Wordless Wednesday

(Photos taken with my phone on my last ride on the GO train from Hamilton to Toronto.)

Our Last Visitor

Pat and I spent Friday night and most of Saturday finishing up in Hamilton. It took much longer than expected - we cleaned and scrubbed and threw out a lot of garbage and brought home another two car-loads. Our walk-through / hand-in-the-keys was at 1PM and luckily the rental agent checked off everything as okay even though we weren't quite done. But finally, at 4PM, we finished everything we were going to finish.

Just before that though, we had out last visitor in Hamilton.

 

Pat uncovered this cute little bat while clearing the balcony. When he called me outside, I thought the little guy was dead at first - his back looks a little flattened. Pat assured me he wasn't, and sure enough, he shifted a bit and seemed to feel how suddenly exposed he was. Poor little guy started shivering and couldn't seem to get warm. I wanted to leave him a box or something for shelter, but we really had to clear away everything.

When I went out later, just before we left, he was on the move. I can't help but giggle at this blurry photo of him scrambling for the corner.

Even in the corner, he was awfully exposed.. I hope he's alright.

Good bye Hamilton. We will be back (we still have storage to empty!).

The Sketchbook Project: Part 3.2

As promised, here is one last page I finished before sending our Sketchbook collaboration back to Angie.

You can see my previous updates here: Part 1, Part 2.1, Part 2.2 and Part 3.1 - and Angie's updates here: Part 1 and Part Two

I based my collaged lady on Angie's lilies:

But these serene still-lifes are hiding something...

Black and white doodled chaos! I absolutely love it!

I can't wait to see what Angie does with her remaining pages... and I need to start thinking about finishing the rest of mine up too. Deadline is looming!

Which reminds me... I have my own, personal Sketchbook Project to finish up too. It's about 1/3 of the way there. Not bad for my typical procrastinating style! But still, projects to complete!

Speaking of which - we're doing the final walk-through in Hamilton today and giving back our keys. What a strange feeling that will be! I'm going to miss that little place, much as I love this one.Still, it will be nice to be done with so that we can settle in here more fully. Onto a new chapter in my life! 

The Sketchbook Project Collaboration: Part 3.1

Angie received our sketchbook a while ago, so it's about time I get these photos posted. I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this go round - our move and starting my new job sort of got in the way. Still, the project is coming along quite nicely and we should definitely be able to finish on time.

You can see my previous updates here: Part 1, Part 2.1 and Part 2.2  - and Angie's updates here: Part 1 and Part Two

[warning: picture heavy post coming up!]

Let's start with the pages I prepared for Angie to work on. The first is a double spread:

I started by striping the pages with masking tape and covering it with gesso and an assortment of torn blues and tan tissue paper. Next I went a little crazy with rub-ons, adding a bunch of A, G & V letters (our initials) and lots of symbols and images. A light white wash and "tea-stained" edges (using a Distress Ink stamp pad in tea-stained) finished my background for Angie's finishing touches.

I also started a left-right spread for Angie to work on:

For this one, I knew I wanted to make a gradient / ombré with a collage covered with paint (as you can see, I also added a bit of washi tape on top). Trying to decide on a colour scheme, I flipped through the sketchbook. It is LOADED with colour... so I decided to go with a grey page for a little break. Plus, Angie can go crazy with colour on her page if she likes!

Next are a couple of spreads that I finished after Angie's input.

For this page, I transformed the lovely textured background into a fall-toned garden. I used drippy India ink in brown, violet and orange and collaged the flower petals and leaves in bright pinks and purples. A familiar (if slightly wonky) phrase finished the page.

Following along nicely is this left-right spread:

The collaged flowers are a mix of torn "circles" and cut-outs from patterned paper. I finished by painting in stems and a yellow background and used black India ink to highlight a few of the flowers.

I have one final page to show but this post is getting long enough - plus, it's good enough to deserve its own post.

What do you think of our sketchbook collaboration so far?

Moving

Well... we're slowly moving in. I started my 1-9 shift on Monday and we need to be ready for our final walk-through in Hamilton this Saturday, so we haven't had much time to focus on our new place. Still, it's coming along, slowly. My mom has been crying for photos though, so here we are:

BEFORE (after bringing in the first car loads):

AFTER (as in right now):

Only the living room for now - with a look into the kitchen (from the living room) - as I have to run to work. I'm heading in a bit early for a talk and free lunch! Working in research does have some perks!

More later - I promise mom! I really do want to get back into blogging regularly.

My Creative Space

What with working 8 hours and commuting 2 hours (each way) each day, I haven't had much time to create. At all. I'm just too exhausted when I get home each night... I can't wait to move (this weekend!) and start my 1-9 shifts so that I can have more time to myself during the day!

The commute, though, is the perfect time to sketch. So I picked up a small "travel" notebook for just that:

Here are my first two spreads:

If you've spent some time on my blog or looking through my sketchbook photos, you'll recognize that these sketches are based on others I've already done. I like revisiting familiar themes when starting a new sketchbook... it feels "safer," if that makes any sense! It's insurance that I'll for sure enjoy the first few pages in my new book.

This turtle is based on the quote taken from The Dark Tower series (Stephen King). Last time I drew a globe on his shell - this time I wanted to create a mini-city. He makes me smile, and the rhyme is positively catchy!

Some fun circles.

And a couple of my favourite ladies. I was inspired by Ancient Greece and Rome for these girls.

I can't believe it's already Friday tomorrow - and that we get our keys this weekend! I'll try to remember to take some photos before boxes take over the place!

You can see more creative spaces right here.

Wordless Wednesday

ACEO-X (5.0)

I must admit - organizing an ACEO exchange at the same time as my interview and job offer wasn't the best idea. I spent little time recruiting and as a result it was the smallest exchange yet. To make matters even more complicated, superstorm Sandy came along, making postal services and lines of communication unreliable. So, as you'll see, this post is a little different from my typical ACEO-X wrap-up.

Still, I enjoyed creating my ACEO and wanted to show it off here. I chose to add another lady to my Strong Women ACEO series - meet Lilian:

I used pencil crayons for both Lilian and her cityscape. I was really happy with her cool, sophisticated expression.

I also received my ACEO from Donna. She created this gorgeous folded-paper medallion:

The colours and texture are just fabulous - a great addition to my collection! Thank you Donna!

Lastly, I wanted to show you the ACEO my friend Angie made:

Isn't she gorgeous? Such lovely texture in this mixed-media piece.. I particularly love the purple hair!

Thank you to everyone for participating in another one of my exchanges! If you haven't received your ACEO yet, it's probably coming from or headed to New York state. Leave me a comment here when you get yours!

Sunday Seven

Here are a few things I'm grateful for this week:

Sunday: finding some shoes and pants for work

Monday: first day of work!

Tuesday: commuting with Pat

Wednesday: doing labwork again

Thursday: my first team meeting

Friday: bringing mom and my sister-in-law to Mandarin for the first time

Saturday: Swan Lake with my mom

What are you thankful for this week? 

My Creative Space

The only thing I've been working on this week is a variation on my quick paper fall banner. It is considerably longer (made for a wider space) with many more flags - but much tinier flags. As I said in the tutorial, you can easily make the triangles any size you want.

The difference between my two banners isn't only in size - I chose solid colours for this one specifically so that I could add cut-out letters to spell a message. Patterned flags separate the words:

Indeed, I love fall! I wish it would last much, much longer (I can't believe it's already November!)!

You can see more creative spaces here.