I’m thinking about an experiment.

I’m a plan-30-things-get-2-done-and-then-stress-about-the-list-left-over kinda gal. It’s obsessive and self destructive but not the worst habit out there I’ll admit. I find it fills me with purpose and satisfaction when I finally finish that list but sadly the list continues to grow and now I have décor, cooking and personal development plans most people don’t bother tackling in a life time. And thats just this week. 

It’s a lot to look forward to and I’ve been thinking I am stressing myself out.

Sure I could use to loose a few pounds.
Sure my apartment isn’t a stunning image of modern décor and organization.

Sure my cats bum hairs need to be clipped because he’s catching poop on his pants.

Sure I like to cook and spend way too much money finding new gadgets and ingredients to cook (I highly recommend truffle oil my friends, it’s to die for!)

Sure I write obsessively, have a full time job and take on all this other stuff on the side.

Sure I might be driving the BF crazy when I message him saying ‘Gonna pick something up after work. Love yoouuuu!!’ and bring home more junk.

Apartment Therapy's Pic:
Yeah pets are an awesome happy place. 

All that aside I also like to read blogs and today it may have actually helped me. Apartment Therapy, a design and life blog that I can’t stop reading and constantly yoinking design ides from, posted an interesting article this week: Your Weekly Retreat: How to Relax & Eliminate Stress at Home.

I’m of course thinking ‘Awesome new project!’ and true this probably feeds the obsession but it brought up some serious points.

PC all the way, fuck Macs. 

I am a techwhore. I love my laptop, my desktop and all my social connectivity programs and websites (strangely though not a big phone person…). One of the more important notes in the articles was finding an hour to ‘switch off’

“Unplug completely from all of your devices. Turn off your phone, power down the computer, and turn the TV off.”

This is a foreign concept to me. My first thougt was sure, I can turn off the computer and watch tv for a while. But then it said TV an dI thought, okay sure I can turn off the TV and play on my comp  a while.

So then I started thinking, 

Do NOT know where this comes from but hot Damn
that's a scary ass TV. 

DEAR GOD I AM UNABLE TO DISCONNECT!

Tonight I am making a plan. It won’t necessarily be super ‘me’ time as I have a boyfriend I live with and I like spending time with him, but I’m thinking we need to disconnect for a few hours tonight. Maybe read a book, turn off all the devices and just listen to the sounds of the city and my loud ass neighbors that I probably never hear because the TV is on when I do absolutely EVERYTING. Maybe I’ll brainstorm some story idea’s for NaNoWriMo? Or doodle like I used to. Maybe read up on my Tarot skills and practice or sand that motherfuckin’ magazine stand I’ve been meaning to refinish and purpose into a nightstand.

But that sounds like work and this hour is specifically a no work zone.

This could be my hardest project yet…. Wait I’m already thinking of it wrong.

Oh well, maybe I’ll feel some sort of satisfaction in just trying. I did clean the kitchen top to bottom last night and although I hated it and it’s dirty again already, goddamn did it feel good to see it clean.

/rant.

Liebster Award's are for cool people

Good morning and happy Tuesday!

I'll have you know I personally HATE Tuesdays because they don't even have the 'rested off the weekend' feel that Mondays can have, just 'the week has only started and I am soo willing to cut off my left foot to go home early' jive.

But this morning I received a lovely surprise in the nomination of a Liebster Award from Casey over at Waffling!

Liebster: German word that means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome. 


Long story long: 
Nessa over at Isle Style Living nominated Casey at Waffling for the Liebster Award along with four other blogs asking 11 questions that the nominees must answer. Casey then had to nominate 5 other blogs with under 200 followers and ask 11 questions. Casey's nominee's? 

• Helen at Seaside Interiors
• Linda at My Crafty Home Life
• Nette at This Dusty House
• Mrs. GI at The Great Indoors
• Lisa at Upset Apple Cart <--- That's me in case you were wondering. 

Now I have answers to those questions and if I knew any blogs with under 200 followers I'd totally harass them but I don't so here are the questions!

1. Why do you blog?

To get this shit out of my head. It’s the same reason I write fiction; if I don’t clear up the jumble sometimes I think I would go insane or start talking to myself in public about painting using string of the return of Bad News Bears. Although a great story for everyone else that I encounter I don’t know if it would gain me any lasting friendships.

2. What is your ideal first date?

Before Zach is was having one and the standard ended there. I didn’t date a lot. With Zach it’s going out for dinner, a long walk home, a few hours playing some fun co-op video game followed by sexy time. So like, my average Tuesday is the best date day ever every week.

3. What is your favourite childhood memory?

Walking down the road with my mom when I was about 4ish I think? It was a dirt road then, in Ajax where my parents had their first house, but I couldn't tell you the street now. Just a very happy walk, kicking stones and pretending I could skip while my mother kept me from falling. Simple but happy. 

4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Australia/New Zealand. It’s just so damn far and like alien world. Have you SEEN the animals that live there? Their rodents are like the size of our freaking dogs! Kangaroos are to them what raccoons are to us. BUT ENORMOUS AND HAVE POUCHES! It’s like going into space without all the space stuff.

Next would be the Amazon (not the online-market filled with buyable things but the forest with dangerous will kill you at any second things). EVERYTHING IS HUGE!! (Are you noticing a trend here?)

5. What was the last thing you bought for the home?
The kittens. I could live in cardboard boxes with a tarp as my bed sheet as long as I had the goddamn cats. Pets make me a better person, but the couch is a close second.

6. If you could be more knowledgeable in one subject, what would it be?
Science. Because I know so little about it I don’t even know how to subcategorize it further but if I could know more it would be science. All the science.

7. What would you say is your biggest weakness?
Self-control. Be it food, shopping, gaming, feeding cat nip to the kittens, procrastinating I am constantly battling my inner ‘MOAR’ monster for balance. The moster often wins (as evidence by this being written at my job)

8. What is your favourite food and when did you last eat it?
Crab meat and if we’re talking about fake Pollock it’s been like 2 days but the real stuff out of the legs of a crustacean…. It’s been a while. Maybe 6 months? It brings me to tears to think of the parting that brought about such sweet sorrow.

9. What is your leave favourite household chore?
Organizing. Or rather shopping for organizational tools that I can implement to make my life better. I don’t often actually get around to implementing but I love the shopping and planning for it.

10. Do you have any fears?
Clowns. Spiders. Bees. Heights. Awkward situations. Accidentally eating olives on pizza or in pasta.

11. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

5.

DIY: All you need is string?

I have been at the art-attack again. Well not really but I've been using my special powers of concept thievery to bring colour to a bland bedroom lined with oversized furniture and void of sunlight.

Originally I had planned for some picture to canvas transfers with two large canvas' I picked up months ago. When that didn't happen and I was devoid of something to fill the empty space on my bedroom wall I became antsy.

Zach had been painting a lovely table we found on the side of the road for our balcony (pics of that to come as well) and we had some blue paint leftover. Combined with my theivery of the DIY Idea from Apartment Therapy's post '10 DIY Wall Art Ideas That Anyone Can Do' which I'm very sure was inspired by some real abstract art (Birds on a wire 37, abstract oil painting) by Maria Kitano, I made this!

I love, love, love this blue. It's soo electric and I should really go find the name of it (there's still half a half gallon can left after these suckers and Zach's table) but for now it is my electric blue. It's one of those colours that jumps out at you and I'm pleased to say I now have a bathing suit in this wonderful shade.

I know in most of the 'Bird on a Wire' paintings the birds are hand painted along with the wire lines but I am not skilled with a paintbrush when it comes to details. Sculptures maybe, but pure paint on a canvas? I do NOT have the dexterity for that. So what did I do?

Here's my 'recipe' Bird on the Wire for the crafter how-to.

DIY: Chalkboard and Chalk Holder

DIY TIME!

So home alone last night as the BF was at work doing his teaching thing. I was terribly bored and so I continued working on a few DIY projects I finally picked things up for last week. First was some spray painting totally unrelated to this DIY post so I'll just leave you worrying about what I'm spray painting.
(insert maniacal laughter here!)

The final product:

The how to wil be much more complicated than you'd think... 

(P.S. Pardon the white space.) 

Saturday I picked up some stick on chalkboard.

HUZZAH! So after flattening it under some RPG books for a few days I was finally able to get this show going. 

Here's what came in the box.(RIGHT) Nothing too special. From here it was deciding where the hell to put this stuff. 

I decided on the front door. It's blank and we could use a note service of some kind here so we don't forget things like hugs and feeding the cats.

It should be noted that Chewie (one of my fantastic cats) feel the desire to help by standing behind me on the couch. 

Adorable little sucker.

I hate you Bruce Scanner

**Warning: This Post contains copious amounts of rage and thus lots of F-bombs. If you're not a fan, well... read the post anyways. If you are, Happy reading!!**

I have finally named my printer/scanner of 8 years and I sure as hell hope it's offended because I'm pissed.

Bruce Scanner was a reliable device until about 2 weeks before I moved. I came across some comics I'd drawn as a child. Well teenager is more accurate and comics is a stretch. More doodles with horrible jokes and commentary on strange things like chicken. All in all it was good fun! I was excited to find them and even more excited to share the insanity of my youth with the world.

It was then Bruce Scanner became involved.

For some HORRIFIC reason he decided to Scanner Hulk out on me and screw up every other scanned page. Out of like 15 (sure, I know it's not that many but COME ON) less than half were salvageable.

Now I had no idea that Bruce Scanner had transformed into the horrible mis-scanning monster of mild intelligence and carelessly did not pack these amazing horrible and questionably tasteless comics in the move. Thus, they are gone.

Forever.

FUCK YOU BRUCE SCANNER!!!

Shopping Adventures!

Saturday I went shopping with Casey over at Waffling on the Danforth. The weather was pretty crappy, windy and cold as hell after a nice warm wave earlier in the week. But, we had a great time without nice weather.

How you might ask?
We were shopping fool. And Shopping is fun.


First stop was Moss after meeting at Pape Station. Actually, after the fact I realized we should have met at Chester, but anyways. Moss! It's a nice little store that specializes in outdoor and garden stuffs like furniture, some plants, decorative elements. Everything in this store I would put in my apartment so we went to look at awesome things and so I could share with Casey the greatness that is Moss.


First of which, that both Zach and I adore, is this pretty freaking awesome pillow. Now neither of us are sailors and I can't stand Moby Dick (still haven't finished it after years upon years of trying...) so you might think it's strange but this pillow is awesome. All grey and canvas-y and it's got a big-ass whale on it. It would go great with the new couch too, but something tells me that $34 for a pillow is beyond my spending habits so all I have is this photo of the original plankster.
Yeah.
I went there.

My Hurr

Today was a relatively uneventful day compares to last night where, coupled with late trains, I not only missed an important Skype date with friend trapped in Merry Old England but assembled a couch all by my lonesome. I won't claim to be sad about the assembly. It was fun and triumphantly awesome!

Today though is uneventful. Just regular work where co-worker's not in so I was in alone. Simple regular lunch, nice day outside I can't enjoy because of online job. sigh. Regular old Wednesday.

Aside from a new schmancy hair cut!!! 

Now we need a before picture and since I forgot to take one with my nice camera's at home you're all just going to have to deal with craptacular cellphone pictures. Or picture, singular. Because only one of like 15 turned out.

Hurray for new hair! 

I'm a fan of bangs on other people and trying it now on myself should prove to be interesting. Maybe not the smartest idea just before summer, but I have bobby pins: I'll live. 

But this new hairstyle does lend well to hair accessories. TO ARDENE!

Anyhoo, that is my uneventful day. Plus some fan shopping because goddamn is it hot in this apartment. 

We be Couchin'!

I've moved into an apartment (in like January...) and I got my brothers old hand-me-down couch.

Embrace the plaid loveliness!!

When I was given the thumbs up to take this couch I was sooooo happy, knowing I had no couch and this would be better then no couch as my bum has become accustomed to soft couches in my 26 years. But this couch is tooo soft. It sinks like a sinky hole of sinky sand and it's lovely to sink into but a nightmare to get out of.

Every time the other half and I try to get up from comfort we're grumbling and grunting like an old married couple. So sinky couch is a lovely free bane (one of the many I've inherited since the move).

Solution?

MY BIRTHDAY!!

Apparently my bitching pays off as this year my mother took me out couch shoppin'. There's a lovely strip along Kennedy north of Eglinton Avenue that is like the weird ass 'design district'. I call it weird ass because the entire time I felt like we were looking for the shaddiest used car dealership but in realty it was furniture stores.

Not too dissimilar now that I've been shopping for butt cushions.
Whenever we walked in (my mother hobbling from a heel muscle injury, and me hungover from getting tanked the night before) someone would immediately offer help. Oh thank you, that's nice but we're just looking. Sooo that's now code for 'I will show you all the expensive things I want you to but now. Come this way.' One guy even tried to get me to design my own couch and he would deliver it once it was made. The girl in me was like 'YAY PERSONALIZED COUCH OF ORANGE!' while my mother shook her head politly indicating 'I'd like to sit on the couch before I buy it, but thanks.' What a trooper.

Store to store to store. We started the process of wondering if I had too expensive taste, if I knew what I wanted, did I really need a couch, what if the other half doesn't like it. Finally we agree to just find my style and move on from there and at the last store (we're now running late to meet and pick up the BF at the train) we find THE couch.

Its grey.

It's boxy.

It's comfortabel and hard.

It looks like it's from the 50's.

It's heaven.

Price tag 1250$. We both scoff, make fun of the gilded throne pieces nearby and move on.
After a second pass my mom 'pssts' me over like she's found a rip that will discount it 900%.
Mom: 'It's 1250$'.
Me: 'Yeah I know. I have great facy ass taste.'
Mom: 'FOR 3 PIECES'
Me: '3 PIECES?! WE JUST WANT 1!!'

All of course in strategic hushed tones. We then sit on it. Sit on it a different way. Sit on it again and then I run to find a sales associate.

It was still more than my mom wanted to spend so we split it fairly (she paid more) and set up delivery.
We had been successfully couchin'.

And it arrived!!!

GREY

SQUARE

50's

PERFECT!

The cats will ruin it but not until I sit my ass down and enjoy the fruits of my couchin' labour. Goddamn does it feel good to have such awesome taste.

But what ever shall happen to the terrible sinking couch of doooom?

CRAIGS LIST!

KIJIJI!

If you want it it's yours.  Condition: take fabulous pictures of you or your loved ones swallowed alive. It would make my day.

Spring ='s Dresses

It's no secret that I am not a fan of heat. I don't particularly like the cold all that much either but I can stand it. Being hot and sticky in the summer is no treat and I dread the end of spring just as much as I love the start of fall.

Now I'm not a little girl and I've never been a 'girly' girl. Well not never, my mother dressed me up in wool and corduroy dresses as a child and I twirled, but it's been a very very long time since I've worn a dress (not including weddings).

But there is always time for a change and I think a sun dress or two might be a good start. Wanna know why?

1. Pants are too freaking hot in the summer. There's nothing worse than sitting on a bus or subway in hot stuck-to-your-thigh pants. Okay maybe hot-stuck-to-your-bare-thigh-seat is pretty bad, but not so bad as long as you feel cool.

2. I look horrid in shorts. Always have and probably always will. I blame my family for my snu-snu amazonian thighs and thus don't really bother wearing shorts all that much.

3. Skirts require coordination. I'm a lazy girl who likes to get up 15-30 minutes before I head to work and coordination is the first thing to go in the morning. Dresses alleviate that need to know what you're doing. One piece, maybe some shoes (mine are all black or brown) and a shrug. Which is probably white or grey. It leads to thinking I might be less of a fashion disaster if I wear these one-sies.

4. I kinda want to feel pretty and twirl again. It doesn't mean I'm a girly girl, and I'm still going to love Star Wars (4-6 only dear Lucas) and play Left for Dead 2, capping zombie bitches one head-shot pop at a time.

And since spring weather is in full 'OMG SUMMER IS TOMORROW' swing I've been attacked with blogs on the weather and spring things to do. Since my originality is zapped by all that button arting I've been doing I've been shameless storing blog post ideas on cute things to do with summer attire.

Credit to A Beautiful Mess Blog. Clicks are encouraged. : )

Like today, A Beautiful Mess Blog posted a lovely feature on Jill from Lune Blog (seven degrees of blogging much?). Bleach Painting on Textiles D.I.Y. is a great 'beginner' idea to make clothing your own. I'm starting to think with my lack of funds thrift stores will be my source of 'sort of fitting' clothes for cheap. That and the Walmart I sold my soul to is in Pickering, and until I get it back I can't sell it to the one on Eglinton.

With some bleach painting I can make the thrift store nuggets my own. Instead of inspiring sayings I will probably just use the names of my blogs or famous Star Trek, Kids in the Hall and Archer quotes taken completely out of context.

So I'll leave you with your thoughts on what summer is inspiring you to do. Me; buy flowers, a new couch, dresses and a haircut (if all goes as planned).

I feel like I should say balls because I havn't yet this post.

Cheers!

Button Art is cooler than you

Long story short, I’m obsessive compulsive. When I’m bored I like to keep my hands busy by normally organizing, or when I was a kid I made those ‘rad’ fabric bracelets and wore ten of them at one time on my arm even when I was in the shower… ahem. Yes.

So needless to say after a month of living in the new apartment I started to get a little squirrely on the weekends when video games no longer sated the need to ‘do something’. The boyfriend will contest that it is a state most dire, when I flop of the couch, sigh repeatedly and say ‘I’m borrredd’.

He hates and loves that shit.

Well, I found myself bored with a lot of buttons.

‘Why do I have a shit-ton of buttons?’ you may ask?

None of your goddamn beeswax good sir. I had them for a very long time as I don’t throw out anything that could be useful. How I’m not a recurring star on hoarders still baffles me.

But I had all these buttons.

And a paint gun, some beat up cardboard and crap loads of time.

Button Art was born.

This is the final creation after one of the most frustrating outings to Walmart I’ve ever had. That is a whole other story about how no one in this world has buttons and apparently asking for them at the dollar store, Walmart, crafts stores and home hardware deserves ridiculous glares and confused looks like I've asked for Soylent green 

It took some time, but the design was simple. Curvy stuff plus cute bursts of colour surrounded by black (because my walls are all white) equals ‘art’.

How-To (thank me later)

1. Design: This is where you decide what you want to do with what you have. I did white swirls with small colour burst. You might be feeling a glob of rounded poop on a silver platter. Whatever floats your boat. 

2. Paint that on your cardboard: I didn't do this and now regret it. So make sure you paint your cardboard first. It also gives you a blue print to follow when putting back your buttons. I would have appreciated this earlier in the design. 

3. Heat up your glue gun: Pretty obvious what to do here and why. Cold glue is solid people. 

4. Begin with your least moveable object: Glue the back of your buttons with a small amount of glue and put them on your design. Make sure you start with your main focus or fixed center. It's better to start in the middle and build out. 

5. Continuing buttoning until your fingers hurt: That's just the hot glue, don't worry so much. Just remember to be safe and not to put the glue gun on anything important, like a cat. 

6. Dry

7.(actually#2) Hang: if you were smart enough you'll go back to number one and before you start gluing you'll add your hanging hardware after you design. I didn't so a hole was poked and it's sitting on a nail. Button's aren't heavy so it didn't need much to keep it on the wall. 

8. Take a picture and send it to me. This is the most important step!!! I must compare your button Art to mine and determine who's is cooler than yours. Which would be mine. (just kidding, I mostly want to see who else is compulsive enough to do the same damn thing) 

9. Enjoy!

10. 9 steps isn't enough. It took way too long. Or you could use this time to bandaid the blisters you most likely received gluing the tiniest buttons you've ever seen. 

Would I do it again?

I plan to but finding the buttons for my next ambitious project has been pretty trying on my tiny amount of patience. And I’m suffering from acute and super lame insomnia this week – so another time!!!

Do you like? Maybe not the blisters soo much but the art is lovely.

But remember folks, I feel no pain when ‘arting’. Nor should you. 

Friday Update of Epic Proportion

I may have lied on the epic-ness but I think you'll live.

Another week done and I feel like I haven't done all that much. Oh well, I guess it's time to start that thing professional or 'well visited' blogs do and recap.

My bigass online footprint

On that place called Wattpad - Something Blue (cont'd). Checkout Vanair for all story posts.

UpsetAppleCart Publicity and Promotions - Crawling Back to the Blogverse : you didn't think I'd hide my professionalism here now did you? This talks a bit on scheduling and the importance of it to publicity (though it really could work with just about any damn profession).

DeviantArt Pictures - Why? Because there are kittens and you know you want the goddamn kittens. Of course you could just stalk my Facebook photo's and see them there too.

Do you like the card game Bridge? I DIDN'T THINK SO! But it case you are one of the 1% of people I know that do we've announced (at my day job) the 2012 ABTA/Master Point Press Bridge Teacher of the Year Award winner: Mary Jane Orock of Texas!! Hurray!!
If you don't know what it is I'm not telling you...

ComixTribe The Red Ten #2 Reviews: Sure it's technically last week but I'm still proud of how well it's doing! (and I love all the clickables in the post!!)

Shit you should click because I said so

Check out Waffling's post The Challenges of a Small Space.  I may have just whored her out earlier this week by doing a 'blog inspiring me to blog again' post, but she made some interesting points about living in small spaces. Which I do appreciate.

Story by Trish (aka Trewest on Wattpad) Carnal Ferocity, a beauty and the beast retelling where I am a muse. Beauty or beast? Be careful how you answer... She needs to update more than she does for this story but I'll cut her slack because she knows where I live and some of my secrets. Sigh, the things we do for privacy.

The conclusion of Face Off was this week and I nearly shat my pants with anticipation. Needless to say I was pleased that Royce won. Hurray for the only reality Television show I enjoy!! (Watch streaming online at TV Links or don't. Your choice to click. )

ComixTribe A Million Dollar Title. Has some great points about what titles work within the industry and why. Plus the comments are where the magic is: tons of great and terrible title ideas.

Until next time. .

Is there room for a comeback?

It’s been far too long since I’ve blathered and flamed. A lot has happened and I’m not terribly sure where to start so today I think I’ll begin with something SUPER NEW!!!

My friend Casey, awesome gal I’ve known since I was a wee-little third grader, has started a blog called Waffling. Huzzah!!! She’s going to be talking about her apartment and how she’s been, and will continue to do make it her own.

It’s one of those tiny-ass apartments you can just barely fit everything into, but it has a great location downtown Toronto and so far it’s freaking awesome. I’m excited to see what she writes, you should be too.

In other news: I’ve moved to the same damn city!! Maybe I’ll throw some of my own apartment inspirations up while trying to make it more of a home.

Until then,