tania howells

holy moly!!!

Paul just called from work to say the keys have been delivered! I feel like I just popped out the other side of the time space continue-um...(how do you spell that?) I can scarcely believe it. A house. GULP!!!!!!!!

special delivery!

I never expected that when I mentioned I loved the shirts that Tania Ho had been making lately, that she would email me and offer to send me the patttern! She did- I was so touched by how thoughtful that was. When I received the pattern, it came with all this lovely stuff! A red printed bird tote and a bird silhouette that I can't wait to hang in my new kitchen window and 2 pieces of really pretty fabric. My my, Thank-you I like it all so much! I still think it is so funny how close our names are, and I only just discovered her great blog recently. Tania, watch the mail for a wee treat in thanks. On another great mail day Claudia sent me these lovely things, some teas, ribbons fabric and a perfume sample plus the main item from the flickr "this that swap pool" - this great shirt. I am rather glad I managed to nab it, it's really nice and fits me very well despite being an XL. Sizes can be very different! An XL from Canada would fit 2 of me. I sent her the latest Mary Engelbriets home companion and some bits and bobs too. I want to wear the shirt but it suddenly got so hot I can barley move. Thank-you Claudia! I hope the magazine was ok!

aha-
some new inspiration links.
Every time I do this I think " Now that's it . I won't ever find more," but there is so much goodness!
I find them through all of your sites - these are found from Thimble, Mollychicken, Jess, Krissy and a bunch of other places that have slipped my mind. Thank you for finding them!
Oh and while we are linking Michal showed me these hilarious cat movies which you all may have seen, but I can't stop watching them. They are awesome.

*talking cats*

and *funny cats*

sigh.

haha!
I love these! I first saw it on loobylu and then again at Chest of Drawers. You can make your own here.

Here is what I knit on the weekend! Some wee wrist warmers, just in time for summer I might add. They came form the book Compassionate Knitting and were just right for a long weekend. I was pleased to find the lace part not as frightening as I had expected. The second one is a lot smaller. For some reason I was a lot more tense the second time around so it is all tight. Oh well! good enough! I used this yummy yarn.

Ahh. So nice to get away. It was cold and rainy all weekend which was the perfect excuse to stay in to read and knit for 4 whole days! It was bliss. My Mum made some amazing dinners- thank you MUM!! The above is a picture from the one walk we did manage to take. I will show you what I knit tommorow. We also made it to the value village. I got a cute vintage summer dress which I hope I will wear. I wanted to show you some of my childhood dollies. These were knitted by some well meaning English aunties in the 70's. I am aware of the political incorrectness of the guy on the right. He was knit as a second replacement because I lost the first beloved guy at the zoo. I remember the day vividly -I am sure I lost him at the zoo bathroom but when my dad and I rushed back to find him he was gone. sniffle. Anyway, I never quite loved this one as much. I just like to look at the knitting of them now, so funny! My aunties were named Betty and Marjorie. They gave me sweeties and warm milk before bed and I loved them. They may or may not have knitted these guys but they did teach me to knit at age 6 on my trip to England with my mum.. I did not knit again till I was older and then not seriously till last year! But I digress. Here is a picture of the things I was determined to put out on the washing line despite the rain drops I felt. I so love the way washing smells once it has dried outside and I never get to do that at home. The new house has three crazy lines strung up in the minute back yard AND a washer in the basement! Be still my heart. Notice the amazing lilac bushes which seem to grow wild and abundant in huge groupings all over my mums neck of the woods. They are amazing! And they smell sooooo good.

It was great to get away and I was also happy to be home. By some miracle, there were no desperate emails or phone messages waiting for me regarding the recent work I have been doing! Bonus!

This here is a props storage room at the CBC. I have never even been in these rooms but they have posted a bunch of amazing shots here. Just look at the costume sewing room, the costume storageand the set shop. These are the departments that are connected with the previously announced Layoffs.
Layoffs are one thing and they are horrible just the way they are, but this is more. The closing down and selling off of a world renowned television production facility seems so wrong. All that great stuff!! The department itself makes money and pays for itself. Sad. I feel like I have to be a bit careful what I say here, but I just don't get it. Anyway, if anyone else feels moved to do so, it wouldn't hurt to put your 2 cents in. You can email this letter to our Heritage Minister. You can read more about it at Stop the Sellout .ca

I wasn't actually planning on writing about all that today. I am feeling better and took a bit more time this morning to linger over my tea and "do" a suduko puzzle ( I just fill in numbers and it's not really correct) and not really do any work this morning. At noon I am going to a rally about the above ( that's why it was on my mind of course) and then my regular afternoon shift at work. Tonight we are planning on a cheap and cheerful dinner at a place called "Excellent Chinese food" and then to look at a this photo exhibit.
Then we are on vacation!!!!!!! Thank heavens. See you next week!

There is a huge machine drilling outside my house and the computer screen is vibrating! I think it's time to throw in the towel for the morning. I have been a bit stressed out lately with, and I never thought I would say this, too much work. Fiddly fussy jobs that I am trying my very best to do well and don't know if I am succeeding. It's already PMS time again ( wasn't that just yesterday?). I had a bit of a meltdown this morning and I can't wait till friday morning when we get on a train to go out to my mums. If I were a kid, I would go and hide under the kitchen table with my blankie. Maybe I will just go ahead and do that anyway. I can't take this drilling.

look look!

Oh so cute, from Jess! I sent her this but she didn't have to thank me back! Of course I am thrilled she did. I have a feeling a regrettable comment I left on her site about keeping a hankie in my pocket for dabbing, but not blowing, was the reason for her sending a hankie. After I left that comment I immediatley thought " my goodness- What a thing to say." I usually keep such things to myself. My girl cat immmediatly tried to steal the balls and then settled right down for a nap on the hankie.

Thank-you so much for all the birthday wishes!! It was a nice low key day, after I gave in and had a panic attack about some work to be done. sheesh.

When I saw Anna's new mouse mat I got all exited. I have been using a nice pink one I got from IKEA years ago. Well it was once nice, now it is disintigrating and shedding black foam bits all over the place. Yesterday I found some clear plastic sticky film and rushed home to make it. I had some thick cardboard and this great wrapping paper my friend Marlena gave me years ago and voila. It is even a bit wrinkly but it still works fine with the laser mouse. Seems rather boring to have a whole post about that, but it really is the little things that get me going. Speaking of which, there is a green marble under the kitchen table that I have not picked up in over a week. I was packing some kitchen stuff and it fell out of a dish or a cup and there it lays. I was hoping the cats might like to play with it, but they prefer more interactive games - ie: me waving a string around non-stop and I always get bored of that fast.

However! My birthday is tomorow! Paul and I took the day off work to have brunch, hang about and go get my annual photobooth picture. Maybe we can squeeze in a trip to Dufflets bakery for a chocolate tart. Then my mum will arrive for dinner. Ah. 31. I like that. Way less traumatic that 30. I made quite a big hoo ha about my birthday last year, ( ♥) but this year, its all about the new house. Have a great weekend everyone, I am signing off early!

ahhhh spring!

The weather has been just perfect for days and days! Sunny, crisp, bright and clear - a bit chilly but not cold and not hot either. Oh how I love May. I am happily busy and it is funny how when I am not busy at all it always seems like the end of the world, that I will never get work again. When I am busy with illustration type work, I feel more confident and happy - at least when the client is not difficult or picky which currently they are not at all. It is a pleasant day. I am working on this years cover picture for these folks. As you know, I don't really draw "real people" so last year getting the two kids to look fleshed out was a challenge for me. I am liking my image for this year and feeling a bit more comfortable with my ability to make them look like kids with arms and legs that aren't sticks. I will show you when it comes out!

I treated myself to some short wide jean capri style pants for my birthday week and I am daring to wear them today. I think I will be fine, everyone else has been in shorts for months! I was all inspired by Tania Ho's cute shirt that she sewed herself! So I went on a hunt for a Burda magazine, but it had no nice EASY patterns this month. I want to find a simple pattern like that, or like the cute one Soulemama made. That way I can use up some of my cool print fabrics I have found lately and they can go with my new jeans. Phew. All that to say, at this time of year I am never quite sure what to wear. It is usually warm-ish when I head out to work on my bike, cool on the bike and cooler still on my way home after work. I thinkI am lucky that this is my biggest concern today. I hope thats the only thing I have to deal with, knock on wood.

PS -Krissy, please forgive me I am totally dragging my heels on being tagged for the 6 things thing! I can't think of what to say- :)

I am super exited about a project I have been asked to do. I won't show a picture of my progress or anything yet since I don't know if it's secret or not, but I can tell you it involves my illustration as embroidery! It is really neat, especially since I have been loving the things Hillary and Jess have been coming up with. I am kind of learning as I go since I haven not embroidered since school ( and even then, I stitched with a haphazard rush of color, nothing very neat). I spent hours and hours (it seemed) stitching away furiously this weekend and unlike normal illustration work where I cheerfully take many breaks, this is like knitting fever where I just don't want to stop untill I can see how it will look finished. It is fun. Although I am actually taking lots of breaks because my back and shoulders are feeling a bit achey from it. That's where the hot tub at the YMCA comes in very handy! Strong jets to massage my shoulders ahh.

Cool- you can now download podcasts of cbc radio's best shows! I love my radio.

I am super happy to be a part of this new and amazing kids shop- Mahar Dry Goods! Robert has gathered some of the coolest things out there, so I am honored and exited to join in. Thank-you Robert for inviting me to play!

On the knitting front, I came across The Complete Stitch Directory ( it is out of print, so Amazon has no image!) at my library and am exited to learn some new stitches. I knit this with my mum this weekend on the couch while watching an episode of Northern Exposure. I recently got the complete third season on EBAY and I am loving every second. It is so delicious because the first and second seasons only had around 8 episodes. This one has 23!! Paul and I are trying to ration ourselves but it is hard. It is like candy.

crafty, after all this time.

Last week after dinner one night I was inspired to create some new screen print images. I almost never work at night so I had to run with it while I was inspired! These apples are from a sketch I did last year sometime. There are two other images on the one screen that I will print soon as well - some leaves and a cloud/sun/rainbow/rain image. It feels good to be crafty again! It really feels like it has been a while. I haven't really created any new little thingy things since the explosion of working before Christmas when I was making stuff to sell. I am not 100% convinced about this image, it was originally my trying to come up with one nice apple motif that I would repeat in rows. Not intended to be used as a whole. I was having trouble centering it nicely but I love the jittery exited feeling that comes with pulling the first print and thinking about things I can put it on later. I am finding that during all this stressful learning curve time of the house stuff, really just diving into work is a great help. It is something I probably knew already but tend to forget easily. My tendency is to cocoon and retreat during stress to try and lick my wounds, but really involving myself totally in something creative has a similar effect with an added bonus of making me feel invigorated as well. I should do some lunges too!

The weather is also totally inspiring. It is crisp, clear and perfect! Warm but not hot, a perfect breeze. I just love the turn of May. My birthday month always suddenly feels like a whole new world when things finally bloom and the light is really back again. The winter cobwebs are finally blowing out of my brain.

the mother of all rummage sales

Beta reminded me of the Etsonian rummage sale this Saturday and Paul rallied the troops to get my mum, brother and I up early to get there at the start! Boy was I glad he did. It was crazy- a line up out the door and tons and tons of stuff, but mostly good stuff. The Estonians, they have good taste!

Here are some bits and bobs - the owl salt and pepper shaker which I discovered too late, was full of salt and then so was my purse. The sweet mushroom guy which is apparently a traditional craft, he is also a salt shaker but the lid comes off like a jar. The cute grandma slippers, for 2$ I wanted them just for the heart. Two cute handerchiefs!

The swallows flying fabric!! A great big piece which will make a sweet dress, skirt or maybe curtains...The loud tablecloth that I got a deal on - would also make the kind of skirt I love - garish! This crazy kitchen / food stuff print that I could not leave behind though I don't know what I will do with it and this 50's style tablecloth with this design all round the edges. I also got a pair of brown pot holders with a red heart on each, a groovy needlepoint image printed tea towel, some handkerchiefs with bees on, red napkins with a floral print and a couple of knitting needles. I didn't even break $20! What a rush! Paul found some amazing thread in a box from Ireland, a bow tie some records. My mum and brother even picked up a thing or two. But today, it's back to the real world. We had the electrician come to the new house for an estimate. There is a bizarrely placed fuse box, behind the duct work, that needs to be moved lower and many plugs to be added. It is going to cost us - shudder. We knew it would, but moving that box will add a bit more than we hoped. Oh well! At least the roof, bathrooms, floors and pretty much everything else is in quite good condition. We will need to replace the 1968 furnace before next winter - it works but could go at anytime. I am a little shakey from all that but I will say that when we left, we heard church bells! Real honest to goodness bells from the wonderful old church up the block. That made my day - they sound so wonderful. That and all the birds I heard chirping there.