{Virtual Coffee} #3

It'll be a Tim Horton's Roll up the Rim for my virtual coffee today. 

Not much of a post here today as my mother-in-law is in intensive care as she 

had a massive heart attack on Saturday. 

We're spending our days with her, and are happy to see her improve some each day. She needs to rest up and recover so she has to rest up because a triple bypass operation is still to come.

I hope that I will have good news at next week's Virtual Coffee time.

Don't miss this amazing site!!

The Google Art Project  is the next best thing to actually being there and  the close up detail on some of the paintings is simply awe inspiring!

We have a winner!

The winner my 2011 OWOH giveaway is Lovey from the US. She will be receiving two Tree Hugger Bookmarks and a collection of Instant Ancestors.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog during the event, and thank you Lisa Swifka for putting this together for the past 5 years ~ it's been a joy to participate and to meet so many lovely bloggers from around the world.

{Virtual Coffee} #2

Hi everyone ~ I'm back to have a virtual coffee with you again, so grab your coffee, curl up on the couch and let's talk.

Today I'm opting for tea because last night I felt like my throat was getting a little scratchy. This morning it felt almost like the beginnings of a sore throat, so I am drinking Honey & Lemon Tea. I also downed a clove of garlic, some Vitamin C and Cold Resist (Zeller's more inexpensive answer to Cold-FX) ~ I'm quite the pill popper, eh? I already had a cold this winter, so I don't really want to have another, thank you. I used to have a ginger drink that was quite good, maybe I'll check my cupboards for that ~ it's pretty strong, so it may just do the trick. So what do you do to stave off a cold?

Oh, how do you like my fun coffee mug? It reads: Life is too short to cook for you people.

Hey, did you do anything for Valentine's Day? I watched a romantic comedy (Music & Lyrics) with my husband and son. We ingested supermarket pizza (which wasn't great) and popcorn and Coke ~ talk about health nuts, eh?

Today is what we affectionately call Ukrainian Valentine's because it's the day after Valentine's when all the chocolates go on sale for 50% off. My husband will likely buy me a box of chocolates which he (and my son) will eat a majority of. For my chocoholic hubby ~ Valentine's ranks right up there with Christmas! I won't be overly disappointed if I don't get any chocolates though, because I already bought myself a Valentine bouquet yesterday and signed the card like this: Happy Valentine's Day ~ I love you & you love me! then I gave it to my husband. Isn't that romantic?!

Thank you for stopping by for {Virtual Coffee} ~ please check out the other folks too! I hope we can meet again next Tuesday.

Valentine's Day Fun!

Look at the beautiful door hanger that the lovely, the talented Martha Brown made me

for the Canadian Chickies' Valentine Swap.

Lucky me! The following is what I posted on my Facebook this morning:
Tonight ... anytime after 7 p.m. I invite all single, unattached, desperate young guys of my acquaintance
(you know who you are!)
to come over to our house and watch CHICK FLICKS with me!!
Possible line up: While You Were Sleeping ... Sabrina ... Roman Holiday ... etc.

This should be fun!

.•*¨`*•✿.•*¨`*•. * .•*¨`*•. .•*¨`*•✿
.•*¨`*•✿ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.•*¨`*•✿
✿•*¨`*•. (¯`v´¯) (¯`v´¯) .•*¨`*•✿ . . . ✿•*¨`*•.¸(¯`v´¯)¸.•´*¨`*•✿ . . .
……………….....♥ •.¸.•´♥……………..........

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953)

Sketch Club 1

Recently, I came up with an idea ~ Sketch Club.

The ideas is simple.

Once a month,

a location and time will be announced.

then people will be asked to join us, and to

bring a pencil, sketch book, pencil and eraser with them.

(All skill levels are welcome)

Today's location was at Steeps the Urban Tea House on Whyte Avenue.

Four of us showed up for the first Sketch Club gathering.

What a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning ...

good friends, unstructured art making and tea!

Thrifting with Dawn

Why don't they make fun commercials like this anymore!

Do you remember the Dawn Doll? It was introduced in 1970,

ignore what it says on the YouTube title above. More about Dawn Doll later in this post ...

Today, my friend Shelly and I decided to do some thrifting.

We hit three spots: Goodwill, Value Village and The Bargain Shoppe.

Overall, it was typical ~ over inflated prices and very little to really grab our attention. We cannot wait for garage sale season to start again! Anyway, I digress ...

Goodwill

There I found a delicate candy dish (Princess House, 1.99) a Reitman's brown turtleneck (the tags were still on it, 4.99) and a small set of Spectrum watercolour pencil crayons (1.99).

Ugly Find of the Day

When my eyes beheld this "beauty" at Goodwill, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I had indeed found the one item that was truly dreadful enough to draw my camera out of my purse to take my "Ugly Find of the Day Photo". I think this one may be classified under the category
"It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time"

Behold its majestic nastiness ... This came from Pier 1 Imports?! Are you kidding me??

Anyway ... our second stop was at Value Village. I found nothing there.

Our third and final destination was The Bargain Shoppe, (a charity store which supports a downtown mission). The store was virtually splitting at the seams with an over abundance of goods! A couple years ago, when this store first opened its doors, it was a breath of fresh air. Everything was clean, orderly and most importantly, the prices were exceptionally reasonable. I remember back then Shelly remarking to the lady behind the counter how impressed she was with the prices. She added: "I hope you will keep the prices reasonable like this."
The lady insured us that the prices would always be reasonable.
Fast forward to now ... the prices are no longer reasonable like they once were,
and I wonder if that is the reason there is so much stuff in the store.
The customers don't like the prices and just aren't buying as much because of it.

Find of the Day

Back to today.
After looking around The Bargain Shoppe, I was about to leave the store empty handed when I happened to glance into a cabinet that was holding a Dawn Doll Case!

At first I thought it was just a case. However, upon opening it, I realized it was so much more ~ it included 4 dolls: Dawn, Glori, Angie and Head to Toe Dawn and clothes and accessories (9.99). Be still my heart ~ I had to buy it! I will add my own Dawn Doll that I have kept from my childhood and she can have some company finally
and they can share clothes and have fashion shows and ...

... what have you found in your recent thrifting adventures?

{Virtual Coffee}

Virtual Coffee time Folks ... if you were having coffee with me today, you'd share it with my dear art friend, Nicolette. All those cups of coffee and tea weren't ours ... honest. (Nic had a Venti Chai Latte and I had a Grande Passion Tea ~ just in case you're curious). What would you have indulged in if you had joined us?

Every time we meet up, it's a grand opportunity for us to discuss art, family, work, and did I mention art? We leave encouraged, and ready to create some more!

Thank you for joining me for Virtual Coffee ~ check out all the other links too!

Feeling the creativity bug!

The Creativity Bug has struck and I'm super excited! I want to create again. I finished up a couple art commitments that I had hanging over my head and now I am doing a small Property Master/Costumes job for a play at my son's university, which is exciting. And, I plan to finish off my latest chair which has been 3/4 done since last summer! So there are a lot of things to create, so I need to get down to it. You know the problem with most artists is their BIG IDEAS and their propensity to procrastinate! Perhaps if I talk about it here on my blog, then I will be held somewhat accountable and actually doing some of this stuff I have swirling about in my head.

I would also like to do some painting and experimentation in themes. This scares me because I feel under-confident about stretching my artistic muscles. Guess I need to tell the old inner critic to get out of my face and take a flying leap, eh?

What do you do to stop procrastinate and become inspired to create?

Sunday morning inspiration with Mary Cassatt

American painter, Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 -- June 14, 1926) lived much of her adult life in France, exhibiting her work among the Impressionists.

Cassatt is best known for her portrayal of the bond between mothers and their children. Enjoy!

Groundhog Day!

Groundhog Day (1993) ...
My favourite movie of all time ...
Funny ...
Poignant ...
Watch it!