Day 4 - Wonder

This next page was on Wonder. Not wonder why? But wonder as in awe and in how did they do that? I wrote down everything that causes me wonder and then tried to get pictures to show that. I have written my question "What instills in you a sense of wonder?" then I answered with " Nature, Architecture, Travel, Learning,Books,Creativity, Art, Flow and my daughter Sarah". I then put a pic of her there. I also had a pic of a neat flower and put under it " When was the last time you opened your eyes and thought you were dreaming?"

This was neat to do since I have wonder for a lot of things!

Now on to day 5. Kari said on her blog it will be now once a week which is good, since the days seem to fly by!

I need to update you on some of the other news.

The auction sale I wrote about was a success I would say. Stuff was pretty cheap, and me without a truck again! Do ya think this is a sign? I got a box of cigar boxes - not sure what I am going to do with them(any suggestions would be great!), a box of old mags, a box of old cards and 4 scrapbooks of old cards which are pretty neat. I got all the fabric on a table which was table cloths, sheets, lace, doilies etc. for 7 bucks! That was great. So not bad day. I stopped at a antique market on the way back and got a old wood pepsi box for Sean. He's a pepsi freak! And it looks good in the living room now.

We also got all the wood done in the living room. It looks great! It is 2 different woods going two different ways. One is ash and the other is an african wood - looks like redwood. Here is a pic of it.





AND: we havent talked about the rock concert!! It was awesome!! I neednt have worried about my age - there were kids and teenagers and the whole age groups! In fact, 3 rows ahead of us were an old couple - I'd say in their late sixties and Sarah was like what are they doin here - like they would like this? and they had to walk with canes and stuff but they were in the first row and I looked over during the concert and nudged Sarah cause the woman was rockin her head and singing the words and shaking her arms!! It was cool. Sarah was thinkin that was cool.




This is a pic of the band and it was great! If anyone has seen rockstar - then Dilana and Toby were there too!! So cool. They each sung for half and hour and then Dave Navarro and panic channel which was a little heavy for me and then Lukas! They sounded just like the CD and it was a fun time. Massey Hall in Toronto has awesome sound and I would like to go there again. 2700 seats so it isnt too big.

The hotel was just up the street and we walked! A block from the eaton Center too which is a HUGE mall and we went there the next day. Had lunch at the Hard Rock and then came home. Good times! It was great weather and that was a blessing cause two days later, there were over 500 accidents in the Toronto due to freezing rain! We drove in sun both days! Something else to be thankful for.

Well, I guess that is long enough for now!

Cheryl

Day 3 - Dream

This is my 3rd page. I used the background of the mountains on the original book as a background. I got another ad in the mail that I used!! The mail comes in handy! It was an ad that opened up 4 ways so I covered the tops and made it 4 things I dream of. The front is dream of travel.



The second flap is friends...



The third Love....



And the 4th Art that I wrote in the windows and start a business.


And all the way open.

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This ia a close up of the top left page with the stars. I wrote " Climb up the mountain and reach for the stars"



I liked how it turned out and looking forward to more! I love how this MAKES me create and that is what I need. It feels great!

Cheryl

Fabric!!!

O.K. I have to blame artsy-crafty babe for this - really. After reading her archives and posts about fabric and how much she gets!! Alot of fun. She will say she is not getting any more and then the next couple days- there's more! Ha! And really neat that she is USING it anyways. That makes up for it right?

So.... on my visit to the thrift store I HAD to look at fabrics. It didn't matter that I had a full cart full of books! Imagine.... but at only 2-3 dollars a piece!! C'mon.

Hence, the pile of fabric up there and some close ups. I have sewed before-its been awhile, but I DO have a sewing machine and I know how to use it! I have sewed my own clothes when I lived at home and my mom used to sew for me as well. I took home ec in high school and l liked it. I also made a wedding ring quilt for my parents 25th. I made the top and haven't finished it cause I wanted to hand quilt the top together. Embarrassing to say that was over 15 years ago! I know.... but that's about the last time I sewed except for repairs.

I'd like to start again. Not sure WHAT? I like a lot of bags that are out there and I think some of this fabric is fun for a beach bag or something. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Page 2 Curiousity

Well here is the second page. I had quite the time with this, I didn't realize at first about the prompts and if I was SUPPOSED to use them or not, or if it was just a suggestion. After looking at some other pages, it seemed most people did it that way. I did it a little different (What's new!) but I turned it around into a version of it!!

I had the idea since this is a book about me - the curiousity page should be one of the first. To the left of the page you can see the back of the FIRST page which I am making into a book that opens up in 2 and not sure what to put behind there yet.....

Anyway, I wanted this to be a bunch of the first pages glued together with a pic showing through so that is my 3D. First I was going to make it a perfect rectangle like a frame but when I started ripping out the middle, I liked how it turned out cause it was all these different levels of paper and text. I knew I wanted question marks on here, but as I was ripping, I saw it was turning into its own question mark! So I made the form of it and when I was ripping the bottom parts off, I came across text that had the word "QUESTIONS" in it! How cool is that? So I kept that page and that is my TEXT.

I then put question marks out of MAGAZINES next. Instead of paint, I used MARKER and colored in the question marks and the original frame. I then put PAPER pieces on the corners. I like the vines entwining and going who knows where. Then I WROTE the definition of Curiousity on the side. I liked how artsymama put the charcoal on the edges to make it stand out, so I did CHARCOAL on all my edges.

I think for it to look complete, I will have to finish the back of the first page but that's for another day!

Here is a close up





Thanks for looking and here's to number 3!!

Oh! And in case any of you are CURIOUS (Ha!) ..... I was! The picture is of a aluminum bronze international boundary marker on the Alaska/Yukon border at the edge of the Arctic ocean. It was put there in 1912.

Also, Sarah got her project done(see previous post) and the poems are awesome! I will post some,if she'll let me!
Now I'm off to a rock concert!! Wish me luck.....

Cheryl

Oh Joy!

First, I want say thanks for the comments! This is really neat having this feedback in this way. I have seen some great pages and look forward to seeing more! I havent started mine yet(!!) altho I have some ideas rollin around. I would like to post by Wed morning.

This Wednesday, I am taking my teenage daughter to a .... wait for it .... a ROCK concert!! What was I thinking? I got her tickets for her Birthday and it is in Toronto. So we are leaving after school and we are staying in a hotel downtown within walking distance. I shouldnt say much since I am probably looking forward to it as much as her! If anyone watched Rockstar Supernova in the summer - that is who. I loved the show all summer and watched every episode and when native Toronto Lucas won - WELL! How could we not go? I just hope I am not the oldest one there! Probably not, since most of the band is older than me! I'll let you know how it went.

So about Sarah... this is a girl who seems sometimes to be the complete opposite of me.

She hates books and reading - I ..... well you know me and books
She loves sports and playing them - The only time I like sports is watching someone else play it LIVE not on TV
She SAYS she cant draw or paint and where did everyone else in the family get it from and not her?
She SAYS she doesnt like anything old so when I stop for the flea market, garage sale, antique store.... etc its like pulling teeth to get her to come with me, complaining all the while!

So when I did the last Explore page, I was surprised to have her ask me to see it finished and where it was and what for. She even said she liked it!!

She is in her last week of the semester, and there is major project in English that is due Wed. She has to write a short story, an essay, 3 poems and a news article all on one theme and present it together in a portfolio. She started using Racism, but was getting stuck and not too enthused about it. She called me into her room and said I think I might change my theme to LOVE.

I said, Yeah the poems would be easy, but what would your opinion piece(essay) be about? She said " Is Teenage Love Real?"

She should know... she just had a TWO year anniversary with her boyfriend and she just turned 15!

News Article?" A man having to pull the plug on his dying wife." Wuh... just like that out of her mouth. I said Yeah, that would work, amazed at the thoughts of my child.

She had a folder already for the project and she says " I could put a collage on the cover!" Yes, my daughter you could. So I got all my mags and scissors, glue and stickers and she went at it. Except for supper she worked on it all evening. I snuck a pic in of her working and she was " what are you doing?"

Just keepin a memory darlin'.




When she was done, she showed me and said "Do ya like it? " It was awesome! She even did some stamping!!! Ahhhh. I said I could take a picture and put it on here and she was like "Sure."



And she did the back too.




Isnt that cool?

She has done some collages but they were years ago, and its great for me to see her doing something I like too!


I don't want it to seem we have nothing in common, cause we have LOTS.

Music,
movies,
FRIES,
shopping(just for new things!),
the computer,
TV shows,
McDonalds(!!),
travelling - Less than a month and a half to Mexico!!
and many more.

She makes me laugh and makes me cry(in a good way) Case in point - her rough copy of her short story last night.
"Are you crying? YES!!" with a hand pump in the air, that HER writing moved me to tears.

The first of many I'm sure.



Love ya Hon.

Explore Page

O.K. so here's the first page.. it was fun. When I think of EXPLORE the first thing is to travel. I love to travel and I did this layout all on exploring the world. I took an ad that came in the mail that had a spin wheel on it and redid it for different areas of the world and wrote SPIN around the world with an arrow pointing to wherever it landed. Then I took that page and put it in one of my book pages and then added a map on the bottom and then the words " You're not stuck where you are unless you decide to be". That might be hard to read.

Since this is called Cabinet of Curiousities, I have decided to make this book all about my curiousities, what I enjoy and what I ask questions about. As I have said before, I am a curious person and love to ask questions, so I thought I would ask a question on my pages. This one was "Where do you want to go? "

I am looking forward to seeing everyones ideas. Now on to number 2!!

Cheryl

Uh-Oh!!

Do you know what this is? This is my vice ( another one!) It is an ad for an auction sale. It is tomorrow and most auctions are out in the country with blue skies and warm weather and all the contents laid out on the lawn for the world to see.. and I have been to some of those, but it is now winter and there's no way I am standing out in the cold for any bargain! (Well, maybe NO way.. but not likely!)

This one is going to be inside a HEATED hall with I'm sure CHAIRS and everything laid out on tables. And even tho it is nice to have chairs and heat- I still like the outdoor auction and digging through boxes they haven't had time for.

BUT, I ramble.

I have no choice this time of year and better than not right?

The list was in last weeks newspaper and it reached out and gripped its little claws around me " Large number of pieces from an old stone house...being as found" Lots of furniture, which I love but if you have seen my house and you have heard.. there isn't room for another stick of furniture AND the car I drive is a little convertible. YES, I have put the top down before to fit stuff in!!

So I guess that is a good thing... I wanted to get a truck or SUV but can you imagine the purchases then?! This keeps me limited anyway. But sometimes makes me cringe...this summer a pine drop leaf table for 5 bucks! And I had no room.AHHH!

Rambling again...

Back to the list:

Things I CAN fit in - Old sap buckets, old victorian style bird cage, cheese boxes, old kids toys, butter boxes,crocks, tin signs, quantity of old glass and china, large number of old books(!!!!!), sheet music, old prints and frames, costume jewelry, marbles AND the last sentence always to pique my curiousity - "numerous other antique pieces commonly found around an old farmstead".

It doesn't seem to faze me that it's over an hour away - EVERYTHING up here is an hour away. Or that I should be helping Sean with the house(he likes working alone anyway right?) or the other things that I SHOULD be doing. Forget that! I am getting up on a SAT morn at 7AM and going to check it out.

You'd do the same right?


OH, and since it is in a hall , they are set up for VISA which usually all you can use is cash or cheque.

Oh. my. goodness.

A comment - Wuh-hooo!

Thanks so much to Jen for the comment! I know.. ONE comment on my whole blog but it is the FIRST!!! YAY! That means someone is reading. Great feeling and motivation to keep going. Thanks again Jen!

Well, I am in the middle of the challenge and having a great time. I think this is the push I needed... I always have tons of ideas and never seem to follow through on them unless there is a deadline. Have to work on that I think.

Stay tuned for the pic of the first page.

Cabinet of Curiosities Challenge

I have signed up for the Cabinet of Curiosities challenge on Artsy mamas sight(link at the side). It is going to start tomorrow and she and Bonnie are going to give out themes. They want you to alter a book, or make 12 x 12 pages for scrapbooking. See more examples at the links at artsy mamas sight and her archives. At first I was just gonna watch, but the more I thought about it, I started to get ideas and I have tons of things to use so why not? Yesterday I got my book at Value Village ( a thrift store) and here is a pic of it.



It is a huge hardcover book called between friends. It was published between Canada and the US and showing all the towns and people and scenery along the longest border in the world. I thought this appropiate since I am in Canada and most in this challenge are from the states! Also, since this is a "cabinet of curiousities" it will be a nice title too. Between friends from me to whoever reads it.

The title is perfect since I am known ( maybe not in the best way either!) for my curiousity! I am a non stop question asker and people tend to get annoyed. I cant help it tho - I have to know things. How else will ya learn right?

There are lots of pictures I want to keep,

and to change and to cover! I'm gettin excited now.

When I was at the dollar store, I didnt want to buy anything except what I was there for ( pads for my couch feet) but I couldnt resist these!







They are stickers! That I can use in the book. They say all kinds of neat things like GLAm, Bliss and Queen Bee. I dont know how well you can see these, but for a buck!! They are puffy and shiny - how dorky am I to get so excited over a dollar. I can hear my daughter now... Oh please mom..

Stay tuned for more updates and if you are new to me cause of the challenge, please read my archives ( not that long!) and let me know you were here with some comments! Thanks!

Cheryl

Jelly beans

I didn't have a pic of jelly beans and I had this one of my yard a couple days after the snow! We got tons more yesterday and it looks like winter now. I had to actually shovel some - thats a first for this winter and that is rare.

Well, I just got home about 9pm and I was gone all day. Shopping and library!! I will update my purchases soon and let you all see!! Hint: Books and fabric!

I just wanted to post a story from tonight while it was still in my mind. I was in the mall going to the dollar store - LOVE the dollar store and this is not one of those stores where there are 2.99 and 12.99 etc. This is everything for a dollar and I cant believe how they do it so cheap. Tons of neat scrapbooking supplies and everything under the sun. They only take cash so thats one way they keep costs down!


Anyway, as I was walking down the mall, I passed a bunch of those candy machines.. you know the ones where you put in a quarter and twist and your candy comes out?

There was this little old lady in a wheelchair and she was trying to put the coin in. As I was walking past, my first thought was " That's cute... She wants some candy"

Then I saw her having trouble but I kept walking. I was having a debate in my head " You should go help her, no, she might take offence at that and want to do it herself" and back and forth as I walked on.

Ting... I heard her quarter fall to the floor.

I turned and walking back, I watched her try to reach the coin with her foot from the wheelchair. I reached her and asked her if she wanted me to get it. "Yes please".

I put the quarter in and turned easily to get a handful of brightly colored jelly beans. As I put them in her hand I excused my fingers and said "there ya go."

She turned up to me and said " Well now you must have one"

"No, it's ok" I said smiling.

"No please do" she insisted.

I said thanks and kept on my way.

And as I put a fat red jellybean in my mouth, I felt grateful for that oppurtunity and that I didn't just keep walking.



What have you done for your jelly bean today?

Some neat things...

These are some pics from the books I had _ yes they are already back at the library and 20 or more or coming!! I know... I think alot of these are DVDs tho which will be time consuming as well. The first book is Found Style by Amy and David Butler. A lot of neat pics of different rooms using flea market find and vintage items.










The other one was called Wild with a glue gun and gives many projects to make like beaded objects, wood chairs and these 2 which is a book lamp for the books you dont want!! and a reverse painted window for a house number. I have tons of these windows around, so it would be neat to try even a picture on it in reverse and hang it on my porch.







Thats it for now, my dial up is so slow it is driving me nuts!!

Cheryl

A corner in my house

From reading some blogs, I see a theme about the corners of your home. I think this is a neat idea so I'm putting up a pic. This is a corner behind me that is of course - BOOKS! It is my bookshelf that is packed full of books and magazines that I have read and need to read. I never get to them because I always have to read the library books!

Another shot is of my desk!! Which is a mess, but I wanted to show the neat pigeonhole cupboard sitting on it. It was originally going to go in my mudroom, but then I thought of here and it works great! I have it full of my papers and other things. I picked it up for 5 bucks at an auction this summer. Love it!



This is a close up of the top of the cupboard. I have had the mouse forever - and I just got the wooden cat on the books. I was going to sell it, but I love it and I didnt even see the connection until I put the things up there! So cute.



I managed to get through a wack of books today and some great ideas! I will share in the days to come.

Cheryl

Finally!! I'm doing some background

This would be an old window on my porch, it is about 6 ft long and a neat design with the small windows at the top. It is from a bunch of stuff I cleaned out of a barn ( another post!) and I see it fitting for today as I'm letting you in on a window of my life....Cheesy? Not meant to be!

Anyways... My name is Cheryl and I am just turned(end of Nov) 39 and I really am 39 but I probably will be that for a few years now!! I live in Ontario, Canada "up north" everybody says but there is still LOTS more north of here! We are about 2 hours north of the US border and we have no cel phone service, SLOW dial up and 1 yes, ONE TV station. We could get a dish, but I like the no choice thing... and no fighting. We watch lots of movies! That I get from the library (see yesterday's post) and I am on the computer ALOT especially with the blog now and getting caught up on reading all the great blogs out there.
I miss some shows, but now with them all on DVD, I can order them!

Everyone that comes here is HOW do you live up here? I have been here for about 5 years and I love it now. I dont love the hour and 1/2 drive to a city, but otherwise its great. WE are in the middle of tons of pine trees and about 2 acres of land here. Very private and peaceful.

I live here with Sean, my boyfriend of a year and my daughter Sarah who just turned 15 last week. We had a little house and we added on double the space this summer and it is great... The heating bill is not however, but thats what happens with more space! It worked out good that my boyfriend is a carpenter and we built it ourselves.
I want to post some pics of before and after shots - its still a work in progress.

I work from home, doing ebay, working on the house and I am in the process of wanting to open a store down by my Moms which is 2 hours! I know... it will be a seasonal thing I think or I will stay with her part of the week. Have to see. I am getting inventory and trying to find suppliers and also doing some work myself. It will be like a flea market, gift store, art and crafts, vintage things.... I am in middle of gettting concept and name and website and so on. Right now it is -10C out tho and I just think of staying warm! When spring comes, I will be all gung ho I'm sure.

I am an only child and have always lived in Ontario. We've moved about 25 times but always in the province, I have traveled to Europe, Ireland, England, the maritimes, Alberta, Florida and all states in between. Sarah and I are planning a trip march break to Cancun!! Cant wait - no snow ! and some heat. It's been a yearly thing for us for a while, we went to Disney World, Niagara Falls and New York on other years. New York will be a couple posts by itself. If you ever have a chance GO!

I love to travel and to go everywhere is one of my lifes goals. I also love to read DUH! and bake, paint, draw, refinish furniture and love shopping - in thrift stores and others! We have value village here which is a chain of thrift stores and Winners which is all new, but discounted stuff. I have found tons of stuff there and I will remake some and put in the store. I will post pics as I go. I like all kinds of music and have tons to listen to. I always have the music on instead of the TV which is good, coonsidering! I do miss the home shows tho, but I think I would always be watching!

We dont have any pets cause we are always on the go and the house is not big. I was thinking of a hamster?? But not sure how much fun that would be.

Well, I think I have bored you enough for now, but at least you have an idea who I am!

Cheryl

Books, books, books!!

This is what I have been doing today. Uploading all these books onto ebay. I have been doing this for a while now and I have done all the items from my Dads and grandads estate ended in Dec!!It was a long process, but worked out good for everyone. Now I am doing other peoples stuff and this is my friends stash. I also have a lot of stuff of my own to do. I did some of them today too. If you are wondering my ebay name is fromthepines same as here. I want to get a link to my auctions on the side, but I havent got that far yet! If anyone knows of an easy way to tell me, let me know.



Then... I went to the library!! YAY! I love the library and since I had 21 yes, 21 books in, I was excited. Our little town, which is 20 minutes away has a small library only 2 small rooms. BUT it is one of many and the head one is all online and thousands of books are there. I can put any book on hold and search for it and presto next week (or when its available) I get to pick it up! A lot came at once this week. Here are some close ups.





I cant wait to start now. I also got some DVDs and novels. House and Prep. I'm reading Elegance right now which is neat.

This was the view out the back today. It snowed yesterday!! After a month of no snow. Usually by now we have a few feet but it is nice on the heating bill!



My house - not quite but not much bigger!! I told you it was a cottage. This is my little bird house on one of the many pines.



Have a good day and I will get on that background too!! (I know, I know, I keep saying it) It's gonna be a long post, so maybe I'll do it in shifts or point form and then get more detailed later.

Thanks for reading!
Cheryl

Here is the full pic that got cut off down below.

New Post for 2007

Hi Again,

I have spent the last month it seems sitting at my computer! There are so many interesting blogs and so many links to more. I have got caught up on about 15 but I like to read them from the beginning so needless to say it is time consuming! My daughter is like " are you reading blogs again?!!" YES! There are so many creative people out there and it also inspires me to create and to share! I have been busy lately - I guess its that Christmas thing! But now everything is back to normal and now back to work!

I have a ton of pics to take for ebay and also to start painting and crafting. It's weird how now I think oh that would be a good pic for the blog!

After a few years!! of not painting - I got back into it this year and did some presents. It seems like a too weird coincidence that I am reading all this creative work by others?? It's awesome, now I have things swirling in my head all the time. The hardest part for me is actually DOING it, which I hope to work on this year.

some pics


This is a box before



This is it after. It has a drawer and made of walnut with the burl in the front. I gave it to my good friends who are very into hunting and fishing. They loved it!



This was a paddle I got in the store and then painted a cottage on it. It is my boyfriends families rental cottage that they built last year. This is a close up.



They really liked it and are going to mount it on the wall over a door in the cottage. When they opened it another family member wanted to know if I could make 2 more!! For her family. I was like sure! And to get paid too.

So now I know what I am supposed to be here for, like I said, its a matter of doing. Hopefully being on here and seeing everyone else doing it will propell me to continue. And knowing I can share here and get some feedback.

In some more posts, I will give you some more background of me and where I live, but I guess this is enough for now. I have some pics to take for ebay!