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Monday, November 7th, 2011
Okay. Here’s a quick and dirty post with some promotional photos I took a while ago for Loose Moose Theatre for Kid’s production of Sleeping Beauty. I finally got around to editing them this weekend. Whew. All I can say is that it’s great working with people who “get” being expressive for the camera. 
In other news, I was toying with the idea of trying to create something new every day for the month of November, a.k.a. AEDM (Art Every Day Month) – kind of like a visual version of Nanowrimo, as I don’t consider myself much of a writer… But. Life (as usual, at this point) kinda got in the way. However, I have been knitting a little each day, and as soon as I got a few free hours to myself, I dug out my watercolours and played around with them. I also discovered that I really have no idea how to successfully use watercolours. It must have something to do with the fact that I only got to attend one session of the class I was taking… before my water broke and Monkeyboy Junior Jr. arrived six weeks early. But that’s what learning is all about, isn’t it? So, I suppose that when I get some time this month, I am going to work on my watercolour technique – I’m thinking each page will have a favourite quote of mine and then some imagery relating to it. Lalala. Okay, then. Back to life. So, anybody else participating in a creative November?
Tags: AEDM, expressive, Loose Moose, Nanowrimo, painting, promotional shots, quotes, show, Sleeping Beauty, theatre for kids, watercolours
Posted in Crafty, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
A few months back, I went down to Venice, CA to visit both my best friend and my sister, who just happened to be living in the same neighbourhood at the time. The house I stayed in was being rented by my friend and her family, and it was… amazing. Soooo cute – sunny and open, porch swing, hardwood floors throughout, pretty little garden, interesting nooks and crannies… But my favourite part was that there was art everywhere!
Starting with actual Picassos – in the bathroom!
There were framed pieces on every wall…
Sculptural pieces…
Mixed media pieces…
Garden pieces…
Functional pieces (the swimmers form a lamp base!)…
And even pieces done by the home owner’s children.
It. Was. Awesome. There was always something new and interesting just waiting to be discovered, and I’m sure there were a lot of happy memories and associations for the home owner too. It made me want to do the same sort of thing in my own home – even though we don’t have nearly the same wall space, nor do we have a collection of work as vast (other than some pieces done by Monkeyboy Junior…) or which includes Picassos.
So. When I got back, I decided to begin my own little collection, starting with a couple of these. The following month, I ordered a print of this. Then I picked up some photos at the local Lilac Festival, and just this month I ordered one of these. I figure not only am I decorating my home with things that inspire me, but I’m also supporting artists directly. Win-win. And, with the purchase of some inexpensive frames at the Wal-Mart, I am also showing off the talents of my offspring. Now. All I need to do is find some wall space to display everything.
Tags: artwork, home, inspiration
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Monday, May 16th, 2011
Okay. Another week has gone by with nothing “creative” to show for it. But with good reason. I’ve been diligently working on getting our “stuff” in order – decluttering, downsizing, getting some good chi flowing… whatever you want to call it. And boy, does it feel good! Our basement is still in the midst of chaos (it’s been ignored for a very, very, very long time, and boxes are slowly being shifted around and gone through), but at least it no longer looks like this…
Or this…
The years of stuff just being shoved into a dark corner to be “dealt with later” have come to an end. Into the light with all of it, I say!
Mountains (of fabric, in this case) are becoming neatly organized mole hills, and the surplus has either been sold (in our garage sale)…
…or is on it’s way to be given to charity. The garage, the basement, and the shed are all currently receiving similar treatments. And I can’t quite put into words just how amazing it feels!!! Yay – go, me! The money we raised in the sale is going towards a future family adventure, with the exception of some that we earmarked for donation to a charity, and a few dollars that Monkeyboy Junior worked hard to earn for some spending money.
And while I was less than impressed with the people who came to the sale and spent a whole lot of energy trying to get something for nothing, it was a great experience overall. (I really wish I had gotten a photo of the elderly Asian fellow who spoke no English, but signaled that he wanted to try on my big leather biker jacket… Now HE was a character!) At any rate, this is why I’ve been away from the blog recently. Now that the sale is done, I will endeavor to find a little more balance between work and play, lest I should become a dull girl. Woohoo!
Tags: balance, chaos, charity, chi, creative, decluttering, downsizing, garage sale, mole hills, mountains, work and play
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Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
This is looking like a sabbatical of sorts. Between this stubborn cold, Monkeyboy Junior being off from school for spring break, and an irresistible urge to seriously spring clean, I’m having a heck of a hard time getting anything creative done lately! Top it off with the first nice weather in AGES and a desire to get some fresh air, and, well, yeah… Gotta just roll with the punches, I suppose. Hopefully I’ll be back some time in early April. *sigh* See you then?
Tags: sabbatical
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Thursday, March 24th, 2011
Sorry, peeps. It’s been a busy week of lots of piddly things with nothing to really show for it. I’ve tried two new recipes, washed the 25 yards of fabric I got in the States, and gone through a bunch of photos…but done nothing that has seemed post-worthy. I shall try and do better. *sigh*
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Thursday, February 17th, 2011
I don’t know about the rest of the world, but here in Canada the next two days are “Teacher’s Convention” – an opportunity for teachers to get together and “renew their professional skills on an annual basis”. Oh, how I wish that parents had the opportunity to meet with other parents and hone their skills in this way… but I digress. Following TC, on the upcoming Monday, we celebrate “Family Day”, which translates into yet another day off of school. Bottom line is that I am now facing 5 days of parenting both kids with very little help, as my husband will likely be either working or down at the theatre where his kids show is being performed…
So. What gets created on days such as these? Well, a whole heck of a lot of nothing that would interest any of you, I am sure. And so. I hereby declare that KateWares will be taking a long weekend off – I’ll be back again on Tuesday, and I hope that you’ll be joining me then too. Have yourselves a great few days!!! Who knows – with any luck, I just may spend some time working on my parenting skills… Ciao!
Kate and the Monkeyboys. Oy, it’s going to be a busy 5 days.
Tags: Family Day, long weekend, Teacher's Convention
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Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Okay. Wee Monkeyboy Junior Jr. was up last night. And I mean a lot. A lot a lot. Resulting in my extreme tiredness, insane crankiness, and overall inability to be coherent for extended periods. And so, for today, I shall “create” for you a collection of bad Valentines I found whilst cruising around the interwebs. For the cynics out there. For an uncomfortable laugh. For lack of anything else I could bring myself to expend energy on posting. Enjoy.
They range from unbelievably racist…
…to disturbingly “punny”…
…to just plain disturbing (are these supposed to be Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen???).
Personally, I enjoy a little “nature” humor…
…because science can be funny too…
…or just plain silly…
Some Valentines were just gross…
…in more ways than one…
O… M… G…
There were Ninja Valentines…
…Zombie Valentines…
…and even Comic Book “heady” Valentines…
But the morbidity didn’t stop there…
…nor did the threats…
…wow, huh?
Between the puns…
…and the fan-generated Valentines…
…I kind of got inspired to make some of my own…
Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow, when I’m better slept. Anywho…
At the end of the day, I think these were my faves…
Hope you enjoyed these crazy Valentines and that you all had a LOVEly day. Now if you’ll excuse me, the couch is calling my name.
Tags: bad, disturbing, fan-generated, gross, morbid, nature, ninja, punny, racist, science, silly, tasteless, The Hoff, threatening, Valentines, worst, zombie
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Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Okay. I’ve decided. I’m going to spend this month creating some order in my somewhat chaotic household. Going through all the toys. Getting rid of unnecessary kitchen gadgets. Giving a schwack of clothes to charity. That sort of thing. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s the most interesting of things to blog about…and anyways, it’s been written about many times elsewhere . So. Instead. I will share a link a day – to other sites that I love which inspire me in more artistic creative ways. Sound good? I hope so. Because that’s what you’re stuck with.
From the 2009 purge. I find that taking photos of my old treasures – things I will no longer use, but which still have sentimental value – helps me let them go. This creates space and calm. Ahh…
Alrighty then. With any luck, I’ll be in a much better place (quite literally) to create artistically once February rolls around… Cross your fingers that the baby cooperates.
Tags: a better place, creating order, purge
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Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Okay. Only two days until the New Year, huh? Hmm. Well, I’m wondering what to do about that, as I think I need to get a little bit of focus next month. No pun intended.
Courtesy of somebody’s Facebook profile photo…
I was thinking about it the other day, and I’m feeling like I have a few too many irons in the fire right now. The kids, the house, two blogs, some writing I’m working on, some projects I got half way through and then abandoned…and the ever-present desire to declutter and organize. I really enjoyed “The August Break” – how I could just fire off a quick snap on exhausted days, or take the time to go on an outing with my serious camera on more creative days…but it’s cold and snowy and not very likely that that sort of thing would work right now. What to do, what to do… Maybe a month dedicated to scrapbooking (oh, how I miss it) – maybe a page a day? Experimenting with digitally texturizing the photos that I’ve already taken? Daily links to artsy/craftsy/photo-y blogs I like and why I like them? An e-course? An actual leave-the-house type class? Aaaah! Something creative, but not too stressful or demanding is…tricky. If you have any ideas, I’d sure appreciate them.
Well, perhaps I’ll focus on wrapping things up right now – finishing off our California photos (for my sister) today, and then tomorrow I’ll do a monster post wrapping up all the Christmassy stuff. Come Monday, I’ll be ready to start something thematically new. Woo-hoo! Take that, New Year.
Tags: focus, monthly theme, New Year
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