getting ready for lots of making.

hello hello!
i'm having a good morning so far, how is yours?
i think it's because...
* i had a great night in last night! monday evenings, my best friend usually comes over. we have dinner together, and she does her school work (she is in teacher's college) and i do my crafting, with the promise that i will not talk to her (which is difficult sometimes because there's just so much to say and she and i talk a lot. haha). BUT nothing tops having your best friend over and just standing by the counter eating nutella and ice cream right out of the box. she literally made an ice cream sandwich- nutella and ice cream inside this really yummy soft bun. sigh. love you, A.
* it's finally cold enough to wear gloves and a hat, and cold enough to stuff my pants into my boots. harhar.
* and it's really quiet here in the office...i like it that way in the mornings. unless it's a friday afternoon. or when i'm overtiming. then my co-workers and i would belt out queen, madonna & celine dion songs (celine dion songs is one of my guilty pleasures, i have to admit).

on a craftier note, i've started buying supplies and fabric for christmas presents! yeah!

i got these from etsy!

these are sold at the workroom.

i'm thinking of making:

coin purses
little sets of gifts tags/tiny christmas cards
little patchwork pouches
more turd guys/softies for the boys
neckties for men (if i'm able to take classes...i signed up for it but not sure if there's still any space left *crosses fingers*)
throw pillows
zippered pouches
padfol!os


i also have to begin work for the backtack swap.
my very talented swapping partner is kirsty.

hello kirsty! :)


here are a few things that i made last week:

i finally used the cloud fabric to make an envelope throw pillow case. the other pillow beside it is the VERY FIRST thing i've ever made on the sewing machine! it's funny, now that i look back on it, it took me more than an hour to make it. this time it took me 15 minutes to whip this up. measuring out a perfectly sized rectangle took forever though.




nadine, this is part 1 of benjamin's presents (john has the other part and will send it to you with this one). it has its imperfections though, i hope you don't mind! i'll make you a better one next time, but know that this is the first pouch i've ever made and you get to have it. :)

this was for an adorable little girl named jennifer.

and that is all.

i hope you guys have a great day!

and thank you for all your sweet comments...it's really, really nice to meet all of you!

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crafty space #3

happy thursday everyone :)

oohhhh so last thursday, i talked about crafty spaces that i really like. i've decided to do the same today :)

on tuesday night, john and i went to the workroom's one year anniversary.
there were prizes that were being given away...and i am the lucky winner of a $100 class card at the workroom!!!

please excuse the blurry quality, the dorkiness, and the size of my nose in this picture. but off to the right are the shelves of fat quarters. so juicy!

i just can't stop gushing about the workroom because it is one of my favorite places to be in.
i had always wanted to learn how to use the sewing machine so i could make things and sew my own clothes (i thought it would be the best way to save some money and have things fit me well). when i first searched for sewing classes in toronto over a year ago, nothing came up on google that interested me. they were either too pricey or just not appealing. then this year, after finally being done and over my undergrad (i now have more time to do things!), i googled it again and this time i found the workroom.

it's owned by the very talented and creative karyn, and it's a cozy place where you can sew by the hour (with sergers and the much coveted berninas!), make things (they have a gocco printer and laser cutter!) and take classes (there's always cold iced tea and jar of cookies waiting). it's oozing with warmth and the most beautiful (picked by karyn) selection of fabrics - amy butler, kokka, echino, denyse schmidt, and more.

isn't it all so yummy? it's art in shelves.

anyway, the event was a lot of fun! it felt like a wine and cheese party because karyn had a nice spread of cheeses and crackers and wine. there were also vegan cupcakes, of which, i must admit, i had four :)
(of course i couldn't leave without buying any fabric. i bought three meters of canvas to make totes with and four fat quarters.)

so, if you like crafting, or sewing, or quilting, or if you just like pretty things, or want to learn how to sew, you must visit the workroom. you'll love it, i promise! :)

the workroom
1340 queen street west
toronto, ontario M6K 1L4
416 534 5305

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i'm a myth buster but all is well.

so today i had an interview.
it's for a higher level position.
it was very nerve racking for me because i want this job sosososo badly.

if i get it, then i will definitely blog about it :) but for now, i'll just be quiet about it so that i don't jinx it.

*

on sunday, my 10 year old sister helped me bake cupcakes and we got to talking about the book that she's reading, one of the lemony snicket books.
unwittingly i told her that lemony is a pseudonym.
and to make matters worse, i told her that lemony isn't real.
angeli: "BUT how about the guy in the movie??? that was lemony!"
me (oh evil sister): "uh, no angeli. that was jude law."

it's like telling someone who ardently believes in santa that he isn't real.
i asked her if she was disappointed that he isn't real.
"slightly," she said. "but it's okay. i don't want to be 60 and still believe that he's real".
oh angeli.

has this ever happened to you, i'd love to know!

*

nothing's worse than having such a nerve wracking day and coming home to a really big, fat phone bill.
augh.
but this immediately got remedied by two other things that came in the mail:
my monthly magazine from saveur and the fabric i ordered from matatabi!
my saveur subscription was a christmas present from my best friend, aileen, since she knows that i love cooking and food.
what i like about this particular magazine is that it is very worldly. this has got to be my favorite issue yet. it's on breakfast food (which is my favorite meal and my favorite kind of food!) and it shows the different breakfast foods all over the world.

i am definitely trying one of their recipes.
what is your favorite breakfast food, i'd love to know!

frances of matatabi is awesome. :) everything about the package, despite its size, was done in such a dainty way. thank you, frances! they're awesome!
i have to use them carefully, according to my mother.

trying out the stamp set john gave me. and i love shipping tags.

ah, paris.

sweetness...i'm planning to use them for throw pillows for the bed.

this is the fat quarter that i got for free. it is so adorable. if you spend $40 (excl. shipping) you will get a mystery fat quarter.

and that isallisall.

have a beautiful evening :)

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"amazing useless facts about me" & other things.

teehee. i've been tagged by q's daydream!
merci buckets! i luuurv surveys. harhar.

What are the last three things you purchased?
fabric, fabric & fabric.

What are the last three songs you downloaded?
songs by lily allen & stars.

What are the last three places you visited?
california (sf, monterrey, l.a), ottawa, quebec.
one day i would like to add european countries to that:
france, u.k, germany, italy, austria spain


What are your three favorite movies?
breakfast at tiffany's, eternal sunshine, gosford park, sabrina (julia ormond one), when harry met sally, annie hall, to name a few.

What are your three favorite possessions.
my sewing machine :), my vintage smith-corona corsair typewriter from john, my moon river 45 record

What three things can you not live without?
COFFEE, my laptop (which is close to dying even if it's only 2 years old), l'amour. cheesy but true. :)


What would be your three wishes?
to be in the same country, city, house one day with john :), to live in france, to be sooooo bilingual and fluent in french that i get a french accent when i speak english. AHAHA.


What three things haven’t you done yet?
live in france.
learn how to swim.
travel everywhere with john.

What are your three favorite dishes?
my bran cereal with bananas, buttery mashed potatoes, grilled vegetable sandwiches.

Which three celebrities would you most like to hang out with?
sigh, if i could only have hung out with audrey hepburn. which we would do in a really classy way.
clive owen. hehe.
and that is all. i can't think of any other celebrities i would like to hang out with.

Name three things that freak you out?
insects, especially earwigs. rodents. sleep paralysis (which happens when i've had too much caffeine or when i'm very stressed).

Name three unusual things you are good at.
hm. i can't do anything unusual. all i know is that i have monkey arms.
according to my sister i'm the best person to go to a concert with. one of her reasons is because i can dance funny without looking weird.

Which three things are you coveting?
anything by philip lim (argh argh argh), long hair (only because my hair is at the ugly growing out stage. i have to grow it for winter because it gets really cold), and the perfect pair of pumps.

Name three bloggers you are tagging.
only if you want to be tagged :)
john
giscelle
rebecca

*

i had a very productive weekend.
saturday i had a meeting for TRENDS. the kickoff event is really soon and i feel unprepared! at least i know what to wear already. hehe.
for those who are wondering what TRENDS is, it's a club that was started by teenaged girls a few years ago. getting tired of all the lewd and revealing clothing that was being made available to teenaged girls, they started this club to revolutionize the fashion world and to help the way girls see themselves, as women of value and of dignity. it's still a tiny organiztion, but it's got chapters in vancouver, montreal, ottawa, and toronto :) and because it's still sort of starting out in Toronto, we need a bit of funding, hence the fundraiser/intro event on Saturday. we thought doing an "everything under $10 event" would be a good way to get girls to come and learn more about TRENDS and raise a bit of money at the same time. i found a lot of clothes that i haven't worn in years. some from club monaco, zara and the gap. i found some jeffrey campbell and aldo flats and lots of purses from aldo. aaaaand...lots of american eagle shirts. muahaha. nothing wrong with american eagle (to some people, anyway) but i went through an insane phase when i bought all things american eagle.

any insane phases YOU went through?
all black? all white? what else?

afterwards i went to fabricland. i am now an official member of fabricland. hehe. which means 25% or 50% discounts on all fabrics. because of this, i was able to buy 3 yards of 3 kinds of fabric, two of which are taffeta (awesomeness) and this lightweight, thin denim, and some lace. i want to make some blair waldorf-esque clothes. hehe.

i also bought more felt for more softies and cards. unfortunately it's not wool felt. i don't know where to get them here in toronto.

i was going to go to the workroom afterwards but felt so tired.

this whole weekend i felt so tired. granted i baked 50+ cupcakes yesterday but it shouldn't make me feel as if i've run a marathon. my muscles hurt and i have no energy.

anyhoo...have a happy monday everyone! i am enjoying hot spring rolls & shortbread cookies (from london! hehe and they are yummy) courtesy of co-workers.

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it was another crafty weekend:

a sewing kit on the go. i thought it would be better than having them in a pencil case:

(i still have to master the art of bias binding)

yeeeesh...they all look like they're tucked in for sleep in a humongous, communal sleeping bag.

i went to the workroom for the snap coin purse class.
mine turned out really good...i think i will enlarge the pattern and turn it into a clutch.

Melissa's Snap Coin Purse, originally uploaded by the workroom.

i love colorful things and the workroom is a total feast for the eyes.
against one wall are bolts and bolts of the most beautiful fabric.
there are jars of embroidery thread.
and the most "dangerous" of all, the shelvings of fat quarters.
i couldn't leave without purchasing anything:

they're so juicy!

i also bought a much needed embroidery hoop.
i used to cross stitch and embroider a lot when i was young.
my mom used to take me to this store called stitches n' things and was fascinated by walls of jp coats and dmc skeins.
i cross stitched bears, frogs, cars...and flower carts.

*
my dad finally put up the shelf and audrey hepburn frames!

*
it's september and fall is in the aiiirrr.
but it doesn't mean you can start wearing uggs.
queen street was bustling with ugg footed grrls.
it's like wearing sunglasses when there's no sun.

*
speaking of fall.
i can't wait for:
- the TRENDS kickoff event!
- a night at the opera with the girlies to see don giovanni
- johnny
- thanksgiving/turkey+mashed potatoes day

*
i have an appointment with career counseling on tuesday at glendon.
the last time i set foot on that place was when i graduated.
i'm being counseled for my lack of a career. related to my undergrad, that is.

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