new items on Etsy!!

i've added several things to my Etsy shop over the past few days, but my favorite was this morning... go buy them!

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check me out

i have setup a shop on Etsy.com, a wonderful website where people can buy and sell all things homemade. the website is fantastic, but i think you should check THIS PAGE out. :)

so far, i have posted some homemade cards in the shop. i will be continuing to update the shop, with different pieces such as custom magnets, coasters, and paintings. i have SO MUCH FUN doing all of these little projects, and more than anything else i love sharing it with other people.

so check it out- i hope you find something you like!!

love it

i am obsessed with any show that has anything to do with houses: design, sales, organization... ANYTHING. sometimes i wonder what my true calling is. i mean, is it normal that i can watch the exact same design/home show over and over and over and over...? sean said it accurately today. "jennie, i barely watch any tv. and i've seen this episode at least twice." touche, seany. but i just can't get enough. 

some of my favorites are clean house, my first place, curb appeal, property virgins, designed to sell,  AAAAAAAAND...... house hunters international!!! at this very moment, a lovely british family of three is searching for a new home in the english countryside. and i'm so very glad they invited me along.  there's just something about watching people search

 for real estate. in a foreign country. it rocks my socks off.

resolutions*

*reloaded

i came up with a NEW new year's resolution a little while back. this is pretty much the only time i can remember actually following my resolutions pretty well... ok, so maybe the reason i've done well with my resolutions so far is because i actually enjoy doing all of the things i resolved to do. it makes it easy. maybe that's cheating, i don't know. but i don't care. because i'm getting s#*t done and enjoying myself in the meantime. but continuing on...

i bought SO MUCH scrapbook paper and card stock in after-christmas sales that i have now created work for myself. but it's fun work. and that's the best kind :) i have resolved to HAND-MAKE ALL of the cards i send out this year: birthday, valentine's, congrats, get well, halloween, thanksgiving, even christmas. i've always had a small passion for making greeting cards with random stuff i find in my craft box. so i figure i can take it to the next level. i mean, it's always so hard to find the perfect card, or i end up thinking "i wasted all that time looking for a card and i could have come up with most of those myself"... christmas will be the real challenge.  s o o o o o  many cards to send, but i'm determined to do it. and everyone will get a unique card. i think i like that aspect the best. truly personalized greetings. 

so watch your mailbox because some day soon, you may receive your very own, one-of-a-kind greeting! i just hope they're not cheesy or stupid. if you think they are, please just keep it to yourself. that's my heart and soul. my blood, sweat and tears. but not literally, because that would be gross, and then you'd be entitled to hate them. 

just a few thoughts.

i love my job. like any job, it has it's good days and bad days, but ultimately the firm is wonderful and i feel lucky to be a part of it. i work in the multi-family studio, where our work consists of urban infill apartments/condos and mixed use projects. i always saw myself in residential architecture- i love the idea of being able to directly influence (hopefully for the better- haha) the way people live. the built environment impacts every aspect of everyone's lives. rich or poor, that is one of the things we all have in common- and one thing i believe we all deserve. and organizations like Architecture for Humanity have made in incredible difference in struggling communities all over the world. and their belief is simple- good design is not a luxury. it doesn't have to be fancy, but it needs to work for the person using it. they deserve nothing less.

how we live, how we use space, how we shape space, how space shapes us; the challenge is to use architecture to respond in a way that not only meet our current needs but is adaptable for the future. as architects, i believe we have a great opportunity. along with our clients, we can shape our built environment in an efficient, beautiful, and responsible manner- hopefully to improve quality of place, quality of community, and quality of life.