tania howells

the lock out poncho!

Here it is is all its shining glory. So versatile! You can have the pointy part at the back or the front or turned jauntily to the side for a more mysterious look. I knit it on big fat needles so it would be very open and net like, with the same nice yarn my mom got for free that I made my I POD shuffle cozy with last May.

♥Here's how - so easy! ♥

OOH, check this out! I just discovered this artist on the site of the tranzac craft fair. How awesome are these glass robot pendants??
I wonder if he would want to trade at the fair...ooh please please...

things...

Some things in the midst of making...

A while ago Theresa emiled me to say she had found this sweet book at a book sale and would I want it? Of course I wanted it! It is neater then I expected, lovely color scheme and so spare.

There were also all these goodies in the package! Victoria mags, pencils and sweet cards all done by her! I was so touched especially since I had no idea of the hard time she was going through which I just discovered when clicking to her blog.

Thank you so much Theresa.
♥

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No photos of the lock out poncho yet! I tried to take them myself with my arm outstretched and that was less than successful! I have to wait till Paul gets home and then there is never enough light.
I am pleased with it and can't wait for its grand debut on the picket line! I will be the belle of the ball, haha.

thank you sooooo much for all your sweet comments about my little interview!
:)

Oh, and on the sidebar by my tania links is a wee link to the site of the craft show I am doing in September. Hope all you Toronto folks can come and keep me company!

This is so cool!
I am the interview of the week at Moneypants.com!
No one has ever ever interviewed me before, and that makes me feel nice.
(sheepish smile)

illustration (friday) - dreams

(click for bigger view)

I so admire the collages that Kim and Keri do that last night I tried to do a bit of collage of my own. I used to do a lot of it in high school, but it has been ages and whenever I tried, it looked wierd. I liked this one and it fit in nicely with the theme this week. I haven't really had a dream like this but dreams are so crazy sometimes that I could have!

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We did bike all the way to the Leslie Spit today, phew! It was far, but really neat and fun. We had brunch on the way there and beers on the way home.
Last night we wimped out of going to the party and I finished my lockout poncho instead (pictures tommorow, promise!) and I baked brownies! Out of a mix, but still good. mmmm.
I hope to get over to the picket line early tommorow, so I can get my baby fix in the afternoon. I haven't seen him in 2 weeks and I am having some withdrawl symptoms. Stop the shakes! Pass me the baby!

If you are from here, this is a boring subject for a photo, but I just happened to look up today and the sun was right behind the CN Tower, casting a wierd line right out from its tip. It looked cool. I wish I had had my camera last friday when the crazy weather was happening. Lightening bolts struck it repeatedly and very dramatically! It is right next to our picket line. Today was special because Jack Layton and Olivia Chow came to talk to us. I love them. Federal and local politicians, husband and wife, they care about stuff that matters. It was great to know they are behind us at the CBC. Olivia organised emergency childcare across the street for picketers. Awesome! Paul just called and told me he was there listening too! How could I have missed my sweetie? He said he got some great photos. :)

Incase you want to know...
CBC lock out news
blogs about the lockout
Save our CBC
Public Airwaves.ca
Todd Maffin's "I LOVE RADIO" blog

ahhhhhhhhhhh friday. woo!

have a great weekend everybody.

I have hopes of finishing my lockout poncho/shawl thingy (pictures to follow!)
- seeing friends at a party Saturday night
-brunch?
-bike ride to the leslie spit?
-mop the kitchen!!
-watch a movie
-get cozy and have a tea.

Yesterday was great. Before I left, there was a box in the mail! I saved it till I got home and it was such a surprise! A loot bag from Giao! I had sent her something a while ago and never expected to get anything. I love surprises, and I needed new stationary for mailing! Perfect!
Thank-you Giao, I needed a happy surprise like this. I love the rubber stamps too, Oh and I also needed new sticky notes! You must be psychic.
;)

Today I haven't been able to shake off this feeling of gloom. Nothing serious really, just a mood. I did get these magnets I ordered though. They fit in the back of buttons instead of pins! I had expected they would have a sticky back, but they just stay in by being magnets. I may glue them so they feel more secure.

And because you can see a bit of it in the magnet picture, here is a picture of the skirt I have on today.

I love this fabric, I found it thrifting a few years ago and made it into a simple skirt. Same pattern as the stripey one I posted may2. My archives from may backwards are totally screwed up or I would link to it.

Jan mentioned that my blog is loading funny in Safari. Is anyone else having that problem? I use Safari and it is ok. Oh the mysteries of the internet. I am also noticing typepad blogs are loading very slow these days. Maybe that is my connection.

have a look:
Trudesign blog
Eendar - Beautiful prints, I love "Dreaming of Clouds".

(click for bigger view) Thanks for all the comments about the brooches! It is good that some of you like them, you know how it is when you make a thing you have never made before. It is hard to imagine if anyone would actually want one besides you. I suppose that is the thing though, make what you yourself like and there will be someone somewhere who also likes it! ramble ramble. Here are some little tiny "artworks" you can hang on thhe wall- stamps from the republic of bird. Again, for the craft show. I will maybe put these things in the shop afterwards, but you can always email me if you like something. :)

ahhh, so I am timing my picketing today so I get there in time to eat my tuna sandwich and fruit salad.
I like a rest before I start! And then many throughout... its the only way.

♥mum coming round for dinner
♥a handful of garden tomatoes from her
♥cuppa tea
♥making buttons with my button maker
♥joking around on the picket line
♥free pizza yesterday
♥surprise order for xmas cards (it's never too early!)
♥pussycats coming back to our house soon
♥cooler weather
♥Louis Riel by Chester Brown
♥popsicles
♥bees

These pups are going to be brooches. I had a great productive weekend making up a bunch of these and other things. Yesterday too felt productive and busy which made me feel good. On my way to my picket duty, I found a bottle of fray-stop to keep the edges of these from disappearing, got some pin backs and found a sweet deal on t-shirts. Three for ten bucks, and good quality made in Canada ones. If you live in Toronto, I got them at Artik. They are clearing out summer stock, so I grabbed a bunch for the upcoming craft show on September 10th.
❀
It's just 9:00 and I have a nice big cup of tea with the creamiest organic milk in it. Yum! I have missed my tea during all this heat and lately it has been lovely and cool. I am British after all, I NEED my tea, and lots of it.
❀
My routine has been all mixed up, I am going to picket whenever the mood strikes me and finding doing it earlier is better. I started to bring my knitting which is great. I never get that much uninterupted knitting time and it is easy to slowly meander and knit at the same time as long as I stick to rows! I am aiming for some sort of poncho thingy. Everyone jokes that it is gong to be really long! Which I hope won't be true, or that I will need that soon to keep warm if we are out there much longer! The mood is still cheerful and light and we are into our secoond week so that's good. I do love all the people I work with and I am meeting new ones I never get to chat to. I work with such reasonable nice people! The CBC has been such a huge part of my whole life. Getting a job there was like a dream come true. The CBC radio was on in the kitchen my entire childhood. It is a lot like NPR and they are now playing repeats and piping in BBC. People are just abandoning it for other stations. I am scared! This is a bad move, they need to let us back in. Canada would not be the same without CBC TV and radio. The big wigs seem to want to turn it into FOX or something. Who would watch " Fear Factor Ontario"? "Your task is to drive from missisagua to scarborough and NOT pass a Tim Hortons- but if you do, you CANNOT go in for a double double"
"Oh, Jim no, I don't think I can do that..."
❀
It would really rock if a couple of you had a inclination to write to the Prime Minister, Paul Martin and ask nicely for him to get us back to work with a contract that does not allow all future staff to be hired on a disposable contract basis.
♥♥♥
thank-you!

I got this nice "Rising Tide" felt bag for Christmas last year. I haven't used it because it is too hot for a wool bag, but I did spruce it up some with these little felted leaves. They are made from this: One of the first things I knit. I plan to use it for real in the fall and winter. I got it from my brother and his girlfriend and it was at their house where I knit the green thing from yarn she had laying around. Those nice times of hanging out are OVER. Here you can see my brother's hand waving from the taxi as he departs for greener pastures, the traitor. I suggest he send me presents to make up for being a traitor. I would be appeased with anything from Habitat,Sukie,Couverture or any of those fab shops that he will be able to walk to, the traitor. * Look how cute Couverture is!

♥and I also love Maison Georgette

I am already getting bored of the drawing a day idea, mostly because every day on a picket line is the same!
anyway, here is today's.

I went in the morning today and that was way better than going in in the afternoon, it went way faster and I had coffee to fuel me. It is getting better compared to the first day in terms of being able to stand it, but I suppose the longer it drags on the harder it may be. Hydro one workers visited our picket line today - they have been on strike for 12 weeks! horrid!
I am enjoying chatting with my co-workers though, something we rarely do during work. It's nice that way.

So in the spirit of talking about something else, here is a box of junk!

I have a hoarding streak in me that I am sure a lot of you can relate to. I am not as indiscriminate as I used to be, and this is stuff from the olden days when I made assemblages of stuff as art. I like to look through it now and then. There is a teeny hat I crochted for some dolly, and a tiny abacus, all sorts of bits and bobs.

I had forgetten all about these rings I made back at school. They are puppets! Very tarnished puppets, but still. You just stick them on your fingers and go crazy. The one guy used to have a huge feather in his hand that is now just a puff. He was funny because the feather was way bigger than he was. Feathers crack me up.

♥ thanks for alll your supportive and nice comments about the stupid lockout though!
It has really cheered me up to find those when I come home!

A self portrait for tuesday. Boy is it tiring walking around a building for 4 hours! and very uninspiring.

The story...

I haven't got a thing to say!

I am going to try and do a drawing a day during the lockout just to entertain myself.

Lockout day one. Bummer. The one trick pony pincushion - meaning I am really milking the birds print! People seem to enjoy it so I like giving them what they want at the craft shows. :) Grace, I was so happy when I opend my mail and found kogepan stickers and a notepad! I saved it till I got to work on Friday and it made my day. Thank-you! I love real mail!

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The weekend was lovely, lots of hanging out with friends. I got to hold the baby for a long time! He slept and cuddled right in. Only 4 weeks old, looks like I am hooked.

What's the story morning glory? ( sorry, couldn't resist ) My morning glory vine is finally blooming! It looks neat, how it turns pinkie where the raindrops fall on it. I was going to show a picture of my scrappy fire escape garden, but it really did look a bit too scrappy, not pretty enough of a picture! Thank you for your nice comments yesterday! You are all right of course, and we had a nice time eating fish and chips in the back yard. I got some great half empty bottles of stuff! Now I make make some martinis. How grown-up. I never showed this ice creamy beautiful bag of sari silk my friend Swati's mum brought me back from India. It's gorgeous! I made her mum a little birdie bag out of it to thank her. I think I need smaller needles to sew it with or something. It works ok, but it is teeny bit bunchy- it is very fine. YUM!

It has been kind of a long gloomy day, and I realise I may as well accept it. I am super bummed that my only brother is moving to England next week. No point in pretending I am cool with it. We are going over to his now empty house for fish and chips tonite and to get some stuff he is giving us. There are no chairs or plates to eat on, no new cd's for me to steal and no new house mags to covet. I get to bring home half full bottles of oils and vinegar, jars of cocoa and baking powder.

Life goes on!

I have never been good with the leaving, but who is?

At work, we are all in a wierd mood because a strike is looming that may see us out by tommorow. Curses! We don't actually want more money ( though that wouldn't hurt ) but we want to fight a proposal that would see all new staff hired on contract only. No benefits and easily replaced. No new story there! Seems like someone has got dollar signs in their eyes...

Well, I feel better. I guess just admitting why you are sad helps.

On to craftier stuff! I signed up for a craft show on september 10! I got an email from a lady organising it, Laural had referred her to me
( thanks Laural! ) and now I have a fun thing to work towards. It is always nice to have a goal.
That also means that I am getting more coloring books printed, so if you didn't get one the first time and want one, soon you can get one.

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breakfast at the diner.

Too hot for tea! I sketched a bit last night and I am out of practice. It was one of those days. I kept focusing on what I can't do, what I am not doing. "I can't seem to draw people doing things! They are always standing there, and usually look just like me. Well then, maybe I should go back to life drawing classes... but they are boring. You should get out there more, promote yourself be pushy. No one is going to just come knocking on your door. Eat more vegatables, how can I help global warming? I try to help...maybe there are some craft shows coming up i can do, kick start me to make stuff. Is it really going to stay hot till thanksgiving like they said on the news? I should get my drivers liscence, this is really getting nuts- but i don't want to drive at all. I feel like a smoked salmon sandwich... maybe I will have a burrito."

A friend of mine had a great great saying that she liked to use on herself - "Stop shoulding all over yourself!" Indeed.

However, there is more I should be doing... AGH! stop it!

some nice things

♥Claire Manning illustration-she wants to populate the world with cute too!
♥Sweetie pie buttons -lots of awesome designs.
♥the exits-really liking this blog.
♥I really love this book. It is page after page of nice things in list form. I read it whenever I feel sad.

well, I have to say it sure has been quiet around here in terms of illustration or craftiness. It is the heat! It has been a bit nice to coast around like an alligator though.

I have been tagged again!

5 CDS in your player:
Shins - chutes tooo narrow
Stars - set yourself on fire
Thrills - so much for the city
Sanctuary - the Krafola mix!
Ron Sexmith - blue boy

5 Movies You've Seen Recently:
dukes of hazzard ( don't ask)
adaptation ( loaner from the library)
Life Aqautic
chasing amy (loaner from the library)
charlie and the choclate factory

5 Nice Things That Happened To You Lately :
-grannies in aquafit class smiled at me
-dim sum with new baby and old friends
-special saturday...
-nice tarts for tea time at work
-picnic on the island

5 MP3s On Your Playlist:
greatness and perfection - julian cope
tampa to tulsa - jayhawks
fire - daniel lanois
new madrid - uncle tupleo
sadie - joanna newsom

5 Friends To Pass This On To:
i will leave this part for now, i gotta get to work, eek!

holidays for the evening

Can you believe such a lovely place is only minutes from downtown? The Toronto islands are so pretty and the perfect place for an after work picnic on a Friday. The ferry ride over is great, you can pop your bike anyplace and enjoy the ride. It is the kind of place where we don't get to enough, and when we do, its so lovely. I envy the people lucky enough to live there! There is a small community on Wards island of old cottages that people can live in, and no cars are allowed. It is like a little utopia. Ahhh, I was determined to go for a swim. It only lasted minutes because it was so cold! This happens every time- we say "Man! This is so great why don't we come once a week!" and it never happens that way. However, we will attempt it!

I so agree with this and this.
I couldn't say it better! Thanks everyone for your continuing sweet comments and for making this so much fun! I never would have guessed how rewarding this whole blog thing would end up being.
♥

I (also very gingerly) tag Karina, Sassinak, Krissy, Kim and Rhya. I'm going totally local here!
Please see rules below and to quote Mav, "no pressure, no pressure!"

FUN!

I got tagged for this :
id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioural characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

---by port to port! thanks Mav! My first tagging....but i am scared to tag other people... I am going to sleep on it and see what I come up with.

In the mean time, some desperately good things have been pointed out to me:
❉Suzie's awesome David Carradine Tai Chi find. It makes me clutch my hands together in amazement and joy.
❉Ninja wonderousness pointed out to me by Laurie.Who knew ninjas also stab?
❉Sugar Bush Squirrel,sent to me by my arborist friend Todd. The mind boggles- there is so much here that I have to dab my eyes with a handkerchief. What a special little squirrel, what a crazy, crazy world.

Woo! My trade from Laurie arrived today!

Oh I love the pins, and as usual, I feel like I got totally spoiled! All the nice little things! Check out the sweet fabric pin in the bottom right corner.

Thank you Laurie!!

We're back! I am refreshed, spent a lot of time hanging out reading in the garden. Shamefully, we didn't even make it to the beach we were so busy loafing. To be fair, the time we planned on going, there seemed to be a storm rolling in that of course never materialized. But I did jump through the sprinkler a few times. It was so good to see the little guys again! They are spending the hottest months out at my mum's where it is cooler. Boy they are cute when you don't see them for a while, they can sense a lap forming from 100 metres, and jump on it immediatley. We visited the actual Buddha dog shop, where my logo is splashed all over the place on banners, t-shirts and the like. It looked nice! We took the train this time and that's so nice. Not having to worry about traffic and stuff. I would just sit and worry, since I don't drive. We even went to the Value village on the day we arrived since it is near the train station. I found a Bodum coffee setin the box and brand new for $5.99, and a few button up blouses for my newly breast feeding pal who realised she only had inconvenient tees.

good times.

hee! I am glad some of you are exited about the symbols in mac! and thats a bummer PC can't see them, i was afraid of that. It looks like pc can do some of their own, check it out in the comments!
thanks for all them!
:)