Green Graffiti

Tags

Anne Garforth, art, backyard, Home, landscaping, moss, moss graffiti, summer

This is so neat.  Another reason to get excited about summer!  I think the shady side of my garage would be a good spot to experiment. 

You Know it’s Spring When . . .

Tags

Bichon Frise, dogs, mud, muddy paws, paw prints, rain, rescue dog, spring, Ziggy

muddy paws? who, me?

Letterpress Obsessed

Tags

art, crafts, handmade, letterpress, paper, workshops

Having a slight obsession with crush on letterpress lately.  Don’t know why or where it came from.  Maybe from the endless hours of gazing at beautiful design blogs about paper and cardmaking and invitations (like this one or this one). 

Or perhaps it’s part of my larger curiosity about all things handmade and pre-Industrial Revolution life.  Whatever it is, I’m crushing hardcore.  The Emily Carr University of Art and Design offers a three-week introductory course that I’m dying to take.  I won’t be able to do it this summer but maybe next summer.  I just want a little taste of it, to see if I would actually like it.  I think I would.  Problem is, I can’t find a single letterpress studio in Saskatchewan.  I’m a gonna have to travel to one (which is okay, really, I like travelling). 

Anyone know of a good letterpress workshop to take?

Image credit: Boris Forconi

 

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Welcome Baby Bailey

Tags

baby, cute baby feet, love, niece

I have a new niece.  She’s pretty awesome.  I think we’ll keep her.

Perfect little Bailey feet. Gah! Too cute!

Breaking News: Chicken Saved from Soup Pot

Tags

eggs, Sussex

My Greta, a gorgeous Sussex, laid an egg on Friday.  This is cause for celebration.  She hasn’t laid an egg since we got her last June.  She laid two eggs the first week I had her, and then she got deathly ill.  I thought I was going to lose her, but she recovered and thrived . . . except she stopped laying eggs.  Well, no more!  I went to check the nesting box after getting back from a walk with the dogs, and lo and behold, there it was.  I think I actually screamed and then I started laughing.  A perfect, small, speckled brown egg.  Hurrah! 

Greta laid an egg!

Just in time, too.  I’m not kidding when I say she was headed for the soup pot.  We’re getting two more chickens this spring, and if she isn’t producing, then she’s just taking up room.  Although, I have to admit, chickens make great pets.  I love my girls.  They’re pretty awesome. 

Exploring the yard on a snowy day.

Paw Prints on my Family Tree

Tags

crafts, DIY, dogs, family, Home

Saw this beautiful and simple DIY family tree project at Chatelaine.com.  I’d like to make one for my family – me, the husband, and my two dogs.  Think I could get them to dip their paws in ink?

Five Reasons I Wish I Were 23 Again

Tags

acting, life lessons, theatre school, thirties, Toronto, twenties, youth

Most of the time, I’m quite glad to be done with my twenties.  Not that my thirties have been all that great – everyone (and by everyone, I mean Oprah) kept telling me that in my thirties, I would have some stuff figured out and have more self-confidence.  Ummm, yeah, not at all.  But overall, I’m enjoying my thirties more than the twenties. 

However.

There are days that I long to be 23 again.  Why 23?  Well, it’s one of my good ages.  I tend to get stuck at ages.  For many years, I thought I was still 17.  I got stuck at 23 for a long time.  At the moment, I still think I’m 31.  There are the obvious reasons I long to be 23 again – fewer wrinkles, better vision, more energy, less cellulite – but some not so obvious ones as well. 

1)  I was braver back then.  Maybe it was actually a combination of inexperience and ignorance, but I didn’t worry so much.  More action, less thought.  I took risks.  I didn’t care about others’ opinions.  Consequences?  What are those?  Nowadays, I over think and do less. 

2) I went after what I wanted. I knew what my dreams were, and I went after them.  I wanted to be an actor, so I packed up and moved to Toronto to go to theatre school.  Now, I’m like, ahhhh, but all my stuff is here, I can’t move, I’ve got a mortgage to pay, and blar blar blar. 

3) I had fun and went on adventures.  I explored Toronto to my heart’s content.  I could get lost walking that city for hours.  I went to new restaurants, and nightclubs, and museums, and festivals.  Now, I stay home, eat BBQ chips, and watch Netflix.

4) I didn’t care if I failed. In fact, on the very first day of theatre school, I told myself that I was here to fail, not to succeed.  I knew that I would only learn by making huge, awful, embarrassing mistakes.  I miss that freedom.  I can’t fail now.  Failing now means not being able to support myself, pay the mortgage, or feed my dogs. 

5) I was only doing what I loved the most.  Acting, acting, and more acting.  Those three years of theatre school were total bliss.  And even the first few years after I graduated were awesome because back then I wasn’t willing to compromise.  But when I approached my thirties, I started to really judge myself.  What kind of university-educated 30-year old still works part-time at a coffee shop to support her acting addiction?  A loser, that’s what kind.  So, I tried to get a smart job, an appropriate job, and I have made myself miserable.  I’m slowly getting back on track – I put up a sign above my desk that says, “Jamie Lee – you DO NOT like working in offices.  DO NOT take another office job.  Love, Jamie Lee.”

What about you?  What do you miss about your younger self?

Image via J.Paxon Reyes

Pretty Please Target?

Tags

bare legs, dresses, spring, Target

If I ask sweetly enough, will Target open a store in Saskatoon?  I love and want all these spring dresses.  Spring fever, indeed.  I’m sooooo tired of wearing black tights.  I want to feel the sun on my legs. 

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You Say PysANka, I say PYsanka

Tags

crafts, Easter, easter eggs, pre-Christian, psyanky, pysanka, symbols, Ukrainian Museum of Canada

I really enjoyed my pysanka workshop last Saturday at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada.  We started with a quick lesson on the pronunciation of pysanka (the stress is on the first syllable, not the middle), followed by a short film that outlined the general process.  I was surprised (and pleased) to learn that the craft of pysanka pre-dates Christianity by a few thousand years.  These are ancient symbols, folks.  Powerful stuff. 

Besides spending a peaceful hour and a half crafting away, preparing for Easter, it also inspired me to learn more about my Ukrainian heritage.  I always say that I’m only Ukrainian in name – I know nothing else about my culture. I don’t speak it, sing it, dance it, or cook it.  I’m good at eating Ukrainian food, but that’s about all I got.  I think my egg turned out pretty nicely.  Not bad for my first attempt in 25 years. 

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Welcome Spring!

Tags

cards, crafts, Easter, handmade cards, Paper Source

For some reason, I am soooo excited for Easter this year.  I usually don’t get this worked up, but I think the unusually warm weather has given me Spring fever (although the snow has somewhat dampened my enthusiasm).  I just want to celebrate (with chocolate) (and no snow).  These handmade Easter cards from the Paper Source blog are freakin’ adorable.