This is where we are going to wrap up grade school experiments and get busy with arts and crafts!
This past Christmas, a friend introduced me to felting and I fell in love. My cat was the lucky recipient of my first work. Catnip Cupcake!!
I have been telling my friends and family to get excited for the felting gifts coming their way.
After going to the 1 of a Kind Show and seeing the work of Wendo Van Essen they should get really excited.
Her Vegan Taxidermy just took felting to another level!!
Meet Andy, my felting companion and inspiration.
My good friends, Dave and Mia have been staying with me on and off since the beginning of February. They bought a house and are currently trapped in renovation hell…. its now known as the Death StarShip.
I live without a TV and within the first few nights Dave asked me what I do all of the time.
Simple answer, Arts & Crafts.
He took to no TV life like a champ and the results blew my mind!
Dave – the artist
The work area
The final result!
When I first moved out on my own, having friends over for dinner often meant Campbell’s Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. Nowadays that is not the healthiest comfort food, so when I introduced to Suzanne Somers 8 Minute Tomato Soup, I was over the moon. My childhood modernized and made healthy!
This year I have fallen in love with a new comfort soup – Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup.
Both are delicious!
Last year I fell hard for a piece of art. I mulled it over for about 6 months because this would be my first purchase of ‘real’ art from an art gallery.
I finally gave in and bought it. When I showed it to my good friend Mia this was her reply. I called bullshit.
Last weekend we finally got to see what she was capable of.
I have to saw I am seriously impressed. Given better supplies she might have been on to something.
Thank you, Neil Harrison. I really love the pink square.
As a child my family never travelled in the US because money was tight and crossing the 49th parallel meant that half of it disappeared before you even pulled out your wallet. As a Canadian I am a late comer to vacations in the US but now that I have started to go, I love it!
My friend just sent me an article on the unique town of Marfa, Texas and now I am mapping out another amazing American road trip!
I have a group of friends in Phoenix who are always up for random good times so the trip might just begin there. A short drive to Albuquerque, NM for a night on route to to Amarillo, Texas! Who doesn’t want to see some buried cars? The head South to Marfa to stay in one of these amazing shelters. The El Cosmico folk are doing what I hope to do on my land idea only bigger and better, cause in Texas everything is bigger! Once we are done gazing at the Texas sky we start to head back to Arizona via the White Sand desert in New Mexico. I was supposed to spend Valentine Day this year in the White Sand Desert under a full moon but an unmanned drone crashed in the desert a few days before shutting it down to the public. Strange but true fact. It is still on my list of places to visit and this trip sounds like the perfect way to get back there.
I have realized that when you start thinking about living in 100 square feet you realize that you own a lot of things and use very few of them. Moving equals packing which creates piles; things to donate, for Craig’s list, to give to friends and finally to just throw in the garbage cause it can get a bit overwhelming. This time around I have a lot of time to pack so instead of feeling rushed in the process I am going to turn some of my things into memories.
The Item: 2 plants that have outgrown their pots and their space.
The Trade: I will deliver these to you on the weekend and while I watch you figure out their new home I will sit and enjoy my morning Latte and delicious baked good.
The Winner: My friend Mia. She and her partner Dave just bought a new home with lots of space. Dave is not big on indoor plants (?!?) so we thought we would start him out small.
In the movie War of Buttons (1994) the family is moving into an old house and the mother tells her son …. “All it needs is some lipstick and rouge.” I liked her way of thinking.
Up close these are no works of beauty but they are 100 times better than what they were. Summer patio is now open for drinks!
The end of May was the deadline for the wrapping up of the “The I’m So Glad She Found Me” Art Show and to be honest I am surprised that everything worked out the way it did. 58 characters have been found and made. The final 52 still have to be decided on. I am currently looking for an empty shop space to hold the pop-up Art Gallery and I am feeling like this is going down sometime between August and October or at least that is what I am putting out into the Universe. Saturday posts are now going to be replaced with trips up North to my land.
I went survey on my land. This translates to drinking a few beer while walking in the best driveway path with a couple of good friends. I should have a driveway done by mid June. Exciting summer ahead!!
I am posting an update on my 5 week challenge which ended last week. Truth is below ….
1/ no food from restaurants or pre-made (goodbye canned drinks). Nope. I love my take out and cans of coke. Sometimes I skipped the Coke with the take-out which felt like an accomplishment. Reality is that my diet needs work.
2/ gym 5 days a week, take three 5 minute breaks to stretch at work (10am,1pm,4pm) and finish with a 20 minute stretch session at home. Nope. More gym 3 times a week, biked every day and every where while managing once and a while to remember to touch my toes at work. No idea why this was hard…blaming it on the long overdue spring weather.
3/ no booze – Done. This was easier than I expected.
4/ no social media after work – eyes are getting a break. Done. Read 3 books, finished my Art Show pieces, and did not miss it at all.
5/ I am still going to wear my limited makeup but I will continue on with homemade deodorant, toothpaste and coconut oil for my skin. – Done. Added in the oil pulling for a while and now attempting use Baking Soda Shampoo and Apple Cider Vinegar Conditioner.
Posting this late as I just arrived back from holidays so a new twist to the post and a new 4 week challenge from May 23 – June 20.
1/ food – 2 restaurant meals a week. No coca cola.
2/ gym 5 days a week, take three 5 minute breaks to stretch at work (10am,1pm,4pm) and finish with a 20 minute stretch session at home.
3/ no booze
4/ end the day with 20 minutes of mediation and silence.
Instead of staying in a place explaining to myself why I am not doing something or am incapable of doing something I am going to take all of that energy and put it towards becoming better.
UrbanPrairie 