What I've Been Up To - Sewing!

I have never been a sewer.  I am almost 30 years old and I am never quite sure if I actually know how to sew on a button correctly.  However, my new-found love of trying new things in the past year has started to change that.  I think I can now add "sewer" to my list of new self-descriptors, along with "runner", "swimmer", and "artist", even  if they all come with "amateur" in front of them :)

I took a couple of great classes at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica last year, where I learned to make a pillow and a clutch purse.  I don't own a sewing machine, so hadn't done much since then, until in a sudden rush of blood to the head, my mother decided to buy one.  My sewing skills are inherited, if that explains anything...

In my unemployment (and with the ridiculous price of books in New Zealand, I can't understand why they cost so much!), I also have a great appreciation for the library, which is where I got my hands on Wee Wonderfuls by Hillary Lang.

This is a really good instructional book, especially for new sewers like myself.  There are clear explanations of all the kinds of machine and hand stitches and embroidery techniques.  I am in love with ladder stitch!

Here is my first project from the book.  In the book, she is called "Patchwork Penny", as she has a patchwork strip on the front of her dress that matches a little quilt.  I wasn't feeling that ambitious (or keen to buy multiple pieces of fabric to make the patchwork and quilt), so I just gave her a plain dress.

I learned a lot making this doll.  She could use a little more stuffing in the neck to make her head sit up a bit better, and her hair is a little thin (because I used 8-ply wool instead of worsted weight which I think is 10-ply, and didn't think to increase the number of strands).  But still, she is cute and I'm very proud of her!

It's been pretty hot here at night, so I was in need of some more summer-weight pajamas.  So I bought a pattern (after first trying to construct my own pattern from a pair I own, total disaster), and first made these 3/4-length pajama pants:

Recognize this material?  

The same material as the doll's dress!  I just love the pattern and the color.  I think that gentle teal color is probably my most favorite color in the world.

And then I found this very lightweight cotton in quite a loud print, but it has birds on it (love!) and the shapes remind me of the work of Flora Bowley, my favorite artist (who I just found out is holding a painting workshop in Sydney, Australia in March!  I HAVE to go).

LOUD colors and pattern, suitable only for pajamas.  Or maybe a shower curtain.

Flora Bowley-esque bird shapes.

MUCH fun.  I hope to tackle more adventurous projects over time too.  Three more weeks of unemployment to go!

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New Zealand Handmade Holiday Ornament Swap

I am a terrible swapper, I just realised I forgot to post about the ornament I received in the swap organised by New Zealand Handmade!

My swap partner was Debbie, a nurse in Surrey in the UK.  How cool to swap with someone overseas, kind of reminds me of having a pen-pal as a child.  Debbie has a blog that she first started when she was still studying to be a nurse, called Student Nurses Allotment.

For some unknown reason, I did not take pictures of the ornament and card I made for Debbie!  Good grief.  But hopefully she will take some :)

Here are the darling little ornaments she made me (two!  how lucky).  They are about 5cm (just over 2") across.  They are cross-stitched, which I am super impressed by as I have absolutely zero cross-stitch experience.

I really enjoyed the swap experience, it's the first one I've ever participated in.  I'll be looking for more!

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In Which Averil Spends More Money Than She Has

First off, let me say that I really appreciate the thoughtful comments on my last post. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your feedback and opinions on websites and blog posts. You guys are wonderful!

Ok so today -- after Emily and I delivered and set up for two weddings,she suggested we peruse the vintage and secondhand clothing stores on Karangahape Road in the central city. All in the name of business, of course – I was supposed to be looking for vintage brooches to incorporate into the wedding jewelry line that I am contemplating starting.

Well, ahem… let’s just say I got a little distracted at The Paper Bag Princess (everything is $20 and under!) and spent most of the money I had just earned by working for Emily. Never mind that I had been complaining all morning about how I had to decide between buying dog food and groceries for myself (guess who won…) While we were out though I got an email from Etsy that I had sold two items, so that makes up for it. Hooray!

But look, the two pretty cream shirts I bought serve a double purpose --- as props in my new jewelry photos! It was quite fun taking these photos, I felt like a fashion magazine stylist.

The trench however, well, I just had to have that ($20!). It looks new and feels so, so soft. I am a total sucker for tactilely (is that a word??) pleasing clothing. You can’t really see it in the photo but it has kind of a bubble hem which is quite unique. And look at the belt! So pretty. Now I just have to wear it ALL THE TIME or Emily will make fun of me for buying it.

When I moved back to Auckland last month, I had to be pretty ruthless in deciding what I was going to bring from my clothing and shoe wardrobe (which was actually already pretty meagre as a result of moving between Auckland and L.A. 3 times previously in the past 5 years) in order to keep my baggage to a reasonable amount.  So I feel that these purchases are somewhat warranted, despite the state of my bank account (I know Emily will be laughing at me as I write this, that I am still trying to justify this several hours later...)

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend as much as I am!

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That Guy

Kenzo had a haircut today, so to capture him in the 10 seconds it takes before his fur grows out again, I took some pictures:

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Music To Craft To

I like to have music on when I make jewelry or other crafts.  Recently I have been searching for some new music, and last night came upon Will Stratton's new album, New Vanguard Blues.  I am in LOVE with this album, every song on it is beautiful.  After downloading it I was listening to it in the background and realized it deserved my full attention.  I turned the lights down, lay on the couch and listened to the whole thing from start to finish.  It has been a long time since I've been moved enough by an album to just sit still and listen.  Will Stratton is offering it for download online for only $8, and you can listen to every song before you decide to purchase.

Other favorites to craft to:

Sufjan Stevens

Elliott Smith

Zee Avi

William Fitzsimmons

Zero 7

Hoping that brings you a little inspiration :)

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Jewelry, Purse and Organic Kid's Clothing Party in L.A.

 Art & Clasp, Stars at Noon, and 31 Gifts Party!

As I have mentioned, moving my dog/best-friend-ever Kenzo to New Zealand is costing me a small fortune.  A friend suggested I hold a "jewelry party" to try and make some more sales/fundraise.  Just the thought of it made me uncomfortable -- inviting my friends over to try and get them to part with their hard-earned cash?  I shuddered at the thought of them feeling obligated to buy something.  Still, with the next round of vet visits and payment to the pet exporters looming, I decided to suck it up and do it.

I put it up as a private event on Facebook and invited about 20 women I know.  Then, the same friend (she's full of good ideas) suggested I join forces with another friend of hers that sells purses and gifts through the 31 Gifts line.  I also thought of Norma from the Flying Lessons e-course who I met on the weekend, who had mentioned that she had some stock of her awesome organic kids apparel that she wanted to shift.

So it became an event!  It's now going to be held at a business location in Woodland Hills, next Wednesday July 28th at 6.30pm.  There will be wine and appetizers, yum :) If you're in the L.A. area and available, we'd love to see you!  Please check out the event page on Facebook and RSVP.

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Flying Lessons Meet Up

On Saturday I was fortunate enough to meet up with three of my classmates from Kelly Rae Roberts' Flying Lessons e-course: Kathryn, Norma, and Monica.  We spent two hours at a cafe and talked about everything creative under the sun!

Kathryn Hansen coordinated our meeting.  Kathryn is an incredible artist and is moving into photography.  You can see some of her work on her website.

Norma launched herself into the creative world by making hand-dyed, organic kids shirts. These shirts are super cute and have great messages on them (and inside them!)  Norma has a great website you can check out here.

Monica is a creative whirlwind, or as she calls herself, The Creative Beast!  Monica has lots of exciting projects going on that she blogs about here.

It was so great to meet up with these inspiring women.  Artistically, Kathryn's work just blows me away.  The way Norma got herself into the creative business world through her own hard work and figuring things out is so inspiring and motivating to me.  And Monica is a fountain of knowledge about creative people and opportunities and really puts herself out into the creative world, attributes I really admire and hope to emulate.  Thanks for the wonderful time and conversation ladies!

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A Beautiful Video -- PS22 sings Phoenix

I've lost count of how many times I've watched this video, but it still brings happy tears to my eyes:

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How I decorated my Planner Pad

Inspired as usual by Kimberly Wilson, and prompted by my increasing pile of goal lists and to-do lists and post-it notes, I ordered myself a Planner Pad.

Planner Pads generally arrive looking like this:

Not so exciting...

But there is plenty of inspiration to pretty them up a bit, which is what I spent this evening doing, resulting in this (in the background are fabric circles cut out for hair flowers to be made this weekend):

You might recognize the images along the top and bottom -- those are the ones I use in my necklaces!

Do you use a planner?  How have you prettied it up?

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Monkey cake!

Exploring other avenues of crafty goodness:

For a wonderful friend's monkey-themed baby shower, another friend and I made this super-cute, super-easy, and super-delicious chocolate peanut-butter cake.

Comes pretty close to last year's Where The Wild Things Are cake (this was MUCH more difficult! We had no idea what we were getting into with fondant icing...)  Note the same cake plate, I have only one...

Not sure where we got the recipe/directions for that one.  Tell me -- what gamut do your crafty urges run?

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Here I Am

I've been neglecting things (Etsy, blog, creating, housework...) a bit.  Feeling a little disheveled and not sure where the time has been going this past week.  This weekend has been one of those where you have to spend $520 on maintenance for a car you hate, you go to two stores and your (and only your) make-up shade is out of stock, and you unwrap a Laughing Cow cheese only for it to immediately fall on the floor. 

Anyway, less complaining...

Last weekend was much happier.  On Saturday (the 5th) two of my wonderful friends and I ran the See Jane Run women's half-marathon in Alameda, CA (near San Francisco).  It wasn't easy, much too warm for my liking (I hate running if it's more than 60F), and the last two miles were the longest of my life, but we finished.  Here we are afterwards with our medals (that's me in the middle!):

After the race (and much-needed showers), we headed to Viansa winery in Sonoma, where my friend is a member so we could taste as much wine as we wanted, for free!  Bliss.

Creatively, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed this week.  I've been trying to keep up with the Taking Flight e-course and there is just SO much information, it's hard to read and take it all in, but it's all such gold I don't want to miss a thing.  I've also been trying to visit the blogs of other class members and show some support (and have received some wonderful comments and compliments in return).  The e-course also reminded me that I have been neglecting Twitter and I could definitely be doing a better job on my Facebook page also.  Sigh.

I've also been having trouble with the adhesive I use to make my jewelry, which was very frustrating and resulted in a lot of wasted materials, but I think I've figured out the problem.  I have one thing finished (one! but there are a few more near completion), photographed, and ready to list on Etsy, finally.  I haven't listed anything new for ages, tsk tsk.   Here's the owl ring I will be listing shortly:

Hope you all had enjoyable weekends and your cheese didn't fall on the floor.  I will be more productive this week!

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Music

Music does funny things to me...

Here's what's floating my boat as I create today - Swing from Zero 7 (there's no video for it, just the lovely song):

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Crafty Weekend Recap (and Giveaway Winner Announced!)

Here in the U.S. it was a long weekend, so I took a vacation day on Friday and turned it into a four-day-craft-extravaganza! It was bliss.  I felt like I was bursting with creative energy, I was totally excited to get up each day.

There was raspberry-blueberry-almond-cake-baking:

Much circle-cutting for fabric-flower-making:

A new adventure in card-making (swoon, new obsession), and the aforementioned flower-sewing:

Painting for the Spill It! Workshop I am taking online with Carmen Torbus (a post about this is coming soon):

A couple of other little (unfinished) friends I am working on:

Two Etsy sales!  Yay!!  Here they are packaged up for mailing:

And a winner of the necklace giveaway!  Congratulations Jenny :)

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Sewing Tutorials

One of the crafts I really want to learn is sewing.  I have taken two classes at The Urban Craft Center (where I made a pillowcase and a clutch), but I don't have my own sewing machine so haven't gotten much further.  These tutorials are so cute and look easy enough even for me!


Little Lamb Pillows from The Purl Bee

Quilted Notecards from Made: A Creative Collection

Fabric envelope tutorial (doesn't have to be a love letter!) from LucyKate Crafts

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Daily Photo Project Update

I have managed to keep up with my daily photo project without missing a day since I missed Day 5.  Here are a few of my favorites since the last update:

T

3/29/2010:  The number 1 fell off my mailbox and I have yet to glue it back on. It's been sitting here on my counter for oh, at least six months...

4/1/2010:  The blossoms in the park near my house continue to amaze me with their perfectness.

4/5/2010:  A glass of water by my bed, sitting under the lamp for too long.

4/11/2010:  The park in the morning after a rare L.A. rain.

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Lavender Cupcakes , Mais Oui!

Lavender cupcakes

I have had a productive Thursday evening...

I have had it in my head for a little while that I would like to make lavender cupcakes.  I found some culinary lavender at Whole Foods, and finally tried it tonight using this recipe and a basic buttercream frosting.

I'm not sure what I think about the results.  They are very, well, lavender-y. We'll have to see what the verdict is at the office tomorrow.  I did double the recipe but perhaps I shouldn't have doubled the lavender.

I also received some more supplies in the mail when I got home from work tonight, so I made and listed two new necklaces on Etsy.  I'm on a French kick with the jewelry, as you may have noticed...

Paris Romance

French Bird Necklace

Now, to bed, so I can get up and run in the morning.  It's almost the weekend!

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