Saturday Snooooooooze

I'm spent. It's freezing cold and I spent two hours of my morning running in preparation for the Race Around the Bay.

Since then I've been immersed in computer work with little time for leather. By Monday however, I will (fingers crossed) have version 2.0 of my Navy Blues Belt and a new guitar strap or two to talk about.

Also hope to have some paintings up shortly - I'm working on a couple newbies that I've had in the ideas vault for ages and was only recently spurred to put to canvas.

I'll update all about it in the coming weeks...

Necklace Love

Here are some of the necklaces I've been working on recently.

First up is the Lovebug Necklace - a sapphire blue pincher bug on a vintage copper chain. I've been trying not to sell things lately (genius marketing strategy, no?) because I want to have a load of stuff for Hillside next weekend, but I think I'm going to put this guy in my Etsy shop today. It is, after all, almost Valentine's Day and people will be looking for all things lovey and dovey and heart-shaped and...insect...ridden? Why not? Entomologists need love too!

Below him the the Bookworm Necklace. This is all vintage brass - from the chain to the pendant and embellishment. I made one of these with a green feather back in the fall and book nerds like me loved it up. So here's another!

Lastly is another Deer in the Headlights necklace on my favourite vintage chain. A couple new things here:

1) I applied a resist to the young buck's head to make it stand out.

2) I used a much thicker leather for this than I was using a few months ago. Actually I've gone back and re-made a lot of the necklaces and earrings I pumped out in the early days of Shoot From the Hip because they were made of the thinnest leather. Upside is the thin stuff is way easier to cut into tight corners and turn-arounds. Downside is it starts to cup after a while. There's not enough backbone to hold a nice flat shape in the long term.

So I started doing finger crunches back in September and now I have hand strength fantastic enough to cut the crazy thick leather.

Enjoy!

200th Post

Welcome to post # 200! Starring my kitchen table as background!

Not really that exciting. So on to business...

Only two of the below cuffs are new (the green and the light brown with turquoise and eggplant liners respectively), but I like the look of them all together like that.

Bad Blogger

I'm like a boyfriend chock full of empty promises sometimes, aren't I? Tomorrow baby, I promise - tomorrow I'll post pictures, just give me one more chance and I swear it...

Seriously though, I'm getting stuff done. It's just that I have no proof because I run out of sun to photograph every day. It's winter's fault! If it were summer (and I knew how to use the timer on my camera), you'd be looking at honey-hued shots of me wearing a new belt in the park under the overpass near my house. Doesn't that sound nice?

As it is, you'll probably have to settle for shots of my dog wearing a new belt, standing on the front porch in a snow flurry tomorrow.

Damn winter. Why's it always gots to come between us like this, sugar?

Hillside Prep

A couple more pieces for Hillside Inside.

First up - a wallet with Guelph's Mustang Drive-In tooled on to the front. Following that, Guelph's Albion Hotel.

Also, a pair of coloured cuffs.

Sorry for the boring post, but I have a mile-long list of errands/efforts/etc. today and I've already used up more than the allotted time for this "to-do."

I'm devoting one day this week to nothing but jewellery, so I should have some necklaces and earrings to post before Friday.

I am a Posting Machine

Making up for the lack of images over the last couple days, here's a second shot to follow up the brunch time belts I posted earlier.

A thick meaty cuff made of my favourite soft/strong leather - the kind that scratches easily and beautifully.

After that, a pair of hip holsters that close with sturdy, substantial clasps. Nickel plated. Wild west flavoured.

Full Up

Nothing new to see here. I'm going to be out for the better part of the afternoon and when I get home, it's straight to the computer to bang out a half a dozen assignments and send them off in advance of their Friday morning deadline.

I do promise to upload some shots tomorrow morning.

A short sidenote about a class I'm taking at Mohawk College right now - it's exactly what I was looking for in terms of something to keep me consistent as far as re-working my NaNoWriMo efforts.

It's also good to have someone A) reiterate the things you already know and B) put into words and definitions the things you feel, but can't articulate ie: I know my character needs to have a point, but to think of it in straight textbook terms, like Goal, Motivation and Conflict, forces me to approach fiction in the same work-minded way I approach non-fiction.

Why can't I do that on my own?

I'm a Liar

Pictures? Maybe tomorrow. No promises. I was just assigned a bunch of writing due by the end of the week and since I'm going to be in a tattoo parlour all day Thursday, I have to bust it while I can.

Pen to Paper

Scribbling, scribbling, the techo-age version of scribbling.

I spent the morning banging out a story idea/pitch on my computer and since that's not much to look at, I'll just have to promise lots o' shots tomorrow.

I have a new belt and some bracelets to take pictures of. Also, perhaps a pair of hip holsters by tomorrow evening. Definitely the promise to find a new, consistent backdrop for all future photos. I've been experiementing with different pieces of wood found around the yard as things get wet and none of them are cutting it for me.

Here's hoping Monday didn't destroy you too much, and reminding you that it's so close to 5pm.

Some Etsy Awesomeness

I've been looking, for some time, for the perfect recipe book. One that lays open flat, has the kind of paper that is a joy to write on (notebook nerds will know what I mean), and will look even better after getting all floured and oiled and messed up in the line of duty.

I almost bought one from Laura at Prairie Peasant a few months ago, but stalled because I was feeling guilty about spending the money. It was covered with an old red and yellow Mary Meade cookbook cover and oh! How I coveted it. But I let it go.

A couple weeks ago, out of curiousity, I contacted Laura to find out if she still had the book kicking around. She didn't, but she did have an even more amazing text she said she'd be happy to craft a custom order from.

Yesterday I found, in my mailbox, a beautifully wrapped package from Winnipeg. Behold it below! Compare to what I was using before! Visit Prairie Peasant for all your handbound-from-reclaimed-and-vintage-texts-and-materials needs! If you don't see what you're after, ask Laura about a custom order. She may be able to rustle up exactly what you're looking for.

Also, please love the corner of the huge and awesome harvest table the book is sitting on. I have been wanting a harvest table for months and was worried it would be difficult/pricey to get anything close to what I was looking for. I was ecstatic when, after only a single afternoon of searching two places (Value Village and the Reuse Centre) I got a wild deal on an absolute dream, complete with mismatched wooden and antique chairs.

Now please excuse me while I go sit at said table and transfer cheesecake recipes from the old book to the new.

PS - I apologize for the Suzy Homemaker digression. I'm just so fired up about renovating/repainting/exposing the pine plank floors (there, that's manly) so the kitchen looks like a farmhouse instead of McDonald's.

I'll Make it Up

I know I was quiet yesterday, but that's because I was working on something special!

I'll post pictures of it this afternoon when I have someone around to take pictures of me in it.

I'm Eating This Up

Grateful Dead From the Nearly Dead

Still sick. I'm worsening instead of getting better despite drinking water like a fish and boiling ginger to beat the band. Speaking of which, here are a few of the things I've been working on.

First up is the Deadhead guitar strap I started over the weekend. Its buyer wanted a whole whack of images/icons/elements incorporated into it and I'm pretty happy with the way it all came together. I hope she is too.

In all our communication and conversations I could feel how thrilled she was with the idea of it as a gift for her boyfriend. Her excitement -knowing how psyched she'll be when it shows up in her mailbox- fuelled my fire to make it.

At the bottom, another feather cuff, this time in an evening seaside shade of deepest blue.

Winter's What Ails Me

Saturday struck me with general winter illness - sore throat, fever, cough, delerium. The best of the worst.

Consequently I've been passing tights off as pants and neglecting brushing my hair (though...I'm not sure how this differs from a healthy day now that I think about it...) so I can funnel that energy into more productive endeavours dans ma studiotheque.

I've mostly been working on the kinds of thing you can't show off, but here are a couple feather bracelets for good measure.

Tomorrow I'll have bigger, better things to wave about and hold up for oogling. Hopefully my will to live among them.

Art Crawl and Indy Rockers

Tonight's the James North Art Crawl. We usually have an artist at Bike Hounds on a night like this, but dammit it's been a long time since we were able to go on the crawl. And we have guests staying with us right now, so we'd like to show the street off to them.

I have no pictures to post as the porch (where I take all my photos) is covered in snow and mud and wet, but I hope to finish some stitching and get some shots up this weekend.

I've spent the day cutting a load of guitar straps out of the leather I bought a couple days ago. A light orange/tan and a deep chocolate, both of which have the kind of soft finish that's susceptible to scratching in a most gorgeous way.

I know new things are supposed to look new. To be flawless and free of wrinkles, tears, etc. but I love when leather distresses and takes on the impressions of the things that impact it - scratches and watermarks and oils from unclean hands - so it looks like something Indiana Jones might carry around.

Keep your eyes peeled...

Unchain my Heart

Also, just got a package in the mail from a supplier of vintage chains.

A couple of the copper ones were so amazing I have to show them off...

Coming to Fisticuffs

Over Christmas my Grandma gave me a baggie full of vintage buttons. This week, I've been working to give them homes on leather bracelets.

Behold! a mess of cuffs!

Besides these I've been working on a pretty elaborate (as well as just plain pretty...though not too pretty since it's for a rocking and rolling kind of guy) guitar strap, as evidenced below.

Start With the Answer

My Pigott Building painting serves as the cover for the most recent chapbook from GritLIT.

Post Office Box

Mailed out a few orders today - two flasks (one customized with the initials of its future owner), a hair comb and a pair of earrings (not pictured).

Spent about an hour rifling through the leather at Tundra and picked out a couple of thick, heavy hides for some new guitar straps I plan to work on this week.

Next on the list is a custom strap I think is going to be pretty fun to tool - a Grateful Dead-inspired strap for a lovely lady from Des Moines - and a couple of flasks for a pair of brothers in California.

Feather Cuff

I have a lengthy piece of leather waiting to become feather...

Much like the cuff below.

Agenda

Tomorrow I begin preparing for Hillside Inside. I have a long list of stuff to make. My goal is to have (in addition to the considerable stock I already have) the following on hand:

- Feather cuffs (10)

- Solid leather cuffs (10)

- Necklaces (10)

- Wallets (5)

- Guitar Straps (3 tooled, 5-10 solid with hand-stitched, tooled images)

- Purses (3)

- Handlebar bags (3)

- Solid leather hip holsters (5)

- Tooled hip holsters (5)

- Change purses (5)

- Peacock earrings (5)

- Leaf earrings (5)

- Belts (4)

I'm feeling pretty confident about it. For the first time in who knows how long, I feel balanced - like my head and my heart have caught up with each other and I have the time to breathe; to do all the things I want to do as far as work goes.