Southern Alberta Charm

On a recent trip to Lethbridge, I was promised sunny blue skies and warm weather...

Instead I was greeted with grey clouds, snowstorms and bitter cold winds.  

One day, however, I woke up to a blanket of the most sparkly blanket of snow. I decided to put on my boots and take my camera for an early morning stroll and came back with these...

I'm glad I went when I did because the snow melted by lunch time taking the charm and beauty with it.

Off The Wall

I'm sure people must think I'm looney and wonder what on earth I am taking a picture of when I'm standing in the middle of the back alley with my camera pointed dead centre at a wall.  I've definitely gotten some weird looks and people glaring out the back window with suspicion in their eyes.  I must admit, it makes me feel uneasy at times but I do it anyway because I can't help it.  I have a slight obsession with old crumbling walls.  I find beauty in the textures, colours and patterns that seem to organically happen as time and decay set in.  If these walls could talk...They give a glimpse into their own history as little bits peel away, exposing what wasn't meant to be seen.  

My Mother was an accomplice that day.  I dragged her into the alley only to discover her adaptability.  She jumped right in and was on the look out for bigger and better crumbling walls.  We walked out of the alley shoulder to shoulder only to bump into an old cowboy on his smoke break.  He asked if we were taking pictures of the empty street and I quickly blurted something about old forgotten walls.  He said they needed to be documented as they were disappearing all to fast.  Then he turned away and went back into his cowboy boot store.  

Easter Egg Hunt!

Yep!  It was our first easter egg hunt and despite the rain, it was a smashing success.  I'm sure we will be finding little chocolate eggs for weeks!

Code!

 Before Little B was in preschool, I use to take him everywhere: art galleries, swimming, museums, parks, the beach!.... now most of my time is spent driving to and from preschool.  One of my most memorable gallery outings was Code 1 Live during the 2010 Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver.  Sadly I can't remember the artist or the name of the interactive light installation but the experience is still vivid in my mind.  Banyan could't get enough of it, I could hardly keep up with him!

Andrew Ballstaedt

I haven't been able to spend as much time blogging as I would like these days.  My posts are backing up and all I can do is think about them as I try and organize my house.  I'm still waiting for the internet to be hooked up, but in the mean time I have been using my iPhone as a hot spot to access the internet on my computer.  It seems a little backwards but it works...

I was going through my collection of pictures and artists that inspire me the other day and came across Andrew Ballstaedt.  I became acquainted with his work last year on a trip to Logan Utah.  My best friend's sister had two of his paintings displayed in her house.  I think she may have known the artist personally but I can't quite remember.   I was so drawn to them, I would stand in front of them and study them.  It made me curious about the artist himself and wondered about his process.  I made sure to take a picture of his name so I wouldn't forget.  I tried to take photographs of the paintings themselves but they didn't turn out too well so I pulled a few images from his website.   

This is one of the paintings that was in the house.

I really liked how delicate and fine the lines appeared in Andrew's paintings.  So much so, I wanted to give it a try...

I think I need more practice drawing power lines!

The Daffodil Thief

Little B has been the sweetest little boy when it comes to flowers.  He has been thoughtfully picking other people's daffodils and giving them to me.  What can a mother do?  I love them and have been finding little glass vases to put them in.  I do my best to let him know that picking other people's flowers isn't right but it is a hard concept for him to grasp.  He just knows that his mama loves flowers.  So adorable.  He usually gives me a big hug when he gives them to me too.  

One day we happened to be in a bank sorting out our mortgage details when a big bundle of unopened sickly looking daffodils were dropped off at the banker's desk.  She noticed Banyan's interest and immediately handed us two bunches to take with us.  I didn't think they would amount to much because the looked pitiful.  Banyan and I took turns carrying them and waving them around for the next few.  The eventually ended up in a grocery bag by the time we got home.  I cut the ends off and stuck them in a vase not expecting them to turn into such a beautiful bunch of flowers!  Banyan and I ate all our meals together looking at them and talking about them.  They really cheered up the new place which is still full of boxes!  I was sad to see them withered and droopy this morning realizing their time had come to an end.  Such is life.

Meet Mr. Menswear Bunny.  I've been wanting to do this project for quite some time and in the middle of packing up our house, I had a bolt of creativity and decided it was time to making this bunny. 

I had the fabric sitting by my desk for ages and it came together in two days.  I found the fabric at Value Village months earlier and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but I liked it.  

I printed out the pattern and started cutting and sewing.  I didn't have any cotton filling so I spent the next day looking for some at craft and fabric stores but wasn't satisfied with the large bags of stiff poly-fill.  Instead I went to Ikea and bought a little throw pillow for $2 with a soft cotton poly fill.  It worked perfectly.  I stuffed that bunny and hand stitched his eyes and nose.

Voila!

I loved making him and can see my self making another soon! I gave this one to my niece for her 1st birthday.