Summer Adventure: Museum of Nature

I try my best to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature when I visit Ottawa. I never get tired of it. In fact I have favourite things I have to say "hello" to every time I visit.

The marble animal faces on the main staircase for example.

The touchable dinosaur poo.

The skunk butt.

And this dino dude who looks like he's either singing soprano or burping.

There's so much neat stuff there though! Like this meteor.

And bugs!

And this beautiful exhibit about the Arctic with its projections onto slabs of ice that you could run your hands over.

Just look at this beautiful display of butterfly specimens.

And these colourful sea stars.

And this whateveritis.

Did I mention the magical ice things?

Seriously, you'd be shocked how excited a bunch of Canadian ladies were about touching ice.

More summer adventure stuff tomorrow!

Summer Adventures: Dragons and spiders

I'm alive! I've been busy having fun.

Two weeks ago I road tripped with my buddies to Ottawa to see La Machine, a sort of interactive moving mechanical bit of madness and badassness.

A giant spider roamed through the market.

Look at the size of that big yellow beast!

People were so distracted by the giant spider that some didn't even notice the dragon lurking up the side street.

The giant FIRE-BREATHING dragon!

People waited and mulled around for hours to get a glimpse of these fellows. By dumb luck we ran right into them. We were so close it's fortunate we didn't get eaten.

This guy was incredible. In addition to breathing fire and smoke, his eyes opened and closed, those flappy things (which Im sure there's a name for but will be called flappy things for the time being) flapped, his mouth opened. It was an overwhelming experience.

Here's a pretty good idea at the size of that roaming fellow.

The beasts were also followed by musicians on cranes that played live music to accompany the performance.

They continued their roaming into night! But we counted ourselves lucky to have had such a close encounter during their daytime walkabout and decided to drink instead ;)

More from my holiday adventures tomorrow.

Until then, watch out for dragons!

Starry Tags with Tutorial for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

This month for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts I've used their 3 tag set to create something starry and dreamy.

With some layers of paint, chipboard stars and glitter those kraft coloured tags are transformed.

They are the perfect backdrop for the sentiments and vintage images found on THIS Stars and Dreamers Collage Sheet (which is totally free to download because I love you.)

If you need a little guidance putting these beauties together, I've put together a video tutorial for you.

I do use a fair few layers of colour... but I honestly think that multiple washes add a depth of colour and visual interest that is incomparable to a slap of thick paint.

But hey! if a thick coat of acrylic is your thing... go for it! Art and craft is all about YOU, the maker. I wholeheartedly encourage you to do what works for you.

Here are all the bits I used to create these starry sparkly tags:

Stars and Dreamers *FREE* Collage Sheet

Gypsy Soul Tags

Keys Engraved
Printers Ornament Corners
Swirl Medallion Small

Deco Stars

Acrylic Paint (also used 

Glue
Glitter

Metal Ring
Ribbon/Fibers

Stars and Dreamers FREE Collage Sheet

“What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Stars and dreamers. Oh, so important.

Here's a free* collage sheet for you. Because.

*Seriously, it's free but don't be a dink and pass this off as your own, or sell it, or redistribute it. Enjoy it and make good arty shit with it!