Last Legs

Circle Craft

I went to Circle Craft today at the Convention Center. There are so many talented people out there! The quality of the work at Circle Craft is always top notch. Even if something isn't exactly "my thing" I can still appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into it. I think the price to get into Circle Craft is a bit steep, and it is so busy in there that it is hard to look at things properly. But if you see something you really like you can make a point of getting in there and checking it out. If I had extra cash I would have made many a purchase.  

One of my favourite booths was LuPrints, pictured above.

I have always loved Adhesif Clothing. I think she is one of the best clothing designers in Vancouver. Her pieces are totally original and really well made, not to mention that she uses reclaimed materials!

Something kind of novelty that caught my attention were these weird paper "artworks" by Mizzonk. Pictured below. I don't really "get" them, but I like the way they look. "Quotation Marks?"

 
Two booths that I liked, but that don't really have websites that show their work accurately were Nico Papergoods and Stick Man Creations. I think it is best if you go to Circle Craft and check these things out in person instead of viewing their stuff online. Nico Papergoods is really beautiful letterpress stationary and Stick Man Creations are little silver pendants or charms.

 
My favourite booth was definately Botanical Art, also better in person than on the website. She is in booth 120. Check this stuff out. It is so cool! I am really into vegetables and gardening lately, so you can see why I would like it. I think it is one of the more original things that I have seen in a while. I really liked the little pieces (with only one veggie featured) that she had for sale. The mushroom ones were particularly cute!

This evening I went to a stitch and bitch hosted by the Vancouver Craft Mafia at Rhizome Cafe. There was a great turn out. There was hardly enough room for everyone to sit down. I got more bitching done than stitching, though, because I forgot to bring scissors. Also, I kind of find it hard to crochet and talk at the same time because I have to count while I am crocheting. I had Genmaicha green tea and an awesome potato leek soup.

Why do you build me up Buttercup just to let me down?

Work. Work. Work. I've been making lots of collages. Cute collages, Christmas Collages, pretty collages, collages for girls and collages for boys. I found that most of the collages I was making before were catered to girls so I made sure to make some for boys this time and there are some really cute ones! A little boy with a baseball bat and hat chasing a frog, a little boy eating a hot dog. Football and dinosaurs. My living room floor is covered with paper.

I brought my little portable radio from the car into the house so I have music and today I have been listening to 104.9, "Greatest Hits of All Time" but so many of the songs remind me of Tees because we used to listen to this station in his truck. It seems like ANY station I put on is playing so much Neil Young. Weird.

Mushrooms

I've been feeling blue for the past few days. Along with the comforts of my friends, Autumn has been keeping me hopeful. The stunning changing colours of the leaves will never stop amazing me. Every year I am overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. It seems like this year has been especially fantastic. On a clear day you can see the snow covered mountains in combination with the bright trees and it is almost enough to knock you over.

It has also rained a few days too, which has caused little mushrooms to poke up everywhere. There is something human-like about mushrooms. They are so dainty and perfectly composed. I took the above picture in my backyard. They are like some of the mushrooms in my collages.

I think my cat knows I am feeling kind of blue, because he has been following me around the house. He lies above the keybourd if I am at the computer and he cuddles on the couch if I am watching tv or sleeping. He follows me to the bathroom. It's really cute. He is my man.

Two New Stores

 

I have to share this wonderful news with you about two new stores that have opened in Vancouver. The first is Collage Collage, a store, a school, a gallery and a workshop for children and adults. It is really lovely. Erin has kept the decore simple, mostly white with tubs of supplies and a wall of inspiring books. She has great taste in books. She is carry lots of local authors and artists. And in the middle of the store is a table for the workshops. I bought a miniature plastic duck and a book of paper dolls. The paper dolls are all singers from the 60's. It is amazing!

Anyway, go in there and check it out. Right now for a month she is featuring the work of Julie Morstad, whose work I love.

Then, since you are there already, go next door to check out the new Ruby Dog's Art House. There is no more bulk section but the place looks so great. It is smaller but still packed with wonderful things for art making. Leanne gets in new products all the time. Both of these stores are so inspiring!

I think everyone should go into both of these stores with the intention of making at least one Christmas present this year. Handmade gifts really are the best. Support these independent art supply stores, spend some time being creative, and give the best kind of gift.

Pumpkin Hut

 

Tyler and I bought our pumpkin at a little hut on the side of the road.

  

These are the little things in life that I live for.

  

They also sell flowers and squash. 

 

I cooked a great dinner last night. A butternut squash soup with ginger. It is really simple. I don't have my cookbooks with me so I just made it up as I went along.

1 whole peeled and seeded butternut squash, diced into small chunks

3-4 tbs of finely minced ginger

2 carrots (optional)

3-5 cloves of garlic finely minced

1 can of diced tomatoes (I want to start canning my own tomatoes!)

900 ml veggie broth (or water)

1-2 tbs olive oil

1/2 - 1 cup milk (optional)

I just put the first 5 ingredients in a large soup pot and sauteedthem for a bit on med. Then added the tomatoes and broth and brought it to a boil then turned it down to low to simmer for about 30 min (till the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Once it was cooked I pureed about half of the soup with the milk, small amounts at a time and then put it back into the pot. Serve hot!

I also made mushroom cheddar souffles and cous cous salad. I would like to start putting up pictures of the things I cook but I never seem to be able to get good photos of food.

The Grocery Store

I just LOVE grocery shopping. It is a slight addiction, I think. I go almost every day. I try to shop at independent stores and at the farmer's market, but I also go to Price Smart often. I think maybe I like the ritual. Grab a basket, scan my little key card to see if there are any specials. This always disappoints me a little, because they never feature anything that I buy. Oh well. Maybe one day they will.

Today it was sample time when I got there. Score! I first tried a sample of seven layer dip. I was really impressed with the care that they guy put into the presentation. It looked awesome. There was a heaping amount of dip in a little container and three large nachos sticking out from the middle. I was so mesmerized by this thing, wandering aimlessly, and savouring every bite, that I just kind of lost track of what I was there for. Oh yeah! I came here to buy stuff, and I'm already half way through the produce section with out having looked at anything. I finished my sample, greedily sticking my finger in to get the last of it at the bottom that the chip couldn't scoop up. The thought "should I be embarrassed that I just did that?" ran through my head.

Moving on. Chose some peppers. I have this desire to go down every isle even if I know I don't need anything in that isle. I just want to go down there. It is calling my name! If I am with my boyfriend I try to suppress this urge. When I am with him I also try not to read every label of everything that I pick up. I am a nutrition info junkie. I want to know what I'm eating. I want to know all the ingredients. I want I want I want.

Had some smoked salmon and candied salmon samples. Felt kind of weird about that, them being fish and just sitting on a paper plate in the open. But I took them anyway. The only meat I eat is fish and I do this cute little thing where I take a sample of items that have meat in them and then slyly give them to my boyfriend when we have rounded the corner. Then he gets two!

The grocery store is a great place to indulge in music that you are kind of embarrassed about listening to in normal circumstances. Like Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" or Sarah McLaughlin's "Building a Mystery". There are certain rules about enjoying the music, though. No singing along! I do this sometimes unconsciously. I stop myself as soon as I notice I'm doing it. It doesn't happen very often. One day a long time ago. Probably at least 10 years now, my friend and I were waiting to cross the street and she said, "I wish we lived in a society where it was normal for me to walk down the street singing out loud." And I agreed with her. Wouldn't that be lovely? If you could sing out loud while walking to the library or bank? But you can't! It is just not kosher.

There is a guy that lives in Vancouver that walks around singing opera. He has passed by at least three places that I have worked, several times, while I was working. All of them in very different parts of the city. It is okay when he does it. But no one else. And it is only okay that he does it because he is known now as the crazy singing guy. It is very distracting and quite lovely.

Always in the kitchen supplies isle I slow down and admire the tiny frying pans and cool measuring cups and baking pans (I love mini loaf pans and other mini things). Then I snap back into reality and say in my head, "You do not need any of this stuff!". I know I know.

There are a few things that I never buy at the grocery store because of their price, but if I had the cash I would purchase organic milk, flax oil, organic produce, fresh tuna, and fresh hand-peeled shrimp. Dreams can come true.

Saturday

 

The market on Saturday was kind of slow. But the highlight of the day was when a little boy, about 6 or 7, came up to my table and asked his "Nana" if he could buy one of my collages. She told him that they would look around and he could decide if he still wanted it. I could tell that she was not enthused about buying it for him, and I expected that he would find something else that he liked more than a collage. But he came back! He even said "Nana, I will get this instead of a pumpkin." It was adorable and made me feel great. Reluctantly, she bought it for him. I was very excited that I had sold a kid what was probably his first piece of art. Or at least the first piece that he picked out himself. This is the one he bought:

 

 

The atmosphere at the market is really great. I love being there. Good music, fresh and colourful produce. The weather was beautiful. It got a bit windy and I had to keep changing my display so that things stopped falling over. The mirror I bring crashed to the ground but didn't break, which was a miracle. When Tyler picked it up off the ground, and it wasn't cracked, everyone around us cheered.

 

The strangest thing happened at the market. Many of the people that came to my table asked, "What is the purpose of this?" or "What are these?" refering to my scarves. I had never had to explain before to anyone what they were.

 

I'm working on some more scarves and have been listing more things on Etsy. Looking forward to another Abbotsford Market next Saturday.

Wading Knee Deep

My friend Jordan has started a blog, Wading Knee Deep Thru Blood, reviewing scary movies. I read all the posts today. If you are into films such as The Thing, Troll, and Rosemary's Baby, you should go have a look at the blog. I'm hoping he will let me do a couple guest entries because I am a huge fan of horror flicks. It is the perfect timing for this, too, because Halloween is coming up. I'm pretty stoked about Halloween because Tyler and I are going to go see the Evil Dead Musical.

I have a market tomorrow. Excited!

Nervous! Excited! Excited! Nervous!

Girl and Squid

 

I listed 5 of my collages on Etsy today and sold one. That was very exciting. I also spent a couple hours at the MCC Thrift store in Abbotsford. They had records for $0.01 each. I rifled through them and came up with about 40 that I could have purchased but went through my selection and pared it down to 21 records which came to $0.22 with tax. Most of them are country records. Charlie Pride, a Best of Merle Haggard etc. Pretty cool. I also bought a couple more books for collaging and buttons. An old atlas and a few old dictionaries.

 

I'm really excited about the market this Saturday but also very nervous, of course. I really don't know what to expect from the Abbotsford Farmers Market crowd. I just really love what I am working on right now and hope that it will be successful.

Autumn

One thing I love about Abbotsford is that it is easy to buy local produce. There is a market called Wongs that I go to all the time with my boyrfriend, Tyler. Last time we were there I took some pictures.

It feels too early for Summer to be over, but I do enjoy Fall. I'm excited to pick out a pumpkin and carve it with Tyler.

I love the colours of Fall. And the shapes. The smell.

I am excited to bake more and cook casseroles in the oven. I love wearing cozy sweaters and snuggling under the flannel quilt that one of my mom's friends made for me when I was a kid.

There is a wall at Wongs covered in fruit stickers. It has given me an idea for an art project. More on that later.

I found out this weekend that I have been accepted to the Got Craft? Holiday Market. I will be sharing a table with my friend Randy, whose artwork you can see here. There is a great page on the Got Craft? website that lists all the vendors with pictures and links. I just love the poster.

The I Heart Crafts Bazaar went really well yesterday. This is one of the pieces I sold.

Here are a couple that are still available.

I'm selling the small collages for $8 and the large ones for $22.