Misc. Info

Caught this scene the other morning at 7am. Took the pic from my kitchen wondow. Glad I took the picture when I did because 5 minutes later it was dark and dreary again. We've gotten a lot of snow this year. Enough already! I'm ready for spring.

Great news though - H.H. and I have booked a trip to China. We'll be leaving in a few weeks. Can you believe that???? I haven't been off of this continent (North America) so I am very nervous. H.H. on the other hand is a world traveller and has been many places. This is the only one place that we could agree on. I can't wait to go shopping in the markets - can you imagine the fabric I could find?

We are going to Bejing, Xi'an and Shanghai. We also plan on visiting some rural areas as well, but plans have yet to be solidified.

Fire!

So we had a big fire downtown today. Unfortunately they police blocked off the area so I couldn't get any photos that did the blaze justice. All I got were pictures from the streetcar and from my office window. Mostly just smoke, but I thought my mom would like to see them anyway. A whole block of Queen Street gone in 6 hours.

Girly Bag

Well here is the 'after' picture. Old ugly curtains have been transformed into an ultra feminine bag.

The ruffles on the bag handles were a pain in the you know what...

I bought some lovely turquoise linen to line the interior of the bag. It matches the turquoise flowers in the bag perfectly - couldn't believe my luck!

I'm so sleepy this evening - off to bed.

Looking for a Good Book?

Today I want to tell you about a great little book I received from H.H this past Christmas. I meant to tell you about it before, but it kept slipping my mind.
The book is called “Sew Easy Bags” by Linda Lee. It’s an inspiring little book of bags for those of you who like to sew. I usually don’t buy bag books, because I worry that it will ruin my ability to create an original bag, but I found that this one inspired me.

The book is dived into 2 sections. One section has some basic (very much for the beginner) sewing tips and terms. The other section consists of pictures and instructions for each bag on individual cards (sort of like large playing cards). The book itself is small and compact with a magnetic closure to keep all of the card pieces safely inside (I love nice packaging!). The instructions are pretty easy to follow for the more experienced sewer. The only drawback for beginner sewers is that patterns are not included. She does give you measurements to aid in cutting out the pattern pieces though.

Anyway, I think it’s a really cute book so I thought I would share it with all of you. Check it out!

A Cat & Some Curtains

Ok - so I had quite the day yesterday. I've been off of work the last couple of days studying for my exam. Yesterday as I prepared to 'bunker-down' I noticed little Dublin (my cat) scooting her bum across the living room floor. Yep - that's never good. I took a closer look and knew that we had to get her to the vet. She's ok now - I'll spare you the details as they are quite unpleasant. Anyway - this is the 2nd time this has occurred and we know the drill - some antibiotics and all will be well. This cat's value increases every time we go to the vet. Yesterday's bill was $260!!!! Yikes.

Now, in all this turmoil a good thing did happen. After I dropped Dublin off at the "spa" for the day I walked home. I decided to stop into Goodwill since it is on the way and I am so glad I did! I found these fabulously gaudy, retro curtains! 2 pairs of them! Now I know what you are thinking....ewwww. But I promise you, this fabric is going to be reinvented into some downright SASSY bags! Wait - the news gets even better - each curtain pair was priced at $8.99 but turns out that yesterday was 1/2 price on everything day! That means I got the 2 pairs of curtains for the price of one! $8.99! There must be 20 yards of fabric or more!

Whew! Ok - I'm getting too excited here (I know my fellow sewers will understand). So stay tuned for the after photos!

Gotta go calm myself down now with more coffee.....er...

Procrastination

Ok, so one of the reasons for the lack of new product in my store (er......and lack of a custom made bag for one of my bestest friends...) is that I am currently studying for an exam for my day job.

I'll tell you - this exam is really pulling me down. I am a procrastinator....I am procrastinating right this minute as i type. There are so many other more interesting things to do then study - sewing, blogging, designing, shopping, eating, sleeping - I could go on forever! I realize that this is a pattern for me - I did the same thing all through high school and college too. I would wait and wait and wait some more. Then I would end up cramming - and occasionally failing my tests. Oh, that 'not studying guilt' is at my heels now, and I won't be able to fully enjoy myself until I get the darn exam overwith so I must keep it short this evening.

Until tomorrow friends - wish me luck!

A Snow Day...for some...

Today was a snow day for some - unfortunately not me. When you live and work in a city that has mass public transit, you have no choice but to show up at work. There are no excuses (believe me, I thought of everyone in the book before I got out of bed this morning).

Since I didn't get to stay home, I made sure I took my sweet little time to getting to work. I brought my camera along and took some shots of the storm as it hit.

I also took some shots on the way home.

It really doesn't seem like that much snow. I remember the snow days of my youth and they seemed alot more fruitful...perhaps the snow seemed higher because I was shorter then?

It's just as pretty though...