Just wanted to give a shout out to everyone in the Lower Mainland/Greater Vancouver Area that my favorite art store Ruby Dog’s Art House is having a 2nd Anniversary Celebration!

Ruby Dog’s Art House is THE place to find authentic period ephemera, collage sheets, books for all art mediums, cool found and recycled goods, bits and bobs you can’t get anywhere else PLUS they offer some of the best mixed media workshops in the Greater Vancouver area! Get the best supplies at Ruby Dog’s for altered books, ATC’s mixed media collages and more… Here is a sample of the type of art I create with their cool stuff:

The big ‘partay’ happens on Sunday August 20th from 12:00 to 6:00pm at the store. All kinds of super fun and cool stuff will be happening, including:

• Arts and Crafts Supplies Flea Market from 12-3pm
• FREE Arts and Crafts demonstrations from 1-5pm
  [I’ll be demoing how to create cool faux postage from 4-4:45pm!]
• Hourly door prize
• Silent Art Auction of Works by local Vancouver artists [myself included!]

Where is it happening?
The store is located at 4738 Main Street, Vancouver BC [the store is located 1 1/2 blocks north of 33rd Avenue]

So come on by to visit, play and explore… and if you live in Vancouver and have never been to Ruby Dog’s Art House before, next weekend is a great time to check it out!

See you on Sunday =)

Shh… Don’t tell anyone, but I’m sooo sleepy right now that if left alone for too long, I will drift off to la-la land and begin to snore - loudly I’m sure.

So instead… I will try to fill thegap with useless nonsense that only the Japanese sign, t-shirt and toy industries can provide… ENGRISH! Yes, that’s right - Engrish. The definition of ‘engrish’, as taken from the Engrish website, is: the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.

So to brighten and lighten your Friday, here are a few recent sightings and old favorites [I apologize if these offend anyone… I personally think they are hilarious!]:

Makes the mind reel doesn’t it!?! Enjoy and visit the Engrish website for updates… [No affliliation, just a laughing visitor.]

WOW! I can honestly say I’m not that shocked though. They needed to trim some of the fat off this group and clearly Josh and Jill weren’t cutting it.  Glad Lukas got the encore [knew he would!] and that Magni got it too was great!

Lucky buggers the rest of them… partying with Supernova at The Joint /Hard Rock Cafe club in Las Vegas as a celebration. SUHWEET!!  One can only imagine the hijicks the rockers, Gilby, Newsted and T. Lee will get up to LOL!

Can’t wait until next week…

I’ve been tagged from my favorite ‘frenchie’ Celine Navarro. Thanks sweetie!
So here we go…

1. FIRST NAME? Christina
2. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER?  No one, I’m the only Christina in my entire family [including the extended sides]
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? a month ago
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? some days I love it, some days I cringe at how bad it looks to me, but usually I like it.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?  bacon
6. KIDS? 2 four-legged fur kids for now… hopefully a two-legged bald [except for the head] one in the future.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF? yep, I’m a gas LOL!
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? 1 partial attempt at one, but no others… I feel it enough, I don’t need to relive it [kwim?]
9. Do YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? who me?!? Nah… [insert sarcastic grin here]
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
11. WOULD YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMP? How much you gonna pay me to poop my pants publicly? cause I would only jump if paid large sums of money and I would definitely poop my pants! ’nuff said =)
12. What is your favorite cereal? Count Chocola - absolutely zero nutritional value, but damn tasty!
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?  Nope, unless they are looooong lace up kinky boots [which I have none]. I’m a squisher and kicker. Squish in the feet and kick off to remove.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically no, mentally and spiritually yes
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?  Timothy’s Double Chocolate Fudge gelato [no calories there LOL!]
16. SHOE SIZE? 7
17. RED OR PINK? Do I have to decide? ummm…. both!
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my dad… it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him - 26 years.
20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?  Sure… I’m interested or else I wouldn’t have sent it to you in the first place.
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW?  beige yoga pants and I’m barefoot and topless [ha ha… you didn’t ask about my top now did you!]
22. LAST THING YOU ATE?  a cereal bowl of chips and bacon/onion dip
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? a hungry, disgruntled kitty demanding lunch.
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? burnt sienna
25. FAVORITE SMELL? food: bacon, flower: lavendar and in general: fresh cotton laundry out of the dryer
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my hubbala Terry
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? smile
28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes! I admire her strength and courage over the last year regarding her sisters health and unfortunate passing, and I love her artwork. If she is anything like her art [which I think most of us are] she is a fun, spirited and lovely young woman indeed.
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Coke ZERO right now… and Pomtini’s [pomegranate martini]
30. FAVORITE SPORTS? hockey
31. HAIR COLOR? auburn red
32. EYE COLOR? blue green
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope, I do wear glasses though. I’m too lazy for contacts LOL!
34. FAVORITE FOOD?  enchiladas, perogies and Hungarian Kolbasa
35. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Bringing Down the House
36. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? so NOW you want to know what color top I’m wearing…LOL! White t-shirt
37. SUMMER OR WINTER?  neither, I like FALL with the cool [not COLD] days, turning leaves and warm rich autumnal color everywhere. all you need is a good sweater any day of the week.
38. HUGS OR KISSES? BOTH…
39. FAVORITE DESSERT?  chocolate lava cake or creme brulee
40 WHO IS MOST LIKELY To Respond? Good question… I hope everyone does at least part of it.
41. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Carmi… don’t think she cares for these things too much LOL!
42. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? nothing at the moment… too busy
43. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? besides my mouse? a black and grey DELL logo
44. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? House and Rockstar Supernova
45 ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? On a sad day the Stones, on a glad day the Beatles
46. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Orlando Florida
47. IF YOU WON A ROUND TRIP TICKET TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO?  Italy, France and then Hungary
48. What is your best feature? My eyes I think…
49. What or who did you want to be when you grew up? a lawyer to fight the bad asses who helped in the death of my father. but later I really just wanted to be creative.
50. Did you love Kool Aid as a child, what flavor? Yep! Anything berry flavored was my favorite.
51. Do you have any siblings? a brother
52. Do you think you let the "one" get away? Nope, I got him and love him everyday of my life.

I’m tagging Carmi, Becky, Elizabeth and Marissa with this list…

Just a quick recap as I have a vicious [hormonal I think] migraine today…

LUKAS has not only redeemed himself, but pissed off Dilana to boot. Did you she how pissed she looked during his critique? She challenged him to sing the song Creep on Monday during the ‘reality show’ portion of the series - saying after that if he can’t sing that he doesn’t deserve to be here. Well, he sang it, nailed it and garnered a standing O from the boys [including ever critical Newsted!] AWESOME!

Lukas also nailed the songwriting clinic and here is the video. Sooooo cool!

Now Dilana [I do love her, so don’t get me wrong here…] sucked in the song writing clinic. It was full of horribly hokey lyrics like ‘don’t forget your lotion and thong’. It was just sad and I think that’s why she challenged Lukas to sing Creep on Monday night.

During song selection Dilana jumped on the chance to sing with Gilby [smart move on her part!] and challenged Lukas to sing the Radiohead song Creep. After a somewhat negative experience with the song writing clinic, I sure she was trying to make herself look good in front of the band, so she innocently challenged Lukas. She probably figured he wouldn’t be able to hit the high falsetto in Creep [WRONG!], that he would fall on his face again like last week [also WRONG!] and that if he botched Creep, she would shine brighter than him on performance night [WRONG again!].  Well it backfired pretty badly for her, and the pissed off look on her face at the end of the vidoe clip above [which includes the critique] tells it all.

Toby was also really great last night, as was Dilana and Magni. The rest were ‘ok’. Z as usual was off the wall LOL!

Patrice looked really stressed last night, think she can hear the fat lady warming up? I think so…

B3 predictions: Patrice, Zayra and Josh
Rockstar booted: Zayra

I think I need a Starbuck coffee ’cause nothing exciting happened other than…

• Bit o’ drama with the brother [nothing unusual there…] but oddly, it seems to have actually had a beneficial effect on his relationship with my Mom, after all the drama was cleared up.
• Moved my Grandpa [Nagypapa in Hungarian] from the apartment he’s live in for 40 years - yep before I was even born! He’s moving closer to my mom [a very very good thing since he’s been on his own for years during Nagymama’s Alzheimers and recent death] and with the stuff happening with my bro on Thursday/Friday, Terry and I picked up the ball and moved my grandpa on Saturday.
• Did some gardening [ripped out a clear HEFTY bag of Morning Glory… AGAIN! I hate that crap], cleaned my studio up and the rest of the shack for a visitor on Sunday.
• Had a 4 hour art morning with a friend Nancy Mar [waz up Nance!!] She taught me Peyote [no not the Indian drug!!! the stitch form sillies…] for making bracelets, neck pieces and more. I totally botched the first attempt and picked it apart yesterday evening. I redid one afterwards with larger beads that looked a bit better. This will definitely take practice! But at least I learned something new =)
• Today I shipped 20+ envelopes with loads of paper and goodies to places all over the USA and Australia. A busy day at the border and tons of traffic heading to Pt. Roberts but no problems for me… I LOVE my commercial licence =) I just drive right on by the 60 minute line-up to cross the border! So sweet and totally worth the annual $100 fee.
• Updated our website today too… Added digiWERX to the corporate site as well as something that I may remove, very quickly, if I chicken out: filmWERX.
  Its offical, I’m offering my photography services to anyone interested in booking me for a photoshoot, portrait, birthday party or anything else you can think of. If you are interested, please email me at clazar@lazarstudiowerx.com for an email consultation.

Tomorrow… back to the grind at work. Geez… can’t wait til Carmi comes for a visit! a full week off work with no agenda other than outlet/wholesale shopping, Granville Island, food and Whistler maybe. Love it and I’m sooooo looking forward to it.

Thinking ahead to November and Circle Craft: planning what to sell, what new stamps to design and what kits to create. Any of my regulars out there have any suggestions of what they would like to see? Give me a shout or post your comments here…

The NEW Polaroid Transfer brushes for PhotoshopCS are going to be uploaded this weekend!These are very cool, distressed polaroid edges and come complete with frames and fills. So much fun!

Here are some samples…

First, called that encore right didn’t I? [the ONLY thing I got right most of the night LOL!]
Ryan was great again last night - such intensity… love that.

and WOW! can I just say "surprise"?
Surprises of the night included:

• I was really surprised that Patrice and Dana were in the bottom 3. I mean they weren’t fantastic… but they weren’t bad either!
• Was a little shocked NOT to see Lukas in the bottom three. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the guy and think of all the people in the competition, he IS the best suited to the band. However, based on the PERFORMANCE show, he should have been in the bottom 3 for sure. He got really really lucky last night [although if in the B3, I highly doubt they would have ejected him].
• Wasn’t surprised about Jill Gioia being in the B3, I was however pleasantly surprised with the song she did: Heart’s ‘Alone’. She really saved her trashy, oversung, creatively challenged ass last night with that one. Even to the point of garnering a standing O from the SuperNova boys. I still don’t think she has any business in the competition, considering her vocal styling, poor music/creative choices and tendancy to shriek, but for now… we’re stuck with her.

In the end… Dana got the boot and NOT my prediction of Jill [although I think SHE deserved to go more than Dana based on the last 3 weeks].  I’m a little sad to see Dana go, but the reality is she has a loooooooong way to go to be where SuperNova need her to be. She’s learned a lot over the last 5 weeks  I’m sure and that musical education will stand her in good stead in the future. She handled the ‘Hatchet Man’ T. Lee’s elimination quite well. Lots of class and professionalism with a healthy dose of optimism.

Good luck Dana!

Cool new stuff coming up in magazines and online magazine websites…

First, in addition to my article in the latest issues of Memory Makers Magazine, they included the content ONLINE! So cool =)  Click here for the link to the feature on their website.

Next… Donna Downey has an article in Simple Scrapbooks on home dec. projects and guess what ‘popped’ up in the pages… a Poppetted letter D! Click here for a link to the article online and the magazine. Thanks girl! Great project =)

p.s. on a side note… my thumb is starting to heal… looks yucky, but the wound is feeling better and a little less sore.

Here is my quick recap…

• Dilana - again - killed it. Amazing woman and what was with those crazy pants?!? Navarro was pretty impressed and figured they came outta his closet LOL! She sang Can’t Get Enough and was awesome. Loved that she went into the crowd and love that she positioned herself infront of the boys - smart chick!
• Surprisingly Ryan Star gave the best performance of the night. Accoustic and accompanied on by the piano [which HE played beautifully] his vocal talent and musicianship really shined last night. His performance of Losing My Religion was incredible - I think he’ll get the encore tonight.
• Patrice was pretty good, not stellar, but my guess is she WON’T be in the bottom three tonight.
• Storm was impressive with a stripped down, non-crazy eyed [as Navarro puts it] performance where she, like Ryan Star, showed her vocal power and CONTROL. She sang Changes by Bowie and did it in a controlled, subdued, elegant way that surprised Newsted the most. Good job chickie!
• Biggest disappointment for me… Lukas. What the hell was he thinking? He spent have the song with his back to the crowd, paced the length of the stage and was clearly UNcomfortable with the song he was singing. His Celebrity Skin performance will most likely put him in the bottom three - but past performances will save his skin. Too bad… catch up next week eh!
• Zayra… what can I say but Latina Bjork in da’ house!!! She’s eccentric, eclectic, sexy and just a little weird, throw in overly confident and that’s Zayra. She definitely got the boys attention last night with her outfit , if not her vocals LOL! Me thinks the boys want her in the band as a groupie [not a singer LOL!] after last nights dramatic pause for comments.
• Gotta love Magni and his commitment, especially considering his 1 year son walking for the first time, and him having to see it via webcam. Sad… but he’s committed to trying to get the gig with the boys of SuperNova.
• So how NICE was it of the guys to offer to fly Magni’s wife and young child in for the next show and a special visit? Amazing! Many of them understand the dynamic being parents themselves and touring and missing their kids. Case in point… Tommy’s boys were in the crowd for last night’s show. I think this was mainly TL’s idea. Man… you are really endearing yourself to me with your gestures of kindness. Who knew you could be this charming and REAL?

My bottom three picks for the Elimination Show: Jill Gioia, Zayra and unfortunately Lukas Rossi.
My pick for Elimination: Jill Gioia - buh bye now.