SubRosa-RosaMundi

Needle Felted Yak

2012-02-12T09:46:00.005-05:00

Here's my latest little felt creature...a Yak.....also known as Bos Grunniens.......which some people refer to as "Boss Grunnies".......or an old boyfriend of mine used to call "Gross Bunnies" when we would visit them at the High Park Zoo. We would feed them carrots, which I recently read is something they really like.

This one is grey but he looks sort of blue in these photos. The ones at the High Park Zoo were black and brown. I made his horns and eyes out of Sculpey and his body is blended Shetland and Corriedale wools over a pipe cleaner armature.

Glass FIRE!

2012-01-28T17:08:00.007-05:00

Many times I've gone past here and always meant to photograph this beautiful hand blown glass sculpture of Fire. The "flames" all have little lights in them and they look amazing against their black background.

The Fire sculpture is just outside a restaurant in this building downtown:

More Froggy Photos

2012-01-15T20:10:00.003-05:00

I've been having success with my live plants. I have Java Fern, Java Moss, and something that starts with a B that I can't remember the name of. Oh well, it seems to be doing well. As you can see, I have Kuhli Loaches in my tank as well. I have about 5 of them. I also have bogwood in my tank which tints the water a yellowish brown, but I think they like the environment better than crystal clear water.

Froggies!

2012-01-08T20:34:00.004-05:00

Another photo of my darling little African Dwarf Frogs. Here's one hanging around the surface with just his tiny nose poking out of the water. Sometimes they do that for a while. You can see the bend in the surface tension of the water where he's breaking the surface. There's still a lot of singing going on at night, but today I vacuumed the gravel with my siphon so if there were any eggs, they've probably been sucked up.

I currently have what looks to be three males and two females...and one of the females is quite large. I should call her, "Large Marge".

Needle Felted Aardvark

2012-01-05T08:40:00.002-05:00

My latest felted animal. An Aardvark!

African Dwarf Frogs

2011-12-30T21:40:00.003-05:00

Lately, there's been a lot of "singing" going on in my aquarium. I knew the male frogs were communicating to the females. Well today I saw them doing this! This is the male grabbing onto the back end of a female in an attempt to get her to drop her eggs, then the male can fertilize them. I'll update again if any eggs get laid!

Sad Old House Photos

2011-12-25T23:57:00.007-05:00

Well.....I think these photos speak for themselves that they may well indeed be the last ones I take of this poor old crumbling house. By an eerie coincidence, when we stopped the car to take the photos, another car was parked there and a man was getting out, eyeing me suspiciously. I told him I try to photograph this house every year and he said ,"It's my house." I replied, "REALLY?" (hoping that maybe he would tell me a bit about it.....but he seemed to want to be left alone.) He took a couple of shots of it with his iPhone and turned to leave. I said, "I like photographing this house so much that I even made a gingerbread house of it." He said, "Are you interested in buying the property?" I said, "How much?" Then he just said, "It's not for sale." He went back to his car looking a bit lost in thought and sad. My guess is he inherited the property from a deceased relative and was going to hang onto it for sentimental reasons, and was sad to see what years of neglect had done to the house that he probably grew up in. That's my guess, anyway.

Old House Gingerbread

2011-12-24T14:13:00.003-05:00

And here's a photo for comparison.......and here it is in the daylight. Those other photos were taken late at night.

The Decorated "Old House" Gingerbread House.

2011-12-23T23:37:00.005-05:00

Well, it's certainly not a replica.....let's just say it is inspired by the old house. Unfortunately, I couldn't find red licorice ribbons, so I had to use sour strawberry "belts" to represent the "Insulbrick". I had fun using PEZ candies as "bricks". I think I'll do a whole house in them some time.
And of course, there's the cat, going to her food bowl. It's almost midnight....time for her to be wide awake. I spent roughly 4 hours decorating this house....so it's off I go to bed.

This Year's Gingerbread House

2011-12-21T20:21:00.006-05:00

I have an obsession with this house off the Highway near the town of Dundalk. I just love photographing it:
And this year I've decided to make a pattern of it and make it into my new, official, gingerbread house pattern.

That's right. Gingerbread. Here it is, undecorated and suffering a bit from "icing was too thick" syndrome. I almost cried trying to squeeze it through the pastry bag tip. I bought the powdered stuff you just add water to, and I think there might be a misprint. I ended up adding 2 more mL of water and it worked a little better.

I'll thin the icing mixture out a bit more to adhere the candy decorations. But for now, this is how she looks!

Salvador Dali Meets My Little Pony

2011-11-12T19:27:00.005-05:00

Here is my latest needle felted creation. I started him last year, but then put him on hold while I made my Hallowe'en costume. Now that I'm finished with that, I picked up the wool and needle and went at it again.

It's of course supposed to be modelled after the Salvador Dali painting "Burning Giraffe"....but mine looks a little like a "My Little Pony".
I believe the following photo shows my sculpture a little closer to its inspiration:

My Fair Bag Lady

2011-10-23T18:18:00.005-04:00

This year for Hallowe'en, I've made my costume almost entirely out of plastic bags. I made "plarn" and crocheted a dress and hat. I fashioned the dress after the Ascot Dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady". Of course, there's no way my figure could possibly compare with Audrey Hepburn's, so I modified the dress to suit my shape. Here is the finished result.
I am still in the process of re-doing a parasol with plastic from some bags as the finishing touch.
But for now, here's just the dress.

And a special Thank You to my husband for taking such flattering photos!

Barbados Rum Bottle

2011-09-22T20:24:00.002-04:00

Found this guy in a vintage clothing shop today.......

Skull Photos

2011-09-11T09:17:00.003-04:00

Another Tiki Mug!

2011-09-04T18:40:00.002-04:00

I found this Tiki mug at a Value Village yesterday! I was absolutely thrilled!!!!! The other ones I paid $20 for EACH....this one was only a dollar! The other two do seem to be better quality, but still........that's the difference when you find things at thrift stores!

Tiki Mugs!!!

2011-09-01T21:37:00.004-04:00

Today I bought these two wonderful vintage Tiki Mugs! I discovered a great store on Queen Street West, just East of Ossington called BYOB. They sell barware and a lot of it is vintage!
I was thrilled to find these and made sure to purchase them right away!

They were originally from the Kon Tiki Restaurant in Montreal.

Welcome Bugs

2011-08-07T20:13:00.003-04:00

I'm always happy to see Bumble Bees buzzing in my garden. They're so fuzzy!

Let us always welcome the tiny Long Legged Fly. They're cute and their larvae are beneficial in that they feed on harmful insects.

The New Improved Pan Gallactic Gargle Blaster Recipe

2011-07-10T18:20:00.005-04:00

Okay! It may not be as pretty as the last one, but it's the flavour that counts and the kick! I decided to loosely follow the "official" recipe.....and the whole part about the Algolian Sun Tiger was bugging me. I figured the way to imitate that would be to add some grenadine....but in my quest for grenadine, I stumbled upon something BETTER! Concentrated Pomegranate Syrup. Kickass sourness!!!! I thought, "Yeah! Sour instead of sweet!" So I mixed some with the ounce of "Dr. McGillicuddy's Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey". It sank to the bottom of the glass. Pour it in after the Limonata (by the way, the fizziness of the Limonata is meant to mimic the Fallian Marsh Gases) and lastly, I poured the Green Chartreuse. If you like, you can change the recipe around to suit your own personal tastes, but this is what I like.

This is a drink for those who want to get drunk FAST! It hits you like a "ton of bricks". I believe that when Douglas Adams wrote " a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick", he may have been making a pun of the term Goldbrick..... a slacker.....a shirker. Certainly after drinking one of these, you'll become one!
I've never had more than one a day......if you want two, then it's your preference....not mine.

Pan Gallactic Gargle Blaster

2011-07-04T21:11:00.006-04:00

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says that
"the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick."

The "official" recipe goes as follows:

"Take the juice from one bottle of that Ol' Janx Spirit.
Pour into it one measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V...
Allow three cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin to melt into the mixture (it must be properly iced or the benzene is lost).
Allow four litres of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through it (in memory of all those happy Hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia).
Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qualactin Hypermint extract, redolent of all the heady odours of the dark Qualactin Zones.
Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian suns deep into the heart of the drink.
Sprinkle Zamphour.
Add an olive "

Since these ingredients are almost impossible to attain, we have to use Earth substitutes and personal interpretation......
I read another recipe where the person said it had to have rum in it.....but I found it made the drink too sweet......so my recipe has no rum.

So.....having said that......here's my recipe:

1 oz Luksusowa Vodka
1 oz Tanqueray Gin
1 oz Cazadores Tequila Anejo
1 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
1 oz Green Chartreuse (not the yellow stuff)
...Top up with chilled San Pellegrino Limonata
Add some mint leaves and an olive......then don't plan on being active for some time afterwards.

Most people use Creme de Menthe....but I can't stand that stuff......so I substituted the Chartreuse....and added real mint leaves.....Mojito Mint to be exact.
If you find it needs a little something extra, add a dash of Creme de Menthe or Peppermint Schnapps.

Peonies

2011-06-08T07:52:00.005-04:00

Oops....I just discovered it's an old wives' tale that ants open Peonies. Well, it still makes for a cute photo.

Late Spring Photos

2011-06-04T13:08:00.007-04:00

That's right....it may be June, but it's not officially summer until the 21st....the Summer Solstice.
So I decided to photograph some of the flowers and sights in my yard. Sadly, we had a lot of rain and I couldn't capture my Irises in full splendor....so here's one of the last bloomers.

We have an old Lilac shrub which produces a darker flower than most. The above photo looks more of a reddish colour, but actually, the true colour is a bit darker than the photo below. Strange how my camera recorded them so differently. Lighting is everything.

And speaking of cameras, I recently purchased a wonderful Canon PowerShot SX130 which has a far better zoom than my previous camera. I was able to get some good snaps of the Wild Cottontails which frequent our yard.

Where there are two rabbits, there will certainly be more!

Ed Bernard of Druckfarben

2011-05-27T21:15:00.000-04:00

Rose-Breasted Grosbreak

2011-05-22T20:25:00.003-04:00

There was a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak at my feeder the other day! I also had some White-Crowned Sparrows. The House Finches are around all the time.

My Mom's Cat

2011-05-11T22:56:00.000-04:00

My Mom is an artist, like me....and she owns cats! Here is the newest member of her family.....Shadie! He was a stray whom she adopted and had neutered.....and now he loves her!
She took these photos of him playing in the backyard.

He likes to climb....like a tiny panther!

I think he's really cute up high in the tree! He better beware of squirrels!

A Visit To The Metro Toronto Zoo

2011-04-26T21:08:00.012-04:00

Here are my kids at the front entrance....posing as if they were with the actual animals! (Ha ha ha ha!)

Since I wouldn't want them to be in the enclosure with the real Komodo Dragon we saw, I had them pose with the lifesize statue outside the pavilion.

The giraffes were stuck in their little enclosure for some reason......maybe it wasn't warm enough for them to roam in their little field. I love giraffes. They almost look like left-over dinosaurs!

The Polar Bears were quite active though.

And there were Arctic Wolves and Foxes. These are the Arctic Foxes. I didn't get any good photos of the wolves.

African Dwarf Frogs

2011-04-22T23:22:00.003-04:00

I drew this quick little comic in Photoshop because I was thinking about how funny it was seeing even my aquatic snail rush over to eat the bloodworms faster than the dopey little African Dwarf Frog could. They really are pretty dumb.
That being said....I'm going to have to find a way to make sure they get their share. I have two, in a tank with guppies and snails. It was quite obvious that the guppies were going to be fast, but SNAILS???? C'mon froggies!!!!

My Daughter's Narwhal

2011-04-11T19:56:00.002-04:00

I made a needle felted "Narwhal" for my daughter. He's her favorite character from "Almost Naked Animals".....the show I work on.

Little Sock Monkey

2011-04-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

This little guy is needle felted also, and he's about 2 inches tall. He's sitting on my fish tank in this photo.

60s Style Needle Felted Deer WITH a Nose

2011-03-29T21:40:00.000-04:00

There......I added a cute little nose. I think he needed one after all.

60s Style Needle Felted Deer

2011-03-26T16:18:00.006-04:00

I used 100 % wool for this little guy. I began with plain white because I figured it was the most plentiful of the colours I had.

I added an outer layer of the orange/brown colour and added the white spots....also ears and a tail.

In the end I gave him "Bambi" style eyes at the suggestion of my daughter. So there he is.

The Wonderfully Talented Edward Bernard

2011-03-19T15:09:00.004-04:00

I was test uploading these images, and I was going to take them down, but then I figured I'd leave them up. Ladies and gentlemen, Druckfarben's Ed Bernard!!!! Musician extraordinaire!

Another Needle Felted Miniature

2011-03-15T22:27:00.003-04:00

This time........by special request from my daughter, I made a little Chipmunk. Here he is sitting on my WACOM tablet by my computer.

His eyes are tiny black glass beads.

First Needle Felting Projects

2011-02-19T23:12:00.004-05:00

For my very first needle felting project, I decided to go with something very simple that I am familiar with.....the Ookpik.

I put him next to the original Ookpik I made many years ago out of sheepskin.

This evening, I was inspired to make another miniature animal using the needle felting technique.......a tiny skunk!

Genuine Sealskin Ookpik

2011-02-02T21:13:00.002-05:00

I did it! I made an Ookpik out of an old sealskin jacket!!! I'll be making more....until the whole coat is used up! But this is my first one.

Blood Relatives

2011-01-06T22:26:00.006-05:00

This was my Great Great Grandfather on my mother's side.
I believe the woman to the far right was my Great Great Grandmother, and the woman on the left was my Great Grandmother
Here is my Great Grandmother holding my Grandmother

Here is my Grandmother, and her husband, my Grandfather

And then my Grandmother, Mother, Grandfather and Aunt

New Years Day

2011-01-02T20:00:00.005-05:00

New Years Day spent with my blood relatives! Interestingly, being blood related doesn't make you necessarily get along with your relatives, but I'm really lucky, because there's a very strong genetic bond that runs through our family. We're all very creative. We're either craftspeople, artists, or actors. It's so strong that it even runs right through to the younger ones!

My daughter draws non-stop, and my son is a budding film maker! Jacqui's children are always creating too!

The Dino-peptic Germ

2010-12-30T09:36:00.002-05:00

Because I was trying to remember what this thing looked like (from the Flintstones episode "The X-Ray Story") and couldn't find an image of it, I'm posting this so others can have this reference too. When ever I think of a "germ", I always seem to default to this thing! I guess because I was still fairly young when I first saw this episode on TV and there weren't many science shows on at the time to show me what a real germ looked like.
Okay....so I was a dumb kid.

This Old Guitar

2010-12-14T07:31:00.002-05:00

After 27 years, I have the old Univox guitar that I first learned on! Through Facebook, an old boyfriend found me and he'd been hanging onto the guitar I gave him for safe-keeping all those years ago. I never thought I'd ever have it again, but now I do!

It's never too late to pick back up on something I abandoned so many years ago. I was too ambitious without the dedication. I wanted to learn how to play Yes songs right off the bat! I was only 16 and I never learned how to read music. I learned songs by tablature. By 18 I could only play those songs that had been written out for me, and never "noodled" around to figure out more stuff, like good musicians. That's when I gave the guitar away.
I eventually took Classical lessons on a different guitar that my brother gave me, but my teacher was SO rigid about technique that I got too stressed out. Plus I never liked the feel of that guitar as much as the old Univox.

I have no excuses now. I think I'll start with some John Denver or something!

A Toy Paramecium

2010-11-22T22:14:00.001-05:00

I made a stuffed toy paramecium and my kids liked it! I think I'll make some more!

A Trip to the Science Centre

2010-11-15T08:21:00.006-05:00

More Grizelda Photos

2010-10-30T22:09:00.005-04:00

My husband took these lovely photos of me in my Grizelda costume. Aren't I just gorgeous?

Hallowe'en Costume Contest

2010-10-29T22:09:00.010-04:00

Here's a photo of me as Grizelda, the Ghastly Gourmet. It was difficult to photograph the make-up on my face. I may do a better job on Sunday.

Two girls from work, dressed as Poison Ivy and Cat Woman.

The group of them, Cat Woman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Rich Weston in his First Prize winning homemade Robot Costume.

Martin Geiger's Second Place winning costume, which I thought was sheer genius!!!! Ripley from Aliens!!!

Sneak Peek

2010-10-25T21:04:00.004-04:00

This is my Grizelda costume test...without the make-up. I just applied the latex prosthetics with a little spirit gum, so I could remove them easily. The make-up test was done a few weeks ago and I didn't want to waste it because it's expensive. I'll post more photos after the big day, when I'll be in full make-up as well.

Kid's Hallowe'en Costumes 2010

2010-10-24T15:19:00.006-04:00

This year, I didn't think providing the kids with their costumes was going to be my job....I thought their father was going to take care of it or else I wouldn't have made them costumes. So yesterday, off we went to the crowded mall to buy ready-made ones. My son recently turned 13, so of course he's getting into scarier costumes....so he chose this one. Out of shear luck it fit him!

Of course my daughter, being still 9 years old, chose a Princess costume. It was the last one in that style at the store.....probably because it was slightly damaged....actually flawed. I noticed it seemed to have a tear in the front seam where the white fabric joined the coloured panel down the front...but on closer inspection, I realized the sewing was just off. This was actually a good thing because I was able to fix it by hand when we got home. She had tried it on over her regular clothes in the store, so we knew it would fit her. I got her a plastic tiara at an accessory store and she was done!

She borrowed my silver wedding shoes for this photo but she has silver ballet slippers at her Dad's that she can wear.
Mission accomplished!

My Grizelda Cook Book

2010-10-20T21:34:00.007-04:00

This thing was fun to make! I took an old hardcover sketchbook that my husband had lying around...which had only had a couple pages used from it and they had been torn out....I guess he didn't like the paper..... and I made it into the prop that will be accompanying my costume this year.

I looked up some of the weirdest sounding recipes I could find and copied them out with a calligraphy marker, then "weathered" the book with tea stains, Port stains, beet juice, cinnamon, paprika...even some Ovaltine powder.

They're all real recipes......nothing silly or made up....except for the Larks' Tongues in Aspic....but I wrote it so you could really make it if you wanted to.

The best thing that came of this though, is that I learned from my Birth Aunt about a book called Larousse Gastronomique and I got my hands on a copy of it from a used book store. WOW!!! What a great book! I copied recipes from it into my book as well, and information about hanging meat etc.
Anyway....I'll post photos of my costume after October the 29th...because that's when I'll be wearing it to a Hallowe'en Party!

Larks Tongues in Aspic

2010-10-02T15:09:00.002-04:00

Because Hallowe'en is coming, I've been experimenting with recipes suitable for a Hallowe'en feast. I started Googling lots of odd recipes and it dawned on me that no one has made "Larks Tongues in Aspic"....so I set out to do it.

Of course, I didn't want to harm any larks, and I knew I'd need a fair amount of their tongues....so I thought of a substitute. Baby clams. I removed all the stringy stuff and used only the parts that looked like a bird's tongue. I guess it's really the foot of the clam, but good enough.
I put these in an aspic of lemon extract, Knox gelatin and chicken broth. I also added fresh Tarragon and Lemon Thyme from my garden. I garnished it with fresh lemon slices and parsley from my garden.
My husband wouldn't try any....so I did.
It's not bad except for the slightly fishy flavour of the clams.

Some Photos of Vincent Price, Just Because

2010-09-25T16:02:00.004-04:00

My Half Sister!

2010-09-20T07:58:00.002-04:00

I finally had the pleasure of meeting my half sister, Jacqui, yesterday as we celebrated my 46th birthday. She's 4 years younger than me....but much taller!
She also has a much more outgoing personality than me and is very witty! She's fun to be around!

A Beautiful Dog

2010-09-19T08:24:00.008-04:00

Our next door neighbour's father has a beautiful dog who is a Husky, but he's also part wolf!
He has the coveted "one brown eye, one blue eye". I was reading about "wolfdogs" and I believe this guy has a low percentage of wolf in him.

He was visiting yesterday as his owner cut down our 50 year old, half dead apple tree in our backyard.

I took these photos mostly for my daughter, because she thinks he's gorgeous and she wants one of his puppies! Apparently he gets studded every year and helps produce a batch of pups.

Although he's very beautiful, I don't have time to look after a dog, so my daughter won't be getting a puppy anytime soon! They're a lot of work and this one enjoys going for 3 hour walks every day!

Black Ladybug with No Spots

2010-09-18T15:58:00.004-04:00

Today I saw something I'd never seen before...a black ladybug with no spots.
When I was in Holland, I saw a black ladybug with two red spots...which was pretty cool, but I've never seen a pure black ladybug here in Ontario in all my years.

Luckily I had my camera nearby, so I photographed the bug. We were cutting down our old, 50 year old apple tree in the backyard today....so I suspect the ladybug was one of the tree's inhabitants.
Sadly, the tree had to go. It was dead in a lot of places and it dropped rotting apples everywhere attracting Yellow Jackets....my least favorite insect!

Minotaur Head

2010-09-12T20:48:00.006-04:00

My 13 year old son is big enough to wear the Minotaur head I made for his step-father. He was playing around with it a bit today!

Maybe I should alter the costume so he can borrow it in the future.

CNE 2010

2010-09-05T18:30:00.008-04:00

I didn't take many photos this year....not sure why....but I at least took these of my husband and daughter riding the carousel together! It was coming to a stop in the second photo...my daughter wouldn't be that brave if it was going full tilt!

I was sure to photograph my favorite prog rock tribute band, Druckfarben when they played at the Budweiser Midway Stage, August 31st though!

Peter Murray on bass, Troy Feener on drums

Phil Naro

Ed Bernard and Will Hare on keys

Cleaned Skulls

2010-08-21T13:33:00.006-04:00

After a long maceration process and bleaching in the sun, I finally have my Cormorant skull ready for display. I believe it is the skull of a Double Crested Cormorant because they're so common and this one was found near Hamilton Harbour. The kids pointed it out to me among the rocks and thought it was from a Canada Goose, but as soon as I saw the beak I knew it wasn't a goose or duck. At first, I thought it was a large sea gull of some sort. There was still some flesh and feathers on it as well as the distinctive throat pouch leading me to the Cormorant conclusion.

Another one of my maceration projects was this deer skull. It was given to me by a hunter friend of ours after it had been buried for several months. That process rotted the outer skin and muscles off, but the brain was still a dried lump inside! After months of maceration outside in a bucket of water, I finally got it fairly clean.
When all the tissues where gone, I soaked it in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and a little water. I could only find bottles of 3% solution but that seems to have worked well. I bought 7 bottles and poured in enough to completely cover the skull.
I added a small amount of water in case of evaporation. I left it alone for a week and here is the final result.

Summer Photos

2010-08-11T21:35:00.007-04:00

This is probably the clearest photo I've been able to manage through our window screen into the backyard so far! One of our frequent visitors was quite close and I photographed him...or her.
While visiting my brother-in-law, I not only photographed the old delapidated house, but some photos of his house and yard also. In the vast vegetable garden there was a grasshopper who didn't try to jump away as I got close.

And what would a visit be without photographing Clark....eternal puppy, killer of mice, voles and groundhogs.

Clark was eager to lick my husband's face! He was shedding like crazy though....Clark I mean...not my husband.

And here is the Dannys' residence.....after a lot of restoration work. The house is from the early 1900s I'm told.

Old House Photos

2010-08-08T23:29:00.008-04:00

Remember this house I always try to photograph when visiting my brother-in-law?

Well, we went there today and I grabbed the opportunity to photograph it again....and this time I ventured closer!

Same shot with a Photoshop filter:

Another shot with a filter:

The house again with no filters. Notice the front door is gone now!

The walls are really starting to bow outward now.

A corner shot with a filter effect. I love how much the wall is bowing out! It looks fantastic, but I know it won't be there much longer. Another load of winter snow and it may be flattened!

My Mother

2010-08-01T20:26:00.002-04:00

By special request from a friend who doesn't use Facebook, I was asked to upload a photo of my birth mother here on my blog. I found her recently and I also found my birth grandmother who's 91 years old! That's her on the left, me in the middle, and my Mom on the right! We all have the same smile!

Stargazer Lilies

2010-07-24T20:10:00.005-04:00

These are my beautiful, fragrant Stargazer Lilies that I go to the trouble of hand picking Red Lily Beetles off of each spring. Those pests can defoliate and kill a whole garden full of Asiatic Lilies (as opposed to Daylilies).

And here is a little collection of Calendula which have taken over my garden. They produce beautiful little flowers, but they're a bit spindly and the seedheads look sloppy.

Garden Flower Obsession

2010-07-12T22:20:00.008-04:00

I've been experimenting with light a little more lately...especially morning light.
I took these photos in my backyard at around 8:00 AM.

I took the following photo around 7:45 AM, before the sun really shone on the flowers.

Then again, closer to 8:00 when I saw the flowers were out of the shade.

I don't know.....I wish I had a better camera....maybe that would help. But I was lucky enough to photograph this little butterfly perched on one of my shrubs!

More Flowers

2010-07-03T20:38:00.010-04:00

I photographed these ones in the morning, and the others in the afternoon. The morning light looks a lot better.

Feverfew is a small flower that grows in clusters and is being experimented with in the treatment of migranes. I just grow them because I think they're cute. I also have Calendula which reseeds itself and has taken over my front garden a bit too much. But they're pretty when in bloom.

I LOVE my Daylilies. I have several different colour combinations. (photographed in the afternoon)

Flowers From My Garden

2010-06-20T11:02:00.007-04:00

I planted some Morning Glory seeds in a pot at the base of a spindly Umbrella Tree that we inherited from Richard's parents' house, and now they're blooming! I thought they were very beautiful.

Outside, the last of my Icelandic Poppies were still in bloom.

And of course some of my lilies have begun.

My entire front garden is overrun with Calendula.
But there are a variety of orange and yellow ones...so they're not monotonous.

Okay...she's not a flower, but when I came back in the house, Shadow was sitting right at the top of the stairs...so I snapped a quick photo of her!

More Photos From Holland

2010-05-21T21:45:00.009-04:00

I loved those buildings in Amsterdam...I want to go back.

Beautifully carved Klompen.....

Fancy Klompen......

A little canal down the street from Tante Bets' house....where we stayed in Sassenheim.

Some cows from a little dairy in town that sold wonderful locally made cheese.

Me enjoying an echte Heineken...in a brown bottle! (Green bottles are for export)

Martin and my husband, Richard, standing in front of the house where their mother and her 13 siblings were born and raised.

Inside A Windmill

2010-05-15T11:17:00.018-04:00

While in Holland, we visited Zaanse Schans......a place where 17th Century windmills have been preserved and can be toured by the public. These mills are still fully functional and are wonderful examples of early technology. They are situated along the river Zaan. This one is a dye mill and is called "De Kat".

I took this shot from the main "deck" of the mill. This is the big capstan wheel which is used to turn the 15 ton cap (which houses the sail rig) into the wind.

These particular windmills are covered with thatch. Thatch generally lasts about 50 years before it has to be replaced....which is a lot better than our asphalt shingles which only last about 20!

Inside, it was kind of like being in a well built barn. There were huge timberframes and narrow staircases going up to the higher levels. The wind wasn't blowing much the day we were there, so the gears weren't engaged. It enabled me to get better photos this way!

These are the actual millstones which grind the pigments into powder. They were huge! I can't imagine how they got them into place. I'm guessing they were close to four feet high.

I can't believe I climbed up (and down) these narrow, steep stairs!

There were so many pulleys and ropes....it made me think of being on an old ship!

Here are the gears that weren't engaged. Normally, one side would be touching the middle, since the power comes from the middle shaft. But like I said...it wasn't very windy that day.
I'm assuming all could be running at once on a good day.

I think it's great that the actual gears are made of wood, and not metal.

This shot I got while coming down one of the narrow staircases. I thought, "Hey! What a great shot!"

Photos From Holland

2010-05-09T16:24:00.015-04:00

This was my first trip to Europe, and since my husband is from Dutch parents, we went to Holland! Here is a photo taken in Amsterdam...a fascinating city!

Another photo taken in Amsterdam:

Of course the typical architecture one would expect to see in Amsterdam:

Another shot along one of the many canals. We took a canal tour in one of the tourboats. The city gets its name from the river Amstel, on which it was originally built around.

Here was my very first encounter with a real windmill! I wanted to go in, but this one has been renovated and made into a private home.

Here was another windmill that I got to go in! It's one of the restored windmills (originally built in the 16-1700s) that is at Zaanse Schans. The windmills were moved from various locations in order to preserve them and educate people about them. Zaanse Schans is something like "Black Creek Pioneer Village" where they preserve a little bit of the past and show you how things were once done in the "old" days.

This one here is called "De Kat", for reasons I couldn't discover, but it's used as a dye mill. Its powerful mill wheels grind pigments.
I took a lot of photos of the inside of it!

This is a little "tourist" windmill at the gardens of the Keukenhof. I went inside it too, but its mill wheels etc. have been removed and wider staircases have been put in.

But from it I could see this beautiful view:

The Keukenhof has thousands of beautiful gardens! I had the chance to photograph many different flowers. My favorites are Daffodils.

Of course I had to have the typical tourist photo taken of myself sitting in a giant wooden shoe!

Illustration Friday - Linked

2010-04-15T20:02:00.003-04:00

I didn't take very long on this drawing. It's just ballpoint pen on regular bond paper. I took it into Photoshop and tidied it up a bit and added the white highlights.
To me, this represents the word "linked" because I feel cigarettes are linked to death. My Mom died 17 years ago from lung cancer due to smoking. Screw you tobacco companies!

The Stump House (Incomplete)

2010-04-14T15:49:00.003-04:00

Once again, I'm using papier maché to build this new stump house for my daughter's toy mice to live in.

Here is a recent shot where I'm adding more greenery.

It isn't finished yet, so I'll wait until it is before I post any more photos.

Walnut Baskets

2010-04-04T12:57:00.005-04:00

After great difficulty in finding walnuts still in their shells at this time of year, I was finally able to try something I've long wanted to do. Make walnut shell "baskets".
I originally made these because I made a Tree Stump House out of papier maché for my daughter (which I will upload photos of later) and I was trying to use natural materials for the mouse inhabitants to use for their tools and eating implements etc.

Easter Eggs

2010-04-04T11:15:00.001-04:00

I helped my kids dye these eggs last night using food colouring. You have to mix a bit of vinegar in with the hot water dye bath.

Illustration Friday - Expired

2010-03-22T15:08:00.003-04:00

I'm so literal minded sometimes. All I could think of was an expired parking meter...which was tedious and boring to draw. Oh well...I hope I can do better next week.

Papier Maché Chinese Lion Head

2010-03-10T15:03:00.006-05:00

Okay....this isn't a tutorial. I get too distracted when I do those. This is just something I wanted to do because my daughter really wanted a Chinese New Year Lion puppet. I still have to work on the body....but this is how I started the head.

Then I built up the forms with masking tape.

Added a layer of papier maché. I guess I should mention the real FIRST step is collecting photo reference.....and I noticed they had a shiny mirror thing in their foreheads. So I found a dome button and covered it in tinfoil.

Second layer of papier maché....and the bottom jaw....made of thin card and painted with acrylics.

The next steps were painting the paper maché once it was dry, and once the paint was dry, gluing on fake fur and sparkly fabric. Oh yeah, and making separate ears and pom pom nose decorations.

Pazyryk Tattoo Stuff

2010-03-02T20:52:00.006-05:00

I'm collecting the old encyclopedia set, Man, Myth and Magic by Richard Cavendish printed in about 1970, and I was surprised to come across the following image in the Tattoo chapter!
Not much was written about it, except that it was from a "Siberian chief who lived in the 5th century BC."

I already had this National Geographic from 1994 which had this recent find of a mummified woman dug up in Siberia....now known as The Ice Maiden......who had this beautiful design tattooed on her arm. I was confused because I thought "How can a book from the '70s have this photo in it when they said they just found this woman in the '90s?" (I know the above photo is a very different tattoo...I just meant I didn't know that there had been other finds with tattoos prior to hers.)

After a bit of Internet research, I discovered that the original Pazyryk tattooed body was found back in 1948 on the Ukok Plateau also. The Plateau is located in Siberia, near the borders of Khazakstan, China and Russia.
I have some Northern European blood (Polish...but close enough) in my background, so I always like to think I have a connection to the Ukok Plateau

I modified the design because my left arm already had a tattoo, and I'm happy to discover that mine is facing the same way as the 1948 find. Here's how my tattoo looked when it was new...and I was a lot younger. 1995 or '96.

Me And My Shadow

2010-02-20T19:21:00.005-05:00

I don't know what it is about cats, but they seem to know when you're sick or in need of comfort. I got hit by a car yesterday afternoon crossing at an intersection. Thank God I was minimally hurt.

It was one of those cases where the driver was turning right on a red light, other pedestrians were jay walking (because of an advanced green for the other drivers) and it was a pleasant day, weatherwise, so more people were out and about than usual.
I was the only pedestrian to wait for the proper walk signal, yet I was the one who got hit! I saw the van starting to turn right, but he hesitated, leading me to believe he saw me and was going to allow me to cross. But no. He kept on coming. His bumper hit my left hip and I turned, facing the vehicle. By now both my hands were on the front hood of his van and I was being pushed backwards! All I could think of was ,"He's not stopping! He's not stopping!"
I shouted , "STOP! STOP!" and suddenly he braked, sending me flying backwards onto the road. I thought, "I can't stay here on the ground! Someone might run me over!" and so I leapt up to my feet. I yelled at the driver, "J____ C______ didn't you see the signal!?" Bystanders
came to my aid immediately, standing in the van's way so he couldn't take off and one person flagged down a police car.
Well, to make a long story short, I ended up with only a bruised knee (from hitting the ground) and some weird pains in my feet that are fading now. It could have been a lot worse! The driver was charged with "Failure to Yeild".
But Shadow has been climbing up on my lap since it happened, and I think she might sense that she could have lost her "Mommy". I don't know, but it sure makes you realize how quickly one's life could be snuffed out.

Bunny Slippers

2010-02-15T10:59:00.002-05:00

I made a pair of bunny slippers for my daughter!

And here she is wearing them:

Cookieeeeees!

2010-02-10T22:10:00.003-05:00

I made these this afternoon. I used a recipe called "Mexican Wedding Cakes", but shaped them like Greek Almond Cookies. They're similar to Shortbread, but they contain ground almonds.
You roll them in Icing Sugar while thye're still warm....then once they've cooled, you can roll them again, or just dust them generously shaking the sugar through a sieve.

100 % Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie

2010-02-07T17:46:00.002-05:00

I haven't made one of these for years, so today I thought I'd treat my fianceé and I to a homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. I always have trouble with meringue, but today it seemed to turn out well.

I made a graham cracker crumb crust, click here for a recipe.
Then I made the filling from :
1 cup white sugar
3 tblsp flour
3 tblsp corn starch
1 and a half cups cold water
Mix all those in a pot and heat, stirring constantly
Have ready 2 egg yolks
the juice of 2 small lemons or 1 large lemon
1 tblsp of butter
Once your cornstarch and sugar mixture thickens, remove from the heat
and stir in the egg yolks
Add the lemon juice, continuing to stir
then finally, add the butter
Stir until the butter is completely melted
Spoon this mixture into the already baked pie shell
Now for the meringue:
Use 3 egg whites, room temperature is best
add 1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
Have 6 Tablespoons of white sugar ready
Also have 1/2 Teaspoon of vanilla extract on hand
Mix those egg whites with the Cream of Tartar with a high speed electric mixer
Keep it on high speed as you gradually add the sugar
Keep beating, adding sugar...then, when almost all your sugar is added,
pour in the vanilla extract
Keep beating until the mixture is shiny and white and thick.
Mine ended up looking like melted marshmallows...sort of.
Anyway, then I spooned the meringue onto the lemon filling without
letting the two get mixed together. I didn't spread the meringue until
it covered the whole top of the pie, and then it was more like just
giving it a bit of shape with a non-serrated knife.
Pop this in a 350 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes until the peaks are
lightly browned.

Antique Tins

2010-02-02T11:32:00.008-05:00

While going through Rich's Mom's old sewing basket, I came across these wonderful little tins! They had pins and snaps stored in them, but I moved their contents somewhere else. I felt these tins were too great a treasure to have things like that stored in them!
The first tin says "NIGROIDS" and that they were manufactured by the Ferris & Co. Ld.(Ltd) in Bristol England. I did a bit of research and found out they were liquorice throat pastilles. The second tin isn't as interesting at first, and just says ATLAS PASTILLES....embossed into the lid.
But upon opening the tin, you see that the bottom is made from what appears to be Wartime Recycling. A printed tin for a different product, possibly cocoa because Droste is a chocolate manufacturer, has been used for the bottom of the tin. I find this very interesting!

The next tin is a very flat cigar tin. There were actually a few of these in the sewing basket, but this one was in the best shape. A lot of people smoked in the days of Rich's parents' lifetime....and it seemed very popular in Holland where his Mom came from. I'm guessing these cigars were probably smoked by her father, Rich's Opa ...or Grandfather.

Speaking of cigar tins, these were everywhere in Rich's parents' house! They were used to store pencils, pencil crayons, drill bits etc. This is one that's in really good shape. Most of them are quite scratched.
Here's a shot of the interior. I was told Gouden Oogst (pronounced KHOWduh ohKHst) means Golden Harvest.
This last one is not a tin but a wooden cigar box. The exterior is pretty beat up, but inside the lid is this very high quality label, embossed and printed full 4 colour process with metallic gold!
Rich says he really likes the design of it!
(I personally think the Jester looks creepy, but it is a cool design.)

A Kitty Bed

2010-01-30T14:11:00.004-05:00

While making a Hallowe'en costume for my daughter, I had some fake fur laying around on the floor. My cat, Shadow began sleeping on one of the piles every day!

She seemed to like it so much, that I decided to make it into a Kitty Bed for her. I just folded over a rectangle of the stuff, filled it with polyester from an old pillow, and sewed it up. Now she sleeps on it all the time!

Our Ugly Bathroom

2010-01-29T11:00:00.006-05:00

Okay...because Blogger uploads photos backwards...I'm now showing some "After" photos before you see the "Before" photos.
Here it is before we grouted or installed the fixtures.

Here's the demolition stage.

Take a good look, because we're beginning demolition!

I can't believe someone did this! How stupid is this? Whom ever it was that did the original tile work, did this!

Now it looks like this!

I almost forgot, the dumbest thing....they put the only towel bar IN the shower! Nice if you like your towel wet.
I will be sure to upload photos of our progress fixing this horrible mess.

A Cat Named Sprite

2010-01-09T16:18:00.002-05:00

Digging through old photos I came across this gem. Little Sprite waking up from a nap, yawning and stretching. It looks like she's angry though. It was just pure luck that the shot turned out like it did. I took it with my old 35 mm SLR Nikon. That's before digital became widely available. Back in 1996. (Boy I feel old)
Sprite was adopted from the Humane Society as a 6 month old kitten. Funny she never grew much bigger, and she had the cutest, tiniest little meow!
I ended up having her only for a few months before it was necessary to find her a new home. (I had to move away to Arizona for a job). Luckily, a friend and co-worker wanted her and brought her to live with her other cat, Tiger, on a large estate. Sprite did very well there, but I was informed that she did pass away not too long ago.

Christmas Photos

2009-12-26T18:52:00.009-05:00

I'll begin, once again with photos of that sad, old house, just outside of Dundalk Ontario, near the highway that continues to lure me to it with my camera. I'm amazed it hasn't fallen down yet. I saw many other tire tracks in the snow, so I know there are quite a few other hobby-photographers like me who feel the same way.

On a happier note, here's a shot of my step niece, Ellen, with the family cat, Sean. That's right. The cat is named Sean!

Sean decided to take over the Monopoly game at one point, acquiring both Boardwalk and Park Place, thus declaring himself the overall winner.

My 2009 Gingerbread House

2009-12-15T21:51:00.013-05:00

Okay, I'm not going to go through ALL the steps, but here I have traced around the cardboard templates I made into the dough. This dough was about 1/4 of an inch thick.

For the tiny houses, I made the dough as thin as I could, roughly 1/8 of an inch, maybe even 1/16th. I cut around the paper templates and baked it for less time than the regular dough. I saved this step until all the regular sized pieces were baked, in case I didn't have enough dough.

Here are the tiny ones baked.

Here are some of the regular sized pieces baked and cooling.

Before assembly, I knew I wanted to try lighting the house from within, so I rigged up a couple of bright LEDs to a battery pack with a switch that could be hidden behind the house.

Now my least favorite part...assembly. I have the worst luck with Royal Icing. I found a good recipe, but I think I should have added more icing sugar. It finally set up hard enough, but I had to support the sides for hours with jars and bottles!

At long last, it was finished! You can see the other tiny one I made to the left. Making the tiny ones gave me something to do while waiting for the large one's icing to set.
I call this my least favorite part because you can't start decorating until the roof and walls are secure....and they seemed to take forever to solidify.

Here is a shot of the battery pack behind the house.

The lights are ON....and for some weird reason, the yellow "fruit-roll-ups" I used to make the window panes show up as green! The LEDs must have a strange effect on them.

Oh well, not bad for the first one I've done in about 10 years. I'll have to make them on a more regular basis to perfect my Royal Icing making skills.

Tiny Gingerbread House

2009-12-15T17:44:00.003-05:00

I did it again! I made a tiny Gingerbread house...much better than the last one! This time I put a quarter near it for scale.

Front View
3/4 View
Back View

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-11T10:53:00.006-05:00

I haven't made a Gingerbread House for several years, but I plan on doing one this year. This is one I did back in 1997. I noticed, after Googling "Gingerbread Houses" images, that a lot of people don't use "Smarties" to decorate the roof......but in local bakeries, they're a standard ingredient! I guess this is because I live in Canada and most images on the web must be from U.S. bakers. I didn't realize that "Smarties" aren't the same in the States as they are here. Our "Smarties" are originally British and are similar to plain "M&Ms". Anyway, I always like to use them as pictured here to decorate the roofs of my Gingerbread Houses.

This is the tiniest Gingerbread House I ever made. I put it in a doll's house one Christmas for my children. This was probably 2001. Anyway, the little thing got destroyed by my curious daughter several months later who wanted to eat it! It was completely edible, so no harm done.

This year I'd really like to try it again, only this time use coloured sprinkles and such to decorate it! I rolled the dough REALLY thin and used a paper template. I also baked it for less time than regular thickness gingerbread. It turned out quite crispy!

My "Dead Animal" Projects

2009-11-15T18:03:00.011-05:00

Very recently I purchased this fox fur stole at a thrift shop for $20. I grabbed it because it seemed to be quite intact.

In the store I saw that was missing a leg and that the remaining 3 were hanging on only by a thread. I felt it would be easy to repair. After I got it home, I inspected it more closely.
I discovered the reason the legs were falling off was because the belly-skin had dried out so much it had become brittle and was crumbling away,

I realized then why someone had attached this piece of ribbon....to try and keep it together.

I had to remove all the dried, crumbling bits of belly fur...which was really a shame because it was so soft and fluffy. I figure it was most likely because the belly skin is thinner and the salt from the sweat of the previous owner(s) had dried it out.

I'm also going to repair this ripped leg. I have some dark, soft sheepskin and a bit of beaver pelt that I'll use to make the repairs. It would be too expensive to use silver fox...which I believe this is. Fortunately, all the damage was on the underside!

Here I have been given a gorgeous buck skull, complete with antlers! It was given to me by the same fellow who gave me the moose skull last year.....with no antlers.....

Here's how the lower jaw should fit:

The only misfortune of being given an old skull that's been sitting in a "dry shed" for a few years is that it needs to be cleaned. There are dead bugs and old spiders' webs all over it as well as some dried flesh that didn't thoroughly rot off.

Inside is still the dried up brain! I'm thinking I'm going to have a friend lend me his Coleman stove and do some boiling in a pot outside!

Yucky!

My Very Own TARDIS!

2009-11-05T21:11:00.005-05:00

Many years ago......maybe 20 or so, an old boyfriend built me a balsa wood TARDIS. It stood about 12 inches tall and I thought it was great. I moved a lot, so I often worried it would get wrecked being packed up in a box all the time, so I gave it away to a co-worker who was working on developing a possible Dr. Who animated series. It never came to be....and I regretted losing such a unique handmade item.

To make a long story short, I recently reconnected with this past boyfriend and told him how I regretted losing my old TARDIS. Well, he surprised me just a few weeks ago with the news that he was building me a new one! This one is larger and built from birch plywood, so it's stronger.He put such great detail into it! Both front doors open and it has a night-light on top with a light sensor so it lights up at night!

Here's a photo without the use of my camera flash.

Here's a detail shot of the handmade door handle and keyhole with a swing away cover! He even went to the trouble of printing out the notice on the telephone door...which the old one never had! This TARDIS stands approximately two feet tall. I will keep this one for the rest of my life.
It's a one-of-a-kind built just for me by a very dear friend.

Maeve the Mouse

2009-11-01T18:53:00.004-05:00

My daughter wanted a very specific costume this year...a white mouse! Since she's 8 and too big for a Toddler's costume, I had to make it without a pattern. Her brother is showing off the ears!

I had to deliver it to her at the mall we go to when I visit, so she modelled it near the women's restroom. I thought she'd at least come out into the mall so we wouldn't have this white tile background....but she suddenly became too shy.

I asked her to show off the tail here, but you can't see it very well.
She liked having me draw her nose and whiskers with good ol' lipstick and eyeliner pencil.

Hallowe'en 2009

2009-11-01T10:21:00.013-05:00

Anyone who loves Hallowe'en as much as I do knows that it's a hectic day for us decorators! I didn't begin my set-up until 3:00 in the afternoon! I had to run to Home Depot for wooden stakes and last minute items. Also, I had to go to Future Shop to get some small speakers for my portable CD player so I could have the church organ music outside!

After all that, I took advantage of a fallen limb from last week's wind storm. It was perfect for my owl to sit on.
I then proceeded to attach my newly made Grim Reaper to a wooden stake so he would stand taller than his previous 5 ft height...which would have looked silly.
I had to quickly sew his robe onto his body after I got him into place. It was also very windy and I had to wire the scythe into place so it wouldn't be whipped around.
My previous plan of setting up the Grim Reaper's left hand to be pointing outward had to be abandoned for this year. I just had to let it hang down at his side.

Here I am at approx 6:10 PM as the sun was setting. I hadn't had any time to do any make-up on myself, so I was a very bland looking witch.

The Grim Reaper still has his blinking red LED eyes that I'd put in him when he started out as one of my first props a couple years ago.... just a skull on a stick. (scroll to the very bottom)

I was thrilled at how well the owl turned out! Amazing what you can do with some very simple items. I got the lantern at a thrift shop and followed instructions from the internet on removing the wick and other parts from it and replacing them with a flickering flame bulb. (I just checked and the website seems to have been removed)...so I'm glad I did it already!

And here's my Reaper again.
I had many comments on the fake fire beneath the cauldron. One boy said, "You're burning all the candies!" (because the cauldron ended up being my candy holder....because I couldn't get a hold of any dry ice to put in it)

And here are a couple photos of some Trick or Treaters. I noticed tigers were a popular costume this year.

Because it was quite chilly, a lot of kids had to wear winter jackets over their costumes!

You can watch a video below to get a better feel of the ambience of my display. Unfortunately, it's quite dark, but you'll get the gist of it. A lot of kids said my display was great and they loved it! I think subtlety is better than those big inflatable ghosts that say "BOO" on them or too many disconnected props that have no other unifying theme to them except for the fact that they were in the Walmart Seasonal Department together. (I guess I shouldn't "dis" my neighbours, but that's what they did to their houses)

Hallowe'en 2009 Video

2009-11-01T10:11:00.002-05:00

Creative Ideas Are In The Consciousness

2009-10-24T17:36:00.004-04:00

Walking along Queen Sreet last night I came across this window display. Well, well, well....isn't that interesting? They had two owls done this way, and two coyotes as well! I didn't think you could get plastic coyote decoys. I found it interesting that they would paint everything black.
Even the tree stumps were painted black.
Anyway...I thought it was quite interesting to see that someone else had the same thought to light up the eyes of owl decoys!

Papier Maché

2009-10-19T14:29:00.009-04:00

Here's a turtle I had to make in 4 days!
First day:

Second day:

Third day:

Fourth day:

Finished and ready to be delivered!

An Arm and A Scythe

2009-10-13T17:18:00.002-04:00

These aren't finished, but here's one arm for my Grim Reaper...(sitting beside the half finished cauldron)

And this is the scythe that the Grim Reaper will be holding in his right hand.

Plastic Dollar Store Skull Transformation

2009-10-08T18:10:00.002-04:00

I only buy these cheap plastic skulls because they're easy to transform into something more interesting. I repainted this one and cut a hole through it to allow the wires of an other dollar store product...the LED flicker light to go through and become a burning candle on top.
I had to "hack" the LED light to lengthen the wires. It was so easy, a child can do it. All they need to know is red from black and how to use wire strippers. Easy.

Click HERE for a link that goes into more detail.

More Hallowe'en Stuff

2009-10-05T12:22:00.003-04:00

Yes, when I'm unemployed I keep myself busy with hobbies....and for some strange reason I often seem to be out of work around Hallowe'en. Hmmm. Strange...but anyway, here's the owl decoy BEFORE:

And AFTER:

It's going to be dark out so I exaggerated the markings a bit.

And here's a new project...the CAULDRON! I had a big plastic outdoor planter that was just the right size. I drew a template for the curves of the cauldron, made a whole bunch more out of cardboard and attached them with latex caulking. (I decided to use it because the masking tape wasn't working too great and I just happened to have some left-over caulking lying around the house)

I began to papier maché over the cardboard and now it's starting to look really cool. I'll post more photos as I progress.

Faux Verdigris Patina Technique

2009-10-01T13:22:00.006-04:00

I am including this image of a resin gargoyle statue just to show the colour of mine when I began. I didn't start photographing mine until I decided to do a patina...I originally painted it black....like iron...but then I changed my mind.I mixed gold craft acrylic with a small amount of dark brown and painted the whole statue. I allowed it to dry overnight.

I then took a forest green acrylic and applied that with a rag, buffing the colour onto the gold colour so it still showed through.

The next stage really makes it look great. I mixed a tiny drop of green and a bit of navy blue with white. I tried to achieve a milky turquoise and then I watered it down a bit. I painted it onto the statue a small area at a time making sure it got into all the cracks and crevices. Quickly I would wipe off the excess with a clean rag leaving it mostly in the crevices.

For the final step I watered down the turquoise even more and allowed it to run down the statue, blotting up the excess where I had applied it, but not the drips. Leaving the drips makes it look as though it has been out in the rain and weather.

And there you are. A fake bronze statue. This is more for indoor use...or just to be put out as a decoration on Hallowe'en. If you wanted to keep it outside in your garden you'd have to coat it with an acrylic sealer .....probably satin finish. I'm not going to bother with mine for now.

Giving An Owl Decoy Glowing Eyes

2009-09-28T13:10:00.010-04:00

First you need an "Owl Decoy"...you know...the plastic ones people use to try and keep pigeons away...but don't work? Anyway, an old neighbour was throwing this out, so I grabbed it.
I needed to make it look more creepy for Hallowe'en though, so I figured I'd give it glowing eyes.

I cut open the back of the head with a craft knife, leaving the top attached as a "hinge".

Inside the head I could see that the eyes were not clear. I decided to drill out the centres.

I did this carefully.....

and now I had openings to place LEDs into.

I noticed that the drill bit didn't go through the "glass" of the eyes, just the black plastic backing...which was good! I tried to drill out as much of the black "pupil" as I could.

Then I took an old LED assembly I had hacked from a miniature Christmas light set which I was originally planning on placing in a bush as "glowing eyes". I now had a much better use for it! You don't normally need batteries this large, but because I wanted to make use of the on/off switch, I'm using these. I was experimenting with "parallel" versus "series" wiring last Hallowe'en and I can't remember what I did here. There are a lot of good LED wiring tutorials on the Monsterlist of Halloween Projects
Anyway, I fit the lights into the holes I had drilled.

And now the owl's eyes light up! He'll look better in the dark.
I'll have to post later photos of him with his new paint job too. I'm going to repaint his markings to look more realistic.

Magic Powder Jars

2009-09-17T18:29:00.006-04:00

I decided to include some examples of "Magic Powders" for Hallowe'en props.

"Sacrificial Residue" is a mixture of old spices that had been hanging around for years. Some cinnamon, paprika, ground cloves etc. I think "Powder of the Undead" is a variation on that with some flour mixed in. "Magic Beans" are just the 'seeds' you get when you buy a pack of string beans to plant in your garden.

The "Pure Egyptian Mummy Dust" is flour and powdered ginger. My label for "Presifted Graveyard Dust" got damaged, but then I thought, "it's supposed to be old and ratty"....so I left it as is. "Dried Wolfbane" is actually Thyme from my garden.....dried. Remember, if you bottle anything moist, it will grow mold. It happened with some "Wormwood" I bottled, and now it's a terrible mess.

Shadow

2009-09-15T16:16:00.020-04:00

Just because she was being so cute again, I photographed my cat, Shadow.

She's an indoor cat. I don't let her outside because there are lots of raccoons around!

Macromedia Flash Revisited

2009-09-12T21:16:00.004-04:00

I recently had to remember how to use an older version of Flash, and while I was at it, I let my kids experience using it. My 12 year old son did the Cookie and my 8 year old daughter did the Alley Cat.

Shane Acker's 9

2009-09-09T17:01:00.009-04:00

I just saw the finished theatrical release of "9". I had the honor of working on it last year in the Layout department at Starz. I had to go to the movie website for these photos. I hope they don't mind. One thing I found amusing was that pictured here with Shane Acker is Dave Baas. On the site where these photos are from, Dave is labelled as "George Kraychyk" I have no idea why!
Dave is a master of Maya and he taught me a lot of what I know. Anyway, that's Dave on the left, in the blue shirt, and Shane on the right.

This film is a beautiful piece of artwork! The designs are excellent and original and the lighting and surfacing departments outdid themselves!

These still images don't do justice to the atmosphere and beauty of the actual film.

Here's the "cat beast" one of my favorite designs in the film. This creature is awesome in that it's so creepy and nightmarish, yet so beautifully put together. A masterpiece of biomechanical engineering!

The "machine" is also a phenomenal design! It was rigged beautifully also!

Here are two of my favorite characters, 3 and 4, also referred to as "the twins". Their mannerisms are cute and comical, everything done in pantomime because they don't talk.
Their designs and body language are great! I want toys of them!

Here's another shot of the "machine". It had to be anthropomorphized of course so the audience could tell what it was "thinking". It's more like an evil beast than a machine.

Now here's the creepiest creature of all! The "Seamstress"! She was very difficult to work because of all of her many parts. Her rigging was a bit awkward, but by the time she got to animation, I'm sure they had figured her out. I worked on quite a few scenes with her and as time went on, I started to get to know my way around her controls.

Using CG models is not unlike puppetry. I am always impressed with what the modellers at Starz are able to create. That studio is full of top notch talent and I was so thrilled to be able to work among them! This project was one to be proud of for sure!

More CNE Photos

2009-09-01T15:19:00.011-04:00

First of all, there were honey bees in the Farm building. The Queen has a dot on her back. This photo is a bit blurry and the bees were behind glass.

There was a petting zoo featuring a Yak who apparently acted in the latest "Mummy" film. His name is Kang. I think Yaks are great! Bos Grunnies! (actually Bos Grunniens, but Bos Grunnies sounds cuter!)

My son couldn't believe how cuddly the sheep were! I think he could've taken a nap on one right there!

Of course there were alpacas too!

Here's an interesting ride...a dragon roller coaster!

Kent and Maeve shared a car on the "Speedway" ride

And they also shared a cotton candy! Kent was going to try a blue apple, but we couldn't find them! The ones I photographed were gone! I guess that's a good sign!

Here's some footage of the kids on a carousel!

Weird Stuff at the CNE

2009-08-23T20:30:00.008-04:00

First of all...BLUE Candy Apples. I didn't want to even try one, no sir! This shade of blue isn't normally something I'd associate with food!

Someone in a Chicken Costume walking around. I think it was a promotion for Maple Leaf farms....but I'm not sure.
A Money Bear!? When I was a kid, we usually wanted a big fluffy cute teddy bear to be won for us....but what kid is going to want to snuggle up to a non-fluffy bear with money printed all over it? I don't think I wanna know!

Sadly, I think the Money Bear is much cuter than the giant Barney the Dinosaur toy hanging by its Achilles' tendon next to it.