on my desk monday

Taking a brief procrastination breather with fabric:

The Sasquatch's mother very, very kindly has agreed to make curtains in the studio for me! The pink flowers is for the window seat window and the bird fabric is for the window behind my reading/writing chair.  Will post photos when it's all finished...I can't wait!

working on the progress

So, I am still setting up the studio. I admit I have pretty high standards for it, which is why it is taking so long. One of the things I want to do is have the stairway wall going up to it set up like a gallery, a la salon style like this:

found on Pinterest

This is actually rather difficult to achieve. You need two people and neither can be afraid of heights. Lucky for me, the Sasquatch is not afraid of heights. He just doesn't like them. He doesn't like them a lot. But he does like me! So, we have been hanging frames:

 of some of my favorite moments:

the menu of  the Newbery Honor celebration luncheon

my seat reservation card at the Geisel Award ceremony

as well as my proudest:

my one and only math award, given to me in 5th grade!

We are almost done:

But there's still more to go...and that's just the wall of the staircase! I still have the whole studio to address...

a working studio

Even though the studio is not completely set up (note the empty book tower in the back), work cannot wait for my perfectionist aspirations. Work has begun on the third Ling and Ting book (right now titled "Twice as Silly!") and, just like when I was working on the last book, my "assistant" is ever devoted:

her rabbit might make a cameo in the book

But I'm excited! I think it's going to be a fun follow up to Ling and Ting Share a Birthday (which comes out in September!!).

work in progress: the new studio

One of the caveats of our move was that I had to have a new studio. And what was more, the new studio had to be dream studio, a new oasis...or at least better than my old one.

So, when I saw the top floor of our house, I was smitten. The previous owners used and staged the room as a master retreat:

But I knew it was made to be my workplace! All it need was a change of paint:

And some bookshelves...okay, a lot of bookshelves:

my favorite storage idea--the staircase bookshelf! Idea stolen from HERE (thanks, pinterest!)

with a window seat! this helps take the sting out of leaving the old bookshelves

 and my favorite anthropologie knobs:

I like the bird ones the best!

And the studio transformation has begun. Stay tuned for more...

on my desk monday

So many cute knobs! I'm trying to decide which ones I want to use for my drawers in my brand-new studio!

It took us a long time to find a house. Originally, I had dreams a la Return to Gone-Away Lake-- finding an old fixer-upper and bringing it back to life while it making it our own. However, as time went on, I realized that I didn't even have enough time to even go and get my haircut--renovating a house was not realistic.  But I still want to make this my House of Dreams (or rather my House of Dreams on A Limited Budget) so we are adding a lot of personal touches, including a new studio with cute knobs! Which ones should I choose?