Serious Play

2011 Advent

So, I've been busy working on Advent for this season.

 

I am making a little Advent gift for my nephews. After searching for over a week, I was able to find and purchase the Playmobil Nativity, the Three Wise Men and an Angel.

I wrapped each piece up separately in brown paper and tied it with baker's twine. I included a number tag that I stamped in order for them to know which one to open on which day.

As the days count down to Christmas morning, my nephews will see the Nativity being built so that on Christmas Eve it will be complete.

I plan on just putting all of the wrapped pieces in a red box from Michaels and mailing it to them.

I cannot wait to see their faces...

 

 

 

 

Polaroid Happiness

So, I have caught the Polaroid bug.

 

On the weekend, I purchased this original vintage Polaroid camera at an antique store. I had spied it a few months back, but did not know enough about these cameras and their film to make the investment at the time. So I walked away. Thankfully it was still there when I went back to make the purchase.

Polaroid pics have been popping up all over on the internet and I became very curious. So I set out to do some research. It turns out there is quite a community of Polaroid lovers out there. Here are a few that I discovered in my search...

1. hulaseventy

2. the impossible project

3. melanie rodriquez

4. mocking bird

5. the polaroid party

6. scissors.paper.glue

 

Well, I found myself some film at Urban Outfitters. This is truly a miracle, to have this available in Canada. I am still astounded. It is expensive film. But this will not be used for everyday photos. It will be used to make art.

 

Here is my first shot with my new/old Polaroid camera, and my newly found film...

Looking forward to using it for some special moments during the Christmas season.

 

...and I definitely plan to use it in my December Daily album.

 

 

 

 

Jersey Day

So, today was 'Jersey Day' at school.

 

The girls were ever so proud to sport their favourite hockey team jerseys...our Calgary Flames!

Now, there are mixed feelings out there when it comes to sport teams, I know.

And we haven't had a stellar team in a few years.

But in this house (and pretty much this entire city), we cheer on the Flames every season, in the hopes of being a part of something very big. There is just something about cheering on your team that builds community and a fair bit of unity. And my girls have jumped right in (not by any doing of their father, I'm sure)!

So, here is to a solid and entertaining season of hockey...

 

 

 

Vintage Paper Garland

So, I am currently absorbed in making decorations for Christmas.

 

At work, I am in charge of decorating one of the large meeting rooms that we have. When I pulled out the decorations designated for the room, I was a little let down. It was meager to say the least. 

I decided to make my own decorations.

My supplies included vintage paper, a round punch and a scalloped punch, some silver glitter paper from Michaels, stamps and red metallic garland from Superstore.

I started by punching some circles from the edges of the vintage paper ensuring that I did not get any words. Following that, I stamped my letters (stamps and ink from Stampin' Up) in red ink in the circle to spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Next, I punched scalloped circles from the glitter paper and adhered the letter circles in the center of the glitter paper.

After trimming strips of vintage paper to look like mini banners, I adhered the letters onto the mini banners.

Finally, I used my mini stapler from Tim Holtz to attach the banners to the red metallic garland.

It makes me smile to think that this lovely garland will greet me at work each day for the next month.

 

 

 

 

Shooting in Low Light

So, this morning I awoke to see the coolest moon.

 

It was only a sliver, and yet, I could see the whole sphere.

I tried to get a shot of it from my bedroom window where I stood, but there were too many trees and power lines in the way. So I threw on my coat over my PJs and dashed outside.

The sun was just waking up, so the horizon line became lighter with every frame I shot. The sky was nearly cloudless and a few stars were twinkling. I stood in awe of the various shades of blue. 

I am far from a photographer, but still proud of the shots that I got. I did not have a tripod, so instead, I steadied my camera against the garage wall to get this shot in focus. This shot is SOOC (straight out of camera). I have a Canon Digital RebelxTi and shot in Aperture Priority mode at f1.8, exposure at 1/2, and ISO at 200 (probably should have been more, but I didn't want a grainy photo if I tried to enlarge it).

I had my 50mm f1.4 lens on when I ran outside and in hindsight I wish I had grabbed my telephoto lens, but all in all, I love the outcome.

 

All I know about photography I have learned from Karen Russell at Snapshots of a Good Life. I took her Photographer's Workshop back in 2009 and recently purchased her 60 pg lesson called Making the Shot: Low Light Shooting. It has all been worth it.

 

With these skills, I feel ready to capture my family around our lit Christmas tree this year.

How about you?

 

 

 

Big Deal LO

So, my daughter Ashley reached a goal this week and it was a big deal.

 

A while back, she decided to lose some weight. Ashley had endured a difficult time in her early junior high years (kids can be so mean) and slipped into a pattern of helping herself to comfort food.

After two years of homeschooling and a successful transition back into high school, she set a goal to lose 20 lbs. I am so proud of her efforts. She did not starve herself or go on a trendy crash diet. Instead, she learned about metabolism and the effects of sugar on one's system. She set herself up on an exercise routine and motivated herself to lose the weight for all the right reasons.

We had a deal that when she had reached her goal I would take her to lululemon to buy an outfit. Well, the other day, with tears of joy in her eyes, she announced that she had met her goal! That very night we went shopping and this is the outfit that she chose.

 

Way to go, Babe! This is a Big Deal!

Be proud of what you have accomplished...I sure am. xoxo

 

 

 

Christmas Tag Garland

So, I played this weekend.

 

I love punches and glitter and stars! So I set out to make a sparkly garland for Christmas.

 

I started by using my Marvy tag punch to punch out 14 tags from a pale blue paper ( I Believe by My Mind's Eye) that I purchased last year around this time.

Next, I embellished the tags with assorted materials such as: 

        Self-adhesive paper lace (Narratives by Karen Russell)

        Red washi tape (Hambly)

        Christmas paper tape (Martha Stewart Crafts)

        Red + white baker's twine (Crate & Barrel)

        Snowflakes punched from velum (Martha Stewart Crafts)

        Star glitter tape (Recollections at Michaels) ...sorry no source photo for this one

        Red foil adhesive alphas (Recollections at Michaels) ...once again, no photo source

 

I didn't really have any specific design in mind, I just let my heart lead me and I am happy with the results.

 

While playing around and punching out stars, I got the idea to sew the stars together to form a garland of sorts. I've got to tell you, this made me smile!

I just kept feeding the stars through one after the other until I had a nice long garland.

 

Next, I found some mini clothespins at Walmart, spray painted them white and covered them with glitter. I hung the tags with the clothespins from some more red + white baker's twine. Then I draped the star garland across it all.

Looking forward to creating a pleasing vignette with this garland as Christmas approaches.

 

 

 

Christmas Crafts

So, I am playing with punches + paper + doilies this weekend.

 

I have been itching to start some Christmas crafts. The ideas I am collecting on Pinterest are making my head spin so I just picked something and am going for it!

 

Hoping to have something to show on Monday...

 

Word Art :: Just Do It

So, after being inspired by all the words going around on Pinterest, I made myself a little motivational canvas.

It was very simple and did not take more than a half hour.

Here is the process that I followed...

1.  I gathered my materials: an artist's canvas ($1 at the dollar store) measuring 6x8 and some letter stickers also from the dollar store for, you guessed it...$1!

2.  I placed my stickers where I wanted them. No measuring, just eyeballed it.

3.  I used my October Afternoon Sprinklers to spray some random areas of the canvas.  If you do not have OA Sprinklers, you could use any paint really...from a spray can, watercolours flicked off the brush (remember doing that in art class?), acrylics that are watered down a little, etc.

I knew I wanted to leave some white space so I was careful as to where I directed the spray.

I have seen this where you could also just paint right over the words. (see Elise's blog)

4.  After letting the paint dry overnight, I carefully peeled off the stickers. In some areas, it was tricky to lift, so I used my exacto knife to help. 

And voila!

As a final step, I added the punched butterfly to introduce one more colour into the picture (no pun intended).

 

Now, to find a place to hang it...

 

 

 

Trip to Indiana

So, last week I was away on a trip to Indiana.

 

I went with a group of nine colleagues for a teaching conference in Bluffton, just outside of Fort Wayne. Turns out it is a quaint little town and we had ourselves an adventure. With six women and three men, there was a lot of laughter and fun!

As always I took a ton of photos, but the following is just a sampling of this past week. The photos sort of tell the story...

 

As you can see, I used Instagram to the fullest. Love that app!

Most likely, I will turn these pics into a mini album when I get a chance.

 

...and yes, we were even working in the airport!