Crystal Madrilejos

Design & Creative

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2 Month Mark

It has been 2 months since our move and 4 weeks since my last post and guess what? The farmhouse STILL isn’t done!!! Crazy, I know. We are so close to moving in. We could potentially move in now, but all the shoe molding needs to be tacked down around the baseboards and it would just be a hassle to work around furniture.

I can’t wait to show pictures of the before and after. I was thinking of uploading some pictures the other day, but then I realized that the disc with all the Before pictures are buried somewhere in a box in the garage with all the rest of our stuff. I didn’t want to post any After pictures without the Before pictures and risk ruining the full effect of our labors.

Hopefully, the next time I post it will be from the comforts of our own home. Until then you may contemplate these dolls that I made around Christmastime for some friends of mine. Which I will tell more about soon, along with other presents that I neglected to post about during the whirlwind that was our move.

Fondly,
Crystal

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A Million Years Later

It’s officially been one month since our last post!!! I don’t even know where to start. Right now, I’m writing from Andrew’s parent’s computer because our entire existence is put on hold until we can move into the farmhouse, including our computer being relatively out of commission until we have a proper internet set up of our own. If any of you didn’t know, we just did a giant move from Brooklyn, NY to Medina, OH and we’re still getting adjusted.

First big hurdle being: The living situation
Our big plan all along has been to move into a farmhouse that Andrew’s parents rent out. It’s old, built sometime before 1930 and it needed work. Before we moved, we figured it would just need some cosmetic touch ups such as tearing out the old carpet, splash on a new coat of paint, etc. However, this house has proven to be almost more than we can handle!!! I can’t even begin to explain the walls that have been thrown up in front of us every step of the way. So almost a month after moving, we have yet to actually “move” into our new place. Currently we are residing above Andrew’s parents garage and we have a goal of moving into the farmhouse in the next 2 weeks. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. As soon as we are more settled, i’ll post pictures of all the progress we’ve been making.

Second hurdle: Work
Currently, both Andrew and I are blissfully unemployed. I had planned on taking off the whole month of February, but some freelance popped up and I can’t say no when the prospects of work in the future are unclear. More work seems to be on the horizon, which is a really really good thing but I was actually sort of enjoying the not working part of our move. HA!

I have so much to share so as soon as we have settled, I promise to post more.

Hope you all are well.

Fondly,
Crystal

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New Beginnings



Things are moving forward quickly and our move is imminent! I’m officially done with work. Our apartment is almost completely dismantled. Our bags are literally packed. It’s a bit nerve-wracking and completely exhausting. I’m excited to finally get on with it, but I’m definitely sad to be leaving the place I called home for the past 8+ years. So many of our friends have been so supportive and it’s been wonderful spending time with everyone. We will miss you all dearly. I can’t even begin to describe the emotions and thoughts that are running through my head all day and night. I’m excited, scared, nervous, happy, relieved, exhausted, anxious, and everything else all at the same time. I’m hoping that this move will give us a kick-start into new and amazing parts of our lives. There is so much to look forward to and I haven’t truly expounded on all that there is to come. Basically, all aspects of our lives will be thrown for a loop. A new house, new job prospects (Freelance, here I come!), new environment, new (and old) friends, family. This may be my last post for a little while, but we’re going to try to set up shop ASAP so we can keep you up to date on all things shiny and new. Take care and see you on the other side.

Fondly,
Crystal

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Friends of Mine




Many a month ago, I made a doll from a pattern I found in one of my Japanese craft books. Maybe you’ll remember him as the hipster bear with his little flower-y shorts and jaunty neckerchief. I was quite happy with how he turned out, but I wanted to try to make him my own by changing things up a little bit.

Since then I’ve made quite a few, but haven’t yet had a chance to post about them. This one I made for my dear friend Chandra over at This Is For That, for her birthday. If you remember the original one I made was more bear-like. I consider this new incarnation more dog-like in the face. This one in particular is the only one I’ve made thus far that has the roundy hands and feet. I’m not skilled in the ways of pattern-making so that’s why the hands and feet are more like flat ovals than rounded balls. Ah well, next time around. He’s also more squat in the body while the others I’ve made have a body more like the hipster bear, just with the dog face I created. I have a love for mismatched fabrics which probably stems from my childhood obsession with Holly Hobbie. I’ve always wanted to dress like her. The idea of being able to get away with wearing a bonnet and brown boots intrigues me.

Here are more photos of him standing around by the window.



Fondly,
Crystal

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The Final Countdown

We’re moving in 20 days!!! I still can hardly believe it and yet it’s all happening before my eyes. What hasn’t been happening is me sitting down in front of the computer to post about the million things that I’ve been wanting to post about.

First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Year.

Second, we’ve made so many things in the past couple months that I couldn’t possibly post all about them at once. Especially, since I’m sitting in my pajamas about to go to bed. I thought I should at least check in so no one thinks we’ve fallen off the face of the earth. Almost, but not yet.


A little while back, Andrew and I bought a new computer. The monitor is an enormous 24-inches! The screen is so big that it’s almost too bright to look at without squinting. It’s unbearable to have an all white desktop image. I’m a big fan of Nintendo, Super Mario especially so I found this tiny image of the opening screen of the first Super Mario:


I wanted this image to be our desktop image, but it’s super super tiny. I decided to employ my ever expanding Photoshop skills and create this:

It probably took a lot more time than it was worth, but I think it’s slightly hilarious and awesome nonetheless.

Next post: Handmade Presents – Birthdays and Holidays

Fondly,
Crystal


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Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a great one!!!

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Christmas Break

The one thing I miss about being in school is having Christmas Break, and any other break for that matter. Andrew and I have been in a flurry of Christmas present making. Ever since my nieces and nephews were born, my family had all agreed that no one could afford to buy presents for every single person. The little ones, our little sister and our parents are the only people we are required to buy for. Even though this is fine with everyone, I still feel compelled to give something to everyone. This year, Andrew and I made (almost) all our presents! I’ve been documenting them so that after they have been given out I can post pictures here.

In the meantime until I can post about the Christmas presents, I will continue with our Apartment Evolution. If the move wasn’t official before, it is now. Last night we decided on our last day here and reserved our moving van to seal the deal. Before our apartment is dismantled, here are some detail photos from the main room (see post below):

The first photo is the corner of our main room. The prints on the wall are cards that I bought at Etui online that Andrew and I framed.

The flowered curtain Andrew bought for me from a thrift store when he was living in Chicago.

When I was growing up, our elderly neighbor and his wife were ceramicists and they had a studio in their basement. Every Saturday, my sister and I would go to their house for ceramic lessons. It was so much fun and I’m so glad I had the experience. When they moved away, they left us a bunch of fired, unpainted ceramics and that’s where the roosters and owls on the windowsill came from. I love the fact that they are still all white.

The last photo is of our craft area and you can see the branch that we hung on the ceiling. We both love the outdoors and we thought it would be nice to bring some outdoors indoors.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Fondly,
Crystal

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Apartment Evolution Part 2

Our apartment consists mainly of 3 rooms. It’s a railroad style, where all the rooms are connected by doorways, minus the doors. The kitchen isn’t really a room, more of an… offshoot of the main room when you first walk in. The bathroom is really really small and also off of the main room. There is a small office with a closet off of the bedroom (which I really love). All in all, it’s a great apartment. Especially if you don’t have too much stuff. It was great when I first moved in and was living alone, though I had no furniture and it was still fine when Andrew first moved in. But in the past year, we’ve really started to outgrow the place.

The main room usually has the most stuff going on mainly because it’s the first room you walk into, the kitchen is off of it, as well as the bathroom. It also is our Workspace which really takes up most of the room. When I first moved in it looked like this:

As you can see, the whole apartment is a bit askew. It’s much like being in a fun house at times with the sloping floors and acute or obtuse angles. One of the first things I did when I moved in was set up my work area. This area has had three different configurations starting with this.

This was my temporary set-up until I could get a REAL table (instead of plywood on stools.) Until Andrew moved in, it was a little difficult to buy furniture because

1.) I didn’t have the muscle power to carry furniture up my stairs
2.) things are a lot easier to transport home when you have a car and
3.) I spent all my money on rent!

I had lots of ideas and little resources. However, after Andrew moved in the work area got a lot better. Here are different variations on how things were set-up.

The first table we got (with the green edges) was from a friend who wanted to get rid of it. The table we use now (the long one) Andrew and I made it out of an old door and some piping. It’s a million times better, but we still need more space. The table was as big as we could make it for our space.

This is the most recent picture of it, in the middle of a messy work frenzy!

and a view from the living room, the same angle as the shot from when i first moved in shown above.

I’ll post more details of the room soon!

Fondly,
Crystal

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On The Move

So, we’ve got a big announcement! We’re moving back to Ohio. It’s official! We decided a couple months back, but I just put in my notice at work on Monday so now it’s really happening. I plan on finishing this next issue of the magazine which closes in the middle of January. After that, we’re out of here. I’ll miss NYC dearly. I’ve been here since graduating high school and it’s the only place I’ve ever lived on my own, the only home i’ve had in my adult life. We plan on visiting often and I honestly believe that once you’ve got NYC in your system it’s practically impossible to get it out. Which is not a bad thing. With all that said, we are still very excited to be moving back. It’s our home state and we’re moving back to our hometown which I know the thought of that makes many people cringe. But unlike many people, Andrew and I both have a fondness for where we grew up.

I figured this would be a good introduction to the Evolution of Our Apartment. Since we’re moving out, I thought it would be good to share how it has changed in the two years we’ve lived there. When I first moved in, like most places, it was a little depressing but with good potential. It was my first time flying solo, so I had high hopes.

I figured I should do it one room at a time, so as not to overwhelm. So I’ll start with The Kitchen.

This is what it looked like when I first moved in:



Really small, really inefficient. All the cupboards are really high up and there is no counter space or ANY space really. My first instinct was to move the refrigerator out of the kitchen area because there was sooo little space.

Also, to add some pattern to the room I wallpapered the area behind the sink with vintage wallpaper that I got at a thrift store.


Without the refrigerator and with the wallpaper and a lamp, it’s not that bad!

I painted the only existing shelf and added a new one for extra storage. The paint is Benjamin Moore in Baby Fern and the white shelf hardware I got at Lowe’s Hardware Store.

With a new curtain (I made from a pillowcase that I found at a thrift store), a new table cart, and new kitchen towels it’s almost done.

A couple final touches, artwork by a family friend and some wren bells that Andrew’s mom bought for me.

And if you were wondering about the refrigerator, this is where it is now.

Fondly,
Crystal

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Christmas Present #3

Time for Christmas Present #3 given to my friends Toby and Ash: Wee’s. These guys were made from the Wee pattern from Hillary Lang over at Wee Wonderfuls. They are so simple and easily customizable. Made from thrift fabric with embroidered faces. If you want to check out of her amazing patterns you can go here for the free ones to download, and here for her shop that definitely has some stuff worth checking out.

Fondly,
Crystal