Monday, April 23, 2012

Since the last time....

There has been a critter living a half-life in my sewing machine for over a month now.



Kind of macabre in a way, the machine needle remains pierced through Critter #3's eye like some bizarre, creepy gothic ornamentation, awaiting the finishing touches on said eye and the addition of a second.  I haven't been feeling like critter-ing (just made that word up if you can believe it) lately, but have been making some nice jewels and am working on a couple designs for dresses I dream of making/wearing this summer.

For Christmas last year, I was gifted a subscription to InStyle magazine, and since then I bought a Groupon for Elle Canada for a $5 year long subscription (!!).  Now I have something to look forward to in the mail, something other than the usual ATTENTION, YOU OWE US MUCH OF YOUR HARD EARNED PAY!  which is clearly much less fun.  I have, for many years now, been a hardcore magazine junkie.  I love perusing them for ideas on how to put new, interesting outfits together and for inspiration for making new jewels or dresses or bags or what have you.  According to all the mags, this year once again, the delightful maxi-dress is all the rage.  I have a couple in my closet already but I'd love to make one.  Here are a few that got my wheels turning:

http://cdn.bellanaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/bn-ankara-long.jpg

A while back I came across a dress at Biscuit that was basically my dream dress - long, very flow-y and soft, with a nice subtle leopard print (those who know me know I am a sucka for leopard).  Sadly it was almost $200 and off my list of things I could afford to treat myself to, so I drew up a few designs inspired by the Biscuit dress and some I'd come across in my beloved fashion mags.  Then I took a trip to Fabricville.  Though I was unable to find the perfect leopard print, ie: the one the Biscuit dress was made from, I did come across this one:



It's a bit purple-y (you can't really tell from the photo, but it is) which I think will allow me to wear it with more accessory options, plus it makes it a bit more unusual, which I like.  We'll see what it actually looks like in dress form soon enough I guess.  I just know that it feels realllly soft and I know it'll be one of those dresses that flows out behind when you walk.  I'm excited to get started on that.  I also found this lovely stuff:



It's black, I know, nothing too exciting, except it's Indian silk, feels like heaven and was almost cheap!  I made this dress last summer:



....or maybe the summer before, not sure.  The idea for the crows applique came from the old poem that goes One crow sadness, two crows joy and so on.  I wanted to make a happy, joyful summer dress and I have to say, I do quite love it.  Anyhoo, I am going to duplicate the style (but no crows) in this fabric and probably wear it pretty much every single day.  I love the idea of a black dress in this style because I see it as being the most versatile thing in the world.  I could wear it with big wooden beads, flip flops and pig-tails or pearls, patent leather heels and...well I rarely put much effort into my hair-dos but you know what I mean.....and everything in between. Over the last few months I have been on a crazy shoe buying kick and need something I can wear with all of them in order to make their existence in my hallway worth it.



My hope is that this dress will do the trick!

In other fascinating news, a few weeks ago the BF and I planned a date night around the recently released documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.



The film was great.  Being a bit of a food nerd I love shows and movies about chefs to begin with, on account of the inspiration they can provide, and this one also had the benefit of being beautifully shot, full of lots of mouth-watering close ups of the amazing sushi this man, Jiro, creates.  The BF and I have been wanting to try our hand at sushi making for a while now and this movie, as well as finding these yummy looking cookbooks recently, have us excited:



We viewed the film at the Oxford and upon the rolling of it's credits, bee-lined across the street to the new Wasabi House for some sushi, only to be told that there was a half hour wait at least.  I guess our bright idea wasn't just ours after all.  So we headed back downtown and went to Fujiyama, which is my personal fave anyway.

As it turned out, that particular Friday was to end up a pretty thoroughly Japanese themed night.  When we got to Quinpool that evening, we, by some miracle, managed to find a parking spot on the street, directly across from the Oxford!!  After we parked we noticed a cool store called The Ikebana Shop and since we were a little early, having assumed finding parking would be much more nightmarish, we decided the right thing to do would be to go inside and check it out.  I'd recommend it.  It's filled with super cute little bags and beautiful silk scarves and ceramics and little trinkets and - dun dun dunnnnnn - origami paper.



Now what you don't know is that just a few days prior to this fateful event, I, through the power of YouTube, learned how to make origami cranes!  I was using squares I cut out of an old H&M mag, which looked ok since there are plenty of nice, colorful photos.  After a messy couple of tries I got the hang of it, and after a few more I could do it without rewatching the video.  Now I'm an old pro and I've decided to make enough cranes so I can string them all together in a kind of garland.  SO it was destiny that on that night, I should find, by chance, a sweet cache of gorgeous paper made specifically for this ancient Japanese art form.  Though actual origami paper is pretty expensive and I surely will not be making all the cranes for the garland with it, the decision to buy a pack that night was made all the more simple on account of the piece on the outside of the package, the one with the bunnies.  Those of you who know me will understand.

Anyhoo, I've only gotten this many made so far, so I still have quite far to go.



I find it's something I can do while doing something else, like watching tv for example.  The BF and I recently started watching Dexter, so the cranes are a nice, peaceful counter balance to all the murderous rage.  Haha.

Riiiiiiiight.  So there you have it, a few of the things that are going on right now.  I'm trying to get better at this, and if it makes anyone feel any better about my sporadic posts, I feel a constant sense of guilt for not being more prolific.  I really think the coming summer will boost my creativity and I'll get my arse in gear here more often.  Wish me luck, friends!

Till next time!


2 comments: