Sketches: Baby Beasts of Burden

It starts with my already established love of the camel. And then spreads to other beasts of burden. A few wee rough sketches that have been begging me to do something with them; I'm keen to bring them into Illustrator to play with.

And perhaps start a new fabric line on spoonflower?

Weekend Project: The Spice Cupboard

So this bad boy has been on my hit list for some time now. You may note from the picture below that I have a bit of a jar hoarding issue. When I acquire the "perfect" spice jar I keep it, even if it doesn't fit in the cupboard or if I have nothing to put in it. I'm not a hoarder by nature. I'm more of a toss-er-out-er actually, which gets me in a different kind of trouble. But this area for some reason is a weakness.

So what was the final impetus to get my sorry self in there to finally organize it? A trip to our local Indian neighbourhood (Vancouver's Punjabi Market), famous for its spices, among other things. Not only is the selection amazing, but the price! A fraction of what we pay in my overpriced grocery store across the street.

So we came back home yesterday with a bag of new, fresh spices that were just begging for clean, fresh jars with clear labeling. So that's what I did.

For the labels, I kept it as simple as possible; black masking tape with a white liquid chalk pen. Good-bye old spices and excessive number of jars ... I have no room for you. Ahhh. That feels good.

Friday Night Short: The Joy of Books

My Dad found this one. So good. Enjoy.

>>Friday night is movie night in our house and we like to start with a good short or two. To see others we recommend check out some previous posts here.

Resolutions. Right On Track.

Well, my New Year's resolution was pretty standard. We recently signed up for a family membership at the Y and we are taking full advantage. The little Bub is in swimming lessons and Hubs and I collectively have taken in yoga, spinning, water running, and Latin Funk. Yup! It's awesome.

Spud had his own list this year. "I want to try 2 new sports and 1 new instrument, preferably a brass instrument, like the sousaphone." OK. First of all I want to say, what's wrong with something simple (and small!) like a recorder, my little friend? But we will tackle that later. In the meantime, 2 sports? 2 ticks.

First, curling.

This is our view. We sit behind the glass, watch, sip coffee, get caught up with each other. We even brought some paperwork with us last time.

And this is where we are sitting. Seriously. It's like we've been transported in both time and space. It's a beautiful 90 minutes I will miss dearly if Spud decides curling is not for him.

Anyway, on to sport 2, skiing!

So far we have a winner. Spud is happily going to curling each week but he is still a little unsure about it. Skiing on the other hand? An instant hit. He's had one lesson and one full day on the bunny hill with Daddio. He has been heard to say "I think I was born to ski!" Now that's not to say he's careening down the hill on his own at any great speed or anything, he's a cautious kid, but he loves it. And that's what counts. I'm sure this crazy-awesome "magic carpet" that replaces the need for any dreadful rope tow, has got to add to the love.

Friday Night Short: The Red Balloon

OK, The Red Balloon (1956) was actually last week's movie short, but it was so great, I would watch it again. If you have never seen it, a large red balloon befriends a young boy in the streets of Paris in this visually beautiful example of mid-century modern movie making and it's just so darn charming. Spud was naturally a bit disturbed by the big boys' destructive behaviour in the latter third and he re-wrote the ending because he felt the original was too sad but all in all he gives it a big thumbs up. 


Note that it's more like medium short at around 30 minutes. It's cut up into 3 sections on YouTube and the quality is so-so. If you have an opportunity to see a good quality version, do it. It's beautiful. Here is the first 12 and half minutes.

The second part is here and the third part is here.


>>Friday night is movie night in our house and we like to start with a good short or two. To see others we recommend check out some previous posts here.

Makes Me Happy: Coffee Filter Snowflakes

To see how we folded them check out this post and check out last year's snowflake curtain.

Best of 2011

Here they are. My top 12 favourite posts on weelife over the past year, in no particular order.

1. First Crack at Book Binding

2. Drilling and Threading Glow in the Dark String

3. TED: Life Lessons Through Tinkering

4. Making Slime

5. Homework Caddies

6. Playful Learning: Poetry Box

7. DIY Stop Motion Movie

8. Granny Square Blanket Done!

9. Homemade Ketchup

10. New Skewer Pack: Flowers

11. No Flour, No Bake Pie Crust

12. Classic Paper Chain Garland