September 27, 2017

Seasons of Change

Fall, as I have mentioned before many times, is probably my favourite season of the year. I enjoy all four seasons for one reason or another, but Fall would be my choice if I was forced to pick one. I love the cool, crisp air and the bright riotous colours of the trees, giving one last grand show before the weather turns cold. I love the golden autumnal hues popping up, not only on the trees, but showing up in my wardrobe too. Though it is a short season sandwiched in between summer and winter, it is a sweet one indeed. And despite the fact that it comes near the end of the year, Fall always feels new to me. And by “new” that I mean that Fall seems to me, to be a fresh start.

Maybe it is because, while you don’t tend to notice the slow evolution of Spring to Summer, or even Winter to Spring, the change of Summer to Fall is quick and seems to happen overnight. Perhaps it is after years of going to school where the summer is holidays and Fall signals the beginning of a new school year. Or it could be because we are entering the last quadrant of the year, and if you are wanting to get things done this year, you’d better do them quick! Or perhaps it is because my birthday falls in October, and so it actually is the start of a new year for me. Maybe it is a combination of all of these. . .

Whatever the reason, Fall always feels like the start of things. And some of the biggest changes in my life have started in Fall time. Going to Bible college. Moving out for the first time. Moving to a new town. Starting selling my artwork at craft shows. . . And now this year, it is moving into my own place. I’ve had roommates before, but this weekend, I am moving out on my own. It’s not far away from where I live now with my family, and it is not as though I am leaving my community or family behind, but it is still a huge life change, and it will be an adjustment.

I’ve been a bit distracted from this blog, and the internet in general, for the past couple of weeks, as I’ve been focusing on this move, and all of the things going on in “real life”. This blog is of course a part of my life, but right now I am feeling the need to focus a bit on things other than it. I had thought of prescheduling a post for this week, but honestly I don’t even have the desire to do that. And also, I don’t have any pictures to share as I’ve been too busy to take any 😉

So, a blogging break is in order this week. I won’t stay away long, and hopefully I will be back next week, where I will be writing to you from my new house. Completely surrounded by towers of boxes, most likely. (haha- who am I kidding! I’ll probably have everything unpacked and put away the first day I’m in. Because I am an organizing nerd!)

So, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week, and I’ll see you on the other side! (If I survive carrying all of those boxes. . . I am seriously considering becoming a minimalist. . . )

August 25, 2017

Photo Journal: A Quick Trip to Calgary

Nicole art + photography, social saturday life lately, photography, travel

Last week I took a much needed holiday. Originally it was supposed to be a five day getaway, spanning from Saturday to Wednesday, but when I got back home, my new work computer hadn’t arrived yet (my other one had been sent back, since the hard drive was having problems), and so I was “forced” to take an extra four days off 😉

My friend Chantelle and I planned a while ago to go and visit one of our college friends in Calgary, as she is working there for the summer. Since Chantelle has been wanting to visit Calgary for a while, and I grew up in the area, we both thought a holiday in the city would be fun. I have already shared some pictures of Heritage Park, last week, and if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of these already, but today I am sharing some of the other pictures I took during my little trip to Calgary.

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Inglewood, Memorial Park and Lougheed House

I spent three days in Calgary, as the first two days were spent at a family gathering, so my first day in the city was Monday. We wanted to tour the Glenbow Museum, but when we found out that it was closed, we decided to go shopping in one of the older areas, a neighbourhood called “Inglewood”, instead. However, one thing we didn’t plan for was that almost everything is closed on Mondays! All of the art galleries and many of the shops we passed by were closed, which I thought was rather strange for a large city. Thus, instead of browsing, we mainly wandered around looking at old buildings, ate lunch in an English style pub, walked around Memorial Park, and then traversed the grounds of Lougheed house, because, (you guessed it) the house was closed! Even though we did get caught in the rain towards the end of the day, it was still a great time spent exploring and spending time together. And a note to the future- don’t go on a trip to Calgary on a Monday!

The grounds at Lougheed House, below.

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Heritage Park

The second day was spent at Heritage Park, and though I did already share some pictures of the historical settlement last week, this week I am sharing some photos of the village. We had perfect weather for our day at Heritage Park; sunny, but not too hot and although at first we had thought we would spend only half the day there, we ended up spending seven hours at the park, and still not seeing everything! My favourite parts of the day were watching the street theatre my friend was in, buying a twenty-five cent newspaper which was printed on a 150 year old printing press, and visiting the Famous Five centre in the replica of Nellie McClung’s house. It was great to see the rooms where they discussed women’s right to be considered “persons”, especially since I could see the real Nellie McClung house from the apartment I was staying in. The attention to detail at Heritage Park is fascinating, and as you walk through it, you don’t feel as though you are in a park, since all of the buildings are ones that were moved there, or are authentic reproductions of historical places.

Nellie McClung’s house above, and, below, a photo of her and Emmaline Pankhurst.

The village main “street”, strawberry ice cream from the ice cream parlour, and the ranch house (below).

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The Cityscape

The view from the balcony.

The third day, Wednesday, was, sadly, the day that Chantelle and I had to leave. After one last look at the view off of our friends apartment balcony, we said goodbye, and then headed downtown (which was only a few blocks away). Chantelle and I wandered around downtown for an hour and a half, before we left the city, because we wanted to be able to see the skyscrapers, and “experience city life”. I loved seeing the contrast of the old and the new. All of the historical sandstone buildings with a backdrop of metal and glass behind, is such an interesting sight. We also loved walking through the “+15” skywalk (which connects many of the buildings in the downtown core) and walking past, and almost going into, a building that was being evacuated! Whoops! (we were wondering why all of those people were milling around!)

Above, just a random pretty house I saw, and below, the boarding house across the street, which was overshadowed by many tall apartment buildings.

Then, after our feet were almost worn off, we left the city and headed for home. We stopped for lunch in Lacombe on the way home, because Chantelle has always wanted to see that town, and then the holiday was over!

It was a very short trip to Calgary, but it was so wonderful to just get away for a while. I don’t really like traveling, but because the nature of my day job is that I am almost always “on call”, it was actually really wonderful to literally walk away from my computer and leave the phone behind, and focus on other things for a while. And, because I wasn’t at home, I was able to take an actual break, without work staring me in the face!

Have you ever taken a very quick roadtrip somewhere? Do you like to travel, or are you a homebody? Have you ever visited Calgary?

July 22, 2017

Favourite Internet Finds Lately

Nicole social saturday life, life lately, links

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend, whatever you are doing today. As for me, I am painting, blogging (obviously-haha) and hopefully doing some sewing later on. (The skirt that was supposed to only take a few hours and I was to have finished two weeks ago!) I thought that today, I would just share a quick post with some online articles and such that I have found recently. And these photos which I have taken lately, some of which I have shared on my Instagram, but not here. Have a great weekend everyone!

Fashion Revolution and Future Learn with the University of Exeter have joined together to create a free online course called, appropriately, “Who Made My Clothes”? I don’t believe there are too many more days to sign up for this course, as the free one expires in August, (you can upgrade to $39 for the course, which gives you unlimited access to the course) The course is designed to help you find out for yourself where your clothes are made and what “we, as active global citizens, can do to enable change.” I have just barely started it, but it promises to be really good. So, if you are interested at all, hop over and enrol now! There are not very many days left to join.
This interview with Elizabeth Cline, the author of “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion” is a really great read. (If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you’ll remember that her book is what started my interest in ethical fashion. Seriously, this book should be required reading!) She’s also got some links to other helpful resources to evaluate brands. Have you read Overdressed?

I always like finding new blogs to read. A few months ago, I discovered the blog Mr. and Mrs. Rat, when “Mrs. Rat” left a comment on my blog, so I went over to hers- and immediately went through her entire archive! She and her husband make many of their clothes (and recently participated in Me Made May), she has such a great sense of style featuring many 70’s-does-historical inspired looks, and is an extremely talented artist as well. Their blog is now one of my favourite to follow. Seriously, go and check it out!

These blog posts are a couple of years old, and I first stumbled upon them a couple of years ago when the live action Cinderella first came out, but I reread the posts recently (after watching Cinderalla again). I love costume design and it is so interesting to see all of the details that go into creating really good costumes that enhance the story, and emphasize certain aspects while being subtle about it at the same time. Read the articles here: Cinderella Style Part 1 and Part 2. Do you like finding out about the behind-the-scenes of movie costuming?
Klara from A Robot Heart recently dyed her hair platinum blonde- it looks so great!!! And, it is really making me want my platinum pixie again. . . (Pre-blogging days, though you can see the remnants of it here.) I won’t chop all my hair off again, as it has just gotten to a really nice 20’s bob length, but boy is it tempting! Do you go back and forth between what you want for your hair, or do you tend to stick to one tried-and-true style?

May 20, 2017

Outtakes: Volume Two

Nicole social saturday

Tea with Jam and Bread

Can you believe that the last outtakes instalment was way back in August? I think it is about time for another, don’t you think? And, believe me, there is no shortage of outtakes! 😉 I guess that’s just what happens when your sister is your main photographer= silliness ensues. So, for a glimpse into my non-modeling career, today I present to you Outtakes: Volume Two!

When you have a plan, and then the sun comes out and wreaks havoc on it. . .

This jumping photo didn’t really turn out as I had imagined. . . And look closely at the picture on the right, that is a chickadee photobombing! That’s OK though, because he is so cute! 🙂

Don’t you want a hat like this one? Actually yes I do- this one was just a bunch of flowers stuck temporarily on a straw base, but I think I need to make one “for real”.

What do I see . . . ?

Always got to do a Mary Poppin’s pose! And what nefarious purpose do I have in that ditch. I look like I was caught red handed. . .

Self explanatory, I think 🙂

After holding the wrench above, I got grease on my hands 🙁 And on the right, doing a catwalk strut with dubious results. . .

Twirling spider legs, and doing the twist.

Fashionable footwear choices- bringing in a pop of colour! On the right, I see Prince Charming. . . or maybe just dessert?

I finally got a good jumping photo- but then I have a hilarious expression on my face! I just can’t do good jumping photos, I guess. . .

Waiting for my sister to take the detail photo of my eye makeup, and instead she’s taking behind the scenes of my ridiculous pose 🙂 And, when the wind comes up unexpectedly and blows your skirt, funny expressions ensue. . .

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Well, I hope these photos brought a bit of laugh to your day!

Have a great weekend everyone, and to my fellow Canadians, enjoy the long weekend! I’m signing off for now, to enjoy the weekend (and the sunshine that finally showed up!), and will see you all next week!

April 13, 2017

Happy Easter

Nicole art + photography, social saturday easter, life, photography

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words.”

Luke 24: 1-8.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter, dear Readers. ❤ I will be taking a break this week from posting, instead focusing on celebrating this season with family and friends, but I’ll be back next week. May you each have a wonderful Easter holiday, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!