fibre feast...ladies and gentlemen, may I present...

Jen's completed Bento Box! Go to Carla's blog for a fabio pic of the final product. Amazing work, ladies! M-m-m!

fibre feast...final edition (the sequel)

Here are links to the latest pics of Jen's Bento Box on Carla's blog and Suanne's Dessert Plate on Lori's blog. The sushi roll and edamame beans (great minds, eh? ...hee hee) as well as the cheesecake and tart look oh, so nummy.

fibre feast...final edition

Well...here it is...the last plate in our fabulous Progressive Dinner fibre feast round robin. This has been so much fun, I really didn't want it to end. When trying to decide what to add to Laurie's appetizer plate, I struggled at first. Then I came to the realization that I had felted something on each of the plates, so why stop now. So, I decided I would go with something that seems to be on every restaurant menu these days...edamame beans.

I also made a little dish out of upholstery fabric that complimented Laurie's plate...et voila.

Now, I await with anticipation the return of my breakfast plate and all its wonderful goodies.

body worlds

Nothing like waiting until the last minute. There has been an exhibit here in Vancouver since mid-September. We all agreed we wanted to see it and we FINALLY got some on-line tickets (last week) for yesterday...the final day of the exhibit. It was called 'Body Worlds 3' by Dr. Gunther von Hagens. You may have heard of it. It is a display of real human bodies preserved using a process called Plastination.

It was quite facinating to say the very least. There were entire bodies, individual organs, and transparent body slices. The bodies were displayed in various poses including a hurdler, gymnast and skateboarder as seen on the brochure cover here. I have always been facinated by the workings of the human body and studied it in school many moons ago. To think that your intestines stretched in a straight line would stand four stories high or that your skin alone weighs an average of 20 pounds...we humans are pretty amazing creatures.

I truly thank all those souls who donated their bodies to be transformed and displayed using this amazing process. It is a one-of-a-kind exhibit to be sure, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about, and seeing, the human form from a very clinical, yet artistic perspective. It was very educational and somewhat surreal to be sure.

published!

Our fiber food has been included in the latest issue of Portals Zine. What a treat for me, as this is the first time any of my art has been published!

If you haven't seen this wonderful zine, please click on the link and take a look. Heather and Joleen do a terrific job with every issue.

fabric treasures

Back in November, I was reading a post on Lori's blog and I saw some wonderful fabrics she had recently purchased. Lori was kind enough to mention the lines (Building Blocks for American Jane Patterns-Sandy Klop for Moda fabrics, by the way), which made it easier to find when I decided I must have some for myself. So, I went to www.equilter.com and searched for the fabrics and voila...







Aren't they just nummy?

Can't wait to use them in a project.

charmed, i'm sure...

These are the mimi domino charms I made for Romona Ashman's Artfest charm swap. I used ranger alcohol inks for the background, copper krylon pen along the edges, zetti and stampers anonymous images stamped with StazOn and then covered the surfaces with glossy accents. I finished them off with a little miracle bead bell.

hello 2007...and goodbye to a bit of our past...

So, here we are at the start of another new year...someone called it "the Bond year". Kinda cute.

One of the things I like about the start of a year is hanging up the new calendar. It signifies the top for me, like I am on a mountain where I will slowly wind my way along the switchbacks until ending up in the valley which is December once again.

Here's to all the possibilities a fresh new year can bring.

During the holidays, we made a trip over to Vancouver Island to visit with the families. While there, we dropped in at the new Starbucks (conveniently located just a few blocks from my mom's house). As we headed out with warm beverages in hand, we looked over to see them tearing down the neighbouring McDonald's (whose sign read "Reopen Spring 2007").

Now I know what you must be thinking..."Whoo hoo! One less McDonald's in the world, even if only for a short period of time, must be a good thing!"

Right?

Well, this particular McDonald's holds some very special memories for Stephen and I. It was where we were both working in March 1979 when we first met...and it was where Stephen asked me out on our first date. So, it was with a touch of sorrow and nostalgia that we watched the dozer take bite after bite out of the landmark which represented the beginning of our life together some 27 years ago...*heavy sigh*

merry christmas!

This little angel graced the Christmas trees of my youth. My mother passed it on to me shortly after Stephen and I were married (almost 25 years ago) and she has been on the top of our tree ever since. She always reminds me of those wonderful Christmas mornings where my sister and I would race into the living room to see what Santa had left for us. Those gifts were always placed with loving care at the front and centre under the tree; ready for us to pick up and play with immediately. Two particularly memorable years were the one where I received my Baby Tenderlove doll and then the year I received my little green portable radio/record player (which I still have).

Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child...especially your own, is wonderful in a completely different way. Setting up the Fisher Price Castle or the Criss Cross Crash set late on Christmas Eve...special times. Seeing my wee one with his wide eyes of surpise and delight...I will cherish those memories forever.

I hope you all enjoy this special time with family and friends.

Wishing you and your's the best of the season. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

more fibre food

Wait until you see what Carla has added to the salad plate. Check it out here.

fibre feast

The last plate in our fibre feast round robin arrived in the mail today...Laurie's appetizer plate.

How about Suanne's crab claws? Just awesome. Suanne also included her fabio milk carton which will become part of the TV dinner. The inside of the carton is lined with cow print. Too cute.

I have to admit, when the idea of this was first proposed at ArtFiberFest, I wasn't sure what to expect. Now, as we near the conclusion of this wonderful art adventure, I can honesty say I will be sorry to see it end.

Guess that means we will have to come up with a plan for Fibre Food II, eh?

six weird things

I was tagged by Shari this morning to mention six weird things about myself, so here it goes...

1. I wear three earrings in my right ear and only two in my left...decided to get one extra hole put in my right ear many moons ago. I was going through an asymetrical phase (my hair was also asymetric at the time).

2. I was kissed by a killer whale on a stormy night at Seaworld, Ohio when I was ten.

3. Got to drive a stockcar (which was WAY COOL!)

4. Along with my team mate Rob, we became grand champions on a local game show "Talk About" back in October '89. We won $12,700 in cash and prizes (which was pretty good for a Canadian game show at the time).

5. I am a confessed Starbucks addict, but I never, EVER drink coffee...can't stand the stuff.

6. When I was a child, had a real chicken as a pet that I used to dress up and push around in a pram.

So, now that I have professed my weirdness to all...I tag Heather B and my fabulous fibre feast pals Lori S-C, Laurie G, Suanne, Carla, and Jen. You're it!

goodbye, november

What a crazy month of weather...rain storms, wind storms, snow storms...oh my!

I wonder what December holds in store? Guess we won't have to wait long to find out.

more snow...

This picture was taken early this AM. The light was poor, but I kind of like the blue hues.

The snow that started on Saturday continued through Sunday and was still coming down this morning. To those of you who have snow most of the winter, you probably think, "What's the big deal about a few inches of snow?" But trust me...this isn't the norm around these parts. We might get one or two dumps of snow over the course of the winter, but it doesn't usually snow non-stop for over 24 hours. And when it does fall, it's usually washed away by rain within a couple of days. Might not be the case this time...more snow is expected later this week. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

I do love how quiet everything is when snow is on the ground. Very peaceful...and beautiful.

Kind of ironic that the old Bing Crosby movie White Christmas just happened to be on TV yesterday afternoon as well.

Enough babbling...

...and then winter arrived

This was the view out of our bedroom window this morning. The snow had started falling earlier in the evening. We were on our way back from a daytrip to Bellingham (thought we would take advantage of some of those Thanksgiving weekend deals). We didn't have any trouble getting home, but we did pass two car accidents after crossing the border. Hope everyone was alright.

I don't mind snow, as long as we don't have to drive in it. I would much sooner stay home where it is warm and dry. Glad it snowed on the weekend. That way everyone can prepare for alternate ways to get to work tomorrow, if necessary. Doesn't take much snow around here before driving becomes quite treacherous. People driving on improper tires, driving too fast, etc. They are calling for an additional 10-30cm (4-12in) today, depending on the area. I might just take the skytrain into work instead.

So, I think today would be a good day to make some art, maybe watch a movie and have a hot chocolate. Guess I better go and shovel the driveway first...

time for a change...

Decided I should switch over to blogger beta and check out the new and improved functionality. I do like the new editing and 'drag and drop' features. While I was at it, I thought it might be a good time for a wee overhaul to the blog. A friend recently mentioned that she has a hard time reading blogs with black backgrounds, so hopefully this helps.

latest from the fibre feast

I was so jazzed when I found out that the veggie portion of the TV dinner was available. Once again, the felting needle came out and voila...garden fresh peas and carrots. What frozen dinner would be complete without them.

I have to confess, there is a little of me in a few of those peas...those little suckers are hard to hold on to and I managed to poke my fingers more than a few times during the process. Oh the things we do in the name of art [picture the "woe-is-me" back of the hand on the forehead, head raised, looking to the sky]. Don't mind me...silly moment.

Hard to believe there is only one more plate to pass through in this wonderful swap. It has really been a blast.

weekend adventure

We had a wild rain/wind storm last week. Because of the high turbidity in the water, we have had to boil water or use bottled water for the past several days. Luckily, we have a water cooler and a good supply of water on hand, so it hasn't been too bad. The stores were all out of water within a day of the boil water notice. It's quite scary to think how bad it could be if we ever have the "big one" (earthquake). I think we can all benefit from Mother Nature's subtle and not so subtle nudges to help us become more aware and to be prepared for the time she decides to really let us have it.

My mom came over from Vancouver Island for the weekend. On Saturday we headed out to 'Be Creative', a fabulous little family-owned rubber stamp business run out of their home in Pitt Meadows (about a half hour east of our place). Haroldine, hubby Bob, kids Kari and Kyle and, last but not least, Iris (they are all wonderful) were busy demo'ing the new Adirondack Dabbers. I thought, I don't need those, as I have lots of acrylic paints already. Well...let me tell you, they are some kinda fun! I picked up a couple and Mom bought a bunch of stuff, but didn't pick up any of the Dabbers. We got back to our house and started to play with all the new goodies. Within about an hour, Mom decided she should have picked up some of the Dabbers and would I mind... Yep, in the car and back out to Haroldine's we went.

samples of Adirondack Dabbers and a new Stampers Anonymous 'Tim' stamp

We were greeted with a "Wow, it's been a while!" from Bob. Mom got her Dabbers and some paper and some more of this and that. Well, heck if I'm going to go home empty handed. I picked up a few more Dabbers and Mom bought me Tim Holtz's new book, "Distressables 2".

Most who know me, know how much I love Tim's art (I spent a weekend at a local scrapbook store in the summer of '05 taking a bunch of his classes...he is a doll!!). My fabulous art friends have been giving me a hard time about it ever since (okay, maybe I was a tad enthusiastic when I discussed how much fun I had and how much I liked him...okay...I admit it...I gushed...and gushed...but I had such a GREAT TIME!) Heck, we had practically the same hair style at the time!
Sunday, Stephen made his scrumpy pancakes with bacon for breakfast and then we played and watched our BC Lions win the Grey Cup, hooray! (Cdn equivalent to the Super Bowl for all my American friends) And it didn't end there. Next we got to watch my beloved Vancouver Canucks beat Chicago. It was a great weekend for my teams (Canucks also won on Friday night). Mom even made her famous pork chow mein for dinner. We had a lovely visit.

this fibre food keeps getting better and better

You must check out Laurie's pasta salad and romaine lettuce on the salad plate and Lori's pancakes for my breakfast plate. You gals rock!

I am currently working on my contribution for the TV dinner. I'll post a picture as soon as I am done.

lest we forget