superflash photography

First photo show coming up!!

2012-01-24T13:44:00.001-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at something I've been working on over the past 8 months - it's my very first photo show!

The show is taking place at the Bending Spoons Gallery at Vesuvio's Pizza in Toronto (click for more info and directions) from January 30 - February 26.

It will feature 20 of my favourite photos from concerts that I've been to - several of which have never been published to the internet, even!

I hope if you're in the Toronto area, you'll be able to drop in, and if you're not, well, I hope you'll take a few minutes to share my post!

Thanks for the support!

Vesuvio's is located at:
3010 Dundas Street WestToronto, ON M6P 1Z3

Calvin's Christmas Portraits

2011-12-26T22:05:00.001-05:00

Calvin is my fiancé, Tom's, cat. While we were decorating the tree this year, he was looking on with such curiosity. We put a mini Santa hat on him, and a star was born. He sat very patiently as I clicked away with my camera, and we ended up with lots of super cute shots - it was tough to narrow them down! He needs to be put into Kitty Modelling, if there is such a thing!

Reliving My Engagement

2011-12-01T11:28:00.001-05:00

I recently got engaged on 11/11/11. I posted all about the day right here... but what I didn't post was what happened the next day. The day after we got engaged, my lovely fiancé and I decided to take an impromptu road trip with my camera and tripod in tow, to Niagara Falls. I snapped some post-engagement-bliss shots, and here they are!

Many more photos, right this way!

Señorita de Los Muertes

2011-10-31T09:30:00.001-04:00

Señorita de Los Muertes
Originally uploaded by superflash

Just a quick little snapshot taken on my iphone, to wish you all a safe & happy Halloween!

Tommy James and the Shondells

2011-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Wow - over a month since my last blog entry - oops! I have been very busy. In any case...

On September 3, 2011, I planned a visit to the Canadian National Exhibition (aka The Ex), not just because it's my annual tradition for the summer, but also because one of my favourite bands from the 1960s, Tommy James and the Shondells, were playing.

I had seen the band once before with The Hermans Hermits, in Clearwater FL, and they were amazing... once again, they did not disappoint!

More pictures from the show are up here.

Last Long Weekend... Andy Kim

2011-08-01T14:02:00.001-04:00

One month ago, on the previous Canadian long weekend (Canada Day, July 1st... for the record, today is also a holiday - Civic Holiday, aka we need one more summer long weekend holiday), I headed out to Woodbine Park for the Red White and Vinyl Canada Day Celebration. I actually just wanted to see Andy Kim, so that's exactly what I did.

And, of course, Canada Day wouldn't be complete without some fireworks!

More pics are right this way.

A Kid in an Ice Cream Shop

2011-07-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

It sometimes happens that I don't have my DSLR on hand to capture those picture perfect life moments... Or, in some cases, it would just be very inappropriate to pull it out.

Yesterday was one of those days - I took my favourite 5-year-old out for ice cream, and she was just too cute with her nose pressed up against the glass, trying to decide which topping would be the best! My iPhone, with the PictureShow app subbed in, and I came up with this super sweet shot!

P.S. In case you were wondering - she chose vanilla with rainbow sprinkles!

Portraits - Marlena

2011-07-23T17:03:00.000-04:00

On a random week in June, one of my Floridian BFF's came to visit me, and was happy to be my model as I thrust her into different locations and told her to say cheese! Here's the result of those days:

Thanks for being a good sport, Marlena! The rest of the pictures are right this way!

May 2011: Pittsburgh, PA

2011-07-10T11:14:00.000-04:00

Back in May, I went on a road trip with my aunt & grandmother to visit some family in Pennsylvania. While we were there, we went out to Pittsburgh (about 1 hour away from where we were) for the day to see a few of the sights. This is what I saw:

More photos from my trip are right here.

Portraits: K&S - maternity session

2011-07-06T10:05:00.000-04:00

This is probably the quickest I've ever turned around a photo session! Mom-to-be, K, contacted me on a Tuesday, we shot the photos on Friday, and by Wednesday they had their photos in hand! *Phew!*

I think it's mostly because K & her husband, S, were a breeze to work with. Just look at these two - so happy and positively glowing with the impending arrival of their bundle of joy. They asked for some simple shots, using nature as the backdrop, with no props or gimmicks. I was happy to deliver:

While we were out shooting, we stumbled upon a lovely, big tree, that seemed to have a little surprise of it's own... ;)

K & S - I wish you all the best in the upcoming weeks!

Vintage Cars

2011-07-03T14:15:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of all things "retro". If I could live in any era, I would definitely pick the 60s. So when I learned that there would be a retro car show as part of a street festival in Toronto, I was all about bringing my camera out to capture their beauty. Here are some of my favourites:

More photos of cars, right this way.

Portraits - Baby A.

2011-06-16T16:04:00.002-04:00

Also in May, I had the pleasure of photographing one of the most beautiful baby girls I've ever met. She was super sweet, and would let anyone hold her, and more importantly, was very interested in having me photograph her!

Want to see more from this set? Click Here.

One of my favourite places on earth: Clearwater, FL

2011-06-13T12:36:00.000-04:00

Do you have a place that just draws you in as soon as you get there? Somewhere that feels as much (or even more) like home than your actual home? Clearwater FL is one of those places for me. Here are some of my favourite photos from over the years...

Want to see more from Florida? Here's a link to all of my photos on Flickr.

Also, if you haven't already, could you please take a second to vote for my photo in the My Canada Photo contest? You don't need to register, you just need to click "Like" or "Tweet" with your facebook or twitter accounts. Thanks!!

New contest

2011-06-09T09:00:00.001-04:00

So, I've been busily working away at editing photos from my friends' birthday party (which you can see over at Facebook for now) ... but while you wait, I entered a new contest!

It's over at the Canada Post website (link takes you directly to my photo), and you can vote for me by either clicking the "Like" button for Facebook, or the Tweet button for Twitter.

I would very much appreciate your votes!

Portraits - Baby C.

2011-06-05T10:07:00.001-04:00

Back in May, I shot some photos of a super sweet 6-month-old baby boy. He is one of the best behaved babies I've ever met - didn't cry at all!

See more from this set over at Flickr, and if you're not already a fan (or even if you are!), check out Superflash Photography on Facebook. I usually end up uploading preview pics there, well before they make it to the blog.

Nicole at 4.5 years old

2011-05-21T09:29:00.001-04:00

A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of taking my little niece Nicole to the park, and photographing her in action. She's such a photogenic child, it was so much fun capturing these little moments. Here's a preview of the mini-shoot. More photos will be posted at Flickr later next week!

Orlando!

2011-05-03T12:28:00.000-04:00

Orlando is a gold mine of photo opportunities. Eye candy everywhere - especially in the Downtown Disney area, which is free to enter, unlike the other Disney parks. Definitely recommend it if you want a photo adventure and you're on a budget.

Review: CSN Stores

2011-04-25T15:10:00.001-04:00

So, a while ago, I mentioned that I would be doing a review for CSN Stores. It's taken me a while, but I'm finally ready to post!

One of the first things I noticed when browsing through the site was the vast volume of STUFF. It was so difficult to decide what I wanted! This was all the stuff I had initially added to my shopping cart while I was trying to decide!

I ended up settling on the turquoise clock, stainless steel tiffin tin, and then I ended up adding a couple of packages of Crayola markers & crayons that I can't find ANYWHERE in stores in Canada (it's the "multicultural" package, which gives me a lot of skin tones... always necessary when working on art projects!)

One of the reasons it took me so long to write this review is because when I had initially set up the order, I had it set to ship to my home in Canada. Though they do ship to Canada, I realized it was pretty expensive. Thankfully, I have a place in Florida to ship to, and I was heading down here anyway... so my order was waiting for me when I arrived!

The turquoise clock was VERY cool. I love the style and the font (numbering?) on it. It will fit PERFECTLY in my retro kitchen. It is a little more green than turquoise, which I wasn't really expecting, but I think it will be far enough away from the turquoise wall in my living room (against a beige wall in my kitchen), that it will look awesome in the room. Turquoise is a very difficult colour to match, so it's always a bit of a gamble. But it will work.

I think the Tiffin set is going to be perfect for taking my lunch to work. It has two seperate compartments, plus one little container for salad dressings, sour cream, or whatever else. It's a great size, and it comes with a handle, so I don't have to try and stuff it into a bag if I don't want to, I can just carry it as-is. It's also lightweight, unlike carrying a glass container. I just have to figure out if there's a way to warm up the items in the container (I'm guessing no), or if I should just have some dishes on standby at work.

It was a super easy process, shopping through CSNStores.com - the hardest part was trying to narrow down exactly what I wanted!

New Photo Project: Meet Sweet Caroline!

2011-04-24T14:25:00.000-04:00

I was randomly shopping one day, and I came across the most darling little doll for $10. Judging from her look and her outfit, I knew I had to have her, and plan a photo project around her. She's actually a new version of the Blythe dolls, recently re-released as part of the Littlest Pet Shop series of toys for kids.

I've named her Caroline, and I think she will pop up in more than a few photos from now on!
Here's her photo album on my Flickr. ... and a few shots of Sweet Caroline in Florida:

My artwork around town

2011-04-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

I swung by my favourite furniture store in Toronto, Modern Sensibility, to sneak a peak at my photo that I gave them as a gift. It's displayed proudly by the front door... If you happen to be looking for furniture, drop by & tell them that I sent you!
(And say hi to my 4 pelicans on the way out!)

strawberry buttercream

2011-04-02T13:37:00.002-04:00

strawberry buttercream
Originally uploaded by superflash

I posted a delicious recipe for Strawberry Buttercream icing over at Singles and Pairs. Be sure to check it out if you want the recipe... if not, just enjoy the photos here. I love photos of food. Hope you do too!

Hannah Georgas @ Juno Block Party

2011-03-25T22:42:00.000-04:00

On a cold night in Toronto, The Juno Block Party took place. I braved the cold to catch Hannah Georgas' set, along with a few hundred other people (surprising, for such a cold night!) ... Did I mention it was cold? Here are some shots, from my vantage point at the back of the crowd. Enjoy!

Danny Michel @ The Drake Hotel

2011-03-21T14:30:00.001-04:00

I went and saw one of my favourite musicians, Danny Michel, at The Drake last night. Check out my full review here, but in the meantime, here's some eye-candy for you:

CSN Stores

2011-03-15T10:02:00.001-04:00

So, how many of you have seen the CSN stores floating around the blogosphere recently? I've seen it talked about on a few of the blogs I RSS, and I was wondering about the hype. I figured it must be an American thing only, but I was wrong!
They recently contacted me offering me a gift code to write a review post of their shops, so I decided to check it out. CSN offers a wide variety of merchandise through their 200+ stores.
You can buy anything from:
housewares (I have this KitchenAid Stand Mixer in turquoise, and I highly recommend it!),

to shoes & clothing (Love this colour!!),

to furniture like this L Shaped Desk.

Anyway... I'm really excited to share with you guys whatever it is I end up reviewing! Browse around their site a bit and leave a comment letting me know what you would choose for me to review... if I agree, maybe I'll pick it!

prints!!

2011-02-25T11:56:00.002-05:00

prints
Originally uploaded by superflash

Just a quick little post... I'm super excited, because this is the first time I've printed my photos in anything larger than an 8x10. These are two of my photos that I had printed - the NYC print is 11x14, and the Pelican one is probably about 6 or 7 x 18 once I trim away the white.

I'm going to create a photo wall behind my couch (where they're currently propped) with various sizes of b&w photos. I'm planning on having mostly my own photos printed... and maybe some artwork that I create myself on the wall as well.

This is super exciting for me! Woohoo!

Hawksley Workman

2011-02-22T09:53:00.002-05:00

In the red...
Originally uploaded by superflash

Hawksley Workman played a "secret" show (it was sorta announced on twitter, so not entirely secret) at The Drake Hotel on Sunday, to celebrate their 7th anniversary. It was a fantastic show... Full review, right this way: http://singlesandpairs.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-hawksley-workman-drake-hotel.html

Fruity perfection

2011-02-14T12:28:00.002-05:00

Fruity perfection
Originally uploaded by superflash

After plying my coworkers with an abundance of chocolate treats today for Valentine's Day, I treated myself to this lovely array of strawberries, kiwis, and mango.
Absolute deliciousness!

New Project!

2011-02-10T08:36:00.000-05:00

The new project that I alluded to in my last post has been up and running since Monday, and it's being received very well so far! It's a multi-author blog called "Singles And Pairs" and it's a lifestyle blog aimed at women who are either single or in relationships, but not "in the family way" ;)

Crafts will be focussed on home decor, parties and other pretty things. No crafts for or to make with kids. There's enough of those in the blogosphere.
Recipes will be focussed on cooking for one or two people, and tips on how to use leftovers for the meals that you end up making that never end.
Fashion articles are there to keep us with it and hip!
And of course, dating and relationship stories, because well... we all know how hilarious they can be.

I hope you'll drop by and check us out! http://singlesandpairs.blogspot.com

Guide to Swagbucks

2011-01-21T14:06:00.000-05:00

Wow, we're already 21 days into January, and this is my first post of the year... Oops! Happy new year, everyone!
I thought I'd take a break from my regularly scheduled stuff (Umm, really? Regularly scheduled? I haven't blogged in 21 days, there's nothing regular about that...) to talk about something that I've been asked to explain pretty often over the last little while: Swagbucks.

Some of my friends have noticed posts from the site flooding their facebook feeds, and want to know what the deal is. Well, my friends, this is pretty much the best site on the internet. Why? Because it gives you money for practically nothing. Here's what you do.

1. Sign up for an account at Swagbucks.com
2. Install the toolbar (you don't HAVE to do this, but it's easier to remember to use Swagbucks rather than Google if you do... and it also gives you messages occasionally) and do your regular searching through their search engine. (Swagbucks does not log your searches). As you're searching, you will occasionally be rewarded with Swagbucks (anywhere from say... 5 to 50 or so, if you're super lucky) and you can let them accumulate in your account.
3. Other ways to earn swagbucks:

through your referrals - all your referrals points are matched on your account up to 1000!
doing the daily polls & visiting the trusted survey page will earn you one Swagbuck per day
complete the trusted surveys or special offers for the specified number of points (be careful, some may require you to actually pay money, so only do offers that you are interested in)
shop through Swagbucks - this is mostly for my neighbours to the south, as Canada doesn't appear to have many options. Swagbucks has a little "mini mall" that you can link to your favourite sites through, and earn points for things you were already going to buy anyway. Similarly, there's also a local deals feature (ie Groupon, Living Social) and when you link to it through Swagbucks, you'll also earn points with your purchase (IE: I received 280 Swagbucks a couple of days ago for a LivingSocial deal that I was going to buy anyway! Double score!)
SwagCodes - occasionally, you'll find SwagCodes released by TheSwagGuy (or Gal) - via the toolbar, the Swagblog, twitter, or facebook. Enter these codes on the main Swagbucks screen for some free points!

There are actually plenty of other ways to earn Swagbucks, but you'll discover more as you familiarize yourself with the website. These are some of the most popular methods.
4. Redeem! I actually have a tendency to let my points accumulate, but it's probably best to redeem as soon as you have the amount required for the product you desire, as you're only allowed to redeem two prizes per day, and 5 prizes per calendar month. My particular preference is to snag some $5 amazon gift cards, for 450 swagbucks each.

I am proud to let you know that I am not too far away from being able to score this sweet little beauty (Oh yes... the product of my dreams... it will vacuum my entire apartment for me while I am at work!), and it will be TOTALLY FREE.

Seriously, how cool is that?
And all I had to do was switch search engines.

Soooo, what are you waiting for? Sign up now! (And please, sign up using my referral code - it would make me very happy) :)

That's a wrap on Project 365!

2010-12-31T10:59:00.000-05:00

Since January 1st, 2010, I've been participating in Project 365 - taking a photo every day for the full year. It was challenging, and at some points I wanted to give up, but I am very glad that I stuck through it, because I now know all the highlights (and lowlights) of 2010. You can see all my photos right here, but allow me to share some of my favourite moments of each month.

January:

Balloon drop at the Colliseum in St Pete's for "Swing In The New Year" - which is where I'll be spending my New Year's tonight!

February:

My Valentine's craft party with friends, Canada winning the gold medal in hockey (and also the most gold medals we've ever won at an Olympics) - and this is actually probably my favourite photo that I've taken all year.

March:

Celebrating with Spumante on the night the offer on my condo was accepted! Hooray! A year of many changes is ahead!

April:

My first real coordinator gig (I say real because I had some coordinator gigs before, but this one was a pretty small-scale production, so I was responsible for everything from set dec to managing interns, and everything in between... and I had a blast!) This was probably my favourite gig this year!

May:

So many fun pictures this month of my nieces, my friend's baby, etc... but my favourite photo from an artistic sense is this one I took of a dandelion in the Toronto Beaches district on the Victoria Day long weekend.

June:

Tied for the #1 position of "best concert of the year" (tied with the Royal Wood show in November), this was the Six Shooter Records NXNE showcase, Outlaws & Gunslingers. Featured some of my very favourite musicians, all in one act: Danny Michel, Royal Wood, The Beauties, Hawksley Workman, and of course, featured above, Mr. Jim Cuddy.

July:

So many big things happened this month, but nothing bigger than July 5th - the day I got the keys to my condo and became a proud homeowner! YAY ME!

August:

Of course, with all the renovations I did (floors, kitchen, painting, etc), I didn't actually move in until about 6 weeks later. This is my first non-family guest - my bff Errol, on the day I actually moved in!

September:

I almost didn't make it this year, because I was so busy with work and moving, but on the very last weekend, I managed to make it down to The Ex (The Canadian National Exhibition), where I indulged on my favourite treat (waffle ice cream sandwiches!) and my favourite ride (The Polar Express!)

October:

I was working on Blades all weekend long, so it wasn't until three days later that I got to celebrate my birthday with some of my favourite people! (Although the Blades crew made me super happy by surprising me with a birthday cake at work, and singing to me over the PA system in the arena!) Very good birthday this year!

November:

The Battle of the Blades wrap party was probably the best party of the year. This was at the beginning of the evening - haha - the photos that followed were... well, interesting, to say the least!

December:

Many photos this month of beautiful scenery and decor, but I will share this one because it makes me happy. My boy, playing cards and guitar on the night before I left for Florida. Very excited to go back and see him :)

Hope 2010 was as good for you as it was for me! Happy New Year, everyone!

First Christmas!

2010-12-15T08:54:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed prepping my new home for my very first Christmas in it. I love being in charge of the decorations, and coming up with different little arrangements. You already saw my wreath in my last entry... now here's how the rest of my apartment is looking these days.

I adore my ornaments. I've been collecting them for several years. I could always picture my "future" tree, even when I was living at home. I would love to buy a white (fake) tree, during some after Christmas sales. That would truly perfect my vision. This year, I had to settle for borrowing my parents' old tree. But I still think it looks lovely. I love just sitting on my couch and looking at my tree, lit up all pretty.

My absolute favourite would have to be this: my coffee table centrepiece. The best part of this is that the entire arrangement (including the coffee table itself) probably cost me less than $20. Haha. The table is a temporary one - a LACK sidetable from Ikea (on sale for $7.99 right now! Can't go wrong). The garland and "floral" arrangement (for lack of a better word) both hail from the dollar store. The vase is from several seasons ago at Ikea (not sure if they still sell this. But it was definitely less than $5 when I bought it). And the spikey ornament, I made myself, using this tutorial from How About Orange. I love the way it looks so much, I think I'll probably keep it up through the entire winter.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Handmade Wreath

2010-12-06T14:20:00.001-05:00

I'm really beginning to think I should change the name of this blog to "superflash photography + crafts" ... what do you think?

Here's what I was working on this weekend...

What do you mean it doesn't look like much?! Of course it does! I cut out hundreds of felt circles! Aren't they amazing?

Okay, fine, they were part of a bigger project.

Supplies:
- 3 contrasting colours of felt (You could make this with less or more colours, I suppose, but I love this colour combo for myself)
- styrofoam wreath form (I used a flat form, but would recommend a round form for future use)
- lots of straight pins (one per circle. I ended up with at least 250 circles by the time I was through)
- pliers (if you use a flat form)
- ribbon

Once you've cut your circles (And I had to keep cutting as the project went on... I started out with about 100 or so, and definitely underestimated), you'll fold them in quarters, and pin them to the wreath form. I started with my pink circles, because I wanted the wreath to be mostly black & white, with pink accents, so I made sure all the pink was spread randomly around the wreath.
Once you're done with the accent colour, continue pinning your other circles, keeping them tight, so that styrofoam gaps don't show through.
The reason I would recommend a rounded wreath instead of a flat one is because the straight pins (at least the ones I had) were way too long for the flat wreath, and needed to be snipped off the back, otherwise you'll be jabbed with pins every time you pick it up. This is VERY tough on the hand. The area under my thumb on my palm where I was holding the pliers is seriously strained/bruised this morning. Don't be like me. Learn from my mistakes.

At the top of the wreath, I took some pink ribbon, wrapped it around once, and created a loop, then pinned it into place, then pinned some more felt circles on top to cover up the ribbon... And, it's done! Let me know if you try this project for yourself!

Interchangeable canvases

2010-11-19T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here's a tutorial for a new project I spent the day working on...

I started out wanting to make just a set of canvases for my bedroom... but as I was working, I realized that with the b&w colour palate, I could actually use these for multiple occasions, and switch them up every once in a while... and so the Interchangeable Canvas idea was born!

Materials:
- 3 canvases (I found mine in a 3 pack at the dollar store)
- scrapbook paper (I used 4 different sheets)
- double sided tape, regular tape, and glue
- photo corners
- laminating plastic (Also found this at the dollar store)

Steps:

1. Start with your blank canvases... so much potential here! Use your creativity. My bedroom happens to be black & white damask, with 3 bright fuchsia walls, and one grey wall. I had some damask paper in my collection that I had specifically bought to be some sort of bedroom decor, so I used that. Use whatever tickles your fancy, but make sure it's something that you really like, because it'll be the "permanent" part of the interchangeable canvas.

2. Gather your paper and cut down to size. My canvases were about 4 inches square, and I also cut 1 inch strips for the edges of the canvas (the 1 inch leaves a bit of overlap so that the edges look a bit smoother). The paper I chose was a black on grey Latin (I think?) script. I thought it was a nice complement, while still staying within a neutral colour scheme.

3. Apply your double-sided tape to the 1-inch strips. Expose the other side of adhesive, and stick to the edge of the canvas. I left the paper long enough to wrap around two sides, and did a traditional gift-wrapping type corner on the canvas. If you need to, you can actually use a dab of glue or even tape to help the paper stay down, because it will be covered by the main canvas paper.

4. Glue your scrapbook paper (which has already been trimmed to size) onto the canvas. I just used a regular ol' glue stick here. Cut your laminating sheet down to size (mine was about 6.5 inches square). Then, peel the backing from the sheet, and making sure you're working on a clean surface, lay it down, sticky side up, and lay your canvas, right side down, on top of it. Smooth out any bubbles, and wrap it around the edge of the canvas, all the way to the back. You can use staples into the frame of the canvas if you want to secure it a little bit more. At this point, you're pretty much done! The canvases can be hung as is, or you can add some artwork to them. I added stuff, so I'll keep going with that step...

5. So, I had some photos that I took on my last trip to NYC, with my Diana+ lomography camera... since they were shot on film (and I have no idea where the negatives are, since moving), I didn't want to glue them down, or glue anything to them. I secured them to pink scrapbook paper using photo corners, and the "N" "Y" and "C" are only glued to the scrapbook paper, not to the actual photos. The art is stuck to the canvas with just tape... and the tape peels away from the laminate easily, so whenever the mood strikes, I can change up my canvases and have some new art on my walls!

Now I just need a hammer and some nails to actually get these things up on my wall.
Like this tutorial? Try it? Leave me a note and let me know!

Washer Necklace

2010-11-05T11:22:00.000-04:00

So, pretty much every blog in the craft world has done some take on the washer necklace. I recently inherited a bunch of washers from the set (yes, everyone looked at me like I was very strange when I got super excited about washers. But I'm used to everyone looking at me like I'm strange. No big deal.)... So here's my first washer necklace. I didn't take any process photos, so if anything's confusing, let me know.

Materials needed:
1 washer
hemp cord
patterned paper
mod podge
diamond glaze

1. Take your washer and trace it onto your paper, opposite side of the pattern you're using, so that the pencil doesn't show through.

2. Cut out, or if you happen to have punches that fit the sizes exactly (lucky you!) use those!)

3. Slap some mod podge down on your washer, and lay the paper (patterned side up) on top. Let it dry a bit. (If you like, you can cover the edges or the back with more patterned paper, but I like the look of the washer itself)

4. Lay on a thick coat of Diamond Glaze and let it dry (hardest part! I recommend letting it dry at least overnight, so that you don't end up with any fingerprints on your necklace).

5. Once it's dry, you can take your hemp cord and loop it through the washer. For the closing, you can add some jump rings and add a clasp, or you can do what I did, and use an adjustable sliding knot. This is my favourite, because you can change the length of your necklace depending on what you're wearing. Since I didn't take any process photos, here's a tutorial that you can follow along with.

Let me know if you end up trying this out! Or if you've already tried it, let me know if you have any tips to improve it.

Autumn in Toronto

2010-10-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

Autumn is my favourite time of year. And Toronto is an absolutely beautiful place to live at this time of year. It definitely takes on a majestic quality, with all the leaves showing off their lovely colours. Back in the spring, I showed you what High Park looked like with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Now here's my neighbourhood in October.

More pics? Right this way!

The Morning After Show

2010-10-23T09:00:00.005-04:00

So, here's something pretty fun that I can finally share with you guys! Back in May, I worked on a web series called The Morning After Show. My producer knew that I enjoy photography, and he asked me if I would be interested in shooting the stills for the show opening. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.
Now, the shows have been edited, and they're finally airing (the show is a web companion to the show "The Dating Guy" which airs on Teletoon and HD Net in the USA)

You can watch it here (but be warned, it's 18+ and NSFW, unless you have a cool job)... New episodes come online on Monday, after The Dating Guy airs on Sunday nights...
And the stills are in the slideshow below, or you can click the link to Flickr and see them a bit bigger, there.

You can see them all on Flickr here!

Mad about Mad Men

2010-10-17T10:30:00.002-04:00

I'm not really sure if I've ever talked about my Mad Men obsession on here... but it is just that. I am completely obsessed. Sadly, it is going away for a while, as the season finale airs tonight on AMC.
I may have to start watching from Season One again, just to get through the downtime.

One other thing I did to get through the downtime... I did Mad Men Crafts! Now I have the most adorable little mini-figs on my fridge! Here they are, and here's how I did it, just in case you want Don Draper on your fridge too (and really, who wouldn't?)

I also have an obsession with fridge magnets. I think it has something to do with the fact that we never had magnets on our fridge when I was a kid. Anyway, I digress.

First... you'll need to gather your supplies:

Dyna Moe's minifigs
scissors
craft glue
magnetic sheet
markers (if you're going to colour the minifigs, rather than print them in colour, as I did)
Krylon Low Odor Clear Gloss

Next, you'll need to colour your mini figs and cut them out (easy as pie, right?)
After they're all cut out, arrange them on your magnet sheet. Try to fit them as close together as possible. Use your craft glue to glue them down. Then cut them out from the magnetic sheet.

Arrange your magnets on some scrap paper, newspaper, paper towel, whatever you have lying around. Hold your can of gloss finish about 20-25cm (about 10 inches or so) away from the magnets, and spray lightly. Try not to be too forceful, otherwise the ink will run.

Let them dry for at least a half hour, and then they're ready to adorn your fridge! (This project can obviously, easily be adapted for any sort of printable magnet project - let your imagination run wild!)

Happy Mad Men-watching. Last week's episode, Don showed us his brilliance. I wonder what will happen in the finale!

Birthday Treats!

2010-10-14T11:33:00.003-04:00

So... I'm a pretty big fan of baking - especially when I can bake and bring it into work for my coworkers, so that I don't end up eating the entire batch of whatever I make. And I think my coworkers enjoy it too ;) I'm back on Battle of the Blades again this year, so there are plenty of mouths to feed with treats.

This past Saturday was my birthday, and on Blades, we work through the weekend (Saturday is rehearsal day, Sunday and Monday are show days). I got home early on Friday night, so I decided to whip up a batch of my favourite, and the easiest truffles ever - from the amazing Bakerella website. I had tried these before, dipped in white chocolate, but I found them too sweet. So this time, I dipped the truffles in bittersweet chocolate, and I thought they were perfect.

I wanted to make them a little more special, with a bit of character... so I decided to give them a mouse shape. They have almond ears, and pretzel tails.
I think they're pretty darn cute. And I got so many compliments on them throughout the day. I think I made a little more than 50 of them, and they were completely devoured. Here's the first batch, chilling in the fridge overnight.

There were further birthday treats for me, when my awesome coworkers surprised me with a cake, (and singing!) in the studio by the rink. I'm not really someone who's easily surprised (I can usually tell when someone is prepping something like this!), so this was definitely one of the best birthday surprises I've ever received.

So, I have Tuesday off from work, since I work through the entire weekend, and even though it was a full 3 days after my birthday, I couldn't let it go by without a party with my friends. And, I don't know if this makes me really weird or not, but I decided that I had to bake my own cake. And further to that, it had to be a super awesome cake. I decided I had to make myself a castle. Haha!

Now, keep in mind, I am FAR from a professional baker, and this is my very first layer cake ever... but this is how I did it. First, I baked. I decided on vanilla cake, and I made two 8-inch square pans, plus four cupcakes. I had originally wanted the cupcakes to be the four pillars on each side of the castle, but I thought they looked too big, after I assembled everything.

- The bottom layer of the cake is just as is. (I didn't even level it off, because the only serving dish I had was a plate, and I thought turning the cake upside down and letting the dome sit in the curved area of the cake would make it sit a little better)

- The second layer, I levelled and cut about a half inch off each end.

- The third layer is actually the part that I levelled, cut into quarters and stacked.
- And the top layer is one of the cupcakes.
- For the pillars and door entrance, I used some of the scraps from the second layer.

After assembling all the pieces together, I "glued" them with rainbow-chip frosting and put the cake in the fridge to set a bit. After about an hour in the fridge, I created a "crumb" layer of vanilla frosting. It's a thin layer to help seal in all the crumbs that you might get from frosting the cake after it's been cut like this. And it made me realize how difficult it is to frost around "pillars" ... man this was hard! So after I finished this layer of frosting, I put it in the fridge to set again.

The next part was my favourite. The final layer of frosting, and then piping on some details! I used the same frosting as the crumb layer, and for the piped bit, I just added some food colouring. I was originally going to do pink, but at the last minute, I decided to do turquoise, to match my apartment! (Yes, I am that much of a geek) The windows and doors are made of graham crackers, and the little posts are marshmallows. Here's a look at how the cake turned out:

Again, not a pro baker here... it may not be the fanciest cake... but it was delicious, and my friends loved it, so that's all that matters, right?! :)

Prettying up my curtains

2010-09-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

So, I ended up moving into my condo rather abruptly, because I was trying to juggle work and a move in one weekend. I had bought some super cheap, but also super cute black damask curtains from JYSK, but the existing curtains were pinch pleat, rather than a rod, and as I discovered, my windows are a size that just don't exist in rod lengths. So I improvised. I ended up buying one of those shower curtain rods that stretch or retract to whatever length you have in between two walls. The rod was completely covered by the curtains anyway, so it didn't matter really, as long as it worked.
The only part of the rod that wasn't covered was the huge rubber stopper at the end. Not attractive, but functional. It worked for what I needed.

I also didn't have any tie backs. Whenever I wanted my curtains opened, I would just tie them up with a ribbon - again, functional, but not perfect. (Though I haven't really opened them that often, since I'm always at work)

But now that I've been in here a while, and since there were road closures everywhere around my house, which means I couldn't go anywhere, I figured now was as good a time as any to pretty up my curtains!

The first thing I did was to take the ribbon I had been using to tie back my curtains, and attach it to some pink plastic jump rings. I then took a 3M plastic hook and mounted it to the wall. (I wanted something removable, just in case I wanted to change the height or it didn't turn out the way I envisioned! haha) I'm still trying to think of ways to mask the hook a bit, but it's barely noticeable, so I don't mind it too much for now.

This already looked MUCH better than before, but it needed a bit of bling. Step two was to take apart a few dollar store fabric flowers, and put several together to make a big, puffy pink flower. I also took out the fake flower centre, and linked the layers together with a sparkly brad. I didn't want to glue the flower directly to the ribbon, because I thought it would weigh it down. So I ended up hot-gluing a hair clip to the back (this means my big puffy pink flower can also double as a hair accessory! Love it!)

The next step was to cover up the ugly rubber stopper at the top. I followed the same process of putting together the tie back flower, except for this one, I didn't use the hair clip method - instead, I added some embroidery floss, tied to the brad, so that I would be able to tie it to the rod. The scariest part was actually getting on the ladder to tie it up there. I am not a fan of ladders or heights!

It was a bit difficult to get an accurate picture of the final product, because of the lights & darks... but here you can sort-of see the flower tie backs, plus the flower covers on top of the rod.

It was such a small project, only a couple of hours work... but I love it so much, and it's made such a difference in the room!

Let's Go To The Ex!

2010-09-09T12:00:00.001-04:00

Aahh, The Ex. Nothing signifies the end of summer in Toronto like the Canadian National Exhibition. For the last two weeks of August, leading up to Labour Day every year, The Ex has been a Toronto tradition since 1879.

And has been my tradition since I was at least 6 years old (I don't believe I've missed a year since then!) My summer just does not feel complete without a visit, or a waffle ice cream.

Oh yes. The focus has definitely switched in recent years. 6-year-old me would have said that the best part of The Ex was the rides (heck, even 16-year-old or maybe 26-year old me would've said that too!) But ask me now, and the food is definitely top priority.

I went to The Ex with my aunt, Ester. It was about 6:30pm when we got there. First stop: the Food building. I already had brunch earlier in the day, but she hadn't eaten. So, we ended up picking up some perogies, and we sat out on the grass enjoying our dinner. Afterwards, she enjoyed some BBQ corn on the cob, while I looked at it longingly (I can't eat corn on the cob anymore, because of a wire I have behind my teeth as a result of my orthodontics... oh, and I had a root canal two days earlier and my teeth were still sore).

We walked around the various buildings and exhibits, in an attempt to have the food settle before hitting up the spinny rides. I really enjoyed the brand new Rock 'n Roll theme. They had lots of old, original posters, costumes and artifacts, dating from the 50s through the 90s. You weren't allowed to take photos in the exhibit, but I may have snuck one from outside the exhibit walls. Wink wink.

We also made a trip through the At Home building, where we came across a fantastic broom. It's called the sweepa and it looks to be the greatest thing since the bristled broom. We watched as the demonstrator easily transitioned between hardwood, linoleum, tile and carpet, picking up cereal, chip crumbs, pet hair and more, without any extra dust or particles being left behind. Super impressive. So, the demonstration was awesome... and the brooms were 2 for 1. It was pretty much a no-brainer. Afterwards, when we were walking around with them, we had at least 10-15 people stop us to ask where we got them!

At that point, we were going to get out to the midway, but decided that since our brooms were so desireable, we didn't want to leave them on the ground where people could potentially swipe them... so we took a walk back to the car. On the way, we stopped by the Food building again, to parttake in some BeaverTails. BeaverTails are one of those Canadian traditions that I've always wanted to try, but could never find in Toronto (they are particularly popular among the crowds skating down the Rideau Canal in Ottawa). They had a booth in the Food building, and I was determined to buy one. Ester and I decided to split a chocolate hazelnut 'Tail, and it was everything I dreamed it would be, and more! Mmmm...

After we got back from the car, we got our tickets for the rides. We made the mistake of going on the Tilt-A-Whirl first, because it had the shortest line. I have since decided that I am much too old for the Tilt-A-Whirl, and I shouldn't even think about it next year. Oh man. That ride lasts forever, and you just keep spinning and spinning. Thankfully, I didn't lose my BeaverTail (I'm sure it wouldn't have tasted as good on the way up! Sorry for the mental image!), but my equilibrium was off for the rest of the day. We rounded out the rides with the Ferris Wheel, my favourite ride, the Polar Express, and the Swing Tower.

Oh, and while waiting around outside the Polar Express, I ran into my friend, George Stroumboulopoulos... which is becoming a CNE tradition in itself. I'm not sure how I always manage to run into him there! Great seeing him though. His revamped season 7 gets a new name, a new website, and premieres on September 20th. Be sure to check it out on CBC.

After the rides, there was only one more thing to do... waffle ice cream! As I said before, summer is just not complete without one. Picture if you will... a brick of vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between two piping hot waffles. So. Good. Because we were both still off balance from the rides, and somewhat full from the BeaverTail, Ester and I decided to split our waffle... and it was the perfect end to a perfect (short) trip to The Ex!

Photos, you say? Right this way.

How To: Digital Inspiration Boards

2010-08-06T11:58:00.000-04:00

So, I don't know if I ever officially mentioned it on my blog or not, but I bought a condo a few months ago. (!!! Still very excited!) As soon as I saw it, I immediately had ideas of what it would look like once I got my decorative touch on it. I had a pretty long closing (3 months), so I had a lot of time to think and browse for various decor ideas. I put them all together in various inspiration boards for each room, which were a definite hit when I posted them on my facebook/flickr pages - so here's a tutorial on how to do it. This does take a little bit of knowledge on using a photo manipulation program like Photoshop.

The first thing I did was create a folder on my computer called "Condo Decor Ideas" - and within the folder, I created subfolders for each room in the place. I already knew that I wanted a black & white bathroom, a pink & black damask bedroom, and a turquoise/teal & neutral kitchen/living area (it's open concept) - so I began searching the web for different items that fit my vision.

While searching, I would save any items that I thought I would like into the subfolders. If I came across any pages that didn't allow me to right click on the image, I would screencap it (ctrl + shift + 4 on a Mac) - I tried to capture the price on the image whenever possible, that way I could reference it later as well. And when I saved the image, I would name it including the website where I found the image (ie "waterfall_curtain_urbanoutfitters.com")

Once I had all the items saved that I thought would make a room complete, I began to open them up in Photoshop. I began with a blank canvas (about 1200x1200, and then scaled it down later). I opened each individual item up, and deleted the background (either using the magic wand tool, or the eraser - very patiently - depending on what the background of the item was).

Once the backgrounds were deleted, I would drag the image over to the main canvas. I'd add a text note of what the item was and what website I found it on.

I tried to scale items to what their approximate size would be in the room (IE, the bed is larger than the lamps/picture frames, etc), and I also tried to keep them in the relative location that they might be found in the room (ie, chandelier is on the "ceiling", bed is on the "floor")

When I was satisfied with the placement of everything on the design boards, I scaled them down to a size that wasn't too gigantic, but was still legible (the full size "Girlie Bedroom" board is actually 839x1032 pixels)... added a border and a name, and voila! All done!

I'm a very visual person, so even though I could picture this in my head, I found it a lot easier when shopping to remember exactly how these items worked together. I even bought several of these exact items for my place, so I can't wait to see how it compares to my design boards once I get it all decorated!

I have a couple more design boards in my "Journey To Home Ownership" album on flickr, right here!
Feel free to post any questions in the comments, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

Recycled Dollhouse

2010-07-20T16:15:00.000-04:00

First off, for anyone who's reading this via RSS, if you stop by the actual blog page, you'll notice that I've changed around the layout a bit, and added tabs at the top to get to some of my most frequently viewed pages. Hope that makes it easier! What do you think?

Now, onto one of the reasons why I haven't updated in a while...

For my niece Nicole's 4th birthday, I decided I would make her a present that was extra special. I came up with the idea of a dollhouse, but I wanted to make it something relatively portable, and I wanted to use lots of recycled and repurposed materials.

Here's how it turned out:

And here's how I did it... (minus progress steps, but I'll outline a few of the steps I took to get the finished product)

I started with an Old Navy shoebox (Ignore the messy workspace! It's how I roll). I'm not sure if ON still makes their boxes like this, but this particular box had an interesting, slanted opening, and a plain cover that fits over top, so I thought it was perfect. I wrapped both pieces in plain kraft paper and started to get to work from there.

Next up, I worked on the floor. The "hardwood" is made out of coffee stir sticks. I stuck them down with contact cement. The box was slightly raised at the edges, so the black outline you see is actually electrical tape, to give it a more polished look. Next up, I put "wallpaper" up on the sides of the box - this is just scrapbook paper, cut down to the size of the box. I knew that I was doing two levels, so the back section of the box has pink for the kitchen and blue for the upper floor. I just cut the scrapbook paper in half. The second floor is made out of a second shoebox lid that I cut to the size of the back of the box. It has brown scrapbook paper that has a sort-of "wood" pattern on the floor, and actual wallpaper on what would be the ceiling of the level below. The columns are made of toilet paper rolls, wrapped in a gold, marble coloured wallpaper sample.

The bed is made out of an Irish Spring soap box. Inside, there is a mattress made out of felt (I just cut two pieces of white felt, stuffed them and hot glued them together). The pillow and blanket are both sewn by hand.
The hook on the wall is actually part of a clip-on earring, and the hanger is repurposed from another craft that I had.
The ladder is popsicle sticks - the rungs cut to the same size, and hot glued together.

The toilet & TP were actually found - they were part of a weird pack of erasers that I came across at the party store. The mat around the toilet is cut out of an old towel and hot-glued down. The bath was made out of a styrofoam ball that I cut down to size and trimmed out the inside. I decoupaged over it with off-white paper, the faucet is a piece of wire, and the taps are beads. Inside the tub, I mixed up some silver/clear coloured beads with diamond glaze to act as bubbles. The sink is made of some sort of end cap for tools that I found at home depot, with a snapped pencil as the stand. I plastered over it with Polyfilla to get the smoother texture, and then painted it white. Same taps/faucet as the bathtub.

The main floor of the dollhouse is all open concept. The back of the room features a dining room with what I like to think of as Saarinen-inspired "Tulip" chairs. They're made out of wire, a wooden bead, a snapped pencil, and a round piece of cardboard, covered in PolyFilla and painted white. The chandelier is made out of wires threaded through a button. On the wire, I strung some small beads and sequins, then I closed the wire with a loop at the end. The table is made of a small plastic bead organizer, and the top is actually a spool that some old ribbon came on - covered with an old shirt repurposed as a tablecloth. On the table is a tiny ceramic plate, with some fruits that I made out of Fimo and then painted. The "painting" is a Snow White sticker, laminated with glossy tape, and has a hanging wire stuck to the back. It hangs on an earring clasp.

The fridge is made of a perfume sample box, and I cut out images from some old 1960s magazines that I've collected. The bottom features a basket for the tiny fruits. The oven is made of a pudding box, covered in tin foil. It has black button burners, and eraser knobs.

My favourite feature of the house is the curtains! They're made out of an old t-shirt, and I reused the hem to string across a wooden skewer as the rod. I glued wooden beads to the end of the rod, to help the curtains from sliding up. They're hung up there with clip-on earrings as hooks.

You can see a few more pics of the details of the house by clicking here!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering - she totally loved it!

Featured!

2010-07-10T18:44:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post to mention a few places you can find some of my work around the web. StarFish Entertainment has added some of my shots from the Outlaws & Gunslingers show to the following pages:

http://www.myspace.com/ohsusannamusic

http://www.myspace.com/theskydiggers

http://www.myspace.com/jimcuddyband

And you can find a couple of my shots of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse premiere in Toronto at the Rue Morgue blog: http://rue-morgue.com/blog/archives/2010/06/29/red-carpet-massacre-at-the-twilight-saga-eclipse-premiere/

And, remember, you can always find updates on the Superflash Facebook fan page or Flickr page.

Thanks for the continued support! I'm currently in the process of my first big move, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. Stay tuned! ;)

NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 2

2010-06-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

So, continuing from where I left off..., the next set was delivered by Royal Wood, Andy Maize and Amelia Curran. To be honest, this was probably the weakest set in the bunch for me (though I wouldn't consider it to actually be WEAK by any stretch), it seemed less cohesive, like they were much more comfortable playing their own songs than gelling as a "trio" (of sorts) and playing each others'. It could also be that I didn't know two of the performers in this set at all (Andy & Amelia)... but I digress.

I found myself anxiously waiting for Royal Wood's (who has this super sexy Don Draper look going on... rowr!) turn to come around. His songs definitely grab me. I was thrilled to hear the set end with his new single, On Top Of Your Love (check out the video linked. It's beautiful).

Amelia Curran was okay. She admitted to being a little bit nervous, due to only having a few rehearsals with the boys, and I think it came across a little. Still, I did enjoy her songs, and I would like to go see her in a solo show of her own.

Andy Maize, I'm sure, is the most popular among the rest of the crowd, as he is the singer of The Skydiggers... but somehow, they were a band that kind of flew under the radar for me, and I never really got into them. I did enjoy him though - especially the song "Where's My Baby Tonight" (which, I apologize, I don't know if it's a solo song, or a Skydiggers song). Beautiful song.

The next set was probably the most anticipated set amongst the crowd - Jim Cuddy, Hawksley Workman and Colleen Brown. So anticipated, in fact, that I ended up smushed right up against the front of the stage, so I didn't really have the best angle for photos during this set. I had never really heard of Colleen Brown before, but she was great.

I used to be a big Hawksley fan, but I think I somehow fell out of touch with his music after the release of Lover/Fighter in 2003... but I really love everything that he played! Especially his most recent single - "Warhol's Portrait Of Gretzky" ... but I think I liked that the most, because I got to hear Jim Cuddy sing the words "Pretty F***ing Sexy" ... which was pretty sexy in itself! Jim Cuddy is probably one of my favourite musicians ever, and he's got such a squeaky clean image and such romantic lyrics... it definitely made me smile to hear him sing this song with Hawksley.

This set is probably tied with the Danny Michel set as my favourites of the evening.

The midnight set was brought to us by Dakota Tavern favourites, The Beauties. Always a highly entertaining band to see live, they brought it out in full form for NXNE yet again. Some hilarious mishaps with a broken bass drum petal brought some fun improvisational and sing-along moments with the crowd... but my absolute favourite part of this set was when the ONE person who I thought was missing from this lineup came out to join on a song.

Serena Ryder snuck out from the wings of the Lee's Palace stage to sing backup on my favourite song by The Beauties - Hearts Are Down. It totally made my night to see her up there, and she looked like she was having so much fun, too!

Finally, the end of the evening in the 1am timeslot, brought out my friend Joel Stewart and his band, The Future Hall Of Famers (who seemingly have no web presence whatsoever to link to...). I worked with Joel back on the CCMA's in 2007 - and at that time, I got to see him perform live at one of many parties we attended, and thought he was brilliant. Also, at that same time, he introduced me to what would soon become one of my favourite bands - The Hold Steady. So it was pretty awesome for me when he closed the set, joined by Andy Maize and Shawn Creamer of the Beauties, singing an AMAZING rendition of Almost Killed Me. It was the perfect end to an all around perfect night of music! A night that I won't forget for a very long time, for sure.

Lots more pictures are right this way... and if you're interested in hearing/reading more about this night, check out THIS blog entry by a newfound friend! It's pretty awesome!

NXNE Day 2: Outlaws & Gunslingers - Part 1

2010-06-19T10:19:00.000-04:00

Thursday night brought the show that I was looking forward to most of all - Outlaws & Gunslingers at Lee's Palace. I swear, this show was as if some divine being had rummaged through my head and said, "Who are the bands that Katie would die to see all together on one night?" and then put them all on one bill for me.

I took so many photos that I'm going to end up having to split this review into two, or maybe even three, parts.

First up, Mr. Andy Kim.

Andy and his band are always super tight and put on a very entertaining show, and this was no exception. I never get tired of seeing him live, because he always delivers. Andy has a new cd out, and played a lot of new songs (many of which I'd heard at his previous shows). He also played old favourites - Be My Baby, Baby How'd We Ever Get This Way (Ron Sexsmith, who introduced the band, came out and joined Andy for this song, too!), and if memory serves me well, they closed the set with back-to-back Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently. Pretty awesome!!

Next up, the set containing my favourite musician ever - Mr. Danny Michel - along with Justin Rutledge and Oh Susanna. In my opinion, this was the best of the singer-songwriter triple acts of the night. Danny has a new cd out on July 1 (but, as he announced to the crowd, he had just picked them up from being pressed, and they were available for that night only, before the actual release date... so, naturally, I have my new cd in hand - thanks for lending me the $20, Chrisy!!) So, each act did three songs each, one at a time, and Danny's were all songs from the new album. He played Maybe You Can Find It In Your Heart, Wish Willy, and Who's Gonna Miss You? ... and I loved each song more than the next! Fantastic cd. I definitely recommend it.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as familiar with Justin or Oh Susanna's music, though I have seen them live a few times before. I did recognize Justin's song "Be A Man", which was absolutely beautiful performed live.

The reason this set stuck out from the others for me was that it seemed like they really enjoyed playing each other's songs. It didn't seem like they had barely had any rehearsals, which I'm sure was the case! Also, their stellar back-up band included Bazil Donovan and Glenn Milchem from Blue Rodeo, so how could you go wrong with that!?

More photos HERE, and the rest of the review & photos from this show to follow!

NXNE Day 1: Karen Elson

2010-06-17T16:18:00.002-04:00

Firstly, I feel like I should apologize for my lack of entries lately! Life has been crazy... and I'm planning on doing a redesign, so blogging wasn't really the first thing on my mind. Sorry 'bout that!

So, yesterday was the first day of the North by North East music festival here in Toronto. I decided not to get a wristband this year, but there's still a few shows that I wanted to check out. My friend Chrisy is in town from Ottawa for the week, and she happened to have an extra ticket to last night's show, Karen Elson at the El Mocambo. First thing to note... it was my first time taking my new Canon point-and-shoot camera for a spin on the concert scene - and it was returned today, if that's any indication on how it performed. I'm not at all pleased with these shots.

Anyway, back to Karen Elson. Before being invited to the show, I hadn't heard of her at all. However, she is well known as an internationally renowned supermodel, and as wife of Jack White, of the White Stripes. Thankfully, I had listened to a couple of her songs before I knew all of that information, because though I realize it may be a draw for some, for me, it would actually be a bit of a downer for me. I'm not a fan of piggybacking on other work.

But as it turns out, she is actually a really talented singer-songwriter. It came across in her recorded tracks that I had listened to, as well as in last night's show. She has a beautiful voice. She is stunning and captivating to watch. And her band is made up of incredibly talented musicians as well.

That being said, you can tell that it is a very polished act. Not like a typical singer-songwriter who is releasing her debut cd. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just something I was aware of. The band was all dressed really nice (3-piece suits, dresses). They were all playing super expensive gear. They had a roadie who was also dressed in a 3-piece suit! Hah. Maybe it's just me, but I think there's something to be said to get to that level of success.

In any case, she was very sweet and gracious. She didn't expect the applause after every song, and seemed very genuinely grateful. I definitely appreciate that. Also, at the end of the show, when we were walking back to the car, even though she was in a rush, she paused to take a photo with my friend Chrisy. Bonus points for her.

Also worth mentioning is the opening band, San Sebastian. The sound was COMPLETELY different to Karen's alt-country vibe. They were more straight ahead rock with a bit of pop infused... and very catchy hooks. I enjoyed it!

A couple more photos, including the bizarre note that was left on my car, over at my flickr page.

Tonight - the show I have been looking forward to most. It is my dream show, with some of my favourite musicians. The Outlaws & Gunslingers show at Lee's Palace. Featuring: Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo), Danny Michel, Andy Kim (you guys know how many times I've blogged about all three of these guys! Honestly... I'm dying here!!) and other talented performers: Hawksley Workman, Joel Stewart (who I've actually worked with in the past!), The Beauties, Justin Rutledge, Royal Wood, Oh Susanna, Amelia Curran, and more! I can't wait.

May 2-4

2010-05-25T09:55:00.000-04:00

So, how was everyone's long weekend? (Well, the Canadians, anyway?)

Mine was pretty busy... it included some quality time with friends, lots of cleaning/organizing and getting ready for my upcoming move... and yesterday, I spent the day at The Beach with my aunt. It was such a gorgeous day out, so I'm glad I got to spend it outside in one of the most beautiful areas of the city. Here are some pics.

I chose this one as my Project 365 photo of the day... 144 days in, and I'm still going strong! Woohoo!

(On a rather disappointing note - I can't believe how they've let the city just get overrun with weeds. It looks horrible. I get that they're supposedly going for the "natural" look, but it just looks unkempt, and dirty instead. And there were so many people sneezing/sniffling. I do wish they'd bring back pesticide use. Or at least find some kind of natural alternative to the ugly weed overkill)

(My aunt took that one of me) Hope everyone had a nice weekend, whether it was a "long" one or not :) More pics at my flickr.

A little bit of business

2010-05-13T18:49:00.000-04:00

My apologies for the lack of entries lately... I was working on a new series called The Morning After Show which is an after show to the new series, The Dating Guy which will air on Teletoon in the fall! I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about it at that point in time.

In the meantime... I have two things to share with you:

1. If you enjoyed my EyeStudio posts (or even if you didn't...), Matchstick is asking for a few minutes of your time to fill out this survey. For every completed survey, Matchstick will donate $2 to The Redwood, a family support shelter that offers assistant to those less fortunate (www.theredwood.com). So if you have a couple of minutes, give that link a visit.

2. Matchstick, together with the Canadian Cancer Society, is holding a pretty great fundraising initiative. They're calling it the Girl's Night In, and the mission is to hold a party/get-together at your place, and whatever you would normally spend on a night out on the town, you instead donate to the cause. The timing doesn't really work out for me, with my big upcoming move and all, but if this is something you're interested in, check out the link for more details and to register as a host.

And since I'm doing the promotion thing... I would also invite you all to check out this site I found called Swagbucks. It's this pretty neat little application where all you do is use their search engine instead of Google (or whatever you use), and you get rewarded with "swagbucks," which can be exchanged for prizes and gift certificates. It's pretty easy, and it's free money! I just redeemed a $5 amazon gift certificate yesterday! (And if you love me, you can sign up using my referral link and help me win prizes too - the karma will be paid forward!)

Other than that... I have a pretty big announcement coming up soon that I'm pretty excited about. Standby for details!

Bright Eyes!

2010-04-30T07:45:00.000-04:00

A suggestion from Mel on my last makeup post was to try out some of the brighter colours in the kit. Well, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge (though, truthfully, I'm kind of known to wear bright colours in my everyday makeup, so it wasn't too much of a stretch), so I picked out what I thought was the brightest colour scheme in the box - Irresistable Ivy.

This is the look that I came up with on my own, using a similar technique to how I applied the Earthy Eye Shadow look, with one major difference being that in this teal look, I lined my lower lid with the teal eyeshadow itself, to really make a dramatic impact.

A few days later, my sister-in-law came over, and decided to do my makeup (and photos!) for me. I asked her to use the teal again, but to use the black/white/grey from the Pink Persuasion colour plush (note, I didn't use the pink, or any of the bronze colours at all). Here's what she did:

1. Start by applying the lightest colour all over the lid, up to the brow. Apply the grey to the crease, towards the corner of the eye.

2. Apply the teal to the centre of the lower lid. Use the sparkly black on the outer corner through the crease. Extend further past the edge of the eye for a more dramatic look.

3. Use the black eyeliner, and apply along upper lid, extending past the edge of the eye. Line lower lids as well.

Using the curl mascara, first prime the eyes, then apply the actual mascara on top... and you're done!

The final look - and me without glasses once again. I look strange! If you liked this look, don't forget to vote for me in the Dare To Inspire contest. By registering to vote, you could win this same full Maybelline makeup kit! (Of course, if you don't want to win, you could vote without registering - but what fun is that?!

Spring has Sprung: The High Park Cherry Blossoms!

2010-04-22T17:18:00.000-04:00

One of the certain signs of spring in Toronto is the blooming cherry blossoms in High Park. The trees were a gift from Japan to Toronto in 1959, and were planted in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War.

Before this year, I had never seen them in person. The flowers only last for a very short time, before they blow away and turn into the summer leaves.

Last weekend, I packed up my camera gear, met up with a friend, and headed down to High Park to appreciate the blossoms first-hand, for the first time. (Unfortunately, I think 90% of the city had the same idea... it was packed!)

I am very pleased with the results! Here's a few of my favourite shots:

For more of my photos from that day, check out Cherry Blossoms on Flickr.
What are the signs of spring in your neck of the woods?

Makeup update!

2010-04-19T18:01:00.004-04:00

So, it's been about 2 weeks since my last post about the EyeStudio makeup (wow, 2 weeks already?! Where has the time gone?). I am absolutely LOVING this line. I've used it exclusively for the last two weeks - haven't even touched any of my other makeup.

I'm totally loving the colours and the intensity of the pigments. And even on days when I didn't feel like doing a full eye-shadow routine, just a sweep of the colour pearls + a little liner made a HUGE difference.

Speaking of the eyeliner - it is officially my favourite eyeliner I have ever used. See, I'm not really that good with liquid eyeliner, I always tend to make a mess. The combination of the gel eyeliner, plus the applicator brush makes things A LOT easier.

Here's a few of the "looks" I've worn over the past couple of weeks (Still haven't mastered getting a nice eye photo.... I'm trying!)

Any requests? Want me to try anything in particular and blog about it? Leave a comment!

p.s. Don't forget to find this, and my other posts over at Maybelline's facebook page and vote for me. You could win your very own makeup kit just like mine!

Earthy Eye Shadow

2010-04-06T16:46:00.001-04:00

Okay, here's attempt #2 at an eyeshadow makeup tutorial. Today, I will attempt to show you how to create this earthy look:

The inset shows the products I used:

Colour Plush Eyeshadow in Give Me Gold

Colour Pearls Eyeshadow in Khaki Craze

Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Brown

XXL Pro Curl Mascara

I apologize in advance for terrible photo quality. I really need a photographer ;) Here we go!

1. Starting with the Colour Pearls eyeshadow, take a brush and swirl it across the marbleized half of the shadow, and sweep it across the inner corner of your lid. Then take the dark green shade, and add to the outer corners and up through the crease.

2. Grab the Colour Plush collection. Using the darkest brown, add colour to your entire crease, and blend into the green along the lower lid. Use the copper colour to fill in the area in between your crease and brow line.

3. Using the light gold colour (you could also choose to use the off-white), add some shadow to your brow line. I also took a little bit of the white, and added it to the corners of my eyes to brighten them up a bit.

Then, using the brush that comes with the eyeliner, add liner to your lids using short strokes.

Apply mascara, first using the primer side, and then using the black side.

4. Take a clean brush and blend your shadow so that it doesn't look so "stripey" ...

And you're done!

Like this look? Hop on by the Maybelline fan page on Facebook and vote for me! :)

Maybelline Eye Studio

2010-04-05T15:47:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was approached by Matchstick Promtions to see if I was interested in testing & blogging about the new Maybelline Eye Studio line.

Really? You're going to send me makeup and I get to try it and tell everyone about it? Where do I sign up?! :)

Fast forward to today, and a huge box appears on my doorstep. Imagine my delight when I opened it to find all of THIS! For some reason, I knew what was going to be included, but I wasn't imagining it to be this big (or in a travel case - how cool is that?)

First impressions:

1 - WOWWWW!

2 - Love the presentation! Love the colours! WOW again!

3 - Love that they've reduced the packaging. None of the eyeshadows came in the full packaging that you'd get in stores (which is a very good thing, because there are like, 20+ eyeshadows in here. That would be a lot of garbage.) The eyeliner and mascara came in packages, but that's understandable, since neither has stickers to show that they are sealed and brand new (eyeshadow always has packaging + stickers)

4 - Can I just say WOWWW one more time? :)

(Insert time lapse here...)

So, after trying the makeup out for the first time, here are my new impressions:

1 - WOWWW! Yup, this stuff still rocks.

2 - It is VERY difficult to photograph your own eye makeup.

3 - The camera is VERY unforgiving.

4 - It's really weird seeing pictures of myself without glasses on.

So, while I keep working on how to get an actual tutorial online, here's a look at the first look I've created for myself:

I used the Pink Persuasion colour palette, with the eggplant eyeliner & curling mascara. (The inset shows a picture of the products I used).

It's a pretty subtle look, since it's the middle of the day and my only plans are to go out for coffee. Didn't want to do anything too hardcore... yet.

(You can also see how eager I was to try this makeup - my hair is still wet! haha)

Stay tuned for lots more looks, and links to vote for me in the "Dare To Inspire" contest!

CMW '10 - almost a month later!

2010-03-31T10:53:00.001-04:00

So much to blog about, so little time! March has been an INSANE month (those of you closest to me know why... everyone else... stand by, it will all be announced in good time!). I've been meaning to update about Canadian Music Week for a while now. I'm ashamed to say this, but I haven't even finished editing my photos from the last show I went to (although, in fairness, I did take like, 200+ photos at that gig). Here's a brief recap of the shows I saw.

I was super excited heading into CMW weekend, because I found out that the Our Lady Peace shows were open to the first 50 wristband holders that showed up at Massey Hall. It was also super cool that once I got my wristband for the shows, the seats were down on the floor, pretty close to the front! I was expecting to be way up in the 2nd balcony, so this was a pleasant surprise!)

Short backstory: OLP was my absolute FAVOURITE band throughout my teen years. I was a crazy-die-hard fan. They fell out of favour with me when guitarist Mike Turner - now in the band Crash Karma - left OLP. Now, I've seen OLP in the time since Mike left the band (and in fact, told the longer version of this story here on my blog during last year's CMW recap), and I wasn't really *THAT* into them anymore - however these shows were bound to be different. They were playing two nights at Massey Hall - the first night, they played their entire Clumsy album, followed by an intermission and another set of songs from all the other albums, and the second night was Spiritual Machines, with another set.

I also got to hang out with a whole bunch of my friends from the "Clumsy Congress" days - it truly reminded me of being 16 again.

The Clumsy night was probably one of my favourite Our Lady Peace shows to date (and that says a lot, because I've probably seen them more than 20 times over the years). They sounded REALLY great, and it was amazing to hear the entire album from start to finish. The second set was also well-received, and I found myself even somewhat enjoying a few of the new songs. (Paper Moon is probably the best song I've heard them put out since I stopped listening). I found myself REALLY missing Mike Turner though - especially at the "OO-Wee-OO-OO-Wee-OO" part of Is Anybody Home, and some of my other favourite guitar licks & background vocals.

Spiritual Machines was also awesome. It's one of my favourite albums, and I loved hearing their interpretations of certain songs (like The Wonderful Future, which I don't believe they've ever played live, before this tour!). It seemed to be a little more difficult for the crowd to get into this show - at least, the people around me, who were all CMW wristband holders. Maybe they didn't realize that the first set would be entirely Spiritual Machines. Lots of people sitting down for this set.
There were also less people who showed up to get wristband tickets, so I was able to sneak two of my friends who had tickets up in the balcony down to come sit with me. It was much better being able to share the show with my friends! The best part of this show was rushing up to the front of the stage (when Raine called for everyone to move forward - in an orderly fashion), and really feeling like a part of the shows - just like back in the day.

Here's some shots of the two nights:

The last night of CMW was very exciting for me as a die-hard Twilight Fan. Jackson Rathbone's band, 100 Monkeys was playing an all ages show at Tattoo Rock Parlour. I was worried about the "all ages" bit... but it actually wasn't too bad. In the lineup before the show, most of the people were getting 19+ drinking wristbands (though, I assume that most people just got them to identify as part of the 19+ crowd, because I didn't see very many people drinking). And the younger set that was there wasn't too shriek-y.

The show was opened by two bands, Desperate Union and New Teeth. Both bands were good. Hard to say much more than that this long after the show, because it's not quite fresh in my head anymore. But I do remember enjoying them. And it was nice because I was able to move around to get shots from various angles (Not so much during 100 Monkeys' set)

When 100 Monkeys began to set up their gear, the girls in the crowd got a little more crazy. The set was really cool, I hadn't realized before the show that each of the members of the band played all the various instruments. They would up and rotate every few songs. The music was wicked. I haven't gotten around to editing all my 100 Monkeys photos yet, so there will be more on Flickr in the future, but for now...

Check out more from Canadian Music Week '10 right here

Go Team Canada!

2010-02-24T11:19:00.002-05:00

So, I'm not sure if it's a world-wide thing or just a Canadian thing, but I (and the vast majority of my friends) have been crazy about the Olympics this year! Have you been watching?

I gotta say, even though it's way on the west coast of the country, thousands of kilometres away from where I am, there is a definite sense of unity that seems to be bringing Canada together. Every time we win a medal (especially the first time - Yay Alexandre!), every time we suffer a heartbreak (mad love to Joannie Rochette), every time we're disappointed (don't even start about Team Canada vs Team USA last Sunday...) - it seems like the entire country is feeling it, together. My facebook and twitter feeds just explode with commentary and cheering.

I gotta say - it's a pretty awesome thing.

Tonight, we cheer on Team Canada against Russia. A team that we have not beaten at the Olympics since 1960. Can we do it? If the faith of the fans is any measure, yes we can!

GO CANADA GO!

Crafty V-Day Party Part 5: The Photobooth!

2010-02-15T12:54:00.000-05:00

The Photobooth was one of my favourite elements of the party (aside from the crafts themselves). It was a really fun, interactive way to get fabulous photos of my guests. Some of them were really into the idea, a few were a little more reluctant, but I managed to capture all my guests at their best!

I found this tutorial linked on Craft Magazine's blog one day, and knew that I had to attempt this for myself. The photobooth itself was actually quite simple to set up. We hung a curtain rod, with a white sheet draped overtop (it actually ended up being one of my mom's sheets from when she first got married that she never ended up using - it ended up with creases in it, even after washing and ironing twice!) and a white table cloth on the floor. We added a banner that said Photobooth (cut out by Amy with her Cricut), and had a basket of props set up for people to play with (we went with things that were red/pink/white to suit the theme).

The end result ended up being a super fun and creative element, that really added to the party!

I ended up doing a little bit of editing in photoshop (playing with some colours, eliminating seams and creases) but the photos looked great even straight out of the camera. It would be really easy to incorporate this idea into ANY party.

I think this is probably the last element of the party that I'll blog about, though there are still actual "party photos" to come - you can check those out at my flickr photo set in the next couple of days, along with all of the rest of the party photos. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my Crafty Valentine's Party - feel free to leave feedback!

Crafty V-Day Party Part 4: The CRAFTS!

2010-02-13T12:45:00.001-05:00

The Crafts were what the entire party centred around, so the pressure was on to think of ways to make this party fun and unique, and make everyone want to participate. I think it was pretty successful! It was billed as a "throwback to our elementary school days," where we all went about the day delivering our Valentine's into our classmates little bins, so I had to do something to recreate this feeling.

To begin with - there were loot bags. The loot bags were filled with various party favours, but they served a dual purpose. When guests arrived at the party, their first task was to grab a loot bag (pink for girls, red for boys), and decorate it any way they wished - but it must have their name on it somewhere. The bag itself then became the place where the handcrafted card would be delivered to.

Amy and I had already decorated our own bags the night before (so that everyone could see an example), so while the guests were hard at work decorating, I began working on these mini-cards. I didn't really have any particular idea in mind, I just kept creating. Eventually I made enough for everyone, and they ended up being thank you's, that I dropped in everyone's bag - so they got two Valentine's from the party :)

As soon as everyone was done their loot bags, we put all the guests' names on a slip of paper in a bowl, and everyone drew a slip. They were instructed to give it back if they drew their own name, otherwise the paper said "Create a card for: GUEST NAME." I thought this was a pretty cute idea, because a lot of the guests hadn't even met each other before tonight, so it was a good way to meet new people, and do something nice at the same time! I drew my friend Mat's name, and this is the card that I created for him.

I thought it was really great that everyone, even the boys, were really enjoying just taking the time to be creative (I actually have a hilarious picture of a moment when everyone disappeared from the table to get food, except for two of the guys, who were busily crafting away!) Crafting & Card-Making is something that I do often, but I think it was a bit out of many peoples' realms, so it was neat to be able to share the evening and have everyone get into it.

Plenty more pics, including what was inside the loot bags (I know you're all curious!) up here! Still a lot more to come (there were 200 pics on my camera! So many to sort through!)

Crafty V-Day Party Part 3: The Food!

2010-02-11T16:24:00.000-05:00

Well, you can't have a party without offering food to your guests (or maybe that's just what's been instilled in me, due to my Italian upbringing). Aside from The Sweet Table, we offered up a table of apps, plus main courses for everyone to enjoy throughout the course of the evening.

I actually can't take too much credit for this portion. My wonderfully talented mother was responsible for two trays of lasagne (meat and veggie) and three pizzas (meat, veggie and potato). She also put Amy to work, rolling up the mini meatballs for the lasagne, as well as arranging various app trays. (Secretly, I think this may actually be the reason why my friends show up to my parties - because they love the food so much!)

Here's a little taste of what was offered (warning: you may not want to look at the following pictures on an empty stomach... mmmm....)

The Appetizer Table:

The main course - Oddly, for me who loves taking photos of food, I didn't take nearly enough of the main courses. Here are the couple of pics that were taken:

Stay tuned for more party posts! As always, the entire set of pics are up here.

Crafty V-Day Party Part 2: The Decor

2010-02-10T12:57:00.000-05:00

Probably the biggest preparation for the party was working on the decor. I wanted it to be a red and pink wonderland, but without resorting to super tacky decorations that look like they should be found in a classroom. I did buy a few of the elements, but the majority of things were lovingly handmade.

Here's what the main area of the party space looked like:

Amy and I had a sleepover the night before the party, and our goal was to have a splash of pink, red, white or hearts in every place that someone's eyes may have landed. I think we were pretty successful!

Coming down the stairs to the party, this is the first element of decor that guests saw. We had a pink tissue paper puff (made by my sister-in-law), and some vinyl hearts dangling from the ceiling, and pink, yellow and white (fake) flowers in a vase on the corner cabinet. Just a subtle taste of what was around the corner.

A little further into the basement is the billiards area. Amy sewed this fantastic bunting out of super cute pink fabric, and we hung it on the wall in front of the pool table. (Unexpectedly, the pool table didn't actually get used, because everyone was enjoying their crafts so much, so I'm afraid this wasn't as prominent as it should have been).

Towards the back of the basement, I had an area set up with the wii + Beatles Rock Band. Against the wall is a large chest, and this was the decor we set out on top of it. The Valentine's Shadow Box hangs on the wall. In front of it is a small Valentine's tree (which was created using the same method as the Easter Tree Centrepiece), with felt heart cookies, made by Amy. The Topiary is made out of Twilight-themed conversation hearts, and was made following this tutorial. Amy also found those super cute conversation heart candles, so we arranged them in front.

I thought some people may find themselves wandering into the kitchen, for ice or cold drinks, or whatever... so I found a cute "love" themed magnetic poetry set at the dollar store, and put them on the fridge. I definitely found some interesting poetry the next day!

So, there were some of the main elements of the decor at my Valentine's party. For more pictures, check out this album on my Flickr.

Crafty V-Day Party Part 1: The Sweet Table

2010-02-08T19:07:00.006-05:00

On Sunday, with the incredible help of my friend Amy and my mom, I threw a Crafty Valentine's Day Party, which I dubbed "Craft Your Love."

It started out as a simple idea: I wanted to throw a party for my friends, because I hadn't hosted one at all in 2009, and they always love my parties. One friend requested a Christmas party, but I just couldn't manage it with all the other things I had going on at the time. Post-New-Years, I somehow came up with the idea that I should have a Valentine's party, and that everyone should come over to make cards.

This little idea evolved into this fantastic red and pink wonderland, that I would like to share with you! Some of you may have seen little sneak peeks at things, via my flickr or facebook, but I'd like to provide for you a bit of the bigger picture!

First up: the sweet table.

I am a big fan of little details. The sweet table was one of those things that kept on evolving until literally, the start of the party, and came together so nicely in the end!

This is how it looked at the beginning of the night.

Some of the main elements:

heart-shaped cake, made by Christina.

Rainbow cake, made by myself and Amy (and thanks to Melisa for the recipe & directional help with the cake!)

Cupcakes made by Amy

I made some gummy candy, using this tutorial. It turned out pretty cute. Not exactly like gummy bears that you would buy in a store... A few people likened the texture to "old Jello Jigglers" (haha), but the taste and look were amazing.

This was one of the super cute elements that came together in setting up the table the day before. Amy had printed out a whole bunch of vintage Valentines, and we used some of them in a wall-hanging, but there were a bunch left over. As I was flipping through the stack, and noticing an empty picture frame with hearts on it, I noticed this popcorn card, and knew the exact perfect spot for both of these things!

Christina was the first of my friends to arrive. Along with the heart-shaped cake, she also brought me a package of super cute "decorate your own heart shaped sugar cookies"! As soon as I saw these, we decided that we would have a cookie decorating competition! (We had already planned to have a cupcake decorating competition, so all of the sprinkles and candies were already set out). This ended up being a cute element, because along with the fun competition, it also became a way to snap some pictures of my guests with their cookie creations!

There was definitely no shortage of pink and red sweets at this party! Check out my flickr for more detail shots, and watch for more party elements coming soon!

Valentine's Shadow Box Tutorial

2010-02-02T12:42:00.003-05:00

Valentine's Day Shadow Box

So, I'm hosting a "Crafty Valentine's Day" party this weekend, where all the attendees are going to make handmade cards for someone else at the party, and I have a vision of my basement turning into a pink, red and white heart-filled paradise. I've been creating all sorts of little decorative touches, and this is one of them.

Materials:

shadow box (I had mine stashed away somewhere, and the glass was actually broken, which is how I came up with this idea)
paint
paper
tissue paper
foam-core
stamp & ink (and embossing powder/heat gun if you wish)
gems
glitter
fuzzy yarn (you'll only need a small bit of this, so whatever you have around the house will work)
tacky glue
glue gun
Mod Podge

Method:

1. Trace a heart template out of a scrap sheet of paper (I do this by folding a sheet of paper in half, and cutting half a heart, so that both sides are symmetrical. Take your template and trace onto the foam core, and cut out your heart. It doesn't matter if the edges are a little ragged, because they'll be covered by the fuzzy yarn, but try to get it fairly decent looking.

2. Trace the background of your box onto the scrapbook paper of your choice (mine was a dusty rose, subtle print). Once you've cut it to size, use your tacky glue to glue it down into position.

3. Go back to your foam core heart. Stamp your quote (or whatever you choose) in the centre. Mine is a cute little quote from one of my favourite songs ever. I also used a bit of red embossing powder, and fired it with my heat gun for a few seconds, to give it some texture.

Then, take your yarn and glue gun, and in small areas, begin to glue down the yarn to the outside of the heart until you make it all the way around. Cut off any trailing ends you may have.

4. Take your paint and paint the frame of the shadow box (I used a shade of pink that is darker than the scrapbook paper I chose for the background). After it dries, cut a heart out of red tissue paper. Use Mod Podge to glue it down... it doesn't matter if it's crinkly, it'll mostly be covered up... and it gives it a bit of texture, that I kind of like.

Add some glitter around the edge of the red heart.

5. After it's all dry, it's time for the finishing touches. Glue the foam core heart into place with your glue gun. Add some gems for some sparkle... and you're done!

Pretty piece of artwork, using mostly materials that you'll have on-hand (maybe? Is it just me that happens to have all these things kicking around in my basement craft room?)

Anyway... let me know if you try this! It could be used for all sorts of occasions, not just Valentine's Day... just change up the colours and the shape in the middle.

Another Test The Nation in the Can!

2010-01-25T14:51:00.002-05:00

Well, last night, Test The Nation: IQ was live-to-air across Canada! I gotta say, it was my favourite of all the TTN's so far. The teams were fantastic, the energy was great... and I just LOVED Sean Cullen's song that opened the evening.

What do you mean you didn't see it?? Well... No excuses. Go to the website linked above, and you can watch the entire thing online :)

I was quoted about the script on the Inside The CBC blog... that was kinda neat.

It's kinda weird having nothing to do today. I woke up at 10. And I've accomplished absolutely nothing - aside from uploading a few photos (not even all of them) from yesterday to flickr. Here are a few of my faves... check out the link for more.

Project 365: Week 1 complete!

2010-01-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone!
Woohoo - I made it through the first 7 days! Most of the shots were not really the best pictures I've ever taken, however, I'm very pleased that I not only managed to take several photos every day, but I also posted them the very same day I took them. I'm pretty sure that won't happen for the entire year (or even the entire month, because work is going to get very busy soon)

Here's a snapshot of how the first week of January looked for me.

You can view more photos from my Project 365 right here

Update from FL

2009-12-28T11:48:00.004-05:00

Christmas was awesome... After Christmas sales were (are!) great! Hanging out with friends. Eating good food. Enjoying the sunshine (even if it is a little bit chilly out). All around good times!
Here's a shot of a bunch of us hanging out the other night at New World Brewery in Ybor.

There's a whole bunch of pics up here: Flickr.

But the real point of this announcement is that I, with a few friends, have decided to take on Project 365 for 2010!
Beginning on January 1, 2010, I will take (at least) one photo every day.
I'll make up a special album on Flickr for the project, and I haven't decided if I'll post the photo on here, or at a tumblr blog. I will contemplate, and let you all know.

Anyone ever done this? Want to join in for this year? Have any thoughts on the best way to chronicle the year?

Merry Christmas from the Sunshine State!

2009-12-24T15:06:00.004-05:00

I guess I haven't mentioned that I'm back in Florida ;)

I already opened one of my Christmas presents from my aunts & grandmother... and the only reason I mention this is because you will surely see the product of it on this blog. They bought me a Lensbaby! Here's a few of the first pics with the new lens (and there's a few more up here:

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Mouthparts+Wings presents The Christmas Show (review)

2009-12-19T16:23:00.003-05:00

It's no real big secret that I've been a bit out of the loop of the concert scene lately. But when think that I would have almost missed out on such a fantastic show if it hadn't been for my BFF coming home from Montreal for a visit and looking through the weekly papers to see what was going on, it makes me realize that I should really pay more attention!

The show is an annual Christmas concert presented by Mouthparts+Wings. It featured some of my favourite artists, including Hawksley Workman, Luke Doucet & Melissa McClelland, and some new folks that I hadn't heard before, but I must investigate: Justin Rutledge, Paul Linkletter, and John Southworth, just to name a few.

The evening, hosted by Mia Sheard started out with an a cappella choral song, sung by four of the ladies that would be appearing later in the show. One by one, artists were brought out to sing a Christmas song (with only a few exceptions). It was fantastic - especially since last week at the Andy Kim show, my only complaint was that the artists didn't play very many Christmas songs. They played a mix of original Christmas songs and traditional ones, in various arrangements.

The last performer of the night was one of my favourites - Hawksley Workman. A few years ago, he released a Christmas album called Almost A Full Moon that immediately became one of my favourite Christmas albums ever. He played two selections from the album last night - "A House Or Maybe A Boat" and "Merry Christmas (I Love You)" (which always makes me think of my grandfather, and how much I miss him, along with another one of his tunes from that same album, "Three Generations").

After Hawksley, all of the performers came out for one last song - a group sing-a-long to "Deck The Halls" - it was super fun!

I'm so glad an impromptu plan for a night out turned out to be one of the most festive things I've done all year. I'll have to keep this show on my radar again for next December.

Happy Holidays to all! For more photos, visit my flickr.

Andy Kim Christmas Show 2009

2009-12-13T12:41:00.004-05:00

The Andy Kim Christmas Show is a newish tradition for me during the holidays. Five years ago, Andy Kim (who has written songs such as Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently) began putting on this show at the Mod Club in Toronto. I have gone to every show since then.

As mentioned last year - I was probably the youngest person in the audience that knew all the words to Andy Kim's songs... but that doesn't bother me much!

The acts this year were:

The Beauties - They are a GREAT alt/rock band. They played a song of their own, plus, a fantastic version of Fairytale of New York, up on youtube here.
Broken Social Scene - I liked them better than last year... the first song they played was a new one that reminded me a bit of Kings of Leon. I liked that one. The other ones, I didn't care for terribly, but they were tolerable.
Kim Mitchell - always amazing to see a legend on stage - I only wish he had played Patio Lanterns, but I bet he's probably sick of playing that song!
Gentleman Reg - he was okay. Not my favourite, but not bad either. I don't have much to say on this one...

Divine Brown was supposed to play, but she got sick at the last minute so there was an extra set by Andy Kim, which was great for me, since I mostly go to the shows to hear Andy's songs.

The only disappointing thing was that most of the bands on this years' show didn't bother to learn a Christmas song. It doesn't make much of a Christmas show if you're not playing a Christmas tune! Hopefully next year, the acts will bring it back to the feeling of the first Andy Kim Christmas Show (which was still my favourite one ever).

Photos from the show are up here!

That's a Wrap on Blades!

2009-11-25T11:23:00.003-05:00

My posting has been very sparse, to say the least, over the last little while. I was completely involved in my Battle of the Blades world - and I loved every minute of it! Sometimes it's hard to believe that what I do is actually WORK, I just have so much fun doing it. I met some amazing people, and did some amazing things (How many of you can say that you skated at Maple Leaf Gardens? Or rode a zamboni there?! LOL)

It's a little bit bittersweet to be all done with it now, but I guess all good things must come to an end. I just hope I get asked to work on Season 2!

View all of the photos from Blades right here.

As for me, well, I get the rest of this week, though that doesn't mean I'm any less busy. Christmas cards & shopping... parties... and, of course, Brainsgiving is on Saturday! So excited to be doing audio for the event again this year. On Monday, I start my new contract on Test The Nation.

Busy bee!

Recycled Napkin Rings - Tutorial

2009-11-03T16:32:00.006-05:00

This is an inexpensive way to recycle some objects you might have lying around the house. And it makes a lovely hostess gift, for next to nothing! Here's what you need:
Buttons
Furry Yarn
Toilet Paper Roll
Wire
Glue Gun

Take your toilet paper roll and cut it into 1.5-2 inch rings. It doesn't really matter if it's a little rough, because it will all be covered by yarn, but try to make them fairly straight and similar in size.

Take a decent sized bit of yarn and hold it in your hand. With the other hand, dab some hot glue on the inside, and stick the yarn to it. Begin wrapping the ring in yarn, occasionally adding some hot glue to the inside, to keep the yarn secure.

If your yarn doesn't make it all the way around, just finish it off on the inside, cut another piece of yarn, and start again. It will be completely unnoticeable when the ring is done.

Take three buttons of different sizes, and coordinating colours, and align them on top of each other. Take your wire, and thread it through the button holes. Add a dab of glue underneath the buttons. Wrap a strand of wire around the ring, to secure it further. Bring the extra wire up, and curl it in a decorative fashion.

Voila! I made 2 with buttons, and 2 just plain, and it turned out to be a really nice presentation.

Twilight Zone Wallhanging: A Crafty How-To

2009-10-26T09:03:00.000-04:00

This is a Twilight-inspired wall hanging that I made to hang in our office for Halloween... to go with my Alice Cullen costume. It'll reside in my bedroom after Halloween's over. (This can also easily be adapted to suit any theme)

This is a pretty simple project, but it is quite time consuming. It's also inexpensive, with all of the items found either at the dollar store, or laying around my craft room.

Supplies:
1 Wooden Plaque (Found mine at Dollarama for $1.25)
Scrapbook & Tissue Paper (stick to red/black/grey/white tones for something Twilight related)
Gems, Glitter, Sequins, etc
Computer printout of Cullen Crest/Twilight font
Mod Podge
Sandpaper

Here's how you do it:

Start with a dollar store wall hanging. As soon as I saw this one that said Vampire Zone, I had to buy it... but then as I kept looking at it, it just seemed too boring, like a project waiting to happen.

Sand the wall hanging down, so that the glue can grip a bit better. It doesn't have to be perfect...

Also, it would probably be better to detach the wire at this point... but I was lazy and decided not to.

Begin layering your paper. I started with the tissue paper, then began layering scrapbook paper on top.
I'm not sure what the deal was with that grey/black diamond paper, but it really buckled a lot & the grey rubbed off as I glued.
It wasn't a big deal, just something to be aware of.

You'll notice that all my letters and embellishments are already cut out... this is important for placement purposes.

As you continue layering, you should have an idea in your mind of what you want the final hanging to look like. Occasionally, you should check the positioning of your letters/embellishments so that you can make adjustments.
(For instance, I realized in between the last step and this one that black would look better behind the "twilight" layer, so I started adding some black scrapbook paper)

Once you're happy with your paper decoupaging, glue your letters into place.

Then add embellishments like glitter, sequins & rhinestones (you can see those in the main/final image above)

And you're done! From boring dollar store sign to fab Twi-decor ;)

(Note: This project was also crossposted at cutoutandkeep.net)

Amy's Cottage (better late than never!)

2009-10-23T10:28:00.005-04:00

Amy invited us (Errol and I) up to her cottage one weekend in August when he was back in town. Although it was a bit chilly (unseasonably... kind of like our entire summer here in Toronto), we still made the most of it and had a great time. There was lots of nature involved. The Muskoka area of Ontario is truly beautiful though, and even an indoors type of person like me enjoyed it (though they couldn't convince me to get in that canoe!!) Here's a few pics.

You can view all the pictures from our cottage trip right here.

Battle of the Blades

2009-10-07T20:48:00.002-04:00

Amy & Katie - Battle of the Blades
Originally uploaded by superflash

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately... I blame... THIS. :) Battle of the Blades is the new show I've been working on. It airs Sunday & Monday nights at 8pm on CBC, and it is freaking awesome.

I highly recommend tuning in!

And I apologize for my lack of updates - this will probably be a continuing trend through the month of November. Drop me a line via email/facebook/wherever to say hi :)

Culture of Greed Session - Last one!

2009-09-13T12:57:00.003-04:00

The last location for the Culture of Greed shoot was actually the first one I thought of: train tracks. Tracks always feel so symbolic to me, and they can be interpreted in so many ways: movement/travelling/journeys... the past... desolation... crossroads... And, they just look cool.
Here's some of my favourites:

Toronto Roller Derby

2009-09-06T08:31:00.007-04:00

On August 8 (yes, nearly a month ago, and I'm only just finding the time to write about it now) - a friend of mine invited me to go see the Toronto Roller Derby match between the Gore-Gore Rollergirls and the Death Track Dolls. I had never been to a Roller Derby before, and had no idea what the sport entailed. But I thought it would be super fun, and I was right! It also made for some interesting photos. Check them out:

I think it's super cool to have alternative sporting events like this in the city. It's a fun event that kids are welcome to attend (Saw plenty of parents there with children - and all the kids looked really cool. I guess that says something about the demographic!) It's also fairly inexpensive - especially when compared to other sporting/entertainment events around the city. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something to do!
Check out more pictures here

Culture of Greed Session - Part 3

2009-08-30T10:05:00.003-04:00

Just a few paces from that cool boxcar location, Jim and Jet wandered off and stumbled upon a goldmine, in the form of this dilapidated old trailer and dump truck. It was very hard to contain my excitement. These photos were exactly what I had in mind when I set out to shoot Culture of Greed. (In fact, I would love to go back here and just shoot a few rounds on my own. Maybe with my lomo camera & some film.)

Lots more pics, right this way, and one more location coming up.

(Also coming up, pictures from Amy's Cottage, our trip to the CNE, and lots more! I must find more time to edit photos and blog about them!)

Rock 'n Roll saved my life

2009-08-21T12:01:00.003-04:00

--Interrupting the Culture of Greed posts for this Weather Update--

So, in Toronto, one of our favourite things to do is complain about the weather. Last night, there was actually good reason. This video was shot about 5 minutes from my house, right at the exit that I get off at to go home. Vaughan (the city where I live) declared a state of emergency after more than 100 homes were forced to evacuate.

As for me - well, last night I was in no immediate danger, because Rock 'n Roll saved my life.

I decided at the very last minute that I would go see See Spot Run do an in-store acoustic session at The Gap. So I ended up driving north in the opposite way that I usually head out of the city.

While I was driving up the DVP, my aunt called me from her salon in Woodbridge and asked, "Where are you?!" I replied, and she said "Don't go home yet! I'm at the salon, and we can see a funnel cloud right out the window!" I was actually rather disappointed, because I would have LOVED to photograph that. There was no rain at all where I was. I could only see glimpses of lightning off in the distance.

After that began a series of frantic phone calls, texts and tweets. (If you were following my twitter last night, you got a glimpse of what was going on).

Once I hit Bayview, the rain hit too. It got really dark, REALLY fast. I didn't know the area of the city either, so I ended up driving well passed my destination. As I was driving back, this was the scene. We were stopped, because just ahead there was a tree and a downed power line in the middle of the road. A few minutes later, the road was entirely closed.

I eventually got to the mall safely, and caught a great performance by the guys (blog entry about that to follow at some point too!)

I missed out on most of the weather drama, but I got to hang out with friends and hear some good tunes. I'd say it was a fair exchange!

There's a few more photos on my flickr, but not too many, and not that great - sadly, I wasn't prepared for a show, and I only had my point-and-shoot camera on me! Booo! Here's a preview of the See Spot Run pics too:

Culture of Greed Session - Part 2

2009-08-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

So, after spending not too much time inside Culture of Greed's rehearsal space, we decided that it would be a good idea to find a new location. The rain had let up, so we went outside. Jim and Jet started wandering around to the side of the building, not really knowing what it looked like, and found an incredible location. The colours were perfect - faded reds and oranges. There was rust. There were box cars. There was even a shovel. I couldn't believe our luck. Here are some of the shots I took out there:

We even got in a few closeups, against a wicked rusty background:

There's some more pics up here, and a new location coming soon!

Culture of Greed Session - Part 1

2009-08-12T09:06:00.000-04:00

While I was down in Florida, I had a photoshoot scheduled with local band, Culture of Greed. This was a bit of a challenge, because it was in a city that I wasn't 100% comfortable with, with very limited transportation and time, and I had to rely on other people to scout my locations for me. But it turned out great because the guys are all fantastic and super professional.

The first location was definitely difficult. It was raining outside, so that ruled out outdoor shots for the first part of the shoot. We went inside to their rehearsal space, which had a very cool atmosphere, but was also very reflective, because of its aluminum walls.

We didn't end up spending too much time here, but we did get some decent shots.

The best are yet to come! Keep checking back for more updates, or for a sneak peak, check out Flickr

P.S. Comments make me very happy! I see all you lurkers from the Tampa/Clearwater area... say hi! :)

Florida: All is full of love

2009-08-08T14:31:00.003-04:00

La piece de resistance... how can you not love a view like this? There's hundreds of different things that I love about Florida, but I think this sums it up. Being on the beach, you can feel your senses in action.

Take in the sight of the ocean... flip flops... blue water & white sand... Smell the salt water, the sunscreen, the people barbecuing in the distance... Hear the rolling sound of the waves ... Feel the mist, the sand beneath your feet. Taste the salt on your lips after swimming in the ocean. Honestly, nothing can quite compare to the beach, and Clearwater Beach just happens to be my favourite beach that I've ever been to.

more love?

Beautiful Downtown Clearwater, FL

2009-08-07T08:54:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I ran out of macro shots, so no more what it is... at least, not for now. Did you guys like that game? I can't tell.

So, I think I've mentioned before about how we've been going to Clearwater Beach since I was about 8 years old. This place is my second home, and I've watched it change and grow over the course of the years. A recent development to the area is the way you get to the beach from the mainland. On the beach side, they built a beautiful new causeway (it used to be a small drawbridge type, that I absolutely loved, but I must say the new one is much more aesthetically pleasing), and they created a roundabout down near the pier, where you can easily access the marina, the public beach and beach walk area, the residential area, and another random street (hah!) ... but on the other side, on the mainland, they changed the access to be two different one-way streets - Court Street takes you to the beach and the causeway, and Cleveland takes you downtown. (With the old bridge, you could take either street and still access the bridge easily)

Ever since they made that change, we've tended to spend less time in downtown Clearwater. I thought this was quite sad, because downtown Clearwater has lovely architecture, and they've really beautified it with flowers, statues and trees. So I went out there one night, camera and tripod in hand, to snap a few shots. (I didn't really take that many, because I had plans to meet up with Gregg later on, and I only had about an hour to shoot off some pics)

Welcome to downtown:

What it was, #6...

2009-08-06T08:40:00.001-04:00

Melisa was absolutely right yesterday when she guessed a bag from Target... aka shopping HEAVEN for Canadians. (And I must give props to Amy for her hilarious response!) We don't have Target up here, and it's the one common thread that seems to go through all my friends whenever we go down to the States. A visit to Target is a must. In fact, on this last trip, I think I made 3 or 4 different trips to Target over the course of the week! Haha.

This blog entry is all about the thrill of finding great deals in another country.

1. 2. 3.

1 = super cute shoes and wall hanging I found at Steinmart. They were having a liquidation sale, so I got great deals on these, but sadly, I didn't find much else. Oh well.

2 = my awesome new shirts from Ross! The patterns definitely don't go together, but they look great on their own ;)

3 = spent a day at the mall. Came out with: a super cute new shirt with matching scarf, black pinstripe capris, polka dot pyjamas. And then some camera gear: a puffer (flash diffuser), rainsleeve, and strobe light - bought all of those because the next day, I had a photoshoot scheduled with Gregg's band, Culture Of Greed (more about that later - I can't wait to post the results of that photoshoot)

Anyway, as always, more pics are up here.

Florida - What Is It? #6

2009-08-05T15:16:00.002-04:00

Okay, I've been told that this one is both tough, and super easy... I know that there are several of you who will be able to figure it out right off the bat. What is it:

What it was, #5...

2009-08-05T08:45:00.002-04:00

The correct answer was "my dad's garden!" (And Liz, the picture of the leaf veins was just for you!)

My dad is huge into gardening, and he loves it in Florida, because the weather is a lot more temperate than Canada.

I like it because it gives me something to take pictures of.

We all win!

By the way, I had no idea that cacti grew flowers like that. Did you? (I bet my southern friends probably did) ... Learn something new every day!

Oh, and for anyone who didn't already catch this... I have a new fan profile page for Superflash Photography on Facebook... would love it if you became a fan!

Florida - What Is It? #5

2009-08-04T08:45:00.000-04:00

3 photos for the "What Is It" post, because they all go together. They are also very obvious. But they're also super pretty. Do you know what I was taking pictures of?

What it was, #4...

2009-08-03T17:30:00.001-04:00

I'm home, and I see there were two correct guesses on the last "What Is It?" (Vanessa also guessed, on the syndicated version of this blog at Livejournal) ... so I guess I didn't make that one challenging enough. But it does come with a story!

One afternoon, my aunt, uncle & cousins (who live here in Toronto, but are vacationing in Florida) came up for the day from Longboat Key. My dear cousins, who are 10 and 12, definitely enjoy their pastime of torturing me. But we always have fun.

Here are some of my favourite pics of the day:

More? Right This Way

Florida - What Is It? #4

2009-08-02T06:33:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm about to hit the road and head back home, but that doesn't mean I don't have anymore "what is it's" for you... Can you guess what this one is?

I'll post the update when I get back on Monday evening! Have a good Sunday everyone (and enjoy the rest of your long weekend, to all my friends at home!)

What it was, #3...

2009-07-31T09:05:00.001-04:00

Give up? It was Sea Oats at Sunset!

Clearwater Beach is probably the best place I've ever been to watch the sunset. It is absolutely beautiful and magical (though Amy will have to take my word for it, because there wasn't much of a sunset when she visited last month!)

My favourite time is when the sky turns completely orange, the sun is flourescent, and it looks like it's on fire as it slowly dips into the water. Absolutely breathtaking. The colours are just stunning.

More pics? Click Here!

Florida - What Is It? #3

2009-07-30T09:38:00.001-04:00

Here's one that I snapped the other night... do you know what this is?

What it was, #2...

2009-07-29T08:31:00.003-04:00

It was actually a peach... but to be more specific, it was a Georgia Peach, the most delicious peaches you will ever taste in your entire life. (Amy had a very good answer with: "The fruits of your labourous driving in a raging thunderstorm. ")

I'm not quite sure what it is about being on vacation, but food here just tastes better (even though it's all homemade, not restaurant cooking) and all the colours are just so vibrant. I can't actually eat watermelon (mild allergy), but if I could, this is definitely a watermelon I would want to sink my teeth into!

One of my other fun little foodie indulgences... at the grocery store, I found a 4-pack of these single-serving size White Zinfandel bottles. SO cute! And it tastes good too! Only trouble is... I'm almost finished the pack. I guess I may just have to buy some more.

One last foodie indulgence: Today my aunt/uncle/cousins who are vacationing in Sarasota came up for the day. More about that in a later blog entry, I'm sure... but this is the masterpiece that I made for dessert. It was way easy to make, but also super impressive.

I think I should be a food photographer when I grow up :)

Florida - What Is It? #2

2009-07-28T14:15:00.002-04:00

Here's the new macro image for today... what do you think this is?

Hint: it is utterly delicious, and it would probably be among my requested items for my last meal, if I got to choose!

What it was, #1...

2009-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

If you guessed "slice of birthday cake in the most random, conservative, religious place I have ever been to in my entire life" ... give yourself a pat on the back, you were right! ;) Here's what happened..

So, on Saturday, we were driving into Florida, and my uncle and his family were driving home from Florida. It was also my dad's birthday. We kept in touch via cell phones, and when we got close, we said we would meet for a coffee at Exit 460 on the I-75, neither of us knowing what restaurants were in the area. Usually, there's a whole bunch of places to stop, Cracker Barrel's, Baskin Robbins and the like... however at this exit, the only thing we happened upon was a place called "Sheffield's Country Kitchen".

We met up with my uncle, aunt & cousin, and went inside. It was a very down-home, rustic kind of place... but the first thing I noticed was the huge Jesus mural on the wall. And then there was the table of assorted Gospel's and Christian pamphlets, that were "Free for our Trucker Friends" ... it was very bizarre, and I felt VERY out of place. Fish out of water, for sure.

The people there were all super nice though, and it definitely made for an interesting experience. I don't think this will be a birthday that my father will soon forget! Speaking of which, we asked them if they had a candle for his cake, but they didn't... so we improvised. We sang Happy Birthday while he blew out his... knife?! It was pretty funny.

And, thus begins the next Florida adventure! Stay tuned for more randomness... and for more pictures from this trip, as always, check out my Flickr.

Florida - What Is It? #1

2009-07-26T08:53:00.004-04:00

So, I'm back in Florida! Since I've been here so often over the last little while, my new photo project is going to be MACRO!

I will post a macro shot, and then you can post what you think it is in the comments. Then later, I'll post an entry about it.

BTW, don't always go for the obvious answer ;)

Here's #1: What is it?!

The Fourth of July!

2009-07-23T08:45:00.001-04:00

Since we were going to be in the States for the 4th of July, Amy and I decided to go all out with an old-fashioned Independence Day Cookout! Only... we had never celebrated Independence Day before. So we picked our "Americana" theme and just went with it.... Flags, Red-White-and-Blue Flowers, Cupcakes, Cookes... Napkins... you name it! Apparently, we did it right! Amber told us that most American's didn't even go as all out as we did. Welcome to the 4th of July, Canadian-style:

On the menu:

Appetizers:
Ketchup Chips (a gift for our American friends, from Canada!)
Nacho Dip (my personal specialty) & nachos

BBQ:
Corn on the Cob
Roasted Veggies
Burgers
Argentinian Sausage (Juan brought them, and they were awesome)

Dessert:
Watermelon
American Sprinkle Cupcakes
American Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Juan's roasted Marshmallows

Drinks:
Lemonade
Strawberry Daiquiri's
Juan's Midori & Cranberry specialty

After everyone came out of their food-induced comas, we took a walk/trolley ride down to the main strip to see some fireworks. Thankfully, the 4th ended up being the one day of the trip that it didn't rain at all. It was perfect weather, and there were tonnes of people out to celebrate the holiday.

When we asked a police officer on the beach where we should go to see the fireworks, his reply was "Just look up!" Hah... nice. I guess he was right though... the fireworks were literally going off all around us. It was pretty amazing. The best ones were shot off from across the causeway, at Coachman Park. We watched from a few miles down, and it was still a stunning display.

Happy Fourth!

My altered book is DONE!

2009-07-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

Interrupting the Florida recap updates briefly, just so that I can say... I DID IT! My altered recipe book is FINISHED!

I posted a while back (more than a year ago) about my book, but I've actually been working on it for about 4 years now.

Last night, I added in the last few recipes, numbered the pages, added an index and made the cover jacket... and voila! I have finally finished!

170 pages and 4 years later, I have a recipe book!

I think I'm eventually going to take pictures of all the pages and upload them, but until then, you can go here to see a few pictures of the inside, if you like.

Nights at The Castle

2009-07-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Most of my friends here know that I am not really much of a nightclub or dancing person. If I'm going to go out, I'd much rather go to a dirty bar with dim lighting and a band playing on the stage. Camera in one hand, sometimes a drink in the other, and just rocking out. However, ever since I've met Juan, it seems that my main Floridian hangout is a strange place called The Castle. I've had many memorable experiences at this place over the last few years, and on this trip, I spent more time there than I had in all my previous Florida trips.

The first night we ended up at The Castle on this trip was Tuesday, for what had to be the coolest Castle night I've ever been to. It was a trip-hop/lounge/cocktail night. Gregg invited us out for this one. It was a weird event that you needed to know the password to get into (sidenote: we also had to put our names on a mailing list, and I now know the password for next week's event!). Also, on this night, they had 2 for 1 martini's, so Amy and I enjoyed some delicious Cosmo's. At around 1am (clubs stay open way later there - until almost 3), Juan ended up joining us, and Gregg left. We also met Juan & Gregg's friend, who took some pretty sweet shots:

Two nights later, after The Hold Steady show, we ended up back at The Castle. That night, we ran into Juan's friend Andy (who I had actually met there on a previous trip as well), and he bought us some drink that involved Red Bull (one of my "bad girl" drinks, that I usually avoid), that had me dancing all night! Me. Dancing. Yup, that's why I don't drink Red Bull. There is photographic evidence:

The next day, Gregg and I ended up back at the Castle yet again! We started the evening at this really cool place called The Orpheum. At one point, they played a medley of MGMT songs, so I was definitely digging that. That night, we also met Gregg's friend Harold, who was both hilarious and probably insane, and had me laughing all night long. After the boys got tired of Orpheum, we went over to The Castle. However, the Castle on Friday night is like nothing I've ever been to. It was goth night at The Castle... and I was dressed in a very frilly/girlie skirt & top with heels. Definitely did not fit in on this particular night! Yet, it still turned out to be a great night all around!

Oh, and just in case I haven't properly described what this place is like... here's an excerpt from article I found while googling for the club's url:

In the dark of night, the masked man soars across the Howard Frankland Bridge, his cape streaming behind his Batcycle.

"Batman!" people yell when he enters the Castle nightclub in Ybor City. He gives a fist-bump to the near-naked Senator, an Ybor veteran often seen in lingerie. He catches up with Peter Pan. And he poses for pictures with drunken women while showing off his retractable wings.

(On my multiple trips, I have met all of the aforementioned characters!)

Good times!

The Hold Steady in Ybor City

2009-07-17T15:14:00.000-04:00

I found out about a Hold Steady concert that was happening in Ybor City before we left - trouble was, it was billed as a re-scheduled free show, to which tickets had already been given away. I ended up emailing the band via their myspace, and they graciously respond, asking me for my contact details, and how many people I would be bringing to the show! I was very excited about this (though I hadn't received a confirmation email, so even up until the very day of the show, I wasn't sure that we would get in).

The show was on July 2, so after Amy and I watched some dolphins, and spent some time on the beach with Dollward and Sharkey, we went back to the house to get ready. Juan ended up coming with us to the show too. The three of us had a great time. The music was beyond fantastic - I don't think either Juan or Amy really knew the band before that day, but they both enjoyed the show as well.

For me, it was pretty awesome seeing The Hold Steady in Ybor, because I definitely connect the two together in my head - probably because so many of The Hold Steady's lyrics involve Ybor City. Here's the lyrics to my favourite song of theirs:

The Hold Steady - Killer Parties

if they ask about charlemagne. be polite and say something vague. like another lover lost to the restaurant raids. if they ask why we left in the first place. say we were young and we were so in love. i guess we just needed space. we heard about this place they called the united states. we found out virginia really is for the lovers. philly is full of friendly friends that will love you like a brother. pensacola parties hard with poppers pills and pepsi. ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties. killer parties almost killed me.

if she says we partied then i'm pretty sure we partied. i really don't remember. i remember we departed from our bodies. we woke up in ybor city.

More pics right this way

A little silliness keeps things light

2009-07-16T08:29:00.001-04:00

Sometimes it's fun to just get a little silly. At least, I like to think so. The next series of pictures... well... it's very difficult to describe how they came about - but every time I see them, I giggle.

I'm not sure if I ever wrote about "Dollward" on here before. He is my 10-inch Edward Cullen doll. I bought him last time I went to Florida. He often just hangs out in my purse, awaiting his moment to be photographed. "Sharkey" is Amy's. He came in a drink she ordered when we went to Joe's Crab Shack one night for dinner.

I present to you: Dollward vs. Sharkey vs. Us.