My little brother and I (and Liam) have a thing. That thing is that I emasculate and infantilize him repeatedly, and then we all giggle uncontrollably. Also, sometimes I make him Mexican food, and we all sit down to watch  SNL: The Best Of Will Ferrell DVD (actually we stopped doing that at some point, because we had the whole thing memorized… A Palamino? Beautiful golden fur! Why I’ve got all the time in the world!… Uh… Ahem…).

This is how I wrapped his birthday present this year.

Obviously, he is neither 16, nor a princess.

Thankfully for him, inside was Season one of Community, a show we both share an appreciation for, and not Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants… Although there’s always Christmas.

All of which is to say, that for all the pretty-pretty-cutesy-cute-artsy-crafty stuff I put here on this blog, what you may not know about me is that my sense of humour actually skews much more towards frat-boy than girly-girl.

The first years my parents got married, my mom sewed up some Christmas decorations for their little Scarborough basement apartment out of bright green and red and white calico. She made two lovely stockings, and a bunch of little love birds for their tree.

Every Christmas they get pulled out from storage, and still look beautiful – they’ve held up better than most of our familys other ornaments. And on Christmas morning, if I’m at home I wake up to the handmade green stocking, at the end of my bed.

So, now that this is our first married Christmas, I figured I’d make some little love birds for us too, out of more scraps leftover from the wedding

This is my wonky little birdy prototype. He’s a little funny looking, but he’s a first attempt, and I think once I tweak the placement on the next one, he’ll be looking much cuter.

But now… Mmmmmmmmmmm… Liam is baking bread! So excited!

Today we decorated while listening to Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes on vinyl – both really cozy winter albums.

I even crafted up a new garland for the tree – it was just little circles cut out of scrap fabric from all those banners I made for the wedding. I just ran them through the sewing machine in a row. Easy!

In fact, I think I’m going to make a more thorough attempt at holiday crafting this year.

Haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought I’d dump some of my recent fave, really sweet online finds for DIY wedding projects here. Hopefully I’ll have the time to implement a few at my own wedding (but the DIY projects are already piling up around here!).

1. Liberty print ties

   My engagement party dress was a liberty print, so obviously I’m a sucker for the stuff, but it’s also such a sweet idea to sew a tie for your groom, and groomsmen! And easier than you’d think.

2. Hand embroidered pocket square

   A secret message sewn unto a handkerchief turns into an adorably personalized pocket square for your groom. This one’s really special.

3. Fabric boutinierre flower

   Sweet, easy little fabric flowers to tuck in a buttonhole.

4. Bridal party survival kit

   I think these are a great idea, but it’s the presentation that really sells it!

5. Pots of moss

   An adorable, easy little project that could be used for centerpieces or favours!

1. extra low coffee table

   If I didn’t already have a (chinoiserie) coffee table that I have already DIY’d (painted turquoise), I’d consider Ikea hacking this project – I think it looks like 60′s mod Italian design. It would look pretty cool with my Olivetti Valentine sitting on top of it. I also like how the ‘hackee,’ like the Native Americans, used all parts of the ikea shelves to make it, wasting nothing.

2. pretty up a party with paper

   These are just too pretty, and festive. I’m a sucker for anything involving cut paper – but this little project is a combination of ephemeral and affordable that is just perfect for a party.

3. twig serving platter

   This is a variation on that plates-and-cups-glued-together tea tier craft that we’ve seen – but I think it’s an especially clean, modern and vaguely Scandinavian take on it.

4. revamping a lamp

   The cats knocked over my floor lamp with a drum shade, shattering the plastic on the inside. I freaked out – because drum shades are really hard to find, and expensive when you do (and this one was particularly cute – white canvas with a black branch pattern). Seeing this little tutorial for how to make your own drum shade a day or two later made me sigh with relief.

5. tater stamped kitchen curtain

   These are simple and sweet. Plus it’s cheap as potatoes and easy enough for a small child.

A few more things I’d like to share:

1. Small Magazine

   I tend to swoon over adorable, high-end childrens magazines. This one is free and on the internet, so I don’t have to feel weird about paying money for a magazine about something I don’t have (yet).

   And really, I would wear every last outfit in there if they made it adult sizes. There is some gorgeous, swoon-worthy stuff. Check it out.

2. Pumpkin Recipes

   It’s a pumpkiny season, and there is a bumper crop of squashes out there to be scooped up at discounted prices, so a New York Times collection of pumpkin based recipes is pretty timely. Plus, pumpkins are delicous.

3. Ombre Crafts

   Ombre is pretty. Crafts are fun. These pretty and fun ombre crafts live in that unique Martha Stewart universe where crafty projects end up looking high end, and elegant. You know, as opposed our own dimension where the words “Crafty” and “Elegant” are often mutually exclusive.

4. Typocalypse

   Diagnose your font use. Figure out what your typography choices say about you (I like to dance on the ceiling, it turns out).

5. the candi factory

   Karen over at Say It With Pie has long sung the praises of these hand made, artisinal undies. They went on sale, so I finally broke down and bought a set – a days of the weeks set, to be specific – because who doesn’t love an adorable days of the weeks set of underwear? And they’re typographic underwear, no less! Monday is Cooper Black!

   Karen says, on top of being really cute, they last forever, and are super comfy. So far I’ve already found the latter to be inordinately true. These things are heaven. Plus, I am strongly behind any operation that simply does not believe in thongs. Sing it, sister.

In case you were wondering, Mr. Liam’s birthday at the cottage went well.

We swam, and ate delicious meaty pasta that had been simmering all day, and attempted to play Catan (although we ended up too carbohydrate drunk/tired to get the rules right).

This is his present. It’s a t-shirt. With a little drawing on it by me. It’s a squirrel. Wearing a sweater vest and a bowtie. Holding an acorn. With a Wodehousian name (Mr. S. Q. Nutterson Esq. to be precise).

He loved it, of course.

So we got back yesterday – that last day of driving is always a real doozy. Going up can seem like a breeze, but no matter how long the drive home is (and admittedly Thunder Bay is 15 hours away from Toronto – that’s a very long drive by anyone’s standards) it always takes way, way too long.

Sooo…More pictures!

This is Liam’s parent’s big doggie (she’s half border collie and half poodle). I think she looks exactly like Sprocket from Fraggle Rock. She doesn’t ever stop moving, and has a serious oral fixation. She’s only trying to tell us about them rascally fraggles though.

We spent much of the week helping to get things ready for a good friend’s wedding on the weekend. These were the crafty little centerpieces – button flowers – I spent a good few hours making dozens of them (they were also the brides bouquet and the grooms boutonniere)..

Besides the buttons, and a gnome theme, there was also a Finland meets Scotland thing going on at this wedding (the groom being of Scottish decent, the bride being of Finnish).

This is one of my favourite shots of the day – a group of ‘Finns’ (denoted by their Nokia boots, fur hats, and ski gear) kidnapped the ‘bride’ (or in this case, the groom, who everyone was calling the bride, since he had the much more expensive outfit on – traditional highland garb doesn’t come cheap).

Nothing to worry about though, simply an old Finnish tradition called “the stealing of the bride”. All the bride had to do was prove herself worthy of marriage to her groom – by answering a bit of trivia about him – and he was returned safe and sound.

Then we broke out a bottle of 12 year scotch and passed it around.

Yeah, it was a pretty good time.

My living room and bedroom are more or less in line, and my obsessive curation of excellent/pretty/functional kitchen supplies means my kitchen is pretty rockin’ – if a little overstocked.

Next up is the bathroom.

At the moment, my towels are mismatched and the theme could best be described as Hello Kitty meets pastel polka dots… Yeah, not so much an adult’s bathroom.

I’ve been thinking about putting some intensely coloured venetian plaster on one wall because the plaster there is kinda cracked – so it’s two birds one stone.

Then I was in Chinatown looking for sushi plates (we make it enough now that it seemed an legitimate expense) and we came across those super-pretty Japanese bowls that are indigo and white and have pretty little patterns all over them. Now we’re getting somewhere!

Through these inspirations, I have come up with a small, inexpensive plan that could best be described as jewel toned, rustic Japanese.

1. persimmon coloured, burnished, venetian-plaster on one wall (hopefully it will look organic and not too much like a tacky faux finish)
2. indigo and white shibori shower curtain (shibori is Japanese for tie-dye – but it’s much more sophisticated and graphic than normal, hippy-dippy tie-dye – although it will involve a bit of DIY craftiness)
3. indigo and white Japanese decorative bowls and trays and things (basically, repurposed sushi plates – because you know how much I love repurposing). The patterns on this type of porcelain often seems to mimic the patterns on the shibori, which I think is pretty neat.
4. some sort of window treatment so people on the deck don’t get a view of the goings on in there (probably also shibori)
5. some kind of Japanese inspired art – that isn’t cliched or tacky (so no tsunami woodblock print – probably some kind of illustration by yours truly)
6. find some kind of shelving unit that will fit the only available storage space there is – above the toilet.
7. no bathmats, because for some reason our cats like to pee on them (it’s actually quite sad how many of our decorating decisions revolve around cats)

Well! I’ve finally started on my garden!
That’s right, no more dreams and promises, this thing is becoming a reality!

I’ve got a packet of beautiful mixed heirloom tomatoes started on my south-facing windowsill – although I’m worried that it might be a little late for them, so I’ll probably have to supplement my garden with a store-bought plant or two. There are also about a dozen other little paper envelopes sitting on the shelf patiently awaiting May 9th (that’s the frost date around here, if you don’t know).

I also got started on my little bathroom window box (as seen above). It faces the deck, so it’s easy to get to.

I saved up tomato cans all winter (I use them a lot, so it wasn’t too hard) and then I nailed holes in the bottom (this is very important – plants need drainage) and spray-painted them that pretty colour. Then I put herbs in three (golden oregano, golden sage, and lemon thyme) and miniature black pansies in the two remaining cans.

Altogether it cost me around 10 bucks, and it worked out so well, I dumpster dived some oversized spaghetti sauce cans from a nearby market, and I’m going to turn them into planters too! You have to love a project that’s quick, easy, cheap (free!) and recycles.

I baked cookies!

I used the cookie recipe from this December/Novembers Blueprint (don’t even get me started on the fact that my favourite magazine is shortly-to-be defunct – I am pretty upset about it, actually).

They turned out pretty well – even better because I added couple teaspoons of spices to make them more christmasy (1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and a pinch of nutmeg).

I had never thought of colouring the dough instead of icing sugar cookies before, but they turn out so, so pretty.

As you may know, I’m not much of a baker, so whenever I get the urge to bake I end up having to improvise:

1. You may notice that those cookies are drying on bamboo sushi mats (which is something I seem to unwittingly collect).
2. I cut the little flowers out with little metal cutters that are really meant to cut out vegetables to decorate sushi (not so much cookies).
3. I used a little glass to cut out the big round cookies, which is pretty tradtional, actually (I always think those round cookie cutters are kind of silly).

I think Alton Brown with his “no unitaskers” rule would be quite proud of me.

When I get settled, the very first crafty project I am whipping up to decorate my new abode is
this one I just saw on Design*Sponge.

Genius!

Handmade?

Typographic?

Throw pillows?

Doesn’t that sound familiar, everyone?

My only worry is that I won’t be able to find wool felt. It is hard to come by up here in Toronto, for some reason. Polar fleece, I can find oodles of, however, and it may have to do for this particular project (once fleece starts to get nubby and worn it sort of starts to look like felt, so it should be o.k.).

I actually have a few last projects from OCAD that I haven’t posted. This one is pretty much one of my favourites.

It’s a personal uniform. A me-niform, if you will.

The goal of the assignment was to design a uniform for yourself that addresses your daily needs as well as your style and personality. Something you would be willing to wear everyday for the rest of your life, if necessary.

Rather than whip up something bland and utilitarian, I decided to go a more traditional route, and did some research on some of my favourite historical uniforms (namely, sailors suits, Pan-Am stewardess outfits, and the classic Girl Scout look). You can see that I chose to use such old fashioned elements as buttons and dresses and layers (rather than futuristic pockets, cyber-fabrics and embedded technology). I love vintage clothing, so why not incorporate my interests into my outfit? Plus, buttons are sturdier and last longer than other fasteners, and switching them out can instantly update a look.

When it came time to present, I turned my process sketches into a little magnetic paper doll so I could show how interchangeable and layerable my pieces were (I *heart* paper dolls soooooo much!!!).

Oh yeah, you know I got a good mark on this one.

I’m pretty much firmly entrenched in a “Don’t look at me! I’m hiiiiideous!” moment in my life right now.

Don’t worry, it’s more a ugly on the inside that I’m feeling (not that I’m feeling top notch on the outside – but my haircut is growing out pretty cute, and I just got all dolled up for my cousins wedding last week, so my self esteem on that front is at least higher than it is low right now).

It’s mostly just a vast feeling of insecurity about my art skills. And the only reason I feel so insecure about them is because I, quite frankly, don’t feel much like flexing or using them these days.

I mean, look at that handsome man up there in the picture. You see that cute little tee he’s wearing? With the little retro teevee? Yep, that’s all me. I designed the little logo, and ironed it on to a colour co-ordinated shirt. I made it and it’s pretty awesome.

I do good work. Work that impresses people. They tell me so. I mean, we all know that the reason that I quit OCAD had nothing to do with marks (even if most people think it’s crazy to quit something you’re doing well at).

But for the past few months I’ve been having trouble actually doing any.

Work, that is.

I just can’t force myself to sit down and draw right now.

My brain won’t do it even though it also knows I won’t get any better, and indeed will actually start to go downhill in my suckage if I don’t pick up a pen to retain my hand/eye co-ordination (let alone my life drawing/proportion/line control skills).

Worst of all, I’m letting myself be totally intimidated by people who in other times would have simply inspired me.

There are the Team Machos of the world who balance incredible technical skill with mind-blowing creativity and an intensely obscure and mind-boggling sense of humour.

Not too long ago I got to sit in their studio, and sift through their work, and stare at their wall of wacky found art and inappropriate polaroids and pat their twenty three toed feral cat (named Punchy). Tell me that’s not completely overwhelming. And I got invited to come study with a member of the collective for a session or two – but I totally chickened out.

Then there’s all the Hopes, Roses, and Lucys of the world. Incredibly talented and incredibly YOUNG girls- way younger than me even, and they’ve all already graduated from incredible schools and had amazing jobs and/or published work and/or critical acclaim. And they’re girls in a (until very recently) incredibly male dominated industry. Way to rock that boat!

Which says nothing of how much I respect their drawing abilities – the strong, clean, beautiful and very personal images they create. I would give anything to be able to use line the way they do.

Although to be honest, I know I could do the same if I just WORKED at it.

But I let myself get intimidated instead.

In short: I suck!

I kinda knew that it was going to be even harder to motivate myself to work after dropping out of school than it was while was in school, so I could see this coming really (no terms or deadlines to encourage me – not that they ever really did a great job of doing that in the first place).

And I’m in this for the long run, so on the short term I feel like this is a moment in my life I will totally overcome.

But looking at the long term I know I’ve got to WORK to find a solution to this. I can’t just let this moping become my life.

(vintage thonet chair in tacky velvet brocade)

PLUS

(Lena Corwin approved vintage fabric)

EQUALS

(the sexy)

What do we think? Fabulous? Yes?

*pats self on back*

You is good reupholsterer, self.

Now if only you could spell reupholsterer without looking it up.

Today I plan on:

1. Buying some yarn to make something with (maybe I should decide what I’m making before I purchase not enough yarn in the wrong size… – another scarf?)
2. buying some buttons for my currently button-less pea-coat so I don’t catch my death of the cold (it’s khaki cotton duck and goes with everything – I’m thinking of going in a tortoiseshell, or military brass direction)
3. thifting up some ties I can alter and make fashionable for the boy (with silk screen and embroidery and felt maybe?)
4. crossing my fingers that Liam’s interview yesterday went well (I’d really, really, really enjoy being the well-heeled girlfriend of a hot young copy writer for an advertising firm)
5. having tapas for the first time

I’ve been waiting to share this – I made my family home made presents for Christmas this year, and the one I am most proud of is the one I made for Liam:

It’s a board game.

The top half of the board is meant to look like a birds-eye view of the rooms of a mid-century bungalow (obviously I took some inspiration from Clue here).
The premise being that this is the home – high in the Hollywood hills – of a young writer, about to pitch a new TV show (yes, I have a very active imagination).
To win the game, you have to run around the pool and come up with a great idea for a show, and then search your bungalow to find your missing typewriter so you can get it down on paper.

I had some of the most fun with the little pawns – I drew little retro faces onto circles of shrinky dink (which I’ve never used before – sooooo much fun!) . It worked really well, as you can see. They’re super sturdy, and just the right size.

My inspiration for the little faces was the character design of the faces in the 1961 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book – I first saw it (in an earlier incarnation) at Ward Jenkins Ward-O-Matic and when I found a copy at a local vintage store, I knew I had to snap it up immediately. Not only are the illustrations amazing – but all the antiquated design tips are a huge inspiration for a girl like me with a retro decor going on.
I love how all the men wear sport coats, and skinny pants, and ties – so of course, I had to whip up a dapper little Liam (check out the green pawn).

This was an assignment for my 3D form and structure class – we were given a 2D drawing of a top elevation of an object, and we had to build it out in 3D and turn it into a functional, household object.

I made a bento box (a Japanese serving tray for sushi) out of different thicknesses of illustration board. I glued it together and sprayed it red (hence my current affection for spraypaint).

Our old table really didn’t fit into the corner of our living room that serves as a dining room, so earlier this year we went on a hunt for a new, more compact one. It was a long, hard search. We went to antique stores, flea markets, thrift stores, ikeas, fancy designer shops, discount furniture stores – but people really seem to enjoy their furniture bland, expensive and oversized these days.

Finally we found this one at a home improvement store. It was perfect. It has leaves that fold down to make it a teensy table for two – but then fold out into a big round table that can fit at least four. It was unfinished hardwood, so I could repaint it whatever colour I wanted (which is really the best part) – I chose a deep turquoise.

Ain’t it perty?
(Made from the raw wool seen here)
It’s kinda wonky on the edges – but that’s only because I used beautifully wonky, hand-spun, hand-dyed wool for the pretty variegated green stripes. That just means it has character and texture – and I love character and texture.