jolis oeufs

it's a lovely fantastic 4 day weekend filled with sunshine and chocolate.  yesterday Damian & i took full advantage of having a friday off, we painted easter eggs!  it was a lot of fun turning our dining room (which we never use) into a "den of craft".  the table was covered in paint tubes, ribbon, lace, sparkles, glue, markers, sequins and more.  of course in my usual style of crafting with other people i took forever to get my eggs decorated.  i always come up with what i think is going to be a great idea but once i put that idea to work it, more often than not, turns out to be a lot more intricate than imagined.  we both had 4 eggs each (though i was tempted to get more prepped) and in the time it took me to make my first one, Damian was on his third.  i ended up donating one of mine to him.

allow me to introduce you to our gang of egg art.  above is Clara-Belle, 1920's bride.

here we have Fee Fee Knickerbottom, the sought after burlesque dancer.  fabulous elfin bunny face created by the lovely & talented Vanessa Valencia who, very generously, created 4 wraps for people to use in their decorating.  i altered mine a bit  ;)

this is the Story Egg where the faeries gather around the mushroom to hear tales of fancy flight and distant wanderings.

the rest of the eggs are Damian's wondrous creations.  he spent all of his creative energy on the decorating process so had nothing left when i asked if we should name them.  so, above you see Sir Guy Wearing Lederhosen.

This is the aptly named, Spider.

Here we have, Sun.

Moon, naturally.

and the swiftly named, Faery Face.  another of Vanessa's gorgeous creations.  and that's that, now it's time to head to my mum & dad's for a turkey dinner (and some heavenly vegetarian dish for Kate & I), wine, and treats.  Kate is making dessert which is a surprise for me, i love that.  what a great sister, i adore surprises!  she's a yummy baker too so i know it's going to be magically fantabulous!

oh yeah - when you were a kid did you ever eat the eggs after they were decorated?  i remember peeling the pretty off and the egg was no longer white, it had take on the colour of the shell.  I probably shouldn't have done that, i mean it was sitting out for days.  I have a feeling my mum didn't know i ate it, hard to believe she would let me chow down on a green egg that was sitting on the counter for a week.  

a letter scribbled in desperation

Dear Mother Nature,

I think there has been some sort of mistake.  Six days ago it became April but I awoke this morning to find my windows painted white.  Now I'm not really one to complain about snow, i do find it pretty but, I was kind of looking for some pretty in a different colour.  We've had twinkling white decorating our lawns since October, that's 6 months now Mother Nature.  I think deep down in your heart you know it's about time for green to make a more prominent appearance.  You know that the little winks of purple and yellow peeking out of gardens deserve to burst open with a giant sigh.  Why are you being so cruel to colour?  I thought you loved colour.  I think you're having a bad day, is that it?  Are you sitting in your treetop oasis wearing a vintage dress with the freshest of flowers pinned to it, laughing as you watch us run around with our shoulders up to our ears?  Are you stringing daffodils around your neck while our chins avoid the wet part of our scarves?  Are you barefoot, dipping your toes into a babbling stream while we lace up waterproof boots over our pants?  You're most definitely not stuck behind a team of snowplows flashing their blue lights at your growing state of agitation are you?

What gives Mum, where's the love?  Please do us a favour and lift this heavy blanket off, we're suffocating in the grey.  Please see it in your apple blossom heart to sprinkle some seeds of spring onto us.  We're desperate for more than one day of sunshine, we want to ride our bikes, we want to swing on swings, we want to plant our gardens, we want to twirl around on cool grass.  I'm not beyond begging at this point.  Please please please, prettiest of pleases with violets on top, allow us to dance. 

Forever Yours in colour,

Amanda

Northern Ontario Safari retreat

a week ago we built a fort in our living room, it still stands. i can't seem to bring myself to taking it down, it's such a fabulous place to escape to.

Damian was feeling bored so i suggested making a fort and eating treats while watching a movie. he wasn't opposed to the idea. so we got to work pulling all of our blankets, and some bedsheets, out of the closets, gathering bits & bobs to use as supports. all structural credit goes to Damian, it's incredible!

We did have a mishap or 2 during construction. we had just got the "roof" up when Poe, one of our cats, decided to test the strength. from the top of the t.v. in slow motion came this flying cat, legs stretched out like superman, wind in her whiskers. she landed with a soft thump which brought down our load bearing wall (a 2x4 stuck between the futon and the couch) and sent her running to safer ground. all was well, cat was unharmed and we learned our mighty fort would not withstand sudden acts of nature...we had to make it stronger! twine was looped under the couch binding the 2x4 to my studio lights which acted as supports for the 2 back corners, vice grips held bedding in place, and a combination of the two (when tied to our overhead light fixture) reduced the amount of "sag" in the middle.

this fort was my "armchair" travel to a 1920's style African Safari. i don't think i'll ever be able to afford to go here in real life so, fantasy tent in my living room made out of brooms, blankets, and even a 12" miter saw for wall support will just have to do!

oh to be in it right now, drawing and sipping tea!

pesky bug

i've got this decorating bug gnawing away at me, maybe a form of spring cleaning perhaps? whatever it is it's making me want to create a more blissful getaway in my studio.  i bought some shelves yesterday, which I'm currently painting, and 1 apothecary jar (i hope to get at least 2 more... odd numbers just look so much better than even ones).  the shelves are ready for their second coat and then i'll have to sand them to get the look i'm going for.  good thing Damian has an electric sander, boys are great for stuff like that.

once i get that second coat on i'm coming back to this machine to work on a new look for this blog.  this one is so dull to me, so blah, i put it up in a rush.  but before i go - prints are now available in my shop for the pieces pictured below, 'Whirling Dervish', and 'Towards Light' - help a girl feed her decorating bug  *wink*

Towards Light

newest piece in my shop.  *still working on new design for this blog*

it was a sunny day today, amazing how that perks up the spirit.  tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer with the same sunshine.  plans are to visit a greenhouse, to search amongst the green for a gorgeous piece of lovely to bring home.  i adore nurseries and greenhouses, that smell of dirt and plant life, i can breath so deeply there. 

one day i will have a glass greenhouse of my own. it will be alive with colour and dripping with ivy.  a cozy chair will sit in a corner with a stack of worn out old books beside it, waiting to be read by a new set of eyes, faerie lights will adorn its exterior. imagine the serenity.

whirling dervish

"Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded.  Someone sober will worry about events going badly.  Let the lover be."

- Rumi

new original art piece in my shop. 

~ The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the sema.

The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives at the "Perfect.

The Mevleviye, one of the most well known of the Sufi orders, was founded in 1273 by Rumi's followers after his death. ~

* above taken from Wikipedia *

shiny & new

new look coming soon.  i love my horse banner up there but sometimes things just have to change.  speaking of change... my hair.  over top of this brown (which i'm not opposed to but am feeling the need to be more 3D than 2D lately) should i go full on auburn or just streaks of red? i can't seem to decide.  i think i want to do it this weekend, it's just hair, if i hate it i can always dye it again.  i feel like i need a big change, something to open my eyes, fuel me.  i figure i'll start with something superficial, like hair, and see where that takes me.

about to upload a new piece to my shop!