Thursday, December 30, 2010

handmade christmas

some presents i made!

zombies i made from a few other patterns i found online


original birdcage & bird


retro salt & pepper shakers, can't remember where i saw these?


and with my next post i am going to have the making of the handmade mounted moosehead i made for my boyfriend for christmas!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

coo coo clock

oddly enough after posting a link to feeling stitchy yesterday, i had finished up an embroidered coo coo clock tea towel for my mom for christmas. i got it all cleaned & ironed today and wrapped it up to send off with the other stuff for my folks and checked my crafty blogs today only to find they posted another version of wild olive's coo coo clock. right when i finished mine... weird! i changed it up a bit but i'll post mine here, because my mom will never see the internet. :)

Saturday, December 11, 2010

counting down til christmas with some crafty links



this time last year we were all getting excited to head to new york right after christmas. it was a whirlwind leading up to it and christmas was fun but i think i was more excited for new york (we kept singing "in a new york minute".. but replace minute with jacket because we thought we had perfect new york wintertime jackets like in the movies. we didn't bother getting a tree or even decorating last year as my boyfriend had just gotten back in town after a year away and we spent christmas with our own separate familes then took off for the long drive to NY. while i don't have NY to look forward to this year, i do have a nice cozy settled christmas to look forward to which is pretty exciting actually. my past three christmas holidays have been so-so and maybe it's my own fault for having high expectations. and i must admit i did make the most of them. but either way, our place is decorated and cozy & i have no expectations or real plans this year. we're even going for a little rip to montreal over the holidays and maybe something special planned for new years if we have any money left after all this holiday craziness.

our christmas tree :)


i have been getting crafty with my presents, embroidering and needlefelting some things for loved ones but i can't share them here until after christmas (so as not to ruin any surprises!) Last weekend before drinking some disgusting rum and eggnog while watching Christmas Daddies and decorating our tree, I went to the halifax crafters Winter Carnival Handmade Market. It was very impressive & inspiring, and i saw some really cool stuff i liked. I bought an awesome card from this guy and i got a cool glass for a friend from Kyla Francis.

the yeti vs robot snowball fight card i bought to frame


I got a nice cozy sketch done in my sketchbook that i want to move into. :)


I figured i'd share some of the little craft blogs that i like to browse through on a regular basis when i have the time or need some inspiration (or just feel like being nosey).
Feeling Stitchy was the first real crafty site i stumbled upon and has lead me to lots of cool blogs and patterns and just nerdy cool stuff.
one blog linked from there that i really like is wild olive and not just because of the name, she has awesome patterns and sometimes equally awesome pictures of food with recipes. and from there i make my way over to campfire chic and then I usually check out little dear tracks because she makes very cool stuff there, sometimes woodsy sort of things that i love. These blogs usually have free patterns and even giveaways and blog parties. i should also mention my friend johanna's blog Birds on a Wire. the way she writes, and her subject matter makes you feel cozy and appreciative, and it doesn't hurt your welcomed by a giant picture of pie when you get there! they all just seem familiar like a welcoming cyber community that want to have you join in and have fun. it brings out my inner nerdiness :)

christmas tree lighting with fireworks, downtown halifax

Thursday, December 2, 2010

less exactness is a phrase right?








... my Sketchbook Project shirt arrived yesterday! it's kind of big and with a little washing and drying i'm a little disappointed the american apparel shirt didn't really shrink a whole lot. oh well. i'm still wearing it today anyway! I only have about 3 or 4 pages started in my sketchbook and i don't like any of them. i have ideas of what i want to do in there but when i sit down to do anything i just sketch like i'm being forced to sketch. it's like when i went to art school, i remember in our foundation year drawing classes we'd be forced to draw an upsidedown chair or a crumpled piece of paper for like 3 hours and it made me not like drawing. i've always painted, but i'm glad that when i started tattooing it forced me to draw again. but those drawings are still influenced and inspired by others (the clients ideas). i think it's just a matter of me sitting down and getting to draw whatever i want. it doesn't scare me, i just can't think of what to draw!
to be honest i never thought i fit in at art school because i couldn’t allow myself the looseness and carefree approach i felt like a lot of other students took. i feel like i come at things more like i want to make them exact. i’m not a perfectionist but i want the images to all make sense when you see them, and i want to understand it and i want it to look like it’s supposed to look (like i see it through my eyes… you know, the right way, ha!). i can appreciate it when people make work that way… but i can’t imagine allowing myself the freedom to draw things as they aren’t, so to speak. i was always good at drawing what i saw, or if i had to copy anything, but i struggled when it came to coming up with something from my own imagination.

it all comes back to this conversation with my sister the other day where we were talking about high school. we right-minded people are supposed to be more creative, as i’m told and tend to favor less-exactness, you know processes that you can sort of weave your way through and results that are more subjective then anything. but to me, the clear beginning and the exactly mapped out route with the one and only final answer are way more appealing. that way there is no (second) guessing. so take math and English for example. even though i consider myself an “artist” and am left handed i just always loved math! There, i said it. my sister could bull$h!t her way through English essay answers whereas i hated trying to come up with summaries in my own words of other people’s ideas or thoughts (or facts). i love a good ol’ fashioned straight forward math equation: Here is the question; Give me the exact answer. now, does this make me less creative? i don’t think so. i think i just have OCD.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

the eagle has landed



yay! my sketchbook arrived yesterday :) ...also, my lambswool cowichan birthday-present-to-myself sweater from aritzia arrived on the same day which is a little fitting as i keep thinking of my sketchbook as a warm cozy little hideaway with blankets and tea. (on a side note here: i am not girly, nor do i really care about clothes too much, but i'd be happy to never take this sweater off again. i love it and it has a horse pattern in it which reminds me of my papa and his old wool sweaters :) Anyway, i forgot to take the sketchbook to work today, and it's slow here, so i'll just blog about it instead of doing anything in it. one thing i read about these moleskin sketchbooks is that people were complaining the pages were very thin. the paper feels awesome, but yes, they're thin! maybe too thin for what i have in mind so i might double up on my pages, which would essentially cut my book by half. but that's ok.

i have so many projects i feel like i'm in the middle of right now, and ones that i have to start for the holidays coming up so this might just be the escape/distraction that i need. that's what i do, you see instead of tackling one little thing on a giant list i just do something else until i can take a big chunk off the list all at once. i get more pleasure that way instead of only seeing small progress. either way, it'll all get done! commissioned paintings for the holidays, needlefelting/paper mache project, and embroidered holiday presents to finish.

speaking of holidays our 'holiday parade of lights' is this saturday evening! and yes, i'm already excited to wear my new sweater there. nerd!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks!

it's been quite a while since i've blogged regularly and sometimes i miss it. i seem to be taking on some new exciting projects so i figured i'd start them some kind of a home for me to keep tabs on them, and watch them grow. it's simple math really.... bad memory + good camera = visual journaling.

i am (im)patiently waiting for my sketchbook to arrive from brooklyn ny so i can transform it before it starts it's journey. you see i signed up to be a part of a huge traveling art show involving thousands of sketchbooks! they will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the states with shows in cities such as Brooklyn Ny, San Francisco CA, Austin Tx, and Chicago Il to name a few!

my theme which is 'jackets, blankets, and sheets' was chosen randomly for me. i am too indecisive to pick things like that. but i actually love my theme and although it is only a starting off point i think it goes nicely with my new found love of embroidering. this theme makes me feel cozy. like i want to build a fort. so i think that's the direction i'm going to go in... thinking of being wrapped up in blankets with tea, or sitting by a fire with an oversized jacket on in autumn or climbing into bed between some comfy fresh sheets. can't wait to get started!!

hope you will check back often as once i get started on something i usually go a little overboard and will hopefully be posting a lot of progress as i work on it. either that or i'll hit a block or get distracted with other things(probably christmasy craft things). either way, check back.