Blog Archives

A Bear

11/30/2023

On the way home Eden stopped at the Trading Post. He realized the trip had been a challenge for Yvette, but in the end she had tried, only to have twisted her ankle.

So he wanted to get her something....

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry the trip didn't turn out quite as you had hoped."

"I really love you."

"I did have a pretty good time. It's really beautiful out in the wilderness. And even though an RV is not a luxury hotel, it definitely beats roughing it in a tent."

"So, you'd be open to giving it another try sometime?"

"Yes, I think so. But how about in the summer....when it's a lot warmer?"

*to revisit their entire trip - Eden & Yvette's Fall Trip

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Yvette had apologized profusely for her behaviour at dinner the night before, and had promised to put her phone away and make a more concerted effort to participate in the activities Eden so clearly enjoyed. It was a lovely morning, and considerably warmer than it had been up until then, so Eden suggested a walk to enjoy the fall colours.

It was a beautiful morning, and the trees were ablaze with colour....

And they were both enjoying the crisp autumn air, and all the gorgeous fall colours.

Eden turned to see Yvette had fallen behind....

She seemed to have a problem....

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"I think I may have twisted my ankle."

"Looks like I ruined yet another of your favourite activities."

"This isn't your fault. Accidents happen. And at least you tried."

"So let's get you back to the RV, and we can put some ice on it."

And he helped her slowly hobble her way back to the RV....

Then after icing her ankle, and making Yvette comfortable, Eden decided to head for home.

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Distracted

11/28/2023

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So they went into town, to Herbert's Fisheries on the waterfront....

...and they sat down to enjoy some of their famous fish and chips.

But Yvette was distracted...

"Do you really have to do that right now?"

"Yes. This is the first time all week that I have any Internet connection."

"...and I need to respond to all my friend's texts."

"They all want to know how our trip is going."

It was definitely not as well as he had hoped, Eden thought.

He turned to his dog...

"What do you say about taking a walk along the harbour?"

So they got up and left...

Yvette didn't even notice that they were gone.

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Roche Rouge

11/27/2023

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Eden and Yvette were camped at Roche Rouge with its gorgeous view of Killarney Bay.

It was a beautiful day, and Eden got their bikes down.

"It's such a nice day, how about we go for a bike ride?"

"I'm sorry, but it's way too cold today."

"But getting some exercise might help warm you up."

"No thanks. I'm freezing," and she went back to cradling her cup of hot coffee.

Eden was disappointed. He had hoped Yvette would enjoy being out in nature.

But she was clearly not the outdoorsy type..

So he sat down beside her.

At least his dog seemed to be enjoying it.

"It is really beautiful here though."

"Yes, it is."

"So, how about we go into town and get a nice hot meal?"

"You'd like that wouldn't you boy?"

"So, what do you say?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

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Shoemaker Day

11/26/2023

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I discovered that today, November 26th, is Shoemaker Day, and that brought to mind a story from 2021. Story here - New Shoes

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the Knight and His Lady

11/25/2023

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A few photos of Matias and his lady love, Elf Agnes....

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A Christmas Story

11/24/2023

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Looking for a gift for that special someone? Well, I still have a few copies my Christmas Story available. It was inspired by a little book I received in Sunday school some sixty odd years ago, on the very first Christmas after our family immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands.

It's the heart-warming story of a little Princess who heads out on Christmas Eve to find the babe in the manger. But she doesn't tell anyone where she is going...

...and she has an accident when she gets lost in the woods...

She is rescued by an old woodcutter and his dog, after being found by a boy from the village..

The Queen becomes very worried when her daughter does not return and is nowhere to be found, so the King heads out with some of his men to search for her.

There are 75 pages with over 170 full colour photos.
And we've even included a spread at the end with some Behind the Scenes photos...

This is a wonderful story, a true labour of love. and I'm thrilled that it's been turned into a book.
Black Friday Special - $79. US - plus shipping

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Preorder - CLOSED

11/23/2023

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There's just one day left to order your calendars!
The pre-order ends tomorrow, November 24th.

*Details

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the Immersion Room

11/23/2023

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I can create lots of settings for my doll photos, but there are some settings that are just beyond me. I've had two scenes in mind for two upcoming stories for some time now, which needed something way more elaborate than anything I could ever do at home. Both needed elaborate castle and cathedral interiors. So, yesterday we were lucky enough to experience another fantastic photo shoot at our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room.

Setting up the first scene....

Lawrence posing for an anniversary portrait....

I was impressed that they even made the effort to reproduce the same lighting on him as there was in the painting.

Then, after the first short story, we moved into the cathedral interior for the second one.

I'm always blown away by the photos that are possible in such a professional environment.

I realize that I'm very lucky to be able to take advantage of such a rare opportunity, and would like to thank our son and his wonderful production team at Immersion Room, for another amazing photo shoot.

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Finishing the Armour

11/22/2023

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All the armour pieces were finished, and ready to put together...

I had struggled with trying to figure out the best way to put the armour together, and took inspiration from my DreamHigh Studio Otto, whose armour made up of lots of separate pieces all attached to each other with thin elastic....

I wasn't going to use elastic, but it was a good idea to attach the armour pieces to each other. I decided to attach the front and back plates to each other permanently, which meant I'd have to take Matias' head off in order to put the armour on, or take it off. But that was easy enough.

I measured where one armour plate would go over another, and holes were drilled in the brown 'channel's along the edges of each piece. Then I used strong brown thread to stitch everything together....

When I turned it over to take a photo of the underside, I realized that I'd sewn the shoulder armour on the wrong sides of the neck pieces. So I had to cut the threads and switch the two sides. I also left long threads when I made the knots, as the threads from the first few knots were cut too short and undid themselves. So, I left longer threads, and then glued them down.

*Notice the sets of two drill holes on both end plates of armour. Those are for sewing leather straps, that will go under Matias' arms and hold the armour securely in place.

Finishing

After all the armour was done, and Matias was wearing it, the final job still left to do was to reattach the leather straps to the bracers. I had removed them before spraying the bracers, so they wouldn't get any spray paint on them. But they did have to go back on.

The shorter of the leather straps originally held a buckle, and the longer strap would be threaded through it. But I found that it was a bit of a challenge to thread the leather through the buckles, and they weren't very secure, because there was nothing holding them in place and the two parts would just slide apart. So I decided to rework the straps so they'd have tiny black snaps instead.

I moved the buckles to the longer straps, and stitched the snap directly underneath. Then I stitched the other part of the snap onto the shorter strap where the buckle originally was.

When I put the bracers on Matias' arm, they looked pretty much like they originally had (except for some stitches showing) but they were infinitely easier to do up.

The last thing the armour still needed was the buckles at the neck. The front and back chest pieces were permanently attached to each other, but I still wanted to give the suggestion that they were separate and buckled together.