Secret Xmas Workforce

Mini Were-Bear

I'm talking about all the crafters out there who slave away in their living rooms, spare guestrooms and wherever they can find space in their homes to spread out the paint and glue guns. I salute you all and I'd leave a Costco tub of Danish butter cookies at every one of your doorsteps if I could.

Me, I've been busy. Yeah. Rippin' busy so if you don't see another post till next friday, you'll know. I finally got around to finishing those three bears that were patiently waiting for since oh, last August. Mini Were-Bear is my Month of Softies submission for December.

There's two tote bags left over from my November give-away, free for whoever likes to give me a link. Check out the details here!

flaky friends

These plaques are going to two overseas friends and if they're reading this, I hope they don't mind the belated gifts. The older I get, the more appealing procrastination gets over worrying if my skill is good enough.

hung w/ care

I handsewn these felt stockings for pennies apiece and have held Dave and I in good stead for 7 christmases in a row. It reminds me of our early days when I didn't even have a sewing machine to call my own, uh... I notice your eyes wandering to the fake Magnum .454. We're not gun nuts. That was my gag gift for Dave last year, made from the busted bits of a butt ugly wooden towel rack I ripped out of the master bathroom. From this angle you can't see the missing paint on the muzzle tip. He uses it to scratch his ingrown beard hairs, all the while appearing to be comitting suicide. Hilarious.

More Things to Do, *sigh*

balalaika bear

I added a base to another wooden bear I bought last month through eBay. Here it is with glue drying at its feet, sitting on a makeshift ledge at my desk.

bellows

Rather than buying one of these things, I'm trying to make one. I woke up today thinking "I'm tired of blowing lit kinding to the point of passing out. I need a bellows." After tinkering for an hour, I've got two rough looking ping pong paddles. I'll post more about this later... that is if I feel like working on it again.

My World Froze Overnight

frozen Ol' Nibbles

Once in a while Whistler experiences freezing rain when an afternoon rainstorm continues through to the dropping temps at night. At daybreak the neighbourhood becomes a crystallized and brittle winterscape, not unlike a frozen above-ground Pompeii.

frozen bush branches

The branches of our deciduous bush, flash frozen in a glistening layer of ice. It looks just like a Dale Chihuly sculpture.

A Cute n' Furry Waste of Money

No sooner had I posted about wood shavings once used as toy stuffing, Spirit Fingers mentions a ridiculously expensive Steiff bear stuffed with the dreaded excelsior. You'd think they could afford better, less flamable stuffing say, krugerrands?

A curious thing

Fir Pitch

I struggled for half an hour to chop this stump into pieces and found out the source of the trouble; a huge deposit of pitch in the centre with the wood grain gnarled all around it. To my surprise, it smelled like a big wad of pink chewing gum fresh out of a wrapper... burned like gasoline in the fireplace too, wowee!

Xmas card 2005

xmas card

After getting a whack of chores done on my 'to do' list, I'm beginning to adress the more creative tasks on my drafting table waiting get done. I've got to remind myself to post more crafty things in the near future, which is the original point of my blog in the first place. This one is also my submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic, 'surprise'.

Check it Out!

Firewood Wrap-Up

lcy Dicey Drive

Last week was definetly the last time for firewood gathering till next year. It doesn't take much snow to make a 18% road grade slippery as hell, and kinda risky with 800 lbs of loose wood in the back and a 800 ft drop off the shoulder into the river below. Contrary to what my city friends assume, I put up a fake tree for Christmas. Real trees are a total pain in the ass to get in and out of the house, nevermind the fire hazard. Besides, I see so much tree carnage in the Soo Valley that I loathe chopping down a perfectly healthy specimen if I can help it.

rock on the road

For some time I've wanted to show youse guys this boulder at the 2.5km point. A souvenir of the last Ice Age on earth 10,000 years ago. There are glacial deposits way bigger than this all over BC.

Last Chop

We went back to this part of the Soo Valley to chop the rest of a log we worked on last month. The top half of this fir tree had more sap veins than the bottom and I found myself sticky all over. Adding insult to injury, sap hardens on your clothes in the wash. No biggie. Mother Nature wins again.

My Mum is a Chew Toy

Panda play

L'il Bologna Loaf is here again tussling with his Mum. I think she's spending a little less time with him as it seems when she approaches, he's on top of her pronto. He's also chewing bamboo bits and straw while sitting on his bum, a new ability of late.

Check it Out!

lie like a throw rug

Be warned, often when I log on to the Panda Cam he's out like a light. Not too exciting, I know.

Bear Comedy Relief

polar bear at zoo
Originally uploaded by camden hackworth.

Despite her fondness for drinking soy sauce straight out of the bucket, she manages to keep her fur spotlessly white.

Too Hot
Originally uploaded by merkwurdigliebe.

The zoo started a 'Clue-style' murder mystery day to improve visitor participation. It was the polar bears turn to provide a 'victim' and this guy volunteered to be Colonel Mustard.

polarbear having fun
Originally uploaded by lifeskills13.

Bernie found a way to bypass the fence around the bear enclosure by sucking the food out of the hands of unsuspecting onlookers.

bear_kiss
Originally uploaded by lifeskills13.

He's a professional bear kisser so please, please don't try this at home.

Numo has a Blog

I mentioned Numo earlier and to my surprise, his owner has made a blog. Come and say hello!

Discipline is Futile

mum-cub fun

Who'd have though panda mums would have the same problems as human mums. L'il Bologna Loaf prefers to wrestle than nurse and it appears to be driving Mei crazy. She laid on her back a good eight times, a cue that 'dinner's ready', only to end up protecting her face from getting chewed off. Still, it's cute to watch their shananigans.

Check it Out!

Unfortunate Bridesmaids and More

taking a fashion bullet for the bride

I've got to mention one of my favorite photoblogs, Bighappyfunhouse. A wonderful collection of other people's discarded old photos updated regularly, and the pie is free.

Cover Up

office door

I love the randomness of old photos capturing long ago subjects of this and that. I don't like the hollowcore doors in my house and don't have spare cash to replace them, so I pepper them with licence plates bought through eBay or in the case of Dave's office door, smother it with printed jpeg files.