The Weekender, No. 9: Finding Comfort & Creativity

For a New Locale to Explore: Santa Monica Public Library

{once upon a time...}

This has been on my list of things to do asap since before the school year ended last June. I am such a fail. *grins* I'd seen the library in passing when driving or bussing {busing? I think 'bussing' is kissing in Victorian English or something... not what I meant} to the beach or Third Street Promenade and thought that it looked ah-mazing. If you look up the layout online, there's something there about a courtyard with a cafe and water and plants and oh, it's just gorgeous. I found a page on their website where you can do a virtual tour of sections of the library. Check it out. *happy sigh*

I'm a total bookworm, so any and all libraries are always of interest to me. I could go on and on and on, but basically, I want to spend a day here and sign up for a library card so I can use their e-book checkout. Their selection is ginormous. *wide-eyed* They even have magazine e-checkout.

For the Next Potential Culinary Venture: Puppy Chow

{aka "Muddy Buddies"}

I love puppy chow, but I've never made it before. That should probably be remedied. Although, once I learn to make these things, I'm going to have to give most of it away or else I might just eat it all myself. Mmm.

For Wishful Thinking: Home.

{i can't wait to return}

Like I said here, I never get homesick, but this is getting ridiculous.

I almost used 'ridonkulus', but I'm not cool enough to pull that off.

And no, this is not my house. It never occurred to me to take a picture of my house. After all, I live there. I see it every day {or I did}. Why would I take a picture of it...

For Those Bursts of Creativity: Animal Silhouette Art

{why so blue, moose?}

I think I saw this first on Pinterest. It was a silhouette of a giraffe's head made from patterned fabric stitched onto a piece of canvas. {Oh! Found it.} Sounds simple, but it's totally eye-catching. As soon as I saw it, I thought, "Stationary paper instead of fabric. I have lots of that and it's probably less work because there's no sewing involved..."

I kind of forgot about it until it came up again on an Etsy Newsletter {made here by FiddleheadsForFiona, as seen in "Top 10 Holiday Hues"} I received while home for Christmas break. And what better subject could I find for my first foray into this silhouette art business than Zoe?!?

First, make sure you have a picture of your desired subject from the angle you want. I knew one of Zoe's most distinctive sides is her profile, so I went outside while Daddy was running her and took endless pictures of the side of her face until I found one I really liked.

Then, print out that picture, tape it to the paper you want the silhouette to be in {I didn't think that far ahead and used white cardstock instead of pretty stationary paper. Which should be fine as long as the background paper is pretty and bright}, and carefully cut out the face.

Once you've got the silhouette cut out, find a piece of stationary paper you love, ModPodge the silhouette onto it, making sure that the neck of your silhouette is flat up against the edge of the stationary paper, and after that's dry, ModPodge the whole thing to seal it.

You're done and all you need now is a frame!

{I forgot to take a picture of the fully cut-out silhouette of my FuzzyBunBun; my apologies.}

For Pure Aesthetic Pleasure: Art Supplies



Not only does she use her art supplies to draw, she draws her art supplies. How cool is she? Check out Geninne's blog here.

Also, Blogger's being silly and not letting me caption and link the picture, so here's the link to the art supplies drawing.