A Lovely Little World

Pay it forward: People For Good

2012-01-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

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I heard about this website on the radio the other day peopleforgood.ca

11.

Say good morning to a stranger

12.

Help someone cross the street

13.

Offer to give someone directions

14.

Pick up a piece of litter

15.

Share an umbrella when it's raining.

Lisa Loeb is the big celebrity spokesperson. I haven't had a chance to look over the whole site, but I did check out a few of the 200 ideas for doing good they have listed. Here's an easy 5! Hopefully I will have more time to blog later today. I took a break over the weekend and now I'm behind on posts!

Happy Monday loves!

Friendly Advice for the Young

2012-01-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, I was neat. That day was not Monday.

I love changing photographs into funky colours. Why will this not catch on?

Apparently this post is for teenagers and the message is, clean up after yourself, feel free to expressive yourself creatively even if the world hates it, go to college and eat apples! :)

My Art and Jennah's Art for me

2012-01-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

Jennah drew me this for my birthday. I am still so thrilled. She cleaned me up a bit but I'm not complaining ;)

And my next three journal pages. (Draw a shape over and over, then colour in the design)

Draw your inner critic. Mine makes me feel small and like I will never be good enough.

Illustrate a quotation! I used a quotation we often quote around here. We were playing a drawing game at Kids' Group. Theresa drew circles because it was all she could draw. Unfortunately, the drawing game was Pictionary so the other kids had to guess what it was. When no one could after a long while, I asked her what it was. This was her answer.

Jon Cusack clearly wants to marry me

2012-01-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

The week condensed. I turned 30! My friend was ordained! I got mad about fruit. I went to Michael's. I played with shrink plastic. I taught grade 1/2 and read the class Ferdinand. I saw a crazy pink feather tree. We had a blizzard. I got a birthday tweet from Jon Cusack (and my American Idol crush from last year Stefano Langone). There were many more pictures from this week. I didn't even realize how many! These are a few of my favourites though.

P.S. If you're confused, selfie 1 is my mad at fruit face. Selfie 2 is my I'm 30 bring it face. <3

DIY Awesome Wall Art: Guest Post By Ngaio May

2012-01-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

I am really excited about this DIY. I can't wait to try it myself. It's gorgeous, but I won't say anything more and I will let her introduce herself!

Hi! I am Ngaio May,

I blog over at Little Cloud about all sorts of things.

Today I have a tutorial for Butterfly Art that I made for a friend for Christmas! It is super simple but looks really lovely on the wall! Would be the perfect gift for any little girl (or big girl!) in your life!

Things you will need:

- a canvas or square piece of wood

- paints and brushes

- lots of scraps of paper that have matching colours

- scissors- glue stick

- hot glue gun and glue sticks

- a favourite quote

First things first: Choose a colour scheme/colours you want to use.

I went for a ultra girly look with yellow, pink, pale blue, white and a little bit of brown (It wouldn't be me if I didn't use brown paper somewhere!!) But you can use what ever colours you want. Pink, purple, blue and white would be pretty or even cooler tones of blues, purple, green and grey would look nice! Completely up to you and what paper/paint you have.

Now, you want to paint the canvas. Easy. Let it dry properly before sticking anything to it, luckily we have things to do before that.

Draw or Print and then cut out a butterfly shape that you like. Mine is about 4cm tall.

Now this part sounds odd but I then stuck it to a super shiny piece of magazine paper and then cut it out again. This will make life easier later.

My favourite part: Getting out my scrap paper collection! I went through and chose scraps of paper in my colours. Blue, Pink, cream and brown.

There are scraps from wrapping papers, envelopes, starbucks cup holders (those things are gold for crafting!!) a page from a notebook, just lots of things. I collect up paper all the time. People give me funny looks when I ask for their used gift wrap but I always reduce/reuse when ever possible.

Next cut out your butterflies. This part took a while time for me, but that's because I get distracted easily... But it can be done while watching TV.

I am not good at just holding the shape onto the paper and cutting around it, as it was so small, and I didn't want to draw it out and then cut them out.

So my secret is to use a tiny bit of glue (from a glue stick) and lightly stick the shiny magazine side of your butterfly to the paper you are cutting. The cut around and carefully pull the original shape off. Easy. This also ensures that all the cut outs are the same!

I needed 16 butterflies in total as I had 4 rows of 4 butterflies on my finished art. You may want 5x5 or something different. Up to you!

Now stick them to your canvas. I wish I had measured them out a little better - I was in a bit of a rush so it could have been better. I laid them out and decided how they looked nicest, due to the colours, before sticking them.

To stick them I used a dot of hot glue on the body part of the butterflies. Once they were dry I used a pencil to roll the sides of the wings slightly so they would stick up a little!

Then after all of that, I finished it by writing a quote at the bottom. I went with Life is Beautiful from the Vega 4 song that I love. Also the quote is so true! Again, if I had more time I would have done a bit of a nicer job, but sometimes we just need to do what we have to do.

Here is my finished art work that was given away as a 'handmade secret santa' gift! Ash loved it!

Please send me photos if you make something like this!! I would love to see!!

Thanks for having me!

The Quotation for the week and Fruit

2012-01-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

We had to shoot fruit in studio last week. I hated it. I'm horrible at it. BAH! All my highlights are wrong and the glisterine made SUCH a mess. Oh well!

I was suppose to be able to crop his hand out, but the stems are kinda too short for that to work!

This might be okay, only the theme was freshness. They just look like cherries, nothing particularly fresh about them.

This cherry is deformed and badly exposed

And then I played with a mirror, and that was fun

Anyway, the next day I tried window light

Window light is definitely not the assignment though....

Other things from the week

New shoes! I thought I had more images, but apparently I was too consumed by fruit or took them on my iphone and I haven't uploaded those yet.

Finally, the quotation for the week was "I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles" - Christopher Reeve.

I didn't really manage to photograph that this week, but here's what I did.

An old photo of Jennah

The quote this week came from the blog littlemoonlover.blogspot.com

"Cada quien carga su propia cruz" - It's Spanish for "Everyone Carries Their Own Cross" and is apparently a common expression in Mexico, making reference to Jesus carrying His own cross and the fact that each of us has our own burdens to bear.

Happy Monday loves! xoxo

About Me and the Characters Who Appear on My Blog

2012-01-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

30 years ago today, January 22, I was born. My parents named me Charity Emmanuelle for no other reason than that it suited me. Also, they were active in Church circles during the Charismatic 1970s, so I always assume the name is a product of that. I was born during a snow storm and many birthdays since have fallen on snow storms... and that's okay. I'm starting to rather like sitting in with take-out Chinese Food rather than going out places and being the centre of attention.

Not the best scan in the world, but evidence I've always been a winter lover.

I lived with my mom, dad and two brothers until I was 12.

Look how young my mom was when Michael was born.

At 12, my mom moved out. I tend to say I was raised by my dad because I always felt closer to my dad. He was my hero. That being said, I only actually lived with just my dad from 12 til nearly 16 (other than a step-mom for a brief time).

I moved in with my cousins when I was just about 16. My dad was very sick at the time and I was finding it really difficult to cope. I think that sounds selfish maybe, but he really wanted me to.... the brain tumor affected his thinking. I think it's hard work being a single parent to a 16 year old girl, without dealing with a messy divorce and a brain tumour. By this point, Caleb was switching between my parents, and Michael was still with dad.

At 17, Daddy died.

Caleb went to live with mom full time. Mike came to live with my cousins and myself (and my aunt and uncle).

My cousins, Sarah and Liz, quite a number of years ago now. Liz and I shared an apartment together in Teacher's College and she's been my best friend for so many years, through so many things. Sarah and I are in College together now. She appears frequently in blog posts. I also post her photography. She's very talented.

Mike and Caleb the Christmas before daddy died.

I'm not telling you this story to gain sympathy. I forget sometimes that this life is not the kind of life many people live. For me, it's not sad or tragic, it's just life. I don't mind telling my story because it's apart of who I've become.

Since that time, my brothers have moved on to new cities and new schools. Mike is married. I studied History and Education and now photography. I'm a supply teacher and photographer, sometimes I write. I try, more than anything to be grateful and to love. I'm not always very good at it, but I constantly make it my goal. Sometimes it feels that the more I set love as my goal, the more I struggle with it.

I also like to adopt people into my family, probably because people were kind enough to take me in when I had no one. Also because I realize families transist. Blood MIGHT be thicker than water, but family MIGHT be who you make it.

On that note, other people who feature on my blog regularly:

My friends, Jeff and Joe - sometimes we squabble like siblings.... Jeff was my first boyfriend and we broke up but stayed friends. I've known Joe since he was in Grade 3. We rode the school bus together, but we only became friends in the last few years.

And my "little sister" Jennah.... Her mom knew me when I was little, but I actually became friends with Jennah when I worked at the library.... she's a little book worm!

You never know who I will adopt into my family in the near future... so stay tuned! haha

Lots of love to you my blog family and thank-you everyone who left me birthday wishes. It means so much to me, truly!

Paying it Forward

2012-01-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

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Cute idea right?

But that's not the whole story. This woman did 38 random acts of kindness on her 38th birthday. I actually cried a bit reading the post. I wish I had thought to do something that inspiring for my birthday today. Instead, I sat home and watched Batman (which by the way, I am not complaining about)... I also got a birthday tweet from... JOHN CUSACK! (See me faint here).

Okay, I'm not talking about me yet... that's for my next post. If you'd like to know more about Robyn's journey, please read her post here. At the bottom of the post are all kinds of comments from her readers about the kind acts they did for people as a result of Robyn's birthday present to her community.

I'm always glad to know that kindness does matter to people. Sometimes it's easy to believe that the world is a dark, cold place. I guess because the media presents such a grim picture. There is goodness in the world! And we can share it around.

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"In the end, only kindness matters" - Jewel

Pretty Pretty Pretty

2012-01-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

I have wanted a terrarium for soooo long. As in long enough that they weren't even cool yet.
I found this pretty one but I definitely want to make my own.

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Normally, this would really annoy me... poor flamingo (I wish I was kidding) BUT, I've gone into Walking Dead withdrawls. Hurry up and come back on tv already.

Apparently I'm going with a garden theme today. I was looking for cute home ideas... I need a change. I found these microplanters on Apartment Therapy Canada. Apparently they featured on the etsy blog but I missed it. I would definitely do this.

Source

Available here

So in keeping with the trend, here is a lovely cyanotype photograph of flowers. I really want to try this type of processing again. When I was a child, I had a kit of the paper already dyed blue and you just had to put flowers or leaves on it and leave it in the sun. I found some of the paper online. I can't wait to get it!

I'd love to have this headpiece from Pink Lemonade.

An Issue That Needs Immediate Attention in a Southern Ontario College

2012-01-20T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is a "political" piece in the sense that I'm about to discuss the politics at a certain college in Southern Ontario and how displeased I am with some recent happenings in one particular department. I'm not going to go into specifics as to which school or program right at this moment, but anyone who knows me knows what I'm studying, although you may not know at which school.

To the point, I've been certified as a Teacher in Ontario. I've had my own classroom, I've learned about accommodations for students with special needs, I'm certainly not an expert, but I know what the province's responsibilities are in regards to meeting the needs of ALL OF ITS CITIZENS. Furthermore, I worked in the public sector as a Librarian, and was given special training on the laws that are in place (or soon will be) for making the province accessible to ALL and at all public places.

This particular college is NOT making the proper accommodations for certain students with disabilities. If they do eventually (or perhaps will eventually) the head of this department fights the students (and counsellors) every step of the way. There are only certain things I know firsthand, but I've certainly heard things about his policies towards those with disabilities that turn my stomach.

Here is the specific case I'm familiar with:

There is a female student. Since Elementary School her learning has been hindered by learning disabilities, as far as multitasking, reading comprehension, some other things. The province and medical doctors recognize her disability. She is allowed accommodations according to the College. This one department, headed by one particular man, keeps insisting she is NOT entitled to accommodations because it isn't fair to all the other students. The main issue is, she is entitled to memory aids for her tests. She writes her tests in another room so other students wouldn't even be aware she had the aids. She excels at her visual/practical work but struggles with written exams. The college website clearly states that acceptable accommodations for a student with a learning disability are:

a reduced course load
provision of a notetaker for lectures
tape recording of lectures
access to alternative format materials such as books on tape
access to a word processor with spell check, thesaurus, grammar check for completion of final copy of written work
clarification of information on overheads, charts and lecture material
alternative methods of evaluation, such as point form responses rather than full sentences, in content courses
provision of extended time for tests and exams. The amount of extra time is determined by the disability support office but is usually time and a half.
use of memory aids or formula cards
supplementary oral exams
exams may need to be written on a computer with editing functions and/or adaptive software
use of writing tools (e.g. spelling dictionary) so marks are not taken off for spelling
exams/tests may need to be scribed and written in a quiet writing room
clarification of questions on tests/exams
use of a calculator on tests/exams

He will let her have more time, but more time doesn't help because if you struggle with written exams you can sit for 6 hours and still have nothing BUT he refused to sign her accommodation sheet because he doesn't feel she is entitled to memory aids. I will also add that he decided to play doctor and told her that she "doesn't have problems with comprehension" and that her IEP (Individual Education Plan) is clearly outdated, even though she's been to a doctor lately. I'm sorry if this is jargon for a lot of you. To be honest, I'm mostly doing this to vent but also so that people are aware of the kinds of problems people with disabilities face. Many college professors (and in my experience) University professors, really have no idea how to make accommodations for people. As a TA, I had to take the issues sometimes to my supervisor and ask what was being done for a given student. This really needs to change. I'm hoping that by writing this, I might put pressure on those in charge.

The term disability carries so much stigma. The truth is, none of us learn in the same way. A gifted student is a different sort of learner as well, only his/her learning style facilitates rather than hinders his/her experience in the education system. Why should certain students be penalized just because they don't learn and think exactly like whatever the "norm" is? The reality is, there is no NORM, and learning needs to be entirely inclusive. We are all different, and that's how we are the same.

2012-01-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

As part of the Ice Wine Festival, local wineries offered tours and wine tasting, and it only cost $3.00 for a limo ride to the wineries, to visit three wineries and to sample ice wine at all three places. My friends and I decided to sign up because we figured it would be warmer than standing near ice sculptures and we would maybe get good images that other people overlooked. Candra really wanted to go to a particular winery because she's already been in contact with them about one of her wine bottle photographs, but that tour was already full. It was just as well because our tour only ended up being the three of us which meant we had the whole limo to ourselves! Also our driver was really nice and would recommend photographs a long the way to us, and then would park so we could get out.

This is at the Mountain Road Wine Company. We tried the 1999 ice wine and it was one of the best beverages I have EVER put in my mouth. I don't even really like wine and I use to hate ice wine. This was AMAZING. It's an award winning wine that they serve in the Canadian parliament. The owner makes the wine for love not money though and charges very low prices for his wine. I wish I had picked some up. If you ever have the chance, TRY IT!

This jelly at the second winery was also incredibly delicious.

Our ride

When we returned to the festival to go back to our cars, Candra and Sarah posed under the heat lamp in one of the tents.

They look like it's time to go home!

Spotlight on Renowned Photographs some I love, some I don't

2012-01-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to the Photographers who paved the way. I picked the following photographers because we looked at their work in History class this week. My prof is amazing. I love her. I hope when I get a college job, I'm as awesome as her! haha

By Laurie Simmons, 1979.

To be honest, I find her work a bit too out there for my personal tastes. She works a lot with "love" dolls and miniatures and makes her humans look oddly dead. This doesn't mean I'm not fascinated to some extent by how her brain works, but I simply wouldn't look at it for long or hang it in my home.

By Richard Avedon, 1959

See more of his work here

On the other hand, I never get tired of looking at Richard Avedon's work. He has photographed many Artists, Celebrities, and politicians. His work is beautiful, simply composed and makes an immediate impression.

We also studied Joel Peter Witkin. His work tends to be morbid, with dismembered body parts and lonely nudes. Some of it I really hate, but some of it, although hard to look at it, really does capture a feeling of aloneness and isolation... separation. You might be interested to check it out, but here's your warning.

Instead of posting a picture of his work, I will post a picture of him! haha

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By Edward Burtynsky, 2003

Link to his website

Burtynsky's work is more my speed. It's very political and environment. He did a complete book on oil and the future of the oil and the planet. His work is thought provoking and powerful. It's beautiful in a way, even though you wouldn't think of oil mines being beautiful.

William Morrison made photographs of Georgia O'Keefe's hands.

Link here

This image makes me happy.

Also appropriate for my safe place brain,

P.H. Emerson was an American photographer who worked in England depicting the usually overlooked country homes of the not so elite. His photographs resemble impressionist paintings. This image is so beautiful, and doesn't make me feel disturbed. I know images that provoke feelings in you, even if it's to disturb you, are effective images.... but still, happy is good for me.

Anyway, that's History class for this week!

Love you all.

Twenty Valley Ice Wine Festival

2012-01-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

When my friend asked this lady if we could photograph her, she was with a man. I took two pictures of him and her and then she shoved him out of the way and said "Now just me!" It was one of my favourite moments of the day.

They had fire pits set up in the street and people would gather around to warm up and drink their wine

My ladies. Poor Sarah wasn't feeling well so she was bundled to the hilt. It was freezing that day!

I have so many more images but I won't post them all, although I will do a part 2 post of the wine tour we did later that day (in a limo!)

Cranky until Marty

2012-01-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

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I have this thing inside me that always says "things will be ok" even when it doesn't make sense. Sometimes it drives me nuts because I think I would be more motivated to change things if it wasn't there. I was thinking these very thoughts this morning. I was remarkably cranky to boot. I wanted to find something to make me feel inspired.... and I saw this. HOPE IS NOT CRAZY!

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I'm happy to say, I've lately rid myself of a lot of grudges... but isn't this brilliant!?

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This isn't something I would normally post, so I'm sorry if anyone is offended, but I SO was not expecting to read this, that it did actually work to cheer me up! And we have to admit, it's pretty, stinking hilarious.

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Awww, Marty McFly = me officially cheered up!

The week in iphone apps!

2012-01-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles" - Christopher Reeve

This is my quotation for the week. Sometimes it feels like there are so many obstacles and I definitely don't feel like a hero!

Some glimpses of the week. As you can see, I've lately become obsessed with the hipstomatic disposable app. I like to combine it with bokeh booth, frametastic and instagram!

So this week, in no particular order - I saw pretty winter trees, we had our first real snow storm, Sarah, Candra and I hit up the Ice Wine Festival, I went to the library, I did NOT eat cherry tomatoes but they looked pretty, I wore a bunny sweater, I rode in a limo and went to wineries, and my guinea pig sent all my readers kisses!

Huzzah!

Love you all!

More Art Journal Pages

2012-01-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

1) Look outside. What is the weather? Use this for inspiration

2) Look at a random object in your home. Draw it without looking at the page. Colour it.

3) Find a pretty picture. Use it for inspiration.

Pretty pretty pretty

2012-01-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Isn't this cute? I found it here

I miss rollerblading. It's definitely not a good day for it today. It's our first snowstorm of the winter.

Heart Serene on Etsy does pretty custom wedding prints like this one.

My second favourite Pink Floyd song, and the best come-on line I've ever heard!

Print available here

A seriously gorgeous Audrey Hepburn photograph. I hope I can re-create something similar this term when I have to do another fashion shoot. I better start looking for clothing now!

Kellie originally pinned it on pinterest and I re-pinned it. How could I not?

Um, can I have him please?

Found here

I'm off to the Niagara Icewine Festival!

Happy weekend friends.

Random Acts of Kindness: Painted stones

2012-01-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

I really, really want to post regularly about unique random acts of kindness or fun ways to pay it forward. Hopefully, I also manage to do them.... but we will see how that goes.

Along time ago, I read this post on the blog Color Me Katie. Have you seen this blog? It's so colourful and fun. There is nothing quite like it. In fact, I often find her images on pinterest or through people referring to her, but I'm not even sure I was a follower until today. It took a lot of ingenuity to find the post I'm about to tell you about. In fact, I found it by typing "Paint Stones Sidewalk Color Blog" into google or something like that. I always forget and put colour instead of color into searches. It's very limiting being a Canadian sometimes.

So! To the point, Katie had some extra stones and wanted a fun way to cheer people up. She painted the stones pretty colours and then left them random places for people to find and pick up and admire. She placed the stones in places that were similar in colour to the stone. It's simple but sweet. I would love to walk down the street and find a pretty stone like this.

I already have the stones and paint so I just have to get around to it, although maybe in the snow it's not such a great plan? haha

Anyway, for more images, check out Katie's post here.

If you have a really great random act of kindness you want to do or someone has done for you, email me and you (or I, if you prefer) can post about it!

alovelylittleworld@yahoo.com

alovelylittleworld(at)yahoo(dot)com

"In the end, only kindness matters" - Jewel

So I got snowed in today

2012-01-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, so of course it's casual day at work, and for the first time in ages, I actually planned my outfit the night before rather than just throwing on jeans and a clean sweater.

I actually have some matching going on which is incredibly rare in my world.

So Liz and I set out for work this morning at 7am and could only do 40km/hour maximum in an 80km/hour zone. I don't know what that is in American talk (hehe). The blowing snow was unreal and apparently they don't blow around here until 8am. We had to turn around and go home! I will also mention that Liz is a much braver driver in snow than I am... so if she turned around it was bad.

I love my David Bowie print.

Somethings

2012-01-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Love and tea and History and toys and small details and freshness

Help!

2012-01-12T14:48:00.001-08:00

How do I get my blog header centred again?????

Wish List!

2012-01-10T14:37:00.000-08:00

Available here

Available from Oh Strumpets!

My birthday is fast approaching.... usually if I like some handicraft, I go ahead and buy it because it's supporting small artisans, but I can't afford it right now with going back to school, so I just have to wish!

Apparently I'm going with a camera theme to some degree, plus little totoro. Isn't he adorable?

A few journal pages.

2012-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

I know I can't draw, but I find Art journals so therapeutic. Here's my first three days. As you may have seen, I posted 50 prompts a few days ago. My mission is just to complete those 50 prompts (and two other Art journals I slacked off on) before December 31st 2012.

1) Illustrate how you're feeling today

2) Open up to a page in your favourite book. Draw the first paragraph you read

3) Doodle a whole page like you doodled in high school.

Silly sweaters and sales

2012-01-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Necklace $1.50

Rings $1.00

Earrings $1.00

Me = a happy shopper

Something else that makes me happy....

This crazy fox sweatshirt from Forever 21

(also on sale I will add)

Oh, I forgot this gold hand-band. It's old. I don't know how much it cost.

And back to the fox sweater...

I wore it with a dress and jeans. You gotta live a little, you know? hehe

In an attempt to be ironic or funny or something, I wore my rabbit earrings and necklace WITH the fox sweater. No one really understood why that was strange. Hello! Foxes EAT rabbits, but in my world they live in harmony (as an outfit).

Oh well, I knew.

And clearly appreciated my own sense of humor! Dork!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed your Monday. I found out one of my courses is actually considered an online course so I don't have to go in Monday afternoons like I thought! Nice eh?

Here's the Self portraits for my theme

2012-01-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

It starts again today!

And I am prepared!

Also, I miss my dad

A few photos from the week

2012-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

With a few of my friends at the coffee shop. Someone got a new playbook.... I call this nerding out.

Playing around with books and light. Two of my favourite things!

I got so much mileage out of these magnetic letters from my classroom last year. Although I had to remove them from the class because the grade 7 boys had too much fun with them. eeks.

Yes, going with a theme.... Valentine's Day is approaching.

We are all connected! Pass on the love!

And as before mentioned my quotation for the week is: "In order to be someone, you must first be yourself!"

So... I took a lot of self-portraits this weekend.

I'm not going to post them all right now, but here are a few.

Okay, forget it. Here are NOT a few. My computer is playing games with my mind!

Back to school tomorrow!

50 Ideas for Paying it Forward

2012-01-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

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This is not my list and it is certainly not exhaustive. I found it here
http://thehalfwaypoint.net/2009/09/50-simple-ways-to-pay-it-forward/

1. put a quarter in a meter, any meter, that’s about to expire

2. leave a copy of a really great book you’ve read in a cafe for someone else to enjoy

3. be nice to the customer service people who are trying to help you with your technological difficulties

4. tip your restaurant server generously

5. thank the cooks, waitstaff and bussers personally

6. say something nice or funny or goofy to the toll booth attendant (like, “Don’t drive too fast, now” or “Glad to have encountered you today”, or something less hokey)

7. forgive a driver directing road rage at you

8. buy or pack a meal for a homeless person (or give him/her your to-go box from a restaurant)

9. give a warm coat to a homeless person

10. offer to do pro bono work on a project where your skills are needed

11. mentor someone

12. make a donation

13. say a prayer or whisper a kind wish for someone

14. compliment a stranger

15. send a box of donuts or bagels or muffins to a construction site

16. next time you leave a foreign country, give all or some of what’s left of your currency to someone who resides in that country

17. next time you’re at the airport, offer to pull the bags belonging to a woman or a mother with child out of the conveyor belt

18. praise generously

19. give local tips (re: restaurants, sights, etc.) to a tourist

20. show respect equally to all human beings

21. put a tip in a street musician’s jar

22. let someone cut in front of you at the grocery store

23. tell a funny joke to a stranger

24. give someone a chance to prove him or herself

25. encourage someone to pursue their dream

26. allow someone to let his or her light shine

27. show support to an artist or writer or musician

28. hold the door open for someone

29. tip a cab driver generously

30. teach a child something you wish you knew at that age

31. smile at someone who’s sad

32. smile at strangers

33. offer sincere, kind words to someone who’s hurting

34. visit a hospice and spend some time with a terminally ill patient

35. volunteer at a battered women’s shelter

36. spend some time with a senior citizen living alone

37. give up your seat on a crowded bus or train or ferry

38. inspire someone to be the best that they can be

39. give someone the benefit of the doubt

40. offer to babysit for a single mother

41. offer the FedEx, UPS or DHL delivery person something to drink especially on a warm day

42. help a pregnant lady

43. sit and talk with a homeless person and learn their story

44. loan something to someone and forget about it

45. loan money on Kiva

46. contribute to a friend’s child’s education fund

47. give blood

48. show respect to a soldier regardless of your pacifism

49. donate to or volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation

50. replace an angry or bitter thought toward someone with a loving thought (or at least try)

source

5 Things

2012-01-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

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This week, I'm attempting to photograph this quotation. I've been wanting to make photographs that represent sayings and quotations, so here's where I start.

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My NYC trip for school is coming up really soon. I've been researching photo ideas like mad, but it will ultimately come down to me.

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I signed up for Oh Strumpets! Valentine's Swap. Wouldn't this make a pretty Valentine's Day card? I'm going to search cute craft ideas next! (As you can tell by my reference to research over and over, I'm feeling a tad uninspired at the moment. Here's hoping today is the day that changes)

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Um, what? Photography by Tim Walker. He has lots of pretty/creative/fascinating images!

A friend of mine from grade school is a poet and musician in Montreal. He blogs here (A Loom in the Dark). Sometimes he uses my photos to go along with his poems :)

He's very talented.

So that's it for this lovely Saturday! Happy weekend loves.

Art Journal Prompts

2012-01-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to do these Art journal prompts that I found here by google searching Art Journal Prompts.

1. Take a minute to connect with your feelings. Close your eyes and imagine what your feelings would look like, and then draw or paint them.

2. Grab your favorite novel and randomly open it to any page. Read the first paragraph on that page and illustrate it.

3. Remember in high school when you’d doodle on your notes? Just doodle until you fill an entire page.

4. Look outside and let the weather and your surroundings inspire your next art journal page.

5. Pick an object in your house. While looking only at the object, put your pen to paper and draw it without picking up your pen. Now add some color to your crazy drawing.

6. Find a beautiful picture in a magazine, cut it out, and make that the center of your art journal page.

7. Fill a blank page with shapes. Paint or color them in.

8. Imagine your inner critic as a monster. Draw or paint him.

9. Pick a quote and design an art journal page around it.

10. Write down five of your core beliefs. Pick one and illustrate it.

11. Journal about things that you love.

12. What’s your favorite fairy tale? Draw or paint your favorite scene.

13. Think about someone who inspires you. What characteristics of that person make her so inspirational? Use those characteristics to inspire your journal page.

14. Live in the moment. Journal about whatever’s on your mind.

15. Construct a journal page around the last time that you traveled.

16. Write down some of your life mantras such as, “Choose love. Follow your heart. Live in the moment.” Write them over and over again on your journal page, but use different lettering styles each time.

17. Take your art journal outside and document what you see. Write it, draw it, or paint it.

18. If you had one superpower what would it be? Journal about that.

19. Grab some junk mail and use it as the background of your art page. Paint or color over it.

20. Write down 10 things that you’re grateful for, and use them to inspire your next art journal page.

21. If you only had one more day to live, what would you do? Journal about it.

22. Pick a lyric from one of favorite songs and illustrate it.

23. Pretend it’s the New Year. Set a goal and journal about what would happen if you reached that goal.

24. Find a poem and let it inspire your next art journal page.

25. Pretend you’re a goddess. Draw her.

26. Think about something you’ve always wanted to do but you’ve been too afraid to do. Draw a mountain and write your fear on one side and then what your life would be like if you could overcome that fear on the other side.

27. Illustrate your favorite moment from the past week.

28. Write a compliment to yourself for something you accomplished recently. Center a journal page around that compliment.

29. Write yourself a permission slip to stop doing things that you think you’re supposed to do, but you don’t want to do. For example, “You have permission to stop reading a book that you’re not enjoying. You have permission to buy cookies instead of baking them for the next bake sale.”

30. Journal about your unhealthy habits.

31. Draw yourself in a beautiful ball gown.

32. Journal about things that you think are lovely.

33. Think about something in your everyday life that you take for granted, and devote your next art journal page to it.

34. Draw a map from wherever you are to where you want to be.

35. Paint or illustrate how you feel when you’re at your favorite place.

36. Draw a large heart in the middle of a page and fill it with things that make your heart smile.

37. Think back to your favorite childhood memory and use that to inspire your next art journal page.

38. Journal about heartbreak.

39. Journal about peace.

40. Fill your art journal page with all the things your inner critic says such as, “You’re not good enough. You’ll never be anybody special.” Then paint over the words until they’re not visible.

41. Use Mod Podge to adhere book pages to a journal page. Use that as your background and paint or draw on top of them.

42. Pick three colors. Draw an animal using a pen, and then use only those three colors to fill it in.

43. Journal about magic.

44. Think about the last movie that you watched. What did it leave you feeling? Illustrate it.

45. If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be? Journal about that person.

46. If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be? Journal about it.

47. Draw a staircase, and think about your biggest dream. Draw it at the top of the staircase and then fill each step with the “steps” you’d have to take to make your biggest dream a reality.

48. Journal about hope.

49. Think about a child in your life. It could be your own child, a neighbor’s child, your sister’s child, or any other child who see regularly. What do you want for that child? Journal about it.

50. Journal about things that make you laugh out loud.

I thought I would post them in case you're looking for Art Journal prompts too.
Happy journalling!

Ada the Globetrotter

2012-01-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

For the last few weeks, I've been a host to Ada the Globetrotter. She arrived just before Christmas in a pretty package from Brazil. I have since learned that Ada has been travelling for the last three years and hasn't been back to her home in France since! For more information on Ada's journey, check out her blog here or her facebook page here.

To start off, Ada went to Niagara Falls with me.

Since Tim Horton's is a Canadian institution, I made sure to take her there.

I left her with my friends when I went to the washroom, and a lady stopped by the table and was asking them all kinds of questions about her. Fortunately, I came back and saved them.

I took her to the Mall before Christmas, and on our Christmas Eve day hike at Rock Point Provincial Park on Lake Erie.

Christmas Day she relaxed with my Blythe girls

And me, in my penguin clothes

New Year's Eve she celebrated in pretty bokeh pictures

And last, but not least, I took her to see Muddy the Mudcat, my town's giant roadside attraction.

Ada has moved on, but I think she enjoyed her time in Southern Ontario!

Mail Day! Hooray!

2012-01-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Fingerless gloves, convertible gloves/mittens, wallet and jewellry.

Eeks! Aren't these so cute?

I haven't worn any of it yet, but it all came in the mail today from Forever 21.

And, even better, I got a surprise package from Marla (we've been penpals for a bit now). This is her blog and etsy shop. Everything she sent me was so sweet! And she handmade the mirror, zipper bag, and ring.

She also sent this decorative tape. Honestly, I'm ectastic! I've tried to get some in the past, from Michael's and such... and nowhere around here carries it. (Unfortunately, I don't want to use it!) haha

Today was a PERFECT mail day. I love getting things in the mail so much... and I was so blown away by Marla's sweetness. It really is people's kindness that gives life meaning. I need to be more kind to others... pay it forward, you know?

Here's the Second Dress

2012-01-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

So I told you I bought two of the same dress in two different colours the other day.... (from H&M)

Teddi made all kinds of suggestions how I can dress these dresses up, and I definitely need to listen, but I haven't shaken it up just yet.

We went out for my aunt and uncle's 30th anniversary last night and I wore the dress and this cardy. I wore the dress with pants because... well, that's just what I do.

The cardigan is also from H&M

This is my new Forever 21 necklace and I LOVE it.

And I made this earring with a feather charm and ribbon

And I noticed before I left that this ring is missing one of it's rhinestones.

I love the buttons on the sweater though.

Pretty nail polish in metallic shades

And there we go!

I got great mail today so another post coming soon! :)

Outfit Post: My five year old self would be pleased

2012-01-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

When I was in kindergarten, I wore a lot of hand-me downs from a little girl my family knew. She gave me this red and blue striped dress and I loved it! I always wanted to wear it. Here's the thing though, my mother HATED it. She also maintained that red heads should NOT wear red. As a result, I think I maybe got to wear it out of the house one time.

I bought this dress from H&M the other day

I realized once I had decided to purchase it, how similar it was to that dress back 24 years ago! Although this dress has coral stripes rather than red. Somethings never change though.

(Yes, I'm sitting on the floor in front of an unmade bed. This is my favourite spot for some reason. I sit here all the time to read and think. I've always been a floor sitter. I can't sit at desks and rarely on chairs!)

So although these photos are pretty unflattering, I'm still mastering the skill of outfit post photos, here is my new dress. I wore it for New Year's Day. I have terrible posture. When I was taking ballet, I could not figure out how to "tuck in" my stomache and bum at the same time. Apparently, based on this picture, I still have not mastered that!

I also got my bangs cut and have been experimenting wearing crazy amounts of dark eye make-up. I'm kinda loving it. It looks smeared here, I just noticed. Bah, it wasn't!

My nails are painted gold and silver, but they look terrible.

and because it's glitter polish, it's gonna be a PAIN to get it off.... so I left it.

Dress - H&M

Pants - Ancient from Suzy Shier, I think

Guitar Necklace - Forever 21

Peace Necklace and first two braceletts - With Love, Jamie

Honestly, I wish you I could make this dress look cuter because it's really comfortable and only cost me $15.00. In fact, I bought two!

Love you all!

I'm Hoping If I Write Them Here....

2012-01-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

My goals for 2012 are really important to me. I'm hoping if I write them everywhere, including here, I won't forget to work towards them. I won't give you the whole list because some of it's too personal for public consumption, but here's the jist.

1) I'm afraid of a lot of things. As I've gotten older the list has gotten longer. Fear is one of those things the more you indulge it, the bigger it grows. 2012 is my year to conquer fear!

source

2) I can never make up my mind about things. I'm always worried I'm doing something wrong, even to the point that I get lost while driving all the time because I second guess myself and think I'm going the wrong way so I turn off prematurely. The thing is, I always no what to do deep down, I just get so worried about what everyone else is thinking or of making a mistake. This is my year TO DECIDE and fight to hang on for what I know is right!

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3) Number 3 has been my goal for the last number of years...in fact, for years and years. My name is Charity, which as you know, means love. I really, really desire to live up to my name and I fall short so frequently. It's important to me to be selfLESS not selfISH and I often get it mixed up. This is my year to LOVE!

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4. I've been thinking a lot about new strategies to get a job, what I want to do for the rest of my life, ways to make myself stand out from all the competition. I was forming goals around these things when suddenly I realized, none of this required trusting God. So 2012 is my year to trust God to provide, promote and guide me!

source

Love, trust, faith and hope are what matter in the long run.

Hang on to those things if you've found them.

And a few less spiritual goals:

1) Start this photography business already!

2) Finish my children's book (and try to get it published, it can't hurt!)

3) Lose 10 pounds.

4) Transition towards being a vegetarian

5) Get going on this charitable organization thing.

To all of you who read this, Happy 2012. I hope it's your best year ever and that all of your dreams come true!

source.... ME!

What Became of My Childhood Dollhouse

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Manley and Ingaborg would be pleased to give you a tour of their new home. It's in the process of being renovated. That black and white comforter is new as is the map over the bed.

They're expecting a new baby, so this is the nursery so far. The baby bedding is also new, although the chair, bed and dresser are vintage (1960s and 1980s)

If you're confused, Manley (the father) is the one wearing the hat. He's a jacabob. Ingaborg is a Jacabunny. (Both made by Kit Lane)

The living room is pretty scant so far. Just two chairs with a map, and two brand new pillows and a bunting for the wall (which isn't featured here)

The kitchen is well stocked with donuts and candy

They even had a poinsetta for Christmas.

Manley and Ingaborg detest the 1980s wallpaper and carpet but as newly weds, they are working on a small budget.

A New Tradition - I hope

2011-12-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

As you know, Southern Ontario is usually covered with snow around this time of year, but we had a green Christmas. So, this year on Christmas Eve my family went for a walk in a local Provincial Park. We brought hot dogs and roasted them over a bonfire (although it took a bit to get it going because everything was wet). Then we walked the trails of the park over-looking Lake Erie. The air was cool and fresh and it was really just a nice time. My cousin is into bird watching, but there weren't many birds about.

View of Lake Erie from the look-out

The stairs going up to the look out

The walkway up to the look out

I accidentally over-exposed this image, but I kind of liked the effect

I dug out an old coat for the day and wearing make-up may have been a mistake... haha, my eyes kept watering and making black streaks across my cheeks.

Sarah's hot dog kept falling off the fork. First attempt, it just fell on the table. Second attempt, it fell in the mud. Third attempt, the hot dog fell right in the fire. She gave up!

Did you spend anytime outdoors this holiday or start any new traditions? I would love to hear about it!

My Semi Kawaii Christmas

2011-12-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

And what follows is a lot of pictures of me! haha.

This is my friend Joe. I got Joe a kermit robot. It turns out I should have read the sizing information because kermit bot was very tiny. Joe got me the featured penguin hat and following dinosaur sweatershirt.

This is my other friend Jeff. I gave Jeff some Nan Lawson Dr. Who prints that haven't arrived yet.

Jeff made a trade for a Blythe doll online for me. I've known about it for months. He thought it would be hilarious to put this in the box instead.

So I thought it would be hilarious to take a picture of him surrounded by dolls and post it on my blog :)

Here's my real girl. I named her Rhine. I'm buying her a new wig though because this one is HORRIBLE.

Here's the wig I would like to get.

found here

To continue, Elizabeth gave me this adorable shirt from Forever 21.

And this super cute make-up brush set

I think I'm going to cut this post short because I still have about ten pictures I want to share and that's probably excessive.... but I will end with these stellar penguin pajamas, oh yeah! haha

I think Sar has polar bears on her's.

And one more thing, my new robot bag from Liz.... see it was a kawaii-ish Christmas!

Love you all! xo

Craftiness

2011-12-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm about 5 days behind on posts, so I thought I would start at the beginning....
A few things I made leading up to the holidays, which may or may not have anything to do WITH the holidays.

I like enamel hearts. I have wanted a pair of enamel heart earrings for a while. I bought the hearts for necklaces ages ago, so I finally made myself a set of heart earrings. I'm not going to lie. Originally, I made them for my shop... hehe.

I saw this online, so I tried to make one myself. It looks kinda dorky, but I still like it and it's really comfortable. The reality is, I will never wear it in public.

I made one of those fabric necklaces/scarf things. I love it, even if it doesn't look like much.

And again, I wouldn't wear it with this outfit normally

I made pompoms and put them in a bowl. I can't decide what to do with them.

My "sister" Jennah's mom gave me this snowflake she handcrafted last year. I strung it on a chain for a festive necklace.

I also made all kinds of purdy things for the dollhouse I'm attempting to renovate gradually, but those things get their very own post! (I also made people presents, but I can't share those things just yet!)

So many posts, so little time (because I'm sleepy!) More tomorrow loves!

xoxox

P.S. All three photos were taken on different days, but apparently I wear my favourite clothes frequently. Oops!

Festival of Lights: Niagara Falls

2011-12-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

This is the Skylon Tower and underneath it are Disney lights. When I was about 13, my family went to the Skylon Tower restaurant as a treat. All the girls were wearing dresses. My step-sister was about 8 at the time. We went to look out from the top of the tower and the wind was really, really strong. My step-sister's skirt ended up blowing up over her head. It was the funniest thing. These two little legs, little white underwear and her skirt making her head disappear. Am I sick for thinking this is funny?

We wore these crazy glasses that made each bulb look like a snowman. It made even more typically boring things look really cool. Unfortunately, it also made us look crazy because we would stare at strange things for long periods of time.

We also wore them just walking down the street. Clifton Hill has a lot of lights!

Horseshoe Falls

This is a horrible photo of me, but it's too funny to not post. Very reminiscent of the three stooges, I think. We took Ada with us, and she makes an appearance here, but I'm saving all the Ada Adventures for another post!

Guest Blogger - Tiffany's DIY with an orange and cloves!

2011-12-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

There is this wonderful lady named Tiffany who creates the most beautiful Art. She blogs at I am Rena's Daughter. Even look at how perfect the focus is on the below images. So dreamy. She's my next guest blogger.

Thank you Charity for asking me to do a guest post~ I am honored!

I don't have any Christmas decor from my childhood, but this one simple thing is something that my mom did every year~ this is the first time I have made one.

I love the smell~ It takes my right back to my living room when I was a kid~ shag carpet and all! :)

All you need is~

An Orange
Whole Cloves
and a tooth pick to make the holes in the oranges...

Poke holes in the orange where you want to put the cloves~

then you simply insert the cloves in the holes!

It is such a simple thing but smells so yummy!

Put on a small plate or coaster anywhere in your home...

Enjoy the smell through the holidays!

It would be fun to make designs with the cloves~ I think I will try that next year!

Happy Holidays!

xoxo~

~Tiffany (I am Rena's Daughter)

Bits of Christmas so far

2011-12-22T06:36:00.000-08:00

Starbucks Peppermint cakepops, Christmas movies, Christmas coloured nail polish, baking and tons of crafting. Lately, I've had my crafty grove back and it's been a while! The women's group at my Church makes little items for the hospital trays. The project itself is organized through an group called "Warm Up Haldimand" I do believe. This Christmas we made angels out of left over flower pots. I thought they were cute :)

My friend Jeff (making crazy eyes) and my sister Jenah posing with festive bowties!

So close now! :)

Guest Blogger: Kellie's Gingerbread House!

2011-12-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I know you all know Kellie, she's today's guest blogger. Of all the bloggers, I've probably been friends with Kellie close to the longest. She's one of the sweetest girls I've met in blog world, and I count her as one of my "real" friends even though we've never met. Here's her post just for you!

Hi "A Lovely Little World" readers!! I have to say, I'm really excited to be writing this post, because it involves two of my favorites: Christmas and Charity.

This year I decided to make an advent calendar unlike any other kind I'd seen. Maybe it was a little ambitious, but my boyfriend, roommate, and I have all enjoyed the little holiday tasks it comes with. I documented a few of the first days, but not all of them. However, this particular Christmas activity I wanted to share here. So here's our advent day 18:

"Build a gingerbread house".

To most this may not seem all that awesome, but since neither Steven nor I had ever made one before, we both were excited (and maybe, just maybe a little overwhelmed too).

Of course, if you are an instagram friend of mine (ps my name is kelzify-add me!) or have read my blog lately, then you might have already seen some sneeks of this project....but I saved the whole enchilada for this post!

We used a pre-made kit with frosting (and I bought some green frosting -can- that held up much better), gingerbread pieces already cut, candy dots, nerds-like-candy, and jelly candy. Then we also added chocolate chips, haystack (for the door) that my aunt made me, m&ms, and an umbrella (usually made for drinks). Hey- it gave it some Florida flair!

What do you use on your gingerbread houses??
Have you made one yet this year?

Thanks for having me Charity. And don't forget to check out my blog!
xoxo

DIY Festive (or normal) ribbon earrings

2011-12-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

I have two DIYS for you, but I will start with the Christmas-y one. Christmas-y in the sense that I used Christmas colours. They certainly don't have to be Christmas-y.

Also, I'm going to apologize straight off. For some reason, it seemed like a good idea to photograph these images in a dimly lit living room with an iphone. Many of them are blurry. I will do better next time :/

You will need:

Ribbon (2 colours)

Earring hooks

Eye pins

Cones

Plyers

Clear Nail polish

First I cut 4 pieces of ribbon, each piece approximately 8 inches long. (When you fold them double you will have 8 pieces, add more as you see fit)

In this picture there are 6 ribbon pieces... um, what can I say? Ignore that, haha.

Next take an eye pin, mine is brass coloured. Thread all 4 pieces through the eye. Stop half way. I found it was easier to thread all four ribbons at once, then one at a time. At this stage, you may want to add a dab of glue. My ribbons were snug enough I didn't bother.

Yep, you guessed it. Those ribbons gotta go through that hole.

Take the other end of the eye pin and thread it through the cone from the bottom (wide side) to the small side. The eye of the pin will still be inside the cone.

Trim off all but about 3/4 of an inch. (I just bend the pin at the spot I want to shorten it to, until the piece breaks off). Then bend the pin on a perpendicular angle to the dangly part of the earring.

With your plyers, make a loop by bending the wire back around on itself. Hook the loop onto the earring hook.

And that's it!

I'm going to play around with the lengths and colours I think. If you try them, let me know how it goes... or if you have questions.

Only 6 more sleeps!

What I Wore: Christmas Version

2011-12-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

I am a compulsive thrower-outer. Few things are ever sacred when I'm on a binge. Point being, two years ago, I deliberately went out and bought a red sweater to wear for Christmas. That means I got two or three uses out of it because I rarely wear red. I THREW IT OUT! Problem being, I have no extra money right now, and no Christmasy outfit. Sad story, I know. Here is what I wore instead to our annual Church Christmas.

It's just a shirt and slacks from H&M. I tied a black ribbon around my waist to make it look less plain. The ribbon kept sliding down so next time I will pin it to my shirt.

These are shoes I bought for a formal a few years ago. They are horribly uncomfortable and I had to wear boots to the Church and change when I got there because of the snow!

Then I made everything more fesitive with red, green and gold accessories!

(Ok, not that ring or bracelett.... but these earrings and hair clip)

I'm going to do a diy for the earrings tomorrow. They are so easy to make!

I love this time of year!!!!!

Fashion Photography

2011-12-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

I don't think I ever shared these! It's my fashion photography assignment. I'm not exactly fashionable and I hate fashion photography to be honest.... but I did the best I could. My model was amazing which helped soooo much!

I look horrible in this photo but it's the only one of the four of us together: myself, my cousin Sarah, Amanda and Krystal (two photographers, two models). We also had a friend along with us, assisting. He helped so much and took this photo.

We took all the pictures in an alley in downtown Hamilton. It was definitely sketchy. For the most part, the models provided their own clothing. I brought the blue sweater, nail polish, cross necklace and blue ring. That reminds me, I never did pick up my sweater. I forgot! Oops.

It's weird to post on a Saturday night maybe, but I needed a down day and now I'm wired/tired in one.

Here we go dear friends. I love you all!

Cook Your Own Gifts: Guest Blogger Joseph Morris

2011-12-17T09:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so close, I can smell it! (Literally, I did all the baking yesterday). If you're looking for a few last minute Christmas gift ideas, Joseph Morris (who runs a Culinery School link below), gives a list of things you can cook up! Thanks for posting!

Cook Your Own Christmas Gifts!

If you’re short on money this holiday season, why not try making your own Christmas gifts? I’m not talking about handmade cards, knit scarves, or mixed CDs, but food! Everyone loves food, especially when it’s homemade, so why not try one of these ideas this year?

1. Cookies – Christmas cookies are a holiday tradition that never gets old. Whether you bake a classic recipe that everyone loves, or find a unique recipe that no one’s tried before, there are countless options for making cookies as gifts. You can decorated them in a personalized way for each person you give them to, or bake special sugar-free or gluten-free recipes for those who don’t get to enjoy cookies as often due to health concerns.

2. Gingerbread – Gingerbread is another holiday classic that everyone loves. Aside from gingerbread men, gingerbread can be used to make cookies of any shape, breads, or even ornaments! If you’re feeling ambitious, you might even try making a fabulous gingerbread house to
bring to a party as your gift to the hosts.

3. Truffles – The thought of chocolate truffles makes any chocoholic drool. There are a wide range of recipes to be found in cookbooks and online, from easy ones to complicated ones with different fillings and decorations. Whatever your level of cooking expertise may be, truffles are sure to be a luxurious treat and a great gift.

4. Candy – If you want to make something sweet that’s a little different from Christmas cookies, you could bake candy instead. There are a variety of candies to choose from, like caramel, fudge, peanut brittle, or peppermint. You can even put them in cute little packages!

5. Jelly, Chutney, or Relish – Nothing brings back thoughts of “the good ol’ days” like homemade jelly. Besides, it tastes much nicer than the processed stuff you find in the store! For something a little different, you could also try making fruit chutney or relish, especially for friends and family into gourmet foods.

6. Unbaked Cookie Kits – Here’s a unique idea that gives the gift of cookies and the fun of baking them! Layer the dry ingredients to a cookie recipe in a mason jar and include the recipe as a label or attached note. Usually ingredients like eggs, butter, and oil just need to be added to make the cookies. For a holiday touch, you could tie a cookie cutter to the jar as well.

7. Herb and Spice Blends – Another idea for a “recipe in a jar” is to make herb or spice blends. Mix together herbs or spices that could work as a dip with olive oil, an exotic seasoning, or a meat marinade. You might want to make one of your favorite blends, or look online for ideas.

8. Fruitcake – Yes, most people think of fruitcake as an unwanted Christmas gift. However, all it takes is a good recipe to change people’s minds! They can contain lots of interesting ingredients, from fruit to nuts and even chocolate. Bring back a holiday tradition that your friends and family will remember.

9. Bread or Crackers – Home-baked bread or crackers are a welcome gift from those who don’t like sweet things. You could even pair these with a little jar of homemade flavored butter, jam, or chutney.

10. Homemade Dinner Coupon – Even if you’re busy during the holiday season, you can still give the gift of cooking without putting a lot of time into it before Christmas. Give coupons promising the bearer a home-cooked meal made by you at their house. You might want to attach the coupon to a bottle of wine or a kitchen gadget. You could even offer to babysit kids back at your place after you cook the meal so that a couple can have a night to themselves.

This article was written by Joseph Morris, a longtime cooking enthusiast. He also owns the site Culinary Arts College for students interested in getting a degree in culinary arts.

Nail Art Tutorial: Guest post from Cristina

2011-12-16T06:27:00.000-08:00

And here is another guest post from one of my favourite ladies.... (http://obsessivecompulsive.me/)

Hi There!

I’m Cristina…

I’m here today to show you how to Christmas-ify your nails!

First things first…
Take out some paper, a pencil or your trusty iPad (or any other tablet device!) and start drawing!

Draw out some designs you’d like to try on your nails. Use colours, different stroke widths and just play around. It’s much easier to figure out your design won’t work when it’s on paper rather than all over your nail.

Here’s my REALLY quick sketch from my iPad (I use the Penultimate app – it doesn’t have a ton of colours to choose from):

By drawing things on out first, you’ll be able to figure out if a design is too detailed for your nails. In nail #3, you’ll see that I tried to make some Christmas lights on a string. It’s a little too detailed, especially for my tiny little nails!

Next, you’re going to gather some supplies:
• Base Coat/Top Coat
• Nail Polishes in the colours of your choice
• Nail Pens (Paint pens will work too!)
• Tiny bristled paintbrush

Essie is one of my favourite polishes because it’s easy to find. I also use OPI and China Glaze. This is a personal preference, so use whatever polish you have on hand!

Now – there’s a reason I prefer the nail art pens over paint pens…
The tip on the nail art pens is MUCH finer so you can get a little more detailed. They’re pretty pricey though, so if you need detail stick to you paintbrush!

Now that you have your supplies, you’re going to choose what design you’d like to use (or multiple designs!) and paint your base coat! I try to use the lighter colours as my base coat as it’s easier to draw in designs with darker colours.

Once you’re got your base coat on and your nails are DRY. I mean REALLY DRY. You’re now ready for the fun part!

First, I chose the snowflake design! I took my white nail art pen and tried to make snowflakes. I’m not a fan of the outcome because the pen was far too thick for delicate little snowflakes.

Design #2 was the Santa hat. Using my paintbrush dipped in some red nail polish, I drew a Santa hat onto my nail:

You’ll notice that it’s not perfect, and that’s okay because once we add in the white details no one will know! Next, I took my white nail pen (you can still use your brush if you’d like) and drew in the details. I found it much easier to make tiny little dots rather than actually drawing.

For design #3, I chose the candy cane striped nail. I just took my nail pen and drew lines. You could also tape off sections of your nail and paint in red lines, but that is far too time consuming for my liking :P The paint pens will work well with this because they have a broader stroke it should be easier to get a straighter and darker line.

I went over the design a couple times with my nail pen for a more contrasting effect:

Nail #4 was my tiny little pinky finger. I decided to try some falling snow and a little snowy French tip. Again, I drew this with my nail art pen (see how much use you would get out of owning one!), but it’s just as easily achievable with a brush or regular paint pen.

For my last nail, I attempted some holly. Take your brush and dip it into some green nail polish, then draw on two holly leaves. Once the leaves are dry you can paint in some circles for the holly buds (I don’t know the technical term for those red dots!).

A few pointers for everyone:
• Keep your designs simple! You’ll thank me once you get to your right hand (or left, for the lefties!)
• Painting your nails is a real test in patience. Believe me, if you don’t let your polish dry between coats/designs it will make everything that much harder.

I wanted to give you all tips on how to have cute nails with supplies you probably already own, or inexpensive supplies – BUT I also want to quickly share with you the GREATEST INVENTION IN THE WORLD!

Stamping Nail Art!

What is that?!?!
It is a system that allows you to stamp your nails with amazing designs!

I bought most of my supplies fromKonad - http://www.konadnailart.com/
I recommend getting one of their smaller kits which will come with a stamping plate, and the tools you need to get started with stamping.

It’s VERY fun, and I’ve found myself painting my nails 2-3x per week!

Maybe one day Charity will invite me back to show you some stamping nail art, but for now you can check out my (very work in progress) blog at http://obsessivecompulsive.me/ for some of my stamping designs!

I hope you all enjoyed this little tutorial – if you have questions leave them in the comments and I’ll try my best to help you out!

Guest Blogger: Katie with a real cool DIY for paper stars!

2011-12-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

Good morning A Lovely Little World readers! This next guest post is from Katie at Breathe and Hush. I can't wait to try this DIY.

Hi! I'm Katie!

I blog over at Breathe & Hush, and would love to meet you all! I'm a semi crafty cat lady who studies psychology.

Paper Star DIY

I saw a picture on my Tumblr a few days ago that showed how to make a paper star pretty similar to this one. Alright, I'll admit it. That paper star was nothing like mine: the paper star that this person made was AMAZING. My paper star compared to their's is like comparing a mouse to a lion.

My do-it-yourself holiday loving heart skipped a beat as I imagined myself making garland for my dorm room out of these stars …..while watching the entire Home Alone series. As you can see, my life is very exciting.

So I click the link…..and receive the classic "Oops! Google Chrome could not find _____." WHAAAT? My heart sunk. I exited out of the window and went on with my day. I was walking to class and kept seeing stars --- "Oh, look! There's a star on the Christmas tree in the middle of campus!" "Mmmmm….star shaped tator tots? Gimme some of those!"

I kept thinking about this stupid star! I was sitting at work, bored, and decided to hunt down this star online and attempt to replicate it.

I am not an origami wielding master, unfortunately, and it took close to ten tries before I made a star that looked like a star. There are probably better ways to make an even cooler looking star,

This is what I came up with…

You'll need:
Paper
A Pencil
A ruler

Sidenote: These pictures were taken in my dorm room, in various states of lighting (in between studying my psychology rat friend, Zafira), so please ignore their different states of lightness.

1. Each star is made up of 8 4 x 4squares. As I got smarter, I made myself a template out of some cardboard.

2. Place the square in front of you with a point facing you and fold.

3. Fold on the middle line

4. Fold the bottom half on the middle line as well.

5. Fold the top point to the right

6. And fold the bottom point to the left.

7. Turn the figure so that it is like the picture on the left.

8. Fold the lower tip to the left of the crease that you just made in Step 6.

9. This part took me awhile. You just need to push the triangle on the left down. It works best if you are doing it on a flat surface.

10. You will get this shape. Now, make 7 more. You'll get faster as you go along, I promise!

11. Piece together 8 of the pieces by putting the smallest tips behind the "flaps." It's okay for them to be a little loose at the beginning: but by the end, it will be a tight fit.

12. Flip the star! This is the side that you will want to show in your room.

Thanks, Charity, for inviting me! Happy Holidays!

---Katie

Siblings on Christmas Eve

2011-12-10T06:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Day so many years ago.

Today I'm finally going Christmas shopping!

Guest Blogger: Hot Drink Receipe from Maryam!

2011-12-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! My name is Maryam and I blog over on Pamplemousse1983. I'm so excited to take over for Charity for a bit since she's such a sweetie and I'm going to share with you a very yummy recipe for Gingerbread Hot Chocolate that is perfect for cold winter days.

Ingredients:

3 cups milk (I used almond milk!)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg

dash of ground allspice

dash of vanilla

empty teabag (optional)

Directions:

Put the milk in a saucepan and heat over low-medium heat. Once the milk is warm add in the brown sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla. If you are using a teabag, put in the cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and tie closed with a bit of string (dental floss works in a pinch). If you're not using the teabag put those ingredients in the pot, but be forewarned it might be a bit grainy! Mix well until the cocoa and sugar are dissolved.

Serve with whipped cream or marshmallows...or both!

Makes 3 servings or 2 extra large servings.

Christmas decor

2011-12-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

So I got home from work today, and fell asleep for two hours. Oops!
As an aside, here are a few of the decorations I put up. I only have a small space so last year, I decided to just decorate my mini tree. This year I got inventive!

This is an ornament tree that I usually use as a necklace display at craft shows. I love these glass Christmas balls but without having a real tree, they are so large and impractical, so voila!

I adore my bread dough Nativity. I didn't make it but it has "Charity" all over it if you ask me.

I hung all my favourite ornaments on what is normally my inspiration line. I should probably have used Christmas-y clothes pins but meh....

Most of my childhood ornaments went missing, but somehow I preserved this little fellow.

I have a thing for pineapple ornaments for no apparent reason. Probably mostly because my college boyfriend hated when I said I liked pineapple things, so I started a collection.

This looks crooked and messy, but I promise it's not that bad. It's a photo wall of Christmas past. I think I will make this a personal tradition. I love looking at them and part of the joy of Christmas is the memories and associations so it's perfect!

A stray hedgehog.

I had more photos, but I think I will end this here and go back to bed, haha.

Happy weekend loves!

Images that make me happy (and I made them!)

2011-12-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

Look what I made!

And this.....

If you've never tried alphabet photography, you need to. It's a lot of fun.

And a few silly selfies. We had to do a self portrait for our final project, these are the outtakes.

I stand corrected. This is my final image. I will post my attempts later. They aren't saved on the device I currently have plugged into the Mac at school. I'm trying to sort files like mad. I hate having disorganized computer files. It overwhelms me and then I end up handing in mediocre images because I, well, as already stated, get overwhelmed. Time for some house cleaning (referring to computer files).

Christmas is getting so close!!!!!!!! <3

Happy Thursday loves!

Guest Blogger: Love Elycia with a DIY!

2011-12-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

And a guest post from another Hamiltonian! The lovely, sweet, Elycia! (She's the only other blogger I know in my immediate area, the only blogger I've met, and the only blogger I actually know the places she is referring to, which makes me very happy!) I know you all love her too!

Hello there!

I'm elycia from the blog ♥elycia. I am a vintage loving, cat lady living in a cute house on a quiet street with my husband and our two little kitties. I am so happy to be here today on my pal Charity's blog to show you this little DIY to add some fringe to your boots.

I had these old purple boots that were in rough shape and needed a bit of a makeover. Here is what I did...

Grab some boots that need sprucing up.

Measure around the top of your boot, overlapping about an inch or so.

Choose some material. I used faux suede. Mark the length that you need to wrap around the top of your boot and don't forget the overlap! Cut your length of material.

Grab your glue gun and glue the edge of your material onto the inner edge of your boot. Make sure the right side of your fabric will be facing up when laying on your boot.

I choose to wait until my fabric was glued on before I decided on an appropriate length. Just cut around the bottom of your material to get it up to your desired length.

Make slits in your fabric all the way up to the top. Continue all the way around and you will have made yourself some fancy fringe boots!

Pop by my blog and let me know if you fancy up some of your boots!

♥elycia

Just a Quick Note/Request

2011-12-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

My computer at home is being a pain. The plug won't stay in and the battery life is spent. I hope to have it back running tonight, but if not, there MAY be some delay on the guest posts :(

I'm posting this at school and can't even get an image to post with it. Today is frustrating me to NO end!!! I need to breath, breath, breath.

Any tips for patience dear friends? Cheerful words. Anything you've got right now, I can use.

Love you all! xo

Teddi from Honeybee Lane with BBT and Guinea Pigs!

2011-12-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Plan and simple, I love Teddi from Honeybee Lane. When I made my list of guest bloggers to ask, I knew I wanted her. Her blog is poetic, artistic and unique. And then she blogged about things that I would like for Christmas without even asking me what I would like. She got it bang on! haha... I love this post :) I don't want to give anything away but I'm definitely referring to this post over the holidays!

Hi, I'm Teddi, from Honeybee Lane.

Today I decided to show you some

Christmas things that make me think of Charity.

This tiny elf hat for a guinea pig

found here.

A guinea pig felt ornament tutorial

found here.

Different guinea pig directions,

& a ornament pattern

found here.

I can't think of Charity, without thinking of,

The Big Bang Theory.

Here are some Big Bang Christmas ornaments,

found here.

These are cute guinea pig ornaments, too.

found here.

Charity loves Blythe Dolls.

Here's a Mini Look A Like Charity, Blythe doll.

found here.

Peace, Love, & A Merry Christmas! :)

Christmas DIY with Jamie from With Love, Jamie

2011-12-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of December, and the first day for my Christmas guest blogger series! I am so excited that these lovely bloggers have agreed to write posts for my blog.

So first! Is one of my favourite bloggers EVER, Jamie <3

Hello A Lovely Little World readers!

My name is Jamie and I blog over at With Love, Jamie. I am super excited to be here doing a guest post for Charity! When she asked me to do a holiday DIY, I knew I just had to do something with buttons! I LOVE buttons. So I took a little trip to my favorite craft store and stocked up on some supplies & got creative making some sweet button ornaments to share with all of you!

Here are the supplies you will need to make these ornaments:

-Acrylic paints in any colors you like, I chose pink & a bright green-I just love these colors at Christmas time!
-Wood shapes, wood ornaments, clear plastic ornaments balls or anything else you would like to paint/cover with buttons-go ahead and get creative here! :) I chose a letter O to use for my wreath, a wood snowflake ornament & a clear plastic ornament ball.
-Paint brush
-Yarn and/or ribbon
-BUTTONS! :D
-Hot glue gun

Once you have all your supplies together, go ahead and paint your shapes:

Let your paint dry completely, then using your hot glue gun, get creative gluing your buttons onto your shapes however you would like!

Once glue has dried and cooled, attach ribbon or yarn, either by tying it on to your ornament or gluing it onto the back, depending on your item you are using:

And there you go, your button ornaments are all done & ready to use or give as handmade gifts! Easy, fun & super cute!

Happy holidays & happy crafting!

xo, Jamie

Guest Bloggers!

2011-11-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

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Hey everyone,
If you offered to guest blog, and I didn't email you.... I'm sorry. I do love you! Please just send your post to me at alovelylittleworld@yahoo.com

I was going down my emails to make sure I didn't miss any names on my list and I know I talked to more people than I wrote down :(

Guest posts will start to appear December 1! I'm so excited. You'll love all of the posts to come!

<3

It's the little things, right?

2011-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I had started a list of things that make me happy (or rather cheer me up a bit on gloomy days, life is about the little things after all, right?)

I found that list this afternoon, so I thought I would share what I have so far.

Random Compliments

Nail Polish

Personal Revelation from Scripture (or famous quotations!)

Twitter friends

My sweet pets

When Mila (my gp) chatters or chuckles

Josee (my bff) and her baby Charles

Take a good photograph

Watching the Walking Dead, BBT or the New Girl

source

Reading a Cassandra Clare book

Nan Lawson Art

Hearing David Bowie, Badly Drawn Boy or Deathcab for Cutie in a movie

Friendship Braceletts

source

Letters or packages in the mail

Sweaters and toques

Tea

source

New mixes from friends

Pretty/eclectic rooms

Quirky home decor

Gilmore Girls

My brother, Caleb

My sister, Jennah

Molly Ringwald Movies

source

Story dreams

Candy

Pizza

When I recognize an Annie Liebovitz

source

Oscar Wilde and Churchill quotes

HUGS!

twinkle lights

Cheerios and Lucky Charms

Skating

Canoeing

Algonquin Park

French

Robert Munsch books

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Ayn Rand books

Magazines

Graphic tees

Notes/Drawings from friends

Blythe dolls

CHRISTMAS

Bunny/GP Christmas wishes

2011-11-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to send some early Christmas cheer your way. Last year I couldn't get Winston (the black lop earred) to pose for Christmas pictures without him humping something (my pillow) but this year SUCCESS!

On that slightly disgusting note, HAPPY SUNDAY friends!

4 glimpses into my life of late.

2011-11-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

It's a late night for me but I finished ALL 4 things that are due tomorrow! Yay me!

One more photo from my fashion shoot last weekend. Hopefully I get a chance to go through them finally this weekend.

And the two images I submitted for my water assignment. I did very well! I'm honestly ecstatic. It's amazing how positive feedback makes any work after that that much easier. Let your friends/co-workers/loved ones know when they do something well! It may intimidate them (so they're scared they won't do as well next time, but it definitely won't stunt them in the same negative way that bad feedback can... unless of course you're the kind of person that is motivated by negative feedback) I'm sorry, it's late. Time for bed! Just had to celebrate with a victory post!!!

Love you all!

Yes please

2011-11-22T19:56:00.001-08:00

Um Rob Pattinson, thanks to this picture, I'm wearing my I <3 Rob shirt tomorrow and for a lot of days after that. Hot man in a library/book store.... yes please.

Dear Monday

2011-11-21T05:57:00.000-08:00

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I don't actually feel this way about Monday most times. I just thought these were funny.

And a photo from the weekend....

This is probably the worst image of the day as far as quality, but it's definitely my favourite image of the day.

We were shooting down a single lane alley. I was in a group of three down one end, and Sarah and her model were down the other end. Our shoot went like this....

Take pictures.

"CAR!" group 1 yells. Everyone moves out of the way

Take pictures.

"CAR!" group 1 yells. Everyone moves out of the way

Take pictures

"HORSE!" group 1 yells. Group 2 "Horse?????"

With that an RCMP officer on horseback comes trotting down the alley.

He posed with our models, only none of my images worked out because I had been shooting on a slow shutter with a tripod, and everything happened so quickly, I didn't change the shutter speed when I was off the tripod so everything blurred. (Sad face). We still had so much fun!

My Life According to Instagram

2011-11-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

I had to do window light portraits, so I asked my friend Joe to model. Then we went crazy with face paint. By the time we had our faces painted, my camera battery died. Oops.

I bought this giant ring for $3.00 and it's actually remarkably comfortable.

I saw these weird half Hallowe'en/half Christmas cookies.

My prof hung this up outside her office.

Sarah posed with her new snowman boyfriend.

And finally, a few snaps of us with our antlers!!!

We even wore them in the Bulk Barn

Wouldn't this be a cute DIY?

I've been doing lots of photo shooting lately, including a fashion shoot yesterday!!! Eeks! Can't wait to share with you :)

Happy weekend loves!

Children at Christmas are the best

2011-11-17T05:18:00.000-08:00

Parades are the perfect time for taking photos! These are from the Hamilton Christmas Parade last weekend.

Hamilton Christmas parade has a ton of Marching Bands.

My favourite imagine from the parade is the little girl cowering from the Chinese Dragon. The boy inside the dragon was just a teenager himself and I'm sure he enjoyed terrifying the small children, haha.

5 of us went to the parade together, and we all wore antlers. Imagine how silly 5 adults look standing with no children, 3 big cameras and antlers. Honestly, it was so fun. Then we hit up the Bulk Barn for candy and still wore the antlers. People loved it. Weird?

I will post photos of me with my antlers later tonight! They are still on my phone. So fun :)

So here's what I do

2011-11-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

My two favourite thing to shoot, colour!

I was going to post a few pretty portraits too, but this is already photo heavy. I hope you like the pictures. They cheer me up a bit looking at them. I know I use the blue flower a lot, but isn't it just so pretty?

My attempt at Modelling and the New Girl

2011-11-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

Isn't this photograph of Emily and Zooey gorgeous?

I am OBSESSED with Zooey's new tv show The New Girl. I cry and laugh every single episode.

In other news, my computer won't read my iphone right now, so I can't share my weeks in instagram (which I was enjoying doing) but I will show a few college photos. For one of our final assignments, we have to do a Fashion Shoot, so our prof was letting us play around a bit. I HATE being in photographs, I make so many faces, but he asked me to do it.

Here are two of the results,

Photographer: Haley Thuss

Photographer: Sarah Wills

They clearly did a lot of work editting these babies. I will show you what I did later.

And a finally thought for this Monday morning.....

source

For you

2011-11-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

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I hope you're enjoying your weekend friends! xo

Focus on: Andric

2011-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

I was looking at the website for the Applied Arts Magazine and the 2011 Photography winners and stumbled upon an artist who goes by Andric. This work is a combination of photography and graphic design and is absolutely stunning. I wanted to share a few of my favourite photographs.

These images are simply gorgeous. If you want to see more work, the link to the artist's website is right here.

Things to Love

2011-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I wish I was rich so I could buy everyone in my program one of these.... or mostly just myself.

I really love skunks. And isn't that great advice for the multitudes? I need this shirt.

I wish I had messenger bags in every colour of the rainbow. Let's start with green.

I also need this, for no particular reason besides that it is fantastic.

And, perfect. I love it.

A thought for Monday

2011-11-07T06:27:00.001-08:00

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Delayed Outfit Posts

2011-11-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

I take so many pictures for outfit posts that I never end up posting. Here are two "lesser" outfits.

This is called simple purple plaid with yellow striped hair bow and beaded necklace. A remarkably comfortable outfit if I do say so myself.

Oh and did I mention I bought that huge tacky purple and gold ring for $3.00 and it's the most comfortable ring ever and looks perfect with every outfit because it's already tacky.

I deliberately turned the last two pictures yellow. I didn't realize have a reason, I just thought they looked more fun yellow.

This outfit isn't an outfit at all. I just wanted to show off my new Christmas shirt. I was wearing jeans but didn't get all of Mila's restless clues... and she peed all over my jeans (ew). Mila is my guinea pig, not a person, for clarification.

I did however, make this outfit awesome by wearing it with a blue cardigan and Bonjour headband made by Elycia.

So yeah, um, I guess that's all! Happy Monday!!!! <3