Tattered Edge

My Little Corner of the World

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:07:00 +0000

It's been an insane week with running back and forth to hospital appointments every single day but Monday. (Monday I worked 14 1/2 hours straight at the bi-election.) This meant I had little time for creating in the studio, but surprisingly, I DO have something to show for what scant time I did have.

Tomorrow is the 9th anniversary of our ATC group and Penn gave everyone a template to make paper cake pieces. Everyone is making as many slices as they want and creating something handmade to go inside, as the prize.

I cut 10 slices from the template using cardstock and scored the folds. Then I covered the slices with anaglypta using matte medium to adhere it. I let them dry overnight and then ran my red staz-on ink pad over the anaglypta to colour the "icing". I finished each slice with a "cherry" on top.

It's a secret what's inside, but it's something pretty and practical and once the exchange is over I will show you what I made.

I have also been busy playing Suzi Homemaker. I don't know what it is about the fall, but it makes me want to spend more time in my kitchen cooking. My guys are partial to PB cookies, so I made 3 dozen to last the week.

My trick to ensure they don't gobble them down the same day is to put 1 doz. in the cookie jar and the other 2 doz. in ziplocs in the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind and it means I actually get a cookie or two!

My in-laws heard I wanted a bread machine and gave us one they weren't using anymore. I have been baking up a storm. I can make about 3 loaves per day if I am taking the dough out and baking the bread in the oven. I am trying to get a few loaves ahead in the freezer.

I decided I wanted a bread machine because I was paying $5/loaf and buying about 3-4 loaves per week. $20/wk on bread! That's insane! I discovered that I had everything I needed in the cupboard to begin making bread and so far only bought a bag of brown flour. I am not buying store made bread anymore! And besides which, the bread I make is not full of sugars and preservatives-I know exactly what we're eating!

Once you know how to make bread dough, you can make all kinds of yummy things with it. I made some cinnamon buns for us and then Lisa heard about it so I made some for her for her birthday. YUM!!

Shifting gears just a little, the latest in Olympic news is that last week I attended my Events Host training. I think I mentioned that they gave us an "Annie in a box" CPR learning kit. I finally got around to taking a pic of it. They were generously donated by the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation.

I also received my games time schedule this week and I got fantastic hours. It means I won't have to get up super early or commute during peak periods, which makes me very happy. I start on February 8th as my venue opens early to allow for Opening Ceremonies rehearsals. It's just over 2 1/2 months away!! I can't wait!

And what's a blog post without a pic of my sweet boy, Indy. He likes to hang out with me in the studio and has been glued to me the second I get home lately because I've been out so much. (And yes, he really is that shiny. He has a beautiful coat.) He's lying here right now waiting for me to be finished on the computer so I can play fetch with him. I'd better get a move on!

Bonne Fete!

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Today I am celebrating my best friend Lisa's birthday. It's a milestone birthday and I would be remiss if I didn't share with the world what an amazing human being she is.

Lisa is sweet, funny and smart as hell. (We lovingly refer to her as "the brain on legs".) She is patient, compassionate and honest. She's the first person I call with good news or bad and really, I think of her as my sister and mentor, not just my friend.

She's been with me through thick and thin. She's come with me to all my infusion and chemotherapy appointments. She's kept me company, put mean medical staff in their place and held my hand alot. She's made me laugh when I felt like crying, looked after my dog so I could get away to AF for a break, brought me chai lattes on early morning hospital runs and so, much more-this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Lisa is my rock and I think everyone needs a friend like that. I am really, really blessed to know her and today I celebrate her life and the fact that she makes the world (and my world) a better place, simply by being in it.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! I love you, for all that you are and all that you do. You are precious and irreplaceable. xox

iLike

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Kina Grannis' beautiful cover of "The Call" by Regina Spektor. This is just one of those magical songs where the combination of the lyrics and the music is so amazing. *loves*

And for those of you who haven't heard, Teesha has posted a series of tutorials on youtube. The first 4 part series is on collage and the second is on lettering. I've really been enjoying watching them. Obviously, I already know how to collage, but it's always interesting to me to see someone else walk you through their process.

What's especially great about Teesha's tutorials is that she shows everything-what works and what doesn't and how she fixes the parts of her work that she doesn't like, as she goes along. I appreciated the honesty of that. It just goes to show that not even someone as accomplished as Teesha likes everything they do and she doesn't always get it right the first time. Art is about being willing to take chances and make mistakes. Mistakes are a part of the process-as an artist, you just have to be willing to see them in that light.

I came across a book called Scraps that I almost bought the other night. The cover caught my eye and I stood at the check out counter for 10 minutes waiting to buy it before I became so annoyed that I set it down and a copy of the current Art Journalling magazine and left the store. I had a brutal headache and there was a single clerk working the checkout (while there were several other staff wandering the store aimlessly) and she seemed to be intent on taking an eternity with the customer ahead of me for no apparent reason. Normally I am pretty patient but I wasn't feeling good and I just couldn't stand it anymore. I am sad now that I didn't buy the book-it was full of eye candy and interesting instruction and ideas. I'll have to go back when I have more time and patience and try and find it again. Maybe I will go to another location and scout it out-perhaps the customer service will be better elsewhere.

I am gearing up for what is going to be a marathon week. Monday I am working the election and the remainder of the week is tied up with running back and forth to the hospital for MRIs, follow up for my broken wrist, treatment from my pain specialist, a consultation with an anesthetist and then minor surgery next week. Certainly not my idea of fun and you'll forgive me if my blog is quiet for a bit while I deal with all this stuff.

I went to Olympic training for Event Services on Thursday evening. It was alot of fun and now I have a better idea what I will be doing. It's going to be an interesting job! There's still more training to come that will be specific to the venue I will be working at and we will be getting our uniforms and accreditation soon.

After training on Thursday night, they gave each of us, as our parting gift, a box from the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation. The foundation donated CPR kits to everyone, so we got an "Annie" in a box, along with a training manual and DVD to learn CPR at home. It made me laugh-go to the Olympics, get an Annie in a box! It never hurts to refresh your CPR skills, I suppose. You never know when they're going to come in handy. Luckily I've never had to use mine, but I am glad I have them all the same!

I've finally started my Olympic journal. I am doing it a little at a time as I attend events and have things to add. They mentioned at training that we would get pocket maps of our venues during games time and my first thought was "Oh good-EPHEMERA!" *laughs* You know you're an artist when...

What do YOU like right now? Share with me your little gems of artsy goodness!

Chipping Away

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:38:00 +0000

I had intended to post again before now, but last week was a very tough week. I spent most of it running back and forth to the hospital and doctor's appointments. None of it was pleasant. Basically, I am still having issues with my wrist, which I broke a month ago. There's something wrong with one bone (the pisiform, if you really want to know) and tendon which attaches to it and it's so painful.

In addition to that, I also seem to have injured a calf muscle and the result is that it's having a trickle down effect on my foot muscles. I am limping and in pain a great deal of the time. Nothing to do but ice it, take ibuprofen and wait for it to heal. *sigh* I have no idea how I managed to get either of these injuries and I am *so* not amused.

Anyway, enough griping! What I want to talk about is art! Last week my friend Karenann sent me a wonderful collage, A is for Anatomy. (I'd have posted a pic here if my battery hadn't died on my camera just now.)Karenann is so lovely and thoughtful. Over the years, she's sent me so many amazing pieces of work. What I love best about what she does is her layering. She's so masterful in her use of colours, materials and mediums. Every time I find an envelope in my post box with her name on the return address, I know that it's going to contain some really yummy eyecandy.

Karenann proposed that we do an exchange of alpha cards, the idea being that when we have a spare moment and the spirits move us, we will make a card for the other and send it out, back and forth till we complete all 26 letters. I think this will be alot of fun-it will be like an art conversation between two friends. I've wanted to do something collaborative with her for some time so when she said she wanted to do this, I jumped at the chance! I am going to be working on my letter A shortly. I'll post it when I get it finished.

I am also going to make a concerted effort to begin working on my Olympic journal. I want not only to blog about my experience, but to record everything on paper as well. I must admit that I am not so much a paper journaller, (which is kind of ironic as I am hopelessly addicted to buying and collecting paper journals) as I am a blogger. I think it has alot to do with the speed at which my brain runs and being able to type and have my hands keep up with my train of thought. I really do like the idea of keeping a paper journal for this once-in-a-lifetime event though.

I plan to incorporate alot of ephemera into my journal-apparently each day of the Olympics, there will be a newsletter I will be getting as I arrive at the venue each day. I will try to snag a spare, if possible, so I can cut one up to add to my journal and then keep one "as is". If I can't get a spare then I will just make do.

I bought a large red Moleskine to use for this project and I am thinking about either altering the cover or sewing a slip cover of some sort. I haven't made up my mind yet which I prefer. I need to get moving on it soon-I already have lots of things I want to remember. Olympic training start this Thursday and I am so excited!

Okay, back to work for me!

This Is Our Day!

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:14:00 +0000

"Happy Anniversary Baby, got you on my miiiiiiiiiind!"

Today we are celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary! We are both so stunned that that much time has passed since our wedding day-it almost doesn't seem possible. Now our son is grown and graduated and we're going to be married TWO DECADES a year from today! *boggles*

It just so happens that my husband has the day off today, so we're going to have lunch together, which is a rare treat during the work week. He came in this morning to see if I was awake and then made me brekki. His mum and dad were just down for a visit so we have a fridge full of farm fresh (brown) eggs, so we had skillet strips, eggs and toast with tea. I could get used to this! *laughs*

So here are some things I love about my husband:

-he has a soft and gentle heart

-animals and babies love him

-he will help anyone in need, most of the time before they can even ask

-he works hard

-he is an excellent dad to our son and fur kid

-he actually enjoys shopping

-he has impeccable taste in jewellery

-he's very easy going (he's a Libra)

-he enjoys putting food on our table the old fashioned way-he grows a good portion of it organically

-he's married me twice (we renewed our vows on my 30th birthday)
-he shows his love for me every day

Happy Anniversary to my one true love. xox

Manual Dexterity Zine

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Well, I did it! I created my very first Zine! It's called "Manual Dexterity" and as you can see, my hand is on the cover. I was so pleased with myself when I came up with the idea for the cover. I like it alot and I will probably frame the original art and hang it in the studio.

I made 20 copies. 13 are for an exchange I am involved in, I am keeping one and the remaining copies are going to friends I "owe" art to. I also have one copy that is going out to someone who has been a frequent commenter on my blog in the last few months. See? Unlurking has its rewards! (And thanks to Janice for the wonderful idea. She's one smart cookie that Janice!) I will reveal who won at the end of this post!

It was an interesting learning process putting a zine together. I did mine 1/4 fold style and used a simple stab binding to hold it all together. I found the most gorgeous sparkly, copper penny coloured paper at Urban Source for the cover. Urban Source is a little gem in Vancouver that sells art supplies. Part of the stock is new product and the other part is recycled and rescued industrial materials that can be used to make art. They have a fabulous selection of papers on the cheap!

I wrote a few articles and tutorials as per the requirements for the exchange and also included some art. 8 pages are in colour and I also included a packet of collage goodies inside the zine.

And then, because I think presentation is everything, I sewed the zines into these paper bag pieces. (I cut a paper bag in half, width-wise, sewed one side, tucked the zine inside and sewed the other side, sealing the zine inside.) I folded the extra paper over and stuck it down with a "Subversive Material" sticker I made. (Because I think anything that comes in a plan brown wrapper is suspect. *grins*)

I can't share what's inside the zine as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the folks who will be getting them in the exchange. Having gone through this process, I see more zines in my future. It takes a fair amount of planning to make everything work out right when you're doing 1/4 fold and want to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to colour copying, but I think my experience in putting together collaborative books helped alot.

Now I am working on my gifts for the 12 Days of Xmas exchange that I host every year. I have them about half finished and there are only about 12 days till they need to be mailed out, so I am going to be busy!

Okay...so the winner of a limited edition copy of Manual Dexterity Zine is.......SHERRY!!

Sherry, please email me your snail mail addy so I can get your copy out to you! And to the rest of my loyal readers, keep those comments comin'! You never know when they might pay off!

Gratitude Week Day 4

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:52:00 +0000

This morning, the last day of Gratitude Week, actress Helen Shaver shares her thoughts about addiction and homelessness and how we are all connected.

And to second what Helen said, here is my story of how we are connected:

19 years ago, before my husband Peter and I were even engaged, we were walking down Robson Street, a trendy shopping district here in Vancouver to meet a friend of mine for dinner.

Along the way, there was this homeless guy coming towards us, weaving badly, reeking of booze and filthy. I cut him a wide path and kept walking and talking to Peter. I was half way down the block before I realized he was no longer with me and I was talking to myself.

I turned around to see where I'd lost him just in time to watch him clap the homeless guy on the back with a big smile on his face and ask him how he was doing. I stood there watching them talk and then as Pete emptied his pockets and gave the guy all the money he had on him. They said their goodbyes and Peter jogged to catch up with me.

It turns out that this homeless guy was his elementary school friend, Randy. He'd known this guy since Kindergarten. It really struck me that even though this guy was obviously so down and out, Peter just saw his friend underneath all that and treated him as if nothing were wrong. In that moment, Peter showed me the sheer kindness of his heart, his loyalty and compassion-all the content of his character and I knew that this was the man I was going to marry.

Years later, my husband ran into Randy's brother by chance and learned that Randy had lost his legs in a train accident (I believe he'd taken to riding the rails and got hurt doing it.) and later on, after years of addiction, passed away. My husband explained to Randy's brother about the day he'd last seen him and how throughout our marriage we'd always said that Randy was our raggedy angel and thought of him often, as he was the reason I'd married my husband.

Randy's brother was almost in tears because it meant so much to him to know his brother whose life had never been what his family envisioned for him had deeply touched and affected ours. Randy's life had had meaning and purpose that his brother had never been aware of before. I think it changed the way he thought about his brother and that was able to happen because someone stopped and looked Randy in the eyes and validated him as a human being.

I usually share this story with someone to illustrate what a beautiful a soul my husband has, but I share it today to let you all know that each and every person out there on the street, whether by cruel twist of fate or by choice belongs to someone, somewhere. The pain of being homeless is not limited to that single person on the street. These people are not worthless pieces of garbage lying on the curb. They are human beings and they need a hand up, not a handout.

So if you're like me and are tired of waiting around for someone else to do something about the problem, if anything my friends or I have said here on my blog this week has touched you in any way, please go the the Gratitude Week website and donate $1. Just ONE dollar. That's it. Economic times be damned-we can all afford that $1. It's nothing by itself, but together we're going to transform people's lives. That's the power of $1.

Day Four of Gratitude Week

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:22:00 +0000

Today's Gratitude Week interview is with actor and blues musician, Jim Byrnes who talks about the mere six degrees of separation between each of us and the homeless. He puts it so beautifully-see for yourself.

Today's words of gratitude come from my treasured friend Tina Abbott:

"The timing of this is strange. I am grateful for so very much. Sometimes I forget how amazing and fabulous my life is and I'm grateful when I remember. Today, I'm grateful for my family and to be alive. I'm grateful for seatbelts, and the kindness of strangers. I'm grateful for ibuprofen, tylenol, and arnica. I'm grateful for friends who show up. I live a blessed and glorious life.

Yesterday I was in a car accident on my way to Olympia, for a work training. The weather was beautiful and I was wishing a little I could stay home but I was going to be staying with Lana and Joan{friends & housemates from Artfest} and I was really looking forward to hanging out with them. I'm okay, though I have black bruises larger than my hand across my abdomen and chest where I slammed into the seat belt. My whole body hurts and I'm grateful that is all I have to show for this experience."

*****

After getting this email from Tina, who is very dear to my heart, I was instantly grateful to the universe that she was spared more serious injuries... or worse. I am very, very grateful she's going to be okay!

Join me tomorrow for the last day of Gratitude Week here on my blog. I hope you've been enjoying it!

2010 Uniforms Unveiled!

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Last night I went to the unveiling of the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic volunteers' uniforms. As you can see, the official colour of the uniforms is a beautiful, bright turquoise. The colour is representative of the sea to sky corridor that links Vancouver to Whistler, which are the host city and the host mountain of the games.

Each volunteer with be given 2 long sleeve t-shirts, navy pants, a toque, a jacket and polar fleece vest. The uniform is created for layering, which is typical of how we dress in British Columbia. We have a joke here that goes like this: "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." Our weather can change on a dime.

There are 2 types of pants-city and mountain. The mountain pants are lined for warmth for those volunteers that will be working outdoors. The city pants don't have the lining and volunteers working at indoor venues will have those ones.

Here is an example of one of the shirts. I saw two kinds-one was plain and the other had a tone on tone print of the wave pattern that is part of the 2010 logo. He is wearing the city pants.

This guy has on one of the polar fleece vests and the mountain pants.

The Olympic Games symbol is the rings and the Paralympic Games symbol is the agitos. Because both games are completely separate events, there was the need for the uniforms to reflect the identity of each games. They came up with an ingenious way of converting the uniforms. On the back of each jacket are snap fasteners and there is a panel (shown above) that snaps on over top of the Olympic Rings which are printed on the jacket. In addition, there is also a separate patch that will velcro on to switch out the Vancouver 2010 Olympic emblem for the Paralympic emblem!

There's a good shot of the jackets here if you want a closer look.

There is also a backpack made exclusively for the volunteers, which can be purchased if we want one, for $50. (It's optional and the only part of the uniform that isn't free.) It's in blues and greens with the wave pattern on it. The section on the front that has the Olympic rings zips off and again, changes over to the Paralympic agitos symbol.

There are three specific staff groups that have their own unique colours within the uniform, allowing for high visibility. The purple armed uniforms are for anti-doping personnel.

The red armed uniforms with a white cross signify medical personnel.

And finally, the yellow armed uniforms signify events services personnel. The yellow arm is a simple sleeve that just slides up over the t-shirt sleeve and can be removed. This is the uniform I will have!

The pants (both kinds) have lots of big pockets as does the jacket, eliminating the need for a purse, which I am happy about! Footwear and gloves are whatever you choose.

So there you have it! Aren't these great uniforms? I think they were really well thought out in terms of utility, comfort and suitability for local weather conditions. I can't wait to get mine and try it on-that will be happening about a month from now.

When I arrived at the venue this evening, I ran into a good number of my transportation team from the World Police & Fires Games! There were about 10 of us there. Everyone, with the exception of me is working transportation for the Games, but that's perfectly okay-I think I'm going to love what I will be doing. I just thought it was funny that they all signed up to work transpo again!

As an added bonus to my evening, on the way home, I was waiting for the seabus and who should walk into the waiting area and sit down two people over from me but David Suzuki! Of course everyone was staring because in these parts he's a pretty big deal. (West Coasters being tree hugging granolas and all.) He just sat quietly and read his book while we waited. No one bothered him. That made me happy-it was a nice end to my day.

I had a good time last night-I met some new people and I am so excited for the games. As the head of Workforce (the volunteer part of VANOC) pointed out, there are just 17 Mondays left till the games begin! (That got a collective gasp from the audience.) If your wondering how many days from today that is, it's exactly 121 till Feb 12th and the opening ceremonies! I am counting the days!

Gratitude Week Day 3

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:42:00 +0000

This morning's Gratitude Week message comes from radio personality Brother Jake Edwards and talks about his experiences in his neighbourhood here in Vancouver.

Today my talented friend Lisa Ryder shares what she is grateful for:

"- for my friends, both near & far, old & new, who encourage, nurture & support me.

- for having a creative space of my own in which I can spend time planning, making & daydreaming.

- for living in New Zealand, where I am never far from the ocean or the mountains or brilliant green forests.

- for my father's amazing strength & resilience which has seen him fight cancer with a fierce determination & courage that makes me so very proud.

- for my husband of 20 years whom I love more every day, & for my gorgeous, smart & sassy daughter.

- for the unconditional love & joy I get from Ruby, the best puppy in the world!

- and I am especially grateful for the chance to get to make a list like this, to remind myself that my life is blessed in all kinds of ways. thanks, Lelainia."

And this is what my sweet friend Maria Lamb had to share:

"I recite my gratitude list every night when I lay my head on the pillow. Being as blessed as I am, it's pretty easy to be grateful.

Many of things I'm grateful for will no doubt appear on others' lists:

I'm grateful for my darling life-mate. I'm grateful for my wonderful pets. I'm grateful that I love where I live. I'm grateful that I'm free of want.

Some things on my daily list are "shout-outs" to the Universe:"Thanks for the bald eagle fly-over today!" or "Loved seeing the giant praying mantis!"

The habit of "being grateful" makes bad thing bearable. We've suffered several pet deaths this year. Each one left us grief- stricken. But I'm grateful that they shared our lives for as long as they did. I'm grateful that they died at home with limited pain of short duration."

Thanks to everyone who has offered to share their gratitude lists so far. I will have more for you tomorrow, on Day 4.

Gratitude Week Day 2

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Today I'd like to share with you Global TV anchorman, Tony Parsons giving his thoughts on homelessness in Vancouver. It's a 2 minute clip.

Mandy Jordan sent me an email detailing what's she's feeling grateful for right now. She says:

"I'm grateful for SO much. I'm grateful that I have the freedom to make art (and the will); that my depression has been kept at bay; that Eric has a job he loves and we have health insurance; that I have good friends all over the world; that I have good friends right here in RI; that I am married to the love of my life; that my parents gave me so much; that I love Eric's family; that our cats are healthy and safe; that our roof doesn't leak; that we live so near the park; that I have the cabin and all the wonders therein; that the world is so fascinating and beautiful..."

Catherine Witherell shared the following:

"I am so grateful that I get to be an artist and that I can use my eyes and my hands to create and manifest the many ideas I have rolling around and sparking in my head. Lately I have been making something I like and turning to my husband and telling him, "Thanks for letting me be an artist." I know he didn't really "let" me, but in a way he did by not balking at what I spend most of my waking time doing. I'm also grateful for him."

*******

I was on a crisis line for 8 1/2 years in my community, which is just outside of Vancouver. Many times I would get callers who were homeless looking for shelters to go to in my city. The heartbreaking thing was that I had nowhere to send them-there are no homeless shelters outside of Vancouver. I can't tell you how difficult it was to have someone needing a safe and warm place to sleep at night and having no way of helping them.

I believe that every community needs to have shelters. Ideally, there would be no need for this, but we all know that we don't live in a perfect world. We have mild winters on the coast for the most part, but from time to time the temperature dips to the point that temporary emergency shelters are set up in area churches. Whenever this happens, it sets off an angry flood of neighbours protesting "not in my back yard!!" I don't know where these people expect the homeless to go. I think they forget that we are all one pay cheque, one illness or accident or natural disaster away from being in the exact same position and that we need to have compassion for one another. We're more connected than we think.

Please join me again tomorrow for day 3 of Gratitude Week.

Gratitude Week Day 1

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Today is officially THANKSGIVING DAY in Canada. It's also the start of Gratitude Week, which I will be celebrating here on my blog all week long with the help of my friends.

Gratitude Week is something being celebrated here in Vancouver. You see people are tired of waiting for the government to do something about homelessness in our city and they've decided to DO something about it.

I've posted one of the ads that's been running here and I hope you take a minute to watch it. It certainly got me thinking. Today's event is being held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Everyone is welcome to come down and make their own cardboard sign stating what they are grateful for and it's going to become part of a wall of gratitude througout the week.

This is Christy, one of the organizers, hanging up our contributions to the gratitude wall. We were some of the first people to arrive so we got to get the wall started!

The Wall of Gratitude is located on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery grounds and will be there all this week.

They had hot Tim Horton's coffee and doughnuts waiting for everyone and we were able to make our donations as well. Later on, we walked back by the site to see how the wall was coming along and there were more signs added. I hope by the end of the week it will be full!

These are our additions to the wall. I have more things I am adding here:

I am grateful for:

- the wonderful loving, supportive, circle of friends & family I have.

-being blessed with universal healthcare.

-a warm bed, enough food and a hot shower whenever I want it.

-the talents I possess and being able to use them to help others.

-Indy, my sweet dog who makes me laugh and loves me unconditionally.

-the internet which keeps me connected to friends far away.

-having free access to books so I can feed my mind.

-a happy marriage. (We will be celebrating 19 years in about 2 weeks!)

- getting the opportunity to live my dream of being involved in the Olympic and Paralympic games.

-being finished with chemo. (I think it's one of the hardest things I have ever been through.)

-having my studio space to work and be creative in.

-good music.

I asked some friends to share with me the things they are grateful for and I got some great responses. I will be sharing them here throughout the week so be sure and check back for day 2 of Gratitude Week and feel free to comment and share what YOU are grateful for-I'd love to know!

Thanksgiving 2009

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:35:00 +0000

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my fellow Canadians!

Yesterday we went to Fort Langley to the annual Cranberry Festival. It meant a very early wake up call to make it out there for 8:30 a.m. for the pancake brekki, but it was well worth it.

For $5 we got a large cranberry sausage, two regular sausages, 2 large pancakes, juice and coffee. We also get to dine al fresco, which was bracing, as there was a wind coming in off the river, but the sun was shining and the food was delicious so no one was complaining. We took Indy with us, which was fun-lots of folks stopped to pet him and comment on how beautiful he is. (We think so too!)

We did some shopping. There was this woman who had buckets filled with dahlia stems-every colour and petal configuration you could imagine and the flowers were huge. They were $1 a stem so I bought $5 worth and my son bought some for his girlfriend as well.

Aren't they gorgeous?!

We also bought some delicious apples, fresh from a farm to make apple pie.

When we got home, we made 2 impossible pumpkin pies (one for my son to take to his girlfriend's house to share last night)

and an apple pie.

I also made 2 roasters of cabbage rolls with cabbage from our garden. MMM!

It was really nice being out in the fresh air and seeing the leaves changing colour and blowing on the wind. There was a spot where we walked that cracked me up. In front of the cemetery, there is a block long stretch that has huge trees along the boulevard. When the wind blew, horse chestnuts would come pelting down from above. Some of them were bigger than a golf ball! We managed to avoid them, but I warned people coming up the street to be aware that they might get bonked in the head as they made their way along. It was pretty comical.

On an artistic note, I came across this book "Good Mail Day" and had a quick flip through in the store. It was chock full of eye candy, so I bought it. It's got me excited about making (and sending!) some mail art again.

I also wanted to share with you that I got an email from Jeanette telling me that my bra for the breast cancer fundraiser went for $60! The fundraiser was a rousing success. The final tally of all the money raised has yet to come in, but there were 50 bras and they all sold. YAY! I can't wait to share this with the person who inspired the bra I created. I know it will make her very happy.

You can read more about the auction and see some great photos of the event here.

Tomorrow I will kick off a week of special blog posts. You'll have to check back and see what that's all about!

Okay, I am off to stuff the turkey and get it into the oven!

Have a great day everyone!

Scenes from My Weekend

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:47:00 +0000

This morning I got up and made these acorn adorned cupcakes after seeing them on someone else's blog. I wish I could remember which blog it was, but the name escapes me. The person who inspired me made vanilla cupcakes and dyed them blue. I made chocolate-I'm not a big fan of food colouring as I am allergic to some of it.

I made 3 dozen and called up my best friend to tell her I had some to share with her. I was befuddled when she didn't come tearing over to get them-usually the offer of something yummy gets an immediate response. Hours and several message later, her husband phoned for directions to a favourite dollar store (they were out walking their puppy on the dikes) and I asked them to stop by on their way home for treats. The cupcakes got rave reviews. *grins*

Right after I finished making cupcakes, we took these from our organic garden...

and added some of this...

And created a bit of this...

...by accident-that's what happens when you multi-task!
And eventually ended up with this...

27 jars of pickled beets! I think that will get us through the winter! My hands are now a lovely shade of day-glo pink, a colour I was sure was not found in nature, but apparently it is!

I have to tell you that my husband cleaned up the massacre in the kitchen. That man is the best worker bee I know-he can make a kitchen sparkle even better than I can. He took the whole stove top apart, wiped down walls and cupboards, mopped the floor...you'd never know we'd canned today! I think he missed his calling-he should have been the guy who cleans up crime scenes!

Lastly, I leave you with this:

Did you ever know there were so many pretty shades of green? This was today's pickin's from our garden. If mother nature isn't the best artist!

Art For the Cure Auctions

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:38:00 +0000

Photo by Jeanette Janson

So the Cups for Cancer fundraiser is in full swing and this afternoon I got an email from Jeanette saying that my bra had been on TV in South Carolina! Apparently the curator of the gallery took it with her to share on the local news! I wonder if they mentioned it had come all the way from Canada?

Jeanette also sent me this photo of my bra hanging in the show, which was really nice of her, seeing as it would be a bit of a commute for me to attend. *laughs* I did notice that something was amiss though....

The "hope" embellishment has gone astray. I emailed Jeanette and she said she's going to see if she can find it, as it was on the bra when it arrived at her house. Ah well...these things happen! Hopefully she'll be able to find it and glue it back on. Apparently my super duper strength glue has failed me.

On a positive note however, she also informed me that my bra already has bids on it! YAY! That makes me really happy-the whole point of all this is to raise funds for breast cancer support services, so I was hoping it would do well. It's reassuring to know it's off to a good start!

Remember these charms I made for the Ties that Bind ovarian cancer project?

The doll made the cover of Stanislaus magazine, was featured in Art Doll Quarterly (the current issue, on stands now) and also made guest appearances on a couple of TV shows! How's that for exposure? It was finally raffled off and the project managed to raise a whopping $5442!! Isn't that just amazing?

But wait! There's more news!

Remember these charms I made a couple years ago, along with a button bracelet for A Charming Exchange?

Well those charms became parts of these pieces:

And were published it this book:

and now, at long last, many of these lovely pieces of jewellery from the book will be going up for auction on Ebay with the proceeds to go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, benefiting breast cancer research.

If you'd like to have the opportunity to bid or to learn more about this fundraiser, please visit the Charming Exchange blog for more information and links to the auction which goes live today!

You know, I've always believed that art saves lives and I think it's really an honour to be able to use our gifts to help someone else, even if we never see the ways in which that help manifests. I think of it as tithing to the universe. It's been my sincere pleasure to have played a small part in these projects and I hope that if you can, you will go and bid.

Does This Jacket Make Me Look Canadian?

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Behold my new winter jacket! I went out this morning and was freezing-it was raining and windy-enough so that the wind was practically ripping my umbrella out of my hand, so when my husband got home, we went shopping for a new jacket.

Just before we left the house, we were watching the noon news and they had just unveiled the athlete's uniforms for the 2010 games. I loved what I saw, so we decided to go look at Olympic apparel while we were at the mall. I decided I absolutely loved this jacket, (it's red so how could I not?!?) so it's mine!

These are the crests on either arm. (Sorry the one is so dark!)

I also bought this polar fleece toque. It's cozy and it has the little ear flaps so once it's on, no wind is going to bother my ears. The jacket also has a hood, so I am going to be toasty warm!

Of course I find this all just a little bit amusing-Canadians as a whole tend to be very quietly patriotic and here I am going to be running around town in a jacket that practically screams "I AM CANADIAN!!" Oh well, it makes me happy and keeps me warm and that's the important thing.

Of course my husband is already eyeing up my jacket. I promised him that if I get one just like or similar to it as part of my uniform for the games, I will give him this one. Speaking of which, I've been invited to go see the unveiling of our uniforms in a couple of weeks, so I am very excited. Having seen how tastefully done these ones are, it bodes well for something equally nice for us! *fingers crossed*

October Eve

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:12:00 +0000

That's a sneak peek of a little project I am working on, mainly for my own amusement. I just love the colours. Autumn is such a pretty time of year! My one regret right now is that while I thought about it, I didn't plan to host an Autumn/Hallowe'en exchange. Hallowe'en is my favourite holiday-it was my beloved Gramps' birthday and it holds really good memories for me. I wish I had decided to do it.*sad face*

Anyway...time to update "the list" so here goes:

Reading: I am 17 chapters into Dan Brown's new novel "The Lost Symbol". Usually it doesn't take me very long to read books, but with the chronic headache condition I have, it's become hard to read for long periods of time. On a good day I can still do it, but on a bad day, it's impossible. It's okay though-it just means I savour each book I read that much more.

Watching: All my fav shows are back on except for two. So far I am watching House, The Amazing Race, Survivor, Grey's Anatomy and SO You Think You Can Dance. Rescue Me is on a different schedule and just had the season finale and Breaking Bad hasn't returned yet.

I've tried to follow Heros, I hung in there last season which was painful, but if I am not engaged by this week's ep which I have on tape, then I am going to stop watching. It's just gotten to convoluted (too many superfluous characters) to follow. It's too bad too because the first couple of seasons were so engaging.

Listening: Yesterday Jesse Cook released a new album, "The Samba Frontier" which I promptly downloaded from iTunes. It's a wonderful album if you like flamenco guitar. His music is deeply textured and delicious. I listen to his music in the studio and often when I can't sleep. It's very soothing.

Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden also has a new album out, "Free". My favourite track is "A Million Miles Away". I believe she's at the top of the iTunes charts. Way to go Jann!

Anticipating: Thanksgiving is coming up in 2 weeks, along with the Cranberry Fest. I am hoping that the weather is good for that. It's always a good time and a wonderful celebration of the holidays. Our 19th wedding anniversary is also coming up at the end of October, so there's another reason to celebrate!

Dreaming: I am mulling over the possibility of hosting an art circle-sort of a party/art making day with friends. Not sure when I will have time for this, but it's been rattling around in the back of my head for awhile. Food, friends, art, what's not to love about that?

Doing: Working towards finishing a couple projects I have on the go and doing a bit of purging/reorganizing in the studio. My goal is to have all the art want to frame, framed and hung by the end of the year. It mainly requires measuring and a trip or two to Ikea for the big black chunky frames I like. It's one of those things I've been putting off for ages.

Creating: Working on a fall themed project (see pic above) just for fun.

So what are YOU doing? I really want to know!

Leave a post here and tell me!

A Trio Of Things To Inspire

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:49:00 +0000

It took me awhile, but here are the pics from the Richmond Art Gallery's annual ATC show. A couple of them are a tad blurry, due to the fact that I borrowed a friend's camera as I had forgotten mine and wasn't familiar with the settings on hers. Most of them came out okay and that's the main thing.

There were tons of really interesting cards and this is only a small sampling. If you are local and want to see more, the show is on till the end of October, so you have plenty of time to see it. It's worth going-there's plenty of different techniques used and I guarantee you will walk away inspired.

I came across this great book the other day. It's also chock full of inspiration so you might want to check it out. It's includes work by the lovely and talented Jan Bode Smiley, who gave me my start in doing work for publishing and equally lovely and talented Stephanie Rubiano, among others.

One other thing I wanted to tell you about is a documentary I rented over the weekend. It's called Running the Sahara and it's amazing. It's the story of three ultra marathon runners who decide to run from the west coast to the east coast of the Sahara Desert, passing through 6 African countries in the course of their journey.

If you are a runner or someone who likes adventure stories or just someone who would like to see the breathtaking scenery of Africa, I highly recommend seeing this movie. I watched it twice. It's not only compelling in terms of what these three athletes were trying to accomplish, but also because you get to see parts of the world that we seldom see or hear about. It was really beautifully done and so inspiring!

Okay, time for me to get busy here in the studio. I have a few projects I need to finish up!

Weekend Snapshot

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:08:00 +0000

My friend Tara sent me some love in the mail last week. She created this wonderful piece of work, using stencil and spray paint techniques. Each page is different and it was an unexpected surprise.

Tara's a sneaky one-she kept saying she was making a book for a friend while she was working on it and it never occurred to me that she meant I was that friend. When my husband brought the mail in and handed me the package, I was so surprised.

THANK YOU TARA! It's beautiful and so sweet of you to make this for me. I will treasure it!

My best friend Lisa and I went to Seattle on Friday for a medical appointment she had and we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home. I am a big fan of their artsy reusable shopping bags. My pals Tina and Pip each sent me one about a year ago that's green and turquoise and has a sort of nautical theme to it. It was love at first sight!

This is both side of the current one they have. Love the colours and art on this one too! The best part is they are dirt cheap-$1.99 each! Gotta love that!

We took Indy to the lake for a swim this afternoon. He loves the water and chasing his water Kongs. He's so crazy for retrieving the Kongs that we found that having two works best.We throw one, he brings it in and we throw the second as soon as he drops the first one at our feet. He just goes and goes and goes! I love watching how fast he is. He looks like a seal and you can hear him chuffing as he swims back with his prize in his mouth. Labs are all heart-they will play till you are exhausted.

Umm..anyone want to roast a marshmallow? Not long after dinner, I heard a fire engine coming and honking madly. That's not too out of the ordinary, as we live near a fire hall, but the honking was a bit unusual. There isn't alot of traffic near the fire hall, so I couldn't figure out at first why it seemed so loud. Then I realized the engine was coming down our street and it smalled to a halt right in front of our house.

I flew outside to see what was wrong and there's this car parked about 20 feet from mine with flames shooting out of it, 5 feet high! Wow! There's something you don't see every day!

Turns out our neighbour was driving home and his car started acting funny. As he pulled up near his house, he smelled something and so he pulled up on the gravel and got out right away to see what was wrong. Smoke was pouring out of his car so he ran in the house to call 911.

It ended up he had to call them twice, as at first there was just smoke and then after he hung up, the car burst into flames. It's a good thing he didn't park in his garage or the house would have caught fire! It took the firemen a good long time to get the fire under control and the smoke was heavy-they all had masks on and at one point, I couldn't even see the three guys who were dousing the car-they disappeared in the cloud of smoke that was billowing out from the hood.

Eventually, they got an axe and popped the hood open and you should have seen how burnt the top of the hood was. You could tell it was a very intense fire. They finally got the fire put out and the car is probably a write off. I am just glad my neighbour was able to get out of the car before he got hurt. He seemed to take it all in stride. He had company over for dinner and they just carried on with their evening. I suppose there was nothing he else he could do really.

Other than that *laughs* my wrist is still in the half cast and hopefully healing, though not fast enough for my liking! I am distracting myself by reading Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol. It's yummy! There's nothing I love more than a good book and this one is as delicious as The Da Vinci Code. (And yes, I bought a hardcover-I couldn't wait!)

I have to post about the special ATC swap that was filmed for a tv show that I was at on Thursday night. I got a sneak peek at the 2009 Richmond Art Gallery ATC show as well and I have photos! It will have to wait though, as it's hard to type in a half cast. Stay tuned though, it's coming up next!

Out Of Comission

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:38:00 +0000

I don't know how, but I injured a bone in my hand/wrist yesterday afternoon. I was in pain all night so I went to the ER this morning. I had an x-ray. The doc said he could not see an obvious break but that that didn't mean anything. A more senior doc will look at the films tomorrow & they will call if he says I need a cast. They splint it. It hurts like h*ll. I may be offline for a bit as typing is hard, but I will be reading everyone's blogs.

The Healing Continues

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:10:00 +0000

In memory of

Kenneth Charles Ledee

and with much love, in honour of the Ledee family.

I invite you to take a moment today to remember those lost 8 years ago today and for the families and loved ones they left behind. May they know that we hold them in our thoughts and hearts today and every day.

"Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy."

~ Sai Baba

Every Woman Has A Story

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned awhile ago, Jeanette Janson is hosting a breast cancer fundraiser, "Cups For Cancer" and I said I would contribute an altered bra for the project. I actually committed to this project on the day of my last chemotherapy treatment last month. It just seemed fitting, somehow.

The first thing I had to do was find a bra to alter. I picked one up at the local thrift store for all of $6. It was brand new-the tags were still on it!

I painted the entire bra with two coats of gesso, front and back and let it dry for 24 hours, to make sure I was working on a completely dry surface, as it was a padded bra.

While I was waiting for the bra to dry, I tea dyed some old book pages to cover the bra with. I used Kroma matte medium and painted it on the surface of the bra as well as onto the paper to make sure I had good adhesion. Once it dried, I did another layer over the top to make sure everything was sealed. I papered both side of the bra.

I papered everything but the straps in the first round so I would be able to hang the bra to dry in the correct shape.

As you can see, I also removed the elastic part of the strap, as there really was no way to cover it.

I replaced the elastic part of the straps with black safety pins from Papier Valise and added some letter beads to embellish along with tea dyed vintage ribbon I had.

Then I collaged vintage images onto the bra.

I added some text around the images.

On the straps I collaged text from a medical dictionary.

I embellished the center of the bra with a fabric flower, some beaded fringe and vintage lace.

Finally I embellished this metal text with glitter glue and added it to the center of the bra.

Monday night I carefully boxed it up, along with my artist's statement and sent it off to South Carolina. The show of all the bras created for the project is on September 17th and then the charity auction is on the 22nd. I am hoping Jeanette can send me some photos of my bra at the show.

It's been pretty nerve wracking to create something that someone is going to bid on. It's certainly way outside of my comfort zone, but it's for a good cause. My bra is titled "Every Woman Has a Story" and I've dedicated it to someone whose mother has had breast cancer 3 times and is still fighting. Her courage and resiliance inspired me.

PNE Sand Sculptures

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Here, as promised are the sand sculptures from the PNE. This year, for some reason, they hid them way down on the back side of the fair where almost no one goes-it's not a very high traffic area and I think it's kind of a shame because the artists who worked on these did an incredible job and I don't think most people realized where they were.

This first pic is of a detail of one of the sculptures. I just really liked the octopus peeking out from the bottom. It reminded me of Artfest.

Here's a pirate, which my son referred to as "The Johnny Depp one". *laughs* Apparently, pirates=Johnny Depp- there were no pirates before Jack Sparrow in his mind. Too funny!

Mermaid sisters...

A guy in a row boat. The face on this one was just creepy.

Not too sure what this one was...sort of a Tiki/Poseidon theme, I think.

The details on the face of this one is incredible. You'd think they were carving clay the way they got the folds in the skin and the teeth done.

This one is ocean themed and the one that has the octopus on the far side of it. (You can't see it from this angle.)

I think this one is either Mayan or Inca. Either way, it's really something.

THis one reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. I don't think it was, but the girl looks like Alice.

This one was HUGE. Look at the size of the hands!

I love sand sculptures. They are to BC what snow sculptures are to Manitoba, where I grew up. It's really great to see so much art at the fair and I liked that there was a diversity in what was shown-there was something for everyone!

*Did anyone other than me happen to notice that today is 09/09/09?!

Art at the PNE

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:03:00 +0000

The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) was on for the last two weeks here. It's the annual fair everyone goes to. This year they seemed to have alot of great art exhibits.

This is "Container Art" which was an installation inside these giant shipping containers. With Vancouver being a port city, we see alot of these around and it's kind of cool that someone thought to turn them into art galleries.

This is the entryway into the gallery area. There were 8 individual containers that were either open so you could walk right in and look at the art or had the art inside and were like a giant shadow box, so you stood outside looking in.

This is one where you could walk right in. On all sides of the container, were paintings that were similar to this one. Around the edges there was sand and driftwood, creating a beach-like feel to the container.

This is one where you just stood outside and looked in. I loved all the neon, it was really cool.

It had a sort of "Mad Max" feel to it-lots of car parts.

This was one of the walls. The neon light is reflected in the metal of the sun image.

This was on the opposite wall-more car parts. If you look closely, you can see it's the make and model pieces off a variety of cars all assembled together. Amazing!

Another section of the PNE has a competition where people make 3D sculptures from cans of donated food. This is to raise awareness and donations for the local food bank. I liked the earth sculpture. It's made from tuna tins.

Then there was Wall-E...

And a dinosaur hatching from an egg...

And Marvin the Martian....

And then a house which was made by and large from tins of chicken broth and tomato sauce. You just never know what you are going to see at the PNE.

Tomorrow I will post pics of the sand sculptures because there are so many that it needs its own post. The artistry is incredible-I was amazed with what they can do with sand. Wait till you see!

Scenes From My Weekend & Catching Up

tatterededge@shaw.ca (Lelainia N. Lloyd) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Friday night my husband and I took Indy and headed down to Rocky Point for dinner al fresco.

There's nothing better than sitting on the waterfront eating cod and chips in a paper cone. That right there is a West Coast summer in a nutshell for me.

I love the design of this water park.

I also love taking water shots-you just never know what you're going to get in terms of the pattern of spray and it's always interesting.

And now by way of an update:

Reading: I still have The Third Man Factor on my bedside table. It's been there all summer, which is something new for me. I've had some pretty severe migraines as a result of an ill advised medication change. (It's a long story, but I am in the process of undoing that change.)

What this meant was that my vision has been blurry and my head's been killing me much of the time, so reading was completely out. So was watching TV for any length of time or being on the computer. August was pretty much a disaster. I am hoping to be able to finish this book over the next few days.

It's a great book-really interesting. It talks about how in times of extreme stress, in life and death situations, adventurers have had the sense of a presence, a "third man" who would accompany or guide them until the danger had passed. The book is part interview, part reference to scientific studies, part anecdotal stories of mountaineers, divers, arctic explorers and pilots.

Watching: When I have been able to watch TV, I've been enjoying the post season 3 part wrap up series of Deadliest Catch. I have also been watching Departures, which is a series about two young guys travelling around the world, with seemingly no particular plan as to where they go next-they went from Chile to Mongolia, for example-they are not doing it in any linear fashion. It's an interesting series because they go well off the beaten track and so you get to see alot of things most travel shows don't even touch on. It's not about the tourist traps.

Listening: A couple of friends sent me some mixed cds and I've been listening to those the last week or so and perusing iTunes on Mondays when they change their new music offerings to see if there's anything I have to have. There really hasn't been anything really exciting album-wise out this summer-none of the artists I enjoy have put a new album out lately, aside from the Indigo Girls who had Poseidon & the Bitter Bug a few months back which I really enjoyed.

Drinking: I've been living on iced coffee all summer. I make my own. YUM!

Anticipating: The arrival of Autumn, my favourite time of year. I wait all year for it, like a kid waits for Xmas-I love it that much. It's the best weather, the leaves change colour and I get to haul out all my favourite sweaters. I make alot of homemade soups and stews and bake biscuits and all that good stuff. I spend alot of time outside enjoying the crisp winds and I can't wait to take Indy to play in the leaves now that he's a bit older. It also means my wedding anniversary is just around the corner. We celebrate 19 happy years this year!

Dreaming: About gearing up for the 2010 Olympics training and preparation. It will be beginning soon and I am pretty excited. Uniforms and accreditation is supposed to take place in Sept./Oct. and I am dying to see what we're going to be wearing. I hope it's a great design. They have yet to unveil the uniforms, but it should be happening real soon! The Paralympics has a totally different set of uniforms and since I will be doing both, I will have both. How cool is that? Over the weekend, I bought myself a nice red large moleskine journal to keep during this whole process, however I am not the world's best paper journaller-I prefer to blog, so we'll see how that goes...

Doing: I've been cleaning the studio the last day or so. It was so dusty I could hardly stand it and stuff was just piling up. It was time to put the paper shredder to use and get rid of junk. The recycler is full and I can actually see the floor again. (I had piles all over the place.) It was good to tame some of the chaos. Now I just need to tackle the closet and re-sort some of the stuff on the shelves and then it will be neat and tidy again. I cannot work in a mess and this is the longest I've ever let it go.

Creating: I am working on four projects at the moment. I am in the middle of altering a bra for a breast cancer fundraiser. I am 3/4 finished. I am also working on a 20 page zine for an exchange and I have that about 1/2 done. Waiting in the wings are two projects that will follow-one is an exchange with my ATC group of small party favours inside paper cake slices and the other is gifts for the 12 days of Xmas exchange I host every year. Lots to do in the next few months! I am hoping to get inspired and be ahead of the game!

So how about you? What have you been up to?