Saturday 22 March 2014

It's Official

I'm officially combining all three blogs. This will be the last post on this blog. From now on, please go to my Grimm Fabrications blog. I will be posting about the same things, everything will be in one place. Hopefully that'll remove some stress. 

Oh, by the way, here is the photo of the day. Last happy day photo to be on this blog!

Happy Day #17. I found the cardigan of my dreams.


See you on the Grimm Fabrications blog!

Friday 21 March 2014

Day 115 to.... 119?... : Hiatus

Uh... been on a hiatus. Blogging hasn't really been interesting me of late. I'm strongly considering shutting down two of my blogs and combining all three blogs into my Grimm Fabrications blog. I've still been doing lots of art type stuff, but y'know. I'm thinking it might be nice to just have all of it in one place. That'd be cool. 

Any ways, I don't have much to say, but I figured that I would show all of the photos for 100 Happy Days that I've taken in the past few days. Five days, to be precise. I can't remember which day is which, but just know that they're happy days and I am up to date. Yay me.


Late night hangin' at friends' house. This was after celebrating St. Patrick's Day at James Joyce. I've never celebrated St. Patty's before (not really. I'll maybe wear green if it suits me to do so), and I was having horrible anxiety that day. Being in a loud place full of people wasn't the best thing ever. After a while, we went to our friends' house and hung out. That was a nice time. We ended up watching Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and two of us drank this really nice black tea. 


This week, one of my mice died. Whiskey, my favourite mousey princess, left this world. I did not take it well, and I still feel a little lost without her. Finding something good about Tuesday was difficult. Still, I managed to find something happy. A past instructor of mine (who I met with to discuss some ideas) gave me this wonderful book on Artists' Books. I've been reading it, and it's quite good. Doesn't quite fill the mouse shaped hole, but it helps.


Embroidering while watching The Guild.


New dice! D20s and a d10. My friend and I got matching glittery cosmic mermaid dice. I'm terribly excited to start playing Call of Cthulhu, this role playing game that we've been preparing for. 


Playing Skyrim, accompanied by hot chocolate. (This is my gaming face.)

I probably will be blogging off and on while I figure out what I want to do. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday 16 March 2014

Day 114: Cupcakes!

Today was a lazy Sunday. I curled up in a blanket, drank tea, watched Bronson and The Great Gatsby, and read almost half of the Calgary Gideon Keys (in brief, the Calgary Gideon Keys is this book full of hand written notes that someone transcribed. The notes describe weird occult, paranormal, and just weird stuff all around the city. The kinds of things that you would hunt for if you wanted to discover strange secrets and a very different weird world, and maybe stumble into a place from which you may never return). It was a pleasant morning. After a while, I made myself lunch, made cupcakes, and then went for a walk. Today's walk was different, though. I took my Wreck This Journal with me, and fulfilled the instructions of tying a string to it, and taking it for a walk. While allowing it to drag on the ground.


Saddens me. What age do we live in, when a young woman can't take her book for a walk without being stared at and getting weird looks? Shocking. Despicable. I mean.... taking a book for a walk on a lead is normal... right?


I don't think that the creator of Wreck This Journal anticipated that a Canadian would drag this around during the beginning of a Canadian spring. When there's still snow. But there's also huge puddles. And dead leaves everywhere. And mud. And concrete. My book's front cover is no longer really attached, and I spent a good hour drying out the pages. It's really dirty now. And it's under a pile of heavy books in an attempt to flatten it out a bit. I'm a champ. 


Before I forget, last night I took some Mace Windu stickers (Samuel L. Jackson's character from the new Star Wars movies) and turned them into Jules Winnfield stickers. The magic of Sharpie. And boredom. It seemed like a natural progression. These stickers are in my Wreck This Journal. Glaring out at the viewer. Just like Mace Windu.

So. The cupcakes. I was inspired by caricatures of Marie Antoinette and the whole 'Let Them Eat Cake!' thing. Also, I was inspired by Rococo palettes and ideas. Thus, I made cupcakes, made them uber pretty, and then photographed them. The result.

 

I'm a little baffled at how much pastel and Rococo-ish stuff I have. Then again.... I have no idea why I'm surprised at that fact. Eh whatever. 

For the records, the cupcakes were delicious. I tried a new nib (or whatever they're called) on my icing bag (wow... I cannot think of terminology right now), and made flower petal shapes. This was my happy day #11. Making pretty cupcakes, and making something stupidly pretty. Here is the unedited photograph. It provides slightly better detail on the icing.


Saturday 15 March 2014

Day 113: Photo shoot

LAST NIGHT IT SNOWED. Lots of snow. By mid morning-early afternoon is was mostly melted because it was still warm, but I must say. It was still pretty chilly during the photo shoot. Not unbearable, but when you're in the shadows of trees... brr...

I'm happy to announce that the photo shoot was a success. Some of the photos will be available soon, as soon as I receive them. Soon after, they will be on my blog, in their full and beautiful gloriousness.

Happy day #10. Photo shoot day with photographer friend and husband. May have been a bit cold, but man. I couldn't be happier with the magic that my friend can do with a camera. Mental images brought TO LIFE!


Now I'm exhausted. I'm going to finish my hot chocolate and go to sleep. 

Friday 14 March 2014

Day 112: Spring!

I'm so happy that it's getting to be spring. At least, everything is melting, and we're having days that are warm enough and dry enough to wear nice clothes without having to be bundled up. Happy day #9: I was able to wear Litas again! My feet are happy about that!


Spent the day preparing for tomorrow. I made thank you cupcakes, and packed up LOTS of stuff for the photo shoot tomorrow. Costume pieces, jewelry, props, and all necessary things to make for an amazing photo shoot. 


This is the suitcase of stuff. Since then more stuff has been piled on top. It's going to be a fun day! 

Thursday 13 March 2014

Day 111: Planning shenanigans

We cleaned house a bit today, and then I jogged (read: drove) to meet with a friend who is going to photograph my work and costumes on Saturday. It was a good meeting, and I'm really excited for the photo shoot.

After that I went to work for three hours. This leads to happy day number 8.


Remember that time when I used 15 individual milk packets to make my hot chocolate awesome? Yeah, me too.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Day 109 & 110: Call of Cthulhu and Gallery Crawling

I don't have any photos, and I'm extremely tired, so I'm just going to quickly run through what I did yesterday and today, and then finish with my 100 happy day photos. I'm realizing that a lot of what I write about is just a day in the life of Emmelia, instead of purely creative endeavours. Does anyone care? Hm. I'm constantly thinking about combining all of my blogs, in which case I might feel less guilty about writing about my life alongside my creative art stuff. Any ways... Just thinking out loud. Via typing. Hurm. 

Last night we started creating characters for a table top roll playing game called 'Call of Cthulhu'. It takes place in the 1920s (at least it does for how we are playing it), and it's all H.P. Lovecraft based. I'm excited to play. My character is an heiress who is secretly a criminal. She murdered her rich husband, which allowed her to gain an extraordinary amount of wealth, but also ended up with her hearing her dead husband. Whether she is haunted or just crazy... well, it's hard to determine. But I'm excited to play this character. 

Yesterday's happy day. Day 6. Creating characters and spending time with one of my dearest friends.


Today we had class, and today we had a field trip. We went on a gallery crawl. I was tired (mostly because of staying up late making characters), and I'm tired of art, so it was kind of a drag. I adore the people in my class, especially the ones that I was carpooling with, but my tiredness made me want to be alone after a while. That's just my nature. Being in groups often makes me feel lonely, so I just want to be alone. Because of my tiredness and loneliness, I asked my husband to pick me up from the Chapters at Dalhousie station. I needed to be surrounded by books. I ended up buying two books that I'm excited to read.

Day 7. New books.


The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a book that I just heard about today, and it excited me so. Oliver Sacks is a physician and a professor of neurology, and this book is about "case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders". Little known fact about me- my favourite books are generally about the medical and true crime. I'm fascinated by criminology, psychology, psychiatry, and medicine. Among other things, naturally, but those topics get my attention. I'm going to start reading this tonight or tomorrow. Might fall asleep reading it. I find that I can't read one book at a time. I'm currently reading Everything Is Illuminated, but the language is so beautiful, and the story so complex, that I can't read too much of it at once. Still, it is simply beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

The other book is Encyclopedia Paranoiaca by Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf. I found it in the bargain section. I will transcribe the back of the book, which truly summarizes what you're about to get into (and yes, all of the words that are typed as capitals are that way on the back of the book). "The Definitive Compendium of Things You Absolutely, Positively Must Not Eat, Drink, Wear, Take, Grow, Make, Buy, Use, Do, Permit, Believe, or Let Yourself Be Exposed to, Including an Awful Lot of Toxic, Lethal, Horrible Stuff That You Thought Was Safe, Good, or Healthy; All Sorts of really Bad People Who Are Out to Get, Cheat, Steal from, or Otherwise Take Advantage of You; and a Whole Host of Existential Threats and Looming Dooms That Make Global Warming, Giant Meteors, and Planetary Pandemics Look Like a Walk in the Park (with Its High Risk of Skin Cancer, Broken Bones, Bee Stings, Allergic Seizures, Animal Attacks, Criminal Assaults, and Lightning Strikes)". Fun, right?

I keep telling myself that I need to read more fiction. Instead, I end up reading even more non-fiction. Not a bad thing... but y'know. Fiction is good for you. Then again... so is knowing every possible threat on this planet earth.

Monday 10 March 2014

Day 108: DIY and stuff

I did some more work on my Grimm Fabrications jacket. This is how it looked post bleaching, post washing and post drying.


Later, I sewed on a patch. I made a bunch of patches when I silkscreen printing, and I sewed one of them on to the back of the jacket. I used a fawn moon design patches. Hand sewing it onto the jacket took a while, and the needle hurt my fingers. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to embroider with a sewing needle. Good thing I reminded myself. I don't want to those calluses to go away... Right? 


I'm thinking about incorporating this jacket into a performance piece that I'm thinking about doing. I don't know if I'm brave enough, because it would end with me either in a bra or topless for a little while, before donning the jacket. Fortunately it would just be within my class, and I'm more or less comfortable with everyone. Still, though. I just feel like it's something I need to do. I think that having this jacket would be a good way to end it. I just need to think about it a bit more, and ensure that I can talk fully about it. We'll see... If I do it, there probably won't be any documentation, so I'm not sure why I'm rambling about it on here in the first place.

What else did I do... Well, I went for a walk. That was nice. The world was melting, and it was threatening to rain... or it was raining somewhere. Beautiful, stormy looking clouds. I stomped and splashed through some puddles. After all... who needs clean shoes and dry socks? Not I. Not all the time, at least. I guess that this leads me to my 100 Happy Days for today. Day 5. View through my sunglasses when the world is melting and it's threatening to rain. 


Sometimes I do like grey days. In fact, when I do, I like them a lot. Oh, beautiful stormy clouds, you beckon to me. Though it's not as nice in the city, I'll take what I can get.

Last but not least... I did another exciting page in my Wreck This Journal. The page demanded that I cover the page in tape, and form some kind of pattern. I carefully wove it, which was not easy, but the best things often aren't. 


Mind you, if I were really diligent, I would have looked up a weaving pattern, cut the tape into thin strips, and woven a complex pattern. I strongly considered attempting a hounds tooth pattern, but instead I decided to just do a more arbitrary pattern of whatever-the-heck-I-felt-like. Much more satisfying, really.

Sunday 9 March 2014

Day 107: Daylight Savings and the Official Grimm Fabrications Jacket

I'm not a fan of daylight savings. It strikes me as unnecessary, and I hate having to get up early on the day that it changes, because suddenly I get an hour less of sleep, and that makes me a bit grumpy (that's Mrs. Grumpy Pants to you!). Any ways... ugh. I had to get up earlier today because of set up for Fibre Fortnight. I don't really have anything in it, but I volunteered to help out any ways. I had some work to do, so it ended up hitting two birds with one stone. 

While I was school, I managed to get one layer of my grad piece finished, and I finished my shirts. Such joy! Here's a quick glimpse. 


I'll be talking about them more on my Grimm Fabrications blog

What else did I do today? I began a new side project. I am in the process of making the Official Grimm Fabrications jacket. Are you excited? I'm excited. 

Be warned. I'm really bad at step-by-step documentation. Thus, I only have a couple of photos of the project thus far, but it will probably be finished tomorrow, so no big deal. 

Here is the jacket before I started to mangle it.


I found it at the thrift store in the men's section. It was dark blue, button up... rather boring and about what you would expect. My husband bought it for me, because he has a membership card that allowed him to get 50% all clothing this weekend. It was about $3.50 (can you believe it??). A bargain, and fit me well. Then...

Then I bleached it. And got it to a nice shade of lighter worn blue. Below is a blurry photo of my hand rinsing the jacket.


Since I've been writing this, the jacket has come out of the dryer. It's nice and soft, and I think it'll be a nice weight for summer time. I'm going to decorate it, and make it the jacket of Grimm Fabrications. Just wait!

Today's happy day photo has to do with the jacket. Day 4. Bathroom selfie while washing out a bleached denim jacket. Arts and crafts forever! There's no better arm work out than fibre arts.


It feels really good to be doing something new. A nice diversion from my every day activities... while still getting all of the important stuff done, naturally.


Saturday 8 March 2014

Day 106: I don't have much to show for myself

Today I was at work from 9 to 5, so I don't have much to show for myself. I drew mustaches and some weird comics (the mustaches are something that I was supposed to do... comics less so. And the comics were merely an internal monologue about needing to use the washroom, but not being able to because the security guard was taking an exceedingly long break. Sorry. That's kind of too much information. But... I guess if anyone wants to read it, let me know. I'll mail it to you or throw it at you out of a moving bus or something). So, I did stuff... just no documentation and some of it I probably shouldn't post about. Yeah.

So, here is Day 3.


It was difficult to choose a happy moment of today. Would it be drawing mustaches as part of my job? The fact that one of the radio stations is having a Led Zeppelin weekend, and the first song that I heard was 'Ramble On'? Or wearing heart shaped sunglasses while enjoying a beautiful day? Hard to choose....so I decided to go with my Hawkins Cheezies and BlacktThorn cider. I'm an adult. 

[Side note: BlackThorn is a new type of cider that I've never had before. I chose it because it's imported. Mini review of it: it's a really dry cider, but it's good. It lives up to its subtitle: "a distinctive crisp, dry, taste". Just in case you were wondering.]

Friday 7 March 2014

Day 105: Day 2

Today is my day two of 100 Happy Days. I didn't have a full class (only one other person from  my group showed up, the two of us who showed got to leave early), which was nice. My husband picked me up, and we went to Nose Hill Park to look for caves. It wasn't successful, but it was beautiful out, and it was nice to be outside. And I've got to tell you... I was thankful for a moment of running and collapsing face down on bare ground. Beautiful dry dirt, dry grass. It was wonderful!

Here is the moment of today's happiness.


I spied a porcupine. It was such a pleasant surprise. Not used to seeing porcupines. They're such lovely creatures. So slow moving, but with beautiful texture... and they have the most amazing faces! They're kind of like muskox. Have you ever had a moment of magical sparkling cosmos when you look at a muskox and it looks right back at you, head on? Their faces are marvelous!

Other than a beautiful romp in nature, I started reading Everything Is Illuminated (the movie adaptations is one of my favourite movies, and so far the book is good, albeit a little confusing), had a PB&Chocolate smoothie, found some heart shaped sunglasses, and cut out some more fur for hoods and collars. There's been a lot of interest in the fur collars, which makes me really happy. I'm going to make six, then post them online, and whoever wants one can dibs them. After that I will make a few for the Expo, and commissions as needed. It makes me feel good.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Day 103 & 104: Artistic Stress & Artistic Comfort


Missed yesterday's blog. I'm sorry about that. I had a terrible critique, and went into a downward spiral of hating my art. After spending time with my husband, consuming a milk shake, and having two phone conversations with my mum, I felt a lot better. I also felt a lot better after I made two faux fur collars. The ones pictured above! I've been wanting to make collars like this for a while, and today I made a pattern and made one with black fur and one with white. I like the black one a bit more, but I'm going to get some white satin ribbon to match the white fur. Making these made me feel good. I am joyful for the times when I can make something and I'm genuinely satisfied with it. Making things that don't have to mean anything, that don't pressure me to be something I'm not. Artistic freedom and comfort, and good old fashioned productivity. It's good. It makes the times when "my art" is terrible or unsatisfactory a bit more worthwhile. Or something.

Today I made some beautiful contributions to my Wreck This Journal. At least, I think they're beautiful. I filled in the majority of one page while on the phone with my Mum.


I like it because it makes me think of fur or feathers.  I think it's pretty.

Also, today I started a challenge. It is called 100 Happy Days. The object is to document something that makes you happy every day. It is for you, not for other people. You can still share it with the world, but otherwise, it's a challenge to take the time to take in your surroundings, your feelings, everything, each day. Apparently 71% of people fail the challenge, with the excuse that there wasn't enough time. A friend of mine has been doing this, and it seems like a beautiful idea. I think that it will encourage me to feel happy over the next few months, regardless of how much stress. Whatever I can find throughout the day that makes me feel happy. It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be small. Anything that allows a feeling of happiness. I am not going to edit any of the photos, or alter them in any way. For the next 100 days (including today) I am going to finish each post with my happy moment of the day. 

Day 1. Wreck This Journal & black lip stick. Needless destruction for the sake of self.



P.S. You can read more about the fur collars on my Grimm Fabrications blog. #SorryImnotsorry I'm really happy and excited about these collars.

Monday 3 March 2014

Day 101 & 102: Stuff

I haven't been terribly productive. I did get some printing stuff done yesterday, but you can read about that on my Grimm Fabrications blog. But, to not repeat that, I'll just discuss the highlights of yesterday and today.

Yesterday. Trip to Flea Market, where a friend of ours just gave me a plastic alligator toy. I was willing to pay the $1, but I guess it wasn't going anywhere. Awfully nice of him. I'm not sure why it appealed to me so much. It made me think of this stegosaurus that I had as a child... and I could picture it on my oddities shelf. Surprise surprise! It fits perfectly and is right at home. The date stamped on its belly is 1979, so it's fairly old. But man. Is it delighted to be alive!


He's just so happy!

Later, we went to an Oscars party in the evening. The Great Gatsby won all of its nominations! Excites me to no end. It's seriously one of my favourite movies ever. Such adoration for that film. Unfortunately, Leonardo Di Caprio didn't win best actor... yet again. I just hope he wins an award some day. Any ways, I digress...



Today we had a critique for our directed studio, and it was the first time for a couple of weeks that we saw our instructor. He's been away in Japan. It was so nice of him- he brought us souvenirs! He brought us a plate full of sushi made of silk. They were really quite lovely, and looked good enough to eat. Each of us got to choose one to keep. I gave mine to Bijou, my furry beast creature. Now he has a snack while he's hanging out between a Jesus candle and a palm sized print of the Blue Boy.

Now... onto research and note taking. Just for a little bit, though. Then bed time. Hilariously, we've had two naps in the past three hours. Just so sleepy... and I'm still sleepy. Looks like I'm in need of rest. 

Saturday 1 March 2014

Day 98, 99 & 100: A few days behind. Sorry.

Apologies for being a few days behind. I kept putting it off. Now, back in action. I have been making things, but just not posting about it. Any ways, here's what I got done.


Set fire to a corset made of wool. Might burn it a bit more.


Put my book through my sewing machine. Used all kind of fancy stitches. Putting it through the sewing machine is as awkward as it sounds. Fun result, though!

I started working on my Rocket Raccoon costume. Yes, it's official. Weirdly enough, a guy I know is also going to be Rocket Raccoon. How crazy is that.

Here are the materials I picked up. And my sketchbook with inspiration photos glued in.


And progress on a raccoon tail. I'm using this technique that uses yarn.  I'm liking it, but I find that it makes a lot of waste, and I'm not sure if I'm liking it for a raccoon tail.


It looks cool, but I'm not sure that it's exactly what I had in mind. We'll see.

That's all for now, kids! Tomorrow... silkscreen printing some shirts.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Day 97: Mice & Mouse-staches

Yesterday, I posted about giving my mice corset pieces to chew on. When I posted it on Facebook, a friend of mine initially thought that I gave my mice literal corsets. Y'know, like little mouse sized corsets. I decided to draw it.


I'm really quite pleased with these. In reality, I would never put corsets on mice. One, they'd squirm, bite, and I don't think they'd enjoy it at all. Second, it just seems ill-advised. The idea, however. The idea enchants me, and I enjoyed drawing them. My favourite is the black one, mostly because I'm pleased with the fur. Both are done with ink and water colour pencil crayons, and water colour. 

In other news, yesterday I was holding Shredder. 

This indistinguishable blur is Shredder.


She inspired me to draw this.


Why? When I was holding her and giving her air kisses, I started to think of the fact that a mouse would make a very soft, robust mustache. Which led to me thinking... 

"MOUSE-STACHE! BAHAHA!"

And thus, the lovely illustration of an upright gentleman with a mouse for a mustache was born. 

All of the small drawings I've been making will be available for sale as originals and/or prints at the Comic Expo. I haven't quite decided. Whatever the case, people will be able to take them as their own somehow. 

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Day 96: I should have been in bed an hour ago, but time slipped through my fingers

I'm dead tired. I've been dead tired for several hours, so maybe that explains why time slipped by so quickly. Still, I wanted to blog tonight so that I wouldn't have to lump two days together. After all... what's another fifteen minutes? 

Here's a quick run down of my brain.

This song. The essence of it has been rolling around in the back of my eyes these past few days. I have been listening to on repeat. 


I made these stencils ('bout time). I'll be printing at least one of them this week. Hopefully more than that. Depends on how long it takes my screen to dry in between prints. Or if I act a little recklessly and print all of them in one go, lightly washing and drying the screen in between. That being said, that's a bad idea, and I probably won't do that.


I cut out some silk for a corset, and gave some pieces to my mice. They're pretty stoked about it. Why? Because I decided that my mice chewing holes in a corset is a far better form of embellishment that anything I could ever do. It's making me think of that Aesops' Fable where the lion gets caught in a trap, and the mouse chews the ropes to set him free. Goes along with the topics and ideas that I'm working with. Restrained by something, something else unraveling it, or at least removing the constraint. Bonus, my mice get giant silk blankets to chew on, nest in, and pee on for a few weeks. That makes them quite happy. 

And yes. I will be thoroughly washing the fabric before I make it into a corset.

 

Last but not least, here is a printer playing 'Eye of the Tiger'. Or so we're led to believe. Whether or not it's real, the idea alone is absolutely amazing. (Original source: Vimeo.)


Monday 24 February 2014

Day 95: I've never abused a book before


Wreck This Journal is so weird. I've never cracked the spine of a book before. I've never spilled something on a book before. I've never done anything to abuse a book like this before. Then again... I guess that is the point. It's so strange. Rather alien. The above photo is the aftermath of me dumping coffee on the book. Good times... Coffee stain makes a pretty colour, though. 

In other news, I'm strongly considering doing a Rocket Raccoon cosplay. Rocket Raccoon is the gun wielding raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy. You might recognize the name from the upcoming film. Here's a glance at Rocket Raccoon.


Here are a few earlier images of Rocket, and an idea of how he looks. Outside of the upcoming movie.


My favourite version of Rocket Raccoon is his blue and red jacket/pants combination. It's the Guardians of the Galaxy outfit that appears in a few places, including an episode of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I'm strongly considering doing a cosplay based off of it, with raccoon ears, and tail. A very anthropomorphic version of Rocket Raccoon. I just think it'd be cool to do it. Honestly, Rocket Raccoon is pretty much the only reason that I'm excited for the movie. I mean... it is a raccoon with guns. 

Today I had the best intentions of getting some work done. Unfortunately, I'm still getting over being sick, so this morning I ended up sleeping on the couch for over an hour. I've been exhausted all day. It's time to go to bed. And tomorrow, I return to school. Yuck.  

Sunday 23 February 2014

Day 94: Wreck This Journal

Adventuring in the city and running errands today. We picked up some vitamins, went to a couple of thrift stores, and I picked up some makeup things that I needed for my mermaid costume. It was supposed to be really cold, but it was actually quite nice out. I found a few cool things at thrift stores. That includes a fantastic foot stool/ottoman thing for $5, an old brass box with a label on the top that says 'THEE' on the top, a really really really long velvet trench coat that makes me think of a vampire (and unless I'm wearing 4 inch heels it will drag on the floor. It's quite exciting, and will be so nice to have for when I'm dressed in steampunk clothing), a gold-coloured anchor necklace, and a long velvet skirt. Good things all around. After that, I got some sparkly makeup, and a copy of Wreck This Journal. I've been wanting a copy for a while. A think a lot of the desire for it stems from the fact that I've been creatively stuck a lot, and while being sick I've been wanting things to do. 


I've already done a few pages, and so far it's absolutely delightful. The creator of the book, Keri Smith, has done several books similar to this, and I'd love to own all of them. They're like activity books for adults. Interestingly enough, the books are in the Self Help section at Chapters. I can kind of see why. It's quite cathartic to do the activities. It's destructive, but also meditative. Personally, I'm not doing the book in any order. I've been using random.org to determine what page to do. Here are the pages I've done so far...

Before you look, though, some notes. 1) The test page was filled in using an entire pencil case of pencils, pencils, and pencil crayons. 2) The page for four letter words does have some curse words and inappropriate words. They are four letter words, and I honestly used any words that I could think of. Just an FYI. I don't condone the use of foul language, but... yeah.

 
 

It's quite fun. I also ripped out a page. As per instructions. Thus the crumpled paper that's in a lot of the photos. 

Also, I painted my nails. I used my normal black nail polish, and then added the nail polish that I got from Ardene's today. It's kind of an iridescent purple, with sparkles. I used it by itself on my ring finger, and then used it as a top coat on my pinkie and thumb. On the black it makes me think of Ursula from The Little Mermaid or a dark unicorn... Or just an oil slick.  I like it. I used to never paint my nails, but I've been really into black nail polish recently. Except on my ring finger. I'm a fan of painting it a different colour altogether.