Off to Vancouver

Like the wind. I am in Vancouver for 48 hours to get a few things done for the business. There is an event that I am attending as a panelist, a forum on green business for the Connecting Environmental Professionals group. You can visit my other blog to get more info about it here.

This was the view from my window seat on the way out of Kelowna. My house is actually right in the middle of this photo, somewhere in the see of homes under a light blanket of snow.

Buy Nothing Day UK

As mentioned in yesterday's post, today was Buy Nothing Day UK. We celebrated by buying nothing, of course. Instead we went to the folks place for a fabulous home-cooked meal that my mother prepared. What a feast, roast beast complete with Yorkshire pudding, baked to perfection, which I hear is a difficult task to master. Yumm.

After that, I managed to get an Etsy shop up and running for both myself and Mom. Things are starting to take shape. So go check out the shop and who knows, maybe even buy something!

Buy Nothing Day

So it's Black Friday. Also known as Buy Nothing Day for those of use who are not really into consumerism in the first place.

What did you do to "celebrate" this day of not spending?

We made some yummy cookies at home. The kids had a friend over and the treats were definitely appreciated. I almost went to the bakery and bought some cookies for treats but then I remembered that it is indeed Buy Nothing Day so I got out the baking sheet instead. This is certainly a rarity for me as I am no Martha in the kitchen but the results were well worth firing up the oven.

I did a little research and found some interesting sites too. Seems MTV is definitely not going to give up their message of constant consumerism any time soon. Check here and see what they won't air as it sends a message that is not "appropriate" to their viewers. Pft is all I can say. Half naked and whatever else they show on there is okay, but not a message against mindless consumerism. Go figure.


I also found out that tomorrow is actually Buy Nothing Day UK. Who knew there was a difference? Ya learn something new everyday.

Recycling Challenge - America Recycles Day

So, apparently today is "America Recycles Day". Who knew?

This year marks the 10th anniversary of this "nationally recognized day" dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. There is even a recycling pledge page for those "on-the-fencers" who need a nudge to get cracking.

Okay, I am in Canada and granted I have no cable so I get most of my news from the radio and internet news feeds, but I had NO IDEA that this was a special day devoted to recycling and the awareness campaign that goes with it. How can this be? Maybe there needs to more focus in the media on this issue because nary a word was heard around these parts about the whole to-do.

Now, don't get me wrong, recycling has come a long way, baby. In the last twenty years curbside recycling programs have increased tenfold, but clearly there has to be more that we can do. A nationally recognized day is great, but there must be actions that implore people to put their recycling priorities to work and serious attempts to keep at it should be also encouraged.

There are grass-roots efforts like Wardrobe Refashion and the like to get the crafy-artsy types thinking recycle on a larger scale. (Currently approximately 4% of landfill is composed of textile waste.)

In an effort to help recognize this monumental day, I would like to set out a challenge of my own. A recycling challenge of sorts, this one is directly related to the area of crafting. I challenge readers (an I KNOW there are SOOO many of you out there lurking! Yeah, you there!) to commit to a recycling project of their own making, whatever form it may take. To get people going, I am posting a pic of some great recycled map flags that I made recently from vintage atlases. The photo kind of sucks (too dark..) but you get the idea. Wondering what you creative types can come up with to try your hand as well.......so get going....craft away. Who knows, you might even come up with something worthy of giving as gifts, say if anyone else to the Handmade Pledge over at BuyHandMade.org?

Check Out the Yarn!

I have had this yarn for a little while now and have meant to post about it. So here it is, I finally got around to it.



Can you see it? Do you see the fine print on the label? Yep, right there, in brown and white, there is the content of this particular yarn that I found in the local Zellars store.

SOY!!!

Bernat has come up with what they have labeled "Natural Blends" for clients who want to try to be a bit more Earth-friendly in their approach to knit and crochet work. It's about time too. I was surprised to find it in the store and I do think it is a newer line for them but I was glad to see it nonetheless.

Okay, it is only 50% Soy and 50% acrylic but some soy is better than no soy, that is for certain. There is also a bamboo blend and a cashmere blend but you have to read the fine print on the labels to see which has the most "Natural" content to it.

I have no idea what I am going to make with this but I'm sure I will think of something. I will soon post a few more of my fledgling knitting projects for public scrutiny also.

A limited Edition Coffee Cozy

The DIVA COZY! Who would not LOVE sipping their to-go coffee decked out in this beauty?



This might be an extremely limited edition, as in this is the ONLY one like it.
The cute little fancy schmancy heart shaped grommets are a HUGE pain to work with. I think they are actually a scrapbooking product and not meant to go through the 3 layers of fabric there are in this coffee cozy design.


I am very happy with this design otherwise. I do have some more industrial type of steel grommets but they are just plain round ones, maybe a few basic colours. I think I will be using those from now on. My fingers hurt too much after putting these ones together.

Polka Dotty

AWESOME APRON! This is a project I have been meaning to get to for while now. I will be entering it into the Tie One On gallery of aprons sometime soon. The current theme is POLKA DOTS, so here we go!


The whole thing was a bit trickier than I anticipated because it all had to be lined and faced, which I normally do not do. The fabrics I used are very fine and needed some extra strength to them. And of course as soon as I finished putting on the frill at the bottom I immediately wished that it had much more gathered ruffle to it.


Liking this one all in all. I especially love the extra wide and extra LOOOONG ties at the back. It really makes the apron.

Tout Finis!

So here it is, the finished product. Here is the headboard that I recovered, and the two pillow shams and and throw pillows that I stitched up today. A few hours at the machine and this is what can happen. The fabric was actually pretty easy to work with, despite it being of 100% "unknown fibre". (I hate that)



I had enough to make this great pillow for my new chair and there is a full metre left over for something else.


Here is my vanity with a cute little tea set that I picked up at the thrift store last week. It is so tiny and cute, and I got the tray with it all for a whopping $1.50.

Bedroom Makeover Project

So this is the project I have on the go today. I want to redo my bedroom so that it looks a little nicer than this. Okay, so it needs to look a lot nicer than this. So here is the before shot and there will hopefully be photos by the end of today that show the "after" and much improved look.

My Name in Japanese

Here is a site that has a great list of names in Japanese.
Click and get your name in Japanese.

Random fun stuff.

Japanese name

Great Saturday

Today was a great day for me. Yesterday I delivered some napkins and coffee cozies to a new shop here in Kelowna located at the Summerhill Pyramid Winery. The shop is called Shop the Valley and today was the "open-house/meet the artisans" day. It was really a great time. So many awesome artisans are doing great things in the area.

I didn't get any pics of the actual event but here is an older photo of the pyramid at Summerhill where the wine reserve is.

On another note, I finally unpacked the last box of kitchy stuff that I had hidden away in my office and did some mantle decorating. This is what I came up with but I must admit that I am not completely satisfied with it. Mainly my issue is that the look is a bit too eclectic for the modern theme that has emerged in the living room after the new addition of the mod table. A bit of a conundrum, especially since the living room is attached to the dining room which is definitely in the exhibiting a very traditional look. (Post with the dining room pics is coming soon.)



Not to mention the "shabby chic" look that has emerged in my bedroom. A serious design dilemma as my house is having some design identity crisis.