Redecorating!

Yes, it's time to add more workspace. Already.
We are crazily working away and rearranging, cleaning and redecorating!

When you come into the Studio in the new year, you'll see new vintage treasures, furniture and art & craft supplies for sale. There are new items from local Artisans, more table space to spread out and a new workshop calendar.

Pictures coming!

BDS has a new Meet-Up!

I'm so excited to have started a meet-up for the studio! I think this is a sure-fire way to build our art community.

The 1st Thursday of every month at 6:30pm will be a "Let's Meet" mixer.

Members will be able to meet each other, have space available to work on a project, show off their art, be inspired by others, see what the studio has to offer (changing all the time) and have input on groups, events and the direction of the meet-up group(s).

Here's the link: ArtSpace at BDS
Hope to see you!

More announcements to come!

On with the Holiday shopping!

Punk Rock Flea Market was a great success but, alas!

As of this date, there are still 15 more shopping days until Christmas!
You can find handmade treasures, vintage goodies, odd supplies for your crafter-friends and vintage holiday decorations right here in the
Studio Store at 237 Elm St, Everett, WA 98203

Today we feature *drumroll here*

Pepo Park

The local owner and creator, Kim, makes many products. Some, I am lucky enough to have in the Studio Store and some you can pick up from her etsy shop.

My favorite Pepo Park item? The Pet Soap. It has Tea Tree oil which is a natural anti-bacterial and soothing to the skin so no more after bath, itchy puppies! At $6 a bar it's a steal! The Salve for dry winter hands knees, elbows and feet is also wonderful and a perfect size for a stocking stuffer.

Come by and shop Tuesday thru Saturday, noon to 7pm

BDS Closed on Sat, Dec 5th!

WHY?
My favorite quarterly event!

$1 admittance fee goes to LIHI (Low Income Housing Institute)
Come by and say hello! I'll be one of the "Handmade" Vendors.

Before 8pm, browse the handmade and vintage market. After 8pm, enjoy a beer or two and live music!

Holiday Gift Goodness!

Take a peek at some of the incredible hand made treasures featured at the studio this weekend!

How can you resist!?!
And there's much more!

Open Sunday 10am to 6pm
237 Elm St
Everett, WA 98203

This Weekend!

Holiday Open House!

When?
Saturday and Sunday November 28 &29

Where?
237 Elm St Everett, WA 98203

Why should you come?
Beautiful offerings from many Local Artisans, holiday decor, gift items and more.

Shop Local and Shop Handmade this holiday season!

Studio CLOSED 11-21 & 22

Why will the studio be closed this weekend?

Because of this awesome show in Seattle!Did you notice the words, "Swag Bags"? Yes, I know it's only for the 1st 50 people but that's the 1st 50 people EACH DAY!!!

Not just that! You also get to bring a piece of new or gently used winter clothing for a foster kids. There will also be a raffle to benefit the kids and 4, yes four, lucky winners will win a basket filled with full size products made by our very own Local Artisans!

Now come on down!

Beginning Workshops!

I've added a section to the left ~~>>
that shows the scheduled workshops for the upcoming month! Yay! A real calendar. Of course if there is something you're interested in and the time just doesn't work, email me and we'll figure something out.

I'm always interested in feedback regarding different times of day and new ideas for workshops. Workshops can range from beginner to intermediate.

We have many talented artists and artisans in the community that would love to share their craft! If you are one of them and haven't let me know, please do :) The workroom is available for you to be the host your own workshop OR for you to be a guest instructor.

Meet the Mascots

This is
Sir Roy,
formerly Roy,
formerly Corduroy.


When joining us in the Studio, if you have allergies or other adverse kitty reactions, let me know and I will send them to their room! (It's the entire upstairs so not a problem).

They will also likely be upstairs during workshops as Zoey has the insatiable need to "help" with everything you may be (trying) to work on.















This is Zoey.
formerly Kitten Face,
formerly Sparkles.

It took about a dozen photos per cat to get these with the least amount of movement. As you can see, it wasn't a complete success.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Black Door Studio's Grand Opening Celebration!

237 Elm Street, Everett
Thursday October 15th
Open House from 3:00pm to 8:00pm


I've held back some special treasures and all of the Local Artisan goodies until this very day! There are a few other surprises, too. You'll have to come by to find out!

The Test-Run

Last night I had some of the WCW (Wildly Creative Women) girls come by.

Not always the brightest bulb in the pack, I forgot to take pictures until clean up was well underway and everyone was packing up to leave :( Thought I'd share those I did get!



We had an awesome beginning Batik lesson from Jeannie and Kate. Boy were everyone's creations beautiful! While we were waiting for them to dry, Heidi showed us how to make little wire spiders. We switched from wire to fuzzy pipe cleaners so we could all figure it out. My sparkly gold spider may not be the most realistic but I learned how and the world could use a little more sparkle. Don't you think?


OH: The chairs came!!!!
Just barely in time. Yes, "Amazing Demo Handyman Carpenter Chair-put-together Guy" was putting them together as fast as the girls were arriving.

Sneak peek at the Bead Drawers!

Beads!
Vintage, new, semi-precious, glass, metal, some findings. 384 cubbies of them! (And more stashed away.)


Yes, the drawer cubbies are custom made by the "Amazing Handyman-Sign-Carpenter Guy"

Another Quick Before/After

There are still some naked walls, lamps with no shades and some empty spots here and there, but getting closer to being ready for the Grand Opening Celebration on October 15th!


Yet another "Amazing Handyman-Finish Carpenter-Etc Guy" creation! A breathtaking front desk!

Almost open!!!

So, I order these chairs. 8 of them to be exact.


The website says shipped from Texas within 2 days, UPS ground. Yay! I order them on the 20th knowing UPS ground can take as long as 7-10 days. Here I sit, (on my other chair) holding my breath. 12 business days is tomorrow, Tuesday, and I have my 1st group gathering at the studio on Wednesday evening. "What about your fatally optimistic attitude?" you ask.

Well, I would have faith and chant my "It'll be fine" mantra like I usually do...

BUT:
When I called the company to get my UPS tracking number the non-english-speaking Texan gave me another number to call. That led me to a slightly-english-speaking Texan who told me he would call me back with tracking info. Never did. I persisted with another email, (the previous unanswered email was 4 business days BEFORE the phone call) and was given a tracking number. As I was putting in the tracking number on the UPS website, imagine my surprise to find out that the number they gave me to track my package was MY ORIGINAL TRANSACTION NUMBER and not a tracking number at all!

SO:
Ladies of WCW, I have 4 tall chairs if I bring my tall chair from home. Some of us may get to stand :)

It will be fun!

The Front !

Before :(


After :) Ta-daa!


Believe it or not, that sign is 8 feet long. It was so HUGE inside my entry at home and it looks so small on the wall. By the time we finished up today, the sun was setting over Puget Sound behind me as I took the picture. I know you can hardly see the sign but it's the best I could do with the reflection. Most importantly. It's pretty much done from the front!!!


Here is the upshot of the sign. See the reflection of the letters? That's because they stand a little more than an inch off the base. I can thank Amazing Handy-Demo-Sign-etc Guy for that!

Progress

We got tons done on Saturday!
More to come today.
I'll post pictures when I get home tonight.

It's here, it's here!

Yes, the new awning! I was sure that it would never arrive. Amazing Demo -Handyman -you know the rest Guy started to put it up last night but darkness and screws meant for children's toys beat him. The next post with be the front with the new awning! Yay!

Today,

I painted. Again. uhhhhh.

OK. Couldn't resist !!!

A couple before and after sneak peeks. Still under construction.
Workroom right:



Workroom left:

Sneak Peek!

Well, Amazing Handyman-Sign Cutter-Demo-Contractor-Floor Sanding-Painter Guy has really outdone himself this time! Check this out:
Not only did he make it but yes, he's hanging the sign all by himself. How did I get so lucky??? I'll have to take you a better picture of just the sign. It's so cool. The letters are all individual pieces and stand up off the backing.

I actually returned to home sweet home on the 29th!
Wowie! What an adventure!

This quote from a blogger friend's blog sums it up perfectly,

"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working."

Thanks for being my voice, Tracey http://acottageindustry.typepad.com

We have a little monkeywrench.

A friend in need, my sister-from-another-mother, is making a huge unwanted but necessary cross country move to Richmond. Not our little West Coast Richmond... the far away Richmond. I've been helping (kinda) to pack, offering support, moving lots-o-stuff around and now will be helping drive one of the two giant trucks across country. 3 people, 2 trucks, finding a place to live all in six days.

Now, you may think this is insane but hey, it's how I roll. Hahaha! WHEN I WAS 20! This sister would do it for me so, I'm there.

What this all means is: my progress in the studio is going to come to a dead stop but, Amazing Handy-Sign Cutter-Demo-Contractor Guy is going to add "Finish Carpenter" to his title. He doesn't have to but he says it's better than being home without me. Awwwww. What a keeper he is.

I'll be leaving the 16th and back in action on the 23rd or 24th.

NO, NO, NO! Not the 23rd now. It's been moved to the 26th.

August 1st.

I knew it would pass us by without a care. They're only goals.
As I type this, my right hand is reminding me of two things.
1- it's been a long time since I held a paintbrush with a death grip at the top of a ladder trying to make a beautiful seam between ceiling and wall.
2- There's a lot more of it to come in the next week or two.

At least the progress is steady. I seem to have my head stuck on the whole "floor thing" but Amazing Contractor Guy says it's nooooo problem.

I just keep to my back rooms painting, humming and trying not to fall off the ladder.

OH MY.

All of the tear out is done!
We did run into some live, on-the-wall wiring with no idea how to turn it off. None of the breakers seem to do the trick. Oh, and also the live natural gas lines attached to the interior wall with handy little valves. The landlord gets to solve those two challenges. So. That means we are done with tear out except for the awful carpet over the glued down carpet from the 1960's. I was going to paint the ceiling before we started that little adventure BUT, my Amazing Demo Guy tore it out, cut it up and tossed it out before I even had a chance to say, "what are we going to do with all this garbage?". He's pretty awesome. So my next job is tsp and an old floor mop for the walls so I can go in with KILZ and fresh paint. His next job is the floor-remover-sander-thingy. On the floors, of course. I'm thinking by Monday I might have a couple "mid-way " pictures.

Ahem. That August 1st date is going to come and go. But hey, a girl's allowed to be an optimist.

I finally have keys in hand to the new Studio/Store!

There is a ton of work to do.
What I'm going for is "European Flea Market meets Art Space with Odd Supplies".

Think: Recycle, Decor, Art supplies, Workshops.

There are basically 3 rooms.

• The largest room is to be used for the retail space. Here I will be offering antiques, refurbished flea market finds, odd collectible and decor items, creations from local Artisans and supplies. A few "normal" supplies but mostly supplies to inspire new projects that focus on altered art and recycling.

• The adjoining room is a workroom. A place to have workshops and host meetings, a home to art tools, a deep sink, and a giant worktable for projects and refurbishing.

• The third room is a smaller space that will be similar to my personal studio at home. It's a great place for my smaller projects. Also a computer and wrapping area, storage for my etsy store items, a tabletop photo booth, etc. It's also the room with the little kitchenette and the path to the restroom.

• Upstairs is a wonderful unfinished, low ceiling, attic area with shelves lining the wall. A perfect place to store those treasures that have yet to make their debut or that still need to be cleaned up and refurbished. The shelving is also a wonderful spot to store the supplies and "work in progress" items from our workshops.

So far, I've picked colors for paint, ceilings and trim. Chosen window coverings, ordered an awning, designed business cards and started working with the company on an exterior sign. I still have to choose lighting for the retail area and figure out what to do with the floors. I'm hoping that under the carpet is concrete and I can do a light stain and some polishing. My fingers are crossed. I have the "Amazing Handyman & Sign Cutter-Guy" as my helper. Who am I kidding? I'm his helper. kinda.

Time to get busy!

Coming Soon!

I have a couple great "before" photos. I can hardly wait to have some "after" photos so I can post them all!