Home Sweet Home

It's been ten days since my last blog... IEEE! I'm falling behind. I don't know what I'm doing with my time but I do know that the days are racing by.

This entry isn't about crafting so much as it is about a sense of completion. On Saturday I finally hung all our pictures and paintings. Finally. Six and a half months after moving in.

It took me awhile to get around to it because our lovely old apartment has plaster walls. Do you know what happens with plaster walls? Crumbling. Holes and lots of crumbling. So I needed to learn how to attach stuff to the wall without any major catastrophe. This skill I learned from my brother when we mounted my noveau record collection. (Thanks Stephen!). Since then I had been waiting around for mine and Dennis' schedules to mesh. I was waiting for an hour or so of free time to overlap so we could hang stuff up together... seeing as we both live here and technically should agree on what goes where, if it looks okay, etc. etc.

But Dennis doesn't like hanging pictures. It probably sits slightly below Chinese Water Torture and listening to Celine Dion on his list of favourite things to do. So I came to my senses and realized that in order to avoid unnessecary negativity and bickering, I should just roll up my sleeves and do it myself.

And how cool! I felt very empowered weilding a drill and hammer. I surprised myself with how easy I found it and now as I pad down my hall or sip tea in my kitchen, I am constantly admiring my handiwork. In another life, another time, I might have studied carpentry or cabinetmaking... Yep. I know it's just hanging pictures but it definitely makes me less afraid of trying out my dream of at re-finishing old furniture... seriously!

First off, this is my very. first. time. shooting in manual, so please excuse the funny colouring/blur on some of these pictures. I'm determined to not take my setting off Manual until I have it mastered, and that includes for blog pictures, so you'll just have to roll with it while I creep up my learning curve.

ANYWAY, in my never-ending quest for economical wall art, I came up with this snazzy idea. I have tons of snapshots I love to display and with my new photo class, I add to my pile every week. I wanted an evolving display that could change with little effort and expense. My front hallway is l-o-n-g so I knew whatever I was going to put up there, had to be economical because I would need like... a lot of framed items to fill it.

So I made a photo clothesline! All I needed was a 20 foot piece of jute string, 2 screws, a package of wooden clothespins and voila! Instant wall art! I think this would work well in children's bedrooms too, as a place to display artwork. I'm wondering if the pictures will end up curling around their edges but so far so good... keeping fingers crossed...

This display is on the opposite side of my very long hallway. In the middle section where it widens slightly for a couple of closets. This is a collection of some of the first photographs I ever took that made me go, "Gee, taking pictures is fun!"

This one is blurry I know, but it's the only picture I had where the hall light wasn't glaring back and obscurring the paintings. These couple of beauties were painted by my very talented friend Jessica for my birthday a few years back. I love the vibrant colours.

If I haven't already mentioned it, my mother is an incredible artist in many mediums. But her real passion is needlework and this is my favourite piece she's ever done. The picture obviously doesn't do it justice. In person, you'll see that the flowers are very textured and deeply coloured. I always talked about how much I loved when I went home to visit... so when I moved in here this Spring, guess what I got as a house warming gift?! Yay!

This little guy I received as a Christmas gift last year. He's a wee owl but a cute one! He comes from Lucky Rabbit Pottery which is a local pottery company run by husband and wife team Deb Kuzyk and Ray Mackie. Their designs are whimsical and beautiful and never fail to make me smile.


Speaking of my friend Jessica, she also gave me this funky little hook for the kitchen. It's perfect for oven mitts. I love how the mug and saucer are 3D. Here you can also see my awesome bird salt & pepper shakers AND my vintage purple and green reptillian-esque salt & pepper shakers that I absolutely adore.

This spice rack has some family history attached to it. In high school I didn't have an allowance per say. Rather, I had a "magic drawer" in which spending money magically appeared every few days. I knew that in order for it to last, it was not to be taken advantage of, so I didn't. And it was awesome. Having a few bucks at my disposal instead of having to plead for money on a regular basis. I wish money still magically appeared in there!! (You can see my matching reptile saucer on the middle shelf, the sugar dish was broken in a move a few years back. Boo).


Lastly, here is... ME! My mother painted this and dubbed it the "cheesecake gourmet." Yes, cheesecake is one of my specialties. Don't spread it around. :) I love having this hang in my kitchen, a whimsical portrait of me doing one of the things I like to do best - bake, cook and putter in the kitchen!