Happy Halloween!

I'll be spending Halloween evening watching my all-time fav creepy movie: The Exorcist.

This clip is my way of saying Happy Halloween!

Introducing My New Girl Parker

A new design can be found in the shop, her name is Parker.

She's belongs to the Clutch family, unlike her sister Elizabeth she closes with a magnetic snap and more of her interior is visible when you open her up.
See what I mean, check out those stars.

Her funky vintage buttons are for fashion not function.

Stop on by the shop for more details.

Parker Has Arrived!

Parker is the newest girl in the group.


This little clutch closes with a magnetic snap. The buttons seen on the batik design below are for fashion not function.

She's available in the shop! Stop on by for specific measurements and prices.

Gone Green

Original picture uploaded by Bad Bad

It's about time Waterloo went Green(er). Slowly but surely our region is introducing a residential green bin program which provides residents with bins for organic household materials (food, tissue etc). I was thrilled (no, it doesn't take much these days to excite me) to receive a pamphlet on our doorstep a month ago that explained how our neighbourhood was the next in line to receive the bins. We already recycle but community composting will definitely reduce the amount of trash we end up with on the curb. Our new bin has arrived and has been put to good use already.

Mike and I are also doing our part for the environment by becoming a one car family. Let's be honest, we are doing this to save money, but helping the environment is a definite perk. I handed the keys to Flea, my little Echo, over to the dealership on Tuesday. It was a bitter sweet moment. It's great knowing that I won't have to worry about gas, a monthly lease payment and insurance but I also lose some of my freedom. Mike and I are going to have to learn to share! Oh boy.

Last Week's Pick of the Week

FaniSong's Glass Photo Pendants


There are some beautiful ECO-friendly pendants to be found at FaniSong. The best part is you can purchase one of the stylish recycled glass pendants with a photo chosen by FaniSong, like the dandelion shown above, or you can request a custom made pendant. Simply email your chosen photo and you'll have yourself a unique gift.

Lola So Pretty with Pleats

Lola number two enters the world. She's available in the shop.


I LOVE her button.


These pics really aren't doing her justice. I'll take a few more tomorrow maybe.

What Lola Wants...

Thanks Tanya for providing me with inspiration for Lola's desciption found in the shop.


The next Lola will be darker to fit the fall/winter thang.

I can't get enough of these big beautiful buttons!

Lola can be all yours... check out the details here.

Blue Monday

1. Untitled, 2. Just Clouds and Bright Blue Sky, 3. dandelion blue, 4. Blue Oasis, 5. big blue..., 6. The blue tent, 7. a sky divided, 8. blue and white...2008, 9. dried toluidine blue on a petri dish

It was a grey morning and I needed some blue to brighten my mood.

This is what I'm surprised I like

I shook my head while grumbling and mumbling about Mike and his mountain biking adventures before August of this year. I thought he was nuts to throw himself down a mountain on a bike... until I tried it myself.

One trip down Whistler Mountain in BC and I was hooked.
I can't wait to go back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the... Yep, I've fallen for biking (literally in the pic above).

Another surprising like of mine:

Thanks photobunny for the sweet onion pic (ha! get it? sweet onion.)

I used to hate onions but love, loVe, LOVE them now. That's probably not all that surprising, I don't think I'm alone on this one. Onions belong in a category along with red wine and fancy cheese, as your tastes mature you learn to love them.

Mmmm now I need a snack. Red wine and onions anyone?

Thanks to Earl and Cookie for the "This is..." theme this week.

I Want One!

Mike sent this pic my way today knowing I would melt when I saw it. I want one.

It's a CAKE people!

I have created some extremely distasteful Halloween props in my lifetime. I can't help but cringe when I think of one in particular that did not amuse my mom... I was dressed as the angel of death and left the house on my way to a party carrying a prop that involved a naked doll, fake blood, a knife and a platter - use your imagination.

It takes a lot to gross me out and Halloween is a time when I think the grossest of the gross is expected and applauded. This, my friends takes the cake (no pun intended) for nastiest cake design ever.


Yes it really is edible. YUM YUM! Interested in making one for yourself? Check out the recipe here.

Weird Obsession

Original Flickr Photos Uploaded By: 1. lets swing :), 2. Two Mills, 3. zero gravity, 4. Morey's Pier, 5. Ride In Action, 6. CNE Swings, 7. Under The Table & Dreaming, 8. Swing in Motion 1, 9. swingtown

I don't know what has gotten into me, for the last month I can't get amusement park swings out of my mind. Bizarre huh? I think I've weirded Mike out by talking about them on multiple occasions.

I haven't been to an amusement park in 8 years (insert sob here) and I didn't even ride the swings the last time I went. What can I do to quench my thirst for a ride on the swings? Will I have to wait until next summer?!

Little Red Lola

I started working on a new design three months ago but have been so busy with school and life that I haven't had time to go any further with it. Last night I set aside the assignment I was working on and picked up the stitch ripper. The bag I started three months ago had the basic shape of this girl but my plan then was not for her to look like this.

I love the big button and the pleats worked out really well. She closes with a magnetic snap and there's an interior pocket as well. This sweet number isn't for sale but I'll be creating more asap and they'll be going up in the shop. If you're interested in one sooner than later please send me an email at ginghamskies@gmail.com and I'll put a rush on it.

Proud Mama

I'm so happy with my latest design! The button is fabulous isn't it? Thanks mom. To give you and idea of the size the button is 1 1/4 inches across. This sweet little lady is all mine but I'll definitely be creating more to put in the shop asap! She still needs a name... I'm leaning towards Lola.

This is my favourite film

I knew someone would eventually choose the topic of favourite film for the "This is..." meme and the day has come. "What's your favourite film?" is one of my lease favourite questions because I don't have a simple answer. I have watched what seems like a million movies in my lifetime and I can't seem to choose a favourite.

Since Hokey has taken the time to pick the topic for the week I'm going to try my best to narrow down my list of loved flicks.

Fav Musical
This one is easy. Some of you may remember my post about the best movie musical ever: Across the Universe. It is by far the best when it comes to musicals. No point in arguing with me because I'm right and anyone who disagrees is wrong with a capital W. If you haven't seen it be sure to rent it and be prepared to fall madly in love with Jim Sturgess.

Hot hot hot!

The story is good, the soundtrack is phenomenal (Beatles all through but sounding better than the originals thanks to these amazing performers) and well, Jim Sturgess.

Horror
I LOVE scary movies. I've loved them since I was a kid. More often than not my evenings filled with scary movies would be followed up by even scarier nightmares. My parents were saints, they would always come in and comfort the maniac child although I'm certain there were many times when they were tempted to smother me with my pillow considering the nightmares were self-inflicted. The nightmares were awful but they were the result of something wonderful: horror flicks.

Choosing one favourite horror movie is not easy so I've narrowed it down to two:

The Exorcist

Poltergeist
I loved the Poltergeist movies when I was a kid, they freaked me out like you wouldn't believe and the clown with the moving head at the end of either the 2nd or 3rd movie caused me to rip the hanging clown on a swing from my bedroom ceiling and worsened my already evident clown issues.

Comedies
Old School is in my top ten for sure



And of course the classic: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Best Raindy Day Movie
My mom's favourite movie is definitely one of mine too so I can't end this post without including The Goonies

I could go on and on but that's enough for today. What are YOUR favourite movies?

Kanga's AQUA Framed Bracelet

I'm sure you have noticed the Fab Pick of the Week located on the right hand side of this page. I am going to continue choosing lovely items once a week to feature but in addition I will be creating a post repeating exactly what you see on the sidebar. This way if you have a burning desire to be reminded of a particular artist/shop you can click on the label of Etsy and see all of the previous Fab Picks. Why I feel compelled to explain this to you I don't know, I'm sure you would have figured it out on your own but now that my fingers have gone to all the trouble of typing this out I don't want to insult them by deleting it.

Onto the stunning feature of last week:

I'm a sucker for anything aqua so when I stumbled across this beautiful bracelet by Kanga I was smitten! Be sure to check out the matching earrings and loads of other stunning pieces at Kanga's etsy shop.

Blogtoberfest Fave Friday

Happy Birthday Tanya!

I'm on a roll of forgetfulness. One of the most fabulous women in my life is living in Russia and it was her 29th birthday on Tuesday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANYA! This hottie decided to tattoo your beautiful face on his beautiful body. I tried to wrap him up and ship him to Russia for you but he refused to fold himself into a packing box. How rude.

I hope you had a stupendous birthday Tanya, you deserve only the best darlin!

Make a Difference

Unless you were just born or have been living under a rock you are aware of the fact that poverty is a serious issue affecting individuals across the globe . It's easy to say that you are concerned but whether you choose to take action to try and make a difference is another story.

I'll admit that I'm guilty of talking the talk and not walking the walk. Yes I want to make a difference but I really don't do much to actually make this happen. I donate food to my local food bank, I donate small amounts of money when people ask for my support for one fundraiser or another, I toss change into an open palm every now and then, and I've talked about volunteering (talked being the key word). I know I should find some time to help out with those less fortunate but I'm greedy when it comes to my free time because I have so little of it.

Basically what I'm sheepishly admitting is that I want to find a way to contribute to change without leaving my couch. It just so happens that I have found one way to do this: Kiva.

"Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world." What better way to help people than to help them help themselves.

Please take a moment to visit Kiva's site and consider loaning some cash to someone who needs a little help. You can contribute to change without even leaving your living room.

Bloggers Unite

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

October 15th (that's tomorrow ladies and gentlemen) is Blog Action Day. Watch the video, visit the site and join the world of bloggers in raising awareness about the global issue of poverty.

VOTE!

originally uploaded by skippyjon

October 14th is election day in Canada so get out there and vote people. You have no right to bitch about Bush-loving Harper unless you cast a vote.

If you haven't registered to vote it's not too late. Head to your nearest polling station tomorrow and bring along government issued photo ID or two pieces of ID (one with your name and address and another with your name and signature), you can register right then and there.

This is...my current reading material.

Photo credits: 1. Water for Elephants, 2. { ضريبـة النجـاح , !, 3. Love.Twilight., 4. Vintage Munchkin

I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time sort of girl but lately I've been reading multiple books at once; it seems to be working for me.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a phenomenal read, one of those books you pick up and can't put down. I read it while applying my make-up in the morning (no easy task), eating, and cooking mostly. Awesome read. Thanks to Reebs and her books club for recommending this one.

Textbooks, textbooks and more textbooks. My bachelor of ed. program forces encourages me to read a zillion pages of material on a daily basis: teaching math, literature and science; child psychology; curriculum documents for all eight subjects; how to create an equitable environment; teaching ELL and MORE! Don't get me wrong, it's all good stuff but there is just no way it's all going to stick in my brain. At least I'll know where to locate the info when a time that I need it comes along.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series is one that my friend Jackie introduced to me while I was visiting her in August. Vampires and werewolves?! I'm in. I've always had a thing for vampires. I just finished reading the second book in the series and can't wait to get my paws on the third.

Goggles by Ezra Jack Keats is a children's book that I am using this week for shared reading with my 3/4 class. Would I recommend it? Probably not but it works well for my purposes.

In the next couple weeks I intend to read A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant and the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on both.

Thanks to My Champagne Dreams (a fabulous blog that I had never visited until now; I'll be sure to return) for choosing the theme for "This is..." this week.

Still Going Strong

I'm sorry this is so late mom and dad. October 6th was a very special day; 36 years of marriage deserves to be recognized and celebrated. You are my inspiration, I love you both with all of my heart.

Congratulations!!

Your Heart Be Held With Tenderness originally uploaded by Imagemakercan

RIP Henry

I have one full belly.

Dinner at the Charcoal last night to celebrate my beautiful Aunt Sue's 50th birthday followed by Thanksgiving dinner number one tonight at Joanne and Paul's. I'm mega stuffed.

Joanne and Paul named the bird Henry. His full name was *drum roll please* Henry the 8. Get it?

Photo full belly originally uploaded by pinkorchid_too

Bring on the Birds

It is almost a guarantee that come Monday I will be in a self-induced turkey coma so if I skip a day of Blogtoberfest you can blame it on the birds. Yep it's that time again, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.

Turkey, and stuffing and gravy OH MY!

Photo Talking Turkey originally uploaded by ReyGuy

Tanya ZipIt

A new ZipIt has been added to the shop finally!
A pouch covered in little Russian nesting dolls named after my lovely Russian girl Tanya! I love this fabric!

I'm a Winner!

Yippee for me! I can't believe it, I actually won something. This is the beautiful book that I will be receiving in the mail sometime soon:

Talk about a flashback.

Mega thanks from me to Scribbler at Vintage Kids' Books for the fabulous giveaway. Be sure to stop by her blog if you are a children;s book lover - she blogs about the most wonderful books on a daily basis and the giveaways are an extra added bonus!

Pottery Sale!

Looking for beautiful handmade Christmas gifts? After you visit Gingham Skies and Eterknity you might want to think about checking out the Waterloo Potters Workshop Fall Sale! I'm posting this early so that you can mark the date on your calendar - I'll be sure to post again closer to the actual sale. The sale takes place on November 14, 15 and 16th at RIM Park on University Avenue in Waterloo, Ontario. Check out WPW's website for the specifics.

Here are a few of the lovely bits shown on the WPW site; you might be able to get your paws on these at the sale.

A Teacher in the Making

Today was the first day of my two week block practicum and I survived to tell the tale. I'm in a grade 3/4 split class led by a phenomenal teacher. For the next two weeks I'll be teaching up to 25% of the lessons each day. My lesson plan for Writing today was B-O-R-I-N-G but I made it through the introduction to leads and I'm fairly certain the kidlets now understand what the elements of a good lead are. I know they're permanently etched into my brain after hearing them a zillion times in 40 minutes. Tomorrow's lesson will help me to assess whether the little monkeys really grasped what was drilled into their little beans today.

A few key things I learned from day one of teaching: avoid delivering mega dry lessons if at all possible; creating examples of written work on the spot with the help of 20 eight and nine year olds is more difficult than one might think; tell volunteers what they're volunteering for before selecting them or you might end up with a child looking totally stunned and uncomfortable in front of their peers (thankfully I thought quickly and fixed this scenario before any permanent damage was done); when you've run out of time but still have kids who want to share their thoughts have them turn to an elbow partner for ten seconds of sharing, if you don't do this you may have what appears to be a deflated child on your hands. Oh and just to ease your concerns: no children were harmed during the delivery or this lesson.

Wasting Time While Time Warping

Looking for a way to waste some time while having a good laugh? Yearbook yourself over here.
The couple up above is me in 1968 and Mike in 1984. Check out those locks... hot hot hot. Thanks to my favourite blog How About Orange... for sharing this super fun time waster.

This is my favourtie kitchen tool.

I am just as in love with my KitchenAid mixer today as I was in high school when I first discovered her existence. I know that sounds ridiculous but seriously, I love my mixer.


I remember telling my mom that I wanted a KA as a wedding gift when I was still a teen. There was no groom in sight but I had figured that marriage was a sure fire way of getting my hands on the mixer - don't worry Mike, the mixer wasn't my only reason for marrying you. Sure enough I received a KA of my own as a gift from my mom and a few other family members at my wedding shower. Needless to say I was a very happy bride-to-be. I could go on and on about that yummy bits my mixer has helped me create but I think I've said enough, I'm sure you get my point: I love my KA mixer, she is without a doubt my favourite kitchen tool.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's "This is..." theme, an opportunity to brag about one's KitchenAid mixer should always be taken seriously.

Thinking Christmas

I can't believe I'm admitting this but I've had Christmas on the brain for the last few days. I know, I know, don't rush it. I blame it on my mom, Christmas is her holiday and her enthusiasm for it has rubbed off on me. In honor of my festive thoughts I popped over to Etsy to see what I could find that is Christmas themed and I thought I would share one of my favourite finds.

d'Pholk Designs has a beautiful selection of fused glass art in their Etsy shop: pendants, bowls, christmas decorations and more.

I have a thing for stars and this lovely fused glass star in green could be hung all year round. Too early to think of Christmas? Consider it for a birthday or a 'just because' gift.

Will Uncle Hans Join Blogtoberfest?

I don't know if you'll see any posts from Uncle Hans but I have decided to honor my hometown Oktoberfest boozefest in a less toxic way by joining in Big Cat Emporium's Blogtoberfest! Thanks to Two Peas in a Pod for sharing the idea.

Basically taking part in Blogtoberfest means intending to post on a daily basis throughout the month of October - there are also art swaps and giveaways involved and I do intend to host a giveaway here too! It won't be for a couple of weeks but I promise to do so before the month is up. Gingham Skies will have a little something to pass along - hopefully this will encourage some of you lurkers to post comments.

Feel like a challenge? Why not join in the Blogtoberfest fun, there's less chance of suffering from a hangover with this festival.

Two Blogs Too Many?

It seems I'm having a difficult time keeping up with two blogs. I think I might have to dismantle Gingham Skies at least temporarily. Not the business, just the blog. The other option is to move Jabbering Jaime over to Gingham Skies but I'm really not liking that idea. Of course I could simply change my blog name to Gingham Skies but keep the blog address as jabberingjaime.blogspot.com but maybe that would be confusing. The other option is to simply direct any traffic from Gingham Skies over here to JJ and leave everything as is. Argh. What to do. Any suggestions ladies and gentlemen?

Gimme Gimme Gimme!

Tell me these aren't the most adorable little magnets you've ever seen? They look super easy to make and guess what, there's a tutorial available at Angry Chicken. Christmas gift toppers maybe? Moms and sisters (including my sisters from another mister) wipe this post from your memory.