*Caution* Rambling + +

Tonight, after a round of The Game of Life with my 2 favorites, Sidenote: a game where I get to pay bills, climb a corportate ladder, get fired, surprised by twins 3 times, buy-buy-buy, get sued,  and "win" by retiring to Shady Acres with the most money, I think, is a completly ridiculous "game".. I almost felt like holding up a Barbie doll to my daughter and telling her to compare herself...but, maybe Im taking it too seriously..I mean, Madi was told she "had a baby" and instead opted to refer to it as her dog the rest of the rounds..I, myself "got married" and was super excited when I was handed a pink peg to add to my passenger seat..I felt like we were sticking the "Game" to the man and controlling our own destiny...The Game of Life: who's great idea of a fun invention to escape reality, in its present form was that anyway?

ANYWAYS: Tonight, I fell asleep on the couch after family game night and woke up at 9:15pm to Spiderman on the TV and my 2 favorites eating a bowl of popcorn. Im convinced they both low growled when they saw me wake, now knowing they have to share whats in the bowl...In any case, my "nap" has ensured a late night for me and hence, finally, an opportunity for a blog post..

I havent written in a long time and dont I know it. Its not that I didnt have any finished pieces to show or anything specific to share...I have and I do, especially here, as I am so inspired.... but as someone who has the need to sometimes be unaccounted for, for the purpose of making me accountable, I needed what I needed and part of that was: I needed to be present where I actually am..to settle, to rest, observe, to nurture my personal creativity... to take it all in: the changes that have happened for myself and my little family. To start our new "normal" of life. To process the range of emotions that have somewhat taken me by surprise, to explore and fall in love with my new home, to miss my friends and family, to be with my own family, and to help them thru all of the same.

March. It was only last March where The Mister and I flew out here and had this crazy idea about living here...it was just a thought...and the amount of thoughts, conversations, work and process that have happened since is actually absolutly insane. It feels like years ago...reality: its been 7 months since that first thought. Sometimes, when I look back at the scope of it, I have these moments of..
"w-t-f did we do?"

and when I think of the exact moment....the one "first" moment where I allowed myself to question everything....We were on the ferry, crossing the Strait of Georgia... I was huddled in a corner by myself while The Mister and Mad were off exploring the boat..it was raining and I was drinking terribly ferry tea..and I thought to myself  "right now my washer and my dryer are on a ship crossing the gawddamn ocean 3 floors below me" That overwhelmed me..I started laughing hysterically-with tears..because it was really funny and I asked myself for the very first time:

 

"w-t-f did we do?"

 

 

 At the time I meant it with a wave of excitment, and complete apprehension. It was the great unknown..the pivital point in our adventure..it was one of the best moments of many yet to come...it was also a very scary and raw moment, many more of those have came too..and depending on the day now, depends on exactly how Ive meant that since. I LOVE it here..I do love it here...but I also LOVE it back there...back home and I miss every single person. Adventures are a tricky thing, the whole purpose of them is to leave your comfort zone..go forth in unfamiliar surroundings..face yourself  head on! All of that is really hard...but, Ive never heard of anyone ever say that they wished they had stayed home instead..and you wont hear it from me ever either..

Rambling over.

I am taking full advantage of my new studio! Ive been meaning to post pictures, Ill get on it soon. In the meantime, thanks to the large amount of new space I now have, and my creative juices flowing all over the place, I have a line up of finished work..in between long walks on the beach.

My client Robin, brought over these ladder shelves. Freshly constructed locally by Troy from Wildcoast Woodwork! They were bare wood ready for some paint! We picked out some colors that would work in her space and I got to it.
I used a burgundy-brown (Benjamin Moore: I cant remember the name) for the first coat and a soft, really pretty teal (BM "Waterafall") for the main color. I was working with a fabric pattern that Robin had brought over from her couch.

 

Lightly distressed to show the darker color peeking thru and off wax'in I went. I used a new one!! Van Gogh beeswax and its absolutly awesome. My now very favorite! Besides all the obvious things that make it great for us furniture-refinishing type people, my 2 very favorite extra things about it are:
 1) the smell. It smells just like honey...Sniff a beeswax candle and you'll see exactly what Im talking about..thats because its beeswax..the real stuff! Totally non toxic! You could use this on baby toys without a worry! BABY TOYS! Come on!
2) Its CANADIAN made!! As ALL Van Gogh paints are! This is the biggest awesome for me! Its actually made, hand made-hello, really close to me here on Vancouver Island, just a lil ferry ride over on Salt Spring island! Anytime I can support Canadian made, plus locally made on top of that...pppfffttt..Im just over the moon excited about supporting it!!

and here they are happily ever after at there new home! Dude...its like they were MADE for this space....*grin*

and a sneaky-peaky of my next post: Probably titled: What would Judge Judy do?