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wes anderson

Apparently, he's a big fan. We got this lovely big Wes Anderson book out of the library the other day, and both boys spent a good bit of time paging through the whole thing. Here's an interesting article about the aforementioned Mr. Anderson, by the author/editor of the book, Matt Zoller Seitz. 

Anyhow, if you like his movies at all, this is a great book to spend some time paging through. So many lovely pictures, so much detail (oh how these boys of mine love details), and also, animals. Which reminds me, we may have to watch The Fantastic Mr. Fox with the boys someday. 

cersi lannister costume

ok, please indulge my inner child for a few minutes here while I post about my Hallowe'en costume. I considered spending a full paragraph here apologizing/justifying my nerdiness and/or narcissism, but hey, if there is any place where it is appropriate for a full grown adult to display pictures of themselves dressed up as a fictional character from another planet, I think a personal blog on the good ole' internet is it. So, without further ado, here is the Cersi Lannister costume I made to wear this Hallowe'en. So, if you don't already watch Game of Thrones, you really should. Unless you are my Mother or Mother-in-Law (hi Moms!) in which case you should NOT. Definitely not. But if you don't, a quick bit of explanation here. Cersi Lannister is the Queen of a place called The Seven Kingdoms, on a continent called Westros in a fictional world created by George R.R. Martin in the series of books A Song of Ice and Fire. To quote wikipedia, "She is physically beautiful and intelligent, but she is also greedy, cruel, manipulative, and amoral; she is also short tempered and quick to hold grudges, as well as often rushing into situations without pausing to consider the consequences of her actions." Yeah, so not like she's my hero or anything, she's actually a pretty unsavoury character and definitely should win some sort of "Worst Mother in Westros" award. But still, I enjoy love/hating her in the show wherein she is played masterfully by Lena Heady, and also, has one of the best wardrobes in any fictional world. Hence my decision to dress up as her for Hallowe'en. Here is the costume that I was inspired by.

Though its a pretty limited image of that particular look, so here's another one. Different lighting and whatnot, but gives you a nice idea of the sleeves. 

And here is what I, with my limited sewing skills and budget, came up with.So basically this is really the first garment I have ever sewed. Its certainly not perfect, but for someone who up to this point has only ever sewn large flat rectangles (ie: quilts) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

The inspiration for Cersi's costumes in the television series is sort of a blend of traditional Kimono and high medieval styles. Knowing that, I bought McCall's costume pattern 2940, which is a simple kimono style robe pattern, and then I altered the crap out of it. Especially the sleeves.  Because the sleeves are really the key feature of this costume. I tightened up the upper arm, and then majorly expanded the cuffs for that long, rectangular banner-like effect. 

The twelve-year-old girl in me just adores the way that they billow when I walk. 

Also, since this is a Hallowe'en costume, I did not want to break the bank on it. So here's what I spent: $14.99 for a long burgundy high-waisted slip dress from Value Village. It was probably a bridesmaid's dress. I used it as the underskirt/layer of this costume. You can see it peaking out from under the robe at the bottom in the full length shots. Then, at the same Value Village I found a burgundy, jacquard woven tablecloth (in almost exactly the same shade as the underdress), with an acanthus motif for $7.99 which I used to make the robe itself. From my local fabric store, I bought a gold coloured imitation shantung silk remnant  for $4.00 which I used to edge the robe and sleeves. The gold cord tie on the belt was also a remnant, which cost $1.50. The faux leather that I used for the belt was the most expensive fabric, at $24.00 a meter, but I only bout a little bit of it, so it cost me $6.00 all together. For a grand total of, what, $34.50, give or take a few pennies. And I got to wear it three times over the Hallowe'en season, at various parties and of course, trick or treating (for which I paired it with a full length black cape. Yes, I own a full length black cape. Deal with it.)

As far as jewelry, I had to wear a big old ring...

and a big old locket...., both of which are just pieces of jewelry that I happen to already own anyways, so they did not cost me anything extra. Didn't want to shell out for the replica Cersi Lannister jewelry with thier house sigil on it. Would have been cool, but like it said this is a Hallowe'en costume and I had a budget. And barely noticeable under it all, are my sturdy brown riding-style boots. I just had no idea what sort of footwear to use. I have a feeling that Cersi probably glides around the Red Keep in some sort of delicate, soft, silent slippers (the better to overhear the intrigue my dear) but I spent a couple of hour's googling "Game of Thrones shoes" and "Footwear on Westros" to no avail. I mean, you can never see their shoes, so I guess its a moot point, but for such a completely visualized fictional world, I know they cannot have let the ball drop on footwear. I'm sure there is some crazy on-set cobbler making gorgeous made to measure quasi-archaic sandals and slippers and boots for that cast of hundreds, and I WANT TO SEE THEM ya'll! Get on it internet. 

Things I wish I had done better: I'd love to have had an actual metal belt like the one she wears in the show (and which you can see in the source pictures at the top of the post. I heard an interview with the costume designer Michele Clapton, talking about how Cersi often has some aspect of her clothing that is like armour, for both practical and emotional reasons, which is think is so interesting. So a metal corset/belt-y thing would have been nice. But I just haven't had any time to fire up the forge lately. Just a bit beyond my skill set. And I would have LOVED to have put in the time to embellish it with the embroidery as done in the original costume. I actually am a pretty accomplished embroiderer, and could probably pull off a dumbed down and passable version of the hummingbird detail (though nothing as amazing as the original work done by Michele Carragher, which you can see in insane detail here) but again, just didn't have the time to do it justice.  I need to thank my good friend Farihah Shah for obliging me an coming over on a wet, cold November morning to do this little shoot for me. I must say, it was funny to do a shoot and not really smile. Not really a grinner, that cersi. And I had a hard time pulling of Lena Headey's cold, self-satisfied smirk, or glowering disapproval. Mostly I just look gaunt. Could have been the cold. 

And of course, there were some distractions. Namely this guy, who under normal circumstances doesn't particularly care to pose for a picture, but as soon as you tell him to get out of the shot, there's no getting rid of him.
And also this guy: Mr. Action Hero Baby. I was of course, tempted to costume them as the little royal lords of Westros, but seeing as how Cersi's son Joffrey Lannister is the most hateful character in the history of Fantasy fiction, I just could not do that to either of my lovely boys. 

So now that I know I can sew a garment for an actual human body, there is an even bigger world of making out there for me to explore. I don't know if I have the time, patience or passion for it, but I just might have to try out a few simple, everyday things for myself. Though I do love an impractical sleeve.....

deadline

Sorry that I've been a bit absent around here. Not up to my usual five posts a week standards for sure! But I have a deadline to meet and I'm trying to get stuff done, and somehow, my evenings just get shorter and shorter. Also, I'm a procrastinator. I don't particulary enjoy this deadline that I'm working towards, and luckily, in the day to day life of a busy mom I can find a million things that I have to do first. Laundry, dinner, school related what-have-yous; there are lots of other things to keep me busy during the day. But I should be using my evenings to work towards my deadline. "Oh but wait!" I say to myself, "the blog! You have to blog, you can do that instead of that other stuff you don't want to do....." So in an effort to achieve some sort of self-discipline I've been not letting myself blog as often. The idea being that with fewer fun distractions I will forced, heels dragging, towards my deadline. Sigh. So tonight I'm going to blog, but not a big juicy pictures 'n' stories post, only a quick little "look at this cool stuff I found on the internet (while I was procrastinating of course).

Actually hubs showed these to me. First, watch this.

Wasn't that oddly satisfying? This one's for every printer you ever wanted to kick. I just love stuff like this. If I made videos, this would be the kind of thing I would do. It sort of feels like making a patchwork quilt to me, with all the cutting things up and putting them back together. So fun.

This one is also great, and highlights a televisual pet peeve of mine in a very humorous way.

 Honestly, it makes me crazy how they do this in EVERY crime drama on TV (and in the movies for that matter). Apparently every investigative unit in a major city has this kind of advance and somewhat unrealistic technology that allows them to pull image data out of thin air by suggesting that a grainy picture could be enhanced. It makes me scoff and throw up my hands every time. Which always makes hubs laugh. So I guess it has its benefits.

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed those. Now I must get back to work. sigh.

 

can you tell me how to get....

Are you ready for this?

Because oh. my. gosh. Look at what we got!

The Fisher Price Play Family Sesame Street playset, first produced in 1975, but this one was produced in the last year of production, 1977 because our Oscar the Grouch has no handle on the lid of his trashcan. (Thank you internet for your incredible minutae)

I know, I know. I kind of started hyperventilating a bit when I heard it was coming our way. You see, my Mom is probably the most active disseminator of my blog links (and if she was just a little more social media savvy I'd be all over the freakin' internet) but lets just say that among her friends and family, this blog is very well read. (Hello all my Aunts! Thanks for reading!) So my Aunt Marg saw us this summer and said "oh, I heard you like Fisher Price Little People. I have a couple of old sets that I saved from when the kids were little. I thought you might like them." Um, yes please. 

So there were two sets, but I'm going to make you wait awhile for the second one. And this one deserves its very own post. Because it is AMAZING. Please sit back and enjoy while I dork out over the amazing details. ahem.  This is the Hooper's Storefront view. Note the awesome architectural details. The stained glass transom window. The moulding. The awning. The brickwork. The tiles. Ach, there is so much I love about this. 

And look inside the store! There is a diner counter piece that fits in there so customers can sit, and a little magazine rack thing on the right there, with merchandise and stuff that is also a seperate piece. And of course, Mr. Hooper and Susan. SUSAN. Best FP little person ever, with her magenta dress and her natural style hair. The Best. 

I can hardly stand how cute that background litho is. Cake is 25 cents. Can I get a piece of that cake please?

Then, when you go around the corner you get a litho with Luis' fix-it shop and also, Big Birds alley-way home. 

And then around front is, of course, the Brownstone that you'd find at 123 Sesame Street.

And then the last side has the tire swing and fire escape stair way. I love those ripped posters. And the round window. And that light above the door. Details!

Of course, 123 Sesame Street is where Bert and Ernie live. And thier little apartment does not disappoint. 

Their twin beds are monogrammed for Pete's sake. And yes, that is a framed pigeon picture up on the wall. And Ernie's rubber duckie can be glimpsed on the edge of the tub through the open bathroom door.

And there's also an apartment above Hooper's Store. I'm not sure it's where Cookie Monster actually lived (because then where would Mr. Hooper live? What's the point of having a small corner store in a big city if you can't actually live above it? I'm just sayin') but he's hanging out there, watching a little TV for now. 

Yep, the inscription on Big Bird's signed and framed photo on the wall proves it. Definitely Mr. Hooper's apartment. 

I'm just so pleased with this addition to our toy collection. And the Boy's just love it too! It has been played with lots, the Oscar in his trashcan in the Little Dude's favourite, and for some strange reason, the Baby just loves that white ladder/stairs thing. Oh, and the mailbox is a favourite bit too, as a little person child can fit underneath it and that is apparently hilarious. We are going to get so much fun play time out of this. And its a nearly complete sit. The only thing missing, is the chalk and earaser for that chalkboard bit in the middle, but those are almost always missing from these old sets. And the only character we don't have is Gordon. I may have to start trolling around on esty looking for a Gordon because I don't want Susan to be lonely. 

This is such an amazing gift, from my kind Aunt and Uncle. The Boy's faces just lit up when we pulled this out of the bag. I'm telling you, it was like Christmas, for all of us. And I have to say a special thank-you to my Aunt for keeping it is such good condition, and keeping all of those many, many little pieces together. As a parent myself now, I know whenever I find a good quality vintage toy with all or most of its parts intact and together that there is a mom somewhere to thank for it. Because it was she who picked up and gathered together those pieces so many, many times at the end of a long, hard day. It was she who got down on her hands and knees and pulled these little people out from under couches and chairs before she vacuumed, so that they did not get sucked up and disappear along with the broken bits of crackers and popcorn and buttons and dust bunnies. It was she who, with little thanks, found stray Cookie Monsters and Grouches and herded them back into their plastic fold, to be played with another day. So its nice now, as a mom to say "Thank you Aunt Marg! Thanks for being a great mom. Thanks for cleaning up the toys and keeping these guys together. Thnaks for holding onto them, even though it was big and bulky and the kids were all grown up. And thanks for thinking of us when you cleaned out your basement. Because we love playing with them."

batmen

Plural. Because you know, around here we have two of them. Some mornings you just wake up and feel like being Batman. So we rummaged around in the closet and found L.D.'s Baman costume. The one I made for him for Hallowe'en. He happily got into it and started swooshing around the house, cape flapping behind him. And of course that looked like fun, which started the refrain of "Me too! I do it too! I Batman toooooo!" from the little one. So we had to pull together something for little brother. Luckily we had a Batman t-shirt already. Its a bit on the big side, but no matter. More importantly we needed a cape. So a blue dinner napkin and an obliging safety pin were pressed into service. Ahem. Basically this sums up the difference between being a first child and a second child. First child's costume lovingly made by hand, with attention to craftsmanship and detail. Money and time were gladly spent. Second child? A t-shirt, a napkin and a safety pin. Sigh. I wish I had the time, and when I have more than two minutes notice I will certainly make him his own superhero cape. Because he loves to run around in a cape. 

Another thing he love to do: make his 'stank face', which is how we refer to the curled lip sneer that he has adopted as his favourite way to convey menace, resolve, or just plain emphasis. I have yet to get a really good picture of the stank face, as it comes and goes to quickly, but even though he's mostly blocking himself with that chunk of wood, you get the idea. 

Here's another version of it, with the added bonus of his double chin. 

Running down the stairs! Action shot! Basically the rest of the morning was one long action sequence, what with all that saving the day. 

But even so, we did have a bit of time to stop and smell the flowers. 

And yes, they wore these costumes almost all day. We did all our errands as Batmen. Which was really fun, because nothing warms up the weary faces in a doctor's waiting room like two tiny Batmen swooping through the door, happy to tell everyone who will listen, who they are. And I just couldn't stop taking pictures of them. They were so proud and happy to pose (which is not always the case) so please indulge me as I post just a few more.

Its crazy to me how he is such a combination of little Baby and big boy all at the same time.

And I love how he looks up to his older brother, and emulates him with such genuine pride.

And of course, competes with him too.

Though he doesn't often win. Another second child thing. But it doesn't stop him from striving, or delighting in the race. And even when he looses he still likes to crow "I winned, I winned!" in true toddler denial.

Its funny how you can watch them sometimes....

...and see the wheels turning....

...as he calculates what kind of a head start he'd need to win this round.

ps: he still lost. 

getting inked

This morning, for fun, Daddy took his pen and drew some little tattoos for the boys. The Little Dude got a dear head on his forearm and a star on his elbow. 

And the Baby got a classic sailor tattoo, declaring his love for me. Sweetheart. 

The Little Dude was very happy with his new ink, and declared that he was going to get more of them. "I want one here, and here and here and here." he said, pointing to various spots up his arm. "oh, you want a full sleeve of tattoos then?" I asked. "Yeah" he confirmed. "That sounds nice." I said. "When you get older, you could do that if you like. Just promise me one thing: No neck tatoos." I said wryly. 

To which the Baby, holding up his freshly drawn on arm chirped. "Me get neck tatoo after while!"

Yeah, maybe not.

new star wars sheets

I thought I'd seen all the vintage Star Wars sheets that had been made, so its kind of exciting to find a new one. Look at this! Bad lighting and whatnot, but stil, exciting.

How awesome is that!

I love the droids variation on this one. I love that Chewbacca is included. And he's such a nice, flowy curly version.

And there are some GREAT space ships/machinery on this one. 

Great Millenium Falcon. Though I think what I really like best about this is the clouds. 

Fantastic little walker. 

And my favourite.... Ewoks AND Han and Leia. Perfect. Though what I love most is the little baby on his mamma's back on the far right. 

See? How cute is that? 

Oh, and also Jabba... With his little buddy, Salacious B. Crumb. Love it. 

Anyhow, made some bibs with it. Wanna see 'em?I know I've made hundreds of these, but I still really enjoy it. I love the way it crops the image. 

See? Those clouds are killing me.

Good ole' Jabba.

The best. 

Anyhow, I'm having a really sewing-heavy week, as I think I might be doing a craft show this weekend. But there's a lot going down this week besides that so we'll see. I'll get some of these up into the shop next weekend. 

Right, back to sewing....

 

Princess Leia's bathing suit

I read a quote on Pinterest the other day which stated, "I never know how dirty a song's lyrics are until I hear a small child singing them." And while my children do not know any songs with questionable lyrics, I did have a similar moment the other day. 

This is the conversation that I had with the Little Dude at bedtime last night when he was requesting his tuck-in story.

"I want the story of Jabba's sail barge and with Princess Leia where she got tooken off her disguise so she had no clothes on except the little bathing suit that Jabba gave her." Unhunh. "Probably that bathing suit is Oola's." He says to me. "Did Oola and Princess Leia become friends?" Yeah, there is a lot to unpack there.

Up until now I've mostly been amused with his interest in Star Wars. I mean, I like Star Wars, and I like to share the things I like with him. Though I realize that Star Wars is too violent and much of it is beyond his comprehension at this point. And since he does not watch TV yet, I have had control over what he does know of the Star Wars narrative. I don't lie about it, but I do soft-sell certain points, and omit others. We generally focus on the good vs. evil aspect of it. We talk about robots a lot, and also, creatures are a big favourite; Banthas, Rancors, Wampas etc. And of course we talk about the main characters, especially Luke, Leia and Han. And up till now I've been very happy to have such a positive female role model for him in the form of Princess Leia. I mean, she's not only a princess, but also the leader of the rebel alliance. Sure she's getting rescured by Han and Luke, but she is anything but passive and is a good shot with a blaster. And I like to tell him the story of how she went in disguise to Jabba's palace to rescue Han. Role reversal, right? So its all good.

But there have been recent developments. Ever since we got this new book from the library, there's been a new level of focus.

See the figure third from the right? Yeah, that's the lego minifig version of "Slave Leia".

Sigh. Where do I begin. On the one hand, I could use this as a teachable moment to talk about slavery. And of course, that's what I've done. We talked about how slavery is bad and sad, and that it means that one person takes away another person's freedom and won't let them leave and makes them work without pay and they don't get to make any choices about their lives anymore. And its awful, they usually don't get enough to eat, and they have to stay in jail cells and it hurts them in a lot of ways, etc. Without being graphic I do my best to convey how bad it is in an age appropriate manner. 

But he's really, really interested in her outfit. The outfit is kind of a big deal. So yeah, its sort of like hearing a song lyric you've heard a million times before comeing out of your sweet childs innocent mouth and realizing that it is just a thinly veiled double entendre. Of course, I knew that this was a 'sexy' outfit, but never really thought about the implications of that. Because to put it bluntly, Leia was a sex slave. That's why she's wearing what she's wearing (or not wearing) That's why she's chained up to Jabba. That's why he licks her. And that is not something that I feel like I need to get into with a four year old. But really, he is fascinated by this image. He has so, so many questions. He needs to know why she's wearing what she's wearing. "Why is she half-naked mom?" Yeah, why is she? Previously when Hubs and I looked through the catalogue of what was availabe from the Lego Star Wars empire, I was relieved to see that this particular item was not for sale currently. Because as I put it to him "I don't want to normalize women with chains around their necks for him." And of course, since he's seen this picture he has asked me about a million times why she has a chain around her neck. 

So I'm not quite sure of what to do. I've kind of been trying to avoid the conversation, but of course he can totally tell when I'm hedging and just has a million more questions. So what do I do, internet friends? How do I explain this to him? Any advice?

Addendum: I just spent 20 minutes google image searching Slave Leia for a picture of Carrie Fisher in the original costume and I feel like I learned a lot. I mean, most of what I found was just hyper-active fanboy salivation/ojectification crap that I'd expected, but there was some interesting stuff too. Like this guy who created a gender bent Slave Leia costume for himself to wear (as Slave Leo, and writes a good blog post about it too) and also, I'd never noticed what Leia wore on her feet in this scene, but look at this costume shot:
An oddly, I kind of like those boots. This surprises even me. They are sort of an Ugg precursor, but less schlumpfy, and with cuter detailing. I was totally expecting some sort of ridiculously impractical knee-jerk high heel choice, but I like that the costume designer went in a more authentic-to-the-period-and-culture-of-Tatooine direction on this one. Its refreshing. 

ell. eee. gee. oh.

Lego. That's the word around here. We eat, sleep and breathe Lego. The Little Dude gets up in the morning, and the first thing he does is stumble, groggy and bleary eyed out to the Lego table and get to work. The sun may barely have risen, but there are vehicles to build, minifigs to reconfigure and stories to tell. All through the magic of Lego.

It has kind of spilled over into most of the rest of our lives. We have a rule that there is no Lego allowed at the table, (because if the touchable distraction of his latest creation is present, very little food gets eaten) but instead whatever he is currenly working on gets set on the side table, where he can see it from where he sits. And talk about it of course. Because it is his major topic of conversation. He has so many plans. "Mom..." he says, "I have a good idea. After lunch I think we should make a Lego soccer field. Like I saw in a book. And we can make the ball out of Lego even. I think that will work."

 And Mom...., after we finish eating and are excused from the table, I think we should play Lego dino hunter. I think you would like that Mom. Only first we have to drive to the store to buy a Lego dinosaur. One that is a minifig, but not little, like Jabba the Hutt. He's a minifig, but he is not little. And he's kind of like a dinosaur, but we need a real dinosaur. Ok?"

And my favourite: "Mom... you know what I think we should do? I think we should make a house out of Lego. Only it will be a real house that is big enough to live in, and we can go and live in that house and we will make beds and tables and chairs out of Lego and then we can live there. Everything will be Lego. Except the food. Because you can't eat Lego. We can have real food. But on Lego plates."

That's pretty much how most conversations around here go. 

And I have to say, I'm impressed with his Lego building skills. This is an X-wing fighter that he made himself, with not parental assistance whatsoever.

The wings are hinged with some ball joints that came in a Lego Creator robot set he got awhile ago. 

He was very proud of this one, as you can see. He even made a spot for R2-D2 to sit in the back, just like the real X-Wing Fighter.And he specifically requested that I take these pictures so that we can send them to Sean Kenney. Who is Sean Kenney you might ask? Well, as L.D. says to the ladies at our local library. "Do you have any books by Sean Kenney? Because he's my favourite author."

Sean Kenney is in fact a professional lego designer/builder and the Little Dude informs me that he wants to have a job just like Sean Kenney when he grows up. Now, I know every parent thinks thier kid is exceptional, but I think that L.D. has some pretty mad skills when it comes to putting Lego together, so who knows, maybe he has a shot at his dream job?

Anyhow, as far as childhood obsessions go, Lego is a pretty good one. It combines both the creative/storytelling/imagination aspect of play that is so important, and the spatial and proceedural constuction skills that are very useful. For example, I gave him this little helicopter kit the other day at the beginning of his quiet time, showed him on the paper where the visual instructions began, and then left him alone to put it together all by himself, with not a bit of guidance or correction from me.

I love how pleased he was with it and I love how he perservered and stuck with it all the way through. There were 18 steps to follow, and a lots of little pieces. Not a small feat for a four year old. Anyhow, Sean Kenney, this one is for you. 

He wanted me to take a picture of the finished helicopter to send to Mr. Kenney, but also needed me to take a picture of the brochure from inside the kit that shows all the other kits he 'needed'. (most notably the dinosaur) This is his favourite part of any kit; being able to see all the other options available. Though I must say this is NOT my favourite part, because then I spend the rest of the day hearing about what we could build with all those other kits. Oh those clever people at the Lego company and thier tricky advertising tricks....

But when he's not busy planning what to buy, he is happily at play. The tinkling clink of the bricks as he runs his hands though the bins, looking for just the right piece is music to my ears. And as he clicks and builds he sings happily to himself, and I love overhearing the snatches of made up lyrics about Rancors and Teddy Bears and Tauntauns and the planet Hoth.

And we've all grown to love the minifigs. I am peppered with requests like: "you know what we need Mom? We need some of those short legs, so that our Lego men can be Lego children. Like Anakin Skywalker. Also, we need some hoods, like the Jedi's have." And on, and on. Though I don't mind it too much, as I can remember pouring over those little booklets myself, when I was young and inquisitive and fiercely aquisitional. Is that even a word? I don't know, but I remember wanting stuff. And we keep it under control. Any time he tells me about his latest great idea involving the purchasing of a new kit, I tell him that that sounds great, and we should put it on his birthday list. He knows that I'm not just going to drop everything and rush off to the store to buy him his latest whim. His favourites and priorites change so much that I don't know what will be on the top of that list by the time that his birthday does roll around in June. Though I'm pretty confident that it'll be something Star Wars related. 

 

sleepy cat

I was half-heartedly cleaning up my studio/fabric storage room the other day when I came across this little treasure. (this one's for you Brookly Codger) Its a fitted sheet, so its kind of a pain to take a picture of, but I spread it out on the lego table and got a few shots. 

Look, it's everyone's favourite lazy fat-cat: Garfield!

When I was little, my younger brother was SO into Garfield. He had stacks of those short wide comic strip format books that he would read over and over again. I read them too because, you know, they were there. But I wasn't quite as into it as my brother was. I like this sheet though, mostly because it makes me think of my little red-headed brother's 10-year-old self crouched over his comics. But also because of the big stacks of pillows. I find it funny though, how its supposed to be drawn to look like an iconic pillow; the cliche of all pillows, and of course, you recognize it as a pillow, but at the same time, have you ever in your life seen pillows like that? I have not. What's up with those weird corner bits that look like ears. Odd. Oh, and of course I'm bummed that neither Odie nor Nermal make an appearance on this sheet. Nermal was the best. 

And of course, as soon as I spread this out on the table, the Baby did his very best cat impression. Art imitates life, right?

Soooo sleeeeeepyyyy. Must have been that entire pan of lasagne he had for lunch because he was all like "ZZZZZZzzzzz".

Ha! No, just kidding. Sneaky Baby.