my own little prison

I've been pretty unmotivated to keep up this blog lately, but ironically I've actually been drawing more this week. I work full-time now so I'm usually too tired to upload all my random scribblings (although if you're my friend on Instagram I tend to post more of my drawings there just because it's so quick and easy). But anyway, here's one quick sketch that encapsulates many things that are characteristic of my drawings... flower crowns, vines, little birds, and intentionally disproportional bulbous heads.

DIY: Burger Shoes

I am obsessed with BURGERS. So when I found some red sneakers for $5, I just got them even though I never wear sneakers, just so I could paint burgers on them. I think they'd look good with a Ronald McDonald costume wouldn't they? And don't ask me why I made a giant laminated paper burger. I just did. (Okay actually, I made it to teach paragraph writing during my practicum. HAHA! Burgers make English more interesting in my opinion... for the students, and for me). Anyway, does anyone have any ideas on how to "seal in the paint" on these shoes so it doesn't crack? I was just thinking of taking them to work and pouring acrylic varnish over the tops.

By the way, these pictures are from late August - back when the sunshine still graced us Vancouverites with a few rays here and there. Nowadays I'm getting served a daily dose of November chills with a side of hypothermia... but nothing a warm juicy burger can't fix. I now present to you... my burger shoes!!!

And here are some other random pictures of gifted burger paraphernalia! 

Seriously though, I should stop collecting burger things. Every time I look at my collection I get HUNGRY.

Mug Cake

I've been sick for the past few days so I've been at home, holed up in my room, looking like a zombie. Anyway, I was looking up remedies for fevers and got SO EXCITED when one site said "EAT ICE-CREAM" (no joke!) but then I realized it was talking about the kind of fever where you feel really hot, and I had the OTHER kind of fever which leaves you with cold chills. The remedy for that one was to drink hot soup. Yay. It took all my self-control to not eat ice-cream but I did go with the hot soup option instead (with a side of cookies)... and I do feel better today.

But, since I couldn't have the cold dessert of my choice, I went with a hot sugar alternative in the form of something called MUG CAKE (which is basically cake made in a mug). Now, awhile back I came across a recipe for Nutella Mug Cake which sounded so delicious, but I actually never got around to trying it since I'm lazy and the recipe needed ingredients (which most recipes do). Since getting eggs, cocoa powder, and Nutella was going to be a huge undertaking on my part, I was happy to see a package in the baking aisle labelled MUG CAKE... the pre-made kind. All I needed was milk, a mug, and a microwave. I believed I could handle that. So I took the package home, and being the amateur chef that I am, I meticulously followed the three instructions on the back of the box without fail. And NO, I didn't get more sick after eating it. In fact, I think this little cake attributed towards my recovery (Mr. Potatohead would vehemently disagree). Hahaha.

The best part about this mug cake is that if you scroll down below, you'll see that it has 30% of your recommended daily intake of IRON (what!!!!). That's more than Vector Cereal which is pretty healthy (29%... I just checked haha). Take that, ANEMIA! And well maybe, just ignore the calories statistic. There... I conveniently blotted it out for you. Just eat the cake. 

NEXT KITCHEN MISSION: Learn how to make... JELLO!!!!!! (oh how pitiful I am)...

By the way, do you like my gingerbread cup? I LOVE it. It's like I'm eating his brains. But he doesn't mind. 

Anyway, if you are curious, here's the recipe for the Nutella Mug Cake, where you actually have to put ingredients together (but then you can say you made it from scratch! haha). One of these days I WILL attempt this recipe. One of these days...

Recipe for Nutella Mug Cake 

(from The Family Kitchen)

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons self rising flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons Nutella
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a large coffee mug.
2. Whisk well with a fork until smooth.
3. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 – 3 minutes.
4. Top with whipped cream and a little chocolate sauce if desired.

HAPPY CAKE EATING! =) 

thriftstore find: $5 bookshelf

Hello my dears! This is the first time I've gone on my computer in almost a WEEK! It's just been so busy and then right on Remembrance Day, I somehow got sick with a fever which left me bedridden for all of yesterday. But now I'm feeling well enough to drag my sickling-self those grueling two metres from my bed to my computer, so you shall get a blog post (or two?) today! =)

Last week I had a super awesome thriftstore find at the "thrift store with the red door" at Steveston Village. This place always has really unique furniture and it just so happened that all furniture was 50% off on the day that I went! I had been looking for a bookshelf (to put my shoes on, actually) and I found one that was deep enough to use as a shoe-shelf! It was an antique cream which perfectly matches my vintage dresser (acquired from another thrift store in Steveston). The best part was, the bookshelf was only $5!!!

So the next day, I borrowed Mr. Potatohead's SUV and then I borrowed my DAD to help me lug the ginormous thing back home. We got there and my dad started using his hand width in an attempt to measure the shelf. Consequently, I went over to the staff in the back and asked them for a measuring tape. In the end, after walking around the bookshelf for about half an hour hmm-ing and pondering about whether the massive thing would make it home, we shoved it into the back of the SUV and luckily, it JUST fit. We drove home with the entire trunk open, at the pace of a snail, until we safely arrived in our front yard with the bookshelf, me, and my dad still intact. =) Success!

good ol' BEAST was such a handy vehicle in our predicament...

(lurker below) not creepy at all... not creepy at all...

The turquoise shirt I'm wearing was also thrifted from a Value Village in Toronto for... $3.99? But really, nothing beats the $5 bookshelf. Except for those shady free couches on Craigslist...

wanderlust

When I was making those peanut butter and jelly costumes last week, I had a lot of leftover cardboard. So as not to waste, I decided to doodle a quote and make a random cardboard sign. I chose one of my all-time favourite quotes, and of course it just had to be from one of my all-time favourite books (and movies!), Lord of the Rings. 

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king."

J. R. R. Tolkien

image sources: leather luggage tag // the Shire // the rest of the images are mine! all mine! my precious...

It was one of those rare sunny October days so I took the chance to take some pictures outside (picture credit goes to my brother Lawrence!). Also, I couldn't resist including a cameo appearance from Lego Frodo Baggins whose pale plastic face is in a state of permanent angst (just like in the movie!). And by the way, don't you just love the handcrafted leather luggage tag? You can buy it on Etsy from Mesa Dreams. They specialize in leather and vintage native jewelry and everything looks amazing.

One more off-topic side note: Now that I look at these pictures again, I think it's time for a haircut since I'm starting to look like Hagrid from Harry Potter. If I had it my way I would get it cut short and get a whole new choppy hairstyle but I do want to keep it relatively long for the wedding next year, so I guess I'll just settle for a little trimming of the hedges ...hair. I think at this point my hair is so tangled and messy I need a lawnmower to attack it (on second thought... it looks like a lawnmower ALREADY attacked it).

Anyway, I just took an allergy pill (a pill for allergies, not one that gives you allergies, ha!) and it's making me drowsy so my mind is wandering now... and yes, now I do feel a bit lost. So I shall go to sleep and dream of legendary adventures, epic battles, and festive celebrations in the Shire!

Farewell my dear hobbits! 

Liebster Award

Hello everyone!!! Get ready for a long post haha. Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post at all this weekend like I usually do, and that's because I work every weekend now. So with that being said, I've decided that I'll probably have to stop attempting to post every Thursday and Sunday like before, and go back to posting sporadically whenever I have the time. Also, this past weekend I almost wanted to delete this blog because... I don't know... I have moments where I feel directionless and don't know why I keep posting, but anyway, hopefully that's a phase! It's not that I don't have things to blog about (I've actually got a whole backlog of projects that I never posted) but I'm still considering whether I really like being on the computer so much or whether I'd rather just do without and spend my time on other things. We shall see...

Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, my blog got nominated for a Liebster Award. Okay actually I was nominated three times last month but I was too lazy to post about it. I think basically this "award" is a chance for bloggers to connect with each other. Well anyway, even though this whole thing seems quite time-consuming, I thought it was super sweet for those three bloggers to nominate me and I'd feel like a criminal for not passing on the love, so here goes.



Here are the "rules":

List 11 random facts about yourself

Answer the 11 questions asked by the person that nominated you

Choose some blogs (that have 200 or fewer followers) to nominate - don't forget to tell them!

Make 11 questions for the people you are nominating

Link the blog of the person that nominated you in your post and thank them!

**********************

Whoever made this whole blog award thing really had a lot of time on their hands (as... do... I....) but since today is my day off and I'm at home feeling a little sick, I shall get this thing done. Since Smiley Clara was the first one to nominate me, I shall answer her questions. It's weird because I tried to visit her blog a few weeks later and it seems like she took her site down. In any case, thanks for tagging me... and also a big thank you to Lola (Life of a 20something year old) and Calita (Still In Process) for nominating me too!

So here are 11 facts about me. For those of you who know me personally, see how many of these you actually knew! =)

1. I love ice-cream, burgers, and Japanese food. These things I crave on a daily basis.

2. My favourite animated film is The Lion King and the movie soundtrack was the first musical CD I ever owned. Hakuna Matata is such a good motto. hahaha.

3. I love vintage - and not just the pseudo-vintage things that seem to be all "trendy" right now - but I've always been fascinated with things that are old and evoke memories from a bygone era. Maybe that's why I always love listening to stories from my grandparents' lives.

4. And on that note, I've always wanted to live a simple life in the countryside. I'm one of those people who can live without any form of TV, Internet, or technology. I grew up mostly without it and find life more complicated with it (ironically, I blog. But honestly I could give it up in an instant. Just this weekend I was contemplating deleting my entire digital existence). I know this makes me sound like an Amish hippie grandma but it's honestly how I feel and I'm just an old soul trying to survive in this modern society.

5. I love playing music but have the worst memory for song lyrics. I play all my music by ear and in doing so I think I've seriously lost the ability to read sheet music. Or I just refuse to do so.

6. I have three guitars (a Yamaha named Jelly, a Baby Taylor named Potato, and my first guitar - a bass guitar who actually still remains nameless).

7. I like turquoise jewelry. Or maybe I just like the colour turquoise.

8. I dream of visiting New Zealand if not solely for the Lord of the Rings tour.

9.  I have a really big problem with procrastination. I have no problem doing things for work or for other people, but when it comes to doing things for myself, I always put it off as long as I can.

10. I have never gotten a manicure or pedicure in my life. Guys can survive without them, so can I.

11. I am an "ideas" person. I always have hundreds of ideas milling around in my head, but I rarely take the action to make those ideas a reality. I have many passions in life but that is also what often makes me unfocused - this is actually the main reason I started a blog in the first place - to try and make me "accountable" to keep creating and drawing. So all of you out there, you really need to keep encouraging me! hahaha...

11 questions from Smiley Clara:

1. Hey, how are you feeling today? I'm a little sick, but otherwise, I'm pretty good =)

2. What was the most inspiring thing you saw this morning? My face in the mirror. Seeing it inspired me to wash it. hahaha.

3. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would play you? Puumba from The Lion King. He's happy-go-lucky, is a big eater and lives a simple life. And he's in the greatest animated movie of all time.

4. And who would play your love interest(s)? Oh my goodness! Love interests PLURAL? Scandalous. But I definitely know the answer to this one. Mr. BEAN!!!!!!! Now imagine Mr. Bean and Puumba making out. (what!?!?!)

5. If you were a song, what song would you be? Probably "The Show" by Lenka or "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae.

6. What would be your drag queen name? Wait... does this mean I'm dressing up as a guy?!?! Well, I suppose the male equivalent of Laura would be Lawrence... who is my brother. I suppose that's fitting since we used to share clothes when we were younger. HAHAHAHA.

7. What is the best present you've ever been given? Probably my engagement ring because of what it symbolizes. That or the baggy clothes from the boys department my mom used to buy me. Or the sacks of raw potatoes I have gotten from friends over the years who know I love potatoes. I'm not even joking about that one.

8. If you could be anything in the world, what would you be? I would be a professional doodler, traveling the world, leaving my mark and doodling on random things.

9. What was the most romantic moment in your life? HA!!! I don't think I'm a very romantic person... I never watch chick flicks... or create expectations of hugely inconvenient romantic gestures... but I must say my heart melted a little when my fiance proposed. HAHAHA. Just a little ;)

10. What would you do with a million dollars? My real answer is very practical so I'm going to go with my fictitious answer of "flying around the world to eat amazing foods from every country and buying all the ice-cream and burgers that my beastly stomach can consume."

11. What do you want people to know about you? The only time I'm SUPERRRR CRANKYYY is when I'm hungry so remember to always keep me well-fed.

Now, here are the bloggers I am nominating:

jodie's junk
sara senpai
brightstar

wildflowerchild
the salted caramel
anna moore
coral charm
worry about it later

And here are the 11 questions you must all answer. I tried to mix things up with some normal and then some not...so...normal... questions. Remember, for my WOULD YOU RATHER questions, the answer "neither" is not an option (moiwhahhaa... evil laughter):

1. Do you prefer tea or coffee?

2. Would you rather be forced to have a date with a human cannibal OR a person who thinks and acts like he/she is a rabid hyena?

3. What is your favourite quote?

4. If it was the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, what would be your weapon of choice?

5. What is your favourite colour?

6. Would you rather have to sleep a full night with a whole ceiling full of black tarantulas above you (they will not fall down or touch you... they're just "hanging out") OR put your feet in a bathtub full of wriggling worms for one minute? 

7. What is your favourite dessert food?

8. Would you rather have one eye on your forehead (on top of the two you already have) or have a cluster of five eyes on your back?

9. Do you prefer silver or gold jewelry?

10. Would you rather have Telletubbies following you everywhere for a day or be locked in a room with Barney re-runs for three days?

11. What is your favourite post from my blog, Up in the Clouds? =)

If I didn't nominate you but would like to answer some of these questions for the fun of it, leave me your answers in a comment below! I'd love to know what you would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse!!! ;) My weapon of choice would probably be a sharp double-edged sword.

-Laura

Fall Festival!

Aside from making my costume this week, I was also in charge of making this mural for Fall Festival. My friend Angel asked me to make it and of course I was up for the challenge FUN!!! I've always thought owls are very stereotypically "autumn" animals so I thought it would be cute to do a mural featuring little felt owls with different personalities... for example, the farmer owl raking leaves... the coffee-addicted owl up in the tree... and the aloof wild-card pumpkin owl who's just a wee bit insane. Oh and by the way, if you scroll down below, can you guess what my friend Pauline is dressing up as? Hahahaha I really had no idea until she explained it to me. HAHA. Take a guess and then click HERE for the answer! 

After awhile, Mr. Potatohead and I thought it would be cool to get a picture of a peanut butter & jelly CHEST BUMP. So we attempted it... many... MANY times. Look at those faces of intense concentration!

This particular shot is hilarious because it was this attempt that made me totally wipe out and CRASH into that wooden door behind me. HAHAHA. Oh man.

After that fiasco, you can obviously see that we switched sides to prevent more door crashing. It also looks like I'm awkwardly curtsying. 

Eventually we got a half-decent sandwich-smush... after about 20 takes. Maybe I should make the whole ordeal into an animated GIF! 

Now that the whole thing is over, I've got four pieces of cardboard toast with nowhere to put them. But it's a shame to recycle them so quickly, don't you think? 

DIY: cardboard costumes

I never seem to have time to make a costume until the very last minute and this year, I was in the exact same scenario. I helped out with my church's Fall Festival this year which started at 6PM. At 5:30PM, I was still at home trying to dry the paint on my costume with a blowdryer. hahahaha. Anyway, it all worked out and I got it done just in time! This is probably the most low-budget costume ever because it's just cardboard and paint. Enjoy =)

It's pretty obvious how to make these costumes but here are some simple instructions:
1) cut out the cardboard toast pieces
2) paint the cardboard a "bread colour" (white, cream, or tan)
3) drizzle paint in the middle and paint a giant splotch for the peanut butter or jelly
4) for the backs of the toast, I painted them white then dabbed on brown paint with a sponge
5) use a dark brown colour to paint the edges of your toast
6) cut thin strips of leftover cardboard to make straps
7) attach the straps to your pieces of toast using packaging tape or a glue gun

Now your peanut butter (and/or) jelly sandwich costume is done and you're ready to parade around in it awkwardly! (it's not the most mobile costume) hahaha. 

The kids at the event were really cute. Some little girls would shyly come up to me and ask if they could touch the jelly while active little boys would grab the piece of cardboard and try to take a bite out of my costume. Some kids would run up to us and read the words on the back, yell out "BETTER TOGETHER!" and then quickly run away. haha. 

Another funny thing is that I got to the event first and Mr. Potatohead came an hour later. For that first hour, I was walking alone with the word "BETTER" on my back, and I had at least 4 people ask me if I had spelled "BUTTER" wrong (WOW, thank you for insulting my intelligence and my competence as a former English teacher). haha. I had to explain that my other half, THE PEANUT BUTTER SLICE was on his way and that he was supposed to complete the message. When he showed up, my costume FINALLY made sense, proving that we are indeed Better Together. hahaha. 

=)