Alice Bag.

A craft! It is nice to be posting a craft again! This one is a special bag (with pleats! I love the pleats) for a special cousin. She had asked me to make her a bag a while ago, but I had been so busy with school that I hadn't had the time. The fabric had been sitting by the sewing machine, waiting for me to get to it, and I finally had the chance today.

The Alice in Wonderland fabric comes from Superbuzzy. It has little gold accents, which are so sweet. Annette loves Alice, so it was the perfect fabric for her bag. The black fabric is just a cotton twill, and the inside is lined with a satiny black fabric which is perfect for Annette because she loves soft, satiny material. I combined and tweaked a few patterns from some books I had to create this one. It was my first time sewing a bag like this so it isn't perfect, but I hope she enjoys it anyway.

I made a little matching zip pocket inside for small things like her cellphone and lip gloss. I had been toying with the idea of using a ring of small black lace between the top of the bag and the pink Alice in Wonderland fabric, but I think I like it better without it.

It was nice to get a bit of sewing in today, especially since I'm going on vacation on Saturday and wont be back until the middle of the month! I hope to make several Jane Market Bags (Alicia Paulson's pattern) when I get back. I already have the fabric lined up!

The Pancake Bowl.

I have been spending much of my spare time studying, and because of that I feel that my blog is moving away from the original purpose I created it for - crafting. I haven't had much time to share the projects I have been working on, but I do hope to get back to that very soon. Final exams are taking place this coming week. Usually we would have been finished the semester long ago, but the strike that took place from November until February set us back. We are nearing the end though! I do have time for a quick update, though not related to crafting. This one is about a dear neighbour.

Al, my neighbour from three doors down, passed away last week. He was always very kind to us, and as the majority our neighbourhood has moved away from caring neighbourly relationships to closed off folk, he has been one of the ones who has stayed true. He was always up for a quick chat and a friendly wave. He had a cat that was easily mistaken for our Snowie. Sometimes we'd have to do a double take when we saw his girl running about the neighbourhood. Snowie is an indoor cat (except for the occasional supervised romp in the garden), so we'd worry she got out.

This morning his daughter was selling off some of the things they didn't want to keep, and I got this green Pyrex bowl.

It was his pancake bowl. It's scratched from the hundreds of batches of pancake batter mixed up inside - it was well loved. It reminds me of my mom's red bowl, and they are actually from the same set. Funny how each of them had only one bowl from the same set.

I am glad to have a little reminder of him, in the form of something I am fond of anyway. It is the perfect addition to my Pyrex collection, and the perfect memory of a dear neighbour.

In the Garden.

Things are growing around here, and now that the soil bee situation is solved (they don't sting, they enrich the soil, they can stay) there are more things preparing to grow. The weather has been a little off this year, the risk of frost is still present even though we're nearing the end of May, so extra care has been taken. Many a night have ended with the pitching of newspaper tents over frost senstive flowers.

The seeds have been sown in the warm soil of the 'bee bed'. This is where the beans and peas will grow. Until they do, I am enjoying the already flowering plants, both finishing and starting.

Tulips a little weathered from the rainstorms we've had.

Sweet little Forget Me Nots.

The Currant bush just starting to blossom.

It has also been nice to see others out enjoying the garden. This one has perked up quite a bit since she's been able to explore the backyard. Don't worry, she can't climb the fences.

And what dog doesn't love to roll around on warm grass? Many days to come will be spent outside watching things grow!

White Choral Bells.

Our favourite flowers - sometimes we just love the way they look and sometimes we have a story. This is mine.

We have a 'secret garden' of these Lily of the Valley behind the bushes infront of our home. My grandmother also had a garden of these hiding on the little walk beside her old house, among the moss and old garden stones. It's a little silly, but these flowers seem almost magical to me. The way the tiny, delicate bells sneak up in the hidden corners of gardens, hiding among tall green leaves. They were magical to me as a child, which was probably helped along by a campfire song we used to sing at Brownies...

White choral bells
Upon a slender stalk
Lily of the Valley
Deck my garden walk
Oh, don't you wish
That you could hear them ring
That will happen only when the fairies sing.

The little patch beside my grandmother's home was the perfect location for secret tea parties and pretend play. I wish I had a picture to share, but we seem to have photographs of every nook and cranny of her garden except for my favourite parts - the path beside her home where these flowers grew, the tree stump we'd use as a stage, the big rock in the very back, and the little path through the bushes to get to the pebble driveway. Her entire garden was magical to me back then, but the parts I loved the most are the ones I have only memories of. Sadly, all of her garden was torn out and replaced by a monster home.

It's not surprising that I'd want to keep these flowers close by while they're in season. I'd look more than a little silly crouching behind the front bushes, so a few stalks do me well. Of course I still stop to stare a little each time I pass in and out of my home.

Attempted Gardening.

I'm planting a vegetable garden this year. I haven't planted a vegetable garden since I was eight years old, so I was very excited to get my hands dirty again. I also like the idea of being more involved with the food I'm eating. Planting, caring for, picking, and preparing food all within a few metres. I don't have a large amount of land, so it really wont accomodate very much food, but it's a start. I've been waiting weeks for the weather to warm up, and for midterms to be over with to be able to start this project.

Most of the front and back yard had been cleaned up and weeded a few weeks ago, but the two plots I plan to use for my garden hadn't been touched yet. It was a glorious day today so when I got home from class I knew I had to spend it outside. The perfect time to prepare my little garden for planting! As soon as I started pulling, hundreds of tiny wasps swarmed around me. Eek! That was the end of the gardening plans. I'll give it another go once the wasp situation is dealt with. We think they're living in a wooden beam that outlines the little garden.

For now, I'm enjoying my Eggling, which has sprouted.

Wild Strawberry was a much better choice for someone who likes things to grow quickly. I did really like the cactus though. I had never seen a cactus grow from a tiny seed before, so it was neat seeing it happen. Maybe I will try again one day.

Right now I am excited to see the changes in this little guy.

Spring Sales.

There were a lot of sales this Saturday. Estate sales, church sales, garage sales, and even a rummage sale at a fancy private school (people started lining up at 5 am for that one!). I was going to prepare my garden beds this morning, but I decided to put that off for a morning of sales with my mom. We both did extremely well too.

This is just part of our haul. My mom also found 50+ children's books, a huge set of K'nex, some wonderful handmade dress-up costumes, math manipulatives, puppets, and vintage puzzles and blocks, for her grade one classroom. All for under $30. Some of the books were brand new, with the $18.99 price tags still on them.

It's probably not surprising that I kept my eye out for Pyrex while we were looking around. The blue and orange dishes came from an estate sale. The man who was running it had a great collection of vintage dishes and kitchen appliances. By the time we got there most of it was gone, but I managed to get these two dishes and a white Fiestaware pitcher. A guy who went in right before us grabbed a few great Pyrex dishes. Lucky him!

This chicken pot holder came from the same sale. I'm going to have to make some more of these! I'm adding that to my sewing queue.

One of the estate sales we visited was at the home of an interior decorator. She had an amazing antique collection she was selling off, and among all the furniture I found a box of fabric remnants. Can you believe I got all of this, plus some trim for $1? Most of the pieces are quite large, large enough to sew into a bag or a pillow. I have a lot of ideas for this pile of fabric!

I always have so much fun at these kinds of sales! This was a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

Eggling - Take Two.

I started growing a cactus Eggling last September. That Eggling met a sour fate a little while ago when it was knocked off a table. I had so much fun watching it grow and change the first time that I decided to try again, this time with a Wild Strawberry one. I couldn't bare the thought of waiting another seven months to get back to this point, so another cactus was out. Strawberries grow much quicker!

Day 1 - Cracked and ready to grow! Today is actually day two, but of course nothing is growing yet. I hope to have many more updates about this one!