Sunday, August 26, 2007

Stu stu studio...

After a wet trip to IKEA in Michigan, the studio is now furnished... mostly.
We went up to Perrysburg last weekend (?) and also did a day trip up to the IKEA in Michigan. It is a newer store. On our list: stuff for the studio and possibly a dining room table and TV stand. We got the first two, but no TV stand will fit Greg's big-ass receiver. He will probably have to build one himself.

Anyway, IKEA was exhausting, as usual. But we were able to break up the day with a visit with Greg's childhood friend Nate. Turns out Nate and his wife live about 20 minutes from the IKEA, so they met us at Chili's in the front parking lot and we had chips and salsa and chatted. After that we went back in to the store and made the final selections. Two guys loaded everything nicely into the truck and we were on our way back to P-burg.

But it started raining.

So we pulled over under an overpass and unrolled the tanno (sp?) cover only to realize at the end that we didn't have the last bar in which has the snaps for the end. Oh well- flap away tanno, flap away. Better than our merchandise getting wet, right? I sat facing backwards watching it flap violently and imagining it ripping off completely and flying into the face of a motorcyclist behind us.

So we stopped and rolled it back up.

It wasn't raining hard, and actually no water was hitting the back of the truck when we were moving. Luckily it stayed like this the rest of the drive. When we got back to Greg's parent's house, we put a tarp on it. The tarp, however, wasn't secured very well. Overnight it poured rain. In the morning, we had water in the truck bed- not tons, but enough that we had to pull out every piece and unpack it to see if it was wet. A couple of pieces we had to blow-dry with a hairdryer. Particle board is like sponge. But everything is OK.

The rain never stopped. Instead of trying to figure out a new tarp system for the way home, Greg's parents offered their van for us to take. So we repacked and loaded everything into the van. We just need to exchange the vehicles back which I think is happening this week.

A lot of work for our IKEA furniture!

We have spent the past weeks putting together furniture in the studio and moving art supplies and books over to it. It's all done now- shelves, tables, mini-flat file. And we've moved over the drawing table. The only thing left is the futon and computer!

So that's the update on the furnishings. I'll post pictures of it I promise.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Studio Update and Progress on the Plan...

Now the walls are all officially painted. Greg got a super tall ladder and reached the very top. He also painted the vent that runs through the room, after scraping and sanding some of its old paint. We have started to clean the floors - scrubbing with Simple Green (Soilent Green is PEOPLE!!) to get up all the dirt and dust. It is definitely working, just a VERY slow process and lots of work. We're removing years and years of grime from the time that the place was a shirt factory. According to Paul (Pixel-Paul who is 2 doors down), there used to be a big belt conveyer type thing than ran through what is now all of our spaces. So I think in a couple spots, we're removing grease. It's OK. The Soilent Green can handle it!!

In other updates, I had a lunch meeting with Jeff P. from Givaudan on Thursday. I had emailed him to ask him if we could meet to discuss any future opportunities with Givaudan work. If I can get an honest prediction that there will be some work in the next 3 months, then I'd like to use this opportunity to quit. If I can have a little income while starting up the business, that is of course optimal. And it's going to be really hard to obtain clients when I have a day job. Givaudan is perfect because they know me already. I'm currently working on 2 projects and just got notice of a 3rd. I was honest with Jeff in telling him that I want to work on Givaudan projects because I like to and that it would allow me to fully kick off my business. He seemed to think that the next few months were going to be pretty nuts for them. Scott is leaving, they aren't allowed to hire any more designers (lost their headcount in the acquisition), Patti may soon be out for 2 months because of surgery... and all the marketers are feverishly trying to meet their plans. I do remember that this was the busy time of year while I was there. So he thought it sounded good. But he is going to talk about what the team's situation is with Scott before he can give me a definite answer. He doesn't know all the projects or track them- he just thinks he has an idea. We're supposed to talk late next week and then I'll have a better idea. And from talking to Lori, who is embedded in the field, it does sound like it's nuts and they need help.

So here's to that! I hope I see a list of TONS of projects coming up!!!

I really need a name for my business...

Other updates- today is moving day for Casey and Jannelle into Pat and Jamie's house!! Nice hot day for it. Yippee. Casey's providing donuts this morning. :)

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Studio update

I have now painted the walls of the studio...with Greg's help.

I was off Monday and got it all done. 3 walls are white and the one with the window is a rusty brown color. I'll take pics and post. I really do like how it looks. Greg said he will help with the very very high trim that I just was too chickensh$! to reach on the high rungs of the borrowed ladder.

I've taken the small collection of carpet samples we have over and thrown them around on the floor. It is going to take a whole lotta carpet samples to cover the floor.

The other graphic designer 2 doors down, (Pixel Pete I keep calling him even though his name is Paul) put in a new router since he said the signal wasn't very strong. So I need to try that out and get the login info from him.

I would like to use one of the tables that is in the main area as my desk. I don't know who they belong to or if they are for sale.

Today I've responded to some "designer wanted" posts on Craig's List that Greg found. Who knows what kind of work they are or what they would pay, but at this stage in the game, I can't be too picky! It's worth the investigation. I'm going to work on updating my resume and cover letter when I get home. Also need to make a pdf of my portfolio. I wish I had a web site. Maybe I can figure that out this weekend. I suppose I need to get a business name registered first though, since that is what I would want my domain name to be...

Anyway, doing my thinking out loud here.