That’s a Wrap, February!

It’s so hard to believe February will be over tomorrow! I think I say that every month.  I’ve been on vacation for a week, and was working furiously to get a project done before I left so I feel like I’ve been MIA from here for nearly half of February.  Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks to end off this wintery month:

I made my first Etsy sale to another country! I sent the purchase off to the States, so definitely not too far but it was still pretty exciting.  Now that I’m back from vacation I’m working hard to get some new items posted in the shop very soon! You can find my Etsy shop here http://www.ceestitchery.etsy.com

The weekend before I left for my trip there was a huge flea market here in Saskatoon. It was fantastic and I found some really great things. My favorite find was this huge basket of embroidery thread. $10 later my thread stash has tripled! I was so excited. I also found some amazing vintage needlework magazines, as well as some vintage hand bags and a belt. Not a bad haul!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on a wholesale order for a new website which is an online extension of a local shop here. I was really down to the wire trying to get the order done before I left for my trip. It was a little stressful, mostly because I don’t like to rush my embroidery/sewing. It’s important to me that I take my time to do my best possible work. However, I was really pleased with how everything turned out, and shipped the order off just in the nick of time! Above is a sneak peak at some of the products. I can’t wait to share more once they are up in the online store 🙂

A week ago today I headed off to Vancouver B.C. for a vacation with two of my best friends.  It was much needed time away, and I always treasure quality time with these two girls!  As you can see, it was a pretty rainy vacation (to be expected for Vancouver in Feb). But the weather certainly didn’t stop us from having fun.  Here is an Etsy treasury I created in anticipation of the rainy city before we left: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTg2NzI2MTB8MjcyMTQyMDEwMQ/rainy-city-vacation?index=0

I love this Walt Whitman quote we spotted as we strolled along the seawall. Such a beautiful thought in such a beautiful place. ❤

We got tons of shopping time in Vancouver (my kind of vacation!), this is just one of my new outfits. It was so much fun getting to shop with two of my best friends, we encouraged each other on a lot of purchases and therefore spent a lot of our hard earned money – so worth it though!

I even found a fabric store in our travels. I snapped this photo of a vintage Singer sewing machine in a shop on Granville Island called The Cloth Shop http://theclothshop.com/ .  I found some amazing fabric there that I can’t wait to start creating with.

This gorgeous piece of embroidery was hanging as a window covering in a bathroom of a restaurant we visited. I absolutely love spotting beautiful hand embroidery in random places, it was definitely a highlight for a needlework fanatic like me. The restaurant was called the Naam – fantastic vegetarian place. Definitely try it if you’re ever in Vancouver! http://thenaam.com/

I’ve been to Vancouver a few times, and have always wanted to but never gotten the chance to visit the Vancouver Art Gallery. I got the opportunity to go this time, which was exciting. There was an Emily Carr & Charles John Collings exhibit which was so fantastic. I am a bit of a secret art history nerd. Although I don’t know a ton, it’s something that really interests me. In fact I almost pursued a degree in it once upon a time, but that’s a story for another time. The Vancouver Art Gallery is a great one to visit. http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/  And the two Canadian water color painters I mentioned are definitely worth checking out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Carr  http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_hope_at_dawn.html

February was a great month, jam packed with lots of projects and fun times with friends. Hopefully March brings more of the same! Hope you enjoyed some of my snapshots from my creative and other adventures this month.

XO

 

The Week

This week was a whirl wind, it just seemed so busy for some reason. I had an idea at some point during the week that I should do a little photo journal of highlights/ just fun or pretty things from the current week every once in a while. I take photos of almost everything i have time to snap, I like to capture as many little moments as possible. The idea of starting a sort of journal to document my projects and some of the other little moments in life seems like fun and also would be nice to go back and look at/read later. Here’s this week:

I did some pattern drawings this week for embroidery projects. It felt nice to get out my old pencil crayons. I usually don’t color code my patterns, I just go with whatever colors I’m feeling as a I work but I needed to plan colors ahead of time for this particular project. I’m working on a custom order for an online extension of a local shop where I live. I’m really excited about it! It’s one of my favorite shops, so when they approached me about posting some of my embroidery in their online shop I felt really honored that they would choose my work!

I added this new hoop art to my Etsy shop this week.  I probably won’t be able to add anything new for a week or two now with the other project I’m working on, but I’m really excited to start adding more hoop art to the shop. I have lots of ideas I can’t wait to get working on!

My Etsy shop can be found here http://www.ceestitchery.etsy.com

 

I had to go to the dentist this week to get two fillings which wasn’t very fun.  However, it ended up not being too bad because there is a thrift shop right by my dentist where I decided to stop in afterwards. I found the vintage skirt in this picture which I adore, as well as the vintage poncho in the following photo. I had been eyeing one exactly like this on Etsy for a while, and I ended up getting this one for $10 (score!) I think it will will be really great for sitting by the campfire at the lake in the summer when it gets chilly at night! That imagery inspired this Etsy treasury I created: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTg2NzI2MTB8MjcyMzk1MjU1OA/campfire-dreams?index=0

 

I made some valentines gifts for my best friends today. They’re homemade tea bags! I got the idea from my favorite blog  http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2011/09/loose-leaf-tea-make-your-own-tea-bags-.html I added my own touch by personalizing the tags with things they love. I just used themed scrap booking paper and embelishments. I hope they like them! Well that was the week!

XO, Carrie

My Favorite New (Old) Skirt

I just wanted to quickly share my new favorite skirt! The reason I want to share it is because it’s actually an old skirt. It was my Mom’s in the 80’s. Right before Christmas I went through a box of her old clothes from back then and claimed a few things for my myself.  I love skirts and dresses, they’re my favorite thing to wear and I also love things from days gone by. So needless to say, this was an exciting moment for me.

 

This Knit skirt was actually ankle length to begin with.

All I did was cut it to the length I wanted (plus a seam allowance for the hem) and Hemmed it up using a straight stitch on my sewing machine! It was a little hard to keep the seam straight at times because it is a stretchy knit but I actually really like how the hem ended up looking! A few simple updates here and there and something outdated can easily become something amazing. There’s something about wearing an article of clothing from the past that you’ve refashioned that just feels so good, try it! Seriously it’s awesome. I have plans for more of my Mom’s clothes from another time, and I can’t wait. I have a feeling they will end up being faves….