Take a walk with me

Some shots during a walk I took recently. Actually it was an errand-running day, so I walked-drove-walked again.

Gone

A few of the pieces I sold at the craft sale. There's a few left besides these though, and a couple more currently in the making. Stay tuned.

Small Profiles

Bicycle in Peru", 8" x 8" mixed media on panel

Bee", 8" x 8" mixed media on panel

Townhouses", 8" x 8" mixed media on panel
Tulle", 8" x 8" mixed media on panel

Strombus Gibberulus", 10" x 10" mixed media on panel

The Colour of November", 10" x 10" mixed media on panel
Just a taste of what I will be serving up at the Winter Wonders market this weekend. Each piece is handmade, one-of-a-kind, and very affordable, coming in 8" x 8" and 10" x 10" sizes. Watch my Etsy shop in the new year for similar listings if you can't make it out this time around!

My first craft sale!

I've never been a part of a craft sale before, even though I've had fleeting intentions of doing so in the past. I'm really nervous about it, so please stop by and see me while I'm there!

All grown up

Upon returning to Saskatoon from southern Saskatchewan, I've gone through a lot of changes. All of them are somewhat based on consumerism and surface things, but still.... it's how we present ourselves to the world. I don't want to live surrounded by a bunch of poor-quality items that I used when I was a student. I think that sometimes, when we refuse to let go of things, they weigh us down until it gets harder and harder to move forward. So, the list of things I've improved upon:

* I no longer have a fat TV... I've joined the 21st century and now have a flat screen! And you know what the best thing about this is? No more high-pitched ringing in my ears whenever the TV is turned on! *happy dance*

* I'm leasing a car. No more lemons from back-alley deals... when I get sick of this model, I'll take it back and get something newer. Cars are a money pit, and I don't want to own one.

* A house! It took awhile, but I finally got out of the renting game. When decent, affordable rental units got more and more difficult to find after the 'boom', I couldn't wait to put my money towards something that will actually increase in value over the years (and avoid all those crooked landlords).

* a stovetop range. It's in anticipation of kitchen reno's that will happen sometime before Christmas... it was a sale I couldn't pass up, so now I have a slide-in range sitting 2 inches too high and 2 inches too deep for the miniature countertops I have in my current kitchen. :)

* Investments. I found a financial planner and now have RRSPs and stuff! Look at me, I might be able to retire someday!

Things I have yet to update (but always gets forgotten):

* towels. I have that big mess of mismatched towels for my bathroom that I think we all have or had sometime in our lives, and not only are the colours not in great shape, but the edges are starting to fray on a lot of them. Eep! Since we don't get a lot of overnight guests, it's been okay up until now, but I'm thinking I'd like to see some consistency sometime soon.

* bed linens. For that matter, a BED. We have mattresses on the floor right now, and even though it works and it's okay, I'd like to have storage under the bed someday and maybe even (gasp) a headboard! It's one of those expensive items that are put at the bottom of the list (including the linens) because it doesn't see people that much, and it's easy to 'make do'. But I'd like my bedroom to be a wonderful, calming sanctuary, and not a dorm room. Someday.

I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I could mention, but honestly the blessings outweigh  anything else right now. It's fun to think of all the things you can do to improve your living space... especially when you can do them on a budget, or do them yourself. (it feels more like an accomplishment somehow than just going to the store and buying something.)

Here's to becoming an adult!

 

Something new

I installed our firepit today, with some help from Wade. I love to sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows, talk with friends and just relax. Now that we have a firepit, I think I'll do some of that. It's the little things that make life more enjoyable, ya know?

One less worry

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="488" caption="image credit: mint.com"][/caption]

Recently I've started using a financial planning application called Mint. It's a bit scary at first, as it requires you to provide passwords and login information for your financial institutions and investments, but so far I haven't had any problems, nor has anyone else that I know who is using it. It's always a concern when using the internet, but you can't let it run your life, you know? Just be cautious. Mint is created by the makers of Quicken (Intuit, Inc), so I was pretty sure I could trust it.

Being a creative with almost no capacity for organization or administration, keeping track of my finances was always a struggle for me. Mint makes it so much easier to see where my money is going and how I can utilize it more efficiently in my savings and investments. I would recommend this application to anyone... but particularly to my artist peers, who may struggle with the same organizational deficiencies as me! You can get it for your smartphone too, which is pretty handy.

*As a disclaimer, I am not paid by Mint to advertise for them. I just honestly love the app!

Designer's Scrabble

I loves me some Scrabble. So when I saw this designer edition created by Andrew Capener as a student project, I fell in love. Typography and spelling! Two of my fave things! And on beautiful walnut too. If these ever go into production, I'm all over it.

29 ways to stay creative

I remember reading this somewhere in list form, but this appeals much more to the artist in me. :)

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

small battles

When we moved in, I noticed a small 3" x 3" block of plywood stuck to the ceiling in the corner of our bathroom. The bathroom had been renovated fairly recently, so neither of us knew what a small block of wood would be doing amongst the newly painted walls and such. I wanted to take it down, but didn't want to deal with the possible repercussions of that action... I mean, was it covering a hole? keeping the house from falling down?

 

Then, while cleaning out the bathroom fan the other day, Wade decided to rip it off - come what may! And behold... nothing. Just a few chips in the drywall from where it had been stuck. We were both baffled... but then it came to me: the previous owners had had an extendible rod with shelving in the corner of their tub, and they'd put the wood block up there for support. Insert deep sigh of relief here.



 

So many strange battles to fight when renovating a new house...

dabbling

had a bit of time at work. Looks a bit different in RGB...

Abigail Reynolds

Maybe it's because I'm in the midst of home reno's, but these sculptural images from Abigail Reynolds really pull me in. I love the interior series, like the one above, but three or so pieces from the black and white bookplate series below would look beautiful on a dramatically coloured entrance hall.

Type Tuesday

I've seen this brand every time I go shopping for flour, but never documented the amazing typography. Love it.

I'm doing layouts!

Whenever I'm doing design layouts at work, this song always pops into my head. And inevitably, I end up singing the lyrics in my head like this:

"I'm doin' layout - layout!

That's where the fun is, layout... layout!

That's what I'm doing, layout!"

Good ol' Flintstones.

Darkness and Light

As a person who observes the days of Good Friday and Easter every year, I have to admit that for me, the 2011 version was a bit bizarre. Instead of attending mass like many people do, I spent the evening on Good Friday at Dr. Sketchy's 'Church of Burlesque', drawing models dressed as nuns, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus of course. In varying states of undress. With the likes of Nirvana and Marilyn Manson playing in the background. Yes, a bit unusual... but it did give everyone there some drawing practice, lest we forget.

great mac commercial

I'm such a geek sometimes. But I love myself a mac.

no. negative. negatory, my good friend.

[caption id="attachment_1223" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption=""No", charcoal on paper, 2010."][/caption]

The more I learn about this nuclear disaster in Japan, the more I think about how crazy people are to try and sustain their consumerist ways of living. They will do literally anything to keep buying plastic crap and new shoes, and it keeps coming back to bite us in the ass. Maybe nuclear will be the safe, clean answer... maybe solar... maybe wind... what else can we harvest from the environment to support our habits?

More and more I feel like leaving the grid and living in a hut on a mountainside in Tibet. But it's like, as much as people NEED to be self-sustaining, our culture makes it practically impossible to do so. It's usually the expense that is a hindrance, as whether you retrofit an existing house or buy a lot to build on within a city, it adds up tremendously. And if it's not expense, it's convenience... something always holds people back. You can live in the middle of nowhere, but what are you going to do for a job? You'll have to drive a gas-powered vehicle an hour every day just for that. It's stupid. There's got to be a better way... I just can't believe that a society that's come so far techologically is too dumb to figure something like this out.

Anyway, that's my rant for today. I promise I won't bore you with a lot of rants... I'm more interested in sharing my love of art and design. ;)