Leafing out

Check out my leaves!

I used the old tinfoil technique.  

I love it.  

 

I am going to do a few more and then play around with the colour combos.  

Sunshine Coast

We took a road trip to the Sunshine Coast last weekend.  

We stumbled upon the Seafare festival in Gibson's Landing.  Gibson's is famous for being the location where they filmed Beachcombers tv series.  

There was a lumberjack demonstration:

And an awesome aerial display:

It's inspired me for a new quilt...but don't worry, I'll try to finish the limb before starting this one:

And, I couldn't resist posting a photo of the "loo with a view":

Branching out

I've started making a baby quilt.  

My sis-in-law is preggers and I had thought that it would be nice to make her a quilt.  Then I found out she's having twins...we'll see if I can churn out 2 of these!  

I'm not following a pattern,  I'm just making it based on a few sketches that I did.   

It's not a traditional quilt.  

I've pieced together a branch. 

Then I plan to applique some leaves on it, and add either a caterpillar or a few birds.  I'm going to add a stripy border, to add some more colour.  

We'll see how it goes.  It's a fun experiment.  

Heather's Birthday Dress

The Birthday Girl in her dress:

 It's longer than I thought it would be. 

I'll have to find her a pair of matching leggings or tights.

"Love me to death" crafting level

Following up on my previous post, I am so happy that the tunic/dress I knit received the ‘kid stamp of approval’ from my niece and that she stripped down to put it on straight away.  That is the best compliment that a crafter can hope to receive. 

Too many times, when people know something is handmade, they will treat it differently (Refer to my previous post on the teatowel I made my Grandma).  I too am at fault for this.  When I know something has been made by hand, I will sometimes touch it more softly, handle it with care, and make great efforts to ensure that it isn’t damaged or stained.  I guess it’s because I know that a lot of time, energy, and love have been spent making the object.  Maybe I think the person will think poorly of me if they see or find out that it has been abused, damaged, or lost.  Why do I (we) think this way? 

As a crafter, nothing makes me happier to see that someone loves and uses the object that I’ve made.  Think of a ratty handmade blankie that a little kid tows everywhere…they have virtually loved that blankie to death.  I would be very pleased and feel very honoured, to see one of my creations loved so much.  

(Above: My Artsy sis and my blankies!)

Hmmm…maybe it depends on the object and depends on the crafter.  I’m still striving to attain the “love me to death” crafting level.  I’m half way there on this one…Heather liked it enough to wear it, now we’ll have to see if she wears it out.  I won’t be offended if she doesn’t…she’s only 3 after all, and lives in the mountains where it is sometimes chilly. 

A Secret Project Revealed

All of my secret projects and hints have been keeping people in suspense.  

It was my nieces 3rd birthday yesterday, so I can finally reveal one of the projects.  Ta dah!  

It's a little dress/tunic.  There are a couple of wee buttons on the back.

My Crafty Sis reported that it got my nieces seal of approval.  She instantly stripped down and put it on.  Yeah!  

My newest thrift store find

A nice pottery mug from Crowstone Potter on Bowen Island.

Not bad for $1.  

Happy Bastille Day !

I don't usually celebrate the French National Holiday, but while in Seattle we stumbled across the Bastille Day Celebrations on our way to the Urban Craft Uprising show.  What a lovely surprise.  

We visited some of the market kiosks,

enjoyed some yummy pastries and coffee,

listened to some live music,

and checked out a cooking demonstration while we enjoyed our lunch (cheese and salads) on the lawn.  We even got a wee sampler of the food the chef whipped up.  

What a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Crafty Road Trip - Seattle

I had a very inspirational crafty road trip with my friend Jessica (a knitter) to check out the Urban Craft Uprising show in Seattle.  It was fabulous!  So much crafty inspiration.   

I’m guessing that there were about 80 vendors there selling everything from hand spun yarn, to funky clothing, to jewelery, to home made ice cream, to shower art, and much, much more.  It was great!

I left with a few little purchases, and lots of crafty ideas for future projects.   

Here are my purchases for the day:

- A few silk screen fabric swatches which I will use to embellish future sewing projects.

- A fun summer necklace. 

- And a new knitting pattern for some fun fingerless gloves. 

I was in Crafty Heaven! 

Gardening Update: Tomato plant disaster

There were very high winds in North Vancouver yesterday.  I came home to find that 1/3 of my tomato plant snapped off at the stem.  Boo hoo.   

There were even a few teeny tiny tomatoes starting to grow on that section. 

Gardening Update: Beans

Check out my pole beans!

I am quite pleased with the trellis that I rigged up.    

I drilled a couple of holes at each end of the pot and then I rigged up a little trellis with some hemp...not the same hemp that I'm knitting with.  

A place of zen

I have a place of zen near my office.  The Chiba Garden.

(That's the Vancouver skyline in the distance.)

North Vancouver became the sister city of Chiba, Japan in 1969.  In 1986, North Vancouver redeveloped some of the waterfront area and decided to build a Japanese garden to commemorate the friendship between the two cities.  The City of Chiba presented North Vancouver with two carved stone lantern that are featured in the garden.  

It's a lovely little garden, only 2 blocks from my work.  When you enter the garden (at the bottom left of the map below) there is a waterfall and stream that starts at your left next to one of the lanterns.  The stream then splits and flows along two pathways.  The pathways join up again at the opposite end of the garden (top right on the map below).  

It is so calming and peaceful to stroll through the garden.  

There are even a couple of benches - one in a sunny spot and one in a shady spot.  

I had a little zen time at lunch today.  I sat and knit on the shady bench (because it makes sense to knit when it's 24C outside).  I'm knitting with hemp, so I figured it was ok.  

What a lovely spot to relax at lunchtime.  

Gardening Update: Fresh garden salad

Yummy Salad!

The tomatoes aren't from my garden, but the rest is. 

 

My first harvest of green leaf lettuce, swiss chard, and peppery arugula.  And a radish and some parsley to add a bit of flavour.  Mmmm.  

Getting Crafty Inspiration in Portland

After climbing Mount St Helens (and then glissading down!) we continued to Portland for a couple of nights.  While we were there, we checked out the Portland Weekend Market.  It was a craft market - no fresh fruits and veggies.   There was lots of great stuff.  Some of my favourites were:

• Funky necklaces made from upcycled vintage buttons.  Very cool buttons – some even from the 1800’s; 
• Beautify wire-wrapped stone jewelry – the settings were lovely; and
• Some fun creations from old cutlery.

I couldn’t resist all of the crafty creations.  I bought myself a funky upcycled hat from Flood Clothing.  

It’s made from an old maroon golf shirt. It's a little to hot to wear it in N.Vancouver this week!

A tooth fairy gets her wings

Thanks for the feedback.

Maybe a wee bit crooked, but that's ok.