ToolGirl

Wet/Dry Stream Bed

My friend Sue got free tickets to go on a garden tour and took some great photos. I kinda suck at gardening so I found this stream bed thing fascinating. It took somebody days of work to lay out all of these blue stones. That's just an insane amount of work but what a cool way to avoid gardening.

clipped from suemitchell.posterous.com

This is a dry stream created out of blue pebbles. They have been all carefully laid down to mimic the look of flowing water. AMAZING!  (See the effect of the whole stream bed at Sue's Musings.)

Built a House Yet?

Meet some of the fantastic women who worked on the Toronto Habitat for Humanity building blitz in May.  If you're inspired, join us!

Women building 16 homes this week in Habitat Women Build

This is blitz week for Toronto Habitat for Humanity and 2000 women are slated to put up walls and roofs on 16 new homes.  I'm shooting lots of video and photos and meeting fantastic women who've volunteered to strap on toolbelts.  I'll post some video as soon as I have it edited.  You can follow the build's progress at the official WomenBuild web site.

A good friend told me that my photos belong elsewhere so...

I got a Flickr account.

5 Reasons to Gear Up with Power Tools

1. Owning your own cordless drill makes you want to rush home after work.
2. You get to use suggestive terms like 'torque' and 'ratcheting chuck'.
3. You can say stuff like, “With this much torque, screwing is more satisfying”.
4. Putting on a tool belt makes you look like Cat Woman, only with more torque.
5. When they watch you working, your male friends will experience an increase in their angular momentum.

What a Beautiful World

More info

Livio Di Marchi

Dave Scarberry sent these photos of the incredible woodworking skills of Italian sculptor Livio Di Marchi.  Thanks Dave!

http://www.liviodemarchi.com/ukmain3.htm

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/DeMarchi.htm

http://mostlyglass.com/Artists/de_marchi/de_marchi_books.htm

 

What is Red Green doing now?

Red Green creator Steve Smith is having the time of his life with a new project.  Check out the story of The Fabulous Miromars and their inspiring message - "Getting older allows you to do what you love."

Vintage hockey cards get a groovy second childhood

I met Isa Bella Campbell at the One of a Kind craft show, which continues in Toronto until next weekend.  She's featured in the Rising Star section of the show along with some other fantastic artisans. 

Isa makes all of her belts, wallets, make-up bags, change purses and billfolds using vintage media and recycled leather apparel.  Like many artists, she came up with her techniques when she was making gifts for lucky friends and relatives.  Her first hockey card belt was a gift to her adult brother, who was thrilled...until he found out that she'd raided his hockey card collection from Grade 5. 

"You cannibalized his own hockey cards?!" I asked, amazed at her pluck. 

"I didn't use the really valuable ones, I swear!"

You can meet Isa at the show (her booth is Read My Hips) or check out Isa's stylish designs online where you can buy her stuff via PayPal (an easy, secure, no-charge way to pay for online purchases). 

How to paint a bathroom floor in a highrise condo

My friend Ellen sent me this photo via e-mail. 

If you live in a highrise building, this is a great flooring upgrade to freak out your relatives.

(Unfortunately, I can't find a credit for the PhotoShop artist, but you can see more human ingenuity at worth1000.com)