Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a mosaic - you can use whatever photo editing software you like, or a website such as the mosaic maker & photos from Flickr - & then post it on your blog. Go ahead & pick a theme if you want, but don't feel like you have to. Have fun with it!

Make sure to come back here & add a link to your blog post so that

others can see your awesome mosaic!

Here's mine for this week: better late than never!

1. bokeh buzzzz, 2. better late than never, 3. happy futab........today is my friday.., 4. Better late than never

Here's the list of mosaics this week. Once you've blogged, click the button below to add your link.

Item of the day: Hamsa Bracelet

This week I want to feature some of my fellow Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOEers) so that you can get to know my team a bit better. We really are an interesting bunch - you'll be amazed at the variety of work a bunch of scientists can do!

First up is anjalicreations with this gorgeous braided bracelet.

I feel as though this bracelet was made for me: it features my birthstone (peridot) & favourite colour of the moment (grey), the tree of life (a famous Klimt painting, my favourite artist) & a Hamsa charm (which is an ancient charm agains the evil eye but reminds me of yoga for some reason)... it would be a great reminder to me to keep up with my practice.

Head on over to anjalicreations for more lovely charm bracelets & Judaica. You can also find her blog here.

Project 52: 4/52

This week's Project 52 theme was "soothing repetition" - which I thought would be a tricky one. I was focused on repetition, repeating something over.... it wasn't until I connected the soothing part that it came to me.

What could be more soothing than tea? And of course making tea is a daily ritual.

As you can see, I couldn't choose just one picture this week. I wanted to illustrate the routine, the soothing ritual, with a compilation of step-by-step photos. I'm pretty happy with it - I especially like the look of that honey.

Here's a link to my Flickr Project 52 folder in case you missed a week.

The theme for week 5 is "muse" ... another one to think about...

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Friday Five

Well, this is posting a bit (a lot) late because of the crazy busy week I've had (yet again):

1. I TAed my last class. Makes me sad - I'll miss TAing.
2. Wednesday night was the 4th Annual Biopharm Lectureship (my undergrad class hosted the first one). The speaker was the vice president of GSK in the UK; he gave a very interesting talk. It was also nice to see all the Biopharmers together - I've taught all 3 years of in-class students!
3. I made this delicious peppery curry - Pat loved it!
4. I found out that my scientific poster was accepted for the 2011 ATS meeting - a prestigious international meeting. My supervisor also pointed out that I won't be doing a simple poster session, I'm actually enrolled in a poster discussion (he was thrilled). I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, but there might be a moderator & some actual presenting involved. So I have to book a flight & hotel in Denver for May - should be fun. It'll be my first real flight!
5. Pat & I went skating on Sunday - I'm hoping to make it a weekly event. I love skating!

My Creative Space

I haven't been spending much time at my craft desk this week, mostly because I've been extra busy at work. My two creative outlets have been my Charley Harper colouring book (that's right, I love colouring; it's very relaxing):

And this pen & notebook: My friend Angie has been trying to persuade me to sign up for the Fiction Project, reminding me that we used to write stories all the time. So before I sign up, I thought I'd try my hand at writing a bit, just like old times.

Head on over here to see more creative spaces from this week.

Item of the day: Looking for a Different Dream

This original watercolour by ConsciousnessArt is absolutely amazing! It looks like you could reach out & grab a juicy snack.

His tarot paintings are pretty awesome too - check them out!

Item of the day: Rain Clouds

This original watercolour by TheJoyofColor - though rainy - makes me happy. Aren't the colour gradations pretty?

Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a mosaic - you can use whatever photo editing software you like, or a website such as the mosaic maker & photos from Flickr - & then post it on your blog. Go ahead & pick a theme if you want, but don't feel like you have to. Have fun with it!

Make sure to come back here & add a link to your blog post so that others can see your awesome mosaic!

Here's mine for this week:

Yoga.

1. Yoga, 2. Yoga, 3. Yoga Goddesses, 4. yoga

Here's the list of mosaics this week. Once you've blogged, click the button below to add your link.

Project 52

The theme for week 3 was "shades of grey" and with the weather like it's been, I knew I wanted to take a picture outside. The streets are grey & white with salt & dirty slush. Unfortunately, with the week I've had, I didn't get a chance to take the photo until today (a day late for the Project). Oops!

But I'm not going to beat myself up about it. The important thing is I took a photo & actually thought about what I wanted to capture.

Here it is (no editing on this one):

It was Pat's idea to include the dirty car. I like the little bits of colour showing through the mess.

I also snapped a photo of this drain, but rejected it:

It doesn't have the same meaning as the photo I chose. Our first winter with our car - parked on the street because we have no parking spot - full of dirt & salt from our trip home at Christmas. Memories - that's what this project is all about!

This week's theme is "soothing repetition" ... hmmm. Another one that requires some thought.

Friday Five

I had an incredibly busy week - indeed, I was on my feet all day Tuesday & Wednesday, with barely a break for food. Next week looks like it'll be more of the same.... so I'm taking it a bit slow today.

Here are a few things I was up to:

1. Work, work, work. I'm trying to finish up a few experiments so that I can focus on the last little bit of my research.
2. I only have one more week of TAing... which makes me sad. I love teaching my lab - the students are always so keen. Lucky for me though, I'll be able to teach once more before the semester ends. On February 8th, the regular facilitator for the problem-based learning course that goes hand-in-hand with the lab course I TA will be away - so I get to replace him! Exciting! It'll be interesting to see my students out of the lab & in a discussion format.
3. I did a little research into some silverware my gramma gave me over the holidays. It belonged to my great-grandmother (my mom's dad's mom).I don't have anywhere near a complete set, but I have: an 1881 Rogers A1 butter knife in the Coronet pattern (my favourite): 6 each Community Plate knives & forks in the Adam pattern: 5 Nevada Silver D&A teaspoons & 1 fancy shell-shaped sugar spoon in the Fiddle pattern & 2 Tudor Plate Oneida Community forks in the June/Nursery pattern. I still haven't identified the pattern of 6 more electro-plated nickel silver (EPNS) forks: 5 small spoons (4 EPNS & 1 heavy Sheffield-plated) & 6 silver-plated small spoons, 4 with the Duke of Edinburgh & 2 with Queen Elizabeth II at the end.
4. I started reading A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire - the 3rd in the Wicked series.
5. I made a delicious & creative supper on Monday night. I wanted to try something new with a turkey breast Pat had picked up when we did groceries - one recipe I did find had the turkey wrapped around a filling. Since I didn't have the ingredients called for, I made my own filling with tomatoes & onion. I also lined the inside with bacon & arugula & wrapped the outside in bacon (only because I had no string & a pack of bacon to use up). It was delicious served on a bed of mixed rice - Pat loved it too.

I still haven't taken a photo for Project 52, but I know exactly what I want to capture for the "shades of gray" theme... hopefully I'll go out for a walk today & capture it.

Have a great Friday everyone!

My Creative Space

My Creative Space is back up & running! Head on over to kootoyoo's blog to see all the participants.

As for me, I haven't had much time at my craft desk. Indeed, my desk is piled high with a mess that's been there since December... I've been extra busy at work, finishing my Master's, so I just haven't had time.

I did spend some time with my sketchbook (for the Sketchbook Project) though ... want to see the last few pages I finished up before sending it out? Here they are:

pages 72-73

pages 74-75

pages 78-79

These 3 spreads are probably my favourite of the whole notebook. I love the intense colour of the oil pastel & the black outlining (inspired by Alisa Burke's amazing work).

I decided to leave the other "unfinished" pages pretty much as is. The only changes I made were as follows:

I wrote "I ink therefore I am" on the black page next to the octopus. I think they go together nicely.

And I just added some colour to this page. I wanted to do more with this spread, but I wasn't inspired & had no time.

So that's it for my sketchbook. It's currently in the mail, on its way to Brooklyn. If anyone gets a chance to check out the Sketchbook Project as it makes its way across the US, let me know!

Item of the day: Striking Viking

This trio of vases by epoca is indeed very striking!

I love the colours!

Item of the day: Conifer Forest

I love the mixed metals in this pendant by BethMillner.

Item of the day: Sua Jaula

This cool wire-wrapped necklace by itsastitch looks like a light bulb to me.

Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a mosaic - you can use whatever photo editing software you like, or a website such as the mosaic maker & photos from Flickr - & then post it on your blog. Go ahead & pick a theme if you want, but don't feel like you have to. Have fun with it!

Make sure to come back here & add a link to your blog post so that others can see your awesome mosaic!

Here's mine: fruit:

1. Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.~Mother Theresa, 2. Mini Melons, 3. Bubbly girls, 4. getting thirsty

Here's the list of mosaics this week. Once you've blogged, click the button below to add your link.

Item of the day: Pomegranate Tree

I love this pillow by roddyandginger!

The colour is just perfect!

The Sketchbook Project (Part 3)

And now the last part of my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project, pages 56 to 80:

Obviously there are 3 unfinished spreads at this point - but one is filled in now & the other two are planned. The green page & the purple page are still unfinished as well. Not bad, I'm pretty happy with it. Pretty typical in terms of my sketchbooks: a little bit of everything. I'll finish tonight & have it in the mail tomorrow.

In this bunch, I really like the polka-dot spread & the newest spread I just finished (still blank in the photos above). Which spread do you like best?

The Sketchbook Project (Part 2)

Here are pages 26 to 55 of my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project:

There are a few incomplete pages here. The orange & black page spread (pages 46-47) & the black page beside the octopus (page 51) aren't finished. Pages 52 & 56 look blank, but aren't quite. Page 52 has the writing from the previous page bleeding through - I like how it looks. Page 56 has an imprint of the maze that's on the back of the page with the oil pastel still-life.

My favourite pages are 56 with the bear & the page spread with the feathers/leaves & orange/red sunset (pages 42-43). I really like how quite a few other pages turned out as well.

The last set of pages will be posted later tonight! You can see the whole sketchbook on my Flickr.