Studio Kiekje

Granny Smith Desk

I had long been fantasizing about painting my desk green. It is just a simple Ikea desk - a piece of wood on top of two shelf-things ( a highly technical term). The shelves were untreated wood, and looked pretty cheap. The weekend before last, I just decided to go for it. I was going to PAINT MY DESK. RAWWR.

Well, I am picky about color, so I had bookmarked some images to figure out what I wanted:

 

This green chair from the latest Toast catalogue. (I have to admit that this probably caught my eye because I have a variation of that outfit already in my closet) I love Toast and I flip through their catalogues like picture books. 

Also, this picture:

From the cover of a Paumes book. 

I have been informed that the girl on this cover is dressed in a Kiekje-like way. I am now pondering the effects of cute clothes on my paint choices. Would I have found the green appealing if she had been wearing Juicy Couture and Uggs?

Maybe not.

Moving on...

So, paint! I chose a color called Granny Smith green, which is an excellent name. I don't remember who makes the paint, but the apple appellation did not disappoint.

Just a reminder: this was my desk before:

Yeah. The shelves look like plywood. Also you can't see the stain down one side from when I spilled coffee all over my desk. Coffee + untreated wood = unfortunate

And now:

Sweet little green desk! 

It took about two hours for me to paint the primer, and then another two hours later to paint the Granny Smith color. It was very meditative actually, particularly because I'm a weirdo who likes the smell of paint. I may have killed off a few brain cells on this project.

But I love my new desk, and I think I am already doing better work on it.

If you have been thinking about painting a piece of unsatisfying furniture, I definitely recommend it. It is a relatively cheap way to change how your room feels. And if you can swing it, choose a fun color!

Granny smithly yours,

Angelique

Our New Home

Here are some pictures of our new place, as promised!

This is the front of the house. There are five apartments in total - ours is the one on the right, first floor. The scale in the picture is a bit deceptive, but the windows are really quite big. Which is good.

But, we have our own door into the apartment at the side of the house!

Not as cute as the front of the house, but all those nooks and bulges are really charming. It's like the Weasleys' house, with all the random pieces added on.

Jan Brett's Home

Are you familiar with the artwork of Jan Brett? Her books were favorites of my younger brothers, and my Mom and I would often look at them too, because we found her illustrations so detailed and charming.

This weekend the NYTimes had an article about the home Jan Brett shares with her husband in the Berkshires, and it is so cute and inspiring. Sean and I agree that we have major house envy (and lifestyle envy too, maybe)

Of course, now I really want to have a hedgehog as a pet. And I've been informed that its illegal in my state. I will just have to look at cute pictures of baby hedgehogs to appease myself.

SO CUTE!

A good weekend

Right now I'm sitting in front of the computer with a cup of delicious hot chocolate which Sean made for me.

We had a lovely date this weekend, to the Barnes Foundation. It's a strange museum, with HEAVY security. (Seriously, we had to get past four security check points before we could get inside the place.) They will be moving to a new location in Philly soon, so I will be interested to see what it will be like in the new place.

I have many strong opinions about it, but I will keep them to myself for now :)

The Barnes has an arboretum too, so Sean and I enjoyed the last bits of summer outside.

 

In other weekend news, I got an excellent gift from my parents... an Iphone!

I never expected to have an iphone, so I'd never paid much attention to all the things you can do with one. So far I've used a few different apps - the Pandora app, the New York Times, Flickr, and the Weather Channel. I'm still learning! I'd welcome any suggestions or tips.

I took some pictures of the new apartment, so I'll be posting them later this week!

(Incidentally, these pictures were taken with the iphone. The camera quality is very good! Ok, enough geeking out about my new toy...)

Have a great week!

Back to Blogging

I almost can't believe that I've neglected Studio Kiekje for three months. I could pretend that I just really wanted to celebrate Sean's birthday for as long as possible (which of course, I do), but really...

I just felt overwhelmed for a little bit. I'm embarrassed to admit it, because I really didn't have to deal with anything too difficult. A new job, moving to a new apartment, a few worries...

Lots of good things happened this summer too! I think these pictures show that - and they are all snippets of happy memories. And the tough stuff is over, and in retrospect doesn't seem so bad (isn't that always the case?)

When I was a teenager, going through the typical teenager angst, my Dad used to say "No pain, no gain." This drove me nuts at the time... but I did think of it a few times this summer. I wonder if he still says this...

Actually, I think he would be much more likely to say "Just chill out, girl" now! :)

Well, onward and upward...

We LOVE our cozy new apartment in a charming, neighborhood-y town. I promise, pictures SOON.

(It doesn't have mice, which is already a vast improvement over our last place.)

 

So, do you hear that internet? I am back to blogging! (And commenting on blogs, too)

xoxo, Angelique

Happy Birthday to Sean

Today is my sweet boyfriend's 26th birthday.

 

Happy Birthday dear Sean. May all your birthday wishes come true! (Especially if they involve giant cupcakes.)

xoxoxoxo times a million,

Kiekje

The Uniform Project

[I found out about this via  Clever Nettle (which is a lovely blog full of vintage fashion inspiration, and always makes me want to run off to Portland).]

The Uniform Project is the idea of Sheena Matheiken who will wear the same dress for a year. The dress is a simple black one, made by a friend. (Several copies were made so that they could be cycled.) Sheena describes it as an "exercise in sustainable fashion" and relates it to the school uniforms she grew up wearing in India.

She writes, "Peaking through the sea of uniforms were the idiosyncrasies of teen style and individual flare. I now want to put the same rules to test again, only this time I'm trading in the catholic school fervor for an eBay addiction and relocating the school walls to this wonderful place called the internet."

Sheena is also doing this project to raise awareness about the Akanksha Foundation which is devoted to bringing education to under-privileged children in India.

There are more than ten months left to go in Sheena's project, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with! Here are a few of my favorites so far:

 

 

The dress can be worn with the buttons either in the front or the back... and the buttons allow it to be worn as a jacket as well. Such a simple, but smart dress!(Apparently it also has large hidden pockets...because Sheena doesn't like to carry a purse.)

Terrible Yellow Eyes

I have already mentioned my love for the work of Maurice Sendak several times on Studio Kiekje (see here and here). Yesterday was Mr. Sendak's birthday, and I discovered that there is a blog, called Terrible Yellow Eyes which features artwork inspired by the wonderful "Where the Wild Things Are".

Cory Godbey, the creator of the blog, describes its goal, "Simply put, like a visual love letter to the book, with Terrible Yellow Eyes I am seeking to celebrate and promote the original masterwork by Maurice Sendak in the best way I know how -- with pictures."

 

(art by Sarah Caterisano, who also has a blog)

I know I've said it before, but "Where the Wild Things Are" is so special to me. I loved it as a child, and I think it was one of the many books which informed both my love for reading and my love of art. (And let's not forget, the "wild rumpus"!)I never thought about what it might mean to other people - as a kid, you always think your treasures are all your own. But now that I'm older I'm not at all surprised to discover that many artists have been inspired by Sendak's work. I think it truly is a classic which adults may hold in just as high (if not higher!) regard as kids.

(art by Cedar Leidigh)

I am so looking forward to the movie (my expectations are high, Mr. Jonze!)

Kiki illustrations

 
I think I've mentioned before that I am a very big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films. Kiki's Delivery Service was the first one I saw, and I've seen it several times now (and have it on DVD!). But it was some time before I learnt that the movie was based on a novel by Eiko Kadono. I would love to get my hands on the book and its sequels (I believe that only the first book is translated into English).

The illustrations are fantastic. 

 

 

I always think I like color illustrations, but lately I've really been drawn to simple black and white images. Perhaps I'm becoming minimalist?

(Definitely not!!)

Dress sketches

I'm sketching some dresses for some illustrations I have in mind.

(This is from my sketchbook so please excuse the scanner fog!)

I had a very particular look in mind - something loose and summery and a bit quaint. Like something a girl in a Carl Larsson painting would wear. 

I looked to some of my Flickr favorites for inspiration, and  it didn't disappoint.(Of course I won't be directly copying the photographs for the final drawing, but this was just to get a sense for how the clothes should be constructed) I would be quite happy with any of these dresess in my wardrobe!

 

         1. brown dress, 2. mustard gingham, 3. Thrifted Dress - $5, 4. a lot