G I N G E R * U R C H I N

of the owl and the pussycat

2012-05-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

Do you know of the Travelling Blythe project?

Brainchild of Sandra, aka Minkidynamite, this year-long project first began in 2009 with the 'simple' idea of sending two special Blythe dolls created by Vainilladolly (Luka) and Sammydoe (Perrin) on a journey across four continents to travel and explore the globe, visiting some 50 dolly friends along the way. The inaugural journey concluded with an exciting live raffle of the travellers to decide their final destinations and new homes. You can read more about Luka and Perrin's fun and adventures here.

Last year you may recall I was commissioned to create an outfit for Amelia, the special custom doll created by G*Baby for last year's round. Well it pleases me no end to say that I am lucky enough to actually be playing hostess to one of this year's traveller-adventurers!

{ Aurora the purple traveller, by Kaleidoscope Kustoms }

Customised for the project by Sarah of Kaleidoscope Kustoms, in the next few days I shall be taking my part in hosting Aurora, and giving her a peek at my tiny corner of Canada. In addition to showing her some of the local sights, I shall be gifting her this special wool felt garment and companion I have made to take along on her journey. Hosts are permitted to include small tokens for their traveller to collect along the way and I thought long and hard about what my contribution to Aurora's luggage would be, for how could I not include a little piece of Ginger*Urchin?

Already with at least one gorgeous handmade dress in her luggage and many more I am sure on their way to her, I wanted to make her something a little more unusual and that was in keeping with her owl 'theme' as illustrated on those amazing hand-painted eyelids of hers. Then when Sarah shared more of Aurora's story about how she enjoyed travelling through the forests at night, slowly the idea of an owl cloak for her to wear on those silent nightly walks came into being. The last element of this gift came about in a sudden flash of inspiration when another photo of her sparked my recollection of Edward Lear's rhyme, 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. With that, the concept of the be-feathered owl cloak and companion puss-cat came into being.

For the cloak I wanted to evoke the notion of a shamanic shape-shifter whose cloak of feathers transforms her from human to bird and considered a couple of options before settling on the idea of using all wool felt for both cloak and feathers. The basic cloak shape was hand-sewn from a Japanese pattern I have, while the feathers were all cut and stitched individually by hand - all 103 of them! It closes simply at the neck with a hook and eye.

The companion felt cat is of my own creation, and went through a couple of incarnations in the design stage before settling on this one. His final colouration was decided with the recollection of a certain episode of The Magic Roundabout when Dougal encounters a strange blue cat. Aurora's new friend has acquired a few feathers of his own and there is definitely something mischievous about his character, but nothing too wicked I am certain *wink!* I am sure he will be a true and perfect companion for her in the months to come.

With all the work and time and planning I have poured into these over the past weeks, I am more that a little excited to see these being enjoyed by Aurora herself as she continues her journey around the globe, and will be eagerly ~~stalking~~ watching the official Flickr group for the latest news and updates of her onward journey!

today in my sunroom

2012-05-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Just a peek at my worktable from earlier today... I am almost (almost) done working on a new little mini-plush friend as part of that very special project I sneaked you a peek of earlier. Can't wait to show you when all is complete! xOx

from the weekend

2012-05-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

This long weekend the rodeo came to town and though it is rainy and chill today, it wasn't so bad for the parade through the town yesterday. As usual we donned out jeans and cowboy hats and joined my folks with the punklings to watch the mix of vintage cars, horseriders, clowns and firetrucks. Today with a disturbed sleep in the middle of the night, I am all out of sorts as to what day of the week it is and am struggling to get a grip on the many things that clamour for my attention. I feel like I am getting nowhere fast. Hopefully with The Boy back in school tomorrow things may fall into place. 'til Then I am calling the day quits and look to beginning again tomorrow.

On a brighter note, I have recently launched a new Flickr group for the sharing of pictures of dolls past and present wearing Ginger*Urchin fashions, any mini-plush friends that were made by me, or projects inspired by the diy tutorials I have shared here. I thought it was about time I had a proper home for them to gather, and would love it if you would come join and share. Find out more here.

on being fearful

2012-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

It seems there has been much discussion and talk on the ether of late of our self-worth, our secret fears, our inner shadows that seem to manifest as we live this (online) self-expressive existence. I may add my own voice to the list of these, but today it came up in a chain of thought that brought me to pondering a passage from the beginning of the Artist's Way: that of our deep fears. Or rather, our core (unconscious) negative beliefs that stop us in our tracks of our pursuit of living as full creative beings. In the passage in question Julia lists twenty of these such beliefs, many of which I can relate to, but the one that most stuck out for me today was just three words: I will die. For me this deep fear is not so much that if I persist in continuing this creative life I am making the outcome will be my death, but rather the opposite: that if I don't live this creative life, the not doing so will kill me. That if I don't follow my dreams I will be forever lamenting the "I wish I had done that when I had the chance" kind of death.

The Mister and I felt similarly when we decided to stop just talking about moving abroad, but actually make the necessary first (scary) steps and begin our application process. The thought of getting into our middle years, let alone our dotage and thinking back to when we 'played it safe' rather than following this dream, made us (well at least me anyway) quite sick to the stomach. We agreed that it was better to have pursued the idea and failed in the attempt, than to not have tried at all. After all, we said, we could be there and back again in less than five years. We have been living that dream now for three years this month.

Anyways, aside from my own inner fears, this whole mind set of stubbornly persisting and listening to the whispers of my muse, reminded me today of the brilliant poem by Dawna Markova. I first discovered her words of truth way back in my college days on a greetings card and which I have kept ever since. Over the years it has at various times featured on my inspiration board and has held many layers of meaning and significance at different times in my life. Some two decades later it is still the poem that speaks to me most profoundly.

{ Dawna Markova quotation, illustrated and available for download by Caitidid Designs }

And that is it: to live a full life of playing with fire. Of daring to do what others would not. Of daring to do what our fears would not have us do, but doing that thing all the same.

My final stop on this train of thought is from a scene in Children of Dune when Leto Atreides faces an oncoming sandstorm in the desert: "I must not fear, for fear is the mind-killer. I will face my fear and let it pass through me... Only I will remain." As Leto discovers, only by embracing our fears can we move forward and become the thing we are meant to be. It is the path that can bring rewards we cannot yet imagine.

What fears are holding you back? What would you do if you could set your fear aside and still step forward? You are very welcome to whisper your thoughts here if you wish, or simply ponder them quietly in your own time... Hugs, XO

miniature // everyone's lunch picnic basket

2012-05-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday folks! Following an earlier request for a closer look at this amazing picnic basket, I thought I'd recommence my little miniatures series with this set from Re-Ment's Everyone's Lunch series. I hope you enjoy this as much as I...

Have a fabulous week! xo, Beka
PS. if you like this you can see some tasty European pastries here and a sweet little bluebird's tea set here...

notes from home and studio

2012-05-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my goshness! Things have just been a little crackers round here. At the eleventh hour I had a total redesign of the blog redesign so everything that was going to be went out the window and I went back to the drawing board. Basically the direction I was going in just didn't sit right - I guess that was why I had been holding back on it for so long and not letting it go. But the new look? Suddenly inspiration struck and I just went for it. Things are just like that sometimes, I guess. Anyway I feel a whole lot lighter and fresher with this uber-minimal look, though I think if I go any further it will just blow away on the ether *grin*

So here we are.

I'll be adding a few more pages of content and links to the sidebar in the coming days and weeks, but everything is set for now and I can get back into the jig of regular blogging again.

Aside from the blog, in the background I have also been and continue to be in the process of some new and creative things, some of which I am still not quite ready to spill the beans on. So in the meantime I thought to share a few notes from around here lately...

▲ ...been making use of our awesome library system and ordering up some great historical tv dramas that we just missed out on due to our move here and subsequent lack of 'live' tv. Have been working our way through marathons of Rome (season one) and The Tudors (season three) respectively. Costume overload!

▲ ...have totally got obsessed with Petite Blythes and have added another not just one, but now two to my collection! This will be it for quite a while though, truly *grin!* And naturally, I've been having fun stitching up some cute little felty frocks for them too...

▲ ...been enjoying some good long conversations over hot morning beverages with some fellow creative souls full of encouragement and inspiration for each of our journeys. Good things are happening...

▲ ...the Mister treated me to a new Wacom Bamboo tablet the other week, something that I have been thinking about for almost a year and which I absolutely cannot wait to get working with. I have been holding off due to the blog design, but am looking forward to exploring the possibilities that this will bring over the weekend...

▲ ...making use of the fine weather and been busy in the garden de-weeding, turning over and replanting one of the banks on our plot with some new deer-resistant shrubs. Next job is to make some bug nets so we don't get eaten alive when the mosquitos come, which looks like to be in the very next couple of weeks. Fun!

▲ ...and whipped up a small batch cranberry chocolates for my mom for Sunday. For myself I have been promised a yummy breakfast in bed by the Mister and his helpmates *grin!*

I think that's about it from me; what's been happening for you lately?

goodbye april

2012-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

And hello May! Can it really be May already?! April seems to have vanished in the blink of an eye and spring is bursting out all over between the rain showers. Before you know it we'll be deep in the throws of summer!

Anyways... I wanted to pop in and say hello to you and that I will be back to blogging regularly again as of Monday when I will welcome you properly to the new look Ginger*Urchin blog. For the moment though I'm still working through the last details of that new design. If things start to look a bit kooky and dysfunctional around here, especially in the later part of the week, please just know I am fiddling in the background and all shall be well again in time for Monday. Fun *grin!*

In the meantime I was eager to share a little sneak preview of a rather special garment I have been busy making for a very special visitor I am hosting later this month. I am truly excited to share the finished piece with you! But more on all that later. For now I hope you are suitably intrigued and wish you a very lovely week! I have missed you all immensely.

XO Beka

{lightness} earth day

2012-04-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

{ Cecily and the Butterflies // an original photo taken in July 2010, reworked for today }

Let our time on this earth be as light in it's passing as a butterfly's wing. Step barefoot on your patch of good earth today and feel our home planet breathe below you... Health and peace to you on this happy Earth Day! XO, Beka

{breathe} taking a time out

2012-04-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Funny dream: last night I dreamt that because I hadn't blogged in a while someone hacked into my account and wrote it for me. Not sure whether that is funny ha-ha or funny peculiar... *grin!* Obviously even in my sleep the fact that I have let my blogging routine slip a little was playing on my mind. And this post.

I alluded to it in my last post, but in the time between then and now I feel that I need to take some time and space to work on some behind the scenes changes that have been evolving for a while. I thought I could soldier on through these whispers until a later date, but they have been getting increasingly urgent and seeing that I promised myself that I would be following my 'bliss' this year, it seems I need to pay attention to what they are saying. For real.

And so as much as I absolutely love blogging and would love to have the super-powers of Wonder Woman, I am instigating 'the April Break' so as to unplug and focus on getting these behind the scenes plans (including a re-design of z'is 'ere blog) all straight. I hope you won't mind. Much like it's alter ego, 'the August Break', I hope to pop in once a week to share a few photos of what I've been up to (and so you still know I am alive and kicking over here), but no wordy birdy-ness for the remainder of the month.

Having spent a lot of time exploring, trying out new things, and reading the wise words from my favourite mentors who have helped me to both unravel and then re-envision myself, I am ready to begin again. I hope you'll come along with me. In the meantime, I wish you a lovely holiday weekend - looks like the weather's going to be good for getting out in the garden and digging a new vegetable plot. What are your plans?

<3 Beka

{words} favourite reads from my week

2012-03-31T14:50:00.001-07:00

{ photo taken during my 52 Weeks of Blythe project, reworked for today }

This week a project that has been in the works for a while now has gone from 'maybe' to 'definitely' and so I have been busily engrossed in pulling ideas together and setting things in motion. Alas I have nothing to show for myself just yet on that, though I should be able to elaborate sometime next week. What I can say is that I am very excited to be involved in this project, it has the potential for some major changes round here and thusly I am uber-inspired and raring to go!

In the meantime I thought I would share some of my personal favourites from around jolly blogland these past couple weeks that have been caught on my radar... Maybe you have read these already, but I just wanted to reitterate how much I enjoyed and was excited by them. I hope you like these too...

foxy pillows and new journals

...I totally loved these cute fox pillows from Red Velvet Art when they first shared them originally, so I was delighted to read Elsie's tutorial on how to make them: it has given me a cute idea for an upcoming gift. I also recieved a fresh new wave of enthusiasm for art journaling on reading her fun, scrappy, collage-style spring journal diy...

this great reminder

...from the Say Something Poster Project via Jessica Swift, "...even small steps in the right direction can add up and make a big difference in the long run. As long as you keep working toward your dreams and goals, even if it’s just a few minutes each day, you can achieve them." This is such a true and needed thing in these busy lives of ours...

on making ethical and successful blog pitches

...awesome advice from the fabulous and wise Miss Modish on making your pitches to blogs successful and ethical to both yourself and those you are approaching with your next brilliant idea. Having been at least on the receiving end of some myself, I felt this was great advice for all sides and in many respects was very similar to the way you should approach anyone or business you want to work with, online or off...

the art of abstraction

...Alisa Burke will be adding another online class to her growing list on April 9th. From the title it sounds very intruiging and I will definately be watching her blog for all the details and giveaway this Monday!

who is an artist

...and I loved Leonie's confident and reassuring reminder that whatever we may think otherwise, we are all artists and shouldn't be so fearful in claiming that 'title' as our own. As one who is only just starting to feel comfortable with this label myself, this was a spirit-affirming reminder...

What things have stood out to you this past week?

{baked} lemon poppyseed loaf

2012-03-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

In the mood for a more 'everyday' cake but not a sponge or fruit cake, I adapted Nigella's madeira cake recipe from her book, How to be a Domestic Goddess.

This is the second time I have made this cake, but it has been a while and I had forgotten how dreamily light and fluffy this cake is. It is just the thing needed after the recent wave of chocolate and sweet party foods. Of course I did have to pour a light lemon icing over it, but it is really not essential if you are in the need for homebaked cake with less fuss, and can be enjoyed just as well without.

Needed: 240g butter spread, 200g granulated sugar, juice of 1 1/2 lemons, the finely chopped peel of 1 lemon, 3 organic eggs, 210g self-raising flour, 90g of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds.

In a mixer cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon peel. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of flour for each. Gently mix in the rest of the flour, and then the lemon juice. Finally add the poppyseeds until evenly distributed throughout the batter. Bake at 325 F for about an hour, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Let cool in the tin on a wire rack before turning out.

The icing was made very simply by mixing approximately 4 tablespoons of icing sugar with the juice of one lemon before being spooned over the length of the cake and allowed to drizzle over the sides *grin*

Enjoy! xo, Beka

{miniature} european pastries

2012-03-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hello! Back again with another of my Re-ment miniature sets from my collection. As much as I like baking I seem to like collecting miniatures of sweet treats and baked goods too! This is the European Pastries set from the Handmade Bakery collection. At one point I was looking for an elegant cake stand for a photoshoot, and thought this one was just perfect. Though I can identify the scones and chocolate mini-bunts (I think), I am not sure of the identity of the final cakes. Muffins, maybe? Each cake is small enough to rest on the tip of my little finger! Quite tiny! The tongs shown are actually from another set within the collection, but they are so useful when moving these mini treats about.

I don't really have any 'plan' as such with my mini collection as I am not aiming to collect every piece like some, but rather my collection grows out of a desire to have the right props for a photoshoot or theme I have in mind at a particular time. Which is why it is growing in the haphazard way that it does. Right now I am working towards tracking down some miniature pies *grin!*

What things do you collect? Is there a 'plan' to your collection, or is it's growth more organic?

Have a great Monday! XOXO

{fluid} spirit in motion

2012-03-24T09:59:00.002-07:00

{ excerpt from the Scheherazade Pas de Deux by Alonzo King Lines Ballet }

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to join my mom and dad and go to a performance of Scheherazade by the Alonzo King Lines Ballet. I was especially keen to go see this performance as it was very much a contemporary interpretation of the ancient narrative with streamlined costumes, minimal yet effective set design and a powerful music score.

It has been far too long since I saw such things, let alone danced anywhere near like this myself, and watching the exquisitely fluid and expressive movements of the dancers I could feel my heart fill with the familiar but strangely disconnected longing that my spirit recalls in moving this way myself. Disconnected because it was not me, but another doing the dancing. I was the onlooker and this felt awkward somehow. As I sat there watching, it made me wonder if this feeling was experienced by any that witness others manifesting a familiar artform. Do painters feel this when watching another paint? Or actors when viewing another play a familiar part?

In an interview with Le Monde prior to it's world premier Alonzo King said, "...the dancer must... have a great understanding of the nature of things, and be able to become them... The dancer lives in the realm of thought ideas before they become spoken words... In dancing there is also meaning over and above what would be thought of as 'just dancing'." From personal experience as one who feels this flow of connection when dancing myself, I agree: dancing is very much the expression of feeling that words have yet to. I also sense this is the same for painters and other wordless arts. At least in the moment of manifesting that art. It is a tapping into spirit. And in witnessing others be there in the moment I guess that was what my soul was longing...

Have you ever felt this way when witnessing others make art in your own creative field?
Does it inspire you to return to that artform again?
What have you done to resolve this desire?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below.
xo, Bex

{make} diy fridge magnet poetry

2012-03-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

To those like me who love words, Happy World Poetry Day! Inspired by this day, Tammy's recent post on how she randomises her favourite quotations to create unique phrases for her art journaling, and recalling my old set of art-themed fridge poetry, I thought it would be a bit of silly fun to create my own unique set of magnetised word tiles for some random refridgerator 'poetry' creation...

Before you can make the individual tiles, you will need to compile a list of topic-related words (I chose Blythe-related ones for this set), along with a bunch of more frequently used words - the DuBois Learning Centre has a great list from which to pick.

Enter them into your prefered word editing software, sort and weed out duplicates. Change everything to lowercase, apply a paragraph spacing rule and multiple columns to each page to evenly distribute and maximise the number of words to a page. After printing a draft version to check size, spacing, spelling, etcetera, print the final document onto sheets of photo paper.

I chose to use sticky-back magnetic strip for this project as it was what I already had on hand, plus I feel that it was more cost effective than the larger sheets when taking the potential wastage into account. But either would work fine for this project - whatever makes it easier for you.

To make the magnetic word tiles themselves I began by slicing the photo word lists into strips using my paper cutter (an Xacto knife and metal rule would also work). Then I trimmed these strips down into little blocks of text with scissors before adhering them one at a time to my roll of sticky-back magnetic strip. Finally I cut each of these little blocks into the individual word tiles, snipping away any unwanted extra. While really easy to do, it is a little time-consuming...

Now you have your very own set of fun little word magnets for creative fridge poetry to amuse your house fellows, leave cryptic messages and maybe inspire the odd art journal page *grin!* Enjoy! XOXO, Beka

{miniature} bluebird's tea party

2012-03-19T12:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday and welcome to the start of a new 'mini' series on the Ginger*Urchin blog! I have a love of miniaturised things and have been collecting them for many years whenever I am able. I guess it's a girl thing *grin!* Anyway, I wanted to find a way to record my growing collection of miniature things and to share it with you, thus the creation of this little series. To start I thought I'd begin with this little fairytale tea set from Re-ment. My favourite pieces are the leaf-shaped and butterfly pieces, though they are all very pretty and perfect for a whimsical little spring-time picnic.

Do you collect miniature things? For more Re-ment addition, you can browse the dedicated Flickr group!
xo, Bex

{posted} pretty bespoke packaging

2012-03-17T12:36:00.003-07:00

This week I have been busy sewing up a pretty dress for a very lovely customer and yesterday it was all wrapped up pretty and shipped out to them. Just like gift-wrapping for highdays and holidays, putting together pretty packaging for my little shop is one of my next favourite things: I like to think of each parcel not as merely a purchase, but as a special gift for a dear friend.

I have two modes of packaging my handmade creations, either dinky box 'crates' for the mini-plush critters filled with paper shreddings harvested from the Mister's establishment of business, or padded envelope mailers for the dolls' clothes. Alas, I tried converting to all paper recyclable padded envelopes once but the impact on shipping costs was quite hideous so it is back to bubble-padded ones for the time being, though I am always on the lookout for greener alternatives. But I digress...

It has taken me some experimentation to figure out my packaging set-up, but I think I have finally got a nice workable 'kit' that I am the most pleased with. As I was packing things up yesterday I took the opportunity to take some photos as I thought you might like to see my current 'kit':

From the top left: purchases wrapped all neat in bright pink tissue and sealed with my new favourite paper tape from Tim Holtz; a handmade thank you card made with handcut paper leaves sewn to recycled cards; postcard-sized photo printed using my home printer; two mini cards, again printed at home, tied with ribbon for use as a bookmark if folks so wish; little handmade matchbook-style notepad for popping in a pocket or purse. Everything is then tucked inside one of my signature black candy stripe paper bags, sealed again with paper tape and tied with a fabric scrap ribbon before placing inside the bubble mailer. All nice and pretty, don't you think?

Are you a package prettifier, or do you go for a more 'minimal' approach?
What was your most memorable happy mail?
xo, B

{threads} feels like spring is here

2012-03-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Boy is on spring break this week and next, and although a fresh sugar-dusting layer of snow is on the ground outside, the sky is blue and clear and bright and I am definitely feeling that spring vibe as the sun pours in through the window just that little bit longer each day. Don't you just love it when that happens?

Uplifted with the sense of a new warmer season, I find myself sensing a refreshed wave of dolly love for the ones that started it all. The Neos. At a moment in between available slots to work on a little bespoke order this week, I pulled out the little wooden chest that I keep their things in and rooted through to see what spring style I could mix up. It's been a good year since I last really spent some quality time with my Neos, and so it was with fresh eyes that I could see the possibilities.

This light and airy ensemble of handmade goodness was what I came up with for my first dolly closet remix of twenty-twelve...

Cecily wears // lace knit top, ruffle-hem skirt, over-knee socks and cotton lace scarflet all handmade; knitted beret by Black Bunny and stock shoes from Miss Sally Rice

xo, B ©

{play} slumber party

2012-03-11T17:58:00.004-07:00

Feeling all disjointed with the clock change, a power outage first thing and a 'brunch' that was very nearly lunch, today has felt very peculiar and my thoughts were scattered. So what did I do? I took the day to pause and just spend some time getting out my much neglected Neos for a little playtime. With such an odd and lazy day, and with thoughts of The Boy's first sleepover happening next weekend, I dressed them all for a little pyjama party photoshoot of their own...

Tomorrow will be a better day I am sure, and I will be back into my routine *grin* ...Hoping your Sunday was less disjointed than mine! XO, Bex

Ginger*Urchin Neos wearing handmade romper sets available this week only in my pop-up boutique.

{fresh} spring green salad

2012-03-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Feeling the first stirrings of spring I looked for some fresh green colour inspiration around me and found it in among my fridge salad drawer...

Just a little green spring salad I threw together for lunch. Will go very nicely with some buttered fresh-baked granary bread...

xo, B ©

{no pin} or why I have opted out of pinterest

2012-03-06T14:57:00.001-08:00

{ She Saw it on Pinterest, painting by Amy Rice }

To pin or not to pin, that is the question...

Well for the time being at least I have decided that I am opting out of Pinterest. To this end, and with heavy heart, I have deleted my pinboards and installed the 'no pin' meta tag here on Ginger Urchin. Long ago I had opted out of sharing my images from my Flickr, being concerned that my personal photos got misused, but this too is now automatic on all copyrighted images (though I advise you to double-check your settings to be sure if you feel likewise).

What made me decide this course of action when I read into the issue more was not so much the ethics of correctly sharing images on the ether, but more the discovery that by pinning images to the site, I was firstly claiming either copyright ownership or the permission to share those images and then handing over the right to sell those images to Pinterest (or rather their holding company). Unless I have got my wires crossed. Furthermore, it is pin etiquette to avoid self promotion and therefore pinning your own work anyway. So what exactly does that leave you to ethically pin in the end*?

Yes, I do realise it was my own fault for not reading the Terms of Use more closely in my eagerness to enjoy the apparent benefits of Pinterest, but even if I hadn't signed up that does not prevent my images from being pinned by others and open to risk. Don't get me wrong: I absolutely, totally get overjoyed to know that something I shared inspired someone else enough to want to save and share it (and I love you forever for that), but like Anile of Girl Friday, I do have issue with 'granting permission' to a site that claims automatic selling rights to anything I choose to share on the ether. There has to be a better way.

Sharing the Love

And I believe there is. In fact there have always been lots of ways we can both express our joy in what we find on the ether: we can return to bookmarking our favourites; Tweet and reTweet; post it to Facebook or Google+; heart it on Etsy or add it to our Flickr favourites; subscribe or follow; add our comments of admiration; and even write them a short email if we are so moved. All good and lovely and meaningful ways of sharing our gratitude for the things we love in a clean, direct-to-source way.

After deleting my boards and installing the code, I actually realised what a good thing this was for me creatively. Like any soup bowl of information it can get more than a little overwhelming (and depressing) with all those wonderful, awesome, beautiful ideas all at my fingertips. But if I spend long enough there my head just hurts trying to see the wood for all the trees and rather than being the potentially amazing source of inspiration and reference I hoped it to be, it just ends up knocking me back. As you may recall, this year I promised myself that I would strive for a cleaner inspiration source that would allow for the space to actually listen to my own muse more faithfully. I guess I'm talking about 'the great unplug'.

Going back to Source

Going back to Source (and not just online), I think, is incredibly important as creatives and seekers. Pinterest with it's quick fix is making us lazy in this regard and we are loosing our connections rather than gaining them. So if I have made you a little sad that you can no longer 'pin me', think of it this way: that by opting out, I am encouraging you to follow the path to source (which accompany all the images I choose to share in this space). Who knows, you may find something even more inspiring to you on your journey, and that is so much more valuable.

Wow! If you've made it all the way to here, I want to truly thank you for your time. In return, I want to offer you one happier, brighter thing before you go from here:

Check out Alisa Burke's latest mini class: a FREE five-part class on Finding Your Muse. Couldn't be more timely, no? Plus, for a limited time she is offering a $10 discount on all her classes, including both the Sketchbook Delight and Grafitti Chic classes I have taken.

xoxo, Bex ©

*Recipes appear to be among those things that are copyright exempt.

{fish} life in a goldfish bowl

2012-03-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yes! We have a couple of new pets in House B... Meet 'Goldie' and 'Nemo', the punks' new goldfish. They've been going on about having some fish for a long, long while and we finally decided to let them as a joint birthday present once we found just the right kind of tank we had in mind. Afterall, what could be better for a couple of Pisceans, than two goldfish? *hehe!* We've been finding them quiet mesmerising to watch as they drift about their new home. I could watch them for hours... Fun!

This weekend is a surprise extended long one for The Boy while his teachers undertake some industrial action (it's the way of things, I guess), so I'm not sure yet how we will entertain ourselves for the extra days (you know, apart from watching the goldfish *grin*). I'm thinking we may go see the new exhibition at the Science Centre with my folks one day. We shall see... At least after last weekend's party madness I am looking forward to spending some quiet time back in my studio catching up on some sewing that was put aside for the while. And I'm looking forward to driving into town and acquiring some new stationery for another organising project that is a bee in my bonnet right now. I'm thinking of treating myself to some pretty pieces from the new Martha Stewart range at Staples... *sigh!*

What would you do with a surprise, last minute extended weekend?
How do you like to follow/read your favourite blogs?

Happy Weekend! Make it fun! XO

{prehistoric} a handmade birthday party

2012-02-29T20:08:00.001-08:00

So the party is over, the crafts have been made, the games have been played, the presents are opened and being enjoyed, the treats are not quite all gone, and the decorations are down. Almost. At least for this round: The Boy's first sleepover is just another three weeks away, but that is another story...

After weeks of planning and researching ideas it was great to see everything finally come together, often with surprising speed, and be enjoyed in the way of organised chaos that birthday parties for little ones usually are...

Explorers' Photo Booth - Creating a simple tissue fringe backdrop edged with giant card leaves for the children to stand infront of, we dug out some suitable hats, a cheapy magnifying glass, some large plastic dinosaurs, an old picture frame and made some quick card moustaches-on-sticks using this free template for some silly fun dressing-up. In order that the guests could take home their photo booth snaps at the end, I used my instax camera for a quick solution. The children were fascinated by their 'magic' pictures and were excited to watch them to appear.

Salt Dough Fossils - Modifying a couple of tutorials, I made up the coffee-scented dough mix the morning of the party. Keeping it in the fridge 'til we need it allowed it to dry out just enough so as to not be too sticky. Doing this early on in the party gave us enough time to bake them hard before everyone took them home...

Dinosaur Egg Relay - I made simple foam dinosaur feet, using this template as a guide, for the children to wear during this adapted classic relay: the children took it in turns to pretended they were dinosaurs moving their eggs from one nest site (a basket of paper shreddings) to another...

Hatch the Egg - Using brown paper grocery bags that I like to save for painting on, I had fun wrapping a multi-layered 'egg' tucking mini toy dinosaurs in between the layers. The dinosaurs were then used in the final project: the making of their Miniature Dinosaur Gardens, like I shared here previously.

Other activities included Feed the Hungry Dinosaur, a ball toss game using play balls and pop-up tunnel; and a Dinosaur Egg Hunt using fillable eggs with mini chocolate eggs inside. Interspersed between organised games and activities, the children free-played with a variety of dinosaur puzzles and toys that the punks have...

For the Birthday Tea, there was a selection of veggie sticks, cherry tomatoes and grapes, corn chip 'dinosaur claw clippings', breadsticks and mini rolls before the sweet stuff. Colourful jellies and iced butter cookies (dinosaur-shaped this time, of course) are becoming my party staples, and I couldn't resist making Nigella's (dinosaur) egg nests which seemed very fitting.

Inspired by the one illustrated in One Charming Party's plan, my mom made the birthday cake (dark chocolate), which I filled with homemade raspberry jam and decorated with quite probably the best chocolate icing recipe I have found and a variety of rock and egg shaped candies...

To drink, I kept it simple with homemade chocolate 'mud' milk mixed and served in preserving jars: something I've been wanting to do for the longest time *grin!*

I also made up some quick and easy hand-printed party bags using trusty paper lunch sacks and the same foam stamp I had used for the invites, this time using white paint. In these guests could carry their completed dinosaur gardens, photo booth snap, chocolate filled dinosaur eggs, an activity sheet I had put together as a simple placemat using found freebies on the ether and a dinosaur pencil and shaped eraser.

Like I said, everything came together really well and was enjoyed, chaotically as it was, by everyone who came. The best compliment of all though was from the birthday boy himself who simply told me he loves me. Who could possibly want more than that? Happy Leap-Day! xoxo, B ©

{obsolete} change is the only constant

2012-02-27T05:09:00.002-08:00

{ Museum of Obsolete Objects, by Jung von Matt // discovered via The Dew Drop Inn }

"...While our daily lives become more and more digital, some things just vanish. They simply became obsolete..."

And so it it seems to be also with Google Friend Connect. As you have probably already heard on the ether, as of March 1st, Google Friend Connect will no longer be available to non-Blogger blogs. Authors of affected sites are being encouraged to create Google+ pages with a Google+ badge on their blogs in order to retain and keep in touch with their community of followers. You can read the full article on the Official Google Blog here.

Reading about, I am not alone in feeling that it won't be long before this tool is no longer available on Blogger blogs either and that this is only the first phase of it's entire 'retirement'. After all, it makes no sense to have it available to some and not to all. So what to do?

Well personally while I *love!* the idea of having everything in the same pot, I cannot ignore that readers subscribe through a variety of means depending on their personal preferences. And while GFC seemed like a great idea (that 'one-pot-for-all' one) in the beginning, the ties between blogging and social media have grown ever richer as time has gone on and we are far more sophisticated and savvy users.

A while ago now I replaced the default GFC follow widget with my own button having got fed up with it being so tempromental, and with it the visual hang-ups of worrying about 'the numbers'. Which was all fine and dandy. With the impending phasing out of Google Friend Connect altogether, I feel it is therefore time to remove it (and so I have done). In it's place there are now options for you to subscribe via email or reader, whichever is your preference. You can also 'follow' me on Bloglovin (whose clean, fresh interface I totally love), or simply add me manually to your Google Reader.

I will continue to investigate options and am open to any bright ideas or recommendations you may have, so please do share them below as I want to make this nice and easy for everyone. Thank you ©

{smash*} my junk drawer book

2012-02-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

Do you Smash*? So I *think* I heard about these originally on Teesha Moore’s blog, but over the months and weeks these have filtered several times into my world from the ether. At the time, and for a long time, I kind of dismissed them as being just another pre-packaged, slightly gimmicky, blank journal. After all, weren’t they just a dressed up version of the old style scrapbook-diary that gave a home to all those bits and pieces of flotsam that make us smile, but don’t know what else to do with?

However... even I, she who loves to do-it-myself and probably would do another time, couldn’t get this concept out of my head and just had to see ‘what was so special’ about them in person. This of course is fatal: for some people it’s shoes or handbags, for me it’s stationery; and in particular, fresh, new notebooks... *cough* So I got me one with the plan to use it as that catch-all for my paper flotsam dotted about and see how I got on with the idea...

...some of my favourite blank pages. The quote says, "for Beauty to grow we must nourish it with Inspiration". I like that. If anyone can enlighten me as to the artist whose doodles feature in the red Smash* book, I'd love to know...

Well one could say that I have been having a ‘smashing’ time with my doodle-style book and have already used up the little glue stick that comes with the combo pen, and it’s not even full!

...some cards and cute packaging from handmade sellers...

...some recent happy mail. I LOVE that pretty Fiona Hewitt card, and the stickers remind me of playing Happy Families as a kid *grin*...

...and a couple more pages. This is getting fat really quickly and I love the multi-layered look of all the pages together...

I have to admit, I really like my Smash* book for the purpose I bought it for. While I could spend my time artifying a blank book, or even binding my own from scratch, sometimes you just want to get stuck into the guts of a thing and this (or something like it) is just the book for that. It's a really nice size, the pages are surprisingly sturdy (more like card than paper) and with fun doodles and prompts scattered throughout, they are ready to go. While I did also treat myself to one of the cute little bookmarks to go with, I chose to save my pennies, resist the other pretty things I could have got to go with and the too matchy-matchy look. Know what I mean?

{atelier} on a snow day

2012-02-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

A peek at the things on my worktable yesterday while it snowed and snowed and snowed outside...