24. December 2009 by Khizmet.

 this year’s gingerbread houses

House 1

House 2

 House 3 front, and the picture below this one is the back.

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24. December 2009 by Khizmet.

I LOVE Christmas….the season is 2 months long for me (I’m a Ukrainian prairie girl!!)….I dig out the decorations on Nov 15th….I’m almost as bad as the shopping malls…and they stay up til Jan 15th!  My favorite art/craft projects of the season are cookie decorating!  My sister Laurie got me going on elaborate cookie detailing about…… 7 years ago?? My goodness how time zips by!

  This Spring I had to go to Saskatchewan for about a month…and 2 weeks were spent at my cousin Debbie’s gracious offer of her cabin.  One of the most charming things about their decor was the John Deere theme.  Why had I not thought of that before for my Gingerbread herd!  So these are dedicated to Debbie and Rod….and my Dad too…who was a Die Hard John Deere man.

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27. August 2009 by Khizmet.

I have been sorely lacking in keeping my blog up to date!!! Run down on my trip to Sask.

 Took 3 and 1/2 days to drive up…..but spent  a few wonderful days with 3 of my 4 siblings, this is my sister “birdie” and me building our annual Castle. (my neice Taylor also worked on this with us…..I have to mention the creations behind me as well…..Yeti mountain built by my nephew Jordan, and the perogy hut by my neice Julie.)

castle front

castle back

we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display from by brother….”Randolfski”, and many a warm bonfire tended fervently by my sister Deb….

way too short of a visit…. 3 days to drive back…and not much road construction….until we got to Toronto…sheesh!!

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23. July 2009 by Khizmet.

it’s the little things, like baking bread….that bring me much joy….these loaves turned out to be soft and squishy…. light and fluffy…..usually my bread turns out like pucks…and once they get cold…might as well toss ‘em.  I love my silicone baking thingys.  A cookie silpat was the first silicone baking thingy I got…and I was convinced…..

 Why do I want to bake bread?  When I was really little, my older sister Laurie used to pose all kinds of interesting scenarios to me and my unsuspecting younger sister and brother.  One that sticks with me is….what if you were the last person on earth?  At first I was all happy thinking that I would be able to get any toy that I wanted…..go ride any horse that I wanted….then I realized “goodbye electricity”… and that once I ran out of all the packaged food in the world, I’d have to get down to business and have to do the dirty work that my mom did…like grow the garden myself…butcher chickens myself…already knew how to pluck the smelly scalded beasties….. that was a fun job as a kid….not.

Baking bread was just one of the everyday things my mom did…. and she didn’t really trust us to do that job when I lived at home still….so even though I watched the process for years, doing it, is actually a different thing entirely….  I smile now when I think back and thought what a treat it was to get store bought bread… and store bought milk too…(because I could taste which cow it came from when we had to milk cows…some are saltier than others)

 and now…it’s a treat to get fresh home baked bread…and I love weeding the garden….hm, I wonder if I’d like raw milk now? I guess if didn’t know the cow personally.

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29. June 2009 by Khizmet.

ARRRR…they be fine garage sales in these waters….preparing ahead for the Royal Medieval Faire, a lass can never have 2 many weapons at hand…. cast your eyes upon these fine instruments of battle….a handsome price I paid that scallywag.

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12. April 2009 by Khizmet.

 Sunday April 12th, My pair o’ patient pups posed for pics! ( don’t worry this took less than 60 seconds and then freedom and a bonus balloon playtime….and yes closely supervised!) this year they are sporting lop ears….I think I’ll go for the perky look next year….they look a little sad….

 One of my intense passions is ART…and more specifically Pysanky which I learned from my Mom….. these are 4 very traditional eggs that I made about 10 years ago..maybe a bit older…time seems to be passing by quickly each year and I’m losing track!

These 3 eggs are 4 colors….this top one white yellow red black…traditional…. the bottom 2 are yellow pink blue black….kind of unconventional in color but traditional in pattern style.

These are my Trypillian eggs!! (also I went a little celtic on the bottom right…)My mom never made this style (because she thought they looked like snakes  

And this is my latest attempt….I am drawing with metallic gel pens….this kinda feels weird because in the wax resist style, you work with the white and gradually work your way to the darker colors (so your pattern is sort of applied in reverse) and this is “normal art” <draw a picture …color it in.

 This egg is sadly, not finished…having a tough time trying to “find the time”.

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8. April 2009 by Khizmet.

Thursday April 2nd, I went with Lisa to Georgetown, Ont. for the Opening Reception of “Transformation of the Spirit” a journey of the soul in Texture and color. It featured the Fabric Art of Christine Ford, along with Guest Artists. Like a pavlovian pup I salivate when I see art in any form! So inspiring….and Christine’s luscious textures and colors with *bonus Sparklieness*..makes me happy.

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