Mushy

Why?...WHY?

2011-01-23T19:13:00.003-07:00

Can someone PLEASE explain to me why I often do this, PLEASE! This weekend I went to Edmonton for a friend's birthday and to get some fabric and sewing supplies. I was looking at the wall of sewing tools at the fabric store, saw a tailor's awl and thought to myself, "Hey I don't have a tailor's awl and I really need it!" Bought it, came home and, lo and behold, I already had a tailor's awl in my sewing tool box. Yee-haw! Ugh!

And guess what?! What I really needed was a new pencil sharpener and AA batteries for my computer mouse which of course I completely forgot.

In the meantime please excuse the really blurry photo above and the extreme boringness of my blog. I'm still in the middle of ~~sewing a madness~~ a sewing madness.

Sew need a break

2011-01-12T14:09:00.009-07:00

The last couple of days I've been taking a break from this

and this.

To do this

and this

looking at this

and making some of these.
Egg tarts, 蛋撻 (dan tat) . YUM!

Don't you hate when this happens. The little Lego heads gets stuck in the little helmets, and you know what works really well to get that head out. Just drop them on a hard surface...FYI.

I am Iron Man

2011-01-04T15:15:00.007-07:00

Lately everyday is Halloween at my house thanks to my parents. You should have seen their faces when they opened up these Christmas presents. I'm beginning to think that my boys were born wanting to be superheros.

Cracks me up every time they parade around the house with this huge Iron Man mask compared to their tiny bodies. They look like bobble heads.

Holidays were officially over on Monday with Darcy going back to teach. So back to routine and back to lots of sewing. If I don't update my blog for a while it's because of the big pile of fabric on my sewing table below.

I can't believe I'm posting a photo of my craft/work room on the www. It's such a mess. I thought about tidying it up and making it look magazine like before I took this photo but I thought the Where's Waldo like feeling of it was so much better. *cough..cough*

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T17:02:00.003-07:00

A new year, a new beginning.
Wishing everyone a happy new year full of laughter, joy, hope, and dreams.

("2011"- watercolor)

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

2010-12-19T21:21:00.003-07:00

..too many emails to reply. Which is very flattering because it means people are reading this crazy blog of mine. Go figure. I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk. I will get to you soon?!!

Check out the crazy amount of snow we've been getting here.

We actually had a snow day because the school buses weren't running except teachers still had to go to school. Thankfully Darcy made it out of the driveway.

This is what I've been up to lately. Working hard in the kitchen.

Melting chocolate,

baking, tasting. O.k., the tasting part wasn't really that hard.

I'm a huge biscotti fan. And I find this almond biscotti recipe from Joy of Baking to be one of the best. I already ate all the ones I didn't package. Did you know that Biscotti is the plural of Biscotto? Ha! Now you do.

This the season...

2010-12-08T20:14:00.002-07:00

...to make snowflakes...

snip snip snip snip snip.. snip snip.. snip.. snip.

It snowed so much today. Thought I would bring a little bit of the snow indoors too.

Nov...Dec

2010-12-05T20:18:00.003-07:00

It's December?! When did this happen. Every year when December comes by I feel like I'm that guy in those movies where he's sitting in that office cubicle and the boss comes by and throws down a stack full of urgent to do files. The boss being December and the urgent to do files such as sending out cards, gift shopping, gift making, etc, etc, and on top of that projects for others. I don't know why I don't learn my lesson and do many of those things pre-December.

Procrastination...I don't like you very much.

At least I managed to work on this this weekend,

a nativity scene for Lucius' preschool.

and got a chance to take some photos of the boys having some outdoor winter fun on the snowmobile and sled.

O.k... back to finishing up the nativity scene...bad blog bad.

The reusable t-shirt bag tutorial

2010-11-25T16:25:00.003-07:00

I've been wanting to post this tutorial for a while now. I made these instructions for my reusable t-shirt bag eco-craft class a while back and I really wanted to share them on my blog. I thought this would be the perfect time with the holidays coming up. Instead of wrapping your gifts with wrapping paper, get a bunch of old t-shirts, have a sewing party, and use these bags instead. The gift recipient and the trees would be oh so very happy.

Go here for the Reusable T-Shirt Bag Tutorial.

Go here for the T-Shirt Sleeve Pouch Tutorial.

Enjoy!!

Frozen

2010-11-24T16:32:00.003-07:00

You know it's winter when...

it's -28°c,

There's snow on the ground,

The lake is frozen,

dry, itchy, eczema hands,

a tornado went through your entrance way.

Thankfully it's warming up by the end of the week. Warming up in Albertan winter lingo means around -15°c. Still cold, but not cold enough that your lungs feels bitter when you breathe the air.

So am I typing this on a new computer? No. Is my old computer dead? No. Surprisingly something magical happened. My computer stopped shutting down on me. Not sure if it was a virus, if it fixed itself. I don't know. It's quite a mystery.

Blank screens

2010-11-08T09:00:00.003-07:00

My computer is kaput. On it's last leg. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not going to shut down on me as I write this. Been trying to save everything on it before I do lose everything. So it's time to search for a new computer. A sign to take a break from the internet. Read lots of good books and enjoy real human company. Answer your emails when I get back and enjoy this in the meantime.

Printable Halloween origami box

2010-10-14T21:53:00.012-06:00

It's been a while hasn't it? So just in time for Halloween, printable spider origami boxes for treats or tricks. If you know how to fill tricks in there, let me know! There is some crazy origami folding involved, but you'll get the hang of it after one or two attempts. If you can fold, you can do this.

Use letter size (8½"x11") white or colored paper. Construction paper or light card stock works well too. Just something not too stiff because you need to do a lot of folding.

Print the box top sheet from here and the box bottom sheet from here. *You don't really need to print the bottom sheet really. Just cut two rectangles 6½"x 5¼"(16.5cm x 13.3cm).

Cut along the lines to get the two rectangle sheets for the top of the box

and cut the bottom box rectangle sheets either from the print out or without(see * above).

With one of the top box rectangle sheet, have it face towards you upside down as shown in the photo.

Flip the sheet over and make sure the print is still upside down.

Fold the sheet in half

and in half again.

Unfold and you get three vertical lines as shown in the above photo.

This is a little tricky. Fold the right bottom corner towards the third vertical line with it's corner ending with the middle vertical line. Hmmff....look at the photo...

like so.

Fold the top edge down horizontally to meet up with the bottom right corner.

Fold the top again horizontally along where the top edge and the corner meet.

You should have something that looks like this.

Unfold everything. "Say what?" I know... just do it.

Now fold a line from the bottom of the third vertical line to the top folded line corner.

Like so. Then unfold.

Now do the same with the middle vertical line bottom to the corner where the third vertical line and top line meets.

Like so. Unfold

Again same thing, first vertical line bottom to the corner where the middle vertical line and top line meets.

Like so. Unfold.

And fold along the bottom left corner to the corner where the first vertical line and top line meets.

Like so. And yes, unfold

So your sheet should have these folded creased lines which we will use for our final folds.

Fold the top down once.

Fold the bottom right corner fold.

Fold the third vertical line up as you are folding the next diagonal line in.

To look like this.

Repeat with folds of the next vertical line and diagonal line.

To look like this.

And finally fold the last vertical and diagonal lines..

so it looks like this.
Repeat all the same origami folding steps with the other top rectangle sheet.

When you have both sheets folded, you are ready to assemble the top of the box.

Slide the two pieces together like so.

It should look like this.

At the top, slide the right edge under the left.

Shove it in.

In the bottom the left edge should slide under the right.

After a few shoving and adjustment here and there it should look like this.

Turn it over and you have the top of the box.

Repeat all the exact same steps, folding, and combining with the two bottom rectangular sheets.

Cut out that little printed spider.

Glue it on top of the box. I used these styrofoam 3D dots to make it stand out.
I think those plastic spiders would be fun too.

Add some googly eyes or other ghouly decorations.

Place the top over the bottom.
Don't forget to fill it with your favorite Halloween treats.

and Voila, enjoy!!

*All printables are for personal, non-commercial use only.*

Crochet pixie hat

2010-10-12T17:16:00.002-06:00

Cute, white, fluffy pixie hat I worked on today for a newborn, or a smurf, or maybe a blue painted newborn. Ha!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all Canadians out there. Hope everyone is stuffed with yummy turkey and had a wonderful, long, holiday weekend. Time to bring out the Halloween decorations.

Kitten cuteness ²

2010-10-06T23:33:00.003-06:00

So we gave in and got some new kittens last week. Seriously, look how cute they are. We just couldn't resist. After Einstein disappeared before summer, the boys been wanting another cat for a while.

Meet Tif and Tondu. Named them after these guys. (Darcy's a huge Franco-Belgian comic fan.) So now it's 5 male and 1 female(me) in the family. How did that happen?

They are almost identical except that Tif has one white patch above his mouth and Tondu has two. Phew!

Gosh, they are so cute! Make me want to squish them.

Oh wait, there's Lucius doing that for me. Everyone wants to squish them. Those poor cats.

And this is what the boys been doing a lot outside lately with our gorgeous fall weather. They look pretty squishable too.

Crochet striped earflap hat

2010-10-05T20:03:00.004-06:00

Another hat I've been working on. Using a combination of cotton and wool.

Also we got a couple of kittens and they are so darn cute. Pictures of uber cuteness coming soon!

Fall tree

2010-09-28T10:36:00.003-06:00

On the weekend when we went out to enjoy the fall, we tried to catch the golden leaves falling off the trees. It is so much fun and such a free feeling. It makes you feel like a kid again and it is easier said then done. I recommend everyone who are experiencing fall right now to go out and do it. Even if your neighbors think you are crazy for doing it. It will put a smile on your face.
After, I was inspired and had this simple design in my mind.

Bringing you some fall colors

2010-09-26T15:02:00.005-06:00

It's definitely fall outside. All the leaves are turning colors, the brisk morning temperature, and colds. I sure got hit hard with a cold last week. The kind where your lungs feel like they are going to fall out with all the coughing. Feeling better now and I've been experimenting with more baby hats. Here's a peek of one.

If anyone has been following Mr. Potter, you must have realized by now that he's not growing any hair. SAD. I know. I'm not sure why. I think I got a defective earth buddy. Oh well, still fun dressing him up and posing him with food. Hahaha.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is enjoying the beautiful outdoors. If not, enjoy these fall photos while listening to them.

Preschool

2010-09-13T20:57:00.008-06:00

Today was Lucius' first day of preschool. I was nervous, a little sad, and all the above. It's only half a day, but the idea of not having him around all the time and me taking care of him is strange, very strange.

Here he is waving back at me because I'm frantically waving bye as I'm trying to take this photo. I'm like "don't forget me. You can stay home you know." And he's like "mom geesh, get a grip. You'll see me at 11:45."

There he goes off with Darcy to be dropped off at preschool. Super excited and not looking back at all. Bye my first born.

Bye, I love you

Bye bye...until 11:45.

It's done, it's done!!

2010-09-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

The Plamondon Quilt is done! It's ready to be sent off to Edmonton to Centre d'arts visuels de l'Alberta. I can let out a big sigh and relax now. Thank you to all those talented and wonderful ladies that put numerous hours on it. I learned SOOO much.

Psst...I did the music and art block...first column, third row.

Handmade by others

2010-09-06T16:57:00.002-06:00

Thought I would share some items I recently acquired that are handmade. Sorry for the dark photos. It's raining outside today with a temperature of around 10°c. Feeling a bit nippy. I got my socks on and a cup of nice hot chocolate sounds pretty good right now.

Made by Jeanie Andronyk. I love her unique designs and if you ever get to meet her, she gives free hugs.

Darcy made this for my birthday back in June. I love it so much! I'm trying to convince him to make me an entire set.

The shoulder bag I got from Barefoot Handweaving in Crawford Bay, B.C. It's lined inside with a couple of side pockets. They had so many colors and designs. Took me so long to decide on this one.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend. It's long weekend here for us and we're enjoying every minute of it.

Knitted Fingerless Mitts

2010-09-01T11:26:00.005-06:00

A few days ago I decided to pick up a pair of knitting needles and learn how to knit because I had too many things running through my head. I tend to want to learn new things when I'm stress, anxious, scatterbrained. I guess it makes me focus on something positive and productive rather then negative and pointless.

I bought this book for a while now, "Hip Knits" by Catherine Tough. I bought it because I really want those leg warmers (so Hip!) and the book really speaks to beginners, teaching how to hold the needles, casting on, finishing. I guess I'm not really a true beginner. I have tried knitting when I was about 12 years old where I took my mom's needles and knitted a square and ended up with a few unwanted holes in it as I held the needles very awkwardly because they were the size of my body. Obviously it was quite traumatizing since it took me this long to try to knit again.

Fingerless mitts, the first project in the book. Almost like knitting a square but with a gap. Using my mom's needles again, no holes this time, and less awkward needle holding. Knitting: 1, traumatize: 0

Like crocheting, it's very addictive and very meditating.

When I have time,
Those leg warmers will be mine!

Mr. Potter

2010-08-30T23:37:00.002-06:00

On our summer camping trip when we went to BC, we stayed in Pentiction for a couple days. They have this fantastic toy store there where I picked up this thing called Earth Buddy. I had to get it because it looks just like Mushy. Don't you think? Such striking resemblance.

It's basically like a Chia pet where you just add water and watch it grow alfalfa type hair out of it's head. "Ch-ch-ch-chia." So today I finally took it out of the package, give it a name, and watered his head.

Thought it would be pretty hilarious to document Mr. Potter's day by day hair growth on Flickr. Go visit him!

Our June, but blogging about it in August, summer camping trip part deux

2010-08-27T20:51:00.013-06:00

...Part two... (For part one go here.)

We camped at various BC's provincial campsites along the way. They were clean, the park ranger were always super friendly, and most of them had walking trails with gorgeous scenery.

A huge pine cone I've found along one of the trails. We don't get them this size in Alberta.

Kettle River Museum. This was one of the highlights of our trip, it wasn't even planned and we had no clue about this place beforehand. We were driving through this little town called Midway and saw this cute little red building with the huge word MUSEUM on it. So we decided to stop, check it out, and stretch our legs. We walked in the main building and it was filled with vintage items everywhere! I think I did a little happy dance. Glad the lady at the front didn't see. Paid the $2 adult admission, kids free. Can this get any better?! It did, the boys were able to climb on various things like the old fire truck, old caboose, and touch many many things in the railway station. Very interactive. If you ever drive through Midway, go check out this museum.

vintage dress form. EEEEK!

I spent such a long time looking at every single box and can.

The boys loved this old caboose

Inside the caboose.

Whenever I complain about laundry, I'll just look at this photo. Bahaha!

A vintage poster for the Canadian Pacific Railway

I'm not quite sure what that is, calculator?. The boys sure loved being able to touch every single button.

Kokanee Creek Provincial Park.

Hiking on the Canyon trail at Kokanee Provincial Park.

A very gorgeous and very fast river along the trail.

Going deeper into the woods.

breathtaking

The Longest Free Ferry Ride in the world, a 40-minute scenic crossing of Kootenay Lake.

After the ferry ride, you drive a little bit to reach Crawford bay. Here you find several Artisans. I wish I had the chance to check out all of them, but because it was late and we needed to set up camp at the next provincial park, I only managed to step foot into Barefoot Handweaving. The bright colors instantly draw you in. I wanted to buy every single item in there, but controlled myself and bought this beautiful shoulder bag which I'll show in a later post. If you can't go to their shop to purchase their beautiful products, you can order them on their website.

Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, Cranbrook. This is an amazing, extremely huge train museum where you can take tours on three of their vintage restored trains. A must for train enthusiasts. Just don't bring two toddler boys.....ugh....if only we knew the trains were completely restored and you can't touch anything....ugh....especially after the very interactive museum in Midway where they were allowed to climb the caboose....ugh!! Thankfully we only paid to go on one of the three trains (Trans Canada Limitied, built in 1929) and came out with nothing broken, only a few white hairs.

Here they were showing the restoration process of the wooden panels. Year and years of work.

The details...beautiful details!

Can you imagine riding such a luxurious train back in 1929?

Absolutely gorgeous.

I can't wait to plan for next summer's trip.

Our June, but blogging about it in August, summer camping trip part une

2010-08-26T21:05:00.016-06:00

I can not believe it's been two months since we went on our big camping trip. Darcy's school finishes an entire week earlier then most schools at the end of June. So we take advantage of that and avoid the summer holiday crowds on the road, camp sites, museums, and other touristy spots. So here are the photos as I promised, part one of two. A little late...two months...whoops! We first headed towards Jasper National Park, then went to British Columbia's Thompson Okanagan region and the Kootenay Rockies, and made our way back through Banff National Park. A more detailed map of the route we took and some of the places we checked out here.

Heading towards the mountains.

Maligne Canyon

Jasper Tramway

The view from the top

Athabasca Falls

Climbing all the rocks there, what little boys do best.

A gorgeous water fall along the road

Athabasca Glaciers

Bighorn Sheep

The Enchanted Forest. I thought it would be cheesy, but the boys really loved it. I did too. They got to explore, run, climb, touch everything. Very much needed after a long car ride.

The big, tall tree house they had there. I would like this for my backyard please. That's Darcy runny up the stairs. He was climbing, running, touching everything too. Those three have too much energy.

Davidson Orchards Country Village. Very cute place. We were hoping to go on one of their farm tours, but it wasn't operating on that day we went. Instead we went to their delicious cafe and checked out their store where I bought some apple syrup. YUM!

Their famous apple juice.

Hot dog and a cookie in a bucket. They know what a kid wants for lunch.

Cherry farms everywhere along the road between Penticton and Oliver. We just had to stop and buy a bag.

Walking among the rows and rows of cherry tree

NK'MIP Desert Cultural Centre in Osoyoos, the only desert in Canada and it was really REALLY hot.

A state-of-the-art interpretive centre. Absolutely gorgeous.

Outdoor exhibit where you walk along trails to learn about the climate, the habitat, old villages.

A view as we were leaving the Okanagan valley.

Blueberry fields forever

2010-08-25T16:52:00.006-06:00

Hi, I'm back...sort of, kind of, maybe. Was it ever hard to find time to blog during this summer amongst the craziness of visits, camping, projects, etc. Now that Darcy's going back to teach tomorrow and Lucius' starting preschool in a couple of weeks (I still can't believe that!), things hopefully will be back to normal and more regular blogging from now on.

Last week we went on our last camping trip for the year with my in-laws. Wild blueberries were everywhere and we picked buckets and buckets of them. It was my first time ever eating wild blueberries and I don't think I can ever go back eating blueberries from the store. These little blue fruits are the most delicious things ever.

Steam-a-seam..steam-a-seam...steam-a-seam

2010-07-22T21:28:00.004-06:00

Quick, say that over again and again, faster and faster.

O.k. Remember last post I mentioned this quilting project I'm helping to organize. Anyways, we had our first meeting today and I learned how to use this Steam-A-Seam Fusible Fabric and for some strange reason it was a tongue twister for me.

So back to this Quilting Project. I was asked to help organize this community quilting project funded by Centre d'arts visuels de l'Alberta. The quilt was to represent the town of Plamondon, all applique, and when finished was to go on tour in all the participating Francophone communities. I've never done a quilt before, but I was still so excited to be part of this project. I get to learn about quilting and meet all these wonderful ladies with years and years of experience. Not passing up this opportunity for sure!

Tracing the drawings onto Steam-A-Seams using carbon copy paper.

Cutting

Choosing colors

It was so much fun and these ladies made it so easy. Can't wait to see this quilt when it's all done.

Oh hey...and look what came in the mail.

2010-07-14T17:51:00.005-06:00

Dear blog,

Sorry for neglecting you.
This thing called summer is keeping me busy.

Love me

I've been back from my trip a while ago. We had so much fun and I didn't want to come back. Pictures are coming soon, just need to sort through the 700 and something of them that I took. After we came home, we headed back to Edmonton right away so Darcy could take this course for his CTS(career and technology studies) training. I got to spend time with family and friends and even got to see the new Art Gallery of Alberta. The building is absolutely gorgeous and the M.C. Escher exhibit is so inspiring. A must see!

So back home in Plamondon now with tons of things on our to do list. First thing is to finish our staircase then turning our side room, a.k.a my sewing/craft room, into a garage. (ACK! where am I going to put all my stuff!!) And replacing the old windows in there too. Putting rods and shelving in our bedroom closet. Fixing and finishing odds and ends throughout our house. Amongst all this I'm part of this community quilting project, which I'll talk more about in later posts, that needs to be finish by September. BAAAA!<--My stress release sound. Ha ha.

A couple days ago I received this package in the mail. From Art House Gallery, Brooklyn, NY??

I opened it and realized it's the sketchbook from The Sketchbook Project I'm participating in.

Yay! My name and my barcode on the back of the sketchbook.

My very own Brooklyn Art Library card and the list of instructions.

Thanks so much Ellen for letting me know about this Project. Anyone can participate and it's not too late. Deadline is Oct 31st, 2010. Your sketchbook will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the United States. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library. What a fantastic idea! Just wish they would tour in Canada.

Trois, deux, une

2010-06-17T16:39:00.005-06:00

Counting down the days to our summer camping trip. Darcy's last day of school is tomorrow then a couple of days to clean the house, pack and get ready to head off to BC's Thompson Okanagan region. Eeeek! So excited!! Summer is definitely here.

And my garden is definitely loving this nice weather.

Butterfly Wine Glass Place Cards

2010-06-05T22:53:00.006-06:00

I'm sure you were wondering when that Easter printable was going to be taken off the side there. Me too. Every time I go onto my blog it made me scrunch my face, but now no more face scrunching because there's a new printable!

This printable is just in time for summer. My version of those butterfly wine glass place cards you've seen at party stores, wedding blogs. Perfect for DIY weddings, warm evening garden parties, or because you love butterflies on your wine glasses.

Download them here. Print them on 8.5 x 11 sheets of regular paper or card stock. Make sure you set your printer setting to "Fit to Printable Area". Read all below first before starting because there are a few different variations.

With a paper cutter or a pair of scissors, cut the lines that are horizontal and vertical,

So you will end up with the four pieces of paper and the beginning of four butterflies.

Fold each piece of paper along the fold line as shown.

If you are using card stock. I recommend you to score the line lightly with an exact-o knife before you fold. It makes the fold cleaner and easier.

Cut the outline of the butterfly.

Snip out the center opening.

With an exact-o knife cut out the design.
If you want both wings to have the design, keep your butterfly folded.

If you only want one of the wings with the design, open up your butterfly first before cutting the design.

Fold the wings along where the arrows are pointing.

Again, if you are using card stock score lightly before folding.

~~~~~~~~~
If you don't like the whole cutting out the design with an exact-o knife business, because frankly it's a lot of work, then you can simply have the design as is.

Just make sure you fold the center the other way where the design is facing in.

Then fold the wings.
~~~~~~~~~

Place the center opening over the rim of a wine glass and...

Voila, enjoy!!

*All printables are for personal, non-commercial use only.*

The Birds

2010-05-30T22:09:00.004-06:00

Well, not quite like the movie where they attacked people, but there were a lot of them outside our house when we woke up Saturday morning.

1, 2, 3, 4....sorry lost count,
and they were all after these little guys

fishflies as they call them here or also as known as Mayflies.

Thank goodness that they only last maybe a couple of weeks!! Those that haven't encountered fishflies before are probably asking, what's so terrible about a small little winged insect?

Because they come in numbers like this! Do I hear a ew? Yup, EWWW!

To get in and out of your house you close your mouth, plug your nose, open the door and quickly make a run for it to your car. Hahaha!

Eat the fishflies little birds...eat them all!!

Lucius, using his utmost disgusted face, informed me that there was bird poop.

Yes, it's end of May and he's wearing his winter jacket. It was almost freezing temperature with the wind off the lake. Just glad we didn't get any of that snow that South of Alberta got.

Taking a breather and to say I'm still here. Been really busy sewing for Thrive!...Naturally, had a piano recital to prepare students for, Lucius with a dead tooth (poor guy), and many other things that's been on my mind lately. When is summer holidays going to be here? I can't wait.

Finding the key

2010-05-11T21:08:00.003-06:00

I had an opportunity to showcase one of my paintings at the local art show in town over the weekend. Most of the time my drawing or paintings are not planned out. An idea just pops into my head as I'm in the process. For this particular painting, I think subconsciously, I was inspired after watching Planet Earth's Forest episode where they take you to see the towering sequoias. I'm always so fascinated with huge, old trees. To me, they hold lots of mysteries, wonders, and enchantments. If only there was a way for us to unlock all it's secrets and stories of this earth.

("Tree" - acrylic)

Rainy days

2010-05-05T23:49:00.005-06:00

It's been a rainy, cloudy, cold, and windy week here. We need the rain so I can't complain. Entertaining boys inside the house all day can certainly be a challenge. Definitely a much messier house, but they are having fun, I am sane (really? did I just say that?), so it's all good! Thought it would be fun to document our activities these rainy days.

Baking is a MUST on rainy days. Boys love to help with throwing the ingredients together, mixing,

eating,

licking spatulas.

Of course lots of playing,

puzzles,

tattoos,

playing in the play tent (or what's left of it after playing in the tent),

doodling, writing, coloring

running, jumping, screaming, howling, (photos not shown due to blurriness and craziness!),

sneaking outside to get a closer look at the rain, and squishing the cat because you just need to.

Oh, of course Pyjamas all day, incase you haven't noticed.

That's our rainy days, and I love them.

The reusable t-shirt bag

2010-05-02T21:08:00.003-06:00

On Friday and Saturday I had my eco-craft sessions at Thrive!... Naturally where we turned our old t-shirts into reusable t-shirt bags

all hidden away in this little pouch which is made with a sleeve of the t-shirt. I know...pretty nifty!!

This craft was so super duper easy that some people made more then one in that one hour session. I always have so much fun doing these eco-craft sessions. Thanks to all those that came out on Saturday where all the proceeds went to the World Wildlife Fund.

R! R! R!

Peanut butter cups

2010-04-27T21:07:00.002-06:00

Today was one of those days where I needed that pick-me-upper, nerve soothing, quiet place something something. As my mind tries to recall those meditation CDs where they start off with "lie down, close your eyes, relax...", boys are bouncing every which way yelling at each other.

So the next best thing of course was to make myself peanut butter cups.

These are sooOOO delicious! Nom nom nom nom nom...

If you can't beat it,

2010-04-25T21:00:00.003-06:00

Play in it.

So we had our annual "spring was so hot skin burning +26°c, but in a few hours 0°c crazy snowfall" weekend. From blowing bubbles outside one day to wearing snow pants and gloves the next.
For kids it's the greatest thing in the world, and as an adult we have a lot to learn from our kids' everything is exciting attitude. This snow was the best building snow I've ever seen. It was so sticky and so pliable. A fort was definitely in order.

What have you been up to busy bee?

2010-04-22T20:41:00.003-06:00

Remember this cowl scarf I made a while back. Well, I had someone that wanted to order one. I made a few of these in different colors just to see how they would look. This wood color one is my favorite so far. I love the reddish tint to it.

I've also been busy creating a mini instructional booklet that goes along with each cowl wrap and here's a little sneak peak of it.

Why putting so much work and effort into this? Yes, I am planning to sell them online probably near fall and of course at Thrive. If more request maybe sooner, but it is spring and I doubt people would wear a thick wrap around scarf biking and gardening. You should! wink wink, nudge nudge. Haha!

Today is...

2010-04-22T09:04:00.003-06:00

Earth Day.

What can we do?

What will you do?

Pop!

2010-04-17T17:47:00.002-06:00

Lack of posts because I've been listening to them as I do this,

And lot of this going on,

and this,

I don't think spring came soon enough for those two.

Happy weekend everyone!

Achoo!

2010-04-12T15:08:00.003-06:00

Spring break was much needed. We were up in the city for the first half visiting family and friends, lots of shopping for new shoes, clothes, beds for the boys, renovation stuff. I managed to go to the fabric store and treated myself to a few fabrics.

I saw this and I just had to get it. So detailed and pretty. I have no clue what I'm going to with it yet. I'm such a fabric hoarder!

So we came back last Tuesday and since then we've been all really sick. Lots of coughing, runny noses, sore throats, headaches , fevers. Lucius got the worst of it all. He got this red rash all over his face and body. Poor guy. We are all slowly getting better thank goodness, but I would like a refund on the second half of my spring break please.

Yesterday I was cleaning out my sewing/craft room and finally got a chance to put some threads into this box my mother-in-law found in the dump last summer. It's actually a box for ~~fishing stuff~~ embroidery floss and when she asks if I wanted it, I immediately said yes even though it's missing a couple trays.

Cleaned it inside out and it's the perfect thing to hold all my spools of thread and other sewing tools. I can't wait to paint over the anchor part to personalize it. One person's trash is definitely another person's treasure. Thumbs up to reusing!

edit: (thanks to a reader that notified me that this box is actually for Anchor embroidery floss not for fishing supplies. Silly me!)

Spring break

2010-03-31T14:37:00.003-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like spring around here! Snow is almost all gone. It was raining last night (I just love hearing the sound of rain fall on our roof as I fall asleep). Above 0°c temperatures. You can see a little bit of green appearing among the brown, dry grass. Cheer!! It just feels so damn good that we can go out the door without having to dress as if we were going to explore the Artic. And this make me happy as well,

I bought a small window sill herb kit consisting of basil and cilantro and they are growing, and growing! Every time I'm in the kitchen I can smell them. Such wonderful smells. I can't wait to plant my garden outside now.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Edmonton for Easter and spring break. Hurray! Family, friends, shopping, and restaurant. Always such a treat.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter and a fun filled spring break!!

Scrapbook, birthday, family.

2010-03-28T16:33:00.002-06:00

I could definitely use more weekends like the one I just had.

Thursday, my brother came to visit for the weekend. The boys of course were super excited and happy to have their uncle around.

Friday, Darcy had the day off meaning more help around the house and a yummy homemade pizza dinner made by him! Not having to cook dinner is always such a treat.

Friday evening, I attended this fantastic scrapbooking class taught by Rebecca. She has all these wonderful scrapbooking layouts and ideas. I learned to use different tools and techniques I've never seen or done before. It was so much fun. Also, I won the door prize which definitely made my day. A big basket full of scrapbooking stuff! Woot woot!!

Saturday, Lucius' birthday. He is officially 4 years old. Wow, where does the time go.

Saturday morning, my parents came for Lucius' birthday and to stay for the weekend. Presents galore of course and not just for the birthday boy. For both, Lucius and Aymeric. Are they ever spoiled by their grandparents.

So it's now Sunday afternoon, my parents and my brother left, cake and turkey half gone, a bit of cleaning, boys playing with their gifts. It was sure a busy and wonderful weekend.

Happy 4 cake face boy!

Eco-craft and yoga night.

2010-03-24T12:59:00.002-06:00

I am super excited about this!

Join me for some eco-crafting at the

Eco-craft and yoga night
May 1, 2010 at Thrive!...Naturally.
- Yoga Session
- Eco-Craft
- Movie Showing 'FOOD, INC.'

$25 includes all earth-friendly craft instruction & supplies, yoga, snacks & movie admission.

Movie only? $5 admission at the door. All proceeds will go towards the World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF).

For more info or to sign up, contact Serena Arora.

Triangular Easter Envelopes

2010-03-10T11:21:00.004-07:00

Oooo, yay, another printable! A funky triangular shaped envelope for whatever Easter surprises you would like to fill them with. There are two different designs. The first one I call him Mr. Blunny, blue + bunny, and the second is Mr. Cracky. Yes, I just thought of the names right now and yes, they are quite lame.

Download the printable here.

I printed them on regular white 8.5 x 11 paper. Make sure you set your printer to fit to printable area. Cut the two envelopes out along the outer lines.

Fold and unfold all the 3 tabs shown with the arrows. Make sure you fold them towards the wrong side of the envelope.

Find the two small lines that are labeled "Fold Line" or as shown with the arrows. Fold down that line to fold the envelope in half.

Place glue on the side and bottom tabs as shown. Press and hold the tabs down and let dry.

Give the edges a squish to pop it open. Place some glue on the last tab.

Fill it with an awesome Easter surprise. Press and hold the final tab to glue the envelope shut.

Voila! Enjoy!

*All printables are for personal, non-commercial use only.*

Feeling the groove

2010-03-02T15:18:00.005-07:00

Getting back into the groove of things. Trying to anyways.

Last week a few of us had the nasty stomach flu. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as last years and didn't last as long.

The winter Olympics are finally over. Did you catch the suspense filled gold medal hockey game? I was literally on the edge of my seat. What a game!

It is absolutely gorgeous outside. 5c today with a bright sun. Thing are melting and we finally see grass again. Hurray!

Thought I would take some random pictures today. These caught my eyes.

melting snow

red grapes

toy trucks

our crazy cat Einstein

Thai wooden carving

Crochet cowl scarf

2010-02-19T11:10:00.002-07:00

Hi ya! Enjoying the winter Olympics? We are practically glued to our computer. We don't have cable or satellite for our TV so we are viewing the live online streaming Canadian coverage thanks to CTV. So lets just say not much is happening in the crafting and art department this week, but I still managed to create this cowl scarf that I've had in my head for a long time while watching the Olympics.

Sorry for the dark photos, been having bad luck with natural lighting and it's not easy taking photos with two kids running around playing with your tri-pod and trying to see if they can get into the shot too. My pre-cropped photos always consist of blurry little hands and chubby faces. Isn't it funny how when you want to take pictures of them they always runaway? Crazy kids!

Red

2010-02-14T17:00:00.002-07:00

Happy Chinese New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy!
and also Happy Valentine's day as well.

Been taking a little break from the internet and blogging to finish some sewing jobs. Now to enjoy this wonderful family day long weekend with friends and family outdoors in the wonderful sun and snow and indoors watching some olympics. Go Canada Go!

Divalicious

2010-01-31T19:12:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was my eco-craft sessions at Diva Day at Thrive! Naturally where I taught wonderful ladies how to turn old, used t-shirt into Nuno-Zori (Japanese cloth sandals).

T-shirts all cut up into strips.

Weaving the strips of t-shirts.

Braiding the straps

I had such a great time getting to know all the ladies and was so excited to see them be able to make something to take home. If you are interested in making yourself a pair there's a great tutorial here.

Hope

2010-01-27T09:09:00.003-07:00

You too can help.

go here, and here

Fuzzy browny goodness crochet earflap hat pattern

2010-01-21T11:52:00.005-07:00

Finally got around to making this earflap hat pattern. "Yeeesh, Long enough!", I know, I know. It my first ever crochet pattern written down instead of it being in my head some place. Writing a pattern is easier said then done. Even though this is a very simple pattern, I still had doubts on whether it had the right number of rounds, double crochets, etc, etc. So here it is and please let me know if there are errors or if it's difficult to understand.

Materials
1 Red Heart Light & Lofty, Brown Stripe, Color: 9991. Light and Lofty yarn gives it that fuzzy look, but any other super bulky weight 6 yarn should still work.

10.00mm (US 15) crochet hook

Finish size
6-12 months (16"-19" head circumference)

Pattern
Hat
Rnd 1: ch 2, 6 sc in second chain from hook, join beginning sc with a sl st.

Rnd 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each sc, join with sl st. (12 dc)

Rnd 3: ch 2, * 1 dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc*, repeat * around, join with sl st. (18 dc)

Rnd 4: ch 2, *1 dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in next dc*, repeat * around, join with sl st. (24 dc)

Rnd 5: ch 2, *1 dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc*, repeat * around, join with sl st. (30 dc)

Rnds 6-8: ch 2, 1 dc in each dc around, join with sl st. (30 dc)

Earflaps
Row 1: ch 2, 1 dc in next 6 dc (6 dc), turn,

Row 2: ch 2, 2 dc tog, 1 dc, 2 dc tog. (3 dc), finish off

Skip 10 dc and rejoin yarn to work on second earflap.

Finishing
Sc around the edge and finish off.

Perfect as is or you can add yarn braid and tassels to bottom of earflap. Go here for a tassel tutorial at Serendipity Crochet.

Hat shown here on my boys is without braid and tassels and made a size bigger for toddlers.

Enjoy!!

Say click, take a pic

2010-01-18T19:08:00.007-07:00

I was at my parent's place in Edmonton this weekend and found this wonderful thing hidden in one of the drawers of an old office desk in their basement. It belonged to my grandfather, 爺爺(ye ye). My dad brought it over from Hong Kong when we immigrated to Canada back in 1981. And it's just been hanging around the basement collecting dust until now.

It's a Voigtlander Vito CLR. It's says on it that it's made in West Germany and I believe around 1960. Vintage camera experts out there, please correct me on that.

I am wondering if this camera still works and quite anxious to get some film and test it out. Do they even develop film anymore at the local grocery and drug stores?

Merry xmas present for me

2010-01-13T16:56:00.002-07:00

Those that know me well knows that I'm a huge fan of Project Runway (7th season premieres tomorrow! Yay!!) Designing, creating, sewing, cattiness, what's not to love? I make Darcy watch it with me, he likes it too and don't tell him I told you that, and every time I watch it I would say "oh I wish I had one of those dress forms so I can learn how to drape garments like those designers." So for Christmas this year he got me one and it came in the mail yesterday.

Yippee!

Oh, just a little sip.

2010-01-10T19:44:00.004-07:00

How was your weekend? We finally had bearable winter temperatures, -8°c to -4°c, which called for outdoor fun in the snow. Much needed for the restless boys. Along with some hot chocolate and homemade chocolate chip cookies, it was the perfect little weekend.

I've been looking at a lot of movie trailers lately and one of the movies I am quite anxious to see this year is Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burtons. I've always been a fan of Tim Burtons cinematography and his surreal worlds he creates in his movies. And Hello?!, Johnny Depp, yes please! Haha! So of course I needed to create my version of Alice. "Some biscuit with your tea Alice?"

("Drink me Alice" - watercolor, ink)

The curious case of Jeanie's buttons

2010-01-06T20:42:00.005-07:00

Holidays are done and back into the routine of things. Been busy organizing, cleaning, creating, and deciding on which direction I like to take that creativity to. The thought of an Etsy store is going through my head a lot lately. Hmmm??

In the meantime though, you should go check out the multi-talented Jeanie's new Etsy store. Not only does she make cards, stamps, natural deodorant and lipbalms, she also makes one of a kind jewelry.

These button rings of hers are just absolutely original and gorgeous!
Good luck girl with your new store! I hearted it!

(Cute as a Button Ring // Josephine - Jeanie Andronyk)

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T21:13:00.003-07:00

Wishing this new year will bring you an abundance of
laughter, happiness, and love!

XOXO

Country roads, take me home.

2009-12-29T20:16:00.003-07:00

Home after a fantastic week long full of family, friends, good food, shopping, gifts, and good food. My stomach is so full and content with my dad's cooking, I am all sweeted out with sweets, and I am definitely all shopped out (Yes, I was one of those crazy people out there on boxing day). Speaking of shopping, I had no idea that they opened an Anthropologie at West Edmonton Mall. I was so overly happy and excited when I saw the store that I called Darcy on my cell phone. It's very rare where I find a store that I love everything in it. Especially clothes. Now I just got to save up because I am totally in love with this.

(Through-The-Lens Coat ~ Anthropologie)

Ho, ho, ho-lidays!

2009-12-20T11:40:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I had a baking palooza and the house smelled so wonderfully good.
Today, packaging up those baked goodies, cleaning the house, a cookie swap party, and tomorrow we will head off to Edmonton for the holidays!

So let the holidays begin!

That'll do, pig. That'll do

2009-12-17T21:17:00.002-07:00

The handmade bolero sweater for my mom this year.

You probably noticed that it's not the same color yarn as shown previously here. That's because I got really frustrated with that pattern and time was ticking down too fast to Christmas. So I decided to put it aside, take a deep breath, not freak out, and go to plan B.

I found this really simple crochet bolero pattern at the Lion Brand Yarn site. So simple I made it in two days. It's cute and perfect for my hip mom. After the holidays I will go back to working on that original sweater I had planned to make. I will not be defeated! (pointing fist at pattern)

On another note. Thanks for all the love I've been getting for my Christmas gift tags from last year. Wonderful comments from wonderful peeps!

Love those Masons.

2009-12-15T21:03:00.002-07:00

One of the best thing about living out here in the country is you get gifts like these. Canned pasta sauce, apple juice, peaches, pickles. Yum!

There's something special about mason jars and did you know some of them, according to wiki, can fetch up to $30,000? Better start saving those jars!

Frozen

2009-12-13T15:32:00.003-07:00

For those that are wondering what -40°c with a wind chill feels like...

It's damn COLD!!

This weekend all we did was stay indoors, drink warm liquids, listen to Yann Tiersen (he composed La Valse D'Amelie, from Amelie), watch DVDs, bake bread, and played. It was a fantastic weekend!

The boys thought this was the greatest thing.

Frozen condensation on their bedroom window.

The little joys of winter! and maybe we should look into getting better windows?!!

Also, I'm so excited to announce that I'll be doing another crafty craft session at the Thrive! Naturally Diva Day in this coming January. Come join us!!

Printable Hot Cocoa Envelopes

2009-12-10T14:34:00.005-07:00

So FINALLY a printable. Yes, it's been a while. I really wanted to post this printable before Christmas. I think it would be perfect for gift baskets or with some nice mug sets. Fill the envelopes with your favorite Cocoa Mix. I used this Classic Cocoa Recipe last year and it's Oh so very delicious!

Download the hot cocoa envelopes here, or here.

Cut brown packaging paper into 8.5 x 11 sheets to fit into your printer. Set your printer to "fit to printable area" and print.

Cut along the outer lines of each envelopes

Fold and unfold these lines marked by the arrows in this photo.

Place glue on the two side tabs. Make sure you use non-toxic glue.

Fold the top part down towards the gluey tabs. Press firmly to secure.

On the back write your little message.

Place glue on the top glue part.

Fill the envelopes with cocoa mix enough to make one cup of hot cocoa.

Press the top flap down and press firmly to close and secure.
(Gosh, My skin is disgustingly dry in this photo! Winter and my skin don't mix)

And voila! Enjoy!!

*All printables are for personal, non-commercial use only.*

hdc2tog, hdc2tog, hdc2tog...

2009-12-02T14:12:00.003-07:00

Feels like I have been really neglecting my blog lately. Just been so darn busy trying too make to many things before Christmas. Right now I'm in the middle of making my mom her Christmas gift. I had the hardest time understanding this pattern correctly which I started over again and again and again, until I realized my problem was not doing the hdc2tog correctly. Ugh! That damn hdc2tog, shame on you!!

Besides making gifts, I've been busy sewing some yoga bags for Thrive Naturally. I should change my description right now "Crocheter by day, sewer by night". Did you ever realize that sewer(one that does sewing) and sewer(the pipes were our poop and pee goes) are spelt the same? Hahaha!

It is super gorgeous outside with all the winter frost. Time to take a breather.

Yarn

2009-11-23T10:43:00.003-07:00

Did anyone say yarn? Oh yes, a little slice of yarn heaven here.

I splurged a bit and got these 100% bamboo yarn from a cute, little store called Ewe asked for it. The yarn collection in there is amazing. A little pricey, but great quality stuff. If only there was such a thing as a feel-o-monitor. You got to feel how incredibly soft this stuff is.

I didn't get a chance to hit the fabric store. Too many errands, too many visits. We did get to see the one and only Jeanie, the one that makes the awesome natural deodorants I mentioned a few months ago, well she's making natural lip balm too now. They're amazing! Go get some at the Royal Bison Bison Craft & Art Fair this weekend. She's going to be there with all her amazing stuff!

And the color of the day for today is Orange.

Tis the season for yummy mandarin and clementine oranges!

My friend fall

2009-11-19T22:47:00.004-07:00

Dear fall,

Thank you for being so kind to us here!

Luv, Me

We are enjoying every second of this nice weather!

Tomorrow we head off to Edmonton to visit family, friends, and to do a lot of shopping. I am so excited to replenish my fabric and yarn supply/addiction. It's been way too long!

To those that been asking for patterns for my crochet baby hats. Thanks so much for the interest. I will definitely try to post one up when I have some time. I have never written a pattern so it shall be quite interesting.

It's almost 1 am. Off to dream a little dream.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Crochet ear flap hat

2009-11-14T14:24:00.002-07:00

Last few days I've been working on some more crochet baby hats for photographers. I knew ear flap hats were a must. There are some pretty cute ones out there and I had to at least try to do my own version.

I am definitely making a bigger one for myself this winter!

Someone turned 2 today

2009-11-12T22:16:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday my little man!

The spell of the pumpkin

2009-11-07T17:14:00.003-07:00

I think fall is absolutely beautiful. The leaves all turn orangy-yellow-brown, the crisp cool air, harvest of farming fields and gardens.

I was talking to my friend Michele last week about how the smell of pumpkins brings me back my childhood memories of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all those wonderful things that fall into fall. For me, you can't have fall without pumpkins or maybe it's you can't have pumpkin without fall. Whatever it is, thank goodness for pumpkin pies!! Ha ha!

("The Pumpkin Spell" - watercolor, ink, pencil)

Happy weekend!

Na, na, na, na,

2009-10-29T20:52:00.002-06:00

na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,

Batman!

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,

Batman!

Batman,

Batman,

Batman!

I guess to be more accurate it's batboys. It was so hard to decide what to make for them for Halloween this year. For one, I had basically no fabric to work with and I live no where near a fabric store. Two, the boys hate anything covering their faces. So I found an old, black, long skirt I haven't worn in years and thought why not make them batman capes without the mask part. At first I thought what have I gotten myself in because I had no clue where to begin creating this crazy cape, but it turned out so well in the end. Better then I would have imagined.

The boys loved it, especially the shirts. And how did I do those shirts you might ask?! Simply found a batman logo online, printed it on iron-on transfer paper, and ironed the logo on t-shirts turned inside out. I have a feeling they will want to wear that shirt inside out from now on.

Fall, oh fall

2009-10-19T09:16:00.003-06:00

So last post was kind of icky poo poo. Since then all the snow has melted and we've been getting above 0°c temperatures. Finally a normal fall again. Yay!

On Saturday we went over to our friend's gorgeous place to celebrate her birthday along with Darcy's which is today. Happy birthday hubby!! With the nice temperatures we enjoyed an outdoor fire, a nice walk, and the kids had fun throwing around all the beautiful, golden leaves. This picture of Aymeric says it all. Haha!

Happy fall everyone!!

What happened to fall?

2009-10-08T16:31:00.002-06:00

I am soooo not ready for this white stuff.
Bitybah, humbug!

Oh me oh my, I'm a winner!

2009-10-06T14:21:00.002-06:00

So last month I entered my plastic bracelet for a plastic fantastic contest over at Living Creatively. And I won!!! Yay! Yay!! Yay!!!

A garden's tale

2009-10-01T12:14:00.004-06:00

An entire week and a bit of no internet. Phew, that was hard! Now back and checking the crazy amount of email and messages I have. Please be patient, I will get to you... someday.

So during this time of no world wide web, I decided to paint an image I had in my head for quite some time. A few weeks ago I was pulling out my garden. I had the most difficult time pulling out my sunflowers and suddenly I was inspired and came up with this crazy idea. I do wonder sometimes, what in the world is going on down there?

("The Sunflower" - ink, watercolor)

My summer find

2009-09-20T15:14:00.002-06:00

This summer I checked out so many garage sales. Hoping to find clothes, toys, and books for my boys, but I never in my wildest dream thought I would ever find one of these!

A vintage treadle sewing machine with it's original foldout wooden table. It's a JB series, so I believe it's dated somewhere between 1936-1948. It is not in the best condition. There are scratches and the leather treadle strap is broken which can be replaced. I'm just so happy to have found one, I've always wanted one, and only for $25! Weeee! And yes, the lady selling it must have thought I was a little crazy being so overly happy over an old sewing machine.

Look at it's details, wouldn't you be?!

Crochet mary jane slippers.

2009-09-18T17:14:00.003-06:00

Ever since I saw this amazing mary jane slipper pattern at ohmygoodknits!! I've always wanted to make myself a pair. Finally got around to it and here it is.

Love love love them!!

Routine

2009-09-11T21:38:00.003-06:00

So we are back into the routine of things...well sort of...Darcy started teaching, early nights, chilly mornings, mom and tots, and piano lesson. So where in the world have I've been and what have I been up to? I've been moving all my art and crafty stuff all in my mud room. I'm planning to turn it into my studio. I have a lot of stuff as you can see. A lot of stuff = a lot of sorting = a lot of time.

Also, it's hardcore potty training in this house. Lucius is three and a half and still not fully potty trained yet. I know when he's ready he'll be ready, but sometimes his no's doesn't sound too convincing. And there's Aymeric, who will be two already this November, busy busy as can be. I'm crossing my finger he'll continue to take naps until he goes to school. Haha!

So I do have a lot of ideas brewing in my head. Just to find time to make it happen is another thing. Thank goodness I can still manage to crochet as I watch the boys. Thank goodness!

And thank goodness for Darcy's homemade multigrain bread. With some butter and local honey, it is to die for!

I ♥ camping!

2009-08-21T13:40:00.004-06:00

We came back yesterday from our final camping trip for this summer. We went to Cold Lake Provincial Park and it was absolutely beautiful there. We decided to try to go for a 5k hike with our boys. You never know what to expect with a 3 and a 1 year old, but they absolutely loved every moment of it. It took us a long time to finish the 5k hike having to stop almost every minute to look at every single raspberry bush, pebble, squirrels, and juice and snack breaks. But we did it and it was so much fun.

Summer is definitely wrapping up. Next week we will be in Edmonton and the week after Darcy will be back in school teaching for the new school year. Which means it's time for me to get back into creating. I already have a few projects planned out and I can't wait to show them.

One busy summer

2009-08-08T21:36:00.003-06:00

Just taking a break from my busy summer to say hi and that I'm still here. It's been a summer full of visits from family and friends. Summer full of laughter and tears. Lots of outdoor wiener roasting, playing, pool splashing, and great conversations. Definitely a summer to remember. This coming Monday, Darcy will be driving his brother and his family to the airport. A sign that summer holidays are coming to an end pretty soon. We will dearly miss all of them, especially my little niece who is so cute and girly that loves pink, dresses, and tea parties. A pleasant change from a house full of boys. Haha!

The boys will definitely miss having their cousin around to run, chase, and getting into trouble with. Until next summer!!

Where did you go?

2009-07-07T23:34:00.004-06:00

So I've been asked by some of you where I went exactly for my camping trip. Good ol' Google Map is such a great tool to show the route we took all along the Canadian Rockies, a little into British Columbia, and the Southern part of Alberta, Canada. Aaah, I missed the mountains already!

View Camping trip 2009 in a larger map

Click on the placemarks to show links of some of the places we visited.

Summer fun

2009-07-06T10:49:00.007-06:00

Has it been two weeks since I last posted? This summer has been filled with so many fun events and visits that I'm losing track of time. It's definitely a good thing!

So we were back from our camping holiday last Wednesday and here are a few snippets of the many many photos I took. It was so hard to just choose a few to post. We had so much fun driving through the mountains, visiting a hot spring, throwing rocks in the rivers, seeing wild animals, zoo, dinosaurs. Looking forward to doing this again next summer.

Summer holidays

2009-06-21T21:23:00.001-06:00

Summer holidays have arrived hence the lack of posts. Darcy finished teaching last Friday and my brother-in-law, his wife, and her parents are visiting from Korea. Oh yeah, my little niece is here too and she is super uber cute. Tomorrow we are heading off to the Canadian Rockies to camp for a few days. Then off to Calgary Zoo and Drumheller. Lucius is in this Dinosaur phase so he is so excited. Me too!

Last Sunday was my first ever how to make a plastic snap button pouch session at the Diva Day at Thrive! Naturally. It turned out so well and I had such a great time. Even though some women were a little bit stressed out about the sewing part, everyone still went home with a wonderful finished product.

Off to pack and see you in a week or so with lots of pictures of our little adventure, but in the meantime check out this photo of one of my garden boxes.

Things are growing, growing, growing!!

Printable Popcorn Bag

2009-06-10T23:35:00.005-06:00

My boys love to pop and eat popcorn and I thought it would be fun to make popcorn bags for this printable.

Download the printable, in PDF format, here (Alternative download link). I used brown packaging paper and cut 8.5 x 11 sheets to fit into my printer. Below is a tutorial on how to assemble them:

Cut along the outer line. Fold the tab and center line. (I labeled the lines with an A to distinguish them from the others.) Glue the tab to the sheet.

Fold the two lines on the sides as shown above. Unfold..

Open the bag and re-fold the side so the center line is into the bag as shown above in the third pictured. Repeat for the other side.

Place glue on the bottom tab and fold it up to glue in place. You can leave it as is or you can cut the top of the bag with a pair of zig-zag pattern, craft scissor...and Voila!

The boys seem to think the bags were fun, but I think it was the popcorn they liked more.

Enjoy!!
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O.k. if any of you have problems trying to download the Printable Popcorn PDF file, please try this alternative link. Hope it works this time and doesn't ask for a password. Please let me know if it doesn't work or if there are any other problems. Thanks!

Fab time!

2009-06-09T18:49:00.003-06:00

I am back! Well I was actually back late, late Sunday night. Been trying to catch up on other things, relax, and spend time with my boys. I had such a great time at the Diva Delight. Sold some stuff and met lots of great people. I was so happy to see how much people loved the Plastic Projects. I shared a table with Serena and as you can see it looked pretty amazing with all our products.
Jeanie was there too selling some of her awesome natural, handmade deodorant. I totally recommend it if you can get your hands on some. Really good stuff!

This was so much fun. I'm definitely looking forward to doing some other shows in the future. Now to prepare for "a how to make a plastic pouch" session for the Diva Day at Thrive! Naturally happening this coming Sunday. I'll be showing a bunch of lovely women a step by step class to make a wristlet, snap button, plastic pouch. This will be my first class ever and I'm soooo excited!

And no I didn't forget about this month's printable. Just been sooo busy. Hopefully I can post it up tomorrow. So stay tune!! On that note, having a printable every month doesn't seem possible anymore. Sigh, I love to do them so much too. I guess it will be "Surprise! It's a Printable" instead. Haha!

Ready, set...

2009-06-05T12:56:00.003-06:00

So I'm pretty much all prepared for Diva Delight. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to Edmonton. I'm super excited since it's my first time having a table at an event. Just want to have a good time with friends, meeting people, and to showcase some of my crafts. If I sell a thing or two it would be a bonus!

Thanks to all the support and kind words and a big thanks to my patient and super understanding husband where his wife doesn't go to bed till 2 in the morning. Oh yes, and thank you coffee! Haha!

If you are in Edmonton please come say hi!

Have a fantastic weekend!!

Stenciled cushions and a peek at my garden.

2009-06-03T13:45:00.004-06:00

I know now that some material stencils better then others. Must make note of that. I love the whole learning process and I have so much to learn! Glad in the end it turned out how I visioned it to.

The weather's been absolutely gorgeous lately. Makes it hard to stay inside to finish up some more projects before the big day. I am so excited!

And here's a few seedlings saying peek-a-boo. Yay!

A quick hi and some Plastic Projects.

2009-06-01T14:43:00.002-06:00

Just a quick hi. Things been pretty crazy around here. It's end of the school year for Darcy, had a piano recital for my students yesterday(yup, I teach piano too. Only to a few), and putting things together for the Diva Delight this Sunday. The boys had one of those mornings where nap time didn't come soon enough. Thank goodness for nap and quiet time.

Also, thought I would share a few of the Plastic Projects I've made recently.

Stenciled coasters

2009-05-26T12:58:00.003-06:00

Handmade coasters with my original stencil designs.

I will be selling them at the Diva Delight coming up in just a couple of weeks! Ack! Off to craft and design more stuff.

Summer is here

2009-05-24T20:39:00.010-06:00

Finally, this weekend we had summer like temperatures. It was absolutely beautiful. Perfect for finishing our garden. Lucius, my little helper, loved planting the seeds in the soil.

Aymeric on the other hand is at the age where he would rather dig a big hole in the dirt. To keep him from getting in there we built the boys a sandbox with leftover wood from the garden boxes.

What did I ever do before the sandbox? They were occupied for hours!
And nothing says great weather and good times like running around barefoot outside!!

Stencil fun

2009-05-21T19:14:00.002-06:00

Today we had sun, rain, snow, sun. All in that order. Talk about some crazy weather.

So last night I finally got a chance to have a go at fabric stenciling. I tried it out on some scrap pieces of fabric and used some quick little designs I made.

It turned out better then I imagined. So many ideas and so many possibilities!

Also, Do you remember this lime green and white Elfin hat I crocheted a little while back? Check it out on a cute little baby at Memories for Life. Oh, and I also crocheted the pink hat too!

Designing, designing

2009-05-20T13:16:00.002-06:00

Been busy the last couple of days trying to come up with different designs.

I'm hoping to stencil these designs onto fabric. Quite anxious to see how they will turn out. Wish me luck!

Umm...what month is it again?

2009-05-19T12:33:00.002-06:00

On the weekend we managed to finish all the four garden boxes we wanted for our square foot garden. We recycled old pieces of wood for the sides and bought a couple sheets of gypsum board for the bottom of the boxes. The boxes measures 4'x4' and 10" deep.

The boys helped out too! The thought it was pretty exciting.

We poured the recommended mixture in them (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite), but we ran out for the third box. So we figure we would leave it for one more week before we would plant anything.

It's a good thing, because look what we got today...

Yup, SNOW! And lots of it. Very strange indeed! I think mother nature is having a little revenge with us.

Sew, cut, sew, garden

2009-05-16T14:47:00.002-06:00

It's May long weekend here. Everyone is out camping and enjoying the spring like weather. We on the other hand are trying to get our garden going. This year I'm going to to try this square foot gardening. It suppose to be very low maintenance. I sure like the sounds of that. There is rain in the forecast, so I hope we can get the garden in before then.

With Darcy home an extra day on Monday, it gives me much needed extra time during the day to work on my crafts. Long weekends are definitely a good thing!

Plastic bracelet

2009-05-13T17:07:00.002-06:00

I'm back!

It's always nice to visit Edmonton. It was nice to see my aunt and uncle, spend some time with family, and hang out with some friends.

Now back to creating and crafting in full force so I can be ready for the Diva Delight coming up in June. My laptop is still down (no printable, poo!), but my awesome friend Nash is fixing it for me. It's great to have tech friends!

Of course I couldn't have gone without doing some sort of craft when I was away. This is what I was working on.

A Plastic bracelet, crocheted using plastic bags with a scrap piece of fabric to funk it up.

A disappearing act

2009-04-28T12:47:00.004-06:00

I am disappearing from my blog for a couple of weeks. My computer is still down, so no printable for the beginning of the month of May. Poo! Hopefully I can get it up and running and have a printable when I get back.

These couple of weeks I really need to focus on finishing up some crochet projects for the photographer friends and start organizing myself for the upcoming Diva Delight in June. Also, next week I'll be in Edmonton seeing my aunt and uncle who are visiting from Hong Kong. I haven't seen them for 6 years! I'm really excited!!

So, leaving with some photos of some crazy weather we've been having. Snow in April! It is strange for even us Northern Albertan, Canadians.

See ya in a couple!!

1st Annual Diva Delight

2009-04-24T13:44:00.005-06:00

(Credit: From www.andnow.ca)

I am officially sharing a table at Diva Delight in Edmonton on June 7 selling my plastic projects and my other crafts. I'm excited, thrilled, nervous, and all the above! It will be my first time ever having a table for an event. I better get my butt into gear.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T17:15:00.003-06:00

Some great ideas to how to celebrate Earth Day on Wikihow.

Let's do it!

A package for me.

2009-04-21T12:28:00.006-06:00

Look what I recieved at the the post office yesterday! I've been waiting for this after I found out that I won the giveaway over at Bumblebird. The artist and designer, Heather Renz, makes the most adorable dolls ever.

I open the parcel to find a lovely sack and a card.

The sack holds my prize, "Ferocious Fox". So cute and super soft.

A card with a hand written note and a post card with one of her beautiful illustrations.

Aymeric loves it as much as I do!

Oh happy happy day!

Feeling a little bit...

2009-04-20T09:39:00.011-06:00

like this!!

The computer I was using for my illustrations, logos, printables, tags, etc, kind of died on me Saturday evening. Of course I didn't back up anything and might lose it all. Ack!

*Note to self: BACK UP YOUR FILES!!!*
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For a less frustrating post, yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny day. We went down to the lake to throw some rocks, climbed some trees, and look at the lake breaking up. It's happening!

Crochet baby elfin hat

2009-04-17T16:15:00.002-06:00

Another crochet baby hat pattern I've been working on. Lots of taking it apart and crocheting it back together for this one just to get the look I wanted. Definitely worth it.

I have a new favorite color now, lime green!

When you wish upon a star...

2009-04-16T16:20:00.003-06:00

Dreams really do come true!
("Lily and Shooting Star" - pencil sketch)

A little visitor

2009-04-14T21:01:00.004-06:00

We had a visit from a little furry friend today as we were about to eat dinner. A little squirrel was running back and forth from the bank of the lake to the house. It then decided to climb up to my kitchen window to take a little peak inside and luckily I managed to take a quick shot of it. The boys were ever so excited.

Another sign that spring is indeed here even though we woke up to a blanket of snow on the ground this morning which all melted by the afternoon. Oh, if you are wondering what that is right above the squirrel. It's our two floor cat house which we built two summers ago when we had lots of cats, but they all disappeared now. Maybe the little furry friend can stay in there instead. I've always wanted a pet squirrel.

Crochet baby tassle hat

2009-04-13T12:57:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

This weekend I've been busy trying to crochet some more baby hats for photographers. I've been searching everywhere for certain patterns, but for the styles I want there are not any online. Or if there are, that perticular person permits it being made to be sold and I honor that being an artist and crafter myself. I wouldn't want anyone to steal my stuff either.

So I took a big leap of faith and decided to come up with my first ever own crochet pattern. A crochet baby tassle hat. I think it turned out pretty well, don't you think?!

Now to make a few more in different colors and hope they turn up on top of some cute little babies' heads in some beautiful pictures.

Nighttime sweets: Fudge with flour recipe

2009-04-10T20:51:00.003-06:00

Lastnight, after we put the boys to bed, Darcy and I had a little sweet craving. I had exactly the right ingredients to make Fudge. I never use to really care for fudge until I had some of my mother-in-law's. She makes delicious fudge and this is the delicious recipe which is really easy.

Fudge with Flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup canned milk (regular milk works too)

Place all the ingredients above in a non-stick pan or pot. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil no more then 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Immediately add:
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour into a 9x9 greased pan. Let cool and then cut into squares.
Delicious with a nice, cup of warm herbal tea.