New camera, new shop

I have a new camera! I'm quite excited about it, but please note I haven't read the manual yet. Due to a modest budget, I bought it on craigslist, but to me it's pretty fancy. It's a Canon Rebel XT and I'm so happy to finally have a DSLR after using my little point and shoot for so long. (I used to love my old SLR but couldn't cope with film anymore.)

So to celebrate, there's lots of new things in the shop today, including the little coin pouch pictured above. It started with a fabulous super-wide vintage tie that I had to buy despite the fact that buying a tie for the fabric doesn't make too much sense. It had a hole in it, so I had no compunction about pulling it apart, washing it and cutting out pieces for my pouches. It turns out you can get a surprising amount of fabric from a nice wide vintage tie. I have more of these pouches in a variety of sizes so if you have a request let me know and I'll add it to the shop.

Oddly, the final motivation to get the new camera was those blue quilted pouches (mentioned in my last post) whose colour just wasn't coming out right in the photos. And in the end the blue wasn't quite right with the new camera either. I guess it's just a hard-to-capture blue. Is there such a thing? I'm not sure but I'll be doing my best and getting those into the shop shortly as well.

And sometimes it doesn't matter what the motivation is if it works out in the end. I'm very happy with my new camera. Good-bye autofocus!

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Magnolia branches

This kind of thing doesn't usually happen to me, but the other day Bradley brought home a branch he found on the sidewalk. It was Valentine's day and he was bringing me some flowers, but noticed the branch and thought I might like it too.

We thought it was a pussywillow branch. I didn't know what would happen but I put it in a vase with some water and clipped the bottoms of the branches. Then I gave up and took the branches out a few days later to wash the vase, but then Bradley noticed one of the buds seem to be opening a bit so I put them back in the water.

The buds kept getting fatter and the furry shells popped off. And inside there was some pink! Then today, the biggest one opened up all the way and revealed itself to be a magnolia flower! I love magnolia trees so much. Someday I would like to have one. But in the meantime I can't believe how pretty this branch is now. It doesn't quite seem real.

I took lots of pictures because it's so lovely, so here's a side view:

In other flower news, the orchid has bloomed at last!

There are two flowers so far. I didn't take a great picture but this one will give you the general idea.

Speaking of not-great pictures, my photos keep having shadows in the corners. Is my camera dying or am I doing something wrong?? If anyone knows I'd love to hear from you. I can fix a bit of vignetting easily in Photoshop, and sometimes I like the effect, but maybe something's not right here.

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Lacy camera case

I know I've been neglecting my blog when I find cobwebs on my camera tripod. Sorry to have been away so long! I had a tight illustration deadline that was keeping me busy and after a couple of weeks I tend to get out of the habit. As usual I can't show you the artwork until the project is published so I'll try to remember to show you later on.

Incidentally I've started getting a lot of "advertising" comments on my blog which means a comment that's really just a link to a business. Some of the businesses are.. um.. not family friendly.. and it can take ages to delete tons of these automated comments so I've had to add moderation to any comments on posts older than 2 weeks. This means that sometimes I don't see comments right away because the moderated comments only show up when I log in to write a new post. So sorry for delays answering any questions. I usually just reply on the same post where you left the comment/question so you can look for that, but you can also just email me directly, my email is there on the sidebar. Or include your email with the comment. As always comments are appreciated - it reminds me that people do actually read my blog!

So anyway, I was at a wedding with a friend recently who noticed my small handmade camera bag. I had made it years ago and it seems a little wonky to me, but she liked it and wanted me to make one for her. She has a typical bulky black leather/vinyl? bag and wanted a smaller one. It was good timing as lately she's been giving me lots of nice old sewing things, vintage transfer patterns, and bags of bias tape, trim, zippers and buttons, so it was a perfect chance to say thank you!

I love when people find old sewing things and ask me if I'd like them. "Are you sure you want this?" "If you don't want this stuff you can just give it to Goodwill.." I love that. They always seem surprised at how thrilled I am.

When I designed the camera bag for my friend I decide it was time to update my own and these are the results. It's a really nice thick soft wool that helps cushion the camera a bit. The colour didn't come out right in the photos and I can't seem to fix it. It's a bit more rich and warm.. Anyway I'm loving this teal blue lately. The floral print was actually a scrap from Jen Anisef leftover at one of the Workroom Trunk shows (thank you Jen!).

The inside is green seersucker. I like seersucker, there's something about it that makes me nostalgic, something comforting about the texture.

Then the outside is embellished with a bit of antique lace from the Sunday Market. I collect these things incessantly so I'm always happy when the right project comes along to use them. I just can't turn down a mason jar full of buttons or a bundle of vintage bias tape or lace.

The overall pattern is modelled on the wristlets I've been making lately with squared bottom corners. The wool is so thick that it was hard to sew with too many layers, so it worked out better having the lining fabric overlap the top to finish it. It kind of looks like a basket liner.

Anyway I now have a camera bag that I love!

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