I have a little vacation coming up this Friday!  I’m headed East to visit my mom and sister in good ole Greenville, SC for a week.  More than a stone’s throw from Seattle, I tell ya.  I am SO excited to see them…it’s been two years since I’ve been home to visit…crazy, I know.  My mind is already in vacation mode.  I may or may not be blogging during the trip.  I will be taking my trusty macbook pro along for the journey, should the mood strike to work on my new branding or a fun personal project, but I’ve completely ruled out any work.  Whew!

It’s been pretty chilly in Seattle (mid 50′s), so I’m trying to wrap my brain around the 90+ degree heat and humidity in SC.  Even though I grew up on the East coast (in the DC area), I’ve never been one for stifling weather.  I’m a bit of a wimp in that regard.  At least there is air conditioning!  And REAL fried chicken and sweet tea…they just don’t know how to make it right here on the West coast.

Family shout out:  Mom, Lexi, Aunt Laura, Liz, Grammy, Joanne + Bruce…I can’t wait to see you all. HUGE hugs are in store!!!

xoxo. Amy

( art )

Stumbled across the work of Pius Fox the other day and left feeling incredibly motivated to work on my own paintings.  Check out the installations – seriously amazing, from the paintings themselves to the arrangement on the gallery wall, it’s all stunning.  I’m feeling ready to dive into a blank canvas!

I know I’ve been a little out of the loop here lately (sorry about that!) but I’ve been around the blog world in some other places.  Today I’m over at Breanna Rose sharing a recipe for Basil Aioli…yum!  Go over there to read about it and download + print the recipe I designed!

Back in April, my workspace was featured on Eva Black Design in her SPACES column.  There is a little interview with me regarding being a creative, as well as plenty of glimpses into my studio!

You should definitely go check out both of their beautiful blogs!

simplicity is such a wonderful thing.  i think to be able to achieve that look of “just enough” is incredibly admirable – knowing when to add and when to take away is a crucial skill as an artist or designer, and martin creed has done that beautifully!  the colors really tell their own story here, and while the application of paint is sparse, the composition is just right, allowing his work to walk that fine line.

Pretty sure my fascination with space/the universe will never die out.  I’m planning on working a celestial feel into my new branding, as the stars and sky are a constant inspiration to me.

A quote I always find reassuring to take you into the weekend (not sure who said it):

“do not feel lonely; the entire universe is within you.”

art.

A project I worked on with Jenn from Scout. launched this week!  You may remember that I did the branding for her boutique rental company back in November, and this Spring she decided to launch a new blog by the same name, which I had the pleasure of designing!   Jenn was super fun to work with – she has excellent taste and an aesthetic that is very similar to my own.  Needless to say, we had a blast coming up with ideas…and she let me run with them (which I always love!)  I’m not an HTML master at all, so I handed the design off to the adorable Bre from Breanna Rose, and she did a beautiful job of bringing everything to life for us.  Bre was an absolute gem to partner with, and I’m looking forward to working with her on a couple more projects I have coming down the pipeline this summer!

Make sure to check out the live blog, because Miss Jenn just took off for a five week jaunt to Europe (lucky girl!) and she will be blogging lots of pretty pictures and updates!

I’ve definitely been dreaming of escaping this week – my schedule has been particularly overwhelming lately.  The day job has kept me super busy all week (they seriously need to let me hire an assistant!) and Rue + clients have kept my evenings filled.  I’m so happy it’s Friday – I just hope I don’t fall asleep on the keyboard today.

I’d love nothing more than to blink and be in that lovely scenario above right now!  Cheers to the weekend!

room  |  view

I can’t help but be impressed with all facets of design – they intrigue me!  Lately I have been thinking a lot about furniture design – I haven’t been able to find exactly the type of chair I want for our living room (not one in our price range at least), so I’m thinking of making one myself.  Could be a fun challenge, eh?  I like to push myself outside the realm of the computer – it’s a great eye opener to new ideas and inspiration.

We’ll see how the chair making and espresso machine hunting go!

espresso machine.

Just realized  I skipped this series last week – oops!!  We have been have some really yucky weather this week in Seattle…it being May now, I assumed the temps would start climbing at least a little (40′s still?! Come ON!) and that the sun might decide to show it’s face again…but no.

Sometimes the gray sky can be really beautiful though, like in this photo above.  All this cold + rain has reinvigorated my love for hot baths and clawfoot tubs.  I still want one!  Nothing better than slipping into a steaming bath after a dreary day.  That bathroom is just gorgeous; I adore the natural wood wall behind the tub that also serves as a ledge for soaps and bath oils.  Could be a fairly easy DIY, eh?

Happy Friday folks!  Gonna be researching food styling and cooking up some fun concoctions this weekend…you’ll see why in a couple of weeks!

room  |  view

Over the last few months, I’ve felt a distance growing between who I am and what my blog is.  I started strataflora almost three years ago, and since then, I’ve matured considerably as a designer and personally; it’s only natural.  While I’ll always hold the strataflora alias close to my heart, it’s not allowing me the room to grow and expand in the ways I need.

Redesigning my blog has been on my to-do list forever, yet every time I start thinking about what my aesthetic looks like currently, the strataflora name doesn’t mesh.   It’s been holding me back to a certain extent, and after much thought, I’m ready to shed the layers of the past and move into the present and future.  I want to start posting about my personal and freelance projects on my blog, as well sharing more of my art.  Of course there will still be inspiration posts, but I want to tailor them much more to what my style has evolved into.  Basically, I want (and need) to put much more of ME out there!  I don’t think I had that kind of confidence three years ago; it’s incredibly liberating to have become secure in my ability as a designer and have defined my personal aesthetic/taste, to a point where I want to share my creations with the world.

I’ve started thinking about my brand much more as a business rather than just a creative outlet, and I need for my blog to reflect that.  With all that said…I just purchased www.amymoorestudio.com – I’m SUPER pumped to start working on my own branding!  I’m hoping that by summer (June/July) I’ll be ready to launch my new blog at the aforementioned domain.  You may have noticed that on Twitter and Instagram, I’ve changed my handle over to “amymoorestudio” …small steps!

I can’t wait to share some of the process along the way with you all!

*On a side note, I realized I completely spaced on updating you guys about my pup, Oliver!  Life has been a whirlwind lately, and while I know I tweeted about the results, I neglected to share them here – oops!  GOOD NEWS!!  He turned out to be fine – he has a kidney infection, which we are treating with antibiotics and specially formulated food.  Why the vet couldn’t tell us that from the urine sample, and chose to throw out the C-word and “tumors”, along with insisting we do an ultrasound and other tests that amounted to about $1000 (OUCH!), we’ll never know.  Still pretty pissed about that, but at least our baby is okay and we have peace of mind, which is what matters at the end of the day.  Sheesh.  Thanks again for all the kindness in regards to that ordeal – your thoughtful words made it much more bearable.  Xoxo!

photo credit.