Steady...

After the white balance revelation yesterday I tried to take some photos of some chiyogami earrings in progress this morning, but they are all hilariously blurry. Using a white balance adjusted camera means having to press down on the shutter longer, and I am a bit of a wiggly photographer. Plus, I cannot seem to stop laughing while taking photos today. So you may have to wait awhile to see the fruits of my "discovery"...

It was my birthday last week and I didn't post any birthday photos, did I? So here I am with my birthday cake at taiko (Japanese drumming) practice last week-end with Arashi Daiko, my second family. If you click on this photo, you'll note youngest member, Calvin, staring intently at the cake.

And... this was my 9th birthday party in 1976. That's me holding Barbie on a bicycle (easier to see if you click on the pic). Roxanne is holding Olympic Ken, whose head, at some point, I stuck in the boiling kettle spout to see what would happen - his hair and eyebrows peeled off , but they were just painted on anyway. And no, I can't remember why I did that. Probably the same reason why I hacked off another Barbie's hair - and just so you know, a pixie cut is a no-no for Barbie since her roots look like hair-plugs.

The only boy I invited was my cousin, Mitsuo, in the white shirt in front, who is also a taiko player in Alberta, with Edmonton's Kita no Taiko. I was the only girl at his party that year too.

Coffee is almost ready and then back to work...

The birthday girl's workshop...

I can now say I am IN my 40's. Last year was kind of exciting hitting the big 4-0 and the year has just zoomed by. So now that I'm 41, I am proud to say in am IN my 40's. *Pause* I still don't feel any different. Maybe just a wee bit smarter... ☺

Well, I would like to offer YOU a gift on my birthday. With any purchase of up to $25 in my Etsy shop , choose one of the following cards for free:
Positivity or Happy Thoughts, Happy Doxie, Bunny Blue, Chick Little, or Sakura in Bloom .

... And - for my blog readers only - purchase more than $25 and pick any 3 cards for free, or a free pair of sushi earrings! Please mention "Blog" in the note to seller at checkout.

Where it all happens...
Now I thought I'd show you where I work. I am lucky enough to be able to work from home (I am a self-admitted mole who can stay home without leaving the house very happily for days on end) and have my own little work space. I feel a little more comfortable with calling it my workspace or workshop, since "studio" makes it sound like I'm an artist or something.

On one side of my little room is my polymer clay and jewellery set-up, which tends to get pretty messy and accumulated with piles. This is after a clean-up, when you can actually see the table surfaces. The added square table for my jewellery assembly and the hardware storage for all my beads and stones was the best investment I made three months ago; before that I had all of this in a huge plastic wheely bin that I was working out of. I had to rummage through containers of beads and pull out the ones I needed, and then put everything back in the bin at the end of the day. Not fun. Very happy with this layout.

This is my paper table, which is also usually covered. Eventually when I have my humungous dream workshop, I will have a sprawling table that is solely for working; right now it also serves as a bit of storage space and paper cutter stand, but it's pretty functional. I think I just have to learn to clean up after every project and not wait for an accumulation of 4 or 5 sittings of mess.

Just next to my paper table are two big storage units for supplies; the third storage unit is out of viewing range, to the right of the recycling box. The recycling box is in front of the closet door, which remains closed at all times to contain a rumbling avalanche.

This is how my tables are laid out. I can just wheel around to whatever station I need to work at. And that's Chibi the cat's little spot at the window on top of the radiator.

Hope you enjoyed my little birthday workshop tour ☺ To work I go!

Did you know I'm also a proud auntie?

Yesterday was one of my nieces, Sarah's, 15th birthday. We had this dessert for the occasion, a Paris Brest, the epitome of decadence - a perfectly golden pastry ring, filled (jam-packed) with cream and berries. Sigh. Yum. The little green spots on the strawberry and the whipped cream is actually melted wax from the candles, not mold, in case that's what you were thinking.


Both Sarah and her sister, Amy, soon to be 13, are rhythmic gymnasts, which means they are ridiculously flexible and can make throwing what resembles a bowling pin look graceful (I'm serious). They'll be going to Edmonton, Alberta in a few weeks for the nationals, but before that, Sarah will be going to Moscow for an international competition, since she's ranked 4th in Canada at the Junior level. She has already been to Belgium and Portugal - how lucky is that!

Last night she shared the Russian she's learned from the other gymnasts at their club: toilet, throw, bumpy road, goat, catch, eat, green. Handy if she needs to throw a green goat in the toilet, and then catch something to eat on a bumpy road.

Here she is competing in Belgium last year.

Here are Sarah and Amy holding one of their wild bedazzled costumes. They look pretty garish up close, but from far away all you see is a faint glimmer of sequins and crystals. Parents and coaches apply each sequin and crystal by hand and some of these suits have 3000 Swarowski crystals on them, making them worth around $400 a piece (don't even bother counting the hours it took to apply all the shinies!). And yes, they have different suits for each routine.

Sarah is smart and cheeky. Loves pasta as much as her Auntie Sandra and Uncle JF do! She is maturing into a wonderful young adult, and we like to embarrass her whenever we can. She just rolls her eyes ☺

Amy is the vaudevillian of the family. Ever since she was a wee thing, she's had a schtick! Cracks us up. She is also one of the most thoughtful soon-to-be teens I know. She has always been quite the grilled cheese afficianado, but has recently discovered the joys of a good chicken fajita.

These are just two of my eleven nieces and nephews. Maybe I'll write about the others and embarrass them all...

I don't FEEL any different...

I celebrated 40 years on this planet last week-end.

It started with my sister taking me out for Indian food on Friday night (delish!); Saturday night my husband, JF, took me out for sushi, and he then cooked up an amazing brunch for family and friends on Sunday. Here I am carefully cutting my luscious St-Honoré (hubby didn't make that). Notice I am also wearing my Kodo concert t-shirt. (*see previous post for info on Kodo)

People were asking me if I feel any different now that I'm forty. Am I supposed to? The only difference this year is that my mom was not with me, which was a little hard. I know she would have been very impressed with all the food JF made.

Maybe I do feel a bit different in that I'm a little more comfortable with my own creativity. Might sound strange, but I've always put down what I do, what I make - just seems normal to belittle myself. Don't we all do that to some extent?

I made these chokers for a custom order today. Pretty happy with how they turned out - see how comfortable I am! I've got to work on more for my craft show next week-end.

And I listed these earrings. I'm having a good time taking photos, finding different backgounds for my pieces.