365- January 4

Picture brought to you by Avery! She went to a girl guide camp with a Harry Potter theme and this is how house points were collected!!  She was one happy camper after that weekend!

365 January 3

So my thinking for this post was to have my husband take a picture of me right after yoga class. I am beet red, and it looks kind of funny! But I wear the color with pride because I do work hard in class and have totally earned it. Of course, by the time we got organized, I was nowhere near as bright as usual.  So we just had fun taking photos. I couldn't choose just one, so today's daily is a two-fer!

365- January 2/13

First off, this photo was not taken on January 2. It was taken on New Year's Eve. We were on my way to my parent's house and I was taken in by the beauty of our big Alberta skies. Mark stopped to take a picture of the birdhouse, and I used my phone to take a picture of the sky...

Anyways, photo from not January 2. You'll have to go with the flow around here; I am occasionally a bend the rules kind of gal! It was messed around with using the 'camera +' app.

365 January 1, 2013

Birds at mom's house. The blue jay was shy...

Frentures- Day 20!

Bet you thought I forgot!!!!  Finally, finally, FINALLY I am returning to share the last few days of our summer trip:

We set out with the plan of visiting the Citadel this day, but in true vacation meander fashion, another great opportunity popped up while we were en route. On our way through old Quebec, we were drawn in by a town crier- like invitation to come and watch a firearms demonstration.  Who can say no to the possibility of a shoot-out at high noon?

 And so we followed this guy to a little park just off the road. He narrated as a couple of other fellows demonstrated the million steps it took to fire off a musket.

They were very disciplined, and quick! Some volunteers tried to match the experienced guys later- it was quite funny!

After the firearms demonstration we were told of a more thorough tour of the old fort armoury and artillery museum.  We learned a lot about the cannons that are all over the old town, and Avery participated in a drill to prepare one for firing. We learned it took 4 people to work each cannon, and that everyone had a specialized job. 

We learned more about life on the base- about the recruitment practices and soldiers who stayed here. About the conditions and hardships. We toured officer's quarters and Avery got to try on a French officer's uniform- a wooly and heavy contraption wore in all seasons. We learned that they never took baths because they believed that a layer of dirt and sweat and yuck acted as a barrier to disease. It reminded me of a story my Grandma told from her days as a young nurse, where some old bachelor dude would come to the hospital once a year for a bath, and his underwear would be actually stuck to his skin. Those poor nurses had to soak him and peel the layers off....

Fortunately the tour guide was not authentic in all practices. Avery was quite engaged with him, and chatted his ear off...

We spent so much time at the artillery museum that time got away from us. We made it to the citadel just after the last tour was allowed in.  That gave us the chance to head for an early supper at a restaurant we had our eye on right from the first day we were in Quebec City. Restaurant aux Anciens Canadiens is housed in one of the very oldest building in Quebec City, built in 1675. The interior is all stone and old wood and low ceilings. It is a very expensive place to eat, but is well regarded and serves traditional Quebec fare. We could go because they have a (relatively) more reasonable dinner offering before the main supper rush. 

Our meal was marvellous! So glad we could eat here. Mark had meat pie (naturally!), I ate a duck confit, and Avery had.... wait for it.... poutine!

Well fed, and pleased with our day in Quebec City:0)

Explore Everything

Originally published under "Tuesday with the Team"

(but reprinted here so I can gather all my stuff together)

Hello! I had so much fun with the project, and can’t wait to share it with you.  I even remembered to take photos along the way, so you can see the process and hopefully feel encouraged to jump in and try a photo canvas of your own.

Here is a list of things that I used: Canvas (any kind is fine), leftover chipboard letters, gesso, assortment of inks (I used Clearsnap’s Spritz and pigment inks. I like how ‘inky’ the spritz is, rather than watery and I like the smooshy-ness of the pigment ink.), a mask, stamps, a few embellishments and SUPER good adhesive (I used Be Creative tape.).

Ready? Here we go!

1) Lay out your chipboard letters, making sure to accommodate your photo(s). When you are happy, remove the photo and stick down your letters. The colors do not matter, just size, font and leftoverness, because….

2) …you are going to cover everything with gesso! Why? I did it for two reasons- or maybe even three.  The gesso is like a primer; it will take the color we want everything to be happily. And it covers up the colors we don’t want.  It also gives me a chance to play with texture. I wanted the letters to end up looking like they are emerging from the canvas, not sitting on the canvas.

I did use a popsicle stick to spread some of the gesso around, but also got in there with my fingers to make sure the middle of letters and edges etc were covered the way I wanted, to the depth I wanted.  Don’t worry about getting messy- you are washable!!!  It’s a brilliant design, really…

3) Then add a little texture. I used a bit of plastic wrap and dabbed it everywhere, creating a rough, kinda-brick-like texture.  You could also create textures with stamps, stencils… whatever!

You are going to have to let this bit dry.  Probably overnight.

4) Okay! All dry, and now you are ready to add your own colors.  Currently, my daughter’s favorite color is purple, so of course that was what I made sure was part of my color palette.  I first spritzed ‘River Mossy’ over the whole background, and then layered ‘Wine Berry’ on top using the brick stencil.

5) Now we are having fun!!!  Wait for the spritz to dry. It won’t be long, I promise.  Add some more interest to the background by layering different color spots on with a stylus and foam tip applicator. I chose pigment inks for this job because they take a while to dry, giving you a chance to move it around, blend colors together and generally get it arranged to your satisfaction. Stamp some other images over top too!

I inked on top of one of the chipboard words to make it stand out for the title, then added some letter stickers to finish the title. The swirly stamp is from Unity.

6)  The background is done!  All you have to do is add your photo and embellishments. And then hang it:0)

The flowers and crystal swirl are from Prima, and the mosaic tiles are from Harmonie. I used a Fiskars border punch too.

Let's Get Sketchy Challenge (Oct 2012)

We have our toes on the finish line of the "Great Basement Reno 2012" and my scrappy stuff has paid penance and has been released from purgatory. The family room is set up again, complete with a functional craft area. I am not one to shut myself away to work on projects, so my table in the middle of the room is again my happy place!

With the return of my scrap table, I have been able to play again. I am feeling kind of rusty, like I have not exercised my play muscles enough.  But I played anyway, and came up with a kind of blindingly bright layout for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine's October Sketch.

Cardstock: Bazzill; Ink: Clearsnap; Stamp: fontwerks (CDN); Masks: Prima, Heidi Swap; Washi Tape: Recollections; Letter Stickers: Heidi Swapp; Pen: American Crafts; Punches: Fiskars, EK Success, Martha Stewart.

What fun I had creating this!  I used a large heart mask for the background, and inked the heart as well as the surrounding area with a bright ink and an ink applicator. Then I stamped through a brick pattern stencil with a small patterned stamp by fontwerks (how I miss this company!!!), embossed that and threw some glitter in for good measure.  The fabric rosette I made while working for Westcott at the Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival this fall with the magazine. I did the make and take, where we turned these little cuties into rings!  (More on that another day, I promise.)

This is one of the pictures from our Quebec trip this summer.  One of the last days of our holiday, in Old Quebec, on the walkway overlooking the St. Lawrence River.

And that was so fun, I decided to do another!  I love sketches to get me going, especially when I am feeling as unexercised creatively as I have been. So, here is 'the sketch: take 2'!

Patterned Paper: Quick Quotes; Letters: Pink Paislee, Sassafrass Lass; Flowers and Metal: Prima; Art Deco Glass Effects Gel; Acrylic Tiles Harmonie (CDN)

This is Avery's halloween costume from last year. She wanted to dress as one of the characters from Monster High, but we couldn't find anything that matched the picture in her head (*sigh*), so she decided that she would make up her own character!  We talked about different mythical witches, monsters and scary imaginings and she finally settled on Baba Yaga's daughter. I mean really, who wouldn't want to live in a house perched on chicken legs?  And we had a lot of fun putting together spooky-cute details for her costume.  Hello? Spiders in the hair! Hand and foot bones rattling on the hem of her skirt! A crow for a pet! A dog collar necklace! Cool spiderweb makeup!

See the spider webs on the layout? I made those with the Viva Decor Art Deco Glass Effects pen- love this stuff!