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! 

bookmark doodle

Today's doodle is from a bookmark I drew for my students this past year. Yes, I was a high school teacher for a year in Hong Kong (crazy!!!). I found some extra bookmarks lying around inside my still-unpacked suitcases so I thought I'd show you all. The school system in Hong Kong is so different from the one here in Canada. In my Grade 7/8 classes, there were 40 kids in each class! FORTY hormone-filled kids all experiencing the start of that wonderful stage of life called Puberty. Anyway, to keep them all entertained and attentive, I would often draw cartoons or comics on the whiteboard and on all my worksheets. At the end of the year, I printed 400 copies of this bookmark and gave it out to all my students. Mine were just printed on blue & white marbled cardstock, but you could definitely use brighter colours or even patterned paper. Bookmarks are so easy to create and reproduce in mass quantities but it's still a nice gift that can definitely be personalized. Plus, it's useful (at least for people who read!).

Speaking of reading, I am currently re-reading The Hobbit. Yes... my obsession with Middle Earth continues.

And in case you were wondering, yes, that is Lego Gandalf telling you to read more books.