Spring treats

Don't forget, the Spring Trunk show is on tomorrow!

City of Craft & the workroom present
Spring Trunk Show
Sunday May 15, 2011
Noon-5pm
the workroom
1340 Queen Street West
FREE Admission

I'm busy getting ready, including creating something especially for this show. I wanted to make something that would be right for Spring. They're tiny pincushions made with miniature baskets and special scraps from my fabric stash. Each one has a little set of coordinated pins.

Of course I had to save one for myself... Anyway, hope to see you tomorrow!

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City of Craft - almost ready!

Just one last post before City of Craft this weekend! This year I have new Christmas cards, a vintage-inspired watercolour of a fairy with a young robin. It's a bit sweet & sentimental but sometimes when I sit down to draw that's just what comes out. These come in sets of four with envelopes, and the cards are blank inside so you can write anything you like.

 I also just finished some more new wool embroidered brooches, this time in blue/green.

To make these I started with a knitted swatch, like a small scarf. Then I wash that and dry it a few times so it's a bit felted. Then I do some extra soapy felting by hand to help it really shrink down and get nice and thick.

This time I dyed the swatch with yellow first, then added some blue after that. Doing it this way instead of just dyeing it green in the first place makes a nice rich blend of blue and green that I really like. Then I dry the swatch and cut it into little circles. Each circle is hand-embroidered using crewel wool. Then lastly I sew a little brooch latch on the back. Done!

I also have some new sewn pincushion/ornaments as well, lots of them made with pieces of my favourite barkcloth fabrics. There are two made with grey and orange wool plaid and crocheted lace.

And a few with a combination of mustard yellow linen, a floral print and vintage lace.

And lastly a few with a blue Japanese cotton print with little trees and deer combined with blue striped fabric and gingham on the back.

If you're not a sewer, they have loops so you can hang them on a tree and they make a nice little stocking stuffer.

And lastly I have these little friendship medals. The wood shapes were made by Beside Herself and bought by me at a Workroom trunk show. I decided to cross-stitch little bars of colours on each one then sew a brooch pin on the back. Beside Herself is the collaboration of Toronto based artists Carolyn Self and Alda Escareño - this talented duo will be at City of Craft as well, tempting you with everything on their table!

Ok, back to work for me... don't forget to visit the City of Craft blog to see samples of some of the swag on offer for the first 100 people to the show on BOTH days, and some of the gorgeous items you could win in the raffles that take place throughout the show.

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Getting ready for City of Craft

I've been very busy getting ready for City of Craft! Here's a sneak peek..

I sold my last crocheted pincushion at Crafternoon Tea, so I decided to make some new ones. These are crocheted from my own handspun wool yarn combined with vintage feedsack floral fabric tops and vintage buttons with wool flowers or leaves underneath. They come with their coordinating pins! They're all stuffed with 100% wool fleece.

I've also embroidered lots of new brooches. These are made from thick white felted wool circles embroidered with crewel wool with a brooch clasp sewn on the back. I love making these! I generally just make up each picture as I go along.

And lastly I have some new necklaces. These are based on a new idea I had last year but I didn't have time to make more than one. I've added wool felt flowers to the usual beads and silver charms I use. I love the textile element and I've used lots of my favourite aqua and mustard. I'm just not tired of this colour combination! p.s. I only bought one pony charm (why? why?) so there is just the one pony necklace.

I hope I've tempted you to visit my table at City of Craft! I'm going to be inside the theatre in front of the stage steps close to my spot last year. If I have time this week, I'll show you another sneak peek. In the meantime, here's all the info:

City of Craft 2010

December 18 & 19, 2010
Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm
$2 Admission

Toronto's annual indie craft fair is back and better than ever. 50 vendors! A neighbourhood full of related art and installations! Free workshops and demos! Surprises!

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Needle Book blog - Spring Giveaway

Call it wishful thinking, but I've decided to have a little Spring Giveaway. It's actually in honour of my 400th post! I can't believe I've written that many, what on earth have I been nattering on about?

Anyway, just in case you think I don't appreciate my readers, here's the giveaway. It includes a set of my bird sketch notecards, a wee pincushion made with the sweetest Japanese deer print:

 and a one-of-a-kind peg doll:

She has a little feedsack skirt with lace trim, a brown knitted sweater, and a purple wool felt kerchief with tiny pink button.

All this cheerful Spring goodness for free, just leave a comment and I will pick a winner on March 15th. Please include your email address in your comment so I can reach you if you win.

p.s. I haven't put any of these pincushions in the shop as they are too fat to send letter mail, so they cost $6 to ship. Which is silly because they are only $5 to start with. So if you'd like to add one to any Needle Book Shop purchase just send me an email or etsy convo.

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Filling the shop

Green crocheted pincushion with feedsack top

Lots more things have been making their way into my shop!

Linen embroidered needle book

Grey lambswool crocheted bag with lace

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Shop updates - pincushions!

I've been using my little skeins of homespun yarn to make some new creations for the shop. I wasn't chosen to be in City of Craft this year, so rather than save my handmade things they're going into my etsy shop.

These little pincushions are crocheted with my handspun yarn, with fabric sewn on top and some vintage button and wool felt embellishment. The brown one has a bit of feedsack, and the pink one is just one of many bits of fabric I had on hand. I knew all that hoarding would eventually be useful!

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Crafty shopping - part 1

Recently I've bought a few little handmade things, and they're so nice I thought I would share some links. The first is a lovely apple pincushion made by the talented Nicole from Craftapalooza. I was tempted by the kit, but then again I only really needed one, so I splurged and bought one ready made with adorable fabrics.

So in Nicole's new shop you can buy the pattern, kits that come with the fabric and other materials needed to make your own apple pincushion or one already made - even the same one pictured here.

My favourite part is the clever idea of a having the leaf on top for your needles. That way they don't get lost in the pincushion. I keep most of mine in a needle book, of course, but sometimes I like to just have a pincushion with a needle or two on hand.
The shelves in my studio are getting pretty crowded. Partly because I can't resist buying pretty ceramic planters whenever I see them! The new yellow fan shaped one is from the Sunday Market at St. Lawrence. I love it so much...

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Craft show and house work

mini pincushions/ornaments, made from Japanese imported fabric

I've finally started making a few small things for the craft show coming up. I'm going to have a half table at the City of Craft show this year.

Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008
Time: 12:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: The Theatre Centre
Street: 1087 Queen Street West
City: Toronto, ON

Please visit me and say hello! The City of Craft website is here. If you're into Facebook, you can find us here. There's also a Flickr page with pictures of some of the crafty goodness you'll find at the show.

In other news we're doing lots of work on the house again. After our big kitchen and bathroom renovation there were tons of small things left to do but we had run out of steam. Today I've been painting the new panel doors for the bedroom and bathroom. We previously had plain slab doors that were a bit warped so it will be really nice to update those at last. This past weekend Bradley updated our front hall light fixture and finished installing the baseboards in the kitchen, bathroom, hallway and closet. He also cut pieces for trim around the windows.

Over the weekend I did my job, which is the caulking and next I'll need to paint all the new trim. The last thing of all will be a backsplash in the bathroom over the sink, and in the kitchen. We have new tiles that are glass mosaic tiles in a very pale watery blue. I haven't tiled in ages but I'm going to try doing it myself - wish me luck!

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Craft sale preparations!

We're back at home and all the tiles are installed. There's still some finishing work to do but I think it's going to be really nice. So today I'm getting everything ready for the craft sale tomorrow:

The Artisans Gift Fair (free admission)
The Tranzac Club (south of Bloor between Bathurst and Spadina)
292 Brunswick Avenue
from 12-6pm

I've made a few pincushions recently, from lovely fabric I bought at a wonderful new shop, The Workroom, that we visited the other day after the Designer Fabric Outlet. The owner Karyn, imports all the best Japanese fabric, and has pretty displays of vintage threads and jars, and has a row of little tables with sewing machines you can rent by the hour. The shop has classes and a library with all the best crafts books. It was like looking at my own bookself!Today I'm finishing up little details such as adding nice pearl snaps for the handbags. I really love my new labels and have been adding them to everything. My table will have pouches, handbags, totes, pincushions, needle books, silver beaded jewellery, portable shoppers made from red and white leafy IKEA fabric that have matching little bags to keep them in, wool trivets for your teapots, knitted eyeglass cases and every purchase comes with free Thumbelina gift tags! Hope to see you there...

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