Surprise! WE'RE MOVING!!

Nick and I have found ourselves on a lightning-fast search for a place for us to really settle some roots, and our good karma has landed right back in our lap - we've found ourselves a beautiful 2-bedroom open-concept apartment, just outside of downtown Brampton!  Hardwood floors throughout the entire apartment, kitchen with new appliances, and closet space galore!   (Plenty of room for all those shoes, my father would say!)   We'll be setting up the second bedroom as a workspace/music studio that both Nick and I can share, where I can be surrounded and inspired by a menagerie of musical instruments, and Nick can finally have the space he's always wanted to make his music flourish!  

I haven't any pictures right now of this beautiful space, but certainly will very soon!  My 365-Make n' Tell Challenges will mostly be revolved around decorating our little piece of planet Earth we call home, as well as organizing my jewelry workspace, while incorporating a shared space with Nick and his home studio for music recording.

Oh man, is he good.  I might be slightly biased, and I don't care; I know talent when I see it!  I know I show off enough with my own stuff all over this blog, so here's a chance to show off the love of my life doing what he loves to do in life!  This is Nick in his former band, Dali Circus, and a little taste of his guitar prowess. 




'Butterfly fingers', no?

See you in the new place!

Handmade Christmas Cards

Yes, yes, yes!  More holiday cheer!

I've always loved receiving handmade greeting cards.  The sentimentality of receiving a gift that someone has put lots of tender loving care into its creation says a lot more than a store-bought gift.  For someone on a holiday budget, it's the perfect option to give a token of love!

I thought I'd take a try on some handmade Christmas cards, since I love the art of 'cut n' paste' since I was a kid.  My talent has become quite refined since childhood, and I'm rather happy with the result!  Let me take you on a walk through what I had been doing over the past few days ...

Shooting Star card in red/yellow

 

 

'Bead People' Accessories

You know when you get started on a project that get you hooked?  Like, really, really in love with an idea, you just want to milk it for all you can get?  Well, that first custom order I got for the holidays had me going on an idea that just couldn't quit - bead people!

I had made one for myself to wear as a necklace, and a few more as key fobs, and two more that require more 'surgery'.  Check 'em out!

Bead People necklace

 

Bead People key fobs

 

 

 

These two are still on the 'waiting list' for 'donor parts', so to speak.  I've got a little more diving to do into my stash.

 
This little project is also a great way to use up those oddly shaped beads you may have in your stash and you have no idea what to do with them.  I have quite a number of these kinds of beads myself that I was considering donating, trading or destashing on my Etsy shop, and now seeing them with a fresh new project in mind has reinstated their 'value' amongst my most treasured.

So I guess you could say, 'a beader's trash is another project's treasure!'

Wordless Wednesday, Issue #7: Full Moon

A full moon on Tuesday night.

 

 

 

 

Photography credit: Nick Lee

MORE Handmade Christmas Ornaments!

The holiday season is upon us!  Well, it's a month and a bit away, and the perfect time to start preparing was a month ago for artisans like myself!  I've been working like wildfire making a whole slew of Christmas goodies, kicking it off with my first custom order of the season.  I snagged these felt cutouts from my local dollar store when my imagination went wild with the ideas these little wonders gave me!  (I've already used them as part of my Christmas gift wrap!)  These ones can be hung from doorknobs, tree boughs, rear view mirrors, or anywhere else you'd like to enjoy these lovely holiday fineries.  I even had time to list them in my Etsy shop, with more fun holiday stuff to come!  You'll find it all in the d b c H O L I D A Y section in the shop.

Star of Light ornament

 

 

Monologue Writing

William Shakespeares' "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar", Aquila Theater Company, New York City

I had sent this email just this evening to a friend of mine on Twitter who was having some trouble with a university project, which required her to either write a monologue or a two-part dialogue.  (She considered the dialogue to be a 'cop-out', so we know what her decision is!)  I had sent her this email, hoping to inspire her, and to approach it at a different angle.  Here's what I wrote to my friend:

Okay, so you want to write a monologue.  It's not as daunting as you think, when you apply yourself to it. 

I'd been doing theatre all my life, and I love the acting craft.  I have so much appreciation for everything having to do with breathing life into words on paper, flushing them out into moving pictures and beyond talking heads.  I think one of the big misunderstandings about the words in the script is that the playwright must been a keen observer of the human spirit, psyche and nature to compose such natural dialogue.  Boy, I wonder how people speak themselves, if it isn't in natural dialogue?

That's the big hurdle - making sure it sounds natural and not contrived.  The only way I could ever find my way around that was to write about something I felt passionate about.  I say 'passionate', because it could be something I truly love, or deeply despise, or desperately yearn for, or something that's cut me deep.  The moment could be of pure clarity in making an important decision in your life, or a tyrannical rant when your last straw has broken.  You could be confessing your love for someone who doesn't return it, or declaring your disgust after being witness to something you stand against.