more lines

More tracing paper experimentation. (“Stars” above hills with prairie grass in the foreground.) The stars sure are fun to draw.

Anyone have any other creative experiments they’d like to share? Leave a comment so I can look!

because i can

I am 27 and I feel like I might as well be 17. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing half the time and while that can be fun on occasion, I also look for ways to combat that feeling. So I have posted this white-on-white photo. Because I can. Because this is my blog where I can make the rules. And the rules say, Tanya gets to post whatever photos strike her fancy. Even if those photos aren’t particularly good or interesting to anyone else.

Does that make sense?

12 questions

12 Question Flickr Meme (via Sheasy):

1. Tanya’s Wet Feet, 2. Pinwheel Marasmius or Horsehair Mushroom (Marasmius rotula), 3. colusa almacen de arroz, 4. Green Green Grass, 5. Natalie Portman II, 6. French Berry Lemonade, 7. A View From An Edinburgh Flat, 8. coffee ice cream, 9. toronto artist nicolas di genova aka medium on exhibit at le. gallery in toronto!, 10. Mr Marble Man Loves the Ladies, 11. Lost in Tiorati, 12. DSC_5927.jpg

1. What is your first name? Tanya
2. What is your favorite food? mushrooms
3. Where did you go to high school? Colusa
4. What is your favorite color? grass green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Natalie Portman
6. What is your favorite drink? french berry lemonade
7. What is your dream vacation? flat in Edinburgh
8. What is your favorite dessert? coffee ice cream
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? artist
10. What do you love most in life? Mr. Man
11. One word to describe you? lost
12. What is your flickr name? sweetcheese

I think the photos turned out really nice together in the mosaic and it really seems to reflect my style.

[Enter each of your answers to the twelve questions into the Flickr search box and choose one image from the first page of photos that show up.  I used the mosaic feature on Big Huge Labs to put it all together.]

popcorn

I’m sure most people already know this, but when I discovered this method of making super easy, customizable, cheap popcorn on Instructables I was amazed.

What you need:

• brown paper lunch bag
• 1/4 cup of popping corn
• microwave
• flavor (butter and salt for unoriginal traditionalists)

How to:

1. Pour 1/4 cup kernels into brown lunch bag
2. Fold and crease the top down twice (about 1/4″ each time)
3. Lay on its side in the microwave with the folds facing up
4. Microwave until popping starts to slow down (about 1.5 minutes in my microwave)
5. Drizzle with melted butter and crushed sea salt [though I bet it would be very worth it to try out some interesting toppings!]

Pros:

• So easy, even writing the simple directions was more difficult.
• Waaaaaay cheaper.  A bag of Jolly Time kernels is something like $2 or less which lasts forever.  (Forever = at least 16 big bowls.)
• Nicer to mother earth since the packaging on store-bought microwave popcorn is insane.  (Though, honestly cooking it the old fashioned way on the stove is probably the best way to go, environmentally.)
• Healthier.  Well, it could be healthier depending on your personal level of weakness for yummy, yummy butter.  The people on Instructables suggest using olive oil, and I’m sure even if you drizzle yours with real butter it is better than the neon-yellow stuff that your co-workers like to burn in the office kitchen.
• Tastier!  So amazing.

Cons:

• I eat the whole bowl by myself.

If anyone comes up with tasty topping ideas, let me know!  You will be thanked for supporting my addiction.

aminals

Lovely little animal clip/magnets that my brother and his girlfriend gave me for Christmas.  (The four year old in me loves how the clip part of them is their rear ends.)

PS-Mr. Man assures me that people will think I mistakenly misspelled the title to this post.  I did not.  It is just more fun to say that way.

accomplished

So I finally finished up the giveaway packages for the Pay It Forward people and will get those in the mail tomorrow.  (Or, honestly, probably Tuesday because I am a procrastinator.  This is something you should know about me.)  After a lackluster day of cleaning and sickness on Saturday I had a productive day today and even took pictures, but alas*, I can’t share them until the packages are delivered.  [*Do I get extra points for using "alas" on a blog?  What if I use the {curly} brackets?]  One thing I can share is a quick thank you card I made for Mr. Man:

No sense in letting appreciation go out of a marriage!  Especially when you’re married to a hunky dude who can cook like the devil and makes up songs on the spot.  (Like the epic hits “Room Key” and “Furniture Land.” )

great starry goodness

Time for another load of links I have saved up in my Google Reader to share with the whole wide world (all 4 of you):

Amazing amazingness from Reciprocity’s Flickr photostream.  He creates images using only light, plastic/glass, and a camera with no lens.  Gorgeous!  [via NotCot]

I found the fascinating I Hate Perfume site months ago and have yet to decide which enticing bottle(s) to choose.  Names such as “I Am A Dandelion” and “Greenbrier 1968″ are evocative and most have stories behind their creation.  (I hate perfume too, by the way.  I am 27 and have found very few that I like.)  [via NotCot]

Beautiful photos of a giant Japanese sewer system.  [via NotCot]

I haven’t tried Bitter Betty’s strawberry lime jam recipe yet, but the flavors sound perfect together!

Lovely reuse of leftovers Starbucks cards at OCD Knitter.  [via Craft]

How hard would you laugh if somebody served you milk from this pitcher?!  [via NotCot]

Enjoy!

[Spiral of rectangles on tracing paper, by moi.]

Whenever I watch So You Think You Can Dance I end up leaping around the house, throwing my arms wildly about, and generally making a fool of myself in front of a mirror.  The kids on this show are SOOOO talented and I just finished the Tivo’d episode where they unveiled the top ten dancers.  I love the group that is left!  And they had their first Bollywood routine which was fantastic.  Yippy for getting off our bootys and shaking them!

lucky me!

One of the reasons I was outside earlier (see last post) was for a little photoshoot.  I was lucky enough to spend last Friday night with my crafty friends as something of a late birthday celebration and I got some sweet goodies!  First, my friend Jen (who makes gorgeous jewelry and just needs to start selling it to become rich and famous!) put some special thought into this necklace:

The pendant is a worn, creamy colored shell that she found on the beach, which is one of my favorite places to visit.  The beads are reused from other necklaces which also makes me happy, and some of the beads are siblings to my friend Sheasy’s necklace that Jen also made–so I feel like it has a tie to the friendship of our larger group as well.  And if that wasn’t enough, she packaged it up with some smooth rocks from the beach which reminds me of the quiet meditative space I find whenever I sit on a beach. Needless to say, I just LOVE it!

Then, Sheasy handed me a wrapped package too and I found this hilariously delightful piece:

You’ll have to read her post about how she made this from a thrift store frame and her own geniousness!  The orange makes me smile and the drawing is so wonderfully old-school.  I love the smell and shape of wood shavings that you find in these old sharpeners.  And on top of all the visual loveliness, I am inspired to get working, plus I feel HUGELY supported by Sheasy whenever I look at this.

Thank you, both!

PS- After opening my gift I had Sheasy open her own (late!) birthday present and it just happened to be a small piece of artwork I had made and stuck in a repainted thrift frame!  What are the chances?!  Neither of us has given art as a gift before, but I think it was such a perfect coincidence for both of us.  Great minds…great minds.

look what I found…

Look what I found in our back yard!  This little fluff ball has been running around our patio like a spastic commando–first one way, then fast as he can back the other way.  (He is one of our neighbor-cat’s babies.)  Despite (or because of?) his slightly crossed eyes, he is very ferocious.