New Product

I had a $1 coupon for this new Sunlight dishwashing liquid pump.  I located it at Walmart and was happy to use a good coupon!  I'm not really sure how necessary a product like this will be and perhaps of less value in term of savings.

Laurie asked what scent it is, it says 'berry fusion with soy extract'.

And wow, we are at the end of May already!

Sidewalk Ramp Bumps

I noticed the city has installed these sidewalk ramp bumps known as truncated domes.  From what I can google it is to make the sidewalks wheelchair accessible and assist people with disabilities. Apparently they are quite expensive and so may cause some controversy.

I found this Philadelphia article from 2012 that says each ramp costs $7500 or $60,000 per intersection or $858 million for that city.  I also read some articles where people find them helpful and some where they do not.  I can certainly understand how it could help a blind person. 

Sunday Sketches - Springtime Tulips

Michael's Stores (the Arts and Crafts retailer) is running an art challenge (May 31 - Jun 19) in the US and Canada if anyone's interested! The prizes are fabulous.

It's time for Alexandra's Sunday Sketches! I did some springtime tulips on a greeting card for you today. It's done in watercolour pencil and crayon (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

Mall Art

Here is some mall art for you.  I liked the splashes of paint adorning this wall display.

Walmart Canada recently started charging 5c for their plastic bags.  It's a good thing but apparently this money doesn't all go to charity.  The cashier at Shopper's Drug Mart told me that all the money collected for their plastic bags goes to charity.  

Paint Party Friday - Elephant Love

Michael's Stores (the Arts and Crafts retailer) is running an art challenge in the US and Canada if anyone's interested!

Welcome to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday!  I am calling this piece 'Elephant Love', done in my art journal (8 1/2" x 11")  in watercolour crayon.  It was inspired by a photo I saw in the newspaper.

Ikea Canada pop-up

I took these photos of this Ikea Canada pop-up store we happened upon in downtown Toronto recently. The promo runs until May 26. So we got free chocolates and herb seed packets. We were given a wooden spoon to shop with. It had some kind of sensor on it, so you would just tap anything you wanted to purchase and at checkout the items would be brought out to you.

herb seed packets

shopping spoon

free chocolates

pop-up store

Downtown Toronto Trip

I took these photos for you on a recent trip to downtown Toronto:

Bike Rentals

CN Tower

Globe and Mail Newspaper

New Streetcar

Older Streetcar

The BellyBuster Submarines, lol

Creative Tuesdays - Stars

Michael's Stores (the Arts and Crafts retailer) is running an art challenge with fabulous prizes, if you live in the US or Canada.

Welcome to Michael's Creative Tuesdays.  The current theme is 'Stars'.  My mixed media piece represents the hopes and dreams we all have, spilling from the hand.  May they all come true for each of us!  Don't forget to add hard work, strength and determination to the mix and above all, believe!

Daughter L helped me glue gun the little (gold and silver) stars over my journal page (8 1/2" x 11").  The hand is done in watercolour pencil, outlined with a waterproof marker.  I ended up showing a couple of photos as they look better than the scanned version.

Good Karma

Congratulations are in order for my two children. We received unbelievable good news as they both were offered their dream jobs last week within a day of each other!

Daughter L is getting a promotion and transfer to an area within her company that she feels a calling to.

Son K will be starting his first full-time job in an area of his passion.  Mind you, he will be on a standard 3 month probation, but for now, we are so happy for him.  He will also receive his college diploma next month.

I don't know why we are receiving all this good karma but we will take it!  I tend to be a chronic worrier/stress ball when it comes to certain things.

Sunday Sketches - Magnolia

Welcome to Sunday Sketches.  I did a Magnolia greeting card based on a photo I took.  It's done in watercolour pencil (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

Upscale Luncheon

It's our first long weekend of the summer, enjoy yours!  We are having great weather and people who have cottages will be opening them up for the season.

Daughter L planned a fabulous Mother's Day Luncheon for me.  She was not able to get reservations on Mother's Day weekend but we went the weekend after.  Here are some photos I took for you.  Husband M, son K came along and we all had a fabulous time in the upscale surroundings.

My Plate

Pretty Ceiling

The Buffet

Dessert

Paint Party Friday - Lovely Nails

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This is a greeting card (5 1/2" x 4 1/4") done in watercolour pencil, called 'Lovely Nails'.

At the Hairdresser

My sister recently sent me this photo of sunset at the Florida Keys.


I was at my hairdresser's last week, a new magazine had just arrived. It's 'Fashion' magazine. Flipping through the pages I was shocked at the prices of some of the clothes the models were wearing. The dresses were well over $3,000 dollars and the shoes were over $800.

I heard that some people are  throwing their census forms in the garbage  in their apartment buildings. Hmm, this is not good.

A customer sitting beside me was telling the hairdresser that her friend was using molasses in her hair as a treatment to ward off grey hair.  Hmm, I don't know about this one!

Jurassic Park

We happened to be downtown Toronto this past weekend and passed by the Air Canada Centre where game 7 of the NBA Basketball Conference semifinals between the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat were in progress. I took these photos for you. The area where the fans are standing is called Jurassic Park. People who don't have tickets to the game can watch from this area on a huge jumbotron. The Raptors won convincingly and will advance to the Eastern finals for the first time ever.  They are not expected to win against the Cleveland Cavaliers but they've done well anyway.

Spot the Squirrel

Can you spot the happy squirrel in these photos?

I watched the movie 'Age of Adaline' recently and enjoyed it.  It's a 2015 fantasy/drama starring Blake Lively and Harrison Ford.

Sad News in the Neighbourhood

Husband M and I were out walking last week and I took these blooming spring flowers for you.

Tulips

Magnolia

In a bit of a shock, husband M discovered last week that our next door neighbour (the wife), died at the end of January this year. I had made a blog post regarding a neighbourhood emergency at that time. It seems she died later that day in hospital, she had just turned 60.  The woman had been ill since last June, but I thought she had recovered. The house has been sold and M saw the husband outside last week and was able to speak with him at length. The good thing is that she was not in pain, it sounds like heart failure to me.  Ironically, his mom lived with them and she is fine. 

I found this blog post from last June I had made concerning our neighbour. And shortly afterward, I made this other post, where we thought she would be ok. The couple had been married 40 years.  We are in a bit of a shock.

Sunday Sketches - Coffee Cup Art

Welcome to Sunday Sketches!  I did some coffee cup art for you today, I decided to paint this magnolia bud on a coffee cup sleeve in acrylic, outlined in waterproof pencil. I have it displayed in various ways in the photos above. 

Homemade Sushi

Daughter L had received a sushi making kit as a birthday gift and decided to try making her own sushi.  It was delicious, especially for a beginner!

Paint Party Friday - Edible Bouquet

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This is a root vegetable bouquet inspired by a photo I saw in the newspaper. It's done on a greeting card (5 1/2" x 4 1/4") in watercolour pencil.

Emergency Preparedness

I took this photo this past weekend of the tree leaves sprouting.

You may have heard of the recent Fort McMurray fire disaster in Northern Alberta, Canada.  Residents had to flee their homes at a moment's notice.  It made people think of emergency preparedness and of how most people aren't ready.  I know I'm not, think:  passports, clothes, money, prescriptions, food, emergency kit, a list, a plan.  Here is an interesting article written by one family that had to evacuate Fort McMurray.

Maybe at the very least we should keep a list/plan.

Go Raptors

I was at the grocery store on the weekend with son K and he noticed this display they had made, kind of neat! Go Raptors! That is our Toronto NBA Basketball team in the midst of a playoff with the Miami Heat team.  They are tied as of this writing.  It is a best of 7 series.  The next game is tonight in Toronto.

We received our Census 2016 letter in the mail last week and I immediately signed on and completed it online for my family.  This letter just contained an access code necessary to complete the form online.  It was a short form questionnaire and took about 5 minutes to complete.  You do have the option of having a paper copy questionnaire mailed to you.

Creative Tuesdays - Striped Socks

Welcome to Creative Tuesdays' Striped Socks theme.  My piece is done in my art journal (8 1/2" x 11") in watercolour crayon.  I decided on subtly striped thigh high socks with models on a fashion runway.

Flower Gifts

Daughter L had received these beautiful flowers for her birthday last month.  One friend brought the yellow sunflowers and another friend brought the purple flowers (daisies?) and it so happened that they looked so well when arranged together!

And here are the daisies about a week later after the sunflowers died.

Sunday Sketches - Mother's Day Mare

Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day for Sunday Sketches today.  This is a sketch in my art journal in watercolour crayon (8 1/2" x 11").  It's an expecting mare, I thought it would be perfect for the occasion.

And here's a more traditional Mother's Day offering.  I saw these beautiful roses at Walmart.  My favourite were the pinks as pictured.

Starry Night

I always enjoy the magnolia trees at this time of year,  they have beautiful flowers for a very short time.

Click here if you would like to see The Von Trapp Family from The Sound of Music then and 45 years later.

The skies were so clear a couple of nights ago, husband M and I went outside around midnight and it was a starry wonderland, totally magical.  We didn't stay out long, it was a bit cold, but such a clear night.  Unfortunately it had clouded over the next night.