November 14 - National Pickle Day

In commemoration of all of the pickles that have fallen in the line of duty, I'd like to take this opportunity to salute you. You've been been salted, brined, boiled, pressurized and packed tightly into your jars. You've played an outstanding primary role in many sandwiches and burgers worldwide, and you've always been a loyal and trustworthy friend to Mustard.

Pickles of the world, I thank you for unsurpassed salty and dill flavours, and will continue to rely on your garlicky juiciness for the rest of my life.

Sincerely,

Shannon Ganshorn

Winter Trees

I know it's not quite winter, but I really think about the cold and the change of seasons when I see bare tree branches.

I've been pretty snap-happy with trees silhouetting on skies lately. Here are a couple of my favourites...

Special Delivery!

Have I told you about my adorable and very talented friend Miss K at The Rockabilly Girl Next Door ?

Miss K lives in NORWAY! How cool is that? Norway is approximately 7211 km or 4480 miles from me in White Rock, BC, Canada. That's pretty far, right? Too far to walk, that's for sure! ;)

Luckily, Miss K and I can keep in touch whenever we want with email. She's a bit of a superstar when it comes to style and cool things. You really should check out her blog and her videos.

Anyhow, my adorable and very talented friend Miss K sent me a cute little care package! She had told me that there would be a package arriving, and voila! I'm going to share it with you!




Super cute envelope and vintage image. Notice the stamp is from Norway!



Cute little gift! Again with the vintage image - love it!



Looked like matches, right? It's actually little emery boards...SWEET!

A PERFECT little package the mail. It's so refreshing to get REAL mail! Thanks, Miss K!

Art in French Class

Did you know that I teach high school French?

My little Frenchies are so much fun. They're really not so little - most of them are getting their drivers' licenses and first boyfriends and girlfriends. Honestly, it's so much fun to watch their emotional strife as they learn about themselves and discover who they are...

We just finished a unit where they had to explore their childhoods and then write a 400-word autobiography in French. This was a pretty big task for them, so once it was finished, I rewarded their hard work with a day of portrait painting.

The only criteria were that the images had to represent themselves in some way, and they had to be somewhat recognizable in the pictures. I encouraged them to think outside the box and use symbols and motifs to help represent who they are as people.

Here are some of my favourites. Can you guess which one is mine?

 

Sorry about the formatting! I am having trouble figuring out image placement :P

A Real Piece of Work

A Real Piece of Work is the invention of my great friend Kerry and myself.

This TENTH annual Art and Fine Craft Sale is right around the corner: November 19th and 20th, 2011.

It takes place at the Ocean Park Hall in South Surrey (White Rock).

There are TONS of fantastic artisans participating this year, making it pretty much your best bet for one-stop Christmas Shopping. I do all my Christmas shopping there - the variety and quality is always amazing!

I will be there as an artist, too, with a plethora of handmade awesomeness, including my journals and my stuffed creatures.

Stop by my table and say hello!

Coptic Wha....?

When I was researching different methods of bookbinding, I did a double-take when I came across Coptic stitching for binding books. Having taught grade seven for a couple of years (before venturing into high school), I learned a lot about Ancient Egypt. Did you know that Coptic Egyptian is a language that goes back hundreds of years? Coptic is also a type of bookbinding stitch.

After some research and a couple of videos, I am now the Coptic Master. I definitely don't speak Coptic Egyptian, but I can sew a great Coptic stitch!

Check out what  I  did tonight! In particular, I'm not only proud of my Coptic Artistry, but of my great cover designs. Totally unique and definitely one-of-a-kind!

Psssst! They'll be for sale at A Real Piece of Work on the 19th! Come and get 'em!

Here's my cheesy proud video - I'm so stoked about these journals that I don't even mind showing my face on camera. Now THAT'S excitement!

Finished Art Journal!

I finished this art journal last month, and since I had so much fun making my FIRST video that I thought I would make another one!

Let me know if you have any questions about my techniques or materials!