feeling shy

w.i.p. by rikrak

i'm feeling a wee bit shy today. i've been working on a few secret little projects ... and it seems like it's time to stop being so hush*hush on one of them.

now... i'm a super lucky soul. i don't too often feel very shy. quite private? most certainly.
a worrier? usually!
sometimes quiet? sometimes.
but not too shy too often. but i certainly am today!

i don't mind talking about my shyness on a secret project. i think a good secret project will be brimming over with fun emotions! let's embrace new feelings! i just mind actually putting the finishing touches on things... cause hey - then the new thing is an actual thing! eek!

i set myself some new rikraky goals this year:

• writing a blog to challenge my crazy non-writerly skills... it's on! (and hey - i was SUPER nervous about that - thanks for your help!)
  

• working on some other still-to-be secret rikraky plans... check!

• working on some new kinds of rikrak goodies a wee bit outside of my usual realm; to challenge myself a little bit .... tada!

do you have some secret little projects in the works? how are you feelin' about them? feel shy about crafting sometimes? here's a peek @ secret project #1... stay tuned!

w.i.p. by rikrak

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the winter blues ( & whites)

the message in a bottle: make a wish for the planet project by professor Jennifer Macklem @ winterlude ottawa 2009. photo by rikrak

oh heavens... winter continues.
seems like in general, folks around these parts are ready to say goodbye to the long cold winter for another year. but winter just loves us too much for that! winter just wants to extend it's visit and stay. and stay. and stay. feels like there's a few more weeks of courtship left! (it's soooo cold out today! brrr!)

but ... i have faith.
eventually, the lovely lovely long-awaited spring will come! so til then, thought i'd bypass the winter blues & revel just a bit more in one of my favourite things about winter: the beauty blue of the winter sky and the wonderous white of the snowy world.

cause hey - it really will be spring.... soon.... right? won't it?

mr.rikrak & little rikrak skating on the pond. photo by rikrak.

the boys on the winterlude snowflake kingdom ice slides! photo by rikrak

mr. rikrak & little rikrak skating on the pond. photo by rikrak.

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the answers: an *inspiring* little game {part one}

yay!
i'm so glad some folks added their fun answers to part one of the *inspiring* little game post from yesterday!

PLEASE NOTE! if you haven't had a chance to play the game yet,
please stop reading this post lickity-splitly and head on over to the game post here!

then you can come back here to see the answers!

.............................................

the answers to the game are:

A3: laura bucci
B4: mundo flo
C6: yvestown
D2: marion hearts
E7: photo bird
F1: patchwork pottery
G5: erin lang norris

thanks so much to everyone who played!

and special kudos to the wonderful nesting emily, who played, and had 5 of 7 guesses correct! woohoo! go see emily's beautiful shop to be inspired!

Silk Star Stitch porcelain VASE by nestingemily

look for future *inspiration* wall posts in the future... and be sure to add your own to the comments so i can feature some of them!

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an *inspiring* little game! {part one}

wall A

I love games.
and i love seeing others' inspirations!

so here's a fun game for all of us.

i've become very fascinated of late with the idea of inspiration boards or idea walls. i've seen images of many amazing little walls or boards dedicated to carefully collecting different little goodies that inspire the artist! i love it! i see amazing ones all of the time on flickr from some of my fabulous contacts. i see folks talking about them in the news and in lovely magazines. and in the past few weeks, i've seen some great posts about inspiration boards
(i'm thinking here especially of kotori's great post!)

i'm fascintated with how they look. how they feel, and what folks choose to add to them. i'm also interested in how they relate (or not!) to the artist's work! i love it!
so i found some of my faves in the blogosphere, and I thought we could do something fun with them!
........................................

the FUN RULES:
take a look @ the images below (and the one at the top!) .... each inspiration board or wall belongs to a fun artist whose work I’ve featured at the end of this post in the *the artists* section.

see if you can, without looking/researching, match the inspiration board to the artist. (i.e. A1, B2, etc).... please post your guesses below in the comments! it’ll be fun!

...................................

each image links to the artists’ photostream... BUT try not to look until after you’ve entered your guesses. it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong - i just thought it'd be fun to try and guess!

thanks so much to the artists for sharing their amazing boards and work.

i’ll be posting the answers later today in a separate post.

(but if you're REALLY eager to know .... just click on the board photos!)

wall B

wall C

wall D

wall E

wall F

wall G

...............................................................................................

the artists! :


artist 1: the amazing patchwork pottery





artist 2: the wonderful marion of the marionhearts blog



artist 3: the talented laura of laura bucci.etsy.com

artist 4: the wonderful adriana of mundo flo




artist 5: the incredible erin lang norris



artist 6: the brilliant yvestown


artist 7: the oh-so-talented simply photo/photobird

........................................................

PS: do you have an inspiration board? where do you keep your inspiring goodies? please share a link to a photo of it with us and i’ll use as many of them as I can in the next inspiration board post guessing game!
please tune in next week for MORE!

have fun!

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great green-ie discount!

a little addendum to yesterday's fun great green-ie post on the wonderful tanis alexis :
as a SPECIAL to all rikrak studio readers, tanis is offering FREE SHIPPING on everything in her shop, from now til march 15th, JUST for rikrakstudio readers! just mention her post here in your purchase message! yay! just visit www.tanisalexis.etsy.com Pin It

great green-ies: tanis alexis

greening.... i find it exciting and hopeful that while there sure are lots of terrible things going on to pollute & harm our planet, there are so many wonderful folks doing fabulous things to help make the world a greener, healthier place! so, the rikrak studio is happy to feature great green-ies : snapshots of amazing, inspiring. eco-forward-thinking folks from all sorts of fields and paths in the greening movement. some inspire by greening at home, or in their business; in their art or the larger world, or on many levels at once! i've asked each green-ie to suggest an easy eco-idea or tip we might all be able to add to our daily lives. today i'm honoured to present the next in this series!

ever *meet* someone in cyber-world and are forever changed for the better by their genuine, inspiring kindness, generous & warm personality, & brilliant ideas. that's how i feel about the wonderful tanis alexis. she's earth-friendly, art-friendly and just plain wonderfully friendly! i just love her sense of creative eco-leadership, mixed with her encouraging heart. you can just tell that folks that call tanis alexis a friend, are lucky lucky souls indeed. she's so creative and modest and fun... and so is her lovely eco work!


i first came to know tanis thru her various leadership roles (from behind the scenes, or front and centre, with her ever-encouraging words & cheers for all), on a couple of etsy teams i'm honoured to be a part of... and have grown to really cherish this wonderwoman! she sure is fantastic! she really really is!

we're so very lucky to have various beautiful tanis alexis handmade works in our home, and i adore them! one of my very faves is a gorgeous piece of handfelted tanis alexis art... (a work she made for us, inspired by her gorgeous handstenciled cityscape wool work seen on the floor above - it's amazing!) i still swoon everyday when i see it! i know... i'm gushing! but her work beckons you to feel it and savour it! it's glorious!

so three cheers for the wonderful, dear, & inspiring tanis alexis. she's a sweetie. and she spreads love with her words & works! what a great great talent. she's an educator, artist, and delight! be sure to visit her fabulous eco shop, filled with gorgeous, tactile, eco.forward delights, and follow her wonderful new blog, too. and as a SPECIAL to all rikrak studio readers, tanis is offering FREE SHIPPING on everything in her shop, from now til march 15th, JUST for rikrakstudio readers! just mention her post here in your purchase message! yay!

and now... an eco. tip from tanis alexis: Are you familiar with those 'clamshell' plastic containers you can buy organic salad and greens in?... the big clear plastic boxes and lids that can be recycled but seem so useful for another purpose...

I will be transforming a bunch I've saved from the recycle bins, to make little miniature seedling greenhouses out of them. a layer of gravel or sand in the bottom (could also punch holes for drainage in the bottom) add potting mix soil on top to the halfway point, and plant your seeds a few inches apart in the containers. use the lid (a couple holes punched in for air) to cover and create a nice warm little 'hothouse' for your seeds. when they get big enough and start to grow too tall for the container, it's time to transplant them to the garden or your pots for summertime growth. could also use them inverted in the ground for seedlings in your garden, just in case it's still a bit frosty. just make sure they get air and water!

it's all about 're-use' before 'recycle' in my opinion. ;)

thanks so much, wonderwoman! you're glorious!
and hope everyone had a beautiful weekend. here's to a great, green week ahead!

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warning: highly addictive fun ahead!

WARNING: if you love fonts & fun... you're gonna LOVE this! highly addictive fun ahead!!

i first came across this fun site a few weeks ago, and then was reminded about it by the wonderful behind my tutorlists' recent post! try this out! go to wordle.net and let the fun begin! you can enter a bunch of words, on a theme, for fun, about your business, about an upcoming event!

here are some that came up for when i entered my shop address in the 2nd field: www.rikrak.etsy.com

then click GO!

you can then keep clicking on *randomize* til you find a colour combo or font or style you love! it's endlessly great! you can also choose your own custom colour palette, change the fonts and more!!

you can also choose to wordle your own list of words (1st field!) or a feed, too! so fun! here's a pretend party invite!

just think of the endless fun uses for these!
so happy wordle-ing! and have a fun weekend, nicies!

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