future. We are hoping to be able to go sometime early next year.

45. Bikes - We bought one bike and the second was given to us by an old neighbor. We have two bikes!

46. Ride bikes on a regular basis - I am surprised at the heat of a Portland summer, it's almost as if we're still living in the California desert. Soon as it cools down a tad more we'll get moving on the bikes.

47. White water rafting - One of our new friends up here is a white water rafting guide - hopefully we'll get to go on a trip soon - I am really excited about the idea of it! There are SO many places around here to go rafting and it's (of course) so beautiful every where you turn!

48. Wii Fit - Apparently my husband gave our Wii system to a good friend of ours, complete with Rock Band and all of the games we had for it. It'd be nice to have it again, I could manage without Rock Band but I'd love to have Fit and the sports games. Maybe even snowboarding!

49. Fruit Picking - Well I don't think this will happen in Oak Glen, so I am modifying this task to just be "fruit picking" the location is moot. :-)

54. Owens Family Picnic - Planned, hosted and enjoyed by all! Hopefully someone else will plan next years picnic, but if I don't hear anything about it - perhaps I'll be planning another one! It was great to kick off the annual picnics after 20 years without one!!

57. Cookie Exchange - I think this year will be the perfect time to host a cookie exchange party. Hopefully we will have more furniture by the time the holidays come around, but I think it'll be a great way to get to know our local friends better.

81. Move out of the in-laws - If you haven't figured it out by now, we no longer live with my in-laws! Due to Craig's awesome new job, we live in Portland, Oregon now! Just the two of us (and our pups).

85. Mattress - We have a new mattress!! After moving we slept on an air mattress for a good month and now we've finally been able to purchase a sleep number. It's SO nice to be able to sleep on a REAL bed!!

Lets hope I'll update more frequently - not just regarding the items on my list but just with general updating. It's difficult living so far from my friends and family so this is supposed to be my way of updating everyone with what is going on in my/our life. Just need to get myself to do it!!

We're here!!

We've made it to Oregon safely. Just a few snafu's on the long drive up, but overall uneventful. The first incident we came across on our drive was a semi-truck that rolled over just after the Grapevine area in CA...traffic was backed up for miles, people were parking their cars and getting out to look around (myself included), it added about an hour to our overall trip total. The second was when the underside protective plastic under my car decided to give-way and drag on the freeway for who knows how long. We noticed it when we pulled off to get gas. Easily fixed though and caused no damage to my car. Lastly, the right front blinker on the rental truck popped out...it's pieces are somewhere along Interstate 5 North. Fortunately the truck rental company didn't charge us for it. As for our dogs, Ginger and Bender, they fared very well on the trip - much better than I thought they would. Bender was sitting up and looking around for the first two hours or so and then realized we were not planning on stopping any time soon and made himself comfortable. Ginger was really anxious when she was in the back seat of the car, but was totally calm when she was in the lap of the front passenger - she stayed there most of the trip. Every time we stopped to get gas or food, or stopped to wait for the moving truck to catch up with us, we would let the dogs out. One of us would handle the car/food while the other walked or ran the dogs around the lot. When we stopped in Redding for the night it was really odd to have our dogs in the hotel (it was dog friendly), they did pretty well there and I think they were really grateful to be out of the car for more than 10 minutes. It's amazing what will fit in a Celica while still maintaining your comfort and the comfort of your animals!

Finally after a seven hour drive from the hotel in Redding - we arrived at our new house around 3:30pm and had the truck unloaded by about 5pm. The guys built our shelves in the garage while I moved boxes around and got the inside of the house somewhat situated. We ran out for dinner (good ol' Carls Jr) and then came back home. Craig's Dad and Uncle (who drove the truck) left for their hotel while I made our bed (10 or so blankets and comforters piled on the floor) and Craig set up our dining table. Ahhh....finally....SLEEP!

The next day we started to unload all of the kitchen boxes and realized that the lack of cabinetry could be an issue - I ended up using my buffet cabinet for my bake ware and party ware. I have no idea where we'd put any tupperware, so it's a good thing we don't have much of it! We have about 3' x 3' of cabinetry left for food storage - so that may pose as a problem. We DO have two refrigerators (w/ freezers!) and some open shelving in the garage so canned food can go out there. We'll see what happens after we go grocery shopping today!! My overall assessment of the house - I love it! My only complaints would be the lack of cabinetry in the kitchen and the front and garage doors both remain locked even after opening them. I keep forgetting to check them before I go outside - like today when I stepped outside less than a foot from the door to check the mail and I heard a *click* behind me. Totally locked myself out and ended up hopping the fence and going in the patio door (fortunately I had left it open to let fresh air in). Our house is located on a somewhat busy street - not too bad (you can cross it without fearing for your life) and that street is right off of an express way (which is really cool cause you don't have to drive far to get to stores and what not). The really cool thing (I think) is that the train runs by our house and every few hours you can hear it. We can see the train from our front yard. I never thought I'd like living near train tracks! So cool! Another really cool thing is that we have about 4 or 5 bus stop signs we can see from our driveway - Craig loves that he doesn't have to walk too far to the stops that'll take him straight to work. I think once we both figure out the bus system and where everything is we will save a ton on gas.

Anyways.. I will update more once we have this weekend to go out and explore! Now.. I am off to set up our air mattress (it arrived today, thank goodness!!) and put more things away (as much as I can, without furniture).

Cya!!

Oh - and THANK YOU to everyone who has wished us well in this new adventure of ours. 

Almost done waiting!

It's been a solid month-and-a-half of waiting!! I am SO tired of waiting but now our moving date is right around the corner and the excitement is at the utmost high!! Craig picked up the keys to our new rental home in Milwaulkie, Oregon (just south of Portland, but still so close we're going to say we live in Portland!). He's planning on staying there tonight and then on Thursday after work he'll be flying back to So Cal so that Friday we can load up the moving truck, have a small dinner with close friends and family and then start our 17-18 hour drive on Saturday. We're hoping to make it HOME by Sunday afternoon. It's going to be a hectic 4th of July weekend for us!!

I do plan on enjoying a bottle of wine that my boss gave me as a going away/housewarming gift on the 4th. He is a big wine person so it's bound to be a good bottle. Hopefully the truck will be unloaded enough to be able to enjoy it and relax a bit. If not then, then I will definitely be opening it up when I begin to unpack everything. My last week at work went by SO quickly. The other designer in our office was on vacation that week and we had three projects that needed to be worked on. I managed to get two of them ready for the bidding process and did a little bit of work on the third. Needless to say I was so busy I was forgetting what the days were and suddenly it was Friday - my  last day. I've enjoyed working for JG Stouse - they are the first (and only) company I've worked for in my professional career and I have learned a lot from them. I will definitely miss my coworkers.

I am so surprised that I found the time to update this right now. I feel like I have been running in circles getting everything done for this move. I finished packing a few hours ago and occasionally find myself walking in circles (literally) looking for anything I may have missed packing. I see boxes, furniture and then the things I'll be using up until we move and  then I turn around and repeat the process in another room (out of three rooms). I think now that I have moved things into organized piles it's helped the circle-walking though. Not as much clutter to look at as it's all confined to certain areas. I have the "doggy bag" read to go - water, dish, food and leashes all sitting next to the dog beds that will eventually go in my car (yes, our dogs get to enjoy the 17 hour drive too). I have my bag with clothing that will last me a week - the rest is all packed up. I have the "human bag" complete with treats (jolly ranchers, cookies, crackers) and lastly the "human cooler" with water, monsters and sodas.

I think I am ready to go.

Oregon

So, Craig left for Oregon today. It was bitter sweet, I was able to hold my composure until I saw his Dads eyes get glossy and then I kinda lost it. I know this will sound ridiculous but I missed Craig before he was even gone! I told him that about a week ago and proclaimed my own pitifulness (that's not a word, I know). I guess it's just knowing that we're not physically together for an indefinite period of time is what made me miss him prematurely. The anticipation of being without him made me want to be with him the second he got home from work each day. But now he's actually gone and started this big adventure. I am hopeful that he will find us a place shortly after getting there. We're hoping we can move during the 4th of July weekend, it's at least something to look forward to. I plan on working for three more weeks at my job and then having that extra week to visit with my family and friends in San Diego. I know a zoo trip is planned and I'd like to make a Hollywood trip sometime then too!!

Ahh...exciting times filled with lots of anticipation...

I miss him.

:-)

Moving...

This past week has been an interesting one. Last Thursday (5/13) Craig got a message from his friend Justin regarding a programming position at his company in Oregon that they have had a problem trying to fill. He said that they have a few remote programmers that work out of Southern California but they would prefer to find someone local and if Craig would be willing to move, he would more thank likely have the position. Craig was immediately excited about this opportunity and I was naturally hesitant about such a drastic change. Leave my friends? My family? I don't know anyone in Oregon! What the heck is IN Oregon?! But in the end I decided that Craig should take this opportunity. I wouldn't want to be the person holding him back (could you imagine the guilt?!) and I think it will do good things for our relationship. The pros definitely out weigh the cons, I mean really - no sales tax (compare to nearly 10% in CA), cost of living is much less, the houses in OR are way larger and on much more land, a new culture, new people, and I hear it's just beautiful there. Craig has always wanted to move to a more "urban" environment and he also loves the beauty of green landscapes and Portland fits in with both. In the past we've talked about moving to another state, I was always joking about it but if California is falling apart at the seams then why not move to a place that has it's sh*t together (well, more so than CA)?

So when is all of this going to take place? Well, I intend on working as long as I can where I am at. The "extra" money will come in handy and as it is now there isn't too much of a shortage of work for me to do. It's been slow but I feel there will be enough work to last until the move. Plus if my boss agrees to it I could do some remote working to wrap anything up or on an as needed basis in the future. Craig put in his two-weeks at his current job earlier today (5/21) and then he'll drive to Portland to begin working and looking for a place to live and then we'll arrange a moving truck and coordinate how we'll get everything up to OR. With that said we have no idea when we'll actually be moving but I estimate around the end of June and early July. 
I am hoping to have a farewell party on the Friday night of our moving weekend so for now just keep your Friday nights toward the end of June, early July open. :-)  We will need some volunteers on the following Saturday morning to help us load the moving truck, everything is packed (as it is currently stored in the garage at the condo) but I think a few extra helpers for the heavy stuff would be nice to help us get the truck loaded up faster so we can start our seventeen-hour drive to Portland sooner. That should be an interesting drive with two dogs.

The past week has been bittersweet. Thinking about missing my friends and family immensely has brought me to tears a few times, the thought of being in a foreign place and not knowing anyone but my husband has made me nervous, but the excitement for things to come has made me optimistic and I can't wait to get this adventure started!

Much love to all of our friends and family, we will miss you!! 

P.S.
You will visit us in Portland, won't you?