{september gong show}

Well well...

I have completed 3 of the 5 projects I planned here, plus about 3 others... I have been busy. But I have found one hitch in things: my beloved hubby who lends me a hand as photographer has been away on tour and I have not managed to get any photos of said projects...so it looks like I won't be getting to list anything towards that 5 September Sewing projects contest.

To make it worse, I probable won't get any pictures for a while yet since, even when my hubby does come back between legs of the tour, I will look a bit to horrific to have pics taken of me. I'm about to go in for surgery for a deviated septum in my schnoz. This should be great for ridding me of my constant sinus infections, which are highly problematic as a singer, but the recovery looks much like that from a nose job. That will be embarrassing. In other words, bruises on my face and a bandage over my nose. That won't exactly make me feel any more confident in front of the camera.

I'm going to have to find some solutions for this photo situation, so I might try to find ways to take alternate style photos (aka really crappy) and post those just for the sake of having something. Sorry.

{canvas tote art}

These are a few of the tote bags I've made/started recently, inspired by a sale on plain canvas tote bags at my local art supply store. I've wanted to play around with canvas totes for so long now, but whenever I found them they would cost more than I could conceive of a plain bag like that ever being worth. Thank you, DeSerres, for making them cheaper.

First up, one of my dearest friends had a birthday somewhat recently, but alas was moving the next day...so this became a belated gift. I had been inspired recently by an image that I saw of a girl who had lost her umbrella to a gust of wind so I played around with that. I also added her monogram to the top to make it a little more hers.

...details of the image...

...and of the monogram...

Next up is one that I just put up for sale on Etsy. I have been dreaming of old skeleton keys in general (and particularly at the end of a necklace) for a while now, so when I saw a photo of cloth using a skeleton key print I felt I needed to find other formats for these keys, too.

...I wish I could have the real version of each of these keys...

Lastly, a while back everyone started raving about the Alabama Style Studio and the interesting techniques emphasized in their work. I wasn't quite ready to tackle a project in their style at the time, but I suddenly got the urge to try it out. So I popped over to their website and saw a pic of a great stencil...only my printer wasn't working... so I eyeballed drawing it onto knit material from an unused PuSh festival shirt.

I haven't made much progress, and certainly less that has been documented. I think it will be a slow project that I pick up for short bursts when I need a break from something else.

{bowen island adventures}

Despite my goals set of recent, I've not posted any new work in a bit...but with good reason.
This past weekend was an amazing time spent at the staff retreat for the theatre company I work for. We went to Bowen Island, which I had, coincidentally visited for the first time only one month before.

Last month my sister visited for the first time ever, and since we considered riding the ferry a quintessential Vancouver experience, we had to take her on one. Taking the big ferry to Victoria would have been best, but much more expensive, so we decided to go explore Bowen Island for the day.

Among our adventures that day, we almost got run over by a male deer on the prowl for food in garbage cans, went down to the beach where there was a half-sunk boat floating out a ways, saw and elusive and shy blue heron,

and met the island's lone swan resident.

My hubby and sis both tossed blackberries off the bush for him to eat...but me having the total lack of sports-like coordination threw one and hit him right between the eyes. Oops.

He didn't like me so much after that.

Then, this past weekend I got to go with my awesome co-workers to a beautiful 'cabin' on the other side of the island. I'm afraid I got very few photos, mostly because I was busy having an awesome time and picking my jaw up off the floor because this place was so stunning.

I couldn't even capture all of the view from the back porch. There were a couple little islands not too far off, and if I'd found the time to go kayaking while there I could have reached them.

We spent our time playing Settlers of Catan, Things (the game), playing on the trampoline and inventing other games for said location, making smores at both the indoor and outdoor fireplaces, sharing deep, dark secrets, having many other wonderful conversations, and consistently eating better than I have in a long time.

The activities, the company, or the location would have each, on their own, been enough to make a fantastic weekend, but the combination of them was unforgettable.

The best way to rejuvenate a creative spirit. Now back to the creating.

{september sewing}

So September is officially National Sewing Month! I suspect that may *technically* only be in the US...but I will choose to claim it in Canada, too.

To encourage participation in this, the lovely Creative Maven has challenged everyone to make at least 5 sewing projects this month and I decided that was a healthy goal...though I think I will be aiming to surpass that.

For now, here are the items I've made goals of to sew:

{1} classis sailor striped shirt

{2} reline my camel coat

{3} louis vuitton ladylike skirt

{4} new shower cap

{5} vintage fitted bodice blouse

{new items in the shop}

I'm finally starting to get some new items up in my Etsy shop. Sure has been too long. I only have three new ones up right now, mostly due to the fact that the battery charger has gone missing for my beloved camera Muybridge. There are many new items eagerly waiting to be posted once the mysterious charger reappears. Among those are some tote bags, wristlet clutches, small canvas art pieces and more.

But for now....

I found a decent deal on some unadorned porcelain travel mug sets that I have painted with dishwasher resistant porcelain paint. One a 'heartstrings' design and the other a sailor jerry tattoo inspired sparrow that can be personalized with someone's name.

Also a couple flower hairclips ever ready to spruce up a regular old hair day.

{andrea's new favorite mug}

My dear friend Andrea had a favorite mug from which to sip down soothing tea while at work. It said "Today you are special", to which our boss added a note saying "Tomorrow you will be mediocre", and on the other side it showed a happy little flower. Andrea ignored this second thought and felt special whenever she drank from it. Loving it so much that she couldn't part from it, even against better judgment, she brought it with her to a work zone that was not as safe as her desk and the sad little tea mug met its untimely demise.

Andrea mourned the loss of her mug, and tried to replace it, but was never quite satisfied. Finally we decided it must have a proper replacement, so we set about finding the perfect shape mug. It had to be large enough to be a good dose of tea and to feel sizable when cupping it in her hands.

Then came the new motto:

"today you are mediocre... tomorrow we will see"

and on the backside, in place of the once perky flower, we have a meh flower

So, once again, Andrea has a mug to make her smile as she sips tea at work.