Week 37: Moleskines make me want to do things.

Moleskine makes really cute watercolour notepads. I bought one last year, thinking it would inspire me to take up watercolouring (the same way I expected their notebooks to make me write, sketchbooks = draw, squared notebooks = cross-stitch, etc.). I'm not sure I have the patience to really understand how watercolour paints work, but they sure are fun to mess around with. Who knew one teensy, tiny tube of burnt umber could yield so many acorny shades of brown? I've also just discovered watercolour pencils and while I'm not sure how real artists feel about these, I think I love them.

Week 36: Doodling

I've been spending a lot of time pouring over Playful Type:Ephemeral Lettering and Illustrative Fonts by Germany's Gestalten Press. Makes a Knittah wanna draw (or at least pretend she can).

Week 35: English Paper Piecing

The month of May was a quiet one for me on the craft front, but I did finally figure out how English Paper Piecing works. Ever since I laid eyes on Johanna Masko's gorgeous cushion that hangs around the Workroom couch I've been itching to learn how to do this. Thanks to some old sewing books I had kicking around and this wonderful online tutorial from Craft (by the way, anyone know what happened to Craft Magazine? I haven't seen a new issue in forever) I was able to get started on my own cushion cover. I didn't mean for it look so 70s, but I kinda like it anyway. Just another thirty or so hexagons to go!

Week 34: All Dolled Up

Oh look, more bears. These little guys (and two of their close friends) are on display now at C1 Art Space, as part of their awesome All Dolled Up show (which runs until the end of June). Go on in and give 'em a squeeze, won't you?

Week 33: Gettin' my money right

A while back I mentioned some nonsense about starting a business. Aside from registering a name (Old Weston, y'all!) and getting a PST number (which entitles one to mad discounts, at Mokuba even!), I hadn't done much else. And then I got some wacky form in the mail sayin' I gotta pay Retail Sales Tax. Well sh!t. I've been selling stuff for about two years now, and have never charged anyone PST, or even kept receipts for things I've sold. So, in order to be a legitimate bidnis woman, that's got to change. Also, if I'm required to pay taxes on stuff I sell, then surely I can write off my expenses - and lord knows there are expenses. I try not to think about how much money I spend on supplies (shoving receipts deep into my recycling bin never to be seen again), but that too must change. So, when I stumbled upon this little project from d*s, I was immediately inspired to create my own cute little filing system. Unfortunately, in my world, one airmail envelope will hold only about one month's worth of receipts so a proper, Knittah-sized file would require some reinforcement. Rummaging through my stash of office supplies (acquired back when I was a grown up, with a real grown-up job and everything) I found half a dozen brown file folders. I cut these in half (creating 2 mini folders), did some creative binding (that I didn't photograph and won't even bother describing here), and pasted envelopes onto each side of the folder, one for each kind of thing (metal, wool, paper, etc.) that I need to do my thang, and tied it all up with baker's twine wrapped around 2 paint-sample circles (one on each side of the file) that are attached with eyelets (rivets? whatever.) It's neatly housing about five months worth of receipts right now and is holding up quite nicely. I simply can't wait to do my taxes next year.

Week 32: Fun with Faux Bois

Friends, I've been in a funk. A royal funk supreme. Perhaps you've noticed, since I totally have not been blogging. And I haven't been blogging because I haven't been making. I'm sure everyone goes through a slump once in a while, right? This particular slump has lasted an entire month. I thought maybe I should take a break, pack up the craft supplies and do something else for a while (Nothing, for instance; I'd love to do a whole lot of Nothing right about now), but with three shows coming up in June (three!), this isn't an option. So, here I am, updating this silly little blog with things I worked on over a month ago. This faux bois sticky paper was a lucky dollar store find in April (along with two other woodgrain patterns). I cut out some circles, and then punched oak leaves out of them: And used both the circles and leaf-punchings to decorate Old Weston gift boxes. Such an easy and inexpensive (one dollar! Not even, since I used only a tiny bit of the roll) way to prettify and personalize packaging.

Week 29 Follow-Up

Making a gift for someone is my favourite thing to do. Seeing them rock it, however, is the sweet maraschino cherry on top.

Photos by Aaron Miller, more on his blog The Untold City.

Week 31: Finding Time

Some days, I wake up real early.

Like, 3 a.m. early.

And feverishly get to work, assembling little bits and bobs until it's time to toddle off to the bookstore or do whatever else life demands of me that day. Unfortunately, this means that by four in the afternoon I'm ready to pack it in. But when I get home and see the fruits of my early morning labour, I can't wait to get back at it.

I filled all the little holes in these bits of lace with beads (turquoise and garnets) and crystals. They make me think of weddings - there sure have been a lot of 'em this year (hooray Jenny and Maya!), with a couple more yet to come (hooray Em & Tammy!) - and also of princesses. Not that I'm a princess or anything. But it's nice to know that I could be, if I wanted to.

Week 30: More Moleskines

Cracked open the Gocco a few weeks ago to print some more Moleskines. This time with gold ink!