Archive for category Family Life
Stencilry class contributions…
Posted by admin in Where in the world am I?, arty inspiration!, furbabies, mixed media on June 28th, 2009
So yesterday, I had plans to do some household chores and pick up my spray painting stuff for the Stencilry class I’m taking… I did say ‘plans’ right? Well, things did go slightly awry and it’s not all my fault LOL!
I went into Vancouver to get my hair highlighted for my ’summer-look’ and now I’m a strawberry blonde/light red haired chick. Looks fab and I’m totally happy with the results! Then the plan was for me to hit a few local stores and pick-up my gear for the class. Well, the weather turned sour and windy/wet, I couldn’t get parking on Granville Island [where Opus - my art supply store of choice resides], had to run a few more errands than anticipated and generally ran outta time.
House of Flying Daggers
I got home to a hubby who was still in his pjs and watching martial arts dvds, with our two kitties in his lap and beside his legs on the couch. You go honey! You deserve a break and you’ve been working really hard. Seeing him like that, I threw out all ideas of chores and flopped on the other couch since obviously the weather wasn’t going to let me spray outside. We settled in and watched the visual feast that is “The House of Flying Daggers”.
Good Lord! These modern Asian martial arts movies are so gorgeous and full of colourful goodness. The colour combos by the artistic directors of these epic movies are truly breathless… The scenery and the costumes are lush and vibrant and so inspiring when it comes to developing a colour palette for new artwork! Pure eyecandy. The subtitles I could live without… but the soft sh-sh-sh sounds of the Mandarin language are lovely to listen to and let’s face it, I don’t understand Mandarin so subtitles are kinda necessary LOL. I really have started enjoy watching this new genre of martial arts movie… I don’t need to understand all the details in the flick and if I miss a few substitles whilst starting at an exceptionally beautiful scene it doesn’t bother me a bit. I’m just happy to enjoy the visual feast.
A few favorites if you are into visually stimulating and creative movies in this martial arts genre are:
The House of Flying Daggers | Curse of the Golden Flower | Hero | Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon | The Promise and of course the non-martial arts beauty: Memoirs of a Geisha
I digress… On to the topic at hand. Stencilry!
I had posted to our Yahoo Stencilry group that I was going to share some of my favorite, self-designed stencils that I’ve used in both designing our paperWERX lines of paper and in my own personal artwork. I have often created stencils that I can use in the design/carving of LARGE rubberstamp slabs. I’m talking HUGE. like 12×12 stamps or bigger! The designs can be either very simple, repeated patterns or complex, interlocking motifs of botanical image and damask patterns, etc. Below are two examples of stencil/carving designs I created for a specific project and they have come to be two of my favorite patterns.
You are free to download and use these patterns in your PERSONAL artwork only. These designs are unique and created by me, and therefore are copyrighted and are not allowed for usage in commercial art or design without my permission.
To download the 8×8″ PDF version of the pattens, please click on the links below:
Happy stencil cutting and enjoy!
my thinnification continues…
People who haven’t seen me for a while keep asking me the same thing, “How much weight have you lost?”
well, I am down 25-30lbs from mid-January. The first 10-15lbs was from being very very sick with a respiratory infection and existing on a soup, fruit juice and fresh fruit diet. The last 15lb [over the last 5 weeks] is deliberate and is being accomplished through Dr. Bernstein [a medically supervised diet program].
I feel great! TONS of energy, virtually no-minor headaches, my skin looks better and my butt definitely looks better. It’s been very positive so far. I have a target of another 25-30lbs. My pantsize has been reduce by 4 sizes and I’m verging on another drop in size. YAY!
Here is a headshot to compare the difference from last fall to today. I can definitely see the changes… can you?
Fall 2008
March 25, 2009
have you ever tried to take a passport photo at home?
Posted by admin in Random Bits, me & t on March 16th, 2009
It isn’t easy I tell you, especially when you have maybe only 4 WHITE walls in your entire house and your subject [my hubby T] gets the giggles.
T is heading off to Hong Kong next weekend for 3 weeks to visit one of his oldest and closest friends. He’s going to be visiting Mainland China while he is in HK and needs a Visa to get in and out of the country, so he needs a ‘passport style’ photo. This is where I step in. Camera in hand, we find one of the only largeish white walls in our house and silliness quickly ensues… Below you will find my handy dandy 12-Step guide to taking your own ‘passport style’ photos at home. Enjoy!
How to take a ‘Passport Style’ photo at home:
- Pose in front of a white wall. Look pissed off. Lighting is all wrong.
- Say ‘pickle’ to your subject and dare them not to laugh.
- Figure out the flash situation, but set the power too high and over expose your now giggling subject while they mutter ‘pickle’ under their breath.
- Get the lighting just about right and tell your subject to stop laughing. Yeah, like THAT is going to work!
- Subject tries really really hard not to smile, it isn’t working too well.
- Subject gives in to the giggles and loses concentration. Tell them to stop, and make them laugh harder. Dare them NOT to pee their pants.
- Subject gives up and goes with ‘it’. Take some silly shots of your subject for blackmail purposes later – you never know when you’ll need it.
- Trying hard again not to smile, but eyes are still crinkling and the corners of the mouth are still not pissed off looking enough.
- Finally getting giggles under control, almost a perfect ‘passport style’ shot. We might be finished before midnight – thank god.
- FINALLY the perfect ‘passport style’ photo happens, 20+ shots later and with much laughter throughout.
- Let the subject have fun as a reward. Take a few more blackmail shots and reward subject with a yummy cookie.
- He’s not too sure about the cookie, but he’ll take it anyways.
Finally… take all those random, awful, funny shots and create photobooth strips for fun. They are super easy to do and can be printed out on 8.5×11″ paper. I’ve even found a FREE online template from Sugarplum Paperie to make creating your photobooth strip easier.
Have fun! and Happy Monday [yeah yeah... I know...]
weird weather and cloud porn…
Posted by admin in me & t, photography on March 8th, 2009
T and I were out and about this afternoon playing ‘nerd herd’ to a friend’s computer, trying to resolve her anti-virus sitch. It was a long and painful process, but we were happy to help out. The plan for the afternoon was to play nerd herd, then head down to Stanley Park for a nice afternoon stroll on the seawall.
It was nice when we left… but 2 nerdy hours later, the clouds that were off to the east when we left the house at 3pm had rolled in and they were packing a weird ice/snow pellet mixture. We knew it would be a hit or miss stroll at the Park, but we were game, we had umbrellas, gloves, toques, and scarves [yes, we have a well equipped SUV FULL of all the weather garb you could need/want] and drove down to the park.
We arrived driving through patches of snow, sun, rain and wind. Very strange weather indeed… but this IS Vancouver in late Spring, so it’s not totally surprising LOL. The snow was pretty light to start with as we entered the park… but it quickly got heavier so we decided on a park drive instead of a nice seawall walk. As we drove around the park we marveled at the low cloud cover and fog-like mist that was carrying our crappy Vancouver snow. Within minutes we were rounding the corner towards the newly re-landscaped Prospect Point and noticed a break in the sky. The snow had slowed right down and there was a bit of blue sky peaking out between the clouds so we decided to stop.
The weather was very strange. Directly above us the sky was clear blue; to the east it was socked-in with misty clouds and light snow fall in our direction; and to the west it was clear/cloudy with some wicked looking cloud formations. Strange indeed. We hung about for a bit until my fingers started getting too cold from holding the camera without gloves, jumped back into the warm truck and continued the drive around the park. That’s when we stumbled into what I recently discovered on Flickr - cloud porn!
Yup, you heard me… cloud porn. There is a group on Flickr devoted to the photography of stellar, exciting skies, clouds, storms, etc. Their motto is “Clouds are all fine and good, but occasionally you happen across something spectacular.” I personally LOVE the name and think that concept is amazing… I mean come on, cloud porn? How much more fun can you have with a camera on a weird weather day, other than shooting some cloud porn? Not much! So… I decided to shoot some of my own cloud porn if the opportunity presented itself, and present itself it did as we rounded the park drive to 3rd Beach.
The sun was just starting to sink, the clouds were crazy – stacked and layered at different altitudes and depth of colour – and the glow along the water, where the sun kissed the horizon, was magic. I had found some of my very own cloud porn! So, without further ado… I give you cloud porn, as viewed from 3rd Beach at Stanley Park, March 04, 2009. Enjoy!
amazing finds…
one of the last areas for me to got through during the `big dig` is the storage area we have under our stairs. you see we have accessible storage from inside the studio via two narrow doors about the size of kitchen cabinet doors, only a little taller. in here were things that I had forgotten about – or were trying to forget about lol!
whilst digging through the last of my boxes, i stumbled upon some old photos of me and t. now these are ooooooold pics, taken about 13-15 years ago in the beginning of our relationship [we've been together for 14 years as a couple, 6 dating/living together and 8 years married]. damn, we look so young! so… because really, i have no secrets [and damn i don't look half bad], here we are… in our early 20somethings. aren’t we cute?
a little behind…
Posted by christina in ETSY, StudioWERX, Where I teach, furbabies on May 10th, 2008
hey gang…
a number of you have ordered the calendared vinyl that kal used at inspired through us. we’ve had a slight delay and will not be shipping your orders until next week. the initial batch of product was flawed and they are sending me new product to cover the bad batch initially sent to me. i expect it in hand on monday or tuesday this coming week. so hang in there, it’s on it’s way…
also… i’ve not been able to get my other shipping out this past week as initially planned, due to a ridiculous work schedule. i normally ship on wednesday and take the 2 hours out of my day to ship orders through point roberts, washington. unfortunately i’ve been working on some major deadlines and wasn’t able to go earlier in the week as planned. then, and here’s the real kicker, my right eye has been pretty much swollen shut since thursday and i can’t drive. nice.
i have this chronic eye condition called blepharitis which affects my upper eyelids. it is extremely uncomfortable and adversely affects my vision due to major eyelid swelling. it’s caused by stress and man, have i had a lot of that in the last 7 days! i know i know… more information than you wanted to know, but i did want you to know that if you’re waiting on an order, it’s ready to go. the main delay is that the eye condition affects my depth perception and i just can’t drive safely at the moment. once i get this flare up in my eye sorted out, i’ll be well enough for the 2 hour round trip drive into the usa.
so thanks for your patience… i appreciate it! hang in there, your orders are coming out just as soon as I can get across the border. thanks!
corporal cuddling… you’ve been warned!
Posted by admin in Random Bits, furbabies on April 17th, 2008
the most photogenic kitty ever…
well… ok. i’m a little biased here, but come on people… isn’t she beautiful??
she was perched in that space on the back of the couch that only a kitty can lounge in… you know, where the cushions hit the back of the couch. yeah, that’s the spot… and in the afternoon sunlight, how could i not take her pic?
the image above was one of her few quiet moments, because what we usually get throughout the weekend is the lulu giving the neighbourhood cats, chickadees and in particular two nasty crows ‘what-for’ from her window sill perch. all day long. it’s a hilarious, steady stream of chirps, warbles and muted growls. i wish i understood what she was saying. i get the feeling that there may be a few swear words in there… particularly when she’s yelling at the crows and especially when they are perched on our neighbours roof, mocking her because she can’t get them through the window! it’s really funny… but i guess you have to be here to truly appreciate the harridan-like verbal beating she metes out from her perch on the window. and i guess you have to be a pet-cat person too lol!
in the meantime… from the pic below you get the drift…
the lulu…
Posted by admin in furbabies, photography on March 16th, 2008
the lulu, as we like to call her, has grown up a lot in the last year. she’s looking rather regal and elegant these days. all long legs and gorgeous coat. she’s a looker that’s for sure…
she’s still quite a lap kitty even though we [me and t] are merely her subjects, to be ordered about at her whim. to be sat on like a warm pillow. to bring her bonbons and entertain her as she requires. it’s a tough life for the lulu… but somehow, she gets by.
hmmm… could the constant cooing over how pretty and smart she is be enabling this air of superiority? we will have to take that under advisement. later though, because it is her majesty’s bedtime and the mistress is demanding her bedtime snack. lol… ahhhh the life of a pampered pet.
in my next lifetime i want to come back as a kitty!
caught!
we went back and forth on how we could prevent the lulu from diving bombing and generally wrecking havoc with the christmas tree this year… you see, it’s her first year with a tree [we adopted her in late january this year] and we didn’t know how she would react to it. so we devised a plan to ‘prevent lulu from destroying the tree’:
- put tree out, sans ornaments for a few days to get her used to it.
- spray her mercilessly with the water bottle everytime she tries to climb or eat it. [this began to work after about 6 sprayings from the squirt bottle]
- after a couple of days, move tree into it’s final position into corner of living room, near the hearth
- decorate
- spritz from water sprayer everytime she tries to climb, eat or play with the ornaments. again… she’s soaked a few times, but seems to get the point
- keep fingers crossed that the tree and the hundreds of dollars spent last year on gorgeous new mercury glass ornaments survive the holiday season!
we had hoped that this well thought out plan would work. it had with our other kitties. so far, everything seemed to be going according to plan, until yesterday then it all got blown to hell… .
whilst napping on the couch [nasty migraine due to the snow storm we had in the morning] i heard the telltale tinkling of ornaments rustling in the tree. i figured the lulu was pawing at the tree from the hearth ledge or from the floor. but NO that wasn’t what she was doing. nope, she was in the tree. in the top half of the tree!
i must say that she did look adorably devious perched in there, with this ‘you can’t see me’ attitude. but we had to get her outta there quickly [before she got too used to being in there], and punish her [spritzing from the water bottle] as soon as possible to correct her behaviour. we had to ‘try’ to make her kitty brain realize that climbing into the fake, skinny black christmas tree with the twinkling lights and prettily decorated tree is bad.
have you ever tried to correct kitty behaviour? it is a daunting task since most kitties are pretty much independant and don’t really need/want your approval on their behaviours [unlike dogs]. cats do what they want, when they want and how they want. they just like to make us think that they are behaving – it’s much easier that way LOL!
needless to say that she was a wet kitty after we extricated her from the tree. but that doesn’t seem to have phased her too much since most of yesterday was spent spritzing her and calling out:
‘no lulu. don’t be bad!’
‘no lulu, don’t go in the tree!’ ‘no lulu, don’t touch.’
‘no lulu.’
i’m pretty sure [about 90%] that this has happened more than once and that yesterday’s sojourn into the tree is not a new occurance. i’ve noticed a few ornaments looking cockeyed and strangely angled over the last few days, and figured that maybe i hung them incorrectly. but now, i’m pretty convinced that i am not the one to blame for an entire level of strangely positioned and cockeyed ornaments. i believe that the furry, calico, adorably devious elf we know as the lulu has been subtlely realigning everything to suit her perch and viewpoint. heck, she’s probably been in there on nights that i’ve been too tired to notice.
right now, it seems to be a game of notice me! notice me! don’t ignore me ’cause
i’ll be bad! we hope she’ll tire of her game soon…
i’m certainly done with it LOL!
on a somber note: we had to put mackenzie to sleep one year ago today and i miss her dreadfully. she fought hard against her FIP illness and we battled right alongside her. we miss you furgirl, but thank you everyday for sending us the lulu. she is so much like you in so many ways, it’s like your spirit is alive in the lu. thank you and we love you.
