My new blog!

You can now find me at Lucky Button.

Planner cover and some more inspiration

Every year I sew a fabric cover for my planner. I use it every day.

This year's cover is simple. This is my favourite notebook cover tutorial.



I used my new serger to sew it and I swear it took me less than a minute. Love that serger.

I also bought some books today (at a discount store) for some inspiration.



I just couldn't resist this cute little knitting journal, too cute!



Today was our first day back at school after the holidays. Yes, it was a long break and I loved it. I'm pooped though and it's all I can do NOT to go and crawl into bed (at 6:30!). Yikes.

2010, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!

Whew. You have no idea how happy I am to see the end of 2010. T'was not a good year.

I welcome the fresh start that the new year has to offer. More so this year than ever.

I found myself having quite a few Christmas gifts to give this year and there were some special people that I wanted to make something for.

Once I dragged my sewing machine out again, I started looking for ideas and decided to make some pretty Morsbags for the recipients to use as reusable grocery bags.



What a perfect pattern. I loved the way it was sewn. Simple and durable. I highly recommend it!

I gave 3 as a gift and I've already had phone calls telling me that the bags are already in use.

Santa was extremely good to me this year....



After my lesson at the sewing store I came home and made napkins. It took less than one minute per napkin and I just used fabric from my stash. I'm VERY excited.



On a health note: I've had serious sinus issues for almost 6 weeks now. Sleep has eluded me because I just couldn't get comfortable. I went to my naturopath yesterday and a few acupuncture needles and some homeopathic medicine later, I feel ALMOST normal. Apparently my good friend, Candida, has paid me another visit. Back to my sugar-free, gluten-free, diary free, diet.

Cozy Cowl

Ages ago, and I do mean ages ago, I started to knit this simple cowl. I think I was bored with it so I set it aside.

Well, last night I picked it up again and finished it. I'm pretty sure I was inspired by the freekin' freezing weather we've had for the last few days.

I followed Lera's wonderful advice and cast it off using the method described in this Youtube video.

Here's my first attempt to photograph it (it made me giggle):



And here it is (after taking about 20 photos in the mirror):



Please excuse the crazy-lady hair and the fact I have on no make-up.

Weekend sew-a-thon

I'm fortunate enough to live extremely close to The Book Depot's retail store . I went there last week
to shop for a little inspiration and came home with some super-great finds.

I've flipped through Sewing in No time which left me feeling especially inspired!

So much so, that I dusted off my sewing machine and had myself a little sewing marathon this weekend!



I felt very close to my mom when I was sewing. Truth be told, I felt very much like my mom when I was sewing. She loved to sew and was extremely good at it. I've yet to go through her sewing supplies and pick out what I want to keep. Mostly because I couldn't face it. But now I'm very excited to get to my sister's house and sort through her supplies and fabric.

The sewing I did this weekend will ultimately be Christmas gifts. I think I'm safe to post here what I was working on, perhaps I'll take some photos later this week.

It felt SO good to sew again!!!!!!!!

It's NOT a stripper pole!

On the weekend I put up a Christmas tree. This is the first tree that Joe and I have ever had together. When we moved in together, 8 years ago, we had 3 cats and 2 dogs. It was not a Christmas-tree-friendly house. Now we're down to one dog and I decided to put up a tree.

So, of course, I was all proud of the tree and when our friend stopped by I dragged her into the house to oogle it. She burst into laughter and said it looked like a stripper pole. She has no taste.



I used the fabric garland I made a couple of years ago. I like it. It's all shabby-chic-ish to me.



My dog was not the least bit interested in the fact I was taking photos.



In other news. I broke my blog the other night. It's been soooo long since I've touched it that I completely forgot how to change the banner. Then Blogger sucked me in to "upgrading my template". Huh??? So things look a little different around here. That's likely not a bad thing. Now I just have to figure this out.

Dipping my toe in the water

I'm still here.

Let's just say, I'll be very very happy to see the end of 2010.

A year ago my mother was diagnosed with cancer. My world was shattered. My mother is the greatest person I ever knew. Very very funny. Such a strong woman. She was my hero.

She fought the fight until August 9th, 2010. The saddest day of my life.

When my mother got sick any sparks of creativity I had were extinguished.

I packed up my sewing machine and supplies (not an easy task!) and turned my sewing room into a reading room.

Last week I felt like knitting, so I pulled out a pair of socks I've been knitting for quite a while now. They are not done yet, but I can't tell you how good it feels to just sit and knit.

Then, I decided that I miss my sewing machine. So I dragged that out and although I don't have a place for it anymore, I intend to make room for it in my "reading" room.

I miss blogging. Blogging was such a big part of my life for so very long. I would post something and within hours my mother would call with her comments. We'd laugh, she'd e-mail links to my entries to her friends so she could brag about what I'm doing. *sigh* I miss that.

So, I'm dipping my toe in the water.

I'm not sure what the future holds. All I know is that I want to knit. I want to sew. I want to make soap. I want to make note cards. I want to blog. I want to read blogs. I haven't wanted to do any of these things in a VERY long time.