1st Birthday

My baby is now a toddler. I'm stunned at how this year has seemed to creep by at times and yet somehow it has also passed me so quickly. We had a stiffling hot day in a house without air conditioning, but we enjoyed it anyway. The man of the day;

Newness

I'm in the throes of 1st Birthday Preparations. I really need to re-movtivate myself to finish off this day with productivity of pumping out some 50 cupcakes. I don't think I have what it takes to do it.

A friend of mine asked for a small-ish formal-ish grey-ish handbag that she can wear with most any colour. She's attending a number of weddings lately, and something that's versatile for a 'formal' setting was needed. I've been wanting to get a 'clutch' style bag into my shop but also wanted it to have my aesthetic without following my current trend too closely. I have this love for fabric, and texture, and manipulating both in a way that makes your hands spontaneously reach out to inspect it. I don't know how much of my passion I have managed to satisfy with this new creation, but I am happy with how it has turned out.

This bag is about 9" wide and 5" deep, the handle is a simple 17".

I think it's one of the most soft, textured but delicately pretty things I've made.

Let me know how you feel about this new bag, would this style make an 'okay' addition to the shop?

Dreaming in Color

Thanks to Skinnerstudio for featuring me in this beautiful treasury! 'Dreaming in Color!'
The colors are so beautiful and refreshing. I love this composition, and I'm proud to have been included with so many stunning objects!

Because he's so handsome, here is my little man playing earlier this week in the yard.

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday!

Lush

This is one of the bags I had been using the white and orange stripped fabric for. It’s a Nautical feeling Beach-Weekend bag that I put together for a friend and made mention of in my previous post.

This bag is actually wider than the typical weekend bag listed in my shop; the opening is actually 15” instead of the standard 13.” The base is the same, but I really love the shape that the 15” opening gives this bag. My friend really wanted a beach bag, and I thought the extra 2 inches would be useful for stuffing in towels, water bottles, flip flops, sun screen, and all the other beach random necessities.

Here are the Weekend bags I currently have available; Classic Black, Sabrina, and Selah. If you're interested in a custom Beach-Weekend bag check out my etsy shop and send me a convo (if you know me personally feel free to email me or contact me via Facebook).

It's my son's 1st Birthday next week, I should go throw myself into the preparations.

Check out some awesome kid's items that I absolutely LOVE on Etsy;

Treasures Under $20

I often tag my Pixie-Mini's as 'Under 20' because I LOVE to shop for a bargain! And the thought of getting something for $20 thrills me. I thought I'd throw together some of my favorites that are under $20 into a treasury to share with you. Here they are,

I also have a special affinity for red. Check out the individual items here; Treasures Under $20

Another treasures for $20, I finished this guy today, sold him and re-listed his brother. "Bogart Bag"

This is the fabric combination that I was rambling about yesterday. I'm thrilled with him, and the larger counterpart in the form of a Weekend bag that I'm finishing up for a friend. I hope she loves it, if she doesn't, I'll be happy to give him a home.

I'm also featured in a new treasury! 'Modern' items, titled; Modern COOL!

Allied

I fell in love with this bag, I could only make two. Both are sold. It's amazingly rewarding selling something you feel really good about having made. I wish I had more of the orange cotton lining so I could make more. I have to really use the fabric I have and not buy any more for a while. Maybe I should take a few photos of my fabrics, just to show the immensity of my problem. Is there a group for recovering Fabric-Aholics?

I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a very beautiful navy bag, with white and orange stripes, it has a very cute nautical feel. Almost reminds me of Audry Hepburn in Sabrina sailing with Humphrey Bogart. I'll post photos soon.

Solstice

Nothing quite thrills me like being a seller and receiving extra positive feedback from a buyer who apparently loves their purchase!

It really makes the hours spent selecting the perfect color combinations and sorting through hundreds of buttons, the possible carpal tunnel aches and long hours so very worth the effort.

Visiting my site and seeing that the number of feedback received has changed, sends a nervous rush through my body. I’m a mix of excitement and fear, praying that everything was satisfactory. There’s time when I read the comments and the rest of the world melts away for just a moment and I know in my heart that I have been successful, even if it’s this one ‘small’ task.

So, to those who leave extra special feedback to their sellers, here’s a loud resounding, heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’!

I feel like a broken record coming here explaining the rarity of my posts due to the busyness of life. Forgive me for stating the obvious.

I’m happy to be busy, the sun is shining which has awakened my joy from its horrid hibernation and I’m ready to embrace the world. Yes, that last statement reads something like a pathetic love sonnet that wouldn’t have made its way into any book or tale so it found its way onto my lowly blog.

I suppose I can’t help but sound jubilant and thrilled about the official changing of seasons. Living in a climate that actually changes temperature rapidly and sometimes without much warning, it’s important to soak up the parts you enjoy before they’re torn from you. Maybe I was meant to live in a warmer climate. I’d ponder this more, but I’ve already made plans (that exist only in my mind and heart) to retire or settle only 4 hours away from my current location.

I suppose winter and cold or summer and heat a Newfoundland girl may be just that, a girl bound to the land she was raised in. I’ve always found myself revolted by the typical jolly I-love-Newfie-land-ness that often gets expressed by those who’re from this province, and yet deep down could I dare admit I may be one of them? This thought may be enough to let fear and disgust for myself overtake the lovely feeling of joy I was revelling in only a moment ago. In order to retain my sanity, I have to repress these thoughts and believe that I have infinite years left to live in Vancouver, New York, Paris and Rome. Now that I’ve revived my expat tendencies, I’ll give you a peak at a new project of mine, please don’t laugh too much at my Newfoundland-loving and forsaking personality.

I’ve had some Newfoundland Tartan in my possession for quite a while and I’ve been wanting to pair it with this heavy weight corduroy that I had no real use for and couldn’t imagine that the earthen brown of the fabric would ever be translated into something beautiful. I had the urge to pair the two together, they seemed to complement each other somehow, and I’m amazed at how stunningly ‘homeland’ but modern the overall product is.

I haven't listed this in my shop yet, and I'm uncertain if I will. It's much more a 'local' thing and I doubt it would get much response on etsy. I may feature it in a number of craft shows during the summer. I hope to make a full 'line' like this experimenting with more earthtone corduroys. It seems to fit NL somehow.

I also have some Nova Scotia tartan that I have some plans for.

I added two new listings to the shop today, why not stop by and check them out. Have a beautiful weekend!

Mothers Day

I experienced my first Mothers Day as a Mother last week. It was nice to be honoured for the time and energy that I've put into this new role, but felt at the same time odd to be 'appreciated' for something that isn't new in the span of history. Giving birth is a trial, but one that most every woman faces at least once in her lifetime. Raising the child you give birth to is just as natural an occurrence. Obviously, there are a multitude of mothers out there raising children they did not give birth to, and this is to be highly commended (I was raised by my biological grandmother).

I'm not attempting to down-size the magnitude of the job itself. It's obviously a labour of love and full of sacrifice, but when frustration sets in, only a few moments away from the Monster is needed to remind me that even though it's a difficult task, it's a beautiful one, full of reward and lots of slobbery kisses of thanks. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm not the kind of person who collects a large number of trinkets or collectables, but I do have a little affinity for the gentleness and quiet beauty of Susan Lordi's Willow Tree figures. I saw this one, and my heart leaped, one of my favourite moments is bringing the Monster (asleep in my arms) to his crib, or when he's had a good time playing with his toys and reaches up to me putting his head on my shoulder in an appreciative hug.

Pretty Lemony

I had wanted to do another feature such as the stapler one I had before, this time I thought I'd place the items in a treasury. When thinking of something to focus on, I considered the beautiful yellow sunshine streaming in my window, and was reminded of my wedding, where the quirky song that we choose to describe our realtionship, 'Lemonade' by Chris Rice. Here are the inspired items,

I had attempted to link to each item and shop individually, but once again Blogger is playing tricks with me. To visit these items and view these shops please see the actual treasury here.

Featured in a Treasury

FolkyDolky created a treasury titled; "Shopping Local" it's featuring a number of Etsy artists based in NL. Check out the Treasury!

Featured are works by; IslandSweet, TrinityRocks, Myself - Crysto, Dallied, SweetAppleStudios, RetroReality, OPdesigns, Gcuff, TheStoreNL, NF2000, KristinaTuck, and HandmadeNaturals.


Here's one of Folky's items that I'm particularly fond of;

"On The Street Where You Live" (Limited Edition Lino)

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism New TV Ad: Ancient Land (2 min)

I'm in love with my province, and I was super excited to see this commercial during the 2010 Olympic broadcasting. It has a mystical air about it that you can truly feel standing on one of our mountain tops or at the edge of a cliff as the waves crash below.

Smothered Mother

I think I’m being smothered by hectic routine. The life of a mother, wife and business woman (ok, that last one is a bit of a stretch, but I do still conduct business on etsy and I’m also dealing with some real-estate matters), is a life plagued with the mundane day-to-day necessary tasks, as well as the random surprises that seemingly intend to throw you off your game, or at least affect your balancing act slightly.

This is particularly meaningful a reflection for me this weekend. Sunday I’ll honour not only my birth-mother, but also the mother who raised me. I hope to think I honour them every day with the person I have become.

It’s truly a sacrifice of love to grow a child in your womb as well as raise that child from infancy. Both of my mothers have done miraculous things for me, astounding sacrifices.

This is also my ‘first’ Mother’s Day. I do technically consider it my second since the Monster was in my womb at this time last year, but not everyone would agree. I’m a little psyched; just don’t let Hubber know that.

Now I’ll go tend to the other random things demanding my time. I’ll leave on this note, I dearly miss the Etsy gift guides (and yet appreciate the gift-guide-esque postings in Storque) and never look at the Showcase slots because they’re rarely pleasing to the eye and the few times I have looked, I’ve never seen anything that’s drawn me to click and investigate further.