Saturday, July 24, 2010

Book Review: Come, Thou Tortoise

I have just recently become the proud owner of an Orillian library card. Geeky, maybe. But being a poor student, this now means that I can read new books, instead of rereading the ones I have for a zillionth time.

Anyways, I wandered throughout my maiden voyage to the library. And of course I had to take a peak at the 'new books' wall. I won't deny that I'm some who does judge a book by its cover. Bad, I know. But it's the first thing that draws me in. That being said, if I know the author, or have heard great things about a book, I will still pick it up regardless of the cover.

Come, Thou Tortoise was a cover that caught my eye in an instant. Even better, it is by Canadian author Jessica Grant.

My first word to describe this book is, odd. But it's a good odd. It doesn't have any punctuation for speech in it (I'm talking about these bad boys: " and "), but you get used to the style quite easily. It's a nice summer read too - very light.

It is about a young women, Audrey - also known as Oddly - which already tells you that this book will indeed be odd. She has a pet tortoise Winnifred, who she must leave with friends as she attends to her comatose father back in Canada. The story takes the perspective of both Audrey and of Winnifred; I was a particular fan of Winnifred's thoughts (especially when she gets excited about tortoises being to the exponent of 60 - I can't tell you more than that). Audrey has a special take on life, and it's just a refreshing to view it through both Audrey's and Winnifred's eyes (mostly Winnifred's to me).

What I love most is that it isn't 'in-your-face' funny. It's very subtle, like what is occurring is an everyday thing.

I give it 4 adorable tortoises out of 5. It was a great book, but I was able to put it down and proceed with other life tasks. (A 5-book is one which literally consumes me).


This is my first book review, and there's so much that I want to say, but I know that I can't since you have to read it for yourself, and I would hate to spoil anything.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Spoiling Oreo

I've been wanting to get some new things for my kitty Oreo lately, so I thought I would look on Etsy, and I found tons!

Oreo isn't wearing a collar, but he's escaped through the front door a few times. Although he's microchipped, I would feel a lot better if he had a collar on, here are some that I found that I like:



Mint Blue Polkadot Collar - by lollywear

Here Fishy Fishy Collar - by PrettyKittyCollars

Now these collars will need some charms:

Fish Pet Tag - by MetalsArtist


Copper Kitty ID - by 3sweetpearsjewelry

I have some prospective toys to share as well, but I will save those for another day :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

New Landscape Painting!


With all these storms that have been brewing around here lately, there was no way that I could not paint some stormy clouds!

Available for sale in my Etsy shop!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Lone Daisy


I took this picture while at my parents a little while ago. I love the contrast of a clean daisy against the background. And the flower just seems to glow in the picture!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Flax Field Oil Painting


This is one of my first oil paintings that I'm selling, and I'm quite proud of it! I was inspired when I was visiting my parents in Northern Ontario. They have started growing flax up there - and when the fields are in bloom it is just gorgeous! Just sprawling fields of purple. There's not many of these fields up there either - from what my dad told me, there was only one farmer in their specific area that was tacking this plant. But I am thankful someone is - it was just so pretty.

I added a little 'smudge' of brown in the sky as well, to give it an 'old' / Polaroid feel. Sort of vintage-like. I hope you enjoy this painting, and I hope that I have many more to share with you!

It is available for sale in my Etsy store.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Workspace


My workspace has most recently been taken over my oil paints. I'm developing a love of them just dabbling in them! I've had to ask my mom for some of my dad's old shirts - since I've been making quite the mess with these paints, and I want to try to avoid damaging any more of my clothes.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

They're Back!

..and by them, I mean my large prints!


They have been gone for awhile - mostly due to the fact that my snazzy printer that I bought couldn't do large prints, and I thought that I'd be able to find a printer no problem - well, that turned out worse than I thought. I ended up printing a large batch when I went for a short trip up to Sudbury.

So, for a limited time, I have five great large prints in my shop: Poppies, Circle of Friends (my personal favourite from the bunch), Crimson Flourish, Cherry Blossoms and Apple Tree! Since the printer is no longer local, these are only available until they're gone! Happy Shopping!

Friday, July 2, 2010

What I have been up to

Here's just a glimpse at what I've been up to lately in the studio and in life :)
  1. I have designed and printed a whole load of different stationery sets - both cards and letter-writing sets. I'm pretty excited about them, and they will be added throughout the week. Some have already been added, see my store!
  2. I'm working on two commissions - a large apple tree painting and a large family forest painting.
  3. I have started a painting of a rock cliff in acrylic. I'm not sure which direction I'm taking with it, but it's sort of just figuring itself out
  4. I've been working on trying to create an ornament of a sort for the upcoming holidays - so far the experiments haven't been going overly well, but I have lots of time to figure something out :)
  5. I've started dabbling in my oil paints again. I'm really enjoying them, and I think that I might start doing more oil paintings alongside my watercolors. This is a painting that I've started:
  6. I have designed and printed new business cards. I really like the fresh feel of them!

Needless to say, I've been keeping myself a little busy ;)

Thursday, July 1, 2010

█ ♥ █ Happy Birthday Canada! █ ♥ █

It's Canada's birthday, and I am a proud Canadian so this is a great day! To bad I work a hospital shift tonight :o( ...and! To celebrate, here are a few fellow artisans who are Canadians :) Happy Shopping!!