Evolution of a Workspace

When I first started sewing Needlings in 2007, it was strictly living room/coffee table work.  This worked for longer than I'd like to admit although slowly taking over other tables and closets throughout the years.

Now I have beautiful big worktable and workspace that I love and a stuffed closet full of extra supplies, fabric, display pieces, etc.  

I am a big believer in the fact that there is no right way to do anything and work needs, craft rooms, workspaces, studios are no exception.  I use what works for me and am constantly changing things around to see fit.  As a result, my "In the Workroom" photos have had a lot of variations over the years.  Through some hardcore picture folder research and organizing - I found some examples to share of variations of workspace looks.


This was my "storage table" for finished goodies, paperwork, and extra supplies in December of 2007 only a few months in to Needlings.  Because most of my work in the past few years has been stocking stores, very rarely do I have this many finished Needlings goodies to store before they have to be shipped out! 
       

June 2008


*2009 seems to be the dark ages as far as workspace photos goes.  

March 2010 (with work snacks)


October 2010


April 2011


September 2011


January 2012


And today!


It's an ever evolving mess of scraps, supplies, and paperwork but I try to keep it tidy with lots of room for cutting and thinking. It's also fun to see the evolution of my work itself. And photo quality.

Do you have a studio or craft space? Where do you work? I'd love to see it!

Events : Toronto OOAK Spring Show

This was not an event that Needlings participated in but instead one I took the 45 minute drive in to Toronto for.  

A last minute decision today to go check out the One of A Kind Spring Show at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. It was a fun little shopping venture at which I bought nothing but saw lots of great handmade things from people all over Canada.




I found out near the end that I wasn't allowed to take pictures but lucky us, I did get a few of the inside before my error was brought to my attention.  






I also visited with my friend Paula of Orange Octopus who was doing the show for the first time this year.  Her booth looked awesome!  Her husband built it and her tattoo artist did the painting.



I picked up a couple programs and a few cards from some places I want to check out again. It's so overwhelming walking through - there is so much to see and everyone does an amazing job on their displays!



And here's what I wore!  My new dress from Old Navy that I'm in love with at the moment. I also popped on a Needlings Owl Baby pin before heading out because a girl has got to represent, as they say. Or something.

In the Workroom Recap : Week 230

Well, I left off last week having almost finished a batch of Owl Mamas for Kid Culture in Toronto.  In between some workspace redecorating and reorganizing, I finished them up and started work on more!

New ribbon storage!


Off they went!


On to a bunch more for Chapters! This time littles as well as Owl Mamas.





I finished what I thought was going to be enough to restock my shelf at Chapters Ancaster but after I went in to check on things earlier today, I’ll have to make double as many big owls and a few more littles to fill it up completely! So that's first on the list for tomorrow! I'm really excited they are doing so well there so I won't complain about making more.

This next week will be another owl-filled one as I move on to work on a restock of Owl Mamas and Owl Cell Sleeves for White Rabbit in Iowa City (one of my favourite cities that is near and dear to me).

I'll leave you with a quick doodle I did this week to round out a fully owl covered week.

                                   

Some weeks are owl-ier than others!

See you for the next one!

Favourites : More Etsy Favourites

So as I said in my first Etsy handmade favourites post a few weeks back - I have thousands of items "hearted" on etsy with more being added everyday. There are just so many talented makers all over the world and I'll never run out of favourites to share.

Here are a few more:


If you know much about Etsy then you have heard of The Black Apple.  Emily Martin is one of Etsy's first sellers and a wonderful illustrator. She just so happens to be the first seller I purchased from on Etsy way back in 2005 when Etsy was created. And then multiple times since then, a bag, a doll, some prints, postcards, etc. She has written and illustrated her first children's book called Oddfellow's Orphanage and I need to remind myself to get a copy. How sweet does this look?


It's no secret that etsy is my favourite place to find special accessories.  Whenever I get a compliment on a necklace, earrings, bag, hair pin, etc., my answer is usually, "THANKS! I got it on etsy." (And I'm not even lying) I love these fabric detailed pendants from The Whirlwind. I think the only reason I don't own one yet is because I just can't pick a favourite.


Ashley G is another one of my favourite Etsy illustrators. Another shop that it's hard for me to pick a favourite. I love all her pretty little girls with forlorn looks and sketchy bangs.


I caught this Beetlejuice Terrarium by Rachel Bishop on the front page of Etsy a couple weeks ago and thought it was too cool not to bookmark. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.


I was initially introduced to Misala Handmade through Dots & Loops' facebook page as they posted pictures of their store opening in Lunenburg. As I was watching for photos of my Needlings to arrive at their beautiful store, I came across these adorable creative little change purses; bunnies, whales, strawberries, elephants, etc.  I thought this little orange umbrella was super cute.


Last but not least, an amazing Furry Hatted Rabbit from one of my favourite plush artists, Cat-Rabbit. I hope to add one of her amazing little guys to my handmade plush collection sometime soon.

So there you go, a few more amazing handmade goodies.  Let me know if you have any suggestions for me!

OotD - Or Outfits of the Week

I did a few outfit posts this week so I thought I would compile them in to one here.

I'm still sewing away on a Needlings restock for Chapters but had a few other things going on and haircut to get this week that took me away from my worktable. I also used henna powder on my hair for the first time a couple days ago.  If any of you have used it you will know that it's a weird and muddy process of slopping green mud on your head and hoping for the best. Eventually it ended up clean and a little red - you might be able to see the red in the last outfit photo here. It was actually fun to smear mud around a little bit. I never was a very messy kid though so I didn't make too much of a mess.


This is what I wore on the photo walk earlier this week.  I did put shoes on at some point though - no hiking through the woods barefoot for me.  Although it would go with the mud in the head nature woman thing I was feeling from the henna later in the week...


       
This was haircut day. This gold dress from Ruche was a Christmas gift and is now one of my favourites although I've only worn it a handful of times so far. I think when the weather gets warmer I'll be breaking it out more often.


       
And this is post haircut and henna so it's a little redder. Maybe? I also wore contacts for a minute in a rare move. It's so weird not to have my big ol' glasses on my face except when I'm sleeping now. I think I'll stick with them.

This is a thrifted wool sweater that I love and have to get as much wear as possible out of before the weather gets warmer. I'm like a fussy baby wearing wool unless it's really cold out. I think a lot of people must agree because I always see sweet wool sweaters at thrift stores.

So that's that!  Today I am in some slippers and my favourite cozy sweater and doing some hardcore Needlings sewing and catching up on my encore watching of The Killing before the premiere on Sunday.

Enjoy your weekends everyone! See you soon
!

Where I Live : Tiffany Falls

*I thought I would take the time to show you around the area that I live in through perhaps a series of posts of me visiting some of my favourite spots in Southern Ontario. Hamilton isn't my hometown but I live here now and love it! To see more about Hamilton: check here*

I grew up with sort of adventurous parents who liked to change things up and move around and as a result of that, I don't really have a city that I consider my hometown!  Instead, I have a few home away from homes and lots of "travel experience" in North America.  Between living on both coasts of Canada and in between and then Iowa and back to Ontario twice, I'm so happy to have seen so many pretty places.  Now that I've been in the Hamilton area (which is about 45 minutes away from Toronto) for the longest I've been anywhere, I'm making it my new hometown and trying to get to know it better.

Hamilton rests on the Niagara Escarpment and is filled with conservation areas and as a result, you don't have to go far from the city to see some really beautiful spots.  Some time in the past few years they dubbed Hamilton the "waterfall capital of the world," with lots of water running off the escarpment. Tiffany falls is a little one that is less than 5 minutes from my house so I went there first for a mini hike and photo walk!

                                 

  


It was such a beautiful crisp start-of-spring day and I had lots of fun playing in the woods and taking photos. I can't wait to go back and take more when the trees are all green. 

                

I love living so close to this. As the weather gets nicer and everything starts looking extra beautiful, I'm sure I will be inspired to visit some more pretty places and show you a little bit more of where I live.

In the Workroom Recap : Week 229

229 - already finished! Post-vacation days are flying by for some reason.

Week 228 was spent enjoying my last week of vacation without even a bit of felt touching my hands. I arrived home on Tuesday night and after a couple days of catching up on emails and paperwork, I got back to work on my stack of Owl Mamas.

I finished up the big stack of faces first. I very rarely work in such large batches so seeing that many eyes staring back at me was kind of fun.




After I machine sewed all their ric rac "feathers" on their chests, instead of continuing working on them as a huge batch, I decided to finish small batches seperately and mail them out as they're finished since I have a few stores waiting on restocks already!  I pulled 6 aside to finish up for Kid Culture in Toronto first.




Almost finished! They'll be packed up and ready to go by the end of the weekend then I'll be back to work on more. Luckily today was a rainy one so staying in and sewing felt extra cozy. Although a lot of the day I spent fighting over my work chair as my kitty Gus seems to have claimed it when I was away on vacation.  Obviously because he missed me so much...



In the end, I let him snuggle in.  Who could resist this little guy?

So that's it for 228! See you next week for a full week recap and hopefully lots more finished Needlings.

OotD - Thrifted Finds

I wore my new skirt (that I mentioned in my last post) that I found on vacation today to check in on my Needlings stock at Chapters, run a few errands, and go to Hutch's at the Hamilton harbourfront for a fish and chip dinner since it has been feeling like summer lately.

                          
                                        (oops, crooked necklace)
                    
                
                              Skirt: Thrifted at Goodwill in Delaware, OH
                           Cardigan: Thrifted somewhere in Iowa years ago
                                                   Belt: Thrifted
                                                 Cami: Old Navy
                                                  Flats: Blowfish

Not a bad skirt for under $4.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the nice weather.  I love layering so much that I don't mind it chilly but a nice sunny day on a patio is nothing to complain about.