I Heart Weekends

What a great weekend. Had Whit and Annie and their kids over Friday night. Summer is in the air! Kids were outside until dark running around playing games, getting dirty, laughing and soaking up some long-awaited Spring. Homemade pizzas, lemonade, ice cream and smiles all around - especially on us moms!

Now it's back to the books. I'm madly trying to catch up on the week that I lost with no text. This course is intense. Heavy reading, lots of really brand new concepts and jargon. I'm finding it difficult but at the same time I'm loving it too.

The kids and I decided that this week (starting Monday) is birthday week!!! I am turning the big 4-0 on Thursday and I'm going back to old school celebrating. So far Monday is scones at Wild Oat (love this place), Tuesday is movie night ($2 Tuesdays at St. Laurent), Wednesday is making cake day, Thursday is out for pho and eating birthday cake, Friday is the girls out on the town (can't wait), Saturday is "whatever I want to do day" (I know after Friday a large part of it will be spent in my bed which is just perrrfect), Sunday we are going over to my Aunt and Uncle's for my cousin's birthday who is turning 7 (it's part of my birthday week because I won't have to cook and that, my friend, is reason enough). Jack and Sam are already planning their Birthday week. Love it.

Elevated to Tier Two

That's me. I have been "elevated to Tier Two." Meaning, I finally got my textbook for my class today that started last week. The texts didn't arrive until today in the bookstore. I have to register on-line for the on-line learning component of the text. I spent my afternoon trying to register - ie. filling out the same 40 fill-in boxes over and over again to be told each time that one of them (not a specific one),was not filled out correctly. Let's just say, I'm glad I was home alone. Called the support centre and she couldn't solve the problem either. And now, I have just received an email that my issue has gone to, you got it, tier two. Can I just tell you how much I dislike being behind in anything but especially something like school? Thank you. I feel better now.

Did a little mending yesterday. Samia was given a really sweet purple jacket from my friend Whit last fall. Both her girls wore it and Sam's not exactly easy on her clothes. Suffice to say when I pulled it out for Spring, it was looking a little worn. And torn too - Bodhi jumped on her and tore a chunk out of the material last October. Here are more pictures than you could ever want from the before and after of mending and stain-minimizing I performed.

Before

After

Before

After

I have to say I was quite proud of myself. Not for the results so much, they did the trick, but for being resourceful - not running to the store to buy another jacket but fixing what was otherwise a perfectly fine one. It's nice to start thinking like that.

I will try and write my next blog entry with a bit more of a heartbeat. I think I just needed to have a little convo with myself!

Pinch of This and a Squeeze of That

I'm finding it so much easier taking photos with this strong Spring sun. Instead of having a 20 minute window of ok lighting, it's now the better part of the day. This morning I was out taking some photos of some things I had made and actually had to come in as the sun was too intense. The sun was too intense - that just gives me goosebumps of joy.

Got to hang with Annie a few days back and she brought me a wonderful and thoughtful gift from Thailand - some beautiful cotton sarong material. It's gorgeous. I don't know if I'll be able to cut into it. I think I have to add it to my pile of material that I can't bear to use (not just yet anyways).

I have been exploring various techniques of needlecraft over the past few months. The pieces make up a series which I call Stitch Bytes. They are experiments in old school needlecraft with what I consider to be, new spins. I just completed a project that I started on a whim last week. I grabbed some material from my pillow case stash and I needlefelted some details on it. The flowers were pre-existing (printed on the fabric) and the butterfly I added. It was fun to do and I'm anxious to find some more fabric to explore this technique further. Here she is...

And a close up...

And this evening I completed my application for the Prince Edward County Women's Institute Craft Sale that is in July. I will mail it off in the morning. Yes, as in, post it. With three hard copies of photos. Country charm. Wish me luck - it's a fantastic show.

That's what's going on around here. Oh! And perhaps I haven't mentioned - I'm a student. Just started my first class (Accounting) on Friday. I love its uncreative nature strangely. It really feeds my numbers and structure needs and doesn't take from my creative headspace. I'm telling you everything is just so finely balanced in my pumpkin.

Looking forward to this Wednesday's workermade meeting. I don't know if I have mentioned it before but Annie and I started a handmaker's collective back in January. We meet the first Wednesday each month. It's an opportunity for local makers who are selling their wares to get together to support one another, promote the handmade industry and each other, share ideas and resources, and have a night out. If you know of anyone who would be interested please let them know about us!

Annie's Felting Goodness

Annie's back and she has opened registration on a brand new workshop that is very sweet and perfect for Spring. Yey! Check it out here. Love.

The Weekend Blur

The weekends always fly by don't they? Went to a great workshop today hosted by Les Ateliers for creative entrepreneurs. The workshop was taught by Krista Leben, of urbanite jewelry, and her partner Robin Sidhu who together run The Craft Co-Op (incidentally a great source for shows, call outs for artisans, and other crafty news). Lots of really good information and ideas to get my mind turning. Krista and Robin also offer one-on-one consultation to creative entrepreneurs at a very reasonable $25 for one hour session. If interested, you can email them at thecraftcoop@gmail.com

Apart from today's workshop, this weekend was a rather lazy one. I kind of gave myself a few days off. I knit up some fingerless gloves for the kids because you sure can't find a mitt in the city these day. It's all tshirts and flipflops in the stores already despite the frigid weather. The state of their mitts was appalling - I should have taken a picture of them instead of the ones I made. Stuffing spilling out of torn off fingers. Something needed to be done...

I used this simple pattern that I found on Ravelry and altered it to suit what I wanted. Again, scraps of wool that my mom gave me from old projects she has made. I really need to get me to a yarn store.

Almost forgot. Listed my waterproof beach- play-picnic-festival all-round good times mats on etsy this weekend as well. Each mat comes in a matching drawstring carry bag as you can see from the photo below. So I guess I wasn't thaaat lazy. Check 'em out here.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Checking In

Having a very restful and lazy afternoon. Feels great! Both the kids are off to friend's for playdates straight from school so I have been gifted this little lump of precious time. The sun is streaming in the window hitting my lap and it's soo warm. I love to feel the sun's warmth again.

Played photographer this morning and have listed some new things in the shop. Some cute little zipped and lined bags that I have been making.

Tomorrow I will list my practical and fun (can you beat that?) waterproof pinic/beach mats. Perhaps a bit early for that sort of thing but when it comes, well, you need to be ready don't you?

Remember this?

I finished it.

I was fun to do and satisfying. That being said I'm not super happy with the finished results but now I have an understanding of how it works and how I'd like to change it so I think there is some more experimenting in my future. I may actually pick out some yarn specifically for the next project rather than the use the only three balls I had under my bed like I did for this one. The pattern I used was from the book, Alterknits Felt by Leigh Radford. Definitely one of the best felting books I have ever come across both for Leigh's projects and for the techniques taught. This one will be late going back to the library let's just put it that way.

Just read this entry over at The Happiest Mom. It really echoes some of the feelings I have been having of late. Not going to go on about it here because she says it better than I ever could but suffice to say, I find it really difficult to close some chapters in life - especially those involving my kids. But, thankfully, life has a way of quickly reminding us that this very moment right now is pretty damn fine as well.

Blast From the Past

I have a friend her name is Sam. I almost wrote "had a friend" but that would imply that we are not any longer or something worse, which is not the case. Once a friend always a friend. It's only that I knew her for a very short time and I have not been in contact with her since 2007 when Sam and her family moved to their next posting in Hong King. I met her in 2006 when we moved to Sri Lanka and felt a bit short changed to find she would be leaving soon as I liked her immensely and instantly. Sam and a few other women had started a Stitch 'n Bitch which I joined. These women were good! The things they made were jaw droppingly gorgeous and they were exceptional quilters - hand-stitched always. I learned alot from them and I wish I could still go to our Tuesday night sessions as now I would really love to pick their brains. So why this walk down memory lane? I was surprised to see her name pop up on Facebook this morning saying that I had been tagged in a photo. I immediately went to the link and saw something I had completely forgotten about and which really moved me. Over many years, (I'm not sure how many but it started well before I met her), Sam has had all the women in the various stitch groups she has belonged to in the various countries she has lived in, hand-stitch (of course!) a square for a friendship quilt. She just finished. It's beautiful and I can't possibly think of a more meaningful and beautiful way to remember so many women that she has met in her life - some I'm sure have become lifelong friends and others just a name in a place and others, every degree in between. But all these women came together for their common bond- a love of needlecraft (and wine truth be told). Isn't that awesome? I am totally envious, and in awe of this amazing quilt and it is a testament to an amazingly wonderful person. Here's some pics that I ripped from FB (hope you don't mind Sam!). Love.

The square in the bottom row, second from the left is the one I made.