In those cracks and patches there's life

My mum, who is in New Brunswick, gave me my Christmas gift early. It's an antique woven basket that was made in Romania. I love the way the lid fits and how sturdy it is. If you look closely you can even see some stitching here and there, evidence of numerous repairs. This is my favourite part of the basket, and it makes me wonder what it was used for.

It's interesting the way things influence you. I think that working with furniture and antiques has given me a new appreciation for old things, and also for different textures. I've learned a few techniques that I've been incorporating into my little projects at home, too. This thread holder was an extra piece of pine from when I made that table earlier this fall. Just banging it up and staining and sanding, along with some nails, gave it a purpose.



I made a few stars to add to our Christmas decoration stash in a similar way. If you want to do something similar with wooden craft pieces you can get at Michaels, sand, stain, dry brush some paint on (when the stain is dry), sand away some of the paint and stain again. Then you can verathane if you want. You can also get a stain-verathane combination that seems to work ok. The frame is a little over-sanded I think. It is possible to overdo it!





My boss at the furniture shop will actually beat a piece of furniture in order to distress it, sometimes with heavy chains and tools. It creates quite a racket and is a little unnerving to watch, but the effect is amazing. Sometimes customers will come in and look at one of these pieces, or one that is actually as old as it looks, and say "Oh, that looks too old! Why would you want something that looks all beat up?" and I think to myself, The older the better. I love to look at all the crack and the wear marks and wonder who used it, and what it saw during its lifetime in someone's home--or in several families' homes.

The other day while walking to work I saw the pigeons I always see in front of the old age home. I think the residents like to feed the pigeons, so they always stick around, and there's always at least two on the front lawn. This particular morning I was struck by how these two pigeons were moving. One was walking in circles around the other. Very close circles, so that he was almost touching the other one. The one in the middle of the circle was also circling, but on the spot. Once in a while they would nuzzle each other under the neck. It was beautiful, and I stopped to watch it for a minute or so. I wished I had my camera, and thought to myself that I often wish I had my camera and never do. These little bits of life will live on in my mind but I won't ever be able to refer to them again. I need to start taking my camera. These little bits of life can so easily be forgotten.

Moment with Mr. Fly

In the furniture shop where I work, there is a black/house fly who has been living there about three weeks. Some days I don't see him (or her) at all, while other days he makes a nuisance of himself by continually trying to land on your face. Mostly I don't give him much thought. I don't give flies in general much thought really.

Last Wednesday, however, I had a "moment" with the fly. I had been polyurethaning a really pretty white-washed table, sitting on the floor with my head under the top of the table. When I lifted my head after a bit, I was surprised to be nose to nose with the fly, who was perched on the table's edge. What surprised me the most was that he didn't move away even though I was so close. The way he surprised me made me think he had been watching me, and so I said to him (yes I actually talked out loud to the fly) "hey there". He stayed put, watching me while doing that leg rubbing thing that flies do, and I examined him up close. They're really quite interesting to look at, they look so alien. Anyway, it felt like we had a moment, and for that moment, this fly wasn't just a fly, he was cute.

Now that I've confirmed for you once and for all that I am crazy, I'll tell you about what I've been doing this week. Today, some decorating. I really like decorating, especially seasonal decorating and moving things around. Freshening up, you know?

The other thing that has been taking up my time and my mental space, is the prospect of going to South Korea for a year. I dropped off my passport application today, so I'm really only at the beginning of the process and nothing is etched in stone yet. In fact I tried to restrain myself from mentioning anything about this on my blog for a while...but I'm excited!

I hope you Americans had a happy Thanksgiving. Take care!



Just started getting the tree ready. We really don't have too many decorations. I've always been a little afraid of accumulating too many Christmas decorations, and I don't like a lot of what's in the stores--too much plastic, I think.



In our entryway I like to have a little spot for things that change every few weeks. I had this vase of tree branches and just added a few ornaments and a birdie.

Still groovin

While I'm getting more hours at work, which is great, my art-related productivity level has plummeted.
But I did finish my retro scarf! Finally, a year after I started it, it's done. I started this last fall, and then things got really busy at school, and then there was summer...it seemed like the neverending scarf for a while there. I call it my groovy scarf. I love anything retro!

I've also been trying to sneak in some sewing, some painting, and some Christmas decoration making in the evenings. I'm hoping to finish this cowgirl shirt from Sew U this week. It needs some a visit with the seam ripper, which I guess is why I put it down for a few days. I had some issues with the placket being too wide for the collar stand to fit around.




And some mushrooms I started in September (or August maybe..!)



I started this last week. It's going to be simple and sort of graphic, I think. I have a thing for pigeons. I love them. I love to watch them, feed them, and I think they're special. They're so calm and dignified.



In terms of Christmas decorations, so far I've made a few stars to put here and there. Actually, they're wooden stars from Michaels that I painted, sanded and stained to look old. We're planning on putting our tree up this weekend which I'm totally excited for. What I like the most about Christmas is before Christmas. It gets cold in the evenings, and it's nice to come home where it's warm and snuggly. People are generally in a better mood. It gives me an excuse to bake and light more candles. It's nice. What I don't like about Christmas, and I'm sure some others would agree, is the pressure to find "enough" to give. This year I'm particularly broke, so it's going to be rough. I'll have to get creative.




Hope everyone is having a good mid-November week : )

Why I love him

We met at a party six years ago. Within the first sentence of our first conversation, I knew I wanted to be with him. I remember how he listened to what I said so carefully. It also impressed me that he lived by himself with a cat. Not sure why exactly, but I guess it implied he was sweet and would be willing to clean a litter box. We've been together eversince. I know this will be embarrassing for him, but he'll get over it. I just love him so much.

Dear Chris,

I love you because:

1. No matter how hard the day is at work, or how dreadfully long, you always have a smile when you come home, and always ask how my day was.

2. One day a few weeks ago I was on the bus looking out the window at the clouds, thinking about how beautiful they looked. I then wondered whether anyone else on the bus had noticed the sky, and thought of how sad it would be for no one to notice it. Later that night I asked you whether you had happened to notice the sky earlier, and you said "Yeah, around 4 o'clock? It was really cool". You described it just the way I saw it.

3. You put a huge amount of effort into accommodating my "anal" preferences around the house. For instance, whipping up all those little beard hairs from the sink after shaving, even when you're in a rush to get to work. Yes, I notice.

4. Never once have you made me feel bad about a screw up or failure. I admire your ability to have faith in people and to know that there's no point in making someone feel worse than they already do. Likewise, you never hold a grudge. I don't think I have this quite down pat yet, myself.

5. For that time our walk home was extended by ten or fifteen minutes because you had to help me pick up stranded worms on the sidewalk and move them to the nearby grass. We (you) must have saved a dozen of them.

6. You are the hardest working person I know.

7. You have the best, most creative ideas, (and are great at rearranging furniture).

8. You love me even though I'm a hippie and you hate hippies. I really appreciate that.

9. Your cleverness and sense of humour can get me out of the worst moods. I have so much fun with you!

10. I love your dimples and your lack of a butt.

11. Last but not least, I love that you tickle me when I'm doing the dishes even though I tell you to go away and leave me alone. You always make me smile.

Sew U

I am SO excited!! I've been carrying this book around with me everywhere, reading every last bit. I've been taking it with me on the bus to and from work and even though I know I shouldn't read on the bus because I get sick, I take it out and look at the pictures anyway and plan out what I'm going to make.




What I find so exciting and what I'm discovering is the idea that with a basic pattern and some tweaking and altering, one could in theory, make sooo many different garments!! I'm trying to keep my imagination under control and start with the basic patterns provided in the book, (I have a tendency to jump ahead with all kinds of brilliant modifications and then get overwhelmed and turned off) but o my goodness it's so exciting.

I've picked out three shirt fabrics and notions and I have two days off to play--woo HOO! Can you feel the excitement? It really doesn't take much for me, this is it. Tonight, it's just Marvin and I since Chris is out at a friend's, so we're going to have some chili (and chicken, beef and seafood blend) and start planning out some shirts.



I hope you all have a good weekend. Anyone in Halifax, hopefully you don't have to be outside, it's crazy out there. If you're in san Fransisco, my thoughts go out to you. I don't understand how oil spills like this are STILL happening with our level of technology. It's incredibly sad and disgusting.

In a dream

At times I almost dream
I too have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
Ages ago; and in that act a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by death,
That life was blotted out--not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories, as now, when once more seems
The goal in sight again,
-Robert Browning


Have you ever woken up and known that although you could function normally, you were still in a dream? Usually dreams that cling can easily be shaken off by a walk around, by the sound of your cat meowing for his breakfast. But sometimes they stay so firmly within you that you almost feel you're not yourself.

I woke Monday morning as though I was rising to the surface of a lake, but I couldn't break through the surface. Although I couldn't remember what I'd been dreaming of, I felt an intense sorrow; a sorrow specific to having lost someone you love. This inability to break through the surface happens to me once in a while, and I've always had very intense dreams, sometimes hard to shake off. This was different though, the sadness almost overwhelming. I actually asked myself, Is this a premonition? Do I feel like I'm going to lose someone? The answer was no, and I knew I was feeling pain that was someone else's.

Have you ever put on a coat you hadn't worn for a year or so, smelled the lipgloss or perfume you wore at the time, and immediately remembered what it felt to live during that little bit of time when you previously wore that coat? Like the scent transported you back to that period of time, and for a few seconds you were immersed in the essence of it. And only then do you realize that particular period of time had its own very particular essence and feeling? I think every period of a person's life, be it two weeks or four months, has a feeling attached to it. Some are so strong, so intense, I don't find it impossible to believe that they can remain, or be absorbed by someone else. Sometimes I wonder.

Monday morning it took me about two hours to come out of this fog. I looked around at my things, my apartment, my cat, trying to remind myself of my life, me. Looking for myself. I don't think it was until I left the house for work that I actually felt like myself.



























Last night I dreamed I had two pet crows, and they sat perched on each shoulder. Sometimes they would snuggle up under my chin.

What I did with my to-dos

So after blabbing away about what I should do with my day off, I came across a great website called Learning to Love You More, and decided to pick assignment number 10: Make a flier of your day! I was so inspired by some of the examples, and laughed out loud at some of them. I think it would be so funny to actually post these around town as the assignment suggests. I probably won't go that far, but I did make a flier of sorts to document this day, November 2nd, 2007.



My fantastically sexy boyfriend (his words) asked me to credit him with having taught me to use Illustrator so that I could do this. He also thought I should mention, for my own sake, that this was my first time using Illustrator. I wonder what he means by that : )

To-dos, what to do, and Christmas is coming!

When I have a day off I usually try and plan how I'm going to spent it ahead of time. This helps to avoid the anxiety of feeling like my day is wasting away while I try and decide what to do. The last couple of Fridays were planned down to the T, with lists and everything, but not today. AH!
Should I finish those mushroom paintings? Start that bird painting? That text painting? Maybe I could make a new bag...I know I want to bake...If I need to go out and pick something up for a baking recipe, maybe I should do groceries too. But there goes two hours right there! Maybe I'll start making xmas decorations. Or finish that scarf. Work on my quilt? AH!

It's almost 9:30 and I'm still in my pj's, the day is flying by!

Deep breaths. There will be another Friday, next week in fact, I need to relax. This is really what I'm like, so you can see I'm hard to live with.

I've pretty much decided I want to make all my Christmas gifts (except for you, Chris, don't worry. I know you can't make XBox games : ) as well as my decorations. At work (a furniture store) we have lots of great decorations that are providing lots of inspiration. Everything is very antique-looking, nothing plastic-y, lots of earth tones.

This is really cute, so is this. I've seen really nice, simple garlands made of small metal disks painted to look rustic, attached with twine, that say things like Merry Christmas and Peace. I think that would be doable with thin cardbaord.
Oh yeah, I wanted to take my new bike out and try it...