Choosing Colors

It was born in 1971. It's now 37 years old.

I'm talking about our house.

We've lived here about seven of those years, and haven't really done too much to it. Sure, I painted the outdoor trim, repainted the kitchen and cut archways into the kitchen walls, but any major improvement has been put off. We did the usual thing and bought absolutely as much house as we could at that time. Fortunately, our salaries have increased over the years to a point where we're not eeking out our last week of groceries until the next payday.

But the time has come (as walruses say...).

Today we had a contractor/plumber in to put in a manmade marble surround in the kids's bathroom and to change the tub into a shower, so they can quit using ours. Their tub has been unusable for a couple of years now. But after tomorrow, it will be up and running (and better than ours!).

Then we chose some wooden interior fiberglass Marvin windows to put all around the house. Unfortunately with the economic downturn, our Home Equity Loan came back at about half of what we expected, so we can only do part of the house. I guess that means less to pay off in the future, right?

Through all this myriad of decisions, my wife and I have been on the same page. Window styles, tub surround colors and hardware, deck supplies, etc. But when we were in Lowe's the other day to find paint colors for our bedroom and for the living/dining area, we were polar opposites. She wanted dark red for the bedroom, and I was ready to go with a pale yellow (her fave color). For the living room, I wanted a rich khaki color, but she claimed that it was too dark, and so she picked an off-white. ACK! Fortunately, Lowe's sells those little tester cans, so we bought several (it'll be beautiful...). I'll let you know what happens.

Until next time,
Pastel Guy
www.matthewweld.com
www.studio206.etsy.com

In Summary...

As the month draws to a close, there are several items on my mind:

1. NaBloPoMo - I'm not sure whether it's the curse of the devil, or heaven sent. I've enjoyed blogging, and having to do it every day for thirty days has definitely worked toward making it a habit. However, it has taken a toll with my wife, who complains of the amount of time spent on the computer...

2. Pastels - My creative juices are beginning to flow, and soon you will see new products. I joined WetCanvas! yesterday (a place for artists to congregate on the Net), and I think it will be a great learning/sharing/teaching opportunity.

3. Jewelry - Yesterday, we went to a local Craft Fair to shop around. I had done that show in the past, but it's three days over a holiday weekend, and I just don't want to give up the family time anymore. I suppose if it were my sole income, I'd be there schlepping jewelry like a madman.

4. Etsy - Well, I've had an Etsy store for about 2.5 months now, and have sold three items. I realize that it's a great place for indie artists to showcase their work, but when the jewelry category is the largest, it's just REALLY hard to compete. I think I need to sell something more original in there. Perhaps notecards of my pastel paintings. I don't want to do prints of my works, but notecards would be OK, I think.

5. Christmas - Bring it on! I don't have anything on my list this year, except for a new website and a Blackberry Storm (as discussed here). I think the website is do-able, but the Storm's monthly access fee is completely out of my price range.

6. My Family - Still the best thing since sliced bread, and what I'm most thankful for this year.

7. Yahoo! Groups - Yep. I joined 2 of them this month. One with people from Montana who have stores on Etsy And the second is for pastel painters. I have corresponded with some wonderful people in both groups, and secondarily, have also put my name out there into the art world just a little tiny bit.

Thanks for reading and commenting!
Pastel Guy
www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings
www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry for sale