Friday Five (and some thoughts)

Hmmm...I need to post more, huh? Not as badly as BARB does (hint) but I'll try and do better next week.

To balance out my materialistic Friday Fiveness, here's a thought about possessions. I come from a long line of packrats. The idea seems to be that if something might be useful somehow later. Or even if it won't be but still holds some sort of intrinsic value...you should keep it. Getting rid of it would be wasteful. Probably as soon as you do you'll need it anyway, right? Well since I started this Flylady thing (and a bit before) I've really been trying hard to cut down on what I have around the house. And I've come to realize that my moral compass on keeping things has shifted. Here's a couple thoughts as to why:

1)Flylady emails little thoughts all the time...and mostly I ignore them...but this one she sent really got me thinking. She said that if you are hoarding things you don't use and don't need...you aren't trusting in God to provide for you! That kind of hit me because I realized that it was true in my life. All my possessions are a gift from God to start with, and he will provide all my needs in the future.

2) If I have something that is "perfectly good" and I'm not using it, and someone else could? It's pretty much morally wrong of me to keep it. It should go to someone who will actually need and use it.

So no more hoarding! An example of this: Craig really wanted this bird book last year...and found it really cheap through a book club (see where this is going yet?). And they kept mailing books. Nice big historical references and stuff. Some we sent back...but we didn't wise up soon enough and ended up with 10(!) big hardcover books. Books on Ancient Egypt and stuff. Nice books. So we kept them. Because it's nice to have a good reference library, right? Well we don't read them...they aren't the books we would have chosen. So today I took them over and donated them to the library. And you know what? They were thrilled. They were so happy. They were going on about what great condition they were in (some still in plastic wrap) and how interesting and so new. I hope many people get to read them. And if I get a sudden urge to read about the Egyptian Royal Families? I'll head over to the library.

On that note, here's my Friday Five:

1)Wool Pebbles by Reya Veltman:


2)Fierce Bunny by Make it Awesome at the Poppytalk Handmade Market


3)HTML Earrings by Nicolas and Felice. I want these! Because I am a nerd.


4)Check out this jewelry series by Gesine Hackenberg (via Bloesem) She punches circles out of old china plates, such a great idea.


5)And because it is apparently jewelry day...a gorgeous cuff by Gogo Borgerding

Benson the Monkey

So this is Benson. He's currently having his head chewed on by Kait's baby girl. I made the pattern myself, with moderate success. The neck is floppy and the head a bit misshapen but I really like how his body and tail turned out. Kait says he can hang from the crib by his tail, so that's pretty cute.

He was made all by hand while watching movies :)

Star Wars According to a 3 year old

This is so adorable!:

Friday Five

Hrm, sorry about the lack of posting. Going through some personal issues over here. Nothing that will kill me, but prayers are always appreciated.

In other news, I am working on three webpages, a commission, sewing a dress (haha, because I know how? no!) and baking bread to have with supper.

Friday Five:

1)Ink and Wit...Yes I love this letterpress print so much that I dipped into my camera fund and ordered it. It will live on my wall and I will love it foreeeeever.


2)I love this set (cup, saucer, bowl and plate) by Gustaf Nordenskiöld and how it looks like it's overflowing :)


3)This is Sally the monkey cup cozy, by MonkeyTravelClub :)


4)Little Bloom Bowl by lgbrinkley


5)And for todays randomness: The vacuum mouse! For those pesky crumbs on your desk.

Belle Aerie

So at long last the art forum I've been creating with my friend (her name is blue...well that's not her name, but you know) is up and running!

So if you are an artist or a crafter or just like looking at pretty things, come check out [Belle Aerie]. It's going to be lots of fun :)

Happy Birthday to Craig!

So yesterday was Craig's birthday, he's now old like me (26). I had to work from 10-4, but when I got home I gave him his present (a field guide to mushrooms...might not be everyone's thing but he was pretty excited) and we went out for dinner. We went to The Greek Oven and had yummy calamari and roast lamb. Then we came home and watched 3:10 to Yuma and had some yummy cheese and crackers and most of a bottle of wine his buddy brought up from Chile for him. Yes we spend more on food than on presents in this family, because that's what we love :)

Then I woke up at five. Yaaay. Heard the keyboard clicking. Came downstairs and found Craig still playing WOW! Um, because it's reading break? We had a nice nap today.

On the not so fun side, my boss has scheduled me for 15-20 hours a week next month! Because apparently she would like me to live in a cardboard box? People suggest that we could go out less...I almost died laughing, we go out for dinner once every 3 months! I've been to one movie and rented two since we moved here. I don't think that not going out will have a considerable effect on the budget.

Argh!

Anyway, look, I drew Pygmy Owl. And I love it, this is more what I want my art to look like in the future...I'm working on something fun with him, I'll show you when I'm done.

Arty Arty Art

More Steampunkness:

Friday Five

hrm...so I had to work for one hour today, and one of my co-workers mentioned to my boss that he felt sorry for me that I had to come in to teach just one class.

And apparently she said "eh, what's she going to do at home anyway?"

Yeah...thanks for that.


1)Beautiful shot by Asaf Einy:


2)Clau is a Chilean jewelry designer. Check out this beautiful necklace made with naturally dyed Chilean wool.


3)Anna Maria Horner, who I love with an undying love, has a new fabric line coming out called "drawing room". These are some of my favourites of the samples:


4)Recycled paper vases (yes they are watertight :)) by Picapica:


5)And now for something completely different. Design Police tags! If only I could stick these on people's websites some how...

In the Kitchen

So we're in the kitchen this week for Flylady, And I've been on a cupboard reorganizing kick. My baking cupboard used to look like this:



And I was whining to my mom about how I need to organize but I don't want to use plastic because it will likely kill us all, and I can't afford glass containers right now. She pointed out that I can just use mason jars. Well.....yeah, forehead slap. So this is what it looks like now:



It makes me happy. I walk by and just open the cupboard and look at it. Um, I will however need to find more jars as I do intend to can this year...also...my mom might not keep sending me soup if I never return her jars...

Want to see another cupboard? Of course you do!



The metal canisters were my Gramma's before she moved into a seniors home. I love them.

In addition to the organizing (and there has been more, but I'll spare you photos of every single cupboard) I have been purging again. I whine that I don't have much storage here...but really, I have too much stuff. I can say I have less stuff than most people, which is true. But I still have more than I need. I want to only have things I need and love in my house, the rest is just baggage. I don't need 5 sets of chopsticks (sets, like 4 pairs in a set, not 5 pairs...I kept about 8 pairs)...I don't need 13 dinner plates...I now have 6. That kinda hurts. But you know, I don't have room to feed more than 6 people, and if I do I have more littler plates. And my cupboard is happier (wanna see? hahaha). Anyway...I've made three trips to my neighbourhood thrift store in the past month...and I think I'll still make a couple more.

Also. My house has been clean for a month. Self high five!

How to prettify your ugly cupboards

This is Jen. Jen is sad. Why is Jen sad? Probably because her kitchen is soooo ugly. Actually her whole basement suite is rather tragic. Thus begins our mission to make Jen's kitchen cute! (please note that Jen is not sad because of the cookie. I made that cookie and it is awesome). Our first project was to liven up her sad little cupboards.

For this project you will need the following:
- White mactac
- coloured mactac
- a good craft knife (you can use scissors, but the knife is easier)
- a pen
- a ruler
- a cutting surface (I used a cardboard box)


First off cut a strip of white mactac that is slightly wider than your cupboard. On the back, draw a fun design. Yes I'm an artist but you too can draw a design like this. Just draw some bumps like a preschooler's cloud. Or leaves.




Cut out the design. Keep the outline piece, not the cutout piece.


Slowly and carefully apply the white design to your coloured mactac. Use the ruler to push it flat as you go. It's best to unpeel it a bit at a time to avoid a mess. Mactac does not peel happily off of mactac, believe me.


When you are done, it should look something like this. You might be thinking that it would be easier to just cut the design out of the coloured mactac and stick the white behind it. It is not easier. It is death. It made me want to stab things with my craft knife.


Now, cutting through both layers of mactac, trim the top so that you have an outline of about a centimetre. It's hard to explain...so look at the picture.


Okay, so your cupboard decal is created. Look at it for a moment and enjoy. Now stick it on the cupboard. Make sure you line it up carefully, then apply it a little bit at a time, again using the ruler to press it down as you go. If you screw up, just peel it off a bit and then try again, it should peel off really easily.

Then trim the edges by holding the ruler along the edge of the cupboard and running the knife down the ruler. This is much easier then trying to measure it ahead of time and line it up.


Repeat for remaining cupboards! I also did some circles. For fun.


And there you go. It's not going to turn your kitchen into solid cherry and chrome, but it sure brightens things up. And doesn't harm the cupboards if you're renting.

We also got some new tea towels. Hung a mirror on the opposite wall and replaced the box of salt with a cute salt bowl. Oh and we bought tins by buying really gross cookies at chinatown so that we could put utensils in them. Jen is much happier in her kitchen now.

Pepper Bonsai

You might remember this one from the WIP collage I posted a month ago...fiiiinally finished it. The character's name is Pepper and she is the creation of Stanley Lau, he has drawn her in about a million (okay maybe 30) styles and is creating an artbook and has opened it up to submissions. I hope I made her close enough...as I did change her look quite a bit, and made her a kid. However either way I love the image, so wish me luck!

Friday Five

So if you live in BC, you now have to pay for your gas BEFORE you fuel up. What the heck?! Apparently a couple years ago, some kid working at a gas station tried to stop a guy from leaving without paying and was dragged a few kilometers behind the car...and died. I say that is just crazy. No one should be that dedicated to their job! Anyway, now I have to guess how much gas I need before I fuel up, which is just annoying.

Aaaanyway, Friday Five!

1)Watch this video, as it is very amusing!


2)HABA Russian Blocks Set. How fun is this?! Aaaand, not $100 like those other blocks I posted.



3) A moldable mouse :) I think it's just a concept right now, but very cool.



4)Monster Hoodies!


5)You can buy templates for these cute paper boxes at A Little Hut