things (and pouches) that i love

hi you guys!

have you had a good weekend? i know you americans still have one more day - i've gotten so many e-mails about memorial day sales! i'm not even opening them now, cause i read one on friday and ended up buying fabric, mere hours after i told myself that i was going to take a break from buying new fabric and actually start using my stash!

in my defense, how often do you find gothy quilt cottons? i HAD to buy Tula Pink's new line, Nightshade! and now i'm DEFINITELY on a fabric buying break.



in other news, i'm very excited about an upcoming swap! the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild (and a few friends, cause the numbers were off) are doing a group swap with the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, and it's going to be AWESOME!

we're swapping pouches, which are an excellent opportunity for fanciness! they're little, so they're perfect for techniques that you wouldn't want to do any entire quilt out of, like english paper piecing, or to showcase more detailed techniques, like hand embroidery or intricate paperpiecing.

active flickr users will be familiar with the multitude of pouch swaps that have been organized, such as the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap, which has had 4 rounds, and the Mouthy Stitches Swap. even non-pouch-specific swaps have included some gorgeous pouches, such as the For The Love of Solids Swap. needless to say, there is a TON of gorgeous pouch inspiration out there!

the guidelines of our swap are pretty flexible. we're to make a pouch that's somewhere between 4"x4" and 8"x8", and it has to have a closure of some sort. that's it!

in addition to the basic guidelines, it was also recommended that we make a mosaic of pouches that we like and post them to the guild flickr group, in order to give our partners some inspiration.

as demonstrated for the Trim the Tree Swap i did last fall, i tend to get carried away with mosaic making!

i think i did pretty well though. i made three mosaics in total, with just one mosaic of pouches.



it's kind of a a big mosaic, but hey, i fit them all in! (for further notes/details/credits, click on the photo and go see the picture on flickr!)


my other two mosaics were about my style in general, and they were really fun to do. i do have a page of info for swapping, written back in the days of craftster swaps, but really, mosaics are more interesting!


one of the mosaics was all about fabric patterns and prints that i love.



everytime i look at this mosaic, it makes me happy, which i think means it's a pretty accurate portrayal of patterns that i love. i realized after i made it that i should've added a brocade print of some sort, like vintage wallpaper, but oh well. everything else is there!


the other mosaic is of things that i love, and it was prompted by the obvious patterns in my flickr favourites. there are, of course, things that i love that i don't really care about the imagery of, like grape flavoured candy, memory foam, or the television show NCIS... they're not in the mosaic! this mosaic is things that i love that i ALSO enjoy the imagery of!



woodgrain! especially awesomely coloured woodgrain!
chevrons! and typewriters!
crows, ravens, magpies, and red-winged blackbirds.
glasses AND paperpiecing. (i really love the imagery of glasses. i have a pillow on my couch that says "glasses are sexy!" glasses are totally hot!)
vintage buttons!

virgin mary, lady of guadalupe, etc.
neon signs!
pyrex, fire king, JAJ, milk glass, etc. (i love all of them, but i particularly love those particular mugs, they always reminds me of the flinstones!)
typewriter again!!
cuckoo clock! (i am so excited that they're so popular and on everything, i've loved them for so long!)

mail! envelopes and stamps and postal love.
more pyrex!
sacred hearts, modern and traditional.
more typewriters!
and boler campers! (that's what in the blank spot, cause that pic didn't work)

anatomical hearts!
birch and poplar trees. so lovely.
more glasses imagery!
wooden grain elevators. love so much.
vintage typewriters! and mid-century illustration styles!

chandeliers, especially bright coloured or black ones.
doilies, in their natural state and dyed
tuxedo kitties like my sofie-bean!!
elna grasshopper! vintage sewing machines!!
and another mid-century illustration! on a stamp! with an owl!!



i love so many things. what do you love?

swap info.....

i love swapping! here's some basic info for future partners -


what crafts do you do?:
sewing (pretty much everything- home dec, clothes, bags), quilting, some paper crafts, encaustics, silkscreening when i get my butt in gear, some crochet, embroidery and other needlework, machine embroidery, basic jewelery

any sorts of fabrics you love/hate?:
hate scratchy stuff! and microfibre gives me the willies.
i adore brightly coloured linen, modern quilting cottons, kona solids. i like brightly coloured trims like lace and pompoms and zippers and contrasts, like ruffles in unexpected fabrics. i love a lot of the prints that moda puts out, but i don't like how many of them have cream or brown undertones - blegh! i love japanese cotton/linens that are funkier, like echino and ruby star rising

something you just can't do but you would LOVE to learn/get something made like this!:
anything knit, polyclay dolls like the gothy ones on my wists (my attempts never turn out the way i want), stuffies (again, my attempts never turn out), felted stuff (needle felting and wet felting like dreads, beads, etc). artwork to hang on my walls, shrines, because mine never turn out the way i want them to. mini quilts, needlework, because everyone's style is so different.


Random Things
do you have any pets?
my sofie-bean, and then three other cats that i share with my mom and dad

do you have any kids *ages*?
nope. just sofie.

do you need something to carry your knitting/sewing with you?
sure! if it's to hold yarn, a zipper in the top is needed, so that sofie doesn't get into it and eat my yarn (she's a brat)

do you need another purse?
not a small one, but i could definitely use a messenger bag style purse. or a tote with a zipper to carry my yarn in. i need straps that go over my shoulder though - i tend to set purses down and forget them places unless they're attached to me!

what crafts do you admire?
knitting, felting, painting, mixed media, collage, resin, doll making, embroidery, glass work, mosaic, needlework of all kinds, modern quilting

do you collect anything?
lots of stuff...
- snowglobes,but just the dome shaped tacky ones. i LOVE vintage ones! i have a few from the 80s (like expo 86, and my light up nativity scene!) that i adore.
- old photos and negatives (erotica and regular)
- double and triple strand chunky pearls from the 50s. i love them, i have way too many pairs already, but i always want more!
- vintage veiling (with the flocked dots!), buy it, even if the hat sucks or there's no hat at all! it's so hard to find in good condition!
- virgin mary, lady of guadalupe and sacred heart stuff (oh, and rosaries! i LOVE old rosaries!), i try to avoid crucifixes and jesus stuff.
- vintage fabric and half made quilt blocks
- vintage aprons in awesome 40s and 50s prints
- pyrex/fire king/JAJ/pheonix/glasbake
- melmac
- old suitcases, especially train cases
- vintage clocks, cuckoo clocks
- fabric, obviously! i tried to resist the lure of designer fabrics, but i'm totally in love with the heather ross munki munki prints, anything designed by Melody Miller, the echino with the cameras, glasses, buses, etc
- vintage linens - bedding, table cloths, etc
- paint by numbers
- buttons. oh my lord, do i collect buttons. my favourites are the brightly coloured mid-century plastic/bakelite ones.
- typewriters
- sewing machines
- so, so much more


Jewelry
do you wear earrings?
i wear a single earring hooked through my tunnel. usually plastic and chunky. it needs to be on a shepherd's hook to go through my tunnel. feel free to use crappy quality metal, it bends easier anyway!

do you wear bracelets/cuffs?
not so much.

do you wear necklaces *lengths*?
i like big chunky necklaces mostly, that sit right around my neck. or simple necklaces with a chunky pendant... 18", i think.

do you prefer gold or silver findings?
silver please!


Clothing

Favorites
what is your favorite color?
to wear - black. i also love cherry red or burgundy.
in my house - my bedroom is black with silver, aubergine and cherry red details.
my kitchen is blues and greens. my studio/living room has blue curtains, and pink curtains but is otherwise a big mix of awesome bright colours. i love jewel tones, not so much primaries.

what is your favorite color to go with your favorite color?
red as above, silver, bright blue, purple, fuscia and neon pink.

do you have a favorite book you would like something made with?
i'd love anything francesca lia block themed. i have all my books on a shelf with the weetzie bat doll jan_on_ice made me, i'd love something to add to the "shrine"

do you have a favorite food?
gyosas!

Symbols: (such as hearts, stars, skulls, suns, moons)
stars are my favourite! sacred hearts or any other catholic imagery. anatomical hearts are fun too. bones. i love stripes and polka dots and non-brown leopard print. and lately i keep being drawn to zebra print, especially when it's fun colours. i adore typewriters and wooden grain elevators. oh, and chandeliers! i love them. winged hearts. wonky log cabins. half square triangles. birds, even if they're cliche. matryoshkas, cuckoo clocks. brocades. blue roses. doilies.


Allergies and Aversions
are there any colors you hate?
browns, yellows, all naturey colours that remind me of the 70s! sugary sweet pastels...

would you dislike receiving items made from animal products?
no, i'm fine with it.

is there anything you would rather not receive because of religious references?
no... i love religious stuff. i'd rather not receive non-catholic stuff though, or something that's meaningful to you religiously, because i like it for the kitsch factor, and it feels like it would be offensive if it meant something to you.

is there anything else you would dislike?
flowery, girly, pastelly, preppy, country... that stuff's not my style!

do you have any actual allergies?
scented stuff.... like candles, soaps, etc. even some fabric softeners. some metals give me rash, especially on my wrists and the back of my neck (where the clasp is), but i still wear necklaces with metal clasps!


Personality
what are your favorite movies?
tankgirl, cabaret, pretty in pink, some kind of wonderful, most john hughes cheesy 80s teen movies, heathers, crybaby, home for the holidays, pump up the volume

who are your favorite actors and actresses?
molly ringwald, annie potts, mary stuart masterson, robert downey jr, johnny depp pre-pirate!, winona ryder pre-crazy shit, liza minelli, clara bow, marilyn monroe, nicolas cage before he started doing all this adventure crap (remember him in moonstruck?!)

who are your celebrity crushes?
i don't really have any. i really love penelope garcia on criminal minds, that's probably my closest thing to a crush. her style is fabulous, she's fat and proud and quirky and brilliant, and the actress who plays her is queer, awesome!



*****************last updated March 7, 2011******************************