My Creative Cubbyhole

Nails

2011-01-04T00:16:00.001-08:00

Neglect and Abandon

2010-12-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

I wonder if my blog missed me. It's been ages since I've given more than a passing glance to my poor neglected blog. I barely know where to begin! My photography has been progressing along at a nice rate, though sometimes I get impatient and want more. Patience though, I need to still learn so much about business! The photography part is a breeze compared to the business side! Whew! Well, because a post is worthless with out a picture, here is just a random old shot. As I get comfortable with the blogging again, I will add more.

slideshow2

2010-04-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

slideshow

2010-04-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

some happenings of delice design

2010-03-16T01:23:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick overview of just a tidbit of the goings on at Delice Design. A couple of babies really spiced things up!

Then things moved on to get spiced up in an entirely different way!
I will deffinately be offering boudoir shoots as this was just too much fun!

More action and business.

2009-07-04T18:39:00.001-07:00

This gorgeous girl has just graduated. We are so proud of her! We went downtown for a photoshoot in her gorgeous dress with her handsome boyfriend. A photogrpahers dream!

So many fun, pretty little places around town to have a shoot. Thia was having fun being the center of attention, and boy did she deserve it!

This is a fun, playful shot just outside of city hall.

I love the way our school does graduation. The students are walked down with their parents, and holding a rose. At the end of the walkway, they hug dad, hug mom and give her a rose. The parents then all sit in the front. Later, at the banquet, the first dance is a father /daughter, son/ mother dance. It is just beautiful!

Here's proud papa!

Oh, Poor sad little lonely blog!

2009-07-04T18:25:00.001-07:00

So yes, I have neglected my poor blog again. It seems to fall in the list of priorieties quite quickly! To my defense though, I have had some serious computer issues that needed tending which seem to be resolved now. In my absence though I have been busy. I helped take some pics of my son and his band up at the Butter Church in Cowichan Bay. It is quite the place and made the perfect backdrop for grungey gritty band pics. What a great looking bunch of guys eh? They are crazy talented too.

They were so much fun to shoot, totally up for anything and took direction well too!

This is just outside of the butter church, the trees are so awesome!

And this is my boy. Gorgeous, isnt he?;)

Friendship spanning the spieces

2009-05-11T21:16:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend our camera club went to a Wildlife Rescue center. This young fellow has there for a few years now and his name is Sandor. When he was brought in he had a very badly broken wing, lice, siezures and other health issues that made it almost hopeless he would survive! They managed to nurse him to health although, he would never be able to be released into the wild so they decided to use him as an educational tool. In order to 'tame' him, they have one person who is his dedicated handler. It was truly stunning to see the interaction between the two of them! Here you can so easily see the size of the birds beak next to her unprotected finger. He was so careful and gentle with her bare fingers. Unreal!
So naturally they shared affection, complete trust and comfort made thier bond easy to see. She must really have dedication, patience, and persistance to bring a saint to his knees!

Spring, a time to renew, start fresh!

2009-04-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

My poor blog over here all by itself, lonely and neglected. So many times I popped over quickly but felt so overwhelmed by how far I let things slide.

A couple of new clutches, one made from a vintage linen table cloth! I think these are nice colours for spring. It is hard to not feel spurred on by all the new beginnings around this time of year. Finally I felt compelled to just pick up, dust off and jump back in to where I left off. No sense trying to back track to redo, just pick up where I am now. Simple, but refreshing!

It's that time of year again

2008-12-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner. It seems to come faster every year. Grace is also having her birthday just next week! This means that my blog and other online presense has been very neglected.I'll get back into it soon enough though.

Carlos Lascano

2008-11-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.carloslascano.com/carloslascano/Home.html

An amazing artist. A must check out!

A beautiful read

2008-11-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/#/0

This is just an amazing journal of a man caring for his aged father. Click on the link, then click on the pictures to advance through the pages.

Then make sure you have a tissue handy:)

topaz again

2008-11-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is an unaltered picture out of my camera. Pretty dang good actually considering the horrible lighting in there. That is another story about my new lens. Anyways, This picture does need some cleaning up, there is some noise happening and who doesnt like a little skin smoothing/evening out? This is after runing the picture through a plugin for photoshop called topaz labs. It was one click, all the noise is gone! Click on each picture to see it full size to really see the magic happen! I can hardly wait to see what it can do when I actually read the directions!

boat

2008-11-13T10:00:00.001-08:00

Straight out of camera, resized only A quick trip through topaz labs.

2008-11-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

2008-11-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

more peeks

2008-11-10T00:09:00.000-08:00

sneeky peeky!

2008-11-09T01:22:00.000-08:00

Head hanging in shame.....

2008-10-31T21:54:00.001-07:00

I have completely put the blog, and my etsy store on the back burner as of late. I sure have missed it too! I have a fairly good excuse though. I litterally woke up one morning with a very very very sore shoulder. The pain was unrelenting and I'd rank it up there with the harsh part of labour, only it didnt end! I haven't dealt with chronic pain before and I must admit.... I am a whimp!! I also had no idea why I was suddenly in so much pain and frankly, I was putting off anything that aggrivated it. I am most comfortable with my arm resting up parallel with my shoulder, neutral position my dr calls this. It seems that I probably have a ruptured disc in my neck but am waiting for an mri and an appointment with a neurologist. I have not felt my finger on my left hand in over a month now! I still use my camera but I do NOT carry it around my neck and I am just being super careful with how I move around in general. Anyways, it is still problematic for me, but seeings as this doesnt seem to be going anywhere soon, I figure I'd better start back in with normal things again, bit by bit.

I have barely even been stalking the blogs that I love so much! I havent updated my store and certainly havent completed any sewing as the sewing seems particularly difficult on my shoulder/neck. But in bits, 10 mins a time I will be starting to get back into it simpley for my own sanity:)

I hope you enjoy the picture of the birds all dressed up for halloween!

Things are Looking Up!

2008-09-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

This top one is called 'blush'
(This bottom photo is called innocent)

Oh, it's good to be 'home'! I finally got my comptuer back so I can start to get back to 'work' again:)

I pretty much fell off the face of the net for a bit here. I have a lot of blogging to catch up to that's for sure!

I just can't believe how long it took for my comptuer to be fixed and sent back to the store. I kinda wonder if it hasn't been sitting there for a while without them calling me too as I called today to check on the status of it and they said it "just" got to the store. Seems like quite a coincidence to me. Anyways, it's just great to have it back.

I got a blogging award from Vanessa while I was MIA! How much fun is that! As I get things in order here, I will deal appropriately with it.

I am still bewildered about how long this whole computer thing took to get straightened out!

I just wanted to pop on for a quick yay! my comptuer is back post and will be back with a long overdue giveaway too!

A couple of quick pics of 2 prints I will be selling. darn, I accidently put them UP there, Oh well, you get the idea. :)

Celebration on the horizon!

2008-08-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was just noticing that my shop hearts are nearing 100 which I think is a reason to celebrate! Be sure to stay tuned because there will surely be goodies to celebrate!

Free stuff rocks!!

2008-08-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

Check out this great giveaway happening over at The Ardent Sparrow blog! I am so excited to be a part of it!

What's with the big "O".......

2008-08-19T09:11:00.001-07:00

Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about the Olympics!

They are pretty much everywhere in your face while they are occuring. Everyone seems so excited and happy about it.

I have been trying to see where that all comes from. I really have been trying to see the overall goodness of the Olympics, however, I can't get certain things out of my head. Such as the overwhelming cost of prepration for only a very short time. I cant forget how China (and Canada too!) are 'cleaning up the streets' at the cost of the poorest people. I keep trying to think of how it actually benefits a place to have the Olympics there and I fail to find anything over a temporary increase in hospitality industry and minimum wage industry. If anything, every angle I look at it, the Olympics seems to strip the area that it comes to. It reminds me of a big colourful party, wild and crazy. Everyone dancing, and drinking like it will never end. Streamers, balloons, and confetti being the litter that everyone partakes in distributing. Then the party is over. The guests all leave quickly with barely a thank you and the host is left bewildered at the mess left to clean. It doesn't seem like so much fun now. A few, very few select athelets will benefit a great amount from thier endeavors. Not saying they dont deserve the recognition and the endorements, however, it seems like a huge expense in every way for the benefit of a very few people

*sigh*

It's a sad day

2008-08-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have a very sick computer and will not be able to do any photos for a while. I don't know how long:( I haven't forgotten about the blog, just am having to put it on the back burner.

Really Feelin' it

2008-08-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Just really feeling comfortable behind the lens. It has been an absolute BLAST hanging out at all the different venues at the NAIG games here in town.
And such an amazing opportunity to take somewhere around 5000 or more pictures this week in so many different situations!

I have never had so many terrible lighting situations to really stretch my photography muscles! It was so much fun doing these outdoor concerts too! I really would love to photograph more concerts! They are so animated!

This performer here is George Leach. He had really wonderful music which my mom and I really enjoyed. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet him later (lucky insider "media" leads..... and a fun story too, but that is for another time) and he is a really nice, down to earth kinda guy.

Pitcher/ Picture

2008-08-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

NAIG

2008-08-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

The North American Indigenous games are being held in town here this week. We have been told about all these thousands and thousands of people who would be comming to town for the week. I know I didn't really expect all that many people to come, till I saw this parade of athelets! It went on, and on and on. An impressive amount of young athelets thats for sure! There are teams from as far away as florida, North Carolina, Nunavut, and just about anywhere else!

It was pretty neat to see how far these teams came and in such big numbers! Some teams had traditional dress represented. And some were just so dang cute!
This week there is going to be entertainment all day every day, as well as a market all day every day. Not to mention sports on the go all day everyday too! I am looking forward to seeing everything!

I've been Featured!!

2008-07-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

The lovely Vanessa over at Designs by Vanessa has done a feature on me at her blog! Be sure to check it out and then go take a look at how talented she is in her etsy shop! She has some very beautiful jewlery.

Trying to improve

2008-07-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

So, I have not been getting the sales for the amount of work I have been doing that I would hope to have gotten by now. It seems common sense that your photos are by far the most important thing to draw potential shoppers into investigate around your store. Photos are always so important but in this application, I suspect they are even MORE important!
I think my photos have been lacking interest. I don't think they have really been drawing in people. There is just so much competition out there that it's easy to get burried. I don't want to be one in a sea of many. I want to stand out! I have been revamping my products a little as well, jazzing them up with some embellies and getting more creative that way. There are mountains of plain little zippies out there but not too many that are embellished. I really enjoy doing the embellishment part. Right now I am just using ribbons, buttons and scraps of fabrics, but as I continue on, I am sure I will branch out.
Another improvement is the addition of labels! I really like the way they turned out! I ordered them from JennifersJewels
She was really great to deal with! She was great at listening to what it was that I wanted and she produced a great quality item.

So anyways, These are my new photos. I ended up not using a lightbox but just played around in the backyard. They may be a little bland, what do you think? I have been pondering the idea of using fun backgrounds but maybe that would just be a distraction? I am not sure. I do however, like the angles and how that worked out.
Head on over to my etsy

to check how they compared to my old photos. I would be grateful for any and all feedback and suggestions of improvments:)

I just couldn't wait!

2008-07-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't wait (or risk the rain) to show you how the plate turned out once painted. It was super easy, accepting the paint very smoothly. I can see this as part of a very pretty afternoon tea set up, with pretty china teacups, tiny finger sandwiches and dainty iced cakes.
The occassion may even call for lace gloves and flowers in hats!
One lump or two, dear?

Thrifting adventures

2008-07-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

I love looking through thrift shops and seeing what castoffs I can find to give new life to. I must admit though, I haven't been doing this very much for a while now. I just got overwhelmed with how much space and clutter it can produce. I just needed a bit of down time but I am starting to go on the hunt again! It is so satisfying if you can take something otherwise "ugly" and make it into something fun, useful or beautiful. This light jumped out at me like a lightening bolt. It is dusty and the wiring is old. But I just love the design on it! I am planning on taking it apart, rewiring it, painting it white, and replacing the chain. I may hang this up in my sewing room, or maybe in my bedroom.... even the living room could use a new light. I am planning on making it a plug in one instead of hard wired as I think this will give me more options as to where I put it. The design looks very graphic to me. I can hardly wait to see this one in action! Oh, I paid .75 cents for it!
This little painting jumped out at me too. I did have to dig through a slew of stuff to find it though. I am planning on taking the painting out, paint the frame white, distress it, and then replace the picture. I like the picture it came with, it is a soothing scene. This picture was 1.50
Now, this is something I have been looking for for quite a while! I have had visions of these embossed aluminum platters and tiered platters painted up in a light cotton candy pink for ages! I can remember when these used to be seen a plenty in the thrift shops but now, they are scarce. I snagged this one up right away, it is even nice and straight and in excellent condition. No dents or wiggles in it at all. For 2.50, I had no choise but to make it mine!
I imagine the embossing will really look pretty when it is all painted up. I started painting this one first this afternoon because I am most anxious about what it will look like. I have some pretty vintage table cloths too. I think this will call for an afternoon tea in the backyard when it is all done!
It is suposed to rain here tomarrow so taking a picture of it all set up in the backyard may prove difficult but I will try to get a pic of it as soon as I can to share how the project ended up going.

Wish me luck!

A little more of what has been keeping me busy

2008-07-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

It was already a week ago, but we all gathered to celebrate a 50th birthday with a surprise party for this guy. Yep, he does look surprised doesn't he!? It was a really nice celebration, it was pretty neat how all these people managed to keep it a secret from him! He truly was surprised!
I just had to snap a picture of this car, look at it! It is beautiful! I love the character and flair in these old cars. This one has been lovingly restored to perfection. The owner of the car shared his album documenting the process of restoring this gem and some of the shows and awards it has won. I was tempted to ask him to move it out to the field so I could get some better pictures with a nicer background, but eh, that wouldnt be cool lol

This is one of my sisters horses. I just loved the way it looked there pondering life........ and laundry. We also went to see the tall ships that came into Maple Bay. There was 2 of them when we were there but the day before there was suposed to be 3. They were neat looking, but I had my fill of them very quickly. Not to mention that I forgot to check the settings on my camera for about 100 pics all of which were all washed out and had a blue cast. Pfft. All of them are trashed. Oh well. I wasn't emotionally attached to any of them. This was about the only one that had any salvagablity about it.
There have also been crafty and sewing adventures as well. I am just way behind on my pictures! They should follow soon:)

MIA

2008-07-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Oh my poor poor blog! It must think I don't love it anymore, I have neglected it so much! In my defence I have the weather though. It has been picture perfect around here. Just gorgeous! I have so much to share with you all too! It will take a few posts to get everything in but I will start off with my latest listings seeings as that is what I was just doing. Stayin with the flow, ya know?

I love scrapbooking. I really do. I love putting different textures, patterns and colours of papers together and then topping it off with some fun trinkets. I haven't used any of my scrapbooking stuff in way too long and I have been missing it a lot! To satisfy that scrapbooking monster in myself I decided to play around with these little pouches I have been making. Hhhmm, it seems as though I have uploaded these backwards, but oh well, we will take the reverse guided tour:)

This is some quilting cotton that I have had kicking around for ages, unsure what the heck to do with it although I love the yellow colour. Finally this fabric has found its purpose. It has a reason for being.
A few little scraps, some buttons and voila! a cute little one of a kind pouch. This one has the same linning inside as the scrap on the outside. I think this one will translate nicely into a greeting card. I think I will make one or a few this afternoon. It has a very free form flower made out of scraps. I just love using up scraps iin this way, it makes me feel so productive and green.

You can't see it in this picture here, but the linning sparkles. Yes, really, it sparkles! What girl doesnt love to have sparkles and glitz!?
Using a salvaged zipper is a rewarding endeavor. Mostly because in my experience, they are just a little cuter and all of the ones that I have found so far, have a nice smoothness to them that the newer ones just don't seem able to live up to. Not to mention some of the funnest colours too!

Been a while since I pulled out the lace bag, but oooooooooo love the way it looks!

kitschy? Kitschy? Kichtsy? How do you spell that word! I think this pouch fits that word though, what do you think?

This is the biggest ric rac I have ever seen! It is HUGE!
I have had an exciting week besides sewing! I won the friday freebie over at lemon tree studio's blog, I got to have fun with my camera to the tune of 500+ pictures! and It was our anniversary yesterday! Gee, and it's only Wednesday! After I go through all those pictures I will have some fun things to share.

An inspired moment!

2008-07-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Over at etsy, TallGiraffe invited everyone to follow along and clean up thier own work spaces. I followed along, and after not too long, I was very inspired to start cutting and sewing. After not too long, I ended up with these darling little wristlets. They are all listed in my etsy shop now, all ready to go to new homes:) I just adore this fabric! I want to get more and make myself a blouse out of it!

I really get a kick out of this fun playful print.

I think this one would lend itself to more formal occassions, nice to have something like this around the holidays (which will be here before we know it!)

I still have a couple more that I need to redo the pictures for. Hopefully tomarrow I will find the time to redo those pictures!

A little tour of where the magic happens, and the chaos reigns.

2008-07-14T15:34:00.001-07:00

Ugh, the pictures are not in the right order. Oh well, it's a guided tour so no fear of getting lost. The room tends to be quite dark and craves good bright light! I am finding it hard to spread out in the room as its a little small and there is too many things going on.

First stop is the sewing machine table. This is actually the after picture. I just have to have certain things at my finger tips when I am sewing, sicsors, pin cushion (the red tomato) and an iron. I am crippled without my iron close by! The table is passed onto me from my mom as she was downsizing her own sewing area, as is the machine hiding behind the iron and at the left, forgot to get a picture of the serger. The chair was a freebie from the dump. It is a perfect chair! It has a wide seat (to accomoate MY wide seat;) it is fully adjustable with, cushie and my feet rest firmly on the floor! It is really stable too with 5 arm base. It is just nice basic grey too. Here is my make do cutting table. I have an antique sewing machine base that I really want a new top for. It is super heavy and stable, pretty and it can smoosh right up to the wall using that precious few inches from that step up wall. It has been kidnapped and held hostage in my daughters room though, she has had her keyboard on it. You can see my dogs "nest" over on the left on the floor.
Here is the table that should be in my room. It does need a slightly bigger table top, but I love how stable it is. The card table isnt too stable.
here is my one shelving unit in the room. I desperately need more! I have an old beat up dresser in the corner that I forgot to snap a picture of where there is more fabric in dwarers. This shelf also holds my photo albums and trims for scrapbooking. There is a roll of brown paper I use for making patterns and on the floor next to it, is some scrapbooking papers.
Oh, here is the before of my sewing table. Other things you cant see is a 'nest' of a blanket that is my dogs bed for when I am in there. He hates being in this room, I think cause the foor is cold, and he will whine and get under my feet if I don't have his nest set uplol what a pampered dog!
I think this room needs a serious cosmetic makeover. It isn't terribly messy in there, I didn't locate any lost articles or find any forgotten treasures, but it sure is ugly and boring in there! However, tidying up things, sweeping the floor and getting out the garbage inspired me to do a little creating and I got a couple of wristlets done up! I will share those in a bit. for now though, the bathroom is beginning to look like a science experiment gone wrong:-?

A little catching up!

2008-07-09T10:10:00.001-07:00

Lately this is where you can find me. On the swing in the back yard. The hammok is where Tony hangs out. Usually they are not sandwiched together, I'm not sure which little elves were up in the night moving the lawn furniture around;) To repent for being so neglectful of my blog lately, I am going to share a great, easy, fast and tastey recipe. It doesnt really have a name. Noodle stirfry maybe? eh, maybe it doesnt need a name.
I start out with a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces, and a spicey sausage cut up too. I throw that into a pan with some onion and cook it all up.
Then I throw in an assortment of fresh veggies. Here I have mushrooms, assorted peppers and snap peas. You could really experiment with whichever veggies you have on hand. Fresh is best though.
Don't cook the veggies too long! Add about half a bottle of VH sweet and sour (or terriaky) sauce, then the real kicker is a good healthy 1/3 cup of sweet thai chilli sauce. This is a secret weapon that transforms any dish!
You can serve it over rice, but I love it over cooked noodles. Spaghetti noodles! This whole thing comes together in about 20 mins and doesnt heat up your whole kitchen!
Lest I lead you astray, I have not been in the kitchen the whole time I have been absent. We have been out enjoying the summer weather, getting friendly with the wild life!

More wild life around here than you can shake a stick at!
I promise to not neglect you so long again! That is if I can pull myself away from this gorgeous view long enough;)
Hope you are enjoying your summer!

A little refreshment on a summer's eve

2008-06-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

We seem to finally have summer here. A few false alarms but I think its for real this time. The weather has turned hot so quickly it hasn't really given time to climatize ourselves. I took Grace to drop her off at her week long camp today and when I got home, Tony had dinner ready which was sooo nice! By the time we finished dinner, it was pretty hot and stuffy up here. We migrated down to the backyard armed with our iced green tea lemonade. Oh, how refreshing it was! Sure makes me thankful for all the hard work Tony does in the yard! The iced green tea lemonade was just the perfect thing to top off a lovely sit down in the back yard. It is so simple and quick I thought I would share this so you too can be refreshed. Not much to it, just some frozen lemonade concentrate, green tea and a couple of containers to mix it all in.
Start off with brewing double strength tea. Usually I do 2 teabags in this tea pot so I put 4 in for this drink.
Dump the still frozen lemonade into the juice container. Make sure it is strong enough to handle some rather warm liquid being poured into it. I have used this container a lot so I know it will do the job.
After the tea has brewed for a good 15 minutes or so, slowly, very slowly, pour it over the frozen lemonade. After about half of it is in, I give it a bit of a break for a few minutes and then add the rest just as slowly.

Top it off with lots of icecubes and enjoy! If you wanted you could always use a flavoured tea, experiment with your favorite herb teas. Live dangerously and throw a few mint sprigs in too!

A Bunting we will go!

2008-06-27T22:32:00.001-07:00

It looks like its time for a party here! Look at how festive and fun this bunting is! Marnie sent the fabric down yesterday for her custom bunting for her market tent. It is a simple project, nothing terribley complicated, however... time consuming! This went together rather smoothly. I just love the way these fabrics look all done up like this! I see these things done up on blogs and other crafty sites and always marvel at how wonderfully festive it looks. I made up a template, then cut each triangle out of the fabric. Sewed the pieces, right sides togehter, trimmed up the point and turned it the right way. Pressed it, then trimmed the top edge which was left open. Then, they were sewn in between this black bias tape. It will look as nice from the back as it does from the front!
It is a pretty long piece here! I felt a little like I was wrestling with an octopus during the final construction phase! There are 26 flags that are 8 inches wide at the top each and about 2 inches between flags. hhmm, I need to do the math. I hope Marnie is as happy with it as I am . I can just imagine how pretty it will look all done up on her tent with all her colourful hair accessories! I can hardly wait to see the pictures of it all done up!

Sometimes I like to play

2008-06-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

There seems something so surreal about this daisy. I am contemplating framing it big for above my fireplace for a change of scenery. What do you think?

An old park and new friends

2008-06-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

I can't beleive its been a whole week since I last posted! I started out with the resolve to post every day! I fell off th wagon when my computer started acting up, it still has to go in to the hospital too. It is having a good moment right now so I am taking advantage of it!
On Sunday I was invited out by a few ladies from the photography club to go take pictures at Bright Angel park. I love that park and go there a lot on my own. It seems like such a novelty cause it has a really cool suspension bridge to walk across the river. We treaded on new territory though as I always turn left after the bridge, this time we went straight! It was great getting out with some new friends who have the same passions as me. It was so encouraging to be with other people who get as much of a charge pressing the shutter release button as I do! I was surprised that most of the flowers that were in bloom were white. I guess I need to go back in a few weeks and see if different colours are popping up.
I think this is a hover fly. It looks kinda like a bee though doesn't it? I am seriously craving a nice macro lens after this trip! I love macro photography anyways so one is deffinately in my future. I am putting that 100.00 climate action check towards a macro lens!
We were gone all day but I am sure we all could have been there even longer, never running out of neat things to find through the viewfinder.

Just look at the dedication of these 2 getting right down and dirty to get just the right shot!

Pink Dogwood

2008-06-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

The pink dogwood is one of my favorite flowering trees and I have wanted one in the front yard for the longest time. Driving around they always catch my attention as the most beautiful trees around. Last year we finally went and hunted for one and quickly learned that there are many varieties available. So of course, it required a trip to Dinter's Nursery as they have the biggest variety and most knowlegable people around. After a while of wandering the aisles of different types, I narrowed in on this one. It is about hhmm 7 feet tall. The first year we had it in, there was only a few blooms. I savored each one! I don't think this picture does justice to how many blooms cover the tree this year. It looks like its 50% leaves and 50% flowers. Each time I turn the corner to come home, I am struck by the intensity of the pink and the sheer volume of it!
The pink is a deeper pink that most pink dogwoods I see around here. It is actually referred to as a 'red' dogwood. I was cautioned that they can be picky and not do well around here. They do seem to have made themselves at home now.

Just look at that pink!! It almost looks fake! This just has to be my favorite feature in our yard now. I have to hold myself back from cutting off a branch to bring into my living room! Maybe in a few years after its better established I can really get the full impact indoors agasint my green living room walls! OOO I can see it now:)

New Pouches on the horizon

2008-06-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

It was quite an unusual day around here in that I managed to complete TWO projects! We (meaning Thia and I) started our day off wandering around Walmart finding things for Grace and her big night tonight. (Grade 7 recognition!) It is surprising how time consuming that kinda thing is! We even had to find shoes for her as the ones that we thought would work, won't. I bought 2 of each thing and we will see what doesnt work and then take those back. I sure hope something works!! She's so picky and sensative that who knows.... Anyways, back to 2 completed projects... This first one is made using some fat quarters that I got at the satin moon in Victoria. I just adore the print and colours! The pouch is made super handy by 2 inside pockets and a wrist strap that is securely sewn in place with triple seams. I was on such a roll from finishing that pink and green one that I just kept sewing! I had purchased a charm pack a few weeks ago and just loved all the colours in it. At first I thought it would make a beautiful baby quilt with chenille as the alternating squares.

That idea got replaced with this one rather quickly. I cut the charm squares in half and sewed them back together. I just adore the way it turned out! It took a total of 6 squares including the handle. I put two pockets layered in this one for bankcard /id type things. I really like the way the light blue zipper turned out. At first I was going to use a light pink one but opted for this blue instead and I am sure glad that I did! The lining fabric is some quilting stuff that I liked with this pack, it did not come with the charm packs:)
Just look at the way those seams matched up! I am so happy with the way this turned out!

Flower Blob

2008-06-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

My latest entry into the etsy world. It is using the same fabrics as its cousin the bird wristlet but sports a blobbish looking flower instead. On the side there is a ribbon with a keychain so you can clip this pouch to the inside of a larger totebag or purse. Again, I have been workin it with applique too! Of course there is a pocket inside for your id or bank card. I think this has to be one of the handiest sizes of pouches out there!

Goodies galore!

2008-06-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to make something with oilcloth but have not run across any to buy. This was in fantan in China town. They had some gorgeous prints! It was so hard to choose! I will be making lunch bags and other goodies out of this stuff. I especially like that black and white. I keep trying to get designer fabrics in town but no one around here seems willing to accomodate what I am looking for. Satin Moon in Victoria just natrually is loaded with this stuff, but luckily I found a source on etsy for a much more reasonable price! I am so excited to get my first order! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5680709 (anyone out there know how to make a word a link in blogger?)
Ok, now this fabric has a story. The one on the far left is identical to the fabric my mom used to make my bedroom set out of. Curtains, bedspread, pillows, ruffles sheets... you get the picture. I was surrounded by that stuff! I can remember hating it at one point. Probably had od'd on the stuff! Well a few months ago, I found a double flat sheet in this stuff. I HAD to have it. That fabric could not go to anyone elses home! Then about a week ago I found the far right one as a pillow case in a thrift shop and oddly I felt the same attachment to it and it had to come home with me. Then, this past Sunday we were at Value Village and I found that third colour combination of the same print. Blues and purples. I quickly stuffed it under my arm and didn't put it down except to put it on the counter to pay for it! I think I may make myself a couple of pillow covers for my bed out of this stuff. Not sure what else to do with it! lol. It just has to be mine:)

A little more applique

2008-06-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

My second attempt at a little applique here. I just listed this onto etsyhttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12607503
Hhmm. I really need to learn how to make a word a link. Anyways... back to the bird. The blue fabric has this amazing sparkle to it! It does not come off at all either, nor is it 'crunchy'. It is a nice soft quilting cotton. I don't know how they get those sparkles in there but I sure like it!
I really like this size for just daily errand type trips. This would be great too if you wanted to throw it into a diaperbag or bigger tote bag to keep everything sorted.
2 pockets inside, one for the cell phone and one for a bankcard or id. You can even see the sparkles inside the pouch! What more does a girl need to bring a smile to her face?:)

A Father's Sunnyday

2008-06-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

We went to Victoria today to celebrate Father's day. My mom and dad invited us and took us out for lunch. After lunch my mom and I went shopping for fun stuff, my dad took Grace and got her a lulu lemon shirt and Tony went hunting for groceries. Along the way, my mom and I went to Fantan gallery. A really fun little store with an eclectic assortment of things. Tucked away in a cupboard was this adorable little cowboy lunch box. I think it would make such an adorable accent piece or even a storage piece for something or other, but at 27.00 it was a little too precious for me. Around the corner was this shelf. I had to chuckle at the "no beatnicks" sign.
Just across the street from the entrance to China town there is this floating globe. It is sooo neat! It is pretty big, just look how big it is next to that man beside it. The arms that come up and around it do not touch it at all. It glides effortlessly on this water it rests on. It is also right outsdie of the Satin Moon quilting shop. The only place within a reasonable driving distance that I have been able to find that carries Amy Butler fabrics! I will show you later the few little treasures I picked up in there later.
On Sundays there is a market. I am afraid this time it didn't sport much interest. I am not sure why. Usually I love open air markets! It maybe seemed a little too commercial.
Ah........ China town! I love it down here! Just look at these doorways. Each one is old, and has so many stories to tell.
These lanterns have been hanging here for as long as I can remember.... or maybe they have been replaced, but they are deffinately a fixture.
The sidewalk is lined with veggies and produce, a lot of it is stuff that you just can't pick up at the local grocery store.

I got a few goodies while we were down there which I will share tomarrow:).

For now, its good night.

A good ole trusted Lemon Loaf recipe

2008-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday night around 8pm, we like to make a big pot of green or herbal tea and watch a britsh drama called "Heartbeat". I just adore this show! There is a serious story along side an "only in Britain" kinda story. I really like british made television and movies. Well any forgien for that matter. I find that story telling is much more raw and uninhibited. Glitz, glam and catchy taglines are given up for honest and revealing storylines. Part of our Saturday ritual is to have a little sweet with our tea. Usually I forget to make something earlier in the day and its a quick dash to the corner store for some stale cookies or other commercially produced sugar high. Today, well today, I was on top of my game. Even though I was feeling iffy, car sickish iffy, I pulled together a good ole trusted Lemon Loaf. It is quick, easy, minimal ingredients and is sssssoooooo yummy!

Lemon Loaf

1/2 cup Butter or Margarine (I use shortening if I am low on butter)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup Milk

1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
Grated rind of one lemon

Cream butter, sugar and 1 egg. Beat in second egg, stir in milk.

In a second bowl stir together flour, baking powder and lemon rind. Pour over batter and stir to just moisten.

Spoon into a 9x5x3 greased loaf pan.

Bake 350 for about 1 hour. Let cool for a few minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack with waxed paper or even a paper grocery bag underneath.

Spoon a lemon glaze over the top of the hot loaf

Lemon Glaze

Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Combine juice and sugar over medium heat stirring constantly to dissolve sugar.

ENJOY!!

New growth in the shop

2008-06-13T09:02:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at applique and I am afraid to say that I think I am hooked! Not sure why I felt the need to do fungi (or is it fungus?) as my first attempt but I am happy with how it came out. I think the bigger one came out slightly nicer than the little one, but they do say practice makes perfect!
So far I think the pocket sizes and placement is nice, but of course, I am open to new suggestions/ideas.
I am looking forward to trying out more applique :) just have to find more inspiration for new shapes!

A few little things worth trying out.

2008-06-11T08:55:00.001-07:00

Ugh, I just lost my entire post!!

I had listed some tutorials that I wanted to try.

Quite a few.

*sigh*.....

http://supamb.com/supafine/2007/10/06/how-to-lunch-bag-based-on-plastic-grocery-sack/

http://cottonandcloud.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-sew-circular-bottom-neatly.html

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/2006/02/super_easy_keyc.html

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/tutorials/index.html

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=249

http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/2006/10/cloth-shoe-pattern.html

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2006/12/purse_frames_de.html

http://whipup.net/2007/12/18/tutorial-bunting-flags/

I of course had commentary for each project...... its enough now that I was able to relocate them

It's my new bag.

2008-06-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

I love the way the pieced fabric looks. I love all the colours in this bag and I even love the bias colour with all the soft feminine colours. What I dont like, is putting that darn stuff on! It took way more time than was reasonable and I am still not happy with it.
I am not sure what this type of bottom is called, but you are going to be seeing a lot more of it from me. I love it.
The good news out of all of this is I get a new purse.

Etsy anyone?

2008-06-06T11:40:00.001-07:00

A few of the more recent entries on to my etsy.
These small pouches are about 5 1/2 inches by 5 and hold enough to be a catchall for your purse. You could just put your essentials into one of these pouches and then when you transfer purses, just whip this little beauty over and its no worries to change purses to suite your mood
They have a little sleeve to protect your id or bankcard in them.
I just love picking and chooseing the outter fabric and then some lining to match.

Sometimes I think I cant possibely have what I need to match up for lining but if I dig far enough, I almost always find what I need in my own stash.
Even matching the colours of the zippers up. It can be so much fun to see what happens when you introduce a new colour. I think the green on this one really works!
These little pouches are bigger. More like a small clutch. The flower is removeable and can be a pin for your jacket or blouse. It is a covered button that adorns the center.
The strap is long enough to slip over your wrist for hands free shopping, and they both have 2 interior pockets. I think I might start carrying a purse this size and put away my daily luggage sized one;) lol.

I am hoping to have some new designs up this weekend. It sure is fun fondling all this fabric again!

Hungry?

2008-06-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

I love quick simple dinners. Especially in the summer. This is one of my favorites, it is a lot like pizza in that you can just throw whatever veggies/meat hanging around in your fridge into it. Try making small individual sizes letting everyone throw thier favorites into it. I hear this is great:)

First off you are going to want to start off with 3 eggs and one cup of milk or cream. Wisk it together really well. This is going to fit in one average 9inch pie crust. Then you will add your fillings. You can get pretty creative here adding up to 3 cups of fillings. I like peppers, ham, cheese, onions and tomatoes. We didn't have any tomatoes this day so it is lacking. If you add tomatoes though, it is very nice to slice them thinly and lay them on the top before it goes into the oven. I like to put the whole thing onto a foil lined baking sheet because inevitabely, there will be some spillage and it just makes things a lot easier to clean up, and I am all about easy cleanups! You will put it into a 375 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes. Insert a knife and it should come out clean, if it doesnt leave it for another few mintues, but check it often.
When it comes out it will have a nice golden brown top on it like this. See the spillage over in the corner? I was so glad that I lined my baking sheet with foil for this! It could have made for some tears at clean up time. Instead I just tossed the whole foil mess into the garbage and shrugged the whole nasty incident off.
This is best served with a light green salad.
Dig in and enjoy.

Quiche

3eggs
1 cup of milk or cream
up to 3 cups of fillings. (I always add one cup of cheese).
1 pie crust

375 for 35-40 minutes.

Wrapping it all up

2008-06-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

Swap?

2008-05-29T19:44:00.001-07:00

Very vintage lace gloves with very light pink embellishments on them. They are almost like air they are so light. There is a few little hanks of old and not so old lace too. This is the prettiest pink teacup I have ever seen. It is one from my personal stash but I do believe looks like it will be right at home in its new house. Spilling out of the teacup
are some vintage crystals and a piece off of a vintage broach. There are a few little rosebuds snuck in there too. This is a very old pink christmas ball. I imagine it would be lovely on a pink christmas tree! You can also see a very long string of old beads. It is hard to tell in the picture but the leaves are a very pretty irridescent pink and the whole thing just looks so sweet. But I bet that if it was cut apart the beads would be great used as little accents on other projects. Maybe a pair of earrings made out of the pink petals. There is also a porcelin pink rose pin that was picked up in an antique store. It is simply charming! A few other extras tucked in there too.
There is some gorgeous pink floral wall paper border there and these sheets of music are very dainty. I have never seen music like that before. the book they came out of was dated 1840.
A few other treasures. This is a very old petit point that is finished off with gold lace, there is some pom pom trim in there, a few velvet flowers, and some pretty pink tags.

Here it is!

2008-05-24T09:23:00.001-07:00

some pics

2008-05-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Sniff sniff.....

2008-05-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Powder

2008-05-19T09:19:00.001-07:00

What a sweet dog. She had a very laid back, calm temperment and she seemed to want nothing more than to just have company. She also did love her pats. I tried to get her smiling but she wasnt cooperating! Here is a glimmer of a smile starting. See how the corners of her mouth are turning up and there is a little fold of skin? Well, when she all out smiles, that becomes very pronounced and goes out from her snout so she looks like a cartoon smile. Adorable! I think shes a pitbull/boxer/lab cross from what her mom figures she is too. Maybe something else in there too but whatever it is, shes sure sweet.

2008-05-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is actually my first attempt at a boxed zipper bag. I am very happy with how it turned out. I think I went a little heavy on the interfacing, but it sure does hold its shape nicely. I will deffinately be making more of these. I am thinking about 25.00 for these. I do really like the size and style of this tote. It fits nicely over your arm too. Its not too structured yet it still sports some nice styling.

I am really having fun with the idea of a little removable embellishment on each bag. Oh, on the upper one, I will add some beads to the zipper pull, that will be that embellie.
I think I finally have the pockets worked out just the way I like them. One side with simple open ones, a larger one for note paper/pen and a smaller one for the cell phone.
I am not sure how I'd like the key fob hanging in there for myself but I have a clip on my keyring already. I do think it would be handy if you didn't already have a clipping keyring though. I am happy with the size and placement of my zippered pockets. This tote borders on being a purse.

2008-05-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

Look at that hair!!!

2008-05-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

Dogwoods

2008-05-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

I love dogwoods, specially the pink ones. The pink ones are far from blooming yet, so I had to 'settle' for the white ones. These ones are the ones that hang over my neighbours fence.

They have a gorgeous pink one but its blooms are not really ready yet. They did say that I can just hop the fence (not that I "hop" anything;) )and shoot the pink ones when they bloom. I couldn't decide which version of these flowers I like the best. The full colour, the desaturated ones, or the b&w ones. I think I would like to put them into a triple frame and hang them in my living room.
This shot, looking up and underneath the flowers is my favorite. I love that the blue sky is showing through.

I really cant decide if I like the desaturated better than the other. I think this first flower, I perfer in desat. But these next two, maybe not so much.
Although, this shot here, it is my favorite.
Black and white gives it just a whole new dimension.

Whenever I see collections of black and white flowers, I am struck with the impact. You'd think that taking the colour out of a flower would minimize the impact, however, it seems to increase it.
And then this last picture. I think I need to make sure I get a copy of at least this one on my walls.

more pics

2008-04-28T22:13:00.001-07:00

I should have been more careful, the whites are all blown here. The window in the back is distracting. The logs would have been much more appropriate. I couldnt resist sneaking a shot of Ester. She is such a cutie. She had bandaids on her face because she was picking at a sore making it worse, but the bandaids have given her a rash. Poor girl. Again, whites blown.
I love all the little scrunched up faces babies make when they sleep. Just have to wonder what they are dreaming about!
Now this is a peacefull sleep. It is a little blown, but the peacefullness of her sleep still shows through.
I am looking forward to trying this again, and working on those blown whites. I am looking forward to improving on this first attempt.

Finally!

2008-04-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at a few baby pictures. It was sure a lot harder than I wanted it to be, although just as hard as I thought it would be. I am so happy that the whole thing was greeted with enthusiasm and support for me and my learning curves. I tried them in black and white here. I kinda like them like that. I have envisioned doing some pics of thier kids all in black and white to go on thier kitchen wall.

I just love the little fingers here! I hope to get some little toes next time.

New purses

2008-04-22T18:34:00.001-07:00

A couple of new bags with the intent of putting them up on etsy for sale. I love the pink and brown on this bag, although it still needs a pin of some sort. Isn't this lining fun!? I love the overlapping circles. Of course, there is a zippered pouch to keep things safe.

This is a pretty springy bag. The linning is some fabric that I have held onto for about 15 years! I bought it with the intent of making Thia a pretty frilly dress with layers and layers of ruffles. When they rang up the price it was a LOT more than I expected and it took me this long to work up the nerve to cut into it! I am sure glad that I did though, it makes such a pretty lining! A removable, fluffy flower is made out of the lining fabric and a covered button adorns the center.
Here is that pretty lining, sporting a nice secured zippered pouch.
Hopefully, soon, there will be more bags.

Camera strap cover

2008-04-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, you are going to want to measure your exsisting camera strap. Double that measurement and then add half an inch. You will cut your fabric and your fusible fleece to the doubled + 1/2" measurement. Cut your fleece, 1/2" shorter than your fabric.Fuse the fleece to the back side of the fabric, centering it so that each on each short end, the fabric will be 1/4" longer than the fleece. Before you actually pin the right sides togehter, fold the ends of the fabric over the fleece and stich down. This will give your ends a nice finished look. Then, pin right sides together and sew a scant 1/4" seam all the way along the long side. You can see the fabric folded over the fleece here. Using a large safety pin, turn your strap right side out.
Slip it on over your original camera strap and enjoy! I dont have a picture of it on my camera yet. Seems to be a difficult picture to get.

the b4s and afters

2008-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is the SOOC (straight out of camera) shot, see the person growing out of the top of her head?
Just a tiny bit of touching up.... oh, and cropping off that growth out of the top of her head. another SOOC shot.
Touched up. I am not sure about the eyes, but it seems that darker eyes need special treatment and I dont know how to do that....... yet.

A night at the midway

2008-04-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

It probably wasnt the most ideal evening to wander over to the midway. It was rather grey and cold. It already is kinda a dreary kinda place.

Even with the bright lights flashing and the games, it isnt the cheeriest place.
Although, I must admit that it sure has improved over the recent years. I don't do much at fairs.
I do NOT do rides of any sort. The games seem too much like fruitless gambling to me so I dont do those.
I have to say that I was not thrilled with taking Grace to the midway, specially because she didnt have a friend with her if she wanted to go on a ride or 2.
But, I take my camera and yet again, I am mezmerized by what I find looking through the viewfinder.

b4 n after

2008-04-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

a different touch

2008-04-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

This is the SOOC shot. I think this is one of my favorites of Thia. It just looks so natural and really captures her 'look'. Not to mention there is a horse in the background.... she loves horses. This is a little touching up. I didn't want anything glaring, I just wanted more depth and to loose that 'haze' I feel in the oringinal picture. What do you think?

a couple of ideas.

2008-03-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

My "not so dead' flower

2008-03-26T13:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here is the flower. It has not only survived life with me, it is thriving. I love the tenacity in this flower! It refuses to just give in and die! I of course, had to try a few little touch ups with one of the pics and I think I am feeling more and more comfortable with trying stuff out.

But of course, it is pretty hard to improve upon nature.

This is kinda what I meant, bad example though

2008-03-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is kinda what I meant by adding a texture of patterned paper over a photo. Not the best choice of photos to demonstrate, but I am sure you get the idea. The erasing back worked this time! Now, I need to learn how to make it so the edge isnt so harsh without blurring the entire pattern.

Whatcha think?

2008-03-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

Pin, or no pin?

another version

2008-03-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Ooo, yeah, this can get addictive!

2008-03-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

I wont ever give up sissors and glue. But gee, its sure nice to sit in the living room and make something like this without making a mess! And we all know me and messes..... *sigh*. This is easier to do than it looks.

Genoa Bay

2008-03-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Genoa Bay. I am constantly amazed that I manage to find something that catches my eye no matter where I am when I start looking through my viewfinder.

Sometimes, like today, I had doubts about finding anything interesting enough to take many pictures of. I wasn't sure I would find anything out of the ordinary.
I mean, I'm not crazy about birds. Scenery is mildly attractive to me.
Boats, well, they don't really tickle my fancy either.
But every time. Every place. I end up finding something that tickles my photo bone.
I sometimes wonder if this honeymoon phase with my camera will fade.

I wonder if I will reach a saturation point. When I just can't find anything to intrest me.
If I will stop seeing small points of interest in strange places.
Somehow I just don't think it will happen.
Because there will never cease to exsist, interesting things....... everywhere.

Cows

2008-03-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

I love cows. Not the cutesy little country cows. Not the one the ones with little hearts and bows. Real cows. Grass eating cows. Milk producing cows.

I think its thier big eyes. Floppy ears and that nose. Whatever it is, they are cute.

I have been looking for a good opportunity to take some pictures of cows and lo and behold, there they were all over the road! The perfect end to a perfect photoshoot!

Mmmmooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

silly silly dog

2008-03-15T22:19:00.001-07:00

What an atypical place to sleep. Your nose burried deep into a well worn slipper. Maybe he is imitating an Ostrich. Pretending the world will just go away.

Or maybe There was no blanket for him and he just couldn't bare it.

2008-03-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

Another impossible to stay inside day!

2008-03-05T15:08:00.001-08:00

It was just way too nice outside to stay in. This of course meant that nothing inside got done, and all my playing was done outside. The photography challenge for this month is 'suburbia'. I cant help but think that this kinda makes a statment about the constant sprawl of houses and the negative side. It is certainly dramatically changing our landscape, it is a very sad state of affairs. This might be th epicture I use for the challenge. We will see if I can find anything else that makes a stronger statment. This is just how simply gorgeous it was out today. No jacket required.

Buds getting ready to burst all around. This one is reaching out for the sun!

I just love these super straight big trees. They seem to go on forever.

I also love the way moss seems to glow in the sunlight.

Maybe tonight I will get some inside things done. We'll see!

Finally back at it

2008-03-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

Finally, got some things to show.
A couple of shadow boxes, a purse and a couple of cards. These shadow boxes are a lot of fun once you get started. I dont think I will make many more though because, well, just what do you do with a bunch of these suckers? The first one says "happy spring".

A smaller shadow box. I think this one will find a home in my cubbyhole room downstairs.

To emphasis the demension of the glass, I added a rubon right onto the glass.

These flowers are so luxurious. I have used a lot of them and keep meaning to make a broach out of them. Maybe tonight. So velvety.

Maya Road Keychain charms. You get 4 charms on a ball chain. I think they'd be great on packages tied up with ribbons. You could use them on a banner to decorate for a shower or party. Or you can cover them with Sugar Coated cardstock like here, and use them on cards.

*I accidently uploaded 2 of the same pictures here but couldnt figure out how to delete just one*

A very simple bag I designed and made out of a remenant that I picked up in the thrift shop. It velcros closed but just has a button for 'decoration'.

2008-02-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

Just a little something I am noticing

2008-02-05T21:00:00.001-08:00

I am deffinately noticing that I am outside more since I got my camera. Just another way that it was deffinately the right purchase for me. I am sure my dog is enjoying it too!
I finally figured out how to add links to the side of my blog, it wasnt as painful as I thought it'd be! Quite easy in fact and you can expect to find many more links there soon of whatever tickles my fancy. Grace and I did a couple of those coffee travel mugs where you decorate them yourselves. I love the way all you have to do is cut the paper and yourdone. Or you can go a little wild and add some embellies to them. You cant go over board with crazy though because then it wont fit in there. I will post the pics tomarrow. Hopefully I will also have th elables for the rest of the Kup Kuffs and I can post a picture of those all done up too. I have a major hurdle to cross with those though as I dont know how to charge for them. I am not sure how to account for my labour plus materials and I dont want to price them too high. I feel as though selling a lot at a slightly lower price is better than selling a few at a higher price. But at the same time, I do not want to undersell myself. I am hoping ppl will be willing to put a decent price on these hand made little gems and of course, support a worthy cause in Mexico. Yikes. I am feeling uncharacteristically tired tonight. I think it has to do with the fact that I laid awake at around 2 am for a long time mentally going through my cookbooks, wondering which ones I am 'done' with and which ones still have some giving to do for me! Crazy! I would have been better off to just get up and go through them!

nighty night.....

A little Cow Bay

2008-02-04T21:29:00.001-08:00

I love the town of Cowichan Bay. It is barely the length of a block but in that short stint businesses, there is more character than most cities hold all together. It is like a secret hidden gem in the Cowichan Valley. One of the secrets here is this bakery. I adore thier soft pretzels and thier chocolate buns....... Yep, I said CHOCOLATE buns! The bakery connects to this awesome little deli. All these years I thought that little hallway was where the restrooms were, but it lead to a little deli where they sell hilary cheeses.

Keeping with the character of Cowbay, this is considered a planter. It looks really pretty when its in bloom but right now, not much is in bloom.

I love this wooden pretzel. Though I am sure it doesnt taste nearly as good as the ones inside the store! YUM!

I love all the little details you can find around this place if you look for them. We werent here too long this day and we were only around the bakery.......

But you know I'll be back!!!

A couple of different views

2008-02-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Affinity Guesthouse

2008-02-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon for taking pictures, or just being outside for that matter! I have always wondered what the Affinity Guesthouse was and pointed out to my dad the road that had thier sign. He didnt hesitate to turn down the road. It felt more like a driveway than a road, especially when we were greeted so warmly by Dwight. Dwight enthusiastically invited us to come and explore thier place there. First, he took us to the Guest house where we were welcomed through these beautiful doors! It was just as beautiful inside. Tastefully decorated but in a relaxed homey way. I was impressed with the comfort infused deeply in the entire house.

Just look at how beautiful this understated house is!

We were encouraged to walk around the propery to explore, enjoy and take pictures. It was such a beautiful day for all three! I often feel a little self concious walking around taking pictures, specially on someones private property, but here we felt very welcomed.

We even had a special tour guide! Here is Seth. This was a wonderful tour guide, patiently waiting for us as we stopped to take pictures or just take in all the wonderful birds that were out.

Lots of great photo ops the whole way around thier dyke.

They also have an outdoor tour service as well. They do canoe trips.

Here is Seth patiently waiting for us to catch up with his guided tour.

I am looking forward to going back out there when the leaves start to bloom. I am sure it will look entirely different and there will be many new treasures to find!

originals + a goof

2008-02-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

The ordinary things.

2008-02-01T21:30:00.001-08:00

It was an amazing morning this morning. Just the perfect combination of a bright sunny sky and a thick blanket of fog. I took some time and went to the back side of the Gary Oak reserve at the bottom of Timbercrest to play around with my camera. When I first got there, I was moderately inspired. But I got out into the crisp air and and just started randomly shooting. I am always amazed that when I start looking through the viewfinder, I find so many more things than if I didnt have it.

It is as if the viewfinder opens up a whole new world for me.

I would not have noticed all these little spent seed pods if I had not been looking through my viewfinder. The viewfinder narrows your field of vision. I view things more deliberaltey and focused, all the other 'noise' around is filtered out and the viewfinder points me to the small details othewise missed.

Looking through my viewfinder excites me to no end. I am constantly discovering new things. Seeing mundane things in a new way.

Yep, this is where I belong........ behind the viewfinder.

Photoshop

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, here I am trying out photoshop. I am having a heck of a time navigating around it! Here is a very clumsy attempt. The first photo is the original. I posted this a couple of days ago too....
The second one is touched up. Maybe too much, I am not sure. I dont know how to make the image I am working on in photoshop bigger so I can really see it, right now it comes up as a large thumbnail. I feel like I only get an 'overview' of what I am doing. Let's see if I recall what I did to this picture. Something with curves. Contrast. glowing edges. sharpen. um........ I think there was something else I played with too. I did manage to remember to do each thing on a new layer, and I did adjust the opacity. I think I can get the hang of this with a ton more practice.........

Maybe........

quilts

2008-01-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

This quilt actually is the back of the denim one. I forgot to add it with that quilt. I didnt show you the back of the crazy quilt because its just a big piece of flat flannel.

Kup Kuffs!!

2008-01-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of selling these and applying the $$ to the Mexico Missions at Thia's school. I still have a long ways to go with making them but at the way things are going, I should have some them all ready to go by Wednesday. And a better pic too with a clean cup! Ugh! lol.

Another day out with my baby

2008-01-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

I went out with my dad and our cameras. I dont think he was too inspired, but I just have to give him credit for comming along and showing me his 'secret' truck/old building spot! We also stopped in at Providence Farms. There was something going on there maybe even something formal so we didnt nose around too too much. The yard that you go past as you are driving up to the stables always catches my eye and invokes many idealistic day dreams. The lighting was dreamy with its golden cast, pretty much anything looked more special.
I loved the way the sunlight and low shadows played off of this, otherwise, mundane fence. Even though it was very cold out, the way the light and shadows play off of the rail fence, reminds me of long drawn out summer evenings. The shadows creeping further up the yard give a hint of the relief that the sun setting brings from the pelting heat of summer. Although, it was far from warm out this day!

Out in Glenora, there is an old mill. We cant quite figure out if its abandoned or not. The saws dont look rusty and there is some fresh wood at one end. Regardless, it shows a lot of weathering and hints of a busier, more productive time for this mill. It reminded me of the mill that Pa worked at on the show, The Walton's.

I imagine that Johnboy would have helped his father out at the mill sitting behind the steering wheel of a truck like this one. You can be sure that any person needing a lift along the old dirt roads would have been welcomed next to the driver.

Amazing how much history can be stored in a chunk of old rusted metal. It almost looks sad as it sits there almost completely forgotten.

2008-01-23T21:02:00.000-08:00

A Great little store!

2008-01-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

A walk along Osbourne Bay

2008-01-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

glass pendants

2008-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

2008-01-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

2008-01-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

2008-01-08T14:29:00.000-08:00