{13} blue bombers memorabilia

looking around the house for something nearby that would inspire a different medium, i gravitated towards some of my memorabilia. it started out easy enough...the rally towel, the lanyard, the pins and badges. but then it got tough because i have a lot of larger items like caps and helmets and books and posters but those were going to be too big. so, i had to get creative in my layout!

of course, curious george was ever present and he was upset that he was not allowed to steal away the "car dice" from the "R" and chew on them. so, he chose instead to lie down and furiously pout while i finished laying out the letters and taking a picture.

side note: *sigh. i accidentally typed the title as "{234}" and that made me wistful for the day when i can actually type that in!

{12} wordsearch

you know i have this list of 70 ideas i made myself, plus i have my book to spurn creativity and yet i sat for the longest time this morning frustrated because i couldn't come up with any ideas i was totally passionate about. so, i was quite relieved when i thought of the wordsearch idea and decided to go for it. i just made it using an online wordsearch creator. at first it didn't like that all the words were the same (ie. "lauren") so then i started calling each word something different (e.g. laurena, laurenb, laurenc) and then the creator liked that better.

{11} badges

a few days ago my mom uncovered this ice cream pail full with badges that my brother had collected in his childhood. there were so many awesome ones like from the Expo '86 in Montreal, Curling badges from the mid-60s that my dad earned, Smurf Ice Capades or some vintage Superman ones. they were so much fun to sort through and then my mom suggested that i use the badges for my medium today and i thought it was a great idea too. my mom has been super supportive with this project and is coming up with more and more ideas on a daily basis. between her and my "365 days of creativity" book, i feel pretty confident that i can complete this project.

george's involvement: i had finally laid out the "LAUR" and george heard a noise at the door and went racing THROUGH all the badges i had just finished laying out. they were a mess. i had to actually start from scratch again. then he just wanted to be fully involved again so i had to try to keep him distracted but still close to me that i could supervise him from messing anything up. :)

{10} shoes

i don't even have all my shoes at home! i have 4 or 5 pairs still at work and if i'd known i was going to do this project today, i would've brought them home. oh, well. i do love my flats. there are only two pairs of kitten heels and one pair of actual heels in this bunch and i never wear any of them. i'm short. why pretend i'm not short?

oh, and can i just say how thankful i am to have an even number of letters in my name to make it easier to spell it out in a 2x3 format? oh, the frustration i would have if my name had 5 or 7 letters. grrr. this makes life so much simpler. it's like my parents knew i would do this project one day so they were looking out for me.

ten days in! so far, so good!

{9} facebook

well, i wanted to create something on the computer today. so, tried. it did not look good. definitely not worthy of using for only day 9 of this project. maybe on day 217, i would go "yes. ugly, but it's something." but, i'm not willing to give in quite yet.

so, today's name comes from my facebook page. everyone else's facebook profiles seem to be updated to this new fandangled timeline view (or whatever it's called) but mine is still old school. fine by me. it takes forever to load those other views anyway. i still do love me some facebook. i log on at least once per day. ususally in the evening but i've been known to surf over my lunch break at home or even before work in the morning. i love staying connected with people that i may not get to see in person as often. it's such a wonderful tool and i love social networking.

vintage buttons

will my button collection make me a millionaire? not likely. but today i had an extraordinary haul of interesting buttons from the local mcc. i love the ones with the family crests on them. i just wish i had a way of discovering their significances. i guess i have some googling ahead in my future. but for now, i will share these few favourites.

i love buttons!

{8} sweetener

is it sweetner or sweetener? i mess that one up all the time. i like "en" in the middle of the word, so i shall run with that.

this is my life. i cannot have any sugar. really, i shouldn't have sweetener either but i could only take that for so long. from march 15, 2011 until november 27, 2011 i did not eat sugar in any form in any instance at any time. ever. never a single tiny little morsel of cheat. beyond that, i did not eat any form of yeast, dairy or gluten either. how did i manage that? now that i've introduced those foods slightly back in my diet, it's been nearly impossible to avoid them again. i'm trying, though. at least during those 8.5 months i lost the 75 pounds i needed to get off my frame and get out of the severe obese-obese-overweight range until i hit a normal weight a mere 6 days before my 30th birthday.

wow, overshare on the 365-project. anyway, here i am. sugar-free but still sweet.

{7} 39 kisses

gee, i sure hope no one was peering through the window as i made this one...it must've looked ridiculous. i kept on kissing the paper, reapplying lipstick and kissing it again. it's my homage to sephora (although i'm sure i'll have another homage to sephora again later on).  only 358 more to go.

pyrex love

yay! i got a beautiful extra large canary yellow pyrex bowl at the mcc today (plus, another jar of buttons). so, i was prompted to set up a photo shoot with my small pyrex collection. i'm working on building it up!!

{6} ode to tim hortons

i've been known to drink my fair share of tim hortons' coffee. i'm addicted. if i can't get one on the way to work, i text one of my co-workers to go get one for me on their way to work. i used to take my coffee with one milk and two sugar but since i've had my lifestyle change, i've been drinking it with three sweetener (it started off as one, but i've worked my way up to three!).

so, i took three old cups and cut out the letters of my name from the cups and then placed them in an honour-ring around my beloved large (formerly extra-large) coffee. yum.

ps. only after uploading my photo did i notice that i placed the letters to my name in a counter-clockwise fashion! why would i do that?! oh, well. mistakes make us human.

{5} hand-stitched

i started making a baby quilt way back in early 2002 when my sister-in-law was pregnant but, of course, i never finished it. so i grabbed that fabric, stretched a semi-solid piece of white fabric across my embroidery hoop (i have many!) and started stitching my name. it took a lot longer than i was prepared for and my stitches on the "L" started off quite small but then i saw that was going to be absurd, so i started to lengthen my stitches. i was quite happy when i finished it!

{4} hand shapes

slightly more complicated--and painful! my hands were forced into some uncomfortable shapes to make these letter shapes. the "n" was the toughest and i couldn't keep my hands still so that one came out a little blurry. then i compiled them together in photoshop and put them in black and white because the colouring varied in each picture so much. i did not have much patience to make sure the lighting was perfect.

{3} ransom letters

grabbed the nearest copy of "EW" magazine and quickly snipped out some letters. then they are stuck to some old kraft paper that i use as a table protector for when i'm painting.

Project: {365Names} -- Part Two

I'm super stoked about the project and to share my creations.
So, it is day two of creations. I won't say what I've done but I'm pretty darn pleased at its fun-ness quotient so far and the fact that neither project has taken more than 5 minutes to create. i trust that there will be projects that take much longer but for now I'm good.

Now, what is the purpose and goal of the project?
1. I want to stick with a project for more than a month or two. I want this to keep on going and not get frustrated if I miss a few days here and there. I'm trying to be focused on the end product which will be my name in 365 different forms.

2. I'm sort of hoping that once I've picked up some momentum (maybe after 1 or 2 months) that I'll make a link on my facebook so that people are aware of the project. Then I'm anticipating that people will send me there own pictures of my name that they've seen and I'll be able to include those as well! Wouldn't that be neat?

3. Expand my creativity beyond sorting buttons, pinning things on Pinterest and scrapbooking 5 times per year. I'm a creative person, and I want to have this small moment each day where I get to do a quick project that's based on a theme.

I don't know what tomorrow's creation will be, but I'm totally excited about it!

{2} milkbones

george was super curious wondering what i was doing dumping out his milkbone box onto the floor. i must admit that he did sneak several treats away and i kept on having to replace them to keep the letters in tact. eventually i had to tell him to 'wait' so i could snap a picture and then he had fun pushing the bones around again.

just happens that the long frame i have in my dining area has six rectangles which is perfect for displaying the letters of my name. i hope to use it several times over during the course of this project.

{1} stick people

super quick project. quickly drew up some stick people posing as the letters of my name. some of them had to have unhappy faces becaue those poses looked downright uncomfortable.

Project: {365Names}

Well, yesterday I saw this book about creating something every day for one year. Now, I've tried this idea plenty of times before--the photo-a-day, blog-a-day, drawing-a-day, journal-a-day--but nothing has ever stuck longer than 20 days. But, I became inspired. So, I've asked my good friend Cara to come along on this journey with me. Starting tomorrow, we will both be creating something every day. My chosen theme for the year (or until I run out of ideas, get frustrated, or just don't want to anymore) will be...my name.

I've always had an interesting relationship with my name. Though I was gifted the name "Lauren" at birth, by the age of 4 I declared I didn't like it and wanted to only be called "Laurie". And, so it was. That's how it was throughout my childhood, teenage years and work experiences. Then it changed.

In September 2005, I began college studying creative communications and I wanted my name to change. So, when in my very first advertising class, my professor asked if I wanted to be "Laurie" or "Lauren", I hesitated and then declared "Lauren". And, so it was. But, now I was left with all my family and friends who only knew me as "Laurie" to contend with. It was a difficult transition and I do not request that any of them call me "Lauren"...that's too strange. However, I introduce myself as "Lauren" and address myself as "Lauren".

It's a confusing relationship. If I'm talking with Erin or Korine, I know I'm "Laurie". But, if I'm talking with Karen or Brant, I know I'm "Lauren". Elijah and Emma call me "Auntie Laurie" and yet if I ask them my name they respond with "Lauren". Confused, yet?

Hence this project. Let it be known that I love the name Lauren. It's my name, and I think I'll keep it.

pencil crayon wreath

used five boxes of pencil crayons from dollarama, buttons are from my own vintage collection, paper clips from dollarama, "learn" bingo card (? no brand name on it so i'm not sure), paper circles are october afternoon, calendar circles are jillibean soup, ruler is my mind's eye, numbers are maya road, alphas are basic grey, ribbon (? long been in my collection so i'm not sure again).

hot glued everything. pencil crayons are glued to the lid of a cool whip container which i cut out the center of. i hot glued them on there like CRAZY so that they wouldn't fall off (which they did at first). seems pretty secure now.

doilies? really?

awhile back i had gone into the mcc and discovered the most beautiful doily. that's right. i said it. i found a beautiful doily! who'd of thunk that they'd make beautiful teal doilies! and so the collection began. now, every time i go into the mcc, i must scavange through the stack of doilies for more awesomeness. i've got about 20. now, i just need to decide what i will do with them! i'm thinking...sew them together to make an open-faced blanket? or wall piece? or maybe mod podge them onto canvases? help!

another totally awesome find was this oneida cutlery box. i loved it. it sort of stinks, so i will rip out the fabric and stuff and sand and paint the interior but it is a fantastic piece to use for storage or as a display case. ack! i have soooo many pieces i need to work on. i need to take a week off to do this, seriously. i really do!

mmmmmmmm

it's no secret that i've been eating totally different for the last 12 weeks. one of my most favourite things to eat is my minestrone soup. it is ridiculous. zero additives and just oh so tasty. so, i thought i'd share the recipe for all! and, don't panic. i know you don't see salt or other seasonings in the ingredient list but it will be full of taste. trust me.

4qt pot
3 med carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves of minced garlic (use the instructions on the jar)
28oz of canned diced tomatoes (it's a little excessively tomato, so use your discretion)
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 container of vegetable broth
1 large bay leaf
1/2 can of white kidney beans
1/2 can of cut green beans

instructions: sautee the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the pot just until they get a little soft but not burnt (you need to keep your eye on this). then add the tomatoes, rice, broth and bay leaf and stir, stir, stir! bring to a boil and then reduce to a low heat (if it still lightly boils, that's fine). now just let it simmer for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. then add in the kidney beans and the green beans and stir, stir, stir! let that cook on the low heat for another 15-20 minutes. scoop out that bay leaf and it is ready to serve! de-lish!

i, personally, like to cut up enough vegetables to make two batches and then as soon as i'm out of one batch of soup, i can easily make another. oh, another tip to extend the life of the soup? keep on adding more broth every time you take out for another bowl. because the soup starts out quite thick, i always keep adding that extra broth in between.

it is so delicious. i just made some. i can smell it. it is calling my na...

buttons, buttons

Wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to feature this week. So I decided that since I’d already done a post about re-doing my kitchen, I should stick with that theme this week. This is a piece I made and it hangs above my yellow breadbox in my kitchen. It was so simple to make!

For $2 I picked up this plain white canvas at the dollar store and for another $1 I bought a package of glue dots (in the craft area). I already had collected a fairly substantial amount of buttons (thank you again, MCC!) and have separated them by colour previously so it was just about finding the “cool” looking buttons for this project

First I chose the colours and gathered buttons in those corresponding colours and laid them out on the canvas. Once I felt like I had a good pattern, I stuck a little glue dot behind each button and stuck it on.

When I looked at the project, I figured something was missing so I went ahead and put white buttons along the entire board of the frame as well! That was such a great idea. I mean, I used all of the glue dots I had purchased but I got this totally wicked little art piece for less than $5 and I can say I made it.

What’s better than that?

pinterest piques my interest

oh em gee. i am in love with this website pinterest.com. You can just post pictures of things you've found online that you love. i keep an inspiration folder on my computer to help me out when i want to craft but don't know what to do but this site is just genius. my inspiration folder has quintupled in size just because of this site. i want to make so many things: family bingo cards, subway art, toys for the kids, t-shirt bags, etc. etc. etc. i love it! i keep thinking that i should take a week off of work to just craft but then on the other hand if i had all this extra time, i'd probably end up watching tv or sleeping or something. lol

and i do still have these secret dreams of getting a table at the next craft show and making stuff for it but on the other hand, i worry about a) finishing enough projects to make a table viable and b) that people may not like what i do and i won't sell anything! but, in the meantime i'm still going to keep making things and putting them up in my house or leaving them in my storage room/former office for a future date. no one says i have to get a table this year. maybe this is just the first step--to decide that this is something i want to do and start preparing projects for it.