Goals...Plans...Creative Happenings... -A list of what I want to accomplish (Pretty much ASAP)

So this year. Okay, okay...the last 2 years have well, not been really good creativity-wise.
I guess that is what happens when you move away from the only place you have lived at pretty much your whole life. You get used to everything around you and then when you move, it is a shock to the creativeness inside. -NOT GOOD! I still haven't found my creativity at my new place...

But that is no excuse! I NEED to start creating again!!! I always say this but I never get around to it. But this time I WILL!!! I HAVE TO!!! I just need to get inspired which will probably involve re-arranging my apartment-which is always exciting!

I have my desk in the bedroom-I don't really like that too much. I like being isolated when I work, but not that isolated... There is really no where to put it but in the tiny akward part beside my husbands computer desk in the living room. I think I will have it so it separates the "computer room" from the living room.

After I re-arrange, I have to make my space creative. A place that inspires creativity. Somewhere where I enjoy working. I will not only makeover my workplace, but rather my whole apartment so creativity flows throughout.

I also have to establish myself as an artist/designer/photographer more. I need to be working on my stuff more frequently than I have been. Create my style. Know who I am.

I need to get organized. Have a dayplanner (and use it!) Keep separate sketchbooks for my different things I work on. (Jewelry, Photography, Graphic Design, and possibly "inspirations" and "ect." ones too) And a huge one: finish things I start! I am bad for that!!!

So I think I am going to re-arrange this weekend. And get cracking on the creativity dry-spell right after!

Okay so all that mumble jumble in a list...
-Move desk out to living room Updated November 25th-DONE!
-Re-arrange living room and bedroom (and clean and organize) Updated November 25th-DONE!
-Be more creative! Create all the time Updated November 25th-It's happening! I have so many projects on the go!
-Get a dayplanner and use it
-Get sketchbooks for different things I work on and use those to keep everything organized

Other goals:
-Blog more! Updated November 25th-This is also happening! I am even updating my old ones!
-Photograph more! Even simple things that happen daily. Add those photos to my blog for more visual appeal Updated November 25th- I am working on this.
-Draw more! Just random little drawings here and there :)
-Cook better! Like good meals-and a variety!

I CAN do this!!!

EPIC WEEKEND 2.0!

Okay, so maybe this was THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!

Josh and I went to see The Stills and Hands Like These play acoustic on Thursday...okay, well we went to see The Stills and Hands Like These were also playing. (I haven't heard of Hands Like These until that day...they are GREAT!)
The cover charge was only $5.00...$5.00 to see my FAVORITE BAND!!! I couldn't pass that deal up! And they were playing at the club close by. So $5.00, small venue, my favorite band-it just doesn't get better than that!
Well it did! The service at the club rocked! And so did the bands!!! They ROCKED their not-so-acoustic show! and Josh and I had front row which was AMAZING!!! Tim was no more than 6 feet away. Tim and Liam didn't have an encore ready, so in less than 5 minutes Liam made a drum beat up on his iPhone-props to him for that!
I AM SO GLAD I WENT!!!

The other epic part of the weekend...SONIC BOOM!...

well okay, METRIC/FRANZ FERDINAND AND ALEXISONFIRE!!!

We didn't want to go all day-so thankfully our favorite bands were all playing back to back!
Prior to the concert Josh didn't think a mosh would happen during Metric...well, they showed him. They started their show off a bit slower, and then REALLY got the energy levels up that yes, even a mosh broke out. The whole show was just pure energy! The most memorable part of Franz Ferdinand was when all the band mates were drumming, it was epic! And of course, Alexisonfire!...lets just say its always great! Even if it is the 3rd time seeing them!

After Alexisonfire, we left to eat. Then met up with our friends for good times at Denny's.

I think I left my voice in the epic weekend past...

Vancouver Island 2010!!!

Josh and I are planning our honeymoon biking part of Vancouver Island next summer! I cannot wait!!!

Originally, we planned to backpack. But my Dad asked why we were not going to bike it, And now it seems like the logical thing to do.
I will keep you updated on our travel plans and our adventure! I might make another blog dedicated solely to that adventure (Just to keep it separate, and to have a little online collection of our trips)

I am just going to have to get used to sitting on my bike for hours upon hours at a time. The longest ride we've done so far is three hours, which our rides shouldn't be too much longer than that because the longest walk we were going to have was 6 hours, and well biking is obviously much faster than walking!

I am also unsure of having 2 weeks of clothes, gear, supplies, tools, etc. packed into a tiny saddlebag...I go away for a weekend and my backpack is FULL! I am going to definitely have to get used to packing light! Thank goodness for grocery stores and laundromats!

EDIT (October 2nd, 2009)-I don' t think we will be biking anymore...or doing that trip. But we are most definatly going to be spending a week in Victoria!

Epic Weekend!

This weekend was one of THE best thus far! It started for me late Friday afternoon setting up Josh's anniversary gift (Sunday was our first wedding anniversary and today is our seventh year together!)
It all started for him when he walked through the door after work. (I told him to call me when he was on his way home-which was only if I needed a diversion in case I needed more time, he did not know this and just thought I may have wanted something picked up. However I did not, everything came along nicely and I had a few minutes to get excited about seeing his reaction once he walked through the door.)
Josh walked into our apartment to find "I♥U!" spelled out in tea light candles, roses and rose petals amongst it along with a message in a bottle...
The message in the bottle sent him on a treasure hunt in the apartment, figuring out clues and finding gifts which included an acoustic guitar and a pretty special book from decades past that I found along my random Internet travels.
Then, Josh surprised me with a gift! (Even though he gave my mine a month early, he got something else for our special day) Although, I do think I threw him off by surprising him on Friday.
Saturday, we went back home to visit with my family. My sister and her family came down for a vacation. I have not seen my niece for a whole year! (Other than on the web camera every once and a while) When my niece saw me she ran up to me and jumped into my arms! It was so cute! (She is just a bit older than a year and a half) That evening Brad and Leigha came over to pick up their photo CD, but I surprised them by making them an album of what I thought were the best shots.
Sunday, our Anniversary was spent at my Mom & Dads. Mom made borscht for lunch-fresh out of the garden! Yum! We stopped in at Baba and Gidos and made our way back to the city that evening.
And the weather was GORGEOUS! And of course I took a ton of photos!

PS. We were also discussing our Vancouver Island 2010 vacation and may bike instead of hike. Which may not be a bad idea...however, I am not sure about sitting on a bike all day...

Here are some photos of this weekend:

Good Riddance Plastic Waterbottles!

I have said "Good Riddance" to plastic water bottles and bought myself a lovely green Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle. I have only used it today, but that does not stop me from already loving it! It gives your beverages a more crisp, fresh taste and you do not have to worry about plastic chemicals leaching into what you are consuming. The only thing that I have a slight worry about is the nickel content in the stainless steel because I am allergic to it. However, they do state that the nickel is a low content in the stainless steel. So hopefully it does not bother me. I guess we will just have to wait and see! Now, I must go buy a decal to stick on it, make it more "me"!
~Happy Friday!
Klean Kanteen's website is: http://www.kleankanteen.com/index.html

New Shirts!

So to avoid the heat for the better part of the day, Josh and I went to the mall to do some shopping...I really dislike shopping, but we stayed cool and I found these two really cute shirts!!! I never thought I would see myself wearing these, but I love them and they are so cute! This also meant that I braved the lineups for both the fitting room and the till at Forever 21. (I never want to wait in line)
I also found a pair of jeans that fit me quite well...I have never shopped in American Eagle, but decided to check it out. Well, the first pair of pants I grabbed were a winner! WHAT?! The first pair??? Pretty shocking as that NEVER happens! I usually have to try on minimum of five pairs to get one pair that fits. I even got a FREE top because they were having a promotion buy a pair of regular priced denim, and get a tshirt for free. I normally don't wear tshirts, but I kind of like it.

A Few Photos...

I went home over the weekend for Brad and Leigha's wedding which was so beautiful! (Sneak peak coming soon!)
Here are some pictures I took while staying at my Mom and Dad's place. I absolutely love their yard! (And my new lens which completely blurs out the background!)

Update...

Okay, so I think I should update this a bit more frequently and actually let everyone know what is going on in my life between facebook and twitter updates. (Not that it has been that exciting lately)

-I am in the middle of coming up with ideas for decorating our apartment (Yeah I know, we have moved in nearly 3 years ago...but with between planning the wedding the first year we moved, and being indecisive, it is taking me a while.) I think I have the basic colors and "themes" we want to go with. (For today! haha!) Although you cannot do too much with beige walls AND beige carpets (but anything to make it not look like a cardboard box!) ...oh and you cannot forget the avocado tile in the tub (not that I mind it, the color scheme is just a bit limited because we have white, beige and avacado) All the ideas are going to be kept secret until then. Unless I decided to spill at a later date...

-I just shot some engagement photos for my friends the other weekend. It went really great! Their wedding is this weekend! I cannot wait! (I wish I could post a sneak peak of their engagement photos but they are waiting for their wedding to showcase their photos. I promise that you will love them!)

-Business-wise, it is coming along...I have completed writing my shop policies and my biography (finally!) I am always coming up with designs and collection ideas. I placed a few random orders over the last couple days and am still working on the big order. Then I will get busy with making my jewelry.

Other than that, nothing too spectacular...I will keep you guys posted!

I'm out until Monday! 'Till then, have an awesome weekend and Congratulations to Brad and Leigha!!!

New Camera Gear!

I can't sleep...probably because I am too excited about my new camera lens I just bought tonight...Its a Canon 70-300mm (ha! whatever that means...I am no good and comprehending technically camera stuff. All I know is that I can zoom in pretty good!!!)

This is what it looks like:

I think with this new investment, I will have much more confidence in shooting my first wedding this weekend which I am SO excited about! (Plus they are my good friends too!!!)

I can't wait!!!

G'nite!

"Mustard and Ketchup"

Every piece of art has a story behind it (or so they say) This one I created actually does! (Most of the time my work does not have a story behind it)
So this cute little drawing is based on the following conversation that happened while playing a game of Risk one night (There were only red and yellow armies left):

J:"It's like...mustard and ketchup"
T:"No, its ketchup and mustard...that is like saying Tracey and Josh instead of Josh and Tracey...It just sounds weird..."

I told Josh that I was never going to let him live this one down...just because it was a very random and funny moment. So as a result, this piece of art was created.

Inspiration provided by the lovely Josh!
Art by Me!

Exhausted...

Today Josh and I went for our first adventure with our bikes. The weather is finally decent (Today's high-that I've noticed was 22 Celsius. It definitely could have been hotter when we were out) and I felt well enough to go. (Good thing I took some Buckley's before-hand and brought along plenty of water and lozenges) The trails were decent-definitly alot of hills (but maybe we just did it backwards!)
I wore the craziest pants I could have worn! I was wearing linen pants so I wouldn't be too warm. However, crossing the bridge-and only then did my pant leg catch onto my water bottle-scary!!! I hate biking that bridge, It is too smooth and not much traction-Josh said his bike was okay on it, but then again his is more "urban" than mine. And also so high up! But then I rolled my pants up and was good to go! I definitely need to go buy some shorts!
We really had no idea where we were going once we crossed the High Level Bridge. But we found a trail that led us back across another bridge to go home, without back-tracking. While on the last bridge we saw what looked like a little twister over the water, but it wasn't coming from the clouds (kind of like a dust devil, but with water) it was pretty neat watching it for the few seconds it was active once we noticed it.
We went approximately 17.5 km or so. My tracker was resetting every time I stopped for the first little while (even just the time at a cross light!) so we don't have an exact count.

The image above gives you an approximation where we went
(obviously not stating the exact start and finish points)

How The Weekend Ended Up...(In regards to my list)

Well I knew that I was not going to get everything done on my list and that did not bother me. I just needed something to follow so I did not slack every day! However, I did about 60% of everything I said I was going to do. So I think that is pretty good!!!

What I did
-Finish re-arranging/cleaning/organizing my studio/home office area-Clean the rest of the bedroom (and while I am cleaning, I should clean the whole apartment) Although I did not completely organize my office, It still counts. Everything is neat and tidy and my desk is CLEAN! You can actually see it! The house looks pretty good!!! I moved the microwave into the dining room which freed up alot of counter space!!! Now I just have to tackle the cupboards!!!
-Get some groceries for my baking and the picnic Did that ever cost alot! All the specialty items for my baking-but it was worth it!!! The cupcakes turned out wonderful!
-Bake some yummy treats from BabyCakesNYC's cookbook Oh my goodness! I am so happy with the way my Carrot Cupcakes turned out!!! I have never used a gluten-free recipe that was that easy to do and did not turn out rock hard and heavy! These were delicious!!! Josh loved them too! I think I am going to make more tonight! Maybe beet and carrot! And try to save some for Mom and Dad when they come over tomorrow!
-Picnic! Hopefully it is nice enough to do it outside, if not it will be at our place It was definitly not nice enough to have a picnic outside, so we had one inside at our place. We had lunch, played board games, I made a delicious veggie chilli (which was a big hit!) and played more board games! It was a really fun day!
-Go look at bikes (maybe buy if I've found "the one") We went to look at bikes and found the ones!!! We both came home with a bike! But on the way home it started to rain so we haven't really taken them for a ride yet. Just from the train to home which is only a few blocks. Hopefully this snow that fell this morning clears up soon!!!
-Not go on the computer much. I will limit myself to one hour a day max. split up into morning/night. This was probably my biggest challenge-But I did it!!! I am actually really proud of myself for not going on the computer so much! I just went on long enough to check out my messages, and put up a quick blog on Sunday about the contest that I won!
-Wake up early (7:00 sounds sufficient) and go to bed at a decent time (no later than midnight) Well, give or take a few hours. The most I slept in was until 10 AM, but we were up until 1 AM on Saturday night.
-Do some photography I did a little bit, I took a few pictures of the semi re-arranged apartment.
-Compile a grocery list for tomorrow I only wrote a list for the baking supplies, but that is all I needed to remember...it still counts!
-Work out every day for 1/2 hour to an hour Nearly 2 hours of house cleaning Friday, Saturday walked to the grocery store and back, Sunday walked to the LRT, then from the LRT to Wal-mart, Biked back from Wal-Mart to the LRT and from the LRT to home, Monday was a lazy day-I think this counts.

What I did not do
-Maybe, hopefully go to Ikea to make a list of stuff I want to get for the apartment. I need to make this place look like a home! Well I knew that this wouldn't happen!
-Check out trails near the river valley and see if you can get to them easily from downtown. This one was as per the weather, which did not co-operate at all this weekend.
-Make more butterflies to send to the Holocaust Museum for their installation. I think I will send 20. If I make more-all the better. (I have 19 to go) I was too busy!
-Start on my quotations journal-I never had any time!
-Come up with designs for my jewelry and come up with an order list I tried, I had no creativitiy to come up with designs
-Work on my supplies shop-take pictures/figure out prices Ha! Yeah right...I knew this would not get done either!

So apparently I cannot take my photos off of facebook, I will post them when I get home! (Why didn't I put them on flickr?) -Stay tuned!

Good Morning!!!

It is a very good morning today!!!
I went to check all my accounts online and I WON "The Aussie Handmade Givaway"!!! I could not believe what I was seeing (Am I still sleeping? Is this a dream?) Well, it is not!!! This means that I get two lovely pairs of handmade sterling silver earrings! From http://www.epheriell.etsy.com/

You can visit her blog for weekly contests at: http://www.aussie-handmade-giveaway.com/

The Long Weekend (and apparently long post!)

So it is nearly the long weekend. Woo hoo! (Only 5 more hours for me!) And I do believe that I should be at least a bit more productive than I have been in the last couple weekends. (Which was doing absolutely nothing by the way)
So here is my list of what I want to accomplish (at least do most of it anyway!-because something is always better than nothing!)

Tonight
-Finish re-arranging/cleaning/organizing my studio/home office area
-Clean the rest of the bedroom (and while I am cleaning, I should clean the whole apartment)
-Compile a grocery list for tomorrow

Saturday
-Get some groceries for my baking and the picnic
-Bake some yummy treats from BabyCakesNYC's cookbook
-Picnic! Hopefully it is nice enough to do it outside, if not it will be at our place

Sunday
-Maybe, hopefully go to Ikea to make a list of stuff I want to get for the apartment. I need to make this place look like a home!
-Check out trails near the river valley and see if you can get to them easily from downtown.
-Go look at bikes (maybe buy if I've found "the one")

Monday
-Staying home doing whatever...

Whenever
-Make more butterflies to send to the Holocaust Museum for their installation. I think I will send 20. If I make more-all the better. (I have 19 to go)
-Start on my quotations journal
-Come up with designs for my jewelry and come up with an order list

Also, I will:
-Not go on the computer much. I will limit myself to one hour a day max. split up into morning/night.
-Wake up early (7:00 sounds sufficient) and go to bed at a decent time (no later than midnight)
-Work out every day for 1/2 hour to an hour
-Do some photography
-Work on my supplies shop-take pictures/figure out prices

WHEW! This is going to be a busy weekend!!! Lets see how I do!!!

Stop being such a slacker Tracey! GOSH!!!

So lately I've been slacking in the jewelry making department...I really should get my butt in gear!
Tomorrow I am not doing anything, so I should finish cleaning my office that I just created in part of my bedroom and get to work!