Christmas is for silly gifts...

My husband is the King of Small Appliances. Honest. From juicers to panini presses, small appliances fill up my kitchen. Every time he brings home a new one I try to find room for it. Usually the appeal of the new toy wears off pretty fast, but sometimes not. Last year I received a Breville Milk Frother as a belated gift. A milk frother, eh? This is a product photo:

I didn't think much of the frother at first, but then he made me the most delicious hot chocolate ever! It heats up milk to your desired temperature and once it gets going, you can add hot chocolate or other ingredients to it. Plus the lid is designed to give your nice hot drink a frothy foamy layer. I was impressed! No more nuking milk in the microwave and trying to guess when it's done! For a one trick pony appliance it sure has a permanent place on the counter!

School's Out

And boy, am I glad! I have not really enjoyed this past semester at all. One of the dangers of art school is that it can beat the creativity out of you, and I really feel that way. Last night I was organized some of my lovely patterned papers and just couldn't seem to find that spark. In the the box of paper I found a colour copy of an illustration that I did for a friend years ago and it made me smile. Part of the wonder of it was that I was making it for a friend, and that the idea came so easily.

I'm suffering from a strange sort of confusion. I'm not sure what I really learned in the last four months. The last two projects in drawing did not go well. Same with the final weaving project. I was happy with the piece, which I will share in another post, but that my teacher wasn't bothered me. I was trying a new technique out and instead of a finished piece, the weaving was more like a sampler or a sketch for another project. The potential in it that I saw kind of died away. Building skill is one thing, but retaining the thing that you want to use that skill for is quite another.

My Colour Wheel

Weaving is not quite over yet, although drawing is thankfully. In mid-November we spent a day dying wool with acid dyes. Each student had to make enough samples of one colour series for the whole class. I ended up getting black, which turned out more purple gray! At least I could tell that there was light, medium and dark!

We could organize our samples any way we liked. Mackenzie jokingly said he would be disappointed if anyone made theirs into a unicorn. How could I not? :)

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Oh, Twilight!

I saw the first part of Breaking Dawn last night with some friends and I must say, I have never laughed so hard in a movie before. I absolutely couldn't help myself. You know that one person that spoils a movie for serious fans with all their laughter? Unfortunately that person was me!

I am not a huge Twilight fan. I read the books because my friends had done so, and even those I found hilariously bad. It's kind of sad, because there were lots of good ideas there, and even a great story, but it was consistently buried by long romantic stares and constant whinging between Edward and Jacob. In the books I loved Edward, but in the movies I'm squarely in the Jacob camp. Taylor Lautner brings a real sensitivity to the character, whereas I don't think Robert Pattison does much for Edward at all.

Sure, there were intentionally funny parts, such as the wedding speeches, but others that were so unintentionally funny I'm amazed that the actors could play them with a straight face. The birth scene was not as bad as I expected and I'm glad a lot of the book filler was left right out. Can't wait for part 2!

Whew, winner!

Oh man, it has been forever since I could sit down and blog. School has been c-r-a-z-y with several projects due at the same time. I also had to put in extra time for the second weaving project. Oh, how it went badly! I had to re-thread the loom four times!

I used the always nifty Random.org to pick Ayala Art. She is also a Libra and an ACEtsy team member :-)

Congrats! I indeed went to Las Vegas back in September. It seems like so long ago! I'm hoping that I will have a chance to take some photos of all the Art O Mat pieces. Maybe I'll get done that by Christmas :-D

Speaking of Christmas, I have already done two Christmas craft sales. I was at the Fort Calgary Artisan Fair with Bubblegum Sass and then Mom and I were at a community craft sale as well. I love November because it's the only time I get to meet and greet with customers in person. Unfortunately I have had to cut back because of school and work, so I just have two more left to do!

September/October Blog Contest

Hi guys! I miss blogging. I actually miss having free time as well. Even though I'm taking two classes this semester, they proved to be the most time consuming. I have been spending just about every weekend at the college.

But I have also been taking the time out to have fun - I went to a fabulous mystery destination. Guess where I went in the comments and I will pick a winner from the correct entries on October 31 at 6pm MTN. The prize? A fun piece of miniature art from an Art O Mat. Here are some clues:

1. It's very warm
2. The only American Droog store is there
3. I saw the giant Claes Oldenberg sculpture pictured below
4. I also saw a very famous glass ceiling in a hotel pictured below

Happy birthday to meee!

I got back from vacation just in time to do a drawing marathon for today's class. I went on a road trip with my friends and it was such an adventure! The one thing I love about shopping in the US is all the stores we don't have, and I found my birthday gift to myself at Jo-Ann's. Jo-Ann's makes Michael's look pretty small! I found this Martha Stewart make your own knitting loom kit and I can't wait to try making something on it!

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