10 Houses in 2 days.

We've seen a fair number of houses these past few weeks and there's not a hell of a lot out there. It's frustrating because I don't think that we're picky, we just expect a reasonable return on the money we invest.

The hubby thought aloud tonight and said that perhaps we were spoiled, maybe our expectations are too high. I reminded him of the house we visited this afternoon with cat shit on the floor.

So far we've seen about 20 houses and nothing has really stood out. We're not looking for something that is perfect, we're open to a renovation project, but within reason. Taking something back to the studs isn't something we want to tackle right now... unfortunately many properties in our budget seem to require that level of work.

We also don't want to be house poor and exceed our budget. We're starting to feel stuck and something is going to have to give or we won't have anywhere to live soon.

Because I'm greedy

Soooo... because I was very pleased with myself and the Star card, I made myself a Star card too yesterday.



The colour in this photo is way closer to the originals than the previous photo I posted.

Next up? The Empress!

Star

I've always wanted to make my own tarot deck, so when I saw a swap on craftster for handmade tarot cards I jumped on board.

I'm really happy with my efforts today. Here's card No. 17, The Star.



There's a few symbolic things missing from the card but overall I'm pleased.

I'm really hoping that by making cards I'll gain a better understanding of the Fool's Journey and a deeper appreciation for the symbolism used (even if I do cheat and forgo using some the symbols in my own deck).

We're back

The kiddo and I have been away, spending some time in our old home town. The poor thing misses the city something terrible (I have to admit that I miss that big old place as well). Once back home I managed to do a little more work on my fat fibre book which is beginning to take shape. The pages still need quite a bit of work but I'm happy with the progress so far.

While we were away I picked up a few old photos for my collection. Just look at this old gal... she's wonderful!

And these two will make quite the pair :)

I'd like to image that if these two were a couple that, despite the stony exterior, they were probably quite a riot and suffered terribly from fits of giggles.

March Break! (Mother if you're looking avert your eyes!)

Woo hoo! We're off to visit our old home town for March break. We're so excited to see some dearly missed friends and to roam some favourite places.

It's funny but one of the things I miss is the bus. It's more than the freedom that public transit gives a gal who doesn't drive... it's the people watching, the funny stories and the few moments alone that I miss. I do not miss the smell of pee or the crazy people :)

Anywho, it's also my mum's birthday next week and I have her inchies all framed and ready to go. Here they are all bunched together...

And sitting in their pretty frame...

When I went to pick up the frame last night I could not believe the prices of some of them! Christ almighty, there were crappy fake wood plastic things for $30+ Eeesh. So I convinced the hubby to go to HomeSense and picked up this much prettier one at a reasonable price. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that store? The kiddo hates it when we start to go through the doors of that heaven. "NO! I don't want to go in there!" He knows that we lose all sense of time when we cross that threshold :)

More time to enjoy...

With the house (fairly) neat and clean, and my work caught up for the moment, I've managed to get quite a bit of nice stuff done.

I've finally finished reading a book I began months ago (Dead and Unwed) and have even made a small dent in a second. When the house is being shown I skedaddle out of the house, go for a walk and bury my head in a book. I didn't realize just how much I miss that bit of daily reading time until sort of being forced back into it. I'm glad for the push.

Today, when I returned home I noticed that the lookers were still looking at the house so I snuck over to my local crafty place. I picked up some loverly little bits of fabric for my fat fibre book and managed to make a few 'blank' pages this afternoon.

I'm looking forward to the embellishing and seeing what becomes of them. It's only just begun but I already love the look of those pages stacked together with the wee dangly bits poking out. *dreamy sigh* I hope it turns out well :)

Oh the horror!

I was working on a last minute birthday gift for the kiddo and my sewing machine (I call her Betsy) decided to have a hissy fit today. Every once in a while she decides to have a mental health day. She's very particular.

I walked away, giving her time to cool off, and made my way into the kitchen to bake the birthday boy a cake.



Banana cake filled with peanut butter and jam filling and topped with chocolate icing. Yum!

I will admit here that the icing is not homemade. I'm a bit of a terror when it comes to icing and usually do one of two things... ruin the entire batch, or only make enough to ice 3/4 of the damned cake. I saved myself some heart break this year and just bought a tub of the stuff.

The stillness lasted about a day.

I found myself with a bit of free time this afternoon and had no idea what to do with myself. I can't really work on any paper crafts... too messy. Ditto for painting, baking and most other fun stuff. I couldn't bear the craft-free period any longer, so I decided to pick through my scrappy fabric stash and sew up some pages for a fiber fat-book.

What's a fiber fat-book? I suppose it's sort of like an altered journal with fabric pages. Check out the craft-along on craftster and drool over the loveliness on the thread :)

Here's my afternoon's efforts...





As someone who had a very hard time creatively 'letting go' projects like this are awesome, they are just giant experiments that have no right or wrong. There's no need to trim every thread, those dangly bits become wonderful parts of the whole. It's more about space, colour, texture and the creative process.

That sounded FAR too artsy so I'll shut up now :)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

... too bad not all of them are true.

I have a love/hate relationship with house hunting. I sit glued to MLS pouring over each and every listed property. I ogle photos of houses that seem absolutely divine. I fall head over heels with sweet old homes that seem to need just a little love and attention.

Then we visit properties and are rudely shoved back into reality.

We've seen some pretty interesting places on our adventures in house hunting. There was the house with the pirate ship stained glass window in the living room (the port hole was a peep hole into the adjoining bedroom). The house with the three balconies you couldn't physically get to. The 8 acre property where the land was practically vertical. The lovely old house that had been hit by a car... 4 times. The place with the shirtless chubby preteen who literally had a hole cut/punched out of the wall for his closet. We've encountered the reek of cat pee, wet dog and stale cigarettes, countless dirty coffee mugs, filth, dirt, bugs, and loads of other weirdness.

I am not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination. I hate doing dishes, I have more than one 'junk drawer' and I'd always opt for fun over cleaning if possible. My tastes are not extravagant and 'Out-dated' doesn't bother me one bit. Still, finding the right house sometimes seems like it will be an impossibility.

Christ! It kinda makes me feel sorry for the picky buggers looking for houses out there!

Trying to do nothing.

When I say that I am a 'mess maker' it really is the gods honest truth! I can't seem to do anything without making a terrible mess. I don't mind it under normal conditions but for the past few weeks I've been working like a maniac to clean this place and get it ready for sale.

It really is a lovely house. *sigh* Ah well, we'll just have to find another to gussy up.

The trick now is to try and remain perfectly still until this place sells so that I don't spoil the cleanliness.