Rock Me

Photo by Merrill Campbell Kost

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

- Old Crow Medicine Show

Vertical Ribbed Cowl

Something I've been working on for my Etsy store.  I'm hoping to perfect the design with the next one I make.  This one didn't turn out exactly as planned and won't be for sale, but you can get the jist of what I was going for in the photos below.

The photos make the colour look very purple.  IRL it's more gray.

My beautiful friend Karine modelling.

How it will ship.

Me label.

 Happy Holidays everyone!

Rav Stash

Uploaded my yarn stash to Ravelry today.  Pretty pleased with myself :)

Anyone want to buy/sell/trade?

Framing for Etsy

Lovely new paintings are being framed for my Etsy shop!  See the progress:

Made from furniture grade pine.  It smells so nice going through the saw!

Checking our angles and making adjustments to get it just right.

Dad sent me this picture yesterday morning.  He's finished gluing and dowling.

This weekend we'll sand, paint high gloss black, craft paper the back and add the framing wire!  I'm very excited to have these ready for the store!

First Snow

First snow in Ottawa this morning.  It's so beautiful.  I love the way fresh snow muffles the sounds of the city.

View from my balcony this morning

My plants don't care that it's winter.  This orchid is blooming anyways :)

Brie - The Reason I'm a Bad Vegan

I've been what you call a vegan for almost five years now.  Some may shun me from their strict definition of veganhood for my occasional transgression involving a certain lactose-rich dairy product called Brie.  I don't know what it is about this gooey, delicious substance that, when paired with red pepper jelly, wrapped in breading, and baked at 400°F for 25 minutes, but I lose the will to abstain.

Oh, the blemish on my otherwise prestine record of meat- and dairy-free living!  What will I do?  Normally I have to run to the ladies' room, considering my body can't digest dairy to save itself anymore  :(

Guilty Pleasure - Justin Timberlake

I know I'm supposed to be a craft-making hipster, but what can I say?  I can't get enough of Justin Timberlake.  Sure, he's not the best actor, but you've gotta give him credit for breaking out of that whole N'SYNC thing and making it on his own as a solo artist.  Not easy.

He's hilarious in the SNL 3-Way (The Golden Rule) video with Lady Gaga.  My favourite lyric is "Wanna impress a chick? Do the helicopter dick."

Centretown Movies Web Design Contest!

Hi kids!  An organization that I hold near and dear is having a web design competition!  See details below:
Centretown Movies is an outdoor film festival in centretown, Ottawa. Every summer, we show movies in Dundonald Park with pay-what-you-can admission. Centretown Movies (CM) is a completely volunteer-based event and all donations are spent on paying the associated costs like license fees and equipment maintenance.

As part of an effort to improve and expand our operation, we would like to invite all community members, artists, designers, students, and others to participate in a web design contest for Centretown Movies.

Prize
The selected designer will receive $100 and a Centretown Movies T-shirt.

Submission Guidelines

• Your design should reflect the main principles of CM which are movies, community, and use of public spaces for healthy/cultural recreation.
• Your design should provide the information available on the current website, but you may include other content and information.
• Your design should avoid depending on special web technologies, as much as possible.
• You may submit a website wireframe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_wireframe) or the URL/files for an actual site.
• All submissions (files or URL to the designed sites) must be emailed to info@centretownmovies.org

Important Dates
Submission deadline: January 1, 2012
Notification of results: January 15, 2012

Copyright
CM will own the selected design and reserves the right to modify it for actual implementation. The designer will be credited in a manner decided by CM. All other designers will retain the ownership of their submissions.

LUSHious Indulgence

For those of you who know me well, you’ll know that I used to work at LUSH Handmade Cosmetics. Probably the best, most fun job I ever had, but that’s beside the point. I was a huge fan of LUSH before working there and working there just solidified my love, if not making it stronger. So today, I share with you, something I cannot live without: the LUSH Bath Bomb. Bath time is just not the same without a little fizzy friend.

Note: I’m not a specialist in any of these areas; below is simply my personal experience shared with hopes that it will help someone else!
This may be a little personal, but I suspect a problem for many women, so I will share. Being prone to “down-there” infections and loving bath time are two dispositions that don’t mix well. Certain chemical ingredients, such as common foaming agent sodium laureth sulphate, found in most bubble bath products can cause urinary tract infections in those of us who are predisposed. LUSH Bath Bombs are super-natural and contain nothing but baking soda, dried lemon juice and essential oils (and the odd sparkle or rice-paper flower too). Since I love bath time and hate infections, LUSH Bath Bombs and I are a match made in Heaven! I generally stay away from any bath product containing honey or sugar as well. I’ve heard sweet stuff can make your whooha unhappy.

At $6-7 a pop, LUSH Bath Bombs are truly an indulgence, but something I splurge for because I just love how my bath experience is enhanced. Baking soda leaves the skin soft and deodorized and the essential oils are powerful to affect my mood (usually improving it). I like to leave the water in the tub for a while after I get out making sure the bathroom gets good and smelly!

My favourite bath bombs available in stores right now (because there are some that I love that I have been discontinued or are available online only):

Sex Bomb (of course)

Avobath

Space Girl

And just in time for Christmas, I'd have to say that Lil' Lush Pud is one of my all time fav's.  I always stock up this time of year!

Some of our friends over on Etsy are making Bath Bombs as well! Check out:

• Whipped Up Wonderful
• Antoinette's Bathhouse
• Black Sheep Soap Company



Kristen Schaal is a Horse!

I effing love comedian Kristen Schaal.  She's not your regular female comedian, that's for sure.  You may remember her as the crazy stalker fan from the Flight of the Conchords television series or from her hilarious Sony Xperia Play commercials.  Have to say the Kristen is Killing It one is my favourite.  There are also some outtakes that almost made me pee my pants.  I first saw these commercials whilst watching StarCraft II tournaments on MLG.  Call me a nerd if you must, but I actually find it more entertaining then our national passtime, watching NHL hockey... I'm going to get crucified for blogging that... but I digress.

I first heard of the video in this post, without seeing it, on WYNC's Radiolab.  In the Loops podcast, they describe what they perceive to be the emotions go through a number of different emotions.  At first they're like, "Oh!  This is going to be a regular comedy skit. Kristen Schaal is a horse?!  Look at her silly dancing!  Ha ha ha!" and then after a couple more repeations they're like, "OK, OK, you're a horse."  and then they start getting a bit upset, "Really, you're still singing and dancing like a horse?  When will this END?"  But something happens, and eventually, it's just plain hilarious.  The comedy doesn't really fit with expectations, and all they can really do is laugh! Of course I had to watch the video after listening to the podcast. You can definitely tell the audience is transitioning through a range of emotions. I heard somewhere that Kristen and Kurt Braunohler once kept that skit going for 10 minutes!  You you imagine?

Remember

National War Monument in Ottawa

11/11/11

How will you remember?

I have a midterm tomorrow morning, so guess how I'll be remembering?  By exercising my right to cram all day.

Trend: Bold Brows

Style Inspiration: Emma Watson

Since her feature in British Vogue, I’ve noted Emma Watson among my Style Inspirations. Before then, she was just that girl who played Hermione in the Harry Porter series to me. Maybe I was out of the loop. I’m loving her super short haircut right now. Her features are strong yet feminine enough to carry it well. I can’t help but be reminded of Twiggy. Perhaps it’s the short hair/British Vogue association all swirling around in my mind, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Watson counted Lesley Lawson as one of her favourite fashion icons.

Watson’s style right now is all about a feminine palette, lace, and just the right amount of sparkle.

Trend: Felt Hats

In case you didn't know, I love hats.  I think they bring a touch of class to any outfit.  In Saturday, October 29th's edition of the Style section of the Ottawa/Montreal Globe and Mail, there was an inspiring spread of floppy felt hats.

I got mine in brillant blue from Olam Boutique in Montreal of $59.99CAD.

Here's some I'm drooling over:

Style Inspiration: Charlotte Gainsbourg

Whilst living in Australia in 2008, I had a lot of free time on my hands.  I went on a journey of musical discovery to find, among other artists, Ms. Charlotte Gainsbourg.  I become hooked on 5:55.  How could I not?  She collaborated with Air, another of my very favourite French musical ensembles, to create an album of strange love analogies with her whispery voice reminisent of best girlfriends amateur attempts to sing with acousitc accompanyment. The critics may be harsh, but I love her for her simplicity and honesty.

Since then, the French actress/musican has always caught my eye whenever she (frequently) graces the pages of glossy North American magazines.  Her natural, low-maintenance style has defintely been a style inspiration to many in recent years.  Noteably, Gainsbourg is the face of Balenciaga Paris fragrance, running elegant campaign that's not over-defined.  More details on the fragrance & history of the campaign on Wendy Lam's blog, nitro:licious.

What I love about Charlotte Gainsbourg’s style is that it’s not over-defined.  You get the sense that almost anything would fit, yet there’s something very Gainsbourg about everything.  Her unfussy brunette lochs insight envy.  For me, she embodies modern French elegance.

Leslie Feist: Metals

Not long after the album's release on October 4th of this year, I purchased Leslie Feist's newest album, Metals.  I blog about it only now, more than a month after, because I had to let it sink in.  Metals has been in an endless spin on my turntable ever since I got it & I have to say: I love this album.

It's so different from her previous albums, but it's so Feist.  The vocal harmonization on Bittersweet Melodies gives me goosebumps... & I can just picture a crowd of friends swaying in unison & singing along to the la la la parts.  The lyrics to Comfort Me ring so true to me. A Commotion is another of my favourite tracks because of it's Andrew Bird-esque arrangement.  I'm not sure if she's using violins through the Janus Horn (a spinning phonograph style speaker) to get the effect, but it sure sounds like it - sounds like awesome.  Potential hipster anthems include: Graveyards and Comfort Me.

Stream the ablum here.

I'll be attending her show at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Monday, December 5th, 2011 & so should you.  Tickets are still available. I'll let you know if it's as good as her Reminder tour :)

Scoop Coater

Scoop coater, scoop coater, scoop coater!  I can't say it enough!  If you're thinking about trying photo emulsion screen printing GET ONE.  That is all.

Second Sale & Screen Printing Update

YAYAY!  I made my second sale on Etsy and the buyer left amazing feedback! I'm feel as high as the ocean is deep!

Only problem is now I have to build some more inventory.  If only I could do this screen printing thing right.  Last time was another fail.  I think the emulsion was a bit uneven (due to application with a squeegee that's too narrow) and that I didn't expose my images for long enough.  But at least this time, no light bulbs exploded and I had a bit less of a mess on my hands.  The image actually was printed on the screen, it's just that is go washed out in the areas where the emulsion was too thick.

I think I'm going to be able to reclaim the screen as well (I haven't done it yet because I can't even look at it right now I'm so upset.  I put it out on my patio that I never use).  There's nothing worse than working on something for 8 hours and achieving a negative result.  FML.

Solution: order a scoop coater, wait for it to ship, try again.  Three times a charm, right?  If I fail after all this, I'm taking one of Spins and Needles' Silk Screening Workshops in October.  Who am I kidding?  I'll do the workshop anyways.  I lurve those guys :)