needlework, feminism and buttons!

this morning i went to the little intro to PE Design Lite class that i posted about last night. it was interesting, but not particularly relevant to what i've been working on. apparently i'm too far ahead! it turns out that saturday morning is the informal "show and tell" for the shop's customers, so it was neat to see some other people's projects, and people were really impressed with my embroidered rose pendant that i was wearing. i did get a few questions answered, and i'm going to book a one-on-one class to specifically deal with the white space issue i'm having with the sublime stitching pieces. apparently it has something to do with the fact that i'm using satin stitch (but i LOVE satin stitch!), and the stitch length. i'm going to play around a bit more and see if i can figure out how to adjust the stitches more.

my current issue of bitch magazine arrived yesterday (finally! i was getting impatient!), and there were a few things in it that i wanted to mention.

first, fun crosstitch kits! stitch'd ink (who have a um, interesting webname - i can't be the only one who read that differently!) have created a line of vintage tattoo inspired crosstitch kits

they're available in the NZ Cupcake Queen's Etsy store. etsy she also has a blog, which is full of yummy cupcake pictures!

and second, a fundraiser! if you're not familiar with bitch magazine, i suggest you get yourself a copy! (or pick up a copy of the book Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine, also amazing!) over the years i've gotten pretty damn pissed at various feminist magazines, and have stopped reading them or have taken breaks from reading them (like ms, which was pretentious, like herizons, which was transphobic, like bust, which isn't really very feminist at all, etc). lately i've been reading them again a bit, to see if my opinions have changed, but bitch has been a constant. it's an independant feminist magazine that's interesting, entertaining and current, and sadly, that's rare in our current climate. on october 25, at worksound gallery in portland, there is an art show and silent auction in support of bitch magazine called sm[art]. the deadline for submissions is october 3, which sucks for those of us in canada who didn't get our magazine until now, but if anyone has things that are pre-made, you still have time to donate! for more information, check out the post on their site.

and completely non-related, to go back to the buttony goodness from a few days ago, abuttonlady has some interesting articles on her site, and an ebay workshop as well. definitely worth checking out!