Studio Gatz Opening April 16!

Posted on April 2, 2012 by studiogatz

Studio Gatz is opening its virtual doors on April 16. Just in time for you to spend your tax refund! I’m a bit of a procrastinator, so decided to set a deadline and make it public (that way I’m sure to get things done!).

The online boutique will feature Cards, Home Decor, Gifts and of course my Vintage One of a Kind Finds. I’m also working on a pet line that will open a little later. Everything is handmade to ensure that it’s special and unique.

If you want a reminder of the opening sign up for our e-news mailing list!

Pinterest Project/Vintage Finds: Utensils

Posted on March 30, 2012 by studiogatz

So along with my Pinterest obsession, I have a thing for utensils (which is just kind-of a fun word to say). In fact, I’ve started a whole new board dedicated to utensils from DIY projects to fun designs and inspirations for future Studio Gatz products.

Here’s a snapshot of the board:

Oh! The possibilities!

I’ve been thinking about projects like these for a while now, so literally flipped out when at an antique show. Why? You may ask. Well there was a whole dusty basket filled with old silverware.

I tried to hid my excitement so as to not spoil my negotiation tactics, but there I was digging into the basket with zeal. Should I buy a few? Should I buy them all? Should I focus on spoons, or forks, or knives, or sets?!?!?!

Such decisions! I ended up with these:

Spoons, glorious Spoons!

I did get mostly spoons, but also a few sets to play with. I can’t wait to try some of these projects. I’ll be sure to post here on what I make. Stay tuned… And follow Studio Gatz on Pinterest for a constant stream of utensil-mania.

How To: Change a Shower Head

Posted on March 29, 2012 by studiogatz

As you will soon find out, this is more a post as to how NOT to change your shower head. As I mentioned before, now that I own my own place, I’m trying to be handier (since you just can’t call the landlord anymore).

And well, I noticed my dog often came home from being out with the dog walker looking like this:

Notice the Muddy Paws

Although really, I can’t complain about the dog walker since this how he looks after a hike with me:

Notice the Muddier Paws

So this is all to say, my dog often needs a bath, which is a problem because I don’t have a bathtub and he no longer can fit in the sink.

SOLUTION: A Hand-Held Shower head!!

Easy right?!? I had changed a shower head in a previous apartment and thought it would simply just twist off… So here is my latest how-to…

STEP 1: Assemble your supplies.

Shower Head and Pliers

STEP 2: Try with all your might to twist off the old shower head.

Old Shower Head

STEP 3: Get really frustrated because the thing won’t move, throw the pliers down and make a Bloody Mary (because you are doing this in the morning and it would be socially frowned upon if you went straight to wine).

Try this recipe from Pinterest!

STEP 4: Knock on the strong, strapping, FBI agent’s door (the one guy that lives in the building). And ask to borrow his muscles.

Picture has been changed to protect the innocent.

STEP 5: Find out that he can’t budge it either.

STEP 6: Repeat step 3 (possibly with the muscle man…wish I had thought of that one).

STEP 7: Muscle Man redeems himself and shows up with CLR and a bigger wrench. Soaks shower head for an hour and it’s easily able to be removed with the bigger “manly-man” wrench.

STEP 8: Let muscle man install new shower head since he’s already on a roll. Bake cookies as a thank-you.

Ta-Da!

Gatsby got his first shower the next day:

Pitiful Wet Puppy

STEP 9: Get annoyed by constant dripping and call property manager who hires a plumber because some valve is broken.

(As I said this is really how not to install a shower head.)

Vintage Finds: Peter Rabbit

Posted on March 27, 2012 by studiogatz

As a child I remember eating out of a Peter Rabbit bowl. My alphabets cereal and chicken noodle soup always went in that bowl. So when at an antique fair recently, it was hard to resist the set below:

Every Child's Dream

The three piece set is of Beatrix Potter’s famous illustrations of the cute and often mischievous rabbit.

Plate, Bowl and Mug

It is also made by Wedgwood. I remember growing up looking at that name on the bottom of my parent’s “good china” (mainly because they had to be hand-washed).

Bottom of Plate

My favorite part of this set is Peter hiding inside the mug. It’s a fun surprise if the cup is full of something opaque like milk.

Be on the look out for this adorable set in the One of a Kind Finds section of StudioGatz, which will be opening soon! Stay tuned to Gatz Chats to find out when.

Favorites: Swirly Designs

Posted on March 26, 2012 by studiogatz

I am a long time fan of Swirly Designs. Today they launched their Easter/Spring collection. I’ve already purchased these:

Blue Eggs in a Nest

Veggie Garden Quartet

Paul and Lianne Stoddard make these wonderful “hand-sculpted, hand-painted polymer clay ornaments.” The husband and wife duo release their collections around each holiday season.

I hang my ornaments off my kitchen cabinet knobs and switch them out based on the time of year. I can’t wait to add these to my previous Spring time purchases! I think I have about 15 right now that I switch out all year long. It about the only holiday decorating I do…

If you are interested in polymer clay, Swirly Designs also offer how-to’s on their blog. But word to the wise, they make it look a LOT easier than it really is. Here’s my attempt at simple ornaments for Christmas:

Ornament gone wrong!

Notice the all the bumpiness :(

Trust me, after trying to make your own, you’ll definitely appreciate Swirly Designs so much more!!! Each design is sketched, sculpted (including etching every single signature swirl), painted, and varnished. (Check out the process!)

Act quickly, the most popular designs sell out fast! Make sure to sign up for Swirly Designs mailing list to get alerts of when the collections go on sale.

Dog Days

Posted on March 22, 2012 by studiogatz

It’s spring time in New England — in March! Which if you live up here, is pretty much unheard of. Usually at this time of year I’m moaning about the banks of gray snow, the gray sky, and just the overall yuckiness.

But this year, I’ve already busted out the capris. Ya that’s right, capris! In March! With daffodils and crocuses and everything (outside, not on the capris). It’s turned me into a very optimistic person. And one that’s actually getting out and doing a little exercise.

Those past dreary days of yonder year are now the dogs days of Spring, which is a good thing! I’ll explain…with a picture…

Gatsby and Monty out on a hike.

If you’ll remember from a previous post, Monty is our neighbor and he and Gatsby are best buds. They are a couple of months apart and share the same dog walker, so they practically grew up together! Gatsby was even at one time smaller than Mr. Mont.

With the 70+ degree days, we’ve been getting out on hikes. Yeah exercise long before having to put on a bikini (me, not the dogs– that would just be silly… you know… cause they’re boys).

Here’s Gatsby taking a quick dip:

Favorites: Lost Type Co-op

Posted on March 21, 2012 by studiogatz

I stumbled upon Lost Type Co-op and let’s just say it was love at first sans serif. I’m a sucker for fonts and these really appealed to me because most had that vintage-y, old-fashion flair.

In the about section, it describes the site as ” a collaboration between Tyler Galpin and Riley Cranf … founded with the intention of providing unique and quality fonts based on a pay-what-you-want model. All designers get 100% of the donations their font receives. ”

So basically you pick the font you like and then name your own price. (Is anyone else picturing William Shatner right now?).

Below are a few of my favorites. Click the image to go to the price-font-negotiator page (make sure to sing that last part). I plan to incorporate these into future Studio Gatz’s designs.

Also, check out their blog. It shows where these fonts are currently in use. See if you can spot any!

Pinterest Project: Storage Baskets

Posted on March 19, 2012 by studiogatz

I have a very tiny condo. When I say tiny, I mean itty bitty — 425 square feet. For all those New Yorker’s out there that may seem large, but for me, it’s small. So I’ve had to be creative with storage. One thing that’s great about my place is that it has very tall ceilings, so I’ve been able to utilize the vertical space.

I was super excited when I found this storage idea on Pinterest.

From "I'm Busy Procrastinating"

I had been storing extra towels under my bed and I wanted to use that space for my crafting supplies. My mom was in town for a weekend and so we tackled this project. I should warn you, I make simple tasks very hard and this project was no different. Below is a the saga of the basket storage…

First, I bought three nesting baskets at Christmas Tree Shop. For those who haven’t experienced the Christmas Tree Shop experience, well all I can say is it’s an experience. It’s not Christmas supplies as one would expect by the name, but more like a discount home goods store.

When my mom got into town, I sent her with a basket to the hardware store to find the best way to hang them. She decided on whatever these are in the picture below, after ruling out picture hangers and decorative hooks.

Thing-a-ma-jig

I had originally thought I would put thee baskets over my toilet and quickly realized that was not going to happen — I would have hit my head on the bottom basket. So I had to put them on the only other available wall space in my bathroom, where I currently had decorative shelves. (Hence why this turned into a saga rather than a simple project.)

The shelves were secured with mollies/wall anchors, so I needed to take those out and repair the holes. I did have a stroke of genius at this point, and determined my baskets’ locations based on being able to use the wall anchors already in the wall. I now also needed to hang the shelves over toilet, which meant putting in more wall anchors there.

(Helpful Hint: When ever hanging something that will have weight on it and be jostled, it’s best to use mollies or wall anchors. I usually buy the kind that can be screwed in or out since they are the easiest to remove. There are also ones that you can just hammer in.)

Prepping the Walls

So after I filled in the holes and repainted, I went to work putting in the rest of the wall anchors. This is what took me so long. I’m in a bathroom, and what’s in the walls of a bathroom? Pipes. Don’t worry, I didn’t go through one. I might just have tapped them a bit. I had marked where I wanted the shelves and baskets to go, and started drilling and hammering and ~~hit~~ tapped a few pipes. This meant re-patching holes and changing my locations.

After doing this a few times, my AMAZING mother had a brilliant idea! SHORTER ANCHORS! Why didn’t we think of this before all the spackling! So after about a day and half of wall repairing, we finally finished!

Yeah! Bathroom storage!

Now I just need more towels…

Handy How-To: Installing a Cable Cord

Posted on March 17, 2012 by studiogatz

I’m admittedly not a handy person, but I live alone and so need to do some basics. These might be easy for most people, but I figured there are others out there like me. My latest project was to replace my cable cord that was conveniently stapled along the baseboard. This was done when the cable was installed, very easily by the amazing Verizon Fios rep — he even helped me pick out paint colors! Talk about full service.

So why am I having to replace the cord? No, I didn’t move my TV. I came home one day from work and found that my puppy Gatsby had chewed on the baseboard, pulled out the cable (including some of the staples), and then chewed on the cable itself.

After checking his mouth for cuts, I looked to see if the cable was still working. Thankfully — for Gatsby — it did. So I covered the cord with a towel and proceeded over the next week to collect supplies.

Step 1: Assemble supplies.

OOOoops… I mean these supplies:

Cable Install Supplies
Shown here: hammer, needle-nose pliers, 50-ft. cable cord, and cable clips.

When I went to the hardware store I was looking for a staple gun and brought one of the plastic covered staples as an example of what I wanted. After talking to a few of the people there, I selected the cable clips that could be hammered in. (I had used a staple gun before — a whole other story — and really didn’t have enough hand strength to get the staples in correctly).

Step 2: Remove staples

Picture of the how the cord was installed by Verizon with plastic covered staples.

I used the needle nose pliers to pull out the staples.

Step 3: Wipe down baseboard.

There was a lot of dust collected under the cord, so I took the opportunity to clean everything with a damp cloth.

Step 4: Hammer down clips.

I started on one end, clipped on the cable clips and hammered them into the top of the baseboard. The direction on the box showed to hammer the cord to the side, but I wanted to cover the staple holes.* I found it easiest to pull the cord on the loose side while hammering the clip down from the side (that way you are less likely to hit the wall).

Helpful Hints

1. Drink the wine after you’re done using the hammer.

2. Repair any damages to the baseboard before you install the cord. I didn’t have the supplies to repair where Gatsby ate the baseboard, so didn’t do this. I will have to remove a few of the clips to do this in the future. Also, I didn’t fill in the staples holes. If I did this over again, I think just a little paint would cover them up.*

3. MAKE SURE THE CABLE CORD IS LONG ENOUGH! I had a cord leftover from a previous apartment and had planned to use it. Thankfully last minute I tested to see if it was long enough. I wasn’t. What I didn’t do was measure how long that cord was or what length I needed. I guesstimated it was 20-ft. long. I bought a 50-ft. cord. I originally had a 25-ft. cord in my cart, but was worried enough that it might not be long enough that I got the next size up. I figured it didn’t hurt to have the extra wound up behind my TV stand.

4. Be ready to make “other” repairs. I hit the wall a couple times and took off a bit of paint, so I need to touch that up.

I’m writing this post while watching the TV, which seems a bit clear now that the copper cord isn’t exposed!

UPDATE: At 8:31 am the next morning, I heard an interesting sound from the living room. I caught Gatsby in the act!!! He was going after the new cord – the little shit! I thankfully had bought a new bone that said it was for “powerful chewers” and it was bacon flavored–yummmmm. So I got that out and so far it’s distracted him. I sprayed the new cord down with Bitter Apple. Hopefully one of these days I can write a “How-To” for stopping your dog from chewing!

Bow-Wow-Wow

Posted on March 16, 2012 by studiogatz

I mentioned in my last post that I’m obsessed with my dog Gatsby. While that’s certainty that case, I really am in love with all dogs (although Gatsby’s the best by far!). One of my first projects on my new Silhouette CAMEO was to do a card of Gatsby’s best friend and our neighbor Monty.

Monty is an adorable french bulldog who has lots of wrinkles around his face. I decided to create dimension by creating multiple layers — one for each “wrinkle.” I then cut them all out, stacked them up and glued them together. Monty has a lot of variation in color on his coat, so I added some detail in colored pencils.

One of my friends at work saw a picture of the card and wanted one of her dog, Gus, to give to her fiance for Valentine’s Day. She’s a country music fan and wanted the card to say “I love you like my dog does.” That’s also why I used some old sheet music to create hearts.

Finally, came Bear a big ol’ lug of a chocolate lab. He loves to play on the beach, so I changed out the background and add a little glitter (who doesn’t love glitter!). I’ve posted the original pictures and the cards below. These pictures aren’t great at showing all the different layers, but it gives you the idea. If you’re interested in having one made of your dog, please email custom@studiogatz.com.