Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited

Elyse Schein had always known she was adopted, but it wasn't until her mid-thirties while living in Paris that she searched for her biological mother. When Elyse contacted her adoption agency, she was not prepared for the shocking, life-changing news she received: She had an identical twin sister. Elyse was then hit with another bombshell: she and her sister had been separated as infants, and for a time, had been part of a secret study on separated twins.



Just finished reading this. Anyone interested in families, twins, research or adoption would find it an interesting read.

You can also read more about the book on the book's website here.

Little Houses Made of Ticky Tacky

It's cold. Like really cold. -54 C windchill cold. So we are hibernating.

Today we made some more papercrafts from this site:
Canon Papercrafts

The little crafts are better for older children so I cut and glued everything and Jr played with them. Then we made a house he could help with out of a milk carton. He likes that the little people can go inside the milk carton house too.





I just used regular printer paper and glued it to construction paper to make it sturdier before cutting.

I would really like to get some cardstock though and make some of the really pretty papercrafts on this site:

The Toymaker






I really wish the chocolate truck would come to my house today.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys young adult literature. It's touching and funny.. I laughed and cried reading it.



from amazon, where you can read an excerpt from the book as well:

In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney, that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Ice on Whyte Fest

Thank You Tea Towel

A thank you gift for a family member. It was embroidered from a vintage pattern Mr Blackbird's grandmother gave me.

Beauty School Dropout

I've had this song in my head all week.

Lockbox, Spontaneous Letters and Cuteness

Now that Jr is allowed a bit of time in the bathroom alone we decided we should lock up our medications instead of just putting them up high. Mr. Blackbird made this lock box out of scrapwood. It's made to fit into our medicine cabinet but I think it's almost too nice looking to tuck away. It's hard to get a nice picture but the stain and sheen are really nice and I like the dovetails on the edges.







Blackbird Jr was also accomplished this week. He doesn't have much interest in drawing or writing so I haven't pushed it but while he and Mr Blackbird were in the garage he was colouring on some scrap wood and asked how to spell his cousin's name. Mr Blackbird told him and then he realized Jr was writing it down. I think this is the first time Jr has written anything that wasn't hand-over-hand.



And my cats are being ridiculously cute today.



And yes, I'm aware that posting pictures of my cats on my blog indicates a strong possibility of me being a future Cat Lady. I'm okay with that.

Bib, Shoes and Pjs- plus a cute hat and snowtable

Some crafty- a pair of baby shoes I embroidered and sewed, plus a matching bib. Blackbird Jr wants a pair of the shoes in his size.



A pair of pajamas I sewed for a friends' DD. The fabric inspired me to make pjs, it's a soft flannel with glittery fairies on it.



I didn't make this but bought it for the same birthday girl from Granny's Garden. It's an ice cream sundae hat! Insert pun about melting from the cuteness.



And we have been using our sand/water/trainsupplies table to have fun with snow. We mix in food colouring and after the snow has been inside for a while you can make snowmen and castles and all sorts of fun things. Jr especially likes burying his vehicles in big snow drifts to be rescued.

Lucky Kids

Custom built playhouses (click photos to see more on the site).

Weekend Plans

So many things about this make me laugh.

What I'm Listening To

I just finished listening to American Gods, which I've read a few times before.



A review excerpted from amazon:

Released from prison shortly after the accidental death of his wife, ex-con Shadow finds himself free, but bereft of all the things that gave his previous life meaning. As he bids his farewell to the fragments of that life, an eerie stranger named Mr. Wednesday offers him employment. Wednesday needs someone to act as aid, driver, errand boy, and, in case of Wednesday's death, someone to hold a vigil for him. Shadow consents and finds himself drawn unsuspectingly into a cryptic reality where myth and legend coexist with today's realities.

Mr. Wednesday, trickster and wise man, is on a quest. The old gods who came over to this country with each human incursion have weakened as their followers have dwindled and are now threatened with extinction by the modern gods of technology and marketing. Wednesday travels from deity to deity, rounding up help for what will be last battle. He engages ancient Russian gods, Norse legends, Egyptian deities, and countless others who have found their way to America in the past 10,000 or so years. Shadow never quite understands what his role is in all of this, but he experiences visions and dreams which promise that he is far more than Wednesday's factotum.

You can listen to an audioclip here.

Next up is Fragile Things, because I miss Shadow and he's in a novella in this collection of stories.

My New (Very Guilty) Indulgence

Make Me a Supermodel. Yeah. I have no excuse.

Craft Roundup

Sweet little rocketship baby shoes:



Some bibs, to be posted in Etsy next month:







Another Rabbit Moon, this one isn't framed yet

Cool Colouring Pages Website

A cool site with tonnes of cool character-based colouring book pages.

http://www.coloring-book.info/coloring/

I am printing off Wallace and Gromit, Cars and Bob the Builder for Blackbird Jr right now.

Cross Stitch

A gift I made for Christmas. I completely underestimated how much time it would take and ended up finishing it on the 25th. It's hard to see but there are beads and specialty stitches for embellishment.

Dinosaur Thomas

Blackbird Jr had his heart set on Dinosaur Thomas (and a rocketship) for holidays this year, those were the only things he asked for. Unfortunately the set containing the fossil car has been retired and we weren't sure if it would get here in time if we ordered it online anyway. Polymer clay to the rescue!

Original fossil car:



My quick polymer clay version in a generic empty boxcar:



I almost burnt the holy hell out of it after not realizing my toaster oven was set 100 degrees too high (I haven't used it in ages) but the black darkness at the edges adds character.