Category Archives: Uncategorized

02/22/13

My Good ‘Ol Thesis Days

So I recently was putting together my portfolio for a job interview and was reacquainted with my thesis. It’s pretty crazy how much my style has changed. Our thesis was finding an existing real life floorplan with a specified number of square feet (I don’t remember the number)  and remodel it however we would like. Of course there were certain requirements and whatnot but it was pretty much free game to create whatever we wanted. I got a floorplan from an existing restaurant in Denver, CO and I decided to recreate it into a restaurant/lounge called… Wait for it… “Sultra featuring Indigo Lounge.” Yup!

So the whole idea behind the name and concept of my restaurant/lounge was that the restaurant would be the Fire element and the lounge would be the Water element. Check out the craziness here:

11-floorplan update new copy

1- axo

The entrance is at the round point to the left. Then if you decide to eat dinner at Sultra, you will be walking through a tunnel with fire or monitors with fire videos- I don’t remember. If you decide to go to Indigo Lounge then you walk through a tunnel with water through plexiglass.

7-tunnel fire update copy

Yes, that would be a Swarovski crystal chandelier that costs over $100,000. No big deal.

1-floor seating copy

Sultra was a sushi joint or maybe Asian fusion. I can’t fully remember. So there is the traditional floor seating. With red string curtains. Oh yea.

2-party room in copyThis would be the private party room.

2-sultra dining copyI love this program that gives you reflection and light to your surfaces. That guy in the back. He’s wearing sunglasses.

3- main bar copyThis is the main bar that connects the two spaces. To the right, you see this white tufted looking wall. Those are the curved walls that divide the space. They also create some sort of sound absorbency.

perspective loungeThis is the lounge area complete with circular lounge seating, a dj booth and a fancy mosaic dance floor. Oh wait, don’t forget about that crystal ball looking fixture. I believe that is another Swarovski crystal gem.

4- exterior copy

This is the exterior of the building. Adding some climbing ivy and topiaries with some change in the hard materials was pretty much all I did.

I wish I could show you the 3D video I made. The background music was “Ooh La La” by Goldfrapp. Oh how times have changed.

Screen Shot 2012-08-31 at 1.42.55 PM

12/11/12

Craft Fair Love

I’m happy to report a few things. For one, the weather is absolutely gorgeous right now in Santa Cruz. We’ve had some gnarly rain the last couple of weeks so this is a real treat! Also, the craft fair this last weekend was a total success. I had to cancel the one a week prior because of my injured back which ended up being ok because apparently the rain kept a bunch of people away.

Here are a few photos of the show this last Saturday:

We had a sweet setup in the corner. It was a little chilly in there. I was like a cat all day long trying to find the sunny spots and warming up.

People were really digging the fabric choices I had this time around. I guess reindeer with thick framed glasses are not only appealing to me ;)

And finally, last craft fair of the season and the one I am most excited about:

It’s going to be at a home with a large yard in my neighborhood so it’s going to be relaxed and a great way to end the season. Hope to see you all there!

11/26/12

Major Catch Up Time!

Guys! It’s been FOREVER! You have no idea how sucky it has been for me to not be able to connect through my blog. It took until now to get it fixed. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.

Anyways, where to begin? So much design has been going on in the last couple of weeks. Let’s do a sneak peak today and this week I will elaborate of everything:

So I’ve been working with a remote design client on her bedroom. Things she liked: Bohemian, Whimsical style and Color:

I had my first craft fair of the season and it was super fun and such a beautiful day:

It’s super hard to see, but if you look closely, you can see these metal gates with a swirl design. I designed those almost 3 years ago when I worked for Arteak. They were made in Indonesia and they are finally installed!:

The design for my beachy client is coming together for her bedroom. Walls are painted, furniture and furnishings bought, wall is stenciled, carpets installed and now we are waiting for the built-in bench to be made. This was a 3D model that I last updated:

I finally completed the commissioned painting that was to be a replica of another original of mine:

And finally, here is a bachelor pad I have been working on. The style is a blend of modern, industrial, rustic and mid century:

So good to be back. I missed this all too much. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

10/5/12

Project Reveal: Bridal Toms

I am super excited to finally share a project I did a little while back but had to keep it a secret. One of my close friends, Jenna, got married this weekend. A few months ago she approached me inquiring about designing some Tom’s wedges for her bridesmaids. This might be the reason why I did a whole post on Toms Designs. I needed inspiration and I got it. I sent Jenna a questionnaire asking about each bridesmaid: their interests, favorite colors, etc. She also sent me the flowers and colors of the wedding:

From that, I went to town. I sent her a few sketches:

Once she approved them, I went on to start the actual design on the shoe. This was scary for me because I have never really worked with this kind of material before. Because they were bridal shoes, the fabric was a little bit shinier which in turn made the material bleed more which I had to learn the hard way.

Yup, I nearly had a meltdown. I bought some pens that I thought would work perfectly and I was wrong. I then decided to use some acrylic paint as the base and then use the pens on top of that so that it wouldn’t bleed.

This is how the lotus shoes turned out. Thank god I saved them. The dress underneath is the same color of the bridesmaids dresses.

These are the process shots of the feather shoes. As you can see, I started with a base color and from there I used a mix of markers and paint to create dimension and finish it off.

Here is the final look:

Next up are the cherry blossoms. These were probably the easiest pair because there wasn’t that much to paint but I had to have a very steady hand:

Here’s the final look:

Another fun one that started off a bit of a disaster. I originally wanted one main bird sitting on a branch and smaller birds flowing onto the other shoe. As you can see, the big bird kept bleeding even though I kept touching it up so I made an executive decision. I created the lotus flower and the birds flew from there.

Final result:

Next up was the anchor. As you can see, I created the layout with some base paint and then got into the detail with more paint and markers.

Final result:

I love the way they all look together. I sent the image to Jenna and she seemed really excited. One final touch I added was a word on each shoe. I love this story. So I contacted Jenna when I was finishing them up and I told her that I thought it would be a good idea to add a word to each shoe or even a saying. We played with so many options and decided on one word for each. The great part was during Jenna’s bachelorette weekend, she wrote each one of her bridesmaids a letter and they contained one word that she felt represented each of them so I used the words on their shoes. I thought it was so meaningful and special. For this, I bought a fabric marker in a maroon color.

I got a shot off of Scotts Campbell’s video that he sent her:

Jenna’s shoe’s were plain and just said “love” on them. I love how they turned out and I felt so honored to be a part of the wedding even in the smallest way.

Have a wonderful weekend.