Sunday Seven

It's been a while since I posted a Sunday Seven. In truth, I sort of forgot about it. I didn't stop to think about my blessings or notice the little things that make life worth living. I finally remembered last weekend, so I started keeping track in a notebook (my food diary actually since I know I'll be in there every day). So here's my Sunday Seven for this week:

1. Sunday: productive weekend with Pat
2. Monday: packaging & mailing lots of orders from friends
3. Tuesday: Pat's patience with my reorganization mess
4. Wednesday: a nice comfortable 25C! Hoping for cooler weather..
5. Thursday: rain!
6. Friday: Pat getting today off for an extra long weekend
7. Saturday: family

Friday Five

Pat's off today & we're on our way up North for the long weekend! For those of you who don't get one (sorry), here are a few things to keep you occupied:

1. A Flickr photo I wish I took: Reflected Droplets by inaudiblemelodie
2. A book I want to read: Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman
3. A recipe I want to try: yummy zucchini bread (via Rebekka Seale)
4. A cute tutorial to try: fun triangle nails (via The Dainty Squid)
5. I wish I had a backyard: in order to hang cute banners! (as seen on vintagefern)
   

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Creative Space

My creative space has been going through a bit of an upheaval this week. I decided I needed to organize myself a bit better; so I've been sorting through inventory & supplies & making everything more accessible. I have lots of before & in process photos, but I have yet to achieve the "after" so you'll have to wait to see more later.

Beside that & working on my cupcake tag order, I've done a bit of re-potting this week. I came home from up North with a basil plant & a succulent. I know, weird travel companions, but I just couldn't resist picking them up while I was there. Basil is my absolute favourite herb & the plants looks so cheery & smelled so good while I was at the grocery store with my mom one day.

Surprisingly, my basil has been doing very well. I've tried growing the plant before & failed miserably after only a single crop. But I think I discovered the secret to growing basil: it needs a bit of water every day.

Surprise! Ha! I'm really bad for remembering to water my plants... So I have even higher hopes for my succulent, a haworthia mirabilis mundula:

It was so cute & tiny at the store, I just had to pick it up. I was just going to transplant it into one of the many pots I have, but then I found this awesome glass jar at Walmart & just knew I had to make a terrarium.

Why yes, I have been overly influenced by Kate (of Scientific Culture) - can you tell?

While her terrariums are mossy ones, I totally stole her decorating idea: a super cute plastic dinosaur (I had one that came packaged with an online order from Snapfish... odd, no?).

Isn't he adorable? A perfect size for this pot.

I layered cactus soil on top of rocks & charcoal (from some dollar store drawing sticks I had). Then I added in rocks & sand (actually gravel for my finch, Michael) to give it a desert-y feel. I love how it all came together with things I had around the house (beside the earth, plant & jar). A few more fancy rocks completed the piece, like that shiny one by the dino & this fool's gold:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Here's a peek from the outside:

I've kept the lid off for now since most of the online tutorials advised so. With the lid on, it'll get too humid for my succulent to thrive. I may cover it up in the winter to help maintain a warmer climate though, we'll see how it goes.

What do you think?

Head on over to Our Creative Spaces for more inspiration!

Morning Fog

While up North on vacation, I woke up at 6am for a glass of water. I glanced outside:

The stillness beckoned.

I stepped out onto the back deck & breathed in the cool, damp air.

I was completely alone & felt renewed, refreshed.

It was wonderful.

Royal Doulton

My grandma collects Royal Doulton dolls - starting with her namesake, the Louise figurine - and so each of her 3 daughters, including my mom, and her 1 granddaughter, me, have their doll as well. This little lady is my Amanda figurine, which I received near the end of high school:

My middle name is Laurie Anne, my grandma's first daughter's name. She had DS & leukemia & lived for only 18 months, so the name has special meaning to all of us. My grandma was able to find a Laurie Anne doll for herself many years ago, mostly by pure luck. She's a rare antique doll & fairly hard to find. At first, I'd hoped that I would inherit that doll (the contents of my grandma's will has always been a bit of an ongoing joke, since she has quite the collection of china & other pretty things) - except that she was the 3rd tall figurine in my grandma's collection.... so Laurie Anne was destined for my aunt. I was heartbroken, but obviously understood.

During my week at home, my grandma surprised me with a gift for graduating with my MSc (soon). Yes - that's right - my very own Laurie Anne doll:

It took my grandma over 8 months to find her!

She's breathtaking & looks especially lovely with my 2nd Royal Doulton figurine (also antique), The Last Waltz, a gift from my parents for graduating with my BSc.

For now they sit on my shelves, looking ladylike. I can't wait to have enough room to get them a proper cabinet.

Clothes, Fresh Off The Line

While I was visiting my parents a few weeks ago, I divided my time between their place & my brother's, which is just down the road, maybe a 4 minute walk away. One evening, I happened to have my camera on me as I ventured back to the house with my mom - luckily enough, since this was the scene greeting us as we made our way up the gravel road:

The sun was setting brilliantly, lighting the clothes on the line. The sky was darker & more sunset-hued than shown in these photos, but I was trying to capture the brightly coloured clothing on the line instead. They looked so cheery, like a bunting banner.

I hope my mom doesn't mind me posting this picture of her, but I just loved how it turned out. It doesn't necessarily feel like the sun is setting & it's hard to tell if my mom is taking the clothes off the line or pinning them up. Everything is still, lush, green. The tiller in the garden adds a rustic feel, as do the old shop & telephone post holding up the drooping wire.

This photo conveys the message: country home.

It also makes me smile because I can't help but think of something my mom always says - that the laundry always smells better fresh off the line. Which is so true & worth it, even if it's more work than throwing everything in the dryer. Oh how I used to complain about this summer chore, having to lug the basket outside & pin each item up, one by one!

And here I am now, wishing I could.

Well... except for jeans, which dry too stiffly on the line, and towel (yes, mom, towels), which dry up like sandpaper.

Anyway, since I thought this bucolic scene looked like a painting, I edited this photo with an oil finish:

I like the splotchy treeline & Buster's casual stance.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend - this weekend - so that I can drink in some more fresh air & country life!

Random Tuesday

I feel like making today a random day, with a series of short, random posts. Mostly, I need to clear out some photos & thoughts I've been meaning to blog about!

To start the day, I just wanted to show you a rainbow I captured while I was up North on vacation.

Just as I was snapping this, I was startled by a flash of lighting - my mom thought it was my camera - followed by a BOOM. The LOUDEST thunder I'd ever heard! It sounded like a huge collision of some sort, all in an instant... Scared the bejeebies out of all of us!

Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a photo 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 include a link back to my blog so that everyone can participate. Then come back here & submit a link to your blog post (using the "add your link" button at the bottom). I'll be looking at & commenting on each one!

Here's mine for this week: heat wave.

1. Heat Wave, 2. [141.365] The start of the heat wave, 3. heat wave, 4. Heat Wave

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

Sketchbook Update

Here's another look into my sketchbook - it's been a while, so there are lots of photos!

~ these pages were inspired by June's journal challenge:

~ the following pages were filled while I was at home for a week ~ my niece Jaden drew on the page on the left:

~ playing with my watercolour pencils:

~ the page on the left was doodled at my gramma's, after the wedding shower ~ the page on the right is the first of a series of poems made with words from pages torn from old books:

~ you can see that I'm still really inspired by Alisa Burke's style of journaling as well ~ here's a spread I did after going for our first bike ride of the year:

~ and a final sketch of my favourite number: