There's A New Blog In Town

Good news! The FGD blog has moved to a new location!

I've spent the last few month redesigning my freelance website in Wordpress, which has allowed me to combine my blog and my website into one awesome website/blog sandwich! So don't waste another minute. Come on over to the new site and check out the redesigned blog. You don't want to miss a thing. You can find all the design discussion, travel logs, refashions, home decorating, and more here.

There's A Method To My Orla Kiely

While I was at Target the other day, I wandered down the soap aisle. I just can't resist the natural cleaning and pump soap aisles. While I was perusing all the fun packing, I noticed this...

Method has teamed up with Orla Kiely again to create these adorable little soap pumps. I was pretty low on pump soap, so I brought one home (I just couldn't resist!). Here she is in our master bath.

I chose the "Bayleaf" fragrance, which smells fresh and crisp, almost like an evergreen. They come in four fragrances and you can read more about them here.

California Here We Come!

We said goodbye to our first home today. It was so strange to see it empty after living there for over six years.



But now it's time to move on. To California to be specific. But first a two week road trip...

KENTUCK KNOB
Our trip began in Dunbar, PA with a tour of Kentuck Knob house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.



The house was built in the traditional Usonian style and reminded me a lot of the Zimmerman house, also Usonian, in Manchester, NH. It was a beautifully tranquil space and Zach and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We arrived around 12:30, which gave us just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat in their lovely little greenhouse cafe.



Then we took a short bus ride up to the house where Diana, our tour guide, gave us an informative tour of the house...



...and then encouraged us to walk the short path over to the scenic outlook.



We weren't allowed to take any interior shots, so I only have exterior photos. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was the uniquely-designed "sun dial" created by the windows in the overhang of the veranda.



The shapes cast by the sun, move across the floor as the sun rises and sets. During this time of year, they run right down the center of the floor at noon, but during other times of the year they are near the doors off the living room or by the perimeter wall. Such a cool concept!



After the tour, we took the path to the "Sculpture Meadow" filled with, you guessed it, sculptures. They even had a couple Andy Goldworthy installations including this "Floodstones Cairn."



And this interesting sea of red people.



And this weird cast iron piece from France. Zach and I think it may have been a shower or an outhouse.



There was even an apple core designed by American artist, Claes Oldenburg.



And a piece of the Berlin wall.



Eventually we ended up back where we started, at the greenhouse cafe and shop.



I think this is one of my favorite Wright houses to date. We've got several other house visits planned during this trip, so we'll see how they all stack up.

I'm Lovin': Amazing LEGO Birds

I found these amazing LEGO birds on the Colossal website today. They're designed and constructed by Thomas Poulsom. The open wings are amazing. And don't you just love that hanging box of rennet?

If you love these birds too, head on over to the LEGO website and show Thomas some lovin' support.

Elements Of My Childhood

When I was young, my mom and my nana made a lot of my clothing. My mom sewed and my nana crocheted. A while back, my mom gave me a bag of what remained from my childhood. I carefully washed each piece, but that's as far as I got. Since then I've just been moving them from one area of the house to another, planning to eventually photograph all of them for posterity. Well, I finally got around to it. I went to Joann's and bought some white muslin fabric to use as a backdrop, laid it out on the living room floor, and carefully placed each dress, coat, skirt, and sweater in the middle of the fabric, one at a time, until I had photographed all of them. As I was styling each piece, I realized how much love and care went into making each of them. All of the dresses my mom made had pockets in them. One of them even had a little appliqué turtle sewn on the front, near the collar, like a Lacost alligator. Each button had been carefully selected. Each sweater edge had been expertly finished. Each lining lovingly sewn. Even the dirndls, a traditional German dress, which came from my aunt and uncle in Germany had been sewn with great care (albeit in a factory, but well made none-the-less). No detail was overlooked, from the appliqués to the buttons, to the matching aprons and decorative edging.

And now comes the slightly difficult part, letting them go. I know it's just clothing, but it's also a little piece of my past wrapped up in love and happy memories of feeling special and pretty, as every little girl should feel at some point. But it's time to pass them on. I'm giving them to two very dear college friends so their little girls can feel special and pretty.  Who knew a carefully selected button or a delicately stitched sweater edge could be so powerful. Thanks Mom...Thanks Nana...for making me feel special and pretty.

Skunks Pick Vegetables Deliberately

I've been designing and programming websites for about six years now and everything I know, I taught myself. But for some reason, I just can't seem to remember all the terminology. Probably, in part, because I work alone, so I rarely have to communicate with others about CSS or XHTML. There is that rare occasion when I do need to explain something (usually to my husband) and it's then that I realize how ridiculous I sound as I try to come up with the words necessary to prove I actually know what I'm talking about. Words like "selector" and "element" and "declaration." Today I decided enough is enough. I'm sick of not being able to communicate my CSS knowledge, so I'm going to use the old school technique of creating an acronym that represents what I want to remember.

First, a quick lesson in CSS for anyone who is curious. According to the w3schools website, "A CSS rule has two main parts: a selector, and one or more declarations." This is what the CSS code looks like:

Typically the selector is an HTML element (a.k.a "tag") that you want to style to look a certain way. In the example above, the "p" element stands for "paragraph." So you're telling your website, "hey, I want to style all paragraphs to show up bold with 12 point text." I'm not sure why you would want to bold all your paragraph text, but now you know how to.

There are three main types of selectors: id, class, and element. "In addition to setting a style for a HTML element, CSS allows you to specify your own selectors called 'id' and 'class.'" You use different selectors depending on what you want to do. "The id selector is used to specify a style for a single, unique element" whereas "The class selector is used to specify a style for a group of elements. Unlike the id selector, the class selector is most often used on several elements."

Like I said, I have trouble keeping all these terms straight. It's ridiculous really. So I'm calling on my old friend "acronym" to help me out. I need to remember that a declaration is made up of a property and its value. And the whole thing styles a specified selector.

And here's how I'm going to remember it:

Anyone else struggle to remember stuff? Everything was so easy to remember when I was a kid. Wish I could reclaim that clarity and memory skill. Speaking of being a kid, stay tuned for a post I'm working on about some of my childhood clothing made by my mom and nana.
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** All quoted text taken from the w3schools website. They're a wealth of knowledge, so check 'em out!

The Big Three Six

I turned 36 this weekend, and I can't help but notice that I'm now closer to 40 than I am to 30. I'm trying not to think about it. Isn't 36 the new 24? Besides, you're only as old as you feel (I truly believe that.), and I feel pretty darn good (Must be all those veggies my mama made me eat.). So I'm not going to let a stupid number get to me. I am going to try to embrace life and all its opportunities with a little more fever though.

The day started with my phone chiming out alerts in my ear like a little alarm clock. When I reached to see what all the yammering was about, I saw my first few "Happy Birthdays" had been posted on Facebook. What a great "alarm clock" to wake up to! Alerts continued sporadically for a few hours, and every message I read made me so thankful and happy that people took the time to acknowledge my birthday. Everyone is just so darn thoughtful. I don't check Facebook with much consistency, so I miss a lot of birthdays, which is why I'm even more touched by these well wishes. It's also why I spent the whole day periodically uploading photos and writing about my day; I thought it would be nice to share my day with my friends and family.

It was a perfect day. Zach's always so good about planning special days for me. In the morning he took me to get apple cider doughnuts at Highland Orchards.

Then it was back home to open gifts and the loveliest card full of kind words and love. After that we headed to New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ, where we spent the day walking around and perusing some of the clothing and antique shops. We even walked by a super cool old train with dining cars.

We had an amazing dinner at Sprig and Vine, a vegetarian restaurant in New Hope, and then headed to Solebury School, a private boarding school, for a Bess Rogers concert. I think we were the only two people there who weren't associated with the school. Zach has seen Bess perform live before, but this was my first concert. Man is that girl talented. It was a great show. She's very laid back and chats and jokes with the crowd a lot, which I loved. On the way home, we stopped at Chik-fil-A so I could go to the bathroom and then decided to get ice cream from the drive through. Not the best ice cream in the world, but tasty none-the-less. It was such a fun day, and it even stopped raining in the afternoon! I feel really blessed to have such a thoughtful hubby.

One thing I failed to mention about my day is the fact that I watched an episode of One Tree Hill while trying to convince myself to get up. Yes, I confess, I've been watching OTH. And Yes, I also confess, I've been watching it long enough that I now abbreviate it as OTH. But the first eight seasons are on Netflix, and once you start watching, you just can't stop (at least I can't). Now that I've confessed, I want to share a quote from the end of the episode. It seemed like a totally appropriate way to start my birthday...

Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want. Everything you want. Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true. You never know where the next miracle is gonna come from. The next smile. The next wish come true. But if you believe that it's right around the corner and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it. To the certainty of it. You just might get the thing you're wishing for. The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it. So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it...with all your heart.

Longwood Gardens in Winter

I went to Longwood Gardens again the other day. I just love it there. So peaceful and serene. It's a perfect escape from the cold, bareness of winter.

Let's Frame Something: Finishing

Well, miraculously, we've made it to the final day of this week-long tutorial. Today we're going to be talking about the final steps needed to finish framing your piece so you can hang it on the wall. Yippee!

Here's a list of basic supplies you'll need:
backing board with mat board and artwork attached (hinged, dry mounted or other attachment method)
glass or plexiglass (cut to size)
frame
point driver (if your frame doesn't have metal tabs on the back of it.)
ATG double-sided tape (and tape gun, if you have one. If not, don't worry)
craft paper (for dust cover)
hangers with screws
hanging wire
bumpers (optional)

Putting Everything Into The Frame
Now we need to take our picture sandwich and pop it into the frame.

I custom ordered my frame online from here. It's a solid maple frame that they built to my specified dimensions (13 5/8" by 13 5/8"). You may notice it came with little black metal tabs on the back. These are bent down over the backing board to hold everything in place.

Here's a close up of the back side of the frame, with one of the tabs bent down.

Some frames (particularly custom ones) don't come with those tabs. It's times like these when you need a point driver. Designed to fire little metal points into the side of your frame, a point driver is a super useful tool to have on hand when custom framing.

Okay, it's time to load your picture sandwich into the frame. Pick up your stack of backing board, artwork, mat, and glass and carefully pinch it together with one hand (like holding a book). While tipping the back of the frame towards it, line up one side of your stack with the back of the frame.

This can be a bit like a Laurel and Hardy show and sometimes it's easier to load the glass into the frame first and then everything else because the glass tends to catch on those little metal tabs on the frame (one negative of having them). You should have seen me trying to set up the sequence of shots for this step. Imagine me trying to prop up the frame with one hand and slide the glass in with the other. As I was doing this, the frame was so slippery, it started to slide across the table, almost pushing my artwork onto the floor which caused me to start flailing around (the logical choice in any situation like this) trying to simultaneously stop the frame from sliding and catch the artwork with the other. Unfortunately, the hand trying to do the catching was holding a big piece of glass at the time. Let's just say I lucked out and didn't break the glass. All this is to say, don't do that.

So load your glass in first if it's easier.

Get your hand underneath the frame and slowly lower the glass down into the frame.
Don't worry about getting finger prints on the underside of the glass at this point. As long as the side of the glass that will be facing your artwork is clean, you're good to go.

During this step, you may kick up some dust or bits of frame onto the glass. Just take a paper towel, or, even better, a lint-free cloth, and spray it with a little Windex. Then gently wipe away the dust and bits. After the glass is dry, gently lay everything else into the frame.

Push down the metal tabs onto the back of the backing board (you may need to use a screw driver), but only push down the one in the middle of each side.

Then flip over your piece and check it for dust. If everything looks good, flip it back over and depress the rest of the tabs.

If you find some dust or bits floating around, hold the frame in both hands as if you're about to hang it on the wall (perpendicular to the table). Then gently tap the bottom of the frame on your work surface (being very careful not to damage your frame or table or to break the glass). If this doesn't dislodge the offending bits, flip your frame back over, lift the tabs (aren't you glad you only depressed four of them?) and lift everything off the glass so you can wipe off the inside of the glass. Once the glass is clean and dry (make sure it's dry!), check your mat and artwork for any remaining dust etc. and then place them back into the frame. This step can be maddening. Just when you think you've gotten every last bit of dust out and you depress ALL of those tabs, you find something else behind the glass. Hang in there. You will eventually get it right. Or you'll say "good enough!" and give up. Either way, you'll be done with this part.

Applying The Dust Cover
It was a huge pain to get all that dust out, so you want to protect your artwork from any more dust particles (or spiders or other bugs) that try to sneak in behind the glass (the nerve!). What you need is a dust cover. Regular old craft paper, available at most craft stores (I've actually even found it at Ikea with the wrapping paper) works perfectly as a dust cover. simply roll out a section large enough to cover the back of your frame.

Crease along the edges (so you can see where your frame ends)...

and cut slightly larger than where you creased.

Set cover aside.

Now use your tape gun to apply ATG double-sided tape around the perimeter of the back of your frame. Here:

What? You don't have an ATG tape gun? Don't worry, neither do I.

I guess I should have mentioned ATG tape on day one of this tutorial, but I didn't think about it until now (What kind of half-baked tutorial is this?). Basically ATG tape is a double-sided tape used by framers to stick things together, specifically the dust cover to the frame (and sometimes the mat to the backing board). It comes in regular (acidic) and acid-free varieties and can be applied with, our without, a snazzy applicator gun (but the gun, of course, makes it a lot easier). The tape has a plastic backing on it, so you can easily apply it without the aid of a tape gun. Simply unroll a little tape and press it down along the back permimeter of the frame, unrolling more tape as you need it and pressing as you go. Then remove the tape backing.

FULL DISCLOSURE:
I don't usually apply a dust cover because I'm lazy. So I don't actually have any ATG tape to show you this step. But who needs pictures? My perfectly clear instructions and razor sharp wit are really all you need.

Once you've applied your tape, carefully center your dust cover over your frame

and firmly press it onto the tape along one side of the frame, creasing the paper over the edge of the frame.

Then pull the paper taught across the frame and firmly press the paper onto the tape on the opposite side. Do the same for the remaining two sides so the paper is firmly stuck to the back of the frame and creased on all four sides. The creasing helps you see where your frame ends so you know where to trim the excess paper.

Now take a straight razor blade, and with your pointer finger extending down next to the frame, slowly (and carefully!) drag the blade along the paper using your finger as a guide.

Once you've removed the excess paper on all four sides you can proceed to the next step.

Adding The Hanging Wire
Before you begin this step, quickly lift your frame up and verify that the top of your artwork is the side closest to you. We want to make sure when we measure for the hanging wire placement, that we do so on the correct side of the frame. We don't want to attach our wire to the wrong end.

Our frame measures about 15 inches high from outside edge to outside edge. We want our wire hanger to be about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the frame, about 5 inches (15 ÷ 3 = 5). Note: When I say "top of the frame" it's technically the bottom of the frame from our current view point, since we've flipped the frame over so the top of our artwork is closest to us. So measure 5 inches from the bottom edge and mark with a pencil.

Then drill a small pilot hole in the frame. Try to center it on the frame so you don't drill too close to the outside edge and ruin your frame. You also don't want to drill too deep. There's nothing worse then flipping your frame right side up and realizing you've drilled straight through to the front. Maddness. Measure and drill on the opposite side as well.

Whenever I order my frames online, I get a nice little kit that includes, two hangers, two screws, and some wire. Most frames should come with these items, if not, you can pick up a kit at most craft stores or frame shops.

Screw your hangers into the pre-drilled holes until they're firmly in place and don't shift from side to side.

Take one end of your wire and feed it through one of the hangers.

Wrap the loose end underneath the wire, from front to back.

Feed the loose end through the hanger again and pull it tight.

Pull the loose end under the wire so the loose end is closest to you. Now wrap the loose end up over the top of the wire (away from you)

and back around underneth the wire (towards you).

Continue wrapping the loose end around the wire several more times.

Trim any excess, if neccesary.

Pull the wire taut and loop it through the other hanger, repeating the same wire wrapping process.

Trim the excess with a pair of wire cutters.

At this point you can add, what are known in the industry as "bumpers," to the back of your frame. Bumpers are tiny little rubber dots that are sticky on one side so you can attach them to the back bottom two corners of your frame to prevent your frame from scratching your wall. You can find them in most craft stores (I know. Who would have guessed?).

And here's our finished piece:

Well, I hope you've found this week-long decent into hell tutorial to be helpful and that it's given you the courage and the skills to frame something with your own two hands (and save yourself some dough in the process!). If you have any questions or need anything clarified, leave me a note in the comments section, and I'll do my best to help you out. Happy framing!