July Ad Opportunity

How is it even possible that June is almost over? That we're half way through the year?!?? Tomorrow is the first day of summer. July is dashing in, bringing with it relentless heat and the lazy days of summer.

And that means it's time to think about July advertising! I have tons of good stuff planned, including summer recipes, recommended reading, sketchbook pages and tutorials. I'll also be heading North near the middle of the month, so you can count on tons of inspiring nature photographs!

If you're interested, you can find all the details HERE or by clicking on the "Advertise" tab at the top of the page. 

What to do: 

First you'll need an ad - make it jpg or png, 200px (width) by 150px (height). If you don't have one already, I can make it for you. Send your ad and the link to the site you're advertising to ulixis.crafts@gmail.com. Please include "Advertisement Opportunity" as the subject line. If you have any questions, I'd love to hear from you!

Mosaic Monday

It's Mosaic Monday! I hope you'll join us - it's really easy! Just make a photo mosaic - you can use whatever photo editing software you like, or a website such as the mosaic maker and photos from Flickr - then post it on your blog. Go ahead and pick a theme if you want, but don't feel like you have to. Have fun with it!

Make sure to include a link back to my blog so that everyone can participate. Then come back here and submit a link to your blog post (using the "add your link" button at the bottom). I'll be looking and commenting on each one!

Here's mine for this week: bettas.

1. Betta Display, 2. Betta splendens, nido 1, 3. betta_splendens_01, 4. Betta splendens, nido

Here's the list of mosaics for this week. Once you've blogged, click the button below to add your blog post link.

Sunday Seven

Here are a few things I'm grateful for this week:

Sunday: the cooling spray of a waterfall 

Monday: cooking dinner with a friend (taking advantage of A/C)

Tuesday: learning a new language just for fun

Wednesday: productive job search days

Thursday: the Emily Carr exhibit at the AGH

Friday: inside jokes and Liir

Saturday: summer BBQ parties 

What are you thankful for this week?

Project 52 - 24/52

Week 24 - here's my photo:

Regrowing green onion on my windowsill. The smaller ones were added a week or so after the big ones - the green parts are new growth!

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I'd love it if you'd participate with me in this challenge! The rules are simple - take 1 photo a week, for 52 weeks. No theme, just a photo of something that sparked your interest during the week. Feel free to use my Project 52 banner as well. Either right click on the image above and save it on your computer, or follow this link and download it from Flickr.

Once you've taken your photo, post it online somewhere and add your link in the submission box below.

Meet my New Friend

I've had a pet for as long as I can remember. We always had cats and dogs and I got my first fish tank... gosh, maybe when I was in grade 5 or so? Then I had a bird through high school and university. But ever since losing my finch Micheal last fall, I've been pet-less and lonely, especially sitting here all alone all day, plugging away at my job search. So I decided to get myself another fish - why not? Bettas (or Siamese fighting fish) are very easy to care for and pretty cheap. Plus, I already had a bowl and some rocks that would be perfect for him.

Recognize the dish? I made a terrarium out of it last fall, but the cactus was not doing so well. So I moved him into a little pot in preparation for my new friend:

Hopefully he'll do better with more sun and air circulation.

So can you spot my fish? Haha! I'd be pretty surprised if so - he isn't in there yet. This is where he'll be residing though. I set everything up yesterday and went to the pet shop today. I thought I wanted a red one, but then I saw this little guy:

Although you can't really tell much in these photos, his colouring is gorgeous - a lovely dark shade of blue with purple and red in his fins. His fins are also edged in white and the small ones in front are nearly transparent with a few spots on them. The bottom fin is also scalloped in the back. Too cute!

Now what should I name him? I'm leaning towards Lir or Llyr or Liir - the first spelling is Celtic and the second is Welsh, both for the god of the sea, which seems appropriate. The third spelling is based on the character from the book Wicked, which is probably what I'll go with since it combines my love of mythology and reading. Unless I find something better...

Any name suggestions before I'm settled?

My Creative Space

Here are my next seven pages in the 30 Day Journal Challenge - prompts 7-13. I'm really happy with how this project is shaping up! All of the pages make me so happy, but especially those where I've challenged myself a bit more than usual.

Prompt #7: things that make me happy

Prompt #8: my dream home

This collage turned out just as I imagined it and makes me so happy! My dream home is filled with books, animals and my favourite things, and is situated near water, forests and fields. One can certainly dream anyway!

Prompt #9: shout something at the top of your lungs

Prompt #10: summer projects

Please ignore the stains from the next page - I should have taken a picture before moving on...

Prompt #11: love languages

I really, really, really love the background for this page: graph paper ripped & glued in the center of each page, the edges covered in gesso & then dripped with watered-down India ink. Grid washi tape finishes it off, completing the science-y feel which works well with the "test" we took to find out our love languages.

Prompt #12: my favourite places

Another collage, another favourite page. This includes only a few of my favourite places - those I could find collage ephemera for: the past (in books), museums and art galleries, Canada, Northern Ontario, Hamilton, Europe (even though I've never been) and on the water, preferably in a Giesler boat.

Prompt #13: my favourite character from a book

This page was quite a process, but I'm proud of myself for plugging away and not taking the easy way out. When I first saw the prompt, I immediately thought of Lestat de Lioncourt. I've read all of Anne Rice's books two or three times (except the newer ones) and have been in love with Lestat from the very beginning. He's a real vampire - not like that sissy Edward.

But... well, I suck at drawing men; they always turn out wonky & feminine (as you can see above). So I wasn't going to draw him. But then I realized - isn't that the whole point? To challenge myself? I had to draw Lestat! I sketched him in pencil, intending to go over it with ink... but then I kind of liked it as is. Rougher, but more forgiving. I was also going to leave it without colour, but I can't picture Lestat without seeing his blond hair and blue eyes, so I shaded him in with pencil crayons. The yellow page gives him a sickly cast, but overall, it isn't a bad rendition. Not exactly as I see him in my head, but almost! 

If you'd like to see more photos of these pages, check out my Flickr folder. I also highly recommend checking out the Run With Scissors Flickr group, where all the participants are posting pages from their 30 Day Journal Challenge. Lastly, you can find more creative spaces here.

Wordless Wednesday

Inspiration: Summer Palette

As promised, here are some photos exploring summer colours:

The pencils are my favourite - you?