Aaargh!

That is the sound of pure frustration! I created this banner for my blog a few days ago, but have not been able to post it. I'll say it again - aargh! I am not sure what I'm doing wrong, when I change the code and try to put the banner up, I just get that little symbol that means a picture is not working. This is my 50th post, I had big plans to have a new banner, updated links, changing stuff on my sidebar...maybe tomorrow.

But, it's not all bad. Got a lovely package from Marieke last night (more on that later), getting ready to mail Sweetpea Swap 2 - Vintage Love to Carolyn (she's already mailed mine, yikes!), and meeting with a client tomorrow to sell some books. Better go and get busy, in the meantime, if anyone has some hints about putting up this banner, they'd be much appreciated!

A-muse-ing

From the Oxford Dictionary - Muse - a woman who is the inspiration for a creative artist...

Marieke's comment about Audrey Tautou got me thinking about the concept of muses. I guess that Audrey is the "muse" of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who directed her in "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement." Also, she seems to fascinate a lot of creative women who are around our age - I've noticed in memes when favorite movies are listed, Amelie inevitably appears somewhere. As muses go, I think that Audrey Tautou is a great one, she is luminously beautiful, seems to have a great sense of style, and more importantly, a great sense of humour. I think that being a muse would be a wonderful occupation! I hate that when you're going through customs, and you have to write your occupation on that little card - I don't want to put my day job (boring) and I feel weird writing "Artist." But "muse", that would be cool!

I also got to thinking, who is my muse? Do I have a muse? Who do I think about when I'm making my books? Who inspires what I create? Does a muse have to be a woman? The conclusion that I came to is, well...maybe my muse is someone like Audrey Tautou. I can imagine her as Amelie - she is riding her bike down a cobblestoned street somewhere in Paris, she rides past one of those beautiful streetlamps and parks her bike at a charming cafe. She sits down, peruses the menu with one raised eyebrow, but finally orders what she has everytime, a cafe au lait and a chocolate crossiant. While she is waiting for her order, she reaches into an adorable handbag, pulls out one of my books opens it and begins sketching the street life around her and writing little notes....

OK, maybe that was a little scary - perhaps there is a fine line between thinking someone is your muse, and being a stalker! I didn't realize that I had that little fantasy in my head! But, I'd like to pose a question - who is your muse, and how does he/she inspire you?

Sunny Saturday

Despite forecasts of rain, today has dawned very warm and sunny. We were planning to take a drive down to the South Shore of Nova Scotia tomorrow, but we might just do it today. When my husband gets back from buying yet more dirt at the garden shop, I hope that we can waddle off like this little duck for a relaxing day in the country!

Bad Blogger

I've been a bit of a bad blogger these last few days. Not really updating my blog, and not even properly looking at all the blogs I love. My main excuse is a cold, which turned out to be a sinus infection, which has been hanging on for weeks! I'm on the mend now, but still feeling a bit tired and drained. I am very glad that it's a long weekend here in Canada, and I can rest up at home and (hopefully) also have some fun.

But, enough whining! I had a good time tonight, catching up with a friend, having a lovely dinner and seeing "The Notorious Bettie Page." I wasn't crazy about the movie, it wasn't horrible, but it just didn't really engage me. I think that she was a very interesting person, but the movie really just showed her as a one-dimensional character. You never really understood why she did the things she did, how she reconciled her Christian beliefs with her risque work...I reckon that she was cool though, and she definitely had a very distinctive look!

The picture above is my a closeup of some bits on the mantel in my house. It's my vantage point right now from my couch, as I type this post and listen to the fog horns out on the harbour. Now, I must toddle off to bed and sniffle through the night!

My new digs

Well, I've finally gotten it done! It took me a couple of evenings after work last week, and pretty much all of this morning, but I've finished my little studio revamp. It all started when I read "The Superhero Guide to Desiging a Creative Business" over on the delightful Superhero Designs site. The first point was all about creating a workspace that feels nourishing and creative - filling your space with the things that bring you joy. When I looked around at my messy, bland studio, I didn't feel any joy. My starting point was creating this paper rack, with the help of my live-in handyman. It's basically just two lengths of chain with dowels suspended in the links hanging from some curtain hardware. The whole thing cost maybe 20 bucks, and would have been less if I hadn't insisted on the fancy silver Umbra curtain hardware. The rack replaces my antique clothing rack paper thing, which I loved - but took up way too much room. Another clever little innovation that I created were these magnet boards. Well, I didn't create them, I just picked them up off a clearance table at my local hardware store for 4 bucks each. Then, I took those nifty little watchmakers tins from Lee Valley, stuck magnets on the back and filled them with little bits and pieces. It keeps my worktable clear of lots of little things - I've even got a silver case filled with pens and pencils on there! I also made some magnets from beach glass and broken porcelain. I've left lots of blank space on the boards, as I'm sure I will think of lots more things to put up there in future!
I cleaned up my inspiration board a bit, and also added some new items, but plan to cut out and collect everything that I find interesting/inspring and stick it up there from now on.
Finally, I strung a line of paper lanterns up, just because I love them so much! I also replaced the ugly light fixture with a big paper globe. There's lots more I'd like to do, like get big drawers for paper storage and add more artwork on the walls, but I feel like this is a very good start! If you want to check out more photos of the room, head on over here to my Flickr thing. The only bad bit is that I am so tired from completing all this work, that I haven't made any books in my studio this weekend...

Scenes from a Garden

We had our first really nice sunny 20 degree day here in Nova Scotia. Martin spent the day working outside in the garden, his new passion, and I spent the day indoors, doing some much needed spring cleaning (who knew that you actually had to wash windows! Doesn't the rain do that?) and rearranging. However, I did take some time out to snap a few shots...
This is the great asparagus forest. Asparagus is a perennial vegetable, and some previous owner must have planted a patch. Two sad little spears come back every spring.
The only bit of colour in the garden right now are these tulips - but they are a very nice bit of colour!
And now, the garden says good night, and so do I.

Wonderful Weekend

Martin and I spent a wonderful weekend in Toronto. We had beautiful weather there, and spring was much further advanced than here in Nova Scotia, as you can see from the picture above - a typical downtown Toronto house with a beautiful garden. We did some shopping - the highlight of which for me was Queen Street West in Toronto. It's the Fashion District, and has loads of bead button and trimming shops. It also has the most fantastic ribbon shop - Mokuba - beautiful ribbons from fifty cents to fifty dollars per metre. It was like a chapel of ribbon in there, everyone spoke in reverential hushed tones. I wanted to buy loads, but restrained myself a bit. I did, however, get a sample book for future orders. We also went to the Paper Place - loads of wonderful Japanese papers, including my favorite - chiyogami. Again, I practiced restraint but couldn't leave without a few little purchases! We also had a lurvely brunch at a cafe called Fressen. It was a vegan feast, with tofu, roast potatoes, tempeh "bacon", black beans, fruit, and lots more - yum!

I also did a bit of clothes shopping at H&M. We don't have one in my hometown, so shopping there is quite a treat for me! I got a printed wrap dress, and a kimono top - hurray!

Another thing I did on the trip was approach some shops about carrying my books.Pulp kindly bought a few, so now Double Happiness has gone national! It was great to meet the shop's owner, Laura - a fellow book artist, and browse in her fantastic shop which has a range of beautiful papers and cards.

Oh, and how could I forget - Mr Verg's Theatre of the Absurd! A very strange, but very entertaining little puppet show. Another nice thing about cities, they're full of creativity and expression, of all kinds, including crazy potato sack puppet shows!

Finally, the nicest thing that we did was catch up with my oldest friend Mishka and her partner "D". They showed us a fantastic time, and took us to some wonderful restaurants and places that we wouldn't have found on our own. We hope to return the favor here in Nova Scotia - soon!

Off for the weekend!

We are off to Toronto for the weekend! I know it's a bit early to post about this, it being Wednesday and all, but I'm leaving tomorrow right after work, so I probably won't get another chance. Looking forward to getting away, seeing the sites and spending time with Mishka and her boy.

In case you are wondering about the picture, it's from a place in Toronto that I wouldn't mind visiting - the Bata Shoe Museum. I think that it's the only museum of it's type in the world, and I have a bit of a thing for shoes!

Bye for now...

I "heart" Mark Ruffalo

I really like Mark Ruffalo. Not just because he's cute, and yes - I definitely think he's cute, but I think that he's a really great actor too. The first movie I saw him in was "You Can Count on Me", which I thought was fantastic. He was also the only reason I watched "In the Cut", and I've sat through "13 Going on 30" more times than I'd like to admit, just to see him again! Last weekend, I watched "Just Like Heaven" . I have to say that I am looking forward to seeing Mark in something besides a silly romantic comedy soon, but that I will watch him in just about anything!

My Neighbor Totoro

I did a workshop on bookkeeping for small business tonight. It was good, but very overwhelming - I'm a bit stressed about doing the wrong thing in terms of tax, etc, getting in trouble and going to jail. I was on google images searching for a photo that could relate how I was feeling. I looked for "headache" and the image that you see here popped up. Immediately, my headaches were gone - how could you see this and not laugh? It's "My Neighbor Totoro" a Japanese children's book and film by Hayao Miyazaki. I have seen his film, "Spirited Away" which I loved, and now I am thinking that I need to see more, like his classic "Princess Mononoke" or some recent films like "The Cat Returns" or "Howl's Moving Castle." I loved the way that "Spirited Away" created a fantasy world, so unlike ours, where both good and bad things happen. Still, I am not sure how bad things could happen with someone like Totoro around.

Books and more books!

Just finished packing up a load of books to take into one of my client's shops tomorrow. Although this box is a bit cumbersome, I really like it. It has a bit of a library feel, and is covered in deep chocolately-coloured linen.
I got some new papers, and I hope that the shop likes them. I think this one with the little koi on it is especially cute!
Finally, I visited the library after work today, and picked up a few books to read. I'm a bit of a slack library user, I am always taking home way too many books - when I get there, I get so greedy! All those wonderful books, all free....I have so many fines racked up, and I could only afford to pay part of them tonight so that they would restore my borrowing privleges. If Bookman the library cop from Seinfeld really existed, I would be in big trouble!

Anyhow, I am looking forward to checking out the Anna Wintour biography, and of course picked up stacks of cookbooks and decorating mags. The Nigella Lawson book looks really good - she even has a section on "meatless feasts." I really like Nigella, she is so passionate about food, and she seems like a woman who really enjoys life. Best go and get stuck into these books!

April is the cruellest month...

This is a photo taken yesterday of the blossoming tree outside our house, courtesy of guest photographer, Martin. We had a beautiful day here yesterday, with tempratures reaching 18 degrees! Trust me, it's very warm for here at this time of year. Today though, it's a miserable 5 degrees and raining. I had to wear a woolen hat! T.S Eliot was right when he said -

"APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers."

He really captures the sadness of the bare trees, the rain the mud. Summer so close, yet so far away. We feel that it is almost here, and it's cruelly snatched away time and time again. At least here in Canada, anyhow.

This concludes the high-brow cultural portion of the blog. Tomorrow, I will return to the usual low-brow miscellany, I promise. Just something about this weather...

I'm off to the Tree Sculpture Capital of Nova Scotia!

I'm driving off to Truro this weekend. It's a little town where my Mom and Grandmother live, about an hour from here. I'm going to up there to take a computer workshop on "Building Web Pages for Artists." Martin seems to think that will mainly entail the instructor asking us how the HTML code makes us "feel", but I'm hoping to get a bit more out of it than that!

Anyhow, Truro is a funny little place. It's mainly a farming town, and it's really small. A few years ago, a bunch of the beautiful old trees there contracted some kind of horrible disease, and were carved up into sculptures. It's kind of a good idea, but as you can see in the picture above, some of them are just plain scary looking! As you drive into town, there is a big sign proclaiming Truro as the "Tree Sculpture Capital of Nova Scotia" not the world, not Canada, just Nova Scotia. Makes me wonder what other tree sculpture towns are lurking out there....

Six Things

I've been tagged by Mishka to list "six unusual or little known things about myself"...this is a tough one, I'm pretty boring and, well, pretty much an open book, so I'm just going to list things that people reading my blog might not know. Here goes...don't go expecting any exciting revelations!

One - I've travelled quite a bit, and spent about 7 years living in Sydney, Australia with my Aussie husband. We came to live in Nova Scotia (where I'm from) about three years ago to be close to my family for a while, and to live in smaller, quieter city.

Two - I have some Aboriginal heritage. Not much, but I'm probably about 1/8 Mi'kmaq Indian, from my Dad's side. I just found out about this recently, and I would really like to learn more about this part of my family's heritage.

Three - Another family history thing - my grandmother (also on my Dad's side) was a war bride from England. She came from a large, and eccentric, family with 8 siblings. Her father was a University Professor and wrote children's books - those boy's adventure story kind of things. One of her brothers was a famous actor/comedian during WWII and another was a WWII smuggler! They both wrote books about their adventures. My grandmother distinguished herself by being a really wonderful person who loved to drink wine (guess who I take after)and having a very unusual name - Arowhena. I just looked up her name online, and it is a place in New Zealand (where her mother was from) and also the name of a character in a book by Samuel Butler. So, this exercise is very good, I am learning things!

Four - I'm not at all religious, I wouldn't even classify myself as spiritual, but I do beleive in the idea of Karma. So, I try to be good and understanding, but sometimes it's very hard!

Five - I love the colour red. I especially love to see red and pink together. My favorite shoes are red.

Six - At this very moment, Martin is baking a batch of Dr. Oetker's organic chocolate chip cookies. Gotta go and get them while they're hot!

I think that I will tag...Ellia!

Is it Easter Sunday, or Easter Bunday?

I made the hot cross buns that I mentioned in my post a couple of days ago. They didn't really turn out very well. I mean, they were tasty, but they were a bit heavy. I think that the milk was too hot, and it killed all my yeast, so the buns were not light and airy, as intended, but like little round river stones with the addition of raisins and mixed peel. I ate two, with lots of butter, but regretted it almost immediately. I lugged them around in my tummy all day. I felt like making them all over again from the start, but don't have enough time. The dough needs to rest overnight, and then rise for an hour and a half the next morning. I don't think my office would be too understanding if I called in late because my buns were rising. Actually, that sounds pretty rude.

Does this mean I'm it?

I've been tagged by Ellia! I think that she tagged me a couple of days ago, but I have to admit, I've been a bit remiss in my blog reading, so I just noticed today. When I read that she'd tagged me, I actually panicked! I felt as thought I had been tagged "it" - but it's all good fun - so here goes...all things to do with the number five...

1. Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
I've got lots of reading to do. I got a book at Christmastime - "Specimen Days" by Michael Cunningham, that I've wanted to read for ages, but haven't got a chance. Martin also bought me a book for my birthday a couple of months ago called "the Inklings" which is about the friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, which I would like to read soon. Yes, this does make me a total nerd!

2. Five bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it?

I would probably buy yet another magazine! We were at the bookshop today, and I was tempted to buy so many, but kept seeing the disapproving face of our financial advisor in my mind, and decided against it. But, if it was free money, I'd probably get Living etc. (the issue I saw had a flat in Paris lighted by dozens of Chinese paper lanterns - so beautiful!)or Canadian Home and Country (it's their annual flea market and cottage decorating issue - which appeals to me as a cottage-inhabiting flea market hound!).

3. Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already? This is a really tough one! I would say all the horrible furniture in my bedroom - but unfortunately, I am still using it. So, lets say all the cardboard boxes in the basement, my old computer, the yucky stereo-stand thing that my old computer was sitting on, the mostly empty paint cans that we are too lazy to take to the enviro depot and the suitcases full of old clothing in the basement that I am not wearing, but again, am too lazy to go through and throw out.

4. Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
My jewellery - it's not fancy, but I like it! My books - I've lugged them all over the world, so I'm not about to part with them now! My radio - I love listening to music, and my local CBC (nerd status - totally confirmed), all my art supplies and tools and finally, Martin.

5. Five words you love?
Don't know if I love these words, but I say them all the time...
- Cool
- No Worries
- Lovely
- More wine please.
- Impunity

Thanks Ellia, that was loads of fun! I guess that I will tag Mishka and Marieke.

Hand Carved Rubber Stamps

I got some Japanese craft books a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately, have not had much time to attempt the projects in them. However, I did do a couple of hand carved rubber stamps. I used the speedy cut block, which is a bit too speedy! It's much easy to cut than the lino that I'm used to, and I ended up cutting out some of the details. The mouth on my little girl is missing! But, I still think that she's kinda cute.
The other stamp I did is a little flower. I really like the rough, handmade quality of these stamps. I took these images from my craft book, but I would like to convert some of my own drawings to stamp form. I just need lots more time!

Now I am unstoppable...

Ahhh Haaaa Haaaa (insert sounds of evil laughter here). I've got my computer pretty much up and running! I just finished installing my printer, and camera software. It's pretty empowering, considering that I'm so technically illiterate, but I guess that things are pretty user friendly nowadays, so maybe I shouldn't be so proud of myself. My new computer has the Intel Centrino Duo, which is supposed to be great for multitasking, which is what I am doing right now. I am listening to Pandora - which I absolutely love! It's a website that helps you find new and interesting music. You just type in the name of an artist or song that you like, and it finds songs/artists that are similar. While I don't agree with some of it's selections, it's pretty fun, and a great way to find new music. At the same time, I am printing off a recipe for Hot Cross Buns from Chocolate & Zucchini. They seem a little challenging - you have to start them the day before and bake them the next morning - but since they are Martin's favorite, and we aren't doing anything else Easterish, I will give them a go. And of course, I am writing this blog post as well. Next up, world domination...(insert sounds of evil laughter again - this time even more diabolical!)

In other news, we're having a good Easter long weekend. Spent all day yesterday making and packaging books for an order, which we took into Henhouse this morning. A picture of the display in their shop is above. Love the painting of Koi in the background - I will have to ask them who the artist is the next time I visit. I am so pleased, the books are going really well in the shop, and the owners are so nice. This is a close-up picture of an Origami book that forms part of the display. There are photos of our trip to Newfoundland last year in it, and people keep telling my husband that they've seen him in the shop! Kind of embarrasing, but I didn't know what other photos to include!

After Henhouse, we went to the used bookshop - John W. Doull. It's really fun looking around there. There are just piles of books everywhere - so when you find something, you really feel like you've done something great! I am so surprised that they got it together enough to get a website - I don't think that the owners even know everything that's in there, but they do have a sign asking not to touch the piles of books lying all over the place, as there is some kind of order to them. These images will give you some idea of the mayhem that is JWD! I did manage to find one book though, "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones. I've thought about buying it a few times, so since it was at the used shop cheap, I thought that I'd give it a read. It won the Pulitzer Prize, so I guess it must be alright.
I'd best be off, as I am wasting precious daylight hours on this rambling blog post. I guess I really am becoming a true techie!

Memorable road trip quotes...

"You had me at hello..."
"We gots some heggs..."
"The Catskills, isn't that where they put Baby in the corner?"
"I'm gonna get ya, I'm gonna get ya real good!"
"Ohmigod - the car is rolling down the hill..."

Thinking lots about friends, looking forward to the summer and adding more quotes to the list! (Image from Anne Taintor)

This blog is currently experiencing technical difficulties...

...stay tuned for a return to regularly scheduled programming. I just got a new laptop computer - which is absolutely fantastic. But, I've been having a few technical difficulties with it - just the set-up, downloading software, etc. I think I am on the right track now though, and I expect to be fully up and running in no time at all now. At least, I hope so!