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

summer's end

All the gulls become crows
And the trails become roads

The time you have to play each day
Goes with the sun to far away.
For half a year it there will stay
And reappear just after May

There are far fewer rays of sunlight which we must evade
We have less opportunity to sit in the cool shade

The solar orb which almost used to be as white as bleach
Has darkened to the colour of an over-ripened peach

The people we were free from as we ran across the beach
Return again and now we have to listen to them teach
It's time once more to work our way through yet another grade

The end of summer leaves us with a lack of lemonade

And the green becomes gold
And the warm becomes cold.

- Wesley May 2006

Wesley presented this poem to me as part of my birthday present. What a special gift.

yet more fibre food delights...

Here's a peek at Lori's quiche and Jen's chocolate dipped strawberries that have been added to Laurie's appetizer plate.

more fibre food

Take a look at Carla's addition to the dessert plate. Mmm!

rifs, haunts, birthdays, books and dolls

The title of this post sums up the events of the last several days. Last week started with notification that our company was going to be going through another RIF (reduction in force). Sound better than "downsizing" or "rightsizing"? You be the judge. I understand it is necessary to sustain the business, but that doesn't make it any easier. Thursday came and went and I made it, but it is always hard to say goodbye to friends you have made over the years.

On Friday, we headed out with a group of friends to go see the Halloween Haunt held at one of the local movie studios. A bit hokey, but fun nonetheless. After that, we headed out for dinner and I was surprised with some birthday presents from my guys (my birthday was Saturday). My Wesley got me a table top vice, to assist with my soldering projects, and Stephen gave me a Nikon S6 digital camera. I have been wanting one for a while...love the large screen on the back. And to top it all off, we made it home in time to see my beloved Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals in an overtime shootout! What a way to start off my birthday weekend.

On Saturday it was off to the first of two fun-filled days of book-making classes. Janice came by and we carpooled over. The fabulous Nancy and April hosted the event. April was our chef for the two days, keeping our tummies full with all sorts of nummy delights. Suzanne Cannon of Quiet Fire Design taught us 'Over and Under the Covers' and 'Mini Mica Memories' on day one and 'Unfolding Adventures' on day two. Suzanne is a wonderful teacher and a lovely person. I always enjoy her classes. I was surprised with a birthday cake and some lovely treats. Thanks everyone! I got to meet Mary, who will be one of my room mates at Artfest! What a pleasure. Mary travelled over from Victoria to attend the classes. I got to catch up with Nadine, another one of my original art friends (as are Pat and Janice) who is just back from a wonderful trip to Italy. I can't wait to hear more and see some pictures. On Saturday, after our book classes, Nancy held another class for a portion of the group and we made lovely beaded dolls. With us all seated around a table it was a nice couple of hours to sit and chat while we worked away.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend and a great way to turn 29 for the 15th time. :u)

copper book pics

I finally decided to do as Heather told me and start putting my pictures in flickr. So, if you would like to take a look at my copper book, here you go.

copper book

It's been awhile...lots of stuff has been going on of late, so my apologies to those of you who are kind enough to drop by for a visit now and again.

I finished my copper book and am quite pleased with how it turned out; unfortunately, blogger doesn't seem to be cooperating this evening, so I will post pictures as soon as I can.

I'll be back soon with my recent adventures in art and life.

Cheers.

sushi anyone?

It was so exciting to open up the big envelope that arrived a while back. In it was Jen's bento box (the third dish of our fibre food swap to arrive).

Here are pictures of Suanne's tempura (naked and with batter). Great job!



I opened up the wonderful box of fabrics that were given to me by my friend Janice and found just the right material to create my additions to the bento box. Included are Ikura (salmon roe) and Tamago (egg) nigiri along with Gari (pickled ginger), a little felted Wasabi and last but not least, a Shiso* leaf. You should have seen the look on the woman's face when I walked up to the mall sushi stand to ask for one plastic shiso leaf (to use as a pattern). I'm sure she thought I was nuts.



*A little factoid...called "shisho" in Japan, this herb was traditionally served with sushi to alleviate seafood poisoning. Today it is rarely served, but it is represented by a green, plastic leaf in pre-packaged sushi.

sitting

I decided that my copper book is going to contain Wesley's poetry. This is the first page I finished for inside the book. The poem is titled "Sitting".

Sitting

Let's just wait outside. I hope nobody died
Today. They sent us all away so now I stay
Out here. Quite a cheer
There was when they let us go. A flow
Of students running out. Nobody pouts
For missing school, and if the day was just a bit more cool
It would've been nice. Instead, like mice
We scurry from shade to shade. It made
For an interesting time as we talked about the crime
And what it could be. I guess we'll see
Tomorrow if there's any sign of sorrow.

But for now I just watch ants,
And at different plants I glance.

I can't get in, you see. My key
Is stuck at school and I have no tool
To gain entry.

I'll be a sentry for the dandelions a while.

(2006)

This was written this past June on the day they evaculated the school due to a "police incident" (we found out later that it was a bomb threat). The students all stood around the parking lot and were eventually told to go home (hence the cheers). Wesley's key was in his backpack, which was in his locker, so he wrote this poem while sitting outside our house waiting for one of us to get home.

copper book class

This weekend I am taking a two-day copper book class. The instructor is Suzanne Cannon. Her website is Quietfire Design. She is an amazing calligrapher and if you read Sommerset Studio you may have seen some of her work. I have taken several bookmaking workshops with Suzanne and this one is quite unique. Today, we etched images into the covers by simply stamping with StazOn and soaking the copper in ferric chloride. Once that process was finished, I dipped my covers in a liver of sulfur solution. Watching the colours change and deciding just the right time to rinse it off was a fun exercise. Everyone had different results, all wonderful. I tried to scan them, but it didn't show all the detail, so I took a couple of pictures (hard while trying to get enough light, but not so much that I got glare and reflection off the copper), so here they are...not the best, but good enough to give you an idea. The face will be the front and the text will be tipped and used for the back.




Tomorrow we get to etch more copper and also make the signatures for the book. I am going to make mine into a book of Wesley's poems. I will post more once it is finished.

another fibre food update

After receiving Carla's email about the addition to my breakfast plate, I thought hmmm...there must be a post from the first plate she received. So I checked her blog and sure enough there it was... Take a look at her lemongrass caviar...wow!

artfest here I come!

I was so excited to finally receive my confirmation in the mail yesterday. I got all of my first choices; Lynne Perrella, Linda & Opie O'Brien and Thomas & Romona Ashman (my absolute first choice). Thank you to Teesha for putting together such a wonderful registration package, from the mini journal and amazing collages all the way to the cool Batman stamps. So much attention to details. Now it's time to start collecting treasures to use in my classes. I think I will have quite the list of tools to ask Santa for this year.

(thanks, Teesha, for letting me post one of your collages from the Artfest package)

fibre food update

Wow...Carla has done an incredible job with her addition to my breakfast plate. Check out the pics here.