angels in the architecture

Secret Bench, Lost Paradise

2011-11-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

I lumber up the steps to the grand stone home of books & records dozens of times each year, past the Bench. One day, I had technology at my fingertips and snapped a moment in time, a moment of art imitating life & life imitating art. I love that.

Photo of Lea Vivot's Secret Bench, Lost Paradise, Ottawa, 2011.

Have you witnessed life imitating art anywhere? Share it with me in the comments!

♥ leel

ps. be sure to check out yesterday's Design Sponge at Home Book Review & Giveaway! Don't miss out!

Design Sponge at Home -> a book review & giveaway!

2011-11-07T11:16:00.003-05:00

Are you feeling it? That involuntary whole body yawn? Your compass pointing you in any direction that holds warmth and comfort and retreat? The need to come indoors and settle your weary ass down with a good book? Something with pictures to absorb and skim while drinking a warm beverage under a heavy blanket? Well I'm feeling it. Around here I refer to as November. If you are also crawling under the collective blanket of November, I might just have the perfect thing for you!

You might remember a small little announcement of epic proportion I made in April regarding a certain project of mine being included in the Before & After section of Grace Bonney's bookchild, Design Sponge at Home. Well, guess what?! Yes, it's out! Yes, I have a copy in my hands! And no, I have not stopped flipping through, flagging projects to try, searching the reference section for suppliers and just oogling and absorbing all the amazing design finds. I carry it with me around the house. Not even kidding.

Page 351!

Where to even start? If you have been to Grace's brainchild website, Design*Sponge online, you will have an idea of what to expect: a book full of creative finds, spaces and projects. (If not, well let me be the one to send you over. Go ahead. Check it out. Back? Ok.) First of all, the book itself serves as an accessory for any room. The perfect pop of colour for any side table or shelf. As you flip through it's easy to see that one thing is for certain, a designer clearly designed this book! The layout from cover to cover is so well thought out and enhanced with great side-tips in the margins (i love that!) as well as amazing photos and illustrations. It's timeless and organized and easy to navigate. It has a great flow from the photo driven Sneak Peeks at the beginning, where the inspiration lies, through to the meat of DIY Projects, Basics, Flower Workshop and Before & Afters and then onto my personal fave, the amazing Resource Guide section at the back.

Inspiration leaps off of virtually EVERY page. It's great to see how artists and designers have personalized their own spaces in meaningful ways that don't cost an arm and a leg. It's refreshing to see how others style their books, paint out trim, add a few pictures in an entrance way and make their spaces look unique and feel like a home. Not imaginary showrooms. Real homes real people live in. The book then provides project ideas and methods on how to actually personalize your own space. It never ends, people! Regardless of what design idea or project you are looking to take on, you can find inspiration and simple instruction for it in this book, which I really see as my new manual.

I'm pretty sure anyone would love this book. Guess what?! It just so happens the lovely people at Thomas Allen & Son, a Canadian Distributor and Publishing company, contacted me offering a free copy of the book as well as two more copies for my lucky Canadian readers! How fun is this? A great way to hibernate this winter and get your inspiration engines fired up? Yes and Yes.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by midnight (EST) Friday November 11! I will use a random number generator to pick winners, I'll e-mail the winners for shipping addresses and your book will be on the way.

One comment per person please. Also, please make sure I can easily find an e-mail address to contact you!

Best of luck!

♥ leel

ps. If you missed Grace on The Nate Berkus show, check it out here!

Nov. 16th Update: Random.org generated #2 & #5. Both winners have been contacted and their books are on the way!

an update.

2011-09-20T14:54:00.000-04:00

i've thought over dozens of posts in the months since i last posted. sporadic moments i envisioned in word form. none of those blips led me to actually writing anything down. it seems i've taken on the attitiude that my memory will serve me well, and that those moments will be there when i'm ready to sit down and write. living them out and having time to reflect on the full picture - summer - was my priority this year. just be-ing.

now, we're well into the end of summer. i'm slowing down. i'm wanting to write. that's weird for me. so, here we go. let's start with a general outline of my life this summer.

Work: I had the opportunity to work a few different jobs this summer. It has suited my lifestyle and love of being involved in the arts, being outside and being creative perfectly. I have continued working with a national film organization that programs and hosts film festivals throughout the year. I have been working with them since 2008 and continue to work part-time during the film festivals. It's a joy to work with this bunch. Arts and culture are my home. Yay! In addition to the festivals, which primarily run during the evenings, I have been working with a gardener again this spring, summer and fall. I have loved learning and executing amazing results with the team I was with. Having my hands in the dirt all day works for me, as it turns out. The satisfaction and creative fulfillment I took with me from each job well done and clients' reactions fueled me daily. So that's what I've been up to work-wise this summer and fall.
Fun: I've taken on a project this summer organizing some art and collectibles from around the globe spanning over 90 years. These collectables are things a friend's family are ready to part with. This family originated in England, came to Canada and the dad/grandfather traveled globally with a major shoe company as the main shop designer and creative merchandiser. You can only imagine what I have seen, held, photographed, catalogued and googled. Amazing pieces of history, culture. It's a dream project that I am actually very behind on. I'm currently in the research phase; 175 objects is a lot of googling. My next step is to find out some additional info from the family on origin, the stories behind the objects. (Look at me using my university degree! Yahoo!) I'll be visiting some local dealers all Storage Wars style to authenticate and market to buyers.Very fun indeed. I'll be sure to share some of the objects and their stories as I get further into the research.
Vacation: We went to Portugal in August for 20 days. It was amazing, in so many ways. Being in Europe in the summer is fantastic. Getting to know my husband's family, and in turn my husband, was nothing but fulfilling and full of love. The days along the coast are long, hot and cool at night. The food fresh and prepared with love.The breezes off the water cool the tiled and shuttered cities down. No rain for 20 days. Days at the beach? 10 or 12? Days in the mountains, 3. Amazing, all of it. I have 900 pictures to go through. Once I have an edited version I will for sure be posting a slideshow here. So many stories. Stay tuned.
Pets: we have a new one. I know. The Bub went to the pet store for pet food (on my birthday) and came home with a girl kitten. That brings the grand total to 2 (old) dogs and 3 (young) cats, pushing us very close to 'Those People" status. The new kidden is already going outside and killing anything cute within a 1 house radius. Her total so far? This week? 1 mouse, 2 birds, a chipmunk and a this morning? a HUMMINGBIRD. The embodiment of beauty and wonderment in nature, left on my doorstep, chest open wide, eyes pinched shut, pointy beak bent back. I have dubbed May the devil kitten and she's not allowed out until the snow flies. I can't handle it. I don't even kill spiders. There we go. Pets.
Creativity: my focus has been outside, on my gardens. I've been learning to prune and loving every second of it. Working on expanding and cleaning out my own gardens is a huge chore but I find the reward of seeing the final product so worth it. I recently took a client's overgrown evergreen shrub that was going to be pulled out due to its overpowering state on the patio and made it a focal point by removing the overgrowth and pruning it back into a bonsai shape. It was like sculpting. I'm addicted. That being said, all the furniture fun, painting fun, DIY upcycle goodtime fun has been literally thrown to the side. My studio has become the storage room for a few months and OMG it's making me twitch. I'm looking forward to getting at reorganizing and purging a lot in there once the snow flies. For now, I might aim to get a few pieces I've promised people done and hopefully that will get me back on track creativity wise. I'm such an ebb and flow person. All or nothing.

So that's a small glimpse into what i have been up to. I feel like I can now start to share some of the individual images and stories from my summer as I go forward into fall. That might be fun.

hope you are well,

♥ leel

monday morning madness.

2011-04-18T16:22:00.006-04:00

well, hello there! happy monday!

things are weird; i thought i'd share.

it was sort of mid to late morningish. i should have been up and functional like the rest of the world. i was not.

the dogs were in their beds on the floor in our room, i was slightly conscious. off goes our god awful sound of a doorbell. the hounds take off like bats out of hell, tripping over each other, yipping and yapping like lunatics, sliding down the hardwood stairs only to bark and jump at the window beside the door like the complete assholes they can be.

i'm up! my crazy ponytail's askew and my bedhead is out of control. i'm wearing a blue v-neck t-shirt and pj pants have roosters on them. no bra. omg.

the door bell goes again! off i go, not caring any longer what i'm wearing since i think i know what's going on; it's probably a kid from the school yard behind our house. i can hear it's recess. it must just be a ball in our back yard they need retrieved. this happens at least once a week in the spring and fall. i just need the dogs to stop! barking! already!

i crack open the inside door with the 2 maniacs trying to nudge open the outer glass door with their pointy little faces and see a man standing with 2 kids behind him. ok, teacher on recess duty and kids who lost ball. standard, here we go. i say through the glass, motioning to the backyard, "is there a ball in the yard?" and he says "no". oh geeze. i'm going to have to open the door and converse with this man. AND not let the dogs get out AND not him get a whiff of me AND keep my arm across my chest. awesome.

i manage to slide the dogs out of my path with one leg while cracking open the door with the other. i say hello, distracted by dogs. and so the conversation begins.

mumble mumble... i was trying to get into your neighbours house, he died and i can't get in.

my neighbour died? which neighbour? (struggling to comprehend, thinking of young father living beside us)

yah, two or three weeks ago, he lived 3 down, Mr.HP. i drove down to see about buying his land he had that i used to hunt on, he and his wife were up there last year. i guess he got prostate cancer. i'm trying to find someone who knows about it and i can't get in. do you know anything about it?

Mr.HP died? I didn't know that he had cancer.

yah, it was two or three weeks ago, you didn't know? he has a wife in one of the nursing homes over there (points). he lived here for like 35 years - how long have you lived here? um, 8 years? yah, well he lived here for 35 years.

(in my mind i'm thinking eaaaasy big feller, you can't even remember how long ago it was he died, don't know where his wife resides, and want to buy his land? BACK OFF.)

yes. i knew him, well, actually my ex did. he used to go flying with him. that was a long time ago, i haven't spoken to Mr.HP for years. i saw him out rarely but would see him drive by with his wife when he would take her out for a drive from the nursing home.

yah, well he died two or three weeks ago and i don't know who to contact about his land and can't get into his house.

(pause. i look to two kids standing behind him on my walkway. ???)\

have you talked to any other neighbours? the one who lived closer, they might know something more.

nobody else is home. (except me, the lazy kid, i think)

i'm sorry to hear he died.

thanks, well, i guess i'll try the neighbours on the other side then.

that's probably your best bet. they knew him, i think.

well, thanks.

no problem. thanks for letting me know.

off he goes, leather bomber jacket done up tight to combat the chill of this day. i think about Mr. PH and how i'm sad i didn't know for 3 weeks that he had died. he and his wife have no children, no relatives. we was from germany, she austria. they met at the university in the 60's when he was a recent immigrant doing construction and she a music teacher. he was quiet about his past, owned airplanes, could fix anything and his wife was in a home suffering from dementia.

that's about all i know.

i knew him briefly when my ex and i bought this place. he came down the street with questions about permits as we took on renovating our house. what started off as confrontation soon became friendship for us, more for my ex since the man did piss me off more than i like to admit. soon after my ex and i broke up we stopped speaking. he was still friends with my ex and remained in contact with Mr.PH as of the last time i ran into him, a few months ago at his workplace. (awkward)

look up to 2 kids faces: hi there!? is there a ball in my yard you need?

yah, a blue one. have you seen it?

let me get some clothes and shoes on. i'll check.

close door.

and so my day began. it was weird. there was a line-up at my door.

so now i'm going to clean my house. my mom is on a school break and she is on her way over to help! and she's bringing coffee. *dance* have a great one, lovelies.

♥ leel

an announcement of the amazing kind

2011-04-14T15:31:00.028-04:00

*clears throat and twists rings nervously*

thank you for stopping by today! it's an exciting day for me, and i'm glad you stopped by to peek in on the official announcement i have to make.

let's go back a bit first: while i've known this little secret for a while, i was ever leary about uttering the words out loud until i knew FOR SURE that this was really happening. i mean, who wants to be the kid who says "hey guys, i made the team" only to find they were cut the day before the jerseys were even handed out? NOT THIS KID. also, i have lived and worked enough in life to know that nothing is done until it's actually DONE done. you know this. you get it.

so what's my news? well, to me it's kinda a big deal. i'm going to be in a book! well, not ME, but one of my creations and designs is! it's a style and home design book. it's coming out in the fall. it's authored by none other than her royal style majesty Grace Bonney, creater of the one and only Design*Sponge website, it's the Design Sponge at Home book!

can you stand it?!

so, there was a call a long time ago for projects, i replied with a couple of photos and a link to a blog post and now, one of MY Vintage Suitcase Tables (I won't tell you which one) is going to be in the Design Sponge at Home book. i am so flattered and excited and still convinced it's not really happening that it feels weird to even be typing this out. ANYWAY. the book comes out in September, Grace is heading out on a huge booktour very soon and can already be pre-ordered online.

here's some info from the publisher:

Grace Bonney created her daily Web site Design*Sponge as an antidote to the fussy (and expensive) shelter magazines of her mother’s generation. The New York Times has dubbed the site, with its 60,000 daily readers, “Martha Stewart Living for millennials.”

DESIGN*SPONGE at Home is Bonney’s definitive guide to home décor for her fellow design sponges—those house-proud young homeowners and renters who adore soaking up design ideas and using them as inspiration to decorate and personalize their own homes. This design compendium contains peeks of 75 real-life interiors, where the décor was culled from flea markets and the owners’ imaginations, as well as more than 100 projects (with detailed instructions) from a table made out of abandoned chair legs to a butterfly dome.

Packed with hundreds color photographs and illustrations, this beautiful book includes a decorating basics section with tutorials on everything from stripping and painting furniture to hanging wallpaper and doing your own upholstery. Along the way, Bonney—whose enthusiasm and joy in her subject is infectious—teaches the reader the principles of decorating and collecting, empowering them to create beautiful homes of their own.

Grace Bonney is the creator of Design*Sponge, a daily Web site dedicated to home and product design. A native of Virginia Beach, Grace has worked as a contributing editor at publications like House & Garden, Domino, and Craft Magazine. In 2006 Grace founded the Design*Sponge Biz Ladies series, a traveling event designed to connect women running their own design-based businesses with free legal, financial, and marketing advice.

so a big thank you to Grace, for including me in the book and teaching me my ideas are worth looking at, for answering every e-mail and tweet i sent asking if i had been edited out yet with a swift positive response, and for not editing me out in the end. thank you Grace. you have no idea what this means to me.

also, to my interweb tribe: the comments and feedback and e-mails on any thing i post here is what fuels me. i appreciate any glance at the site, your comments are gold. thank you. thank you. thank you.

♥ leel

not any nan.

2011-04-14T10:56:00.029-04:00

when i say 'nan' i get quiet for a second. i usually smile. i don't quite know how to put my maternal grandmother into words. she was, as we all are, a true one of a kind. in my very biased opinion she was unique, she was of the top level of the best kind. you would have loved her. most did. she would have loved you too. she was like that.

when i think of my nan i think of laughing and smiling. and nice nails and chunky eclectic jewelery. her hands, she had lovely small hands. and elegant smoking. and eating. and books. and her sweet perfumey smell. and her hugs. fierce hugs. she would grab at me as i walked by the dining room table just to steal a hug and tell me how much she loved me. she was also independent. she separated from my grandfather in the late 60's. he was a musician and a binge drinker, but they remained best friends until the day his liver gave out in the 80's. that woman knew how to love properly, if there is such a thing. i learned how to love through her.

i don't know very much about her family, just random fuzzy names and waxy memories of stories she told about growing up in newfoundland back when she did. i don't even know when or why she left her home and made her way to new brunswick, my mom's home, our home for a long time. she went back for a period after retirement and renovated the house she was born in. she always was a proud newfoundlander and people soon learned to keep those oh-so-hilarious newf jokes to themselves. she had no time for that bullshit and would tell you. she was feisty.

it's rather odd to think of my grandmother in this way, her resounding influence on who i am. i mean, considering we never once lived in the same city. it's not like i grew up with her down the street, yet that never seemed to matter. for the first 10 years we all lived in the maritimes, we were always 3-7 hours away from each other. we saw her on holidays and any weekend she was nearby. her travelling job brought her into town often. once we moved to the middle (ottawa) it changed that frequency, but she was still on the phone with us and visiting us here for a few months in the winter or my uncle in toronto, so it wasn't like there was a huge lack of nan.

i always used the think the connection we had was normal, the way all grandchildren and grandparents interacted together. i soon learned what we had was special, not just from our own time together but the story of my grandmother and i as a unit. it was just another story among stories, yet it was ours and ours alone.

as an adoptee i've always had a bit of a different story of how i came into the world. i was told of being wanted, and waited for. 11 months my parents wait for me. in 1973 that was about the standard amount of time for a childless couple to wait for a healthy baby. my mom would tell me how the sun came out and sunshowers filled the bright air on the day she was told of my existence. how the day they brought me home was the day god's gift arrived, a baby made especially for them. i would hear of how they drove straight home and stripping me naked and just staring at my 7 week old toes and fingers, in utter fascination and awe. i was told of the next door neighbour coming over and pushing my mom out of the way to bathe me in the sink since she was so afraid i would slip and she'd drop me. i was, and still am, adored.

my nan's story, i would learn later. i remember my grandmother being a traveller and woman on the go. she loved the beach (hello shediac!) and mexico. she was always fun to be with. that was the nan i knew. what my grandmother would share with me as i got older was her own take on my arrival. i can remember at some point being upset about something or feeling unloved or some bs you feel when you're mad at your parents and my grandmother taking me in her arms and telling me her side of my arrival story. she would stroke my hands or my hair and tell me of feeling lost and lonely in the world. her kids were gone, she travelled a lot, was stressed about family and her job. she found herself in the darkest point of her life, sitting in a hotel room in sidney, nova scotia. she would often tear up at this point, and smile at me. i never pressed for details. she told me of the phone ringing. of the clarity of that day, etched in her mind forever. of hearing from my mom that I was coming, of putting down the phone, packing up the car and heading to me - driving 12 straight hours - and how that day i saved her life. she spoke of her love for this brand new chapter, this new life, a rejuvenation and new found purpose for her. she was a grandmother. her love knew no bounds. she wasn't shy with her emotions and telling us how important we were to her. how important the life of a child is to an entire family.

my nan really did show me the meaning of love. her motto always was, you can never have too many people in the world that love you. i do my best to remind myself of that. when she died we all mourned losing her presence with us, but i really try and remember the amazing lessons my nan taught me while she and i were together. i'm lucky in that i get to see her love in action these days. if you saw my brother's boys with my mom, you would see what i mean. my nephew L., was born 1 month to the day after my father left my mother for another woman. my nephew's birth saved her life in that same way my grandmother's was with my arrival. that i know. she is now modelling her relationship with her own grandchildren on the one we had with our nan, with her mother. it's beautiful to see. history is so funny. the future is so possible.

so, today i am thinking of you nan, wherever you are. i'll look for the butterfly you sometimes appear as, the one that dives at the cat, or that bird i know you were that day. and i am thinking of love. amazing, unconditional love and possibilities.

♥ leel

a preview: ♥ pinkie ♥

2011-04-12T16:20:00.009-04:00

here is a little tidbit of a preview for your eyes: pinkie. i've been experimenting on a vintage suitcase table with a new type of paint application that doesn't require ventilation. i still have mixed feelings, but hey, i usually hit the point where i hate whatever i'm working on right about now, so no big deal. i know i'll be happy with the result once i finally make all the last few decisions on colours etc. so yes, fun! i have a pile of suitcases to work on, so let me ask. Any colour combo's you think might be superfun? what about another solid coloured one, like Bambi?

♥ leel

nothing ventured, nothing lost

2011-04-12T12:46:00.020-04:00

i figured that since tomorrow would be the 4 month mark of not blogging that enough is enough, time to post. my absence doesn't stem from lack to tell, it stems from laziness and fear and all the bs that i find myself convinced is real. i'm in a strange head space. one i've never been in before. it's focus is failure, it's fuel fear. for the first time since i graduated from university and took a full-time job i have no idea what to do with my career. truly. i have 62 slivers of possibility, but nothing glaringly clear. it's all murk and fog and, as someone recently described, feels a lot like running in water.

my anxiety is humming at a high pitch, naturally. we all know i don't do change well. i resist and fight and fortune tell ridiculous outcomes and then laugh at myself later when i finally accept something new. i know this about myself. but still, i feel like i have slid back a few holes on the ole panic belt. i had a panic attack the morning of my departure for hawaii, calling my husband* and telling him i didn't think i could get on the plane. the thought of having to endure 3 flights alone, suddenly sent me into a tizzy. not pretty. yes, i got on the plane, thank you ativan, yes, i was fine, and yes, it was worth it. but it still happened and then yet again a few more times in hawaii. some more since we've returned. i don't think experiencing a tsunami evacuation helped much. so there's that.

in addition to or as a result of, i'm not sure, my confidence has taken a beating. i need to fix that. like, stat. i need a plan, stan. i used to be fearless when it came to jobs, taking on new challenges, being confident in my abilities, confident in my ability to write, lead a meeting, in my ability to talk to anybody. i feel very small and quiet right now. i guess i just imagined my career somehow more cemented by now, 15 years after graduating. not back at the beginning, disconnected from pretty much everyone, somewhere messed up in the middle. middle age is weird. or seems so right now, anyway.

but, it's spring. and i hold faith in spring, it's abilities to renew my depleted energy, turn my frown upside-down. i've started uncovering the gardens and looking at the returning growth, raking up all the deadness of last year and throwing it out of site. making it all new and fresh and full of new possibilities for the coming spring days and summer nights.

i'm officially exploring this whole career thing in an official way. getting some help defining my next steps. so that feels good. and yet, because i AM that girl, it seems scary and paralyzing and exhilarating all in one big fat hold-it-in-as-long-as-you-can breath. next comes writing out a plan, editing my resume and cleaning out the studio FOR REAL. I need to make some space for the magic to happen. it's coming. i can feel it.

but enough about me how are you?

♥ leel

*the bub was stuck in L.A. on his way to Hawaii. his initial response after hello: "what? i can't hear you? hey, wait a sec... hey, that's JERRY SEINFELD looking at an old porsche. JERRY SEINFELD bub!!! He's wearing a blazer and jeans and white running shoes and a baseball hat and sunglasses and looking at a porsche right outside the window from me!!! Holy shit!! (I had to yell at that point.) The end.

a quick, free, holiday spruce up yur shack project

2010-12-13T16:00:00.015-05:00

I linger on the twitter. I am never without inspiration that way, you see. Enter: this post. The other day Rene (aka @ffantastica and blogger http://fruityfantastica.tumblr.com/ ) mentioned on the twitter that she and her girl (her beloved 10 year old daughter) were cutting out paper snowflakes. BAM. True Morag Gunn *Memory Movie Bank* stuff. I remember sitting at the dining room table making snowflakes throughout my childhood. I remember the concentration and focus of making those mysterious folds, then the intricate cuts, the wonder and excitement leading up to the unfolding of each and every one. Awaiting to see what unique form I had created. Why did I stop? I loved that feeling. No reason. Adulthood, perhaps? No reason.
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The next day I started randomly checking through some of my fave online sites for inspiration. Not snowflake inspiration, just some sort of Project inspiration. Naturally I stumbled upon a post on how to make snowflakes and that got this going. I sent the link to Ms. Rene for her and her daughter to add to their inspiration file, and kept digging. Soon enough I had accumulated the instructions for a variety of patterns for 5 and 6 sided snowflakes. Then I gave in.

I gathered some magazines that I knew would have some pretty coloured pages and started folding and snipping away. Smallish, sharp scissors are best. The first few were a challenge, I must admit. But once I got the folding down I plopped myself on my dining room bench, threw a holiday movie on the laptop and away I went. I found the easiest way to keep it neat and not lose my mind in magazine cuttings was to first go through all the magazines and pull out the pages I wanted. Then I got rid of the magazines. I also made sure to have something to throw all the cutting and scraps into as I went. Theses accumulate quickly and the chaos soon makes me cranky so this works best for me. After completing many, I decided to attach them all in a grouping on the back of my front door with simple invisible tape. Ok, here are my results:

Please refer to these great links for step-by-step instructions and design ideas!

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How About Orange has a great five-sided snowflake blogpost here:

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-make-5-pointed-paper-snowflakes.html

Allison Gryski blogged about the amazing options of six-sided snowflakes in two spots!:

http://allison.gryski.com/2010/11/tutorial-paper-snowflakes-with-6-sides.html
http://allison.gryski.com/2010/12/lacy-paper-snowflake-tutorial-and.html

Hope you are all well and getting through the dark days of the year. Only 8 more until the days get longer!

Keep on keepin' on,

♥ leel

the: holiday, book challenge, hero meeting, update

2010-12-09T14:32:00.012-05:00

Hey, it's December! I'm back!

Ok, not back-back. But pushing through this blogger anxiety for a moment to jump in and write a bit. I've been all over the map. not literally, but mentally for sure. fine then not, excited then comatose, busy busy busy then dead. this fall I've been working 3 totally unrelated jobs. this means gardening and building shrub covers one day, putting up christmas decorations in atriums all over downtown buildings the next, then running to a film festival to work the evening. again, a life of many many hats. Have I mentioned how I have an acute and lasting case of the Novembers? That *omg I can't believe I have to live through another Canadian winter and it's dark and every thing's dead and it's going to go one for MONTHS* feeling? Yah. Bigtime. Luckily I was so busy with the other 3 gigs that I didn't really have that much time to notice. It was a busy and exciting fall for me.

So here we are, coming up to mid December. A mixed-bag of emotions for many, this time of year. I am no exception. My mother's house has been vomited upon by the bug of the Season for a month now. She loves her some decorating. After decorating buildings around town for a couple of weeks a girl can only resist the holiday season joy so long without jumping in hands waving, leading the conga line. An ornament exchange never hurts either. So, I got into It. I decided to unpack my tree and go through decorations and get this place looking at least semi-festive. I pulled out my great-grandmother's cardboard village houses for the first time in years. So delicate and simple. I love them. I found a small reminder of my past in there. my family. of Before. a trigger. a teenie tiny die cast miniature of a car we had, hand-painted white by my mom no doubt, to represent ours. a white convertible. i hated and loved that car. for many reasons. and there it was, in the bottom of 30 year old Laura Secord boxes. jabbing me in the chest and transporting me to the past. bam. so yah. that stuff still grabs. I imagine everyone has their stuff grabbed at by the past this time of year. so a fist bump to you. this too shall pass.

The 52 books in 52 weeks challenge I inflicted upon myself in January is still in full swing. I have to read 8 books in 22 days to meet my goal, but I'm optimistic. It gets dark at 4pm right now. Reading, is like, number 2 on my preferred activities roster. Second only to napping. It could happen. I'm also debating on counting the two books that I read 150 pages of and tossed aside in anger in frustration. My tendency is to say they don't count, but then again, they do. Meh. Details. Still reading, still loving it.

This past week I went to see my hero Rt. LGen Romeo Dallaire speak about his new initiative to abolish the use of child soldiers. My superfriend Kez and I scoped out the book signing area and seated ourselves in the 2nd row, closest to that table as possible. Success! When he walked into the room, 5 feet from where we were sitting, and I saw him with my own two eyes, I gasped. There he was. Witness of all witnesses. A man who wrestles with his demons daily and still will not stop. Not stop fighting for the rights of children, of people. People others announced to him were and are worthless. He continues. And I met him. I met him. I met him. I met him. I just had to keep typing that for some reason. To make it real. I was third in line to have my book signed. Yup, that girl. I hid under my baseball hat, books in hand. He looked up at me. He Looked AT Me. With those steel blue eyes that have seen so much. I gasped again. He commented on my wonderful taste in reading, and I mumbled something about how wonderful they, his words, are in reply, with a chuckle. Then, I took a breath and I said it: You are my hero. He chuckled a humble, Thank You, and asked me my name, I played with my scarf, and told him. I watched as he wrote my name out. Keeley. My name. With his hand. The same hand, I imagined, that held the phone to tell the world what was happening in Rwanda. Gasp. He signed my books while asking what brought me there, what I study. I told him I have a degree in Anthropology and am interested in studying Human Rights. He replied with a booming "Excellent! You need to USE that Anthropology degree!" THAT was a first. I had never had such an enthusiastic response to my education choice. Squints and Oh's aplenty, never an Excellent! My hero was excited by my choice. I am fueled. I am reconsidering my choices. I am empowered, you could say, by a few small words. So yah, I met my hero last week. And as Robert Frost would say, That has made all the difference.

So that's what's up in crazytown. Shopping and cleaning and scheduling up the ying ying.

I hope you are all kicking away the blahs and if you can't today, there is always tomorrow. Hugs for everyone.

♥ leel

hiding

2010-10-30T11:06:00.005-04:00

bear with me dear reader.
it's been a while.
and i'm sweating and shaking, something that started as i contemplated pressing Sign In.
why do i do this?
this here and gone pattern. that's what i've been trying to figure out, i guess.
what my deal is. who i've become.
so many identities. so many lives.
so little processing, just moving on, never stopping always moving.
i am that rolling stone.
i have no moss.
maybe a few hanging moss roots, straglers, fibrous strength of potential renewal, but no moss to touch and feel. the softness is so hard now to the touch.

in between the gaps of withdrawl, contraction, there are wonderful things happening.
things i've worked for.
and yet for some reason i need to keep those things to myself.
keep them inside the little embroydered coin purse of myself, there to clutch and click open to sneak a peek of the amazing wonderful hidden inside for my eyes only.
i need to keep those things for myself for a while.
not spoiled by another. the potential remarks, judgements i will always have in my imagination. not seen.
to be unseen seems to be the goal here.
man i'm a nutcase.

i've been hanging out with artists and film makers and animators.
can you tell?
i feel a film in me. potentially.
so there's that. scary stuff, all of it.

i keep imagining what it would be like to meet some of the people i have grown connected to online.
you know who you are.
we discuss it, the fun of being all together and so I wonder, what would you really think of me in real life, in comparison to this impression i have given you of myself here, on this blog or on twitter?

i don't know.
i guess that's the problem right now.
i need someone to jump into my brain and clear out the mess, organize my files, make all the decisions to stop the anxiety from taking over again.
you know.
my own worst enemy sort of stuff.

so, yah...

oh fall, see what you do to me?

love you longtime,
leel

the situation.

2010-10-04T14:39:00.002-04:00

i'm not really feeling the point, the desire, the drive to blog.
i have nothing to say. nothing to share.
so that's why i'm not here.
i'm not elsewhere, i'm just not here.
i'm over here. and there. and nowhere.

i'll be back.

wordless wednesday

2010-09-15T10:53:00.006-04:00

♥ leel

ps. check out all that's wordless here.

we are muslim

2010-09-11T10:59:00.013-04:00

Today Adam Avitable, an American blogger I follow/have grown to love like an imaginary sibling, has taken a sidestep from all his usual humourous rantings and sketches and given religion and peace center stage.

I needed to share. Plus, it's September 11th today and some crazyass has just finally announced he's calling off his international book burning party of ignorant hatred and fear. Well, that's what I've come to think of it as. Anyway. Back to the point: Progress.

In his introduction to We Are Muslim, the new movement and website Adam has started, he writes:

What is “We Are Muslim”?

We are Making a United Stand to eLiminate Intolerance against Muslims.

Muslims are everywhere. They are our friends. Our neighbors. Our family. Our peers. Our colleagues. Our fellow Americans. Our fellow world citizens. And they are not terrorists. They are not dangerous or irrational or fanatics. They are peaceful and loving and kind. They are human.

We have a history of looking for scapegoats and of relying on stereotypes and rash assumptions to create a false sense of security. The Japanese Americans who were interred 60 years ago can tell you about that. The people who were branded “Communists” by the fear-mongering Joseph McCarthy can attest to this fact... (continue to read more)

So, to show my support, I am posting the widget in my sidebar. I hope you might be inspired enough to do so as well.

peace and kindness to you all,

♥ leel

amazing music monday :: DO FUN STUFF ::

2010-08-29T14:18:00.017-04:00

Who loves music? EVERYONE. Kids, adults, all of us. SO you HAVE to check this out: An amazing album of music written for adults AND kids! Something that won't make you wanna poke your ears! I KNOW! HOORAY! Go no further than a click below.

Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room has lovingly pulled together an album of specially written tunes that both kids and adults can enjoy to help research Smith Magenis Syndrome (SMS), a genetic condition that affects his sweet son LB.

ALL of the money goes to help research SMS. I enourage you to download the album on iTunes and share it with any kid in your life - my nephews will soon have their own copy to groove to. I just know my brother and sister in law are going to approve!

Rabbit? Radical Face? Astronautalis? ALL on there. So, Just GO!

♥ leel

Apartment Details: A Vintage Suitcase DIY

2010-08-23T11:26:00.011-04:00

My *love of vintage suitcase tables* envelope is sealed with a big fat sloppy kiss. It's official. It only made sense then that I would include one in the apartment I recently designed.

I started off with a medium sized suitcase and decided to use a basic wooden stool that's roughly 30 inches tall for the base and legs. I found each piece at the Salvation Army Store for about $5 each. Once I made my design decisions I spray primed and painted each piece; the base white and the entire case a light green. To assemble them, I simply screwed the suitcase to the top of the stool.

I decided on a natural paper top for this one. I made sure to pick a sturdy paper, one with real grass and yellow flowers that suited to feel I was going for in the room. I laid out the paper on top, went around the edge with my finger to emboss the edges of the top into the paper, and cut it out with scissors. I podged the paper to the top, allowed it to dry and then add a super thick 2nd coat to protect and seal it all in. I love results! A prefect spot for plants and a perfect storage spot inside the case as well.

So there you have it. Another suitcase table is complete!

Stay tuned for more DIY's to come :)

♥ leel

The Big Re-Design Reveal

2010-08-20T15:19:00.030-04:00

It's here! The big reveal. The word on the street is: She ♥ Loves ♥ It! I am so happy she approves and feels comfortable in this new space to call her own. If you haven't any idea of what I am talking bout, past posts lay out the back story, check them out for more details, as well as the stories behind the living room and dining room chair projects.

Onward!
.

Existing furnishings/objects: a table, 2 uncovered dining room chairs, 2 dressers, 2 shelving units a double mattress & box spring, a duvet/cover and a futon, shoe rack and various other plants, housewares etc.

Items/Projects brought in: bed frame, living room chairs, futon cover, curtains, curtain over mirror, curtain and backboard/whiteboard for shelving unit, entrance mirror & hooks, painted the lamps + new shades, dining table lantern light, vintage suitcase table, DIY terrarium project, throw pillows, a bookstool table, 2 paintings, an entrance way mat & living room rug, 2 embroidery projects, a fish bowl, and various other kitchen and household accessories and plants.

Here are the pictures. Keep in mind the apartment was full with stuff that required shuffling and stacking when I took these. I know. I know. I could have done them before. I work well under pressure and am not a pro photographer. ANYWAY. Let's just look at some (of the awkward) pictures.

BEFORE

And, AFTER!

So those are the final results. I will be focusing in on some of the other projects I took on in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
.
♥ leel

pictures, pretty pictures.

2010-08-18T12:35:00.014-04:00

welcome to a distraction post!

i finished the apartment re-design last night round 8pm.

i am photographing the results today.

i will be blogging some individual projects as well as the before & after.

for now, there are pretty pictures.

a few from around my garden, to be precise.

so there you have it.

♥ leel

a quick After post. another set of chairs!

2010-07-23T09:20:00.017-04:00

The next project I decided to tackle in my apartment make-over design challenge was the dining area chairs. Julz had two chairs from Ikea that simply needed covers made for them. These two chairs were from different years with one being older and one brand new, still in the box. Slightly different in scale, but the exact same shape chair. It was super easy to cover these. Less than 3 hours to do both from start to finish. The fabric I chose matches the main colour of the room and the main palette chosen. The wood legs are light, just like the flooring and living room chairs. kinda comme ça:

I made sure the chairs were both apart, not assembled, so I could cover the back and seat sections separately and then assemble the chairs afterward. It was much easier that way and allowed for tucking and stapling fabric along the inside much easier. The secret, for me, is pinning. I pinned the fabric (wrong side out) on the chair back, smoothing and pinning the entire way around the edges, essentially giving myself a row of pins to follow on the machine when sewing. I carefully pulled the fabric off, sewed the side seams and then put it back on the chair to check for fit and to pin the corners down to create a boxed top and a defined edge for the sides.

Once I was happy with the corners at the top I again, slipped the cover off and sewed the flattened corners, making a neat tight boxed top thingy. (sorry, I'm not a pro. clearly.) I trimmed the edges, turned it right side out and put the cover on the chair. I then stapled the bottom edges to the underside of the chair with my super awesome electric stapler, and was done the back portion.

The seat portion was even easier. I KNOW. No sewing involved. Just me, a square piece of fabric and my stapler. I simply placed the fabric face down on the table, placed the seat face down on it, pulled the fabric up and over the bottom of the chair and stapled it to the inside edge. Making my way around, starting at the middle of each side, I continued with each side making sure to check for consistent tension and smoothness as I went. The corners were carefully trimmed, tucked and stapled and that was it, done. I re-assembled the chairs, and bam, that was it. SO EASY. In total I used about 2.5 meters of fabric. I purchased 3 meters, an still have lots left over for cushions and fun fabricy projects. yay!

So there you have it: A sneak peak of the dining area chairs. I just love how these have turned out and am anxious to see them in the final design!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful friday.

♥ leel

p.s. wanna see what project i'm working on right now? Check this out... Blog @ ya' later!

a before & after post :: 2 chairs for julz ::

2010-07-20T23:15:00.001-04:00

this is my life, right now. dining room office? why not.

So this is a superfun post for me to write! It's the first in a before & after series centering around a 1 room apartment (shared bath & kitchen) in a beautiful humongo brick house in downtown Ottawa. I am redesigning for a friend/client, Julz. She's a university student and wants to be able to have friends over to study and not have it so it feels like everyone is sitting in her bedroom. We sat down before she left and agreed it would be perfect for 3 distinct areas: an eating/meal prep area, a living/sitting area and a sleeping area. We also decided to create a bit of an entrance way.

This rented room is fairly straight forward, shape wise, it's a 14' x 21' rectangle. Think high ceilings, an entire wall of windows equipped with rods and new white blinds, 10" high baseboard mouldings... gorgeous. Two equal size closets are next to the entrance way, both with shelves and rods built in. Perfect for storage. The floors are light hardwood and the room is a soft warm creamy yellow. Very easy to work with, especially since they aren't keen on us painting, which I totally understand. I probably wouldn't let me paint either, if I were the landlord.

So at this point I've been at it for a week now and have managed to get a plan written/drawn out including 2 possible layouts for the 3 distinct areas, as well as most of my fabric purchased. I was matching fabric to a new duvet cover Julz wanted to use on her bed, so I needed 3 co-ordinating fabrics. We're going for a bohemian beach garden feel. yah. that. (I'll should wrangle up an inspiration post to show you the overall feel, with pics, to get that point across, I see. I'll get to that.)

ANYway, my first project was to recover 2 chairs for the living room. I have had these kicking around for a while, awaiting the perfect home and the perfect fabric. Once those decisions were out of the way *woohoo* I tore apart one of the fitted covers to use as a pattern and reserved the other for reference while sewing. I labeled the pieces so I could keep track. It was pretty straight forward, just a lot of pressing and pinning and sewing slow straight lines. I was so excited to see these chairs come to life, I can't wait to see the room together with the other fabrics chosen. Here's what I speak of:

before: in my backyard. p.s. i actually weed weekly.

after: in my own living room, not the final location. evil sweet dog not included.

It feels wonderful to have this first project complete and delivered to the apartment and project 2 soon underway. I'll be sure to share bits as they come together, but I also want to make sure to save some details for the grand finale. I'll be sure to get some formal Before pictures of the room as well for a final comparison post in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for all that craziness!

♥ leel

1 blog award received, 5 given & a lot about me

2010-07-18T17:51:00.014-04:00

Check this shit out! Yup, it's true. Not only was I awarded with a very cool blogging badge of honour, I'm actually sitting down and writing a post about it. AND following the rules of acceptance. I KNOW! I'm slow, but I get there. Something that was holding me back was the Rules, you see. Having to write about myself feels hard. And the Rules clearly state one must write five things about one's self that reader's wouldn't know. See? Just throwing that out there.

Let's just start.

One person I have gotten to know online and frequently wish my neighbour IRL is Katy from Torpid Trifling. I love her. As soon as her rss feed bolds in my faves list, I run to check out the latest post. So, I wander over one day and Yay! Lazybones (her ironic screen name) had received a Beautiful Blogger Award! Yay Katy! I'm reading her always-amazingly-written post explaining the amazingness bestowed on her blog and BAM! she has to pass the award on to five others, including yours truly, moi! Flattery blushing on it's own is odd for me, but that's what I did, sitting in front of my laptop, alone, I blushed. And smiled.

Let's get this show on the road. Here come the rules:

Rule 1: Thank the person who gave you the award.

That's so easy! Thank You Thank You Thank You Katy! I found Katy's blog, Torpid Trifling, through the comments section of one of my favourite other blogs I frequent and replied that "Katy, you and I could be friends IRL" due to that one comment she wrote that day.

So, dear Katy I say to you: Your frequent posts detailing many areas of your life never bore, always inspire, forever challenge my own ideas and you simply awe me with all you do and how you love. I love your outlook, your observations, tales of life, love, education, settling down vs. travel, motherhood and I admire it all. I secretly hope you write a book one day, it would be amazing. I also actually do hope to meet you IRL one day! She's also having another baby who's sex she pre-dreamt. I know! GO read her blog. now. we'll wait.

Rule 2: List 7 things about yourself your readers do not know.

I decided to just go for it kids. Zioks!

1. My career has some fuzziness to it on this blog, so let's tackle that here. In five points. To start, I have had 25 jobs in my lifetime with my first starting back when I was 13. I was a horse-girl, owned horses and worked and lived on a horse farm taking care of barns, animals and day campers for a few summers. I was a member of Pony Club and have judged a pony club show. I also worked in the barns on weekends for free riding lessons. I got ribbons at shows. I can do dirty and sweaty just fine. When it comes to farm life I have seen it all and cleaned it all. I can also throw a bail of hay higher than myself and show no fear & take control of large animals freaking out. These skills have actually come in quite handy, like when dealing with random raging drunken people, for example.

2. Once I found cars and boys and made the hard decision to bid my love and hobby of 8 years goodbye I sold my beautiful thoroughbred boy and got a 'real job' making hard cash. At this point I entered the ever character building line of work known as Food Services. My first out-of-barn experience was working for a small crappy donut store in my small town. The manager was 19 and continually fighting with her baby daddy. I was left to pretty much run the place, worked double shifts all summer long and provided everyone I knew with free donuts. I made a mint. I also encountered mean girls. And owners who don't care that you are deathly allergic to bees and wasps because it is YOUR new job to clean out the industrial garbage bins. In the summer. Yah. I left there when school started again. I worked a multitude of clothing retail jobs all through high school (including a bathing suit store for 2 years; that's a post of it's own) until I entered my second year of university in 1993. At that point I got a job with an art supply store, downtown where I was then living, where I worked and played with supplies until I graduated 3 years later. (there was even a plaster cast of my entire body hanging in the ceiling for years.) By far, the best experience I have had job-wise. Working with artists and supplies (and the discount!) was amazing. Think art camp + work. I learned so. much. there.

3. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences in Art History & Anthropology in 1996 my career prospects were, um, limited. I took a few months off and worked at a video store, at a cosmetics counter at a department store and then I found a Real Job. It was not my desired field, but I had an opportunity from a distant family member to join the wonderful world of Technical Recruiting. I was a recruiter for 5 years. Some of it was fun. I mean, it wasn't ALL bad. I worked at the first place for 3 years. I got to learn the ins and outs out a corporate job, my role, business, procurement and the government. I had cool things to work on (read: recruited real! astronauts!) and it fed my quest to learn. I hated it though. H.A.T.E.D it. So I left to pursue the world of International Headhunting. Yup. Me. I had clients in Santa Barbara and Maryland. I went to physics conferences to woo pH.D's to join in on the .com bubble. I hated it. I hated the long hours, the time-zones, the shitty ultra-right wing nutbar guys who started this company and I was fired. It was the best thing to happen to me, actually. I hated it. So, I took those skills and went back to regular recruiting for government clients locally and joined a family owned and run consulting firm. I was with them for a year and a half and took that opportunity to really learn the ins and outs of procurement and proposal writing instead of just body-hunting all day long. I hated my boss, the big bosses son and what I deemed racist actions at times . Yah. So I moved on. I finally had some new experience to market and landed an awesome position in the world of national business development and proposal writing. After doing that for a couple of years I grew bored and worked with a start-up company from home full time and thereby found myself entering the world of Management and contracting. I moved around to a couple of different firms managing the proposal team, working on contract. Contracting suited me. More freedom, more flexibility, I liked it. But after 10 years and many changes in the industry I had had it. I couldn't do it any more. My guilty conscience had gotten the better of me and I could no longer handle the stress of generating multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts for the corporate world. I mean, I'm a frickin artist, who was I kidding? Waking up in the middle of the night with tension headaches for weeks on end took it's toll. I felt like I was losing it. I was, in fact losing it.

4. 2006: The Before and After. Soon after we got married my contract was to end and I wasn't sure what would come after. I wasn't too concerned since finding other people jobs WAS my job for 8 years. What I couldn't predict was the announcement made 10 days after our honeymoon. My father was leaving my mother after 34 years of marriage for a woman who lived in the US. They had been an affair with for over 2 years. My mother had found out the year previous, but my brother was getting married in December 2005 so they had decided to keep it a secret until after his wedding. Then we got engaged in December 2005, and my parents decided to extend the plan out until I was married. I was now married. My mother broke the news. My life that day changed. I somehow managed to get through the final two months of my contract, but I was a mess. A literal mess. My adoption and abandonment issues broke through to the surface. I was I weepy heap of non-identity all of a sudden. I couldn't even function in a meeting without getting angry and lashing out. I cried every bus ride home. My contract ended in September. My depression got dark and gooey and I turtled in the dark at home through the fall and winter of 2007. My husband was scared and confused. Who was this nutbar he had married? Couples counseling began on the morning of New Year's Eve. Trust in anyone was fading. I start to separate myself from my broad network, even my closest friends and all acquaintances. I was officially unemployed and to me, unemployable. I was my career's own worst enemy.

5. New Normal. After landing a very cool contract with the federal government in March of 2007, a sweet Communications role, I was finally feeling functional again. This was a first for me since the federal government had always been a client, so I started to see the light a little. I was still fragile, but functional. Therapy had helped. I was enjoying the role I had, but not enlightened by the system that ran the country. The bureaucracy was foreign to me. I was clearly from the cut throat, revenue-generating, Private Sector. A stranger in a strange land. I wanted accountability and strategy and extension of service offerings and communicating within the unit, while the reply was pretty much " (blank stare) huh? I have a french exam to study for so I can get my next Level/promotion" Weirdos. Luckily we had decided that when my contract ended in the fall I would take on the task of managing the renovation of our 1950's house. Bathroom and kitchen were gutted and replaced. Walls moved. New appliances researched and purchased. An entire Ikea kitchen assembled, by yours truly, with a lone allen key and a phillips head screwdriver. We did a lot of it ourselves. Did you know that 60% of couples renovating separate? SIXTY percent. We fought. A lot. The renovations took OVER our lives, my depression was still deep. But we pulled through and I found a new contract in a new world, the non-profit world of festivals and film and art. I started working with them in the spring of 2008 and today, still, I'm working with them in some capacity. I worked back in the proposal world last summer and fall, but really hated it. The pointlessness of so many hours of MY day being spent wasting time for the paycheque. Sitting around makes me crazy, I've found. Enter today. Today? Well, today I'm still struggling a bit. I'm dealing with the past a lot. Quietly. It's not so hard, now in the new normal that comes from four years of time passing by. But it's still there. I have made a commitment to keep moving forward in the art and design and film world. To be where I am comfortable in my own skin. I started blogging in multiple arenas in 2005. This blog as a testing ground last year. Now, I want to start my own business and work with other creative people. Not many people get this about me. Why I can't go back there. Take another McJob. So I'm relying on my own instincts and love of art and Making Things to get me through the next 40 or 50 years of my life. I want this next career to be It. My life's passion. So I'm starting it. And it's all happening so fast.

Rule 3: Award 5 bloggers who you've recently discovered.

* E of A Million Universes: I've known E online since the early days of 2008, if my memory serves me correctly. She's one of my Gerds. Girl Nerds from Nerdfighteria, the ning site where all things Nerdfighters and Vlogbrothers happen on the internet. I've been following E's blog for a while and I always love to catch sight of her wonderful art journal filled blog. She shares her art and writes gloriously written posts about the joys of motherhood to two twin boys with sensory issues and anxiety battles to fight. She writes like the best of them and sometimes shares tales and pictures of adventures of these amazingly brilliant beautiful boys. Check her OUT!

* Suzie of Suzie the Foodie: Suzie's blog about yes, food, is one of my go-to blogs for anything food related. She is adventurous, reviews very cool products, hosts giveaways of cool kitchen stuff and in general, she blogs beautifully. She also is happy to share and encourage. I love her recipe posts and scroll through the categories whenever I need ideas. She even inspired me to bake bread more than once this winter! A miracle I say. I love that. Get you kitchens ready because you WILL want to cook after reading this blog. The next time I'm in Halifax I am scheduling a date to meet with her IRL. I can't wait. GO!

* Sarah of Toodles shares her life: Sarah's blog always inspires me with her colourful posts on design and her natural eye for all things awesome. She's a graphic designer by day, writer and editor of great blog posts by night. It's one that you'll love to wander through. Visually, is screams to me. I love her visions and themed posts bringing together collections of items she's found in the big bright web. Beautiful!

* Emily & Serena of The D.A.D. Project. I met Emily on Twitter & am lucky enough to have met the wonderful mchen in real life. She is easily someone I would call a beautiful artist, person and blogger. (I guess this really is two awards!) When I heard she and her sister Serena were launching a project to raise awareness and funds for cancer research I was really excited for them and inspired by their energy. Their dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last year and this is their ode to him. Each day one piece is posted for sale with the proceeds donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. They also have featured artists who have donated pieces for sale, so there really is something for everyone. I encourage you to check this beautiful blog out. Their artwork is bright and vivid and would be a great pop of colour in any room. All the best to your dad, beautiful E&S.

* Heather of Fumbling For Words. I met Heather on Twitter and have loved getting to know her there and via her blog. Her posts of life, art, work, leadership, travel, family, motherhood, wifehood and womanhood enrich my life. The photos alone are worth checking her out for. There is no other way to put it. When I grow up, in my next life, I want to be like Heather. Heather writes like the professional she is. She expresses and shares her journeys and the wisdom of her experiences. Her life has taught her some hard lessons along the way and I appreciate her honesty and openness in such a forum. I feel like I know myself better just by reading through her blog. I can't wait to someday meet her too. How beautiful is that?

So there you go. The beautiful blogger torch has been passed. I hope you check out some of my fave's, they really are awesome spots to explore, each one of them.

Happy Day!

♥ leel

p.s. if you made it to the end of this post? wow. hi!

it's ♥ I Forgot This Friday ♥ Again.

2010-07-16T12:38:00.021-04:00

You know, I have to be honest. This second of the I Forgot This Friday posts is not something I forgot at all. Neither was the first. In fact, they are quite the opposite. They are the most exciting things going on in my little virtual world, and they are so sacred that I fear jinxing them with even an inaudible whisper. I hold them dear and close. I would package them up and put them in little lockets to have around my neck, within clutching distance, if I could. These are the things coming back to me as a result of my work. These are symbols and road signs to the place i call 'progress', I had hoped for, silently, fearfully, as i laid awake nights wondering what the future would hold for Me. And here we are. Where I have always dreamt of someday being, professionally and personally. Shhh. The shy artist in me is still bashful, and history tells me to be wary of unhatched foul. Baby steps. Shhh.

ANYway.

So, to the point. You remember my little creation (and current laptop table - I mean that, I'm sitting in my office using him, Blue Footed Bobby, right now!) I blogged about here? Well, technically, since his base is an Ikea table base he qualifies as an "Ikea-hack." Ikea Hacker is a blog about all the other things you can do with Ikea stuff. People from all over the world submit their projects to the blog and if they are accepted are then posted to the blog. After posting Bobby here it popped into my mind that I should take a chance and submit to them.

I did.

A few days later it popped up online and omg, the reaction has been incredible. I am still in shock at the response to my tables. Here is what I speak of. In a screen shot story time style.

The original Ikea Hack:

Which led to re-nest, a division of Apartment Therapy picking it up:

Which led to Life Hacker in Australia (affiliated with Pop Sugar)

Then Pianeta Donna in Italy featured both suitcase tables, Bambi & Bobby. (note translated text makes for weirdness.)

and then, finally, it also popped up on another more general site:

Can you stand it?!?!? WHO KNEW? And still, the excitement keeps building. I received a pretty cool e-mail yesterday about one of my posts. I'm super excited about it.I will be sure to forget about it and update you later. :)

So that's what I had forgotten to update. Never fear, there are more fun projects to come and of course more styles and designs of suitcase tables. They are really exciting to pull together. Any colour combo ideas? I need some fresh eyes kids, what colour combos would YOU personally like?

Thanks for all the patience. I am sucking at blogging these days.

♥ leel

ps: love you long time.

look! pretty flowers! a quick distracted update post

2010-07-10T11:02:00.010-04:00

this is a distraction post. plain and simple. (bad capitalization to follow)

new projects are like tiny new baby chicks in my world.

I'm spending lots of time with my baby chicks.

dets? fair enough i suppose. I'm being weird and vague here.

some of you might want to sit down. I'm actually-for-real-this-time/finally starting a teenie tiny art & design business.* I KNOW! So much more on this later.

in addition to the excitement around that circus, I've had two different projects come my way.

1) I'll be in the credits of a short independent film! for set-design! over three weekends this summer I'll be working behind the scenes. In addition, one of my paintings is going to be IN the FILM. let me stop so you can think about that coolness for a second and feel my excitement. Ready, breathe: I. KNOW. RIGHT? I'm heading to the set for the first day of shooting after i press 'publish' on this bad-boy. i feel like i did the first day of summer school. That to me means good things, new things, new doors, and kinda awesome.

2) I've been hired by a new friend to design and execute her 1 - room apartment while she's away for 5 weeks volunteering in an eco-village and backpacking around Costa Rica. She has no time to do it herself and doesn't want to worry about it while she's gone so abracadabra do we have a plan! she's leaving me with her budget, some ideas and her keys. she wants a unique home to return to and entrusts that I will be able to deliver her that. I so can. I'm so excited. Blog away I will! DIY funtimes FTW!

That's it for now. Sorry 'bout that. I got a blog award and everything (!!!!) and I still have to find the time to get that big awesome post up. *slacker*

Enjoy your Saturday. If it's sucking, I'm sorry. Look at the blue sky and watch the trees for a minute to distract your brain. Helps me.

love you long time,

♥ leel

* teenie tiny now, watch out though, my plan includes world domination inside of two years. Don't say I didn't warn you. Just ask my cheerleader, Kristal. She's helping me get all my ducks in a row. (they wander)

short, sweet & sketchy

2010-07-04T22:30:00.018-04:00

The summer has landed! The summer has landed! And, yo, am I lovin it. Less blogging and more gardening, cleaning and organizing it seems. Woo hoo! Never fear, there are a tonne of new projects in the works to share. DIY funtimes, in fact.

For now I'll share some index card sketches. I use the back of a simple recipe card, a black marker and draw quick little sketches. They come from whatever I happen to be cycling through in my mind and serve as reference points for future work. I try and do at least one daily, but if I'm working on something else they often get tossed aside. Most are dated on the bottom and some have corresponding words on the back. Over the last couple of years I've collected quite a few of them. Hundreds. Wanna see?

ok then.

below are 2 sets of 4 individual sketches, for a total of 8. they wer picked at random and tossed on the scanner. fun!

(click image to enlarge)

So yah, that's a little tidbit to tide you over until I get to what's REALLY going on around here these days. Fun stuff.

More to come this week!

♥ leel

30 seconds of shaking feels like forever: earthquake aftermath

2010-06-26T12:05:00.012-04:00

So we endured an earthquake here in central Canada. Apparently North America is getting squeezed in on the edges so we rumbled and buckled here in the middle. Awesome. The quake epicenter was 60 km north of us. Super awesome. When it happened i was alone in the house, just getting ready to tackle cleaning the sty i refer to as my studio/ office when i heard a weird noise. a rumbling noise that turned into shaking. Then harder shaking and before i knew i had shouted "earthquake!" tweeted that shit was falling off my walls as it shook, and still it just. kept. going. 30 seconds of shaking feels like forever.

Once I started to see things falling off the shelves in the office, heard more clanging and glass falling in the stairwell to the floor below me and the windows rattled I really started to wonder if this was It. I knew that if kept going much longer and started to shake any harder the house would fall in so I jumped under the door frame for a few seconds. I could hear the beams creaking and see the walls bouncing. I was really afraid. At this point, thank the universe, I could feel the rumble starting to ease, but it still kept going. I'm pretty sure the dogs, who moments before were under my feet, were barking and down on the main floor by this point. It was crazy and loud and chaotic I have no idea where they were when I was doing all this. I remember looking down the stairs at all the broken glass from falling pictures, and there the dogs were, at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me.

My only instinct as it started to decrease was to get the eff out of the house. I slid on the flip flops, grabbed my laptop (hello? twitter was the BEST for info, fast) my wallet, the dogs, the phone and out we went to the back porch. At that point I dumped everything on the patio table, locked to dogs in the back yard and headed through the house to the front. I needed to see wtf was going on with the neighbours. Needless to say people were everywhere. The elementary school next door was evacuated. The kids were pretty loud and freaked. People from the 18 floor apartment buildings across the street were emerging packed like mules with kids and pets. I can only imagine what that felt like for them when it shook. Neighbours shouted across the streets back and forth " did you feel that? what WAS that? are you ok? did your stuff fall off the walls?" Holy wow. Luckily everyone was fine. No structural damage that we can see. But I'm still shaken by it. Rattled on the inside.

Since cleaning up the obvious debris and straightening every single piece of art hanging in here I've also had to go around and straighten piles of books that had shifted, vases that had fallen over, glasses that now at on the edge of shelves. It's like everything that could move danced around a bit and settled a few inches from where it originally was. As the days have progresses I still keep fnding little reminders of the power a quake. I thought I'd just share them here.

Poor little guys.

Wow. Were we lucky.

Happy Saturday all!

♥ leel

felted stitchy fun - the options continue

2010-06-22T11:07:00.022-04:00

I've been absent around here, sorry for that. I'm going through a big cleaning binge right now, thanks in part to my mom's wonderful inspiration. Thank goodness the bub is feeling it too. We've already tackled our gigantic pit of a linen closet & my mom and I have set up a plan to re-organize the entire house, basically, once school ends and she has the summer off. One large component of the clean-up I've started to tackle alone is my studio/office. It's crazy right now. As I get ready to venture out into a business of my own VERY soon (i know! more to come soon!) I need to reorganize and inventory my work/supplies. As I do so I am re-discovering tonnes of random pieces and projects from the past. One such piece is a needle felted flower embellished with embroidery.

I was introduced to needle felting about 4 years ago and seriously considered starting a business based on those creations alone. The timing was wrong. I got back into drawing and mixed-media/painting eventually and the felted goodness has been stored high up in boxes ever since.

One piece I really enjoyed working on as well as the final result (the two don't necessarily go hand in hand, you see) is this flower piece. It's about 6" long and 4" wide at the widest parts. It started as a random layering of wet felt roving, and then i shaped the flower and added coloured wisps over top. Once it was dry I started embellishing it with coloured floss, moving along as it developed depth and definition here or there, and this is what I ended up with. .

My point? I loved working on these, then. I have a tonne of supplies and more to share if anyone is interested in seeing them. I didn't think I would ever go back to them for many reasons, but I find, today, a feeling that maybe I should go back to making a few smaller versions for headbands and winter jackets and see what comes of it. I do love felting and stitching. Who knows - I'll throw it on my to-do list!

Thoughts on felting? Have you tried it?

♥ leel

words from my mama wednesday

2010-06-16T11:21:00.011-04:00

today's post is brought to you courtesy of my wonderful mom.

my mom e-mails me a couple of times a week from work, the only place she chooses to be online. sometimes they are cute puppies or a joke, sometimes just a hello. always great.
sometimes my mom also sends crazy stream of consciousness e-mails that make me laugh out loud. she reminds me where i get it from. perfect for blogging.

so, let's share then. first, to set the stage:

a) The Bub and I had gone out to dinner the evening before to celebrate our anniversary (four whole years!) and she was checking in from her desk at work the day after; and
b) my mom is a maniac cleaner. I sense it must be painful for her to come inside our house most visits.

ok. enter e-mail:

Subject: dinner

I was just wondering how your dinner went last evening. I was thinking of you as I cleaned my fridge within an inch of my life. I've got to do something about these cleaning urges. I'm running out of things to clean and organize. Oh..... my closet needs my attention.

that's it. all of it. awesome. i love my mom. i hope she focuses those cleaning urges THIS way. i should e-mail her about that.

♥ leel

52 books in 52 weeks: a mandatory mid-way update

2010-06-14T12:29:00.017-04:00

I'm happy to report that this challenge is still in full swing. With a bit of a push and a couple of shorter books thrown in, it might just be achievable. By the end of 2010, that is. Here we are mid-June already. Already, mid-June you say? I hear you.

At this point, half way into the year, I should be in or around book 26, right? Wrong. Ok, the number 26 is fine, but where I am on the list isn't so close to 26. Try 18. I know! I'm only at 18. What gives? Well, a couple of 500+ pagers to start. Those set me back a couple weeks for sure. It's seems that since the cruise in March I got behind and haven't really caught up. Have no fear, I tell myself, the summer is here so I'll be able to find some more time to sneak away with books. That's the plan, anyway.

When I last posted about this bloody book challenge I was in the process of choosing book #15. Here is an update of what I have been reading since that post.

15 - The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe
16 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
17 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The funny thing is that all three of these books have been made into movies and I haven't seen one of them. After reading each I would love to now go and track them down. Maybe I'll save that for January - when it's cold and dark and the challenge is through. It's fair to say I enjoyed each one thoroughly. I would recommend them to anybody. Hey, anyone read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly? OMG. Go buy it and read it. To read a book dictated letter by letter through the flick of an eyelash is a thing of beauty alone. That's all I will say.

As always, I'm looking for recommendations, so feel free to leave them in the comments. Happy Summer Reading, kids!

♥ leel

music monday :: Radical Face

2010-06-14T11:41:00.007-04:00

I fell in love at first listen, again. That was a couple weeks ago. The test of time has told me this might be a new fave band.

Rebecca of Girls Gone Child was the one to introduce me to this band via her post 49/100. I had a listen to Welcome Home then, googled them to see who they are and have been flipping through their stuff ever since. The coolest part is that Ben Cooper (he IS Radical Face as well as Electric President) produced and recorded another Music Monday fave's albums, Astronautalis! I KNOW> weird. They are both from Florida. Who knew.

With that, I will leave you with this little gem to ponder. It's a beauty.

♥ leel

sunday funday

2010-05-30T11:24:00.008-04:00

I have the afternoon to myself today. The Bub is on the golf course, so the house is mine too. What to do? What to work on next? What do you do when you can do anything? Decision making is not a strong point for this kid. I ponder, weight, consider, analyze, project and worry. Then I decide, then I start. Sometimes I find it helpful to go back and look at old ideas to pick up ideas and techniques laid aside. Mix the old with the new. Renew the old. One thing I will go and look at is a YouTube video I threw together featuring my journal pages from 2008. It's linked in the sidebar, but I thought it might be fun to watch again today. It always brings me back.

It's a reminder to do another one, for me. To have more and more to look back on and feel connected to. Hold me to it, please!

Thanks for stopping by!

♥ leel

randomness and power line magic

2010-05-27T09:55:00.011-04:00

What is this? This is a random page from my humongous upcycled phonebook journal that I will be working on til I am 85. I mean, this is a page from my art journal that I had created a while ago. Scratch that, this is a piece of art that I was inspired to share with the interweb as a result of a blog post I just read. Or, this is a piece I want to share with an interweb person I have discussed before and chatted a bit with online (geek) who has a power line loving son that might get a kick out of it. Or, how about "hey look, a random power line piece." It's your choice, really.

It's amazing how something that seemed random now seems relevant. And how sometimes we all need to just stop and admire power lines. And how children are always the magicians who point these things out to me.

♥ leel

before & after: buffy the buffet is a beau-ty!

2010-05-25T12:31:00.024-04:00

buffy, before

I acquired Buffy through rather dark circumstance. Buffy had been built by an old co-worker/ friend's husband. Their divorce and scenario required drastic reduction of belongings; Buffy was heading to the curb. She knew I was into finding furniture and upcycling. I just couldn't let that happen so I lovingly piled her into another friend's trailer, told her & her sweet daughter I might refinish it but that if she ever wanted it it was hers, always. They told me it was mine. I'm not sure if she'll ever want it back. That was last summer. She's been parked in my garage ever since and was on my mind all winter long. I loved it's shape and size. As it turned out, it also fit that perfectly awful *nook* thing in my living room that I hate. It would now become an excellent spot for storage. Perfection. My only hurdle? What to do.

Enter: Inspiration.

I occasionally spot something within the great depths of the interweb that immediately inspires. (if only, I'm rather crow like - shiny objects et. al) Enter one of my fave blogs, Knack Studios. Barb has the coolest design and styling finds posted as well as her own furniture transformations. I have to give her full credit on this one. I was so inspired when I saw this piece, Louie, seeing how dark and rich the black was and I loved the contrast of the white hardware she chose. Sweeeet Perfection. Holy Wow. I knew Buffy could be every bit as beautiful and boy would she ever match my black dining room table, tying together the two rooms better than ever before.

buffy, sanded

Enter: Challenges.

After breaking my own dinky sander during the first sanding, many days of rain and cold, some general laziness and the resulting frustration of not being able to find any hardware I liked in white ANYWHERE, I went ahead and got staining. That part is pretty easy. Two coats with an extra-fine steel wool rub-down in-between and after and she was ready for hardware. Hardware, like I mentioned wasn't the easiest part, but by far one of the most important to me.

hardware pieces, before

I needed something I couldn't find; I decided to make it myself. I hit the home reno place and bought 4 plain silver knobs, the largest and coolest I could find, shape wise. I found some for $1.88 each. Score! Next, I wanted a cheap ornamental backplate to match. I found one I liked for $1.37 each. Sweet-ness. Hardware for under $15. I was elated. Once I got it home I painted it a gloss white. I debated whether to paint them a deep cad yellow but went back to the original vision after a day. With the buffet completely dry we moved Buffy in. New hardware holes were drilled, hardware attached and ta-daa - Buffy became my dream come true!

buffy, after!

see? she fits like a glove

hardware, after

Now, to fill it up and style it! I have some pieces just dying to be hung above.

Stay tuned for *Final* final pictures. I just couldn't wait to share my new found functional friend.

♥ leel

another before & after vintage suitcase table? please meet :: blue footed bobby ::

2010-05-21T10:48:00.026-04:00

I am so excited to finally share my latest vintage suitcase creation with the interweb! After completing Bambi, the first upcycle of the luggage kind and most beloved of all things I've made, I knew I was onto something. The traffic to that post is still strong. She has been featured online as well as had interest from some very cool websites and publications. thanks guys & stay tuned :)

This guy was given to me in his original pre-loved state by a wonderful man I work with during the holidays when he heard I was into 'the luggage'. He had used it and found it in the garage, unloved, and lovingly gave him to me to upcycle and make useful. Perfection.

Blue Footed Bobby, as it also turns out, is an Ikea Hack. Once I completed cleaning, priming painting and finishing up his stripes with some magic shiny tape I was on the hunt for legs. He's not a large suitcase, just the right size, medium. He needed legs that matched his style and size. I hunted and hunted for something inexpensive and suitable. What did I end up using? The base from my very own best friend of a laptop table from Ikea, Dave. Height adjustable, tiltable and so so birdlike, I loved the idea in my mind. With a little cleaning, some paint and a simple transplant of hardware he was born. Without any further explanation, let me introduce Blue Footed Bobby.

just a little laptop work in the garden, you know.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

♥ leel

short & sweet: 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. i know.

2010-05-20T16:53:00.016-04:00

The other night my sweet food choices were down to a spoonful of jam or a spoonful of peanut butter. Neither would do (i am no joey) and I had a serious hankering for something yummy. Enter three ingredient peanut butter cookies. The back of the jar recipe is what it is, actually. I was fondling my large jar of kraft creamy pb when I noticed the recipe. I was super skeptical. 3 ingredients? Really? How am I going to hand roll balls from a mixture of only 3 ingredients? What a nightmare I envisioned. My main concerns were about texture: what about the flour, the brown sugar yumminess?

Well, let me tell you, these are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made. I know. Who knew? They remind me of my childhood. The cookies I used to eat back then. And only 3 common ingredients. And they cook in 15 minutes! Moist, peanuty and perfect size cookies. I love them and fully recommend them for peanut butter cookie lovers.

Here is the recipe:

Heat oven to 325.

Mix together...
1 cup peanut butter,
1/2 cup sugar, and
1 egg
...until well blended.

Roll a spoon sized amount into a round ball, placing each 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork.

.
Bake for 15 minutes (do not over bake), allow to cool a few minutes and place on a rack or plate to cool. Place cooled cookies in a sealed container for fresh cookies for days. If they last that long! Yields 24 (2 dozen) cookies.

I keep thinking of how awesome cashew butter or almond butter might be as well. Yum!

♥ leel

music monday :: stuck on USS ::

2010-05-17T11:31:00.007-04:00

it's true. i'm stuck. on USS. today anyway. remember that post a few weeks ago? yah. well, it's stuck in my mind so i'm going with it. Laces Out makes me want to dance in a packed sweaty bar and/or drive a car that handles well really fast. Hollowpoint Snyper Hyperbole has a similar affect. what's not to love about that, this monday? just go and press play. trust me. really...

happy monday!

.
♥ leel

drawing comfort

2010-05-14T13:44:00.019-04:00

When I feel a funk surround me I try and keep my brain occupied. Episodes of Top Chef online provide the neutral soundtrack for the day. Drawing keeps the other nattering parts busy too; distracted, it seems. My natural tendency is to draw circles. My new Sakura gel markers were a natural progression. Pages of circles. For me it's fulfilling in a completely pointless, non-functionary way. Comfort doodling, if you will.

Care to share? What do you comfort doodle?

♥ leel

music monday :: Sarah Slean

2010-05-10T09:03:00.023-04:00

Happy Monday all! Here's hoping you each had a nice yesterday that included some warm mom moments. From the looks of things on Twitter and in the blog posts so far, it seems everyone else sure had greats days too. Mine sure was fun. We made dinner for my mom and celebrated her day. She got an original framed little p. from me, (she squealed) and a new three wheeler bike she got a couple weeks ago. It's purple. With a basket on the back. She is badass on it. You should hear her talk about her love of it. Yay us! Ok. Onward.

I had no idea what I would want to listen to this morning, so I just picked an old fave out of my music playlist on youtube and went with it. Enter, Sarah Slean.

You might be familiar with her music or name, you might not. Sarah Slean is Canadian, from the Toronto region, and someone I found by chance when she opened for Alanis at the NAC in what feels like a lifetime ago. Ok, 6 or 7 years ago. Regardless, it was her songbird voice, her emotion in her lyrics, the way she played the piano, the cabaret feel to her original style that immediately hooked me back then. I still love it today. Here's Lucky Me, the first song she played that night. Give it a whirl.

And you're sad, and you're sorry
Let it all out what are you running for?
This is your chance, be ready
I'm taking my seat o Lucky Me

Next, Day One, an animated video that i always enjoy a peek at. I just love this song. I do. Day One. What's not to love?!

I put my head back
Where it belongs up there in the clouds
I’m spreading love like
a terrorist now

Lastly, and perhaps my fave, is Sweet Ones. It's amazing to see live. Girl can bang on the piano and belt out a great song with the best of them, I say. Just try it. Go on.

Sarah Slean - Sweet Ones @ Yahoo! Video

They're counting on a guilty conscience to save you
But I'm bankin' on the deep blue eyes and the face too
They always said, always said, always said you were easy, oh . . .
Oh if I could have just one piece of that I'd be
Sold Over. . .

So that's what I've been listening to this morning. I hope you have a great day! If not, re-play Day One a couple times or check out last week's Music Monday post for my all time fave day-brightener.

♥ leel

♥ mamas ♥

2010-05-09T12:37:00.019-04:00

just a quick little post to say Happy Mother's Day to all people who act in a motherly way towards another thing; you mother and you sure matter.

and to my own mama, the woman i thank the universe for every day. thank you for your love.

here's to you!

with love, leel
♥

that bloody book challenge

2010-05-08T12:44:00.009-04:00

So, the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. It's still on, even if I am a couple weeks/books behind. But those weekly book report posts I had visualized as anticipatory? Yah, those have morphed into something more like dread. I am not a book reviewer, not do I ever aspire to be one. I like to read, I like to read new things. That's where it ends. So, from now on I am going to just list the book, perhaps a few lines, and leave it at that. I don't want to dread this challenge, just enjoy it.

So there you have it. I will be updating my Shelfari Bookshelf (see it in the sidebar there -> ?) to be more up to date. Feel free to browse it. It's a cool application.

The last 52 Books post was for the 4th book. Here are the books that followed it:

5 - Dispatches from the Edge; a Memoir of War, Disasters & Survival. Anderson Cooper
6 - Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe
7 - The Lost Garden. Helen Humphreys
8 - The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls
9 - The Gum Thief. Douglas Coupland
10 - Traveling With Pomegranates; a mother -daughter story. Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor
11 - Nights Below Station Street. David Adams Richards
12 - When All You Have is Hope. Frank O'Dea
13 - Ellen Foster. Kaye Gibbons
14 - The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster. Kaye Gibbons

I am choosing book 15 as we speak. I have been finding a tonne of books on my little treaure hunts, Value Village seems to continually have great finds! I highly recommend checking out their book section before going anywhere else.

So there you have it. A catch-up post on that bloody book challenge. Phew. I feel better already!

Happy Saturday!

♥ leel

it's ♥ i forgot this ♥ friday

2010-05-07T10:24:00.012-04:00

I won't lie, I was super excited to find my vintage luggage upcycle project included in a Lovely Luggage blog post by Sarah from Toodles back in April. I meant to share it when I found it a few weeks ago but, shocker, I got busy outside and forgot. Until now that is!

See that?! Recognize the black table, #1 in the picture? (I know! It's my little Bambi!!)

I have since been poking through Sarah's blog and her posts are really quite amazing. Anyone who likes to peruse style and design ideas as much as I do will be sure to appreciate her clever sense of style and editing. Go check it out!

Happy Friday all!
.
♥ leel

random drawing: little p.

2010-05-06T13:54:00.010-04:00

when i sit down to draw i usually have no idea what will appear.

sometimes it's shapes or patterns of colour, sometimes leaves or flowers or skies.

yesterday i sat down with sketch pad and pencil in hand and gradually this little man appeared.

i have no idea where he came from, but i love him already.

i call him little p.

welcome, little p.!

♥ leel

wordless wednesday. the opposite of shadow.

2010-05-05T11:06:00.009-04:00

(click here to participate)

♥ leel

creativity update

2010-05-04T15:11:00.003-04:00

Creativity has been alive and well in these parts since the arrival of the early spring. My process involves brainstorming, contemplating, logistics, multiple phases and rest periods. This works well for me since I like to work on a variety of projects at a time. When one project is ending, I contemplate the beginning of a new one entering the circle. None of this 'start one thing, don't put it down or work on anything else until it's completed' for me. I just don't work that way. i need to step back from a piece continually before it's completed. Fresh eyes are mandatory.

So what's the creative cycle look like for me right now? Something like this:

One small vintage suitcase table transformation nearing completion, but in need of the *perfect* legs. I will know them when I see them in my treasure hunts this week. Patience is key. I always find what I want, I just need to keep looking.

One vintage travel case conversion. I see this little guy with striped sides soon, and a fancy shiny top. I might like him as-is, without legs since he looks like a perfect little traveling art supply tickle trunk. Much better than the mandarin crate I drag around the house right now. I'm sure my husband will agree. So this is what it looks like now, with a base coat of gloss black.

One large vintage suitcase table in decision making mode. I love the green base coat, just thinking about what colours to use as accents and where/how I will use them. I'm not sure if I'm going to stripe this one or make the sides and top contrasting colours. Like I said, decision mode.

one pencil drawing practice exercise. I really want to work on my drawing skills and then move them into paintings. I don't do this enough. I find myself interested in honing some of those skills I've put on the back shelf for so long. I'm really enjoying the quiet simplicity of pencil and eraser, I must admit.

As well, there is the ever present ponder able buffet piece in my garage awaiting repair and a final sanding before I stain it (black!) and move it into the (awkward) main floor. I am still on the hunt for the perfect hardware for it. This is turning into a hunt of it's own. Stay tuned!

So that's what I have been up to creativity wise. I am having a blast between these guys and the gardens. I will be updating with some pics about my spanktastic b-day and the gardens later this week.

Thanks for popping by & Happy Tuesday!

♥ leel

music monday ♥ first love ♥

2010-05-03T12:50:00.011-04:00

i got thinking about earliest memories and the music of my childhood. my soundtrack. musical roots.

my earliest memory of music is swift but vivid. i was in the back seat of my parents car - I remember it was yellow, with warm black bucket seats, that kind that left a woven impression on your legs. my mom was driving, the window was open, the sun shone in and she was singing this song as it played on the radio.

i still remember it like it was yesterday when i hear this song. a moment caught in a song's web. i never tire of it, my first love. it's my little happy go to place.

so, do tell, what are your first memories of music? do you still love them like I do mine? happy monday!

♥ leel

night whites

2010-05-02T12:15:00.021-04:00

the flowers around the yard this spring are all early.

the crabapple tree blooms as i type this, the first time for my birthay. i love it.

i have a lot of white in the back gardens; a night garden effect, they call it.

the whites shine bright at night, allowing the gardens that line the yard to come alive from our deck in the darkness.

i love photographing white. i just do. the colours that emerge and reflect when you look deeper always surprise and delight. here are a few i have been playing with. i can't stop looking at them!

happy sunday!

♥ leel

aka

2010-05-01T10:43:00.011-04:00

today is the day i was born, 37 years ago. 1973.
i had a name. it was Tina Fuller. nobody except my mother knew it though.
she never touched me, she says, just saw my face as i was rushed out of the room.
for a while i lived in the hospital.
for a few weeks i lived with foster parents.
i wish i knew what they called me. who they were.
.
one day in late june i became Keeley D.
became part of my family.
i married and kept that name.
it is who i am.
.
but i always wonder about Tina.
and that other baby, who had another name for a few weeks.
and the father who knows nothing of any of it.
this year i really want to say happy birthday to them all.
.
i'm not sad. i mean, i love my life. my adoptive family. my husband.
i celebrate this day. but i do wonder about it all for a few moments on this day every year.

♥ leel

wordless wednesday :: april yard ::

2010-04-28T15:10:00.007-04:00

♥ leel

Creativity: Conundrums, Confidence Confessions and a Coupon.

2010-04-27T14:49:00.020-04:00

With the rapid swing in weather comes confusion. Confusion leads to angst. Angst leads to art. For me, anyway. I've been working on both my upcycled furniture pieces and my journal in tandem these days. Outside in the nice weather sanding and priming and painting, inside when the sun goes down or the clouds come out. Working away regardless.

My problem lies in the fact that I don't have a clear picture of where all this awesome creative goodness is actually going. I know, that shouldn't be a a part of my mental equation, the end result. It fucks up the creative process etc., but still, I am lying in bed late at night wondering about purpose and direction and career choices and holy wow do I hate that. I feel like I'm sitting on the edge of something large, a big decision, a big leap, a big step forward, a big something is lurking right around the corner. I can see myself standing on the edge of a cliff looking down. I keep thinking I shuold be looking up, at the place my newfound wings will take me to, but I all I can do is look back and down. Paralized in fear of making any step at all. And that scares the crap out of me.

Ideally, I would have a new website, new name, new logo for my etsy shop and selling some painting and prints while also upcycling furniture to sell locally in consignment/vintage shops as well as on a custom order basis. (phew) Why is this so damn daunting? Because I was a corporate hound girl for so long but gave up making fantastic money and the pride of my family for my own selfish reasons? I fear success and failure? So it seems. I can't make a fucking move. Sure I'm creating with the goals above in mind, but I've had this goal all my life and I can't seem to just go for it now that I'm there. Dammit. At least typing it out here seems to clarify the rapid cycle of imagery and thoughts that have been cluttering through my brain for ages. My point? I need a business name, logo and little teenie site. So yah. That's where my headspace is right now. Moving On.

With all the creative goodness fueling me, I feel the need to pay it forward and share a little of the goodness of Youtube I have been watching as of late. Enter: Teesha Moore, Art Journal Magician. Ok, that's not her title, I just made that up. It's just so accurate though! She takes regular journal pages and makes them into amazing works of art with simple collage and lettering techniques. I am always looking to learn and try new techniques, and Tessha takes you through the entire process in here videos. I was hooked. Here is one video for a taste of what I'm talking about.

As you can see in this video she uses opague gel based pens. Luckily I already had a white one, but after a page or two I wanted some other colours to choose from as well. Since the gel markers are opague they, unike other markers, show up on dark surfaces. I needed some. I found a Michael's coupon online. Since I live within walking distance and now had a 40% off coupon I knew those pens were mine. Turns out you can print out these coupons and use them all week long, once a day. If I ever need to buy anything they supply I always ensure I have this coupon around. The upload new ones weekly. Oh, and on the receipt you get withyour purchase always has a 50% off coupon for any one regular priced item for the next week! I know! You see where I'm going here. Anyway, here is the coupon you can save and print out, as well as the link to where I find them. They are good anywhere. I have asked and they even took the american versions at my local store. Just ask and show them when you walk in, they always say yes and shoo me playfully away. I had to share. I was not paid for this, I just love me a good deal!

So with that, here is a little of what I created in my Upcycled Journal in the Teesha Moore style. I am really loving the tips and ideas she demonstrates and explains.

So there you have it.

Happy Tuesday!

♥ leel

Music Monday :: Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker

2010-04-26T09:20:00.016-04:00

I had heard their name but never attached the music I had heard to them. Not until recently, anyway. I kinda dig their sound. They are Canadian, from the GTA. Referred to as USS, these 2 make musical magic.

Take a listen to Laces Out, the first single off of USS' (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) latest album, Questamation. It's in my head as I type this, so let's go with it. A little brass in the mix, and I'm hooked. I'm such a sucker for a brass sound. My grandbuddy would be proud.

Next up, one you may have heard, Hollowpoint Snyper Hyperbole, from their first release Welding the C:/. I think of New Order when I listen to this.

Maybe you've heard this one or simply remember the title, pornostartrek? Also worth a whirl.

So that's what's going through my mind, music wise, these days. That and all the other Music Monday subjects.

Lemme ask: what music is cycling through your brain on this fine day? I need some new music while I work on 2 new vintage suitcase tables. Yes, TWO! I am so excited and on the hunt for the perfect legs for them. More to come.

Happy Music Monday!

♥ leel

untitled. with pictures

2010-04-20T17:04:00.012-04:00

I have been feeling stumped when it comes to life and blogging lately. I like to blame it on the weather. That heatwave we experienced a few weeks ago was followed by more warm weather, which has resulted in my gardens being roughly 4 weeks ahead of schedule. I love it, I do, but I was anticipating having more inside time to finish off some re-organizing and other projects half completed inside before tackling all the outdoor stuff. So I find myself scrambling a bit where priorities are concerned, and feeling like I haven't finished some of my winter projects yet. So yah. I'm scramblie right now.

I decided to flip through some of the pictures I took, and suddenly realized I actually have pictures from the worst winter ever - 2008, taken on April 1st AND I also have pictures from this April 1st. Guess what that means? Comparison time! I present to you 2 pictures of my back yard. One from 2008 and then 2 from 2010. Can you see the difference? I sure can. Check out how high up that fat dog is on the deck - beside the barbecue! And this year? I clear, dirty patio with a cat beside the deck and bees and flowers in my garden. Holy wow! See what I mean?!

Happy Tuesday!

♥ leel

Music Monday :: Movie Magic

2010-04-19T18:56:00.020-04:00

In my quest for inspiration and understanding of all things creative process related, I like to watch documentaries and read biographies of visual artists. Georgia O'Keefe, Frida Kahlo, Emily Carr, Andy Warhol, Klimpt, The Group of Seven et al. were all read about in the early days. Now, thanks to the internerd, I can search for all things art & process related and find an inspiration rabbit hole on the processes of artists globally any time I want! Yippee! That pretty much means that I have something always playing in the background while I work away in the studio or kitchen.

.
Enter: Meaning of this post.
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Last week I found this little gem of a rockumentary, It Might Get Loud, online On Demand and pressed play. Having not seen the trailer and without any knowledge of the film itself I was unsure of what was to come. I loved it. I turned it up, stopped, rewound and re-watched segments and felt the hairs on my neck stand up at least a half-dozen times. And OMG, the opening scene? Let me just say that making something from nothing is something I appreciate, something that motivates me as an artist so my mind pretty much blew after 20 seconds in. Little did I know, the best was yet to come. Here's a nice little visual summary for the senses on what the hell I am yammering about.

Maybe it meant so much to me and is stuck in my brain days later because I have seen U2 (twice) and The White Stripes live in concert, heard and felt the power behind the chords of The Edge and Jack White, 2 of the 3 artists in question, but I don't think so. I just loved seeing their faces as they played, talked and watched each other perform. The bliss of creating. The craziness of process, the world of sound behind the curtain. I don't care who you are, when you hear the opening to the streets have no name, you feel something. It might be nostalgia, it might be joy, but it's definitely something. After hearing it live, twice (I know. don't hate me!) I am sure of it. Did I mention I may or may not have developed a very large pounding crush on Jack White? Yah. I know.

One final thing before you run off and excitedly talk to google and find it for yourself: Inspiration. I love, seek and treasure inspiration. I find it all over the internet. One reason I decided to share this here is to share this little bit of inspiration that resulted from the rockumentary in question. I short piece that made me smile. I hope more artists share their ideas, methods of their madness and that the film industry continues to make great films like this. Inspiration is infectious.

Right?!?

♥ leel

next best thing: instant love?

2010-04-15T21:01:00.010-04:00

Today I saw a tweet by someone famous pimping Nikki & Rich and their song Next Best Thing, this amazing duo/band. I listened and fell for their modern throwback style and sound about 15 seconds in. If you like brass in your music, you will especially love the 2nd (live) video of Cat & Mouse. Maybe I'm predictable, your typical lemming, following the masses. I think I might be behind the eight ball on this one, but it's stuck in my head now so share away I will.

Why do I see a Gap commercial in the future? Why does that make me angry? Enough already! Watch!

♥ leel

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 4: Rockabye: From Wild to Child

2010-04-13T12:13:00.000-04:00

Where to start. I have put off actually writing this because, um, a) I am lazy and busy all at the same time these days and b)I am a silly geek who makes mountains out of molehills and creates stress where there was none. Awesome.

Can I just leave it at at that?

No? Blogging is about sharing some of the stuff of life?

FINE.

So, Book 4. I somehow found the personal blog of the amazing wonderwoman of a blogger Rebecca Woolf over a year ago. I fell in love with her blog, From Wild to Child, right away. I think it was her writing style, her stories of life back in the day that really got my attention; I found I could really relate to her, in general. So, as it turns out she is also on Twitter, so I followed her. Damn I love twitter.

I soon realized she has also written a memoire style book sharing the details of her own adventures in life, through dating, an unexpected pregnancy/turned marriage/family, sharing her reactions as a woman, mother, and daughter throughout. I decided to add it to my wish list for the holidays, and sure enough, it arrived under the tree. Perfection! What does a rational person do? Read the book, thinking 'cool, i understand it so much more since i read the author's blog' and move on to Book 5. What do I do? I tweet her and tell her I am going to read it and am really excited. She replies! Yay! How cool is that, I think. I do love me some technology! So, I send her a favourite line or two, to solidify my geek status, and now she follows ME on the twitter. I know. Weird! SO now, like, um, I feel like I really need to do a fantastico-best-ever-review-of-all-reviews-ever-written-by-anyone-EVER to do justice to this AWESOME book, and all I feel qualified to really do is a fancy cut-and-paste style grade 7 book report. Zoiks! (run on sentences ftw!)

So there. That's what's up with the delay in the 52-Books-in-52-Weeks Book Challenge. (Intimidation, you can just stand up and take a nice curtsy and then move to the side.) I will try not to let the Intimidation factor stall this process any longer. Let's just hammer this out the way I have for the other 3. k? k.

So, The Book. Like I said above, I loved it. To let you in on the details, I will blatantly steal the text from the Amazon site, because I assume they got it from the publisher, and they seem to say it best. And I am pressed for time. So, onward: a description of Rockabye: From Wild to Child by Rebecca Woolf.

Rockabye is the lively memoir of a spontaneous young city-girl who becomes unexpectedly pregnant. That city-girl is Rebecca Woolf, who at 23, after the "holy shit, I'm pregnant" realization, decides to keep the baby, marry the boyfriend (in Vegas no less), and figure out how to wed her rock n' roll lifestyle and impending motherhood.

With humor, honesty, and renegade insight, Rebecca makes the transition from life as an odd-job doing commitment-phobic, chain-smoking, irresponsible party-girl to life as a work-at-home mother with a different kind of social life. Throughout, Rebecca doesn't relinquish the token qualities of her free-spirited, pre-baby self; rebelling against both the "soccer mom," and "young mother" stereotypes, challenging herself to grow up without outgrowing her dreams, and most importantly embracing motherhood without a map.

Rockabye explores the coming together of mother and son and their mutual coming of age. How does Rebecca adapt to motherhood? By acting on instinct and maintaining a strong sense of self, breaking rules (sometimes her own) in the process and building her own adventures out of legos and alphabet blocks.

I read Rebecca's tell-all account of girl-growth in 2 (yes two) sittings. I loved it. Easily. I found that once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. That good. I remembered the feeling, a familiar old friend of a feeling like I once had when I was 12 and reading Are You There God, It's Me Margaret for the first time. That good. It's a great account of growth and motherhood and moving from girlchild to girlmother. I loved that - that she remains true to her core, showing how one can still be her true self and a mother. It inspired me.

Her writing style flows and surprises, the tone feels authentic, like you are getting a peek in through the back screen door and witnessing it all yourself. I was grateful for the insight, and can't wait to see what she publishes next. I loved it. Have I said that enough? I feel like I should write and write and put in all my favorite quotes but GD, I need to press publish - I'm like 10 books behind on the book reports! So that's that. I really loved this book. Period.

I'm sorry Rebecca, a professional book reviewer I am not.

♥ leel

daily horoscope or new mantra?

2010-04-11T14:46:00.014-04:00

:: spring ::

there was a time when i followed my horoscope. there came a time i abandoned it, not wanting to think about all the workings, the possibilities of bs, or not.

today i saw this, and instead of deleting the e-mail upon receipt like i usually do, i took a glance at what it had to say. I thought it was worth posting, and sharing. Because regardless of who you are, and what day it is, i think it applies to us all each and every day. I love it!

Your dream projects are moving a little closer to reality today -- but only if you provide the motivational force. You shouldn't fear rejection or disbelief, and most people are ready for nearly anything.

happy sunday!

♥ leel

weird stuff of icons and saints. plus a Temple of the Dog song or 2.

2010-04-08T19:06:00.035-04:00

Temple of the Dog reminds me of April and my life in the 90's. Each song below has a socio-religious feel to it and I am in a socio/anthro state right now, so lets just go with it. Moving on. That's all there is about music from me today.

Onward! Lemme set this up real quicklike:

a) My husband's family lives in Portugal. Our next trip has always included a trip to Madrid, Spain, a mere 5-hour drive from Lisbon.

b) I have a fascination with art in an anthropological, culture way. I love old books. I search for old books when I do my rounds of my fave 2nd hand store *treasure hunting* spots.

c) I also love to garden a lot, worked and lived on a working farm as a teenager, back in my horse-girl days and have recently been thinking & researching a lot about starting an Urban Community Garden in my own neighbourhood. We live in an area without one, with apartment buildings and green schoolyards all around me, and no real close access to local produce. I am feeling a need/drive to do something real in my community.

d) Have I mentioned the pets? I have had them all including horses, still have 4 as we speak (touch wood, Fatty is getting old!) and generally treat my pets as my buddies. They have great lives. I want to come back in another life as one of my own pets, actually. They have it that good.

e) Sorry if this seems choppy, one last thing to add. I promise.

f) I have been thinking of religion a lot. No specific one, but what the deities represent, and why, how our cultures view religion and the stories behind the icons. How they change over time. Looking deeper into the myths behind them I've also found myself staring at the new 360 view of the Sistine Chapel the Vatican has launched online. Reading Travelling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kid for my 52 books challenge has seemed eerily co-incidental.

So, the entire point of this? I picked up this very cool anthology of french literature published in Quebec in 1877 for $3 a while back. Yah. Sooo cool. I decided to pick it up today, remembering there was something in its pages somewhere. Out popped a prayer card thing, in french, from April 16, 1942. It's a card of St. Isadore.

Being only functionally bi-lingual and not able to fully comprehend the blurb on the back I googled St. Isidore and came up with this:

Isidore was born to very poor yet very pious Catholic parents in Madrid, Spain. His parents were unable to support him when he was a youth and sent him to work for a wealthy landowner, John de Vergas (He ended up working for him for the rest of his life).

He married a very religious woman named Maria Torribia (also known as Maria de la Cabeza). She, like Isidore became a saint. They had one son who died unexpectedly as a child. Their grief inclined them to believe their son's death to be a sign from God and consequently vowed to live a life of perfect continence.

Isidore frequented Holy Mass every morning but often reported to work late. Late, though he was, his plowing was nevertheless accomplished by angels that resulted in three times more productivity. His coworkers and his boss witnessed such miraculous events and accorded Isidore with great respect.

St. Isidore loved the poor and loved the animals. The miracle of the multiplication of food occurred when Isidore fed a flock of starving birds and on another time when Isidore shared his food with a large group of beggars.

Isidore died on May 15, 1120 at 60 years of age and was canonized in 1622 along with four very notable Spanish saints. St. Isidore is known as the patron of Madrid, Spain as well as Leon, Saragosa, and Seville. He is also considered the patron of farmers, peasants, day laborers, and rural communities.

My only point of this is: I think community gardening and farming might be for me! I think finding this card at this time, today, might really mean something. Either that or I'm just looking for something. Or I'm crazy. One of the three.

That trip to Madrid we're planning on taking later this year is starting to take on a familiar theme. Awesome! Weird!

What would you think? What do you think?

I'll be here, wondering about it. Fear not.

♥ leel

:: one for the records ::

2010-04-07T20:28:00.016-04:00

The Cruise. I have been home from The Cruise (& best vacation of all time) for over 2 weeks now. I know, so shut up already. It's just that this was such an amazing trip, my first in multiple areas, so I can't quite seem to shake it. The nice thing about travelling with so many people is the friendships that spark up as the week progresses. There was a few of the association staff that I got to know and adore, we ate together, played together and travelled about as a pack. Many cameras were toted. I lovingly received a whole batch (being 233) pictures from one of said crew who works with the bub, this morning. Holy wow, I was in a whole wack of pictures. I usually escape behind the camera, so I'm not terribly used to actually looking at myself. So, I have been able to relive The Cruise all day long.

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I also promised I would share some of ME. I chose 3 of the 12 or so of me alone, that hide my face. Awesome! And my hair is vacation crazy (think Monica in Friends).

Here goes. I'm shy. Be nice.

:: in the bahamas (duh) getting ready to swim & be freaked out with the stingrays ::

:: chillaxin' in the bahamas. it's true. it IS better there. ::

:: Caribbean Night & dancing under the stars on the ocean. Not pictured: one dancing jamaican bobsledder. true story. I know! ::

♥ leel

Music Monday :: Matt Good

2010-04-05T14:58:00.006-04:00

Last week I found myself digging through youtube for music from my 20's, music from the 90's. I mean, it's just too great to forget. Most of it is Canadian bands I saw during those years, bands now defunct. One artist I can't seem to ever shake is Matthew Good. I have loved him as the lead singer in the Matthew Good Band, who people branded an asshole after a weird publicity stunt gone sour, and today, as Matthew or Matt Good. I mean, his name is Good. He represents to me, a meaningful working artist. He speaks loudly about mental illness and for global justice, he blogs as well.

So, how bad can a guy named Good be? Or is that the irony? Or is that just his name and I'm being a weirdo? One of those sounds kinda right. I digress. I love his lyrics. I love his passion. I sing the words to these songs at random times, they pop up all the time and right now they are stuck in my mind. So put on some earphones (or not) crank up the volume, press play and enjoy them with me ::

I am currently cycling the lyrics to Everything is Automatic, over and over and over in mind, so it seems like a perfect place to start:

say hey, say hey, say, how ya doin'

Next Up: let's go back to the early days. Symbolistic White Walls. Perfection, all of it.

Next, and lastly: Born Losers. (the winning video entry, actually) Maybe my fave, as I listen to the lyrics now. Dripping with awesome, actually.

"Born Losers"

Well there ain't nothing to this but your daughter
and the life you would not give her break your plans
traipsed across the continent a squatter
for your lies at night to sleep between my hands

When the lights come on this whole place gets ugly
but when they're out strangers fall in love
she could never say that flat out she don't want me
cause I could never say that half way ain't enough

New Order's on the turn table we're dancing
cause what else do you do when you don't talk?
crucified to crawl into your mansion
Ya, that's why I learned to crawl before I walked

We're back where we belong
straight back where we belong
no days for nights, no cocaine cons
just back where we belong

Take me out back to your piranhas
And beat me until I can't even stand
your whole life a plane without no landing gear
so if this is it then come on let me land

That trailer trash pedigree is calling
it rats you out when you're down on all fours
me I like to cast my death on yesterday
cause what doesn't kill us now just makes us better whores

We're back where we belong
straight back where we belong
no days for nights, no cocaine cons
just back where we belong

Go put it in the ground
go bury it some place it can't be found
go put it in the ground

Well there ain't nothing to this but your daughter
and the life you would not give her break your plans
traipsed across the continent a squatter
for your lies at night to sleep between my hands

Happy Music Monday :)

♥ leel

April Heatwaves Bring Early April Flowers? Is that the saying?

2010-04-04T21:21:00.017-04:00

Wow: Um, question? Where has the time gone? It felt like it was winter, we went on our cruise, came home to no snow and crocus buds, and now it's like August out there. In early April? WTF universe? I tweeted something to the effect of "if I have to turn my air conditioning on in the month of April, then I call it: Apocalypse." I mean it. (And by Mean It, I mean I am only 15% kidding and 85% serious this time.) Ok, so, what I Mean is: if this weather continues, and the Swiss keep doing weird things that break new grounds for the entire field of Physics, I propose we sell our shit and travel the world together (blogging about it all as we go) until 2012, when we then just call it a day, sit back on the beach or ocean, and watch some weird galactic shit take place. And if it doesn't end? We become expert freedom travelling journalists or some junk or publish books about the whole weird experience or something. It would be awesome! It'll be fine... Win, Win, Win. Who's in?

Seriously though, the Air Conditioning thing, it was a close call 2 nights ago, kids. I was forced to pull out the oscillating (and very creaky and annoying, I might add) floor fan. With 82 degree weather 2 days in row, the house was humid and warm. In April. In Canada, don't forget. I went to bed with straight hair the first night, tossed and turned all night long, and got up with curly hair. Now, I am known to be a tad of a night sweats person to begin with, but never this early, it was seriously, just like August this entire weekend. Nice. I have loved every second, don't get me wrong, but it is weird. Easter weekend in New Brunswick, when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's at least, usually included snowbanks and winter coats. Very different from today, is my only point.

So, where have I been? My excuses include that I've been busy working away cleaning up the junk that constantly blows into our yard, raking and cleaning up the yards and uncovering the plants and fleurs in the gardens (see picture below), busy finishing my 2 journal pages for my nerdfighter traveling journal project, busy working with a film festival, and busy reading for my little book challenge. You know, general spring/life busyness.

With the wonderful weather comes time to get to upcycling some more suitcases. I have pulled them out and gotten some Before shots and am looking very forward to finding time to get some actual sanding, priming and painting going on. I have an Art Deco sort of buffet-thing in the garage awaiting a nice sanding and fixing up. It will be going into our ever-evolving living/dining room we have. I hate the layout. This piece of furniture (fingers crossed) will help solve some of the *issues* I keep having with that, and be something fun to blog about. My point: stay tuned for some creative fun!

Now that I have shipped off the traveling art journal pages to the next contributor, I can get back to focusing on some new journal pages in the Upcycled Journal I shared a while back. I love this journal. I love working in. I love that each page is different. Fun. This in turn has led to new inspiration to move from journal to canvas and I can feel a new series starting to peek through the fog. I am excited to move back to larger scale pieces and will be sure to share some once they show themselves.

What else? Busy with family, enjoying life after vacationing, and hanging with one special little man I talk about sometimes on here. My 3 year old nephew. I love every stage, but 3 & 4 for me are the best. I love this age. My nephew is no exception. Smart, thoughtful, polite, hilarious, and somewhat of an old man since birth don't even begin to describe the personality of this kid. He is adorable. People stop in stores to listen to his chatter. He never stops making me smile. Today was no exception. He and I had a wonderful time playing in the park near where my uncle jj & mom live while visiting for easter. He was quietly playing with a new tractor thing while I took the opportunity to snap and snap away as he figured this new toy out in the sand. It was quiet and warm in the sun, sitting there together, and I smiled to myself for this time with him. As he drove his tractor he turned his tiny body around so we were facing one another. He looked at me and said "auntie keeley? Can we stay here forever?" I said to him "Levi, if I could somehow make it so we could stay here forever, I would." And I meant it. What a blessing children are. Never under-estimate what impact they might have on a member of the family. I mean, check him out? See that? That sweetness?

Yup, I am ruined. What a gift.

I hope you all enjoy your days as spring (and or/summer!)/(or fall for my Aussie friends!) arrives. What a great time of renewal and growth Spring is. I love it!

♥ leel

pics from a trip

2010-03-27T13:23:00.007-04:00

pictures!
a few, anyway.
I didn't take many. oops.

a) & b) hallendale beach, florida & c) the hotel pool

d) our suite on the cruise e) water below our balcony f) water g) out our balcony h) the boat used & the ferry used to shuttle us toGeorgetown, Grand Cayman

i) the water in Jamaica, j) the view in the morning, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica k) ocean sunset

Nassau, Bahamas

beautiful graffiti, nassau (and our ship in the background!)

beautiful graffiti, nassua

♥ leel

good intentions and a whole bunch of other random stuff

2010-03-24T12:54:00.013-04:00

how's that for a post title?
Good Intentions: I often utter the words "the road to hell was paved with good intentions" when I hear anyone say they had intended on doing something as some sort of excuse for not doing said thing. And this is why: It's true. Intentions mean nothing in reality.

I had great intentions for this blog while I was away.
I had intended on blogging the entire time I was on my little vacay; I wanted to blog every day in March.
I had intended on writing a couple of reviews for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge during my time away.
I had intended on reading three or four books for the same challenge.
I had intended on documenting each day with pictures, capturing each day forever.

And here I am at the end of my vacay. Wow. Not one thing achieved. I am So behind! Ha!

The only thing I can think of in my new found mellow relaxed and rejuvenated state is: Oh well. I had intended on so much that of course I couldn't achieve it. I mean, I had to factor in actually doing things on this vacay (it was a conference for my husband's job, there was stuff to do!) and then I had to add on the klutzy eff-ups that are so my style.

My hurdles included:

the fact that we had 150 minutes of free wi-fi for the entire week, after which you are charged seventy-five cents PER minute. So there was that. Add in the fact that the connection was dial-up speed at best, making it impossible to even access my webmail or twitter, and you will find my laptop closed most of the time.
the fact that I forgot the camera cord at home and failed to borrow one from the 47 other people who had the same camera with them.
the fun. There was too much fun to be had to be toting my camera around every second. I got about 100 pictures. Total. Yah. So, I'll get copies from my new-found friends. Done and Done.

Ok, enough about what I didn't do the last week or so, how about I share some of what I did do? That sounds way more fun.

I attended my first annual national association conference; my husband works for the association - he was working and hosting, I was his spouse, vacationing.
I got to know 798 of my husband's amazing co-workers, colleagues and professional peers/families from every region of Canada. He had said it was like a family. He did not lie.
I went on my first cruise. The conference was on the ship; we had the entire boat. Yah.
I visited 4 new places on the globe I had never been before. (Fort Lauderdale; Florida, Georgetown; Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios; Jamaica and Nassau: Bahamas.) And the ocean, I got to see a lot of the broad beautiful blue ocean.
I left my passport and boarding pass in the bathroom at OTHER END of the Toronto Airport in between flights on the way there. I lost my passport in between the aisle and my seat on our final flight home, only finding it when we landed, in the overhead bin with someone else's luggage. #fail #typical
I ate like a queen, slept like a well fed baby, and pretty much ate drank and hung out on the upper deck lounge (near all the buffets!) to my heart's content. #win
Did not get seasick. But I didn't really leave any room for that to happen since I had the seasickness patch on behind my ear the entire time. It was awesome.
I was aware of the ship's movement and I times it did freak me out or make me a bit dizzy. Sitting was worse than standing, but it was no problem sleeping and was kinda cool being rocked to sleep. Most times it was hard to discern between the gravol haze, the few drinks in me and the movement of the ship. I found that by day 2 you just go with it. Everyone staggers, nobody judges.
I swam in the ocean in the Caymans and Bahamas.
I grew to like unsweetened iced tea.
I ate multiple small meals each day. it was awesome. i miss it ALL.
I got sunburned in Fort Lauderdale, the Caymans, wore a long sleeved shirt in Jamaica and the Bahamas and am peeling like an idiot as we speak. dammit.
I drank Caesar's in the morning (they knew we were Canadian, so they had the bar stocked with Mott's & celery salt), about 700 gallons of water, and some really great cafe au lait from the 24 hour coffee machines.
I ate 4 course meals and simply stood up at the end and walked out of the restaurant without signing, paying, tipping, nothing.
I pet stingrays in the Bahamas. They feel like velvety mushrooms. I didn't expect them to have eyes and it freaked me out when I first snorkeled down. I didn't expect one to turn and put my fingers in it's weird little gummy mouth either. Zoiks. That was enough for me. Experience complete, check.
I ordered 24 hour room service. It was awesome.
I experienced luxury. Did I mention that yet? As we collected our luggage there were jokes about starting an online support community for us all.We are ruined. No one wanted to go home. Everyone raved about the cruise.
I gambled at sea in the casino. I played blackjack. I got 21 a couple of times. The dealer was impressed when I told him to give me a red jack for my ace, and he did. I lost $25 at the end of the night. It was fun.
I swam in the pool while we were at sea. Weird. In water, on water.
I sat in the hot tub laying back and looking up at different stars, at a crescent moon that hugged the bottom of the moon, not like the side crescent we see here. Weird. I sat in hot water, in warm air, over cold water. Weird.
I met and hung out with Devon Harris, an amazing speaker. You might know him from his Olympic days as a member of the Jamaican bobsled team. He was a keynote at the conference so he was on the ship with us. He has an amazing foundation helping kids back in his hometown in Kingston Jamaica. He can dance. He was a tonne of fun.
Did I mention the dancing under the stars during Theme Night? It was Jamaica night, and it was a blast. I usually roll my eyes at that type of thing, I won't lie. But it was a riot. To see the chairmen in their rasta hats with fake dreads was awesome. There was much tequila consumed by my husband. (He had early morning (7am) meetings most days, ouch) The band played, we danced to 80's tunes and it was pure fun. Whodda thunk?! #awesome

So that about summarizes much of what went down the last week or so. It was amazing. It was like a camp on a boat. Everyone knew each other and wore name badges, so it was really easy to feel at home quite quickly. Life is good.

♥ leel

ps. the tulips are up!

pps. my uncle jj cleaned our entire house and raked our front yard while we were gone. I know! Don't hate me.

ppps. pictures tomorrow!

Latin American Film Festival

2010-03-23T12:38:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow in Ottawa, the Canadian Film Institute will open the curtains to its 14th Annual Latin American Film Festival. 15 countries are participating. I will be kicking around, maybe I'll see you there! Plus, there are often receptions afterwards. Did I mention there is food and/or wine? Well now you know.

For a complete outline of coming events, check out the calendar.

♥ leel

three birds

2010-03-17T07:57:00.004-04:00

I want to remember this. This feeling. The feeling of being without stress. Without complete anxiety. It’s been far too long since I have felt this at ease.

Right now it’s 6am. It’s really 7 though. The time goes back 1 hour when you cross into the Caribbean. Who knew? I have been awake since 5. When I awoke, I lied in bed facing the balcony doors that lead to my ocean. I could see only darkness; no horizon line to be seen, just pitch black darkness. As my eyes adjusted to the light, or lack there of, I witnessed what I thought at the time was an optical illusion. Out of the darkness 3 birds rose from the depths and their white bodies glowed like heavenly angels. The hovered and flapped beside the balcony for what seemed like an hour. I just lied there, I just watched. I wondered, again, if I was making this up in my mind. Off they flew. My husband tossed and turned suddenly, and noticing I was awake said good morning. I commented on the birds I had just seen, and he replied: they are following the ship. Being fully awake by this point, I arose and went for the balcony door. Sure enough, about 20 feet ahead of my balcony flew an entire flock of birds. Dipping and diving, they followed us for what seemed like forever. I just sat in the dark and watched them. From the balcony itself, I could hear them talking, hear them answering one another. It was as if time stood still for a while. And I enjoyed it.

I was very anxious about this trip. I hadn’t travelled anywhere since 2008. The last time I went anywhere outside my own city it was to go on an ultimate road trip to see the Dave Matthews Band with a friend. She had lovingly purchased tickets for the both of us and I had been eager to get away. Road trips were always my fave thing to do, and she and I had done road trips in the past to see Dave so I was excited. I anticipated it for months. What I didn’t anticipate was forgetting my medication. My medication that keeps me sane. My medication that has crippling heroin –like withdrawal symptoms if not taken on time every 24 hours. Without that medication I became unglued. I fell apart at the seams by day 3. Shaking, sweating, nauseated, I really tried to continue with our trip unaffected. I tried. But I fell apart. The 2nd concert we attended was a challenge. I sat down for most of it or stood with my eyes closed, begging the music to please make me feel better. I had panic attacks the entire time. By the time the next morning came I was done. We were going to head home, spend the night there, I could get my meds and we would continue on the next day. Great plan right? In theory, maybe. In reality, no such luck. My altered state left me crying continually, completely overwhelmed, over stimulated and in somewhat a state of crisis as far as mental soundness goes. I was done like dinner. The thought of leaving the house was enough to make me gag. Literally. The fear of the world was intense. I had lost the battle with my anxiety, in my mind. As a result: no travelling. A renewed fear of public places, crowds and restaurants. I felt like I was a 7 year old again. Without control. I had Nothing. The fear had won.

So now.
Now.
Hear I sit. On a cruiseship in the middle of the ocean.
Happy.
Happier than I have been in years. Stress is not here. Anxiety is not here.
I cannot believe I just typed that. (You just KNOW I will lose it as soon as I press Post.)

I have flown on a plane and been fine. I have eaten every meal in a restaurant with other people, most of whom I have just met, for every meal in the last 2 days. I never thought I would be able to again. But I have. And I will continue to. Because I can. Because all I’ve ever wanted was to be Normal. And I can see that it can happen again; I can return to that state of being calm. I can function like a normal human being. I can enjoy my life. I wanted to write this down while I felt it, because I might need these memories in the future; in Panic. And I never want to forget those 3 birds. I can almost hear them ‘singing don’t worry, about a thing. ‘cause every little thing’s gonna be alright.’ I can. I can hear them.

With much love from the ocean,

♥ leel

can't get this out of my mind.

2010-03-13T20:42:00.003-05:00

maybe because in 2 days I will be too!
I hope there is karaoke. Can you here me sing it?

Oh yah.

♥ leel

they're just around the corner...

2010-03-12T21:48:00.006-05:00

i rely on my pictures from years before as a wonderful reminder of renewal and growth.

i look through them all winter.

i look forward to their return every spring.

when we get back from our trip to the sunny south, they will soon arrive.

this year's early melt means they might come early.

i hope so.

♥ leel

travelling journal; a peek!

2010-03-11T13:00:00.011-05:00

I am in the basement with the laundry. It's been 2 days, this time. I loathe laundry enough to blog about it. Now, I'm going away in 4 days so I have little choice in the matter. I need clean clothes! So far, I've blown 4 fuses with the dryer. Our old little house needs rewiring. This does not help me like laundry any less. I am far away from my studio, 2 floors up. grrr...

I have no idea why I am telling you this.

I have something I can share artwise. Why not just get to that. Here we go.

The background: I have some friends online, my gerds I call them. They are some amazing women (ok, and guys) who I met on the Nerdfighter Ning site. Not familiar with Nerfighteria, as it's referred to by Nerdfighters, or the term Nerdfighters itself for that matter? I completely get that, the webs are vast and wide! So, I suggest you check out the vlogbrothers, as Hank and John Green are known on Youtube. They work to Decrease World Suck, embrace loving literature, music, Harry Potter and any general nerdy trait a body can have. I love them. Ok, background info aside. I must admit, I am not as active over there any longer. Once I decided to develop this little blog I dropped the ball over there. Still, I love the peeps and drop by from time to time to see what they are up to.

The gerds decided to do a travelling journal that we could then have bound and printed and then order for ourselves. I love that idea! I signed right up. So, I was 3rd on the list and received the amazing package of journal pages of those before me (Serenity & Evangeline!) in an amazing little folder constructed to hold the pages together as they travel the world. Holy wow! Awesome! What the frac can I create to be worthy of going into that folder?! AH!

I sat on the folder for 2 weeks. I know. I was to only have it for 3. I know. But I was brewing. I was working on figuring out what to do, what would represent me on paper. Ugh. I got intimidated. So I figured I would flip through some of my old sketchbooks and see if I could get inspired. I did! It worked! I found a couple images to use, pulled some old pages from an old dictionary I had bought with that very intent (I have a hard time taking any book apart), and got to it. So far, I have 3 or 4 layers done, but the two pages don't feel quite finished yet. I have until tomorrow to get them in the mail, so I thought I would share a couple shots here with you: I need to get these done and in the mail tomorrow.

See you tomorrow! Let's hope the laundry is done and the pages in the mail. I'll be sure to post some sneak peeks when they are completed.

♥ leel

wordless wednesday. but with... words.

2010-03-10T10:42:00.007-05:00

wordless wednesday

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 3: The Jade Peony

2010-03-09T14:21:00.013-05:00

So. Book 3. Only book 3? Already book 3? I know. I'm not sure how I feel about it either at this point, 3 books in. Regardless, I said I was going to do it, so I am. Let's get to it!

The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy.

I had heard of this book through CBC's Canada Reads, an annual reading event where 5 Canadian fiction books are chosen, read and debated as to which is *the Best* or something like that. I hadn't yet read The Jade Peony, so I googled it, read the back cover and was convinced it was a perfect read. Why? Well, first of all it takes place in Chinatown, Vancouver in the late 1930's and 40's - an area I know little about - and a history I know little about. And the Olympics were coming up. Perfecto! Also, check out the outline provided on the Canada Read's website for this book:

Wayson Choy's poignant, award-winning debut novel, The Jade Peony, is told from the point of view of three siblings who come of age in Vancouver's Chinatown during the Depression and war years.

Jook-Liang, the family's only girl, and her brothers Jung-Sum and Sek-Lung (nicknamed Sekky) were all born in Canada, but their parents and the rest of the family are recent immigrants. The children grow up torn between the reality of their lives outside the family circle and the old-world traditions that prevail at home.

The children are drawn to figures from North American popular culture, from cowboys to Shirley Temple, but they're also captivated by the magical stories told by Poh-Poh, their grandmother. Her mythic tales feature ghosts, dragons and characters from Chinese folklore such as the Monkey King and the scary Fox Lady.

The three have very different experiences of life in their family and the world at large. Sekky, the youngest, witnesses a love affair between his Chinese-Canadian babysitter and a young man of Japanese heritage, which plays out against the backdrop of the racism that flourished during the Second World War.

The Jade Peony is a sensitive depiction of the collision between cultures that all newcomers experience — and the conflicts within families that can arise as a result. It's also a vivid evocation of the division between the world of adults and the world of childhood, rendered with insight, humour and grace.

Wayson Choy's tale began life as a short story of the same name, which was widely anthologized in Canada and the U.S. after its publication in 1979. The novel, published in 1995, won both Ontario's Trillium Book Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award and garnered glowing reviews at home and abroad.

What can I say, other than I loved it, I read it very quickly and didn't want it to end? Not much! Everything that has been written about this wonderful book is bang on, I definitely recommend it!

So this one was short & sweet. Oh well. Book 4 is coming soon! I am currently on schedule reading wise, and had thought I would easily get 2 books posts up a week that are slightly better written, but I haven't so far. I am working on that.

happy tuesday ♥ leel

Music Monday (with a hint of challenge)

2010-03-08T11:44:00.017-05:00

Music Monday seems like a nice theme to stick with. let's give it a whirl.

The Song I currently cannot get out of my head. the lyrics. the music. classic rabbit hole.

Astronautalis was introduced to me via Ryan from Pacing the Panic Room. Amongst his many talents, the guy has great taste in music. So far, his music tastes match mine exactly. Ok, his late discovery of Arcade Fire does leave me wondering, but it is a bit of an obscure Canadian band from Montreal, so he still gets bonus points. (Jab. That was a joke. My humor might not translate so well here. Don't hate me, brother Ryan. p.s I am not a stalker. I promise.) ANYHOO - Ryan is working on a charity album to benefit research for SMS. It is for his son. I will be posting later about this when the album is released. Ryan has been sharing videos of some of the artists that are involved in donating music for the charity album. Lucky us!

Enter, My Point: Ryan posted this video. I have listened to it at least 26 times since then, and am at the point where I now awake singing it. Writing this, and singing it. That bad. I love this song. Love it. So it only feels natural to share it here with you too. So you can sing it over and over and then want to really really want to buy the new charity album that comes out to see what they contribute. See how that works?

So, my challenge to you is to listen to this song twice, in a row, maybe while doing something else, and see if you sing it afterwards and want to go back and listen again. It's not so much the video itself, it's the music, the song, the lyrics. For me, i was sold between 00:49 and 01:20 on my first playthrough. I love that piece. So go, listen. Tell me I'm crazy, but try it and lemme know! Also, check out Ryan's blog. His pictures and words are magic.

i know its hopeless, hell ain't big enough to hold us back,
come on let's pick a fight, we hunt for trouble tonight

♥ leel

Suckday. sorry, I mean, Sunday.

2010-03-07T11:46:00.025-05:00

I clearly have the flu my pukey husband had for 2 days. Awesome. I should have known when I was still tossing and turning at 3am that emerged into a cold sweat and a spinny feeling I can only describe as hypoglycemic in nature, with sweaty shakes and an intense craving for sugar. I wish I had remembered the flu connection this morning when I was heaving (the pb&j crackers from last night's catatonic sugar-quest) into the sink while attempting to brush my teeth after sleeping in, late for my nephew's baptism. Awesome. TMI? Sorry. Such is life with a blogger. Well, this one. Anyway => I am at home posting this instead of being with my family at the after party; I mean, who wants a sick relative there spreading their ill yuck around? Not me.

My long-winded point? I am throwing down the Flu Card & stealing today; and pointing you insteadto a hilarious video introduced to me through a post by an awesome blogger, Adam Avitable. He just posted this Funny or Die video on his blog, and even though I am uncomfortable with nausea and general flu crankiness, it made me laugh. It will make you laugh too. Don't thank me, thank the flu, the fact that Avitable and I are both behind the times, and Avitable for posting it. Do you think I posted his name and linked enough (Avitable!) that he won't care that little ole me stole this from him? I think he'll understand. (hugs!)

Enough. Check out his post. Press play and laugh. Go ahead. We can talk after. I'll wait.

http://www.avitable.com/2010/03/07/behind-the-times/

Enjoy ♥ leel (and avitable!)

p.s. *Babar...* *tag, you're it* and *Can I be ambassador to Cancun?* were a couple of my fave lines. What are your faves? Do tell... It helps my flu, the fun does. Links to other funniness is also encouraged. :)

Another nephew project, another reason to make Things

2010-03-06T23:49:00.003-05:00

Hooray! Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning i will gather with friends and family to celebrate the Baptism of my 2nd little nephew at a downtown church. Pray with my husband I don't spontaneously com bust as I walk through the front doors.

To celebrate this blessing of the boy I decided to Make Him Something, as I try to do on occasions such as this. Enter embroidery. I have loved embroidery all my life and gave cross-stitch a try a decade ago. I actually finished a couple of cute counted cross-stitch pieces, but, being the creature I am, I didn't continue doing any more. Until now. I decided that since my nephew has a wonderfully unique name that I would make something with his name on it. I pulled out two trusty books: Colorful Stitchery by Kristin Nicholas and The New Crewel by Katherine Shaughnessy for inspiration. Both books are amazing intros to contemporary needlework, providing templates, stitching illustrations and guides as well as amazing examples of finished design projects. I was fueled.

I decided to do something simple since this was only my second attempt at designing and stitching a piece of my own. I wanted it boyish but not something babyish either. I went into MS Word and started with his name. I scrolled through every font I had and downloaded more. The final piece was designed entirely by fonts I downloaded on one of my favourite spots on the web EVER, the Fonts for Peas website by the amazing and generous Kevin & Amanda. Pea Leanna was used for this name across the top, and the little trees? Yes, they are a font too, called Pea Suzie Trees. Imagine. The trees were hard to resist, why bother drawing and scanning them in myself when I can type out the same sweet trees with a font? I know.

I played around with the design until I was happy, and then changed the font colour to a light grey. I printed the design out on a Wilton Fabric Transfer sheet (the yellow package in the link) essentially a light weight piece of cotton canvas adhered to a stiff paper backing that allows it to run through your little printer. They are perfect for embroidering with the paper backing left on - the paper acts as a removable fabric stiffener you can peel off when your piece is stitched and ready for mounting. Added bonus for sure!I used DMC Floss for all the stitching. I used a variety of stitches, but mostly the stem stitch, back stitch and french knots. Easy peasie! It took about 10 hours to stitch, a perfect amount of time to kill while watching your favourite tv stuff.

Here is the design, scanned in. I get too angry trying to photograph anything under glass, so the scanned image without the final matte and black frame will have to be inserted through your own perfectly capable imagination. It looks good. Good enough that he's actually getting it and not some last minute toy from the gas station tomorrow morning. Done and done.

How fun was that? I might be addicted. Happy Sunday!

♥ leel

p.s. I have another piece of embroidery ready to share this week as well! who knew?!

p.p.s. His name? Yes, it is a vacuum name as well. We love it. Little Dyson... sigh.

*Memetime

2010-03-05T00:21:00.002-05:00

*If you say it like *hammertime!* it's WAY more fun.

I was poking around the interwebs and landed on Sunday Stealing. Great name. Also, it's a meme sharing blog. I haven't done a meme thingy on here like that, so why not now? Who needs Sunday? Perfect for a Friday, so: ACTION! I present to you my answers.

The Clown's Meme

1. How old will you be in five years? Emotionally, 14. IRL? 41. ugh.

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? My Uncle JJ & my husband, The Bub

3. How tall are you? 5’9”

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? My first sunny getaway, in two weeks!

5. What’s the last movie you saw? I watched Hotel Gramercy Park & Management back to back a day or 2 ago. I enjoyed both.

6. Who was the last person you called? My Uncle JJ

7. Who was the last person to call you? My neighbour Heidi

8. What was the last text message you received? um, text? yah, no I don’t text. I got rid of my cell phone a while ago. I hated it.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? I haven’t checked yet. Oops!

10. Do you prefer to call or text? Call, no texting!

11. What were you doing at 12am last night? Embroidering my nephew’s baptism gift and eating fresh baked chocolate banana chunk muffins.

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? My parents were married for 37 years, divorced in 2009.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom? On Saturday.

14. What color are your eyes? Brown

15. What time did you wake up today? 7:25

16. What are you wearing right now? Jeans, a grey wife-beater and a white t-shirt.

17. What is your favorite christmas song? Carol of the Bells

18. Where is your favorite place to be? Near the ocean.

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? Chained to a desk in an office.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Africa: Rwanda and Lesotho, specifically.

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? Exactly where I need to be.

22. Do you tan or burn? I burn to a nice crisp in 20 minutes or less.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? Badguys.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? The Bub.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2. That’s 1 too many in my opinion.

26. How big is your bed? Queen size. One day, I will have a bedroom big enough for a king!

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? laptop

29. What color are your sheets? this week, white.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 2

31. What is your favorite season? Spring!

32. What do you like about Autumn? The cool nights and the smell of fires in the fireplace.

33. What do you like about winter? Not much. The reading inside, the snowy holidays?

34. What do you like about the summer? The gardening and long days, reading in the hammock and eating outside in our yard.

35. What do you like about spring? Everything! The world comes alive!

36. How many states/provinces have you lived in? 2

37. What cities/towns have you lived in? Woodstock, Fredericton, and Grand Falls (New Brunswick), Stittsville & Ottawa (Ontario).

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? Bare feet at all times please.

39. Are you a social person? Yes and No.

40. What was the last thing you ate? A chocolate banana chunk muffin.

41. What is your favorite restaurant? MeKong in Ottawa

42. What is your favorite ice cream? Jamoca Almond Fudge

43. What is your favorite dessert? Mud Pie

44. What is your favorite kind of soup? Cream of Mushroom

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? Homemade strawberry jam.

46. Do you like Chinese food? Sure do!

47. Do you like coffee? Sure do! With cream & sugar please.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? 3

49. What do you drink in the morning? Coffee or tea.

50. What non-banking related card in your wallet is the most valuable to you? My driver’s license.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes.

52. Do you know how to play poker? Yes.

53. Do you like to cuddle? Sometimes.

54. Have you ever been to Canada? I live in Canada!

55. Do you have an addictive personality? Why? Who said that? (YES!)

56. Do you eat out or at home more often? At home.

57. What do you miss about highschool, if anything? The free time, easy breezy days.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? Yes!

59. Do you want kids? Thinking about it, but yes, in general.

60. Do you speak any other languages? Je parle Francaise un petit peu...

61. Have you ever gotten stitches? Astonishingly, only twice. Both times on the face.

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No.

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? Ocean, hands down.

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat? Window.

65. Do you know how to drive stick? I learned on a stick, so yes.

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? Great vintage finds nobody else would notice.

Enough about meme. (get it? i kill me.)
How about you?
Of course, I want to hear about you!
Copy away, and just leave links back to the original.

♥ leel

process inspiration in the tube

2010-03-04T09:11:00.009-05:00

One of the best things to happen to me in the last couple years inspiration wise has been my discovery of YouTube. Yes, that place. That rabbit hole. You know it well, I imagine. It's my go-to spot for music, personal vlogs, cute kittens, vintage tv anything and a mishmash of every other imaginable subject suited for my wacky taste. What's not to love, I ask?

The other thing that really has kept me hooked is the artists and the art community. What YouTube artists give the viewer that regular photos of artwork doesn't is a keyhole view into their process. In-Action Process. That is something I haven't ever had a tonne of exposure to, but am completely fascinated by. I love process! Seeing how a person moves through the creative process, makes changes, finishing marks made to a work. These artists let us behind the curtain by sharing their talents, methods, thoughts and developing works with the viewer. They choose to share their own bits of knowledge and experience with the world. To see a final painting is one thing, to see one develop in front of your eyes by the artist is a completely different experience. I love that the most about the online video world.

Here is a video I love; one I literally stumbled upon in 2008 by artist Michael Shapcott. He has a few others worth checking out as well, but this is the first one I watched, so I go back to it often. I feel like watching some of his videos when I want to generate my own ideas and need some visual prompting. He always gets the ball rolling. So, today I thought my friends my enjoy seeing a piece of artwork as it comes alive. I love that he took the time to share this with the world.

p.s. Isn't he adorable? the intro? i know.

♥ leel

i hear wednesday is wordless: sketchbook pages

2010-03-03T14:02:00.008-05:00

recent sketchbook pages

http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

♥ leel

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 2: The Museum of Innocence

2010-03-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

How do you choose books? I remember in the early days of e-mail, before online was even a real word, e-mailing a professor who had taught me Canadian Literature in university, asking him for any book recommendation he could suggest. I was sick of just standing in the aisle of the bookstore choosing a book roulette style. I was desperate for new books. He never e-mailed me back. That was the world before the real online world we know now.

Now, I have a running Wish List on the Chapters/Indigo website that allows me to simply save the book in an Online List that I can add to and shop from when the time comes. I seem to like the Hunter/Gatherer approach. I graze and take note of new up-and-coming authors mentioned online, I read reviews, look for classics that are completely foreign to me, watch Award Lists and read my favorite authors' newest works when they come out. What are you reading? is a favourite question of mine. I have also been known to attack fellow book-shoppers with a few questions about what they are holding, twisting to see the authors and titles in their arms. I am That Girl. don't hate me.

So, for book #2, I will start out by mentioning that I have no idea how or when this book was added to my Online List. When I shared said List with my family before the holidays, I simply sent them the link and said go nuts. Orhan Pamuk's epic love story The Museum of Innocence must have been on there, because it lovingly appeared under the tree. As I researched a bit I noticed it is a past Pulizer Prize winner, so that might be why I added it to the List. Who Knows. Regardless. It doesn't matter. I read it.

Let's start out with a nice little summary from the publisher:

A sweeping, emotionally charged novel of the nature of romantic attachment and the strange allure of collecting — this is Orhan Pamuk’s greatest achievement.

It is Istanbul in 1975. Kemal is a rich and engaged man when he by chance encounters a long-lost relation, Fusun, a young shop girl whose beauty stirs all the passion denied him in a society where sex outside marriage is taboo.

Fusun ends their liaison when she learns of Kemal’s engagement. But Kemal cannot forget her: for nine years he tries to change her mind, meanwhile stealing from her an odd assortment of personal items, which he collects and cherishes — a “museum of innocence” that he puts on display to tell the heartbreaking story of a love that shaped a life.

What to say about this book. Hmmm. This one is tough for some reason. It was a honker of a book with over 500 pages. It is a love story. A long one that spans many many years. I found the detailed imagery captivating, and the main characters exceptionally well developed. But, at parts, I actually put the book down mid-sentence multiple times and said out loud it's been (enter any number over three ie.) EIGHT frickin YEARS. It was a love hate relationship. You know, that kind of book. I guess that was what made it so great, the detail, the painful drawn out detail is what adds texture and bite to what can be deemed a common story line: lost love. The museum component itself is worth reading this for. Orhan's work brought back memories of my favourite Canadian movie, Margaret's Museum. The art historian in me loved both. So I did enjoy it, the love story, the painfulness that narrates the story. But at times I wished it wasn't so detailed.

I want to visit Turkey now? Does that count as an observation? I fell in love through description. Pamuk's descriptions of the apartments, their views, the smells and textures of the streets, the colours and climate, really awoke a travelbug in me. A friend of mine who travelled through Europe after university said his next trip back was to Turkey, he had visited for a few days on his first voyage and was spellbound. I remember the look in his eye, the smile sweeping over his entire face and his head shaking in an attempt to describe his few days there. Amazing might have been the only word he could conjure. I remembered that as I read this book. I want to travel to Turkey now. So I guess that does count. Overall a recommendation, I would say, is warranted.

So that's 2 down! Stand by for number 3.

♥ leel

again, I am always looking for recommendations & if you have read this book - tell me what you thought!

long may you run: music for a monday

2010-03-01T15:16:00.008-05:00

Olympic fever was strong in these parts. Well, we are Canadian, after all. I found myself firmly planted in front of the tv over the last few weeks. Not really a common sight around here. I have watched events I knew nothing about, cheered for athletes at odd hours and even stood and sung the national anthem in my jammies, all alone with my country, in the early hours of a snowy morning. I have beamed with pride, cried over tragic footage, screamed at defensemen and goalies, tweeted woohoo! more times than I can count and have developed a slight crush on Sid the Kid. We watched hockey games with friends and family that we haven't connected with for *years*. It was great. I watched the final game with some of my favorite people in the world: my family. Three generations of the D family were all together to cheer and swear (go dad!) the afternoon away as the Canadian men (narrowly) won the GOLD! Hockey runs thick in my blood; I loved it all.

My fave memory from last evening's Olympic finale was Neil Young emerging from the stage and singing this song, as snow fell. Simple. I love Neil, and this song, so I was super excited. He is my own personal Leonard Cohen. Here is one version from 2008. The lyrics just seem so perfect. I loved it!

Long May You Run

We've been through
some things together
With trunks of memories
still to come
We found things to do
in stormy weather
Long may you run.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run.

Well, it was
back in Blind River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shift
on the long decline
Long may you run.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run.

Maybe The Beach Boys
have got you now
With those waves
singing "Caroline No"
Rollin' down
that empty ocean road
Gettin' to the surf on time.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run.

♥ leel

ps... long may YOU run!

rabbit hole alert: a 2 parter

2010-02-25T11:47:00.013-05:00

two quick things. videos, actually.
that's it. that's all.

1) Jessica Gonacha Swift blogged about this little video yesterday morning and I have been hooked ever since (thanks Jess!). It has been kept open and playing on my laptop while I fumble around for the past 24 hours and echoing from within my brain on a continuous loop. I love the song, the voice, the artwork, the animation, the lyrics, everything. This Australian singer, Sarah Blasko reminds me of a mix of Sarah Slean, Chan Marshal from the band Cat Power, Fiona Apple and Feist. I know. Just see for yourself. *Classic* Rabbit Hole:

2) Temple Grandin. Someone on twitter mentioned the name, I had heard that HBO had made a film and then I remembered, I had seen something previously about her. She is amazing. It was only after watching the amazing HBO film (Temple is played by Claire Danes) that all the pieces came together in my mind. I thought it might have been a TED video a while ago, so off I went to check it all out. Yay! There is a new one! We can all thank the brilliance of the people at TED. Don't know about TED? Check it out; it has been my virtual learning playground for my mind for a couple of years now. For now though, lets just watch Temple Grandin, she has some really amazing things to say that I think we all should hear.

Happy Thursday!

♥ leel

kickoff post: reading 52 books in 52 weeks

2010-02-23T14:15:00.009-05:00

I love to read; I would venture to say I love books the way some women collect and love shoes. I have been a reader all my life. I read both fiction and non, tend to seek out Canadian authors, and go through reading phases, or Rabbit Holes. Sometimes I bounce between the two, inserting some light-hearted reading with some of the heavier topics I am often drawn to. So, a little goal I set at the beginning of 2010 (not to be confused with the formal pressure cooker known as the *resolution*) is to read one book a week and document it. Well, guess where *that* place is going to be?! Yup, right here.

In addition to continuing to read new finds, I am going to be re-reading some of those books on my shelf that, if you were to visit, I would point to and say *This one is SO good YOU have to read it TOO*, when in actuality I would be challenged to articulate any detail or reason as to why, if asked. I would like to change that. So let the postings begin!

First book up:

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Neffenegger

I blatantly copied this from the Amazon site. Why mess with the pros, I say? Here is a great summary by Brad Thomas Parsons. (in that link to the Amazon site you can look inside the book, read the first pages and see video of the author. A perfect *before you buy* option, I say!)

Following her breakout bestseller, The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger returns with Her Fearful Symmetry, a haunting tale about the complications of love, identity, and sibling rivalry. The novel opens with the death of Elspeth Noblin, who bequeaths her London flat and its contents to the twin daughters of her estranged twin sister back in Chicago. These 20-year-old dilettantes, Julie and Valentina, move to London, eager to try on a new experience like one of their obsessively matched outfits. Historic Highgate Cemetery, which borders Elspeth's home, serves as an inspired setting as the twins become entwined in the lives of their neighbors: Elspeth's former lover, Robert; Martin, an agoraphobic crossword-puzzle creator; and the ethereal Elspeth herself, struggling to adjust to the afterlife. Niffenegger brings these quirky, troubled characters to marvelous life, but readers may need their own supernatural suspension of disbelief as the story winds to its twisty conclusion.

I loved The Time Traveller's Wife; I will never see the movie. I went into it blind when it was still relatively unheard of, and found myself completely sucked in within pages. I loved it. I re-read it. I recommended it. So I was excited to see what Audrey Neffenegger would write this time. What did I think? Well, I really liked this book. Now, that means nothing to you, I realize, but I really got into the mystery of the story, the setting in the cemetery, the twins element, and the supernatural elements were written in an amazingly convincing way that reminded me of what I enjoyed about reading the The Time Traveller's Wife. If the above editorial paragraph/review appeals to you, I would definitely recommend this book even though it hasn't gotten spectacular reviews.

As I go I plan on offering some of my favorite quotes or lines or personal reflections. For now, I am in catch-up mode and will post 2 books a week until I am caught up to the usual once a week book update that will follow. I am on book 7, and 1/2 way through it now. Its one I read in 2003 that I fell in love with, but was drawn back to for some reason. I will be sure to take some notes and share the details of why you might really like each book in the future.

So, for now, any recommendations? I would also love to hear your thoughts if you have read this one!

This is gonna be fun!

upcycling & art journaling: reusing the usual

2010-02-19T14:42:00.053-05:00

Upcycling, though not a real word recognized by spellcheckers, is in fact a very real word, concept, some might say a philosophy or movement, developing and expanding today. For those unfamiliar or unaware, we can all be thankful, we have the Urban Dictionary to help us out a bit. I searched Upcycle which returned three definitions. I thought I would just share the search results here:

See that? There. Three somewhat similar yet very different definitions. I like all three and think they all have some relevance. Especially the third. HA! It is true though, Upcycling, like any artform past, present or future, sits on that fine line between presenting something new, making something extraordinary, and creating frankenstein. Lets be honest about it. It is a wide definition and subject to interpretation.

My own approach to upcycling involves a few key areas.

I have a basic love of anything early to mid 20th century design,
I love the challenge of finding vintage items,
I love giving vintage items new life in unique yet practical, functional ways

Both in multi-media artwork and in creating functional housewares, this approach fuels me. So, in a HUGE nutshell, this is how I see myself approaching upcycling.

Enter the latest project I have been excited to share. My newest, latest art journal. It is a honker. When the clunker arrived on my doorstep last month I all, ah crap, the phone book arrived. Time to peel the plastic off of last years and throw it in the recycle bin so I can jam the new one in its place on that prime real-estate shelf located in the hall closet. Not this year, my friends, not this year. I grabbed that bad boy (with both hands cause I am weak and clumsy and did not want to risk dropping it on my toe) and upstairs to the studio we went.

I covered the front, spine and backs covers with some podge and some thick patterned paper I had been saving, so it looks just like a huge book now. I am in love! Specifically? The thin newsprint pages are perfect for gessoing on both sides; that thickens them up enough so they dont rip so easily, and still remain fairly thin when the book is closed. Their thin weight is also perfect for layering papers on, watercolour paper and pages from old books are perfect for adding weight to a page too. If a page does rip, I tape it up or rip it out. There are 700+ or more to go through. The end is not the point, just having a space that you can only improve by adding your own free fun and play is the entire point of using this thing. Not like a leather bound journal. Those things make my heart pound some days. Some days I need to be creative free to expectation, free of squeeky clean white paper.

Here is what I speak of. My new art journal. So far I have the inside cover pages started, and 6 more pages in progress as well.

I dont really start one page, finish it and move on. No no no. That would make too much sense. I need to digest and work through each page. I treat them with the same intensity as anything else I create, be it a piece of furniture or a painting.

Most of my ideas start in a sketchbook, but art journals allow me to create with abandon. I like to start without an idea of what will come out. I make a mark, gesso a page, paste on a weird shape, start a pattern or all of the above, and then wait. I then gesso the next page, and do the same thing. When that page has dried, I flip back and look at the first and second pages. I make a mark on the newly dried third and fourth pages, paint a background, pick a colour or a pen I havent used in a while and just see what happens when it meets the paper. Then I go back to 1 & 2, and add papers, block out text and add in pencil drawings that I fill in with acrylic, or pastel. Add more details, wait to dry, flip back to 3 & 4. Gesso pages 5 & 6. Wait to dry, flip back to 1 & 2, add in marker details, add text. Finish. Move to 5 & 6, make first marks, paste on papers, go back to 3 & 4 etc, etc, etc, until the entire book is through. (note: none of these pages are actually done yet!)

Some basic supplies for journaling include:

Paper: ANY paper. the cheaper it is the more relaxed i am about it. go figure. I also enjoy Moleskin journals and use them as well;

Gesso: the white primer stuff that creates a coating on paper allowing you to paint on it. available at any michaels or art supply store. You can also get spray primer at the hardware store, but remember with spray, comes fumes. Not great for indoors;

Paintbrushes: the packages of bulk brushes from the dollar store or michaels are perfect. you want a few choices, but 3 of varying sizes to start will suffice. cheap is perfect;

Paint: cheap Acrylic is a great place to start. Go for a set or individual colours. (an inexpensive set at michaels) or little ones from the dollar store to start. Worry about quality later, not to start out!) Cheap watercolours are also fun for washes and experimenting;

Adhesives: you can use tape, glue stick, spray adhesives or podge (my personal favorite) to apply pages, papers and accents to your journal. Mod-Podge, available at Michaels and art supply stores, protects the surface, but does leave a tackiness on paper at times, depending on the type you get and the thickness applied;

Additional: Pencils, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, markers, crayons, water-soluble crayons, oil pastels, stamps, ribbons, pages from old books, stickers, glitter glue, watercolour paper, magazine images, poems, quotes... whatever you like can go into your journal. I like layering, so a combination of most of the above goes into mine.

You never know what ideas will expand or retire as you go through this journal, new advertisements and images shine through the gesso layers, the watercolours, and add to the richness of each mark you make. The surprises that arise never fail to inspire me. It never fails either, if I feel stuck I open a completed page in an old journal, and I am fueled to keep going. I love seeing how ideas emerge; a very rarely have intent when I start anything!

I encourage you to search art journals on youtube for some additional, live, in action inspiration. They were the thing that got me going, and providing guidance and motivation to try one in the first place. (You can even see my own art journal video from early 2009 online.) If you are interested in taking an on-line class I can vouch for my online sista Connie from Dirty Footprints Studio. She is currently teaching an online class (for a VERY reasonable fee) called Art Journal Love Letters, as we speak. It just started this week, and you can register & start any time. Her warmth and knowledge will blow you away. It is on my list of things to do, online instruction is a gold mine for me; it fuels.

So what do you think of upcycling? Are you inspired? Any fun journal ideas to share? Questions?

Lemme know :)

& Enjoy! ♥ leel

brightness in your mouth, brightness in your day

2010-02-18T12:19:00.052-05:00

i just made that title up. it sounds like a byline to a porno title.

classy.

kids, don't come here for classy.
come here for other reasons, but do not come here for class.

that's what she said

see?

ok.

enough.

♥

While the days are now getting refreshingly brighter through each afternoon and the sun is setting each evening later and later, the world is still a frozen ice block outside my doors. I like to bake when the days are like this. It makes the house smell nice, I get to stuff my face and share with friends and family, plus I and/or my sanity, gain a sense of accomplishment. See? We ALL benefit.

In the chilly days of February I long for the zestiness of life. Yellow. Lemon comes to mind. I love the the brightness of lemon, the tangy awakening citrus brings to the senses. I grabbed a bag of lemons on sale last week to add a slice here & there to my water to change things up and combat the winter scurvy I fear developing each winter. I also had almost a dozen free-range eggs from my friends chicken coop just sitting there, just waiting to be used and appreciated. Enter my trusty Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking cookbook, circa 1993. I open to a recipe I had tabbed years ago. The recipe for Sunburst Lemon Bars with the accompanying picture were prefect, it required the juice of lemons, many eggs, and I felt good attempting something else I have wanted to try for a while.

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Sunburst Lemon Bars

Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened

Filling
4 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, prepare crust. Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in butter at low speed until the mixture is crumbly. Press in the bottom of ungreased 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is light golden brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, white sugar, 1/4 cup flour and baking powder with an electric mixer until light, about 3 minutes. Then stir in the lemon juice. Pour the filling over the crust while it is still warm from the oven. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until the top is slightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool.

Once cooled, prepare glaze. In a small bowl, stir lemon juice into the 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until the icing is of a spreadable consistency. Spread evenly & cut into squares.

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I wanted to try cutting out some different shapes considering i had a 9x13 inch pan full. I used a heart shaped cookie-cutter to make some little hearts. ok, I bent an unidentifiable christmas cutter into a heart), cut out a row the same height as the heart shape, pressed down - HARD - carefully transferred each heart to the plate. once plated, I lightly dusted the top, sides and plate, and added some curled lemon rind to the top of each. I love them!

So, while chocolate will always be an intense fave in these parts, I'm glad I had a hankering for something bright and intense, something that reminded me of the good old days of tea with squares on doilies and plates. Something a grandmother would make. Something I imagined only having access to now at funeral receptions on dainty platters. I wanted to bake something I had never made before. And I did. And it rocks. No waiting for funerals for me!

Enjoy! ♥

angels in the architecture

Secret Bench, Lost Paradise

Design Sponge at Home -> a book review & giveaway!

an update.

monday morning madness.

an announcement of the amazing kind

not any nan.

a preview: ♥ pinkie ♥

nothing ventured, nothing lost

a quick, free, holiday *spruce up yur shack* project

the: holiday, book challenge, hero meeting, update

hiding

the situation.

wordless wednesday

we are muslim

amazing music monday :: DO FUN STUFF ::

Apartment Details: A Vintage Suitcase DIY

The Big Re-Design Reveal

pictures, pretty pictures.

a quick After post. another set of chairs!

a before & after post :: 2 chairs for julz ::

1 blog award received, 5 given & a lot about *me*

it's ♥ I Forgot This Friday ♥ Again.

look! pretty flowers! a quick distracted update post

short, sweet & sketchy

30 seconds of shaking feels like forever: earthquake aftermath

felted stitchy fun - the options continue

words from my mama wednesday

52 books in 52 weeks: a mandatory mid-way update

music monday :: Radical Face

sunday funday

randomness and power line magic

before & after: buffy the buffet is a beau-ty!

another before & after vintage suitcase table? please meet :: blue footed bobby ::

short & sweet: 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. i know.

music monday :: stuck on USS ::

drawing comfort

music monday :: Sarah Slean

♥ mamas ♥

that bloody book challenge

it's ♥ i forgot this ♥ friday

random drawing: little p.

wordless wednesday. the opposite of shadow.

creativity update

music monday ♥ first love ♥

night whites

aka

wordless wednesday :: april yard ::

Creativity: Conundrums, Confidence Confessions and a Coupon.

Music Monday :: Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker

untitled. with pictures

Music Monday :: Movie Magic

next best thing: instant love?

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 4: Rockabye: From Wild to Child

daily horoscope or new mantra?

weird stuff of icons and saints. plus a Temple of the Dog song or 2.

:: one for the records ::

Music Monday :: Matt Good

April Heatwaves Bring Early April Flowers? Is that the saying?

pics from a trip

good intentions and a whole bunch of other random stuff

Latin American Film Festival

three birds

can't get this out of my mind.

they're just around the corner...

travelling journal; a peek!

wordless wednesday. but with... words.

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 3: The Jade Peony

Music Monday (with a hint of challenge)

Suckday. sorry, I mean, Sunday.

Another nephew project, another reason to make Things

*Memetime

process inspiration in the tube

i hear wednesday is wordless: sketchbook pages

52 books in 52 weeks: Book 2: The Museum of Innocence

long may you run: music for a monday

rabbit hole alert: a 2 parter

kickoff post: reading 52 books in 52 weeks

upcycling & art journaling: reusing the usual

brightness in your mouth, brightness in your day

a quick, free, holiday spruce up yur shack project

1 blog award received, 5 given & a lot about me