- free blog (Two posts in one day? Yes, because my music monday was RUINED by the YouTube sheriff.)

You know those cute little owls that bloggers have in their sidebars all the time that proudly proclaim "AD-FREE BLOG"? 

I don't see anything wrong with a blogger having advertisements, as long as they're tastefully placed and not all up in my face, (whoa, that rhymes!) so I felt like using that banner would have been a little hypocritical...but I really like the owl guy, so I decided to make myself a little guy that pertained to my blog instead. Here are some of the prototypes:

I started having too much fun, and thought of all the other bloggers out there in the world who maybe have ads on their blog but like the little owl guy with the speech bubble, so I made a bunch more. You all can steal any of these and use them if you like, just right click on the image and save it to your own computer. The original image is actually quite large, so you can resize it to whatever fits your own format.

 

 

You're welcome. :)

And if you want me to make you a personalized one, send me an email, I'd be happy to oblige.

Silly Christmas crafts...I was bored, okay?

Living outside of town sucks, man. Here I am, doing nothing...bored...again. I'm supposed to be at work by now but road/weather conditions are making it impossible. Snow day? More like blow day. Yesterday I made the house look like Christmas while Ryan was out driving in terrible weather for eight hours to pick up his kids. 

First I went bananas on some scrap pieces of felt I found in the toy room and some string, scissors and white glue I had for some reason in my office. 

Then I set up the tree and wrapped a couple presents to put underneath. Man we have some weird decorations. Every year Ryan lets the kids pick out one new ornament for the tree each...

 But I have a weird one too...this is a photograph of my late grandma Carol...in a plastic ball with some sparkles and ribbon. Everyone in the family got one of these on our first Christmas without her. It's really ugly and weird, but it actually means a lot to me. So out it comes, every year.

Here's the tree, along with a "ghost", moments before that cup of water on the table was knocked all over Ryan's back. It sounds like a funny story, but after two hours of sleep, driving 8 hours, an hour nap and getting ready to go back to work the graveyard shift he had very little sense of humor left. 

-----------crafts are fun-----------

jacket button win!

My winter jacket was in the closet. When I pulled it out, I was almost late for work. I was in a hurry. I put it on and went to button it up...

But it was missing both its buttons!

NOOOOOOoooOOOOooooooOOOO!

So I did what any irrational human being in a rush would do; I checked the pockets.And yeah, there was a button there. But only one. And I didn't have time to sew it. 

So I safety pinned it on. And then I took the decorative pin that was on the collar, and used that as a second button. Three days later, they're both still working out well, and I think it looks kind of cool. 

 

(don't mind the cat hair)

Check out the winter boots. They're "Alberta rocker chick"

according to my boss. I just thought they were pretty. 

(boots by rocketdog)

My jacket is like a metaphor for the entire unpreparedness of  this city for the sudden winter. I mean, look at this mushroom! The flowers! The leaves!

The bicycle that maybe should have gone into the shed!

What a funny place I live. 

A mid-November reminder...

I'm over here today!

Thanks again Danielle

for letting me be a part of your fantastic blog!

On novel writing

It's so frustrating...I've got like TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND words down (it sounds like more in caps I think) but it's all short story-ish. I'm aiming for a novel, not a ... compilation. Nothing is going together right.

Have any of you ever written an entire book? Did you plan it out before hand or just ... start? I have a bunch of good pieces, but it's useless without a theme or something.

Maybe I need to plan more and start again.

Advice? Consolation?

nova's 365 project

Alright alright, I'm starting a 365 blog...this one is getting too bogged down with pictures and I just can't stop!

Check it out!

It's my two hundredth blog post. Watch out.

So I thought I'd make myself a really cool image to go along with this momentous occasion: my two hundredth post.

First, I used Old English font, and lined it up all nicely. It was cool and all but it kind of seemed like it was missing something.

I racked my brain. What could go with Old English?

Old English...England...old tyme...medieval times...

(snaps fingers dramatically) I GOT IT! A tribal dragon!

So, using my rather professional paint program skills I placed a sick dragon beside the words.

Yeah, much more radical.

But, you know what the picture was missing? Something to celebrate somebody's heritage. I mean, personally I'm not Scottish or anything but a Celtic knot would really make the picture come alive. It's pretty simple, actually. And small. I thought that if I could make the dragon holding a Celtic knot in it's claw, then it would really finish it off nicely.

Yeah. Awesome.

Except...I think that I need to show how Canadian I am. Maybe in the other claw I'll put a maple leaf. So like, it totally represents me, you know? And where I live. So like, I can show people and they'll be like "Oh, she's a Canadian."

I should also stick a banner with Ryan's name in there somewhere.

Yeah! Sweet!

Now all it needed was a little ICP-style juggalo makeup and a tongue ring on the dragon to make it look tough, and voila:

Fuck yeah.

Anybody wanna let me design their next tattoo?

It's HERE!!

army guys

Apparently this guy made these letters, but I found it here.

work renos!

(part one: the new floor 1/2 done)

Oh my gosh, I never knew renovations could be so much fun! So far I've gotten to watch people tear up the floor (I would have helped but ... let's just say I wasn't really dressed for it), hammer and saw random things, tear apart a bathroom, be noisy and dirty...I never get to do these things!

So the next step in the great shop endeavor is tearing down the walls...open concept shop! Woo!
I really really want to try it...destroying walls. Ever since I heard about the time my friend was in some kind of constructiony job and he got to help renovate the high school he attended a few years previous...he got to destroy the high school! A dream come true, no?

So maybe, if school doesn't get in the way I'll help with that.


I've been really into trying new things and learning new skills, perhaps because my scholarly adventures are coming to an end. It's time for new experiences!

What an exciting time.

Oh, did I ever show you guys the retaining wall Ryan and I made? It's pretty plain but it's the sturdiest wall in existence. (I LOVE HYPERBOLES) Check it out!