….thanks to Rainee from All About Words for hosting the 30 Day Creativity Challenge
I painted a nautilus shell on day 7 but wasn’t terribly thrilled with it so I tried it again on day 8.
Amazing what a difference slowing down can make. I should have listened to Lisa Congdon more carefully the first time I tried this exercise but then for most of us we need to practice and do things over and over again to get better.
…thanks to Becky B for hosting January Squares
In honour of Orthodox Christmas I’m posting my last photo of Christmas lights.
…thanks to Rainee for hosting the 30 Day Creativity Challenge
Today I finished my scarf. I was hoping to have enough yarn left over to add a bit of fringe. It was not in the pattern.
I’ve just finished adding the fringe. There was just enough left to make two large tassels. 
….I picked up my inks and pens for this one
On Creative Bug there are numerous daily creative challenges for all kinds of art and craft projects. I usually go to the drawing and painting section but I have used some of their knitting patterns and DIY projects. I went back to one of my favourite artists on Creative Bug, Lisa Congdon for her 31 Days of Drawing and Painting with Ink Challenge.
For today’s creative project I chose to paint Barnacles. You start with a light layer of ink and then add lines in a pattern that resembles a barnacle. It is very meditative.
Thanks to All About Words for hosting The 30 Day Creativity Challenge
…..my attempt at free form poetry
Sisters and Cousins
Sisters
sibling rivalry
shared memories
some bad but mostly good
some forgotten
others not
separated by marriage and distance
reunited by an aging parent
and children
Cousins
offspring of the sisters
separate lives
because of distance,
circumstance and work
a longing for family connection
reunited because of their children
an unbreakable bond of love
Four generations; Dad, my sister and I, my youngest daughter and her daughter and my sister’s son and daughter and her daughter’s son.
Thanks to Rainee for hosting The 30 Day Creativity Challenge
….today I started a new crochet project
I’m more of a knitter but last year I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet. I took a class and discovered that I already had the basics down. After crocheting a few coffee cozies and dish clothes I stopped. Before I did that though I bought a pattern and yarn to make a shawl. It was suppose to be easy but every time I looked at it I couldn’t figure out the pattern. I’m very much a visual learner and I know that if somehow showed me how to start I’d be fine.
This week I came across a pattern for a very easy scarf that just uses double crochet. No problem…..until I started and I had a nagging feeling that I wasn’t doing it correctly. I went to the computer and a youtube video popped up and sure enough I was doing it incorrectly. Luckily I hadn’t done too many stitches and once I got going it was quite easy. The scarf is crocheted along the length so there are only 15 rows but I had to start with 223 chains. I’m just finishing my 4th row. It’s quite addictive and I’m sure I can finish in a few days. Here’s what it looks like so far.
Check out All About Words and start your own Creativity Challenge.
….thanks to All About Words for hosting the Creativity Challenge
Today I decided to play with the camera on my iPhone. I went to the mall to return a Christmas gift for my father and I noticed that if you look up there are some very interesting designs on the walls above the stores. I was more interested in the patterns and designs than the store names but you might recognize some of retail establishments in my montage of photos.
…thank to Alive and Trekking for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge
Signs, roads, sidewalks, bicycle paths and driveways in my neighbourhood……
…Happy New Year everyone!
Lorraine over at All About Words is encouraging all of us to get creative with her 30 day creativity challenge. Today I did something that I haven’t done in awhile and that is bake a cake from scratch. I was going to a New Year’s Levee today and it was the perfect excuse to pull out my new Kitchen Aid mixer and try a new recipe that I saw on-line.
Everything went very well until I tried to remove the two cake pans from the oven. As soon as I opened the door the rack fell and the pans slid sideways. I managed to remove the pans but the cake batter from the larger pan oozed out onto the counter. That could only mean one of two things; the oven wasn’t working or I accidentally turned the oven off when I put the cakes inside. Luckily it was the latter problem. I re-re-heated the oven and started again.
Thankfully the second time the cakes came out perfectly. I iced them with freshly whipped cream and put raspberries and blueberries on top. As a final touch I dusted them with icing sugar.
…do you have any windows to share for Monday Windows
Today I wandered into some parts of my neighbourhood that I’ve never explored before. I’ve lived here for over 41 years but there are streets further east towards Mimico that have eluded me. Today the conditions were perfect for walking.
Many of the homes that I saw today are close to a hundred years old and are need of some TLC but the charm and original beauty came through the blistered paint and rusty eaves. Others were in great shape and some were replaced with new and more modern structures.
Some of the newer places were meant to look old but many were very modern with large windows and simple lines.
Mama Cormier 