Tagged

This one is clearly doing the rounds, as a couple of people have sent it to me this week, idea is to flag the ones you have done, and presumably make plans to do the rest :) (well, maybe not all of them - I don't particularly want to go in an ambulance!)

So here goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill* hasten to add this was a long time ago and I don't do it any more, boss!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury* not yet, but I just got my papers so it will happen this year
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Your turn :)

Some piccies from this afternoon's geocaching expedition

Have I mentioned recently that I looooove my 85mm f1.8 prime lens?

Volare

A little pressie for my bessie, here's hoping she can fly home soon.

Shrine kit, bird and rusty star from the Retro Art Cafe

Patterned papers are by Cosmo Cricket

Twigs from my garden

Friday Five - 19th December 2008

1.) What hockey related item would you like?
Is "Ryan Kesler" an accceptable answer to this question? No? Pity. OK, it would have to be either tickets, flights and accommodation for the Winter Classic; or this gameworn Manitoba Moose jersey that I was mere inches away from owning when the seller infuriatingly backed out of the deal.

2.) Do you turn off the lights when you leave a room?
Not unless it's bed time, usually. Unless it's a loo. But only because there is constant traffic around my house, so if I did turn the lights off, someone else would only put them straight back on 3 minutes later. And I'm sure I read somewhere that that uses more electricity than just leaving them on. If I'm wrong - sorry planet!

3.) Tea or coffee?
Neither. I don't really do hot drinks. I might drink a hot Ribena or a hot orange squash if I'm feeling poorly or am very cold, but usually cold drinks are all I have.

4.) Do you like peppermint?
In toothpaste or After Eights, yes, but that's about it. It's not a flavour I seek out.

5.) What do you do obsessively?
Check my emails every 30 seconds?

This year's Christmas cards

I tried not to make too many cards this year, because making stuff should be fun, and churning out cards can turn into a chore. But I think I got the balance ok because these were all fun to make.

First batch were for Connor's teachers and grandad and aunty, and feature the pic I took of himself last month rocking out with the Guitar Hero geetar:

Nice and easy, just needed to add some patterned paper from a DCWV Christmas stack I have had forever, German Scrap wings, and "hark the herald angels sing" on funky, stripy dymo tape which is a lot more legible in real life, honest.


The second set of cards were for my hockey pals. This one was a bit more involved. The snowman was stamped first with waterproof ink on plain white card, and then coloured in with watercolour pencils. Once the colouring was dry I went over him completely with a Versamarker and then embossed with three layers of clear EP.

I then masked the snowman and a section to the bottom of the panel with a curved border, stamped and clear embossed the snowflake pattern to the top end of the card. And with the masks still in place I blended distress inks (broken china, faded jeans and dusty concord) in the sky to reveal the embossed snowflakes.

The scratchy lines on the "ice" were made with the edge of a credit card dipped in light blue dye ink. And the glittery stuff (soooo sparkly-bling bling!!) is "opal dust" from Jo Sonja.

The close up pic shows how the opal dust catches the light:

The remaining two cards were one offs:

I absolutely love making cards for Mandi and Lee because I get to do something a little non trad :)

The Stampotique goth girlie was stamped in black on white card and clear embossed. Then I masked her and stamped a script stamp to her right in pearlescent lavender ink and a harlequin pattern to her left in silver.

Once these were dry I blended distress inks over the top (dusty concord and black soot), and spritzed with a little glimmer mist (black cherry) for luck.

Her hat is decorated with purple stickles and white flock.

The dymo inscription reads "tis the season to be jolly!"

And last but most definitely not least is Ian's card.

He likes purple, so I gave him a purple sky. I hope it's not too girly with the sparkly stars on top of the trees!

The background is faux batik made with purple, blue and silver glimmer mists. It's lovely and shimmery in real life. The trees were stamped in purple stazon onto silver card and cut out and stuck onto the background.

The greeting is a rub on.

Th-th-th-that's all folks

Happy Trevor Day everyone :)

Friday Five from the 12th december - I'm a little late

1.) Do you take cold medicine, or do you just tough it out?
A very appropriate question given I have been ODing on it for the past week :)
Actually, that's not quite true, I took it for about 4 days I think - the stuff makes me a little loopy so I go without if I can. This particular cold was (is - still not gone) a pretty nasty one though.

2.) Do you keep all the books you buy, or do you give them away when you are finished reading them?
I have passed a few on, where friends were after a specific book and I was sure I was done with it. But most I keep - they are piled up all over the place - I really need to get rid of them! My bookcase literally fell apart under the weight of them. (and no, the photo isn't of my books, but the scene at my house isn't far off!)

3.) Are you a good speller?
Yes, fairly good. Most of my mistakes are typos from typing too quickly or tiredness, rather than not knowing how to spell.

4.) Does your room/house have a particular theme?
Ummm.... mess?

5.) Do you ever faceplant down the stairs for no apparent reason?
No, thankfully. That would hurt! I did trip over a kiddies' toy in the kitchen the other day and fell flat on my face in front of two of my eldest son's teenage friends - that was embarassing - does that count?

"The Real" me? iTunes tells all.....

I've been tagged on Facebook, by Iva, but thought I would reply in here, as it was kind of fun and maybe some of my bloggy pals would like to do it too

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Jesus of Suburbia" - Green Day ..... ok so that one doesn't make much sense :)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"The Battle of Evermore" - Led Zeppelin ...... internal struggle maybe?

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"No One's Leaving" - Jane's Addiction ..... now it's getting interesting, maybe I have a fear of being abandoned? :) ah, nobody likes to get dumped though, eh?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"As Can Be" - John Frusciante ...... what as can be????

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Getting In Tune" - The Who ...... sounds like a good purpose to me :)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Rearviewmirror" - Pearl Jam ...... ummmm, so my motto is that things in the mirror may be larger than they appear?? or that I like looking backwards? (I really don't!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Boiler" - Limp Bizkit ...... oh, THANKS! :D

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Bed For The Scraping" - Fugazi ..... the bed bit maybe, I'd rather not have a bed that needed scraping, though, ewwwww

WHAT IS 2+2?
"A Doubt" - John Frusciante ..... ah, very wise, question even stuff you think you know the answer to .... yes Master Splinter!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Repeater" by Fugazi ..... repeating what, I wonder?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Usually Just a T-Shirt" - John Frusciante ..... this one is actually spot on! lol

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Rats" - Pearl Jam .... well, I have had pet rats off and on for most of my life ....

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Assassin" - Muse ..... ROFL, well I can think of a few people I wouldn't mind taking out.... :D

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Place To Be" - Nick Drake ...... this is nice, and very true

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"How To Skin A Cat" - Husker Du ..... OK I have no idea how to even attempt to interpret that one :D

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Pipebomb on Lansdowne" - Dropkick Murphys ..... looks like I am going to go out in newsworthy fashion lol, remind me not to go to any rugby matches in Dublin, could prove fatal....

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Killing In The Name" - Rage Against The Machine ..... ah so, when I become an assassin later in life, I'm just turning my hobby into a business?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"I Don't Know What You're Talking About" - Husker Du ..... oooooh, such a guilty secret I'm pretending I don't understand the question ;)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Blood" - Pearl Jam .... like family?

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Police Story" - Black Flag ..... yeah I guess getting arrested would suck

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Something For Nothing" - Rush ..... I will die of embarrassment when people find out I listen to Rush? :D

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"The Ballad of Chasey Lain" - Bloodhound Gang .... not having had his dick?? :D

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Now Or Never" - High School Musical 3 cast .... lol it does, every time Stripes plays it :D

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"This Velvet Glove" - Red Hot Chili Peppers .... John says to live above hell

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Last Kiss" - Pearl Jam ..... if I'm going to marry the last person I kissed, that would be my 6 year old son lol

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Carvel" - John Frusciante .... have you gone away already?

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"In and Out of Paris and London" - the Divine Comedy .... huh? is that a yes or a no?

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Mellowship Slinky" - Red Hot Chili Peppers .... these are making less and less sense

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Nancy Boy" - Placebo .... I was going to say that Nicky Watt hurts right now, but even with an injured thumb I reckon he'd punch me pretty hard for calling him a Nancy Boy lol

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"The Real" - John Frusciante .... well at least that gives me a catchy blog title

I'm not going to tag anyone, but thanks Iva, this was kind of fun :) It did make me realise though that other than Frusciante, Pearl Jam and Peppers, I hardly have anything in my iTunes on this laptop...

This took way too long

How can embroidering one little peacock feather take almost 2 weeks????

I guess because I am a total beginner - I had never done a French knot before, for a start.

Anyway, it's done now, and I quite like it, other than the very dodgy machine sewing around the edge of the mini quilt. I really must practice more with that machine!

Thanks to Hazel for the lovely green silk.

As proud as a peacock....

I'm still a' buzzin'

Vancouver beat the Wild, sitting pretty back at the top of their division

Wildcats had a passionate home win that felt like waaaaay more than 2 points

and I'm still waiting to take the PERFECT hockey photo, but in the meantime I'm pretty damn pleased with this one :)

Friday Five - 5th December 08

1.) Would you rather have someone cook for you or clean for you?

Clean, without a doubt. I'm quite happy to feed myself, but cleaning and housework generally really gets on top of me. I never seem to have enough time to get everything done, always on the back foot.

2.) What color do you rarely wear?

There are lots, including but not limited to orange, turquoise, yellow, pink, beige

3.) Do you put up Christmas lights?

I didn't last year. This year I will. Possibly this weekend. More likely next.

4.) What is your favorite color of car?

A nice dark (but not navy) blue, I think. Metallic. Or gold/purple two tone like the funky sports car I sometimes see around town. My current car is silver, though. Wouldn't have been my first choice as it shows up the winter dirt too much, but hey ho.

5.) What do you do when you're stressed?

one, some or all of the following:

• wobble my right knee furiously


• lose ALL tolerance for mess / piles of dirty dishes etc and yell at teenage sons in relation to same (which is where that cleaner from question 1 would come in useful)


• get very paranoid


• cry


• eat and drink unhealthy things in unhealthy amounts


• have a bath


• talk to my imaginary friends


• paint or sew

Sports fans have short memories

I know I do

After four straight losses for my beloved Canucks (hard fought, but not hard enough), and a nul point weekend for my cats last week, I’ve forgotten what winning feels like.

That adrenaline from the week before, when both teams were riding high in their respective leagues and seemed unbeatable, has left my bloodstream now. After the buzz there is always the downer. It’s chemical.

And like any self respecting junkie, I want to feel that chemical in my blood again, I need to.

Which is why I won’t be jumping off any bandwagons any time soon. I won’t let myself believe that the sky is falling as fast as our placements in the respective rankings.

I have faith in my boys to give me that feeling of joy again, that winning buzz. More faith than is warranted, probably. And in the case of the Wildcats, more faith than the new coach* has, maybe.

And the reason I have so much faith – is that I know they need it as much if not more than I do.

Vancouver NEED to prove they are still a team without Luongo. They NEED to get some of that beautiful momentum back that carried them through the last road trip, even for a game or two post-Luongo. That tasted like nectar from the gods for them, and they want to taste it again, I know they do. They need to get their self belief back, not to mention their rightful spot at the head of the North West. And I KNOW they can do it. Tonight.

Swindon NEED to rally together after all the upheaval of the past fortnight. They need to get behind their new coach and new on ice leaders (HUGE congrats to new C Lee Richardson, by the way, I’m so pleased with this appointment). They need to get last weekend out of their systems. They need to get back into an effort --> win --> reward cycle. Starting tomorrow.

I really mean it, you have to win me a game or two, PLEASE, boys, get us all a fix of that winning feeling. Because cold turkey SUCKS, doesn’t it?


* Actually, the jury is still out on this one. On one hand I think that this could be demotivational for the squad, especially the younger guys who, implicitly, are the ones Mr Aldridge wouldn’t necessarily have chosen for his roster. I am hoping that the youngsters (many of whom have been playing brilliantly so far this season, IMO, especially Long and Hayes) will read this and think “ok, let’s show the new boss what I’ve got” not “he doesn’t rate me anyway, so I might as well coast”. And on the other hand, I applaud Ryan’s realism and honesty. I like straightforward. Mike Gillis is straightforward. I think I like him too. Anyway, I digress.

Just to prove I do still occasionally make stuff....

(in between watching my hockey teams lose, and wondering who the hell to believe when it comes to Aldridge-gate, sigh)

.... here's an ATC

(black alcohol ink spin 'n' splashed onto brayered glossy card.... silver embossed bird.... words from an old book about Mozart)



and believe it or not, it ended up in the middle of this:



along with lots of other little pressies

It should have landed on the doorstep of its new home this morning, hopefully the recipient will enjoy unravelling it and watching its contents reveal themselves bit by bit :)