I finished my first pair of socks! I'm so excited! It also became really cold here in the last few days, so I've been wearing them every night. I need more! I actually like the yarn a lot more now that I can see them on. I still have the majority of a ball left, maybe I'll make some socklets or something. (It's hard to tell, but in the second picture I have my feet up on my craft table while I was sitting on my stool. I almost fell, it was scary!)
Friday night, we watched Sicko, but it was over by 9:00 and I didn't know what else to do, so I organized my ribbon boxes and made LOTS of gift tags. It's a good way to use up ribbon! What am I going to do with them all though? And finally, the Mom received her birthday gift! Sorry it was a little late! I found these beads in Halifax back in June, and they reminded me of Mom. I did lots of woodworking over the weekend, but made the mistake of going for a hike yesterday afternoon in the cold. It was a great hike, but after dinner I was too pooped to do any more work, so I cuddled up on the couch with my second pair of socks! I'd call them about 25% done already! I really meant to get some mosaics done, but I'll plug away at them in the evenings this week.
I feel like I've been really busy for the last month or so, but I don't seem to have anything to show for it! I guess that's not true, now that you've all received them I can talk about the HUNDREDS of photos I made into mini-albums for the wedding party and our parents. I felt like I was drowning in photos for a few weeks. Now I just have to finish our own album. We got the one from the photographer, but I'm going to add pages to it for the reception photos.
I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I made a special knitting bag for socks. I'm obsessed with sock knitting all of a sudden (though I still have to finish my first pair! I won't let myself cast on a new pair until the first one is finished!), and I've seen these cute little bags all over the place. I also made another bag for my Etsy shop. Just one! I can't believe it! It looks like a tote, but it's actually pretty small, about 8" x 5". It's so cute, I really want to label it "the cutest handbag EVER," but that doesn't leave any room for the next cutest handbag that I make, so I'm leaving it open ended. It's just labeled "adorable." I also made some stamps. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but my drawing and carving skills aren't the best. I saw a tutorial on a kids craft site for making stamps with that craft foam (I don't know what it's called!), so I just cut some squares and used a hole punch for the circles. So easy, but so many possibilities! And finally, I've added some photography to my Etsy shop! I know I'm not a professional photographer or anything, but I've got some photos that I think look pretty good hanging in my house, so I thought other people might like them too! And it's another way to get more people to see the shop by having items in another category, since photography falls under Art while the rest of my items are under Housewares. Anyways, I thought it might be worth a try!
I almost forgot! I went to a knitting group for the first time on Monday! I've always wanted to go, and I found out about a couple of different groups a few months ago, but I've never ventured out. It was a lot of fun, and I met some new people. It's held at the art gallery, and I found out about some other events put on at the gallery, so it was a very informative night! I'll definitely be going back, it's held every two weeks.
I've been wanting to learn to screen print for a really long time now. I finally got my stuff together, and I made my first successful screen this weekend!
The original picture: The screen: First print (oops, not enough ink!): Second print (a little better): On white: On canvas: I made 3 new screens last night, these ones I'll be trying on tile and wood. I hope they work, I need to get in production mode for the big craft sale in November!
Yes, I finished more tote bags this weekend! This black twill was bought for a tote bag for me back when I took the bus to work and hated carrying a lunch bag AND a purse. I only needed about 1/2 metre of fabric, but it was buy 1 get 2 free, so I have a whole lot of it left. It's super sturdy, though, and I tried to jazz it up with some different fabrics on top. I also made a couple of smaller purses, mostly to use up some smaller pieces of fabric. And I'm totally hooked on keychains, these are some fabric ones, but I've also got some cute wood ones on the go. Julia got her bags! I hope they last a looonng time!
My next goal is to learn silkscreening. I bought a kit last weekend, I just have to figure it out. I'd love to have a better way for decorating my bags, stenciling can get pretty tedious.
There was more stash-busting fun last weekend! Julia ordered 2 tote bags from me, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to use up some denim. Hers are a surprise, so I won't put up pictures until she gets them, but here are the rest. I also realized that I have a ridiculous stash of ribbon as well as fabric, so I tried to use some of that up, too. I also made myself a laptop bag. Now that I'm needing more computer time, Chris has let me use his laptop, but his bag is hideous and huge! I needed something cute, you know, just in case I need to take it somewhere. I made a couple of other things, too, but they're all gifts so they'll have to wait!
I'm also working on my product photography, and I'd love some feedback! My makeshift lightbox seems to work well sometimes, and I've been working at altering the brightness and contrast a bit for the times it doesn't.
So Friday night I pulled ALL my fabric out of the dresser and spread it all over my cutting table. The time had come to KILL my fabric stash, and I finally got some momentum. I started with the napkins from Value Village, moved on to some tea towels from Wicker Emporium (bought on sale because the pattern was so cool, but sat in the closet for 2 years!), then finished off the tan ripstop (still have lots of blue!), and finally killed any ideas of making a lampshade from the blue flowered brocade. I also got tired of searching around my sewing room for my pincusion with a mouthful of pins (I know Mom knows what I'm talking about!). So, I made 2 pincushions, one for the sewing table and one for the cutting table. When the one on the cutting table gets empty, I'll switch them. Genius! Also, a great use for the little 5" squares of fabric that I can't seem to throw out. (Note to self: need to kill that tan cordouroy, I hate working with it!) It's a little sad to retire my old pincushion, one of the first things I made. Does anyone remember when this sun and stars fabric was popular? I'm thinking about 1994. I remember there was a girl at my highschool who had pants made out of it, so I got Mom to make me a jacket with it (which was so cool! I have to find it, I think it's in the closet in Merrickville). I think Gill had something in her bedroom made out of it, pillow cases maybe? I lined my sewing basket with it and made this pincushion. Anyways, the basket was thrown out years ago, and I think I'm over the pattern now, so it's time for retirement :) I also finally finished these coasters that have been sitting on my workbench for months, just begging to be polyurethaned. You know, because coasters can talk. I finally learned to use my router yesterday! It's a lot easier than I thought, and will be even easier once I get the right bit that I need. It's so hard to come back to work Monday morning after a weekend full of momentum. Maybe I'll sew something tonight (right!) :)
Here's a pretty typical Saturday in my world - in pictures.
I woke up and went to my freelance bookkeeping job. I didn't take any pictures, because I'm sure my clients wouldn't like their financial statements up here for all to see.
I got home around 1:00 PM, and had lunch. Mmm, leftover couscous and re-heated coffee from breakfast.
Then, because we got our wedding pictures this week, and I can't stop looking at them, I looked at them again.
But! I actually have things to accomplish today. Like going to the bottle exchange with all these bottles.
I said, "Maui, let's get in the car!" so she went and lay down in the grass.
While I was waiting for her, I noticed that our lilies have bloomed.
She finally got in the car, so I took her picture. She's saying "Let's get going mum! We've got bottles to return!"
(Notice how quickly a day in my life evolves into a day in Maui's life? It's just because it's easier to take her picture than to take my own!)
Since I didn't go to town after work on Friday as planned, I thought it best if I went to the bank in Hunter River to deposit my paycheque to avoid going into overdraft (too late!).
Since the bank is right across the road from the Confederation Trail, I thought we'd go for a little hike. Maui loves this babbling brook. Too bad it's a pretty big drop. "Can't I go in?" For good measure, here's a video of the brook, just so you get the full experience of the babbling.
Time for a drink and a self portrait!
When we got back to the car, this strange dog came up to us and tried to jump in the back with Maui. I tried to tell him to go home, but he just kept trying to get in the car. When I tried to leave, he jumped in the front seat.
I didn't want to just leave him there, so I put him on my leash and walked to the nearest house. They had a backyard with a fence, so I thought maybe he got out. Then this chocolate lab starts barking like crazy and trying to get under the fence, so I'm thinking they aren't friends. I went to the door, but the woman who lived there didn't know the dog. She put her dog inside and put this strange dog in the yard, and I went to the gas station down the road to see if anyone was missing a dog. The man at the station asked what it looked like, and when I described it he sighed and said it was "Hunter River's dog." Apparently it wanders a lot, and goes up on people's porches and tries to get in their houses. He said it does live somewhere nearby, so I should leave it and it'll find it's way home. I didn't feel good about it, but when I got back to the house with the fence, it had somehow found a way out of the yard and was already gone. Talk about drama!
Home again, and time for a snack!
My new favorite thing to make (now that I have a mini food processor) is dip. This one's cream cheese, sour cream, feta and garlic. We made the same one the other day but added roasted red peppers, and it was a big hit.
Just as I was sitting down for my snack, a crazy storm came rolling in.
The power kept going out, and thus the satellite as well.
Forget patience, I just want to watch Tori and Dean: Inn Love!
It died down for a bit, and I took a shower (I'm nervous about showering during a thunderstorm ever since an ex-boyfriend got electrocuted once). A few minutes after I got out, it started up again, and this time SCARY! The lightning was simultaneous with the thunder, and it was that crazy loud thunder that sounds like the house is crashing in. I was Blair Witch Project-scared.
Once I was pretty sure the power was back for good, I made dinner.
The pot on the right looks like baked beans, but it's actually toasted pine nuts in an olive oil/honey/curry sauce. I copied it from an Italian restaurant in Charlottetown, and it's so easy to make! Mix together with egg noodles and sauted red, yellow and green peppers, and you get my new favorite comfort food!
Then I dug out a shirt that I started ---3 years ago--- to work on. I love this fabric, and every time I see it in the closet I think, "Why haven't I finished that shirt?" But I never work on it. Well, last night I finished it!
Yes, I have another one the exact same but green. I meant for this one to be different, but it didn't work out.
Then it was time for some couch time. I got out my knitting and started watching The Cider House Rules, and I got through the first hour and a half before I noticed it wasn't over until 1:00.
No way was I going to make it through that, so I went to bed. Anyone know how it ends?
The rain finished, but there was lightning in the distance all night. I tried to take a picture, but have you ever tried to photograph lightning? Impossible!
So, that's my day in pictures! Pretty uneventful, really, but that's pretty much the story of my life, and I like it that way (minus the scariness). Oh yeah, and normally Chris is there, but he was away for the weekend, so it was just me and my girl Maui.
As Mom will attest to, I only had virtual scraps left over from my dress. I loved the fabric so much, though, that I wanted to make something of it that's not hanging in my closet in a garnment bag. (Who are we kidding, it hasn't been dry cleaned yet, it's actually hanging exactly where I left it when I took it off. But I plan for it to be in a garnment bag!) Behold, a new purse and card pouch! Also, keeping in lines with the great de-stashing, I made a couple of shopping bags for sale from some material I bought years ago. I must have bought at least 4 metres, because I've already made a dress, thumbless oven mitts, lined numerous purses, now 2 totes, and I still have a metre left. Why did I buy so much? It was probably on sale :) The totes come with their own little pouch so you can fold them up and stash them in your purse or glove box, or wherever. I'm also lovin' Etsy mini over on the side bar! ---> It shows my latest items for sale!
EDIT! I'm no longer retiring, but the stash busting is ON, and I'll be changing formats once the current stash is gone.
So, here's what's in my Etsy shop for now, I'll be adding lots more in the coming weeks! Ask me for details on any items, or make me an offer if you think things are ridiculously overpriced.
