Category: crafting

Fabulous Fabric Find

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Last week I came across this amazing vintage fabric score with my friend and studio-mate Catherine. One of her friends had told us of of a lady who had some amazing vintage linens in her basement.

When we got there I knew this wasn’t just any find. We discovered treasure after treasure.

A lot hadn’t even been taken out of the boxes.

There is a entire set of these lovely dollies. I’m thinking they may be a series of little portraits one day…

I decided to frame this gorgeous linen that had “heavy butcher linen” screened on it. I love the simplicity of it.

There was an apron with this tag still on it, made by the blind. It is so pretty and is now my painting apron, makes me so happy.

This piece is so pretty it actually makes me giddy. The embroidery is hand done, but so perfect that it looks like it was made by machine.

Not pictured are  yards and yards of amazing white linen I also got. Score of a lifetime!

Staying inside

Posted on Posted in Art, crafting, fabric, food, P.E.I

You might have noticed in the winter I tend to hibernate hard. There hasn’t been a lot of action on this blog… but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy.

I’ve been going in between our cozy little home and my studio.

There has been lots of  crafting,

eating,

reworking old ideas,

working on new ideas,

working on things just for fun,

there has also been lots of reading, knitting, and lots of family time. The days are getting brighter, longer, and I feel like I’m waking up from a lovely cozy dream.

Art in the Open

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Local amazing filmaker Millefiore Clarkes made this beautiful film of last summer’s Art in the Open. It captures beautifully what I think is the most magical night in Charlottetown each year. Extra points if you can spot me! (hint: I might be hugging a toadstool)

Valentine’s Day Printable Cards

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I’m so happy to have teamed up with Annemarie at Yoyomama to make these Valentine’s Day Printable cards. You can download them for free here!

The last panda.

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This is the last panda post, I promise!

Sosi had 1 birthday request, that I make her a panda stuffy. She designed it for me and everything! I made it with bits and pieces I found in my studio and she loves it. Easy and very affordable way to make a little girl’s birthday dreams come true!

Panda Party!

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Please don’t think by looking at these pictures that I am a super party organizer. It is quite the opposite. I don’t like kid’s birthday parties, they totally push me out of my comfort zone.The noise, the crazies, the chaos, the pressure! I want so much for all the kids to have fun… and inevitably they never do.

I find the decorating helps to me ease into it all. It’s my way to enjoy it.  The week leading up to the party is great. The invites, the balloons… all super fun. Sosi wanted a panda party this year, and a panda party she got!

Somehow an insane amount of kids got invited (my bad). I wish I had gotten a picture of the treat bags… it was a sea of bags, all with hand drawn (by me and Sosi) pandas. The party was a hit. Only a few tears, only a couple of clingy kids… but mostly I think a good time was had by all.  It was all worth it to see Sosi so happy, so appreciative, so loved.

Happy birthday sweet girl and thank you for always pushing me to be a better me. I super love you.

An early Christmas present to myself

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Two things have been in the back of mind for a while.

The first was the thought of our awesome (newish) patio chairs spending the winter in the shed,  all alone. It seemed wrong, especially since we ‘re in desperate need of chairs for our living room.

The second thing was that my flowers in the snow blanket  has been sitting unfinished in my closet forever… so pretty, so not close to ever being done.

In a flash of brillance I decided to make the blanket into pillows. I instantly felt a rush of relief knowing I didn’t have to work on it anymore. And those chairs? We brought them inside, cleaned them off and they look great. I love that feeling of using what you have and not bringing more into your life. Sometimes you just need to move what you already have around a little bit.

They are a perfect combination if you ask me. This pillow is a reminder to be easier on myself, that I’m the boss of my own life. If I want to have patio chairs in my living room there isn’t anyone telling me not to, except myself.

 

 

Xmas crafting, part 2

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I saw this idea when I was making the Xmas scene decorations (see my last post). It’s a super simple craft, you just need boxwood, a hot glue gun and embroidery hoops. I had tons of hoops lying around so I thought I would give it a try.

These were super easy to make and turned out so pretty and simple. I am going to keep a few, but I’m mostly going to give them as early Xmas presents.

 

The extra boxwood has found a home inside cookie panda, all my vases disappeared in our move… (he as always) was happy to step in to help.

Happily procrastinating…

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After almost 6 months of renovations on an old house you can imagine our Xmas gift budget is pretty tight! This year I ‘m trying to make most of our gifts and the Xmas crafting has already begun.

Sosi and I started these on her last PD day. We ran around town gathering all the pieces and spent the afternoon happily assembling some of the jars. Her 7 year old self got distracted pretty early on and they have stayed in my studio for me to finish. Each day when I go in, I work on one or another. A button here, a bunny here. A very happy procrastination.

I found the idea here, via Loobylu on Pinterest (so much goodness!). You can find me here on Pinterest too. 🙂

Blanket ends pillows

Posted on Posted in crafting, P.E.I

 

When Catherine and I were working on our Art in the Open project we ran into one big problem… affordable stuffing for all of thecreatures we were making. They were just so many or them, and they were so big, we were going through bags of stuffing like crazy (that stuff’s not cheap!).

Catherine came up with the brilliant idea of going out to MacAusland’s to buy some unwashed fleece. They sell it by the pound, it worked out to be cheapest way. While she was out there she also picked up some bags of their blanket ends, they sell them in giant bags for $10.00.

When I saw them all I could think about was making something out of them. I’ve been coveting a MacAusland’s blanket since we moved to PEI. Their wool is soooo warm and soft and cozy… and the colours, so pretty.

It was hard, but I didn’t touch them until we finished everything for the show. With some the pieces that we had left over I decided to sew some into pillows. I love how these turned out.

** I’m LOVING all the favourite summer moments comments. Thank you all who shared. I will post the winner tomorrow.

 

 

MacAusland’s

Ila’s monkey quilt

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Ila’s monkey quilt is finished! I used mostly outgrown monkey pjs for the squares… the ones she refused to part with and put in the bag of hand me downs for her baby cousins. Now she can have them forever.

Why am I spending my last few days of kids at school/babysitter sewing a quilt? That’s a good question. I have about a dozen different art projects I could be doing, but this just felt right.

Maybe I’m winding down, changing gears for the summer where I’ll have the girls with me and creative projects will have to be more like this. Something that can be easily interrupted, and doesn’t require all my concentration.

Or maybe I just wanted to do something special for Ila. She’s been having a real rough time lately. Lots of tears, tantrums, general super crazy behavior. I want to wrap her up in love, in the hope that my sweet Ila might return and this angry at the world and everyone in it phase will pass. Here’s hoping it works, don’t let me down monkeys!

making…

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Making: monkey quilt for Ila (out of all her old clothes… and some from each of us too).

Planning: a fabric piece out of this amazing vintage embroidery.

Excited: that I will be making an installation for Art in the Open this year with my studio mate Catherine. It was the most magical night last year, it should be fun to see it from the other side.

 

sosi turning 7…

Posted on Posted in crafting, Kids, Life

I can’t believe Sosi is turning 7 this weekend. I look at her and all I see is my little baby. She still has those same ginormous brown eyes and round cheeks she had back then, and still never wants to be alone…

I somehow convinced her that a family trip to Halifax would be more fun than the usual big friends from school birthday party (it wasn’t hard… neither of us too crazy about parties). We are all super excited for some big city fun!

To make up for the lack of a party, we had her 2 best friends over for cake and pizza last weekend. It just so happens that their moms are also my best friends. So this worked out nicely for everybody! It was a great night.

We had so much fun decorating for this special evening. We made a giant 7 (I was inspired by this) and decorated it with polka dots, making this our “polka dot” party. She then got into the balloons and made this beautiful balloon wall. It felt more like installation art to me!

This girl has taught me so much over these past 7 years. Each day she tests me, challenges me, inspires me, ….but  most of all she just loves me. That is the thing I have learned most from her,  to love.

Happy birthday baby girl,

 

(Wondering about the cute matching t-shirts with my dogs speaking french drawing? They were made by the good people at ooshirts )

favourite things…

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Here is my one of my favorite gifts from this Christmas, hope you are all happy and enjoying your own favourite things.

Be back here soon. Happy holidays!

 

kitty-sose

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I have a confession… I’m not a big fan of Halloween (why does it have to be so scary?). I’ve never really understood it. It seems like a lot of fuss (a.k.a work) for no reason. Luckily Sosi seems to be just like her mama and has never seemed to care much for it either. She’s been happy to wear and re-wear the same couple of costumes her grandma made her each year.

This year though, maybe inspired by her sister (who would happily live her entire life dressed as a monkey), she seemed keener to dress up. After looking through thrift stores and costume stores we decided to hit the fabric store instead. She instantly fell in love with this super furry white fabric and gave me simple instructions… kitty dress.

All the dread I had over the years about homemade costumes was for nothing. Making this costume was so fun! The fabric was very forgiving (mistakes hidden in the  furriness) and we are both couldn’t be happier with the results. I especially love how it turned out to look a little like a girl version of Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

summer fun

Posted on Posted in crafting, knitting, Life, P.E.I

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I don’t think there is a better place to be on a hot PEI summer day than Belfast Mini Mills.

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While the children watch the chickens and bunnies and play with the pups, I get to shop for yarn and dream of future projects.

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They dream of someday being farmers and getting to have 17 cats (or at least Sosi does).

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We came home happy, our tummies full after a visit to their little tea shop.

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My knitting basket is also full now, of the yarn to make this beautiful blanket.

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I’ve been wanting to make one for years and it felt like now was the time. Summer isn’t summer unless you have a good knitting (or in this case crocheting)project on the go… at least for me it isn’t!