Wordless Wednesday

Seventh Sphere

Leah Giberson

Trixie Delicious

Theatre Clouds

My Green Door Print Exchange has arrived

This year I created a print for the Green Door International Print Exchange in the UK. For my submission I created "Bank & Balloon" which was my first multiple plate linocut.
When my edition arrived to the Green Door Print Studio I was notified via email that it made it safely. Thank you. It's so nice to hear something has made it intact through the post. Once the deadline had past the Studio divided the prints amoungst the participants and packaged up the collections for the exchange. I received an email that my exchanged prints had been put in the post. Thank you again. While it took quite a lot longer to arrive than they stated I was really happy with how much communication I got from the Studio.

Once my prints did arrive I got a list of the other printmakers that had received my prints and then I got a list of the prints and artists that I received . I really appreciate being able to look up these artists and find more about them and their work. To top it off, the inside cover had a complete list of all the participating printmakers. I have to say that this exchange was very well organized and executed and I look forward to participating in it again. Will I see one of yours?

List of prints and titles that I was given and a list of all participating printmakers.

Top to bottom:

Maja Mihalovic

Anna Johnson

Robert Pickens

Wordless Wednesday

Suspect Shoppe

Wee Waldorf

Kitty BB Love

Urastarhouse

I think I could be addicted

My husband tells me that I'm hooked on the internet and I think he's probably right. I wake up at 5am whenever I can to be able to start clicking away at my keyboard so that I get a better chance of reaching those people on the east coast. I would watch t.v. if it had something to offer me but it's occupied with children's shows that I've seen a million times. If I do get the chance to watch an adult show it's probable a re-run from several years ago. You see, I'm a constant learner and I would use t.v. to learn how to do things. Cooking and Martha Stewart shows were my favorite because they were constant visual tutorials. I would also scour the library for how-to books but now I always come up short now as it's mostly repeat information for me. Once I got a computer that allowed me to do searches instantly versus over five minutes I got hooked on the internet. I LOVE the ability to quickly scan the screen and see if there is something of interest to me. I also love how everyone puts up links so that I can access even more information. Now I have the Facebook updates, Twitter feeds, Google Alerts, newsletter subscriptions, blog following, Etsy convos. and emails to keep me well informed on so many subjects. As most of you can probably attest, I can't get through it all and my inbox starts to feel overwhelming with all the notices I haven't read yet. I get tired of all the reading and take in a few silly videos on YouTube or elsewhere. Here's one of the YouTube channels I've really been enjoying lately. Talking Animals .

Jupiter the talking cat.
"Too much of a good thing"

What are your favorite guilty pleasure sites? Are you a silly joke addict, online Scrabble player, fan of Regretsy, continuous link clicker on Craftzine? I would love to hear about them.

Wordless Wednesday

Colin's Creatures

Olive

Grazim

Red Hot Pottery

Back-to-school

Well the first week of school is done and we've all made it through without any problems. I was a little worried because this is the first year that I have had to make school lunches and my daughter is a very picky and petite eater. I was cringing at the thought of trying to come up with a snack and lunch for her while also trying to get the kids out the door on time. This year I want to be prepared and keep my mommy spasses to a minimum. To make the change to a full day of school a little more appealing I bought my oldest a fancy lunch bag off of Etsy. I of course, had to get one for my youngest so that she would be just as stylish at preschool. I bought the bags from Diane Giannotti of Diane's Corner and it was very hard to choose which design to get because she has such a great variety of designer prints to choose from. We ended up getting two different floral prints by Michael Miller. Each lunch bag is insulated and came with a matching snack bag. This is a perfect set in my quest to  use less plastic. I was very impressed with the craftsmanship and the quality of material. The velcro on the snack bag was even top drawer.

I ordered my bags in August thinking I had enough time for them to arrive for school. I had asked the girls not to ask me everyday about when the bags were going to arrive because I knew they had a bit to travel. Well the bags took over two weeks to arrive  and they nearly asked everyday about them. Please note that this was no fault of the seller though because she sent the order out right away. For some reason Canada Post thinks I need everything to arrive in two weeks or more no matter where it comes from. Grrrrr... I suspect this probably has more to do with things being stuck at customs.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Diane's Corner to anyone who would like to snazz up their lunch with one her beautiful bags. Below is a "fan photo" of my girls with their pretty bags. Thanks Diane.

Wordless Wednesday

Bmused

Yoola

Doodle Birdie

Yevgenia

The New Floors are in!

This is a very happy post for me because I finally get to say that I've ripped up the disgusting old carpet in my rental and have replaced it with wood laminate. Well, I didn't do much but some prep work. My husband is the one who killed his back and cursed over tight spots. Thank you honey! I will buy you more Robaxacet.

I had put up a post on YouTube documenting some of the things we have done to our apartment as a visual record of the time, care and money we have put into our place. Many people have questioned why we would do so much to our place when we just rent but we've lived here for almost six years now and the dream of owning is long gone for us with the prices of real estate in Vancouver. We live in a suburb of Vancouver where a house down the street will sell for over a million dollars. Here's an example of a house in our area for the same age and size and one new. There's no way we can afford the mortgage payments on those, let alone the maintenance. On the flip side, to rent a 3 bedroom in this area would cost us at least $1500/month. That's approx. $500 more than what we're paying now. As you can see, the amount that we invested into our home is equivalent to maybe a couple months rent and we get to live with a better quality of life. So we lose our damage deposit(?!) but it's worth it. I can't tell you how happy, as someone with sometimes intense dust allergies, I am to get rid of that dirt trap of a carpet.

Our 20+ yr. old carpet

The mysterious lumps we found underneath. It felt like sand but we think it was deteriorated underlayment.

To date we've upgraded and repaired the following to our apartment:

-replaced floors in the kitchen, hallway, bathroom and living room

-replaced kitchen counters

-installed subway tile backsplash in kitchen

-replaced cracked toilet with a brand new one

-installed baseboard moldings

-installed a ceiling fan in the main bedroom

-replaced bathroom lights

What has the owner supplied you ask? Well I can't say they haven't done anything because after three years of requests, I was finally able to get a new fridge. (You should have seen my hydro bill) I also got a new oven and a new dishwasher after I poked my finger through a rust spot on the inside of the machine in front of the landlord. So I am thankful for the things they have done.
Here are a few "After" shots:

Front hall through to main bedroom

Living room from hall

Living room from kitchen

So what do you think? We're no "Holmes on Homes" but I think our place is finally turning into a family home.

Wordless Wednesday

Jenny Mendes

Gollly Bard

Wudwerx

Awkward