A Christmas Special

A dear friend of mine gave me a wonderful Christmas present, so I decided I'd make her a business card for her photography business in return. Trying to create something in black and white is much more challenging than using colour, since you have to be more inventive and work with only two crayons from the box. This was a great project, since it gave me a chance to broaden my design horizons and practice my skills.

It's All About Teh Pretty!

Over the past few months, my dear friend Raven Muse has been dragging me kicking and screaming into teaching me graphic design, and I must say that I've been surprised at how much fun it is. I've always considered myself much more of a writer than a visual artist, but it's kind of like Pringles...once you pop, the fun don't stop! Lately, I've been doing graphics for Lean Dog, a wonderful artist on Etsy. Her jewellery and pottery is to DIE for, and you absolutely must go there now and check out her stuff! Since she has been gracious enough to allow me to create some graphics for her shop, I thought I'd share some of my work with you. Her stuff is absolutely gorgeous, and is just a blast to work with in graphics. Each and every piece is one of a kind, or in Etsy-speak, OOAK. So once you're done looking at my work, go gaze in awe at hers!

Lean Dog's Business Card

Lean Dog Etsy Banners

Makeover!

A good friend of mine decided yesterday that I needed a change. I was skeptical, but she was insistent. She dragged me to the salon, where I got my hair cut, and then to the store where we bought some hair colour. Off to the thrift store next, where we found a suit that looks remarkably like the one David Tennant wore as the Tenth Doctor. A few hours later and my formerly brown hair is now a lovely auburn colour with black highlights. Here is what I looked like before:

And after:

Beautiful Embrace - A Warning

As someone who has been in multiple accidents, I can attest to the importance of a seatbelt. This wonderful video from the UK is a poignant reminder to buckle up every time you drive...and not only you, but your passengers as well. Don't play games with your life. It's not worth it.

An Open Letter To Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

This weather sucks. For almost the entire month temperatures have been in the low 30°C range, and the humidity? Unbearable. This heat is making me and my dear friends sick, not to mention cranky. Especially when your parents don't believe in using the air conditioning on a regular basis because it costs money. Oh, and could you please stop tantalizing us with the prospect of cooler weather brought by a thunderstorm only to crank the heat back up on high?  Are you listening, Mother Nature?? Ah, fuck it. Because I have something you don't...

Kick Ass Hat (Courtesy of Raven Muse)

Take that, Mother Nature.

Sincerely,
Enigmatic Labyrinth

Another vacation!?

Yet another family vacation. Wonderful. This time it's a 10-day visit to Saint-Hippolyte, Québec. Seven days in, and we're knee-deep in one of the worst heatwaves of the season. Four days straight of temperatures in the low 30s, but with the humidex it feels more like the low 40s. Gah. For those of you who think Canada is Freezerland, I can emphatically say you're wrong. Not only that, but my sister has been a total über-bitch and I've been feeling a bit really under the weather. So in lieu of a longer post, here's some lake pr0n:

Indecision Decision

Life is full of choices. There's your everyday run-of-the-mill choices: paper or plastic, Coke or Pepsi, extra sensitive or ribbed. There's the more complex, life-altering choices: should I marry him or should I turn him down? And then there are the extremely difficult choices:

Cashews or M&M's?

In the District

I'm on vacation with the family in sunny (and hot) Washington D.C. for Memorial Day weekend. Sounds fun, right? Well, not exactly. Even before we had left, my sister (let's call her Rachael) threw a huge hissy fit because she wanted the rear bench seat for her and her boyfriend. Now, usually when Rachael throws a hissy fit it entails her storming in and out of the house, destroying her room, threatening people and generally making everyone around her as miserable as she can. This time was no exception. So after an hour or so of this, we're off in the car on a two hour drive to the hotel, which thankfully was uneventful.

The following day we went to visit the Holocaust Museum. Getting through security was a pain because Rachael's boyfriend brought a 3" bladed knife with him. Museum rules apparently only allow blades of 2" or under, so they confiscated it. Why they allow knives at all and why he brought a knife to a museum is a complete mystery to me. Then Rachael decided that she didn't want to see anything and stomped her way ahead of us through the entire museum with her boyfriend in tow. Very disrespectful. However, my parents and I enjoyed the exhibits - to the extent that one can enjoy photos, objects and stories about the Holocaust. It was one of the most intense experiences I have ever had in my life. At the end of the tour there is a Hall of Remembrance, where I lit a candle and said a prayer.

It took 8 tries for my dad to get this photo!

On the third day of our trip we split up into two groups: my dad and myself, and my mum, sister and her boyfriend. They went to the Museum of the Native American and the CSI Museum (I did not know there was a CSI Museum, but there is) while my dad and I took a short self-guided walking tour of D.C. to see the Canadian Embassy and the National Air and Space Museum. I had a really good time with my dad, and got a lot of photos. By the time we were done I was very pooped.

We're on our way home tomorrow, bright and early. Hopefully there won't be too much drama, but I'm not holding my breath.

Let's all introduce ourselves...

I'm Enigmatic Labyrinth, and I'll be your tour guide as we wander the maze of my life and mind. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and...ah, fuck rules. Rules schmules. Conformity, you will find, is so overrated. So just kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.