I am in love with this project

This is outstanding, I really hope it makes huge strides in the battle for the rainforests.

Check out the website for this project here; www.rainforestsos.org

Peter, the Mini-Tote/Purse "wannabe"

I had another one of those nights, where you wake up at 5 am and think and think and can’t stop thinking in order to get yourself to sleep. Usually when this happens I pull myself out of bed and try to either solve the issue I was thinking about or in most cases actually create the item I planning/constructing/sewing in my mind. Since my ever growing pregnant belly is too daunting to drag out of bed at 5am, I instead rolled around, thinking, checking the clock until I eventually exhausted myself and fell asleep three hours later for a short enough ‘morning nap’ to find the energy to get up and work on the project that caused my obsessive thinking.

I wanted to create something not totally unlike the pixie bag, but something more casual without the pleats, that would resemble a smallish tote/purse. I also wanted it to look slightly trendy/hip, and thought I’d go with a slight retro/70’s inspired stripping with satin ribbons. Here’s the finished product;

The style reminds me of shorts that I’ve seen my brother wearing in family photos from the 70’s. The vibrant orange and turquoise ribbon seems to bring a nostalgic feeling for me, although I wasn’t born till the 80’s I’ve often looked through those photos and dreamed of what it would have been like to have been born closer in age to my other siblings. I think I'll name it Peter, which is my brothers (the short wearer's) middle name.

I’m not certain that I recreated the item I was really dreaming about, the sizing almost too closely resembles a tote, while being too slim and short to actually BE a true tote, maybe I should have shortened it a little more. The strap is a little longer then the pixie strap, allowing it to fall a little lower under the arm. I wasn’t looking for this vibe, but it does look like a fun purse for a tween, big enough to carry lots of fun notebooks, markers, maybe a tween magazine.

I guess I’ll finish prepping the listing for the shop and see what the fine shoppers on Etsy think of it.

EDIT: Here he is in the shop, click here for more views/info

Retro

The other day I was sorting through my buttons, as I so lovingly and obsessively compulsively do from time to time, and I came across this really beautiful large retro style lime green button. It was like bliss, or maybe fate, well whatever it was it motivated me and this is what resulted from it;

To see more check it out in my shop.

I finally got up the nerve to cut into the outrageously expensive quilting fabric that I allowed myself to indulge in. I like to buy fabrics that are beautiful and durable, but also economically priced (which means I can sell my handbags for a little cheaper then some others to help those who’re seeking beautiful items within their budget). But, last summer I visited this high quality, high priced quilting specialty store, and forked out more money then I really ‘wanted’ to on some really indulgent fabrics. I’m not sure how an individual with a quilting hobby can manage to maintain it financially.

But, that said, after seeing this fabric used in this finished product I’m happy I had it in my stock. I hope someone on Etsy loves it just as much.

26 Weeks Preggo and Counting

It’s been one of those ‘down’ weeks.

I’ve been overly tired, and under motivated.

We took some time on Friday to join the husband’s family in another town to celebrate his father’s birthday. Since it was a little bit of a drive we spent the night with his parents. It’s nice to get away sometimes, although it was short lived, it was a needed holiday.

I’ve been fretting and fussing about getting a few things for the baby. He’s coming ‘soon-ish’ (if you consider July soon, I guess for an expectant mother the worry and anticipation isn’t uncommon). Hence, I’ve been Internet browsing for baby things. The most important things I’ve been concerned about are the basic necessities of the nursery, and things like the car seat.

I found the most adorable nursery bedding, and I’ve become obsessed with it. Of course it’s much more expensive then what one would typically spend on nursery bedding, but it’s too late, I’ll scrimp and save. Most everything else we’re getting as hand-me-downs, so at least we don’t have to worry about spending money in a lot of areas.

Here’s the beautiful bedding, by Dwell Studio called "Transportation"

That’s the same wall colour that we had chosen before hand, the hand-me-down crib is white, so it feels like a great fit. I’ll make some fun curtains, maybe in orange and grey, and use the colours of the bedding to make lots of other little treasures for him.

The baby seems to be fine, wiggling lots, kick boxing or something that feels similar. I’m glad he’s got lots of energy, and also hope he gets lots of exercise while he still has some room in there. I can’t imagine him being overly wiggly when we hit month’s 8 and 9.

I’ll be working more for the shop in the days to come.

Three's Company

I added three new items to the shop over the weekend.

I decided to try beading on one of my handbags and this is how it turned out,

I named it ‘In the Sky with Diamonds.’ I suppose it could be called Lucy for short. I used glass seed beads, clear and iridescent which give a beautiful sparkly contrast to the grey fabric behind them.

Here’s a shot of the whole purse. It’s reversible as well, so if you’d like to see more images, check it out in the shop.

This bag is also a new addition; it’s OOAK (One of a Kind). I love the black, white and grey blossom fabric that I used here, and I only had enough to cut for one handbag. So whoever purchases this purse will be the only one with these colour/fabric/button combinations. Check the shop for better photos of ‘Sophie Blossoms.’

I realize both of these additions are very grey, but I’ll be bringing back some old favourites that have sold very well in the past this week. So keep an eye out for those. And, as we’re approaching Easter, I added a very pretty lilac handbag that screams spring.

I’ve named this bag ‘Selah’ which is a classical Hebrew term, the general interpretation is here.

This past weekend celebrated Earth Hour; hopefully everyone was challenged with the amount of electricity and energy we absorb from our planet. Let’s keep up with the conservation, not just one hour a year, but everyday, all day.

A New Design

From the suggestion of one buyer, I’ve created a shorter almost clutch like Pixie purse: The Pixie-Mini. I’ve only made two of these so far, one as a special order and another shown below, that just sold from my shop. I’m a little unsure about making many of these sized bags, since our culture is such a fast moving one where women tend to put a LOT of stuff in their handbags. This one is a little smaller and could fit the essential; wallet, cell phone, keys, lipstick, and a few extras. The strap is quite a bit longer, then the original pixie purse, so it rest's a little lower under your arm.

Let me know if you think there’s still a viable market for the smaller style purse.

I love selling, the 58th sale is just as exciting as the first one.

I’ve got a few more bags that I just finished sewing buttons and snaps onto, which will become available in the shop in the next day or two.

Hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday!

Stocking the Shop

Finally forcing some motivation in the midst of morning sickness and exhaustion to add items to my esty shop. It's a slow and long process of finishing a number of 'works in progress' and photographing, editing, etc etc.

It's amazing how much slower being 24 weeks pregnant makes me, it's a little more difficult getting those perfect pictures, bending and leaning. Tho, I'm enjoying the feeling of my baby boy rolling and bumping around in there, I swear he thinks he's in a mosh pit.

Here's a bag that I'm prepping to list in the shop a little later today, I love the navy fabric. It's got such a great texture to it.

I'm attempting to devise a quirky yet catchy name for this bag.

I'm also a Twitter convert, I've given in for the extra opportunity to promote my creations. www.twitter.com/cryst0

A True Artist

There's almost a responsibility that comes along with the ability to create something, sometimes it's simply to share your creation with someone, or maybe even the responsibility lies in the necessity of a creative vision coming to fulfillment.
Erika Reid has taken it a step further, check out her philanthropic exhibition simply titled the 'Abundant Love Bowl Project.' She has opened a temporary blog to post updates about the project and there's also some fantastic photos of her creations (via a slideshow on the left hand side of her blog). Be sure to check out the newspaper article that depicts the purpose of this project.

An Extraordinary Chapter

Thanks to Gary Kelly's blog, I've found one of the great commercials that have been making me so proud to be a Newfoundlander. Check it out;

I love my home

I live in a small province in Canada that is wildly underestimated by the Canada's other provinces and the rest of the world, sometimes by our own fault and some lack of education. It disturbs me really, the false ideas people harbour about my home. I suppose I am a Newfoundlander at heart, but I'm also proud of the strides our province has been making. I'm grateful for the education I've received and am appalled when people consider Newfoundlanders an under-educated population. Hopefully the future generations will debunk this myth.
But it's so much easier to be proud and passionate about my province when I see such beautiful tourism commercials as those that have been produced lately. This one isn't very recent, and it's not the best one, but it's stunning and captivating.

Sweet Child O'Mine

So my birthday was a few weeks ago. It's hard to imagine that I'm 26 years old, sometimes I forget my age and find myself asking my husband just to be sure. I still think I'm 22 or 23. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was.

The reason I bring up the inevitable aging, is because the beautiful Kara sent me 'via' etsy a lovely gift.

It's so pretty and unique, I LOVE it. And I always love getting surprises in the mail. This piece was made by Gina Zetts, and if you'd like to see more of her work you can visit her etsy shop; http://www.ginazetts.etsy.com/

The pregnancy so far, has left me exhausted, sick and feeling like a whale of a person, because my friends requested the chance to see the expansion of my belly as my sweet baby grows here's a shot taken today, at the end of my 20th week.

Wedding Bells

I suppose it's finally time to post a few shots from the beautiful wedding of my stunning friend Kara that I helped out with in November. There were sooooo many great photos, I wish I had time and patience to post a lot more.

Here's a shot by the hugely talented Rocky Strong, who can be found at rockystrong.com, who was also our wedding photographer. It's hard to believe that he does this simply as a part-time, after-school job!

A fantastic shot of Kara and her husband, Ryan. I love this shot, it's perfect in so many ways. I wish I could be back in town with her and our other friends for a few days, visiting downtown cafes and 24 hour restaurants.

A photo of the bride and myself, after she had finished some family photos, and I had been busy deconstructing the 'reception' area. This is our fun 'Betty Boop' faces, we don't typically make this face for all photos.

Here's her wedding cake I constructed for her. I love the orchids!! She has such fantastic taste in flowers. The entire wedding was blooming.