In the Moment

Season's Greetings

2011-12-15T13:45:00.001-05:00

Our online holiday dance on ElfYourself.

All the best to you and your loved ones this holiday season!

Lest we forget

2011-11-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

A poignant Remembrance Day video by Terry Kelly called 'Pittance in Time' stressing the value of observing a minute of silence to commemorate the huge price paid by military personnel in combat.

Please take that moment to also think about our 'walking wounded', who suffer PTSD.

Giving thanks

2011-10-10T02:27:00.003-04:00

A free greeting by Smilebox

Jack Layton's love letter to Canada

2011-08-22T19:24:00.000-04:00

Canada is in mourning. A great Canadian died early today.

Even in the face of impending death, Jack Layton, our leader of the official opposition party in Canada's Parliament, took the time to pen a hopeful, inspiring letter to his fellow Canadians, which personified his indomitable spirit.

Here is the text of his beautiful letter.

August 20, 2011

Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

Rest in peace, Jack. You will be remembered with kind and loving thoughts.

Happy 32nd birthday!

2011-08-06T19:48:00.001-04:00

This free digital ecard generated with Smilebox

Today my daughter turns 32. Goodness, how time has flown.

So many lovely memories. She was such a sweet child with a myriad of nicknames like 'Bunny Girl' and 'Chickadee'. During the teen years, there was quite a saucy little break but adulthood rekindled her innate sweetness.

The pictures inside this birthday card are evocative for me.

Her favourite toy was a very tattered, well-loved, white kitty that eventually lost its tail. As often happens with favourite toys, Kitty got lost. What a panic! Fortunately, I was able to replace it after a lengthy period of scouring every local toy store. Then, fortune struck again and Kitty resurfaced. She promptly renamed both to 'Kitty with no tail' and "Kitty with a tail'.

Her second love affair revolved around her homemade Mary Maxim, bunny sweater. One day, while I was driving and glanced into the rear-view mirror, I saw her stroking the sweater and cooing, "Ooooooh...bunnies!". This spawned her nickname 'Bunny Girl'. That is one of those memory flashes that will probably endure to my grave.

Happy birthday, Elizabeth. You are the sweetest, kindest person I know.

Midas Touch

2011-02-17T03:04:00.002-05:00

The Iron Craft Challenge this week was called Midas Touch. My submission was this paper, quilted card pictured below. Even though the pictures don't show it well, each paper used has gold in it. The star's points are gold, sparkle paper.

Since I'm not the frilly type, I adapted a tutorial found on the Splitcoaststampers by Jenna Barber. Jenna's instructions are clear and easily understood.

Scars of Shame

2011-02-03T08:01:00.001-05:00

Following up on my post called FOREVER MARKED: A Dermatillomania Diary, there is now a trailer posted on YouTube for the documentary called Scars of Shame, which features my niece's story of her struggles with the condition dermatillomania (a compulsive skin picking disorder).

Director: Lisa Heyden
DOP: Darryl LeBlanc
Editor: Darryl LeBlanc/Lisa Heyden
Sound Mix: John Rosborough

You can also view other videos on Angela's YouTube channel.

If you wish to contact Angela about her book or her story, visit her Facebook Fan Page for her book, FOREVER MARKED: A Dermatillomania Diary. You can also email her at or email her at forever.marked@yahoo.ca

Cutting down toxins and waste in our home

2011-01-17T17:49:00.002-05:00

Appliances as gifts for me are usually a major faux pas but this year I did ask hubby for one because I felt it would truly enhance our life.

Hubby spent months researching our needs and checking for sales, which resulted in gifting me with this little beauty.

Quick note: This post is self-generated from happiness over may Christmas gift. I am neither affiliated with the company that produced this product nor receiving any remuneration for it.

We are trying to eliminate as many contaminants from our living space as possible without compromising cleanliness levels. We have a dog and two cats. We weren't only concerned with the dander they produce but worried about them licking their paws and ingesting chemicals from the cleaners on the market. We weren't comfortable with the off-gassing of those products, either.

My Shark Steam Blaster uses water not cleaning fluids. After cleaning with it, our home now smells like fresh, line-dried linen and our surfaces are sterilized by the steam.

Besides eliminating chemicals, we wanted to eliminate waste. We just pop the cloth cleaning pad in the washer.

Here are its attributes, according to Canadian Tire's listing for it:

- Equipped with steam pocket technology, the steam blaster provides 30 minutes of cleaning time on a single tank of water.
- Turns ordinary tap water into a powerful household cleanser.
- Cleans, sanitizes and deodorizes appliances, countertops, bathrooms, tiles, mirrors and more without harsh chemicals.
- Steam ready in 5 minutes.
- Large wheels for easy mobility.

And, due to my hubby's research and patience, he snagged this at a pre-Christmas sale for $65.99, plus taxes. Major scoop, since it is now listed for $169.99!

Reviving my favourite slippers

2011-01-15T23:11:00.001-05:00

My daughter made me a fantastic pair of felted slippers for Christmas 2009. I loved them...apparently my dogs did, too. Although neither pooch is the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, they seemed to master the following, simple math equation:

Now the cold weather has set in again and my mind was still on the the second Iron Craft challenge, I resolved that it was time to 'draft-bust' my toes, too.

Materials:
- slippers
- leather
- felt
- black, waxed, carpet thread (Substitution: thick, waxed, dental floss)

Tools:
- white pencil or dressmaking chalk
- sharp, heavy duty scissors
- Karen Foster 'Clikit' (a punching/embossing/eyelet setting tool)
- 4 mm. punching tip
- carpet needle

Step 1: Place the slippers on the sueded side of the leather.

Step 2: Trace the slipper shape onto the leather with a white pencil.

Step 3: Cut out the slipper shape.

Step 4: Load your Clikit tool with the 4 mm. punch tip and punch holes along the perimeter of each leather slipper shape. Try and keep the holes at regular intervals and avoid getting too close to the edge of the leather.

Step 5: Use the slipper shapes to cut two felt thicknesses for each foot. There's no need to create punch holes in the felt.

Step 6: Stack your materials in the following order: felted slipper, two pieces of the felt shapes, and on piece of the punched leather shape. Make sure the suede side of the leather faces inward. You can clamp these together with some clothes pins, if you like.

Step 7: Sew your slipper forms onto your slipper through the holes punched in the leather, using a running stitch. The best tool for this kind of sewing is carpet needle threaded with black, waxed, carpet thread or thick, waxed dental floss. The carpet needle is sharp enough to pierce through the felted slipper and two pieces of felt shapes. The black, waxed, carpet thread will slide through the material easily, plus it is strong enough to withstand frequent wear.

The carpet needle is the middle one in the picture below. The tip is sharp but flattened, similar to the blade of a double-edged knife.

Step 8: Trim any excess felt material, if it shifted during sewing.

Looks like my toes will be toasty-warm for at least the rest of the winter.

Oh baby, it's COLD out there!

2011-01-12T23:14:00.004-05:00

Hubby and I live in an apartment in Canada. Our master bedroom is on the corner of the building and we've lived with the draft assaulting our heads in that room for six years.

Until the second Iron Craft challenge, I didn't really stretch my brain cells on what to do about it; I only focused on what I couldn't do. The bedroom has sliding windows, so a padded, window snake wouldn't meet our needs. The challenge gave me a chance to think outside the box. Besides banishing the draftiness, I wanted something that would afford more privacy without sacrificing natural light during the day.

Here is the solution, which required some help from my hubby. We're so pleased with it that we've even given it a name, 'Room with a View'.

Before:

Now that you've seen the 'before' picture, I'm sure the question that begs to be asked is, "Why didn't we just move the bed to another wall?" Well, in order to fit all our bedroom furniture, while leaving plenty of room for egress, there was only one possible place to put it...right in front of that dratted window.

My hubby already had one of his photographs printed up on translucent plastic. I measured the inside width of the window, got him to make a frame from some old pieces of baseboard, I painted it, and then we attached the print to the back of the frame.

It fits easily into the window framing and the space at the top allows any winter condensation to dry.

The translucence of the plastic allows natural light to enter the room during the day. Here is a picture of the frame, back lit, so you can see how much light will filter through.

Translucency:

Now for the reveal; hope you like it!
After:

Now I just have to wheedle hubby into making some kind of shelving above it.

My crafting room

2011-01-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

Easy fire starter

2011-01-09T16:21:00.007-05:00

I was browsing online and came across a fellow crafter's blog Backstitch Baby with a tutorial on how to make some easy, fire starters for fireplaces, wood stoves or camping.

Years ago, I made and sold these to a local hardware store. They really work. I packaged them in brown paper, lunch bags with the above graphic printed on them.

My technique was a little different. I used old muffin tins as uniform bases, filled them to one-third with Parowax, dipped the pine cones in wax to lightly coat them, and used candle wicking.

Chocolate Apricot Flan

2011-01-07T15:11:00.017-05:00

It's my hubby's birthday today. Birthdays close to the holidays sometimes don't get the proper attention paid to them so, to ensure the day is special, I acquired the cake ingredients in November so he could have a unique cake to enjoy.

Also, I'd like to share the recipe so perhaps you may enjoy it, too. I can't attribute the recipe to anyone because I acquired it many years ago and it was written on a recipe card by me.

Chocolate Apricot Flan

Preheat oven to 375°F

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Special tools needed:
- flan tin
- cake rack
- basting brush

Prepare your flan tin by rubbing it with butter, swish some flour around the pan until the butter is covered. Shake off the excess flour and set aside.

Melt together:
- 3 squares of unsweetened chocolate
- 1/2 cup butter

Once the melted mixture has cooled, transfer it into a mixer and then add the following, mixing on low after each ingredient addition:
- 2 eggs

Mix in on low.

- 1/2 cup milk
Mix in on low.

- 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier
Mix in on low.

- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla
Mix in on low.

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
Mix in on low.

- 3/4 cup of sugar
Mix in on low.

- 3/4 cup of flour
Mix in on low.

When finished, your batter should resemble chocolate mousse. Pour into your prepared flan tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. You can check done-ness by touching the top, middle of the flan. If it springs back after you touch it, it is done.

Remove from the oven and place the flan tin on a baking rack to ensure the flan cools evenly.

Once cooled, place a plate over the top of the tin and flip it over. Remove the collar and then the flan disk.

Brush 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier on the top of your flan.

Then arrange on top of the flan:
- 1 can of drained, apricot halves

Heat together to make a glaze:
- 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier
- 2 tablespoons of apricot jam

Brush the glaze on top of the apricot halves.

Sprinkle some almond slices on top, if you desire.

C'est fini...enjoy!

Iron Craft: 52-week challenge

2011-01-04T01:37:00.012-05:00

Iron Craft is holding a year-long, craft challenge.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to more actively explore my creativity so I decided to join this crafting challenge. This might actually force me to follow through on my resolution.

If you would like to find out the details on how to join this challenge, go to Iron Craft's page Are you ready for the year of crafty?

This week's challenge for January 9th is called Lighting the Winter Gloom.

Here's my entry for Challenge #1: I pierced a copper sheet with a recurring apple pattern, framed it, and used it to cover a really ugly, fluorescent light above my sink.

Free, 2011, pit bull calendar for your computer desktop

2010-12-30T00:39:00.021-05:00

Yep...still can't fathom that our beloved Fluffy is gone. I've made a 2011 calendar to display on my computer desktop so he is with me in spirit for the new year.

If anyone would like to have any of these monthly pit bull calendars for their personal use, feel free to click on each of the pictures below, which will take you to my Skydrive on MSN Live, where you can download/copy each one. Once you arrive at each page, simply click on the picture and you will access a 1600 x 1000 pixel version of it to save.

You don't need an MSN account to access them because I have made these desktop calendar pictures available to the public.

All the photos were taken by my husband Mike in March 2010 and may not be used for any commercial purpose.

R.I.P. Fluffy

2010-09-16T16:28:00.009-04:00

Owning Fluffy was pure pleasure.

Fluffy
June 15, 2002 - September 11, 2010

DELAYED - Free Watercolor 101 with Molly Murrah

2010-05-10T15:29:00.008-04:00

Each course is 90 minutes and commences:

8 AM — Hawaii
10 AM — Alaska
11 AM — Pacific
NOON — Mountain
1 PM — Central
2 PM — Eastern
Worldwide — Check Your Timezone!

Here is the subject matter that will be covered each week:

Week 1 - July 30, 2010 - Overview: Why Watercolor?

Week 2 - August 6, 2010 - Paints & Colors

Week 3 - August 13, 2010 - Paper & Brushes

Week 4 - August 20, 2010 - Drawing & Composition

Week 5 - September 3, 2010 - The Fun Stuff

I'm looking forward to participating. If you are interested too, you can enroll at the following link: http://creativelive.com/courses/watercolor101/

Two folded greeting cards

2010-04-12T18:15:00.021-04:00

My friend Janet sent me some pictures of two cards she made during a crafty day that she held Sunday with some friends. She found the instructions on YouTube.

Fun Fold Card

The video below was posted by tomshackj. Note: Instead of the video scoring dimensions, score your folds at 5-1/2" and 3-1/4" so the card will be completely centered.

Diamond Fold Card

The video below was posted by Chris Walker. Her blog is called Text, Dies & Double-Sided Tape and you can find lots of card making inspiration there. She supplies a free, downloadable Word document with the instructions for her Diamond Fold Card Project on her blog.

Multi-pocket mini album

2010-03-18T17:47:00.021-04:00

When I was on vacation, the woman I visited invited some friends over to make cards. In addition, they brought some examples of their work and I took pictures so I could remember the composition and techniques.

Here's a super one made by Anne, which doubles as a birthday card. She found an online video tutorial of how to make a multi-pocket mini album, which you can view at the bottom of this post. I'm sure, once you see it, you will agree that Anne's rendition took this craft to a whole new level. Hers also vividly shows how colour choices and the right embellishments can really jazz things up.

There are three pockets for inserting mounted pictures; one pocket on the top left and two pockets on the right hand side. Pictures can be mounted on both sides of the inserts.

We are More - Shane Koyczan

2010-02-13T00:34:00.007-05:00

Wow! Slam poet Shane Koyczan's 'We are More', recited by him in the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, was a stirring ode to Canadians. Here is the text:

We are More
Shane Koyczan

When defining Canada
you might list some statistics
you might mention our tallest building
or biggest lake
you might shake a tree in the fall
and call a red leaf Canada
you might rattle off some celebrities
might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie
might even mention the fact that we've got a few
Barenaked Ladies
or that we made these crazy things
like zippers
electric cars
and washing machines
when defining Canada
it seems the world's anthem has been
" been there done that"
and maybe that's where we used to be at
it's true
we've done and we've been
we've seen
all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine
and turned into theme parks
but when defining Canada
don't forget to mention that we have set sparks

we are not just fishing stories
about the one that got away
we do more than sit around and say "eh?"
and yes

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One
who inspired little number nines
and little number ninety-nines
but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you're welcome
well we say that too
but we are more
than genteel or civilized
we are an idea in the process
of being realized
we are young
we are cultures strung together
then woven into a tapestry
and the design
is what makes us more
than the sum total of our history
we are an experiment going right for a change
with influences that range from a to zed
and yes we say zed instead of zee
we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy
we dream so big that there are those
who would call our ambition an industry
because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow
we do more than grow wheat and brew beer
we are vineyards of good year after good year
we reforest what we clear
because we believe in generations beyond our own
knowing now that so many of us
have grown past what used to be
we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have
when they say things like "someday"

someday we'll be great
someday we'll be this
or that
someday we'll be at a point
when someday was yesterday
and all of our aspirations will pay the way
for those who on that day
look towards tomorrow
and still they say someday

we will reach the goals we set
and we will get interest on our inspiration
because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks
more than backpacks and hiking trails
we are hammers and nails building bridges
towards those who are willing to walk across
we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss
we are not the see-through gloss or glamour
of those who clamour for the failings of others
we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers
uncles and nephews aunts and nieces
we are cousins
we are found missing puzzle pieces
we are families with room at the table for newcomers
we are more than summers and winters
more than on and off seasons
we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay
because we are more than what we say or do
we live to get past what we go through

and learn who we are
we are students
students who study the studiousness of studying
so we know what as well as why
we don't have all the answers
but we try
and the effort is what makes us more
we don't all know what it is in life we're looking for
so keep exploring
go far and wide
or go inside but go deep
go deep
as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss
and suddenly there was this location scout
trying to figure some way out
to get inside you
because you've been through hell and high water
and you went deep
keep exploring
because we are more
than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
we are more than hills to ski
or countryside ponds to skate
we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait
we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes
a country that is all the ways you choose to live
a land that can give you variety
because we are choices
we are millions upon millions of voices shouting
" keep exploring... we are more"
we are the surprise the world has in store for you
it's true

Canada is the "what" in "what's new?"
so don't say "been there done that"
unless you've sat on the sidewalk
while chalk artists draw still lifes
on the concrete of a kid in the street
beatboxing to Neil Young for fun
don't say you've been there done that
unless you've been here doing it
let this country be your first-aid kit
for all the times you get sick of the same old same old
let us be the story told to your friends
and when that story ends
leave chapters for the next time you'll come back
next time pack for all the things
you didn't pack for the first time
but don't let your luggage define your travels
each life unravels differently
and experiences are what make up
the colours of our tapestry
we are the true north
strong and free
and what's more
is that we didn't just say it
we made it be.

Make your sweetie a Valentine

2010-02-12T18:26:00.066-05:00

It's not too late to make your special love a homemade (or home printed) Valentine. Here are some ideas that might motivate your creativity.

I think this Valentine flip book is just plain brilliant.

Cute, easy to make felt, Valentine heart ornament.

Make a Valentine for the tekkie in your life with these free, downloadable cards.

Free, downloadable zebra Valentine cards.

Illustrator Lisa Rupp's free, downloadable folding or flat Valentine cards.

Decoupage some wooden Valentine badges with this tutorial.

A tutorial for making a personalized Valentine, fabric print.

Free, downloadable PDF for making embellished Valentine straws.

A free, downloadable template for a vintage, Valentine card .

A collection of over 1,700 Valentine, vintage postcards.

Make some sweet, little, Valentine envelopes

A tutorial for making simply lovely, Valentine ornaments constructed from felt & buttons.

A tutorial and free, downloadable template for little Valentine cards that can be slipped into pretty, decorated matchboxes.

A kids' craft tutorial for making matchbox, Valentine Babies.

Free, downloadable, Hedgehog Love, Valentine scherenschnitte (paper cutting) template.

Free, downloadable Valentine labels.

Quote from Paper Crave: "...a tutorial and downloadable templates so you can make your very own skulk of valentine-y foxes. Yep, that's what a group of foxes is called, a skulk. I learn something new every day with this blog, I tell ya."

Help the kids make some girl or boy, Valentine cootie catchers with these free, downloadable templates.

A detailed tutorial for making lacy Valentines.

'Go to' cookbooks

2010-02-09T23:59:00.080-05:00

I love food ergo I must cook. The best times in my life are associated with food preparation and consumption, surrounded by the people I love. Winter always spawns activity in my kitchen because venturing outdoors in Canada is a chilly endeavour.

I've been churning out meals for over 35 years and have the resultant plethora of cookbooks to liberally cover that time span. Mostly now, I just whip stuff up without consulting any of these books but, when I do need to find a recipe, these are the cookbooks I revisit, time and again.

Over the years, my preferences gravitated to recipes providing good methodology and ease in both comprehension and execution. I've listed them in descending order of visitation.

The Fanny Farmer Cookbook
America's great basic cookbook completely revised to provide, for our generation, a full repertory of wonderful dishes and ways of good cooking in the best American tradition. With an introduction by James Beard
By: Fannie Merritt Farmer, Originally published in 1896 under the title The Boston Cooking School Cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer
Obtain a copy: No longer in print but a version has been revised by Marion Cunningham to take into account newer preparation techniques and newer dietary preferences.

1,000 Vegetarian Recipes
By: Carol Geddes
Obtain a copy: Amazon

Betty Crocker's Cookbook
By: Betty Crocker Food and Nutrition Center
Obtain a copy: Amazon

Traditional Recipes of Atlantic Canada
By: Shirely Jones and The Culinary Institute of Canada
Obtain a copy: No longer in print because it was a promotional item put out by Ultramar, where chapters were offered each week and you could also purchase the binder to hold them. Sections of it come up for auction sometimes on Ebay, Canada.

Recipes: Middle Eastern Cooking
By: Time Life Books' Foods of The World series
Obtain a copy: Dig Modern

The Southern Accent Cajun & Creole Cookbook
By: Elena Embrioni & Frances Wood
Obtain a copy: Wikio

Betty Crocker's Southwest Cooking
By: General Mills
Obtain a copy: Amazon

Better Homes and Gardens Cajun Cooking
By: Better Homes and Gardens
Obtain a copy: Amazon

A World of Baking
By: Delores Casella
Obtain a copy: Amazon

Canadian Mennonite Cookbook
By: Rita Kaethle & Pat Gerber Pauls. Originally published under the title Altona Women's Institure Cookbook.
Obtain a copy: Amazon

The Silver Palate Cookbook
Delicious recipes, menus, tips, lore from Manhattan's celebrated gourmet food shop.
By: Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins with Michael McLaughlin
Obtain a copy: Amazon

The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook
Foreward by M. F. K. Fisher
By: Alice B. Toklas
Obtain a copy: Amazon

Life, Love and Lobsters
An Anecdotal Collection of Recipes from Harris' Seafood Restaurant
By: Clara Kathleen Harris & Gaynor S. Kleiber
Obtain a copy: Email Gaynor Kleiber at kleibergay@hotmail.com

Tomorrow's just your future yesterday

2010-02-08T16:31:00.006-05:00

Craig Ferguson's picture is right beside 'silly' in the dictionary. I haven't enjoyed such levels of foolishness and wit since Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired on BBC between 1969 and 1974.

The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a staple for both my husband and I on week nights.

Time to celebrate

2010-01-20T13:36:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Proud to be Canadian

2009-12-30T10:04:00.023-05:00

In August 2007, 174 kilometers of the Highway 401, the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, between CFB Trenton and Toronto was officially renamed the Highway of Heroes in remembrance of Canada's fallen soldiers. Since 2002, 134 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died during the Afghanistan mission.

On Wednesday, December 23, 2009, Lt. Andrew Nuttall, 30, of Prince Rupert, B.C., was killed in southern Afghanistan. He belonged to the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton. His body arrived at CFB Trenton on Monday, December 28, 2009 and began the journey to Toronto for the repatriation ceremony.

My husband and I had the unexpected honour of preceding the procession while we were on our way back from holiday festivities in Ottawa. Words cannot adequately express the profundity of this experience. We had seen videos and news reports over the (too) many years of the Afghanistan war but were not prepared for the flood of emotions evoked by this sobering trip.

Every one of the entrances, exits and overpasses was filled with fellow Canadians waiting in the extreme cold to honour one of our heroes and to support his family during their mourning. There were flags, banners, salutes and flashing lights everywhere. The lumps in our throat barely allowed speech. We were choking on a mixture of sadness and pride. The poignant outpouring of love was incredible.

I'm so proud to be Canadian.

I also salute and honor the thousands more who have returned as the walking wounded. Some are physically maimed but many more are emotionally scarred from their tours of duty; wracked with survivor guilt or unable to banish the horrific memories and trauma they have endured.

They are also our heroes.

Forever Marked: A Dermatillomania Diary

2009-12-15T12:56:00.012-05:00

My niece wrote this book. It's a heartbreaking 2006 diary of Angela's struggles with a disorder causing permanent mutilation.

Her purpose for sharing was to reach out to others suffering in silence because very little is known about Dermatillomania besides that it falls under the impulse control disorder umbrella. Unfortunately, those who practice this usually cannot find the proper help, if they seek it at all; their shame isolates them.

If you are interested in reading it, you can contact Angela through her book's Facebook page or email her at forever.marked@yahoo.ca

Pure, simple art

2009-12-11T11:42:00.004-05:00

I received this truly delightful holiday card from from a friend of mine's daughter. The cards were made for raising funds for her primary school. This is her creation.

Children's art is so pure and affect free. Their offerings come straight from their imaginations with no filtering.

I love this card and intend to frame it and put it on permanent display in my dining room, where we can enjoy it at every meal.

A message from Santa

2009-12-04T08:13:00.015-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this link today of a personalized video greeting to her little girl.

This Portable North Pole message from Santa is brilliant!

It does give me pause to wonder just exactly what Santa's secret ingredient is for enabling those reindeer to fly??!!

Just press on the button 'refer a friend' or use this link http://holidays.sympatico.ca/MagicSanta/vacation to personalize your own, free greeting to send to the special people in your life.

Crafting with friends

2009-11-30T20:33:00.011-05:00

The great origami giveaway

2009-11-29T14:59:00.005-05:00

The Paper Place Blog has put together the ultimate Origami prize package, one of each of the origami packs they offer online – practically a lifetime supply!

Here's the link so you can enter: http://www.thepaperplace.ca/wp/?p=483

20 years

2009-09-02T13:16:00.012-04:00

This week, hubby and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. It's the second time riding the marriage roller coaster for both of us.

How did we make it this time, when other marriages fell by the wayside? Commitment, pure and simple. We are just ordinary people, living our lives 'in the moment'.

Our life together is based on a simple concept. There are 3 living entities in our home: me, him and our relationship. We are individuals who have and embrace our own diverse interests but also respect that our individuality cannot be acted out in a way that compromises our relationship.

I don't claim that we always succeed but the wins far outweigh the fails. Every day brings a new, and happier, history.

I am grateful for the gift of our relationship and our blended family.

Our life:

My blended family:

Cootie

2009-09-01T00:12:00.007-04:00

What fun! A friend dropped by this evening and, since we both enjoy playing board games, she brought the original, 1949, W.H. Schaper Mfg. Co. Inc., game of Cootie to play.

Hasbro's Milton Bradley gave Cootie a makeover in 1986. You can see the redesigned game at the Hasbro web site.

10 text & typography stumbles

2009-08-30T12:15:00.054-04:00

Yesterday's posted graphic was concrete evidence that my typographic skills are weak.

Today, I came across an example of a book cover that made it past the editing stage (note the subtitle). I'm quite sure that publisher had not intended for that to happen. This example gave me pause to think about improving my text skills, too.

I found some stumbles that will help address that lack of expertise. Here's an open invitation to come learn along with me.

TEXT
- proofreading and editing for spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization
Dictionary
Grammar

TEXT & FONT USAGE
I Love Typography: contrast, size, hierarchy and space
Pro Blog Design: improve readability

FONTS
- free for personal use
Dafont
Fontspace

ONLINE TOOLS
Typetester: compare fonts for the screen
TypeNavigator: visual font search system

TYPOGRAPHY
- text based, graphic creation
Webdesigner Depot: web typography rules
GraphicMania: Photoshop text effects tutorials

Home sweet home

2009-08-29T20:05:00.005-04:00

I miss Nova Scotia during the summer months.

10 illustration stumbles

2009-08-23T08:39:00.013-04:00

One of my favourite passtimes is looking at artists' illustrations. They inspire differing viewpoints. Here's hoping you enjoy these artists as much as I do.

Ana Botezatu

Sylvia Park

Geninne's Art Blog

Scott Barry

Marc Johns

ColorBlok Inc.

Brett Manning

Rebecca Saylor Sack

Stephen Daoud

Alice Stephenson

10 free pattern stumbles

2009-08-09T10:57:00.020-04:00

Paul Smith - Project 10: Bag: 14 weeks of free, downloadable, craft bag PDF templates. The link for each week contains 10 templates.

Martha Stewart: a tutorial with a link to the free template for making cheery, little parasols to embellish beverages.

Fog & Thistle paper craft projects: 4 free, downloadable projects.

Free Your Soul - the free art project: lots of lovely, free art images for cards, framing, etc.

Connecting Threads: 4 free quilt patterns

Sarah Jane Studios: 3 free templates to make framed, gallery prints.

Wee Folk Art: make a felt, cat doorstop with this tutorial and link to the free, downloadable pattern.

Eat Drink Chic: make some authentic vintage paper labels with this tutorial and link to the free, downloadable herb labels.

Greetings with Patterns: a collection 21 free, paper cutting, greeting card patterns.

The Long Thread: a tutorial and 2 free, downloadable templates to make a felt, Little Red Riding Hood doll.

Life with a cat explained

2009-07-31T21:47:00.001-04:00

see more Funny Graphs

Thought moments

2009-07-29T14:58:00.002-04:00

I love the film maker's technique of slowing the motion so we see the facial manifestation of each person's thought process as they ponder their answers to each question given to them.

The body snatchers

2009-07-27T01:42:00.006-04:00

I received this in one of those viral emails so I can't quote the source. Both my husband and I laughed so hard when we read it that I wanted to share it online.

DIRE Warning to Women.

THIS IS NOT A HOAX. WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

This is happening to women everywhere, every night. This has happened to me and it is very, very scary - so please be on your guard at all times!

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had their kidneys removed by black-market organ thieves.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. I went to sleep and woke up with someone else's thighs. It was just that quick. The replacements had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs. Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans.

And then the thieves struck again. My bum was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear-end to the thighs they had stuck me with earlier. But my new bum was attached at least three inches lower than my original! I realized I'd have to give up my jeans in favour of long skirts.

Two years later, I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was drying my hair and was horrified to see the flesh of my upper arm swing to & fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my body was being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to me next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a turkey neck, I decided to tell my story.

BTW - These same thieves come in my closet and shrank my clothes! How do they do it????

Women of the world wake up! Smell the coffee! Those 'plastic' surgeons are using REAL replacement body parts -stolen from you and me! The next time someone you know has something 'lifted', look again - was it lifted from you?

P.S.: Last year I thought some one had stolen my boobs, too. I was lying in bed and they were gone! But when I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

10 detours to silly stumbles

2009-07-26T16:51:00.033-04:00

Some stuff and nonsense to browse through on this rainy, Sunday evening.

Pets That Want to Kill Themselves: Totally self-explanatory.

Life Lesson #132 - Twitter: Status updates put into proper perspective.

Bank Refuses $80K Loan; Annoyed Man Withdraws $190K From Bank!: Quote from the page, "Having decided to withdraw his money, he then decided to make it hard for the bank by requesting payment in $20 bills." Serves that stupid bank right.

The PSB Gallery of Thrift Store Art: Some bizarre pieces in this gallery.

Awful Library Books: Egads & gadzooks! There is no hyperbole involved in the name of this web site.

43 Weird Things Said in Job Interviews: What a bunch of dough heads.

NY Times Designer Lid: Some craft ideas should be left as that: ideas.

Girl Falls into Manhole While Texting: Parents Sue: I guess any other response would include responsibility, which I'm guessing is not a strong point for this child and her parents.

Tattoos: From the Eco-Themed to the Under-Skin Touch Screen: You MUST see the touch screen.

The Grizzly Bear Chair: Presented to Andrew Jackson in 1865.

Puhlease, People: Hello Kitty mansion. OK, OK, I confess...I put it in because I think it's cute. Sue me!

YAHOO...I won this calendar

2009-07-25T19:29:00.007-04:00

I'm so excited that I can hardly contain myself because I really wanted to win this calendar.

If you would like to take a closer look, there are pictures of all the illustrations at Ana Aceves blog. The title of that page is 'Thank You Giveaway' but really, it is me who is thanking her!

Ana also has web site that features her beautiful paintings and illustrations.

10 vintage film stumbles

2009-07-19T03:12:00.046-04:00

The thumbnails are screenshots from the respective animations at YouTube and GUBA. Along with the 10 vintage films, you might want to view the animation timeline compiled by Animazing at the following link: The History of Animation

Felix the Cat in Hollywood (1923)

Little Rascals - School's Out (1930)

Betty Boop - Jack and the Beanstalk (1931)

Mickey's Orphans (1931)

Piano Tooners (1932)

Popeye - I Yam What I Yam(1933)

A Fireman's Life(1933)

The Old Mill Pond (1936) - Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters, Fats Waller, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Mills Brothers, Stepin Fetchit, Louis Armstrong

A Ride for Cinderella(1937)

Mother Goose Goes to Hollywood (1938)

40 years ago

2009-07-16T10:57:00.007-04:00

Photograph: NASA

40 years ago I remember the excitement and joy of watching Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon.

Look at Mission Control Centre! The large screen monitors and the abundance of computers were the stuff of dreams 40 years ago and it's only in the past decade that these technologies are available to the ordinary citizen.

Free photography course

2009-07-16T00:42:00.005-04:00

There is a free, 4-week, online webinar, photography course put on by creativetech tips. The 1st date was today but there are 3 more left. They are still accepting registrations.

Here is the info:

This special course is taught by photographer John Greengo from the PBS series Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge.

If you are interested, go to the following link to sign up for the remaining 3 sessions: http://creativetechs.com/freephotographycourse

July 15: Week 1 - Overview. Life of a World Traveling Photographer.
July 22: Week 2 - Your Camera.
July 29: Week 3 - Your Technique.
Aug 5: Week 4 - Composition Secrets

Shapes & colours

2009-07-15T19:12:00.002-04:00

Makoto Yabuki portrays bringing the artistic process to life with shapes and colours. He has 4 other videos online at Vimeo.

White Box from makoto yabuki on Vimeo.

Design by the book

2009-07-14T08:46:00.006-04:00

A New York Library & design*sponge collaborative project following 5 artists telling how the library has been an inspiration for their art.

A good read

2009-07-13T08:23:00.019-04:00

The Gargoyle, Canadian Andrew Davidson's debut novel, is a story of many stories. It intertwines cultures, history, medicine, mental illness, religion, love and life's struggles in a tremendously engaging way. It is difficult to put it down and, while occupied in other activities, I've found my attention often wandering back to this complex tale.

Davidson captures your attention immediately with overwhelming descriptions, that leave little to the imagination, of the horrendous car accident that leaves the main character barely alive and virtually burnt to a crisp.

He also uses a technique that I usually find quite irritating; injecting himself into the text. It's not overdone and, in this case, creates a feeling of collusion.

Burned by Love web page features an audio excerpt of Chapter 1.

Amazon features a 4-1/2 minute video of Andrew Davidson sharing one of his favourite love stories from his novel.

You can visit Andrew Davidson's personal blog at goodreads®.

10 photography stumbles

2009-07-12T08:30:00.017-04:00

In previous posts, I've mentioned that I'm learning to use my new-to-me camera. There are many web sites that provide helpful tips for improving photography skills. Here are some links to ones I liked enough to bookmark:

78 Photography Rules for Complete Idiots

The 10 Most Common Photographic Mistakes

How to Photograph Fireworks Displays

An Introduction to Advanced Photography Tips

Take Better Photos in 5 Easy Steps

Bernie's Better Beginner's Guide to Photography for Computer Geeks Who Want to be Digital Artists

8 Guidelines To Taking Panoramic Photos With Any Camera

10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

A Rookie Guide to Digital SLR Cameras

Digital Photography Tutorials

The next big something

2009-07-11T08:41:00.009-04:00

The next big something will happen in Chicago on 9/9/09.

The film project is currently being created with 300 strangers from around the world. You can view the progression of this project so far at: The Beckoning of Lovely

Authenticity

2009-07-10T07:45:00.014-04:00

There is a wonderful web site online called Ordinary Courage. Dr. Brené Brown's entries about authenticity are inspiring. I encourage you to explore her site.

Quote: "Perfectionism is a self-destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: “If I look perfect, live perfectly, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.”

Quote from Dr. Brown's bio: "Dr. Brené Brown is a writer, researcher, and educator. She is a member of the research faculty at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work where she has spent the past ten years studying connection - specifically authenticity, belonging, and shame, and the affect these powerful emotions have on the way we live, love, parent, work and build relationships."

Missing home

2009-07-09T12:10:00.023-04:00

Home is Nova Scotia. Here are some photos of it from my favourite photographer, my husband. Please do not use or copy these photographs without permission.

Halifax Skyline

Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry
Peggy's Cove

Ocean Surf at Peggy's Cove

Fishing Boats in Yarmouth

Vineyard in Annapolis Valley

Path at Spectacle Lake

Expecting a grandbaby

2009-07-07T14:32:00.006-04:00

Congratulations to our daughter and her husband, who are expecting their second child in March 2010. We are so excited!

10 bizarre stumbles

2009-07-05T08:14:00.029-04:00

You never know what you are going to find when stumbling.

There, I Fixed It: User photo submissions that take DIY projects to a whole new level of absurdity. The faucet repair is priceless.

Wiener Designs: A slideshow of some submissions in Minnesota's first annual Hot Dog Dressing Contest. By dressing, they don't mean condiments.

SMS SOS: The text messaging hall of shame.

20 Scary Old School Surgical Tools: Take into consideration that most of these were probably used before general anesthesia was introduced! Can you imagine being awake and watching those instruments at work on you?

Bagelheads: The latest body manipulation trend.

World's Biggest Alarm Clock Shakes You Out of Bed: There have been mornings when this would have come in very handy.

Tweet Bubble Series: Fashions for twits. The first picture looks normal enough.

The 13 Most Unintentionally Disturbing Children's Toys

4 Holy Women Transformed by Cheese: Proof positive that there really is an alternate cheese universe.

This Vending Machine Sells What?!: Sushi anyone?

Light up the sky!

2009-07-04T16:43:00.003-04:00

Beautiful paper sculpting

2009-07-03T12:47:00.008-04:00

This was found on Tokyobling's blog. I can't even imagine the patience of Wataru Itou, a young art university student in Tokyo. It is made entirely of paper took him over 4 years to make.

My very first drawing

2009-07-01T07:39:00.008-04:00

I did this by following the first exercise in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards, which has collected dust on my bookshelf for eons. It was published in 1979. A high school art teacher, who used it for his classes, recommended it. He confidently asserted that, by following the exercises in the book, anyone could learn how to draw.

Betty updated the book under the title The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and there is also a workbook available called The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing.

OMG...Pam is 50

2009-06-25T11:38:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Aliens just want to play

2009-06-25T01:36:00.007-04:00

Animator Jake Armstrong's thesis film. I'll be watching out for more films by this guy.

My dogs get that goofy look on their faces often.

Sublime design

2009-06-23T10:12:00.013-04:00

Oh my goodness! You MUST go to this web site: http://www.jeffengelfurniture.com.

Jeff Engel's furniture designs are sublime. I want every single piece...and then some.

What's your name?

2009-06-21T17:26:00.004-04:00

Our beautiful grandson

10 Father's Day DIY projects

2009-06-20T12:59:00.020-04:00

There are lots of DIY projects online for the special Dad in your life. Show him that you care by creating a personal, homemade gift.

Altoid Tin Mini Toolboxes for Father's Day: Surprise Dad with the smallest toolbox ever!

Disney's Father's Day coupon book to make for redemption for help with yard work, complete control of the TV remote, etc. There is a link to the free, downloadable template.

Surprise Balls: Make Dad really work at finding his gift with this clever way of wrapping it up.

HP's Creative Studio provides some nice, free, downloadable Father's Day card templates. You have to log on to access the patterns after the jump but it just takes a minute and they are free.

Golf Ball Seeds: A gag gift for Dads that golf. A free template is included.

A Dad, Blue Ribbon Badge Card from Chronicle Books blog.

Tissue Paper Tie: An easy, kids' DIY project.

Father's Day Shirt & Tie project with a free, downloadable template.

Family Key Rack: Another DIY project from Disney that Dad can use to keep track of car and house keys.

Rock Family Plaque: A cute decoration for the kids to make for Dad's office.

Her Beautiful Ideas

2009-06-11T12:50:00.005-04:00

The Guggenheim Grotto's beautifully illustrated, music video called Her Beautiful Ideas.

Scherenschnitte

2009-06-11T03:29:00.013-04:00

One of the activities that is relaxing for me to do is Scherenschnitte, which is a form of paper cutting. I'm not particularly good at it but satisfied with my meagre results. Here are a few scans of ones I have done.

If you want to see really good examples of paper cutting, here are some links that you might enjoy:

Ebon Heath

Peter Callesen

The Heart of Papercuts

Snippety Gibbet

Video invitation

2009-06-10T05:42:00.003-04:00

A truly innovative wedding invitation.

Summer grilling

2009-06-09T21:28:00.004-04:00

I never heard of charcoal chimneys before. For those of you who are grilling purists and don't use gas BBQs, this looks like a great way to quickly heat charcoal briquets.

Leisure connections

2009-06-08T13:35:00.017-04:00

Making a healthy connection to leisure activities creates a sense of personal power, relaxation and balanced lifestyle.

Devoting free time attending to YOUR needs, interests and feelings injects fun, enjoyment, laughter and expanded awareness into yours and others' lives. Many times, others' needs are nurtured, to the detriment of ourselves. Everyone benefits when we take the time to self-nurture.

What is leisure?

1. It is ANY activity.
2. It creates a sense of enjoyment for YOU.
3. It is YOUR choice.
4. It is enjoyed your YOUR free time.

It is not necessarily the specific activity that determines if your choice is healthy or unhealthy. Rather, it is how you connect to the choice you have made. For example, I can derive a lot of pleasure in the process of creating personalized greeting cards BUT this same activity can be stressful if I do it to meet others' expectations by deciding to churn out 200 of them as holiday cards for all my work and personal contacts.

Healthy leisure promotes:

1. personal growth
2. connections to feelings
3. connection to other people
4. positive feelings about yourself
5. time to nurture yourself
6. living in the moment

Unhealthy leisure produces:

1. apathy
2. boredom
3. anxiety
4. possible destructive behaviour such as substance abuse

Creating a history of healthy leisure connections has a cumulative affect that eventually replaces old, unhealthy patterns. The benefits are endless.

Have some fun with it!

10 DIY project stumbles

2009-06-07T19:43:00.018-04:00

Hobbies, crafts and horticulture are powerful ways to make healthy leisure connections in your life. Here are ten stumbles that you might enjoy.

The Bonsai Site: detailed guide to bonzai as an art, hobby and horticultural practice.

Cabinet Embellishment Ideas: with links to the tutorials on the Better Homes & Gardens web site.

Make Your Own Umbrella Caddy

A Fringed Flower Card: Learn the simple technique of making double fringed flowers to dress up a stylish, handcrafted card.

Make Shades Out of Mini Blinds: Do you love the look of fabric shades but don't want to fork over the cash?

How to Paint Moss Designs in Your Garden

A Jam Jar Topper Tutorial: A nice way to decorate homemade jam bottles to give as gifts.

Make Your Own Gallery: Three templates to download, personalize and frame.

Little Metal & Canvas Mixed Media Books: A tutorial on how to make a personalized book and how to insert your artistic projects.

Punched Paint Chip Cards: Make greeting cards from paint chip palettes.

Happy birthday, Willy!

2009-06-06T16:17:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Happy 32nd anniversary, Pam & Wayne

2009-06-04T15:46:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Alternate universes

2009-06-04T00:43:00.015-04:00

The picture below was originally posted at the following link: http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson71.html. It tickled my funnybone.

Surviving the World posted Lesson #71
Alternate Universes (An Attempted Two-Dimensional Rendering Of An Infinitely-Directional, Near-Incomprehensible Concept)

My first choice would be the world where, by law, everyone must always be singing & dancing. It sounds like a fun place to be.

Second choice is the world where cheese cures all disease.

Of course, my two kitties would far prefer the world where parmesan cheese is used for cat litter.

New-to-me camera

2009-06-02T12:59:00.013-04:00

Here is the camera that my husband gave me when he bought a professional one. It is a FujiFilm FinePix S9100. Digital Camera Info's web site says it has enough features to confuse a Ph.D. student! That's OK, I'll take my time learning the advanced functions. Right now, I'll just get used to the automatic ones. It's a pretty good non-SLR consumer camera and, considering I'm a novice, this camera will probably keep me interested for years.

Ultimate cubicle prank

2009-06-01T13:50:00.003-04:00

Usually there there is a high level of hyperbole surrounding the naming of videos to encourage viewing but trust me, this IS aptly titled.

Wordle

2009-06-01T00:13:00.010-04:00

The word cloud above was done with the online tool called Wordle. If you aren't a graphic artist, it is an easy way to create typographical art.

I input my blog address and it selected the highest ranking words and assembled them into a editable cloud of words. You can also input your own words.

Wordle provides font, language, layout and color choices. The language menu selection has the capability to eliminate all common words so you don't have a whole bunch of 'thes','ands', etc. The colour menu gives options of colour palette for the fonts and the background, plus the option to create your own.

Have fun playing with it.

10 green decorating stumbles

2009-05-31T12:35:00.017-04:00

Living green doesn't have to be ugly.

Iconic Panels: reclaimed and recyled wood veneer

How to Wash the Smell out of Thrift Store Furniture

Top 10 Tips for Decorating on the Cheap

Wall-Mounted Aquarium: Ditch the TV, Install Life

From Junky to Funky: Designing Your Outdoors with the 3R’s In Mind…

Bike Furniture Design: Old bicycles find way into your drawing rooms

ICFF: The State of Green Design: design can and does shape the world we live in

Self Watering Living Wall System

About Tile Materials: the attributes of basalt, ceramic, granite, limestone, marble, porcelain, sandstone, slate and travertine

A Guide to Furniture Woods

Survived

2009-05-29T12:39:00.009-04:00

I don't know the origin of this inspirational JPG. I love it's message:

"I've lived through things I would never have thought I was capable of and I'm much less afraid than I used to be.

The process of wounding awakens us to our strength. It shuffles our values, and the top priority is never what you thought it would be. It's never about perfection or power. It always turns out to be about love.

Knowing ourselves to be vulnerable and our time here to be limited, we're freed to live more passionately and fully than we have before to discover what's worth fighting for and who we are.

Real strength lies buried at the depths of any wound we have survived."

Just fiddling around

2009-05-28T23:53:00.010-04:00

I'm trying out my new-to-me camera. My husband got another last fall and gave me this one. This is the first camera I've owned with advanced features and it intimidated me with its complexity until this week.

The lens helps me view things differently and I am becoming intrigued.

Here are some shots I took tonight.

I. Supper: French bread, sharp cheddar, dill pickle and a salad. As you can see, the meal satisfied my tastebuds. Now I'm washing it down with a cup of chai cooled with mulled apple cider. Mmmm...relaxing.

II. Husband: I love his face.

III. Tools: Ratchets in hubby's toolbox.

Happy belated birthday, Angie

2009-05-28T01:13:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

2009-05-27T20:23:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Purdey

2009-05-27T19:57:00.014-04:00

Isn't she pretty? She is a sweet, 5-month old, little Staffordshire terrier that my friend adopted recently. The way she is looking at her unseen owners in the pictures conveys how happy Purdey is to have them as her forever family.

The American Kennel Club breed standard lists the following for their temperament: "From the past history of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the modern dog draws its character of indomitable courage, high intelligence, and tenacity. This, coupled with its affection for its friends, and children in particular, its off-duty quietness and trustworthy stability, makes it a foremost all-purpose dog."

Who are the people in your neighbourhood?

2009-05-26T20:00:00.035-04:00

My husband and I took our dogs for a walk in our neighbourhood today and brought our cameras with us. I wanted to share some glaringly bad taste that emanated from, what look like, perfectly normal homes. Who are these people? Didn't someone, at some point, discourage them from their decorating choices?

60's-palooza

This neighbour acquires old gas guzzling autos and reupholsters them with either carpeting, as seen below, or floral damask. On the dashboards, he glues on figurines and, on the perimeters of the windows, fringe.

WTF?

This prize appeared about 2 weeks ago and even the garbage truck won't take it. It's obviously been around for a while and I'm guessing it has won the Ugliest Sofa Award Known to Man consecutively since its purchase. Where they chemically impaired when they walked into the furniture store?

Sidewalk Art

The lady who created this is very sweet and so proud of her neighbourhood beautification project. This vignette resides in the area between the sidewalk and the road.

Blue Virgin

You see a lot of religious displays dotting the neighbourhood. I was too lazy to walk far enough to get pictures of the truly bizarre ones so this will have to do. I can appreciate the folk artsy displays but this kind really irks me.

Scroll Saw Run Amok

My basset hound's hackles went up when we came across this one. The house is in good repair. The grounds are manicured. The trees are trimmed. The tole painted lamb sports a demented grin.

Project Recycle

Let's see, we've got 2 old rusty bathtubs; let's plunk them on the lawn as planters with the wooden cow keeping watch.

The Wall

This decorated privacy fence is a prelude to the outrageous back yard behind it. Too bad that I couldn't photograph that but it is illegal to photograph people's private spaces without their permission. Surprisingly, that plastic planter cut in half was the only vandalized piece that we saw on our entire walk.

10 using colour stumbles

2009-05-24T09:35:00.029-04:00

Colour planning is pivotal in graphic, commercial, fashion and exterior or interior design. Here are some very good colour links that provide tools and tips for executing your projects.

I will use home decorating as the example for this post. I'm redoing my deck and want the colour scheme to complement the existing fixed elements such as the bricks and the balcony. I also want to do it on the cheap and incorporate some of the existing furniture. There are many ways I could do it.

I could upload a picture of the deck into the Colour Palette Generator to produce a colour palette before I choose the paints that I will use to refurbish. You can also save the palette to a CSS style sheet or a Photoshop 'aco' file.

I could go to the Colour Scheme Designer and select a dominating colour of the deck in the mono palette and then look at the complementary, triad, tetrad, analogic and accented analogic colour palettes to see which works. There is also the option of adjusting the scheme for saturation & brightness.

COLOURlovers web site is a colour & design community for creative inspiration; a good place to go to see the current colour trends and associated colour palette choices.

To see if your colour palette works in real life settings, you can use the Idée Inc. Multicolr Search Lab. Pick the colours that most closely match your palette choice and it will generate a collection of photos that use those colours.

Colours can create moods, have emotional associations, and make subliminal statements. There is a page on the Color Wheel Pro web site that explores the meanings ascribed to different colours.

Color Wheel Pro also has a page that gives examples and discusses the classic colour schemes such as monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic, and tetradic.

Color Blindness Tests provide two online tools: colour arrangement and the RGB Anomaloscope. These can help in determining whether you are hampered by colour blindness.

Once you determine your colour palette, the Benjamin Moore web site provides an online tool called the Personal Color Viewer that allows you to upload a picture of your intended project space. Then, on the second tab, you can select colours by moving the slider so you can see an approximation of the result. It gives the choice of the names or the numbers of their particular paints to order.

If you want to know more about the theory of colour, here are two good links to help you expand your knowledge.

Color Worqux provides a detailed tutorial on color theory.

Color Contrast & Dimension in News Design is an interactive educational project.

Between friends

2009-05-23T20:08:00.009-04:00

Sometimes in life
you find a special friend;

Someone who changes your life
just by being part of it.

Someone who makes you laugh
until you can't stop;

Someone who makes you believe
there there really is good in the world.

Someone who convinces you
there really is an unlocked door just waiting for you to open it.

This is Forever Friendship!

Image & poem source: unknown - given to me by a friend

Watermelon lemonade

2009-05-20T18:59:00.011-04:00

I intend to sip on this all summer this year. In addition to sounding absolutely delicious, both ingredients rate high as an alkaline food.

Source: Good Life {Eats}
Adapted from Southern Living

- 15 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
- 2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
- Ice
- Garnishes: watermelon wedges

Process watermelon, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a large pitcher. Add lemonade concentrate and whisk to combine. Serve chilled and over ice.

My beautiful cards

2009-05-18T17:31:00.029-04:00

Members of the Creative Parchment group sent me greeting cards from all over the world when I was ill. Words seem inadequate to express my gratitude in receiving such beautiful works of art. I feel so honoured by their outpouring of love and kindness.

I would like to share these cards with you and have provided scans of them below. Most of them are parchment cards done in the craft style called Pergamano. The last two use different techniques.

10 movie stumbles

2009-05-17T18:54:00.009-04:00

Here are my top 10 favourite movies, in descending order. These have have withstood the test of time and multiple viewings. Leave me a comment and let me know your faves, too.

If you get a chance to see the foreign films, I would recommend that you get the subtitled versions instead of the dubbed. That way, you will at least hear the lines the way they are meant to be delivered instead of poor translations read by dubious talent.

Cinema Paradiso

Babette's Feast

Kolya

Zuckerbaby

The World According to Garp

Out of Africa

Life as a House

Dune

Letters from Iwo Jima

Joy Luck Club

Cutting away your wisdom

2009-05-16T15:25:00.005-04:00

This guy is hilarious. He states that he believes he hasn't cut away his wisdom but the mention of vampire gorillas sort of negates that. LOL!

I'm lovin' it

2009-05-15T00:05:00.028-04:00

Country songs don't generally speak to me but, every once in a while, I'm exposed to one with lyrics that really grab and hold on.

This video I'm Movin' On by Rascal Flatts is a keeper. It was used as a theme song at a friend's graduation party. Hope you enjoy it, too.

10 Resonant Chamber

2009-04-26T11:36:00.006-04:00

10 Resonant Chamber
Uploaded by Scorpiotistic

Away for 2 months

2009-03-31T11:38:00.006-04:00

I will be away for two months. See you when I get back. Until then...spring is here...let your days be filled with sunshine.

Gina's Dillon

2009-03-31T00:27:00.009-04:00

Here are two short videos of my friend Gina's beautiful, standard poodle, Dillon. Just click on the white arrow to start the video.

Homage to dogs

2009-03-30T14:57:00.008-04:00

10 Easter stumbles

2009-03-29T00:21:00.015-04:00

Here are some fun ways to get ready for the upcoming holiday weekend. Enjoy!

Pysanky: How to make Ukrainian Easter eggs

Free, printable vintage Easter cards

Free pattern to make teeny, tiny, knitted bunnies

Free Easter desktop wallpaper

Free pattern to make a bounding bunny pin

Free templates for 1 Easter basket, 1 Easter cube & 2 Easter cards

Punched paper Easter egg craft

How to make Peter Rabbit puppets with the kids

Free vector graphic Easter egg icons for personal use

A tutorial on how to make a Easter desktop wallpaper in PhotoShop

BONUS stumble: How to make face cloth bunnies & chicks

L: Real Time

2009-03-27T23:31:00.026-04:00

It caught my fancy.

Real Time with Bill Maher tonight. His guests and panels provide food for hungry brains. What fun to hear a cogent point of view that doesn't necessarily coincide with my own. He gathers the pertinent people drifting in and out of our collective consciousness. Not necessarily the media magnets but high achievers known for their chosen fields.

Tonight Bill Bradley chatted with Bill Maher after the monologue, Mos Def and Salman Rushdie were the panelists, and Christopher Hitchens joined them later on. Quite a think tank. Mos Def ran rings around them all, masterfully communicating flashes of genius. But, then again, I usually come away feeling that way about the guests.

Just when I think I've got Maher figured out, he surprises me. Sometimes he's a little more self-satisfied than I find palateable but he has a fine, nimble mind that easily cuts through the cow pies.

Geometric origami

2009-03-26T13:21:00.016-04:00

Are there any origami fans out there? The origami shapes by Cecila Cotton are different than the usual. And...she provides tutorials so they can be duplicated. I'll be keeping myself occupied occasionally playing with little bits paper!

Kay Stahler - artist

2009-03-25T19:02:00.010-04:00

Oh my goodness! I stumbled across the cutest little pieces of art that I have seen in a very, long time. Kay Stahler's felted dogs are exquisite and amazing. This artist creates minature, needle felted replicas of owner's pets. If you would like to see more of her work or commission a miniature of your own pet, be sure to visit her web site at http://www.kaysk9s.com/

10 how to stumbles

2009-03-22T05:40:00.020-04:00

Got some extra time on your hands and want to learn how to do something that can be mastered in one sitting? Here are some stumbles that might fit the bill:

How to Tie a Tie

DIY Shrinky Dinks

Make Your Own Lip Balm

Candle & Soap Making Techniques

30 Different Ways You Can Tie Your Shoe Laces

DIY Project: Window Films

Things to Make

Scarf Tying Guide

11 Ways to Wrap Gifts without Wrapping Paper

Hand Stitching Guide

Snookiedooks

2009-03-20T23:34:00.007-04:00

In our home, when I was young, Snookiedooks took all the blame.

10 Irish stumbles

2009-03-17T00:27:00.021-04:00

Did you ever hear the Irish song called The Orange and the Green? Well, that's story in our home. I am orange and my hubby is green.

Regardless of the division, we both celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Hubby's sister sent us some lovely flocked, stick-on shamrocks to wear for the day.

Since I was on vacation and didn't make up a Sunday stumble list, I thought I would do one for Saint Patrick's Day instead.

The History Channel: Saint Patrick's Day

Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day With These 19 Wonderful Recipes

Irish Literature, Mythology, Folklore and Drama

Gaeilge: Irish language,alphabet and pronunciation

The Irish Times

U2

Irish Geneology

Irish Citizenship by Descent

Irish Embassies around the World

Saint Patrick's Day Parades & Events Worldwide

Bella

2009-03-16T14:05:00.008-04:00

My husband & I went to Ottawa on Wednesday for a short vacation and, while visiting a friend, we ended up adding a new dog to our family. Our other dog Fluffy likes her very much. The cats aren't as enthusiastic.

Bella is a 7-month old Bassett Hound that needed a new home. Isn't she a pretty girl?

On vacation

2009-03-11T11:48:00.002-04:00

See you all next week.