On vacation with Instagram

On Vacation

On the road to Alberta! Have seen the Three Pigs' homes, Old Mother Hubbard's cottage, the old woman and her shoe house. In the next few days, will visit Dinosaur Provincial Park and see dinosaurs in Drumheller.

See you later!

The Bombing Boys' Club (or Camp Wendy)

What do you do during the summer holidays with a kid who doesn't like daycamps? A couple of years ago, he didn't complain about daycamps, but now, my son baulks at them and just wants to stay at home, where he could while away a considerable amount of time with Youtube or video games.

So, I came up with the idea of hosting our own daycamp, and inviting a couple of friends who were still around and available. And it's been really fun so far. Camp runs from 9 to 12, and they are kept busy with the activities that I plan for them, and the morning just flies by. One of the activities was getting them to start a blog and you can check out their blog and see what they've been up to here.

Killarney Slice of Summer Fair

Do I look like I'm having the time of my life?

  For the first time ever, I showcased Child's Own Studio at a local community centre fair.   I don't know how other crafters do fairs.  I tried working on some lumpsucker fish, but I found all the visitors and noise to be quite distracting.  Yes, I am a Classic Introvert, especially when I work.   So then I gave up and just greeted people and explained what I did, and some of them were kind of interested and took my card, and a couple of them were quite intrigued.  Most of the children got the idea right away and entered the draw.   

And the lucky winner is:

(I rubbed out the number for this posting. )  I have yet to contact this lucky person; I called once, but the line was busy.  I will try again tomorrow,  you have my blogger's word!  

More lumpsucker fish for Parks Canada

Parks Canada has asked me to make 12 more lumpsucker fish which will go into their visitor centers and be used to educate children (and adults) about these little guys. Here are the first two of the order, and the rest of them will have to wait until mid-September, when the summer holidays are over.

Po's panda doll

Luckily, Kung Fu Panda 2 was still playing in the cinema, so while the world went to watch the premiere of the Harry Potter finale, Dani and I sat in a nearly empty theatre and, we were not disappointed. I found it to be even better than the first one - funnier, with more thrilling action and a more villainous villain. I also liked the sub-plot of Po's search for his true identity and inner peace and the movie's little moral. But most of all, I liked the little panda teddy that got found after so many years, all dusty and worn. And I came home with the idea to make myself a panda teddy, just like Po's. I searched online for an image and found one. I didn't have burlap, but used whatever I had, which was undyed cotton and crafter's felt.

Wish I could say that I whipped up the little guy, but he was more work than I expected, only because I wanted to get him as close as possible to the original. I made the body twice and the face three times, and even now, he's not exactly like the panda teddy in the movie, but he's certainly good enough for me.

summertime

blue sky, dusty country road, croaking froggy ditch, honeybee buzz...

Curb Appeal

This storage bench sits just outside my front door. I built it about 6 years ago, with fir 1x6's, 2x6's and some 2x2's. I used fir because it was the cheapest and I was going to paint it anyway. It was painted green up until two days ago when I re-painted it this colour, Dusty Country by CIL- a kind of dijon mustard-khaki. Inside are stored toys, garden tools and fertilizers, an extension cord, and other outdoor paraphernalia.

Every spring, everything gets covered with yellow pinetree pollen (season of the yellow powder, my husband calls it) and then the cottonwoods over by the river unleash their pods of drifting white fluff. With the yellow dust and white fluffy cobwebs, spider poop on the bench, my front entrance was looking like a corner of a deserted ghost town. Finally a cat came and vomited in the corner of the patio (ewwwuck!).

So, I hosed everything down, put two coats of new colour on the bench, found some cottonwood branches to decorate the wall, and voila: I pulled my patio back from the living dead.

Lumpsucker fish

Have you ever heard of a lumpsucker fish? I hadn't when Lori McNulty from Parks Canada contacted me. These ping pong ball-sized bottom dwellers have wart-like bumps on their bodies and modified pelvic fins that resemble an adhesive disc which the fish uses to stick to surfaces. They dwell in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic and most of the species are found in the North Pacific.

Little is known about these fish, probably because they are so hard to find (due to their tiny size and very effective camouflage). Here is a short video that I found on YouTube. They seem almost too cute to be real.

I had fun making the toy lumpsuckers and I'd like to thank Lori McNulty for the opportunity.