See my artwork at Made In Oregon at Washington Square and...!!

What? You want to escape the rain and go to the mall this weekend?

OK - where shall we go. . .

I know - how about Washington Square!

Oh look - it's the Made in Oregon store.

Let's go in and see what they have. . .

Oh look - right at the front of the store. . .

What is all that bright, fun stuff?

Ooooh new products . . .let's take a look!

Are those Laurie Miller Designs?

Why yes! they are . . .

Thank you for letting me brag and wallow in happiness for just a moment!

Green . . .and all things magical

I remember being totally enchanted with the little daisys that would grow in the grass in the spring.

They used to grow in the baseball field of my elementary school.

I took personal offense when the maintenance crew would cut the grass because it would chop the tops off of my little flowers.

I mean. . .really - what were they thinking?

You don't chop down the flowers!!!

I always loved daisies as a child and I still find them to be some of the happiest flowers ever.

I remember weaving them into chains and crowns.

I would imagine that they were the skirts of fairies.

I would pick them and pluck of the petals, one by one.

I still think they are pretty magical.

And as much as I love a bouquet of beautiful roses . . .I'd choose a bouquet of bright daisys anytime!

These sweet beauties were discovered on a recent walk around a local golf course.

As tired as I am of the rain we are having in Oregon, you can't beat it for making the grass green.

And look at those droplets of water clinging on the blades of grass.

Magic!

 The other thing that totally enchanted me as a child was weeping willow trees.

I don't remember any weeping trees in my yards or my neighborhood when I was growing up,

but every time I saw one they invoked fantasies of hidden forts, princesses, fairies. . .

all things magical.I

And again . . .check out those shakes of green. 

New colorful Fan Fins!

New and improved ceiling fan blades.

I have been spending the last few days working on my new studio space. And I am a true believer in reusing everything that I can and doing redecorating projects with as little money as possible. I am not above rummaging through a dumpster if needed to find the perfect embellishments.

In this case - I didn't do any dumpster diving - but I did do a lot of re-using!

This is just a sneak peek of one the new elements - my ceiling fan.

I love having a ceiling fan - but they are rather . . .boring.

But not now - color and excitement all the way.

It will be perfect for sitting in my chair, gazing up and contemplating all of life's important questions.

Stay tuned . . .more studio pics to come as I get it finished up!

Made In Oregon . . .

It's official - we are in 4 Made In Oregon stores. This is a nice feather in our humble little cap! I remember going into these stores years ago and thinking only "real" artists have their things chosen to be in here. . .and now Laurie Miller Designs will be represented. We can be found in the Portland Airport, Washington Square, Pioneer Place and Newport stores as of this week. This is a trial order - if the items sell, we will work on a larger order. Keep you fingers crossed for us . . .better yet - drop into one of the stores!

This is a project I just worked on. I was contacted by a woman who conducts leadership and management trainings to design name tags. Because her workshops focus on creative approaches to problem solving and taking a leap on goals, she wanted to have name tags that inspire the same types of things. Check out her website. She is truly inspirational. She is an ultralight pilot and has accomplished some amazing goals. It gives me hope.

Other than that - my studio time is being dominated by a studio move and redecorating project. With my oldest daughter moving out of the house, a room opened up. My sweet husband has been painting and putting up shelves and such to get it ready for me. I will post pictures when the project is complete!

Now onto other projects. . . .

Have a great week!

A Mirror for Madison

A client requested a large mirror for her daughter's bedroom -

One of those really large mirrors that you lean up against a wall.

She found one on clearance and scored a great deal on it - but the look was not really teenage-girl appropriate.

It was black with gold trim.

Fine for an adult home - but not what she was looking for.

She brought the mirror and asked for a make-over -

the instructions were bright and "girlie" - include fashion, shoes, etc.

I think I accomplished the task.

Dresses, shoes, make-up, handbags, perfume, hairspray . . .

all things girl.

Of course - as usual - photos don't do it justice.

But it should brighten up a bedroom quite nice!

In other news -

we are experiencing rain . . .

rain . . .

and more rain.

I'm a born and raised Oregonian.

I know what rain is -

but I can't take this anymore.

How do you deal with overwhelming gray?

Because right now - all I want to do is crawl back in bed and pull the covers over my head.

I want to scream.

I have no patience. I used to tell my kids - my patience was the size of a watermelon and now it is the size of a grain of rice.

Yup - I'm kind of "DONE".

On Sunday - my husband grabbed me and pulled me out of the studio.

The sun had broke through the clouds.

He sat me down in a chair on our deck and we soaked up the warmth.

It only lasted for about 10 minutes - but for that 10 minutes, I felt so much better.

Please, please, please - mother nature - please give us a break with the rain so that we can be reintroduced to the sun.

I have always had a wonderful relationship with Mr. Sun and I would like to reignite it.

I promise not to complain about the heat.

And may I say, Mother Nature . . .Thank you - in advance.

Spring is Springing

After spending some time in the studio painting today, my husband insisted we take a break and go for a walk.

I was not thrilled.

In fact, I was feeling a grumpy and sorry for myself today.

But I let him drag me along.

Mother Nature must have known I was feeling a little down because she really put on a good show for us . . .

Thanks honey, for making me get out side. I would have hated to miss this show.

A Little Bit of Everything . . .

Here is a before and after picture of the new spice cabinet door in its home . . .

 

Before . . .

 And after . . .

 

 

Looking good - and I really love the punched tin backsplash!

A cute picture of my little grandson man.

With that hat, he looks like he is prepping for his upcoming artsy/music career.
A budding Jason Mraz!

Last night I checked something off my 2011 to-do list.

I was a student at a cooking class.

It was oh-so fun.

I have been threatening to take a cooking class for years.

But I spend all of my time fretting about "what?"
What kind of class? What kind of food? What about the price?
Yikes!
That questions can become downright paralying!

I finally decided to just jump in with both feet and sign up for one that interested me.

Part of the frustration is - I know how to cook.

I think of myself as a fairly decent cook.

So I didn't want to waste my money one something that I didn't like or something that I already know how to make.

I looked around at a few websites for my area and finally decided on a pizza making class at Bobs Red Mill.

I have shopped at this place for years. I love their products, I love that they are local, I love their philosophy and approach to food and eating.

I know how to make pizza. I have done it for years.

But I thought - this is something that, although I already do it fairly well - maybe I can learn a few secrets that will make homemade pizza a little better.

Afterall - I don't know about you, but I don't have a pizza oven in my home kitchen! No matter how hard I try, I will never get my oven to reach the temperatures of a pizza oven.

I had so much fun in this class.

We watched - we asked questions - we sampled and sampled and sampled.

And I learned that I already do most everything right.

I learned a few new secrets as well.

But most of all -

in a world where I am always giving to my co-workers, or my children, or my students, or . . .

someone else -

It was really great to be the student. To be able to have someone else "fill my cup" up.

I am already looking for new classes to take.

We are almost into the 4th month of 2011. Have you tried something new or different? If so - what is it?