I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Obviously I have too much time on my hands LOL!

Just went to I write like to analyze my writing style. I'd never heard of David Foster Wallace. So now I'll have to get one of his novels from the library to see whether to take it as a compliment or a slur.

Castle Roombox

First off, I guess I should show you what I'll be making in Nova Scotia, in September:I've decided it'll be a 12th century knights Templar castle. To prepare I read two histories about the Templars, a number of architectural books, books about the rise of Gothic cathedrals, books about medieval furniture. I've learned a number of new words ...aumbry and savonarola, just to name two. The one refers to a cupboard while the other one is a folding chair.
So with all my reading, I decided I wanted a special bower window, a larger fireplace, fancy door surrounds.... You can't ever say that I don't put my all into whatever I do! LOL
I could have bought a plain window but that's the kind that will probably come with the workshop. I could have bought a fancy window but it would have been the wrong size. Seems that commercial Gothic windows are wide rather than narrow the way I want it. I thought long and hard about it. My biggest restriction was the foamcore wall thickness of a 1/2 inch.
This is the look I was aiming for: It's from a Rik Pierce workshop known as Fair Rosamond's Bower. I would so dearly love to take one of Rik's classes.
I wrote to Rik, and when I didn't hear back, I started to make my own window. I thought about making it of wood or paperclay but with each of them there were drawbacks. This is what I decided on: What you're seeing is simply layered cardstock. My finished window would have been just slightly thicker than 1/4". Once glued together, gessoed and then painted to resemble stone, you wouldn't be able to guess it's humble beginnings.
Look what arrived in the mail today:Rik didn't even wait for me to pay him! Eventually, having written back to tell me dimensions and his prices (which I must say are very fair!); having told me that he would require a money order as he didn't have a Paypal account ....he simply assumed that I was honest & would actually pay him! I didn't know such trusting people still existed.
How cool is that!! Aren't I a lucky girl!!!!
I'm off to the bank tomorrow ....but I may still finish my cardstock window. Who knows when I might still need it.

Vintage Kitchen in a Bread Box

Once the Springfling contest was done, I had hoped to start on a project that I've been building in my head for almost a year ...a vintage kitchen on baking day inside an old fashioned wooden roll top bread box. Right now it's sitting empty & forlorn on it's specially designated shelf in my kitchen. I have all the lighting, the furniture and the "characters" at hand. But it doesn't seem likely that I'll be able to start it any time soon. I prefer to finish one project before starting on the next because I know from experience, I won't finish it otherwise.
I have a castle roombox workshop coming up in September and once again I have to! have things looking just the way I envision and not just how someone else thinks they could be. Time just isn't an option in all this.

But before I put away my "vintage kitchen", I felt I should show you one of the lovely characters who will be inhabiting the kitchen. This is Katrinchen:
which in german means, little Katrin. She'll be sitting under the baking prep table, helping in that wonderful way that all little children "help"! I commissioned Katrinchen from the very talented children's sculptor, Alex Buslovich. If you check out Alex's blog, you'll see all her other fabulous fimo kids.

You know it's hot when you can't eat ice cream fast enough to avoid it melting down the cone!
At 9 this morning, the temperature was 26C (80+ Fahrenheit) & it appears we'll be in the 30's again this afternoon; already the humidity is at 70% making it feel more like 40C (+100F); it's been like this for almost a week now! I saw the thermometer climb almost 10 degrees within an hour yesterday. Overnight we drop about 10 degrees.
There've been several heat alerts out advising us not to overdo any activities, especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. I don't think they need to worry! The ceiling fan above my bed is whirling furiously; the lake feels warm as soup and if I'm not in up to my head, I'm in the shade with a tall glass of water & a good book.
Between Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs novels and a Gothic window that I'm building out of cardstock, I can hardly find enough time to nap.
We've started taking our laptops outside to the back porch in the early morning until the sun comes around there; then it's off to the shade of the nearest tree down by the water.

Time for another siesta. Manana.....

Southwestern Swap

As I'm sure to have mentioned, I belong to the AllThingsMini forum; not only are some great miniaturists to be found there but the swap items are generally fantastic and widely varied!
I enjoy themed swaps since it encourages you try something different and I really don't mind making more than one of the same items. Sometimes I'm even lucky enough to be in a swap where I can use items I'm currently working on.
Although the southwestern swap had the least participants of any I've had in some time, the quality of the items was absolutely fabulous.
The steer skull actually had teeth on the under side, just like the real thing would have; both paintings are 3 dimensional and the tray really well done. Thanks so much Christina and Cate.
Just an update: my items were the terracotta painted vase and the potted cactus.
Although I'd made extra cacti; I only had enough vases to cover the swap. When one person dropped out of the swap at the last moment, I received one of mine back. Carrying everything to put away, the vase fell ...rolled under my foot; I stepped down.....
Maybe I can use the shards in a potting bench scene. I obviously wasn't meant to have it as a vase.
The cacti are listed on my For Sale page, if anyone's interested.

Next swap is this month; the theme this time is "Around the World Travels". I keep changing my mind about what to make....

New "For Sale" Page

Off and on lately, I've been reading about blogger allowing static pages to be used. What this means to me is that it's now possible to add a page to my blog showing the items I have for sale rather than using an eBay or an Etsy storefront, etc. However, like everything new, Blogger doesn't exactly make it easy to create secondary pages. I had to google for specific help in several places.
It'll also mean having to do everything myself for marketing, linking to search engines etc.
I read everything in a blog reader ....as I'm sure most of you do as well, so I'm not sure how effective this will be. I guess like everything else it'll depend how much work I'm actually prepared to put into it.

Here's the link to my sales page. Tell me what you think....

Canada Day - July 1, 2010

Our country's birthday is usually celebrated in a big way. We accepted an invitation for dinner on board a friend's sailboat to be followed by watching the fireworks on the bay.
Fireworks are twice as spectacular when you're watching from the water so this is one time when the bay is jam packed full ....from single boats such as the one we were on, to a number of boats tied together for company, to ferries offering dinner cruises.
Flags are flying and everyone has a grand time.
The really lucky people are the ones able to watch from the comfort of their living rooms.
There are several yacht clubs and I'm sure they were all as busy as the one we started from ...hardly even room for the ducks
By the time darkness fell, everyone had jockeyed for position; the bay was full; police with megaphones, onboard their boats had to clear a path for the barge carrying the explosives to make its way to the middle of the bay ...and the fun began.

This was my second time watching from the water. My first ...and my last time, using a totally automatic digital camera; small size might be handy but nothing beats a manual camera when it comes to difficult shots like these. What you're seeing is a culmination of approximately 90 shots! I was not impressed!
Poor quality photos and the cool weather not withstanding, we had a wonderful time!!
My thanks to David & Vera for a marvelous evening.