This N' That

Yes, I am still breathing. I've been offline a fair bit the last while due to brutal migraines. Tomorrow I'm off to the hospital for three days of IV steroids, though thankfully, on an outpatient basis. I hate hospitals-I spend far too much of my life there. (However, I am deeply grateful for having access to universal health care.) Just for the record, MS sucks.

Anyway, enough about that. Let's talk about something else, shall we? See that tin up top? Well I ordered it from Etsy and it arrived late last week. I love red and I love old tins and this one was calling my name. It has wonderful raised embossed details and the bits of aqua in the design. Who doesn't love red and aqua?

 It measures 3 inches in diameter and is an inch deep. It's sitting on my desk till I decide what I will use it for. Maybe I will store my favourite old mother of pearl buttons in it...maybe I will fill it with small candies. Who knows? It doesn't really matter-I bought it "just because".

Awhile ago, I came across this local artist who made a bunch of ceramic heart magnets and hid them in plain sight all over Granville Island. I go there fairly often with my husband and Indy for lunch and to meander and shop. It's a favourite destination for locals and tourists alike.

Knowing that there were hearts stashed in unusual places, like Easter eggs, I kept my eyes peeled while we were there. It wasn't till we were leaving and sitting in traffic on the one road that leads in and out of the area, that I spotted something red out of the corner of my eye.

Across the street, on a pole, above a bench, I saw a red heart. I pointed it out to my husband and he jumped out of the car and dashed across the street to get it for me. He had to hop up on the bench to reach it and then run back to the car before traffic started moving again. (See? Sometimes it pays to be patient when you tied up in traffic! It also pays to have a husband who humours his crazy artist wife. *wink*)

It was so much fun that I decided that I should put some of my art out there in the world too. To that end, I've took some of my handmade (faux) Moo cards, mounted them on magnet sheets and cut them out.

I added a label on the back with my blog addy and indicated it is a free gift because my friend Carol found one of the ceramic hearts in the market and her husband was a bit concerned that she might inadvertently be shoplifting. She had to reassure him that it was a freebie left for anyone clever enough to find it. I don't want there to be any doubt, so thus the label. Here's a link to Carol's adventure finding her heart.

So I will take my magnets the next time I go to Granville Island and set them free. It will be fun to see if anyone emails me about finding them. I'll post here when they've been dispersed so that if you're local, you can join in the hunt. I have 10 made, so chances are good that you'll find one!

In other news, I also wanted to mention that there's this fabulous ezine called Inspired Ideas by Amy Powers that I've been meaning to post about. It's artsy/craftsy and incredibly inexpensive. If you need an infusion of delightful inspiration to shake off the long winter doldrums, I recommend getting yourself a copy. It's a mere $3.30! Can you believe it? That's 170 pages worth of good stuff for a pittance! You can subscribe to the spring issue here. 

You can also check out TWENTY past issues for free. You'll find them here. (Just click on the cover image and then click on the small arrow at the bottom right on the next screen to page through the zine.) I promise you, this is a wonderful ezine!

And if you'd like artsy zines to have and to hold, be sure to visit my Etsy shop
 (link on the sidebar--->)
where there are limited edition zines of all kinds for sale!