tania howells

an old fashioned crafty post!

Hello!

Here are some crafty things I have been doing-  Apologies if you also follow me on instagram, these are all from my feed there!  Sort of a pointless way to do it but I can't quite get the hang of all this social media. Plus I can ramble a bit here-

 

I started this quilt 7? 8? years ago when the Workroom opened!  Many of these scraps are from one of their first shipments of fabric.  A lot are also from a bag of scraps I got at a swap there that year too.  Tiny scraps I have since donated to my son's classroom's craft corner.  I have made a lot of things (and here) from it and hope I didn't act too hastily in my recent studio clear out, but I think I was ready to pass them on.

Here it is being mashed through the sewing machine two weeks ago.  My technique leaves a little to be desired -luckily you cannot see that warped, lumpy, crooked lines of stitches in the pictures- but I like to think done is better than perfect.  I can't do perfect, I just can't.  I take after my dad!  Well, after all humans really.  Good enough is good enough! That's my motto! :)

Here are some funny things I have started this morning.  Those ridiculous Plastic disks come in the bottom of single serve coffee cups which you can't recycle.  I prefer the refillable little baskets, but sometimes these are brought into the house so I actually dismantle them and save the cup, compost the filter and coffee grounds and some have these in them too.  Anyway, I also donated a pile of the empty cups to my son's class craft corner and they have already used them to make these cute baskets for a googly eyed fuzzy ball creatures! These will possibly be brooches if I can make them look pretty enough.  Can you tell I just finished an espresso? Chattering like a monkey here...

 

This is my most beloved necklace!  Made for me by my dear friend Krissy and hand delivered to me at the day of Word on the Street.  How kind!  It is like gumballs and so nice to play with like worry beads.  They are ceramic, she has been making wonderful clay things these last few years!

Because my two books are finished, I was busy all last school year, now I am a bit casting about.  I think I have probably said this already!  I need to focus on this time as a lucky time of idea gathering instead of feeling antsy and panic stricken that I am not "working".  The idea gathering is an essential part of my job and I must work on not feeling guilty!  I am working on generating ideas for possible books, coffee helps!

Perhaps my next post will be about my beloved Bialetti coffee pot.  Just seeing it on my stove, waiting for me, fills me with good feelings.  How can I love a inanimate object so much? Its so easy when it gives me soo much! ;)

 

oh my goodness...

...Finch is in junior kindergarten!  This is day five and in Ontario they have phased in full day kindergarten, but since I am here, I bring him home for lunch.  Oh, it's been emotional!  He does not want to go every morning but I am pretty sure he has a great time once I am gone.  I find all the bolstering, the "It'll be great! Don't worry!", the reassurances and rallying quite exhausting!  But then....there is TIME!! It's amazing to have some time to myself again!

Yesterday I whipped up this little bag, thinking of restocking my Etsy shop as well as needing to keep busy.  I do have moments of thinking I have no idea what to do with all this new time!  I am eternally grateful that I have the luxury of being here for him before and after school as he is a more nervous kid who needs a bit more reassurance. ( or is that me...)  Eternally grateful they laid me off from my beloved CBC!  Crazy!

Anyway, I must have done this bunny print a year ago and it has been waiting for a moment to be sewn into this plain and simple tote bag.  The handles are the belt tie from a great vintage appley skirt I have.  I never use the belts!

I even used my favorite favorite farmers market apple print for the lining.

phew!

 

Stayed tuned... I am also getting back to work on my next book.  I heard from my editor and have handed in the next round of roughs!  Its very exiting.  This book has been in the works for four years and we hope to wrap it up before Christmas.  A book about Shapes that I wrote and illustrated. eep!

ten minute pastoral

It may have taken 15 minutes, but I did this painting a month or so back, while Finch was watching his favorite shows at 2 in the afternoon.  It was quick and it shows, but I sort of like it.  I often need some kind if crafting fix, just to feel like there is something carved out of the day that is for only me.  It doesn't happen that often, but its nice when it does! 

Finch was inspired by my painting and wanted to do one just like it.  I love how totally not like it is it, except for the birds I found at dollarama.

I am daily inspired by two framed farmyard scenes on my bathroom wall that I once swiped from my mums stash of  blank cards, by Christopher Corr.  I have been meaning to google the guy and would you check this out? Of course he has millions of images, all entirely magical and stunning!

So glad I finally took it out of the frame and read the back!  I never even knew who painted them, and now he is a new favorite.

This morning I am trying to learn to crochet - AGAIN.  I have been wanting to learn for years and years and I  can never seem to quite get it!  Knitting is no problem and I can read patterns and figure stuff out, but crochet!  What is it with crochet!  I am determined!  I want to do a chevron blanket with some chuncky blue and white yarn which I got re-gifted from a friend.  I was considering knitting it but it would be easier to crochet it as you would't need such long needles!  So far I am chain stitching and a bit more but, well...its a wierd mental block!

quilty time

Finch is in camp this week, mornings, so its a bit like preschool again.  I made the first above just now, a test of sorts!  My friend Sara up the street had us over for a playdate last week and I always come home with arms full of inspiration and supplies!  She gave me this ruler (and a new blade for my rotary cutter!) and its really cool!  I can see I will have trouble with getting things even and straight, like Sew Kind of wonderfuls quilts, but hey , thats my style!  The second picture is also from Sara inspiration day!  We had both been interested in English paper piecing back when she was on Maternity leave, and I had just met her.  She came up woth the best way to do it, by fusing them on to gridded interfacing and just sewing the seams quickly that way.  The result is very impressive for how easy it is!   Yay for inspiring friends!!

Amazingly , Finch will be in junior kindergarten in September and I will suddenly, be a somewhat regular person again, with my brain back to myself during school hours.  I need to get a job but with lunch break and the days end at 3:15 it might be tricky at first.  Freelance work has become almost a strange and distant memory this year and its alarming.  I am praying my editor will get back to me soon with our current project that has been on the backburner for ages and perhaps a third Willow book will happen?  I feel that once I have my brain back again a bit and no one screaming at me for snacks at all hours of the day, I might be able to get my self back into some new ways of earning a living!

 

Wednesday morning

old time craftin'

Back in 2004 (!!!!) when I started this blog I was super stoked by making crafty things, connecting to people online and doing craft shows.  It was so super fun!  My focus has changed over time, trying to make a baby, being preggers and then wrangling said baby, now already 3 1/2 years old! Holy does time zip along as you age...  Sometimes I get that sweet craft fever back and I make something, as above!  A friend had a little baby boy and motivated by an end of year brokeness, I wanted to make a gift.  This little guy is improved by the face I added, but he was rather sad and lumpy for a while.  I will overlook that lumpiness and hope, again, it is the thought that counts.  I made him and stuffed him with an old receiving blanket and made the leggies baby sized and grabbable, with a couple of those tags babies are supposed to like, so hopefully he can suck and chew on it with abandon.  I did have two bells in one leg but they didn't really jingle properly and were a bit hard to the touch, so I tore them out.   I think the shape of this guy is definately inspired by one of my very first blog crushes, Rosa Pomar and her glorious BEARS!

I made mummy some delicious Lemon coconut sugar scrub based on this recipe.  I made the Lime version for everyone for Christmas, its just wonderful!

Which brings me to my latest feverish obsession, making stuff...body stuff.  I am amping up to make my very first soap this year and just last week I challeged myself and emulsified an oil and water mixture to make real creamy body lotion!  It is magic, really.  I imagine thats what making mayonaise is like...same technique...  Its funny because over the years I have known the odd person who has made soap or various things, and it didn't even register on my radar, then suddenly, KA-POW!  I am nuts about the idea... ah life.  Always on the move!

Better run!  Gotta pick up my little guy from preschool.  After months, he was finally exited to go!  He has a crush on this tiny girl, who today he referred to as a sweet tiny kitten!  REALLY!!!  They like to read books together, bless.

 

 

 

Jun 26, 2012

Third try posting this from the iPhone! It better work... A little bag I made by hand while finch was in the bath or playing with cars. Sloppy English paper piecing and meant for summer trips to the park when I can't leave my wallet anywhere but don't want my big bag to fall into the wading pool. There ! Now I will see if it will post....

hello!
here is a terrible picture- weird lighting/ photoshopping- of a school bus I made for Finch the other day in a mad fit of crafting. I think it took me half an hour with Finch milling about next to me and then another 15 minutes in front of the TV sewing on the wheels. He likes it ok, but is more into his real toy school bus. He is passionate about any and all vehicles, it's what we talk about all day long. "tow truck- LOUD- GOING! run run run! mailman! truck! going! loud!" That about covers my conversational spectrum for the day! Its pretty cute.

omg - craft

 

This is a big deal- the first thing of any kind what so ever that I have made since the baby was born.  He napped yesterday with dada and I had blissful time alone and just whipped out the scissors and started blindly.  It's just a little brooch- no biggie- but for me it is a turning point.   Right now he is in bed and I am blogging! Another biggie for me! He is not the best sleeper, so for months I have gone to bed at the same time as him, just to get as much sleep as I can.  He still wakes every fracking hour or two, but I am starting to feel able to stay up a little later than him and do grown up things, which is good for my mental health.  Maybe soon I can knit again...oh dare to dream.  I have started baking again, which I never thought would happen!  I can usually get him to stay in his bouncy toy thing long enough to whip up some yummy oatmeal cookies or muffins. 

Oh- in sad news- girl cat is no longer.  Ths really should be it's own post...She finally had to be put down after that episode of having fluid in her lungs and a heart issue.  She did go on on for a few more months after the first episode though and had some quality time at my mums.  Poor girl cat- she was such a sweetie.  I miss kissing her little nose. She must have been over 12 though, a good long pussy cat life.

 

This is just a little pallette I made while working on a map project last week- I really liked the way it looks!

Paper hearts!  My cute co-worker made these and I found them in a box at work.  She says she will teach me how!  I had to draw on one of them.  They were meant to be posted for a valentines day post, but alas, that did not happen on time!

I went away over the weekend to my mums, while Paul painted the baby's room!  We (well, he) has been clearing out all the junk that had accumulated in there over the years since we moved into the house and now its empty, pale blue and full of promise.  I found the cutest little drawer pulls for the chest of drawers he repainted, will post pics!  Also we have two amazing vintage kids encyclopedia book carts a nearby school was tossing a few years ago.  We had snatched them up, waiting for the day we could use them.  One already has a full shelf, since I have been collecting kids books for so long!  Will post pics of that too, once my camera battery  charges up.

I have heard babies go nuts for these taggie toys so I decided to make one with a pile of ribbons we had left at work.  Looking at the other ones online now, I may have overdone the tag portion... oh well.  The more the merrier!  It's only about 10 x 8 " with a quilty interior, and I am finally using some of the gorgeous Japanese fabric I got from L for my birthday last year!  I also got a great visit in with L this weekend- so great to see you guys!

ps- oh typepad, why oh why must you cut images off on the right in this template?

happy 2010!

Well my goodness- did my two weeks off really go by that fast? Sigh! Work tommorow!

 

I did get a bit crafty and made this stamp for another scarf.  I am a big red and white polka dot fan...

It was a lovely holiday spent with my family.  Lots of eating, laughing and loafing around. perfect.

I love these knitted tree ornaments I spotted on one of our walks!  How clever!

A good omen!  We had a whitey sighting in the park-

Happy new year from the albino squirrel! ( and from me!)

ennnngghh!

That's the noise I made while breaking through the finish line of the fall race!  I am officially off for two whole blissful weeks for Christmas holidays and I couldn't be more pleased.  It's a bonus as somehow, miraculously, I had a few more vacation days to use up than I had previously thought!  When in life does that ever happen?  I'd say nearly never.

Lookit!  I arrived to my desk yesterday to find this on it!  A gift from my supervisor!  Such kindness! I was all gushy and silly and thanked her profusely.  If you live in Toronto, you will know the lovely- ness that is the Americo shop.  I am far too mean to ever buy myself something there, which made this a double yummy treat!  Of course, I had not gotten her, or anyone anything and felt rather sheepish.  Ahh Christmas!  :)
That coupled with a perfectly delightful Christmas party last night and I'd say my season is off to a great start.

I even got crafty this afternoon, a rare ocurrance these days.  Last week, after visiting and being inspired by, City of Craft with my mum, (who is now back home, yay!) we wanted to make something.  So we stopped by
 Designer Fabrics and bought each three, half yards of red, pink and green jersey to make into scarves.  (the lighting is terrible today- ignore the crappy pics!)  Today I freezer paper stencilled one of mine with the tree found in Lena Corwin's book, Printing by Hand.  I wanted fast results and figured I would ease back into being crafty by using someone else's design.  I did some trawling for inspiration before hand too and found some yummy stuff.

This pretty design found on over on ETSY, at Red Prairie Press

This downright awesome print at Analogue People.

This one is awfully pretty too.  Again at Analogue People.

***

I also was planning on getting a teensy bit of work done this afternoon too.  Something that has been sadly neglected over the last few busy months.  Luckily I have had no freelance work while adjusting to my new job.  I don't think I could have handled the extra stress!  But I do have a loose deadline of January for the rough ideas on a POTENTIAL third book, this time all written and illustrated by MOI!  It may or may not happen, but exiting still.  shhh top secret.

a jelly bean dish of things

Oh Friday!  Best day of the week... I guess last Friday just disappeared on me and I blame it on an amazing pizza lunch at Terroni with Beta !  Afterwards I just wandered about in a cheesy state of bliss and spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch.  I have a vague memory of watching Dr.OZ and seeing something about spleens...

 

But enough of that!  Look at this!  It is the season of craft sales and preparing for Christmas which (un?) fortunately means I end up buying presents for myself.  Naughty.  The CBC craft sale was yesterday and I am usually in it, but this year? Oh, not this year.  Not a scrap to sell, plus the new job, you know.  My friend Grace was in town from CA and we had a look.  This pretty necklace is made by the talented Leila Cools - I love it and decided I deserved a little treat.

Also selling,  was my ex-co-worker and her great new line of printed items at Honey Roasted.

 

Lookee!  cute cute-  Check out her Etsy shop for lots more yumminess.

 

Also in the "one for you, two for me" department, are these wondeful zipper pulls from- I think she was called Space Cat?  I didn't get a card!  I broke out the old winter coat today and the lion looks so great on the zipper.  Considering giving my mum the Decole apple...or maybe not.

Grace came over on halloween to play Bubble Bobble, carve the pumpkin and have a lovely dinner.  We had a great time, she brought me a signed copy of A Homemade Life!!  There was an author signing in San Francisco - woot!  I am savoring it and saving it for weekend afternoons on the couch, when the sun is pouring in the front room windows.  Thanks so much Grace, so nice to see you again!

One more thing...

 

A quilt!  This I am pretty sure is vintage IKEA fabric, and its something my mum started for me when I was a little girl.  I found it again recently and I am going to attempt to finish it over the winter!  It is so stinking cute, to quote Amy, and I just love the happy little town feel of it all.  It reminds me of one of my favorite books, Lotta's Bike.  Click to see it bigger.

Oh dear and now it is 4:50pm and dusk is just descending. UGH darn daylight savings time!  Bleakness!  Time for some tea and a few nice candles.

Have a lovely weekend peeps!

pa -pa - print

On Saturday I printed with the  stamp I made a while ago.
My neighbor came over and worked on some amazing beaded bracelets and I did this.  It was altogether a lovely afternoon!



This is a light cotton I found thrifting a year or so ago and I had envisioned making this into a springy scarf, but with the ink it is a bit stiff.  It still might work though and I might double it over and sew it shut so you see the print on both sides.  It is back to wool scarves today because it is SNOWING again!
My poor tulips and crocuses- they are all frozen.  I do hope they recover...


And guess who's back!!  My best friend the mockingbird.  There he is tiny at the top of the post.
I have not heard him today though, he must be huddled up by the fire in his little cottage by the railway tracks.  It is so great to hear his endless warbling again.  He has added a new one to his repertoire, the clang, clang , clang sound the train makes when it is going slowly.  I have seen him and his wife hopping around  in a tree next to a woodpecker.  It made my day.

• I have added this new widget that links to related posts! So far I am not quite sure how any of these posts relate to the current one, but heck, it's kind of neat!  I often forget what I have done in the past so I like this to remind me of some of it!

faffing about

Friday I had a bit of time to make a stamp, inspired by Orla Keiley and the new Lena Corwin book.
I would like to stamp this in pale pink on natural linen perhaps...
I am attempting to take a picture a day in March, driven by being so grateful February is over.
I am starting to see a pattern.  No, not just in the image above, but in me.  Winter makes me depressed!  What a surprise!  Just a few degrees above zero is enough to make me get out the old tap shoes and start dancing, metaphorically speaking.  Lisa, I don't really have tap shoes though I have always wanted a pair.
It has helped having my brother here to stay for 10 days.  It feels great to have family in our house again.

I just finished The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood and while these books were a comforting distraction, this one I simply could not put down.
It was just so good.  Sad but in a cathartic and healing way.  Something about everyone having something, a reminder that we all have our own cross to bear but we can take comfort in each other ( and in knitting ofcourse!).  Thanks Christen for telling me about it.  I want to read it all over again.

mug for the camera

I made six mugs for the craft sales and sold them all!  I only managed to take a picture of the last two though.  I was pleased to have sold them as they seemd a bit shakey- it's hard to draw on a curve.  They are done with the magical porcelaine pen.




Here are some sketches of the possibilities.  The city of craft was awesome and a big thanks to Jen and Becky for wrangling it into shape! 
Sunday was also a fun little neighborhood sale in my knitting neighbors home. Tres bien!
And now all that is done I am starting work on a new picture book!! Yes, that is my special happy news- I got picked to do another one and I am so thrilled.  That might be all you will hear about it for a while as the publictation date is not until far far off into the future.  Lots of deadlines in between though, with thumbnails, then roughs, then revisions, then a mock cover and one final page and then finals, more revisions and all of it due in June.
I will be a busy duck, starting now. Yay!

treat

 

I recently treated myself to this awesome book.  I figured it would be simple enough for me and I just love the look of the outfits.  I ordered it from this etsy shop- Pomadors craft cafe.   Thank goodness for etsy!  I could never quite navigate amazon japan easily.  Maybe it was the not speaking or reading Japanese...

I am going to make the item on the left first.  I love the whole jeans and long tunic thing.  I am thinking of getting a nice brown linen to start off.  My inclination is always to get some crazy floral print, but I think I will start neutral and work from there.  That way I can wear my stripey long sleeved tees underneath and not look like a clown.

So cute!

I am playing around with some new silkscreen ideas!  It has been along time since I did this!  I am happy to pay now to have my screens exposed and I will be taking them to Kid Icarus to be done.   How nice to delegate!  They make beautiful things as well as sell lovely things made by other people.  I have decided I simply never create enough screens anymore to make buying a bottle of the stuff worth while as it expires within a short time once it is active.  I have a sad expired bottle in my fridge as we speak and its such a shame to just toss it but I have no other choice.

I thought the food one would be cute for a grocery tote bag and the house, well a house with a face is always cute.

the little things...

It really is the little things, like those times when I can putter at my leisure, over at the garden center for an hour.  Pick up plants and put them back until I settle on my new garden!  I even treated myelf to some perrennials, which I was too mean to buy last year since they are a bit more pricey.  They include: two Dahlias( - I hope they will survive in my partially shady yard, as I see them thrive is sunnier places), two more Lily of the Valley's to add to my one from last year(- I know they spread but it takes a while!), a scruffy pot of Forget Me Nots ( I was assured they woud be ok if I picked off the dry bits, they had them out in the sun!), and some periwinkles to hopefully spread.  The some Impatiens, Allyssum, Lobelia and Marigold to fill in the blanks.  BLISS - to spend a few hours digging and watering and moving things around.  A few weeks ago, I put in the tomaties, basil and chard in the back garden.  Testing a new theory I read about in the paper- To keep away slugs, I have put a loop of copper wire around each chard plant.  It apparently has a small electrical charge which slugs dislike.  Will keep you updated on results.

Some coasters I glammed up with a stamp I made a while ago.  I found these along with three cork circles for putting hot pots onto- what are those called? From the leftovers of a garage sale.

Also, on Friday after work , we popped over to check out this crazy race and Paul took this neat picture.
It seemed very Euro, to have a bike race right downtown!  It got a bit hairy when a couple of the guys crashed and got all mad at each other, instead of being concerned if anyone was hurt!  I realised then it was not for fun , but to WIN WIN WIN!  shudder.  We went home and watched Northern Exposure ( I just got the 6th season from ebay!) and ordered Thai food- perfect night after all.

Tecchie update- I find I can now post pics if i use firefox.  I guess typepad does not like safari.  So glad thats sorted out - back to our regularly scheduled program.

This post brought to you by a sneaked cup of coffee.  My brother is in town and we are in my studio working away and a coffee just seemed appropriate.

Sunday was a lovely day and I hung out the wash with these fantastic birdy clothes pegs mum got me at Christmas.
Mum was here for a day before going back to mexico, we had some breakfast.
Afterwards we went for a walk down to the trunk show at the workroom.
I got one of Dory's pennants, shown above. Mine says "LIVING ROOM" and I hung it in the living room, of course! I also got one of these adorable kittens from Lesley Ann Green. Cuteness! It was altogether so very inspiring! Looking at the most gorgeous fabric and checking out the selection of awesome books and patterns. I left feeling totally pumped. What a great space! YAY!

fruit basket

Here are my teensy fruit paintings I was working on last week. I listed them in my little etsy shop. There- I did something! It feels better to keep busy, but sometimes I slip into an apathetic TV induced coma, I don't deny it. In other news, it is May 1st! My favorite month. Some unexpected birthday gifts have even trickled in and I am such a lucky girl. I could not save them for my actual birthday though I tried, I really did!
Lookit, I found this great mug on Saturday at the Zen Buddist temple rummage sale! It is from Japan and is my new favorite.
Lo and behold, my local garden center opened up this week! It is at my grocery store and when I went on Monday for food, I almost hyperventilated seeing it had opened. I tired to figure out how to carry groceries and plants... In the end I talked myself off the ledge, but went back on my bike a few minutes early for work, loaded up the side baskets, and dropped the plants off home again before racing off. I had to get my mitts on the swiss chard before the eager grandpas did! So I got Swiss chard- LOTS of it ( girl cat has already chomped a bit of it- curses), baby tomatoes, basil and chives. Best $17 I ever spent. Now I dream about where and how to plant them. It is still just a bit too cold.
Also, latest pictue of the secret garden. The cillas are finished and now its all magnolias and forsythia! What will be next, I ask? The exitement never ends.

5 minute skirt

A few years ago, I traced a favorite a-line skirt and made about 4 new skirts out of that pattern. It had four panels and a zipper at the back. I realised last week that I could simplify it even further by combining the two front and two back panels into one piece and add a draw string waist to replace the fussy zipper which I never did very nicely anyway. Add in this great fabric Karina so kindly found for me at the VV, and voila! We had a perfectly lovely lunch last week while she was in town for her FAT show.
In other news - CAKES! Pound cakes to be exact, a chocolate one and a hazelnut one from my cake class- full of eggs and the like. To be decorated this coming thursday and - BONUS! We get to bring home slices to eat.

Also, a most delicious chicken pot pie I made on Sunday. I could have eaten it all actually, but I held back.
Recipe from a Chatelaine magazine a few years back.



Plus, look at my seedlings! They are coming along very nicely, and girl cat only snapped off one so far. I am hoping she didn't like the taste and gave up.



Finally, look at my favorite garden. I pass this on my bike to work and they have such an abundant, nicely timed garden. First , it is a carpet of cillas, next the forsythias and magnolia come out and I can't wait for the next shift of flowers! I forget what it will be!

I went for dim sum on the weekend with my school friend who I have reconnected with, M ( I never know if I should put peoples names up!:)) and Kim. I was delighted to find out M knew Kim outside of how I know her, mainly through blogging but also seeing hwer cute creations all around town and I was reminded how nice Toronto is that way- all the overlapping circles of friends. Anyway, that was not the point. We had such a lovely time chatting away for ages and something Kim mentioned reminded me of this book- The Uncommon Quilter. My mum had this book when we went to visit her in Mexico and I was so inspired by it. The author did one quilt a week for a year. They are mostly tiny and made out of all sorts stuff she finds around her- holey socks, mesh from a box of clementines, and they are all so pretty.

wip

I have a handful of grotty old tee shirts which I tell myself I will wear in winters, under sweaters and such. This winter though, I haven't really worn them , so I decided it's time to redirect them. I have plenty of rags (which I do not use nealry enough, if you know what I mean) and I have had these gorgeous scarves in my head since I saw them in the summer. James Fowler makes them out of squares of felted sweaters, and they are just amazing in person. I might try and sew these squares a bit like that, for a spring scarf for me. We will see though. I have a feeling such a project requires a lot of patience! Perhaps mine will just be three by three...

P.S. Hugo the cat of 1000 faces! Episode 2

I learned to serge

Here is the top we made at The Workroom class "Learn to Serge". Cute! It was from Burda easy pattern #7866. I added a silkscreen of these birds I have put on everything, but I still like them. Now if I want to serge again I can go there and book an hour or two.
I also made a little pincushion from some of my swap scraps.

P.S. My brothers crazy video made it onto CUTEOVERLOAD.COM!!! That is like being recognised by the gods of cuteness! I am beside myself. It almost makes up for the 20 cm of snow we got overnight and the 20cm more due on the weekend. Almost.

I did end up managing to make a tea cozy with my stitch directory book. These are great little excercises in learning new stitches! It's easy to do for a few rows. This guy is called the "eyelet insertion stitch" and was easy for a sunday afternoon. In the background is my dad's track and field trophy from the 1950's and some skate blades Paul says are from the 1800's, the time when his great grandfather was in the first Stanley cup game!

Have a look at this naughty pussycat. It so cute though that I merely pretend to be mad. A few months ago I organised all my wool in this old cd shelf thing I have. It took her a while, but she finally discovered the easy access to toys. She pulls out a ball and trots off with it in her mouth and then sets to creating havok. What you can't see here is that it winds back around the far end of the banister and into the living room, around the legs of two chairs. AW! I am glad she has a project to occupy herself.

scraps for tania

On Sunday my knitting neighbor (now to be know as KB) and I went down the street to the Workroom craft supplies swap! Here is the aftermath. It was so much fun! Here is a pile of scraps I weeded out for myself, many of which were off cuts from the groovy designs of Fresh Baked goods. I made a few buttons from my favorite bits just now, and Kb showed me the cutest baby smock she made from some of her haul. Woo! I felt a bit bad leaving and not helping to clean up!
On top of that, there was yarn some of which was donated by Knitomatic. I got a little bit of Koigu merino wool and some nice chunky blue stuff which I have a teensy ball of already and wanted more. The chunky purple was a turtleneck- just the neck- that I un-knitted because it was a nice texture- cottony I think.

Also I took a learn to serge class there on Saturday because KB decided she wouldn't be able to make it. I took her spot and it was great. How awesome to have this neat crafty space-which just opened in October I believe and seems to be doing great- so near home!! I love it.

Here is that thing I was sewing the other day. I am not super thrilled with it but perhaps that is lack of vitamin D and cabin fever. We are so snowed in around here. I was originally inspired by the wonderful mini quilts by Skyossa which are beyond lovely. The edging on mine got a bit annoying and messy.
I stuck squishy jewel-like hearts on the back door to cheer things up. I want to eat them they look so yummy.

nice things today

-A sudden desire to sew again! It's been ages and I am having fun. Will show you when its finished.
-Shiny heart garlands from the dollar store - because hearts make me happy.
-Coming across a really nice crafty book at the library that I had never even heard of before -Craftivity.
-A new lipbalm that smells like vacations and summer.
-Planning a haircut and maybe a pedicure for a special treat.

oot and aboot

Here is a little tote bag I made last week, on an evening we turned off the tv and I was looking through Lotta's simple sewing. I used leftovers from a chair I recovered, that would be in my flickr except I have to renew my pro account so right now it is taken out I guess...It is also made of the leftovers of a favorite jean skirt that got too small.

I saw this today- looks like something I would do. I am a kid, I re-paint a chest pf drawers and, high with the power of paint and a brush, I want to paint everything in sight but I know I would get in trouble if I did. Instead, I paint a heart on the back that no one will see. Until NOW...

wonderful Gift tags!

Kind and lovely ladies offering great gifty tags for you to use...

Camilla Engman

Natascha Rosenberg

Sugar*Loop

Angry Chicken

If I don't see you before Christmas, please have a lovely, happy, cozy, munchy, safe, sweet Christmas!!
You deserve it!
xoxox
t