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