T'is The Season

I was shopping for Christmas decorations/craft ideas at Michael's and I decided that I wanted to make my own Christmas Wreath this year. I took a look at their pre made wreaths and got some ideas. It was a good thing there was a Dollar Store next door because Michael's can get a nit pricey. I picked up:

• Styrofoam ring. 
• Any type of  festive decorations you want to decorate your wreath with.
• Glue Gun
• Real or fake cedar bows

Here are examples of the festive decorations I bought.

Getting Ready:

Take everything out of the packaging lay it out and get a idea of how you want to decorate your wreath.

Get Started:

• Wrap the cedar bows around the Styrofoam ring until it is covered. Tip: if you have bald spots, don't worry because you can cover them with the decorations. 

• Then use a hot glue gun to stick your decorations on your bare wreath. Remember there is no right way to do this. Get funky and do what ever you think looks good!

If you feel like you can't do this on your own there are wreath making workshops offered, however they can get pricey.

This is what my final product looked like however feel free to add your own touch to it and get creative.

Wooden Snowmen

I come from a small farming community just over an hour outside of Calgary.  Every year for forever our town has hosted a Turkey supper at the beginning of November.  Along with this we have a Bazaar.  My church always has a candy and craft table.  One year one of the farmers ripped up an entire section of fencing and had all these wooden posts that he didn't know what to do with.  His wife came up with the idea of making them into little snowmen and selling them at the Bazaar.  These snowmen are really easy to make.  We even went a step further and grouped them into little family's as well.

To make these snowmen you will need:
-pieces of wood (as many as is in your family) it doesn't have to be fence posts (about two feet high and varying sizes)
-white and black paint
-some old plaid material
-orange cloth (for the nose)
-some buttons
-nails
-some old wool socks

First you have to paint the wood white.  We only did one coat so you could still see the wood through it but you can put on as many coats as you want.  Taking the old wool socks you want to cut the toes off and use them as a toque for the snow men.  The old plaid material is for the scarves of the snowmen.  You can cut the material and tie it on however you want.  I suggest hot glue gunning the toque and scarf onto the snowman so that they don't fall off.  You can then take a couple of the buttons and nail them onto the snowman.  You can then paint black eyes and a smile on to your snowman.  To make the nose you first have to hammer a nail into the post where you want the nose to be.  Then cutting a triangular piece out of the orange material hot glue the material onto the nail so that they snowman has what looks like a carrot nose.  If you have done a family snowmen what we did was use barb wire and looped it around the little family.  You can use whatever you want or you don't have to tie them together.  I wish I was at home so I could show you what mine looks like but here is a similar one that I found on Pinterest.

They are so cute for winter and you can put them outside or keep them inside.  Its up to you!

Surreal

I was snooping around on the Internet and came across this website.  It was titled the Surreal,Infrared Photography of David Keochkerian.  These pictures are so cool. 

David doesn’t just use infrared to capture his images.  There are other photographs where he has used a slower shutter speed.  He calls these his Spark Art photographs. 

These pictures are so cool.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find a biography on David but found some other sites that have even more of his surreal pictures on them.  

I love these photographs.  Even without the special affects that David uses these pictures are so cool. But with these special affects they turn a photo into something unique and different.  I am definitely going to try and find David on Facebook so that I can see more of these cool photographs.  

CANDLES

Because school is getting hectic with it being the end of the year, I didn't have time to make my candles yet. However I did go out and purchase all the materials needed to make them.  Im going to make my candles in Mason jars to give it that rustic look, which I purchased at the dollar store. 

What you need:

• Wax
• Wicks
• crayons (a cheap way to dye the wax) or you can buy the dye
• Jars or molds
• Spoon for mixing
• Go through you recycling and get some used but clean cans. You will need one can per color.
• Scent
• Pot to boil water

Get Started:

• Put 2 inches of water in your pot and bring it to a boil.
• Cut your wax so it fits into the cans.
• Once the water is boiled put the cans with the wax in them in the water.
• Once the wax melts add your color to the melted wax and wait for it to melt and mix it in.
• If you didn't buy wax dipped wick, cut the wick longer than your candle will be and dip it in the wax and place it into the fridge to cool.
• Pour your candles into the mold or jar and place in the fridge.
• Keep a close eye on them and once they start to get hard place the wick in the candle.

After:

If you happened to get messy don't sweat it. Lay a brown bag or old sock over the spill. Use an iron, set  it on high to melt the wax onto the paper bag or sock and VOILA!

Remember:

• Wax is very hard to clean up from counters. So cover EVERYTHING in newspaper.
• Wax is flammable, so be careful.

I thought that these candles would be the perfect gift idea for those who have everything already and you have no idea what to get them, also it is more sentimental because its homemade. I hope my candle making goes well and if you guys have any tips for me that would be great!

Child's play

Hobbies:
There are so many interesting hobbies out there that people take on to keep themselves busy or to take their mind off of things.

On the week days I work at a youth drop in center for the City of Calgary, which may I add is pretty much the best job out there because I get to hangout and play all day.
Recently the kids have taken an interest in cup stacking. I have not heard of speed stacks before however it has been around for a lot longer than I thought. Cup stacking started in the 1980's and has grown into a huge sensation and apparently it's become a huge craze among the kids that I work with.

The other day I swear they were at it for hours before they invented there own "cup music" which is shown in the video down below:

It really surprised me how creative they were and it only took 30 minutes to perfect this. 

Feedback :)

Feedback 

(By: FOURHALF Inc, retrieved Dec 4 from: http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/trina/level-a/talking-to-strangers/)

Joy is such a hard thing to come by now a days and with the stress of school, work and relationships, life seems incredibly stressful. It  always seems as if one wall after another is put in your path to deter you from finding fulfillment and happiness. Now I have not discovered the ultimate cure to solving this problem however, I have found something that brings me great joy and gratitude when I sit down to my computer. I recently have started getting feedback and responses the more that I become immersed in the blogger mentality and culture. I do not have a large social network presence and thus I have a lack of connection with people online. Due to the necessity in this class to post on other individuals blogs it has allowed me to gain a huge appreciation for the online culture and the essential aspect of feedback. Getting recognized for your work or ideas proves to be incredibly rewarding and an online setting as it is the perfect place to receive this recognition. There is a strong feeling of respect and admiration when sharing ideas with your peers and it seems as if it could be an essential reason for online culture.

Through all social networking and sharing one can get a deep connection to others even through a monitor. I have recently started to get more involved on other social networking platforms such as linkedin, facebook and youtube, and this has proved to be greatly beneficial to me. I have expanded my business network and met some new people, just by being open to involvement in an online environment. As an example I recently met a student living in Africa on facebook and we have since been talking back and forth in a pen pal fashion. This experience has not only taught me about online culture but also culture from places around the world. These experiences have taught me the skills I need to be successful environment and how truly beneficial cyber culture can be. I now feel as if my metaphorical walls have come down and I am incredibly motivated to continue to pursue further connections, with other internet users.


 Thanks for all the continued feedback as I now have a greater appreciation for all aspects of the blogger mentality.

Is Disc Golf Art?

Is Disc Golf Art?

Recently over the summer I discovered an amazing game that involves precision, skill and patience. Disc Golf proves to be an amazing pastime and in the last couple months I have become completely immersed in the sports culture. Now for those of you who don't know about disc golf, it is a game in which one must throw a specialized frisbee into a chain basket. It is very similar to ball golf but with a couple variations. Instead of having different clubs for puts, drives and approaches , there are different discs for each type of shot. Instead of a hole being 300 yards away, disc golf holes are 300ft away. In disc golf it doesn't matter how the disc gets to the basket as long as it was thrown from behind the previous shot. Perhaps the largest change when looking at disc golf is the curve or fade of the flight pattern that allows players to shoot around obstacles. This is my driving factor for loving disc golf and as you see your driver bend perfectly around a enormous evergreen, one gets the most satisfying feeling of accomplishment.

Now as for my connection to disc golf, I was introduced to it through a family friend who would take me out to play with him. Since this start I have purchased my own set of discs, competed in amateur disc golf competitions and even built my own basket in my backyard. I find it as a very incredible stress relief to go out and play 18 holes with no one but mother nature and it proves to be greatly beneficial.

In relation to the subject of art and design disc golf and fit the bill quite well as everything involved in the game entails a lot of artistic expression. This expression is most noticeable when look at the large variety of discs that exist. They are all shaped just a little differently and the discs come in all colors of the rainbow and beyond. As well as bright vibrant colors, the discs are plastered with original designs stamped straight onto the face. With product names such as Buzz kill, Vulcan, Whippet and Destroyer, any newcomer can start to see were these design inspirations come from. This art factor in an already great game just solidifies my need to continue to pursue disc golf and makes me want to continue to pursue this fantastic passion.  

(Image #1 retrieved Dec 3 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Disc_golf_in_basket.JPG)