Tuesday, May 17, 2011

oops!

I'm back! ...but not right now.
i fixed my computer a while ago but i was used to not checking in in blogland.
i will be back this week with hopefully a good post! it's been a while. i also have a lot of catching up to do to read all my usuals yikes!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ah crap!

So my computer blew up (not technically.. But it no longer wants to work) . I am currently updating this on my iPhone... But typin out anything of substance isnt really practical on this thing. So I just want to say I may be m.I.a shortly. I wanted to share some doggysitting adventures with you and the cupcakes I am makin tonight for my sisters birthday... But they will have to wait! Hope everyone is having a good week... Mines been hectic and stressful/frustrating at times so I'm really looking forward to the bday celebrations tomorrow for my Sis!

Monday, April 11, 2011

spring blooms and you find the love that's true...

on behalf of springs arrival!
i just finished this tattoo up on saturday. since the client could only sit for an hour or so at a time it's taken a few sessions... but it's done for now. until she's ready for some shadow in behind!


it was gorgeous out yesterday, and my sister and i went to a bridal show. it wasn't what we were expecting. i remember going to one with her years ago, and it was done so well... lots of freebies, and lots of snacking food and tea/coffee. these are the reasons we go to these kinds of things! oh, and door prizes of course.
yesterday i won a doorprize alright! it was a gift certificate scribbled in pen on a piece of paper for a place i've never heard of. even the guy videoing the show leaned in and told me there has been nothing but really negative reviews online about the place i won the prize from! haha. we also think the grand door prize for a honeymoon isn't even real! and we even heard the people sitting behind us whisper "this is the most ghetto bridal show ever".
oh well. maybe we will hit up the big fancy one in january. before the bridal show we went to a flea market and i heard the worst 'compliment' of my life. creepo! i even had to awkwardly say 'alright.. that's enough'

anyway we tried to classy up the day by topping it off by going to Moxie's for dinner.. which seemed to help. except i forgot to take my "bride" nametag off i looked crazy! brides are crazy people! not all of you ;) but what we are planning is so low key and laid back and DIY it's just funny to see how crazy other people are about all that stuff. o well, to each their own!

i'm off to get some things done with the last bit of my 'weekend'... and i will also be doggysitting as of this evening!! so excited to have a (pseudo)dog again.. even if it is just for a week :)

happy monday

Saturday, April 9, 2011

ABC 's

i saw this on Chrissy's blog and liked it... plus i haven't been blogging all week so i figured this was something easy i could do!

age: 29 ( i seriously just had to really think if i was 28 or 29. yikes)

Bedsize: Queen but with king size duvet!

chore you hate: lately all of it.. but i normally don't mind any of it

dogs: none at the moment.. although i'll be doggysitting for my future brother-in-law and his wife! so excited... not sure the cat will be as excited

essential start of the day: bacon! ...well not everyday or my heart would probably explode. but definitely TEA

favorite color: turquoise, black

gold 0r silver: silver

height: i always say 5'6" ? maybe 5'5.5" though

instruments I play )or have played): i play piano and guitar. not well.. but i like to pretend i know what i'm doing

job title: tattoo artist / painter/ artist?

kids: want them!

live: maritimer, east coast of canada

Mom's name: Teresa

nickname: beckz

overnight hospital stays: i had a handful of surgeries when i was younger.. but i don't remember if i was in overnight?

pet peeve: getting big breathes of other peoples smells when they walk by haha. also, slow-walkers or slow drivers

quote from a movie: "shitter was full!" haha christmas vacation, so many great lines

right or left handed: left

siblings: 1 sister +brother-in-law

time you wake up: 8:24 am

underwear: i do

vegetables you dislike: brussel sprouts probably

what makes you run late: watching netflix at breakfast hah

x-rays you've had done: teeth, wrist, elbow, head? like a ct scan

yummy food you make: pie, anything breakfast, homemade fries

zoo animal: zebra!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Say Cheese!

breakfast! i made cream cheese w/ choc. chips stuffed french toast with strawberries and bacon mmmmm so good i just might make it again today :)


my future mother-in-law gave me tickets to the big home show this weekend so my sister and i went. it was ok, but i don't own my own asphalt driveway and i can't afford any of the giant spaceship-like hot tubs. But then... we heard it. an announcement about a free cheese seminar! starting in 10 mins... the last one of the weekend. hahahaha... we found it immediately and took our seats

we were very excited and it was pretty awesome. you could even tell all the people walking by in the home show were jealous :P we taste tested 6 different kinds of cheese with bagettes, and they explained how to really get the full tastes out of them, and also how to pair them. you can freeze cheese! and it won't affect it at all. and we learned lots of other stuff.. and got cheese notepads, and a pizza cutter and cheese picks if you are serving your own selection. and my sister won us little ovenmitts!
some of the cheese haul:


yes we are giant nerds. one time while driving back from montreal last summer, my sister was asleep in the passenger seat and i knew of a small potato chip factory tour coming up at one of the exits. i pulled in and when she woke up.. it was like christmas morning! her husband just went back to sleep in the backseat... but my sister and i went in to do the chip tour! it was only $6 and you got to watch them make their kettle chips, and you got a bag right from the factory workers out of the batch they were making. we watched little videos about potatoes hahaha and then the best part we got to take our kettle chips and go try out all kinds of seasonings. i made my own mix of 'mac & cheese' with 'hickory bacon'. it was so delicious.

and my sister shown here amidst a bunch of 8 year olds hahah

in spring of '09 we also went and did a tour of a maple syrup sugar shack with an all you can eat pancake brunch!
here i was showing off all the maple products. mmm maple


Anyway... we LOVE FOOD! is basically the point of all of that. ha. back to the rest of my day yesterday:
driving


hard to believe i'll be jumping back in in less then 3 months! brrr

nice waves though.. there were quite a few people out

people surf all winter in nova scotia. (you probably can't see them at the point in the distance). i have never been winter surfing because i turn purple even if it's too cold in the middle of summer and sometimes i can't get warmed up after the ocean then! i can't imagine coming out of the water in our winter weather.

i've been spoiled with surfing in california and tofino and yes, i know how snobby that sounds! ... the only time i tried surfing here in NS it was really hard! the conditions were not as friendly haha. also, i should probably stop taking pictures while driving

bridge back to the halifax side after a nice drive


funny faces! my sister showed me this app and saturday night a few of us spent way too much time taking ridiculous pictures and laughing until we cried. and hey, it goes with the 'say cheese' theme :)

get this app if you have an iphone.. it's free!

Friday, April 1, 2011

more mail!

lookie what came in the mail today!

i won a giveaway on Chrissy's blog and my lovely winnings from Danielle at http://www.positivelyposi.com/ showed up today :)


i absolutely love this granny square bunting:D the colors are so great and it's sooo soft. i immediately hung it up in my art room.


i opened it as soon as i got in the door and didn't even take my jacket off... but turns out the headband she made matches my jacket zipper exactly. i am trying to point that out in the following photo ..

and awkwardly trying to show off the neat rose design..


Thanks Danielle and Chrissy :)

So much for springlike weather yesterday... today we have a nice mix of freezing rain/ice pellets and crazy winds. and hearing it hitting the windows makes it really chilly in here!

also this was written on Cool Hunting about the sketchbook project that i'm taking part in. The tour has moved from Austin Texas all the way over to Portland, ME this week. if you're in the area check it out at Space Gallery
http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/art-house-the-s.php

Thursday, March 31, 2011

lion scene tattoo all done



i have a few bigger pieces on the go right now... but this one has been in progress for quite a while.. like well over a year! we did go tubing down a river one time this past summer before some of the color was healed which didn't help. oops! but anyway, we finally put in the last few hours the other day.. and voila! thought i'd share it..

..and you can click on the picture to get a bigger view. blogger's 'large' images aren't very large

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

tacky souviner swap MAIL!


i just wanted to share a little picture i took yesterday of my now favorite antique/junk store. this is just half of my favorite room in the place. there are lots of rooms!

also.. yesterday my tacky souvenir came in the mail!! i did the tacky souvenir swap and got maryam from http://www.pamplemousse1983.com/

love my stuff! (it's from texas if you couldn't tell) i'm not sure how well you can see the paperweight in the picture(it is a paperweight right?).. i don't curse so i've been telling people at work that i got some texas bull-crap in the mail. which i'm sure makes no sense to anyone until i explain the whole swap ;) and i actually love the bookmark and don't think it's tacky at all.. and think it will be an excellent replacement for the Swiss Chalet 2-for-1 dinner expired coupon that is now acting as my current bookmark. i feel like my mom always wanted an armadillo. maybe i made that up though. i used to have a hedgehog! but that's not the same thing :/
we have a big collection of postcards so i'm excited for that too, i'll add it to the pile until we know what to do with them all.
hope everyone has gotten something fun in the mail lately or is awaiting something fun! mail really is the best :) thanks maryam!

Monday, March 28, 2011

pei pictures + pyrex

yay for alliteration!
here is a picture post from the weekend:)

here is a bad example of the red soil on P.E.I.

two of my friends in one of the junk stores

awesome cupboards

this place was cool

pretty dishes

the confederation bridge... it is 12.9 km's or 8 miles long

sky on the drive home


i ended up getting an awesome pyrex dish that i won't share in case my sister see's this - it's part of her birthday present!. but i did pick this 'Glasbake' bowl up for her today, along with these pyrex burnt orange mugs for about $7 altogether from 2 different stores.

I got two bowls for myself on PEI from a flea market/junk shop. i don't know the brand of this little one but i loved the color and the little images on it.


the other bowl i got myself there, is that turquoise pyrex bowl off to the side in this picture ... but i also got these awesome turquoise pyrex dishes today! they just match the bowl so well! (i love turquoise)


oh and just so my fiance doesn't feel left out i got him this haha


it's still cold out... doesn't it know it's spring out yet??

Sunday, March 27, 2011

PEI

i haven't disappeared .... just got back from a much needed weekend away on PEI visiting friends :) i've had friends that have lived on the island now for years. and it's always a nice little getaway.
weekend included trying on wedding dresses, having our tarot cards read, late night nightmare inducing curry dinner, diner breakfast and hitting up a couple cool antique shops! i'm exhausted from the trip :) and somehow the only 3 hour drive managed to take about 4 hours each time? go figure. if you don't know what/where PEI is (Prince Edward Island).. it may seem familiar to you from Regis & Kelly.. they did a week of shows there last summer! it's known for it's red sand, super warm beaches and of course potatoes. what is really funny is that one time when i was there i actually won a 50lb bag of potatoes at the race track/casino hahaha. it was pretty awesome.

anyway.. it's nice to be back home and the cat is happy i'm back a day early! i just took a couple pictures on my iphone but i will post them tomorrow. hope everyone else had a friend filled refreshing/relaxing weekend as well. i know mine was overdue!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

home.

this song has been helping me through with some tough times! hope it can help to make your day a little better as well :)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

happy st paddy's day!

happy shaint samus day!
(this was me last year)


last year we weren't planning on doing anything for st patrick's day but my fiance was having some drinks with his brother before his brother had to go downtown to meet his wife and their friends for celebrations. i came home from work, got in on the whiskey drinking with them and after listening to a bunch of Pogues somehow we all made our way downtown to my old stomping grounds. i guess we just got in the spirit! one of the best irish pubs in halfiax (and trust me we have quite a few!) was the bar for the art school i used to go to. (i even used my 7 year old expired student id and still got in for free! ha!) we're not really big on going out anymore but it was super fun! and we were still home at like 11:30 haha. but anyway, we all have irish in us, but are probably more scottish then anything. we kept yelling HAPPY SAINT SHAMUS day.. which drunkenly turned into Happy Shaint Samus day!

hope you are all enjoying yours if you celebrate it at all :)
i'm going to stereotypically throw on the pogues and have a beer while i clean then work on some drawings while i watch weekend at bernies ;)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

what's in my pantry!

after doing the what's in my bag post the other day... and after my sister and i geeked out on pyrex pictures online last night i decided to post some pictures of "what's in my pantry!" i said that like a gameshow host in my head.

i apologize for the picture quality, i took these with my iphone and it was late last night, so we have the flash battling the beautiful tungsten glow. barf! (not to mention the walls/shelves are all yellow too ha!)














k these last two aren't in the pantry but are out on the actual kitchen counter because they are used all the time :) so i cheated



yes, i sure do like owls, and also salt & pepper shakers!

Monday, March 14, 2011

startched fabic for the walls!

so i realized i didn't take a 'before' picture. but picture a plain room with a bunch of mismatched paintings. it's our spare bedroom, so we never really did a whole lot with it. bed, lamp, bookcase, and a place to put some extra paintings...

then last night i followed this tutorial and made a headboard for the spare room! i got some cool fabric (a pillowcase and matching sheet) at a second hand store yesterday. after washing them, i cut the pillow case down the sides and opened it up, and using the starch mix in the tutorial i applied it to the wall. it was too much material to stay up on it's own at first so i ended up having to cut it in half then match them up on the wall again. then i just cut out a giant circle from the matching sheet, stretched it in a big embroidering hoop and hung that on the opposite wall with a cool old mirror my mom found for me, and a painting of mine in a complimentary color. i think it makes it a little cozier in there :)(i also starched the koi fish paper onto the wall up there, which i wasn't sure would work or not. it did, and it's still there this morning!)


(note the picture of the wolf playing the trumpet -my gift from my fiance he got from a local Bermudian artist when he was there with work hehe)

the opposite wall


and the cat not enjoying the flash in her eyes! i am beginning to see a theme here with my picture posts hrmm


i had a little bit of the starch mix leftover (i only made half the amount in the tutorial).. and i was looking around for more stuff to starch.. it's pretty fun, you should try it! now i must get back to my revenge of the nerds marathon. ah mondays!

Friday, March 11, 2011

What's In My Bag(s)

Two bags worth of random junk!


So it's friday night and i figured hey, what better thing to do then take pictures of all the junk in my bag(s)! i was actually home sick today and have a super full day at work tomorrow so i am trying to take it easy. that's how i'm justifying this.

So most days i have two bags (at least). and one not shown here which i use as a camera bag/purse, but i move all the junk out of my real purse into my purse/camera bag when i take it to work. because i need my camera at work (my beautiful Canon Rebel T1i not shown :). and i put that whole bag (along with my lunchbag) into that brown owl bag along with more junk to take to work! follow me? yea basically just tons of crap to carry around! or i will even put my camerabag/purse into my backpack with my laptop and take even more junk! is anyone else's 'what's in my bag' post this in depth?

if i'm just going out on my own for fun i take this red plaid purse if i don't think i'll need/want my big ol' camera.

above is my regular purse. we have a coupon, a bandaid with the baby dinosaur from that show Dinosaurs. (remember 'not the mama!' ?? don't ask me why i still have this thing?), plasitc bacon, crumpled receipt, concert ticket, swiss army knife (what gal doesn't have one of these? ha), lighter even though i don't smoke, burt's bees lip balm, a rock that i got from the a crazy fossil place -i think it looks like a t-rex head, business card holder + my pinup girl business cards, notepad, pencil, pen, and my iphone + cozy (from Chrissy!)

i forgot my wallet was up on the organ/piano when i took the pics, so i'm adding these in. always have to have my wallet, sunglasses and keys!


now in the owl bag we currently have:

pencil crayons, a sketchbook/notepad, my daily planner for appointments with a receipt book, honey roasted peanuts, fake elastic pearl bracelets, extra leads and erasers, bacon flavored toothpicks, i heart NY mints, a tattoo supply flyer, and oddly enough THREE spoons! that's kind of embarrassing?

well there you have it. if you know that people call me 'safety' then it makes sense that i have a swiss army knife and a lighter in there. just cause you never know! apparently i think i could get stranded somewhere at any given time and feel secure knowing that i could survive with these haha. actually not only do people call me safety but people at work have been known to call me 'safety bacon' because of my love of bacon. which i suppose explains the toothpicks and the little plastic bacon! i probably shouldn't even mention that i have a bacon tattoo!

and of course any time you put anything on the floor the cat thinks it's for her!